I heard a voice calling me home.
I want to go but I lost my way.
Groping in the dark, afraid of what I'll see
I stumble, I fall alone.
Then I felt a hand on my shoulder
Leading the way in that dark alley
Then I saw a light in the distance
I walked, I ran with him.
When I arrived it was dawn
And I realized I am alone again
But I am not afraid anymore
The silence, the stillness is my home.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A Home for a Child
Lapasan
Cagayan de Oro City
1991
I stayed in Cagayan de Oro City for my community exposure and during this time I lived in our convent in Lapasan. I worked as Campus Minister at Cagayan Capitol College which is now Capitol University.
One afternoon, I arrived home greeted with a cry of a baby. I saw my sisters cutting a bed sheet into several pieces and sawing the edges. I asked them where the cry was coming from and what were those sheets for? They said that we have a visitor staying in one of the rooms and she has a newly born baby. I pressed for more information and I learned that she was single, a student, and got pregnant. But when the boyfriend knew about it he cut communications with her. She also does not want to go home for fear that her father will kill her. She took care of the baby in her womb but she could not take care of her needs now that she is born so she wanted the baby to be adopted and she was asking our help.
After supper that evening, we were all in the room where she stayed and my elder sisters were convincing her to go home and tell her family about it. My sisters promised to accompany and assist her financially for the trip. She said that her father will be good to her as long as we are around but as soon as we go, he will beat her to death. Her father already warned her to bring a diploma home and not a baby without a father. And that was exactly what happened, a baby without a father.
My sisters explained to her of the pain later on for the sense of loss and maybe of guilt for giving her child away. But she insisted on having her baby adopted. We started looking for a couple that would adopt her baby. We asked our friends and I was told to go to different subdivisions to see this family and that family to no avail.
We presented the problem to the parish council and they told us that maybe we can talk to one of the parishioners who was teaching in Don Mariano State College. We went to their house and my sister presented the case. Their son who was around 8 years old heard the story and was so excited to have a baby that he started jumping for joy and convincing her parents to get the baby. We did not get a positive response that time but we were told to go back the following day to give them time to talk it over.
The following day they came to our convent with clothes, diapers, toys and cans of milk and so many baby things. They went shopping for the baby and were there to get her. We introduced them to the mother and they offered her to stay in their house. They were even willing to send her to school to finish her studies. The mother was so happy for the couple who adopted her baby.
After a week, the mother came back to our convent. She was so grateful because she saw how much the couple loved her baby but she cried with pain. The wife gave up her beauty parlor to personally take care of the baby and another helper was hired to take care of the household chores. She was assigned only to cook because she was still studying. But her heart bleeds seeing her baby in the arms of another woman instead of hers. She decided to leave and stay in a boarding house. The couple consented knowing the pain in her heart. She was told to come back when the baby turns 16.
The mother’s pains and sufferings became a source of joy for that family. It was a disgrace turn to grace. Isn’t this a mystery? Isn’t this a miracle of love?
Cagayan de Oro City
1991
I stayed in Cagayan de Oro City for my community exposure and during this time I lived in our convent in Lapasan. I worked as Campus Minister at Cagayan Capitol College which is now Capitol University.
One afternoon, I arrived home greeted with a cry of a baby. I saw my sisters cutting a bed sheet into several pieces and sawing the edges. I asked them where the cry was coming from and what were those sheets for? They said that we have a visitor staying in one of the rooms and she has a newly born baby. I pressed for more information and I learned that she was single, a student, and got pregnant. But when the boyfriend knew about it he cut communications with her. She also does not want to go home for fear that her father will kill her. She took care of the baby in her womb but she could not take care of her needs now that she is born so she wanted the baby to be adopted and she was asking our help.
After supper that evening, we were all in the room where she stayed and my elder sisters were convincing her to go home and tell her family about it. My sisters promised to accompany and assist her financially for the trip. She said that her father will be good to her as long as we are around but as soon as we go, he will beat her to death. Her father already warned her to bring a diploma home and not a baby without a father. And that was exactly what happened, a baby without a father.
My sisters explained to her of the pain later on for the sense of loss and maybe of guilt for giving her child away. But she insisted on having her baby adopted. We started looking for a couple that would adopt her baby. We asked our friends and I was told to go to different subdivisions to see this family and that family to no avail.
We presented the problem to the parish council and they told us that maybe we can talk to one of the parishioners who was teaching in Don Mariano State College. We went to their house and my sister presented the case. Their son who was around 8 years old heard the story and was so excited to have a baby that he started jumping for joy and convincing her parents to get the baby. We did not get a positive response that time but we were told to go back the following day to give them time to talk it over.
The following day they came to our convent with clothes, diapers, toys and cans of milk and so many baby things. They went shopping for the baby and were there to get her. We introduced them to the mother and they offered her to stay in their house. They were even willing to send her to school to finish her studies. The mother was so happy for the couple who adopted her baby.
After a week, the mother came back to our convent. She was so grateful because she saw how much the couple loved her baby but she cried with pain. The wife gave up her beauty parlor to personally take care of the baby and another helper was hired to take care of the household chores. She was assigned only to cook because she was still studying. But her heart bleeds seeing her baby in the arms of another woman instead of hers. She decided to leave and stay in a boarding house. The couple consented knowing the pain in her heart. She was told to come back when the baby turns 16.
The mother’s pains and sufferings became a source of joy for that family. It was a disgrace turn to grace. Isn’t this a mystery? Isn’t this a miracle of love?
"I Am a Buddhist"
Bali, Indonesia
July 21, 2005
I arrived in Bali at 2:45 p.m. from Kupang. I went outside the airport and waited for someone to say hello to me. An hour passed and no one came. I sat on a bench and waited. No one came. I prayed the rosary. A man sat beside me. Seeing that I’ve finished my prayers, he asked me if I speak Indonesian. I said no but I speak English. He speaks English too and we started to talk.
Sister Esther assured me that someone will come to the airport to pick me up and bring me to a welcome house where I will spend the night. The following day I will be flying back to Manila. I have to take the international flight in Bali. It was my first time in that city and my sisters were so busy that they had no time to furnish me with the necessary information of the place and the people I am supposed to meet.
The man asked me a lot of questions and the last was “where will you stay?” I said I am waiting for someone I do not even know who and whether that someone will come. He asked me for contact number and address but the only address I had was that of my sisters in Kupang. He got the telephone number and called Sr. Esther through his cell phone and they were talking in Bahasa Indonesia for long. Then he dialed another number and talked for sometime.
Afterward he told me “no one will pick you up, keep watch of my bag”, and he left in a hurry. When he came back he showed me a taxi ticket and got all our things. He said “follow me and I will bring you to the taxi that will bring you to the welcome house”. He got one taxi, showed the ticket, placed my things inside, and explained to the driver where to bring me. Afterward he assured me that the driver will bring me to the welcome house where I will stay for the night.
I hurriedly got my wallet to pay for the ticket but he told me “No, that is my gift to you. I should even be grateful to you. You are in need and it gives me opportunity to help. Today you are a blessing to me. I am able to do something good and I am so happy about it. I am a Buddhist. In our belief we are grateful to people who allow us to do good.”
I got my pen and paper and ask for his name, contact number and address, someday I might be able to return the favor but he said “No, any good thing done should not be repaid otherwise it will lose its merit, just write this event in your diary. That is enough for me”. Then he closed the door and told the driver to go. I bade goodbye to him forever, I didn’t even know his name.
I wrote that event in my diary but I carry the story in my heart. On that day I experienced a miracle of love. He was there when I was in need and I didn’t even know who he is except that he is a Buddhist.
July 21, 2005
I arrived in Bali at 2:45 p.m. from Kupang. I went outside the airport and waited for someone to say hello to me. An hour passed and no one came. I sat on a bench and waited. No one came. I prayed the rosary. A man sat beside me. Seeing that I’ve finished my prayers, he asked me if I speak Indonesian. I said no but I speak English. He speaks English too and we started to talk.
Sister Esther assured me that someone will come to the airport to pick me up and bring me to a welcome house where I will spend the night. The following day I will be flying back to Manila. I have to take the international flight in Bali. It was my first time in that city and my sisters were so busy that they had no time to furnish me with the necessary information of the place and the people I am supposed to meet.
The man asked me a lot of questions and the last was “where will you stay?” I said I am waiting for someone I do not even know who and whether that someone will come. He asked me for contact number and address but the only address I had was that of my sisters in Kupang. He got the telephone number and called Sr. Esther through his cell phone and they were talking in Bahasa Indonesia for long. Then he dialed another number and talked for sometime.
Afterward he told me “no one will pick you up, keep watch of my bag”, and he left in a hurry. When he came back he showed me a taxi ticket and got all our things. He said “follow me and I will bring you to the taxi that will bring you to the welcome house”. He got one taxi, showed the ticket, placed my things inside, and explained to the driver where to bring me. Afterward he assured me that the driver will bring me to the welcome house where I will stay for the night.
I hurriedly got my wallet to pay for the ticket but he told me “No, that is my gift to you. I should even be grateful to you. You are in need and it gives me opportunity to help. Today you are a blessing to me. I am able to do something good and I am so happy about it. I am a Buddhist. In our belief we are grateful to people who allow us to do good.”
I got my pen and paper and ask for his name, contact number and address, someday I might be able to return the favor but he said “No, any good thing done should not be repaid otherwise it will lose its merit, just write this event in your diary. That is enough for me”. Then he closed the door and told the driver to go. I bade goodbye to him forever, I didn’t even know his name.
I wrote that event in my diary but I carry the story in my heart. On that day I experienced a miracle of love. He was there when I was in need and I didn’t even know who he is except that he is a Buddhist.
My Philosophy of Education
Education begins at home. It is enhanced, widened, deepened, and refined in school. It is applied, tested, challenged, and further enhanced in the workplace. It is purified and synthesized in old age and accompanies the person in the journey towards death. The whole of life is education.
At home, the child learns the very basic and fundamental requirements of living: love, respect, care, and all the fundamental values needed for a healthy society. This is an important phase in education because it is the foundation of character formation.
Early formal education in school would enhance what has been learned at home and also corrects those manifestations that are not helpful in the total well being of the child with the cooperation of the parents. Later stages would deal with the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will help develop the child into a caring and responsible member of society.
Education continues in the workplace. The young worker would learn a lot of values that were taken for granted in earlier years like the value of money, work, relationships, independence, learn new skills required for work and would take on roles laden with responsibilities. Successes and failures would be great learning opportunities that will usher maturity.
The years will filter out all these learning experiences giving birth to wisdom. It is now the flowering of the educational processes undergone through life. It is seen in the contented smile of an old woman, in the serene look of a man, in the understanding nod of a grandmother, in the compassionate presence of a grandfather.
The final test of real education is the moment when the person bade farewell to this life and faces the next. It is a gracious letting go in order to surrender to God all that has been in the past. Successes and failures will be forgotten but the love shared during ones lifetime will endure forever.
Education then is life and the essence of that life is love. Therefore, EDUCATION is LIFE and LOVE.
At home, the child learns the very basic and fundamental requirements of living: love, respect, care, and all the fundamental values needed for a healthy society. This is an important phase in education because it is the foundation of character formation.
Early formal education in school would enhance what has been learned at home and also corrects those manifestations that are not helpful in the total well being of the child with the cooperation of the parents. Later stages would deal with the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will help develop the child into a caring and responsible member of society.
Education continues in the workplace. The young worker would learn a lot of values that were taken for granted in earlier years like the value of money, work, relationships, independence, learn new skills required for work and would take on roles laden with responsibilities. Successes and failures would be great learning opportunities that will usher maturity.
The years will filter out all these learning experiences giving birth to wisdom. It is now the flowering of the educational processes undergone through life. It is seen in the contented smile of an old woman, in the serene look of a man, in the understanding nod of a grandmother, in the compassionate presence of a grandfather.
The final test of real education is the moment when the person bade farewell to this life and faces the next. It is a gracious letting go in order to surrender to God all that has been in the past. Successes and failures will be forgotten but the love shared during ones lifetime will endure forever.
Education then is life and the essence of that life is love. Therefore, EDUCATION is LIFE and LOVE.
New Year's Invitation 2008
be true
in everything you do
be honest
in whatever you feel
be faithful
in all your commitments
be authentic
in your life and everyday affairs
in everything you do
be honest
in whatever you feel
be faithful
in all your commitments
be authentic
in your life and everyday affairs
For No Reason At All
You dwell in my heart
You inspire my life
You strengthen my weakness
You console me in my loneliness
For no reason at all
You pick me up when I fall
You accept all my failures
You protect me from my fears
You wipe away my tears
For no reason at all
You shield me from rejection
You laugh at my ambitions
You wonder at my imaginations
You save me from damnation
For no reason at all
You smile at my innocence
You forgive all my sins
You listen to my wishes
You care for my dreams
For no reason at all
You come when I need you
You stay when I forget you
You walk with me in my journey
You stand by me in my insecurity
For no reason at all
But
LOVE!
For me, this is the meaning of Christmas 2007.
December 20, 2007
CMCS, Tagaytay City
Philippines
You inspire my life
You strengthen my weakness
You console me in my loneliness
For no reason at all
You pick me up when I fall
You accept all my failures
You protect me from my fears
You wipe away my tears
For no reason at all
You shield me from rejection
You laugh at my ambitions
You wonder at my imaginations
You save me from damnation
For no reason at all
You smile at my innocence
You forgive all my sins
You listen to my wishes
You care for my dreams
For no reason at all
You come when I need you
You stay when I forget you
You walk with me in my journey
You stand by me in my insecurity
For no reason at all
But
LOVE!
For me, this is the meaning of Christmas 2007.
December 20, 2007
CMCS, Tagaytay City
Philippines
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