‘The Love of Christ Impels Us ’

I have encountered many diagrams in the past that explain how an individual develops and flourishes in an environment that is outside of their daily routine. Some people would refer to this as “outside of their comfort zone”. These schemas seem impressive and inspiring, especially if one would find time to analyze their details. On my part, I would always ask myself, “What can I do outside of my comfort zone?” As I think of this, I cannot help but feel nervous, and unprepared, and would even panic at times because who would want to be removed from their places of security and comfort?

This year, God has challenged me by putting me in the Dominican Students’ Media Center (DSMC). That situation led me to ask, “Can I do it or not?” I admit that I am not a technologically inclined person. In fact, my batchmates would even teach me how to creatively design my presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint. But here I am, assigned to the apostolic group of the Dominican Studentate which focuses on preaching by the means of the media of social communications. What do I know about this? I only have Facebook and I just use it to be updated with my friends. YouTube only serves as my pastime.

DSMC Boot Camp 4: Aspiring photographers tour the walled city

Boot camp 4 Photography Workshop was conducted by the Dominican Students’ Media Center (DSMC) last February 11 and 18, 2023. The invited speaker and mentor, Mr. Davy Chioa, OP, Media Assistant of Colegio de San Juan de Letran – Manila, led the student-brothers in developing their photography skills in order to boost their evangelization efforts through social communications. The two-day workshop was held first in the Dominican Studentate, then in Letran Manila for the second session.

The first part of the workshop was a symposium on the fundamentals of photography, picture-taking principles, and practical pieces of advice from the mentor. Mr. Chioa discussed the topics at length while sharing his experiences in covering festivities and events as an official photographer. The second part was a practical application of the principles which the brothers had learned. Mr. Chioa organized a studio photoshoot in Letran to instill in the brothers the practicalities of studio photography. After that, the brothers went around Intramuros, Manila for a “Photo Walk”. wherein the student-brothers were able to take pictures around the area, applying what they have learned from the workshop. The photos taken by the brothers were reviewed and critiqued by the workshop mentor who then gave suggestions and recommendations on how to improve their shots. Having been equipped with the principles, techniques ans skills in photography, the student-brothers, who joined the photography boot camp, are already able to contribute more effectively to the social communications ministry of the Dominican Studentate. Some of the participants have already become content contributors to the various social media platforms managed by the Dominican Studentate like La Naval de Manila Facebook page and YouTube channel, DSMC Studios YouTube Channel, and the Facebook pages of the various apostolic groups. BR. RAE AARON A. AGUILAR, OP

This year, however, the Lord has made me realize how important these tools are in spreading the Good News. If there are learnings in this present pastoral formation year, one thing would be the fact that it really takes time to be well-versed in using these platforms and programs. Knowledge, time, and effort are needed so that you would be able to troubleshoot if there are some technical glitches. The next realization is that you do not need to learn everything at once. Since it happens one step at a time, it is significant that one should be able to be open to the help that would be given by other brothers. It is not good to be always self-reliant since people (the brothers), in one way or another, would be important in each phase of the learning continuum as they guide you in achieving the goal of the apostolic group.

The use of the media of social communications is not something to be afraid of but should be welcomed since it facilitates the widespread evangelization of the Church. As a matter of fact, whenever I would be assigned to man the live stream, I am surprised that the viewers of our daily Masses, prayers, and Rosary Hour would be coming from different parts of the globe. Some audiences are even from Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East.

The love of Christ impels us (2 Cor 5:14). I must admit that the thought of being assigned to DSMC is something that I dreaded in the past. What can I, together with my fellow members, do in this apostolic group? My knowledge and skills are not enough to be able to perform my tasks as expected. And yet the given passage from St. Paul reminds me that we will be able to do the right things by having Christ as our motivation.

After staying for a year in DSMC and serving as its Coordinator, I could honestly say that without the help of my members, I will not be able to implement the annual plan that we have designed for this formation year. Whenever mounting tasks are in front of us, I would always recall these words from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians. It is always for and through the love of Christ that we should forget our shortcomings and move as one team to achieve our common purpose.