PROMISE and COMMITMENT

Sem. Rainier M. Abao Allocutio delivered during the Annual ACEIS of the Legion of Mary, Seminary Curia January 16, 2011, HRMS, Naga City 2012 is a new beginning for all of us! It is not about the end of the world that is according to the Mayan calendar. 2012 is about CHANGEit is about new chances new opportunities for you, for me, and for all of us. My dear brothers, it is good and beautiful to start the year with this activity ACEIS. When your good president told me to give the Allocutio this afternoon in behalf of the curia SD, I asked him why is the Aceis done only now, he told me that there were some difficulties with the schedule last month, but pondering on it, I believe this is truly intended by God. A renewal of legionary promise at the beginning of a new year is indeed a grace and tells us of something very important in our lives as seminarians. My dear friends, ACEIS is the great central function for each and every member of the Legion. And as legionaries, we must always be excited and anticipating this momentous event because here we consecrate ourselves to Our Lady and this is our solemn expression of our union and dependence on her. This afternoon, we will all be saying while holding the vexilium: I am all yours, my Queen, my Mother, and all that I have is yours. My dear brothers, for several years, we may have pronounced it mechanically and thoughtlessly. We may have been forced to do it because it is part of our seminary calendar. We may have done it because napipilitan lang tayo at wala tayong magawa kundi ang sumunod kahit deep within us we dont like doing it. Thats the reason why we do it as if we are robots na wala sa sarili, kung minsan inaantok-antok pa and we just murmurhayyyylegionlegionlegion These we do because we dont have the fullest degree of understanding of what we are doing. If we truly know its deepest meaning and purpose, we will do it with high comprehension and gratitude. Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, let this be our first prayer for this afternoon: Lord, make us understand the promise That we will be doing minutes from now. Open our minds, Let us know and believe On the words that we will utter. Let it enter not just my lips But also my heart. Amen. 1

And what are we going to promise today? TO BE A SOLDIER AND A CHILD OF MARY! To be a soldier and a child of her means depending entirely on her, It means making her as our model of life and holiness. We also promise to be faithful in our service as legionaries. And we will adhere to the legions discipline. And we will strive, we will do our best, to work on Gods will. But, it will not just end on these promises. Let me repeat that, the promise that we will be doing today will not end as a mere promisenot just a lip service. Because a true promise will have no worth if the promise has no COMMITMENT as its partner. When Mary heard that shell be the Mother of God, she did not just promise to obey on the vocation she COMMITTED herself on that precious call. My dear brothers, the word COMMITMENT nowadays is challenging to find. It is like a treasure that one has to dig deeper into the earth just to possess it. With the vast options man hasbroken relationships, dying sense of volunteerism, failed marriages and priests going out of the ministry all because of UNSUCCESSFUL COMMITMENT. Theres even this buzz among church leaders that they are contemplating of changing the age for ordination from 25 years old to 30 years old all because many of our young priests are in question in their capability of a life-time commitment. Let MARY be our model of true commitment. Mary committed herself to be the Mother of Godthe Mother of Jesus. She committed herself to be the very First Disciple of Jesus. And she committed herself to be the Mother of Mankind. And we will ask: WHAT KIND OF COMMITMENT MARY HAS THAT WE WILL TRY TO IMITATE? 1. FREE - She was never forced. She committed out of her own choice. She chose to commit because she knows and believes that it is the good and the right thing to do. Our Legionary Promise this afternoon is a good opportunity to prove once again that we are free with our choices in this seminary, that we are not forced by the formators, by the schedules or by any one. We choose freely to promise with commitment because we know that it is the good and right thing to do. 2. FIRM Mary stood by her Son, in moments of cheers and jeers, joyful, sorrowful and glorious moments of Jesus. She never wavered. It pains her, but she remained. She was afraid, but she faced her fears.

COMMITMENT entails hardships. COMMITMENT means giving up. COMMITMENT demands self-abandonment. COMMITMENT requires self-sacrifice. COMMITMENT necessitates steadfastness. Let us be firm and true to our promise. Like Mary, let us commit with determination. Let us be true men, tunay na lalaki strong, faithful and real - hindi pabago-bago ng isip, pabago-bago ng desisyongusto ngayon, ayaw na mamaya, ayaw daw gusto naman pala. Let our promise be not like that, if we promise faithfulnesswe remain faithful. If we promise service, we do serve. 3. FULL When Mary had Her Fiat to God, she said Yes! WHOLEHEARTEDLY. She gave her ALL. She never left for her own. She gave everything to God. She surrendered her whole self to GODs design. FULL means 100%...not 50%...not 75% not even 99%...FULL means 100%....all.lahat everything! Are you giving your 100% today? Or we are just giving a portion for God and for the Blessed Virgin Mary?

As we do our Legionary Promise, let MARY be our model of true commitment. A COMMITMENT that is FREEFIRMAND FULL. Heavenly Father, thank you for making us members of the Legion of Your Mother Mary. Thank you for making us Her children and soldiers. We ask you to pour us Your Spirit of true commitment, The Commitment that was shown to us by Your Mother. Give us a Free, Firm and Full Commitment That as we promise today, we may fully understand our being legionaries. So that by understanding our dignity, we may live accordingly. We ask this is Jesus name. Amen.