St. John Bosco Today • December 2013–February 2014

: h t u o Y n a Salesi Active, Upright Citizens

of the World

DECEMBER 2013-FEBRUARY 2014

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TABLE of

CONTENTS ST. JOHN BOSCO TODAY

THE SALESIAN FAMILY MAGAZINE | PHILIPPINES December 2013 - February 2014 | Volume 43 Number 3

COVER STORY

PEDAGOGY OF FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

The power of choice Fr. Caesar Dizon, SDB

FEATURES VIDES PHILIPPINES

Valiant volunteers

By Sr. Maria Josefina S. Carrasco, FMA

How to raise upright citizens 19

By Marge Macasaet-Barro

FORMING GOD-ORIENTED CITIZENS

Towards a civilization of love 8

By Fr. Joriz Foz Calsa, SDB

Bringing back ‘healthy shame’ 10

By Rolando C. delos Reyes II, MA Ed. RGC THE POLITICAL CHALLENGE FOR BOSCONIANS

21

SPECIAL FEATURE

SDBs got love! Celebrating FIN Provincial Community Day 23

By Br. April Jerome S. Quinto, SDB

Don Bosco’s politics: activism without ‘militantism’ 12

By Fr. Vitaliano Dimaranan, SDB

REGULARS PUBLISHER’S NOTE

DRESSING UP FOR HEAVEN

A celestial fashion show 15

By Nov. Paul Dungca

CHRISTIAN VALUES AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Standing up for Christ

The Golden Boys

By Br. Donnie Duchin Duya, SDB

MOLDING THE YOUTH

By Br. Juvelan Paul Samia, SDB

PROFILES

17

New year, new name

By Fr. Bernard P. Nolasco, SDB

2

MESSAGE FROM THE RECTOR MAJOR

Don Bosco’s pastoral charity

3

By Fr. Pascual Chávez Villanueva, SDB

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OwnerÊSalesianÊSocietyÊofÊSt.ÊJohnÊBoscoÊ PrinterÊDonÊBoscoÊPress,ÊInc. EDITORIALÊBOARDÊPublisherÊÊFr.ÊBernardÊP.ÊNolasco,ÊSDBÊ|EditorÊÊRomeldaÊC.ÊAscutia|CopyÊEditorÊ Br.ÊAntonioÊCaspellan,ÊSDBÊ|ÊCoordinatorsÊFr.ÊRandyÊFiguracion,SDBÊFIS;ÊSr.ÊMariaÊSocorroÊBacani,Ê FMAÊFMAÊ&ÊFMAÊPastÊPupils;ÊSr.ÊSophiaÊAkikoÊOshita,ÊSCGÊSCG;ÊBrendaÊRamirezÊASC;ÊDr.ÊVictorÊB.Ê EndrigaÊDBAPNF;ÊMariaÊJuniferÊMaligligÊADMA;ÊEvangelineÊDollienteÊFADSÊ|ÊLayoutÊArtistÊEarlyÊ Macabales|CirculationÊCommissionÊonÊSocialÊCommunication ForÊsubscriptionÊcontactÊST.ÊJOHNÊBOSCOÊTODAYÊ CommissionÊonÊSocialÊCommunicationÊ 3/F Don Bosco Provincial Office, Don Bosco Compound, C.ÊRocesÊAve.Êcor.ÊA.ÊArnaizÊAve.Ê1264ÊMakatiÊCity,ÊPhilippines Tel (02) 893-8227 loc. 114 • Telefax (02) 892-8174

New year,

new name

A

4

PARENTS AND NATION-BUILDING

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Publisher's Note

s we greet each other a Happy New Year, beginning this 2014, our Salesian Family Magazine will carry a different banner, ST. JOHN BOSCO TODAY, having the ‘Salesian Bulletin’ as its subtitle. There are some reasons why we decided to use the name of our founder as our magazine banner: • inasmuch as the present format of the Salesian Bulletin is becoming more and more formative in how we must continue to make the legacy of St. John Bosco present and alive today; • inasmuch as we are called to make St. John Bosco more relevant in these contemporary times; • and inasmuch as, being members of the Salesian Family, we must make St. John Bosco more known in the mission we do in the Church, hence, the new banner of our Salesian Family Magazine, ST. JOHN BOSCO TODAY. In this issue, we welcome with delight the Strenna of our Rector Major: “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle.” Let us draw upon Don Bosco’s experience, so we can walk in holiness according to our specific vocation, “The glory of God and the salvation of souls.” The Letter of our Rector Major on the Strenna will be published as a series so that we can better digest his rich message.

We hope that the featured articles in this issue may help us face the challenges of this year’s Strenna in our Church, in our communities, in our families, and in our society.

Our heartfelt congratulations to our Golden Jubilarians of Religious Profession, Fr. Salvatore Putzu, Fr. Celestino Lingad, and Bro. Jose Maria Ferrer; our Diamond Jubilarian of Religious Profession, Fr. Eduardo Revilla; and our Diamond Jubilarian of Priestly Ordination, Fr. Andres Cervantes. May you continue to inspire us to be faithful to the Lord Jesus as Salesians.

We are one year closer to the bi-centennial celebration of the birth of our founder, St. John Bosco. As his children, let us all do our very best in allowing him to affect our lives as we live up to the challenges of being members of the Salesian Family— all for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Happy New Year!!!

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Yours in Don Bosco, Fr. Bernard P. Nolasco, SDB

By Fr.

STRENNA 2014

Pascual Chávez Villanueva, SDB

Don Bosco's

pastoral charity “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle.”

Let us draw upon the spiritual experience of Don Bosco, in order to walk in holiness according to our specific vocation, “The glory of God and the salvation of souls.”

T

he first of the three years of preparation for the Bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth was dedicated to a historical appreciation of who he was, and the second year to recognizing his characteristics as an educator and updating his educational practice. In this third and final year, it is our intention now to go to the source of his charism and draw upon his spirituality.

Christian spirituality has charity at its core, the very life of God himself who is Agape, Charity, Love at the very depths of his being.

Salesian spirituality is no different from Christian spirituality; it too finds its focus in charity. In this case we speak of “pastoral charity,” the charity that urges us to seek “the glory of God and the salvation of souls”: “caritas Christi urget nos.”

Like all the great holy founders, Don Bosco lived his life as a Christian through fervent charity and contemplated the Lord Jesus from a particular angle, the charism that God entrusted him with: the mission to the young. “Salesian charity” is pastoral charity because it seeks the salvation of souls, and it is an educative charity because it finds a resource in education that allows it to help young people to develop all their energies for good. In this way young people can grow up to be upright citizens, good Christians, and future inhabitants of heaven.

I invite you then, my dear brothers and sisters, all members of the Salesian Family, to draw from the wellsprings of Don Bosco’s spirituality, from his pastoral and educative charity; it finds its model in Christ the Good Shepherd and its prayer and program for life in Don Bosco’s motto “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle.” Thus, we will be able to discover “Don Bosco the mystic,” whose spiritual experience lies at the basis of our way of being today, our Salesian spirituality according to the different vocations which take their inspiration from it.

‘Salesian charity’ is pastoral charity because it seeks the salvation of souls, and it is an educative charity because it finds a resource in education to help young people to develop all their energies for good.

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| PEDAGOGY OF FREEDOM AnD REsPOnsiBiliTY

The

power of

By Fr. Caesar Dizon, SDB

W

ith great power comes great responsibility.

Who doesn’t know this line from the movie Spider-Man, as uttered by Uncle Ben to Peter Parker in their last conversation together before the old man was killed by a burglar?

Earlier, Peter, coming off a successful wrestling match, refused to help capture a burglar being chased by a security guard, telling the guard that catching criminals was not his job.

When Peter later returned home, he learned from a police officer that the suspect in Uncle Ben’s murder was a burglar.

Outraged, he donned his SpiderMan costume and went after and captured the thief, who he recognized to his horror was the same one he had let go of earlier. Only then did Peter understand the meaning of his uncle’s words, and only at the cost of his beloved relative’s life.

As a result, Peter considered himself morally responsible for Uncle Ben’s death and resolved to fight crime as a superhero, never again to let an innocent person come to harm if he could help it.

MaKinG resPonsiBLe decisions Leaving the world of superheroes for the real world, we ordinary mortals do possess a power so great as to

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have the potential to change even the course of history. It is the power to choose and to decide. It is what we call freedom. Especially at certain crossroads in our life, we are faced with such choices—choices with lifechanging repercussions, not only for ourselves but for others as well. I think this was what Robert Frost had in mind when he wrote the poem “The Road Not Taken.”

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

What can parents, educators, and guardians do to prepare the young to wield well this power to choose and decide? How do we train them for responsible freedom? I use the adjective “responsible” on purpose.

Human history and personal history are replete with examples of its misuse.

Freddie Aguilar’s song “Anak” is a touching story of a child growing up and misusing his freedom.

Pagkat ang nais mo’y Masunod ang layaw mo Di mo sila pinapansin.

To be effective, rules have to be few, clear, reasonable, and age-appropriate.

DECEMBER 2013-FEBRUARY 2014

Boundaries oF FreedoM Obviously this freedom is not just the freedom to do as we please but to do as we ought.

Someone calls it freedom within structures. Simply put, freedom is exercised responsibly when rules are followed.

A practical way to help our sons and daughters learn responsible freedom is through house rules.

These are boundaries set by parents who must take great pains to make their children understand that these are for their own good.

Moreover, these boundaries must be taken seriously. And children will take them seriously only when any culpable breach is followed by reasonable and proportionate punishment.

When I was in Milan for the Christmas apostolate among our kababayan, I saw a family whose teenage girl was not

choice present for the afternoon Mass at San Lorenzo.

After Mass I inquired where she was. The father said that she had been grounded for a week in punishment for breaking the curfew.

To be effective, rules have to be few, clear, reasonable, and age-appropriate.

When a child reaches a certain age, he and his parents may talk about the house rules.

Interestingly, the Rector Major asserts that, especially nowadays, dialog is an important expression of reason, one of the three bases of the Preventive System.

acQuirinG PrinciPLes More important than house rules are principles and values. These act like a moral compass that guides one’s children as they navigate their way through life. Someone said that principles and values are not taught; they are caught. I disagree.

Principles and values are both taught and caught. In other words, parents do not just model them, they also talk to their children about them.

Don Bosco used a variety of ways to inculcate Christian values, which are traditionally called “virtues.” He spoke about them to his boys at catechism, sermons, and goodnight talks. He put up posters about these virtues along the porticoes as constant reminders.

One can find lessons about Christian values and principles in all of his writings.

He even wrote a book that sought to entertain while teaching Christian

on obedience. We read: “Don Bosco liked to express with a gesture that the first Salesians handed down to us: ‘If I had twelve boys as manageable as this handkerchief I would spread the name of Jesus Christ not only throughout Europe, but far, far into the remotest lands.’”

When Don Bosco said those words, he had in mind to form future missionaries out of any 12 boys. But what he said regarding missionaries also applies to the rearing of children.

Obedience is a non-negotiable if parents are to succeed in their duty of raising, in the words of Don Bosco, upright citizens and good Christians.

Principles and values are both taught and caught. Parents do not just model them, they also talk to their children about them. virtues in the process, Selected Short Stories and Anecdotes by Various Authors, for the use of Young People in Turin (1867). For instance, there is a lesson on idleness that takes only a few sentences to teach. “There was a certain individual who did not want to do anything for fear of ruining his health. Homobonus showed him two keys, one bright and shiny, the other black and rusty, and he told him: ‘This bright and shiny one is the one I use every day; the other one I keep in reserve.’ And so it is with our strength: idleness corrodes it; exercise keeps it fresh and increases it.”

In 2001 the Rector Major, Fr. Juan Vecchi, wrote a circular letter

In fact, at the heart of the Fourth Commandment is the charge to children to heed the teachings of their parents—again a call to obedience. It is not always easy to obey. The adolescent years might be particularly trying years for both parents and children.

What will soften the rebelliousness of adolescence? What can parents do to make it easier for their children to listen to them?

Don Bosco said that education is a matter of the heart. The educator will succeed in his formative work only if the young allow him. Don Bosco describes it as the young giving to the educator the key to his heart. And

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MoraL coMPass With great power comes great responsibility. With the freedom to choose and to decide in our hands, we possess the power to do good or to do evil. The repercussions will not only affect us, but others, too, and not only in the present but even long into the future. If our youth are to exercise this power responsibly, then it is up to us, parents and educators, to equip them with a moral compass, that of Gospel values and principles.

Now come to think of it, we, too—parents and educators—wield in our hands great power over young people. And how we use it will have grave consequences for them. Thus, what we said about young people applies to us, too. Truly, with great power comes great responsibility.

hom

PhOTOs PhOTOs COURTEsY COURTEsY OF OF FR. FR. BERnARD BERnARD P. P. nOlAsCO, nOlAsCO, sDB; sDB; FR. FR. FAviE FAviE FAlDAs, FAlDAs, sDB; sDB; BERnADETTE BERnADETTE MACAlE MACAlE

Many times the young feel loved not so much by presents but by presence.

ch ch ur

the young will allow him only if he is certain that the educator loves him.

Thus, when Don Bosco sent Don Rua to Mirabello as Rector, he gave him this advice: “Strive to make yourself loved rather than feared.” But that is not enough. On another occasion Don Bosco added quite emphatically: “It is not enough to love the young.The young must feel that they are loved.”

Many times the young feel loved not so much by presents but by presence. This essential ingredient of love makes up the third leg of the Preventive System. It is amorevolezza in Italian and is best translated as loving kindness rather than merely love.

V

viDEs PhiliPPinEs |

aliant

olunteers

P

By Sr. Maria Josefina S. Carrasco, FMA

PhOTOs PhOTOs COURTEsY COURTEsY OF OF sR. sR. MARiA MARiA jOsEFinA jOsEFinA s. s. CARRAsCO,FMA CARRAsCO,FMA

overty, illiteracy, and natural disasters are challenges and issues that continue to confront Filipinos, especially the youth. A barangay captain asks our volunteer group to help him deal with the out-ofschool youth who are forming gangs and bullying people in their community. Several mothers tell us they need capital to sustain their small-scale businesses to be able to provide for the basic needs of their families. Many out-of-school children and teenagers request scholarships and educational assistance from us.

These are only some of the actual problems we VIDES volunteers encounter as we conduct the Busina Mo, Dunong Ko mobile education project in various communities in the country.

VIDES stands for Volunteers International for Development, Education and Solidarity, a volunteer organization founded in 1987 in Italy by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Also known as the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians established VIDES Philippines in 1995.

More than 500 young people have already rendered volunteer services under VIDES Philippines. These are students and young professionals coming from both locally and overseas, since there is an exchange program available for all VIDES volunteers worldwide.

Members of the Salesian Youth Movement have also organized themselves into Junior VIDES volunteers and are now considered as official members of VIDES Philippines.

The volunteer group responds to the problems that people bring to them through development, education, and solidarity programs that aim to express and give life to the Preventive System of Don Bosco. These programs seek to improve the lot of underprivileged people by increasing their awareness of human and children’s rights, providing them livelihood projects, raising their educational level, and conducting many other worthy and beneficial undertakings.

Development programs include sustainable livelihood projects for women and their families in underdeveloped urban and rural areas: Baboy Mo, Buhay Ko (hog raising), Kambing Mo, Kabuhayan Ko (goat raising), Sisiw Mo, Kabuhayan Ko (broiler raising), Makina Mo, Kabuhayan Ko (providing sewing machines), and Pera Mo, Kabuhayan Ko (micro credit or cash loans).

These development drives have already served more than 1,000 families in six provinces (Pampanga, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Cebu, Negros Occidental, and Laguna) and the National Capital Region.

VIDES provides a comprehensive package of assistance to poor communities.

This includes livelihood programs, educational aid, free medical checkups, and self-help and human rights advocacies.

On the other hand, the education program of VIDES Philippines is made up of the following: ■ Solidarieta A Distanza offers scholarship and educational assistance to indigent students. It has so far supported more than 400 students since its launch.

■ The Alternative Learning System (ALS) Program of Don Bosco School (Salesian Sisters), Inc.-Manila oversaw the enrollment, training, and graduation of 34 out-of-school youth from Pasay and Delpan. All the youthful recipients of the program passed the ALS national exams conducted by the Department of Education in 2012 and 2013.

■ Busina Mo, Dunong Ko mobile education project offers a mobile library, tutorials, values formation, catechesis, and leadership training. It also takes on advocacies focused on human rights and children’s rights, health and hygiene as well as provides avenues for volunteerism, sports, music, and the arts. It was recognized by the Bureau International Catholique de l’Enfance during the 2011 BICE international congress held at the UNESCO office in France, for demonstrating best practices in educating street children.

The solidarity initiatives of VIDES Philippines, meanwhile, focus mainly on mission camps with free medical consultation and medicines, free haircuts, catechesis, learning sessions on children’s rights, and distribution of food and school supplies.

VIDES volunteers also engage in various relief operations together with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. These include providing construction materials for houses destroyed by floods and typhoons, conducting home visits, and distributing relief goods to flood victims.

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| FORMinG GOD-ORiEnTED CiTiZEns

Towards

a civilization

Love

of

By Fr. Joriz Foz Calsa, SDB

H

ow did Don Bosco arrive at the vision of making young people good Christians and honest citizens? If we are to summarize everything that he did for the boys, it was that he made a healthy environment where the young were free to express themselves. It was an environment described as a home that welcomes, a school that educates, a Church that evangelizes, and a playground where good friendships are built. Essentially, he wanted his

inhabitants of heaven.”

This idea he expressed in various ways such as good Christians and honest citizens, and good Christians and wise citizens. And after 1875, while planning to send his first missionaries to South America, he broadened the concept further: to have these good citizens do their roles for the good of civilization, religion, humanity.

Today, Don Bosco’s system of education integrates faith formation

Our being children of Don Bosco gives more significance to our being baptized Christians and citizens of our country. boys to grow up in an environment that can make them become good Christians and honest citizens.

Already, in his earliest printed guide for young people, The Companion of Youth, Don Bosco wrote about this dream to form “good citizens in order to be one day lucky

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with all other aspects of human formation where there should not be any dichotomy between our being members of the Church and of the State. In fact, our being Christians sets the criteria for what kind of citizens we can be. In addition to that, our being children

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We are challenged to continue the mission of Don Bosco in bringing out the best in each one of us – for God and for Country.

PhOTOs COURTEsY OF FR. jORiZ FOZ CAlsA, sDB PhOTOs COURTEsY OF FR. jORiZ FOZ CAlsA, sDB

of Don Bosco gives more significance to our being baptized Christians and citizens of our country. Let us see some practical points on how this is possible.

1. Doing Ordinary Things Extraordinarily Well. Our daily life is the measuring stick by which to assess our faithfulness to all our commitments. Like Don Bosco, every day is an opportunity for us to give our best for God and for our country.

2. Serving the Lord with Holy Joy. This attitude is rooted in the faith that we have professed since baptism. Like Don Bosco, we A healthy environment for the upright youth is one that favors a holistic approach - melding faith formation with all other aspects of human formation.

believe that we are serving God in the way we become proactive in our Church and in our Society.

3. Signs and Bearers of God’s Love. We are honest and sincere in our dealings with others and are trustworthy in every aspect of our life. Like Don Bosco, we bring God everywhere through our witnessing of His love.

4. Being Marian-Bosconians.

Like Don Bosco, we emulate our Blessed Mother in her way of playing her God-given role in the history of salvation. A silent worker, a humble servant, she is our model in performing our responsibilities in our society without waiting for any worldly rewards.

5. Called to Holiness. We help

build the Kingdom of God on earth. Amidst materialism and consumerism, we hold firm on what is truly essential – the real treasure in heaven. Like Don Bosco, we look up to heaven as we stand with both feet on the ground.

Don Bosco always believed that there is goodness in every person— we just have to activate or reactivate that goodness. With the onset of the New Evangelization in the Catholic Church, we are challenged to continue the mission of Don Bosco in bringing out the best in each one of us – for God and for Country, as Good Christians and as Honest Citizens. If he was able to do it in his most troubled times, we, too, can. We only have to believe and live what we believe.

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| |MOlDinG PEDAGOGY FREEDOM ThEOF YOUTh AnD REsPOnsiBiliTY

Bringing back

‘ hhealthy ealthy shame’

By Rolando C. delos Reyes II, MA Ed. RGC

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”

– Benjamin Franklin

T

he Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines launched the Era of New Evangelization last year, a nine-year spiritual journey in preparation for the holding of the great jubilee in 2021. The great jubilee will celebrate 500 years of Christianization in the Philippines since the first Mass was held on March 21, 1521 on the island of Limasawa or Mazaua—a slice of history Catholic Filipinos can be proud of.

These are timely developments for educators and pastors to reflect on ways to guide and form the new generation of Filipinos into upright citizens and good Catholic Christians in a world that, in terms of morality, seems to be regressing.

FroM Bad shaMe to heaLthY shaMe The pre-Spanish Filipino culture was based on the concept of hiya, or common decency. However, following years of colonization, this hiya turned into bad shame—a negative form of shame arising from Filipinos being

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labelled indios and monkeys by our colonizers.

Recently, again due to our colonial mentality, we have begun to see a change in the youth—they are acquiring a taste for a lifestyle of shamelessness. If Filipinos used to abide by moral norms, today it is fashionable to flout such norms, especially when it comes to gender and sexuality.

The youth are acquiring a taste for a lifestyle of shamelessness.

Modern psychology seems to have a hand in turning what were once thought of as sinful behaviors, such as premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality, into acceptable alternative lifestyles.

We need to counter this modern culture and bring back the pure, original meaning of hiya. We must promote healthy shame among our youth, a feeling that is based on recognizing that behaviors can be classified only as

DECEMBER 2013-FEBRUARY 2014

either good or bad, and that the young are capable of choosing the good over the bad.

We must reintroduce the words purity and chastity into their language and empower them to go against the tide of shamelessness promoted by all forms of mass media.

FroM individuaL iMMaturitY to coMMunaL resPonsiBiLitY Modern culture encourages the attitude of thinking only of one’s self— always. This individualistic approach to life runs counter to the Filipino value of bayanihan.

We see this individualistic attitude among the youth today, like rejoicing over the suspension of classes due to calamity, without thinking of how their countrymen are affected.

We must think of ways not only to make the youth do humanitarian work like outreach programs, but also to make them more human, to make them know the real meaning of compassion, to make them feel the suffering of others.

PhOTOs COURTEsY OF COMMissiOn On YOUTh MinisTRY PhOTOs COURTEsY OF COMMissiOn On YOUTh MinisTRY

We must go beyond programs that subtly say, “I have, and you don’t have, so I give you,” and encourage programs that say, “I understand the pain you are going through.”

Instead of one-time giving, we can hold several days of immersion among the urban poor or children in conflict with the law. These experiences, when properly guided, will inculcate a more lasting empathy and true practice of bayanihan among the young.

earthly life, and we must store treasures in heaven.

We must infuse in our young people the value of takot sa Diyos if we are to change their mentality into one that seeks God. This fear of the Lord should not be a servile fear, but a filial one—the fear of offending God, the fear of losing God for all eternity.

We must tell the youth more stories about the saints, those who

FroM hedonistic MentaLitY to anGeLic PersonaLitY The world imposes a mentality of pleasure seeking.Young people today seem preoccupied with the latest gadgets or fads, and use these to define themselves and their worth.

Media exhort us to say, “I need more,” whereas Jesus tells us, “You need less.”

Some people seem to have made a permanent nest of this world, but we are called beyond this world to live as citizens of heaven. We have a tradition of praying for a happy death every retreat or recollection to remind us that we are just sojourners in this

We must go beyond programs that subtly say, ‘I have, and you don’t have, so I give you.’ came before us to testify to a life after death, those who lived ordinary lives but did their duties extraordinarily well.

A nation’s heroes may not necessarily be saints, but a nation’s saints are definitely heroes.

The virtues of purity, compassion, and fear of the Lord are but some of

When young people engage in humanitarian work, they see for themselves the sad plight of others, and learn real compassion amidst pain and suffering.

the virtues that will enable a young person to become an upright citizen and a good Christian. This vision of shaping moral youngsters is a two-fold one; we cannot shape only upright citizens and not good Christians—we need to succeed in doing both.

Only the acceptance and practice of these virtues can make young people follow this vision. Without them, people will bow down to other gods and despise their leaders. Without them, one might freely love his country, but might not be able to freely love God. But a virtuous person who freely loves God, freely loves his country.

Jesus says, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what is God’s.” A true Bosconian follows this admonition with his whole heart. Pro Deo et Patria!

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| ThE POliTiCAl ChAllEnGE FOR BOsCOniAns

Don Bosc

activism w iMAGE is TAKEn FROM DON BOSCO NELLA FOTOGRAFIA DELL’800 BY GIUSEPPE SOLDA

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the PoLitics oF the “our Father” Don Bosco sure lived in interesting times. Italy was not yet one nation then, but consisted of small kingdoms, or city-states, that were not yet unified. It must have been hard for Don Bosco and other clerics to

Tolerance, not love as a decision of the will, has become the ultimate postmodern virtue. articulate a position for or against any political trend, made more complicated because the Pope was the de facto ruler of the so-called Papal States.

This did not mean, however, that Don Bosco was not actively involved in what Deus Caritas Est refers to as “a central responsibility of politics”—the just ordering of society.

Don Bosco’s particular form of “activism,” however, could never be equated with shallow “militantism.”

His loyalty to the Pope was unquestionable, and more than loyalty, his friendship and devotion to Pope Pius IX was clear and unambiguous.

co’s politics:

without

‘militantism’

By Fr. Vitaliano Dimaranan, SDB

PhOTOsCOURTEsY COURTEsYOF OFBR. BR.jUvElAn jUvElAnsAMiA, sAMiA,sDB; sDB;FR. FR.G.C. G.C.CARAnDAnG, CARAnDAnG,sDB; sDB; DinvA DinvARAsOnABE RAsOnABE PhOTOs

He made no secret of his readiness to staunchly defend the Holy Father and his cause at all times. But Don Bosco was a Piedmontese from head to foot, too, being based in Turin, the capital of the Kingdom of PiedmontSardinia, which formed the basis of the unification of all of Italy.

As a priest loyal to the Church and to society, Don Bosco proclaimed the Gospel (kerygma-martyria), celebrated the Sacraments (leitourgia), and exercised the ministry of charity (diakonia). These three constitute the threefold responsibility of the Church as taught by Deus Caritas Est. But what, in concrete terms, did Don Bosco do? This is where, I believe, the “politics of the Our Father” comes in. Don Bosco showed it in “activism” minus the questionable “militantism.”

He worked feverishly, taught passionately, and prayed fervently. He was busy with “his Father’s business.”

He was busy with the affairs of the Kingdom.

His diakonia involved giving the young the shortest passport to becoming productive citizens of a rapidly evolving and industrializing society. His kerygma-martyria shone from his teaching, preaching, writing, and publishing of popular textbooks that helped a struggling would-be nation get on its feet. His love and

passion for the liturgy, especially the Eucharist and Confession, was widely known.

Don Bosco was an upright citizen of the world and a committed Christian who was active in the Church he loved and served all his life.

As educator par excellence, he did his part—and more! And he trained his youthful charges to become productive and responsible citizens, not liabilities of the State, by giving them not just fish for a day but the proverbial capacity to fish every single day.

As priest and pastor, he worked to make God’s Kingdom a reality on earth as it is in heaven, and helped his charges become frontrunners in building this earthly reality.

Love and justice ruLe the Bosconian worLd We live in a time full of challenges.

The call to love has been dulled by a very shallow definition of this greatest of virtues. For many nowadays, love is mere preferential treatment, a shallow fellow-feeling. Its profound meaning has been trivialized and reduced to mere tolerance.

Don Bosco wanted his wards to be activists who would courageously defend what was right and just, not militants who would engage in extreme tactics to enforce their advocacies.

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| ThE POliTiCAl ChAllEnGE FOR BOsCOniAns

A show business-crazed culture, fed by an endless stream of inane telenovelas and local and imported sitcoms, has progressively gone down the road of rapid dehumanization.

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PhOTOs COURTEsY OF BR. jUvElAn sAMiA, sDB; FR. G.C. CARAnDAnG, sDB; DinvA RAsOnABE

Bosconians are not afraid to take center stage in sociopolitical activities that promote human rights and good governance.

Tolerance, not love as a decision of the will, has become the ultimate postmodern virtue. As long as people don’t do harm, tolerance—understood as the epitome of love— dictates that one ought to see no evil, hear no evil, and do no evil to anyone who “does his/her thing” in misguided freedom.

With tolerance holding sway over people’s minds and hearts, there is no more room for “fraternal charity” that actively seeks and works for justice and truth. Tolerance promotes indifference, and societal indifference translates to a “free-for-all melee” and a mélange of individual personal tastes and preferences. Truth and justice are held in abeyance or kept in a state of extended suspended animation. “Just do it” and “just allow everyone to do it” without judging anyone are the twin rules of the game, always and everywhere.

Bosconians have a lot to learn from Don Bosco. His spirit of gratuitousness, born of a deep desire and dedication to pursue justice and love, shown in his tireless commitment to work for the integral, total welfare of the young under his care, all went beyond a shallow and self-focused theology of joy. It soared to the heights of commitment and action to promote justice and humanity, whilst steering clear of the complex polemics of shallow verbal discourse and stale rhetorics.

His kind of politics, indeed, was the politics of the “Our Father”: prophetic without being loquacious, gratuitous without being sentimental, active without getting enmeshed in activism and militantism.

The Bosconian of the third millennium in the Philippines faces a deep challenge. We live in a culture of corruption and impunity, where politics hinders, instead of contributes, to integral humanism. A show business-crazed culture, fed by an endless stream of inane telenovelas and local and imported sitcoms, has progressively gone down the road of rapid dehumanization.

We’ve got work to do. St. Augustine said that a State which is not governed by justice is just a bunch of thieves.

Isn’t this a prophetic allusion to the current state of affairs in our country? Wanted: Upright citizens and good Christians!

Are you up for the challenge?

DREssinG UP FOR hEAvEn |

A

ashion f

By Nov. Paul Dungca

Our attire gives other people a hint of who we are.

W

hat are people in heaven wearing? I used to ask this innocent question when I was a kid, having no clear idea of what man would be after death. I never thought that spirits actually do not have physical attributes to hold up things like clothing.

The same question was awakened in me one day when I positioned myself in front of a throng of photos of Salesian saints on our chapel’s wall. Looking at them, I felt like I was attending a costume party with no particular theme. They were attired in different outfits from different periods of time, as though in a freestyle fashion show with no particular motif.

This simple observation invited me to take a deeper look into the beautiful concept of sanctity, to come to a profound understanding and appreciation of the Salesian Spirituality.

Our attire gives other people a hint of who we are. One can immediately assume that a guy is fond of basketball upon seeing him in a basketball jersey. Nuns are identified by their habits. Doctors have their own set of clothing. Every country has its particular way of dressing.

Someone’s age or era can even be estimated through his garb.

a sense oF identitY Clothing gives a sense of identity and an impression of context, and through these Don Bosco invites us to join the fashion show in heaven.

He gave us the secret to sanctity: “Do your ordinary duties extraordinarily well.” It is as if he is telling us, “Wear your ordinary garments, and wear them with inexhaustible devotion and love.” How noble it would be to see one day a statue of a saint with a headset who is dubbed a patron saint of call center agents, or a stampita showing a guy wearing a policeman’s hat or a fireman’s jacket, or a picture of a boxer or a basketball player with a halo above his head, placed on an altar with kneeling people before them, asking for intercessions. Funny as it may be, this is not far from reality. In

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| DREssinG UP FOR hEAvEn

The dress code for entering heaven is simple: come in your cleanest, purest, and best attire, for your clothing reflects who you are.

Christ though never goes out of style, and we are challenged up to the present time to put him on. Make him our fashion, our identity.

This spirituality is what St. Paul in his letter to the Romans is explicitly referring to, “Put on the Lord Jesus (13:14)!” He compares Christ directly to a shirt that is worn in the market, on the playground, in the school, and in many other places. Wearing Christ means becoming like him. Salesian

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saints may look like they were wearing different kinds of clothing, but in reality they were wearing the same garb. They were wearing the Lord!

They wore him in their own context as human beings, in their particular time and their particular place and their particular situation.

They wore Christ, rendering to the signs of their individual time.

ProvidinG the riGht saint G. K. Chesterton, who wrote several books on the lives of saints, believed that God provides a saint that is needed in an exact time and context.

For example, St. Francis of Assisi was needed during the time of romanticism, when materialism and aristocracy were bluntly in the air. St. Thomas of Aquinas was sent by God during the time of idealism, when many perverse teachings existed. Don Bosco lived at a time when education and care for young people was much needed. Indeed, Christ never goes out of style, and we are challenged up to the present time to put him on. Make him our fashion, our identity. Saints are not born in a DECEMBER 2013-FEBRUARY 2014

vacuum; they are born in a context! We become saints by living to the optimum what we are called for. God’s glory is man fully alive, said St. Ireneus.

Whenever we speak of cloth and garment, Salesians and Bosconians never fail to remember the ever famous line of St. Dominic Savio to Don Bosco, “You are the tailor, and I am the cloth, let us make a beautiful garment for the Lord.” The statement simply conveys that at a very young age, Dominic had already desired to be a heavenly linen, clean and pure, for the Lord.

Fashion Forward Heaven will be boring if everyone wears the same clothes, plain and unadorned. If heaven is described as a banquet, the Lord will probably want us to wear our best garb. It may be such a simple guideline. But in simplicity we attain sanctity.

The call for more variety in dress designs is still open; hence, garb yourself in your very own heaven-friendly Salesian clothes and join the party in heaven!

PhOTO COURTEsY OF nOv. PAUl DUnGCA

fact, the Salesian heavenly closet stores several kinds of raiment. It contains a dress for a mother (Mama Margaret), student (St. Dominic Savio), bishop (St. Luigi Versiglia), infirmarian (Bl. Artemide Zatti), infirmed (Bl. Alexandrina da Costa), and many more.

ChRisTiAn vAlUEs | AnD hUMAn RiGhTs

PhOTO CREDiT: COMMissiOn On sOCiAl COMMUniCATiOn-Fin

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| ChRisTiAn vAlUEs

AnD hUMAn RiGhTs

PhOTOs FROM MiCROsOFT WORD WEBsiTE

2013-FEBRUARY 2014

PAREnTs AnD | nATiOn-BUilDinG

How to raise upright

c iti zens

By Marge Macasaet-Barro

There will always be plenty of opportunities to teach our children to practice good citizenship.

M

y husband and I feel blessed to have been given our three kids, Aldo, 15, Paqo, 12, and Laia, 10. At the same time, we have to admit that molding them into upright and responsible citizens is never easy. Our family is far from perfect, but by God’s grace, we their parents do our best to “do what we are supposed to do, when we are supposed to do it, in the way we are supposed to do it.”

And every time we find ourselves facing a difficult parenting challenge, my former boss and beloved mentor’s words always come to my mind: “First we believe, then we hope, and finally we love.”

Indeed, parents will always find various opportunities, events, and instances to teach their children from a young age to practice good citizenship.

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| PAREnTs AnD nATiOn-BUilDinG MaKa-diYos and MaKatao In our heart of hearts, we were determined to raise children who are maka-Diyos. While I carried my children in my womb, I prayed almost daily the two prayers that my late mother had shared with me. One was “Prayer for Vocations” and the other “Prayer for a Safe Delivery.” They must have worked for her because we have been blessed with a priest in the family—my older brother, Fr. Marty, who now happily serves as a Salesian priest. Our regular visits to the seminaries and schools where Fr. Marty serves have allowed us to expose our kids to a deeper religious and spiritual life.

For our family, instances of suffering caused by natural and man-made disasters present golden opportunities to teach our children compassion, kindness, and empathy. When Typhoon Ondoy struck a few years ago, our family turned the tragedy into an occasion to serve others and share our blessings. For days, we worked as team to cook food for distribution to the typhoon victims, and collect relief goods and send them to wherever they were needed. We never hesitated to take the kids to the evacuation centers to deliver the relief goods they had so lovingly prepared.

Thus was born our family’s little project dubbed the Shoebox Project, so called because we packed all our gifts in shoeboxes. Since then, every time a disaster struck—a fire in Taguig, a landslide in Luzon, a typhoon in Davao and, yes, even war in Zamboanga—we would activate the Shoebox Project.

It is our way of transforming our children’s faith and being makatao into concrete action.

MaKaBaYan We have also consciously raised

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our kids to be proud of their Filipino roots, culture, and heritage. Early on, we opened our children’s eyes, hearts, and minds to the value of respecting the laws of our land, supporting the government or questioning it if necessary, and attending rallies over issues of national importance.

Now, as student-athletes, our kids are blessed with the talent and opportunity to proudly wear the Philippine flag on their sleeves.

We beam with pride each time they represent the Philippines in some sports event—whether a football tournament in Slovakia or Singapore, or a golf game in the United States as part of the Philippine Junior Golf Team.

Who knows what paths the Barro brood might take a few years from now? Should they decide to become professional athletes, we remain confident that they will continue to be makabayan and choose a profession where they can serve our beloved country.

MaKaKaLiKasan Happily, being makakalikasan comes second nature to our kids because in both the school and home, the emphasis is always on the need to reduce, reuse, and recycle. As parents, we also make a conscious effort to keep our home “green” and use only safe, environment-friendly products.

And they have front-row seats to see how climate change is affecting

DECEMBER 2013-FEBRUARY 2014

The Barros are setting an admirable example of the ideal Filipino family—one that takes an active role in building a just, compassionate, and humane society.

We opened our children’s minds to the value of respecting the laws of our land, supporting the government or questioning it if necessary, and attending rallies over issues of national importance. our world. As active golfers, their training requires them to protect the environment, including the golf courses they use.

Indeed, there are countless ways to raise a family founded on the values promoting good citizenship. Parents just need to remain conscious, creative, and courageous in their determination to take the right path, which is all too often the road less traveled. Definitely it is a daily struggle, but by God’s grace coupled with lots of prayers, patience, and perseverance, we can do it.

P

The

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GOlden boys

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By Br. Donnie Duchin Duya, SDB

There are two things Br. Joe, Fr. Jun, and Fr. Sal have in common: (1) they are celebrating their 50th year of religious profession this year 2013 and (2) there are no signs that they are retiring anytime soon. This piece traces their beginnings and what-have-beens for the three of them in the past five decades. Here are their stories.

BR. JOE FERRER, SDB, cites three factors which made him consider the call: his love for swimming, Br. Mario Viel (an Italian Salesian brother whom he idolized), and the invitation of Fr. Quaranta for him to consider becoming a lay brother. He was just 15 years old when DBTC started to construct its swimming pool; a big poster was hoisted in the campus to announce it. His circle of friends, all lovers of swimming, teased each other that when they become Salesians, they would get to swim for free. But this love for the water sport was also accompanied by an attraction to two prominent figures in their school: Fr. Quaranta, affable rector of DBTC, who gathered them in his office for some small talks, and Br. Viel, a young Italian Salesian brother, whom they all idolized. He was intelligent, young looking, and didn’t wear the cassock, but he talked to them about things of God in their free time.

PhOTOs PhOTOs COURTEsY COURTEsY OF OF BR. BR. DOnniE DOnniE DUChin DUChin DUYA, DUYA, sDB; sDB; COMMissiOn COMMissiOn On On sOCiAl sOCiAl COMMUniCATiOn-Fin COMMUniCATiOn-Fin

PhOTOs PhOTOs COURTEsY COURTEsY OF OF MARGE MARGE MACAsAET-BARRO MACAsAET-BARRO

For FR. JUN LINGAD, SDB, it was a different story. The Boy Scouting Movement in Don Bosco Makati led him to know and become a friend to the scout master who was a Salesian Lay Brother, Bro. Valentino Floris. He was in second year high school in Don Bosco Makati when he ran up to good Fr. Charles Braga, then Superior of the Salesians in the Philippines, and asked, “Do you think I can enter the aspirantate?” The priest’s one-word answer, which sounded Greek to him then, was “Desperato.” And the priest left him with that.

FR. SALVATORE PUTZU, SDB, had dreamt of becoming a missionary since he was a child.

And among the missionaries whose lives he read avidly, the ones he admired most were Fr. Damien of Molokai (now a canonized saint) and St. Francis Xavier. He knew about Don Bosco because in his parish the past pupils used to organize his feast and carry the statue in procession. He knew him as “the Saint of the young,” but in those days he never heard that the saint was also a promoter of the missions and that he himself had intended to go to the missions.

Little did he know that this saint—through his Salesians—would be instrumental to reaching his dream.

Br. Joe’s current assignment in Don Bosco Mandaluyong is, as it were, a completion of a cycle, having been a student there in 1958. Right after his novitiate, he was sent to the United States to train in electronics. Coming back to the Philippines after three years, he was assigned in Don Bosco Makati for 17 years occupying three positions (department chair of the electronics department, administrator, and principal) at different times.

He was also assigned in the theologate for three years before becoming the economer of the province, the first Flipino and Salesian brother after Fr. Zuffetti. He would hold this post for seven years. He is now on his twelfth year in Mandaluyong.

Fr. Jun, a well-known Bible expert, shares that he owes a lot to Fr. José-Luis Carreño, his novice master, who greatly inspired in him “a splendid love for the Lord Jesus, the Church, the Scriptures, and Don Bosco” and who introduced him to the Latin and Greek languages which initiated him to a more solid study of the Scriptures. In 1987, Fr. Jun finished his Licentiate in Sacred Scriptures in the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, the only Faculty in the Catholic Church that confers such a degree (on the Scriptures proper). He obtained his Doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, also in Rome, in 2001.

He jokes that as a preparation for this scholarly work in the scriptures, he pursued a degree in Education and also a Master’s degree in Mathematics. After all the fourth book in the Bible is the Book of Numbers!

Fr. Jun has been teaching Scriptures subjects in Don Bosco Center of Studies to students of theology since 1987.

On Fridays, he conducts Bible study classes in St. John Bosco Parish in Tondo “with an average attendance of 450-500 persons, ranging from 6 to 77 years old!”

Fr. Sal’s dream to become a missionary became almost farfetched when his father died.

The young Salvatore was barely Br. Joe Ferrer, SDB

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15 years old then. In fact, to aspire to study in a Salesian school was simply something far beyond the financial capabilities of his family and hence, he did not even dare to think of it. His dad’s long battle with sickness left his family huge debts that were incurred from the hospitalization; it was not the time to think of going to the foreign mission. His mission, then, was to work hard to meet the needs of his three younger brothers and to help his mother prevent losing the house they had mortgaged. In such a predicament, he made an arrangement with the Lord: If the Lord helped him pay their debts with good harvests, he would take steps to become a missionary as soon as they finished paying these debts. The Lord seemed to agree, but of course, it was a secret agreement which Fr. Sal revealed to his mother and family members only when he felt that the Lord had kept his share of the deal.

Arriving in the Philippines in November 1979, Fr. Sal has been working in the country since.

Currently, he is rector of St. Francis de Sales community and the Incharge of Word and Life Publications.

He also anchors the radio program Bisperas sa Veritas aired over Veritas 843 on Saturdays.

A Fidelity of God

In his acceptance-speech for his plaque of recognition for the 50 years of being a Salesian during the Provincial Community Day in Canlubang, Fr. Sal mentioned that the recognition ought to be given to God for He is faithful. This message he repeated once more when he was asked for some thoughts about his 50 years in the congregation.

He is aware of his big and small infidelities and yet God has remained faithful. This milestone is truly a celebration of God’s fidelity more than his. All this time, God has been faithful. Indeed, St. Paul was right: God’s grace is sufficient for us (cf. 2 Cor 12:9). And this realization has given him the courage to move on.

We join Br. Joe, Fr. Jun, and Fr. Sal in thanking the Lord Jesus for the gift of fidelity. May their examples inspire us too in serving the Lord as children of our dear St. John Bosco.

Fr. Jun Lingad, SDB

Fr. Salvatore Putzu, SDB

Fr. Andres Cervantes 50 Years of Salesian Priesthood

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at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin in the cold morning of February 11. He was supposed to be sent to Korea and Japan, but the superiors changed these obediences and sent him instead to Thailand as a missionary. He stayed for only three years before the provincial of Thailand sent him back to Mexico because Thailand was not ready for missionary activity.

He returned to Mexico, but he knew that God must have been displeased with the decision. And so he thought of saving up to fund his reentry to Thailand. He landed in the Philippines while working on his visa, where he received orders from Fr. Edigio Vigano, then Rector Major, telling him to work in Manila instead of Thailand. Fr. Jose Carbonel, provincial of FIN that time, assigned him to San Fernando, Pampanga, to teach Latin to the aspirants. He stayed there for some years until his transfer in Tarlac.

He also worked in East Timor for some years and is currently staying at the Zatti Clinic at Don Bosco Technical Institute.

Asked “What has kept you faithful?” he said at once: “My profession. Jesus and Mary are my models. Even if the missions were not okay, I’ve been faithful to the Lord for 50 years of my priesthood. I have been happy despite everything, perhaps because happiness does not depend on success. It depends whether one is at peace with his conscience.”

Salesian ST. JOHNBulletin BOSCOPH TODAY sEPTEMBER-nOvEMBER DECEMBER 2013-FEBRUARY 2013 2014

CERVANTES COURTESY OF BR. DONNIE DUCHIN DUYA, SDB

“Dominic Savio” came the response when I asked Fr. Andres Cervantes who inspired him to become a Salesian priest. The year was 1950, and the young-saint-at-fifteen was still up for beatification. Fr. Cervantes had bought a pamphlet about the Servant of God, thinking to give it to a younger brother. But after reading the life of Savio, he was enthused to pursue the vocation of a religious life.

He stayed for almost two years in the Jesuit novitiate house in Mexico until the director of novices sent him away. He never knew the reason why, but his older brother, who would be called Fr. Rafael, became a Jesuit. A sister would also become a religious, Sr. Lourdes.

Fr. Cervantes liked what he saw when he visited an oratory in Mexico. There were Salesians who were playing with the poor children. And what was more, they invited him to eat with them as it was the birthday of Fr. Antonio Ragazzini, then provincial of Mexico.

Fr. Cervantes entered the Salesians at the age of 22. He studied at Crocetta, Italy, from 1959 to 1963, and was ordained in 1963

SDBs Got Love!

Celebrating FIN Provincial Community Day ByÊBr.ÊAprilÊJeromeÊS.ÊQuinto,ÊSDB

Aspirants Experience

FIN Provincial Community Day 2013

“It is indeed a ‘vocation booster.’”

PhOTO PHOTO CREDiT: CREDIT: FR. FR. FAviE FAVIE FAlDAs, FALDAS, sDB SDB

PhOTO PHOTO CREDiT: CREDIT: COMMissiOn COMMISSION On ON sOCiAl SOCIAL COMMUniCATiOn-Fin; COMMUNICATION-FIN; OlD OLD PhOTO PHOTO OF OF FR. FR. AnDREs ANDRES CERvAnTEs COURTEsY OF BR. DOnniE DUChin DUYA, sDB

We were excited. Some found it unthinkable that we were hosting this year’s Provincial Community Day but most of us were eager to see the event unfold, as if waiting for a family reunion of sorts. Without much thought, days passed and tasks in preparation for it began pouring in together with our school and seminary requirements… but these did not weigh us down.

After our classes in the college on September 20, Friday, we devoted the whole afternoon to cleaning, sweeping, arranging things, ensuring that every nook and corner of our house—of the Don Bosco Canlubang—was prepped up and ready to welcome back home her boys. That was not an easy feat but seeing the postnoviate brothers, the Salesians of Canlubang and our fellow seminarians work with much gusto was in itself a good consolation. It had, in a way, set a festive tone. Yes, it was tiring but nonetheless very fulfilling.

It was the feast of St. Matthew, the apostle. The mass began at 9:30 a.m. upon the arrival of those from Seminaryo ng Don Bosco, Parañaque. The Shrine was almost empty until the entrance procession of around 100 Salesian priests filled the pews. At the sanctuary together with Fr. Eli Cruz, SDB, were those celebrating the silver or golden jubilees of their Salesian life—Br. Joe Ferrer, SDB, Fr. Vester Casaclang, SDB, and Br. Lito dela Cruz, SDB. Fr. Eli reminded us of the spirit of the Provincial Community celebration in his homily, “Like St. Matthew, we have been given the same most honorable vocation by Jesus of being His signs and bearers of His love for young people… we are here today to celebrate our belongingness as Salesians.”

With it comes the challenge to venture to new horizons with Christ.

Most of us were inspired and awed by the celebration of the mass. We were particularly overwhelmed and deeply moved when the priests consecrated the bread and wine.

“It was very inspiring to see the Salesians praying as one… we felt the camaraderie, the brotherhood, the family spirit with Christ as its center.” We were moved to prayer. “More than a hundred of priests’ hands raised together with From left: Br. Lito dela Cruz, SDB, Fr. Vester Casaclang , SDB, and Br. Joe Ferrer, SDB, celebrate their remarkable as Salesians milestones.

Fr. Eli Cruz, the Provincial (top: second from left; below second from right), is all smiles at the joyful event.

the body and blood of Christ was a sight to behold.

It struck us. We felt that God is giving us His grace through the Salesians.”

After the Eucharistic meal was our fraternal program and lunch. We changed to our color-coded shirts and proceeded to the gymnasium. It was fun to have casual conversations with the Salesians and get in touch with those who journeyed with us to the seminary. We enjoyed getting to know the Salesians we just met especially those from the Theologate and far-flung houses.

The day was capped with organized group ball games. Teams competed in basketball, football, chess, table tennis, and bocce.

We also found the games inspiring. We saw how Salesians play and we were able to interact with them in the courts and fields— to have fun with them.

When our beloved visitors finally left, we moved on and folded up everything as if nothing had happened. We were tired, yes, but deep within us, our hearts were aglow. We were inspired.

We were happy. The SDBs indeed got love… they got God! We felt that we are one with them and we are also witnesses of this reality… God’s love. With this light in our hearts, we move on.

We are strengthened to brave the challenges of seminary life. We continue our discernment with a fervent hope… Soon we will also be for the young, signs and bearers of God’s love.

From the interviews with Aspirants Iggy, Jogar, MJ, Justin, Ricky, Pao, Enzo, Paul, Janver and John.

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