Sr. Remedios leads students to reflect on character in times of calamities

Sr. Maria Remedios R. Cayetano, SPC addresses the students during the Culminating Program of the Nutrition Month.

“Nasaksihan ko ang hirap at sakit, ang inyong mga sakripisyo, teamwork, paghihirap, kasiyahan sa pagluluto,” Sr. Maria Remedios R. Cayetano, SPC, Directress-HS Principal declared, referring to the survival cooking contest done in the High School Department, as she addressed the students during the culminating program of the Nutrition Month on August 1 at the Fr, Louis Chauvet Gymnasium.

The month of July is declared annually as Nutrition Month. This year has the theme  “Kalamidad Paghandaan: Gutom at Malnutrisyon Agapan!”

Because the theme suggests readiness during calamities, the Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) Area thought of survival cooking contest for the students as one of the activities in the month-long celebration. On Friday, August 25, all classes simulated situations in evacuation areas when calamities strike. Given limited food supplies, students of the different sections sent some of their classmates at the Bocaue Public Market to do actual marketing of food items to be cooked. The challenge was to provide food enough for the entire class, which included butchering live chickens and cooking them into viands of their own choice. This was aside from the vegetable and other viands that they could prepare out of the limited budget that they worked on.

Using the national language as the culminating activity was done at the beginning of another month-long activity of Buwan ng Wika, Sr. Remedios told the students the joy experienced by them could not be bought by money.

 “Ang mga moments, bonding, pagsisiksikan – ito ay patunay na maaari palang magkaisa,” she emphasized. “Sa isang sakuna, maaring bagyo, chemical warfare, hydro-physical (difficulties), at iba pa, nananaig ang kabutihang-loob ng isang tao. Sa isang sakuna may isang pinuno na nag-e-emerge,” she reminded.

“Sino sa mga kaklase ninyo ang tahimik na nagluto at gumawa, at sino naman ang walang pakialam, di alintana kung may nasasayang na resources,” she asked. “Sino naman ang tunay na bayani sa inyong klase?”

“Sa isang sakuna nandiyan din ang katatagan ng kalooban. Iba ang lakas ng loob. May mga maangas at mangahas. Ang maangas ay nagyayabang at walang direksiyon. Ang taong nangangahas ay naglalakas-loob ngunit maaari ring walang direksiyon sa kanyang buhay. Ang tatag ng kalooban ay nag-uugat sa atin,” she extolled the students.

“Tayo ba ay natatakot? Hindi na tayo dapat nabubuhay sa takot sapagkat matagal na tayong tinubos ng Panginoon. Kung tayo’y may takot sa ating mga puso, tayo’y may pangamba,” she explained. “Kumusta ang ating pananalig at pananampalataya?” she led the students to reflect.

“Minsan sa isang sakuna makikita natin ang kaugalian ng Pilipino na nananampalataya. Lalabas na labas ang dalawang ito – ang pananalig at pananampalataya,” she stressed. “At sa panahon ng sakuna, lumalabas din ang kaugalian na makasarili. Sa panahon ng taghirap lumalabas din ang mga bayani,” she reminded.

“Pag-ibayuhin natin ang kagandahang asal at pag-uugali. Saliksikin ang ating sarili. Kumusta ako pag ako’y mag-isa. Paano ako pag may mga kasama?” she asked.

She further led the students to inspire them to endure and be persistent. “Kayo ba ay madaling sumuko? Endurance and persistence. Tiis at tiyaga. Yan ang kulang sa kabataan ngayon. Lagi yan magkakambal. May pagtitiis, pananalig, at pagtitiyaga. Ang lahat ng ito ay nakaugat sa pananalig at pagmamahal,” she said.

The culminating program was also highlighted by the awarding of winners in the different contested activities. The following were the winners who received their Certificates of Recognition:

Bulletin Board Contest

1.     Grade 7

1.  St. Lorenzo Ruiz

2.  St. Aloysius

3.  St. Therese

2.     Grade 8

1.  Our Lady of Fatima

2.  Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

3.  Our Lady of Lourdes

3.     Grade 9

1.  St. Peter

2.  St. Matthew

3.  St. John

4.     Fourth Year

1.  St. Alphonsus

2.  Fr. Louis Chauvet

3.  St. Dominic

     Photo Essay Contest

1.     Grade 8 - Our Lady of Lourdes

2.     Grade 8 - Our Lady of the Immaculate Concepcion

3.     Grade 9 - St. Peter

    Survival Cooking Contest

1.     Grade 7

1.  St. Therese

2.  St. Lorenzo Ruiz

3.  St. Agnes

2.     Grade 8

1.  Our Lady of Lourdes

2.  Our Lady of the Immaculate Concepcion

3.  Our Lady of Fatima

3.     Grade 9

1.  St. Mark

2.  St. Matthew

3.  St. Peter

4.     Fourth Year

1.  St. Benedict

2.  St. Francis of Assisi

3.  St. Alphonsus

Silent prayer advocate shares to GS, HS Faculty

Sr. Perry Inso, RC, a Silent Prayer advocate from Cebu, shares the strategy to the GS and HS Faculty in a short session at the school's retreat house, the St. Paul Spiritual Oasis, on July 24.

In saying it, we take responsibility for what we want.

Thus, with outburst and zeal, Sr. Perry Inso, RC declared in her short talk about Stillness in Schools to the Grade School and High School Faculty on July 24, 2014 at the St. Paul Spiritual Oasis, the retreat house inside St. Paul College of Bocaue campus.

Sr. Perry, a Cebuana, finished her Bachelor of Science in Education at Cebu Normal University and her Master of Arts in English at the University of San Jose Recoletos, Cebu.

She worked as a grade school teacher for nine years at a De La Salle-supervised School in Cebu and a high school teacher for three years at Ateneo de Cebu before joining the congregation of Our Lady of the Cenacle in 1997.

She has been involved in giving retreats and recollections in some religious and lay men and women in Cebu and other parts of the Philippines. Considered as the suki  of St. Paul of Chartres for 30-day silent retreat, she also helps in the on-going formation of some scholars and domestic helpers, including mothers in Inayawan dumpsite and volunteers as catechist to the parish where she is presently assigned.

Part of her outreach is to teach children from Grades 1 to VI to focus on silent prayer.

“We experience God when we pray. Anyone who is in prayer is always a response to God’s invitation,” she said after reading a short symbolic story, entitled, Table for Two  which is about a man, who, for consecutive nights, waited for a girl he loves so much in a restaurant. At the end of the story, Sr. Perry likened the man to God who is consistent and patiently waiting for everyone to respond to His call through silent prayer. “How many of us had kept God waiting?  Prayer is giving God access to our hearts,” she probed. She also said that God is a loving God, thus, everyone may keep Him waiting, yet He still waits for each to respond to His call, for love is a commitment for the well-being of others; moreover, that’s how God shows His compassion to people.

In her sharing she underscored important points about silence: (a) Silence is a lost art in a society made of noise (b) Silence brings people face to face with themselves (c) Silence is life’s greatest teacher for it shows what people have yet to become and how much they lack to become it (d) Silence is the place just before the voice of God.

She also shared activities she conducts in her classes such as games, story telling from the Bible or stories with values infused), guided meditation, make-believe activities and playing songs.

In an interview, she shared about her joys of being an advocate of silence and meditation. She said that the graders she handled, specifically the Grade 1 pupils, could stay still and quiet for seven minutes; and her secret, according to her, is consistency, thus, not creating pressure and threat in the classroom. “What I am conducting originally came from Australia, and now, it has spread in some parts of the globe,” she said.

She let the faculty experience silence through a ten-minute guided meditation and suggested to have time for silence during their vacant time.

She also said that once a person develops focus through silence and meditation, he improves his memory, becomes more aware and less critical to others, and that through silence, a person becomes more aware of his well-being.

The talk was initiated by the Religious Education led by Sr. Ma. Gemma Moralita, SPC, Christian Formation Head.

Simultaneously, a Bible Quiz Bee was conducted at the Father Louis Chauvet Gymnasium. Grade School and High School students participated in the activity and some sections especially in the Grade School Department won numerous prizes such as mugs and rosaries.

News Feature

by Miss Maricar Bargado