4049(II)_14 Aspirants Admitted to the Prenovitiate
June 27, 2016
By Cl. Paul Dungca, SDB
Canlubang, the Philippines, 26 June 2016 -- The Rite of Acceptance of 14 new prenovices was held in the Diocesan Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians, Canlubang, Laguna. Ten of them come from the Philippine North Province, while the other four come from the China province (CIN). They have chosen the quotation from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians as their theme - “And the Greatest of These is Love (13:13).”
The newly accepted Prenovices are:
The ceremony took place within the Mass presided by Fr. Gerardo Martin, SDB, the Rector of the Prenovitiate. Fr. Jake Lopez, SDB, in-charge of the prenovices and Fr. Albert Kim, SDB, CIN Province representative, concelebrated. Two newly ordained deacons were also present: Rev. Marcwill Lim, SDB and Rev. Ramil Maranan, SDB. The parents and friends of the newly accepted prenovices made this event special by their attendance.
In the homily, Fr. Gerry talked about the struggle of the follower of Christ that is having a clash between the “me-first” and the “God-first.” The concept is extracted from the Gospel Reading. Also, the presider reminded them of three things: following Christ is not easy, the cross of daily living entails “metanoia” (change of heart) and lastly, following Jesus means being resolute.
Immediately after the homily, the rite followed. It began with the examination of the candidates’ intentions. Then, the Rector blessed the crosses that bear the image of the Good Shepherd, whom they want to follow. The cross is patterned after the very cross of Pope Francis. It symbolizes the prenovices’ aspirations to closely imitate Christ in radiating his light and love to others in the footsteps of St. John Bosco. After the blessing, the Rector received them with an embrace to accept them as his spiritual children who place themselves completely under his guidance.
