Some portions of my heart...

Tree Planting/ Mountain Hiking in Montalban

Sometimes, i envy Sisyphus. At least,the rock rolls down and your hero is left exhausted and doomed to take up the whole divine punishment again from ground zero. But in my case, my "rock" will rock your wits to no end...this "rock" chats while waiting for the liturgy to start, screams during siesta, dreams of sleeping forever, plays until 5:45 on Thursdays, drops by the TV room at 5:50, then takes a bath at 5:58 and wonders why he is scolded for coming at 6:15 (eh naligo naman siya!)... so on and so forth. By the way, this "rock" is aka seminarista. Si Sisyphus dinadaanan ng bato, ako dinadaganan ng bato!Sisyphus' rock rolls down to ground zero, ako i'm grounded until i turned zero. Although they could not qualify for Mr. Devil or Satan of the Year, neither are they angels! But let me say, angels in the making. I always remind myself that they are the ones called. Of course, not all will be chosen, but definitely, they were all led to this place. What am i to do but to help them listen to the ongoing call. They are still prone to hear many voices before they can hear the VOICE. Bisan makapungot na kaayo, and sometimes I do lose my top and erupt from time to time, I always feel secure in the idea that I am just a shepherd, taking care of the Master's sheep. It has evolved into a privilege to be of service to these selected guys. Who will make it to the end? only the Master knows. One thing for sure, they are works-in-progress. One day i went to a mall - i moved around - passing by the stalls and boutiques- in fact, it was more of an aimless walking. I allowed myself to get drowned by the mall's atmosphere of unbridled noise and exaggerated spaces and piped-in music. That was my idea of spending my free day - but some minutes after i just felt out-of-place. The noise didn't have that crispy sounds of pool chips hitting each other and disturbing my sleep during siesta. The music could not come close to the squeaky "What if God was one of us?" emanating from the squeaky vocal cords habitating in the nearby dorm, accompanied by a 5-string guitar. The boutiques paled in comparison to the sci-fi inspired dorms which sometimes give me the creeps! The young creatures walking aimlessly too in the mall were not as interesting as the 70+ human and sometimes seemingly-human substances moving around in their black and white colors, camouflaging as sacred organisms, running up and down the staircases of grand old Buttenburk!...then I realized and took 50 deep breaths before I can truly accept that I miss them. I looked at my cellphone, and the clock image displayed 2:07 pm...okay, there's still time...rosary starts at 3pm. On the way, i listened to some sounds in my head and tried to figure out what setting shall I use for the vespers...then I laughed, well anyway, all those notes will settle down to recto tono. I am afraid that this sound will remain in my heart for a long, long time.

January 10 Thoughts

PINID NA PINTUAN...

I was awakened by a chorus of "buksan" ... part of the sleep-terminator scheme was to knock on my door, and increase the volume, to make sure the sleeping spell is driven away...but what really drove the zzzzzzzzzs out of me was the mixture of excitement and fun rolling inside my heart plus the wrong chords and off-key parts of the song the seminarians serenaded me with (hikhikhikhik)...but who cares? off-key or on the right key...the point is, the love came across! It was indeed a beautiful morning - greeted with millions of good wishes. The day was full of joy and meaning! So here i am starting to ponder on being 27! Text messages came a-flooding and some gifts came. Some sems bothered to give me beautiful and meaningful gifts. The Fathers greeted me also and some of them sing the birthday song everytime i enter the refectory for the meals...hehehe fun! Dante also came and greeted me personally. Haaay! I felt the bond immediately with all these experiences. The day went on as usual and finally in the evening, my younger brothers gave their tribute. I was moved especially with the words of love and respect they gave me. My heart is filled with gratitude on that day. A prayer ended the day. Thank you Lord! amen.

Blessed Days

This is my last day of vacation - January 4, tomorrow I shall fly back to manila and face the remaining days of this special year - my regency year-tempus fugit (time flies). It was just like yesterday when i received my regency ring...thank you Lord for the graces that came my way. My vacation was a blessed one. Seeing Mama doing well despite the pain that cancer brings. I have seen so many miracles already - one of these is the joy that Mama continues to carry in her soul all these years. Pa has been so supportive and loving as a husband and father. Aiza, my sister is doing very well as the nurse in the family - she takes care of Ma's medz and juices. Addi, our youngest brother brings fun and laughter in the house. This is Mama's 2nd Christmas since her diagnosis and this we are very thankful. We continue to pray for her healing.Thanks for the prayers.

ACT 1

As of this writing, I am in the republic (bohol) for my Christmas break. This is to break my silence hehehe. After 6 months in the castle, I am taking my rest. Of course. I miss the daily schedule and all the people who fill it especially my younger brothers. From time to time, some text me and share their vacation experiences...nice! I enjoy every moment here with my family and some friends. What pa? This is all for now. I'm looking forward to 2008 and excited what the Lord has in store for me. I'll be posting some pics then in the future. Thank you for visiting! God bless you.