Fr. Luke Installs New Parish Leaders

Last November 20, 2011, on the Feast of Christ the King, the new set of parish leaders were installed by Fr. Luke at the 10AM mass. The following PPC EXECOM members were commissioned:

PPC Chaircouple—Kuya Tony & Ate Lina Feliciano
PPC Asst Chaircouple—Kuya Peter & Ate Lina Tamayo
PPC Secretary—Ate Bel Geronimo
PPC Auditor—Kuya Vic Vianzon

Ate Tess Virata, the PPC Treasurer, could not make it due to a previous commitment.

Members and head of special committees on Contructions and Renovation and the Events Coordination (in preparation for the 25th Jubilee anniversary of the parish next year), were also installed. The members of the Construction and Renovation Committee are Kuya Cesar Tiongson— Administrator, Kuya Laya Victoria—Technical and Kuya Al Yap— Finance. Ate Josie Cruz heads the Special Events.

The newly appointed leaders signed their appointment papers at the altar.

Before the end of the mass, the outgoing PPC Chaircouple, Kuya Cesar and Ate Mayette Tiongson and the incoming Chaircouple, gave a few words to the parishioners.

Spirituality Formation Team Created

One thing that needs a lot of nurturing in a parish is the continued growth in the level of spirituality of its workers and parishioners.

A few months ago, Fr. Luke set up the Sprituality Formation Team (SFT) which is jointly headed by Kuya Toti Mangubat and Ate Lulu Visaya who, between them, have a wealth of experience in Catholic spirituality and revival. And so last Friday, November 18, the SFT began its pilot seminar with a talk on PRAYER. Ate Christy Vianzon led the opening prayer while Ate Leila Vicente introduced the main speaker for the talk. Both are also members of the SFT.

The first part of the seminar, handled by Kuya Toti, discussed PRAYER - what it is about, what the prerequisites are for a good prayer and the different kinds of prayer. He ended his talk by introducing ACTS, a suggested sequence in praying: A- Adoration, C- Contrition, T- Thanksgiving and S- Supplication.

The second part of the seminar, which was handled by Ate Lulu, revolved around the practical aspect of praying. In it, she discussed the ACTS and led the congregation through a prayer “exercise” where she demonstrated the proper sequence in praying. This was followed by silent meditation and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament .

The last part of the seminar was a discussion by Fr. Luke on the role of the Parish Pastoral Council as the advisory arm of the Parish Priest, who is the designated representative of the bishop and given the responsibility for running the affairs of the parish.

PREX Moves On.....

By Ate Bel Geronimo

PREX Secretariat

Following the revival of PREX with PREX 92 held in July 2011, two classes were scheduled thereafter – PREX 93 held in September 2011 and PREX 94 held in November 2011 with Kuya Ed & Ate Bel Geronimo and Kuya Peter & Ate Lina Tamayo as Lead Couples, respectively. All three seminars had a total of 48 graduates – the harvest for this year. With each class conducted, it is indeed heartening to note that somehow PREX had given people the opportunity to welcome Christ in their lives and to be of service to the parish.

As the year 2011 draws to a close, the PREX Secretariat decided to cap the year’s activities with a Christmas Party and Reunion held last December 4, 2011 at the SLRP Multipurpose Hall. Kuya Boy Temporal welcomed graduates from PREX 92, 93, 94 along with the auxiliaries and graduates from previous PREX classes. Everyone also listened to Fr. Luke’s Christmas message which touched on focusing more on spiritual preparation instead of preparations for material things, among others. Fr. Luke likewise suggested that the PREX graduates join the Holy Hour on December 14 at 8:00 pm as part of the spiritual sacrifice this Advent Season and tasked Ate Lulu Visaya to spearhead the activity. He is also looking forward to making this a commitment of all PREX graduates once a month on a Wednesday. Indeed, the party/reunion was a simple yet joyous, fun-filled afternoon with food, games, exchange of gifts and giving away of raffle gifts for everyone.

With the turnout in attendance in this year’s Christmas party, we realize that people come and go, leaders change, old practices give way to new ones but if we remain focused on the true objective of being an instrument of renewal and conversion, PREX will continue as long as there are people who want to understand the meaning of their faith.

Other parishioners who also want to experience Jesus and find out what PREX is all about are all welcome to attend PREX 95 to be held on February 17-19, 2012. Kuya Ed & Ate Hermie Chua will be the next Lead Couple and Kuya Joi and Ate Cecile Lumba, the Asst. Lead Couple.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL . . from the PREX Secretariat

SLRP Holds First Youth Vocation Camp

Last November 4 and 5, SLRP, through the initiative of Fr. Luke, Sis. Pilar Perez (of the SRA), Sis. Violy (of the DM) and Sis. Linlee Vios (of the ASC) conducted the first Vocation Camp for its youth. Its aim was to provide guidance to the young people in choosing their vocation or calling in life. The venue of the seminar was at the newly blessed Nishizaka Hall at the back of the church.

Prior to the actual camp itself, a workshop was conducted with members of the Parish Youth Ministry to determine their needs and aspirations. This provided the basis for the topics and group dynamics during the actual vocation camp.

Day 1 began with the registration of participants at 2pm, followed by the course overview conducted by Sis Pilar. Then came a lively game to determine the groupings of the partipants for the duration of the seminar. Various big and small group activities, from getting the participants’ expectations to group sharing to a talk on Healing by Fr. Luke, interspersed with participative games and lively animation songs, led by the SRA novices, then followed. The evening was capped by a solemn and serene Taize meditation inside the church with the participants gathered around the candlelit altar.

Before sunrise of Day 2, the participants and facilitators, were off to Tierra Verde II park for a half-hour of Shibashi meditation cum exercise and communing with nature led by Sister Pilar. This was followed by morning prayer at the chapel of the Sisters’ Adorers, then breakfast at Nishizaka Hall. The rest of the morning was filled with talks and sharing on the different vocations. It began with a talk on Vocation conducted by Sis. Marian, the Vocation Directress of the DM Sisters. This was followed immediately by personal sharings on the different vocations in life: the priesthood by Fr. Luke; the nunnery by Sis. Melba, SRA; the state of single blessedness by Ate Leila Vicente; and the married state by Kuya Al and Ate Karen Yap.

After lunch, the participants were given time to prepare for their presentation later that evening. Fr. Luke took the floor again at 4PM to talk on the Eucharist. Finally Sis. Flor, ASC guided the entire group as they assessed what they had learned over the 2-day seminar, finding out which of their expectations had been met and which needed to be addressed in future gatherings. The 2-day seminar closed with the Holy Mass at 6:30PM followed by the group presentations.

The graduates of this first Youth Vocation Camp were: Bea Copino, Chezbel Cayas, Riza Gan, Nico Garcia, Chico Gonzales, Emman De Guzman, AJ Jacolo, Mark Magpusao, Robert Navalta, Cora Pangyarihan, Rogel Quintero, Althea Tamayo, Princess Tan, Arriane Trinidad and Mehlea Virata.

It is the wish of the organizers that this initial camp opened the minds and hearts of the 15 participants to the different states of life as they discern their future. The talks, sharing and group discussions, hopefully, have provided them some guideposts in their journey through life.