An encounter with a Dominican priest

MALAYBALAY CITY, MINDANAO — After the Easter vigil this Saturday night, we had a festive dinner followed by socials with matching drinks and dessert. After getting my allowance (which is not that much), I was talking to Br. Romy and asked him about the Starex vehicle that broke down in Damulog. Since his group was on the broken vehicle driven by Br. Joe that arrived at 8pm last Monday, I mentioned about our retreat facilitator and how he started the retreat with an orientation.

The Habit
Our retreat facilitator, Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., is a Dominican priest who was the former Rector of University of Santo Tomas. When he entered the Manresa conference room here in a Jesuit Retreat House, he was wearing his Habit. His wearing of Habit is not about his being a Dominican Order of Preachers giving a retreat in a Jesuit retreat house (while co-presiding a Mass with a Jesuit priest, they assured us that it’s not yet the end of the world). He emphasised at the start of this week long retreat that his attire is to remind us that the success of the retreat mainly depends on the disposition of the listener, meaning us Marist Brothers present.

The greatest truths are the simplest ones
There are lots of take aways from the seven sessions but I will mention the simplest ones since St. Thomas Aquinas said that the greatest truths are the simplest ones.

On poverty
1. “When God is all we have, we realize that God is all we need.”

On Sinning
1. “There are no private sins. All sins are communal (1 Cor. 12:26).”
2. “Sin brings its own punishment (Deut.6:15).”
3. “Unconfessed Habitual Sin causes Moral Anesthesia.”
4. “If the devil cannot make you Sin, he will make you busy.”
5. “If I am full of myself, I am empty.”
6. “Hurt people hurt people.”

On Change
1. “Only the dead does not change.”

On dreaming
1. “You cannot outdream God.”

On love
1. “We become what we love.”
2. “We cannot love that which we do not understand.”

On Forgiveness
1. “Forgiveness does not change the past but enlarges the future.”
2. “Even when reconciliation is not possible, forgive.”
3. “If one forgives, one must remember.”

On classics
1. “A classic is timeless because it is forever timely.”

On hermeneutics
1. “Every translation is an interpretation.”

On presence
1. “A bra is someone close to the heart and is there to support.”

On peaceful living
1. “A peaceful life is an orderly life.”

There are lots worth mentioning and I’ll update this post once I remember them.

How to keep smiling as you wake up in the morning?

For some reason, waking up for me is pleasurable for the past two days. This is strange since I usually don’t wake up during my phone’s alarm. And whenever I wake up, I feel unwell. It’s either I still wanted to extend my sleep or I feel like having a fever. And the reason? If there comes the time when I will find waking up at 5:30am in the morning, that would be a good reason to feel well in the waking up. But so far, waking up during these two days are the reasons for me to smile. Is it because of a cool temperature or an uninterrupted sleep? I think that would be a yes for both. So later this night, as I lay down on my bed, I will let go of anything that burdens me be it anger, heartache, unfinished work, or whatever. As my Brother said, let tomorrow worry about itself. Let go.

On Forgiveness

“It’s the love that God sees and not the action itself,” I told my group mates in our faith sharing. The session is like what we did last year in one of the vocation jamborees in Mindanao. But thankfully, we were not hurried this time and the smaller groups, with 5 to 6 members, is really enough for us to keep the conversation lively as compared with a larger group population.

“To forgive someone is to remember the hurt and not forget them,” I again shared after a groupmate asked me about forgiveness. I then followed that I (1st person emphasis) can say that I have already forgiven if I remember the events but the negative feelings already died down. I’m a bit surprised with my thoughts. Is this really the way I’m going to witness my faith in Christ? Maybe yes. If only I could eliminate the WYD’s theme in my mind. I’m actually lacking a good night sleep throughout this week because of the stress I’m feeling about giving a talk on writing. Lack of exercise has contributed to this but with our overnight activity in NDMU, maybe I need to drink more Chamomile tea.