Theresians (2016-2017)

It's been a month since we graduated from this great institution. We survived the 5 grueling years of formation, and we thank our Lord and St. Therese for keeping us motivated and strong to overcome these trials we encounter inside the seminary everyday. Some of our comrades who left seminary earlier than us came to witness this memorable event and congratulated us for a job well done.

I know some of us graduates here will not proceed to Theology in their own will or are advised to take the regency program for a time period by their superiors, but we will never forget the memories of love and hope in our 5 years of seminary formation. May St. Therese be our everyday companion wherever we are.

This is also dedicated to Rev. Fr. Hover F. Jocson, DCD ( + ), our first formator and our beloved spiritual father.

Rev. Fr. Hover F. Jocson, DCD ( + )

Born: 07 May 1965

Ordained Priest: 20 April 1994

Died: 28 January 2017

Thank you for being a good example to us seminarians and for helping us in times of our spiritual need. We hope by our prayers and good works may you enjoy the eternal reward God is preparing for you there in His Kingdom. 

{From the people of Seminarians' Musings and seminarians of Batch 2017 from St. Francis Xavier College Seminary.}

“Forgiveness is caring; caring is loving”

(Edited/summarized version of the sharing given at the family Vigil for the late Arnold Sator, March 4. 2017)

My dear brothers and sisters, my dear family members of both Castillo and Sator Families, good evening to all!

Many have already noticed Papa Bebot/Uncle Arnold’s coffin did not have names on it (as we usually do), but a single quote: “Forgiveness is caring, caring is loving”. Tonight this sharing will center on this quote and on the light of the readings we have chosen for tonight’s vigil.

First, we will try to dissect this quote according to three important points: forgiveness, caring and loving. Forgiveness is essentially letting go and forgetting the pain caused by our faults and instead building communion with those whom we have hurt. Forgiveness is when we realize that we too are human, commit mistakes, and harm each other in the process. Forgiveness is our painful yet liberating struggle to restore or even to increase friendship and love where it was lost by sin. To forgive is not really and innately human (as we would want to get things even) but it is a gift of God: forgiveness is essentially divine, something that is a result of God’s grace. When we forgive, we reflect the image of God. Where forgiveness reigns, there God dwells.

Caring, on the other hand, is to put oneself at the other and to nourish the other with what he has and what he can still give. Caring is there when we cherish each other not because of what they are and what they are not for us, but because of who we are. It is unmerited in nature: we care for those people whom God has sent to us. Caring is manifested in our wholehearted service to others and to our unselfish and undivided love towards our family. And yes, when we care, we reflect the image of God. Where caring is present, there God dwells.

Loving, above all, is to will the good of the other. Love is to give one’s life at the service of the other. Love is to give care, forgiveness and attention to the ones that we love: it is not momentary or emotionally-based but it is a choice that we make each day- to give all that we can and all that are for the growth and success of the ones that we love. Young people, we always have to remember that love is real when it hurts: it means that pain is always a part of love, an authentic love that gives life. Where there is love, God abides in us. Where there is love, there is the presence of God.

If we are to even shorten this quote (the last words of Papa Bebot), it would simply appear as one word: LOVE. Love is the one that keeps us as a family: it is not really the common lineage that binds us, but the love that we have for each other. When we love, care and forgive, we are family. In a sense, all of us gathered here tonight are gathered for love: the love that we feel for Arnold and for each other as companions on the journey. And in this night of mourning, remembrance and hope, God is here!

My dear brothers and sisters, isn’t it the example that was shown to us by Uncle Arnold/Papa Bebot? Isn’t his last sickness an integrated manifestation of these three? Have we seen the presence of God, the share in the Passion of Christ, as manifested in his weak body that suffered for 40 short and fast days? Have we seen the words of God come alive to us in these simple words of Uncle Arnold/Papa Bebot? (Here, while I was browsing my cellphone, I was asked by Yangi and Ate Bem-bem if I can provide a Bible passage to cap whatever feelings we had now: I simply said no because the quote was already enough and more forceful than any Bible message in bringing to life what life and love were all about for him)

The challenge for all of us is to mirror (panalaminan) what he has done for us, so that his dying will not be in vain. His life was short, but indeed, it was meaningful for all of us. In one way or another we have experienced his care and his love, even with our shortcomings and failings, even if at times we do not feel that we deserve his love. Isn’t it the time to mirror what he has done for us, to be a reflection of “Bebot/Arnold” in our life as a family? Isn’t it the time that we begin to become more like God, in loving imitation of Jesus Christ, as expressed in the life of Uncle Arnold/Papa Bebot?

Indeed, when we love, what can separate us from each other? (as the First Reading tells us) Can problems separate us? Can our personal wrongs and misdeeds do so? Can anything else separate us from each other? No. Indeed, when we love with Christ’s love, death is not a distance nor a goodbye, but a passing from life to Life itself. In eternal life, love takes its full completion and meaning.

In this Vigil, we pray primarily that his soul will reach eternal joy with God. We ask God not to look primarily on his sins, but on the love and faith he had offered to Him in this life, and the forgiveness and care he has shown to all of us. We pray that the peace that was promised by Christ to those who love Him be granted to him.  And in some way too, we pray for ourselves, that we can become more loving, caring and forgiving like Christ Jesus, as shown to us by Uncle Arnold/Papa Bebot.

As we continue this Vigil, and in praying for the eternal repose of the soul of Arnold, may we be people who in our care, forgiveness and dedication for others, bear witness to that love that gives life, to that love that goes beyond death, to that love which is God’s nature and character- manifested in life of Christ Jesus, his Son, our Lord. Amen.

Deliver us from every evil

"Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day."


In daily and Sunday Masses we never cease to hear these words after reciting or singing the Lord's Prayer on the Communion Rite.  This mere part of our Catholic ritual gives us the sense of comfort and assurance that the Lord will deliver us from any tribulation, temptation and suffering we face in our earthly journey. That the Lord in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass would heal our wounds and turn us into His good sons and daughters working together to get to the Kingdom of Heaven.

My dear readers, I know this might shock you, for some of you might have thought that these seminarians are like angels, acting in a reserved way and dressed impeccably in their clerical shirt, slacks and in their polished leather shoes. You thought that the seminary is simply a holy place where you can meditate the greatness of the Lord in silence and in harmony with the creatures. Well you are wrong. Definitely wrong.

For some seminarians, the Seminary is literally 'hell on earth'. Seminarians coming from different backgrounds come together and boast to each other of who they are and what they have, and the aloof and weak ones are always being tripped, humiliated and bullied. They tease, annoy and even insult a seminarian just for fun. They even do some physical acts of bullying their companion: for example, there was a time when a group of seminarians threw urine at their companions' desks out of rage while the rest were gathered for night prayer.

There is this advice given to us by those who were ahead of us in the formation that 'a seminarian must blend with the crowd in their interests and the like.' If you show anything that makes you aloof within the community, you really need to pray a lot for they will make you an object of their entertainment. You will suffer much humiliation and undergo a sort of 'crisis' in which you clearly doubt your vocation over a community that made your stay in the halls of the seminary like a load of crap.

Now what were the reasons why do some seminarians tend to make fun of their companion's defects and aloofness? First is boredom. For those who weren't used to discipline and silence, they try to find things that can entertain them and that includes calling them names or making unnecessary noises when their companion is given a chance to speak. Some are quite sensitive or even paranoid when they were called names. Another thing is their inability to express their inner thoughts and feelings on their formation. They sometimes get physical just in order to send a message to their companions that this seminarian needs your help. Another is that they are trying to fill the empty space as a person, by their insecurity they wanted to make others suffer and feel insecure too through their actions.

Now this does not mean that those who were being bullied are vindicated. They are not also free from suspicion. Maybe this bullied seminarian was a know-it-all asshole who annoyed their companions of his antics and even drove them crazy. Or maybe this seminarian is too hesitant to express his feelings and or reluctant to share things about his life, and that leads into misunderstanding. Another thing is that maybe the seminarian has personal issues that might affect his dealings with his community and might affect the formation process he has undergone into.

In the seminary, there is no such thing as 'be yourself.' You are trained to become a priest. You are trained to preach, mingle and talk to the faithful of different groups and backgrounds and to become a leader, taking responsibility as a pastor and shepherd of the multitude. You are not there to become more narcissistic. You are not there to become more of an introvert. You are not there to do your own way. You are there to be trained a priest, a person who was transcended by the grace of God to bring the people back to Him, whether you like it or not.

Creating safe-spaces for those who were victims of bullying are not applicable in the seminary formation. We do not train sissies; we train God's warriors who are not supposed to be cowards when preaching the Truth that guarantees eternal life to those who listen and keep it into their hearts and minds. If we train sissies then the Church would simply cease to exist. Rather, these victims should assert themselves; either use their rational capabilities or simply use force. That should help realize the bullies that they are wrong in all sorts and force them to recognize that the world they live in is not merely entertainment. It is also a struggle of suffering and pain due to their emptiness inside. In that way, in the emptiness of their hearts and minds they can help each other solve their own problems, address their personal issues and help each other become good and holy priests.

I think this picture sums everything that I've said here.