PHILIPPINES - To continue the Lasallian formation of the aspirants of the Brothers in the Philippines, the Vocations Ministry Office launched Çerve, an online apostolate that would be facilitated primarily by the aspirants for a chosen beneficiary. This online apostolate will remain to be educational in nature. The different aspirancy communities are grouped into two clusters for more efficient operations of the program, with each cluster having its own beneficiary of the apostolate. Last November 3, 2021, our Aspirants from Lipa and Iligan had their Çerve engagement that catered to 7 residents of Kuya Center, an institution in Quezon City that provides different programs and services to meet the various needs of street children. The first engagement was a recollection with the theme "Ang Ating Paglago sa Sarili" that focuses on knowing oneself to be a better person as we recognize God's love in us and in other people.
The first part was an ice breaker led by Omer, one of the aspirants from Iligan. Through this activity, our Brothers, aspirants, and the Kuya Center residents got the chance to know each other while having fun. The second part of the engagement was the recollection proper. It started with an opening prayer led by Pafsy (Iligan). It was a quiet moment for the residents to reflect on God's words. It was then processed by Dale (Lipa) by asking reflection questions. The third part was the main meat of the recollection as Louie (Iligan) introduced an art activity. With this, the residents were able to express a much deeper re flection as they shared the different aspects about themselves and the areas of growth for them to experience God's love even more which Ed (Lipa) handled. To process the whole engagement, Jian and Franky (Iligan), gave inputs on self-growth grounding on God's loving presence. Afterwards, Karl (Lipa) capped it off with a closing prayer.
“You can perform miracles by touching the hearts of those entrusted to your care.” (Med 180.3 - St. John Baptist De La Salle) (Text & Photos: Br. Chuck Magno FSC & Br. Ivan Umali FSC)
