You Do Not Always Have Me

Today's Gospel was quite striking to me. Jesus tells Judas when he remarked on the expensive perfume used by Mary, sister of Lazarus, to anoint Jesus, "Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." (John 12:7).

When Jesus said "you do not always have me", it spoke of how much limited time Jesus, as man, has. The statement can be interpreted as a stress on the primacy of the love of God over the love of neighbor. However, I'd like to dwell on how it could be seen in another way, that Jesus being man and knowing his time is near, reminds his disciples to cherish each moment he is with them. The time is coming when he won't be physically present to them moving about ordinarily.

It reminded me of the wisdom that we won't have each other for very long. People come and go. No matter how joyful and blissful the moment is, it will have to pass into the past and into the pages of history. What happens today with our beloved ones could only be preserved in memory and sooner or later will have to fade into oblivion just as the rising of the sun erases the shadows of the past day.

We must appreciate, treasure, and enjoy each moment given to us to share and encounter personally our families, friends, and loved ones. May we always make them feel they matter to us. May we always share how much we care for them. It is only in the now that we can hold them, hug them, or kiss them, lest time will snatch them away from our hands.

But we are not to fall into despair. Our Christian hope tells us that only in heaven can we enjoy the full communion that is to be ours with God and with every human. Only in heaven can there be a great family reunion, high school reunion, and batch reunion in perfect attendance. While we are in this journey of life, let us reflect that heavenly intimacy as we prepare for the life in the next.

The Will to Fight

The three-pronged calamity in Japan caused me to fear that my weekly serving of anime will have to be suspended. It would be additional penance for a manga-addict like me. Naruto and Ichigo will have to wait, but to my surprise yesterday, the Shonen Jump sent out an issue which found its way on the web, down to my laptop, and fed as a feast for my eyes.

What I liked most about the latest issue is the question on the Will to Fight. There are really times in our life that our own personal issues get the better of us for us to lose sight of what we are fighting for. There are times when we have lost the reason to fight we are too easily disarmed by the tides of life's war and tossed around in the sea of confusion and desolation. How many of us find ourselves getting bored with the seemingly repetitive, droning, and lifeless routine of daily life? There seems to be a limit to vigor and enthusiasm and we face that distinct wall of questions and confusion.

Here I find the wisdom of Don Bosco very much applicable. We must never lose sight of our final destiny, our ultimate goal, which we need to make our own and part of our very core by repetitive revisiting and renewal, through daily (short but intense) meditation, examination of conscience, and well-placed retreats and recollections. The Will to Fight for any person is founded on his very convictions in life, in the ideals that he believes in, in the values that he holds dear. Losing faith is the very torrent that dissolves the very foundation of setting high goals. Knowing what you are fighting for gives you direction. Believing in it gives you passion.

Yet let us not discount the element of Grace. Nothing in this world exist without grace. Everything except for One, came from nothing. Christian Philosophy says so. Contemporary Science has the Big Bang theory. We may have exerted the best of efforts but we also need divine grace. At most, we beg for it. Grounded on this fundamental truth, we are humbled to know that the fight is not a fight for survival nor of getting ahead of others. It is a fight towards the heights of Perfection Himself.

Never lose your Will to Fight.

25 Years of Life

Tomorrow I'll be celebrating my 25th birthday and I want to share this message to everyone who reads either on this blog or on the RSS feed in Facebook and GMail. I'm offline for the next two days since my community and I will be trekking to Mt. Pinatubo and staying in Don Bosco Pampanga for our year-end outing. I also can't answer greetings and messages in Facebook since it's still Lent. Facebook will have to wait for Easter. Please pass the word to others.

I have already been in a pensive mood since this morning and I'm happy that I have reached 25 years of existence and life. I feel so much blessed to have lived these 25 years in the love and care of so many friends and family. I thank God for the uncountable blessings he has showered upon me, all of them unmerited, and I am humbled by such grand display of divine generosity and lavishness.

I won't have the time or the capacity to thank everyone soon, let these short messages be an expression of my gratitude to everyone.

To God


Thank you so much for giving me a chance to exist, for giving me life, and for loving me just as I am. Thank you for wanting me and longing for me with a love that is passionate and deep, perfect and selfless. Thank you for sharing a life of love with me and an adventure that will last until eternity. Thank you for giving me my Salesian vocation, and the surprisingly great treasure of relationships that came with it. Thank you for everything. You are the greatest and the best.

To Mamsi and Papsi

Thank you for bringing me into the world. For the many sacrifices, tears, and love that cost you rearing me up. You know how much I love you with all my heart. I am sorry for all my shortcomings. For every birthday that comes to me I remember you and I'm reminded how I am eternally indebted to you. I am lucky to have you as parents, great people who have given me much and loved me the best way they can. Thank you for making  me feel I am the only treasure in the world and for believing in me. There is a long list of thanks I'm afraid I'd make a litany of them. I only hope that how I live my life would bring you honor and would make you feel I am how happy and grateful I am to be alive.

To my Relatives


I'm proud to have you as family. I have cousins who has shared my childhood, laughter, and tears with me; uncles and aunties who have pampered me with love and taught me life; lolo's and lola's whose wealth of wisdom and experience moves me onward. To them, I am thankful for sharing my life.

To my Salesian Confreres


I was happy when I finally formally joined the Salesian Society. In the congregation I have found many fathers who love me as their own son, mentors who believed in me and continues to push me on, brothers who love me as their own sibling, friends who simply are there and the my day is brighter and happier. I'm honored, and with a feeling of inadequacy and humility, to call you confreres. Thank you also to the DBFC Lawaan Community and my current DBPN Community. You are fathers and brothers who share my love of Don Bosco and my journey along the pergola of roses.

To my brothers in and out of the seminary


How could I forget my many elder brothers who helped and guided me when I entered the seminary or those I consider my younger brothers who come after me in formation? You are the very brothers that I had wished for and God did not spare me his plenty. Inside or outside the walls of the seminary, you have forever made your marks in my life. Your faces litter my photos and sprinkled my initial formation years with friendship and joy. I'd like to thank specially my best bud, Celso, my DBFC 2003 Batch, my Pre-novitiate batch, and my current batch for sticking with me. Special thanks to the biggest congregation in the world, the X-sems of Don Bosco.

To the Salesian Family and friends of Don Bosco


Thank you for the many Salesian Cooperators, FMA's, VDB's, ADMA's, Alumni and Alumnae, friends and benefactors of Don Bosco, who have strengthened my vocation and dedication. To the Amazona's of Don Bosco, to the lay mission partners: manang's and manong's who work behind the scenes. To the foreign volunteers that I met I owe the experience of enriching me with culture. There are so many of you, so many names to thank, and I wish to thank all from the bottom of my heart.

To my benefactors and spiritual help


I wish to thank those who continue to support me, materially and spiritually. I cannot name you here but I'd still like to extend to you my appreciation and love. To those who pray for me, men and women religious who I met along the way, thank you.

To friends, classmates and batchmates


A special thanks to those who lived life with me in Pasil, from my tender years until the present, you keep me rooted and human. To my classmates from kindergarten, to my Carolinian classmates who are now making their marks in society, to my Bosconians who shared the joy of high school, and to my Josenian mates, teachers, and engineers, thank you very, very, very much for filling my life with color.

To all young people I have met


My students, friends, and charges, you fill me with joy and inspire me to continue on. Thank you to the youth of Pasil, Lourdes, and Lawaan; to the Young Saints, KOA, Angels, and MYC of Lawaan; to the youth of Maghaway; to the trainees in Pasil; to the boys in Lilo-an, Maa, and Dumangas; to my catechism students in Lawaan, Tabunok, and Majada; to the Majada Youth and Palo Alto Youth; to the FOCM of CDBS. Thank  you, very, very, very, much for sharing life and joy with me. Thank you for trusting me and calling me kuya.

To my all my online friends and acquaintances


What would my online social life be without you? To all my friends and pokemates in Facebook, Multiply and  Friendster, Tweeter and GMail. Thank you so much.


It is not my wish or intention to leave out names and persons, so thank you so much everyone for being part of my life. God Bless you all.