Vicariate Biblical Apostolate: BBS and BFS held in San Fabian Parish

27 August 2012 – San Fabian, Pangasinan. The Vicariate of St. Thomas Aquinas Biblical Apostolate recently held two basic seminars pertaining to its programs in the Biblical Apostolate: the Basic Bible Seminar and the Basic Facilitators’ Seminar. It was attended by the different Biblical Coordinators of the parishes of the vicariate. The Basic Bible Seminar (BBS) was held last 11-12 August. The Basic Facilitators Seminar (BFS) was held on 25-26 August 2012. The seminars were conducted by the Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate. Sis. Silvana M. de Vera gave the Basic Facilitators Seminar.

Biblical Apostolate of the Vicariate of St Thomas Aquinas

Rev. Fr. Oliver E. Mendoza, the Vicariate BA Director, encouraged the participants during the two seminars. “The Biblical Apostolate will provide skills and the needed coordination with the different parishes of the vicariate to achieve our goals”, he said.

The Biblical Apostolate has the following goals:  The widespread distribution of Bibles, in Pangasinan and other languages, to the Christian faithful of Pangasinan. The study, understanding and use of the Bible among Catholic clergy and Christian faithful who are active in the ministry of the Word through various  seminars and formations, like: the Basic Bible Seminar (BBS), Bible Orientation Seminars, Core Team Formations, Trainers’ Training Seminars, Biblical Institutes, Bible Youth Camps, Bibliodrama Workshops, Recollections, Retreats and many more and the the promotion of the Lay Ministries of the Word that “will be able effectively to provide the nourishment of the Scriptures for the People of God” (DV 23).

BBS and BFS in the parishes

After the seminars, the Vicariate Team will go to the different parishes to give the BS and the BFS. The Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Parish in David, Pangasinan will be the first parish to be given the  seminars to their parish biblical team. It is hoped that each parish in the vicariate shall have their own biblical team who will be equipped in giving the Basic Bible Seminars and the Basic Facilitators Seminar. Bro. Bert Doria is the Vicariate Biblical Apostolate Coordinator.

The Vicariate of St. Thomas Aquinas has 7 parishes: St. Thomas Aquinas in Mangaldan, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Brgy. David, Mangaldan, St. Joseph Parish, Mapandan, St. Hyacinth in San Jacinto, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Manaoag, Holy Cross in Laoac and St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr in San Fabian.

Catechists hold Two-Day Workshop-Seminar

by Dado Gerard C.  Vallejos

10 July 2010 – San Fabian, Pangasinan. The volunteer catechists of the Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, held a two-day Orientation-Seminar to prepare them for their catechetical ministry. They will formally start their catechetical classes in the different public elementary schools by the end of July 2011.
The two-day orientation-seminar was held last 9-10 July 2011

Workshop on the Making of Teaching Aids

The first day of the workshop-seminar was devoted to the making of various teaching aids and materials to be used in teaching catechism. The facilitators provided sample teaching aids to the catechists for them to base their own teaching materials which they made in a series of workshop sessions.

At the end of the day, the catechists were able to make and produce several teaching materials for their catechetical classes based on the catechetical books/modules provided for them by the Archdiocesan Catechetical Ministry.

Sis. Ma. Rowena A. Nicer, Elizabeth Terte, Shirley Tersol, Roberta Somintac, Dado Gerard Vallejos and Michelle Vallejos facilitated the first day workshop.

Creative Use of Scriptures for Catechism

The second day of the workshop seminar was spent on learning the types of the intelligences of man. The workshop provided the catechists with the know-how as well as the many creative approaches in bringing the catechism to the children. (See blog on “Creative Use of Sacred Scriptures in Catechism'”). 

The Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate facilitated the second day of the seminar-workshop. The seminar was given twice already to the catechists of the parish since 2008.

Sis. Silvana de Vera, Susan Aoanan, Belma Ibasan, Bros Rudy and Friedy composed the Biblical Apostolate Team.





 

ALD Launches Handwritten Unity Bible in Pangasinan

by Shirley Tersol

11 June 2011 – Dagupan City. The Biblical Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan in cooperation with the Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) and the Philippine Bible Society (PBS)  recently launched the Pangasinan Handwritten Bible last 11 June 2011 at the Sanctuario de San Juan Evangelista, Dagupan City.

The handwritten Bible has been conceptualized to unite Filipinos in a “Bayanihan” effort with other Christian groups toward national transformation through God’s Word. Lingayen-Dagupan Auxiliary Bishop Renato Mayugba, Vice Chairman of ECBA and Chairman of the John Paul I Biblical Center of Northern Luzon has presented the context of the first handwritten Bible to the Catholic Bishops during the 101st Bishops Plenary Assembly at the Pope Pius XII Center in UN Avenue, Manila in July 2010.

Besides Bishop Renato P. Mayugba, the launching was attended by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, the Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, Msgr. Jesus A. Cabrera, Bishop-Emeritus of Alaminos, civil and religious leaders and representatives from the different Protestant denominations.


Handwritten Unity Bible
 
The Handwritten Unity Bible (HUB)  will need around 35,000 individuals to write each verse of the Bible in English and the same number for the Pangasinan language.

A total of six or seven sessions will be conducted until the Bible is completed. The manuscripts are expected to be finished by 2013 and will be reproduced for distribution, while the original copies will be stored in a museum in Manila for posterity.

The May They Be One handwritten Bible will be divided into two columns. The first column will be the English version while the second column will be in Pangasinan.

The English version of the handwritten passages will be based from the published Catholic edition of Old and New Testaments while those of the different languages will be copied from the Popular Versions or the New Testament Books of the Philippine Bible Society (PBS).

“The Handwritten Bible will include interspersed Deuterocanonical books,” organizers said.

35,656 verses to raise funds for a Bible Campaign

The 35,656 verses from 78 books of the bible will be written by hand by representatives from various sectors such as the Church, urban/rural poor, OFWs, youth, farmers, government offices; schools, indigenous people, and the fisher folks.

The project targets to collect a minimum contribution of PhP50 for each written verse amounting to a minimum of PhP 3.565 million which will go to the May They Be One Bible Campaign.

Motorcade Launching

The project was launched in Dagupan City with a motorcade on 10 June 2001, a day before the formal launching,  from the St. Therese Church in Rizal St. to the Sanctuario de San Juan Evangelista where the transcription took place.

A Bible Enthronement celebrated through a Bibliodrama by the ALD Biblical Apostolate opened the formal campaign.

The Handwritten Unity Bible will also be launched in the other three Vicariates of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.

(Ms. Shirley Tersol is a regular contributor to the website. She is a member of the Union of Prayers for Vocations  (UPV) as well as of the Ministry of Social Action (MISA) of the parish. She is at present the teacher-in-charge of Jose N. Juguilon Elementary School, Colisao, San Fabian, Pangasinan)

BA-ALD spearheads National Bible Week 2011 Celebration

21 January 2011 – Dagupan City. The Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan celebrates the National Bible Week this year with the “i-proclaim” to be held at the CSI Mall on January 23 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 

The Biblical Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan is spearheading the celebration. National Bible Week is celebrated on 23-30 January 2011.

The Philippines began celebrating National Bible Week and National Bible Sunday annually after President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Presidential Proclamation no. 1923 on October 27, 1979 in recognition of the Bible "as an excellent source of principles for the development of moral and personal discipline." Celebration of NBW every last week of January was re-emphasized by President Corazon Aquino's Proclamation no. 44 in 1986. This was later followed up by President Fidel Ramos' PP 1067 which recognized that "national attention be focused on the importance of reading and studying the Bible, in building the spiritual, moral, and social fiber of our citizenry.

The “i-proclaim” is a public reading of the Bible intended to raise the profile of the Bible in the community and encourage people to rediscover the richness and relevance o God’s Word. It is a continuous reading of the Bible by different persons assigned to read a part of the Bible. The book to be read during the “i-proclaim” is the Book of the Gospel of John. Different Christian churches will participate in the continuous reading using the MTBO Tagalog version “Ang Mabuting Balita” . The Gospel of John has twenty one chapters.

The celebration will start with the Enthronement of the Bible. Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, Auxiliary Bishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, will welcome the participants and delegates from the different Christian churches of Pangasinan. Ms. Silvana M. de Vera, the Chairperson of the “i-proclaim” will explain the significance and procedures of the celebration.
The following will take part in the continuous reading of the Gospel of John: The Roman Catholic Church, Church in Dagupan, Victory Christian Church, Chinese Baptist Church, Iglesia Filipina Indendiente (IFI), United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP), United Methodist Church (UMC), International Heritage Baptist Church. The Business Sector will read one chapter. The Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen choir and the different choirs of the Christian Churches will sing during the intermission of the reading.

i-Proclaim! is patterned after the Canadian Bible Society’s Proclamation which began in Quebec, Canada. Over 200 readers came together in 1995 to read the Holy Scriptures in 12 different languages. The “i-Proclaim” is an historic,ecumenical, public oral reading of the Bible that seeks to draw Filipinos together during these trying times, under the banner of God’s Word. i-Proclaim! also offers a unique opportunity to support the May They Be One Bible Campaign which seeks to produce and distribute 5 million Bibles to 5 million poor Filipino families within the next 5 years.

National Bible Week Activities in the Archdiocese

Dagupan City – 8 January 2010. Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, the Auxiliary Bishop of Lingayen-Dagupan urges the faithful of the archdiocese to celebrate the National Bible Week on 25-31 January 2010. The theme for this year’s celebration is “May They Be One”.

Msgr. R. Mayugba is also encouraging all the parishes to have a solemn enthronement of the bible in every mass on Bible Sunday, 31 January. The Pope John Paul II Biblical Center, the Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate, has prepared a simple rite for the bible enthronement.  He also highly encourages the different Catholic Schools to have the bible enthronement in their respective schools at the beginning of the Bible Week on 25 January 2010, Monday.

The Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate will also be facilitating a training for the parish catechists of the Archdiocese on “Creative Use of Scriptures for Catechists”. The training will be held on 31 January 2010 at the St. Therese Gym, Dagupan City, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

In the morning of  19 January, Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, DD will meet with the all the Catholic Schools teachers. Student representatives will meet with the Archbishop in the afternoon. The venue will be at the Binmaley Catholic School, Binmaley, Pangasinan.

On 20 January, there will be be a celebration of the Catholic Schools Bible Olympics which will be participated in by the elementary and high scho ol students. The Bible Olympics shall include the following: Bible Quiz Bee, On-the-Spot Poster Making Contest, Essay Writing and Slogan Making. The Bible Olympics will be held at the Mary Help of Christians High School Seminary, Binmaley, Pangasinan.

Barangay Formation Program and BVM’s Visitation

San Fabian. As part of the preparation for the parish celebration of Christ the King in which the Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr is the host of the vicariate celebration, the parish is embarking on an extensive Barangay Formation Program. The program is part of the continuing formation of the Basic Ecclesial Communities in the 34 barangays of the parish.

The program involves the visitation of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. The image will stay for one week in the barangay. It is received on a Saturday and will be handed over to the next barangay, and received by residents, after a week. While the image is staying in the barangay chapel, it will be processed to the different poruks or sitios of the village. This will be done for about three days, beginning on the Sunday after it is received by the barangay.

Three talks will be shared to the barangay: Family and Life (Wednesday), Basic Doctrines (Thursday) and the Bible (Friday). The talks follow the three functions of the Church: as King, Prophet and Priest – a Serving Church, a Teaching Church and a Praying Church.

There are four teams of five members who will be facilitating the formation.

On the Saturday before the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is handed to the next barangay, a mass will be celebrated. The Sacrament of Matrimony will be celebrated and received by couples who were married civilly. Baptisms will also be celebrated.

San Fabian Parish hosts Northern Luzon Commission on Biblical Apostolate Meeting

San Fabian - 5 March. The Parish of St. Fabian hosted the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Northern Luzon Commission on Biblical Apostolate last 2 March. The meeting formally opened at 2:00 in the afternoon. It was presided by Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, the Auxiliary Bishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, and the Regional Chairman of the Biblical Apostolate. It lasted until about 7:00 PM.

The Northern Luzon Commission on Biblical Apostolate is one of the many commissions established by the bishops of Northern Luzon. Northern Luzon is composed of three Archdioceses, and eleven dioceses. The NLCBA is the coordinating body of the biblical apostolate.

The meeting was attended by the different Biblical Directors of the dioceses together with their Lay Coordinators. Representatives from the Philippine Bible Society were also presetn. One of the things discussed was the program of the Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate to give one bible to every Filipino family in the whole country.

Fr. Fidelis B. Layog is the Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate Director. Sis. Silvana M. de Vera of the Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate is a member of the Board of Directors of NLCBA.

The Northern Luzon Commission on Biblical Apostolate had their meeting at the hallway of the Catholic Rectory of the Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr

The Family Bible Congress

In a circular letter signed by Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba, DD, the Auxiliary Bishop, an invitation coming from the Biblical Apostolate of the Archdiocese together with the Family and Life Apostolate addressed to the different Bible animators, Family Life workers, Catechists, BEC Coordinators and Youth, and various religious organizations and movements (CFC, WE, ME, CFM and other such groups) of the different parishes and chaplaincies of the Archdiocese to celebrate the First Family Bible Congress. The congress is to be held on January 17, 2008, Saturday. It will start on 1:00 PM and will end at around 5:00 PM. The St. Therese Gym of the St. Therese Parish in Dagupan City will be the venue of the congress.

Fr. Fidelis B. Layog, the Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate Director, said that about 300 delegates are expected to attend the first Family Bible Congress. The congresss’ objectives and rationale are the following: to celebrate the centrality of the Word of God in the life of the Christian family and that the Word of God will be the bond of unity in the family. Msgr. Renato P. Mayugba DD will the main speaker of the event.

At the same time, the congress will be an occasion for the Archdiocese to celebrate already NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK which has the theme: MAY THEY BE ONE! Msgr. Mayugba also wrote to the clergy in his letter that “this will also be an opportunity for us to work towards a concerted and collaborated effort of building our BECs that have families grounded on the Word of God, with all group working as one.”

In a special note the congress wil also launch availability of the subsidized bible (P50.00 only) for poor families in cooperation with the Episcopal Commission of the Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) in its program of ” 5 MILLION BIBLES for 5 MILLION FAMILIES in 5 YEARS!”

The Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, welcomes the celebration of the Family Congress as it will strengthen and consolidate its pastoral program in building small communities centered and founded on the Word of God.

Bibliodrama: Creative Use of Sacred Scriptures

13 September 2008, Saturday. The Parish Catechists once again underwent a one day seminar on the Creative Use of Sacred Scriptures as the parish tries to provide new ways and methods of bringing the Gospel message. This time they were given a new and exciting way: BIBLIODRAMA. It was given to them by Sis. Silvana M. de Vera from the John Paul II Biblical Institute of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan. Sis. Silvana atended a six-day training for cross-cultural groups of Bibliodrama practitioners held recently at the Bukal ngTipan at Maryhill, Taytay, Rizal. The practitioners underwent skills upgrading in the use of bibliodrama elements and the preparation of modules commonly used in retreats and recollections, Liturgy and other participative church activities. The Parish of San Fabian, Pope and Martyr, was the first parish in the Archdiocese to hold a seminar on Bibliodrama. -more -

Creative Use of Sacred Scriptures for the Parish Catechists

28 June 2008, Saturday. The Catechists of the Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, underwent a one day seminar on the creative use of the Sacred Scriptures in teaching catechism to the children of the different public schools in San Fabian. It was facilitated by Sis. Silvana M. de Vera, a member of the John Paul II Biblical Center, the Biblical Apostolate arm of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan. A lecture on the multiple intelligences of the learners was given, including the nine ways of knowing and nine ways of teaching in response to the former. -more -