BORAWAN ISLAND: More Than Expected

There was much excitement as the third week of November ushered in. With the height of the APEC Summit held in Manila, came the indulgence of having four days of vacation. This is to reduce traffic especially along the places where meetings are to be held (or did it really reduce?). Syempre, because it's vacation time, people working in the Metro went to different places to enjoy the once-in-a-while vacation. For us teachers, it was more of another Sem Break, so we really spent it going somewhere and taking four days-off.
After thinking where to go, my friends persuaded me to join them in going on a trip down south. I even thought of not joining them to save money, pero ang ending, I called them a few hours before departure. I joined them for four days of sun and sand along the beaches of Quezon.

And so, we have the island beaches of Borawan, Puting Buhangin and Dampalitan in Padre Burgos, Quezon. This was actually my first time to join them in their adventures. And for an unplanned trip as this, it was more than expected.

MUST VISIT: #ako

#ako is an unusual walk-in recollection featuring the different faces of poverty within us. As we enter the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, we are invited to take a closer look inside ourselves, and enter those spaces of poverty, which we neglect most of the time.

The recollection-cum-exhibit runs until December 20, 2015 at Garden of Saints, San Jose de Navotas Parish, M. Naval St., San Jose, Navotas City. (click the address for the Map)

Shots Ni Benefactius is the Official Photographer of this activity.

Thoughts...

God has created me to do him some definitive service; 

he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. 

I have my mission - I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. 

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. 

He has not created me for nothing. I shall do good. I shall do his work. 

Therefore, I will trust him, whatever I am. 

I cannot be thrown away. 

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve him; 

in perplexity, my perplexity may serve him; 

if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him. 

He does nothing in vain. He knows what he is about. 

He may take away my friends. 

He may throw me among strangers. 

He may make me feel desolate, 

make my spirits sink, 

hide my future from me - 

still he knows what he is about. 

- John Henry Cardinal Newman

PRAYER OF ENTRUSTMENT

(Fruit of Contemplation from my Silent Retreat, Oct 30-Nov. 01, 2015)

LA NAVAL 2015: #SalamatPoNANAY!

DEAR NANAY,

I could still remember clearly that day: October 10, 2010. I was in a middle of a total chaos inside and out. I was struggling then to stand up after my many falls. At that moment I saw you in the high altar of Santo Domingo, I felt more than attraction. It was love at first sight. Since then, I made a promise to visit you, to get to know you more, to begin loving you.

THE FIFTEEN PROMISES TO THOSE WHO PRAY THE ROSARY WITH DEVOTION

Our Life, Our Sweetness, Our Hope! (La Naval 2015)

THE FIFTEEN PROMISES TO THOSE WHO PRAY THE ROSARY WITH DEVOTION

(from St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche)

1. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.

2. I promise my special protection and the greatest Graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.

3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against Hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.

4. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant Mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men [and women] from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.

5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.

6. Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself [herself] to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the Grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.

8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.

9. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.

10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.

11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.

12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.

13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.

14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only Son, Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Pakikiramay kay Maria sa Gabi ng Biyernes Santo

MATER DOLOROSA, Santo Domingo Church, Quezon City

Mapanglaw ang gabing ito, Maria. 

Masakit ang nakalipas na mga oras, samantalang nakikita mo si Jesus na pinapatay ng kapwa mo Hudyo. 
Bawat sampal at hampas, bawat libak at paghamak, bawat sigaw ng paghihirap ay mistulang balaraw na tumusok sa iyong Puso. Ang kamatayan niya ay nasaksihan mo, at buong tapang mong pinagmasdan ang kanyang huling sandali. 

Ngayong gabi, wala na ang iyong Anak, 
at ikaw ay nangungulila. Nag-iisa. 

Sa gabing ito, hayaan mo, Mahal na Ina, 
na samahan ka namin sa iyong pangungulila. 
Hayaan mong iparamdam namin sa iyo, O aming Ina, 
na kami ay iyong mga anak rin, 
na mahal ka namin, 
na nais ka naming sintahin. 

Sasamahan ka namin, tulad ng pagsama mo sa amin 
sa bawat tuwa at lungkot ng aming buhay. 
Sasamahan ka namin, samantalang naghihintay 
sa katuparan ng pangako ni Hesus: 
ang kanyang maluwalhating Muling Pagkabuhay. 

NESTLE WELLNESS CAMPUS AT TANGOS NHS

This is technically my first post about my new workplace: Tangos National High School. I teach MAPEH for Grade 8 and 10 students since July.

An English major teaching MAPEH???

Yes. Because we must be open to all possibilities which come to our lives everyday.

One of the first undertakings I had here is the Wellness Dance Moves, a part of the advocacy for healthy living through having a healthy lifestyle and eating good food. And one of the best ways to promote this advocacy is through dance.

Of course, Tangosians prepared for this. Here is a glimpse of what happened yesterday.

Life here in Tangos NHS is a lot more adventurous, but I know God placed me here for a better purpose. I will post more on my new home in the coming days.

THE STORY CONTINUES. THE JOURNEY CONTINUES. (#Dann25 Birthday Essay 2015)

It's been ten years since I wrote my first Birthday Essay inside our classroom at ICPS. I was a Fourth Year student then. No. I was a bullied student then, for so many reasons. I was still searching for myself back then. A few months before graduation, I examined myself whether I am ready to face reality or not. How can a weak student like me face the coming challenges when at High School people consider me as nothing?

Ten years after that first write-up, I write this Birthday Essay, not anymore as a student, but as a licensed teacher, and as a Dominican Lay. The road I took was really rough and tough. I met lots of people and faced lots of challenges. I fell down and stood up. And yet, I am still here, at the threshold of time, battling against a serious sickness, yet smiling and giving a thumbs up to a brand new day ahead.

On the Feast of Our Holy Father Saint Dominic de Guzman...