I wish to share with you here what happened in the
6th Philippine Congress of the Order of Discalced Carmelites
Seculars (OCDS). Many of my OCDS friends
were not there. Here they can read and imagine what happened during that
Congress which was held from April 21 Thursday to April 24 Sunday 2016 at the
Carmelite Missionaries Center of Spirituality, Tagaytay City, Philippines.
For non-OCDS there may be terms here which are
unfamiliar to you. You may ask me about them in the Comments section of this
post or you may ask someone who you know is also an OCDS.
First Day, April 21 Thursday 2016
The 6th Philippine OCDS Congress started with
picture taking at 3:30 in the afternoon of April 21 Thursday 2016 at the St.
Teresa's Hall of the Carmelite Missionaries Center of Spirituality, Tagaytay
City, Philippines. This was followed by prayer led by Neng Bendero, President
of the Tacurong OCDS Community, and a hymn to the Holy Spirit intoned by Joe
Bulao of the Cotabato OCDS Community. The National Anthem was then sung and
there was an orientation of the venue by a Carmelite Missionary Sister.
At 4:10 Fr. Benedick Piangco, OCD, declared the
Congress open. He also introduced the OCD priests and Brother present. He
commented that his assignment as our Provincial Delegate was "really a
challenging, interesting ministry" and that he was undertaking it
"with great joy".
Then each Regional Councilor introduced the
delegates from her region. First to introduce was Weng of Mindanao, followed by
Pam of the Visayas, Jo of South Luzon B, Rose of South Luzon A and NCR, Annette
of North Luzon. All in all 45 communities across the nation were represented by
official and fraternal delegates.
After the introduction of the participants our
President Meg Ramos gave her welcome address and orientation to the Congress.
She said that there were three important agenda for this Congress: 1) the
approval of the ongoing formation program; 2) discussion on the revisions in
our Provincial Statutes; 3) our election of officers in the Provincial Council.
At 4:53 we had our merienda, followed by Silent
Prayer at 5:20. At 5:45 we had our Evening Prayer, followed by Mass at 6:02.
Then we had supper, after which we Mindanaoans practiced for our cultural
presentation and for the Liturgy of the Hours which we were to lead the next
day. After this we retired while the official delegates from the South Luzon B
and North Luzon registered with our OCDS Comelec.
Second Day, April 22 Friday 2016
The second day started with Morning Prayer at 6:00
followed by Mass and breakfast.
Our assembly started at 8:41 in the same St. Teresa
Hall with Pam of the Visayas Region facilitating. She said an opening prayer,
then asked for prayer for our sister Thelma Antonio who was confined in the
hospital for serious illness, then she introduced the Rev. Fr. Joey Mabborang,
OCD, who gave the Provincial Superior's Message in the name of our Provincial
Fr. Reynaldo V. Sotelo OCD.
Fr. Joey started his talk with a recollection of an
incident when he was invited by a bishop to give a retreat to his priests. In
his absence the message was left with the security guard who informed him later
that he was to give a retreat on the topics circumcision and sanitation.
Surprised he consulted the bishop by phone who corrected the topics as
circumspection and sanctification.
Fr. Joey told us to try to circumspect, to look
around us and to ask questions. As a Carmelite how do I see myself now? Will
St. Teresa be happy with us? Have I become a holier person? After 8 or 20 years
what kind of presence have I made around me? What kind of visual aid do I
project?
Then he reminded us that we are not elitist, we are
for others. Let us get rid of the all-knowing attitude in our formation. A good
sense of humor is part of our life. If Christ is in us, then we have joy. Our
contribution to the Church is contemplative, mystical prayer. Today in the
Church and in the world there is a poverty of contemplation, of mysticism. We
have exchanged this for a celebrity status. But the people who will change the
world are mystics. The language of God is silence. So we listen to him in
silence. Then people will experience the love of God. We are all pilgrims. We
are on pilgrimage. This is the meaning of our national shrine, reminding us of
our pilgrim status.
Fr. Joey ended with this exhortation: Let us
embrace the future with hope; we have so much to learn; we are a living college
of Christ.
At 9:49 we had a break. Some ate their morning
merienda.
At 10:25 our national secretary Joy Tapan gave her
report. She said that in 2013 our OCDS Province has 1,844 members. 987 of these
were active, 303 were inactive and 553 were formands. She asked the question
why is it that one third of the total membership is inactive.
In 2015 our membership became 1,890. 966 of these
were active, 351 were inactive and 573 were formands. She discovered that there
were formands who were overstaying in their levels. Some did not move even for
10 years. There were aspirants in the 70s and 80s of age. There are formands in
councils. She also noted that Mindanao is a very promising region, with the
most number of formands.
Joy's report was followed by President Meg Ramos'
report at 10:40. She started with the results of her visitations to the various
communities. She said she was not able to visit Cebu, Zamboanga, Jolo, and
Iloilo. She visited some communities through their clusters as in Davao where
she met the members of the Tacurong and Cotabato communities.
Meg asked the question, Where do we want to go?
Where do we want to take the OCDS? We are now 45 communities with a new
Community in Formation (CiF) which is the community in Nagcarlan.
She said that there were six areas which she would
like to focus on: 1) leadership because everything depends on leadership; 2)
formation; 3) mission which is kabanalang tumutugon; 4) communication and
documentation; 5) finance; 6) monitoring and evaluation. She then discussed
each of these areas.
On leadership she noted that there are communities
where the formands and the definitives eat separately.
On formation she related that when a formand comes
out of the novitiate she/he is either formed or deformed.
On mission some OCDS are still order driven, not
self-driven. They only do their mission if they are told to do it.
On communication and documentation there are data
that are not verified.
On finance, the principle of ingat yaman is to be
followed because it is the money of the whole community.
On monitoring and evaluation we need to be
discerning. Extension in the novitiate is only for 1 year. Extension in the TP
is only for 2 years.
These are Meg's recommendations.
1.
Visit more communities
2.
Chat with
the communities
3.
Update the
communities
4.
Propose to
the Fr. Provincial what is best for us
5.
Abide with
the decisions
6.
Carry out
the decisions
She ended with an optimistic note: The OCDS in the
Philippines has a bright future.
Next to report at 11:19 was our National Director
of Formation, Emma Choa. Emma noted that the copy of the book Program of
Formation is not given to formands, only the support manuals. There were also
some who looked at formation as an academic activity.
Then she related her visitations to the various
communities. She also informed us of the Commission on Formation made up of the
Councilors and others who are experts in the relevant fields. She then narrated
to us how the ongoing formation program was formed.
Emma reported on the survey that was made about the
use of the ongoing formation program. Some disliked it and others did not give
feedback. She ended with the exhortation that the Commission on Formation need
to visit the communities.
At 11:45 the regional reports began to be given
with the Councilor Weng of Mindanao starting it. She said that Mindanao has 3
clusters of communities, 7 communities are canonically established, the others
are communities in formation. She then enumerated the strengths and weaknesses
of our formation program in Mindanao. Many of the communities have not yet
undergone the desert experience type of retreat. She also gave her
recommendations which are in the report she flashed on the screen. Weng ended
her report at 12:04 which was the time for lunch.
After lunch Annette Tinio of North Luzon region
gave her report beginning at 1:39. She said that North Luzon has 12
communities, 5 clusters and 2 of those communities are canonically established.
Her region has 107 formands. Then she went on with the report following the
format of the 6 areas to be focused on: formation, leadership, mission,
finance, communication and documentation, monitoring and evaluation.
At 2:07 Pam Henares gave the report for the Visayas
Region. Here there were 3 communities. Pam noted that they were short of
formands. Again the 6 areas were reported on.
At 2:18 Jo Mendoza reported on South Luzon B. This
region, according to Jo, has 3 clusters, 65 formators and 400 members. She also
went through the areas to be reported on. She noted that the region still
lacked formators. She advocated basic literacy in computer use to facilitate
communication.
Next to report was Rose Rivera of the National
Capital Region and South Luzon A. Again she also went through the 6 areas. She
noted that new vocations are slow in coming, but that witnessing to others will
attract vocations. She recommended vocation promotion on a regular program.
At 3:00 Resy Palacpac our national treasurer gave
her report. She gave the balance forwarded, the collections, the disbursements
and the balance. The figures are in the report she submitted to the Council
which we were given copies of.
At 3:14 Provincial Delegate Fr. Benedick commented
on the reports made. He also went through the 6 areas of concern.
He said that to fill up for a spiritual assistant
in case this is lacking there is an alternate or the Provincial Councilor. He
noted the lack of formators. There seems to be a refusal to become formators.
He noticed that there are still communities not using the manuals.
On leadership he said that if we reject to be
leaders then we have no trust in the Holy Spirit.
On finance there is a need for transparency.
On vocation promotion, Fr. Dhyck asked, Where are
your family members? Why do they not join you? He suggested to have a youth
group. He also recommended to have ceremonials by community, not by cluster.
According to him there is a need for a primer on spiritual assistant. Also
there is a need to have a uniform size for the scapulars.
At 4:17 we had our afternoon snacks.
At 5:07 we had the orientation to the signing of
the approval for the Ongoing Formation Program. Emma gave the partition of the
program in case it is too long for a community. For each part the IV and V
portion have to be done. So I and II can be done first, then later III a and b,
then finally III c.
At 6:25 we had the signing of approval of the
Ongoing Formation Program by the delegates by region.
At 7:00 we had supper and the registration of the
official delegates from the regions which did not register yesterday continued.
Third Day, April 23 Saturday 2016
We started the day with Morning Prayer at 6,
followed by Mass. Breakfast was at 7:10.
At 8:25 in the session hall Rose Rivera started the
continuation of the Congress with a prayer. She facilitated the discussions for
the day.
At 8:30 Meg reviewed with us our Provincial
Statutes. She picked out parts which might have some need of revisions. We
participated in the discussions, but this time there were appointed 2 speakers
for each region. If a member wanted to
say something he/she channelled this through the speakers. All the suggested
revisions were noted down. A particular revision which was of interest to most
was the change of 60 to 65 years as the upper limit of age when entering our
Order.
Before merienda break at 10:00 Fr. Dhyck announced
that the ideal number for a retreat is 10 retreatants only. In this way the
spiritual assistant can have a one-to-one talk with the retreatants.
After merienda the discussion on the Provincial
Statutes resumed at 10:31.
Lunch followed at 12:00. The said discussion
resumed at 1:36 in the afternoon. It ended at 2:56 with Fr. Dhyck announcing
that a draft of the revised Provincial Statutes will be sent to all the
communities. Then all members will be invited to approve these statutes, not
just the delegates.
At 3:00 Nikki Montemayor, the Comelec Chair, told
the participants to leave the hall because her staff will re-arrange the chairs
for the election. So we had our merienda.
At 3:52 the election of the Philippine OCDS
Provincial Council began with the official delegates in the session hall and
the fraternal delegates in the chapel for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
and prayer.
AT 4:04 the roll call of the official delegates was
made. At 4:36 the canvassing of votes were made. The results were that
Imelda "Meg" Ramos was voted President.
Rowena "Weng" Baula was elected Councilor
for Mindanao.
Pamela "Pam" Henares was elected
Councilor for Visayas.
Rose Rivera was elected Councilor for South Luzon A
and NCR (with no dissenting vote).
Josephine "Jo" Mendoza was elected
Councilor for South Luzon B.
Teresita "Tess" Tayag was elected
Councilor for North Luzon.
At 5:33 the Council appointed Emma Choa as Director
of Formation and Annette Tinio as Treasurer.
At 6:03 Fr. Dhyck spoke about the renovation of the
National Shrine. He suggested that the OCDS will help in the statues of St.
Teresa and St. John of the Cross. An estimated 200,000 pesos will be spent for
both statues. Contributions for this project will be sent to the Regional
Coordinator. This is our gift to the Church.
At 7:00 we had supper followed by socials of a
cultural night. Each region presented their contribution to this cultural
night. We enjoyed this evening.
Fourth Day, April 24 Sunday 2016
The day started with silent prayer at the session
hall, followed by Morning Prayer. At 7:00 we had breakfast.
At 8:12 we began our regional meeting. Our Regional
Councilor for Mindanao, Weng, presided over our region’s meeting. Rose from
Davao was appointed secretary for this meeting. The minutes for this meeting
are with her. I was assigned to compose the Resolution forming a new cluster in
Mindanao. This is sent in another file.
After this meeting we had Mass. During the Mass the
new officers of the OCDS Council in the Philippines were given their charge by
the celebrant Provincial Delegate Fr. Benedick Piangco OCD. Lunch followed and
then we started to move away from the venue of our Congress.
For my impressions and reflections on the 6th
Philippine OCDS Congress go here
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