And as I see myself in the past, I became in-touched with my faith-life that helped me see clearly my vocation which tells me at this very moment that I am indeed, called… at this very moment…

Indeed, a life reflected is a life lived.

The Season of Lent is being practiced by Catholics, and most of the Christian denominations around the world. Originating from the fourth century of the Church, this season lasts for 40 days, beginning today until Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday before Easter. It is a time of prayer and preparation for the celebration of Easter, the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

The Season of Lent is marked with prayer, fasting and alms-giving. As we pray, we recognize our own sinfulness as we show our humility before God, thus we practice of putting ashes on the forehead, listen to Christ’s Gospel and live it accordingly. We fast and abstain; we give up or refrain from what we normally do, eating meat, drinking alcohol and excessive sweets. Nowadays, a challenge to abstain from using internet is one of many ways to show our sincerity to that devotion; fasting from what we usually have. Christ asks us to be compassionate, we give alms to the least ones, for “what we do to the least, we also do to him.”

We begin with imposition of ashes, an attitude of being penitent, of being sorry to the sins of omission and commission, for being part of the sin of the society. We pray, “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us” (Luke 11:4).

Loving God, we ask for forgiveness of sin, sin of this world and our personal sins. Open our hearts into repentance as we give up anything that attaches us to this world. Help us to be detached from anything that makes us far from you: sin. Forgive us as we forgive those who sinned against us. O, Lord may it begin with me. Amen

]]> http://www.vinceleste.com/blog/2011/o-lord-begin-with-me/feed/ 2 http://www.vinceleste.com/blog/2010/come-by-here/ http://www.vinceleste.com/blog/2010/come-by-here/#comments Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:11:52 +0000 brVince http://www.vinceleste.com/blog/?p=458 Dance and sing with the day! Yup, that’s how I feel at the moment. As soon as I faced the computer to do the tasks today, I played a morning praise to help me lift up my prayers for today. Kum ba yah, my Lord! And the day starts right…

While listening to it, I want to sing with it, I want to dance as feel the energies of the day to be with me. As a religious brother, I’m trying to be faithful and thanks God for letting me see my limitations and weaknesses, strengths and blessings. “Lord, I offer you everything what I have for today. May all my experiences help me to grow in love with you more and more every day with the people I am with and will be with…”

Thank you Lord for another year of blessings and graces. Forgive me of my faults and help me open my eyes to the beauty of this life in spite and despite of struggles in life, in my vocation and every day dealings. I thought I will never make it today… But I’m still afraid of the unknown, yet this reminds me of my human-ness, that I depend on you. Thank you Lord for today is my birthday…

For almost four months of being away from my blog-site, I again realize that there are people who look forward for my another entry. Whether boring or interesting stories I got to share, they are, still, worthy to be shared, I suppose.

So this time, I would like to re-launch my blog. It’s time again to move on with my journey as a blogger. As the title of this blog, ‘Ot! This will be another entry that marks it’s new beginning. The Itinerant wants to move on, with more passion this time, marked with another new inspirations; experiences, simple spirituality in everyday life, the children, the people, in general. They are just some of the reasons why I do blog. Nevertheless, I do blog because I got something to share, too… Not necessarily I got to share something…

Let this be an expression of my prayers, Lord, in thanking you for helping me open my eyes to all my experiences every day of my short life…

Today, as usual Saturday of my visitation with the children at Asilo to teach them with their basic subjects. I found a real and valuable gift for Christmas when I arrived. I entered the office to log in when I noticed an old man and a young woman. Teby was there also, standing behind the man. I greeted the and entered the room while waiting for the logbook from the counter. I was wondering what were the two doing there and Teby was talking to them. The social worker, guessing my reaction, told me that the man with the boy is his father, and the woman is his sister-in-law. I was very happy at that very moment that the boy found his family or maybe his family found him! They saw him on TV and they started looking for the Institution from that day. I learned from the father that they gave up looking for him after a year and presumed dead or adopted. I was little bit disappointed that he lost his hope but I saw with my very eyes how happy he is that he has his son again after four hopeless years of losing him. Teby hugged his father. His age is not 12 as he related to me last time, but he is now 14 and five months old. He is already a teenager and yet he seems to be underdeveloped basing the developmental growth of his age.

I turned to him and smiled, he came to me and hugged me while happily telling me how grateful he is this time. He thanked me for the time and laughter we shared everytime we have our tutorial. I recalled how hesitant he was with me at first but we became friends when I related with him a story about a father and son who escaped from prison using birds’ feathers’ to fly (I forgot the whole story…) I was touched of this morning’s grace. We bid goodbye as if we will not meet again…kaya pa-pics na kami

After many days of looking from the time they saw him on TV, at last they found him, and now, Teby found his family. Who was lost? There was that moved them into that situation, I was sure, there was that atmosphere of longingness and love this morning. I was very happy, everybody was happy. How much more with Teby and his family? What love can do?

n.b.
Unchecked grammars and spelling.
Teby is not his real name.
Can’t continue writing, iiyak na ako!

]]> http://www.vinceleste.com/blog/2007/lost-and-found-family-who-waswere-really-lost/feed/ 4 http://www.vinceleste.com/blog/2007/monk-and-the-modern-world/ http://www.vinceleste.com/blog/2007/monk-and-the-modern-world/#comments Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:12:00 +0000 brVince http://iretreat.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/monk-and-the-modern-world/ My first notion about monks was too broad, generalized and really a different idea from what we have now. Monks were the people who live in the forest alone and secluded. The cloisters they have do not accept visitors openly and they lived as farmers and beggars. Yet it is common for them as simple people, living their vows with austerity. They were tagged as ascetics, hermits, old people to mendicants, beggars, who can also be found in the cities. I met the founder of a newly established local congregation under a Bishop, and he said that they are the modern mendicants. Being a monk follows with the world’s trend, from old to modern, and they exist at the edge of the society. When the world is getting modernized, globalized and chaotic, where is the simplicity and how they can live the challenges of the modern lifestyle?

Religious life is a 24/7 life, and a monk lives a unified and well-integrated life. He is not being disturbed nor affected with the world’s change, faithful and is calm; he is being in contemplation, having a constant attitude of being a religious monk whatever their professions or works. This should not be misinterpreted with the activities of being a monk will make a monk. The identity is being changed from “practices” to “being” not for showing only. Like the virtues of the vows, give way to a constant intimate communion with God in every events of everyday dealings. This is greatly demanding and yet a privilege to a monk to be wholly and well-integrated being. Monks continually exist in spite of having nothing, a realization that even without any securities and social identities, continue to evolved and seek transformation and conversion in Christ, whom we always find our identity; it is spirituality.

Every Christian is called to follow Christ, this is religious life; since everybody is consecrated to God by virtue of being adopted brothers and sisters of Jesus. Thus we are always the “people of God” and that encompasses everything. This gives life to a new way of monasticism in our modern time, being integrated with every individual and communities; from our families of our own to our professional career, on how the values of the monks are lived. The new communities of Christians are gift to everybody and it is being welcomed gradually. We can see the changes of Christian life in our local churches being re-energized with the challenges presented by religious life in the modernized and more secularized world. It started from people’s need, local churches as how the early monastic life was born, spread all over the land.

n.b. Random personal reflection, unedited nor grammar checked.

Today, in 1817, in La Valla, France, Marcellin Champagnat founded the Institute of Teaching Brothers. He started with two young men, Brothers Jean Marie and Louis.

Marcellin’s inspiration in founding the congregation was rooted in the need of his contemporary time. He became aware of the extreme difficulty of the people especially the young in learning how to read and write, and the urgent need of creating a society to cope with those hardships. Moreover, His experience with the Montagne boy reinforced his desire to teach them in a Christian way of education. His dream, to send the Brothers to all dioceses in the world is now becoming a reality in our contemporary times.

With our theme in today’s commemoration, “Built Wisely, Living Today!” is the realization of our foundation as congregation of teaching Brothers. But indeed, “If the Lord does not build a house, in vain do the builders labour,” A wise man builds his house on the rock, so Champagnat too, our wise Father priest, inspired us to be here today to celebrate with him in thanking God for the graciousness in finding our own giftedness in the institute.

We pray for all the Brothers in the whole Institute, all those who have gone before us, and those who, in many ways, shared their lives as Marists in spirit.

With the spirit of Champagnat and with Mary our Good Mother, our first Superior, let us begin the celebration with joyful hearts and minds.

by Br. Vince, FMS

It is seems to be a difficult question for me if I try to understand what it really means. It is simply answered as, we need to get up to do our duties for the day by starting it with morning prayer and at the end of the day, we end by evening prayer, and the next day, we get up again. A routine. But I am sure that it means something about the existence of religious life in the modern contemporary time and its future.

When I was still in the novitiate, I learned that a religious congregation needs to evolve with time so that it will not die or being left behind. There is a cycle that sometimes, it is able to cope with the challenges of time and sometimes, questions the effectiveness of the charism which the founder adopted to answer the needs of his time. I have read couple of books about my own congregation from the start of its existence up to the latest circular of our Superior General and I found out that there are so many changes happened in the whole institute as time passes by. Soon as the Brothers started to become a congregation, they taught small schools in rural areas but these days, a lot of lay mission partners are being involved with the brothers’ works in big schools whether in rural or urban places and in mission places, as well. But the existence of religious life is still there as it is founded strongly and willingly evolved with time without losing its own charism. The Brothers still gather together as a sacred community and sustained its existence.

For me, re-envisioning religious life itself is important to every congregation as they locate themselves in the midst of new changes in the society, its structure and its needs. The challenge to evaluate the dreams of the founder and the first community is there, whether there is a dynamism and consciousness for the modern time. Attentiveness is needed and not only by sending missions. Even before I joined the formation, I asked myself of what would be my role in my own institute, and what can I share to my own community as I longed to live the religious life. It looked like, two sides or parts of me. Me, inside the congregation and me, outside the congregation. Inside the congregation, I am part of the intentional community that longed to pray together, work together and be with together. Outside the congregation, I am part of the whole church as I willingly vowed publicly to serve others. But the question I am trying to answer is, “As the Church continue to move on with time, up to what extent can I see myself in the religious life living my vows faithfully?” It is still the happiness to get up in the morning sharing the faith with the whole Church in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Institute of Consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) visited Marist Asia-Pacific Center last December 1 to share their prayers in remembering the spirit of the Mission Congress in Asia . They had originally prepared these animated prayers for the recent Missiology Forum in Manila . Br. Jeff Crowe, the rector of MAPAC, welcomed the 30 religious sisters and brothers (including priests) led by Sr. Patiola, OLN. The group presented three para-liturgies that led to the spirit of the occasion entitled, “One Story: Five Versions.” It was started with the interpretative dance “Song of the Body of Christ” about coming and sharing their stories led by the Vietnamese and Thailanders.

The graceful movements, simple gestures, and colourful traditional dress engaged us all at the level of the heart, in a sense of gratitude for the living p

resence of the Spirit in our people, and a desire to share this with our brothers and sisters evrywhere. In between the prayer parts were socialization among the different cultures and congregations, and the fellowship meal, the dinner. Including the Brothers, the participants came from Carribean , Micronesia , Solomon Islands , Kiribati , Papua New Guinea , Tonga , Fiji , Samoa and New Zealand , Australia , China , Vietnam , Thailand , Myanmar , Bangladesh , India , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , Korea , Philippines , Indonesia , Malaysia . The occasion of prayers w

ere successfully ended around half past 8 in the evening after the speech of thanks of Br. Vince Celeste, community councilor.

In behalf of the MAPAC community, I would like to thank you for your generosity of sharing the prayer of the mission with us, for the fellowship we had tonight. Indeed, the different forms pf prayer presented were appreciated and even more heard when they are integrated into different cltures here in Asia-Pacific. The spirituality of awareness and sensitivity may be developed by us here at MAPAC and we may be able to live them everyday. To you brothers and sister, our deep gratitude. Good evening.