As the 6th Philippine OCDS Congress was
ending last April 24, 2016 two persons asked me what my impression of the
Congress was. My immediate reply was that it was enriching and spiritualizing.
Upon further reflection I want to add a third quality of the Congress as far as
it impacted on me. It was also centrifugally undulating. The last two words may
be unfamiliar to many. I will make them clear later.
First, it was an enriching experience for
me. It was the first time that I participated in the Congress election as a
voter. I was able to feel the solemnity of the occasion. I learned so many
things because we were given a copy (soft one in our USB) of the reports of the
Councilors. These reports give us a well informed picture of the OCDS in the
whole Philippines. As far as I can remember it was only during this Congress
that we were given such reports.
And these reports were very well done. The
pictures were very beautiful. The data were precise. The explanations were
clear.
Secondly, the 6th OCDS was spiritualizing.
The word "spiritualize" has been used derogatively to indicate a
flight from the mundane affairs of life.
Maybe I should have used the words "spiritually invigorating".
But the first and basic meaning of "spiritualizing" in the dictionary
is "making spiritual". And that is what I mean. This Congress made us
spiritual or more spiritual. From the beginning to the end the role of the Holy
Spirit was prominent. And the Holy Spirit spiritualized us, made us more like him,
a spirit.
At the opening of the Congress before Neng
Bendero of the Tacurong Community said the opening prayer she announced that I
would lead in the singing after her prayer. She gave this assignment to me a
month before the Congress. The first song I picked up for the opening hymn was
"Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty". Then I changed my mind. I
thought to myself that the song has to do with the Holy Spirit. So I picked up
another song, "Come, Gracious Spirit". But on second thought I said
that the song was not familiar to most of us. So, I picked up the old song,
"Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest". But lo and behold, when I intoned
this song before the participants, another song was sung by them, "Come,
Holy Spirit, We Need You", the standard opening song in a charismatic
movement meeting. And I was happy. The Holy Spirit indeed took over. And he
continued to guide and enable us during the Congress. Thus he spiritualized us,
made us to be like him as spirit.
The third quality of this Congress was that
it was centrifugally undulating. These words merely mean that the Congress
created ripples undulating from the center (Philippines) to the farthest places
of the world. When I use these words I am only repeating what our Provincial
Delegate Fr. Benedict Piangco said when he gave the new officers of the
Philippine OCDS Congress their charge during the last Mass we had. He said that
he expected their work to spread not only in Asia but throughout the world.
This statement is prophetic. We did it already through the Manuals of
Formation. These Manuals have gone to all parts of the world. We will be
creating ripples again of revival in our OCDS way of life through the work of
our new Council Officers (who are not really new since all of them were in the
Council in the last triennium, but they are newly mandated).
Indeed our 6th Philippine OCDS Congress for
me was enriching, spiritualizing and
centrifugally undulating.
