It is one of the rare opportunities for the clergy of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa to have a moment to pray together, reflect together and more importantly to openly share with another the joys and sorrows of their ministry.
This past week, Bishop Ryan, the priests and (for the first time) the deacons completed their canonical retreat as “presbyterium”. The 3 day of prayer and reflection was held at St. Paul Center for Renewal in the town of Alfonso, Cavite from March 10-12.
The beautiful retreat facility, surrounded by colorful gardens of flowers, ornamental plants and trees exudes an ambience of peace and rest. “This is a wonderful time of relaxation”, says Fr. Jayferson. This kind of common retreat is normally done in a place away from the home diocese so that the clergy can be really “get away” for a while from the busy demand of parish ministry, a necessary experience so that they can then return to their ministry with a fresh and renewed spirit.
The retreat was led by the staff of Galilee Center. The center is part of the program of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that helps in the ongoing formation of the priests.
The facilitators guided the retreatants reflect on their relationships with another as presbyterium, a reflection on their personal encounter with God and of course on their own journey as priests or deacons.
“The retreat for me is enriching!”, says Fr. Anthony. “It was a moment of self-encountering where God is meeting me today.” Indeed, it was a rich sharing of various experiences on how each of them saw and felt the love of God personally before and after their ordinations.
“What I liked most in these days was the moment of sharing, which we did throughout the whole retreat.” says Fr. Jason. “I thought that we really needed this opportunity to openly share with one another what we all feel and experience in the ministry.”
“I am really blessed to be here”, says Deacon Jeff. “Now I see the life of our priests from the inside. And from this point of view it really pains me when I hear parishioners complain and criticized our priests when they do not know the whole context or story of every priest.”
The sharing of the clergy however was not only limited during the sessions, nor their prayers together and the common celebration of the Mass. Their sharing and communion were also very much tangible during mealtimes and during ‘karaoke’. They also resolve to have more opportunity to gather and bond as much as possible. The last time the clergy of the Diocese had this canonical retreat was almost four years ago. It was originally scheduled in November of 2018 but was cancelled because of Typhoon Yutu.
