Mikeronil Bustria, a religious from the Philippines, has spent the last seven months in Loppiano at the Claritas Spirituality Center. With his tenor voice and passion for beautiful singing, he has helped make some special moments in the citadel even more precious.
It wasn’t his first time. Mikeronil Bustria had already lived in Loppiano for three months, from September to November in 2015. To make the most of our tourist visa, after a meeting for religious priests in the Vatican,” he recalls, “we were invited to visit the citadel. That time was a very intense experience! But this time it was much more so because I was able to truly immerse myself in the life of Loppiano and in the lives of the people I met!”
Mikeronil, Mike to his friends, is part of a family of priests, religious, contemplatives, and missionaries called Opifices Christi (OC), Workers of Christ, founded in the Philippines in 2002. It is inspired by that verse from the Gospel of Luke where Jesus, speaking of His desire, says: “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).
“You can feel the friendship in those words,” Mike explains, “Jesus’ desire to care for people and the present moment.” The Workers of Christ, in northern Philippines, in Burgos, are entrusted with two parishes, where the faithful are farmers and fishermen, the poorest in society. They support them with food, water, seeds, but also through education and evangelization.
“Our community is also inspired by the charism of unity from the Focolare Movement. So, last September, I was invited to come here,” Mike recounts. It was difficult, even hard, at that time to think about leaving my country. In fact, my mother had just passed away. So, at first, I said to myself: I won’t go. But then I entrusted everything to God and agreed to come here.” Seven months later, looking back, Mike sees the fruits of that difficult ‘yes.’ “It gave me openness. I found many doors to open, and beyond each one, so many beautiful things that I gained and experienced; including a greater understanding of the spirituality of unity.”
During this period, Mikeronil lived with other religious members from various families and different countries (Italy, Brazil, Malta, Belgium) at the Claritas Spirituality Center. “At first, I thought: we are too different to be together. But then it was enough to live and share, prayer, and meals. Even with the Thai Buddhist monk who was with us for the last three months. By living this way, I also learned a lot about my faith and the possibility of seeing each other as children of God.”
His beautiful and warm tenor voice did not go unnoticed. During his stay, Mike had the opportunity to share his talent with people and groups of visitors, such as at various public events: Mariapoli in December 2023, on May 1st, and during the visit of Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, in Loppiano.
“When I was little,” he recalls, “to make me stop crying, my parents used to sing me a song… I think that’s where my passion began. I didn’t receive formal training in singing, but I learned to read music at school. Being able to pray through singing allows me to express the emotions I feel through my voice.”
The stay in the citadel of the Filipino religious concluded with a truly unexpected icing on the cake: “Right at the end of the trip to Trent, made with the other participants from various formation schools in Loppiano, I received a phone call from our mother house. They proposed the date of my diaconal ordination: July 22, 2024. I have been a religious for 16 years and should have been ordained several years ago, but everything stopped due to the pandemic. Now it seemed too soon to me! But here I have learned to live in the present moment, letting whatever happens be accepted and taken as a gift from God!”