The day almost ended normally just like any other days if not for the community mass that we had in the late afternoon. What was special in this mass was that we incorporated the rite of sending off of our seven young zealous missionaries. They are the first batch to undertake the new immersion year program wherein students will be sent to a foreign mission. So after weeks of intensive course on Missiology II, now they are ready to roll. JM and Richi are going to Thailand; Jing2, Gary, Raymond, and Leomar are going to Indonesia, and Neil is going to Dalat, Malaysia, alone! (Good luck, man ^ ^")The rite was done informally because they would have the real and solemn rite of sending off again in Baclaran church, Manila, before they actually leave the country - a few weeks from now.
The funny thing, however, was that when everything was set and everyone was ready to begin the mass, our young missionaries were no where to be found. Only JM was there. The rest were probably on their way heading back (or perhaps they were too zealous that they had already gone to mission!). After waiting for a few minutes, they eventually showed up and immediately hustled to the new AV room where the mass was held. Since they didn’t have time to change, JM was the only one who was fully dressed up in habit. The others were in their smart casual. During the mass, Raymond was too excited that after spending some time at the ambo, he still could not find the right reading until Bro. Ryan finally came to his rescue (So you see how informal it was ^__^).
Anyway, the highlight of the mass was after the homily, when our seven brothers were given the cross of a missionary as a sign of their mission to proclaim Christ to people. Go, then, my brothers, and tell everyone the news that God’s kingdom has come.
(-Boy)
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