May_2010


May_2010

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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SALESIAN MISSIONS ANIMATION OFFICE (FIN)
ISSUE NO. # 6 – VOLUME 3 MAY 2010
THE PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL FOR RESPONSIBLE VOTING
Days after the Philippine Election
of 2010, the Commission on
Elections (Comelec) is luckily being
assisted by its reinvigorated citizens’
arm, the Parish Pastoral Council for
Responsible Voting (PPCRV). This is
a national, parish-based, political but
nonpartisan, lay organization actively supported by the
Catholic hierarchy.
Most Salesian Parishes have
its own PPCRV volunteers
especially when the season of
election time comes. It is
primarily entrusted to ensure
clean, honest, accurate,
meaningful and peaceful
elections. The PPCRV has grown
to earn the respect of both civil
society and ecclesiastical bodies in its initiatives of
transforming the electoral culture of the country.
It is good to note here that the PPCRV was
organized in response to Resolution 28 of the Second
Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) which, in
turn, was the Philippine “echo” of the Second Vatican
Council (Vatican II). This Resolution asked Catholic lay
leaders to “help form the civic conscience of the voting
population” and “to promote the election to public office
of leaders of true integrity.
The PPCRV’s best-known activity is poll watching. In
the Salesian scenario as in any other diocesan Church,
it taps volunteers among the young people involved in
Church ministries; it likewise invites its parishioners
where young professionals freely volunteer themselves
to join and participate in this exercise. The PPCRV taps
about 250 volunteers from each of the 2,700 parishes in
the whole country.
We were able to gather some
volunteers in one Salesian Parish and
inquired from them reasons of volunteering.
One reason why volunteering is important
according to one of them was that “it give
others hope; A person feels uplifted when
he or she realizes that there are people out
there who will help them out. It makes them
aware that not everything is about money.”
The selfless act of helping people and the country
through volunteerism provides a spiritual boost as well.
Knowing one did something good brings an emotional
upliftment that can never be matched by money or fame.
These are just some of the reasons why volunteering
is important. Not only does it bring hope and happiness
to people, but it leads to spiritual and emotional growth
too. It is an experience that cannot be bought.
Lay Person in Volunteer Service
Ad Gentes Ad Extra
This is a service that extends for a year or two in a mission of the Church overseas. In this ever-expanding group, opportunities are
available for people to render service in numerous areas of Church activity. Religious communities affirm that lay extensions actually
intensify their charism of service. People representing every type of service are incorporating positions for lay volunteers into the work they
give in the Church. Young, old, married and single are responding to this challenge. The personal rewards for a lay volunteer begin with
the immeasurable gratitude expressed by those who are served. The blessings continue in ways bestowed by the Spirit and unique to each
person.
Contact the Missionary Animation of the Salesian north province (Ronaldo Lora – Mission Animation Lay Delegate) for more
information.

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SALESIAN MISSIONARY IN FOCUS
BY: FR. ROEL SOTO SDB
A home visitation to the family of one of our student boarders in Prey Veng
Province with two of our lay youth volunteers and a teacher last April 17,
2010 during the Khmer New Year celebration.
The blessing of the semi-parish church in honor of Mary, Our Help by his
Excellency Bishop Emile Destombes last December 8, 2009. Present in the
occasion were Fr. Thepharat Pitisant, Provincial of Thai Province, and some
clergy of the diocese of Phnom Penh.
1. What is the story of your missionary vocation?
ver since I started entertaining the thought of
E
becoming a priest I also had in mind going to the
mission. The initial spark started when I was a kid. I
had the chance of watching the movie of Fr. Damien,
the leper priest. The movie left a strong impression in
Dmy mind of a priest’s total dedication, service and life offering to
those neglected in society. My vocation became clearer as I
entered Don Bosco Academy, Bacolor Pampanga. The story of
Don Bosco, taking care of marginalized youth, the stories of
missionaries visiting our school, the dedication of the Salesians in
Ttheir teaching, work in DBYC and their presence among us as
friends and guide made me realized that this is the kind of life and
mission I’ve been looking for. The late Fr. Felix Glowicki was an
instrument in allowing me to experience in concrete the joy, hard
work and fatherliness of Don Bosco. So, when I entered the
seminary and later professed as a Salesian I always kept the
intention of going to the mission someday. The irresistible and
persistent call came after I attended the First Asian Youth Day in
Hua Hin, Thailand in 1999. The youth in my group were all from
Laos and Cambodia. My encounter with them made me realized
the great need of Asian youth to be evangelized and have
someone to journey with them.
2. What are your joys and hurts in the mission?
I’ve been in Cambodia for a year and a half now. The
greatest difficulty I encountered was the adjustment to the culture:
language, mentality, value system and ways of doing things. I
had to give up my expectations, take things as they are patiently,
understand the people and learn from them. The joys are the
people who support me: my confreres, volunteers, lay mission
partners, and the slow, but gradual response of the people to our
mission.
3. What is Ecclesiology of mission for you?
My ecclesiology of mission is a total immersion into the
life of the people we serve. It is incarnation into the life and
culture of the people in order to be one with them, like Jesus who
humbled himself to become man. Only through this can a
missionary become relevant and effective in forming and guiding
the lives of the people he serves.
4. A simple message for aspiring religious and lay
missionaries on how to nurture or discover a missionary
vocation
A life of dedication, service, generosity and self-sacrifice
is necessary and important in the mission. Whereas how one can
discover the vocation to missionary life, God has His very unique
way of showing us individually the way. One has to be open and
sensitive to His promptings. Time will come when the call can’t be
resisted and what God just asks of us is to abandon our will to
Him and say: “I am all yours.” With prayers we will find ourselves
giving up everything daringly, even to the point of overcoming our
fears and anxiety.
5. What is the future of the mission work in Cambodia? How
do you assess the Salesian work in Cambodia?
The Salesian work in Cambodia is abundant and
challenging. The marginalized youth is growing bigger as the
country’s development, in the midst of poverty, goes by leaps and
bounds together with other neighboring countries in the Sub-
Mekong region. Despite our few in number (8 Salesians with 7
settings) we work in the technical and literacy schools, oratories,
boarding houses, Children Fund projects, and in a semi-parish (a
new pastoral work because of the need of a growing church).
Aside from our local staff we rely so much on many foreign
volunteers who help us in our mission. We also try different
approaches in sowing and nurturing the seed of vocation in the
hearts of our young people, and are looking forward to having our
own formation center in the future. We would be happy if some
young Salesians would come and share in our life and mission in
Cambodia.