The Servant of Charity

NEWSBITS
OF THE
GUANELLIANS
IN THE
PHILIPPINES
The Servant of
Charity
CELEBRATING LIFE AND LOVE
SEPTEMBER 2014
HUMAN LIFE IS A CELEBRATION!
“Jesus
Christ is the
eternal
wisdom who
scrutinizes
all things,
takes in all
things with
His look.”
ST. LUIGI GUANELLA
September 8 we celebrate the birth of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. The birth of a child is a joyful event in the family.
Blessed Mary, in a special way, is a gift to all of us because millions of people, Catholics as well other religions background
brethren, rejoice and cherish the tender love and protective
hands of Mamma Mary.
Our Divine Providence Province is blessed with the
arrival of 10 newly ordained “Good Shepherds.” We felt
the grave responsibility of shepherding moving around for the
first thanksgiving masses: In the 1 Peter 5: 1-4, the author of
the letter is reminding us to watch over the flock as though it
were God watching over it. Let the fragrance of Christ fill the
new priests with the fruit of the Holy Spirit so that they smell
the perfume of the flowers of patience, love and joy, from the
peace in his heart, from his gentleness, generosity, humility
and fidelity. Our Blessed Mother’s greatness is from within and not an outside show
and, for her, “Jesus is the sun and she is the only dawn that announces His rising. New
Priests shake off complacency and be a “living image” of Jesus Christ!
In the amended article of our Cons. 64 under the title “care for human life
and for the integrity of creation”, we read “aware of such great dignity we proclaim and spread the Gospel of Life and promote a culture that protects the sacredness
of the human person….from conception to natural death. We are called to cooperate with God in bringing forth a culture of life. Human life is not a commodity, but a
precious gift from God. Human life is a gift, a great gift so we are called to take care of
ourselves by eating right, staying active and fit, keeping our minds alert, engaging in
meaningful conversation.”
Fr. Louis Guanella was very particular in developing his apostolate in the defense of life by incarnating the Gospel into life in reducing suffering and empowering
human dignity, caring for the integral upliftment of the poorest. We, Guanellians, become Sacrament to the poor by radiating the heart of the Good Samaritan through our
distinctive mission.
Fr. Soosai Rathinam, SdC
Provincial Superior
CELEBRATING LIFE AND LOVE
When God speaks through you
God has a unique way of calling somebody.
Each has its own vocation story. Each has its
own unique way of unfolding of events. But
one thing is for certainly common… there is
His voice. The most tender voice which fascinates us to say Yes no matter what. And,
God would sometimes use people to echo
His call. A moment we immortalize in our
vocation story and call it when-God-speaksthrough-you.
I’ve been with the Servant of Charity for
about two years and four months now as a
Mark (second from left) with other members of the seminarian. For two years now, every weekend, I help in the vocation work of our comVocation Team at Sta. Cruz Parish, Manila
munity. The good thing also about this ministry is that we do it with our Guanellian Sisters. I remember St. Louis Guanella working hand
in hand with the congregation of sisters he first founded, the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, for a specific mission to lend a helping hand to the poor, lowly and the needy of diverse ages. That bond between the Servants and the Daughters continues to grow until today
through this ministry.
In this ministry, we go to two parishes every Sunday morning and share our life and
ministry. We encourage the youth. We respond to basic questions. But above all, we proclaim! We proclaim the glorious providence and unconditional love and mercy of God to His
special and good children.
However, it is not easy to become a vocation promoter. First of all, we have to overcome the weaknesses of our very own self: getting rid of nervousness of standing before a
crowd, getting over committing mistakes, or confidently amplifying to people the voice of
God. Also, from time to time, we face different kinds of people; and, at times, it is not just a
piece of cake to relate with them in versatile. Nevertheless, at the end of the day we feel such
contentment in the ministry. And, being a vocation promoter, we need lots of prayer, perseverance, patient-endurance, and active participation from each colleague to arrive at such
goal.
Personally, this ministry has been very formative. It brings us to different places –
from cathedrals and shrines to parishes and chapels – it sends us different people of various
cultures. Given that, we learn lessons that have been very instrumental in shaping and forming ourselves. All the more, we develop our God given talents. We also learn to appreciate,
accept and love each person despite the differences. We learn to build friendship and communion among people of diverse status. It has become a privilege to us to hear and witness
the stories of faith, hope and love of different persons from different walks of life. It has become an opportunity to us as well to realize our personas of becoming good Christians and of
becoming good priests and nuns of the Church in the near future. It seems like a school to us
and experience is our teacher itself.
This ministry is a gift from God that has been entrusted to us. It’s a gift to be nurtured. It’s a gift to be shared with others responsibly and generously. It is our joy to be one
with this mission. It is our joy to proclaim God’s most tender voice, to amplify His voice to
everybody. It is our joy to become God’s instrument.
.Mark Lanuza
Page 2
L
“ ET THE
CHURCH
ALWAYS BE
A PLACE
OF
MERCY
AND
HOPE,
WHERE
EVERYONE
IS
WELCOMED,
LOVED,
AND
FORGIVEN. ”
Pope Francis
(Let us pray for a
fruitful and
meaningful
visit of
Pope Francis
in the Philippines
on
January 2015)
CELEBRATING LIFE AND LOVE
ANNUAL FUND RAISING DRIVE
DINNER FOR A CAUSE YEAR 4
24 October 2014
Friday
7:00 pm
FERNWOOD
GARDENS
₱ 1000
for tickets or
sponsorship,
call Bro. Gerry
at 931-5549
69 Cenacle Drive,
Sanville Subdivision
Quezon City
In our Guanella Home for Special Children, twenty abandoned persons with
disabilities receive daily assistance and care for physical and occupational
therapy, special education classes, skills training, value formation,
recreational, socialization and spiritual activities.
The Servants of Charity Seminary at present has sixteen seminarians in
formation. The help that you extend to our young men will enable them to
pursue their missionary vocation of serving God, the Church and the poor.
Your contribution can help
achieve our mission.
BUWAN NG WIKA CELEBRATION
Last August 14, Guanella Center celebrated the Buwan ng
Wika. With the theme, “Filipino: Wika ng Pagkakaisa” (Filipino:
Language of Unity), our special children celebrated the Buwan ng
Wika with a program where they performed dances and songs all
featuring modern local and folk songs. They also had a parade of
different local costumes that promotes our awareness of the beauty and dignity of our own native tradition. Ronnie Silverio and Kim
Solis were judged as best in costumes while James Natabio and
Novyn Ygay were awarded with Most Creative Costumes.
The celebration is pursuant to Proclamation 1041,
signed by former President Fidel Ramos, which declares
the annual national celebration of the National Language
Month every August. Additionally, former President Manuel
Quezon, considered the Father of the National Language,
was born on August 19, 1878. By virtue of this proclamation, schools and institutions are highly encouraged to organize programs related to language and the Filipino culture that help all of us to appreciate and love our identity
and country.
Page 3
NEWSBITS
OF THE
GUANELLIANS
IN THE
PHILIPPINES
The Superior
Servants of Charity
Centerville
Subdivision, Pingkian
Road, Bgy. Pasong
Tamo, Tandang Sora,
1107,
Quezon City
Telefax: 931-5549
456-8550
E-mail:
[email protected]
SC HOSTED DAOP PALAD 2014
Last August 24 2014, the Servants of Charity hosted the “Daop Palad”, an annual
school activity of St. Anthony Mary Claret College (SAMCC) that aims in pursuing of building
relationships, molding one’s character, enhancing one’s talent and developing fraternity and
sportsmanship. SAMCC is a college seminary that offers AB Philosophy for Claretian and other
religious seminarians. Our seminarians have been going to Claret for their Philosophical studies
since 1992. The event started with a Holy Mass presided by Rev. Fr. Gilbert D. Quenano , CMF
-Dean of the school. It was a fun-filled day because the virtue of friendship and teamwork was
shown by the seminarians from various religious congregations. It was also a time of bonding
not only among the seminarians but also between them and the professors and formators. The
Dean of the College (Fr.Gilbert) did not exempt himself to experience all the challenges. We all
witnessed his participation and enthusiasm in doing the different hurdles and obstacles of the
games.
We all enjoyed the “Daop Palad”, a unique experience to be treasured. And the 2014
“Daop Palad” is unforgettable for us because of the values that we learned- courage, trust, perseverance, care, faith, hope and above all, love. May we continue to love and serve one another
for the greater glory of God!
We’re on the Web!
www.servantsofcharity.org
SERVANTS
OF CHARITY
PHILIPPINES
Celebrating
God’s love in
the footsteps of
St. Louis
Guanella
FREE
VOCATION
SEMINAR
For male graduating high
school students, college
students, or young
professionals
The growing number of indigent
and
children
Every Seconddisabled
Weekend
of entrusted by
the Lord to our care make us seek
the Month
and welcome any help and
expression of solidarity.
Saturday 9:00 am to
If you5:00
arepm
interested in sharing our
Sunday
mission as a cooperator or
benefactor, you may write, call or visit
our address.
For more information:
0915-648-0362