Be Not Afraid

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Message for the day:

Do not be afraid, for I AM with you. No matter where I field you, I will personally make sure that you flourish and bear fruit for ME.

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I just attended Jesuit Vow Day at the Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City. Here are some pictures.

On the way to Ateneo de Manila University...

At the gate...

...and into Loyola House of Studies...

The Jesuits then give us a ride... (four of us were groupies, so to speak, the Jesuits call us VDPs, for Vocation Discernment Program. In other words, we are people still thinking about a Jesuit vocation.)

Upon arriving at Sacred Heart Novitiate, called the Womb and Tomb of the Philippine Jesuits, we first saw the tombs. I was overwhelmed seeing such known figures as De La Costa, and Hontiveros buried there.

The tombstone with the bouquet is that of Bro. Richie Fernando, SJ, who died while on mission in Cambodia, in 1996.

The novitiate garden, with Bro. Jing Porcia, SJ ushering us.

A statue of Saint Joseph and the child Jesus...

After visiting the tomb, now here is the womb. In this chapel, seven new Jesuits were ushered fully into the Society of Jesus, after their profession of perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience before the Blessed Sacrament.

After the mass, we then ate snacks in the garden.

Mykey Cuento (a full-time worker for Gawad Kalinga, an international charitable organization building homes and communities around the world), Bro. Jing Porcia, SJ (SJ Vocation Discernment Program coordinator); Dane Sacdalan (incoming 2nd year medical student, UP), Jim Lopez.

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Saint Francis Borgia, pray for us.