DAVAO City, May 10, 2013—Some 24 seminarians in theological studies gathered for a yearly recollection to help strengthen their vocation and relationship between fellow seminarians.
Held at the Sto. Niño Parish in the Garden City of Samal Island on May 4 and 5, the assembly was participated by seminarians from the St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary (REMASE) in Davao and University of Sto. Tomas (UST), Manila.
The gathering was initiated by Reverend Ronald Arcillas, who, in 2011 envisioned that theologians preparing to become priests should have a good start by having a presbyterium-like gathering among themselves in the archdiocese.
“A would-be priest must develop a relationship to God, to his bishop and to his fellow priests. If these three would not be founded, that’s the time one would find another relationship,” Arcillas said, citing the words of Davao archbishop-emeritus Fernando Capalla.
Activities in the two-day gathering include praying the rosary in the evening, followed by a sharing activity about their vacation and pastoral exposure experiences and how it nurtures their vocation where joy, gratefulness, fear, pain, sorrow and the like were expressed during the sharing.
Fr. Rico Enriquez, the parish priest of the host parish celebrated the dawn mass on the second day.
The seminarians asked the lay faithful to continue to support them and pray for more vocation to the priesthood. (Jandel Posion/Sem. Ritzchild John Cariaga)
