Sinusundo Kita

By Imago

Kay tagal kong sinusuyod
ang buong mundo
Para hanapin,
para hanapin ka
Nilibot ang distrito
ng iyong lumbay
Pupulutin, pupulutin ka

Sinusundo kita,
Sinusundo...

Asahan mong mula ngayon
pag-ibig ko’y sayo
Asahan mong mula ngayon
pag-ibig ko’y sayo

Sa akin mo isabit
ang pangarap mo
Di kukulangin
ang ibibigay
Isuko ang kaba
Tuluyan kang bumitaw
Ika’y manalig
Manalig ka..

Handa na sa liwanag mo
Sinuyod ang buong mundo
Maghihintay sayo’ng sundo

Asahan mo...
Asahan mo...


Ang Diyos, hindi pwedeng...
nagtatago lang sa kung saan, walang pakialam... hahanapin ka n'ya;
nakatanaw lang mula sa kawalan... pupuntahan ka n'ya;
nag-aalinlangan pang puntahan ka... lulusong s'ya para pulutin ka;
nasa kung saan lang at inaantay ka... susunduin ka pa n'ya.

Big Time Lover

“We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our neighbor has global dimensions and requires us to eradicate racism and address the extreme poverty and disease plaguing so much of the world. Solidarity also includes the Scriptural call to welcome the stranger among us—including immigrants seeking work, a safe home, education for their children, and a decent life for their families. In light of the Gospel’s invitation to be peacemakers, our commitment to solidarity with our neighbors—at home and abroad—also demands that we promote peace and pursue justice in a world marred by terrible violence and conflict. Decisions on the use of force should be guided by traditional moral criteria and undertaken only as a last resort. As Pope Paul VI taught: “If you want peace, work for justice” (World Day of Peace Message, January 1, 1972).”

Justice is such a “big time” word, but I hope it doesn’t only remain just a “big time” word all because justice is hard to explain, to understand, and to practice. A common definition of justice that I often encounter is that, it is giving someone what is due to him. For me, it is justice that brings about peace for from justice starts healing of any loss.

Peace is also “big time,” perhaps, bigger than whatever could be so big we can imagine. Peace is a big possibility that each one has, and one could only realize his potential of radiating peace when he knows how to love, for love is the foundation of peace. I think that if peace is not about love, peace loses its sense.

Love has become so sensationalized and romanticized that it already loses its meaning. As Catholic Christians, we were thought that genuine love is God, and that any relationship apart from God is not genuine love at all. So many people find it difficult to love today, to love through the perspective of God. A common understanding is that, the love you have for yourself is also the love that you give to your neighbor. However, despite the love I can give, I know that if I use myself as the epitome of that love, it ends up to the fact that it’s limited love, and I can only give as much as I have, then it stops there. So, I believe that genuine love only comes from God. He is the perfect epitome of love. Therefore, we can only give the love we have for ourselves if we acknowledge that it comes from the Father, thus giving out that same love to others. We never produce love; we just make possibilities to dispense it. We have no right nor is in any position to boast that we are such loving persons. Love comes from God alone.

We have nothing to offer our neighbor that doesn’t come from God. I believe, this nothingness makes us loyal people of God. Whatever color, whatever state of life, whatever differences; our dignity is one and the same in the eyes of God. That is love “in spite of,” and God in union with His Church calls us to this – “to love in spite of.”

The Encounter with the Lord

The encounter with the Lord is always a gift, given to those who have the courage and faith to seek Him.

(This was my last message to the vocation candidates of Canlubang when I facilitated their recollection.)

DINggin

(Ikinatha para kay Chino Reyes)

 

Huwag kang magtago sa mga ngiti

Ngiting hindi tanaw sa mata

Mata ma’y napapagod din

 

Buhay ma’y umawit ng lungkot

Lungkot sa kulimlim ng gabi

Gabi ma’y uumaga din

 

Sa kung sino ay hindi alam

Alam sana ang dahilan

Dahilan ma’y nagtatago din

 

Saka na lamang arukin

Arukin ang wala

Wala ma’y magkakaroon din

 

May panahon ang lahat

Lahat na di iisa

Iisa man ay lahat na din

Falling in Love

“Not only that I love you, but I am in love with you, and I am calling you, inspite of you.” This was the message that was revealed to me by the Lord during our retreat in Batulao on October 17 to 20. It just came to me, and I believed He was there, with me.

God is a personal God. He is my God. More often than not do I veer away from Him, for I always feel that God is too good to be true for me; a reality far away from what I live in. That retreat, my “Ora Decima”, a moment so near to my Lord, told me a different story about God’s love. His love is far greater than what we can imagine, perhaps a greater logic than excruciating sacrifice and suffering. God’s love is always more than anything else we could perhaps understand. It is more compassionate, more forgiving, more persevering, and He loves us all the more to the point of going so deep in His relationship to us; to the point of falling in love with us. And so join me to offer this prayer wrapped in a song, I Beg to Fall in Love with Thee. Let this be our prayer, our response to the God of love, to the God who falls in love with us.

I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord with every breath of life I take. I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord, its every beat, I to Thee forsake.

For even if my thoughts fall short of knowing You, and even if my will runs terrified, Your passion thins the darkness of my soul, shed it light, breaths it life, stills the murmur of the night.

I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord with every breath of life I take. I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord, its every beat, I to Thee forsake.

For even if my heart falls short of loving You, and even if my spirit hides away, Your love for me surpasses all my fears, all I do, all I am, all that I can ever be.

I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord with every breath of life I take. I beg to fall in love with Thee, my Lord, its every beat, I to Thee forsake.

I was just reaffirmed that God could still call me and embrace me despite everything that I had done in the past; my infidelity, my despair, my selfishness. I still ask the same questions since I entered the seminary, “God are you really calling me here, to this life?” or at times of despair, “Lord, are you still calling me? There were many answers, all of them centered towards the revelation of His love to me, but this past retreat was quite different from the past love notes we sent for each other. It was a humble God whom I encountered those days. His answer was, “YES. I am calling, you inspite of you.” I wept and recalled the times when I was so broken and was healed by God. There were many instances that God did the patching and stitching of my wounded heart, but still I was skeptic about the call. In the middle of the retreat did I realize that the greatest proof that God really really loves me was when he gave me the gift and the desire to persevere in my vocation. I thought that it was more than enough, and was something that will keep me go through the difficult road ahead of me.

May God bless us more and more.