by Allan Anthony Sabroso
A year and 6 months ago, with other alumni of the Immaculate Conception Seminary of Guiguinto, Bulacan, I started on a mission to help the Seminary promote vocation and deepen the spirituality of friends and family. It was a tough start, with less than a thousand followers on our platforms.
Seven months after our launch, I volunteered to join Dominus Est as a video editor and livestream director, and offered Batang Minor TV as a page partner, realizing that though our pages are distinct, we have a common mission: new evangelization through social media.
New Evangelization through Social Media With the new need to utilize platforms such as Facebook and Youtube for our mission of promoting the vocation of young men and for spiritual enrichment programs, with livestreaming with the interaction of viewers as the best way to reach our target audiences within the Diocese of Malolos, it was not an easy start for Batang Minor TV, especially for those of us who grew up in the '90s, in the era of family computers, MS-DOS, and dial-up connection. We had to update ourselves about these new platforms and learned via trial and error before somehow perfecting our live streaming.
Reviewing our first live streaming videos and seeing the evolution of our designs, quality of audio and video, and even the way we hosted our Batang Minor TV programs, I smile and ask myself, "Did we really do that?" But with these experiences, I was able to apply my learnings when I started video editing and livestreaming for Dominus Est. The first video editing and live streaming I did for Dominus Est was for the first episode of their youth show Groupchat for World Mental Health Day. Since then, Dominus Est has also produced live shows such as In Depth for a deeper understanding of the faith, Franciscus to understand the encyclicals of Pope Francis, Spotlight for 500 Years of Christianity, a special episode with Sr. Bernadette Reis, translator of Pope Francis, and a Holy Week Seven Last Words special. With all these, I am able to smile proudly and ask myself, "Did we really do that?"
Today, both of our pages thrive on our platforms, continuing to innovate our programs to sustain and improve our works on this mission. Collaboration: Co-LAB(Love)-boration November 2020 was our first big collaboration with Dominus Est, along with the Diocese of Malolos' Bokasyong Bulakenyo, a one-day vocation festival that includes a marathon of talks about vocation. It was also the first time we live-streamed from 8:00 in the morning until 9:00 in the evening.
At this event, we successfully showed the power of collaboration. We were able to achieve a complete set of speakers from the Archdiocese of Manila with the help of Dominus Est's network and we had the privilege of co-hosting side by side with Margaux Salcedo, a renowned reporter, columnist, and host.
Batang Minor TV interview with Margaux Salcedo, editor-in-chief of Dominus Est. Allan Sabroso, lower left.
The livestream was also crossposted to Dominus Est and it was also the start of our venture of crossposting to Facebook pages of parishes in the Diocese of Malolos as well as to other organizations in other dioceses. Today, Batang Minor TV has 56 mutual social media partners within our Diocese, and we also have national partners such as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Commission on Mission and Dominus Est, and we continue to grow with partners in mission.
Journeying Together
I like to quote what Pope Francis said in Homily at the Mass to formally launch the process of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter's Basilica.
"Let us have a good journey together! May we be pilgrims in love with the Gospel and open to the surprises of the Holy Spirit. Let us not miss out on the grace-filled opportunities born of encounter, listening, and discernment. In the joyful conviction that, even as we seek the Lord, he always comes with his love to meet us first."
Social media communication should be a Christ-centered journey with others and a co-LOVE-oration with other pages. Catholic social media pages, especially, should promote unity and sharing, not competition nor envy.
Our journey with Dominus Est proves this: our partnership creates a lot of opportunities and learning experiences and we are both creating a happy and Christ-centered collaboration not just among us but also with our own social media partners as well. This is how we Share Christ and Live Christ.
Happy 2nd Anniversary, Dominus Est! Cheers to our continued #journeyingtogether with Christ!
Allan Anthony Sabroso is a co-founder of Batang Minor TV. He also serves as the Livestream Director for various episodes of Dominus Est productions.