Encountering in Love
From May 25 to July 25, 2025, a group of religious brothers participated in a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program at Makati Medical Center in Manila. The purpose of CPE is to provide pastoral caregivers with the opportunity to deepen their capacity for compassionate presence through direct engagement with patients and critical self-reflection.
This year’s program gathered 23 participants from various religious congregations: 9 Redemptorists (CSsR), 9 seminarians from San Carlos Seminary (SCS), 3 Franciscans (OFM), and 2 Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC). Together, we began on a journey of pastoral accompaniment, walking alongside patients in their moments of physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering.
Each day, we visited patients, listening to countless stories filled with pain, hope, fear, and love. In offering our presence, we discovered that we were not merely there to do something, but to be someone – to stand with others in their suffering, to feel with them, and to allow their stories to shape and transform our own hearts. Furthermore, within the sacred space of our group processing sessions, we also shared deeply with one another. We opened our hearts, revisited old wounds, and allowed ourselves to be seen in vulnerability. In doing so, we encountered the gentle, healing presence of God – not only in the patients we served but also in our brothers and within ourselves. Indeed, CPE became more than a training program. It was a transformative experience of love and encounter in three profound dimensions: in the faces of the sick, in the stories of our companions, and within the depths of our own inner journey. It prepared us not only for future ministry, but for the lifelong vocation of walking humbly with others in their most fragile moments.
On July 25, we marked the culmination of this meaningful journey with a joyful and heartfelt graduation. The celebration began with the Holy Eucharist, followed by a simple but moving ceremony in which each participant shared personal testimony and received a certificate as well. It was a day of gratitude and grace – a sacred milestone reminding us that the journey of love and presence does not end here but continues wherever we are sent.
Bro. Paul Doan Van Thuc, CSsR.
3rd Year Theology Student
