Finally, Rome Sweet Home!

I'm done reading ROME SWEET HOME: Our Journey to Catholicism by Dr. Scott and Kimberly Hahn. Finally I had that drive to read the book.

It was in high school way back 2002 when I was first introduced to Dr. Hahn's theological works. I was given a book entitled Hail, Holy Queen which was one of his best works on the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was left untouched on my desk for some years until I read it. I thought it was very good and since then got fond of reading more of his works. The last one I read was Consuming the Word in 2013, the 15th book authored by him which I have.

My godfather, together with many friends in the Catholic apologetics, recommended I read Rome Sweet Home. The only copy I found was a newsprint from a local bookstore. I was not enticed to read it. I scanned a few pages, took a glimpse at the pictures, then placed it back on shelf. I felt it was boring. After reading many of his works defending the Catholic teaching, it seemed that his conversion story were mere reiterations of the more detailed experiences Dr. Scott Hahn recounts on his other books.

Why just now? My grandmother gave me a copy as a New Year's present. Upon receiving it, I said to myself, "Wow, thanks but I have a copy already." But this one is a new print and it looks cool. I started reading it and in three days, voila! I'm done. Congratulations to me.

Well I hope I'm back to my regular reading habit of finishing at least a book a week. What struck me most in their conversion story is not the process but the realization that many Catholics take for granted the faith they have, the faith we have. How many of us Catholics really know the core of our beliefs? It is not only a matter of believing and dogmatizing the Church and God as if they are mere theological characters but real, real, existing beings that should be known by heart. It is not just knowing Jesus but really getting to His very person and encountering Him. It is not only lining for communion or receiving the sacraments as if ordinary rituals but seeing the meanings behind these symbols and acts of faith. Maybe that is my it is called, the "core", it is the heart (from the Latin cor).

Many of us know the bible, what it is, but not what it contains. We know the books of the bible but we do not know what they really want to tell us. We just often read them as a literary work or as an ordinary book of texts but not opening it in order to open our hearts and minds to a divine reality. Does it really need to be a foreigner to explain things to natives? This question struck me in the reading of their conversion story. Sometimes, if not too often, it needs someone from the outside to show us what our culture is (sociologically speaking). The Catholic faith is so rich in doctrine, in tradition, in scripture, in God's ways, but we do not usually see these because we've grown too lax or too comfortable with what we have. "Oh we're Catholic and we know that the Church holds the truth." but when faced with the question, "Then what truths does you Church teach?" We don't have an answer.

A good way to jumpstart the year 2014. Pope Francis calls for a Church that is active. The Year of Faith that challenged every Catholic to restudy and relearn the core of faith has been fruitful. Now the pontiff is challenging us to go further more, evangelize today. After this, next reading in line is his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.

5 star for Dr. Scott and Kimberly Hahn's ROME SWEET HOME.

Year-End Review

2013 was one heck of a great year. It brought not only new beginnings and opportunities but a lot more room for personal growth and improvement. This year gave way to a more intensive and integral formation. When a friend of mine asked me one time, "How have you changed for the past year?" I answered this way:

"The formation year made me grow into a more sociable person, one with confidence and a heart for others. I was able to be more sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others and taking into account their experiences not only mine."

The photo reminds me of the four pillars of seminary formation: Community (Upper right; with John Bartolome, Stevenson Labrague, and Niel Lopez), Academic (Upper left; an article I wrote before), Spiritual (Lower left; as the director for the seminary choir), and Apostolate (Lower right; with the Youth of ICP).

I thank the seminary for molding me according to its four pillars: Community, Academic, Spiritual, and Apostolate aspects. I've learned more to be with others, to bond in brotherhood, to live not in fear before superiors but rather in loving obedience and trust. In this community I learned how to share my resources and to make sacrifices for its betterment. It taught me how to level before others and to know where I position myself in different circumstances.

Academically, I believe I am not that intelligent. I know many things. I like being practical and to use my common sense. I believe there is always room for learning. Although I may say that I've lagged behind my usual reading habit, it is something to be recovered. Getting low grades are not a failure for me but a reminder for others that intelligence is not based on numerical grades but on how we are able to live it. Spiritually, 2013 has left a mark on my soul that demands for more time for serious prayer. There's more to form in terms of discipline and focus. Still, serving God is at the heart of my actions. Lastly, this year leaves a memory in me as I had my first apostolate in one of the small parishes in the diocese. Not only that, it was an experience that reminds me of the words of Pope Francis as he calls for a church that is active and ready to get dirty because of her missionary works.

From the Upper left with Azra Kabiri, a close friend now working at UPLB-IMSP; Upper right with my sibling Chin Pua who has finished his ChemEng course; Lower left with Litoy as we take on a KrispyKreme donut; and Lower right with Cayle who has finished his ElecEng, all from the same university.

2013 has been a good year for family bonding. My brothers were able to finish their college as the youngest of us still copes in his elementary schooling. Reminiscing the moments when I think why I am still studying when my brothers are graduating and planning for a job, my friends are getting married or are taking their MS's, others working and building a career, while I'm stuck in an old seminary building taking another bachelor's degree. It's unlikely for a UP graduate to take another bachelors degree. Yet all these sink in before the year telling that God has plans and we just go with the flow in the river of His grace.

There is always room for growth. Dreams are fulfilled when we take are steps in reaching the stars. The coming 2014 would surely be like the old passing years: full of surprises, opening new opportunities, meeting new friends, stronger bondings, new life directions, etc. We do not just leave behind the past year as if it is something to be forgotten. 2013 has taught me so much and all these are to be treasured. We look at the past with reflection, learning from its lessons and contemplating from its directions. We look at the past as a springboard towards a new and better tomorrow. 2014 enters and we make room for its blessings!

At the Laiya beach in Batangas; a photo with my parents in the Pakil church; with Niel Lopez during the closing celebration of the Year of Faith and a photo opp after a mass in STCJP with Eya Torres and Maja Espinas (old friends from charismatic youth group).

 2013 was a time for inner reflection. It was a journey of self-discovery and a renewed sense of dignity. It was a year of bonding with the family and new friends. Old friends come to meet you and it is refreshing to know that old bonds still exist amidst new people coming in our lives.

Meeting "The Abbot"

It is a rare opportunity that someone gets to meet one of the brilliant minds in the theological sphere of the contemporary period. On November 21, I was fortunate to have met the Rev. Dr. Heinrich Josef Maximilian Heim, O.Cist., Abbot of the Cistercian abbey in Germany. He came to the Philippines to celebrate his 25th sacerdotal anniversary with Rev. Fr. Gabriel Chumacera, O.Cist., who was once a seminary formator and a clergy from the Diocese of San Pablo. He also came to celebrate his thanksgiving as he had his final vows in the Cistercian community.

Fr. Maximilian Heim, O.Cist., was one of the first three recipients of the Ratzinger Prize in Theology.

As the director of the Schola Cantorum, I arranged to songs for his Mass. The abbot was grateful that he told me after the celebration, "Thank you! Wonderful that you used the de Angelis!" I knew that the abbot was not fluent in english so we sang Gregorian chant and some Italian and Spanish propers.

Members of the Schola Cantorum with the Abbot, Fr. Maximilian Heim, O.Cist. and Rev. Fr. Gabriel Chumacera, O.Cist. in the center. The photo was taken at the San Pablo Cathedral.

Greeting the Abbot after his Mass.

 Surprisingly on that very same day, a seminarian knocked on my dormitory room and as I opened it he told me that the rector asked me to assist in the Holy Hour as Fr. Maximilian presides. It is the first time that the abbot would expose the Blessed Sacrament in english and within it pray the Vespers. We prayed for the increase of Religious and Priestly Vocations during the hour of adoration followed by the office.

Fr. Maximilian Heim exposes the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel of the St. Peter's College Seminary.

After the evening hour of prayer, the community was fortunate to have a colloquium with our two Cistercian visitors. They related to us their lives in their religious community and also spiritual sharings. I asked the abbot at the end of the session, "What made you so interested with Pope Benedict XVI  that you were able to write such an extensive work?" With this he told us that the book was not really something he intended to be published. It was his doctoral thesis which the Ignatius Press kindly offered him to be translated in english and published.

The abbot with the philosophy seminarians of St. Peter's College Seminary after the colloquium.

The Rev. Abbot and I discussing about Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) as seminarians tried to have a photo taken with him.

I told the abbot that I am doing my thesis on the philosophy of Relativism wherein I take on John Paul II and Benedict XVI as key luminaries. He said he is interesting and gave me helpful insights.
I hope to meet him before he leaves for Germany and would ask him to autograph my copy of his work.

Journey with Mary of the Rosary

October 31 marks the end of the month of the holy rosary. To culminate it, let me share these wonderful sacramentals that have been journeying with me in my spiritual life. Much of them were given of which I am very much appreciative of (f.y.i. If someone would give me a rosary either as a birthday, thank you, christmas, etc. gift, I am very much delighted. It is a sign of Mary's call to pray harder and I remember the giver in my prayers).

This one was a surprise gift to me by Niño Rickson Acero, my co-seminarian and one close to my heart. He made it especially and in time for my birthday. It bore in it the 4 major basilicas of Rome as it's major beads with the salve bead that of Jesus the Eternal and High Priest. I had this held by the Blessed Virgin in the shrine at the seminary on her birthday. I keep this near me whenever I am in bed at night. I keeps evil forces away.

Grateful for helping her on her thesis (on the Trinity), Sr.Ma.Joy of the Leaven of the Immaculate Heart of Mary had this personally made for me. She said thank you coupled with her prayers. It is a wooden benedictine rosary. I remember all the religious and pious men and women when I pray with this rosary.

When he entered the Benedictine Monastery, Kuya Debaron Tivi learned how to make a rosary. This is a benedictine rosary from cat's eye beads. This is another of my favorites especially when I pray for vocations and the priesthood. My special intentions go to the maker of this rosary as well as Fr. Jerry Gaela, then rector, who gave the piece of Jerusalem Cross that I attached on its salve bead.

This rosary was made by members of the SSpSA. It was a graduation gift from my godmother, Lina Ilag, in 2010. I remember the intentions of the Society who made this as well as my godmothers in prayer through this.

This is my very first rosary given to me by my godfather, Leopold Ilag. He gave it to me after his trip from the Holy Land. A piece of stone from the Jordan River accompanies it but I seemed to have lost it way way back (I dropped it among the gravel near Lola Nana's house and I couldn't find it anymore, sorry). This is my favorite as I still keep it in my pocket. Maybe this has been with me for almost 20 years already and one of my most sentimental mementos.

When I had my first retreat in the seminary, I forgot to bring my rosary (which was unusual). I left it in my other pants. This came from the Capuchin Retreat Ceneter in Lipa and I was able to use this as a rosary just 3 times. All the rest, I use it to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy every Fridays.

This is a Christmas present from Fr.Nino then our Formation Director.

Get something from your room which has special meaning for you and give it to your batchmate- that was the instruction. This "summarized" rosary is especially themed with Our Lady of Guadalupe. The cross bears a magnifying glass where you can see the image of Our Lady. This was given by Jefferson Carmona, now our Liturgy chairman. Using this I remember his intentions, that of the batch, and for the defense of the culture of life.

This wooden rosary was a souvenir in the opening of our small religious store in the seminary. It was our formation batch that initiated in opening one to sustain a fund-raiser for the Institute.

This wooden rosary came from Rome. It is simple indeed and has an oak casing (the image of the Immaculate Heart and Sacred Heart interchange). This I keep in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady MMediatrix of All Grace, in my room atop my bookshelf. I had this when I was mid-college already.

The Wisdom of the Pope

Pope Benedict exhorts the young to "love."

"Separating" Church and State

December 2, 1956 - President Ramon Magsaysay, with wife Luz, read the Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

 

 

Recently I found an old picture of the Consecration of the Philippines to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in December 2, 1956. It was President Ramon Magsaysay who read the prayer. Beside him was his first lady, Ms. Luz Magsaysay. In a souvenir publication for the Second National Eucharistic Congress of the Philippines, it recounts how the president strongly and willingly pursued this endeavor "even if it meant his political graveyard... He received thousands of threatening letters and telegrams urging him not to read the act of consecration. The President, with clear and unhalting voice, read the formula of consecration."

A journey to the inner self

"Many cry to God, but not with the voice of the soul, but with the voice of the body; only the cry of the heart, of the soul, reaches God."
-Saint Augustine

"We set forth our petitions before God, not in order to make known to Him our needs and desires, but rather so that we ourselves may realize that in these things it is necessary to turn to God for help."
-Saint Thomas Aquinas

This 30th Sunday in the Ordinary Time we are reminded of how our internal disposition in prayer is important. How do we approach the throne of grace, with humility and confidence or with boastfulness and pride? No one is righteous before the infinite majesty of God. No one is worthy to stand before His presence. Yet in this unworthiness God tells us that we are not worthless. Still one who humbles himself will be exulted; from our imperfections, there strength builds up confidence to approach God and tell Him how we are dependent on Him.

I remembered talking with a priest the other day and asked what is the most important aspect in human formation. He said it is prayer and spirituality. But there is this specific part in prayer that he gave emphasis and which is given less attention nowadays- that of what he called "internalization." It is a going to the inner most depths of one's self. It is a journey within to see and search God in one's heart. God dwells in each one and it is in this journey that we find not only God but who we are as His created beings. We come to an examination of our values, our morals, our actions, and totality in light of God's wonderful work for us.