Treasure Trove Found!
(My Pamilya-Rog Experience)
One morning in the early part of 2019, Fr. Jessie Martirizar RCJ called me up, saying he needed to see us because he had a very important proposition. He was, of course, referring to PamRog/Pamilya Rogate.
My family never heard of PamRog before, so Fr. Jessie gave a short explanation of PamRog: it is a union of the families of Rogationist priests, religious brothers, seminarians, and other families who share the charism and spirituality of the ROGATE. By the name itself, Pamilya Rog is about the Rogate families, supporting, of course, our RCJ seminarians, Brothers, and Priests, but also our individual families as well - not only through prayers but in many other ways we can, just like a family should.
My family was asked if we would accept the National Coordinator task for PamRog, our role, how we could help, and, of course, we want to help. An opportunity to serve God this way is not a privilege offered to many. More than a gift, it is a grace. With wholehearted enthusiasm and excitement, my family accepted the position.
Our experiences so far…
…We went around the country, where we assisted in the establishment of the different PamRog Chapters with only one basic thought in mind: that we help form a union of the FAMILIES of Priests, Brothers, Seminarians, Ex -seminarians, and others who will support the Rogationists in their charism by praying for more laborers into the Lord’s harvest. In my layman’s mind, this literally meant praying for more men to become priests and religious, praying for the fortitude of the young men already in the seminary, for their perseverance so they would eventually become priests. In other words, memorize by heart the trademark prayer of the Rogationists: SEND O LORD, HOLY APOSTLES INTO YOUR CHURCH. Other than that, I initially had no idea how this organization could be utilized for what it stands for.
Doing this is more fun than I had envisioned. The travels alone are already a welcome respite to my busy and depressing job. Traveling and meeting people, especially the parents of priests and seminarians, opened a whole new world of perspective. My family and I have so much fun and inspiration listening to the stories of the parents as they share their journey as parents of a seminarian. The challenges, especially the financial struggles their families have to hurdle to support a very eager young man, so desiring to be a man of God is humbling. When the mothers and fathers start to cry in front of the group as they narrate their anxieties and fears, I literally feel their pain because I am a parent, too. Given this backdrop, it is easy, therefore, to PRAY for them, pray for their families, and most especially pray for their sons. As the Father Founder, St Hannibal Mary di Francia, had said, “If you do not pray, the Lord will not send laborers for the harvest.”
As Rogationists, especially as Apostles of the Rogate in the present time, we are called to be:
Prayers or Prayer warriors
Workers in the harvest of the Lord
Proclaimers of the Word of God
Praying for vocations, therefore, does not end there. As “Vocationists,” pastoral care for vocations is also part of our equation. There is, hence, the need to find the interconnectedness of our identity, which means that we can work in different apostolates but still be very much aware of our identity as Rogationists… this rang a bell in my head because aside from the parents of the priests and seminarians among the PamRog members, the number of ex-seminarians among us is pretty significant.
Let me narrate a little story…
When we went to Surigao, also to establish the PamRog Surigao Chapter, I was so impressed by how the whole event was organized, with so much “religious air” … prayers in between, religious songs, the Holy Mass being a big part of the entire event, etc.… it seemed quite different from the other PamRog meetings we had previously attended. So, I was eager to meet the person in charge of the event because I wanted to congratulate him. His name is Lovely Ramirez. I have never met him before, so I told him “Ang galing naman ng pagkagawa mo nito, alam mo, tingin ko talaga sayo, stola na lang kulang sayo, pari ka na!”… and then he told me a little about him… and I learned he is an ex-Rogationist, now happily married.
I’m telling this story because there is no doubt in my mind that there is so much potential that we can tap into these ex-seminarian PamRog members to be very good evangelizers or proclaimers of the Word. Those years of religious training in the seminary should not go to waste. Instead, they should be brought to the forefront to help the Church. And I think these men are equally eager to share what they know. It’s just a matter of tapping them and giving them the right avenue. In fact, this desire of theirs is concretized by many messages I have received from ex-seminarians, asking when we will go to their provinces to establish PamRog. I can feel they are bursting with eagerness to put forth what they know and how they can help the Church.
However, the most inspiring outcome of such meetings is the realization that it is a matter of involving the community. In those gatherings where families come and bond, the feeling of “unity” becomes palpable, and it becomes clear that we are gathered together by a call. In one meeting, a 7-year-old little brother of a seminarian got so inspired that he whispered to Fr. JR Arreza – this was in Ilocos Norte – asking if he could be his sacristan during the mass. After joining our PamRog gathering, a grandma in Bohol got so excited because her grandson, a cousin of one of our seminarians, was inspired and expressed his desire to enter the seminary one day. But the message that really touched my heart was one from an ex-seminarian from Bohol. He said, “Thank you to PamRog. It has given me the inspiration to serve the Lord again.”
Indeed, we have a treasure trove just waiting to be unearthed!
Edna Sasing-Lao, MD is a lay collaborator of the Rogationists - St Mathew Province. She and her family are the National Coordinators of the Pamilya Rog, a union of the families of Rogationist priests, religious brothers, seminarians and other families who share the charism and spirituality of the ROGATE.