 What is your ‘number?’
From September 15 to 19, the Camillian novices commuted daily to the Montfort Fathers House in New Manila to attend the modular course on “Enneagram and Spirituality.” They fearlessly fought for space in the crowd at the LRT Santolan station just to reach the venue before 8:30 AM.
The module was facilitated by Fr. Nong Pili, a
priest from the prelature of Infanta, with the help of some of his
companions and theologians in St. Joseph Formation House. Because we
are novices, we started our activity with an opening liturgy sponsored
by different congregations. For five days, we experienced different
styles of prayer. The talk proper usually started 9:00 AM.
In the first part, Fr. Nong explained the importance of knowing one’s
and others’ personality in building community life and enhancing
spirituality. He explained that knowing can bring about understanding.
Fr. Joseph and I were among the 57 novices who took the Enneagram test.
We were given a reading material with nine paragraphs that describe
nine different personality types. It was surprising that everyone,
unique as we are, could find our place among the nine types.
After choosing our numbers, all of us shared in front of the group why
we chose the number that most likely represents our personality. Three
days were spent just to let all of us finish. We discovered that
numbers 5 (who just want to observe) and 6 (who is driven by fear) do
not want to be in the limelight. What is amazing is that most of the
novices became number 8 during lunch (gluttony). There was almost no
need to wash the food containers because everything was consumed and
the utensils were scraped clean.
The session ended with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Fr.
Nong on September 19. During the Mass, the group bade farewell to the
novices of two participating congregations (DSA- Daughters of St. Anne,
FSC- La Salle Brothers) who could no longer join the remaining
activities.
The Enneagram was definitely a journey to self-discovery not only of
oneself but more importantly, of others. It helped me realize that in
communities, it is necessary to know the personalities of the members
and to avoid imposing one’s culture or ideas. There is more than one
point of view. The quotation from Bishop Kenneth Cragg given to us by
the facilitator captures this, “Our first task in approaching another
people, another religion, another culture is to remove our sandals; For
we are stepping on sacred grounds. Lest we trample on people’s dreams,
or worse we may forget that God has been there before our arrival.”
Visitations
September felt like the second joyful mystery (Mary visiting Elizabeth
that caused John to stir with joy!) This month we had numerous visitors
who added more flavor into our lives here, not only for the food they
brought, but for their presence: Fr. Bong, my brother, the
brother-in-law of Fr. Gabby; the mother, brother and nephew of Fr.
Ruben; former-seminarians Efren, Noel, Carl, and Bouf who attended the
Alumni homecoming; and the applicant Joseph from Bohol, who will be
joining us in our apostolate in Medhaven every Sunday. It was good to
see more than four persons attending the community mass, to hear more
than three voices singing the Magnificat, and to have the round table
fully occupied. Thanks for your visit, you did not mind the remoteness
of Cogeo. It means that we are not yet forgotten!
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