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VOLUME 01 | NO. 01 | AUGUST 2017

N O V I T I A T E H I G H L I G H T S

4 6 7Habit - taking of Novices

The Seed of Formation

Community Annual Plan

Human Sexual i ty in Exodus

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E D I T O R ’ S N O T E

B ienvenu a la premiere edition de Rue Nueve, le journal officiel du Noviciat de La Salle PARC 2017-2018.

In this 1st issue of the Rue Neuve, I am pleased to share with you the joyous moments of our first 4 weeks of coming together in La Salle Novitiate, moments which I consider truly grace-filled for our community.

We begin this month’s highlights with the Reception of the Holy Habit which symbolized the Novices’ commitment to strengthen their vocation, and to know God more deeply. Some of us shared our reflections on the significance of this ceremony in this issue. We also highlight the formal opening of La Salle Novitiate 2017-2018 with the Seed of Formation, the welcome prayer service led by the Filipino nFSCs. The 3rd and I would say the most enjoyable one (Ha-ha!) was the community outing we had at Club Balai Isabel in Talisay, Batangas. We developed our community annual plan, and at the same, enjoyed the company of one another.

When I was writing this message, I was ponder-ing on the question, “Why Rue Neuve?” After some time of reflection, I realized that the first house of the Brothers in Rue Neuve, by its nature, has many similarities with La Salle Novitiate. Just like thathumble and modest abode, it is in the Novitiate where we are being molded into a community, and being directed to acquire the spirit of the Institute, where we strive to become faithful followers of St. John Bap-tist de La Salle, and become better Christian disciples.

At the end of the day, it is my hope and prayer that our first steps in Novitiate, just like the house in Rue Neuve, would prove to be a strong foundation for a promising future of learning, living, and loving as De La Salle Brothers.

In St. La Salle,

B R . M I C O D E L E O N n F S C

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VOLUME 1 | NO. 01 | AUGUST 2017

S T A F F

EDITOR IN-CHIEF &LAYOUT ARTIST

CONTRIBUTORS

ADVISERS

BR. MICO DE LEON nFSC

BR. KINO ESCOLANO nFSCBR. SHANUKA OBRIS nFSCBR. IVAN UMALI nFSCBR. JEANO ENDAYA nFSCBR. HENRY GYI nFSC

BR. REY MEJIAS FSCBR. LUCAS THEIN FSCBR. MANUEL PAJARILLO FSC

Y o u m a y s e n d y o u r c o m m e n t s & s u g g e s t i o n s t o t h e E d i t o r t h r o u g h e - m a i l a t m i c o . d e l e o n @ d e l a s a l l e . p h .

FEEDBACK?

Rue Neuve was a street in Rheims, France where the f i rst house of the Brothers of the Christ ian Schools was located. The humble and modest abode which the Brothers occupied on June 24, 1682 was where al l the transformation happened: teachers became Brothers , seculars turned into consecrated men, a human work became the work of God. As Blain put i t , the house on Rue Neuve is considered as the cradle of theInst i tute.

W H A T I S R U E N E U V E ?

M E R C I B E A U C O U P.

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BR. GULFAM GULZAR nFSCPakistan

BR. SAJAWAL JAVED nFSCPakistan

BR. JEANO ENDAYA nFSCPhilippines

BR. MICO DE LEON nFSCPhilippines

BR. SHANUKA OBRIS nFSCSri Lanka

BR. HENRY GYI nFSCMyanmar

BR. LUKE THATSAWORN nFSCThailand

BR. IVAN UMALI nFSCPhilippines

~ NOVICES ~

LA SALLE NOVITIATE COMMUNITY2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

BR. KINO ESCOLANO nFSCPhilippines

BR. REY MEJIAS FSCDirector

Philippines

BR. MANUEL PAJARILLO FSCTeaching Staff

Philippines

BR. LUCAS THEIN FSCSub-Director

Myanmar

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H A B I T TA K I N G O F

ARC NOVICESP The Reception of the Holy Habit cer-emony is considered as a milestone in a Broth-er’s life. It symbolizes one’s commitment to strengthen their vocation, and to continue serv-ing God and His people as a De La Salle Brother.

Last August 12, 2017, in an anticipated mass on the feast day of St. Benilde Romanćon, nov-ices Mico, Kino, Jeano, and Ivan (Philippines), Hen-ry (Myanmar), and Luke (Thailand) from the Lasal-lian East Asia District were formally accepted to the Institute and were given their religious habits at the St. Benilde Gym, La Salle Green Hills, Philippines. On the same date, Gulfam and Sajawal from the Dis-trict of ANZPPNG received their religious habits in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Shanuka, a Novice from the District of Colombo received his robe last August 13, 2017 at the Provincialate in Mutwal, Colombo 15.

All habit-taking ceremonies in the PARC region were joyously celebrated by the Brothers, Lasallian partners, and the Novices’ relatives and friends. Indeed, our loving and generous God, through the intercession of St. Benilde Romancon, the Lasallian Patron for Vocations, has truly blessed PARC with the gift of rich vocations.

(BR . KINO ESCOLA NO nFSC)

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The

Seedof

FORMATION

The PARC Novitiate 2017-2018

formally began with a welcome

prayer service led by Br. Rey

Mejias FSC, the Novitiate

Director, last August 15, 2017

at the Novitiate chapel.

With its theme, “Seed of Formation”, the PARC novices were given their own plants as a symbol of their own formation. Just like any other plant, formation is a lifetime process of watering, nurturing, and bearing fruit. It tells us that growth cannot happen overnight. It cannot also be rushed.

We began our novitiate year planting the seeds of our formation. It is our hope and prayer that as we continue on with our journey towards becoming a professed De La Salle Brother, we will be graced by God, the Divine Sower, of openness and wisdom to always grow and become better Brothers for the glory of Him.

(BR. SHANUKA OBRIS nFSC)

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C O M M U N I T Y A N N U A L P L A N

The PARC La Salle Novitiate Community held its Commu-nity Annual Plan (CAP) and first community outing at Club Balai Isabel in Talisay, Batan-gas last August 23-24, 2017. Overlooking the majestic Taal Volcano along the shore of Taal Lake, they planned and set the direction of the com-munity with one vision of becoming Brothers to one an-other, and Brothers to others.

The community was also able to strengthen its fra-ternal bond as they enjoyed together the beautiful ame-nities that Club Balai Isabel offered. They swam in the swimming pool, and shared laughters in the Aqua Park of the resort. They also sang together in the villa with the accompaniment of guitar and beat box. The two-day outing ended with a short visit to De La Salle University Science and Technology Center in Laguna and to Tagaytay City.

Indeed, the CAP paved the way for the community to enjoy the presence of one another, and most impor-tantly, to set the optimistic tone of all to look forward to their formation in the Novi-tiate with joyful anticipation.

(BR. IVAN UMALI nFSC)

“Overlooking the majestic Taal Volcano along the shore of Taal Lake, they planned and set the direction of the community with one vision of

becoming Brothers to one another, and Brothers to others.”

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HUMAN SEXUALITY

I N E X O D U SLast August 29 - September 1, 2017, the Novices went to Manila to attend a class in Human Sexuality. It is one of the courses organized by Exodus, a modular class program for Novices

from different religious congregations. The sessions were facilitated by Fr. Nords Adlam, MSC and Sr. Mariella de Villia, OP Anunciata.

As De La Salle Brothers, we need to develop a healthy and an integrated sexuality. Self-mastery and self-acceptance are very important to facilitate this life-long process. We should also not see our sexuality negatively. As Fr. Nords said in his discussion, “If you are afraid of sexuality, you

are afraid of God”. We are all made by God as sexual beings. Jesus himself was a sexual being too when He became man.

At the end of the day, sexuality is considered a beautiful gift from our generous God. Our invitation now is to appreciate and embrace it as our own through our relationships with

ourselves, with other people, and most importantly, our loving Creator.

(BR. HENRY GYI nFSC)

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F E A T U R E SI L L U S T R AT I O N S E T A R T I C L E S L I T T E R A I R E S

A Habit to Learn. “I will start to answer the pressing question of the significance or meaning of the Habit and the Habit taking for me. Sim-ply put, it is a physical manifestation of God’s will for me, at least, at this point in time. It is a concrete affirmation that I am still in the right place and I am still following Him. It is a gift of renewed confidence on my part to continue on this journey of knowing if the “yes” I said to the question above meant the same “yes” that my God wants me to give. The same confidence I would carry with me in deepening my relationship with Him knowing that despite the silent treatment He had given me be-fore, He would always still be there.” (BR. JEANO ENDAYA nFSC, Philippines)

The Habit. “It gives me joy in knowing that all the challenges and crises I have faced in my year in the Postulancy brought forth a gift and a chance to be more loving and life giving. Giving a special em-phasis to my family, the robe will be a symbol of unity in our family. I am very happy that together with the day of reception of the Hab-it, I will see my family happily looking at me with full acceptance of the path that I am taking.” (BR. KINO ESCOLANO nFSC, Philippines)

My Holy Habit. “By receiving the Holy Habit, I feel that I need to look inside of my heart frequently… So this Habit will remind me that one day I also have to live with the vows and from now on-ward I have to observe to my interior and listen to the call in my everyday life. This Habit reminds me to respond to the call dai-ly and have a good preparation to the next chapter in my forma-tion journey. That means there is something I am looking forward to perform after the Habit taking.” (BR. HENRY GYI nFSC, Myanmar)

HABIT-TAKING REFLECTIONS