Rector's Circular 7-2012

Memorial of St. Columban

23 November 2012

Circular Letter 07-2012

Dear Fathers, Parents, Guardians, Seminarians and Friends,

Thank you for attending the Prayer Session last Sunday, November 18, 2012.  The Holy Hour for Vocations and the Eucharistic Celebration are our community celebrations of our “faith.”  Please continue to pray for vocations with us, and join us again for the next Prayer Session on December 15 (Saturday) at 9:30 AM.  It will also be our Family Christmas Party.  Please bring with you your entire family, including grandparents and small children.  We shall have games and prizes!

Allow me to summarize the points that we have discussed during our meeting last Sunday.  The first is about our formation in the seminary.  I invited you to look at the most important and central value for all our programs, projects and labors.  When we improve the facilities, do sacrifices, make changes – all of these are geared to improve and promote a well-integrated formation for our seminarians, future priests of the Church, as envisioned by our Vision-Mission in the seminary and our Holy Mother Church.  If we forget about this then our efforts become misdirected. 

Secondly, our discussion about the grades of your seminarian-sons.  We congratulate the Dean’s Listers.  Grades do not make a person.  They should never be considered as the gauge of a person’s worth or even give him a sense of identity.  Rather these grades reflect the mental capacity, hard work and discipline, proper time management and the quality of our teachers and academic program in the seminary.  Somehow, we need intellectually equipped seminarians so that they can be ready for their further studies in Theology.  In college, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Episcopal Commission on Seminaries advise us that our students must get to know and master all the basics, especially in the area of our specialization which is Philosophy.

The third is about our schedule.  Here is our complete schedule for the second semester:

November     24-26              Home Visit/Christ the King

December     8                      Talent Show:  Christmas with Mary

                        10-11              Bishop Rene’s Installation in Laoag (Community Outing)

                        13                    Benefactors’ Night

                        14                    Community Christmas Party

                        15                    Prayer Session (Host: Juniors; Celebrant: Msgr. Manuel Bravo);

                                                Family Christmas Party; Christmas Break after Party

                        27                    Rev. Jofer’s Sacerdotal Ordination

January         6                      Arrival from Christmas Break

                        14 -17             Midterm Examinations

                        26                    Human Formation

                        27                    Prayer Session (Host: Sophomores; Celebrant: Fr. Joseph Fernandez)

                                                Conference for Families by Ate Eda,  Family Day

February       1-3                  Home Visit

                        4                      Metropolitan Clergy Day

                        11-12              Blessed John Paul II Philosophy Week

                        13                    Dress Rehearsal for the play, San Juan Evangelista

                        14-16              Play Dates

                        16                    Celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the RCALD

                        17                    Prayer Session (Host: Freshmen; Celebrant: Bishop Rene Mayugba);

                                                AM – Vocation Day, PM – Presentation  of the play

                                                for Family and Friends

                        22                    Comprehensive Exams for Seniors

                        23                    Human Formation

March            1-3                  Home Visit

                        8                      Thesis Defense

                        11-14              Final Examinations for Seniors

                        15 -18             Home Visit for Seniors

                        19 -21             Retreat for Seniors; 5 PM- Arrival

                        18 -21             Final Examinations for Undergraduates

                        22                    Despedida

                        23                    Graduation (Host: Juniors; Celebrant: Most Rev. Socrates B. Villegas)

                        24                    Summer Vacation Begins

Let me combine the fourth and fifth points.  Please know that as Rector I am also holding the positions of Dean of Studies and Procurator.  Because of these responsibilities, I have journeyed with you in the past months also with details about our projects and budget.  I also mentioned two fundraising drives.   One for you, the BIGAS and the Friends of MHCCS for financial donations, and two, the “Helping Hearts” which is for our friends and benefactors who would support us with one thousand peso donation every semester. My intention of informing and involving you (in) all these is transparency.  I believe that as stewards, we have to consider co-responsibility seriously.

For this reason (and many other reasons), our team of formators has decided to create the “Mary Help of Christians College Seminary Parents Association” or MHCCS-PA.  We propose that we shall create an Ad-Hoc Committee to draft a Constitution (December), elect the first set of officers (January) and induct them (February).  Their “advisory” role will be very crucial especially in matter of finances and formation concerns.  I thank you very much for giving a unanimous consent to this proposal during our meeting.

God bless us.  May Mary, Help of Christians, always pray for us.

Very truly yours in Christ,

Fr. Mario Dominic C. Sanchez

Rector