From the Master

of Students

The Meaning of an Encounter

IN one of his books, Charles Dickens wrote, “Man is a mystery for another.” I could not say anything else but yes. Man is truly a mystery because the idea we have about others in our minds could be quite different once we encounter them in real life. Our experience on local mission – catechetical program for adults – in the streets of Brgy. Tatalon, Quezon City altered our notion of the poor and the faith itself.

The pastoral enrichment program on local mission, a part of the pastoral formation program of the Dominican Studentate, opened opportunities for the brothers to know and interact with the urban poor and the marginalized. This program is held every Saturday for four weeks.

DEAR, BROTHERS. whenever we speak of Pastoral Formation what immediately comes into our mind is equipping you with skills that will make you competent enough in your future ministry. This why we, as much as possible, prepare programs that would make you good pastors in the different priorities of the Province. We can see how serious you are in your effort to acquire all these ‘hard skills’. We appreciate your sacrifices in achieving such skills. In the business world, one usually gets employed, based on hard skills. Today, people are trying to balance their way of looking at competence by talking about ‘soft skills’. These are usually qualitative in nature, like, emotional intelligence, leadership capabilities, empathy, psychological maturity, interpersonal relationship, etc. People now begin to realize that such skills are as important those that one gets from professional training or preparation.

We can also compare such understanding of skills with what we are doing. But allow me to propose slight change that I think would help us love more what we are doing. We are ministers and the foundation of any ministry is prayer. Our motto would say, “To contemplate and to share the fruits of one’s contemplation”. We can say that any pastoral activity that we do ceases to be truly pastoral unless it comes from the fullness of contemplation. For us in the Order it should be the other way around. Contemplation is the hard skill that each one must possess before anything else. Your skill or talent in doing any work as a result of your training is the soft skill. It is only in this way of ordering our life that will ensure that our ministry will be fruitful. Let this edition of Punlâ and your reflections be a testament to that right ordering of life that we dearly hold on to.

From the Director of Pastoral Formation

We know that we cannot fully make you a dynamic leader in the future in the course of your stay in the Studentate, but what we provide now are only meaningful experiences for you to keep and remember. I have personally chosen UST Angelicum College (UST-AC) to be the venue of your enrichment program, not only for this semester but in the succeeding semesters to come, because it is very practical; it is just one step away.

The brothers joined the activities of the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) in their prayer and gave catechism to the designated communities.

Brgy. Tatalon is mostly occupied by the poor. Many of them are illegal settlers living in empty spaces behind the factories, a gas station and under the overhead power line. I was honestly surprised that there are people living in this kind of environment. When I walked through the narrow alleys, sometimes I could smell the stench of gutter, and the humid air coming through the dumping area. Indeed, I wonder how men could be forced by their circumstances to live amidst this humble situation. It seems that for these people, to acquire the basic needs of life is already a luxury in itself. But then again, when situation requires people to adapt in order to live, they do adapt, also spiritually.

From what seemed to be bleak surroundings, faith shines forth in its brightness. I expected only a few people joining our catechesis since many of them are trying to earn for a living. Yet surprisingly, many joined us: children, mothers and grandparents. From this encounter, I realized that material limitation does not mean spiritual lethargy. They are poor and often are sidelined in the society. They do not have nice houses or