The Good Shepherd

Psalm 23 Dominus regit me

The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.

He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.

You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord's own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.

A Special Place for Mary in our Hearts

Do you have a special place for our Lady in your life? During my stay here in the seminary there are countless virtues that are imbued to us; these virtues are given in many forms such as in work, chores, studies, and in our 9 nosegays prior to the celebration of a special feast or solemnity. Some groups have their own way of encouraging us to participate in our daily nosegays – a good example is the one given to us now, by the ACTS youth group. But the question is; are we fulfilled every time we do a particular virtue for just one day? Are we contented with the minimum? Why is it that we just practice it nine days before the feast day itself? Can’t we do it for 365 days? The point of the matter is – isn’t that unfair for her whom we honor in these novena days? All her life she practiced all the virtues that you can think of. How can we imitate her? How can we be generous, pious, tempered, prudent and etc and etc?

We also have these prayers and practices in honor of our Lady. But what is the use of the recitation of the Holy Rosary if we have conflicts with each other; what is the use of the novenas if we cannot be brothers to each other. We tend to see ourselves the oppressed and the lowly ones but in fact we are among the proud ones. I cannot but just ask myself; is this the congregation/community that really loves our Blessed Mother? But what is the answer to all these questions?

My dear brethren all start with the big letter A – acceptance. For me it is the key for us to understand the entire situation that we encounter. With this we can engrave in our hearts every virtue that we know. Just like our Blessed Mother she accepted the will of the Father, and now we honor her for she is the model of all virtues. For me this must be the very first thing that we should learn; to accept. It will spring up like plant and grow into a beautiful tree and bear fruits, much fruits, copious fruits. The very first thing to do is to say “I accept.” Accepting ourselves might be difficult for us to do the next moment for we might excavate long lost memories that are hurtful for us, but it will all have to start here. Just say it “I accept.” After having said that to ourselves may I now invite you to approach the person you hate most yes the one you hate most it may not be necessary to do this now, for this might be very difficult but imagine that you might not wake up tomorrow morning. If find that you are not yet ready for that, don’t be plastic for it might just hurt our Blessed Mother. Tell those people you hate, “I accept you as my brother.”

In giving a special place for our brothers in our hearts we also give a special place for Mary in our hearts. I cannot guarantee how long we are going to continue accepting each other, but I hope and pray that we may persevere not just in our vocation but in being brother to our brothers. May God bless us all.

Mary Immaculate Help of Christians

My Best Teacher

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

- William Arthur Ward

Years back in high school I was able to meet the most amazing teacher I ever had. If you're looking for a concrete example of what is written from above is in this picture.

A group of rowdy insolent boys were gather in single room and together with them is an angel. Hehehe. I’m referring to my 4th year high school section the great IV-St. Mark and the angel is our dearest Adviser Ma’am Cel Liwanag. She is indeed a paragon of a real teacher a real Salesian teacher. She was able to touch our hearts in every way she could. I remember when she stick out her neck just to save our section from shame, she did that not because she's responsible but because she loves us. Don Bosco said "Education is a matter of the heart."

I’ve met a lot of teachers in my life but nothing compares to this angel of ours. Although many years have passed, I believe, we (St. Mark) still cherish the days when we were still together. It was then that each member of the section lives in harmony.

(Sorry ma'am ninakaw ko pix nyo sa Friendster)

Vocation Promotion

This video was made by Fr. Dixie Dizon, SDB. Shots were taken from the different parts of the pre-novitiate seminary showcasing the life inside.

We've been using this video for our vocation promotion. I believe many were inspired to enter the seminary because of this simple presentation.

The song 'Pilgrims Theme' was used to emphasize the message of discerning. God is the caller and we are the ones who answer the call.

You'll be able to see me in this video, but my face is far too different from what I have now. Hahahaha.

Ang Panitikan

Tayong lahat ay nakatira sa isang bakyum. Lahat ng ginagawa antin dito sa mundo ay nakakaapekto sa lahat ng taong nakapaligid sa atin. Ang panitikan ng ating lahi ay masasabi nating nakakaapekto sa buhay ng bawat mamamayan ng bansang ito. Bagamat pagod na ang mga tao sa kakasigaw ng kalayaan ay walang sawa parin nating tinatangkilik ang mga ito. Meron itong epekto sa atin, malaki man ito o maliit, hindi na ito mahalaga basta ito ay nailimbag na hindi lang sa papel na madaling mabulok kundi sa mga puso natin upang ang mensahe nito ay maipakalat sa mga hindi pa nakakabasa at nakakarinig.

Mahirap ang buhay, ngunit mahirap nga ba ito o tayo mismo ang nagpapahirap sa ating sarili. Ang ating panitikan ay isang daan sa atin upang iangat tayo sa pagkakalugmok ng ating buhay. Hindi man mangyari sa tunay na buhay ang mga pangyayari sa loob ng isang panitikan ay magsisilbing inspirasyon ito sa ating upang tayo ay sumulong sa ating mga pagkakamali at mga pagkukulang sa ating mga ginanagawa. Kapag sinimulan nating mahalin ang ating panitikan ay magkakaroon tayo ay matatnaw natin ang pagbubukang liwayway ng ating pagmamahal sa ating kapwa at sa ating bansang matagal na nating kinalimutan.

Joy and Optimism

Games and Recreation are part of our formation. Our religious formation is like a fire that continuously burns in our hearts; it makes us strong and firm in our vocation. However, if we fail to enrich one area of our formation, we will surely have some difficulty in the future. According to the book “walking with the young” the description of the playground is full of movement, shouts, and games. It is an educational tool of great power. The disappearance of this aspect is a sign of educational lack. It is also the theater of education, lending itself as it does so readily, to encounter, friendship, exchange, relaxation, in short, mutuality, and therefore, joy. Joyful and vigorous movement is integral to the human person, and is certainly relational in its intent.

Don Bosco is very wise that he encouraged his boys to this program of life, “Cheerfulness, work, and holiness.” In his oratory these three are the basic and strong foundations of his apostolate. He is expert in all these aspects. Here in our seminary we make our selves expert in these areas, because someday we will use these if we become Salesians and these are the first things that we should share to our boys.

One time in the life of Don Bosco a cardinal asked him “how did you get the hearts of your student?” He answered “to get the hearts of your student is to be like them.” “How?” the cardinal asked. “Let me show you.” Don Bosco said. He went out of the carriage and went to a cluster of boys playing in the street and played with them. Being like them will make the interaction more realistic and the boys won’t have the difficulty of relating with us. Games and Recreation also enriches our social life with others. If we don’t know how to relate with others will make the boys aloof to us. They might misinterpret our actions with regard to our social life. Game time is not MSD time hmmm… sorry for that. Game time is not Study time. Game time is not internet time. Game time is not free time. If you ask me why… well it is the only time that we can interact with each other. If you want to know your friends’ attitude, see him play and you’ll know who he is.

In the biographical memoirs of Don Bosco he said “Enjoy your games as long as they are harmless and give you useful amusement to restore your bodily health and strengthen your spirit.” Games don’t only supply our bodily health but also our soul. It makes us busy and not wastes a single moment. So while we move the devil is idle or if you want, be idle and let the devil work for you.

Games and recreations are binding factors of our community. Without these we won’t have the chance to deepen our friendship with each other. If you can’t play, your presence is enough, either in the court or in the field, basta kung saan yung game. You may call me KJ but these are real things that we should practice before we are exposed to our apostolate. A good soldier won’t go to war if he doesn’t have any bullets and gun. As aspiring Salesians, games and recreation are one of the effective bullets to get the hearts of the youths today. So arm yourself with these bullets together with those virtues that will enable us to be a true and authentic Salesians. And remember be happy always.

The ship, the captain and the sailors

“The ship is safest when it’s in port, but that’s not what ships were built for.”

- The Pilgrimage ( Paulo Coelho )

We are meant for greater things in life. Man was created by God with unlimited talents and if you are abnormal (amputee, sick, mental illness) this is not a good reason for you to be exempted. We as human beings are tasked to go out in our shell and discover the world. This requires a deep understanding of our selves and an adequate knowledge of our own capacity. It also requires us to maximize the things that are useful to us; Nietzsche once said “if it doesn’t kill you, it will help you.” All these things around us are useful in our growth, but how do we grow? We have to sacrifice and make our way out of our comfort zone in that way we may have the capacity to see things in a different perspective.

Sailing is the most difficult task that we should do in our life. We are the captain, the sailors and the ship. We determine the place where we go. The ship (you) carries a treasure within that differs from the other ship. We should not allow any one to get it from us. It is our duty to protect it. The captain is our mind, the sailor is our body, the ship is our very heart and the treasure is our own talents. The compendium of these three and the cooperation each and one of them, would allow us to be strong and steady even in the darkest storm in our life.

Our purpose here on earth is not just to eat, drink, and have fun, sleep and other things that a mediocre man do, we have to do some work that would push ourselves to the limit and with that we would be proud of ourselves that we accomplished something in our life. Why should we allow ourselves to remain stagnant in our port? We have to sail in the vastness of our soul and discover the richness of our life. Every island that we see in our life becomes a new discovery of our self and be a better person in the coming days of our life.

Search

God has a very special place in our system and that is our head. Yes, you read it right he is in our HEAD. Many are prone to intellectualize the existence of God. I could even say that we love God with our head but not with our heart. FAITH becomes knowledge, and there is no more excitement in each pray-er's prayer life.

We see God as a strict ruler than a loving father. Maybe the curse of seemingly prayerful is that he/she prays mechanically and does not have any direct paternal contact with our God.

I've been with the Salesians for the past twelve years, and it was in high school that i had the most intimate relationship with God. It was there that I was more active in the church.

When the time came for me to answer HIS call, it was then that I began to enthrone GOD in my majestic head, pushing myself to understand HIM and forgets the intimacy that I had with HIM. The biggest problem was that I no longer see HIM as a significant actor in my Movie (MY LIFE).

It was a bit sad that I always teach my students to pray and have at least a moment with God,but i myself don't practice what I've shared to them. I came to a point that i never prayed for the whole home vacation. I wasn't deeply motivated to pray.

Silencing one's self is a way of hearing, seeing and feeling God. When we silence ourselves we expand the horizon of our senses and we have a better view of our nature. The previous unseen things magnifies during the course of silencing. We focus on things we don't usually give importance before: ants lining, a falling leaf, gush of the wind, chirping of the birds, the dripping of water and many more. Through these small things God manifest himself and communicates to us. the closer we are in nature the closer get to God.

Through silencing exercise, many revelations came and God showed also my weakness as a person.

It was then that I experienced consolation. He is the God of silence, and in Silence I found God; or rather he found me.