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Bulletin of the Young Carmel Philippines Foundation, Inc.

Vol. 1 Issue 1

May 2015

20 years of sowing, reaping

and harvesting

ealth in the Lord and the blessings of the Holy Spirit!

I would like to share our joy with you because the significance of the Carmelites all over the world was affirmed by our beloved Pope Francis. In his
message to the Carmelites during the General Chapter 2013, he said:
The ancient charism of Carmel throughout these past eight centuries has been a
gift for the whole Church, and still today continues to offer its special contribution
to building up the Body of Christ, showing the world its luminous and holy face.

Your contemplative origins spring

from the land of the epiphany of
Gods abiding love manifested in
Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
Looking back to two decades ago, the
Carmelite friars in the Philippines were
few in number. With the conscious effort
of the leadership and of every member,
they slowly grew in terms of quantity
and quality. In the last 20 years, more
than 20 Carmelites have made
their solemn profession of vows
and
ordained
priests.
We were canonically erected as a

Province on July 16, 2013 during

the Feast of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel.
The Carmelites have been giving
important contributions to the

Student Friars

Novices

Postulants

Philippine
Church and society through our
timely and rele-

vant ministries in schools, parishes,

spirituality, media apostolate and foreign missions in Papua New Guinea.
We acknowledge that the Young Carmel
Philippines Foundation (YCPF) plays an
important role for the quantitative and
qualitative growth of the Carmelites in
the Philippines.

inside
2

NEWS

Two candidates for

solemn profession

Continued next page, 20 Years...

REFLECTIONS

Website: www.youngcarmelfoundation.com

Wake up!

GET INVOLVED in
nurturing vocations

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carmel.ycpf

Lingap Young Carmel | 2

News
Phil Carmel to welcome newly professed friars
Two simple professed friars of the Carmelite Order in the Philippines will make their
Solemn Profession of vows in the Order on
May 30, 2015.
Br. Marvin Diongzon, OCarm entered the
Order at the age of 28 after finishing AB
Philosophy from the University of La Sallete in Silang, Cavite.
Meanwhile, Br. Paul Rey Senturias, OCarm

joined the Order at the age of 16 as a Philosophy student and finished his AB Philosophy from the University of San Jose
Recoletos in Cebu City.
First profession

To make their first professions are Clark

Canillo of Iligan City; Ritche Salgado of
Valencia, Negros Oriental; Wilson
Bolocboloc of Catmon, Cebu; Vinson
Luayon of Davao City; and Joiezl Fern
Pion of Palompon, Leyte.

Together with the new solemn professed

They will be joined by Miguel Condes of
friars five novices will also make their
San Jose, Bulacan, who returned to the
simple profession after completing the
Order after a five-year regency. (RTS)
Canonically prescribed one-year novitiate.

HUGPONG 2015, The Carmelite Student Gathering. Young Carmelites held the triennial student gathering at the Titus
Brandsma Center in New Manila, Quezon City, in time for the Papal Visit from January 15 to 19. The program included talks on
Carmelite life and community, common prayers and liturgical services, sportsfest and outing, cultural presentations, and the
participation in the Luneta Mass presided by Pope Francis. This is the fifth year of the student gathering. In the photo are the
formands and formators from the different levels of formation with Carmelite Prior Provincial, Rev. Fr. Christian Buenafe,
O.Carm. (center in white polo shirt). (Photo by Miguel Condes)

New Guinea novice

The Carmelite Order in the Philippines receives its first Papua New Guinea novice
this year.
A fruit of the Orders mission to Papua
New Guinea, Paul Kaptain Pakao finished
his Bachelors Degree in Philosophy from
the University of
San Carlos in Cebu
City.
In 2014 he underwent the Postulancy program in
Escalante City,
Negros Occidental and in San
Francisco, Agusan
del Sur.
Kaptain will be
accepted as novice come June
2015 with six
other Postulants.
(RTS)
Kaptain. (M. Condes)

20 years from page 1

It was founded in July 1995 by Carmelite friars, together with the invaluable
support of lay Carmelites and friends
who shared their time, talent and material/financial support.
For this school year, we have a total of
more than 40 formands/students. We
have 15 pre-postulants, seven postulants, six novices and 12 Theology student friars. We are grateful to God that,
in one way or another, you have become part of YCPF. The funds generated by YCPF go to the education and
formation needs of our students. Your
donation is instrumental to these 40
young people becoming Carmelites and
servants in the Lords vineyard.
The year 2015 marks the 20th anniversary of YCPF. As the Officer-In- Charge
of YCPF, I express my deep appreciation
to all of you who have shared our vision
and mission of supporting the Carme-

lites by being our benefactors and/or

collaborators in the human development
and religious formation of our formands/
seminarians. We hope and pray that,
aside from you, your relatives and friends
will also extend their financial support to
Carmelite Formation as pledgers of YCPF.
I would like to let you know and assure
you that, as always, every Carmelite and
all the formands/seminarians of the Carmelite Philippine Province and of Papua
New Guinea will offer prayers for you
and our other generous sponsors and
benefactors. May the great multitude of
saints that Carmel has produced
throughout its long history and, above
all, the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Beloved
Mother of Carmel, guide your steps and
give you the strength and courage to live
out your Christian faith with fidelity,
creativity and generosity. God bless you
and all your loved ones.

Lingap Young Carmel | 3

In Focus
Br. Marvin Diongzon, OCarm

A call answered, nurtured, lived

At an early age, Br. Marvin Diongzon was a
fixture in the church, partly because he
was his grandmothers favorite church
companion.
I always wanted to be there, he says.
That is why it was no surprise when in high
school he became active in church, eventually deciding to enter the seminary right
after graduation.
My call was truly nurtured in college, he
shared. Formation was very strict and we
had a structure to follow. It was very difficult, but somehow I longed for such a life.
However, early in his Theology years he
decided to take a break from the seminary
to discover if he was really meant for consecrated life.

I felt that I was not complete outside. I

kept on longing for the kind of prayer life
and structure that I had inside the seminary, he said.
That was when he got to know Fr. Pablo
Ramirez, OCarm.
I was intrigued when he told me to just
go to the Provincial House of the Order
to witness and try to see how they live. I
was challenged because that is not how
congregations usually introduce themselves, he says, explaining that many
others too tried to convince him by telling him what he could get if he joined
them.
The most difficult journey is the journey
within. With the Order I found lots of

opportunities to know myself better, from

the start of my formation, he says. The
exposures gave me genuine experiences
that gave meaning and
depth to my prayer life.
He adds, Mas nararamdaman ko ang hinaing
ng mga tao at mas
lalong nakita ko kung
ano ang totoong pangangailangan nila, na nakakatulong naman na mas
makilala ko ang aking
sarili.Br. Marvin will
make his solemn
profession on
May 30 with Br.
Paul Rey
Senturias.
(Ritche T.
Diongzon.
Salgado)

Reflections
One, little two, little three, little Indian
Four, little five, little six, little Indian
Seven, little eight, little nine, little Indian
Ten little Indian boys (2x)

t was a loud cry from a boy, so loud

that all his siblings rushed in to find
out the reasons why their younger
brother had cried out loud.
Why are you crying? What is happening here? Are you OK?
These were the questions of
the elders in my family which
made me feel like I was being
interrogated. Are you hungry? Ate asked me. Heres
the bread. Its your favorite
ohm, yummy! But the little
boy never stopped crying.
Then another loud sound was
heard. Bromm, bromm,
bromm His brother brought him his
favorite toy car and played with it in
front of the boy to make him laugh, yet
his presence seemed unappealing. As
others were confused what to do, the
eldest sister was persistent to find the
reason. Wheres the pain, baby?
Here? She touched the boys stomach
but the boy did not respond. All of
them failed to know the answer. Eventually, the father slowly walked towards
his youngest son while singing his favorite nursery rhyme:
One, little two, little three, little Indian
Four, little five, little six, little Indian
Seven, little eight, little nine, little Indian
Ten little Indian boys (2x)
With tears in his eyes, the father immediately embraced his son tightly. He let

his son cry on his shoulder without

asking any questions at all. Then, the
child began to utter the words,
Mama, wake up! only to know that
he was missing his mother, who had
passed away just a few weeks ago, so
much.
You might have suspected, Yes, I was
that crying child, reminded by my
mothers words to wake up from my

Be good! Study well! Follow your

dreams! kept echoing in my ears
and inspired me to plunge even more
into the very depths of life and face its
challenges head on.
Surprisingly, I found myself standing in
front of the mirror, smiling confidently,
and saying: You will be proud of me
Mama. Wake up, little dear!
I come from a poor family but since
dreaming costs no money
at all, I took the liberty of
dreaming unceasingly.
Part of realizing this
dream was walking for
several kilometers to
reach school. I made a lot
of sacrifices, but what
kept me going was the
love and moral support of my family.
These fueled me to finish college. Yes,
thank God, I did survive and earned my
degree. I became a professional! However, I never stopped dreaming. I have
always followed my magic words:
Mama, you will be proud of me. Wake
up! This time, you will be proud of me
not because of my ambition but because of my determination to withstand
the different storms in my life, and here
I am standing tall, ever ready to face
the challenges of life.
Allow me to share not just the learnings
from my college education but also the
lessons I have gained from the school of
life.
Arise from your pains. Life is so won-

(Act of crying with a loud scream)

By Br. Marvin Diongzon, O.Carm
childhood wounds and move on. I was
that same child who received comfort
from my father because of the loss of
someone dear to my heart my
mother. And the words that I uttered
brought hope to my dreams. Obviously, I grew without the presence of
my mother. It was like drinking milk
without sugar. Nevertheless, I have
always felt her love. I dont know how
but it was just there, like the tagline of
an old commercial of Alice Dixon when
she said, I CAN FEEL IT!
When I woke up that morning, I could
still recall the sweet embrace of my
father before I went to school. The
caring and loving words Take care!

Background photo from davidbuchanandesignblog.blogspot.com/

Continued next page, Wake up...

Lingap Young Carmel | 4

Wake up from page 3

derful. Never be afraid to
face your own fears, your
worries. Overcoming your
own fragility with humility is
a prerequisite to becoming
new again. Your Speech
professor compelled you to
pronounce the word awful,
and then most of the time
you pronounced it as owful
because it was so hard to
produce the sound AWE AS
IN PAUL. Then, you felt depressed immediately and
started to curse your professor silently because you were
corrected for mispronunciation. But, hey, wake up! It is
not for his benefit at all. It is
for you to learn more and be
a better person someday.
When I was a child, I uttered
words of longing. And as I
reached adolescence, the
uttered words became my
guide to discovering my own
meaningful existence. I have

succeeded in life with good

values because I HAVE
learned how to wake up.
Life gives us images of human frailties and realities.
But these are not the only
images of life.
Its not all
about
experiencing
struggles
and
pains; life
is also
about
recognizing and
embracing its
beauty in
the midst of pain and loneliness. There is MORE TO
LIFE than our daily struggles.
We all need to arise from
our deep pain and negativity. We need to rise up from
the abyss of our depression

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chair
Fr. Christian B. Buenafe, O. Carm.
Members
Fr. Rico P. Ponce, O.Carm.
Fr. Edgar Cayanan, O.Carm.
Zenaida Tangan
Diana Malig
Atty. Luis Ma. Jose Sison

and sense of despair. We

need to rise to see that we
have many reasons to smile
and thank God for every
single day of our lives. Let
us all wake up to see not
only our needs but also the
needs of
our
neighbors,
of our community, of
the souls of
others.
WAKE UP!
Wake up,
my little
dear!
Now, may I
ask you to
ask the person beside you: ARE YOU
TRULY AWAKE? WAKE UP,
NOW!
My dear friends, dont ever
say that its too late for you
to achieve your dreams.
Life is sometimes too harsh
but it is also sweet. Believe

Arise and
transcend
your pain.
Life is so
wonderful.

Fr. Rico Palaca Ponce, O.Carm.

Officer-in-Charge
Jeneth J. Nicolas
YCPF Staff
Perla A. Choudhury
LYC Editorial Consultant

and you will know that life is

indeed beautiful!
Let us seize the moment.
Let us enjoy this moment of
being aliveLet us all wake
up to the reality that WE ARE
YOUNGER TODAY THAN WE
EVER WILL BE, as Evelyn Peyton, a well known public
speaker, would say.
Sleeping is good but do not
make it too long. Wake up
and feel the warmth and joy
of life.
WAKE UP AND LIVE LIFE TO
THE FULLEST!
Oh, by the way, what time is
it?
Oh, its time to sing. Please
join me.
One, little two, little three,
little Indian
Four, little five, little six,
little Indian
Seven, little eight, little nine,
little Indian
Ten little Indian boys (2x)
ARE YOU ALL AWAKE?

Lingap (Help) Young Carmel is a call for involvement in the nurturing of the vocation of young
Carmelites. Lingap Young Carmel is published by
Young Carmel Philippines Foundation. Comments
and inquiries can be addressed to Lingap Young
Carmel, c/o Young Carmel Philippines Foundation,
No. 26 Acacia St., Brgy. Mariana, New Manila
1112, Quezon City. Phone: (+63)2-725-8167.
Email: info@youngcarmelfoundation.com .