ECHOES OF MISSION

 By Ariel Presbitero, RP2, Brasil and Peru

    

It has been a while since the last time I wrote something that I can share about with the Columbans. I still write in my journal through Daybook App which I find helpful to reflect upon my daily journey in life. Sometimes it is reflective, sometimes it is just a rundown of what happened during the day. But it is not something to share with in writing with other people. I really do appreciate that this initiative started and thanks for the guide questionnaire as a starting point. Please bear with me if my short contribution will be a little scattered because as you may know, being in RP2, is like a long, long time ago, way before the internet, emails and social media. We even experienced sending and receiving Telegram when we were in Plaridel (Misami Occidental) during our parish-based Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in our orientation program in 1992. So, you calculate how some of us in our team are now pushing to be senior citizens in a few years. Ageing is real, my friends.

    When I was with the Lay Mission Program, I find writing as an important element of my missionary journey. I write articles to Misyon magazine to share my experiences in Brasil and Peru as a way of giving back because it was through Misyon magazine that I became a Lay Missionary. It gives me joy whenever I revisit those stories that I have written. Stories about people, connections, events and cultural experiences that are so special to me because I became part of it. Like the story in Brasil that I have shared in Misyon, of how people celebrate Good Friday in a different way. The people in Brasil especially the Afro-Brasilians observe this day with so much enthusiasm, a lot of cooking, drinking, loud music and merry-making because people during the colonial time, Afro-Brasilians were freed for only one day, and that is on Good Friday. While the Portuguese colonizers pray during this time of the year, the African slaves were enjoying the freedom to cook food, share drinks and be happy. This tradition lives on until now and I was shocked that I found myself sharing meals and drinking beer with the locals on a Good Friday. How surprising was that during my first year in the mission?

    I remember writing handwritten articles because internet was not even part of our world at the time. The computers already existed. I write a few paragraphs, print it out and mail it. I spend a few dollars for the postal services to send it as well. Aren't we so lucky today that we exchange messages in the comfort of our homes without the hassles of stamps, ink and papers? I remember Marivic Hidalgo was religiously sending us a copy of Philippine Daily Inquirer every week to Brasil. Before it landed on us, two weeks later, it was already history.

    Towards the end of my term in Brasil (1999) we were then able to connect on the internet, via DSL, that made communication and reading news from home a lot easier and convenient.

    I remember doing LAYCOM, the newsletter for the CLM (year 2000) I was already assigned in Peru. I remember creating concepts and organizing my thoughts about it when I was in Cochabamba learning Spanish. I know for the fact that writing articles and encouraging people to write can be challenging. E-mails already existed at the time that I was able to send letter requesting for articles from all LMs all over the world. I produced print copies of the newsletter with the help of our staff in our Sol de Oro office and sent it out by traditional mail. I've done it for a few years and passed the torch to Rowena Cuanico who was gracious and willing to continue LAYCOM.

    Fast forward, I am happy to read the recent CLMs stories published in the Columban website, in the Far East magazine when I was in Australia and the Columban Mission magazine now in the US. I have no doubt that in the years to come, the CLM will continue being an active part of the mission of God's working among the peoples especially the poor and the marginalized. They are all good stories and life-giving. And I hope to read more stories in the future.

    Going back to the writing. The medium of writing may have changed, as I have witnessed it through time, from paper to digital form, but words are the same. Fonts may vary in styles and sizes, but words are the same. It is fascinating how the technology evolves throughout the years. I can imagine if we have Facebook or TikTok during my time in the mission, it can be more interesting to share pictures and videos. I can perhaps share with you all when I was walking in the mud under the rain in the Favelas of Salvador, or when I was walking in the dusty hills of Asentamiento Humano in the periphery of Lima and my annual "Chocolatada" with 300 children during Christmas in Peru. We do not have the technology that we have now during my time as a lay missionary. However, the memories are not forgotten, not because we do not have Instagram or YouTube at the time, but in my heart they stayed. The people who were there present will never forget as well that together we have a common experience; remembering that there was a lay missionary, a Columban and he was coming from a country that they never heard before, the Philippines (people in my community in Brasil think that the Philippines is in the Bible). I feel blessed to have known wonderful people in my life in the farthest corner of this world and will always be grateful for the opportunity that the Columban Lay Mission had given me.

    Eric Weiner stated in his book, "Geography of Bliss," during his search for the meaning of happiness around the world, and he was convinced, that happiness is not personal, it is relational. This is what the Columban Lay Mission, for me, stands for. It is our mission to build a lasting and meaningful relationship with peoples of the world. Yet in this relationship we make a difference. Today, even if I am not with the CLM anymore, I am happy because there is always opportunity to connect, meet and celebrate whenever possible with the Columbans.