MinD Me
Homily on the Feast of St Mark; 25 April 2026, DBRH Chapel, Lawaan – Concluding Mass, FIS Retreat, Batch 1
When I was in Grade school in DB Mandaluyong I met a Salesian Priest who would make a big impact on me as a Bosconian. His name is Fr Alton Fernandez. He used to stand every afternoon at dismissal time at the spot in the old building a few meters behind the statue of Don Bosco fronting the main gate. I think that was the same spot Bp Panfilo was referring to in his story about Br John de Reggie. It was right there on the same spot where we together with my friends were putting our bags while we play until our service vehicle would arrive to pick us up and bring us home to Quezon City.
Years later I would realize how strategic that spot is for Salesian assistance. From that stand point you can see everyone coming in and going out through the main gate. Aside from that you also have a 180-degree view of the high school and college building as well as the corridor from the old chapel on the right up to the new elementary building on the left, plus behind you is the short passage leading to the quadrangle, up to the Rectory and down to the shops. So if you turn around you would also have a view of what is happening at the quadrangle.
It was precisely there where as a Grade 5 student I first met Fr Alton who was newly transferred from DB Juniorate. Since he was new in the school, we started gathering around him to listen to his stories. Every after class we would find him there consistently assisting us until we developed certain closeness to him that would eventually open the door for me to enter the Juniorate.
Dear Confreres, we are at the end of this annual Retreat. And we are grateful to God for sending us Archbp Panfilo to walk with us throughout these seven days opening for us the pages not only of the Scriptures but also of our Constitutions & Regulations, as well as the writings of our recent Popes. We really felt our hearts burning within us as he spoke to us day after day morning and afternoon and breaking the bread with us.
On a personal note I can say my heart is now fully recharged, with joy, love, peace, hope and zeal. And I am so happy that after so many attempts at inviting the Archbishop he has finally made it here to preach this retreat. His mere presence brought to me so many beautiful memories of the distant past, as he has been my Rector at least twice – in DB Mandaluyong, and then again during my last year in the Theologate.
Above all he was the Provincial who assigned me to be in the South when we became a separate Province from the North in 1992. And I can honestly tell everyone of you that I am happy to be here with you in the South, and have never regretted even for a moment having volunteered myself that day when Fr Panfilo asked who among us in our batch in Paranaque would want to belong to FIS Province. It was primarily the simplicity of lifestyle I found here that attracted me.
Today we gather not only to conclude this Spirit-filled retreat but also to celebrate the Feast of St Mark, believed to be the evangelist author of the first Gospel.
Tradition holds that St Mark was among the 72 disciples sent by Jesus to go ahead of him to preach in the towns and villages he intended to visit. Some scholars also hold that he was that young man semi-naked at the garden when Jesus was arrested by the Jews led by Judas Iscariot. Most important of all, years after the Pentecost event he became the travel companion of St Peter. And I guess this role had opened for him the door to write the Gospel.
Today I believe countless peoples have been converted to Jesus just by reading the gospel in 16 chapters which St Mark have written regarding the last three years of Jesus’ public life and ministry. I recall that when I was still here in DBFC I would make the Prenovices read reflectively this Gospel within around 16 days one chapter a day, and we would imagine walking with Jesus following the footsteps of St Mark. The reflective reading and sharing enabled us to know Jesus more deeply and it helped them to discern whether they were really being called to follow Jesus in the Religious life.
At the beginning of this retreat our Archbishop Preacher reminded us of Jesus’ words “Manete in dilectione mea.” And if we ask Fr Andy Satura he will be able to quickly form an acronym for this verse. May we ask Fr Andy? (Shy kuno siya. Sige ako na lang.) The acronym is MinD Me (“Manete in Dilectione Mea.”. In this retreat we have remained with the Lord and, despite our sins and weaknesses, our infidelities and compromises, He has allowed us to experience his forgiving love, his constant, comforting, overwhelming, transforming and empowering love.
And it is so timely that as we conclude our retreat the gospel passage read for us today is taken from the conclusion of Mark’s Gospel, that is, the commissioning of the Eleven. As Jesus sent his apostles to proclaim the gospel, he is also sending us today to do the same. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” This includes first of all our own confreres – they are God’s creatures, aren’t they? Then, our LMPs including the Salesian Family, the youth entrusted to our care, as well as those beyond the confines of our Province, the young people in Guam and the rest of the Marianas islands being entrusted to us by the Rector Major. And surprisingly also to the rest of God’s creatures – we are sent also to care for the earth, our common home.
The most exciting part of the commissioning is this “…signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons” (this had been experienced by Fr Cesar and the others); “they will speak new languages” (this had been experienced by our beloved Archbishop in being able to speak Tagalog and Pidgin, and many others who have learned, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Waray and even Italian).
Moreover, “If they drink any deadly thing it will not harm them” (all of us are witnesses to this because we drink alcohol and sugar-saturated drinks and we are still alive although others have already passed away).
Finally Jesus also said “They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Many of us have experienced countless times the power of Christ in our healing ministry, even among the terminally ill and the dying.
Dear Confreres if we really have an incredible passion for Christ like the apostles, and if we have the same joyful passion for accompanying the young, we can surely witness once again a flourishing of vocations in our Province.
Just an important note for those of you who are transferring to their new obedience and assignments, please keep in mind what our rules and directives say, that is, in the spirit of poverty and detachment, to leave behind things that should remain in the community.
Let us pray that Bl. Michael Rua may inspire us with his zeal, simple lifestyle and asceticism, and thus obtain for us the grace of promoting and nurturing vocations among our very own students & young people.
May our Blessed Mother, who told us to do whatever Jesus tells us to do, accompany us always and obtain for us the daily miracles we need so that FIS Province may flourish again with vocations beyond proportion. GiGsss!