Andrew and Zek

me : Papa Jesus and his disciples rode a boat and went to a deserted

place but a multitude of people followed them. Jesus taught

them a lot of things until it was late and it was time to eat. But

the people did not bring along food and neither did the disciples.

Papa Jesus instructed Andrew and the other disciples to feed the

people but they can not find any food in the crowd except for one

small boy named Zek.

(I paused for a while but before I can tell how Andrew called Zek to come near to Papa Jesus, Zek interjected)

Zek : Papa Jesus, here!. I have 5 breads and 2 fishes! (while

motioning his man-shaped hand, index and middle

fingers as legs, rushing towards me)

me : “Thank you, Zek”, said Papa Jesus. He took the breads

and fishes and prayed over them before giving them

to His disciples to be given to the people. Afterwards,

the disciples gather all the left over and prepared to leave.

Zek : Papa Jesus, wait po! (as his small hand-man rushes

towards me again). Here o, which one you like? choco or juice?

To continue reading this story, please click the title or copy-paste this link into your browser - http://zeksantos.i.ph/blogs/zeksantos/2009/09/

Zek Reaches Blogosphere

Mommy Chie and Zek have been busy the past months in their first ever journey to homeschooling under the Catholic Filipino Academy. I am a grateful and blessed witness to Zek's leaps and bounds in learning and active participation in interesting subjects and skills discovery. Of course, there are challenging moments for both of them (clue: patience of one and focus from the other :D) BUT, and I will say this with firm conviction, the efforts are all worth it.

In order to chronicle Zek's homeschooling and share to others the beauty of this learning alternative, Mommy Chie decided to open a blog for him. Really cool one at that :).

So I just want to welcome my son to the world of blogosphere and I am excited to one day see you making your very own entries and articles.

We are proud of you, Zek!
We love you.


PS. I added his blog-link to my favorites list. Feel free to browse and feel the excitement :)

Keypoints

I can only shake my head in confusion.

In front of me are tens and sets of keys for doors and some locks that we have accumulated while staying in China for the past nine years. To answer your curiosity how this happened, allow me to summarize it in three lines.

Three job changes.
Six flat changes.
Countless plane trips.

Everytime I have a new job, I will be assigned a working table with drawers and cabinets that uses keys.
Everytime we changes flat, we are given new door keys for the main gate, main door, mailbox, cabinets and all bedroom doors.
Everytime we travel, we need to lock our check-in luggages.

Still curious at how this oddity could have happened?
I misplaced them after using.
I hid them and forgot about them.
I forgot to turn them back over to the flat owners before leaving our place.

So now that I have some time to clean and re-arrange our stuffs, they all seemingly and suddenly popped from unexpected places. Long, short, small, large, rounded, squared, chrome-plated, zinc-coated. They vary a lot and expectedly so in order to meet its individual specific function while showcasing their individual manufacturer’s trademark identity..

How I wish they can invent a master key to fit all kinds of locks for each person but without any possibility of being used by another person. Universal yet exclusive. It would surely save us from the hassle of sorting, matching and marking which keys belong to which locks.

In our life, we also refer to some specific personal keys as the means to opening the doors of our goals in life, to release our potentials and to unfasten our dreams and our future. We have our birth-given core talents. We also can grow some learned talents. We have our parent’s valued upbringing. We study in schools. We attend seminars and trainings. We focus and enrich our knowledge and wisdom as we concentrate on our job or business to gain material wealth, prestige and respect from peers. We try one, several or all of them with the purpose of finding the ultimate source to our own happiness, inner joy and contentment.

Others, lamentably, resort to bad keys in search of their happiness. They resort to pride, greed, malice, lust, and wrongful pursuits of things of this world to experience happiness, no matter how fleeting they would be. They try drugs, gambling, liquors and other self-destructing vices to, ironically, feel good about themselves.

But not everything is doom and gloom because God, as always, knows that we will be totally lost if we rely only on ourselves because there is only one master key that fits into our longing, our want, our need and desire to be happy. And so, God worked out a plan for our salvation and sent His son to redeem us all, saints and sinners alike.

He is the way.
He is the truth.
He is our life.

Our universal yet exclusive key to eternal bliss is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.
The challenge to us now is when we will finally let Him to fit into our lives and to remain in us.

He lovingly waits.
Hopefully not for long.

God bless.

Heart-Print

For quite sometime now I have been casually wearing a light gray round-neck t-shirt.

I like its soft cotton cloth that fits me just perfectly and the general comfort I feel every time I wear it.

But going unnoticed to me for quite some time already was the ostensive printing in front that says “Property of JESUS eternally”.

Oops.

As soon as I became aware of this print-content, I immediately became consciously worried about the times I have worn it, hopefully not on occasions when my behavior would have not been fit nor even was a tiny bit representative of its message. It is a shame to be in that ironic position. It would have been like an environmentalist seen throwing trashes into a living river or a police in uniform red-handedly caught committing a crime. My bad.

Come to think of it. More than what we can visually bannered ourselves to be, it is what we believe ourselves to be that will eventually be seen and recognized by those people around us. We can profess ourselves to be Christians but if Christ is not really inside us, then we are only fooling ourselves. If we declare that we love others yet hardly lift a finger, spare a minute, or even affirmed other persons in need, then who are we kidding? We can hang a make-believe halo over our head to be seen by all, but only the hidden halo over our good deeds gets the merit of grace in heaven.

I am a Catholic and it gives me embarrassment in myself that, in the not so distant past, I was questioning some Catholic doctrines and traditions without really exerting effort to research, read and comprehend them. I just based my opinions on my uninformed understanding and on flippant hearsays and that was it. Yes, I was a typical bumper-sticker Catholic before and only the grace of God keeps shaking me back to a deep longing to discover the depth and richness of Catholicism. Just like most Catholics, I have a long, long and really long way to go and I will most certainly not finish them all during my lifetime. But if this transitional spiritual venture means learning to appreciate more the beauty of being in the one, holy, catholic (meaning “universal”) and apostolic church of God (CCC 811-848), then I will embrace it wholeheartedly and practice it with piety and fortitude, full of hope and energized by prayer.

We simply can not afford to be a nominal Catholic anymore, that is a Catholic by name alone.

Because not like my t-shirt printing, our faith has been printed by God in each one of our hearts.

We must learn to respond to its calling, to learn it, to live it, to love it and to share it to others as well.

God bless.

Intrinsic

It was one of days when being a childhood fan of “The Price is Right” game show would have been put into good used. I stared closely at the exquisite antique looking wooden vase at the entrance door of a bedroom.

It all started when my colleagues and I were invited by one of the factory owner to have a barbecue-party in his house. The house located in one of the plush subdivisions just outside the city of Guangzhou. And knowing China for vertical habitats for its people, it was easy to surmise that owning such a single detached 3-floored house inside a 500 meter square lot should have cost him a fortune.

“Oh, around 4 million yuan,” James, the rich owner, replied when curiosity got the better of me.

My gosh, that would be 28 million pesos. I nearly fainted but was only prevailed upon by my determined self not to break a thing inside or else risk losing my months of salary to repay it. He invited us for a quick tour around. We gladly obliged lest we get lost inside by ourselves. Just kidding, he provided each of us with our own maps for direction. Still kidding.

And then came the trivia. There it is resting on top of a shoulder-high podium under a single spotlight that reflects the light on its shiny surface. There is the vase.

James asked us how much we think it is worth. I recalled, at the back of my mind, all the expensive decorations and adornments that I have seen so far inside his property after which I concluded only one thing in mind. It should cost lot.

Smugly I quipped, “Uhm…at least 8,000 yuan.” (That’s about 56,000 pesos)

To which he replied with a grin,”200 yuan from a Guangzhou local shop.” (That’s a reasonable price equivalent of 1,400 pesos)

Another true story on a different time and on the other side of the globe, one Susan McCullen of Nashville Tennessee, made a discovery amongst smashed and thrown items on a trash bin. She saw a golden edge of a frame and pulled out an interesting watercolor artwork. Curious at her find, she checked and found out that it was made by a New Orleans artist in 1907 called the Felucca Capri which the artist priced at $75 nearly a century ago. It eventually was sold for more than $8,000 (360,000 pesos) on an auction site.

What do these two contrasting situations teach us?

The obvious.

The beautifully crafted vase is still less worthy even if surrounded with precious things and put inside a very expensive area for display. On the other hand, the artwork surrounded by trashes was worth much more than the impressions it made to passers-by.

How many rich persons have we often heard or read about who confessed to feeling empty and worthless despite the glittering golds at their disposal? Then how many poor persons do we know who are able to sleep well and are in constant smile with positive outlook in their lives despite working hard to even just get the next decent meal for their family.

Their true values were in their individual selves.

Not from things beside them.

Not from materials in front of them.

Definitely not what surrounds them.

Nothing external.

Their individual worth comes within.

Uninfluenced.

Unchanged.

Intrinsic.

Now for a little refresher, please take a look at the person in your mirror.

So how much do you think that person in the mirror is worth?

Not quite sure yet?

Take Romans 5:8 – “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

We are priceless in His eyes and are worth dying for in order to be saved.

We are treasures, not trash.

Wealth, not waste

Gold cache, not garbage

Expensive silver, not litter.

Isn’t it about time we live according to our true worth as well?

God bless.

The Fruits of Believing

It has been two weeks since the Los Angeles Lakers were crowned the 2009 NBA champions.

Rewinding to the pivotal Game 4 of their series with the Orlando Magic, Derek Fisher, the Lakers returning veteran guard, were hitting bricks and posts throughout the game, including 5 misses out of 5 tries from the 3 point area. And this was not a one-time game low for him. All through the play-offs, he was oftentimes criticized for being too old or too slow against younger opposing guards. Critics pounced on him every time his guarded opponent scores while he endlessly seems to struggle on his side of the court. Nothing was working for him in the past weeks or so.

Actually, his critics are quite right in their thinking.
Let us consider his shooting statistics in the previous 3 games.

Game 1 : 4 shots in 6 attempts for 9 points
Game 2 : 4 shots in 9 attempts for 12 points
Game 3 : 4 shots in 9 attempts for 9 points

Not a reliable veteran’s proud moments.
More like a struggle, a slump in any basketball afficionado’s dictionary.

And then came the dying seconds of Game 4 where his team was down by 3 points. He pulled up for his sixth three-point attempt of the game and the ball swished the net. The game went overtime. In the closing seconds of overtime, he went up again for another three point attempt that swished the net again, giving his team the lead which propelled them to their third win and the enviable position of going up 3-1 in their Best of 7 series. Game 5, afterwards, proved to be the culmination of their years of team re-building and their quest for the world trophy.

When interviewed how he did it, Derek Fisher, has only a few words to say. “Faith and confidence. My team-mates believe in me. My coach believe in me.”, his tired yet over-joy voice went. “I like to step into those threes and even though I wasn’t making them earlier, I felt like I can do that.”, as he mused what was going on inside his head at the time of making the first shot.

Derek Fisher’s Game 4 statistics: 5 shots out of 11 attempts for 12 points.

If you ask me, it is still not a reliable veteran’s shining moment.
But he redeemed himself with 2 memorable shots of the series.

He believed in himself.
His team-mates believed in him.
His coach believed in him.

And so he reaped the fruit of believing.
He now joins his team on top of the basketball world, again, for his career fourth time.

To see is to believe. Nope.
To believe is to see it through.

May we all keep on believing in ourselves to be good, to do good and to be for good.
The fruit of this belief is better and more lasting than any known basketball dynasty.
The fruit of this belief is eternity.

God bless.

The Positive Strain

While the medical watch with extreme caution how the existing H1N1 pandemic level 6 play out, one can clearly see the demographic migration and effect of the strain carriers as they travel to different places causing some contraction of the virus to those who have made contact. From its initial detection in Mexico by the middle of April, the virus has spread with rapidity to around 70 countries and causing cluster of cases which finally led to declaration of the pandemic level 6.

For timely and correct updates, please check the official WHO website - http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/

But unknown to some, there is another H1N1* virus that has been going around since time immemorial. It has experienced its ups and down when the infection rate was really high and at times when it can hardly be noticed at all.

Nobody is immune to it.

We all have it inside.

Our ancestors have it.

Our great great grandfathers have it.

All of us living in the present time have it.

Our children and all future children will have it also.

Even the bible reminded us about it.

Maybe one can try to deny it but in the end, this “virus” which finds its initial stages inside the heart of a person, work its way into all parts of the human body until reaching its final terminating point which are the lips and hands.

We can call it the H1N1* virus.

It is an acronym for Helping One Neighbor One (each) day.

It is universally known as kindness.

May all of us aware of this positive infection within us allow the good virus to completely take over our body, for this is the only way to awaken other people with the same capacity to be kind yet are still reluctant for some reasons.

Kindness is infectious only if the carrier is willing to do it.

Be kind even if other are not, will not or opt not.

Be kind to one another.

God bless.

Ephesians 4:31-32

All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Spic and Span

Catholic question: What part of the Holy Eucharist proceeds after the general greeting of the priest? The answer to this will be given later.

First, a growing health concern for the world..

It has been quite a while since the H1N1 virus was detected and monitored around the world with the World Health Organization at the helm in leading all international health agencies. Everyday, there is news about which country has the latest contraction and local transmission. With considerable efficiency, the trace back of an infected person’s itinerary is being established and those people deemed in close proximity to an infected person are advised or forced to initiate self-quarantine. This surveillance and the strong medical and epidemiological capacity is what many perceive to be the difference-maker in solving a future pandemic. These were sorely lacking during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that left millions infected and carriers leading to huge humanitarian loss in the millions.

A lot is still unknown about the latest H1N1 virus, yet the medical community is already certain that transmission is quite easy by any form of droplets from a carrier to other unsuspecting person. The best way to minimize the possibility of being infected is by wearing face masks and keeping ourselves clean at all times possible. The commonest advice is to wash hands thoroughly, as oftentimes as possible.

Before and after eating, we wash hands. When medicating a wound, we wash it first before applying the medicine. Before going to work and retiring at night, we wash ourselves by taking a bath. Most of us know that nurses and doctors spend almost an hour washing their hands, correction, scrubbing their hands clean before going inside the operating room. How about the cooks who keep on washing their hands to make certain their food is not only luscious but hygienic as well?

Washing and cleaning is really essential in our health and good hygiene and it oftentimes precedes an important activity.

Now to answer our opening question.

After the welcome greetings by the priest, the community penitential prayer follows.
The Church of God examines their conscience and prays for the cleansing of their spirit before proceeding with the Liturgy of the Word and Flesh. Every participant is encourage to do this in order to make themselves worthy to receive and partake in the Holy Communion.

The Lord spoke this to us clearly when He said in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

In more simple terms, we must clean our heart first from any anger and other forms of sinfulness before our life offering can be most pleasing to His eyes. In the similar sense of washing and cleaning our physical body, our spirit also needs cleansing from the dirt and stains of sinfulness before the rain of graces and blessings can be well-received and appreciated by us.

For us Catholics, cleansing our spirit is consummated by going to the designated “red light” district of the church or more commonly known us confessional box. It is through the Sacrament of Reconcilliation can we become worthy of receiving God in the Eucharistic form of bread and wine.

Truly we can say, cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness for only a clean heart can stand next to Him in His utmost majesty and glory.

God bless.

Happy Father's Day!

O God, You have given me the name of Father;
You have given me Your own name.
Help me to be true to it.
- taken from “A Father’s Prayer”

They have dedicated all their lives to the betterment of us, their children, guiding us and encouraging us to do good. They never ran out of good and sound advices to give and are always tireless in their effort to help those in need. They work everyday, especially on Sundays, to make sure that we have a place to gather around for a special meal.Inspite of all they have done, a lot of them are hurting and misunderstood. Whenever they commit a mistake, whether miniscule or major, by accident or wrong choice, we always try to prejudicially magnify it against them. We easily label them as unfit, undeserving or out of place. Criticism, gossips and disobedience are but few unpleasant rewards they receive from loving us.
Today is Father’s Day. And though the first thing that pops into our head are the heroes of our family lives, there are the other “fathers” worth remembering and honoring on this day as well.

They are our priest, our religious formators and counselors.
They are our spiritual fathers tasked by God to lead and give direction to our lives.
I have been blessed to have such inspiring fathers in my life.
I would like to honor them now.

Monsignor Andy Valera started the Knights of the Altar for the Parish of the Immaculate Conception when I was still in grade school where I was one of those proud pioneer wearing our red and white clothes during our investiture. I remember when we have our KoA meeting in your room with only a single bed, a table and an empty refrigerator with drinking water. Your simplicity and dedication to God’s service were actually the first seeds of my young vocation to be a priest also. Well, God did have another purpose for me after all, because I am now happily married. But the mustard seed of desire to serve never wavered and continues to grow nevertheless.

Fr. Esteng Mendoza was our seminary spiritual director (now a religious monk) during the short 3 years I have stayed inside. He was always the seminarian’s choice to be assisted with during barrio masses because there will always be an extra treat along the way – sweet cakes or bread, or even balut (a unique Filipino delicacy of duck-embryo boiled inside the egg). For those living “outside”, this would amount to nothing but to us insiders used to eating tuyo, pork maling and any mixed food viand (“experiment” is a more appropriate term) day in and day out, any sweet goodie can make us drool. But more than his kindness to us, he has helped us to develop a very good sense and positive attitude towards the sacrament of Penance which he imparted to us in every given opportunity. We felt comfortable (sometimes too comfortable for our own good) doing it knowing that our confessor is a kind and re-assuring personification of God. So even though I felt that he did not support my return for the 4th year, I now know that he was God’s instrument in letting me know that I was not meant to be one of His chosens one for this particular vocation.

Fr. Godofredo Atienza is our Salesian family-friend who epitomizes the Bosconian anthem of simplicity and loving the poor children. He was our priest celebrant and one of our god-parents of our wedding in the Basilica Minor of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo. His mild-manner yet witty remarks and deep-knowledge can really bring out the thoughts inside us. He is the rector of Salesian seminary in Cebu and also heads the Salesian house catering to the poor youth by sending them to vocational schools, training them and educating them. One of our unforgettable moment with him was when he visited their Salesian office in Hongkong and he invited us to visit it at the same time. My wife, who was then a few months pregnant with our Maia, have to walk through a lot of elevated streets and footbridges looking for their place and yet she felt little tiredness. Fr. Godo, patiently waited for us before saying his mass with 3 participants – me, my wife and Zek. Yes, it was an exclusive Eucharistic mass for my family. We felt so blessed.

Fr. J. Orbos is my spiritual and virtual father whom I have not met and yet made a big impact in my nourishing my spiritual life. His weekly Sunday writings – Moments, has consistently been one of my favorite articles for reading. He always starts with a humor story or quote and expound deeply into the Sunday gospel reading and its messages, oftentimes exhorting his readers to seize each “moment” to follow God and to do good to every fellow man.

Fr. Mike Paez is the first and present parish priest of our Holy Spirit Parish which he helped to establish and improve through the years. He finished his BSChe and had a working experience before responding to the call of priesthood. He is also one of the spiritual advisers of our Maia Foundation. Fr. Ric Eguia is a parish priest in Marikina who I met in the internet (and almost met personally in Shenzhen China if not for the poor schedule of their tour guides). His inspiration to pusue priesthood came after finishing his BSEE degree in college (we have the same alma mater) and also working for some time. He is my consultant about Church matters and faith that are unclear to me. Fr. Oliver “Tegs” Ortega is our lone batch-mate who has successfully become a priest. I just recently have made contact with him after many years. He is now California-based. Fr. Gboi is another kind-hearted priest belonging to the senior seminarians during my short stint. Then there was Father Nas whose worse case of Parkinson’s never deterred him from saying mass. Fr/s. Narciso Sampana, Danny Bermudo and other seminary priests. Fr. Adams who is our regular guest-priest in the Sunday Eucharistic celebrations in Shekou China, was the first priest to offer not only his sincere condolences but his intimate reflection of death as well during the painful loss of our daughter a few months ago.

And lastly, I can never forget the father of all our fathers – our Blessed Pope John Paul II whose powerful and awesome presence during the World Youth Day 95 in Manila will always be one of the highlights of my Catholic life. Seeing his frail and old body, swirling his cane joyfully in the air during the praise-fest is a very humble candidness of him to show and make-believers among the youth that he is one in spirit and mind with the young generation of the faithful. Now succeeded by Pope Benedict 16th, he was the most traveled and arguably the most loved pope of his time for his huge effort to seek out others and make peace with those who were in conflict with the church before.

Let us pray for all our “fathers” that they may remain faithful to their vocation in the service of God and for the good of all.

Happy Father’s Day to all our Priests.

One Proud Homeschooling Parent

[Sis Jo Echon is a good family friend we met in China in one of our Filipino gatherings there. Since then she has become our motivator and inspiration to homeschool our son. Now, whether we will succeed and be blessed with our own plans remains to be seen, her life testimony about homeschooling simply overwhelms whatever apprehensions we are having about this. Congratulations to Jopoy and his siblings and to Bro. Sani and Sis Jo for their love and dedication to each other. Please read on and be inspired.]


My Dear Relatives and Friends,

I'm now the happiest Mom on earth. My son Jopoy passed the Accreditation and Equivalency Test! Out of 97,756 only 22,430 passed the test nationwide and he's one of them. Great! It means, he is accelerated and don't have to go through all level of high school formally and he can now go straight to college. Whew no sweat! the beauty of homeschool he he Grabe laki ng savings ng Daddy! ha ha ha.

I consider this a major feat of our homeschool journey. I only enrolled him on his 1st yr in San Juan de Letran Home Study Program and the next 2 yrs bravely, we go independent. It means i didn't enrol him but still keeps on homeschooling him. I borrowed old books from friends and relatives. And not only high school books but even college materials. He told me that he wanted to take up Culinary or IT in college so i bought books in that fields so that he may have the "feel" if he really is into that courses. Since we are homeschool the world is our classroom. They are not bounded by curriculum that we are using but by anything that they put their interest into.

If you can only read my thoughts the last 2 days i was singing a different tune. I was so depress and thinking deeply about our homeschooling. You know, in regular school, when school year is over everyone is in vacation mood. But in homeschool, it's an ideal time to fill in all the learning gaps. So I gave Jopoy and Shan a diagnostic test to find out their learning gaps. The result didn't please me. I end up re assessing our choices. Is homeschooling really for our family? Are we bringing out the best in our children through homeschooling? Are we not depriving them of anything that they should be enjoying as children? Are they learning the things that they needed to be learn? Are we teaching and modelling them the christian values that are expected from homeschool families? Are we molding our children the way God wants us to be? A lot of questions flooded my mind that i cannot answer logically because i am involve. I prayed so hard. I had an intimate spiritual experience with God for 2 days. I ask Him to refresh me, comfort me, show me His ways, to tell me if this is still His plan for our family. I was reminded that homeschooling is the product of our ardent prayer to God when we ask Him to allow us to spend more time with Sani while he's abroad. When we get to know the principle of homeschooling we realize that it embodied our values as family. As i ask God to give me a grace of discernment to know His will for our family, He answered my prayers with a big bang! Last night my sister e-mailed me the web site to access the result of Jopoy's test which was taken last Oct. At almost midnight we are in jubilation. God in a very special way reassured me that He is still leading us to homeschool our children.

I know homeschooling is not for everyone. We are aware that we causes worries and alarm to our families and friends who doesn't totally understand and can't accept the concept of homeschooling. We appreciate their genuine concern for us and we thank them for that. I once learned that there are 3 topics that causes arguments. Money, Religion and Politics. I'll add one, Homeschooling ha ha ha. Right now i can't say until when we are going to homeschool our children or if it will work to all of them. In every steps of they way we ask God's guidance and blessings. We know that the peace and joy we felt in our heart is the fruits of our obedience to God. Our children's mature disposition, deep spirituality and our level of friendship is an assurance that they are really a homegrown kids. After all when my time comes to face my Creator i believe He'll be more concern to ask me about the character of my children than the honors and reward that they are going to gather. Indeed homeschooling is God's gift to our family. With renewed faith and trust in Him i am now ready again to embark in another year of homeschooling.

As my heart swell in joy, please join me in thanking God for His boundless blessings to our family. The financial resources He has been providing us to be able to live comfortably without me having to work just to meet both ends, Catholic Filipino Academy, my children's school and other homeschool families whose personalities and experiences inspired me and assured me that my family is not eccentric but only a family with different values, our family and friends whose concerns motivated us to to do better because our failure will hurt them too, to Sani my dear husband for supporting me in my devotion to our children and understanding my passion for homeschooling, for his bosses whose generosity allows us to travel that makes our "classroom" bigger, wider and fun, for my children for allowing us to mold them and for teaching us virtuous which we never thought we're capable of adapting and to God whose love is awesome and never fail to inspire us to become a better person.

By choosing this less travelled road we know that we'll be facing lots of trials. We'll be hunted by a never ending confusions, frustrations depressions at marami pang "sions" he he he. But my favorite verse and song since high school still holds true, "Seek ye the first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all of these things shall be added unto you Alleluia!".

To God be the Glory!!!

Signing in from Bayan ng mga Singkit,

Jo Echon

Thanksgiving Prayer

Dear Lord,

This day is sentimentally close to my wife’s heart and mine. It is our 10th wedding anniversary.

About eight months ago, I could not hide my excitement for this day to come. My wife and I have been looking forward to it and have actually laid out some ideas and schemes for this most important occasion in our marriage. I kept on picturing in my mind our Zek and our would-have-been 2-year old Maia walking (or in all likelihood, running and racing against each other) on the church aisle in front of us as we slowly march toward the priest for our renewal of marital vows. I smiled at the thought of how our 30-minute simple ceremony would turn to more than an hour with constant interruptions from our gorgeously angelic daughter and charming and well-groomed son who keeps on pushing and shoving each other like frantic school-children jostling for position to be first in getting the last free cotton candy of the day.

I imagined highlighting our celebration by heading into an overnight beach outing with close family members and we would sit down around bone-fire cooking hotdogs and marsh-mallows as all the Santos kids run back and forth with all their high-pitched voices and laughters.

That day is supposed to be today. I have fully come into terms that it was not meant to be. My dream for this day is not what you have been planning for us after all.

Our daughter Maia left us last October 2008 and we have been spending the last few months just trying to heal our wounded selves and spirits. We were not able to make any plans or preparations on how we would celebrate it. We are living on a day to day basis.

Sadly for me today, my wife is in Philippines while I am still in China because of work commitments and I can only be with her and Zek after two more weeks.

But you have been, you are, and you will always be good and kind to me and my family. Though my wife and I can not perfectly grasp the beauty behind the pain inside us, we believe we are under your protection and love even during this lonely point of our lives.

I am sure you know what I mean. Today is Black Saturday not by mere calendar accident only.

You wanted to assure us that we will fully heal and recover to move on and that our pain pales in comparison to what you have been through. All the derogatory insinuations, mob affront, physical tortures finally taking their toll on your weary and abused body that led to your ultimate death. All of these happened under the truth that you are doing it for them, for us, in order for us to gain back entry into your heavenly kingdom. You suffered because you love us.

You experienced the worst possible pain by a human and by God for that matter.

You more than understand our pain.

Thank you Lord, for allowing my wife and I to share in your pain of loving and losing briefly.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.

You will be resurrected and be triumphantly alive.

Death and eternal condemnation will be conquered.

You will breathe to your disciples the Holy Spirit who is to be our companion until the end of time.

We will eventually have our own Easter moment in your appointed time. Like a clay pot that needed to was swirled-formed and now being furnace-dried, we are a work in progress and our Maia, even in her short life, has lived a full life that is forever part of our formation into your likeness.

Please kiss and embrace our Maia for us.

Thank you for your mysterious yet unconditional and unequivocal love for us.

We love you. Amen.

Your children,

Rowin and Chie

What One Man Can Do

As Peter Parker was watching the sliding bulletin news of how Spiderman save another New Yorker from tragedy, a man casually walked behind him and said, "You know, I guess one person can make a difference. Enough said." And with a smile, he casually walked away again while Peter pondered at what he just heard.

One man? One woman? Yes, one person can make a big difference, even a sweeping revolutionary difference that will ripple into the people's hearts for years and years to come. Remarkably, these persons, let's call them "difference-maker", did not even need to have superpowers to do that.

Each person only needed love.

In my lifetime, I have been blessed to be a media-informed witness to some of these difference-makers.

Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino once said, "The Filipino is worth dying for." He peacefully battled the Marcos regime from the inception of martial law in 1972 up to his death in 1983.His assassination paved the way to our world-recognized bloodless revolution that toppled the dictatorial rule and gave freedom back to the common Filipinos. His death made the difference

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, endearingly known to all as Mother Theresa, dedicated her life to total selfless and dedication to the poorest of the poor in India's Calcutta. She did this from 1948 until her death in 1997. Her service made the difference.

Karol Josef Wojtyla, as our beloved Pope John Paul II, reached out to all beliefs and religion without undermining the Catholic's church traditions and beliefs. As Pontiff of the Church from 1978 until 2005, he travelled a lot to all point of the world where he felt the Gospel of God needed to be preached or renewed. He tapped the world's youth to help in propagation of the gospel. His energy and openness made the difference.

Normal people with absolute resolve to love. Amazing persons they truly are.

This Holy Week, however, we are called to celebrate the person with the greatest love for all of mankind. Humbling his Godly stature to become one of us here on earth in order to save those who lived before Him and those who are yet to be borne. He, whose intense sacrifice we will commemorate in the coming days, will suffer at the very hands of the people He created and loved unconditionally. He, who took all spit and spite, was scorned and thornly adorned, mocked and flogged and eventually put to death on the cross in Calvary by each one of us whether one is a believer or not. And as unimaginable as it may sound, He already forgave us all even as He was still hanging bloodied on the cross. The heart-piercing proof will be the truth of His resurrection on the third day after His death. His love for us has brought us back from death and into eternal life.

Dear friends, please think about Him this week.
More importantly, let Him be the difference-maker in your (struggling) life to holiness.
Enough said.

God bless.

Big Brother Big Sister

This is the 2009 community outreach program of the passionate and kind-hearted mountaineering youth-group of the Philippines. You can visit their website at http://bbbs.freehostia.com

For those interested to volunteer or share their blessings to the less fortunate children of Mt. Asog, Buhi, Camarines Norte, please contact helpbbbs@gmail.com or Ms. Angie T at agt.angie2@gmail.com

Thanks and God bless.

Zek at ZIC

Mommy Chie did it again.

She saw, she inquired and she got the tickets!

Yesterday was another first for our family as we brought Zek to the exciting quarterly racing events held at Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC). With one drawback of being uncomfortable with lots of thunderous roaring engines, Zek feasted on his fascination for fast and casts. And in between races and stunt exhibitions, he was having a great time with newfound friends Chase and Hunter, the 8 year and 4 year old son of an American businessman who went to the car show with us as well together with his daughter Madison and his special someone Meileen. Another Filipino friend, Tibs provided timely respite for me as well when Zek vented his wrestling energy to him at some point (sorry about that, bro :D). Other than that, it was the usual run and gone games for me and Zek as we tour the entire facility teeming with booths and promotions. There was even a go-cart race track which is open for the paying public.

The races provided variety with sport cars, speed cars, motorcycles and F1-like racing cars taking the track circuit to the delight of several thousands of audience from near mid-day to dusk. This is why my wife’s sandwiches and hotdog on sticks bring-along were a hit and so were the drinks and Doritos which we munched with a lot of gusto.

Back in our homes that night, my wife started complaining about her terrible headache from staying the whole afternoon under the sun as I felt my terribly aching body for all the time I have to carry Zek on my back. Still, we slept soundly because we know we all enjoyed it.

Thanks, honey.

Thank you Lord for another memorable moment with my family.

Lessons from a Pizza Delivery Man

It’s in the news.

Ken Karpmann is a former CEO who receives an annual salary of a staggering 750,000 USD. But due to their misplaced financial conservativeness and dare I say, carefree spendings, their monetary woes spiraled out of control with unpaid mortgages and a failed hedge fund business venture leaving them bankrupt. The present economic crisis has not been kind either with companies readily refusing his job inquiries.

Now he has done one of the most unorthodox way any former big-bucked CEO would do to save his family's finances from total collapse – deliver pizza for 7.29 USD an hour.

Really? Yup, you can google his name and read his full story.

If you go on reading about him, you will come to admire at least 3 persons in story.

First is the pizza owner who literally gave Ken a humbling yet decent job. It was risky in terms of management (I imagine the restaurant manager hesitatingly giving delivery order to a person with higher education and better management experience than he is).

Second is his wife. I am sure they have fought and quarreled a lot of times during the time their savings were dwindling down to keep her husband’s hedge fund business afloat. Losing your dream house and wealth-related prestige is not a good topic to cuddle and discussed during bedtime. But, she stood by her man – even if he is now just a pizza delivery guy. Commitment personified is she.

Third is Ken himself. I have never heard of a bankrupt CEO who would humble himself and turn to blue collar jobs. Not only did he do that, but he was totally honest about his failed financial status that he wrote in his application form his 750,000 annual salary and high education thus adding the risk of being rejected with such high-qualifications. And from what I have seen in the short video clip about him, he is enjoying it as well. When asked why he is doing it, his straightforward reply was, “To keep food on our table.” Now that is undeniably love for family over pride.

Ken Karpmann is included in the rare breed and endangered specie of man. I am sure he will find other financially rewarding job soon but for now he is the man of the pizza delivery men.

To My One and Only True Love

On this day, the single most important yet humble, gorgeous yet simple, sweet yet strong, hardworking yet casual, fun yet serious, friendly yet reserved lady of my life was born some thirty-yish something ago (it’s a grave sin to tell the age of a woman from what I always overhear in their girl-talk :D)

And so, as a loving gift to her, here are some 5 x 5 never before heard stuffs, serious and curious alike, that I would like to honor her with:

Five amusing things about her:
1. She dislikes small bills and coins that she always discharges them first every chance she has. It is not rare that we find ourselves in a spot because we have a big bill for a small amount of payment to make (try imagining holding a 500 hundred peso bill to pay for your jeepney fare :D)
2. When she is in a laughing mood, she can never finish her joke because she keeps on laughing while narrating it.
3. She likes to highlight our children’s positive strengths and wonder from whom they “inherited” such amazing traits before looking straight beyond me as if my genes are not superior ha ha :D)
4. She’s a legitimate member of the shopaholic club and can almost always find the lowest price and best-buys available in the malls.
5. She has that cutey smile after being able to buy something she wanted for a long time while waiting for the discount sale to happen.


Five topics that make her sad:
1. Remembering our Maia’s untimely demise.
2. Her father who passed away when she was just about 5 years old.
3. Her mother in the US who migrated while she was also still young.
4. Some unfortunate experiences in her growing years
5. Family and friend’s misfortunes


Five dreams she often wishes:
1. To be able to spend time with her mom
2. To travel and visit the Holy Land, USA and Europe
3. To be a member of a synchronized swimming team
4. To be a figure skater.
5. To have a successful business


Five traits I really admire about her:
1. Her dedication to be the best mother and wife.
2. Her growing personal relationship with God.
3. Her prayer life.
4. Her patience (especially to my idiosyncrasies and temper-tantrums).
5. Her strong personality.

Five reasons why I will always be by her side:
1. I am married to her (not as an obligation but as a lifetime choice of commitment we solemnized before God)
2. She is the mother of my best bud (hopefully some more future best buddies for us :) )
3. She loves me despite all my warts, blackheads, pimples, receding hairline, bedtime snoring and a lot more “unlovables” in me
4. I couldn’t see my life with somebody else
5. I love her forever.

Happy Birthday to you honey!

May the Lord grant you your heart’s desire and wishes in accordance to His plan.
Zek and I love you. Ditto from our little angel in heaven.

Rocks Vs Plants

Question 1: Which one is stronger than the other - rocks or plants?
Answer: Both.

Question 2: Why both?
Answer: It all depends on time.

Having spent my college days within the confines of the well-renowned, highly fortified Manila fortress called Intramuros (spanish for "within" (intra), "walls" (muros) ), I have always marveled at the strength and endurance of those piles of square-shaped carved stones through the centuries. History has it that, having been built by the Spaniards during the 16th century, it was the bastion of the colonizers during their time until it was totally destroyed during world war II. Decades after its rebuilt, it now stands as one of the acclaimed and recommended places to visit in Manila for its rich history.

But if you would look a lot closer at each stone slab, one can clearly see how trees, plants and grasses grows out through some cracks and crevices. Well, one can argue that the cracks came before the plants and nothing to suggest that its was the plants own doing that lead to the cracks. I will subscribe to that partially, because this I also know for a fact - that plants are living and alive. And being alive means they have to grow no matter how slow and hard. It is its nature to persevere despite the "rocks" blocking its path. It will still grow, maybe around the rock, or even through the rock if it has to.

Therefore, a rock is stronger in mass-weight in its present form, until it starts to crack and weakened but plants are stronger in time and perseverance.

Thinking further about it, the key for the plant's survival and success is to be properly rooted and nourished with sunlight and water.

Question: Are we deeply rooted in God to persevere to be good in life despite the "rocks" around us.
Answer 1: If Yes, then praise God.
Answer 2: If No, then it is never too late to change ourselves.

Let us all seek God in all our thinking and ways.

God bless.

A Lesson in Prayer

Last night was the first time my wife and I would pray the rosary without my parents whom I accompanied to Macau International airport that afternoon on their trip back to Philippines. Our parents just concluded their three month of vacation in Zhuhai. To be perfectly honest about it, we only started our family rosary prayer time during our 9-day novena after Maia’s burial ( I know. Even in her after-life, our little angel has been and will always be a moving inspiration in our family life ). Now my parents made sure that we will keep our started and simple family tradition to pray together the rosary around 8 o’clock each night even after we all come back to China. And so we do.


Praying it regularly and solemnly, however, has always have at least two frequent obstacles (actually it is three for me as I struggle to keep away mental distractions while praying). First is my work, which, because of the far travel from office back to home highlighted with late night meetings whenever my German employer visits China, causes me to be late in going back home. In these cases, my wife and my parents are left with the only option to do it without me. Next and the more formidable one is Zek. Yup, you heard that right – my son is the second obstacle to our prayer time whenever his charm level reaches two. First level charm, succinctly, is when his actions are cutely harmless and amusing to watch. Level two, on the other hand, are actions consistent with draining the remaining patience in all of us as he jumps around the sofa and on our backs as if they were sofa extensions, shouting at the slightest reprimand, interrupting us only to inquire where is his spiderman action figure is, hiding our prayer booklet or his grandfather’s eyeglasses, covering our mouths or collecting all the rosaries and playing with them. To distract him, I would often have to let him stay in his playroom or watch a cartoon DVD while we pray.


Going back to the last night, my wife and I know something needs to be done differently to allow us to have at least a semblance of normalcy in praying the rosary. We were still trying to figure a way when all of a sudden, Zek approached us with his hands reaching out.


“Zek will pray”, he said with a slightly excited tone.


“OK”, my wife and I said in calmed unison.


And the ninth wonder of nature unfolded before our eyes!


Zek recited the Apostles’ Creed, the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be in near correctness and with demeanor of a theologian in undisturbed prayer mood. He took the lead of the first, third and fourth Sorrowful mysteries even if my wife has to adjust his fingers on every rosary bead and while giving a hint on when the Glory be will be. He recited ( I guess “murmured” will be the more appropriate term ) the Hail Holy Queen.His fascinating display went on until he has recited the seven responsorial prayer that his grandmother will say before finally ending our praying time.


My goodness gracious! My wife and I just realized that all those time that Zek seemed never interested to pray and doing his level two charms, he was actually learning it by heart and was in fact only waiting to be invited to participate with us.


So to my dear co-parents, never under-estimate your child’s capacity to learn.
Teach them your faith and let them actually practice it while under your guidance.
You’d be surprised at how much influence you can have on them.


God bless.

Makati and Ortigas Business District Mass Schedule

Dear Good Friend,

Here is a compiled list of mass schedules around the Makati and Ortigas Business Districts. It may give you information in case you find your self unable to attend mass in your parish. To the best of our knowledge, it is accurate. Just to be sure, please do check for yourself and send us a message.

MAKATI BUSINESS DISTRICT MASS SCHEDULES

Asian Institute of Management

Paseo de Roxas

Monday - Friday - 1230PM

First Friday, Saturday - 6:00PM

Sunday - 9:30AM

Ateneo Law School

Rockwell Center

Monday - Friday - 12:15PM, 6:00PM

Saturday - 5:15PM

25F Ayala Tower 1

Ayala Avenue

Monday to Friday, 11:30 AM to 12:00 NN

Bank of Commerce

Ayala Avenue

Wednesday, Friday - 12:15PM

Builder's Centre

Ground Floor

Salcedo St., Legaspi Village

Monday - Friday - 12:00NN

88 Corporate Center

Suite 905 (subject to change)

Sedeno St. corner Valero St.

First Friday: 12:15 PM

(Ash Wednesday Mass is also normally celebrated)

Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)

Sen Gil Puyat Avenue

Monday - Friday: 12:00 NN

Eastern Telecoms Plaza Penthouse

Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue

Monday - Friday - 12:00NN

Equitable PCIBank (now Banco de Oro)

Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel

Makati Avenue

Monday - Friday - 7:45AM, 12:15PM, 5:30PM

Greenbelt Park

Monday - Friday - 7:30AM, 12:15PM 5:45PM, 7:00PM

Saturday - 12:15PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM

Sunday - 7:15AM, 9:00AM, 10:30AM, 1200NN,

3:00PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM, 730PM

Glorietta Ayala Center

Wednesday, Saturday - 5:00PM

Sunday - 10:30AM

Makati Medical Center

9th floor Chapel or Ledesma Hall

Monday - Sunday - 7:30AM, 12:00NN, 4:00PM

Metrobank Plaza

Penthouse Annex Building

Sen Gil Puyat Avenue

Monday - Friday - 7:45 AM

PhilamLife Tower

Paseo de Roxas

9th Floor

Monday - Friday 12:15PM

Prudential Bank

3F Ayala Avenue

Wednesday - 12:00NN

4F RCBC Plaza

Ayala Avenue cor. Buendia

Monday - Friday - 12:00 NN to 1:00 PM

ORTIGAS BUSINESS DISTRICT MASS SCHEDULES

Chateau Verde Condo

Lobby

Valle Verde 1

First Friday Masses - 6:00PM

Sunday - 11:00AM

EDSA Shrine

Monday - Saturday - 6:30AM, 12:15NN, 5:30PM, 7:00PM

Sunday - 8:00AM, 9:30AM, 11:00AM, 12:15NN

3:00PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM, 7:30PM

Meralco Chapel

Meralco Compound

Meralco Avenue

Monday - Friday - 7:00AM, 12:00NN

RFM Auditorium

RFM Corporate Center

Pioneer cor. Sheridan Sts., Mandaluyong City

Monday - Friday - 12:00 NN

SM Megamall

Julia Vargas Avenue

Monday - Friday - 1215, 6PM

Saturday - 5:00PM, 7:00PM

Sunday - 9, 11AM, 1230, 2PM, 330PM, 5PM, 630PM

Stella Orientis Chapel

University of Asia and the Pacific

Josemaria Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center

Monday - Friday - 7:45AM, 12:05PM

Saturday - 12:05PM

Tektite Chapel

West Tower

Emerald Avenue

Monday - Friday - 12:15PM, 5:30PM

Special thanks to the following for the information they sent: Johnny, Paul, Mae, Ele, Rowel, RMD, Arlene, Yola, Marjie, Aly, Sheila, Ayie, http://manilacatholic.blogspot.com, http://intentiontotreat.blogspot.com, http://mass-schedules.com, Frank and Thea. Please email us for any corrections or updates. We'd like to add more mass schedules from the workplace, so please keep them coming.

Thanks and God bless.

The MabutingBalita.net Team