Mar 31 2014

Admission to the Novitiate

On March 25, 2014 – the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, eight Postulants were admitted to the Novitiate. Five of them (Rolly, Felix. Rene, Mark and Chadee) are Filipinos and three (Son, Hung and Dinh) are Vietnamese. The ceremony of acceptance took place during the concelebrated Mass at the Novitiate, Fr. Dehon in Lower Lucoban, Dumalinao in Zamboanga del Sur Province. During his homily Fr. Francis Pupkowski, the superior of the Philippine Region said:  “Today, eight of  you start your fifteen month Novitiate. It is not an accident that we are here; it is a God’s call… God called us here, because He has many and meaningful plans for each one of us… many interesting and inspiring tasks… He firmly believes that we can do something special for Him. So, let us place ourselves at the disposal of God. Like Mary let us give our full cooperation and unconditional collaboration as we say “Ecce Ancilla” – favorite expression of Fr. Leo Dehon, “Lord, let it be done according to your will.”

Novitiate is a time of preparation to become a member of the congregation by professing three vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience. It is also a time of discernment if one was called to religious life in the community.  It often includes times of intense study, prayer, living in community, studying the vowed life, deepening one’s relationship with God, and deepening one’s self-awareness. It is a time of creating a new way of being in the world.

 

 

Mar 5 2014

Letter for the Birth Anniversary of Fr. Dehon

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Letter of March 14: the Birthday of Fr. Dehon

Dear Confreres,

March 14 is a day on which we remember not only the birth of our founder, Léon Dehon, but also the birth of our vocation. In doing so, we pray that this vocation will live on in others, and are reminded to help others –– from all walks of life, in the many places we serve –– to find the vocation that is alive within them.

For us, March 14 is our vocation day.

For many visitors to Rome, part of their pilgrimage includes a stop at the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. It is known for the three paintings of Caravaggio. In his interview with Antonio Spadaro, Pope Francis made a reference to the most famous of the three paintings: The Calling of Saint Matthew. For those who do not know the painting, Matthew and his helpers are sitting at the publican’s table counting money. In the doorway stands Peter and Jesus. Behind them is a light that falls upon Matthew and upon what he is doing. Matthew’s gaze, as well as of two youngsters sitting at the table with him, is fixed in the direction of Jesus. Jesus points with his finger in the direction of Matthew and Matthew in unbelief points his own finger to his breast with the obvious question: “Who? Me?” Matthew is drawn into the light. It was his future.

It is sometimes said that callings are intrusive, even violent. None of this is evident in the painting. Jesus points at Matthew, but looking at the pointing hand one sees the index finger not straight and imperious but curved downwards, much like the finger of the Creator in Michelangelo’s creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel. The finger questions Matthew. Matthew is presented with an enigma, which is clearly shown on his face. “Yes, even you Matthew, with a table of grubby tax money before you. Yes, you! Come, follow me.” The Gospel text tells of no hesitation: “And he got up and followed him.” (Mt. 9.9)

We, who have experienced it, know the feeling of the calling. The notion of vocation or call has not only generated interest among religious but also among philosophers. There is a rather wide body of literature that has studied the phenomenology of the call: what happens when someone is “called.” These reflections go to the core of what in human existence occurs when confronted with the call. There is no clear voice – nothing that that indicates a caller. The caller remains anonymous, indefinable. I do not control it. It does not come from me. It comes from elsewhere – perhaps, in something beautiful – and I know it to be important because it feels life-determining. The Jewish philosopher Levinas called it “a provocation from God[1].” It provokes me to give a certain direction to my life.

As with the call of Jesus to his disciples, a call impels one to leave one’s “home”, to get off the couch. The French philosopher Jean-Louis Chrétien says that to be called is to be “required.” There is a certain urgency attached to a call, a feeling “required” to take a certain direction in life. In following the early life of Léon Dehon, one reads frequently about the disturbance caused by his vocation: “I am forever preoccupied with my religious vocation…” he wrote in 1875 (NHV XI,152); he spoke of what he perceived of “the way God guides me in life » (NQ XLIV 30), of his “suffering”  (NHV XI,177).  Most of us have followed this internal urge, listened to its impulse and sought to follow where it led us. Our vocation became our mission. The call also made us go in search of the One who called us, to befriend the origin from which the call came. That has been our life.

On March 14th we recall this search and its resolution. We need to bring ourselves back from time to time to our own experience of the vocational call. What happened to me? What did it require of me? Where has it taken me? For Dehon his call was clear from age twelve onward. He never doubted it. We may not have experienced it in a straight way – perhaps only a constantly-returning appeal to be true. On March 14th let us celebrate it. Fr. Dehon described it as a faith journey with God’s love.

The day also invites us to speak to others about their call; how has it been experienced in the lives of others? A call is very individual, but also a shared experience. We might understand and appreciate our own call better by sharing it with others, and hearing their stories.

In 1914 at table Fr. Dehon asked a young person why he wanted to become a priest. He told the founder “St. John was the apostle who loved, then love the Lord – that is the basis of a vocation.” (Position II, 408) Love is a good place to start. For Dehon, without it we could do nothing.  And so let us take it up in our prayers when we talk with the one who first impelled us. It is probably the most important appeal or invitation made in my life.

In Corde Jesu

Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho, scj

Superior General

[1] Isabelle Thomas-Fogiel, The call in the thought of Lévinas, Marion and Chrétien,  Aisthesis – Rivista Online di Estetica, 2/2011

Jan 9 2014

Regional Assembly 2014

Regional Assembly 2014Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines –

The presence of the congregation of the Priests of the Sacred of Jesus (SCJ) in the Philippines marks its 25th anniversary this year.  All these times the group traditionally holds its annual assembly every January, to share, reflect, evaluate and plan for the future.  For 2014, our assembly was set from the 6th to the 10th.  At this moment, the gathering is on its fourth day.  As customary, the assembly starts with a recollection and confessions.   During the first day, the group listened to the personal sharing of Engr. Antonio Sevillano, a lay leader in the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.  He shared about his experiences with priests and the perceptions and expectations of the lay faithful of the clerics. His major points can be summarized into three themes: Holiness, Presence and Good Homilies. Indeed the group finds the sharing very profound and challenging. Then we continued with the usual personal sharing, giving emphasis on the reflection regarding our 25 years presence, especially in the aspect of internationality, inculturation and hope. After a full day of personal sharing, we proceeded with the reporting by commission (pastoral, social, spiritual, and others). Today, we are having a morning off so we can go to one of our mission areas in the archdiocese to join in the celebration of the parish feast day. Meeting will resume in the afternoon. We ask you to continue praying for us and our mission here in the ‘only Christian nation in the far east’ – the Philippines.

By Fr. Arthur Guevara, scj

Dec 31 2013

Misa de Gallo in Kananga, Leyte

The Holy Family Parish in Kananga, Leyte experienced nostalgia and yet great joy in celebrating Christmas following Yolanda’s aftermath.  Last December 14 to 25, 2013, the Dehonian mission team of the Manila community composed of five scholastics from different stages of formation, namely, Bros. Nathaniel Robilla, Jose Patro Gier, Joseph Muego, Rogereve Pausanos, Dennis Macasero and Fr. Delio Ruiz,scj, our formator, spent eleven days in Holy Family Parish, Kananga, Leyte. We were warmly welcomed by Fr. Gil Logramonte, the Parish Priest, who gave us the privilege of witnessing Christ in the community of Kananga by living with them and celebrating Misa de Gallo (dawn mass) in the different chapels.

When we landed in Tacloban airport, we saw the place completely devastated by typhoon Yolanda. The Leyteños suffered the worst of Yolanda’s wrath which is the strongest typhoon thus far that ever hit the Philippine area of responsibility according to Pag–asa statistics. We have seen for ourselves the havoc created by Yolanda on the town’s socio-economic condition. We witnessed some people queuing for relief goods and begging for food to anyone who passed by the roadside.

As we went around the different towns of Leyte, we observed that the coastal areas had been obliterated by the typhoon. I could just imagine the chaos, struggle and confusion in looking for a place of refuge at the height of Yolanda’s landfall in Leyte that fateful day. Wherever I looked I could find debris and ruins. The places affected looked like a war zone wherein buildings and houses have been completely destroyed and flattened to the ground as if a nuclear bomb hit the place.

As Tacloban and other coastal towns were inundated with the surge of sea water, Kananga only experienced the strong wind that carried away the roof of their houses and uprooted coconut trees, and the like.  Fortunately, the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), the well-known and biggest geothermal plant in the world located in Kananga that produces electricity for Visayas and Luzon, was able to resist and withstand Yolanda with few casualties. At present, EDC continues to provide light and power for the people in their yearning for quick restoration and rehabilitation.

I witnessed that the community maintained their resilience in facing life after the catastrophe, in the midst of rubbles and destructions. They remained strong like an acacia tree and rose up from desolation similar to a bamboo that bounces back after the passing of the strong wind.

“We are roofless, homeless but we are not hopeless” is the most touching slogan that I have read while visiting the places around Leyte. These words empower and give them hope to rebuild their life anew. I encountered people who were nostalgic of what had happened but few words of inspiration moved them to look forward to the future.

The community was sentimental but manifested greater joy of what is ahead of them. Celebrating Misa de Gallo ignited their spiritual nourishment, to stand firm and remain strong in their faith as we commemorate the birth of Christ in the midst of affliction. Rainy or fair weather, the church was overflowing with the faithful during the celebration of the dawn masses.

After the Misa de Gallo, all of us enjoyed partaking of the Pinoy traditional early morning snack which is called pandesal (bread) with matching hot coffee. I could skip breakfast but no way would I miss eating together with the elders and kids. The little bread we shared and the coffee we sipped were more precious moments than those I have experienced in classy coffee shops. The exchange of different survival typhoon stories was meaningful for me.  It was an opportunity for debriefing them from their traumas and the horrors they suffered because of Yolanda.  While they exchanged stories, they realized that amid their horrifying experience they recognized how God worked in their lives. As I listened to their stories, I was enraptured with joy when I heard their reflections.  It was for me a visible encounter of a true Eucharistic celebration… of what Jesus did with his disciples after the resurrection in the Galilee account. I witnessed that Christ was in their midst listening to their stories while sharing bread and coffee with one another.

Aside from Fr. Gil and Fr. Delio, SCJ, who celebrated Misa de Gallo in the different chapels, we, the scholastic brothers, were given the chance to celebrate the anticipated Liturgy of the Word in Barangays Tagaytay and Lim-ao.  These are places that could hardly be reached by the priests because of their tight schedules. Five of us brothers have been able to experience celebrating the Liturgy of the Word in two of the dozens of roofless chapels. When it rained, umbrellas were handy even inside the chapel. The nourishment of the Word of God had moved them to strengthen their solidarity with their neighbors in order for them to rise up and rebuild the new community that Christ has longed for.

After the Misa de Gallo, we had the chance to distribute the relief goods courtesy of the different organizations such as Sanlingkod ng Bayan, a Jesuit foundation, and Sagip Kapamilya of ABS-CBN Foundation and similar institutions. The goods were distributed to the different barangays that could not be reached by any relief operation. Our conversation with the survivors and words of encouragement lightened up their faces, and hopefully moved them to rebuild their lives.

The Kananga community may be roofless and homeless, but the spirit of Christmas dwells in their hearts… They remain hopeful. They may be melancholic because of their horrible experience, however, our stay and encounter with them during the MIsa de Gallo may have reminded them of the incarnation… that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among His people. This experience may be reminiscent of the true Eucharistic celebration that gives life and hope to the people.

The Misa de Gallo is celebrated at dawn and right after is the rising of the sun, emanating light to the world… a recreation of a new day.  May the Misa de Gallo be a symbol and source of hope, faith and life of the Kananga community.

Bangon Kananga! (Arise, Kananga!)

Merry Christmas!

By Bro. Nathaniel D. Robilla, scj

Dec 25 2013

Pasko sa Opol – Christmas in Opol

Every December the SCJ postulants of the Sacred Heart Formation House would traditionally go through an immersion program for 10 days during the Christmas novena.

For this year we decided to hold the immersion in Mother of Divine Mercy Village in Opol, Misamis Oriental. The village is home to 326 families who survived Sendong. Actually, it is one of the relocation sites of the Sendong survivors. The congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart is one of the lead groups which helped establish this village.

On December 21, the 6th day of the immersion, the postulants were joined by the members of the Dehonian family–the youth & the lay group through the medical-dental-food and gift giving activities.

The families living in the village continue to struggle to survive in their daily life, coping without access to clean water and electricity. Thus, we decided that the outreach of the Dehonians be held in the village.

The mission focused on the children who were able to avail of free medical and dental services. The medicines prescribed were freely provided. The dental teams were from the Health Services Department of the Philippine National Police and Bureau of Fire Protection. The dentists performed tooth extraction to 100 children. Also to some adults. The medical team was from the Department of Health joined by 2 private doctors and a nurse. A pharmacist was likewise present who helped in the dispensation of medicines

The kids also enjoyed the food packs, loot bags, and games spearheaded by a group of teachers who collaborated in this affair. Some friends of the SCJs sponsored and gave popcorns and ice cream which delighted the children. They had a lot of fun.

The day was loaded with simultaneous activities courtesy of generous benefactors and friends of the SCJs. The lay and the youth groups provided assistance according to their assigned tasks.

The outreach was a success… an outpouring of generosity of time, treasure & talents of diverse groups united in their effort to provide service to Sendong survivors in Mother if Divine Mercy Village. Thanks be to God!

By: Fr. Andrew Sudol, scj