Ethereal. That was my impression as I traveled for long hours through the winding roads and the highest elevation of the Philippine Highway System in Benguet up to the Mt. Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Central Luzon.

Gregorian chants were playing in my mp3 while brisk air was brushing against my skin; birds were taking pleasure in their freedom over rice and vegetable terraces; waters were freely gushing forth down the waterfalls on distant mountains, and dense fog was kissing the pine trees, rocks and grasses embellishing the ragged mountaintops.

Back to reality

After vacationing and vocationing, we scholastics retraced our way back to our respective schools of Theology to face the academic hurdles of the second semester.  Honestly speaking, some of us  went to school ‘like creeping snails’.  We found ourselves really back to reality.

On the first two Thursday afternoons and Sundays of November we resumed our apostolate with the sick.  This challenged us to practice what we preached to the youngsters throughout the country during the vocation campaign.

Last November 15-16, 2008, the Ministers of the Infirm Philippine Province spearheaded by the Secretariat on Formation held its 5th KUMPULAN (KUMustahan at PULong PangkamilyAN) at the St. Camillus College Seminary. KUMPULAN is the annual gathering of all Camillian Formands.  Seventy nine seminarians, 19 scholastics, two novices, and one formand from the Adult Formation Program with two incoming professionals attended the gathering which is a venue for fostering unity and camaraderie among all Camillian formands.

“THE ROSARY IS A VERY POPULAR PRAYER recited by the Catholic faithful, either individually or in groups.  The Rosary, if recited properly while meditating on the mysteries, together with the effort to live out their message in our lives, is a wonderful means of spiritual growth”. (Splendor of the Rosary, pages 1 & 3)

We’re midway through our CPE course.  And now the end is near.  It makes us sad just thinking of that end but what could we do?  Let it just come.  Right?  I think it’s better to just talk of our happy days and greatest experience in this CPE quarter, which for sure, we will all treasure in our entire existence.  At least we have something to counterbalance the amount of issues that we have.

After weeks of processing verbatims, biblical image, the mid-point evaluation, case studies and hospital visitations; after weeks of facing the computer, staying up late at night, writing scripts, cramming and rushing to the printers and copying machines; after weeks of getting to know ourselves and our peers, I think we really deserve a break.

SAN JOSE, ANTIPOLO CITY — As the cool breeze swept across my face while riding a tricycle from the kanto (corner) of Boso-Boso to the Anunciata Parish, I noticed that I was back in this memorable place where most Camillians grew in depth in their ministry and formation. I saw that everything was the same in the place: there’s the basketball court but with a protecting roof now, the usual banana cue and turon of Ate Ruby and Kuya Deming, children playing along the pavement leading to the church, and the old canal with flowing water along the road to our mission house. But with all these memorable familiar sights that remind us of our cherished experiences here, many things have also changed and many events have happened.

Because he had no room to lay his head, Fr. Rolly “squatted”, illegally perhaps, for several years with chickens and other animals in his mission area in Cainta  – which shows his deep seated love for animals. That could perhaps qualify him to be some kind of a Camillian St. Francis of Assisi. [How’s that for Baloney? Well, we’ll know when Fr. Tom comes back after voting for Obama (hopefully?)]. 

Thus, Fr. Rolly is a squatter no more.  He has a decent shelter now.  He intended the shelter not only for himself but also for our Camillian seminarians and scholastics who go there for exposure and apostolate.

Meetings here and there!!!

Camillian Meeting in Rome

Twenty seven Camillians engaged in pastoral work in different parishes attended the international meeting last November 10 – 11 in Rome. The topic centered on the “Identity of the Camillian Parish in Service to Health”. The meeting took place at the Villa Primavera run by the Suore Ancelle dell’ Incarnazione. Being in-charge of the Filipino Community from the St. Camillus Parish and at the same time chaplain from the Ruhrlandklinik hospital in Essen, Fr. Manny Tamayo represented the German Province. There he met also the two participating Filipino confreres, Fr. Robert Chua and Fr. Meng Barawid, from the Philippine Province.