Day by day

July 23, 1816, 200 years ago, twelve young priests made a pledge to the Our Lady of Fourviere in France. That was the beginning of the Society of Mary. One of these young men, Marcellin Champagnat had a vision of starting an institute of Brothers dedicated to Christian education particularly to the least priviledged children. As a newly assigned assistant parish priest, his encounter with children who have no knowledge about God fast-tracked the fruition of his dream as he got two young men to join him and become Brothers which happened in La Valla on January 2, 1817. He was just 27 years old that time (which is my age now). Taken yesterday, you’ll see two old men in the seating middle of the photo who celebrated their Jubilee or 60 years as religious Brothers in a very important day to all Marists. For me, 60 years is already a lifetime. 

One of them, Br. Gabe, told his secret on how is he able to stay as a religious for sixty years. 

Just live today, that’s what he said. 

As he was speaking, his words echo the words of our fellow Brother who said “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” (Mt. 6:34)

O, dear Lord, three things I pray: to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly, day by day.

—Saint Richard of Chichester

An April fool’s joke: my vocation story, the 19th century prankster, and the statue in Vatican

I bought a plane ticket to General Santos on April 1, 2011. A week earlier, I resigned from my job in the call centre. The company HR was puzzled when they’ve read in my resignation letter my reason. They were wondering what is religious/consecrated life. In truth, I too was grasping what kind of life I was going to enter. The only way for me to find out is to “come and see”. When an Australian manager said not to stop me since it is “God’s will”, that made explaining easier. Since it is a vocation, a calling, they approved my resignation and let me go.

“If the Lord does not build a house, then in vain do its builders labor”

“…of what use are the skills of the gardener and of the farmer, if God does not bless their work and give the increase? Let us take care not to rely on our talents; they are useless for doing good; we shall use them in vain and wear ourselves out to no purpose if God is not with us…” –St. Marcellin Champagnat, Founder of the Marist Brothers