DAMAYAN 2022 reaches out to 321 families

FOR THE SECOND time, the Dominican student-brothers conducted the annual Damayan Christmas outreach on December 23, 2022, at the UST Angelicum College Gym. A total of 321 families coming from the less-privileged sector living in barangays around the vicinity of Santo Domingo Church were each given a gift package in a pail containing noche buena goods as well as rice and other commodities, which came through the generosity of various donors and gracious benefactors who showed their support to this noble endeavour.

One of the noteworthy highlights of the program was the cooperation of the Dominican student-brothers, the lay partners and collaborators coming from KADAUPAN and MUKHA AD, and the Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) leaders of Santo Domingo Parish, who generously gave their time and effort in helping the student-brothers in various capacities: from visiting the barangays and giving of claim stubs, to the preparation of the gift packs and finally, in assisting in their distribution on the day of the event.

The program started with a prayer led by Br. Denver Marx B. Colegado, OP, KADAUPAN

Coordinator and the Overall Head of Damayan 2022. This was followed by a short opening remarks given by the Director of Pastoral Formation and Parochial Vicar, Rev. Fr. Lauro G. De Dios, OP. In his address, he highlighted the true essence of Christmas that, more than the giving of gifts, it is the coming here on Earth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the God with us.

To ensure an orderly distribution of gift packs as well as in observance of protocols, the families from Barangay Santo Domingo were the first to be accommodated from 8:30 AM. This was immediately followed by the families from Barangay Tatalon from 9:00 AM. The shrine personnel, parking attendants and vendors around Santo Domingo Church were given the gift packs in the afternoon of the same day.

The DAMAYAN 2022 is a project of the whole Dominican Studentate, with the members of KADAUPAN and their lay affiliates at the helm. The said program envisions to reach out to those at the margins of society and through the charitable act of gift giving, showing solidarity with them which is indeed the true essence of Christmas. BR. GLENDALE P. ANCHETA, OP

KADAUPAN gathers for face-to-face General Assembly

term, four of which were implemented. First, there was a continual skills updating program for livestreaming and camera operators. With the assistance of DSMC members, student-brothers were assigned per week at the DSMC livestream booth to have a first-hand experience in using the livestreaming software as well as in operating the cameras. The assigned brothers are in-charge of livestreaming the rosary, lauds, and conventual Mass in the morning. Later in the evening, they also livestream the Office of Readings and vespers.

Aside from the student-brothers, some altar servers of Santo Domingo Parish are also being tapped from time to time as volunteers in the DSMC booth. Some of the altar servers have already been assigned to livestream during novenas to the different Dominican saints

ShortCat: DSMC Continues Online Catechetical Program

“HI! WELCOME sa ShortCat ang inyong online companion for bite-sized catechesis!”, says the ShortCat intro which explains its nomenclature – it is a short catechism. It aims to provide catechetical inputs sourced from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Sacred Scriptures, and other Church documents through a three to five-minute video for Catholics online. There is an adage that says, “You cannot love what you do not know”. For the faithful to appreciate and love the faith, they must first be instructed and be enlightened by what they believe. Because of this, the student-brothers thought of simple ways to explain the mysteries, dogmas, and doctrines of faith in short and simple terms for the people. Launched in 2019, ShortCat was spearheaded by now Rev. Mervin G. Lomague, OP as director and editor, and Br. Joenner Paulo L. Enriquez, OP as host. It began as a weekly program uploaded every Sunday through DSMC’s Facebook Page and DSMC Studio’s YouTube Channel. It premiered its first episode “Ano ang Credo?” on August 21, 2019, piloting its twenty-three-episode season, which was followed by a series on the Articles of Faith, Sacraments and concluding with the Simbang Gabi special series on December 23, 2019. This formation year 2022-2023, the ShortCat videos delved into topics about the importance of physical attendance in holy mass, exemplary Filipino Dominicans, and notable events in the Catholic liturgical calendar such as the La Naval festivities. and the 4:00 PM Parish Mass every Sunday.

ShortCat was well-received by its viewers, especially catechists, religious teachers, and even catechetical commissions of different dioceses throughout the country. Selected episodes were used by the different parishes and schools such as the University of Santo Tomas.

The second bootcamp, Photo/Video Editing and Audio Recording Capacity Building Workshop, was held last August 3-6, 2022. The said program was facilitated by Br. John Rheed M. Caturza, OP, whose “Peregrino” video received a Special Citation from the 41st Catholic Mass Media Awards last 2019. He trained the brothers in using Adobe Photoshop photo editing software, Adobe Premiere Pro video editing software, and FL Studio 20 music software applications.

A day-long bootcamp on Publication Management and Layout was led by Br. Eugene Dominic V. Aboy, OP, the previous Editor-in-chief of The Varsitarian, the official student publication of the University of Santo Tomas.

The Story of a Scholar Turned Lay Volunteer

THE KADAUPAN General Assembly was held last December 3, 2022 at KADAUPAN office at the Dominican Studentate. In attendance were the KADAUPAN student-brothers and lay affiliates.

The gathering had a simple aim of having a get-together with the lay affiliates and informing them of the plans for the second semester, which were the faith sharing, Damayan 2022 and possible medical mission.

The general assembly also elected Ms. Razzel Columbres as the new lay coordinator and Ms. Mercy Colitz as lay secretary.

After the assembly, the KADAUPAN members all joined the Lakbay Buhay Advent Recolletion 2022 at the shrine. They were also in-charge of distributing the food for the simple agape held after the said recollection. BR. MARCO MIGUEL C. LORENZO, OP

Tradition, Celebration, Gratitude: The Return of KADAUPAN La Naval Celebration

Currently, ShortCat has uploaded fifty-three episodes in over four different seasons, fifteen of which are from the current season. The project remains and continues to be one of the student-brothers’ avenues for preaching and evangelization in the digital age, through social media engagements, collaborations, and exposure.

ucation, I certainly would not graduate from college if not for the help of that scholarship given by generous benefactors through KADAUPAN.

BR. RAE AARON A. AGUILAR, OP