3rd JPII Cebu Catechetical and Youth Ministry Conference

Youth Ministry and the Basics of Digital Social Media Workshop

The invitation was unexpected and heaven and earth were moved for it to push through. It took time for me to fully grasp that I was already stepping on Cebu soil. I took a fresh breath of the familiar air and looked at the gang that welcomed me at the airport, the same gang who publicly ganged up on me with their infamous placard. It was a weird feeling, of unbelief and awe. I am still surprised and amused at my own fate.

I spent five days in Cebu to attend and give a workshop in the JPII Cebu Catechetical and Youth Ministry Conference in Lawaan. I prepared myself internally for the event. I didn't have to review much my stuck-up knowledge but only to get in the feel of what is happening today. In the end, as I face my three-day afternoon workshop, I have to rewrite and reformulate the modules to fit my participants' needs.

It was fun sharing my experiences and knowledge of computers and the internet. It was funnier when I had to compromise with the lack of equipment and bandwidth for internet immersion. All in all, it turned out so well I could not believe the days passed by.

So, again, I would like to thank the youth ministers and catechists who attended my workshop and the conference for sharing the joy of communion in working for young people. There is no other powerful comfort than to know that you are not alone working in God's vineyard.

Blogging with my Workshop

Hello everyone! This is the first time I have blogged in public where many people are looking at me while typing this sentence. Right now they are smiling.

Anyway this is just a demonstration of the power of blogging and how it can change the world.

Finals Week, Take Three!

The Thinker, courtesy of UKZN University

It's finals week for Philosophy for the third time in my Salesian history! Phew! I just got this chance to blog in between my oral examinations in Philosophy. It seems that our examinations also participates in the Principle of Proportionality. It simply gets better and better. And of course, the summit would be the de Universa.

What my Philosophical studies gave me is not the content of Aristotelico-Thomistic doctrine but the discipline of studying itself! I am a lazy brain and by default I'm deductive, basing myself on few principles and from their expound my knowledge of things. But Scholastic Philosophy doesn't work like mathematics and computer science does. I am forced to memorize, analyze, reconstruct, and argue. It is much mental work that has often been the object of my complaint.

I have to admit, I like the experience even if it is so troublesome. The truth is, the more you understand, the more you learn to love things, indeed many things. As we are inching our way closer to de Universa, I pray I'd be able to meet the demands of knowing and loving Philosophy. Next oral exam please!