PLAY ON ST. JOHN VIANNEY

A confessor is an equivocal term, that means, it can be understood in several ways. We would think that a confessor is one who hears confessions and gives absolution, like our priests. It is true. But it also means, "one who confesses faith in Christianity in the face of persecution but does not suffer martyrdom (www. thefreedictionary. com)." They have exemplary life and virtue.

Some of the confessors of the Catholic Church are: St. Athanasius, St. Anthony, St. Martin, St. Edward and others. St. John Vianney, the Cure d'Ars is also a confessor in both meanings we have indicated above.

2009-2010 has been declared by Pope Benedict XVI as the Year for Priests, in commemoration of the 150th year after the 'dies natalis' of St. John Vianney, who is soon to be declared the patron of "all" priests. Yes, not just the parish priests but of all our priests.

The Mary Help of Christians College Seminary, following the huge success of Damasku: Landas ni Pablo in 2009, is producing another play. This time, most fittingly, on Padre Juan Vianney: Konpesor. For the second time, Chad Pecson, now a graduating seminarian, wrote the book, and once again, Fr. Jonathan directs. The play is produced by the Archdiocesan Lay Formation Center.

There is a big surprise, a miracle we can say, about what happens in our experiences in the production of plays. We always use the desert minimalism as a strategy to highlight the meaning and the drama of the story and practice kabuki noir to approach complicated thoughts and feelings. The music is done by the seminarians themselves using Abraenian indigenous instruments, and the lights are only installed because of necessity. And yet, the production always becomes "huge" like last year, again like this year. Thanks to the seminarians who have such a big heart in putting all their best to do justice to the person, theme and message of both plays.

Be a part of this great project. Come and see: Padre Juan Vianney: Konpesor this week - February 18-21, Thursday to Saturday at 6pm. For tickets, make a donation to the seminary for the much needed repairs.