Friday, July 29, 2011

updates and countdowns


The countdown having been started roughly two days ago, I’ve finally wrapped up the arrangements for the trip. I’ve just gone about purchasing the ticket for my trip to Madrid. I’ll be going on a Qatar Airlines flight that would bring me to Doha and after a ten-hour stop-over and seven hours of flight would bring me to land en el aeropuerto de Barajas, in Madrid. The day would be on the 27 of next month, less than a month from now.

I’m actually looking forward to the trip. It’s like going on a new adventure, turning on a new leaf, starting a new chapter. I think I would look at it as a chance to correct things, things that I should’ve done the first time I was in Spain but did not do, like, study more, play more enjoy more, pray more.

Like what I said, it might as well be a new beginning.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Rainy Wednesday

The rain is pouring unceasingly upon the capital and its environs as I type with ease in the comfort of the recreation area of the Bahay Pari here in San Carlos Seminary Pastoral Complex. I'm here in Manila in order to get my visa which has just recently been released. The big trip is all set, and God willing we are definitely setting it on the 27th of August, exactly a month from now. 

With the abundant rain outside, and with relatively nothing else to do but to relax and rest until the skies clear somewhat tomorrow, allowing me to return to Leyte, I'm sharing these finds from my forays into the net.






Monday, July 25, 2011

This morning as we celebrate the feast of St. James the Apostle, I thought of celebrating it by posting this:
Today also marks the beginning of my counting backwards until my departure for the land placed under the patronage of this Saint...Santiago Apostol, intercede por Espana!

GOOD DAY SUNDAY

 We've been able to have a successful opening of the Seminary Days Festivities yesterday in the seminary yesterday. We were quite apprehensive most especially because of the gloomy skies, which remained overcast for the whole day. The skies threatend to rain down on us at one point of the opening program but luckily it remained generally favorable to the outdoor activity. It began to pour buckets almost right after the exhibition game between the seminary Apostles varsity and a selection from EVSU. Somebody must have been smiling from above. 

Yet despite of the gloomy grey overtones, the afternoon was enlivened by color and movement from the presentations of both the seminarians and the guest performers. For this year we chose the names of five of the seven churches of the book of the Revelation: Ephesus (for the officials), Pergamum, Sardis, Thyatira and Laodicea. This is going to be my last Seminary Days for a long time, that is, until I return from my studies. 

seminarians in costume

the officials

i'm with another team

I took this shot from the staircase of the Sacred Heart park. The color is amazing...

The lighting of the torch

Team Pergamum presenting

Team Sardis presenting their pambato



guest performers from Tanauan


The seminarians in their production number.


I was entasked to give the closing remarks towards the end of the program.




Good day, Sunday!!!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Heroism of my Ancestors: Fr. Nicanor Acebedo

I was doing some historical readings on Philippine Church history lately just to pass away the hours when I stumbled across this excerpt from a letter of Bishop Thomas Hendrick of Cebu, who narrated the atrocities which had been committed on priests in his diocese during the war years at the turn of the 20th century, during the American occupation. The atrocities were committed by American soldiers under orders from General Jacob Smith, who verbally ordered them to "turn Samar into a howling wilderness".  At this time the whole of Eastern Visayas was still under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Cebu.  

"One of them, Father Nicanor Acebedo, parish priest of Basey, Samar, was watercured by Captain, now Major Erwin F. Glenn of the 5th U.S. Infantry now stationed in Nebraska...his assistant priest was also watercured, at the same time; both were injured for life, the assistant's reason being impaired...I forgot to say that Fr. Nicanor was tortured because he rowed from Basey to Leyte to get rice for his people, which was against military orders..."

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

What "Waiting" used to mean in the airports and the wonders of technology: confessions of a neophyte techie


There was a time when waiting in the airport for a scheduled flight meant running around in circles around your parents and screaming to your heart’s content. That was what I thought as a child. During those few times that my mom brought me with her on vacation to Leyte while we were still living in Makati, that was what I did to pass the time. Later on, well into my teens and in my college years, during those few times (which was virtually nil) that I had to fly, I just contented myself with sitting quietly and looking around.

            The hours were quite bearable when I finally took my first international flight after college, thanks to the sights within the airport itself, and due to the entertainment featured in the plane. True, the first time is never boring, but during successive flights I just contented myself with sleeping.

            When I became a priest I began to fly and travel with more frequency. Travel, especially by plane, became more of an option, due to necessity and financial means. I used to bring a book to help me pass the time.

            Technology and, I would admit, fad, would change all that. When I was in high school I was not much interested in gadgets, or as what I heard other people describe them once, “toys for boys”. I was much more interested in reading back then, and I never even imagined that I would be owning gadgets later on in life. At first it was the cellphone, with its games and other applications. But then, I was never keen on using it; my relationship—if you could call it that way—with what a lot of people would describe as an indispensable accessory nowadays is purely functional. And then there was the iPod. There was a time when I got really interested in listening to music and using it to browse the Internet before flights. Now it has suffered the same fate as my mobile phone. It has become more functional for me, as it contains my breviary and other things that could come in handy, especially during travel, since it saves me the hassle of lugging heavy tomes in my bag.

            Now, as I wait to board my flight, I’m writing this blog entry with my MacBook, which is the newest addition to my gadgets. I would be hesitant to describe myself as “techie”, nor would I say that I’m actually interested much in gadgets, but rather that the circumstances that I presently face in my life favor that I have such things. To keep myself occupied nowadays, aside from other things, I busy myself with tinkering with my MacBook. That’s a far cry from running around by your parent’s knees while waiting in a mangy airport. Sosyal, anu? (Trendy, isn’t it?)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

HO-HUM

Lord help that I may be able to think of more constructive ways of how to spend my last weeks here on this earth. I mean in this Filipino earth, since I'm getting set to fly to my 'new adventure' come this August. This weekend I'll be off to Manila make a penultimate hurdle before getting gloriously ejected from the motherland for the interview for visa application. I'll be blogging more...soon.