The Humility of God is the Freedom of Man

Today is the Feast of the Annunciation. We remember how more than 2000 years ago, God asked favor from man. This happened when Mary was asked by God if she could be the mother of His son, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Mary was asked. She had a choice. Mary could have said no on that popular situation when everyone knew that she was betrothed to Joseph. Instead, she said that sweet “Yes”. And because of that yes, we are saved.
Many times, we are confronted with situations that needed serious decisions, each decision calls for a series of more decision-making afterwards. God’s humility is the mystery of every vocation. That God, who is all, knows each one of us; the all of who we are, what we can do and what can’t. And yet, whenever he calls, the first thing he does is ask, “Is it alright for you…,” because he respects our freedom though He always gives us options.
It deeply moves me to believe that God’s humility is the freedom of man. That God wants us to be happy in whatever decision we choose, whether we choose to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to whatever invitation he sends.

A Long Blank

Am having difficulty in writing for the past months. I leave the blog blank for a while.

Janus

Janus was the god of all beginnings and of passages such as doors, gates and bridges. Janus was often depicted with two faces, one facing backwards and one facing forward. One looking back to the past, and another looking forward to the future. Janus represents every new year. New years which are moments to carry on our life to new beginnings, to new doors, gates, and bridges.

I guess, this is not just an invitation to all of us as new years come, but all the more a challenge. Another year has just ended and another year has just came, but the challenge is clear. Let us not be mediocres, content by just being passive to what has transpired and blind to what the future brings.

Mapagpalang Bagong Taon.

Biyayaan mo kami ng pagtulad sa iyo,
Nang magningning
Bilang 'yong mga Bituin.

Nakakapangliit isipin na ang Diyos ay ipinanganak sa sabsaban. Malayo sa kung paano ang marami ay makataong isinilang di gaya niya. Ang Diyos, nagpapakababa, nagmamahal, nagpaparaya, nagpakatao, para mapalapit sa tao. Nang dahil sa pagmamahal na hindi kailanman kayang pantayan ng kung sino man, natamo ang kaligtasan. Sana maging tulad tayo ni Hesus, ang tunay na tala na nagbibigay ng liwanag sa buhay, bituing sinusundan upang tungo sa katotohanan.

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.

World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia

World Youth Day (WYD) is the largest gathering of young people coming from all over the world to celebrate faith in a more youthful encounter. It is celebrated annually in Rome and goes international every 3 years. For this year, it was held in Sydney, Australia on July 15-20 wherein I was privileged to be part of as pilgrim.

Australia has a 26% rate of baptized Catholics. This number indeed speaks about plurality in a 23 million population with  5.1 million people sharing the same faith and practices. Though a big mass of believers are these Catholics, more people there are more focused to others things rather than Catholicism or other faith at that. Am not quite sure, but maybe this could be one good reason why the Church also decided to celebrate WYD there, to renew the faith of the people through the grace of God and the Spirit.

“You will receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses.” (Acts1:8) This passage occurs after the death and resurrection of Jesus, just before his ascension to the Father. It represents the birth of the Church. This is the central theme WYD08. It says many things about what’s happening today to the society, to the world, to the young. The theme per se invites everyone, starting from young people to be born and reborn again in their Catholic faith, an encouragement that challenges and at the same time empowers us to rebirth our beliefs and aspirations again and again to a God that never stops loving over and over again. It is an invitation to love and to be witness of love that which empowers us and makes us hope, believe, and live our faith centered to Love. This encapsulates the message of WYD08 for me as this entry also brings together all the reflections in my heart for the past three weeks of being there.

Indeed the Pope and WYD is inseparable, and though inseparable WYD doesn’t belong to any pope. WYD belongs to the Church. It belongs to the young. This is what makes the Church young, the young itself. As John Paul II would say it, “The youth is not the future of this world, they are the now.” Young as we are, we hold in our hands the power to create the possibilities that we are. Popes pass just like other leaders do, but for sure there would be more World Youth Days to come after the next which would be in Spain on 2011 because the fact is, WYD is not the Pope’s event but the youth’s.

Reasonable Rigidity in the Seminary

The rigidity of the seminary rules has become more reasonable nowadays. Reason is an important ingredient in doing things. Though the seminary structure dwells on forming the being, the external reasons for doing things should necessarily be reasonable or else, our doing becomes empty acts of compliance - just compliance.

Rigidity might be something too tough a description of what the rules are, nonetheless rigidity here could be tantamount to Don Bosco’s love for work and temperance. It is a rigidity that fosters self-responsibility, particularly temperance - delaying any form of gratification in even short moments of idleness for there is time for everything.

Wanted: Father, Teacher, Friend, Guide… Provincial Superior

June 12, 2008. Fr Eligio Cruz, SDB was appointed and accepted as the New Provincial Superior of the Salesian Philippine North Province (FIN).

The province faces a lot of changes at the moment as a major revamp of new obediences has been taking place since the start of the year. As the Society observes the signs of the times while answering to all the needs of the houses, the passion and vision of its members remain consistent with the teachings of our father Don Bosco.

Lately, the Former Provincial of FIN, Fr Andrew Wong, SDB has been appointed as the New Regional Superior of Asia-Australia, and in his absence followed the consultation for the next provincial of FIN. After some days of consultation to the different provincial districts and a month of waiting, the New Provincial rises from his rectorship in Mandaluyong.

Fr Eli, as he is fondly called is a man of big heart – a heart bigger than the world. He was my Rector in Mandaluyong way back my high school years. He has been a father, a teacher, a guide, and most importantly a friend to me.

Born with a golden tongue, he is a popular resource person and a great homilist of the Society. He manipulates media gracefully in his propagation of the equality of men and women, the value of work and prayer, the attainment towards holiness, the Preventive System of St John Bosco, and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

There is a world greater than your own, he would often say. From him I learned the value of generosity, suffering, and self-denial. We were taught to become men of influence; of substance; of character. From the award-winning  billboards on the city highways to the smallest tarpaulins in the different corners of the campus, he reminds us the core of our Bosconian identity which explicitly empowers us, Ascende Superius!

Homing to His Grace

As You gave me the desire to offer this, bestow on me the grace to fulfill it.

God-be-ye

Goodbyes never meant to hurt but to liberate, so they remain inevitable moments throughout the journey. We've said our so many goodbyes in all criss-crosses of life that have been moments of partings and newness of some things, but have we really learned how to say them the way we wanted to? Have we learned to recognize the embrace of goodbye?
As I face another goodbye, let me embrace its hurts and freedom, its noise and solace, its rage and peace. This is the goodbye I recognize - the embrace of goodbye I knew how.
God-be-ye, God be with you.

Nakita Mo Na Ba?

Titik: Ron Evangelista
Himig: Aries Arevalo at Ron Evangelista
2008-02-27

Nakita mo na ba ang pagsikat ng araw sa umaga,
Ang liwanag na nagpipinta sa langit?
May mga tanawing kay ganda sa buhay,
Na sa pagmulat lamang nakakamit.

Nakita mo na ba ang pagsayaw ng mga puno,
Ang mga dahong naglalaro sa saliw ng hagin?
May mga tanawing kapayapaan ang tungo,
Na sa pagtingin lamang napapansin.

Koro
Hindi man mumulat at di magmasid dahil sa dilim at kaguluhang naririnig,
Naroon parin ako sa hindi na makita at di na madama.

Nakita mo na ba ang dilim ng kalawakan sa gabi,
Ang mga talang nagniningning sa kadiliman?
May mga tanawing nakakamangha,
Na naaaninaw lamang sa pagtingala.

Tulay
Gayunmang hindi mo makita ang buhay na inialay ko,
Sana’y madama mo na pag-ibig ko’y laging naririto.

Koro
Hindi man mumulat at di magmasid dahil sa dilim at kaguluhang naririnig,
Naroon parin ako sa hindi na makita at di na madama.

Koda
Naroon parin ako sa hindi na makita at di na madama.

Isang handog para sa mga humango sa akin sa pagkabulag at tinuruan akong imulat and aking mga mata sa saya at pighati ng buhay. Gagamitin ang awit na ito sa dulang itatampok sa Semana Santa.

Hiwaga

Ni: Ma. Assunta Caoile - Cuyegkeng

Ibigin man nating pigilin ang paglubog ng araw,
Ang marahanang pagkain sa pisngi ng buwan,
May mga bagay na di matanto at hindi mapigilan.

Ibigin man nating yakapin ang lawak ng dagat,
At sadyang hulihin ang pagkurap ng tala,
May mga bagay na di mahuli at hindi masansalan.

Ngunit kahit ako’y lumayo, huwag ka sanang malungkot.
Taglay mo parin ang aking pag-ibig sa iyong puso

Ibigin man nating abutin ang dulo ng langit,
At ating habulin ang talim ng kidlat,
May mga bagay na di mahabol, laging

Laging isang hiwaga.

Habang ninanamnam ang bawat titik ng mga taludtod, isang tao lang ang naaalala ko - si Miguel Angelo, isang kaibigan. Para sa kanya sana ito. Sayang, hindi ako ang naunang gumawa ng mga titik nito. Malapit sa puso ko ang awit; malapit sa mga naramdaman ko; malapit sa mga pangarap ko; malapit sa kwento ko. Mahiwaga ang pakikipagkaibigan namin. Hindi ko na matandaan ang kwento. Natunaw na yata sa puso at nanuot sa pagkatao ko ang lahat. Laging isang hiwaga parin kung aking babalikan.

Seek and You Shall Find

Seek and you shall find. Mt 7:7 The process of seeking for what has been here for so long is something difficult. This may sound skeptical but the search for the call to happiness becomes tiring sometimes. Am at ease for now, and am not satisfied with that. And so, I continue the search.

Fathers Know

Your Father knows what you need even before you ask Him. (Mt 6:8) I have no biological father anymore. For thirteen years, I’ve endured the emptiness of not having one. I don’t know how fathers do things. I don’t know how fathers think, how they react, feel, and show their affection. I can’t recognize a life with a father anymore, so how could he know what I need.
A friend-seminarian tells me his perspective about how he views fatherhood. Fathers are quiet providers, silent doers, responsible, etc. and most of all the exact opposite of mothers (laughs.) In particular, fathers won’t tell you the reason why they do something; they just do it, while mothers do the explanations and lectures when asked.
I don’t know how to have a father, but I guess my experience having a Father Rector helps me get to know fathers more, and gives me confidence that he knows what's best for me.

For a While

It's easy to come and go, but it pays to remain.

Four Days Seems Forty

Four days seems forty. The past days of my stay in Manila were like days of retreat, of silencing my system for a while and listen to the loud silence in the place that saw me grew: my home.
I am sick. I was diagnosed to have Upper Respiratory Bacterial Infection. I don’t know how to translate that in English; though manageable it still doesn’t make my situation comfortable.
Rest is the home-court advantage. There’s no place like home. Nothing beats staying on bed for hours doing nothing but rest.
While at home doing nothing, I thought about home. I missed the house. If only it could tell stories, it would narrate how I grew, it would recount the times I fell and was helped to stand, times that I sinned and was redeemed, it would tell my vocation story.
Conversations interested me once in the four days, one’s about God’s forgiveness. Why would God let people sin in the first place and then forgive them? Why would he not just make the world a better place for everyone? Answers came everywhere. God respects our freewill, a gift that cannot be taken away because God doesn’t retract whatever He creates. He never contradicts his Being. He is Perfection at its perfection.
Just some two days ago, I realized that I have been stuck for a long time to the state of waiting, the most boring part of everything. I wait to see beauty again as I shed myself to the gloomy and sad moment at present. I wait to see hope, the same hope I held on some months ago. I wait for love to cover everything.
I persevere.