THREE DAYS IN CLARETIAN GROUNDS
The Claretian Search-In: Dec. 27-30
By Karl Cruz

Every man is eager to know his place on earth. The mission he is destined to fulfill that will prove him a role in this world. In a road where there is a lot of deception, confusion and certainty is a part of this struggling plight. I am also journeying this rocky path. I am so excited to see what pot of gold is in the rainbow end.

On the night of the twenty sixth of December I phoned on a telephone number I never knew in my life. It was in the Claretian Theology house. I was so curious of what is in store for me via the Claretians, so I decided to go to the Search-In. The next morning, I jammed my clothes into my bag and marched myself to Culiat area where the seminary is located.

Crash day! When I arrived the first thing I noticed was the very inviting ambiance of the claret Seminary. Together with my mommy I went for registration. There were also other boys like me and, of course, most of them went to ponder and meditate on to which move they are to take. The theme of that day was "come and see". It was a quick view of the Claretian set up and we where all interested. The session we had then was on Vocation. Before one could say he has a vocation he should first know what a vocation means. We learned that a vocation is a call to respond to God given task to man.
The first day of course is the most awkward one. We were not yet socializing so much with our mates, but of course the consecutive days were quite lighter.

Day two: CLARET! Early morning we went to mass in the Claretian chapel. I was altar server along with another mate, the celebrant was Fr. Blanco. He told us something simple and clear. He said in his homily "all you have to do is to love HIM(Jesus) and HER (Mary), that is all, nothing else." It was so striking and very warm in feeling. The session we had on formation was simply the basics on seminary living; we learned the time it take to an aspirant to become a Claretian missionary priest, or perpetually professed brother. The other two sessions were on Claret's life and on the Claretian Missionaries. That night we talked about our own vocation stories while making up our minds.

The third day was an exhaustion. We toured the apostolate areas in the vicinity and attended mass there. The squatter community of "East Triangle" was very enthusiastic. In the early afternoon we had a session with Mrs. Sako in order to know ourselves better, trying to see our life as it was. Evening was the fraternal gathering and showcase of talents.

The fourth day is decision day and the goodbye. Are we already sure of the path we are going to take? Do we have a Yes as an answer to God's call? Do we know what are we called for and get out to do? The three four day Search-In ended with the Eucharist. Christ has been and will be always in the center of our lives. After lunch we took some pictures, exchanged addresses and bid goodbye to our new friends and partners in this journey of life. We hope to see each other at the beginning of the next school year.