6 LMI SEMINARIANS WERE INVESTED WITH CLERICAL GARB

on September 26, 2026 six seminarians of the Lorenzo Mission Institute were invested with the liturgical garb- the sotana on the occasion of the family day and the Chinese Mooncake Festival. The six seminarians were: Seminarians Eireyns Marc Distar, Julian Guban, RR Quinimon, Richard Rivera, Harold Jay Uban, and Mon Allen Zamora. The Holy Eucharist was presided over by Fr. Nolan A. Que, however the investiture rites was presided by Msgr. Noly Que, LRMS, Rector of the Lorenzo Mission Institute. The investiture of a seminarian with a clerical garb is a concrete sign of one's commitment to the process and journey towards the priesthood. It is also a sign of single mindedness towards answering the call of God especially towards the virtue of chastity. It is also the sign of one's commitment and obedience to the church's hierarchy. The Lorenzo Mission Institute is grateful to the Lord and to the families who generously responded to the call of God for their sons to become priests. The investiture of a seminarian happens after one or two years in seminary formation.

EVENTS

RECALLING JUBILEE YEAR 2025 AND THE LRMS

The Bull of Indiction of the Pope, "Spes non Confundit" may have an important grace to reflect on for the promotion and advancement of the mission of the missionary life of the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society today. The Bull would like to encourage us to reflect on the value of hope in the mission of the Church. There are four important points here: 

1) Universality of Mission- The virtue of hope encourages us to be agents of missio ad gentes. Pope Francis explains the vocation and mission of St. Paul who was doing his mission mostly in the East but turning now his gaze to the West but addressing the Christians in Rome, he wrote the Letter to the Romans giving them hope in Christ in spite of their persecution and suffering for the sake of Christ. He said that the Letter to the Romans is a "decisive turning point in his work of evangelization." Hope make us not only look at the East but also consider the West that makes mission universal. The Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society is gradually shifting from just merely a Filipino-Chinese Apostolate in the Philippines to the contemporary mission paradigm: Missio Dei. An apostolate is just part of Missio Dei.

2) Christological Source of Mission- Mission always starts from Christ. The Bull of Indiction encourages us to develop hope from the very source of hope itself, which is Christ. Pope Francis reminds the whole Church that "hope is born of love and and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the Cross." Jesus teaches us to be missionaries from his wounded heart. The Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society emerged from the vocation imbued by Christ who calls each member to bring His mission to the world. The death of Christ on the Cross which is commemorated at every altar of the Eucharist is the image of the universal mission of God. The LRMS is an instrument of Christ's universal mission. This would theologically mean that mission is born from the sacraments of the Church most especially from the Holy Eucharist which is the gift of Christ for the mission.

3) Importance of Context- Mission considers the value of context in order for the Church to receive, live, and promote hope. The poor are the most vulnerable people, yet the most hopeful people which Christ favors most in His ministry. Pope Francis commented that St. Paul he is a realist. "He knows that life has its joys and sorrows, that love is tested by trials and hope can falter in the face of suffering." Thus, mission is the work of the Spirit in human contexts. Our mission is to make life understood as a "journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps towards the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus." The contextual existence of the poor contributes to universality of mission because the poor are all around us. They will always be connected with us. Jesus said: "the poor you will always have with you" (Mt 26:11). The Society will always continue to exist as a missionary to the poor. They are inseparable from any form of Church's mission. Pope Francis said: "each day we meet people who are poor or impoverished." The LRMS cannot exist as a missionary agency of the Christ and the Church without considering the poor who are always present in the world.

4) Signs of the Times- The Bull of Indiction greatly emphasized on the value of the "signs of the times" which the Church responds to the "trends" and "stirrings" of the Spirit in the world today. With the "air" of progress and movements of peoples, the Church has the following mission: a) to discover the signs of hope in the signs of the times; b) to interpret the signs of the times according to the Gospel; c) to adapt approaches of the Church to bring the Gospel in the language of the contemporary life of man; d) to recognize the goodness of God present in the world. Pope Francis acknowledges the value of the "signs of the times" as an important locus of mission. He said: "the signs of the times, which include the yearning of human hearts in need of God's saving presence, ought to become signs of hope." The changing landscape of the Filipino-Chinese communities calls forth a rethinking, rediscovering, and restructuring the approaches of mission. The signs of the times affixed in these communities have to be "interpreted in the light of the Gospel" to make the Society more relevant to the changing of times and spaces transpiring in the world today.