ORIENT NUMBER 28
Orient; Bulletin of the Piarist Fathers in ASIA
2004 SEPTEMBER n. 28



MANILA INTERNATIONAL SEMINARY
By: Fr. Jose P. Burgues

The General Chapter of 2003 decided the creation of some Formation Centers for native vocations of those countries where we are not yet present at the moment, looking for the expansion of the Order. Regarding the possibilities of vocations in some near-by countries, we decided to implement the project in Manila. We had already a proposition from the Claretian Fathers to start this inter-congregational project, with some other Congregations.

In reality, the other Congregations are not still ready for that project, so we have decided to carry it on by ourselves.. We are using a building that belongs to the Claretian　Fathers, where they have their School of Philosophy and some of our students attend. The project is already a reality, in the beginning, yes, but with much hope for the future.

Fr. Rafael, responsible of the project, is living there, together with four Filipino Juniors and three foreign students, two from Vietnam and one from Zambia. At this time we are following up the applications of a group of candidates from Indonesia, after Fr. Rafael made some contacts during the two trips he made to that neighbor country. New interviews are necessary, psychological tests, visits to the families, etc. If everything goes well, before the end of the year, a group of Indonesian students will be with us in our PMVC.

For the moment, the Community is united to our Juniorate in Manila. In the future, we will see what path things take. It could be an instrument for the expansion of the Order in this part of Asia.

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from India

POVERTY AS A CHALLENGE TO OUR CHARISM IN INDIA
By: Manoj Kalanki

What does poverty mean? It means "Ignored structural inequality and other factors that generate, maintain and reproduce misery."

A study about poverty in 2003 shows that still two hundred million Indians go hungry to sleep every night.

The main factors of the worst aspect of poverty are as follows:

Weak health. Health makes man rich. On the contrary, because of poverty, man loses health. Lack of food is the most serious problem in India. In Orissa there is a little numerous tribal race known as Sabar Race. Sabars? only source of sustenance is what they can gather on more or less edible roots they can extract out of the ground in the forest.

Sexual abuse of children.. The sexual abuse of children is a very serious problem in India. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) one in every four girls and one in every seven boys in the world are sexually abused. Those who cause the aforementioned abuse are tourists and even the very members of the family. That is a horrible tragedy. Most often the children victims of sexual abuse do not make their traumatic experience known. Only their silence can become eloquent if, by getting their confidence, we try to know their problems.

Prostitution. Prostitution is another consequence of poverty. The prostitutes consider their trade as a profession. They perform their evil task in order to obtain their daily bread.

Suicide. Because of the debts into which poverty obliges to get by asking others for loans, a lot of suicides are committed. Those who commit suicide believe that dying in this way is better than dying because of starvation. Ten in every one hundred people in India commit suicide because of their debts.

Working children. The worst aspect of poverty is that of the working children, especially in North India, in Bengal and Bihar, etc. Children work in the tea plantations. They do not go to school. Their parents get very low wages and force their children to work.

Geographical isolation. Poverty obliges those who suffer from it to isolate themselves in the slums? or wretched ghettos of the large cities. This isolation makes them still poorer and so they continue geographically isolated.

Inefficient access to the laws. The most poor cannot take shelter either in the laws or the courts. They do not get justice from the courts.

Lack of power. Because of poverty the poor are relegated to the powerlessness. They have no power in the society.

Emigration and misery. The poor are obliged to emigrate to the cities. They say: ?We were not beggars in our native place, but the present circumstances oblige us to beg in this new place?. And they get involved in illegal activities. One of their consequences is the adultery in the marriages. And they get involved in crimes and violent riots and forced to the drug traffic pushed by the rich. They will get undernourished children who will suffer from chronic hunger.

This serious situation of the poor in India concerns all of us Piarists upon taking into account that it constitutes a challenge to our Calasanzian charism. Therefore we must
- defend the rights of the poor before the judicial authorities,
- give suitable education to the poor,
- make them understand the worst aspects of sin (sexual abuse, adultery?),
- visit them frequently in their slums as Calasanz did,
- eradicate poverty from among them,
- work without a break in their communities,
- speak to them about Jesus and teach them the way to salvation,
- help them economically,
- manifest their basic needs to the governmental authorities.

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EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR THE PERSON WHO HAS FAITH? (Mk.9:234)
By: Joseph Kunnel

Charismatic prayer movements are deeply rooted among the people of Kerala, especially among the Christian population. This charismatic prayer movement has been bringing out a strong spiritual revival among Christian and non Christian people. A centre of charismatic prayer, known as Divine Retreat Centre, is run by Vincentian Fathers at Pota and Murigoor in Kerala State in the southern Part of India. It has been a source of spiritual nourishment, experience and revival for more than two decades. People gather there from far and wide, from different parts of India and even from abroad, having different languages and culture.

I am a person who was against the Charismatic method of prayer and did not support it at all. I will share now my experience of attending a Charismatic retreat in Divine Retreat Centre at Murigoor. From 18 the July to 23 July 2004. First of all I must admit that it was a wonderful prayer experience.

I went to the charismatic retreat having an aversion to this way of prayer and with a critical mind to see what was actually happening there, since I had heard a lot about this way of retreat.

Still I had an inner quest and desire to make a good retreat and I prayed for that until the retreat began. My retreat started on Sunday at 3 p.m, with a few instructions and praise and worship which were followed by Holly mass. We were nearly 2000 people who gathered for the retreat speaking different languages, from various parts of India and a few from abroad. I was in the English section and we were nearly 600.

The first two days of the retreat I found it very difficult to adjust with this method of prayer. Such a loud praises with lifted hands and singing and clapping the hands etc.! Somehow I tried my best to be in the track and to be faithful to the retreat. There were a few talks on different topics and sharing of faith experience. I heard all of them attentively for all had their source in the holy Bible.

Anyway, from the third day onwards I was able to enjoy the Charismatic method of prayer and I slowly involved myself into the retreat fully, even without having much force from my part.

The rest of the three days of retreat went on very smoothly and very soon, I was fully involved in all the activities, praise and worship etc. I could see and witness the working of the power of the Holy Sprit on those who put their fait in Jesus Christ and accept Him as the Lord and Master.

I am now confident and believe that it is not the power of men that works in these retreats; it is rather the Spirit of the Lord that works and does wonders. And it is the power of the Holy Spirit that gathers people from far and wide, from different languages, cultures and backgrounds.

I came back from the retreat with great enthusiasm, happiness and spiritual nourishment and also I have the feeling of the attainment of something valuable for the nourishment of my whole life.

The living presence and the power of the Lord and His living Spirit are exhibited and experienced here?..Praise the Lord?.. Thank Jesus??. Alleluia!


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From the Philippines

SETEM VOLUNTEERS IN CEBU CITY

We arrived in the Philippines with our suitcase full of illusions. We want to collaborate, to share. We are really willing to do something and the time is very short. It seems that we have not realized what he whole thing means to us.

Our life in Europe is very different to the life here. It is natural to ask oneself for the motifs of this change; each volunteer has a different motivation. Nevertheless, all of us have something in common: we want something. Any aspiration presupposes an effort. He who tries to do good without any effort is like the one who wants to make people happy without curtailing his/her comfort.

What is our effort? Listening our new friends; persons who in spite of their simplicity of life teach us, at least, to know ourselves better. No one of these gifts has been bought by us. They are not either for nothing: they are a fruit of a free and unselfish inter-exchange that is called ?sharing?.

We go to our country with our suitcase fuller, with memories we will never forget and that will accompany us for the rest of our life. It is possible that the humility and simplicity might be the secret of everything, as a result of being able to see a wider world. To learn to be happy knowing that ?after the winter, spring comes?.

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HISTORIES OF NOVICES


21. The Child and the Kites
H., Novice

Far from a distance, I saw a man; clothed in a white robe, but I could not recognize his face? an unfolding of my dreams to a childhood buddy that happened for three successive nights when I was a boy. I was upset about this dream and so I consulted my religion teacher in grade six.

Maybe God appeared in your dreams? he coaxed me and laughed at me a little. As a young boy, I did not comprehend what he really meant of it. Time passed and this dream was put into a waste part of my memory. We were living that time in one of the remote barangays in the northern part of the province when this dream happened, and we had bountiful blessings from God for my father had a stable job that could support the living of his 7 children and his wife. But all of a sudden, economic failure occurred; the sugar milling company where my father worked began to lay down its sugar production, until it was closed. For this reason, I am now to tell you a story of my sufferings?

The bankruptcy of the sugar company compelled my mother to transfer me to a public school in our barangay. I really suffered a lot in my education, especially during high school- walking for more than five kilometers everyday (morning, noon and afternoon; back and forth). There was a time that I was compelled to give up, near the strength exhausted. But what made me inspire to aim high for the good of my future was the kites. Everyday in the afternoon, while walking back home from school the beauty of kites in an open field inspired me to do some reflections: What makes these kites continue to sustain flying? This was the inquiry I made and answered for myself: ?Kites cannot fly without wind; and as long as the wind blows the kite will sore higher and higher.? I aimed higher in my future; the heat of the sun, the cold rain and the struggles enriched my strength and determination to finish even just high school.

Really I endured a lot of sufferings, but pondering what made those kites fly, I became optimistic. For this reason, in my early years, I trained myself how to be tough, with an excellent constitution but sad to say ?God had wonderfully helped me in my struggle? even I experienced a gap with Him. At last I completed my high school in the year 1989. After finishing high school, another problem arose: ?Could I continue my studies in College?? One day, a friend of mine informed me that our town mayor was offering a scholarship. In secret, I applied and by chance I passed the examination and entered a recognized state ran university in the region. I took first the course recommended by my mother- Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, but later because of my dream of becoming a well known Disc Jockey someday, I shifted to Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications, without the knowledge of my parents. This time my father returned to work. He was assigned in the southern part of Negros Occidental. My father decided to bring his family with him to this province. Before the classes had started, we migrated to Negros Occidental; I left studying in the city. Since then, I seldom visited my parents. My mother even wondered why I seldom asked for my allowance. In my mind was: I should not need to depend on my family? as long as I can support my own?? I paid my own boarding house; tuition fees from our town mayor and I got my everyday expenses through the fruit of my sweats in my tutorial and my part time jobs. I didn?t have time for myself; sometimes- relaxation seemed for my self the enjoyment with my work: a tutorial and after class in the afternoon, I went straight ahead for my part time job until 12 midnight and sometimes 1 o?clock early in the morning; then I went home and lay down and slept for four to five hours, and woke- up early to cope up with my school assignments. I always had an important and definitive objective; that?s the reason why I sacrificed my sleep and rested less in order to accomplish or attain what I wanted in life- SUCCESS.

In 1993, a month after my graduation in college, my dream of becoming a well known disc jockey came into a reality when The Mellow Touch accepted my application as the pioneer DJ in their newest Fm station in the city of Iloilo. I could feel the fame talking on the air starting on that moment, but this never lasted for long; I stayed in this company for almost two years. Then after this, hoping to find happiness, I applied to Bombo Radyo?s Fm station, and with good luck, I was accepted and I was assigned to Bacolod City. But as expected, happiness never last long; I rendered my service in this network for two years. ?I did not consider my self a successful one due to the absence of happiness.? For the third time, I changed my network and I was accepted by the Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC); I was assigned to the northern part of Negros Occidental as Officer- in- charge. There, I felt bored living in a small city; I felt no challenge with my job, for this was the only station operating in that city; no competition with other stations. I stayed there for six months, then I applied for a work transfer and the higher management granted my request and I was assigned to my native city- Iloilo- as Disc Jockey in their newest FM Station.

Oh! My friends, can you expect me to describe my feelings at that time? I, who was depending on my own labor for a living for many years now experiencing success in life because of my hardships? Oh, my friend, if you only knew then that although, success was in my hands but still I was longing for something greater than that?? I started to look for it?
I changed again my job and I joined Systems Technology Institute (STI College) as Career Adviser; assigned back to Bacolod City. In this city, I had a chance to see an old best friend of mine- a Nurse by profession. One day, he visited my office, inviting me to accompany him for the ?Search- in? in the Redemptorist Fathers. At first, I was hesitant to accompany him for this might take a long hour stay.
?This Search- in takes only half an hour,? my friend said. ??but why should I? I didn?t have any plans to be a priest and in fact I had my board work (part time job in radio station) at 6 pm!? I acted like a scoundrel that time in dealing with my friend. But later on, I accepted his invitation.

The day came; we were the first two who went there early. We knocked at the door, and somebody opened. ?Oh! Come in? I?m Mr. Lopez. Our search- in will be at two thirty. It?s still one o?clock; have a sit first,? the vocation promoter welcomed us. ?Please write your name here?? he added and at the same time handled over a shit of paper to my friend. Then he wrote.

When the hour came, Mr. Lopez read all names written on the list. To my surprise my name was announced among the list of the aspirants- my friend, without my knowledge, wrote my name. I wanted to leave! But my friend stopped me. ?OK!? I responded with annoyance. I really don?t know what to do at that time; I stayed, suppressing my emotion towards my friend.

The search- in started with a passage reading from the book of Samuel- the Call of Samuel (Chapter 3:1- 8). ?Try to get something out from this passage that will strike you most?? Mr. Lopez instructed eight young boys (including one Vietnamese).

I was inspired how God called Samuel (read Samuel 3:1-8 for a detailed story). The suppression that I felt against my friend became a joy of happiness from that moment, when my tears fell out of my eyes unconsciously. And when asked what phrase struck me most, I said: ?I DID NOT CALL YOU!

Yes! God did not call me but why was I there! I started to ask my self in silence. It was during the time of meditation that the long forgotten dreams came back into my memory- a person appeared in a white robe in my dreams, for three times- and what my religion teacher had said: Maybe God appeared in your dream.

I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in me that time. I could only express my happiness through tears that came out from my eyes, while giving my testimony. Starting then, I felt the light emotion in my feelings, peace in mind, love in my expressions, calmness of my heart and I felt of surrendering my whole self to God. . It was really a wonderful day. The spirit of the Lord got hold of my self and I was mightily convicted and converted right there before leaving the monastery. And starting that day, I always had the habit of attending the Holy Eucharist every at 5 o?clock in the afternoon, after my work at STI and before my part time job at 6 pm.
My eagerness of entering the seminary was intensified when I decided to resign my part time job- DJ. The manager asked me the reason for he never saw any problem in my performance on- air. ?My conscience cannot take a giving service to the station not on time while receiving my salary in full,? I explained.
After resigning, my mind was focused only in the service to God; I became a member of the Redemptorist Choir and the reader in the Cathedral. I became closer to God in rendering my service to His church. And finally one day, I decided to enter the seminary.
?But we will give you time to discern more with your vocation,? instructed the Redemptorist priest. ?We?ll see after six months or one year, if you really have?,? he added. ?Six months or one year, was a long time to wait.? I really wanted to enter the seminary, so instead of waiting? I tried to find another congregation, but I knew no one else.
One day, after attending the 5 o?clock mass, I saw posters in the cathedral?s bulletin board. I jotted down the e- mail address of 3 congregations: Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (SSS), Order of the Carmelite (OCarm.) and that of the Piarist Fathers (Sch.P.). I sent each one an e- mail, inquiring about the Order, requirements, etc?The Blessed Sacrament responded first, followed by the Piarist Fathers. No Response from the OCarm. I became acquainted with these orders through the net- exchanging of e- mails.

December 26, 2002, I joined the Piarists? ?Convivencia? and stayed until the new year of 2003. Few weeks later, SSS Vocation Promoter, Fr. Mike, visited my office and gave me the entrance examination for the congregation. I passed it! I was in the middle of confusion of where to enter.
Follow what your heart desires? Brother Aljun said.

Finally, I decided to leave my job, for I found success and happiness in life in the service of God?s people- the education of the poor youth and children, May 8 of 2003.


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From Japan

ACHICKOCHI NI ARU PIARIST (Piarist, here and there)
By: Br. Tony Matias

Our daily action is based upon our understanding of the nature of the world and of our self. If our understanding is correct, we generally know where we are in life and we have a good sense of purpose and direction. The light of Truth brightens our environment and allows to see clearly rocks and difficulties along our way. On the other hand, if our understanding of the world is inaccurate or incomplete, we are more likely to get lost and find ourselves in situations that we don?t understand. We may feel confused and uncertain about how to solve our problems, and we may lack a clear purpose and direction in our lives.

It is our duty, therefore, to make sure that our view of reality is correct. It is a sort of ?map? based upon which we get our bearings in life. The problem is that making sure our map is accurate takes effort, sometimes lots of effort. All throughout our lives we are faced with new information that may contradict what our map tells us. We can ignore the new information and go on through life with a possibly an incorrect map, or we can revise and update our map and incorporate new information as we receive it.

Unfortunately many of us chose the easy way and ignore all new information that is inconsistent with their current view of reality. They just don?t want to deal with it. This can be unhealthy because we can then become misguided due to inaccuracies in our map, and as a result make wrong decisions in life. This may be one reason why people become close-minded: it is easier to routinely reject new information than to expend the time and energy necessary to find out if it is true and relevant to our lives. It is essential to validate and update our understanding of truth and reality, our map, if we really want to know where we are in life and where we are going, and if we hope to make wise decisions.

How do we know if our understanding of our nature, life, our ?map of reality? is correct? One way is to examine and study it everyday. By opening ourselves up to friendly challenges from other people who have a different view of life. Sharing our views with like-minded people does not really work as a ?challenge? though, because they will usually reinforce the ideas we have in common.

In order for this to work we need to be honest with ourselves. When we are challenged it will benefit us only if we are honest with why we think the way we do. It takes courage to admit that we have been misguided or misinformed about something. It takes even more courage to decide that we would better off changing in a particular area of our life. Sometimes we find ourselves resisting accepting something we know is true. It does not help if we open ourselves up to challenge, realize we need to update our map, and then we don?t follow through with that change. Changing our view of life is hard, but it is well worth the effort in order to have a more accurate map of reality.

We are in a new environment and in a new kind of community where two communities are living under the same roof. We Piarists and Salesians are living almost as a single community. Praying together and sharing the same table of the Eucharist for our spiritual growth and sharing the same table to nourish our bodies. The information and knowledge we have learned for more than two years in the Japanese language school are continually developing through our willingness to accept new information from the mouth of the Japanese people. Before coming here we had already in our bags bundles of information in order to mingle, work and be with them, but that is not enough. And some of it is useless in dealing, working and living with them. That is why we are always open to new information in order to adapt and update our map to be good missionaries here in Japan.

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From Italy

VOCATION . . . a PRECIOUS GIFT from GOD (part II)
By: Br. Andres Dragon


Consequently, vocation promoters of various Orders and Congregations have been very enthusiastic or fervent in promoting their vocations respectively, from East to West and from North to South. They have done everything to make themselves attractive and or enviable to the youths, only to find out that there are only very few who submitted and committed themselves to this lifestyle. Precisely, we can't say that they are ineffective as fishers of men, but probably this reality has something to do with the predicament of religious and priestly vocations. It is very sad to say that there are only a few who are fascinated by this way of living. Certainly because worldly or earthly pleasures and vices seem to be much more eye-catching and self-gratifying to the extent that they fog up and contaminate the minds of today?s young generation. These forms of temporal deceptions caught them up from seeing the much more elevated value that only very few wanted to give them up in favour to a more difficult demand of following the footsteps of Christ Jesus in and through the Mount Calvary.

However, in spite of all these worldly deceptions, there are still a few who have seen the light of truth and have taken the challenge to follow its direction. Auspiciously, they responded to the heavenly invitation and entered into convents, formation houses, and seminaries according to how they felt and perceived the calling of God in relation to the charisms of the Orders and Congregations that would fit to their qualities based on their desires to follow Christ. These few individuals are not so many; few are those who have given such importance and much attention to those precious gifts. God has planted this seed of vocation in each one of them and the formators must take care of it, in such a way that these vocations are very exceptional and fragile. These must be given an extraordinary and careful attention per se, to let them sprout and bear fruits in the future.

This small number of individuals who have felt the urgency of following Christ, are blessed enough. They are opportune or privileged in such a way that they voluntarily and wilfully submit themselves in response to God?s invitation to partake in His ministry amidst all the good opportunities the world offers. They are blessed not because they will become good religious, secular priests and nuns in the future; the fact is that this depends so much on their ability and availability to respond to the calls of formation and to the creativity and aptitude of the formators in guiding and facilitating the formation of each one, in order to permit these seeds of vocations planted by God in them to mature and to bear fruits. That is to say further, it depends upon the grace of God to work upon each one and the formators in the seedbed or ground in and through the ambiance of formation. However, they are blessed because they unreservedly said ?yes? to the invitation from up above to give up everything and to surrender and detach themselves from this messy world in order to carry out the plans and the will of God for them.

But, is this already an assurance that they are the chosen ones, after they have been accepted to the formation? Precisely, no! As what I have said before, this depends so much upon his/her accessibility to follow the processes of formation, honesty to the formators who are going to journey with them in this search for life, and most of all upon their openness to the divine providence. As what the Bible says, ?Many are called, but few are chosen? (Mt. 22:14). In view of this, everyone and mostly the candidate must be sincerely and wholeheartedly committed himself/herself, i.e. giving all the best efforts he/she could. To give himself/herself up totally without reservation and with all the honesty, readiness, and openness to be formed. Thus, making himself/herself on hand and unreservedly and freely submit to the will of God and through the formation process and to the formators with whom God speaks as His representatives. On the one hand, the formators then play a vital role in the formation of the formandee. As representatives of God, the formators must make sure that the formandee is best facilitated, guided, served, and directed in his/her discernment towards the full realization and materialization of this raw material of vocation he/she has received through the light of his/her faith in Christ, and must willingly, conscientiously, diligently, and dedicatedly help the candidate intensify, objectify, pacify, and purify his/her intentions of following the footsteps of Christ in this way of life.

That means, the candidate, the formators, and God are the most important elements as far as the formation process in general is concerned. Each one plays a very important role towards the full realization of this endeavour and to work hand in hand. To provide a good and fertile ground - the favourable ambiance of the formation to enable the candidate to freely and responsibly grow and reach his/her maturity through an approving, supportive, helping, and healthy environment wherein everyone aims at developing fully his/her ability and capacity without reservations, discriminations, and ?favouritism? in preparation of a much wider and greater vineyard in which he would be tilling as the vineyard worker in the future. A candidate is presumed to be most able, most spirited, most committed, most fervored, and most willing before he is going to be sent into the field. That is to say, he must be spiritually, physically, morally, psychologically, emotionally, and intellectually prepared. Further, he must not only be a man for others (able to serve), but to this effect, he must be a man of prayer and a man of God. In this manner, there is no doubt that he could lead and bring everyone to his/her ultimate end that is to see God face-to-face ? the ?Beatific Vision? through his good examples and modelling. It is in this aspect then that the laborious task and the great responsibility of the formators lie.

On the other hand, another important factor, if not the most important one, that also plays an important role in the formation of the candidates is the candidates themselves. Their concerns and sensitivity towards each other and the needs of each one and a strong support-system, camaraderie, and sprit de corpse must be enriched and nourished within and among themselves. That is to say, the spirit of fraternal correction and feed backing in a spirit of love and in a friendly manner as a sign of concern must be strengthened. Thus, ?pakikisama? and ?bayanihan? systems which are known to be very typical and have strong values among us Filipinos, must be lived and practiced in a proper perspective. Precisely, these are good values to be strengthened and nourished in the community as far as ?community life? is concerned. However, these could also be very dangerous values if they were not lived out in the proper way and in a right order. They can be a threat in some circumstances and might endanger the vocation of anyone in some way, especially if these two values are not properly and objectively understood well. I mean, instead of helping build a healthy and harmonious community, if misconceived (i.e. using them in the negative sense in order to strengthen unity and other things), they could be used instead to tolerate and give consent to the wrong doings and misdemeanours of others. The danger of misinterpreting these values lies in this matter.

Finally, every participant in this divine endeavour must work hand in hand. He/She must be an active co-operator and collaborator of truth to this divine project. Let them be submissive by the good examples of Christ as a perfect model to all of us. Everyone is invited to be like Christ and to do the same ? dying to oneself. This is the most fundamental gift of vocation that each one has received from Him, and to do as what Jesus did if we were to follow Christ. We are called to become one with Him as He is one with the Father. We should give ourselves back to him in and through a triumphant death by dying ourselves for God?s sake and for the sake of others, and for the greater glory of God here on earth. This is what the famous line from the Bible says, ?Many are called but few are chosen? (Mt.22:14). In this connection, those who would be chosen to be sent to the field could be the few, but the well-chosen ones and the most effective catalysers of change, who would be dynamic, upright, and effective witnesses of God in the proclamation of the Reign-Kingdom of God ?which is already, but not yet,? to all the ends of the earth. ?Let us pray then to the master of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest? (Mt. 9:37-38).

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Brief News



From India

-At last, after quite complicated bureaucratic procedures, our novices were able to travel to the Philippines. They are already at Cebu, happy and adjusting to the new place, fully integrated into the life of the novitiate.
-The Vocational Summer Camps were fruitful. 24 boys from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand started their First Year, under the direction of Fr. Thomas P., helped by Fr. Pedro R. and the junior Stalin N., in his year of pastoral activity or ?Regency?.
-In Aroor there are 27 boys studying Higher Secondary School or ?Plus II? accompanied by Fr. Augustine T. All of them were admitted in Regular Schools, in order for them to receive a good education in an environment similar to the one in their own families. There are in Aroor also 30 boys studying for their Graduation or Post/graduation in different Colleges.
-Fr. Jaume Riera, General Assistant for Africa and Asia, spent the month of July in Bangalore. His target: to improve his English. We think he reached it. Besides, his presence was very encouraging and appreciated by the juniors who have enjoyed very much his company. With his presence, we had the ground breaking of the Juniorate on the 27th of July. We had already all the permits and the construction is going on fast. The foundations are almost finished, and hopefully the house will be finished at the beginning of the new school year. For the moment our juniors are leaving quite crowded in three rented houses in an almost empty neighborhood near their school.
-Fr. Jesus N. was sent to Kamda (Jharkhand), in order to accompany and help Fr. Alfaro in his mission in Northern India. We know that is already well integrated in his new assignment.
-Fr. Provincial made a flash visit to Bangalore during the third week of August. He was able to talk with the juniors, see the situation of the works of the Juniorate and resolve some problems regarding our presence here in India.

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From Japan

-On the month of June Fr. General Delegate spent two weeks in Japan for the canonical visitation. He had the opportunity to stay a few days at every house, and to talk with all the religious. He had also a meeting with the Direction Team in Kaisei, and attended in Yokohama to the ceremony of Confirmation of 16 youth and adults.
-This year it is holiday?s year for some of our brothers in Japan: Frs. German, Andres and Jose Luis, and Bro. Jesus Cegama went to Spain to enjoy of a well deserved rest. Fr. Jesus Lacarra, who arrived on June accompanying the three new juniors, stays in Japan for three months, replacing those who have gone on holidays.
-During summer vacation Bros. Nelson and Bryan went back to Komaba. The juniors in Yokkaichi, Bros. Tony and Edmond, also went to Tokyo to spend some days with the rest of the juniors. Bros. Junji, Moises and Jesley have already finished their first term in their studies of Japanese. Last August 4, all juniors in Japan went for a trip in Mt. Fuji. It was a hard, but wonderful experience.
-Bro. Bryan is now working in the parish of Sueyoshicho, as a part of his training in the Seminary of Tokyo, teaching catechism to the children. And together with those children, he went for a summer camp from July 30 until August 2.
-Bro. Tony has started his activities as a vocational promoter in Japan. Let?s pray the Lord to bless the work of our brothers in Japan with some vocations.

***

From the Philippines

-On June 8, the General Congregation erected the General Delegation into an Independent Vice-Province, as a result of a juridical normalization adapted to our new Law. It was done without any modification regarding the structures, jobs or situation of the Religious. We hope that this new situation might be for all an encouragement to work even with more enthusiasm for the development of our demarcation.
-The new school year has started in our houses. The novelty in Manila is the Piarist Missionary Vocational Center we talk on the first page. Other novelty is that several of our juniors are studying Theology at Loyola School, run by the Jesuits Fathers. In Manila there are, at this moment, 20 juniors and 3 Postulants. In Cebu City there are 15 novices, four from India and this is also the great novelty, and 16 Postulants.
-The works of the second Cultural Center, called Corrado Center, started at the end of June and they are progressing to a good speed; they will be finished in October. The new building will allow us to carry out new formation activities for children and youth, especially on the line of professional formation.
-Fr. Rafael Buitrago made his second trip to Indonesia in May. He had the opportunity of meeting many aspirants and to organize the things so that a selection process would take place. After a third trip, scheduled in a near future, it is foreseen that some young men from Indonesia might come to Manila.
-As during the past years, a team of volunteers from SETEM Andalucia (Spain) has come to Cebu City to carry out different activities in cooperation with the Cultural Center; they have contributed to an enrichment of experiences, for everybody. This year, too, we had the opportunity of receiving a volunteer from Korea, Miss Dosoon, who has carried out a bread-making short course. Or gratitude to all of them.
-Alter three years in Madrid, Francis and Mark have come for a holiday to the Philippines. Armando came also with them, but he has decided to abandon the Order. Edwin, coming from Rome, has taken the same decision. We wish them the best in their new lives.




Orient
CALASANZ FORMATION HOUSE - Piarist Fathers - Escolapios
1401 Andres Abellana Extension. Guadalupe, 6000 Cebu City,
PHILIPPINES Tel. - Fax (32)2542085
Email escoljb@cvis.net.ph http://www.cvis.net.ph/escolapios