perpetual profession is the moment were one give his whole life for the Lord. May 1, 2008 was the day that I and my co-brothers done this act of faith. May God grant as all the graces we need to be faithful to the promise we have made till the end.

Retreat

It was 6 of April when 17 brothers of the Seminaryo went up to Bagiuo City at the Mirador retreat house to find silence and peace for 8 days as they prepare for their perpetual profession on the 1 of May. You can really feel the presence of the Spirit blowing his will in the hearts and mind of the brothers. At the end the brothers gain the strength to follow what inspired between them and God.

Before going down the bothers were given time to see bagiuo even for a short time. everybody was very thankful of all that transpired from that 10 days in bagiuo City.

2nd years having fun in one of the condominium in Makati but the best experience is the rooftop experience God its so beautiful to be there to see Makati on top.

Christian?

Christian … Catholic?

The Christian Catholic Church

“They say that the Filipino youth are among the most religious in the world. True!

In spite of the many contrary influence in today’s society, the Filipino youth remain basically open to God. For them, God is not someone absent, hidden, or distant.

Rather, He is someone alive, present and very much a part of their lives”[1]

In my two years of exposure in the world of youth during my practical training there is one thing I realized in the religious life of the youth of today. I realized that they are naturally a “faith persons.” I don’t know but I think by nature Filipino youth are God fearing and loving individuals. Maybe because of the Filipino culture that influences their inner being. As we all know that our country was under the bells of the Spaniards that spread the Catholic Christian faith in our motherland for three hundred years. But this particular culture that planted the seed of Catholic faith also becomes the reason why the youth of today find a hard time in living out their so-called faith.

As we Filipino in general is suffering from identity crisis because we were colonized by so many cultures. The youth of today are as I observed also are suffering from identity crisis in their Christian Catholic faith. For my two years of teaching religion to the youth of Don Bosco College Canlubang I discovered that naturally the youth could not define what it means to be a Christian much more of becoming a Catholic. The cost? “The lack of basic catechism about our Christian catholic faith.” The youth of today (may be not only the youth but majority of the Catholics) are Christians by heart but never a Catholic. A great percentage or even all believes that Christ is Lord and Savior that is why they pray and ask for guidance from him in times of trials and needs as what our Christians Born Again brothers do. They have a personal relationship with God. They relate with God in a very personal level. I could see that they have this willingness to be part of the religious activities like novenas and vigils. They themselves carry religious articles in their bodies. I see many of the youth visit the Blessed Sacrament every moment of the day it is just part of their daily activities that they do willingly and religiously. They do pray and I could say really pray. I see that they have a deep sense of religiousness in them. But the problem I see is that the youth is not aware that there is something about being a Catholics that make us different from other Christians and these are the elements of “Commitment and Responsibilities.” We have the Sacraments! As Catholics we are sacramental individuals. We don’t relate with God according to our own feelings but we relate with God first and foremost by doing what God wants us to do. In other words God is not the one who will follow but we are the one who will follow according to his Divine Will. I fell that we are slowly becoming a Christian Fundamentalist in living out our Catholic faith. I think we have to go back to our roots. We have to talk again and tell stories with the youth about Christianity and Catholicism.

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[1] The Changing Faces of the Filipino. p. 237