Province of East Asia

Part of the Initial Formation Program of the Province of East Asia is what we call the TPBIAM, which stands for Temporary Professed Brothers in Active Ministry. This program aims that the young brothers will have “a deepened consecrated life in an active Apostolic Community and essential growth in Marist way of life towards Final Commitment.” The group meets three times a year, each time in a different community of the Brothers in the Philippines. Currently, there are fifteen member-Brothers in the group. They are under the coordination of Brothers Teodulo Fernandez and Lindley Sionosa.

Our first gathering for this Apostolic Year 2014-2015 was on August 22-24 at the East Asia Province Center in Lagao, General Santos City. We had as our speaker Bro. Robert Teoh. This was his first meeting with the group as the new Provincial Superior of East Asia. Besides sharing about Marist Spirituality, which was the theme of the gathering, and providing updates about the Province, Bro. Robert also conducted an open forum with the Brothers.

On a personal note, being a TPBIAM for over a year, I found our gatherings to be very enriching; I learned from our resource persons and relished the company of my fellow TPBIAM. Moreover, I found that the most significant thing in the gathering is the privilege to listen to each other’s story. It is just priceless—being able to relate to the stories of my Brothers, be enthused by my contemporaries and be inspired by the Brothers who are ahead of us. It is amazing to think that a few years ago we were just together in the same formation house; doing the same stuff, sharing the same experiences. And later on, we would separate and time and again would come and gather to talk about things relevant to us. I definitely hope and pray that our respective journeys in the active ministry would render us faithful to our vocation.

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Br. Marco S. Romero, FMS