Guidelines on revitalizing Order

Father General Miguel Miro Miro, OAR recently issued the following guidelines to all religious on revitalizing the Order, the Centenary for Religiosas familias and Centenary Prayer. The text follows:

Prot. N. 1-1/11.14

TO ALL THE RELIGIOUS OF THE ORDER

Dear Brothers:

As we celebrate the Anniversary of the Augustinian Recollection I invite you to thank God who has called us to be Augustinian Recollects and who continues to call us every day to spend time with him in prayer and live with faith our fraternal life. This same Lord sends us to manifest his love in the mission and service the Order offers the Church and the world.

1. Revitalizing the Order

The General Chapter has entrusted us with revitalizing the Order from our charismatic identity in order to boldly meet the challenges of a new evangelization. In order to achieve this new evangelization we need above all to open ourselves to a deep experience of God and humbly discern the will of God in our communities and ministries. We need the strength of the Holy Spirit to move forward with the process of restructuring that we have begun.

Christmas Party

The province held its annual Christmas party last January 6, attended by all religious , after the whole-day community priors’ meeting. Fr. Edgar P. Tubio,OAR, prior of the community in Casian, Taytay, Palawan holds up in appreciation a chalice gifted by Fr. Jose Fortunato Garces, OAR, prior of the Provincial Curia community.

Fr. Doming lives his advocacy

Fr. Doming

Fr. Domingo E. Saladaga, OAR , is living his advocacy. Fr. Doming, prior of the Laray community, believes eating, producing healthy food is highly spiritual.

Fr. Doming has put in place a viable production of health foods, backed by the government, that at the same time help his parishioners two ways-economically and by eating healthy.

In Laray, part of the convent ground is planted to organic rice. Pigs are also grown organically. Concoctions of health juices made by parishioners enjoy brisk trade.

A missionary’s epiphany

Fr. Enteng

Fr. Vincent S. Cadeliña, OAR a missionary in Brazil experienced an epiphany.

Fr. Enteng after he was assigned to Brazil, felt he was prepared to spread God’s Word in the jungles of the Amazon. He studied the language, brushed up on news about the Brazilian missions and talked with former missionaries.

He knew what he was getting into, he knew what to expect, he was ready. He knew that visiting Brazilian “interiors” meant travelling by boat and on foot along the Amazon River, visiting clusters of homes evangelized by earlier missionaries.

He knew that poverty and way of life sometimes toughens up people. He knew Brazilians are culturally very different from Filipinos.

What he was not prepared for was how the simplicity of life of the communities he visited would show him how the Word of God works.