VALUES ORIENTATION of the THEOLOGY COMMUNITY

It is good and pleasing when brothers live in unity- Psalm 133

Good Morning!

Last summer, we had the chance to go to Bukidnon for the Liturgy Conference. One

structure of the seminar is an overnight recollection facilitated by our program coordinator, Dom

Pachomius San Juan, OSB. He spoke about his thoughts on community. Let me evolve my

sharing with excerpts from his.

He said: Every group stands for something. To join one is not simply to socialize with friends,

or to meet and make new ones; it is to commit oneself to advancing the goals of the community

itselfWhen we commit ourselves to the goals of a group, we get from the group as much as we

give it.

We join a group in order to do together what cannot possibly be done alone. Consider

our experience of laborandum and manulia. Is it not easier and efficient when one has a partner

to sweep the floor, apply floorwax and polish everything afterwards? Are there not stories and

tokens of friendship that fill the boring hours while wiping all the windows around the building?

When prolonged work is a pleasure, it is not really because of the work itself, but more often

because we are among friends.

We know from experience that life in community is not all party time or basketball

games, or kabolangan and laughters. When Jesus called the twelve to form them into a

community, he chose men who were simply not the same. Perhaps they would not come together

if the Lord had not called them. The same is true with us. We did not choose the people we now

live with in the community. But they are the ones with whom and for whom we are called to

create a unity. Commitment and convenience are not synonymous. To really belong to
something, one must do what the group is pledged to do, whether one feels like performing it or

not.

When starting a community there are always enough courageous people who are ready to

be heroes. It is not difficult to get volunteers, or ask help from. People are prepared to sleep late

at night just to prepare the chapel for the next days liturgy, to work extra hours in front of the

computer to type and print all the community schedules, or to exert extra effort to perform ones

duty in his new office. The problem is not in getting the community started. Taking off is just

easy. The difficulty is HOW to keep it going when it is in orbit and just going around the same

circuit everyday and everyday.

A community that is just an explosion of heroism is not yet a complete community.

Community is made up of simple things- the simple fidelity to everyday things- the daily round

of prayers and masses, meals, manualias, leisure, plays, silence, classes and exams plus

reportings and deadlines. It is in the daily grind where we discover people are gifts and they

give us every reason to be grateful and to be joyful. The strength of a group is not determined

by its number, but by the dedication of each member to meet its goals.

As months pass, living with others in these four corners of our HOME gets more

difficult. We find our selves faced with our limitations and those of others. The function of

community is to bring us to a greater self knowledge, to expose our dark sides and also our good

sides, and call forth our strengths. Life in a community is like raising a child. We need the group

for our own advancement. In every group there are Holy models, people who teach us how to

live, how to fail, how to survive the blows of life. Community carries us over the rough spots of

life. It lifts us in its current and moves us when we cannot move our selves.
 According to a lay French person with the name of Jean Vanier, he spoke of community

life in three stages:

The FIRST STAGE is the period of the perfect, of the ideal. In the early stage of community life,

we only see what is good, pleasing and admirable. It is like being in the company of angels and

saints. This stage does not last very long. Welcome to stage two!

The SECOND STAGE is the period of let-down. This is the time of tiredness, depression,

loneliness, and darkness. People do not see virtue and merit in others. Faults are found and

sometimes thrown to others in order to save ones self. Stage one is replaced by bitterness and

coldness. In this stage, people either leave or stay. If people survive this stage, they do not only

live beyond themselves, they become fully themselves. They enter stage three.

The THIRD STAGE is the period of realism, commitment and covenant. This is the time to

sweat and roll up ones sleeves and plunge both hands into life. This is a stage of seriousness and

risk- taking moments. No one becomes holy alone. Only constant, stable contact with others

brings us the self knowledge it takes to become what God wants us to be.

Jesus sent out his disciples by twos- a clear indication that evangelization is a collective

activity. Unity is the basis of the kingdoms radicality. At times, we need to receive

encouragement, support, guidance, and correction. At other times, we are expected to minister

these gifts to others. Community is part of the message and method of Jesus.

Membership in the community is a collective endeavour, a common responsibility for

mutual growth. We are really members of one another. We are all making the same journey

towards the same goal. There must be the WILL to community, there must be something that

binds all members to one another- these are the VALUES embraced by each one of us. Agimat

ika nga ni Fr. Ted Gonzales. These are the charisms of the community, the gifts given to us.
These are the glues of LOVE that binds us. Heto ang mga Agimat na pinakakaingat-ingatan

natin at ipinamamana sa mga susunod sa atin:

1. MAKUSA (volunteerism) - Hindi na kilangang sabihan pa. As the old theo saying

goes Matwa ta na! (matatanda na tayo) Be faithful to our schedules. Kung oras ng

pagdarasal, gumising at magkita-kita sa chapel. Sa oras ng paglilinis, huwag magpa-

late at gawin ng maayos ang assignment. Kung mayroong naka-On na ilaw or valve

ng urinals, paki-off, kung may maruming utensil sa pantry, pakihugasan. Kung

maalikabok ang building, paki-mop. Makusa.

2. MAPAGKALUB (openness) - generosity is the word. Anu mang magaling, kahit

maliit, bastat malimit ay patungong langit this is the Theology of the crumbs

adopted by the Archdiocese of Manilas PONDO ng PINOY, Kung ano ang meron

tayo, ibahagi natin. Kahit ano at paano sa ating mumunting paraan. Ang talento kapag

hindi ipinakita, maaaring mawala at makalimutan. Ang pagkain kapag itinago,

aamagin o lalanggamin. Sharing is a very important aspect in our community. Sharing

of talents, of time, of stories, of laughters and tears. Natatandaan ko pa ang hinabilin

ng mag kuya namin noong kamiy first year pa lamang, kung wala kang itinatago sa

community, mas malaya ang pakiramdam mo. Sa isang van na nakapark sa SM,

nabasa ko I am Blessed to be a blessing for others- ako ay pinagkalooban upang

magkaloob para sa iba.

3. MATAPAT (Honesty) Honesty is the best policy mula grade 1 hangang ngayon

itinuturo sa atin yan. Siguro naman, at sana naman, we are matured enough to know

what it means. Kung may nasira tayo, ireport sa chairman. Di naman siguro tayo

pagbabayarin ng malaki. (sana). Kung may recollection or talk tayo outside the
 seminary, magbigay ng 10% sa apostolate. Give what is due. Sabi nga sa gospel

noong Tuesday, give to Ceasar what belongs to Ceasar and give to God what

belongs to God. Dont short-change people sabi nga ni Fr. Oliver. Be Honest!

4. MAUKUL / MADISPUSISYUN (Wisdom) according to the dictionary, wisdom

means: knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action;

discernment, or insight. Robert Fulghum, writer of All I Really Needed to Know, I

Learned in Kindergarten, ones wrote, Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate

school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. Knowing what is right

and wrong is just basic, but sometimes those basic things are taken for granted. Go

back to the basics, remember the basics. Occasions such as these are opportunities to

remind our selves of the basics. Know whats right and wrong on the here and the

now. Knowledge with maturity.

5. MALALAM (knowledgeable) theological learnings are acquired from the four little

corners of our classrooms. We are tested by time to know and be experts (in one way

or another) on certain theological ideas and principles. But being knowledgeable is

not only limited inside the classrooms. Experience is the best teacher as we say-

hold on to our own experiences which enable us to learn. For us, theologians, we

study, undergo trainings and seminars and learn things not really for our selves, but

mainly for the many people who wait for us outside the walls of the seminary

someday. Hopefully, we may be able to satisfy their longing for a deeper knowledge

of our faith. Let us learn for our people because we cannot give what we do not have.

6. MATIBE (strong) Bishop Ambo once told us that he envisions a Mater Boni

Graduate to have strong convictions. Biasa kang manalakaran e ka basta

 mangabiran to stand with ones principles and beliefs, to walk with integrity and to

decide strongly for the common good. Also matibe pushes one to be literally strong,

physically strong (with a sound healthy mind and body), emotional strength,

communal strength (united in LOVE), spiritually strong (prayer life as the foundation

of our vocation), and becoming matibe (strong) in all the adversities and blows of life.

7. MASAYA (joyful) - In one of their classes, a theologian was asked by a priest-

professor, __?___ are you gay? the seminarian proudly answered, Yes, Father, Im

Happy. This is one of the best characteristics of the Theology Family- being happy

and joyful. Nung alang kabolangan, e ta kumabie nganang paul. (kung walang

kalokohan, hindi tayo mabubuhay sabi ni Paul). Isang malaking dahilan ng pagbalik

ko sa theology noong akoy nag-regency ay ang nakakamiss na kabolangan at

tawanan ng mga theologians. Sabi nga, agyang nanu sasamutan da (kahit anong

ginagawa, hinahaluan nila). Sadyang masaya ngunit may respeto sa bawat isa ang

theology community. Sana, kalokohan na may patutunguhan- patungo sa isang

pamilya na nagkakaisa, nagtutulungan at nagmamahalan.

8. MASABAL (concern/compassion)- additional value (community plenum 08)

9. MAGALANG / MAPAGPAULAGA- additional value (community plenum 08)-

10. MAPANATINDI- (welfare of the others more than yours)-additional value

(community plenum 08)

Fr. Paul talks about what a community is in yesterdays mass. According to him, this is

not a show. This is not a performance. Priestly formation is not only a question of performance.

We are not here to impress one another. First and foremost, priestly formation is about LOVING,
and GROWING in LOVE. Gagawin ko ang lahat ng ito dahil nagmamahal ako! We have to love

and enjoy what we do.

We were born naked, wet and hungry. This is exactly why we need one another. In

community our nakedness is covered, our wetness dried, our hunger satisfied. It requires us to

grow, and to share, and to leave or live and to love a world a bit better than we found it.

*****