Loy Krathong

Loy Krathong is one of the most popular, colorful festivals of Thailand. It is celebrated annually on the Full-Moon Day of the Twelfth Lunar Month.

We at SATMI had been celebrating this event for quite awhile now. It is one of the most colorful and well anticipated event of the year, but unlike the past celebrations, this year’s Loy Krathong was marked with real goal, appreciation more of the culture of our Thai brothers. Of course the event was celebrated at the end of the month together with the celebration of the birthdays.

Like any other celebration, we the food was delicious. The activity by the way was held at the top floor of the new building and it was the first time it was used in such a way. On portion which was highlighted was the dance. All were so participative with thedance, even Sr. Meriam, our dean of studies and Fr. Senen joined in the festivities by dancing their hearts out with the students.


Within the celebration we were introduced into the games that children in Thailand used to play and to our surprise it has similarities with the games of other cultures. Unlike today the games were played with inexpensive materials. The materials used were mostly coming from nature and can be made by a child, with a few active imagination and presto! A game that a child could enjoy and play without spending too much money in the process, in a way I hope we could reflect on this simple aspect. With all the gadgets we have around, we sometimes forget that simple can also be fun.

The event ended by going to the pond and letting the Krathong float in the pond. I pushed my Krathong hoping it would go to the center, but instead it capsized. I had to reel it over as Fr. Senen commented that I wouldn’t get my good luck. Anyway after the event we all cleaned up and everybody commented that this might be the last time an event will be held on the top floor and it is very hard to climbing the stairs carrying things. Thanks team of the month.

Foundation Day

Our poor Br Suresh must have done something wrong because he was banished to the Academic Comittee, haha! Anyway, we the geeks would like to extend a BIG WELCOME!!! Welcome to the club bro. So finally we got one extra permanent staff to lament on the constant need to submit articles. haha! Here's our Br. Suresh's debut article. Enjoy!

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Today (9 Nov) is a very important day for all the Redemptorists in the world, because today is the founda tion day of C.Ss.R. We the seminarians in SATMI too celebrated the feast of the founding of C.Ss.R.

There was a notice in the notice board that we will be having mass at 5.30pm in the church and at 5.20pm all the Brothers should be there for the procession. Before the mass began our beloved and everyone’s sensation Bro.Joseph gave a meaningful introduction about the Founding of C.Ss.R. The main celebrant in the mass was Fr.Senen and with him there were co-celebrants and two of them were new.They were Fr.John Hill from Australia and Fr.Anton Shiran from Sri Lanka. In the beginning of the mass Fr.Senen introduced the foreigners to the congregation including the two theology students from Sri Lanka Bros.Morris and Suresh. The homily was on the history of C.Ss.R .

Soon after the mass was the long awaited, carefully prepared and thirst-quencing 'spirit-filled' event. The Fathers and the Brothers gathered in the common room for the gaudeamus. All of them were happily enjoying the feast and there was a prize distribution too. There were lot of sharing, jokes and singing. This is a true portray of the meaning of unity in diversity. After the gaudeamus you could see some had got into their real resurrected mood and some even had got four legs to walk (which is a normal thing). However, things ended up very nicely and all proceeded to the refectory for the supper at around 8.00pm. The main thing was that we were one with our Redeemer.

Happy Foundation day to all.

[-Suresh]

Welcome to the Family

[Br Suresh]

[Br. Morris]

After months of anticipation, finally our Sri Lankan brothers have arrived to join our big group of 'halo-halo' students here in SATMI.

We have with us now Brother Suresh and Morris (Clap clap clap....). Br Suresh will be joining the 4th yr while Br Morris will be joining the 2nd year.

The brothers arrived with their formator Fr Anton, and were just in time to join us in our students recreation in Talikud, which was the perfect opportunity for the us to get to know them. Thus far, I belive that i speak for everyone when i say that they have been extremely wonderful and eveyone is happy to have another 2 marvelous guys in our group. I am sure Br John is especially happy as now he finally have 2 brothers to speak Tamil to :)

I requested for some photos of them to put in this post so that people far and wide can know how they looked like, but was a little shock at how serious they look. They must have been very nervous while taking the pics. (no worries bro... smile a bit more and show your sparkling teeth :P) I assure all, they are way more fun and candid than what you see in the pictures. haha!

Anyway, welcome to the Family bros. It's really nice to have you!

Sun, Sea, and FUN FUN FUN…

After surviving a semester of hard work, we students finally had our semester break. However, we still did not have lots of time to ourselves as there were endless evaluations and processing to go through. Fortunately, we were given 2 days of full recreation in a nearby island resort, and this time we were determined to party to our heads drop!

The resort was located in Talikud Island, about an hour boat ride away from Davao city. It was a nice little resort with a very clean and well kept beach and not too many visitors. In other words, we pretty much had the whole resort to ourselves. At once upon touchdown, we secured our bunks and had out lunch, but many were already busy fixing cocktails and getting our bodies high in “Spirit”…

Of course, we did find some time to enjoy the sea, and we had a great BBQ dinner with lots of exotic food (squid which made half the group itch up in red patches, sea urchins, thai soup with unidentified objects, etc…) That side, we enjoyed each others’ company through card games, beach games, and of course by entertaining ourselves seeing full transformation of various brothers after the effect of the great “spirit”!

Anyway, the fun 2 days lasted way too short, and before we knew it, we were already packing our bags and heading back to reality. As I type this blog entry, I could not quite believe that school is starting in 2 days. Gosh… I still have so much to do, all the movies to watch and all the sleep to catch up. Well, life goes on!!!

Here’s to a memorable Break. Can’t wait for the next one to come :P

[-Terence]

It's Processing Time...

Last October, we had our processing with Mrs.Mylene and assisted by Mr.Frehqz from 28th to 30th in St. Isidore retreat house in Megrande, Digos. We had many activities such as bingo social, message passing, film viewing, treasure hunt, affirmation and etc. The main purpose is to build a good relationship and better understanding.


All the activities really help us to work together as a team. One of the activities on the last day, which really touched me, was the affirmation session. I was really affirmed by my fellow brothers. These really challenged me and raised a question in me. If my fellow brothers can see good things in me, why don’t I see good things in them?

What I really realized was that, I should not only give constructive criticism but also affirmation and encouragement to my fellow brothers even in the little things they do for others and community. By doing this, it will not only deepen the relationship with one another but also help to understand each other better. On the other hand it will create openness to one another.

Nobody is perfect in this world and we all are trying to walk towards the way of perfection with the help of God. As now we can be staying under the same roof but our relationship can be only at surface level. I will very much appreciate if everyone had a chance like me because the method was change due to short of time.

Ultimately we were able to meet the purpose of the processing. The important part is to continue what we learned by applying in our daily live. It is a process so; we need to start it in order the things to flow. I hope and pray to God that there will be always an agape love in our community. I thank God for this wonderful opportunity.



[-John]

On Pleasure, Leisure and Celebration

To celebrate the successful presentation of the first years and the Johannine class in their final project with Sr. Miriam, we had our integration in Mergrande last October 17, 2009. More than that, it was also an opportunity to unwind and be merry after the end of the first semester. Together with us were Sr. Miriam herself and Sr. Claire, our liturgy professor. Our Indonesian brothers also joined us in this day of relaxation.

Before spending the rest of the day in Mergrande, the first years and the Indonesian brothers, together with Srs. Claire and Miriam headed to Eden Nature Park. As soon as we arrived in Eden Nature Park, which is an hour drive from the city proper, everyone was filled with enthusiasm anticipating on activities that lie ahead. After paying our entrance fees, we decided to take our snack first before engaging ourselves with the available recreation facilities in the park. But while waiting for the snack, some were too excited and tried the “Indiana Jones” experience. After taking the snack, we proceeded to the other side of the park to try horseback riding and the “sky-rider”.

Following the equally breath-taking and exciting experience, we had the tour around the park. While on the service shuttle together with the tour guide orienting us about the park, everyone took pleasure in looking in the scenic view within the vast privately-operated park. Gardens occupied with fruit bearing trees, ornamental flowers, edible plants and cultural displays depicting the natives were the main attractions on the park. Picture taking, by the way, was never out of sight. Almost at every stop, we manage to pause and pose for a shot. We then ate our lunch at around 2pm and headed back to Mergrande to join with the other group.

In Mergrande, the second years and some of the fourth years (Johannine class) had already begun swimming, drinking, eating, talking, playing (in short, relaxing) when we arrived. That’s what the integration is all about. So we also joined them making the most out of the precious moment to relax. At around 5pm, we gathered together along the shore for our evening prayer. Sweetly caressed by the sunset breeze, we enjoyed singing songs afterwards while sipping beer and chatting, enjoying each other’s stories and laughters.


Oh, before I forget, though it was the end of the semester, Sr. Miriam gave us a short task: reflection paper. Each of us tried to find our own time and phase responding on the two points for reflection. Well, good enough to keep us always aware and grounded on our own direction and vocation.

We ended up the day with a sumptuous meal. Thanks to the kind-hearted sponsors.

See you on the next semester!

(RJ)

SATMI: the School of Arts

Here in SATMI, besides theological study, students are also encouraged to develop and maximize their own talents and skills in non-academic areas such as music, arts, acting, etc. Thanks to Sr. Miriam, our Dean and professor in Scripture, who gave us an opportunity to express those gifts because she realizes that one of the things that are very important in studying the Scripture is the interpretation, how we make a biblical message become relevant and meaningful in our daily life and present and particular context. And it will be more interesting if we do it with our talents and creativity, which was exactly what we were doing on October 10, 2009, the presentation of our understanding and interpretation of the Bible that is not in a form of written paper but in a more creative way.

The event began with the presentation of the first year, which is part of the requirements for their course on the Introduction to the Sacred Scripture, on one of the famous stories in the Bible, the story of Jonah and the whale. However, Jonah was here depicted as the Church in Asia with all the difficulties and challenges it is facing. Like Jonah, the Church is reminded that it is only the instrument of God in His plan for salvation of humankind. Therefore, it has to follow not its own will but the Will of God. The presentation was the mixture of input, audio and visual presentation, dances and some tableaus. And I’m telling you, many new stars were born that afternoon.

The continuing presentation was about the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Actually, this was the result of the negotiation of the students with the professor, Sr. Miriam that the presentation would be done in a bigger scale presentation so that it would substitute the final exam. And fortunately, Sr. Miriam was kind enough to agree with the deal. In the presentation, the book of Revelation was interpreted as the book that tells us of the battle between the two forces, good and evil, that exist in the world and within each and every one of us. It is also the book of hope because we are told that in the end of this war, with the help of God, the goodness will reign victorious over sin and evil.

During the planning we all agreed that we would like as many people as possible to benefit from our presentation, so we decided to invite our friends, professors, benefactors, and some parishioners to come. And in the end of the show when all the lights were turned on again, we were quite surprised to see that the seats that we provided were not enough for all the people that came that afternoon. Finally, before everyone dispersed, Sr. Miriam gave a closing remark and orchestrated the angel clap to officially end the show. Wait! It couldn’t end just like that. Something is missing here. Oh! I remember. We had some snacks together. That’s how it actually ended. ^__^

(-BOY)