Riffs

Slash, one of my favorite guitar players will be releasing his solo album soon. I am excited! I remember him, years ago, sharing in a guitar magazine about some of his guitar riffs that were still incomplete and never made it to any of his band songs. I guess in a way these reflections will qualify as that, some disjointed thoughts that I hope I will come around to enfleshing further...

The Gift of Community
To be a priest in the community is always rewarding. Not in the worldly sense but really in the true sense of the life of Christ - Loved though at times misunderstood. Crucified and yet life-giving. I have been welcomed in homes broken and yet with families continuing to share of themselves. I have been allowed to journey with lives lost and yet always seeking for something more than the world can offer. I have been engaged in meetings, plannings and dialogues that were often bloody but most of the time fruitful. This life of journeying may be often stressful but almost always fulfilling. This is the gift of the priesthood. This is the gift of the community. I am always grateful.

Mass of the Holy Spirit
I remember when we were children. I always look forward to summer. I guess every kid does. For me, one of the reasons was kite-flying. We had a big lot at the back of our house that is convenient for such childly pleasures. I started with making a very basic and small kite. I had someone to teach me, my elder brother. And of course, I have friends and classmates and neighbors whom kite-flying is a shared obsession. It is never fun when done alone. And I guess its never for the money. You can always bet that a kid will choose to fly a kite the whole day rather than be paid for an hour of cleaning the house. And its never about the money. You can buy a fully finished kite nowadays but where is the fun in that? Some have been able to make big, beautiful kites that others offer to buy - I guess some are born talented, and enterpreneurs. There are times when the strings break, which almost always subject the unfortunate one to jokes and ridicules which one will never hear the end of until another kite's string breaks. When my kite got caught in in the tree, I spent fruitless efforts trying to get it back to the point of giving up. Yet, when another day comes, there I was making a new kite, dreaming of new heights and trees to conquer. No child gives up kite flying because of a failed effort. It was always about the next kite, the next wind. No one can also predict when a bully comes around, with strings glued with broken glasses ready to break the strings of those foolhardy enough to come near. I have friends who fought with them, and they often pay the price. For us who believes in flower power, we always thought it best to stay away and enjoy but still often on the look-out. There are times when there will be no wind and no amount of running will make the kite take to flight. We have learned from those who have been around for some time how to read the weather or even call the wind by whistling. I never knew back then how to whistle and I have to learn and practice if I really want to go out and fly a kite. Soon, I dreamt of flying not just an ordinary kite but a big one. Like what one of my eccentric cousins made. A big one that it was said it can carry a man. He was often a legend in our circle of friends. He often says to us, its never easy to make such a big kite, what with the expenses, and with people shaking their heads saying it will never fly. And when they do launch it with people gathering around, they hold the big strings with hands covered with shirts to avoid being cut. I guess that's the price being paid by legends. I have never made the Kite. I know Ill come around to it. Someday...

Baliktad
Ang dahilan kung bakit minsan ang buhay ay nagkakandaloko ay dahil sa ginagawang baliktad ang mga bagay-bagay. Tulad ng kung ano dapat and gawing sekreto at hindi. May mga bagay na di dapat sinisekreto pero ayun, tinatago. tulad ng kasalanan. kaya nga tinatago kasi maili, nakakahiya. Kapag dinala sa labas, ibinunyag, ikinumpisal at inihingi ng tawad, tinatanggal natin ang pagkagapos at pagkaalipin sa kasalanan at nagiging malaya tayo. May mga bagay na dapat isekreto pero halos buong bayan ay pinapaalam. Tulad ng pagdadasal at pagtulong. Alin ba ang habol? Makaugnayan ang Diyos at matulungan ang kapwa? O ipaalam sa lahat na kausap natin ang Diyos at may natulungan tayo? Baliktad ang mundo natin dahil ginusto natin. Nasa atin ang susi.

Hospitality
May kultura tayong nakakatuwa at nakakatawa. Pag kumakain, palaging may matitirang isang pirasong ulam. Marahil dala ng ugali natin na pagpapaubaya sa mas nangangailangan. Kaya lang, madalas, eto ay nasasayang. Hospitality is sharing what you have and who you are. Not spending more than what we can afford to share. It is sharing with others in joy what we can. Katulad ni Abraham ng tinanggap niya ang tatlong lalaking bisita. Hindi nya hinayaang lumampas sila na hindi man lang maranasan ang kanyang kagandahang loob. At dahil dito, binigyan siya ng pangako at regalo mula sa Diyos na hindi niya lubos na inaasahan. And this is hospitality as well. To welcome God fully and trust confidently in His promise, in His covenant.

Sts. Peter and Paul
May mga bagay na di na natin mapili. Na tayo's ipanganak. Na tayo ay maging lalaki o babae, matangkad o mababa. May mga bagay din tayo kung saan tayo ay makakapagpili, kung ka=pamilya o kapuso. May mga talento tayo na maari natin i-develop, kumanta, sumayaw, pumalakpak. Ang mga eto ay biyaya ng Diyos. Binigay sa atin dahil sa may dahilan siya. Di dahil wala siyang magawa, dahil feel nya, dahil trip niya. May dahilan. Si San Pedro at San Pablo, dalawang taong ibang iba ang pag-uugali at kakayahan, pero parehong haligi ng pananampalataya. Dahil ginamit nila ang mga biyayang bigay sa kanila para kay Kristo. Sa iyo, anong mga biyayang bigay sayo ang naihandog mo na kay Kristo?

a million reasons
I was doing the treadmill stress test when the attending nurse asked me - "how long have you been a...you know..." and then, with a sheepish smile, made a grand gesture of the sign of the cross. 5 years, I said. Wow, she exclaimed. No regrets? I shook my head. You never thought of leaving? I don't exactly know what hit me but I said, I can think of a million reasons why I should leave the priesthood. And, I only have one reason for staying. And she gave me that questioning, inquisitive look. And I smiled, and made a grand gesture of the sign of the cross...