TRIBUTE TO A TEACHER
By Cherry Mee T. Degoro
One of the best features of Misyon is the youth page. I wish, one day, through this best feature I could pay tribute to my best teacher.
Philippines
News From Norway
by Sister Zenaida Nacpil OP
Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of Remedies Arrive
Front: Sr Bibiana, Sr Anna Mary, Sr Zenaida Back: Sr Sunniva, Fr Darius OCSO
Sr Zenaida S. Nacpil OP, ‘Sister Zeny,’ from Floridablanca, Pampanga, and Sr Bibiana T. Colasito OP, ‘Sister Bless,’ from Tolosa, Leyte, arrived in Bodø, Norway, 11 June 2005. Bishop Gerhard Goebel MSF of the Prelature of Tromsø invited the Sisters to come to continue the Dominican presence and ministry at St Eystein parish. Monsignor Torbjørn Olsen, parish priest, followed up the papers of the Sisters through the Norwegian Embassy in the Philippines. Archbishop Paciano B. Aniceto of San Fernando, Pampanga, gave his blessing to the Sisters’ courage and generosity in going overseas for pastoral ministry.
First Five Months As A Missionary
by Monsignor Allen A. Aganon
Monsignor Aganon, ordained 18 September 1982, has been rector of San Carlos Major Seminary, Makati City, and was the first Filipino parish priest of St Joseph Parish, Las Piñas City, home of the Bamboo Organ, Diocese of Parañaque, before leaving for South America. He is now studying Quechua, in preparation for working in a small town in the southern Andes.
Why WYD Was Special For Me
By Angelica Escarsa
It was a blessing to be at this year's WYD, my third, after Manila in 1995 and Rome in 2000.
Angie (rightmost) with friends
‘We Went To Follow The Star’
By Ma. Kristina Garraton Abella
The author is a college student at the University of St LaSalle, Bacolod City.
World Youth Day (WYD) is a pilgrimage of young people and a festival of encounter and solidarity. Young people from all over the world are invited to take up the main concern of the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II: a renewal of evangelization that reaches out to the young. This enables the youth to experience a deeper sense of spirituality and community. I am grateful and happy that our new Holy Father, Benedict XVI has continued this tradition and came to meet us in Cologne.
‘We have come to worship Him’ was our theme. I was privileged to be one of the delegates from the Diocese of Bacolod, given the opportunity to discover the ‘young and modern mystery of the Church’ through the experience of pilgrimage, prayer, and worship.
A Choice For Life
By Sister Ashwena C. Apao SSC
Sister Ashwena or ‘Winnie’ returned to Myanmar in September. You can find out more about her and the Columban Sisters at www.columbansisters.org
On 15 August I made my Final Profession as a Columban Sister in Jimenez, my home town in Misamis Occidental. My mother still lives there, my father having died nearly 14, years ago. I am one of five and from early in my life was active in the parish which was run before by the Columbans. My dad was a lay minister and my mother's faith very deep and strong. Their commitment to God and to others helped to cultivate and deepen my faith. As a young person I was involved in the Basic Ecclesial Communities, which stressed the empowerment of the laity. This helped to enlarge my vision of Church and deepen my missionary zeal.
Tithing, A Way Of Life
By Father Rembert G. Rivera
The author is Chairman of the Commission on Mission in the Diocese of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental.
In 1990, in my first assignment, as parish priest of St Isidore the Farmer Parish, Moises Padilla, I had a dream of serving my people zealously in the Diocese of Kabankalan. I worked hard in building Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs), the foremost program of our diocese under Most Rev. Vicente M. Navarra, now Bishop of Bacolod.
I read an article in Misyon, when the late Fr Niall O’Brien was editor, about the ongoing tithing program in the Diocese of San Carlos, under Bishop Nicholas Mondejar. Without much ado, I wrote Bishop Mondejar and later met him at the Bishop’s House in Bacolod. He refused payment for the five copies of the handbook of theModified Training Program and Self-sufficiency Program that he gave me. But he asked me to spread the idea among my fellow priests and lay people.
Ministry Among The Subanen
By Father Frank Hoare SSC
The author, from Ireland, is on the General Council of the Society of St Columban. He worked for many years in Fiji.
Subanen Women
When Columban Father Brendan Kelly, from Northern Ireland, arrived at Katipunan, a mountain village in Misamis Occidental, nine years ago, he was shocked by the lack of education and medical services. The Subanen people, the original but displaced owners of the land, lived in extreme poverty. As a missionary he wanted to help. But aware of the big development plans of well-financed NGOs in the area, he wondered at first if he had any role to play. He decided then to take a people-centered approach.
Learning To Be A Shepherd In Zimbabwe
By Father Ariel Tampus SVD
Father Ariel, from Cebu, was one of 14 ordained to the priesthood on 9 March in Divine Word Seminary, Tagaytay City, and is hoping to return soon to Zimbabwe. Ten of his group have been assigned on mission overseas. http://svdbotswana.home.pl/ , the website of the province of the Society of the Divine Word that includes Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, has a longer version of his article. Father Ariel did his high school studies in Marigondon High School, Mactan, Cebu, and is a graduate of Cebu Normal University. He taught for three years in Michael Learning School, Talisay City, Cebu, before entering the seminary.
‘I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’ (Jn10:11).Jesus’ parable of the Good Shepherd is one I can really relate to. Maybe it’s because shepherding is an everyday experience in Zimbabwe, a goat, sheep and cattle-raising country. Abelusi, shepherds, are everywhere, taking good care of the animals.
Student once again
I smile every time I remember my one-month stay in a village to practice the Ndebele language and to experience the life and culture of the people. I stayed with a very religious, simple family who treated me as a kin and made me feel at home. Every morning I joined the children in school. I spent a week with grade one pupils and a week with grade two. Then I went to grade four for two weeks, the first time ever I was ‘instantly promoted.’ This helped me to experience once again how a small child learns to speak. Learning a new language, in this case Ndebele, is fun but very humbling. Like a small child, I was very dependent on my elders and teachers. Even my grade one classmates were also my ‘elders’ and teachers.
‘Be Still And Know That I Am God’
By Crisaldo A. Belas
Crisaldo Belas is Formation and Training Assistant of the Pontifical Missionary Societies of the Philippines. The PMS of the Philippines is not a religious congregation, nor an institute of consecrated life. It is under the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
As a professional catechist of the Archdiocese of Manila from 1996 till 2004, I attended monthly catechetical formation sessions in our area. We usually recited Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, the official Prayer of the Church, and spent time in silent prayer. Those years of formation awakened in me an understanding and love of prayer.
Working at the National Office
Front row: Bishop De la Peña of Marawi and Msgr Garcera; Back row: Cris (Far Right) with PMS Staff