|
"...I
CAME NOT TO BE SERVED BUT TO SERVE..."
call
to live in a community is not only vital to family life but also for any
religious community journeying together in one faith. It is even more important
for those who are called to form and lead a community of believers. As
for us, the experience of living in a community begins here in the College
grounds. As students coming from different backgrounds, race and different
range of age and education, it becomes rather interesting and challenging
to live in a community. To enable us to live as an organized community,
a group of students (EXCO) are elected to lead the community through various
lifes such as; Liturgical life, Intellectual and Cultural life, Material
life and Sports life. The chairperson of this body is known as "Caput"
which means the "Head". As members of the students' body, we are
indeed privileged and glad to have been given the co-responsibility to
lead the community of students, of course with the help of the College
Fathers, towards a holistic formation, fostering growth in all related
areas of our lives, intellectual, spiritual, communal and pastoral. Even
though, there are moments of "ups" and "downs" in the Seminary, we generally
appreciate each other's company, strengthen by the stories of our faith
and experience. We are indeed proud to express to one another that it is
Jesus who walks with us daily.
Liturgical life is an area where the students are introduced to various
spiritual exercises. Spiritual life is the source of our growth and
life here in the seminary. It is for this reason that the seminary is often
called a spiritual house or 'power house'. Spirituality is basically the
action of God continuously reaching out to us in our daily life and inviting
us to respond to Him. As we walk closer to the altar of the Lord, we are
indeed enriched with various spiritual exercises, such as monthly community
prayer and reflection, daily prayer, meditation, Eucharistic celebration,
quarterly recollections, annual retreat and our special devotion to our
Blessed Virgin Mary. As for us who aspire to be priests, prayer is the
foundation, strength and the root of our life. As we walk with Jesus everyday,
we are indeed challenged to open our eyes to His presence in the
word, sacrament and persons.
Intellectual life is an integral part of our formation and it is
necessary for human and spiritual formation. Its purpose is not solely
to equip our selves with various forms of knowledge but to enable us to
acquire a wisdom which in turn opens up our selves totally to God. To supplement
the intellectual formation, the intellectual and cultural life organizes
various activities such as communication courses i.e speech dynamic and
public speaking to help students to enhance our presentation skills of
the knowledge that we have acquired. Besides this, we too help each other
as we journey and mature in faith and understanding of our God.
Work can be a joyful and happy experience. One segment of our community
living involves working together; not merely looking into the upkeep of
College premises, but, also serving to unite us. As to the theme of this
year, "Walking with Jesus", it also requires the aspect of "Working
together with Jesus." All work ranging from daily task of washing plates
and cups, sweeping to grass cutting are all done with a common goal, to
serve the good of all in the community. We as a community also work together
besides the allocated |
|