The Provincial’s  Prayer

I am deeply aware that to be at the helm of leadership is a very challenging ministry. Yet when I came to know that I am the one to lead the Province I could not but say yes, for the following reasons: first, I love the Order-Philippine Province. I am who I am now because of the help and support I got from my confreres since I joined the Order; second, the overwhelming trust I got from my confreres when they nominated me to lead the Province; and third, that it's not my work but God’s.

At this point in my life, as I have been doing before, I have to allow God to use me to be his instrument in bringing out the best in my confreres so that as a community we can become a beacon of hope and healing to the people God has gifted to us—the sick.

My prayer then: So help me, God, that I may become the leader you want me to be. Amen.

HIV/AIDS forum participants: Stop HIV from “killing the president”

“Your T4 or CD4 or T helper cell is the president of your body immune response. As commander-in-chief, its main responsibility is to give signals and activate the other workforce in your immune system to neutralize an invading microbe inside your body,” explained public health doctor Dan V. Cancino, Jr. “And it is the very cell targeted and killed by the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV that eventually leads to acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS,” emphasized this Camillian scholastic who lectured on the biomedical facts of HIV/AIDS during the first National Catholic Forum on HIV/AIDS on March 11-13, 2010.

Held at the CBCP-NASSA BEC Development Center in the windy city of Tagaytay, the forum aimed to map out the responses to HIV/AIDS of Catholic organizations in the Philippines, to facilitate a dialogue on HIV/AIDS involvements among these groups, and most importantly, to discuss the establishment of a Catholic HIV/AIDS network in the country.

Parish leaders shift paradigm after HIV/AIDS Pastoral Training

“Can I ask my husband to undergo an HIV antibody testing before he comes home?” asked one participant whose husband works overseas. And laughter filled the hall.

Such concern was raised during the Pastoral Training on HIV/AIDS that Camillian Scholastics John Paul Alvarado, Eric Tampis, Dan Cancino, Jr., and John Jay Magpusao conducted for parish based migrants’ ministry leaders from the Archdioceses of Manila and San Fernando, Pampanga and the Dioceses of Antipolo, Caloocan, Cubao, Novaliches, and Lipa, Batangas at the Knights of Columbus Building, Intramuros, Manila on March 23, 2010. The training workshop was part of the education program of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI).  Most of the participants have family members who are land- or sea-based workers abroad. Some of them had been overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) themselves.

2010 HIV Summit steps up fight against AIDS

They were leaders from the national government, regional offices, civil society, private business, faith-based communities, local government, development partners, mass media, and the academe. They gathered inside a big hall at the Diamond Hotel in Manila with principals and representatives of organizations of people living with HIV.  Their paths crossed at the 2010 HIV Summit on April 12, 2010.   Organized by the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), the Summit carried the battle cry: “Call to Action for Broad-based Responses to AIDS by Leaders.”

Bp. Deogracias S. Iñiguez, Jr., DD of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and Bro. Dan V. Cancino, Jr., MI of the Camillians represented the Roman Catholic Church in the event.  Sr. Amy E. Torres, DC (Daughters of Charity), Sr. Cleofe M. Macalino, SMI (Camillian Sisters), and Bro. John Jay C. Magpusao, MI (Camillians) manned the booth of the National Catholic Network on HIV/AIDS at the exhibit zone. The booth highlighted the practices of various sectors that yielded positive results in addressing challenges in the response to HIV and AIDS in the country.

Last March 31 until April 4, 2010, the four novices and Bro. Rancel along with the eleven postulants and three scholastics went to the Parish of Nuestra Seňora de la Anunciata (Boso-Boso) to help Fr. Meng facilitate the Holy Week activities. They were sent by groups to three mountainous areas of San Josef, San Isiro and Apia. With creativity they helped animate the Lenten services.  They joined the people in celebrating the way of the Cross and paraliturgical services that included the washing of the feet, reflection on the seven last words, and sharing of their Lenten-related experiences. Hopefully, the activities helped the people feel the spirit of Lent and were moved to journey with Jesus in His suffering and death.

Let Go and Let God!

Series of Talks

These past weeks, the postulants listened to a series of talks in preparation for the novitiate.  The first talk by Fr. Ruben Mandin, MI led them to recall their life story from childhood to the present.  It was indeed a heart-to-heart deliberation as they confronted their ups and downs in their journey of becoming the person they are now.

The next session was on DISCERNMENT with Fr. Gabriel Garcia, MI, as the trusted facilitator. He stressed the importance of making the right choice, which is choosing what and where God wants us to be. Though knowing God’s plan is quite a challenge, he said that it is a must to have an initial decision towards this life. He also encouraged us to be true and open to God’s call in our life.

After a week, the seminary rector, Fr. Renante T. Sentillas, MI, helped us to understand and develop our prayer life. He gave us ample reading materials about prayer and introduced different styles of praying: lectio divina, journaling, meditation, to name a few.

Ten religious men and women successfully completed the first quarter CPE course at St. Camillus Pastoral Healthcare Center held from January 18 to March 26, 2010:

• Bro. Juvy Crisostomo, AM (Philippines)
• Judith Daroy, Columban, Missionary Sisters (Philippines)
• Rosalie Marie Madelo, CSFN (Philippines)
• Maria Lolita Miot, CSFN (Philippines)
• Anna Jenieth Gesta, DSA (Philippines)
• Gertuda Youn, LCM (South Korea)
• Magdalena Sandar Win, RGS(Myanmar)
• Felix Chaw Su Su Aung, RGS (Myanmar)
• Fr. Joseph Yang, MI (China)
• Cyrelus Suparman Andi, MI (Indonesia)

The participants came with their diverse cultural backgrounds which gave rainbow colors to their interaction throughout the program.  Their differences did not hinder but rather enrich the dynamics of their communal journey.

House of Hope guests -living with cancer and celebrating their blessings

“Our Lord Jesus, our God, a loving Master, You are our Rock, our Fortress and our Strength”. This was the message expressed by most of the parents, relatives and patients who attended the interactive group processing session at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) Healing Garden last March 16, 2010.

The officers and members of the Lay Camillian Family (LCF) of Davao spent time together with their Spiritual Director, Fr. Bong Pamintuan, M.I. to participate in the gathering. There were twenty seven relatives and watchers with fifteen patients from the House of Hope who joined the activity to share their feelings about their situation and the goodness of the Lord. (House of Hope, a half-way house located at the SPMC compound, provides accommodations to cancer-stricken children age one to fourteen, undergoing chemotherapy. They come from all over Mindanao and are allowed to stay in this facility to lessen their financial concerns.)

A Day of Thanksgiving and Celebration

Last March 24, 2010 we celebrated the 39th birthday of Fr. Tex V. Buntol, M.I.  At his thanksgiving Mass at 12:15 noon at the Divine Healer Chapel, he expressed his gratitude to all the people who have journeyed with him and helped him reach this far in his life. Above all he offered thanks to God for all those years which added color to his life and ministry. Many friends and Mass-goers greeted him after the Mass.

Provincial Election

The Camillians from the German Province, including those from Holland, Columbia and Tanzania, cast their votes for the election of the new Provincial scheduled in May this year. There are all in all 30 voters from the said Province (18 from Germany, 5 from Holland, and the rest are from Tanzania & Columbia). The incumbent Provincial, Fr. Dietmar Weber, expressed his readiness and generous support to whoever will be elected to the position.

Philippine Elections

A good number of voters for the coming Philippine elections 2010 are residing and working abroad. For this reason, the Philippine Embassy in Berlin sent to all Philippine passport holders living and working in Germany the list of candidates for the May elections. All qualified voters were encouraged to exercise their rights and privileges by casting their votes in freedom, honesty and sincerity. Among the presidential candidates, the name “Noynoy Aquino” has the loudest echo for the Filipinos living in this part of the globe.