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A voice from a regent: An appeal
Posted by exodians on February 7, 2009
Submitted by: Sean Anthony Yap
Featured blog entry
The NDAS dormitory: Memories were created. We were part of that era. Photographed by Nick G. Dayo Alumnus. Published with permission.
I haven’t really known anything about Exodians or what it means but I am grateful and ever so hopeful that such program and supporting motivation for seminarians who were so called fallen out of place from the seminary structure are still encouraged and given importance until today.
We have gone out the seminary alright but it does not mean that we have also lost our identity as seminarians in that extent. That being a seminarian means affecting and influencing good to all walks of life.
There was one time when we were traveling along the highway going to Davao using the seminary vehicle, we were held by a group of police officers only to introduce that one of them was an EXODIAN, that once he was a DAYO seminarian of NDAS.
NDAS vehicle was stopped somewhere, sometime: re-enactment of the so called unconventional encounter of our fellow exodian - NDAS alumnus - NDAS SEMEX - a DAYO
We were stunned at first when they forced to stop us thinking what violation we committed, but as we started moving passed them and after a sudden introduction, we finally managed to breathe again.
I, then realized that even though we are not able to be ordained as priests and all purposes why we were in the seminary, we still carry who we are like an indelible identity wherever we go.
I am an exposurist currently employed at Notre Dame of Tacurong College as faculty and Campus Ministry Staff, yet we do not feel supported by our own formators the same weight given to those who proceeded to theology where in fact we needed twice support as much as theologians do.
We are still potential priests of Archdiocese of Cotabato, so allow me to express in all my honest yet humble opinion to you my brothers what is your sentiment regarding this. Is there a need to put up a program for regents where they would not feel neglected, left behind and would not feel less important?
This is an appeal I would like my fellow brothers to ponder upon. It is still my first year on regency and by God’s grace my vocation is still preserved in the company of priests who constantly inspire us to move along and continue this vocation. That vocation must not lie on the mercy of our formators though we pretty much owe our being formed to their hands and the way they see formation.
I am happy that I can express my thoughts in this website. I need other opinions regarding this matter my brothers.
May God bless us always.
EXODIANS 
brotherutoy said
I’m not very familiar with the idea of exposurists and regency though in my own formation, I also left the formation and was an ex-seminarian for a year. My mother was very sick and I had to earn the money for her medications. I remember I maintained contact with my formators and was meeting an appointed priest to be my regular SD. This set-up facilitated my re-entry to the congregation.
Truth be told, my short experience of leaving the seminary left an impact on me: The first month is marked by a terrible sadness. It is as if I have to mourn for my act of leaving the seminary. Daw naotod bala ang imong kamot o napatay ang usa sa imong paryintes (nagpipilit lang akong mag-ilonggo. pasensya na.ü) It is a kind of depression that non-seminarians would never understand. I realized that even though I have the support of my congregation, I am in fact alone. I am left to my own devices as to what should I do with my vocation. That made me think of other seminarians who were cut of from their formation, and the ordeal they have to go through to survive, much more, to sustain their calling. I’ve known many ex-seminarians and sadly, they’ve gone astray and had lost hope. What is more saddening is that they’re actually good vocations; something just got wrong along the way and it can be remedied easily. But the seminary won’t do anything about it. Funny how the Church has programs for unwed mothers, for migrant youths, for displaced squatters, for the deaf and blind of the community but nary a program for exseminarians. They themselves know how difficult the passage from seminary to outside world is, they know how wounded and hurting these formands are. Kaya nga I’m glad there’s EXODIANS kasi it is some kind of a support group who really knows and feels how it is to be an ex-seminarian, a group that can hear out the voices of their fellow brothers who, inspite of their present status, still hope to serve the Mother Church the best they can.
To my brother seminarians who are outside the formation, i have two words for you: GO WEST. If vocations are just wasted in the Philippines, there are countries abroad who looking for them, especially the North American and European countries. Wait not for the sympathy of your former formators. Take some risks. Move on. You have a responsibility to sustain your calling. There’s no point diminishing the dignity of your vocation by begging your former seminary to accept you back. If they are deaf for God’s call for you, there are others out there who are willing to listen with you, tiyak yun. Remember that at this point, the ball is at your court, you must make an answer to the difficult challenge imposed on your vocation, and your answer must be firm, daring and creative, depending on the circumstance you are in. As I have always said before, priesthood is never for the faint of heart. Kaya naman, ang payo ko: Sugod, mga kapatid!
Teka, nakakarami na ako. Parang post na rin ito ah. Gawin nyo na nga lang kayang article ito ng blog? hehehe…
Ang totoo nyan eh di ko naman kailangang i-explain ito sa inyo. alam nyo naman ang sagot sa sitwasyon nyo. gusto nyo lang sigurong marinig rin sa iba.ü
Kaya naman, don’t take my words too seriously but rather, be assured of my prayers, and pray for me also! God bless the EXODIANS!
exodians.org said
@brother utoy. Thanks to the immediate response.
@ brother sean. Thanks for telling your story. You are the symbol of the relevance of our continuing existence here in the web. Glad to help. Glad that you opened up the “Pandora” box. Get connected to the outside world! As brother utoy said GO WEST! There are choices! check this Franciscans website: http://www.olacapuchins.org/. We also invite you to start blogging and get connected to the WordPress community of bloggers who have the same interest as you are.
Sean Anthony Yap said
I am grateful for your optimism about possibilities in giving this vocation an opportunity to grow. Thank you so much for the advice and your quick response.
Fr. Felmar Castrodes Fiel, SVD said
ah mao diay…semianrista pod diay ka…mao diay naka-relate diay dayon ko. SVD here…
renee said
I can empathize with you all, not because I came out from a congregation, but because I have a lot of friends too who were ex-seminarians who came out either to find if there is a life for them outside the congregation (like part of their own discernment) or because the congregation/seminary found them not aligned with their charism. I believe and totally agree that there should be some kind of a support group for people who came out. Sometimes, it is hard for them to integrate themselves in the secular world. It is only when they go out that they find out that it is hard for them to find work.