Annual Opening Retreat held with Msgr. Rollie Santos,CM by Sem. Noel G. Banawis

"It  is the Holy Spirit who forms you (seminarians). Without the Holy Spirit, there will be no formation that will happen."
Msgr. Rolando C. Santos, CM the retreat  master and facilitator for the MSP Seminary annual opening retreat of both Scholasticate and College communities, made the statement when he gave his brief introduction last May 28, 2011 which had its theme, "The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Seminary Formation."Msgr. Santos, the local superior of the Congregation of the Mission in the Philippines, who will be ordained Bishop of the Diocese of Alotau-Sideia in Papua New Guinea, made his personal experiences shared throughout the retreat.
"The world of today needs priests even more because the world needs God more than ever," said Msgr. Rollie quoting the words of Pope Benedict XVI in his message to the semianrians. He urged the seminarians to be deeply spiritual as they journey towards becoming missionary priests during the first conference which lasted for two hours and was ended up by sharing of seminarians in groups.
Speaking on the human formation, he said, "what should be seen in the person of the priest is Christ. That is why our goal is to be like Christ." he further added his message by reminding the seminarians that only those who know how to bow down will soar high. In the third conference, Msgr. Rollie warned the seminarians not to become busy to he can do rather he should focus to what God can do for him. moreover, to much focus on a lot of things diminishes God's role in ones life.
On the second day, Msgr. Rollie instructed the seminarians that we are in the stage of formation wherein studying is serious obligation which should not be neglected. He pointed out that there are things that need to be sacrificed for the greater good. The day was concluded by having a Holy Hour and the sacrament of Reconciliation was facilitated by Fr, Ernie Ablaza, our spiritual director and Msgr. Rollie.
On the third day, Msgr. Rollie advised us as he said, "To imitate Christ's humanness is the goal of the Human formation," He added, "Jesus, who is both human and God, came to serve and not to be served. His final conference dealt more on the Pastoral formation of seminarians in which he synthesized the role of the Holy Spirit in the different areas of Seminary formation. The retreat was concluded by the celebration of the Holy Eucharist presided by Msgr. Rollie himself, together with our seminary formators.

New Formation Year Begins at MSP Seminary

         A new academic year in MSP Seminary officially started last May 23 for the College seminarians, and May 27 for the Scholastics. This year, we are blessed to have eight first year philosophy students and one college graduate who will take up associate in Philosophy. They came from various dioceses in our country. We have a total of 17 seminarians for the College department. On the other hand, the Scholasticate department has nine seminarians. These include Frt. John Bordon (T1) who had just finished his Missionary Spirituality Formation Year in Cebu; four Theology 2 seminarians namely Frt. Ryan Jay Aban, Frt. Joseph Baslao, Frt. Rogelio Monton and Frt. Dexter Priete; Frt. Hamilton Cruz (T3) who had just finished his two-year Overseas Training Program in the Diocese of Naha, Okinawa, Japan; Two theology 4 seminarians namely Frt. Ferdinand Aporillo and Frt. Robert Sablon; and Frt. Ramil Hamil.

Each community had their respective planning for this first semester. Both departments elected their coordinator and members of the COMLIFE for the semester. Frt. Hamilton Cruz was elected coordinator of the Scholastics, Frt. Rogelio Monton as the Vice Coordinator and Secretary. Fr. Manuel Jadraque, our rector appointed the different committee chairmen namely: Frt. Dexter Priete - Academics, SemNet and DWSTSA representative; Frt. Ryan Jay Aban - Liturgy and Music; Frt. Joseph Baslao - Procuration and official driver; Frt. John Bordon - Socio-cultural; Frt. Ferdinand Aporillo - Sports and Health; Frt. Robert Sablon - Maintenance; and Frt. Ramil Hamil - Pastoral. On the other hand, Sem. Jessie Gelaga was elected coordinator, Sem. Silverio Alberca as Vice Coordinator and procurator, and Sem. Jordan Cagang as the secretary of the College Department.

Mass of the Holy Spirit was celebrated by our Father Moderator, Fr. Alfie Africa Jr., MSP together with Fr. Nilo Pacuribot and the Seminary Formators last June 6, 2011 at the scholastics chapel. It is during the Mass also that the new members of the community expressed their commitment of their willingness to undergo the missionary formation for one year. It is also the same occasion that the sophomores, juniors and senior seminarians renew their commitment in the presence of Father Moderator. The Affiliate members (Scholastics) also make a renewal of their promise to be faithful in responding to the different areas of formation. Indeed, it was a grace-filled experience and everybody was hopeful that the Holy Spirit will dwell on each one of us in order for us to grow maturely in our missionary priestly vocation.