Last October 29, 2014, different people from different localities of the Vicariate of Sto. Nino were gathered for a purpose- to develop oneself to become a certified Master of Ceremony. Yet, aside from the sole purpose of the formation of one of us to grow spiritually and mentally as a Master Server, we were able to build up new circle of friends, learned from the experiences of other people, and established a strong brotherhood in our own ministry in the Vicariate of Sto. Nino. Honestly, despite the heart-breaking event happened during one of those days, I was very lucky, so privileged to be one of the participants of this Master Servers Formation.
[Well,
this journal is a big opportunity for those people who miss out to join this
unforgettable seminar ever! This is a bit lengthy, or should I say, this is
very long journal which summarizes the talks in the three-day seminar we
attended! So better read it! and enjoy! J ]
First
day first: our seminar started with a wonderful talks discussed by Brother Joel
Arzaga. He was a great speaker indeed that those people who were interested in
listening about the topic would agree to me if I say: “Gusto ko nalang makinig nang makinig sa talk.. Ang Galing niya.” On
the first day, he asked us these questions and let us answered it in our own
way:
Why are we doing these things? What are the
purpose of handling the thurrible and the ciborium? Why we are bowing in the
altar? Why we are called to serve? Why do we need to prepare and to attend this
seminar? Why us? And the most important question: Why am I called to serve?
Lots
of Why’s and what’s questions that bugging our minds, and he gradually
unleashed the answers through his talk. Just like what Bro. Joel said, our
ministry will not acquire beauty if we do not know the essence of each actions
we do as an altar server. Being functional during the mass is not only the
purpose of being an altar server, but rather something more than it: it is to
become the image of Jesus Christ to other people: live with simplicity and nobility like How
Jesus Christ (being the God) lived like a man, help the sick and the poor how
He helped the man with leper, and become an obedient son of God the Father just
like how Jesus Christ followed His purpose on Earth: to die on the cross and
save us from our sins.
The Pope Emeritus of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI once said: “Without
Sunday, we cannot live.” I was really enchanted with these words that makes
me nod but my mind was asking why. Thanks to this seminar where I understood
things from bottom to top. Many of the youths right now are just taking for
granted attending the mass. We thought that by attending the mass, we can be
holy and our sins will be “forgiven”. By receiving the holy body of Jesus
Christ in the communion, we can say that we “completed” the mass without
actually knowing the real purpose of it. Well,
it is not that simple as a piece of cake to take for granted. It is Jesus
Christ who we see when the mass started, it is Jesus Christ who prays for us,
it is Jesus Christ who speaks during the readings of the Holy Scriptures, it is
Jesus Christ who we received during the communion, and it is Jesus Christ that
brings out happiness to each of one of us after we attended the mass. To make
it easy to understand, let I use ourselves to serve as an example. We eat foods
to nourish ourselves, to supplement our bodies with proper vitamins and
minerals, and to strengthen our body. We cannot live for a long time if we do
not supply our body with these foods. The longer the time we do not eat, the
larger the possibility that our body become weak and the worst thing may
happen: our body will die. Just like our spiritual body, we are nourishing our
souls by attending mass, specifically by receiving Jesus Christ. The more we
give time in the celebration of His Paschal mysteries (His passion, death and
resurrection), or in other words, the more we attend mass, the better we
nourish our spiritual body with the food, which is Jesus Christ himself. But on
the other hand, if we do not supplement our body with this food, gradually, we
are losing our connection with Jesus Christ and we are actually “cutting off”
our relationship with Him. That’s why those who are often attending mass, and
especially those who do not understand the real essence of the celebration of
the Eucharist, are very susceptible to evil doings and have a fragile faith to
God. So our Pope Emeritus is precisely right: without Sundays, we cannot live.
Liturgy,
as its technical definition, is the celebration of mystery of Christ, in
particular His Paschal Mystery- the Triduum: His passion, death, and
resurrection. Through the celebration of the liturgy, it brings about the
sanctification of humankind. I read one of Bro. Joel articles and he said: “Liturgy
aims to unite the people in worshiping and in glorifying God. If we are not
united, we do not render God due honor. Thus, if we truly love the Liturgy and
the Church, then we must live this spirit of unity and charity towards one
another.” The question: if in the Liturgy, we are celebrating the
PASSION, DEATH, and RESURRECTION, does it mean that we are rejoicing it? Yes. It is because through God’s
passion, death and resurrection, we became the children of the Father Almighty.
We became entitled as the heirs of the promised kingdom of Jesus Christ. We are
celebrating it to be able to remind us about how He offer His own life for the
salvation of the mankind and how it reminds us to pay for it by being a worthy
children of God. His Paschal Mystery is actually the key for us to rekindle the
fire in our hearts to become His image to other people. Lastly, through the
celebration of the Liturgy- the celebration of His Paschal Mystery, we see more
clearly how Jesus Christ love us. It shows Jesus Christ’s unfathomable grace to
His people. It shows the kind of love no one can liken with. We should be
thankful for His undying love and indefinite mercy. Also, through the
celebration of the Liturgy, we become holy. That is why if we want to live life
that is pleasing in the eyes of the lord, we are invited to go to the Liturgy.
In other words, we are invited to attend mass to celebrate the Liturgy. We are
invited to celebrate the Liturgy in order for us to receive His precious love.
We want to receive His precious love because it will nourish our spiritual life
for us to have a life that is very pleasing to the Lord.
It
is the Liturgy which is the highest form of worship. And through that worship,
we are being saved because the Liturgy is actually Jesus Christ himself. He is
always present in the Eucharist, in the proclaimed word of God, in the
Minister, in the sacraments and sacramental, and lastly in the Church gathered
at prayer. The first one is in the Eucharist. Just like what Bro. Joel
reiterated to all of us: Altar Servers
should be MEN OF THE EUCHARIST. If we really value the celebration of the
Eucharist, we are appreciating the presence of Jesus Christ in it. In that way,
we are not only serving because it is our duty as an altar server, but because WE LOVE JESUS CHRIST, just like how we love
the Eucharist because Jesus Christ himself is present in it. We are serving
because of Jesus Christ’s love for all of us and in return our love for Jesus
Christ. He is also present in the Minister- the priest is the minister of the
mass. The reason why we bow towards them is not actually because we worship him
but rather he is acting in persona Christi, it means that he is
acting in the person of Christ. That’s why Bro. Joel told us that even though
we do not like the priest we are serving to, we should respect him to show
reverence and because it is not to him we are serving but actually to Jesus
Christ. Also, Jesus Christ is present in all the people who attend the Eucharist.
As we know that Jesus Christ is present in the mass, this is a big blessing to
receive and actually a big MIRACLE
everyone is looking for. Each time mass is happening, that is actually a
miracle.
We
all know that during the Consecration of the Big Host and the Wine, it becomes
the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It actually takes faith to accept the fact
that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. There was actually
one Eucharistic Miracle happened in France that proves out that it is true,
real and substantial. The miracle happened on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1331, a
mass presided by Hugues de la Bueme. One of the last to receive during the
Communion was a woman named Jacquette. The Priest placed the Host in her
tongue, turned, and started walking. The Altar Boys and her fellow communicants
saw what happened: The small particles of the Host from the Jacquette’s mouth
fall and land upon the cloth that covered their hands (that is the process of
the communion during the early ages). While the priest was putting the ciborium
in the tabernacle, Thomas Caillot approached him about the fallen host and in a
sudden, the priest approached the railing (where the communion took place) and
shocked with what he saw. Instead of finding the Host, he saw a spot of Blood
the same size as the Host, which had apparently dissolved into blood. As you
can see, this miracle was a big and enough evidence to say that it is not only
a bread and wine we received during the mass but actually Jesus Christ himself
through His Body and Blood. Also, this occurrence also reminds us to our
practice of being an altar server. Practical Application? It could be while we
are holding the ciborium or the communion plate. Some of our members in the
Ministry are not that serious while they are holding those vessels. They do not
understand yet why they are holding those vessels. If they really engrave in
their hearts, or should I say, If WE engrave in our hearts that what we are
holding is somewhat containing the REAL BODY AND BLOOD OF Jesus Christ, we will
do it with reverence, solemnity, and importance.
Speaking
of communion, many of the people nowadays do not understand the real essence of
communion. So for us to better understand it, let me recapped the FRUITS OF COMMUNION. First, Communion
augments our union with Christ. Basically, through Communion, we are able to
connect with Him, talk with what we want to tell Him, and as we build up our
connection with Jesus Christ, our relationship with Him became stronger and
stronger. Next is through Communion, we are nourishing our spiritual life
through Jesus Christ. Just like what I explained during the previous part of
this article, the more we allow ourselves to eat (through receiving Jesus
Christ in the Communion), our spiritual body- our soul becomes healthy. In
connection to this, as bodily nourishment (foods like vegetables, foods and the
like) restores our lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity too,
which tends to be weakened in daily life by committing sins; and through
Communion, it wipes away our venial
sins. Speaking of Sins, there are two kinds of sins: mortal sin and the venial
sin. ALWAYS REMEMBER that during
Communion, our venial sins are the only one forgiven but not the mortal sin.
Mortal, from the Latin word mortis,
means death. To combine it, a mortal sin is so grave that bring your soul in to
death. Our mortal sins are only forgiven through the Sacrament of Confession.
And how can we say that a sin is a mortal sin? Three prerequisites: full knowledge, full consent, and grave matter. A mortal sin is something
serious. When you disobey one of the commandments with these three requisites,
it is considered as a mortal sin. For example, if you stole a five-peso coin
from a millionaire man, it is considered as a venial sin. BUT if you stole a five-peso coin from a beggar, it is considered
as a mortal sin. Full knowledge means that you know both of the sin and the
gravity of the offense. Full consent means that doing that action is a personal
decision. Grave matter literally means a serious offense. Thus, when you have
mortal sin, you should not receive during the Communion and if you still
continue to receive, you are committing another sin- the sin of sacrilege.
That’s why Bro. Joel always tells us that as much as possible, we should
confess our sins as regular as possible. Or else, if we let the mortal sins
drown us, it cut our connection with Jesus Christ and drags down our souls into
death. Well, this is a reminder for all of us when we are confessing.
So
this article will also give you three C’s for a good and efficient confession.
First, your confession should be COMPLETE.
You should ask for forgiveness for ALL your sins. Do not leave any sin
unconfessed. Take a look at this: one mortal sin can stop you from entering
god’s Kingdom. If you are sincere and truly regretful of your sins, you will
ask for its forgiveness and thus Jesus Christ will forgive you. Jesus Christ is
just waiting for us to repent for our sins. HE is willing to offer his mercy to
all of us. It is only US who are not
grabbing it. Imagine if you confess right now, you confess everything EXCEPT
for your most embarrassing and most shaming sin, then who knows that on the
next day is your last day, see how a single mortal sin can drag you from being
with God. So better list down ALL your sins, NO EXCEPTION. Number one thing
that prevents us from telling all of it is our PRIDE. We are afraid that the
priest to whom we are confessing our sins will change their outlook to us. We
are afraid to see the real YOU. There was a survey in the United States about
priests if they change their perspective to one person who confessed to them. A
big percentage said that it was a big YES.
Scary, isn’t it? YET, their answer does not stop with a big yes. They said that
their outlook change to a person not because this man is a very sinful person, this
man lives wickedly, but rather, they change their perspective to a person
because this man does not care about how they are going to look at them but
they value more how Jesus Christ see him. This man is trying to renew himself
(through Confession) that is why he is willing to confess all his sins and
sincerely asking for its forgiveness. Besides, one friend told me: do not be
afraid to confess all our sins because our priests are helping us to renew
ourselves. They are forbidden to tell to other people what you confess to him.
And also, they are actually praying for you too. Next is your confession should
be in a CONCISE manner. Just state
it direct to the point! Do not add flowering words because the one who is
listening to you is actually listening for your sins, and not for how beautiful
your delivery and how long you describe each of your sin. The shorter (but profound)
the way you deliver it, the better. Last C is CONTRITE. The purpose of Confession is your chance to renew
yourself- to ask for the forgiveness of your sins. If you repent your sin and
you do it over and over again, well, your Confession is useless. So you should
confess your sins contritely. So if you will confess, better to have this
checklist questions: Do I confess completely? Concisely? And contritely? If
your answer is a yes, then, definitely you made an effective Confession.
Going
back, the communion also preserves you
from future mortal sins. If you are valuing the real essence of the
Eucharist, that you receive Jesus Christ during the Communion, it will help you
to build up a strong relationship with God. In that way, it will help you to
avoid doing evil things, especially the mortal sins. The fruits of communion is
actually indefinite that it requires a lot of time to tell of. Lastly, like
what Bro. Joel always tells us, we should love the Eucharist. Eucharist is
Jesus Christ. We should be the MEN of the Eucharist.
Our Ministry is
both a gift and a calling.
It is a gift because not all people are given the chance to serve the altar. It
is a precious thing that we should take care of. Just for an instance, if we
receive a beautiful gift, we are doing the best we can to preserve, protect,
and beautify it. We are doing anything to make it as new as possible. We are
also doing those things in our ministry. The way we care for our ministry shows
our gratitude to Jesus Christ who called us to serve. That is why our ministry
is also a calling. Jesus Christ implanted in our hearts the will to serve to
him. And this seed implanted in our hearts are being watered by our parents,
siblings, friends, brothers, and our community. Bro. Joel mentioned that it is
better to look back on the history of our present ministry. During the third
century, in the early Christian ages, St. Hippolyptus of Rome wrote about two
kinds of server: the Cheirotonia
which are the ordained ministers, and the Katastasis,
or the installed ministers. These ordained ministers include the Bishop,
Deacons and Presbyters while the acolytes, lectors, and the virgins are belong
to the installed ministers. The responsibilities in the celebration of the
Liturgy are divided into these two kinds of servers. But as times went by, the Clericalization of Liturgical Ministries
took place. The responsibilities of the Katastasis were transferred to the
Clerics. But this once change again through the Vatican II (Ministeria Quaedam). The Ministry were
returned to the laity. The Lectorate and the Acolytate were back. This is the
main reason why we need an annual renewal in our ministry- it is because we are
ministers by temporary deputation by
those ordained ministers. There are two kinds of Lectorate: the institute
Lectorate and the Lectorate in temporary deputation. Same with the Acolytate-
the institute Acolytate and the Acolytate in temporary deputation. And We,
Altar Servers, are belong to the Acolytate in temporary deputation. Our
brothers in Seminary are the instituted acolytate. That is why they will remain
as an acolytate as long as they are seminarian. While we will remain as an
Altar Server as long as we renew our vows.
Well, those
lessons above are not yet the complete version of how much I learned during the
first day.
The
Second Day was the start of the challenge to me. Before the sad moment, let us
first recapped the important lessons! Well, I didn’t bale to complete the whole
discussion but here are the important lessons that you should be familiar with.
If
we are going to meet someone precious to us, what are the things we usually do?
First, we are doing everything just to make sure that we are as presentable as
possible. We are taking a bath for a long span of minutes, waxing our hair,
wearing the best suit we can wear, and putting yourself with the most fragrant
cologne you have. Just like to show reverence to Jesus Christ, it is proper and
just to allocate time for a preparation. And this preparation is divided into
internal preparation and external preparation.
Internal
preparation are mainly a preparation that not needs anything but only yourself.
First one is silence. One saint
said: “In silence, God speaks in our
hearts…” It is good that we should spend some time in silence in order for
us to talk to Christ and put ourselves in the state that the Holy Spirit is
within us. Next is the rectitude of
intention. This talks about that we are serving Jesus Christ because we
love Him- nothing more than that. We are not serving because we just want to
catch the attention of our friends who are attending the mass. We are not
serving because we are trying to please other people. We are serving His altar
because we both love Him and our service to Him. The presence of God is also one of the internal preparation we can do.
The best way we can do this is by spending our spare time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. In this
way, we are letting Jesus Christ to enter in our hearts and let Him guide us
during the mass. Praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament is one best thing to
implement in our ministries. Last is the Eucharistic
fasting. To show a small sacrifice to Jesus Christ, we should not eat any
food an hour before our service but we are allowed to drink water.
On
the other hand, we are also expected to
prepare externally. First, we should maintain proper hygiene. We can do this through making sure our hands (our
fingernails) are clean, having a proper haircut, and being fragrant as much as
possible. Next is to have a good
appearance. It does not only means of being handsome, but actually, looking
as presentable as possible. Remove unnecessary things that we do not need- we
should preserve what we called “noble
simplicity”. Next is posture. The
way we bring ourselves in the altar also affects the people who attend the
mass. If they see us feeble and not in proper posture, they will also not feel
active during the mass. The most common posture of an altar server: stand
straight, hands clasp together, or if we are holding something in one hand, the
most logical position of the other hand is in our chest. Cardinal Rosales once
said that in every gestures we do, we should accompany it with a prayer. Lastly
is punctuality, truly
self-explanatory.
The
next thing an altar server should have is the intense love for the Eucharist. How can we do this again? First,
frequent visitation in the Tabernacle, or the Blessed Sacrament, or in the
Adoration Chapel. Next is by showing reverence to it. If we are in front of the
Blessed Sacrament, it is right and just to genuflect
on it. The knee should be touched in the grounds, and our eyes gazing in
the tabernacle. Or we can also do the double
genuflecting when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. Or simply, we can also
do a normal bow.
We
should also live a life of virtues.
Some of the parents of our members in the ministry once said that if his son
became part of the ministry, there is a
big chance that his child becomes nice, smart, virtuous, etc. Actually,
that is really true that makes our ministry special. The first virtue is the theological virtue which includes the
virtues of faith, love, and hope. Cardinal
virtues include prudence (having the right judgment), justice, temperance
(especially in food), and fortitude (being able to maintain the strength of
being a man). Next is the natural
virtues which includes humility, obedience, sincerity, and purity, presence
of God in ourselves, good grades, excellence and commitment in our
responsibility. As an altar server, we
should also have a life of prayer. Bro.
Joel said that even we spend all of our time inside the church BUT without
praying, our time is as meaningless as nothing. Praying is simply as a loving
conversation with Jesus Christ. As much as possible, we should start our day and
our night with a simple prayer.
Bro.
Joel suggested lots of things that we can add up in our programs in the
formation our altar servers. First, we are REQUIRED to memorize, put in our
hearts, the basic Christian Prayers. Second, we should include ourselves in the
norms of piety like the retreat,
recollection, visit of the blessed sacrament, examination of conscience,
praying together the holy rosary, and especially, attending the mass regularly.
Next is having a strong devotion on saints and guardian angels. Speaking of,
many people are asking why we are giving time for the saints. We are not worshipping the saints but we
are venerating for them. Next is to have a devotion in our Holy Father, our
Pope Francis. His job is not easy as it seems. Let us always include him in our
prayers. Then we should also have our devotion to our Lady, Mother Mary. Lastly, we should not only limit our service in the altar, but
rather include ourselves in different community
activities.
Thank
You Very much Bro. Joel for the full-of-lesson talk that you engraved to us!
Please
Read my separate journal 2017 about
what happened that night! J
Anyways,
the last day of the seminar, October 31, Bro. Arturo Gonzaga gave us also a
wonderful lesson. What thing I remembered when I saw him was what he told us: CHRISTIANS ARE PRO-LIFE. WE ARE AGAINST THE
CULTURAL DEATH. And that DEATH’s each letter stands for a word! D for
Divorce, E for Euthanasia, A for Abortion, T for (Bro. Art didn’t mention the
exact word), and H for homosexuality. Also, he gave a wonderful definition of a
friend: A friend is one who recognizes the good in you. And correct your wrong
doings. What he told us are actually some of the ingredients on how we
can become a certified Master Server! Thank You Bro. Art for the wonderful
lesson you share with us! J
Please
read my separate journal 2017 for the continuation of my
gratitude for those people behind this wonderful seminar! J
