By: Bro. Rex Navarro

January 16-25, 2012, the 3 novices were assigned different poor sectors. Fr. Joseph Zhang was assigned to the indigenous people of Pampanga, Bro. Rex Navarro was with the farmers also in Pampanga and Bro. John Ray was with the Street Children in Cavite.

Fr. Joseph Zhang who is a Chinese Priest relates his story to us of his unforgettable experience with the indigenous people. He lived with a chieftain of the tribe but they were really poor like the other members. They had comfort rooms but do not have any source of water so he needed to fetch water from the river. His foster parents did not know that he was a priest, at first they told him to go with them in the mountain to plant “gabi” root crafts and cut some of the grass.

By: Bro. Rex Navarro

What is lifelike inside the novitiate formation house?

People outside might think that we as novices are living like “carthusians” or “no-vices”. Some have said it’s quite boring it all silence. No television, no internet, no cellphone, no music…how can we survive without all these gadgets? A lot of distractions that take us away from reality, how do we turn them off? How do you hear the stillness of God through all the noise that bombards us?

By: Bro. Jay Lituañas

Klang! Klang! Klang! At quarter past 5 in the morning, there goes the bell of the nearby parish church summoning people to the first Mass of the day.

In the kitchen, a brother is busy preparing the breakfast while others are preparing for their day’s studies or the Lauds at 6:30 AM or doing their morning meditation. After chanting the morning prayer, the brothers and some Chinese residents take their meal. Sensing that everyone is done with his meal, the prayer presider of the week bangs the cup or plate and asks: “Do you have anything to foresee for today?” The brothers take turn to inform the community of their activities for the day such as regular classes, celebrating mass in another place, having spiritual direction and buying grocery items. Brothers, as well as residents, also take turn in washing the dishes.

Dear Friends,

First of all, three events of note:  the upcoming diaconal ordination of Brother Ed Molina, the launching of the Filipino version of “Living with Christ” (the  English Missalette of Bayard ) and the election of Fr. Bernard Holzer as the new President of   The Asia Pacific Augustinian Conference (APAC).

The rest of the Chronicles are essentially about the daily life of the three communities of the Delegation. There is the traditional Press Review and an interview with the new Archbishop of Manila and the challenges facing the Church of the Philippines.

Good reading to you all and thank you for your friendship and your support.

The redaction team: Bernard Holzer, Jay Lituañas, Cris Quiñal, Rex Navarro and Renju Paul

CHRONICLES FROM MANILA
No 21, February 2012

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