Liwanag

Liwanag

Sa aking paglalakbay

Pilit kong hinahanap ang tadhana ng buhay

Ako’y tuluyan pa rin sa pag-ahon

Saanman lunurin ng libu-libong alon

Mawasak man ng daan-daang sunog

Alam kong pangarap ko’y hinding-hindi mabubulabog

Aking pananalig sa Iyo’y naglalagablab

Pananampalataya sa puso’y habambuhay ay mag-aalab

Tiwala sa Iyo’y pinatibay sa mga oras na ako’y masaya o tumataghoy

Tila pinainit na bakal sa nagliliyab na apoy

Kaya alam naming walang hahadlang sa amin

Sapagkat Ika’y kasa-kasama namin

Biyaya Mo sa lahat ang angking karunungan

Sa sanlibuta’y mananatiling kaliwanagan sa katotohanan

Panginoon, Ikaw lamang ang ilaw sa gabing mapanglaw

Tanging liwanag na magniningning at inaasam araw-araw

Priestly Ordination (Nov. 7, 2012)

Last of November 7, 2012, 4 Dominican deacons were ordained to priesthood in Sto. Domingo Church, Quezon City. They were Rev. Bejay Namuag, O.P. (Tagum City, Davao del Norte), Rev. Lovell Javier, O.P. (Sampaloc, Manila), Rev. Rudolf Seño, O.P. (Los Baños. Laguna) and Rev. Manoj Rasanjana, O.P. (Sri Lanka). The Ordination was headed by Most Rev. Socrates Villegas, D.D. (Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan)

It was an inspiring moment in my life to witness for the first time an Ordination to Priesthood. I hope that one day, if God permits, I'll be part of the Dominican family in preaching the Gospel. May God bless them to continue the mission of showing God's love to the Youth, the Poor and the Confused.

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The invitation of the Priestly Ordination (Nov. 7, 2012)

Thanksgiving Mass of the Newly Ordained Dominican Priests

A new stole was donned to the new priests

Archbishop Soc Villegas gave a warm hug to the newly ordained priests

He is now Rev. Fr. Lovell Javier, O.P.

Fr. Lovell with his mother

Fr. Lovell is our Formator in the Dominican Aspirancy in the

Pre-Novitiate House in Calamba, Laguna.

Gospel Reflection Luke 8:16-18

Vince Stanley B. Inigo                                                                                     September 24, 2012

Luke 8:16-18

Scouting had been part of our curriculum since we were still in Grade 1. One of our songs is sung this way:

Ating itago ang ilaw, ‘wag di mainam iyan.(2x)

Ilaw ba ay hihipan, ‘wag di mainam iyan. (2x)

Itaas, itaas, itaas itong ilaw!

We sang this song during our Scouting Investiture while we were holding candles by our hand and in the hall where they turned the lights off.

In our Gospel today, we talk about The Lamp on a Stand. The light ymbolizes the good deeds.

Being good is not an option, rather, a purpose because that’s what we were created for. We don’t do kindness just for show.

This is where INTEGRITY takes place. We live together in this community-the seminary. We should be obedient whether our priest formatsors are around or not. Obedience should not appear just because people are watching you. It’s very easy to implement rules in our community but it is always up to us if we desire to follow or not. For those who follow, they have disciplined themselves to stick to their vocation. I can say that they should be blessed for God can see their little acts of obedience even if no one in the seminary observes their behavior.

“No one lights a lamp and hides it…” This means that God recognizes us in every action we do. We can do small things together. A very inspiring message from our formator, Rev. Lovell, is this, “Make sure that you put your heart in service, but you should be careful of serVICE.” We should never wait for praise when we do acts of charity. God knows if we are really doing things with our whole heart. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden in His eyes. He knows what we’re doing.

We should keep the fire of faith burning. We might have shown our priestly vocation to everyone, but we don’t know, people around us might be blowing it to put off the flame. We cannot please everyone with our good deeds but God is with us, giving Himself to all of us, appreciating the goodness in us. Our parents, our spiritual Fathers, our brothers are always here for us, to help us keep the flame of our vocation burning. They may not be there whenever you’re doing what is right but God is there to give you recognition.

Just like the Kab Scouts, ‘wag nating itago at hipan itong ilaw ng ating bokasyon, ating ITAAS ITONG ILAW!

Dominican 1st Year Aspirants 2012-2013

Top (from left): Elvin Batuigas, Marvin Obedo, Jasper Albanez, Richie Escano, Vince Inigo, Fr. Roger Quirao, OP, Albert Vergara, Mark Jo Padillo, Christian Desales, Ian Mark Gupiteo, Joseph Salenga, Tristan Mira, Allen Malnegro, Mark Buenaventura, Rev. Lovell Javier, OP

Bottom (from left): Jaycer Bajo, Raphael Tanseco, Kevin Cordova, Nichole Londerio, Yuri Partol, Joshua Sernadilla, Kenneth Villacastin, Luigi Bracamonte, Gary Ni-Og, Emmanuel Pangan

Dominican 2nd Year Aspirants 2012-2013

(From Left): Ian Melendrez, Ilex Merable, Erl Advincula, Siddharta Chiong, Paul espino, Jessie Estoy, Fr. Roger Quirao, OP, Marc dela Pena, Wilhelm Bonon, Zoilon del Rosario, Rannie Absin, Carl Dakay, Laurence Mata, Rev. Lovell Javier, OP

Domincan Postulants 2012-2013

(From Left): Fr. Val Magboo, OP, Sandy Alerta, Jeffrey Pagaduan, Alvin Lozano, Alex Seno, Ed Estrada, Adrian Louis Siayngco, Ralph Jarino, Aris Kung, Agustinus Hermawan, Jaymar Godalle

Leave Your Riches, Grant His Wishes

Mt. 19: 16-22

Leave Your Riches, Grant His Wishes

“If you wish to be perfect, go sell what you own and give the money to the poor,

and you will have treasure in Heaven; then come follow me.”

Living a religious life can be quite challenging. Full of prayers, work and most of all… sacrifices. For those who wish to enter the religious life, they must have the greatest endurance-physical, mental and spiritual. It is giving your whole self to the Supreme Being who is behind all these things.

When I first told my friends that I’m entering the seminary, they were a little bothered because they had seen me grow up with them in a world full of pleasures and leisure in life. They did not expect that I, being one of them, would choose this kind of life. I came from a rich family. And by that I meant rich in LOVE and PRAYERS. My parents are both working in order for them to provide us with what we need and what we want. There is just one person who really do not want me to continue priesthood and that is my grandfather. I understand that being the eldest among their grandchildren, I am expected to support our clan’s wealth and they wanted me to become a lawyer.

For me, worldly pleasures are temporary sources of happiness. We often forget that the One above has provided us the purpose of being happy since the time we were delivered in this world. We should be ready to leave all our wealth and riches if we want to follow God. In the Gospel, the rich young man had been very obedient with the Commandments but he wasn’t ready to leave his wealth behind. This is the problem to most of us these days. We have been clinging to the wrong master. These are just bills and coins but they sometimes can own our souls. If we believe that God will always provide us what we need, He will always be there for us. I know that He will not leave us being poor if we are doing our part in this world. Make life simple.

If we really are ready to offer our lives to the Lord, we should forget the worldly pleasures starting now. We are living the life of a religious. I know that it is hard but life really is like that. We can never have the best of both worlds. You can never be a priest and at the same time a president of a company. The best company to have is the company with Christ and that will make us a team with Him having the treasures of the church-the faithful. What should triumph is the contentment in our hearts. And this will make us all happy.

If only we can hear Christ speak to us directly, probably He will say in Filipino: “Halika, sumama ka sa akin, wala kang ibang kakailanganin at walang ibang proproblemahin.”

How contented are you? How are you willing to give up everything to follow Him?

I, _______________, am contented, willing to give up everything just to follow Him.

Metal on a Furnace

“I have tested you like a metal

On a furnace”

We all have different backgrounds in life. Some of us came from descent living and some of us came from hardships. In my case, I may say that I came from a good family. I have parents who can provide me with the things I need. But I do not limit myself to a life of pleasure. I want to show that happiness is open to everyone because we strive to do so. And hard work is a manifestation of such and that is the life I am choosing- to serve my family, and now, the church.

 My family is not rich. We only live a simple life. We don’t even have maids at home due to the issues that they take advantages of our properties. Early as 12 years old, I already experienced being the father of the family. Not because my father already passed away but it is because he does not stay home often. Those times were really hard for me especially in maintain the household and it continued until I reached my adolescence. My mother taught us that life is never easy but we should always strive to be happy. It wasn’t easy for me to study during my high school days because I had to attend to the needs of my siblings. But no matter how hard it was, I know that God was always there, and He helped me until I graduate as one of the best students in our batch.

God has tested me from the time I had realizations of the world until today. Wise people say that problems will never be gone but we surpass them. At the same time, things do not get easier, we only get better. Before entering the seminary, I had doubts to myself if I can really continue until priesthood because I know that it is not easy to serve especially the Lord. But then, I told God, “Lord, I am not worthy, but for you, and if only you would accept, may I please serve your church.”

I can feel our Lord’s test of faith. During my first week of stay in the seminary, I had been crying because of home sickness. I understand that the Lord has always reserved for us the best of the bests and He will never leave us. WE shall carry our own crosses if we want to follow Him. It is never easy because we believe that our homes do not belong in this world but in Heaven. I grew up to be prayerful, and my mother always reminds me of that. Christ bore the heaviest Cross and the hardest sacrifices in order for us to be brought back to our real home. No one can stand the level of love He is showing unto us. We should offer our life-joy and hardships- to Him. So, into His hands, we should commend our spirits.

Our inspiring seatwork in IT

Luke 5: 1-11

¹One day

as Jesus stood by the lake

of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered

around him listening to the word of God, ²He caught

sight left at the water’s edge by the fishermen washing their nets.

 ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out

 a little from the shore. There he sat and continued to teach the crowd. ⁴When he

had finished speaking he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and

lower your nets for a catch.” ⁵Simon replied, “Master, we worked

hard all night and caught nothing. But if you

say so, I will lower the nets.” ⁶This they did and caught

 such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

⁷They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and

help them. They came and filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.

⁸Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me,

Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

⁹For he and his companions

were amazed at the

catch they had made

¹⁰and so were Simon’s partners,

James and John,

Zebedee’s sons.

Jesus said to Simon,

“Do not be afraid.

You will catch people

from now on.” ¹¹So they brought their boats to land and followed him, leaving everything.