LEAD Story 408

For this year, the LEAD Brothers’ Annual Retreat was held by Sectors. Usually held during the Holy Week, Brothers in their respective Sectors gathered together for prayer and reflection sessions, Paschal Triduum liturgies, renewal of vows, meals and socials, and other community bonding activities. (Photos: Sector Official Facebook Pages)

The month of April witnessed 21 Young Brothers from LEAD renewing their temporary vows. Praise the Lord!

The current LEAD District Council (DC) held its last DC meeting on 3 April.

While there are still a lot of district-wide concerns to be tackled and decisions to be made, it’s good to pause for a while and thank all the members of this current administration, both previous and ongoing, for their service over the past four years, especially in leading the district through the pandemic.

They’ll still hold the fort until 14 May and will ensure that the transition process to the new leadership team will be as smooth as possible.

We continue to keep both the current and incoming leadership teams and the rest of the LEAD Lasallian Family in our prayers.

HONG KONG - Our Primary 5 student Pun Sun Long Cardison has won the top prize at the Hong Kong Young Writers Award 2023 (Nonfiction, Group 2) with his well researched piece titled "The Legendary Judge Pao". His work will be included in the HKYWA Anthology which will be published later this year. Congratulations! (St. Joseph’s Primary School Official Facebook Page)

MYANMAR - This year our Brothers in Myanmar have a different retreat program from any other we've had before. We had three days retreat and the program ended with the celebration of Br. Noel Lal’s silver Jubilee celebration. The celebration was a simple one but our Brothers felt like we are all rekindling connections and bringing our community together. We also invited distinguished religious communities in Yangon. There were about 100 guests who joined in the celebration.

The celebration program started with the open remarks given by Br. Lucas Thein followed by the reading of Br. Noel’s biography by Br. Ling John. After the Mass ceremony, all guests were invited to join the reception filled with fine-dining and top-notch merry-making.

We're proud of how we've persevered and thrived over the past several years, and now it's time to celebrate our journey in a way that we'll never forget. We celebrated together by building stronger connections and igniting a new spark for the future. (Text & Photos: Br. Moris Tang FSC)

PHILIPPINES - One of our primary commitments as De La Salle Brothers is to accompany young people in search of their purpose. We do this by creating programs that cater to their needs and questions at particular stages in their lives.

Through our Brothers assigned and involved in vocations ministry, we continue to walk with the young men who are open to the discernment process of the De La Salle Brothers.

From March 30 – April 2, we walked together with our Aspirants and Contacts from Visayas and Mindanao through our activities that would engage them in prayer, fraternal community building, and apostolic ministry.

On DAY 2, they went on a day-long journey - with ourselves, our community, God, and God’s people.

On DAY 3, they sought to learn apostolic ministry in their fraternal engagement with our fellow Lasallians in the Bahay Pag-Asa Youth Center.

On the last day, we celebrated God’s gift and faithfulness as we welcomed 10 new Aspirants to our communities in Bacolod, Iligan, and Ozamiz!

The young men who committed to the Aspirancy program went through a process of engagement with their respective Brothers’ Communities. This commitment to a new phase in their vocation journey signifies their intention to discern if God indeed calls them to be De La Salle Brothers in the future.

Join us in praying for them and in praying for more vocations in the Church and in our brotherhood! (De La Salle Brothers of the Philippines Official Facebook Page)

Click here to view Mission Group B’s summary reflection video on Facebook.

THAILAND - The De La Salle Brothers and Sisters of Thailand Sector wrapped up the Holy Week retreat with a simple yet meaningful Songkran (Thai New Year) traditional act.

This act is called “Rót nám dam hǔa” (รดน้ำดำหัว), which is the act of pouring scented water with flowers into the elders’ palms. In Thai custom, this act signifies gratitude and honor and it is a means of asking elders’ blessings for the new year.

After a few days, the young Brothers and prepostulants arranged an event to honor and appreciate the elders in their community. Br. Joe Klong FSC, the community director, requested in his brief message that the young will continue the Songkran custom and must preserve and emphasize the value of respect and giving thanks to the elders. Following the message, the young members of the community poured scented water and flowers into the hands of the elders, as well as the statue of St. John Baptist de La Salle. Afterwards, the young Brothers conducted some enjoyable water games and activities. (Text: Br. Eugene de Luna FSC; Photos: Br. Raphael Tanet Lertwaja FSC)

BEING A LASALLIAN EDUCATOR
LSC Virtual Program for Malaysian Teachers

MALAYSIA - La Salle Centre (LSC) Ipoh organised a virtual program for Malaysian teachers. This program was for teachers who are new to La Salle schools as well as those who would like to revisit the founding story and rediscover their reason for teaching.

It was held on 18th March from 10am -11.30am and was attended by 18 teachers. (Text & Screenshot: Ms. Coreen Paul)

Visit the link to read the reflections of the participants: Being a Lasallian Educator

SINGAPORE - Lemuel Asuncion, a Postulant of the De La Salle Brothers in LEAD (Lasallian East Asia District) shares his reflections on his Singapore exposure program. Click here to view his reflection video on YouTube.