Celebrating St. John Eudes' Heritage, Come Rain, Come Storm!

The nineteenth of August here was caught between two typhoons passing through the metropolis on their way up across northern Luzon to Taiwan. The sustained rains did not stop for days as the typhoon brought in the monsoon rains, flooded most of the city, and immobilized parts of Metro Manila. Prior to that, our invitations had already been sent out. There was no way to postpone the event in celebration of the Solemnity of St. John Eudes in the SJE House of Formation.

Luckily, the rains abated on the day itself, but the lawn where we planned to hold the gathering was soaked and muddy after several days of downpour. So, the seminarians opted for Plan B: to move the celebration down to the garage and turn it into a presentable makeshift chapel and dining hall. Voila, it worked!

"It is a spirituality that naturally engages one into mission..."

The celebration of the Holy Eucharist opened the festivities, with Fr. Edem Afoutou, CJM as presider and

Fr. Serg Kabamalan, CJM concelebrating. In his homily, Fr. Edem thanked the guests for coming with their gift of their presence and friendship. He introduced St. John Eudes and his spiritual heritage to them. It's a spirituality that naturally engages one into mission, he stressed. After all, any authentic prayer and relationship with God always flows into the daily grind and action.

The liturgy proper to the congregation uses the Lukan sending of the disciples to mission for the Solemnity of St. John Eudes. Indeed, it is an apt reading that challenges all the baptized to go and embrace one's mission or live out one's faith in the Great Other through one's relationship with others.

Later on, while enjoying the dinner served after the Mass, our guests were entertained by the seminarians with some songs, a dance and a short presentation on the life of our founder. The merry occasion was also peppered with laughter and pleasantries.

What took center stage was the launching of the pledge cards. It is the local Eudist community’s initial

project aimed at seeking out new friends and acquaintances among the lay people beginning with our neighborhood, and thus laying the groundwork for establishing solid relationships with potential Eudist Associates, future benefactors, and mission/prayer partners. This follows the example of St. John Eudes in engaging people in a relationship of mutuality and reciprocity.

" This follows the example of St. John Eudes in engaging people into a relationship of mutuality and reciprocity."

Fr. Ron Bagley, CJM, the Provincial Delegate to the Philippines and concurrent Local Superior, did the official launching via a pre-recorded Skype message from Tagaytay. He and our guest Eudist priest, Fr. Carlos Valencia, CJM from the Province of Colombia, were on their way to Quezon City to join us in the festivities. They were unable to reach Metro Manila, however, as the floods obstructed all the possible access roads to Manila from the Tagaytay City. But thanks to information technology, the launching of the said project pushed through with the virtual presence of Fr. Ron. 

The best part of the whole affair was that the heavens had granted us the grace, through the intercession of

St. John Eudes, to forge better relationship with our friends and neighbors in the name of the Eudist community. Needless to say, our feast had successfully withstood the bad weather and had turned out well. But behind the success, for sure — apart from the contributions of those who made things happen — were the prayers and moral support of our dear sisters, the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS); and so we extend to them our thanks and three cheers.

For us here in the Philippine community, we can also say that St. John Eudes’ feast day signals the fast-approaching “-ber” months, the extended joyful longing for Christmas in this unique little corner of the Christian world. So expect us to come up with another activity in the forthcoming season.

- Sem. Dennis Mercurio

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