Del Rosario, Mark Errol D.

, C-IV
Formation Integration for the Month of November

I believe that the value of transparency is what makes the brotherhood and family grow
into a deeper relationship. And this is what I have discovered for this month. Many activities
have happened, but the most significant of these is that of my encounter with our Bishops which
brought me back to look into the real essence of shepherding one another. As a fourth-year
seminarian, I realized that shepherding my brothers and sisters would not only entail a mission-
driven heart, that is, compassionate, merciful, and willing to sacrifice oneself. But primarily, to
look at myself as a sheep in need of shepherding also. Humilitas in omnibus. It is always true
that I could not give what I do not have. It is by acknowledging my unworthiness before God
that I will be healed and be better as I live out my daily life serving others.
With the demands of seminary formation, I firmly believe that the value of prayer is what
sustains me. To pray, I think, does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about
other things, or to spend time with God instead of spending time with other people. Rather, it
means, to think and live in the presence of God. I realized that all my actions must have their
origin in prayer. That prayer is not an isolated activity; it takes place amid all the things and
affairs that keep me active. Prayer makes me develop my heart to sustain myself on the long
road; to move beyond fatigue, loneliness, laziness, bitterness, and bad habits so as to become
gracious, happy, contented, self-sacrificing, generative, and mature seminarian.
One of the most significant lessons that I learned for this month is the implication of
Eucharistic spirituality. Father Willie Jones in our class in the Eucharist, after the long series of
reports we have done, emphasized, and inculcated in us the value of doing it to the least of our
brothers and sisters, especially to the poor. As a seminarian, it is important to be attuned to sound
doctrines, tenets, morals, laws, and teachings of the Church. But the challenge is, how are we
going to live out these learnings we have acquired? Eucharist as the summit of our priestly
ministry should be sustained in our actions and radiate to all for the salvation of souls.
I have always been looking forward to doing my parish apostolate. One of my most
significant encounters with the parishioners is during the parish exchange/dialogue with father
Danny, as the Parish priest. There, I have witnessed the healthy relationship of the parish priest
and his parishioners as seen in their exchange of concerns, plans, and proposals. There is an
obvious openness and commendable participation among them. With a respect-filled approach,
father Danny has established an active, creative, and trustworthy community/family; carrying
one mission for the church. And that applies to me as much as anyone else. And this made me all
the more love and embrace the life of priesthood. I hope and pray that, I will be a good and holy
pastor and ever committed to manifest leadership and good management of the parish.