The Salesian Lay Brother

Bro. JP and I have been discussing terms and labels last night. We were asking ourselves how should we call those in formation just before the novitiate. Are we to call them aspirants or seminarians, postulants or pre-novices? It was then that I learned from this jolly brother that, as for Don Bosco Formation Center, we call them aspirants and postulants in sensitivity to those aspiring to become Salesian Lay Brothers.

Not everyone is aware that there are two kinds of Salesians: the clerics and the lay brothers. The clerics are those in view for the holy orders, or in short those who want to live their Salesian vocation as priests. The lesser known group are the Salesian Lay Brothers, those who want to live their Salesian vocation in the lay state or in their field of profession and won't become priests in the near forseeable future.

I have always admired our Salesian Lay Brothers. Most of them, if not all, are known for their hard work and dedication. They work silently, albeit they are plagued with questions of when they will become priests since they have been called brothers for decades. They are known for their forte in their respective fields and they have worked for the young like horses without the limelight of priesthood. Such humble and silent dedicated work inspires me a lot. In my novitiate, I thought for months before handing my application to first profession on which path I should take. I would very much like to spend my life as a Salesian Lay Brother but God has other plans for me.

Several of the Salesians I deeply admire and idolize are Lay Brothers. One of my closest friends here in the Post Novitiate is a Lay Brother. Coming back from a national convention he came home silently and upon noticing him back, I could not help myself but welcome him with a tight hug. These breed of Salesians translate Don Bosco's Da Mihi Animas in the lay state, working for young people in their own field of work. You can see them in the shops, in classrooms, in choirs, in soccer fields, in offices, and at the chapel, faithfully living their consecrated life for the love of God and of young people.

This touches a deep chord in me because the Salesian Lay Brother offers everything who he is, his person and skills, and lives like an ordinary professional while living his vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty out of his belief in the mission of Don Bosco. Clerics and priests enjoy attention because they wear the cloth, but the Salesian Lay Brother works in the background without much fuss. They don't wear the clerical, the cassock or the stole. They go about in plain clothes, but if you look carefully, you notice that they are wearing the Spirit of Don Bosco. Kudos to the Salesian Lay Brothers!

Schwarz Football Club

Saturday mornings in the Post Novitiate are more lively than the other days, not because the brothers are high on caffeine, but because in the adjacent Savio field young people are running back and forth with their football. It is energizing to hear the shouts and laughter of these young sportsmen as they play their hearts out. What is called noise by grumpy old women is music to my ears.

They young people come early in the morning at around 6:00 as we are about to end our mass in the chapel. If I am not mistaken, they are members of the Schwarz Football Club here in Don Bosco Canlubang. Some Saturdays, high school members come as early as 5:00 in the morning to train. Their own determination and sacrifice has always challenged me to do better in my religious life especially when I fall into laxity and complacency.

It is interesting how I am able to draw energy from these young people. I think this is the blessing of the Salesian life, that as I spend my life for the young people entrusted to my care, their own energy and optimism replenishes mine starting a positive cycle.

Sports also has its educative aspect. I have seen the energy and effort those young men who come early in the morning put into their football drills. It teaches them discipline, perseverance, self-control, and many other values applicable to real life. I can relate because I have changed since I embraced sports when I entered the aspirantate. And this is a big challenge for me to be at home with sports so that I can give it to the young when my time for practical training comes.

As I type this short essay, I still could hear the shouts and laughter outside. I'm tempted to join them but I would stand out tall against a sea of small boys with their footballs.

Don't Let Me Wait

Don't Let Me Wait

Please just show me if you really love me

Don't let me guess

Don't give me a smile that'll last only a while

Please let it stay

'cause this heart's ain't gonna last forever

Waiting for a love that won't come

But this heart is yours forever

and it beats more than it's ever done

And I love you, I really do

With my heart and my soul, forever

In my heart, I really care

Should you bleed it dry forever

And I'll live for you and I'd die for you

And I'll sing for you and I'd fly for you

Don't let me wait

Can you tell me if you also love me

I'd like to know

Will you take me and will you keep me

Please take me home

-o0o-

Lyrics and Music: Bro. Keith J. Amodia, SDB

In Video

All Production: Bro. Keith J. Amodia, SDB

-o0o-

I wrote this song when I felt really down in life. I had a fight with one of my friends and I really wanted to make things right. Somehow, everything got complicated so even reconciliation did not work right. I thought of the many others who long for their relationships to smooth sail, even for just a day. So I wrote this song in behalf of all the lovers out there who long to be loved in return and who are challenged to be faithful despite the apathy.

I believe this is the first love song that I ever wrote. I even had the reservation to finish this since I am already a professed religious. What would people think if a religious would start writing love songs? But even so, I argued, I still am human and Christ would permit me to be in touch with the humanity within me, a nature shared by all men and women. This is my tribute to the love that binds couples together to form families.

Once Again

ONCE AGAIN

When you look at me it's then I really see

That sparkling smile in your eyes

When you pout your lips, it's when I really taste

The sweet, sweet honey from your lips

O girl, won't you tease me once again

Lay your head just next to mine

As we watch the stars pass by

O girl, won't you take my hand once more

Let me feel that beating heart

As we sing ourselves to sleep

When the morning comes and the night spent away

You'll be waking in my embrace

Whisper in my ear and hold me so dear

And everything's gonna be alright

-o0o-

Lyrics and Music: Bro. Keith J. Amodia, SDB

In Video

Interpreter: Bro. Keith J. Amodia, SDB

Guitar: Bro. John Paul Rasay, SDB

Beatbox: Bro. Vince Michael Sabal, SDB

Video Production: Bro. John Paul Rasay, SDB


-o0o-

This song was written because of the influence of my great and jolly friend, Bro. JP. JP has always been into the reggae genre, and he wished we could play some reggae song together as a band. I took the challenge to write a song. It ended up as a love song when I started thinking about the wonders of young love which is as light and happy as reggae. I was imagining two lovers under the star-studded velvet sky enjoying each other's company. The boy couldn't help himself but feel so attached to his beloved he can't stop himself from singing his song.

Little By Little

"Little by little we take it in and we get used to it," this was how Fr. Dixie pointed to us brothers in his homily how we can slowly absorb and integrate changes, good or bad. He was discussing how a religious could become used to a life that isn't so religious, leading to the betrayal of his religious vows.

This had me thinking this morning because it reminds me of my theory of the little-by-little devil. There seems to be a devil in us that keeps urging us to sin little by little. So subtle is the transgression we don't notice how we are falling steadily until we finally wake up to the fact that we have already come a long way down. The danger of saying "it's just this time" or "it's a small thing" isn't so small after all.

On the other hand, this brings to mind the Japanese concept of Kaizen, the principle of incremental improvement, which I believe we should practice. Little by little we take upon ourselves the task of self-improvement, in matters of everyday life and of our spirituality, day by day. What little effort we put in will slowly gain and build up towards perfection.

Changes can be little by little. What matters is the direction of the change.

Pride Kills

Of all the many deadly things that exist in this world, there is no other more potent lethal weapon than the primordial pride. In a sharing among friends some time ago, I have witnessed so hearts break because of pride. Why do we keep our walls up to keep others away? What is with our selves that makes us think we are more than every single thing outside of ourselves? Am I really so important, beautiful, indispensable, powerful, and invincible as I believe?

People bear pride in many ways. Show-offs wear it on their foreheads. The passive ones wear it hidden, dormant like a volcano but cataclysmic when in pressure. But either way, it is dangerous and so toxic it kills relationships. No one is exempted, not even us Religious. In fact, most of those who have it are those who are in the positions of power.

A very good and holy priest told me the secret to defeat pride. "Look at the cross, and tell me what you see." There on the cross is the God-made-Man, the epic symbol of humility. From the highest heavens, he came to suffer the humiliation of the cross. Who is man to brag before this selfless act of the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent? Yet we are still so stiff-necked and cold-hearted to accept our own littleness before the infinite greatness of our God.

Best Vantage Point

Psychology states that we have our own personality that predisposes how we respond to the world. In Philosophy, we call it framework. I have been having questions about how we handle perspectives in life these past few months. Some rocky sailing had even made me doubt my own perspective of life (and I believe that was a terrible experience). It is not easy to answer what is true and real in a situation involving so many personalities, moods, and emotions, a hodge-podge brew of disaster.

Perspective is essential in life. It is how we see the world and from it we base how we react. Most of the time our perspectives are healthy and sometimes, because of biases, they are not. Real hard facts, conscience, counsel, and friends help us form good perspectives. Yet even among the good people, perspectives can clash.

It is so easy to find excuses from pop psychology to justify our own perspective. We can easily blame it on our upbringing. "That is who I am," is the best excuse I have heard so far. We can also be single-sighted that all other perspectives except our own are wrong. So how should we view the world? What is the best perspective or vantage point?

I was meditating on this during my dark nights and I was surprised that the answer is very much available (and visible). It is written on bands worn on young hippy wrists: WWJD. What would Jesus do?

We may have grown up with our own biases, some too stubborn to be scrubbed away by good counseling, but we are not left without a guide. There is always the best vantage point - the vantage point of God. "How would God want you to respond to this situation? What is He telling you to do?" Isn't these the questions of spiritual counseling?

But having the right answer does not to the question does not give the results. We have to work it out. In Jesus' words, "leave everything, carry your own cross, and follow me". Because most of the time, God's perspective is very much different from our own and to accept it is to let go of so many things dear to us. This is how the world hates God so much, because it can't let go of its own self and looking at the Transcendent One shames the self-centered.

Umibig Ka Pusong Malimutin

Umibig ka pusong malimutin
Nalimot na sa pag-ibig sa akin
Bumalik ka sa ganda't hiwaga
Isinulat ko sa iyong mga tala

Umibig ka pusong malimutin
Sa hangin muli mong langhapin
Hinga na aking habilin
Upang buhay ko iyong maangkin

Umibig ka pusong malimutin
Tandaan muli ang pangako
Isinulat at isinumpa sa aking puso
Hinding-hind kailan man mapapako

Umibig ka pusong malimutin
Pangalan ko bay sasambitin pa
Sa gitna ng gulo nasaloob ng 'yong diwa
Tawagin mo muli aking payapa

Umibig ka pusong malimutin
Tumibok muli para sa akin
Pukawin ang apoy na angkin
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