By TLS theology students online

       Dili, Timor-Leste, 22 December 2021 -- Due to pandemic travel restrictions, there are 8 young Salesians in Timor Leste who are studying their first year of theology in Paranaque, Don Bosco School of Theology (DBST) online: Cl. Orlando, Leandro, Rui, Frenqui, Mateus, Januario, Joao and Joanico!

       After having attended their first semester online class, three of them attended the annual retreat with other confreres and five of the Online students of theology took the semester break to have their annual retreat in Liquiça (32 km from the capital of Dili).

       For one week (12-18 December), Fr Apolinário Neto, Provincial of TLS, accompanied them as their retreat master and assistant. The theme for their annual retreat was Jesus’ Transfiguration, as we pray in the third Luminous mystery. With this, the preacher invited them as they climbed the mountain to reflect upon Jesus’ transformation (Lk 9:28-36) as for their own consecrated life as salesian religious. What a wonderful moment!

       As for the theologians, the preacher would like them to roam around the synoptic Gospels. They were encouraged to have a glimpse of each gospel on the theme of transfiguration. In this realm of the scriptures, even if they have just started studying theology, they could get a feel for this Tabor experience of Jesus himself. In this Gospel passage each synoptic writer narrates his unique view of what happened to Jesus.

       For Matthew, Tabor is the new Sinai, Jesus is new Moses who gave the new law as well in his discourses. Mark simply puts it as the hidden glorious Epiphany of Messiah which later served as the central evidence of his writings to put Jesus as God’s messenger whom humankind will humiliate, will not comprehend and will be rejected. Meanwhile, Luke describes the transfiguration as the prayer experience of Jesus, a profound, an ardent and transforming prayer.

       The theology online students could have had some experiences like Jesus in their self-transformation and living as religious in their prayer life, in the struggles and temptations they faced along the way, in receiving the Eucharist, reflecting on the beatitudes, in their Salesian priestly vocation, knowing Jesus intimately to follow Him, in Jesus’ humiliation, and even in the words of Jesus while He is hanging on the cross. As religious, especially as Salesians, they would not forget the presence of Mary and cultivation the virtues as lived and experienced by our beloved father and founder, Saint John Bosco.

       One of the 5 young confreres shares: “My retreat this year is a very special, because the retreat was guided by Father Provincial. This year's retreat was for me a special moment to contemplate the Grace of God that I received in my whole life but especially during the past 12 months. And staying with God, to listen His Word and live His Word in my life for the special Salesian Vocation – Mission."

       We pray for all theology students in the region and especially for those 'who are still on the way' to Paranaque to join the largest inter-provincial community in the EAO region!

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