By Fr. Jobeth Vivo, SDB
FIN Youth Ministry Delegate
Hua Hin, Thailand, 6 March 2017 -- In July of 1985, a Salesian studying theology at Don Bosco Center of Studies arrived in our parish, Mary Mother of God, at Bayanan, Muntinlupa City. The first time we saw him, we thought that he was no different from us, only that he was a revered brother on the way to become a priest. We thought that it would be our first time to be handled by someone like him. But we were al surprised when Kuya Mike, our lay animator, introduced him by saying that he was not a Filipino, but he has been in the Philippines already for quite a number of years. We were all wrong in our expectation; but we were hopeful that something beautiful was about to happen. And his name was Bro. Ponchit Poolvithayaki sdb, then.
We all got excited because our Knights of the Altar (KOA) in-charge would not just have been a new person; he was also a foreigner. We approached him and tried to see how he could relate with us. And we all got thrilled because he was speaking to us in our language, that is, Tagalog. For this surprising attraction, we were all the more drawn to him.
Soon he organized and joined our moments of prayer: he was with us in the celebration of the mass, in the praying of the rosary and in visiting the Blessed Sacrament. Every Saturday, he would give us formation on the Mass, KOA ranks and many other things. He would patiently handle our practice of serving at Mass. During the Mass, aside from monitoring our “serving” he would be with us in front for the distribution of the sacred hosts. Right after the Mass, he would gather us for some activities. In the afternoon, either we would accompany him in visiting our homes or he would bring us to a basketball court to play different games. He was usually bringing a volleyball, a football, a basketball and UNO cards. He was our worthy weekend as he would occupy our time with different things most especially the things of the Mass.
He also started to bring us to the yearly National KOA Brotherhood day. He also made sure that we, the young people of Bayanan, would also join pilgrimages.
Once, he organized an outing for and with us. We were all very excited because that was the first time to go out of our parish for some recreation. Bro. Ponchit brought us to a resort. When we arrived at the resort, he told us to settle down and rest for a while. After around 15 minutes, he instructed us, “Please get ready to swim. Change your clothes now and put on your swimming attire.” When we heard this announcement, we calmly moved and positioned ourselves seated at the side of the pool with our feet already immersed in the water. Then, Bro. Ponchit announced, “Start swimming so that you may prepare yourselves for some water games.” But we did not move; we were busy chatting at that time. He repeated his announcement, and it still fell on busy ears.
All of a sudden, in front of us, he emerged out of the water and pulled us all to himself to be wet. Then, he held our heads, one by one, and sank it into the water. When it happened, we tried to put our heads out of the water in order not to get drowned. We all felt a little angry and wanted to take revenge for that. We started to talk only with our eyes to one another, signaling to each one that there is a need to act as one and immerse his head too in the water. So, we held him; and I was one of those who held his head. With big smiles on our faces, we immersed him and kept him for a while under the water. We were happy that we were taking our revenge on him. But we also thought Bro. Ponchit would get mad at us. So, we let go of him and started running away. But when he came out of the water, we were surprised to see him smiling and really having fun fooling with us. So we all began to laugh.
For me, that was an experience of friendship with the “man of the cloth”; in the beginning I thought it was a horrible act doing such to him. But he transformed our “act of revenge” into something that would mark a very human, friendly, approachable candidate to priesthood in our hearts and lives. Honestly, for me as a young person then, the priests or those who would be priests are sacred and would always be serious in their reaction to events. I did not know that they could be very “human” and become our good friends.
That incident made me think of becoming a priest and a Salesian. I even told myself, “If I would become a priest or religious someday, I would like to be just like him. Simply like him.” That incident was so beautiful; I did not know that it would greatly leave an impact in my life. It was so beautiful that the reason for its taking place became providential in the realization of my Salesian vocation.
After some years, perhaps around 31 years, God has given me the opportunity to have this rare encounter with the person who made me think of following the Lord in the way of Don Bosco. What makes it more beautiful is that this encounter is taking place in his country that is Thailand. Perhaps, God is giving me a way to thank the person responsible for my vocation and his country for having produced a Salesian who has awakened the Salesian in me.
Truly, every beautiful even happens for a reason. If God intends a wondrous event such as mine to take place, he has serious but beautiful reasons.
