isko, ang pagsabat sa panawagan

Isko, ang sabat sa panawagan, may not be your typical vocation story - although I believe there is no such thing as a typical vocation story – every vocation story is unique -  but this musical play affirms the age old reality that a vocation can only grow with the support of the Christian community.  We used to say in our vocation campaigns that no one is born a priest or a religious, for indeed a new born child though a bundle of so many possibilities is just that, a bundle of possibilities but with nothing definite.  It is rather the family and the Christian community surrounding the child that affirms him or her in the religious vocation.  Today therefore this musical play is in part a tribute to the parish community that makes a vocation grow.

Having said that I would like to thank you for supporting this endeavour of ours.  Every seminarian has to be at home on stage as he is expected to be at home on the altar and in the church.  This is part of our formation ever since.  It creates in us confidence, composure in front of people, and that attitude that drives us to become the best of the many possibilities in us.  Today however we are not just doing the show for ourselves.  We are also doing this, first, to campaign for vocations, that the young should consider serving God and the church through the priesthood.  We are also doing this to awaken in each one of you the responsibility to nurture the vocation in your parishes.  Support the young men and women who show an initial interest in the  priesthood and the religious life – support them by your encouragement, by your prayers and if needed by your material help. 

And lastly, we are doing this musical play because we would like to ask your help so that we can build the Cardinal Sin Building for our grades 11 and 12 and for our pre-college department.   The tickets you bought this afternoon (evening) will be spent for this purpose.  We are asking for more support from you, knowing that the seminary is supporting also your parishes by producing for your own good and for your own benefit, holy and well-formed priests.  In the coming months we will be reaching out to parishes who would welcome us to make the same show, the same production, so that we can awaken vocations to the priesthood and to drum out more support for our Seminary specifically this 12 million peso project which is our Cardinal Sin Building, for our grades 11 and 12 and our Pre-college department. 

Thank you so much and we hope that you will enjoy the show and I pray that it will evoke in all of us the kindness, concern and generosity to support God’s gift of priestly and religious vocations in our families and communities.