Hello everyone and good day🌅🥰. Hoping all of you are doing great today. This blog is a bit late to share with you. But let me show you one of my unforgettable experiences so far this year. I will share with you my experience from being a catechist to a catechumen.
April 13, 2025, Sunday, whole day, my sister in catechism named Riza Cabornay, and Catherine Raquil, attended the Catechetical Formation Seminar and Spiritual Gathering, at Pinabacdao Parish church. All of the Barangay youth within the town are invited, but only a few attended.
This gathering is specifically designed to prepare us spiritually and practically for the upcoming Summer Catechetical Program this month of May. We believe it will be a time of learning, sharing, and strengthening our commitment to spreading the Good News to the children and youth of our parish.
They encourage us to send catechists to the parish of Our Lady of Sorrows in Pinabacdao. Depending on how many are willing to attend from our respective BECs to participate in this event, we will prepare together for summer ministry. The participant brings the following:
• Notebook and pen for note-taking
• Tumbler/water bottle
• Lunch (due to budget constraints, we are unable to provide a full meal)
and they are providing snacks throughout the day. The program flow for the seminar outlines the activities and topics we will be covering. This gathering is a source of blessing and inspiration for all of us as we gear up on that summer catechetical program.
May 1,2025,3pm, we started the catechism together with my two sisters in church and with the participation of the catechumens. More than fifty children were there together with the ten-year-old who led the Rosary Prayer🙏.
Before we start the discussion for the catechism, we encourage the children to stand and silent Prayer 🙏. Then after we pray, my sister's in church, and I introduced myself one by one to let the children know who we are. And after we introduced ourselves, the children also introduced they're names in front of their friends.
Starting May 1 to May 30 last day of the month is the Flores De Mayo. One of the traditions of the catholic religion and every Filipino. We encourage the children to attend this kind of catechism gathering to help the children know who Jesus is and how to pray the Holy Rosary.
A short story in my past, I was a member of the church servers the angels and nights of the altar. And also a catechism member before when I was in elementary and high school. When I got my college degree, I didn't attend the catechism, until I got married and had my 4 loving 🥰children. But inside my mind and heart, I want to join again, but because of my family, I will focus first on my family for their needs. That's why I cannot attend any kind of gathering like catechism, but I always go to church to attend the Holy SUNDAY Mass..Until I suddenly realized and think my self to join again and try to give time and share ideas with children to learn the Holy Rosary Prayer. Because some of the teens and children are busy of the phone and others are on the computer, they have no knowledge of holding and praying the Rosary.
### Sta.Cruzan Day
May 31, 2025, is the big day for the Sta. Cruzan, the children prepare for their outfits to wear, like the angels 😇 they have their wings 🪽, and the queen 👑 they are wearing a beautiful dress 👗 and especially thanks to our Reyna Elena, Miss Jenra Bayani, she is so beautiful that day🥰. They make their own arko that they will use in the parade.
We are so grateful and thankful to God for the people who give heartfelt cash donations for the solicitation letter we give. The donation is a big help for the children. We buy school supplies for use in the coming school year, and they are so very happy 😊. Their smile for the little gift we provide are very radiant. And also, thank you to the people who participated in this kind of event; we made it successful.
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On the Sta. Cruzan Day, we had Holy Mass in the morning, which started at 9:00 am, and then in the afternoon we did a procession march at 5:30 pm with the candle light 🕯️and then the beautiful queens 👑 and the angels doing a parade around our barangay.
At night we after the procession, we gather together at our basketball court to celebrate the Sta. Cruzan Night. The Queens and also the angels perform their dance that we practice 😇. We also eat together with our little food we have. Every purok has its own snacks for the kids, but we also provide a lunch pack for the queen 👑.
When the program night had come to an end, I was silently smiling on the side of the court while watching the kids enjoying their night. It's just a few days with them together, but I will never forget this experience with them. It's not an easy task to teach kids and mold their values with God. Im hoping they learn from us. Im also grateful that the Church organization in our barangay let me be part of this event, and also God for guiding us to have a successful Catholicism this year.
Im already excited for next year's Catechism.
Thats it for this blog. See you around.