June was a special month for Albert Silos, Charito Borra, Henry Angupa, and Seo Jung Ju.  Fresh from their investiture last May 31, they finally moved on to the novitiate program in the Camillian novitiate in Antipolo City after five years of college seminary formation in Marikina and five months of postulancy in the St. Camillus Adult Formation center in Antipolo.

With enthusiasm they disclose their feelings through the Camillian Update.

• Albert Silos says: “Becoming a novice feels like being brought to heaven.  It is like being transformed into wholeness and into the person that you really are. The feeling is unexplainable.”

• Charito Borra: “Novitiate is another level of my formation and I feel very happy that I have reached this stage. Even if the novitiate formation is not in Baguio I am satisfied and comfortable to be here in Cogeo.  What is valuable is how I dispose myself, how I grow and how transparent I am in the formation because in the end what counts is both my humane and Christian maturity.”

• Henry Angupa: “The feelings about becoming a novice include joy and excitement.  There is also fear. However, I am confident because I know that God journeys with me. The challenge for me then is to be true to myself and to open myself to God”

• Seo Jung Ju: “The feeling to become a Novice is very different from what we heard from others and what we expected to happen to us. I found out that there are a lot of mysteries about myself hiding in my routine schedules but which can be discovered through prayer and meditation.  I feel that to become a novice is a privilege which can never be understood by others who have never been a novice.”

With all these feelings, the novices are ready to encounter all the challenges and difficulties in their novitiate year.  Let us pray that our novices may have a closer relationship with God and be able to express their love for God by serving His people especially our poor and sick brothers and sisters.

And as we say in Korea, “Novices Aja Aja Fighting!”