Happy Birthday Mama Mary 

September 8

DB Sermonette - October 2013

Good Evening!

A story was once told of a famous musician name Sir Robert Mayer on his 100^th birthday. An elderly British socialite Lady Diana Cooper fell into conversation with a friendly woman who seemed to know her well. Lady Diana's failing eyesight prevented her from recognizing her fellow guest, until she peered more closely at the magnificent diamonds and realized she was talking to Queen Elizabeth! Overcome with embarrassment, Lady Diana bowed and stammered, "Ma'am, oh, ma'am, I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't recognize you without your crown!"

"It was so much Sir Robert's evening," the queen replied, "that I decided to leave it behind." What a shocking answer from a Queen. Have you ever had a similar experience like that of the Queen? What do we normally reply when people praise us for all the wonderful things we have done.

In the book of Fr. Adolf Faroni “What many have not” he presented Don Bosco as a humble man. Here are some excerpts from the life of Don Bosco pointing how humble he was. These are not made up stories but real events that happened to Don Bosco himself.

“On one occasion,” Father Dominic Milanesio told us, “Don Bosco pointed out to his altar boy a mistake he had made.

 “The boy, who was very lively and outspoken, rejoined: ‘You made one mistake too!’ and then explained what he meant. Inadvertently – a very rare occurrence for him – Don Bosco had blessed the water at the offertory in a requiem Mass. Amiably, and with great humility, Don Bosco replied: ‘oh, well! I guess we are both in the same boat; we sure can mess things up!’”

When we are faced with a somewhat similar situation, especially here in our community how do we react?

Humility in declining hounours Second Audience with Pope Pius IX

“Holy Father, my knowledge is not vast, but the one thing I love and wish is ‘scire Jesum Christum et hunc crucifixium’ – ‘to know Jesus Christ, and Him crucified’ (1 Cor. 2:2).

The pope remained thoughtful for a while. Then as though wishing to put him to the test, he said that he had been very pleased with the retreat Don Bosco had given to the women prisoners, and that, as a token of his esteem and affection, he had decided to make him a monsignor with the rank of domestic prelate. Don Bosco, who had never been interested in honors, humbly, thanked him, but he declined the offer in his usual witty and friendly manner saying: “Your Holiness, that would never do! My boys would not recognize me any longer and I would lose their trust. If they had to call me ‘monsignor’, they would not dare come near me and pull me this way and that as they do now. Besides, everybody would think that the title had brought me wealth. How could I ever again muster enough courage to be begging for the oratory and other projects? Holy Father. It is far better for me to always remain plain Don Bosco!”

The Pope admired Don Bosco’s charming humility.

The Holy Father’s affection for Don Bosco was truly striking! From then on, Pius IX was always his father and friend. He constantly held him in high regard, looked forward to conversing with him, sought his advice, and repeatedly offered him ecclesiastical honors in an attempt to keep him nearby. But Don Bosco, though always obedient to the Pope’s wishes, did not feel that he could accept these offers. He sought honors for others but accepted none for himself. How about us? How do we respond to similar situations here in our community? I’m not talking about becoming a monsignor… do we just want to be simple DON (name) or do we want to have an honorary title as an ornament to our name?

We can see in the life of Don Bosco that he never did once lift himself up. He remained humble from the day he was born. With the different projects he was able to accomplish, he attributed it to our Lady and would address himself as an instrument for something big to happen. He just wants to be: “SIMPLE DON BOSCO” According to Bishop William Temple: "Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all."

As Salesians, how can we imitate our founder whom we wish to follow? How do we live our Salesian Vocation?

St. John Bosco

Pray for us

HABEMUS PAPAM!!!!

POPE FRANCIS

MAY THE GOOD RISEN LORD CONTINUE TO SHOWER YOU 

WITH THE BLESSINGS YOU NEED TO LEAD HIS FLOCK

The Fruits of our labor

Last August Renan and I were assigned in the vegetable garden for our work. we wanted to have a fruitful garden and so we decided to plants vegetables. after all it is called a "VEGETABLE GARDEN"

After three months of hard work, we now see its fruits(as in the fruits of what we planted).

The vegetable garden (3 months after)

Ampalaya

Chinese Kangkong

String Beans

String Beans (1)

Ampalaya and Patola

Flower (Patola)

Okra

Patola Leaf

Ampalaya and Patola Plantation

Baby Okra 

String Beans

Vegetable Garden 

Honeydew Melon

Tomato

Soon we will be harvesting them...

Obey...

I was finishing my research paper on Obedience when one of my companions shared this quote from Don Bosco about Obedience:

"Your obedience must have no limits. Even if your superior is at fault, Obey and hold your peace. Come to me later and I shall uphold your rights and give each one his due. Obey and do not criticize orders."

- Don Bosco

What an inspiring quote from Don Bosco. What do you think?

Memorable Experience

picture with Bishop Jose Palma during our audience with the local ordinary.

Everything has a PURPOSE

There are certain things that are happening around us that we cannot really explain. We tend to see everything as if it is ok but everything is just a cover-up. We then ask why are these things happening? Is there a purpose in all these? There is a purpose for everything but we cannot see it immediately. We have to look at it in the eyes of faith.

I remember a story that was once told by a Salesian. In a village, the people prayed for rain and on the day for the prayer only one boy brought an umbrella with him. That is what we call FAITH. When a baby is thrown in the air he smiles because he knows that someone will catch him. That is what we call TRUST. When we sleep in the evening, we are not certain whether we will still wake up in the morning and yet we plan our activities for the following day. That is what we call HOPE.

Some of the things that happening to us may not be to our liking but God allow these things to happen for a purpose. Yes, a purpose. We may not see it now but in due time. I invite you to put your trust in God and always remember that life without God leads to emptiness.