For Booklovers

My sister called me up the other day to remind me about my two boxes of personal things I deposited in her place for safekeeping. That was 7 years ago when I brought those boxes to her because I had no place in the parish to store them. But now that I have my own book shelf built in my room, I had those boxes picked up yesterday. One of the boxes is full of some of my favorite books I collected as a seminarian. Although I have already read them some 8-15 years ago I decided to start re-reading them. As one of my philo professors kept on telling us, "sa bawat pag-uulit, palaging may bago." I read them as a seminarian before, now I am re-reading them as a priest. Maybe I will see details from a different perspective which I did not take notice of before. Here are the first five of them. Those who are interested may borrow them but with a promise to take care of them like it has some Harry Potter-like prophecy:



Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones by Ann Head - I grabbed the photo above from Amazon Books website. My copy is the 1972 edition which Fr. Albert and I found in a Book Sale store in SM way back in 1989. My copy is now dilapidated because almost every seminarian in our college seminary borrowed it. It is about teenage marriage and how the families of Bo Jo and Julie coped with it ( why were seminarians so engrossed with that plot? just asking...). Bo Jo was the high school football star while Julie was a carefree, popular 16-year old. But this one's for all ages.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder - Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things to good people? Or is it really as simple and as predictable as that? Five different people fell from a footbridge over a deep gorge somewhere in Lima, Peru. A monk begins a "scientific investigation" (complete with a table on their usefulness, goodness and piety when they were still alive) into the lives of those five to find out if it was divine intervention which ended their lives or capricious fate.


A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth - One of the first novels I have read written by an Indian that made me interested in Indian/Hindu culture. The book is the longest I have read with 1,474 pages. Perhaps longer than any Harry Potter book because the font size is small. It is basically a love story. The tale of Lata and her mother's attempts in finding a suitable boy for her. In the process we are given a course on Indian Culture 101. The thickness of the book is intimidating yet challenging (You won't bring it to school nor to the office with you unless you enjoy being branded a nerd, besides it is quite bulky and heavy). Anyone up to the challenge?

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - Another winner from another Indian writer. This was Roy's first novel and it was very well written it bagged the 1997 Booker Prize. " A gripping tale of love and loss ... with compelling wit, and consummate tenderness." "...to discuss the plot would be to violate it."

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - This is more for spiritual reading. Screwtape is an elderly devil who was exchanging letters with his nephew Wormwood, an apprentice devil, advising him on how to tempt and corrupt human beings. In the end, it is not about the dynamics of the devil but ours.

Tell me if you want more. Most of these books are still in print and maybe you can find them in leading bookstores. The Amazon website says Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones has been re-printed with that cover above. By the way I only grabbed the photos above from Amazon. All of them are different from my copies except for the The God of Small Things.

Do I love reading books? Obviously I do. It brings me to different worlds and cultures and opens up different horizons. People say that with the advent of the computer age, the cellphone age, the playstation age and the internet age, young people have lost interest in sitting down to read a good book (with the exception perhaps of the Harry Potter mania). I hope by posting this, we can prove that reading good books is not a lost cause.

SUPER

I have been the Youth Director of the Parish Youth Ministry for Makati District for almost five years now. It was Bp. Soc Villegas who first appointed me to this position. Somehow I am happy to be ministering to the youth. It keeps me updated. I know that there are not many priests who

are still "in touch" with the youth when it comes to their

gimmicks, their lifestyle, their concerns and most specially their vocabulary. You can only imagine how my head throbbed and ached five years ago when I first attended a youth meeting: "Father lagyan natin ng mga chuva chuva yung program para maraming eclavu." "Ang chenes naman nyan, nakakangarag." And so on and so forth. It took me a while to get used to it.

I am writing this blog after watching an ad/MTV which left me numb in disbelief. A young star was singing her heart out advertising a local product. I was amazed at the title of the song which flashed at the bottom of the screen, "Kering-keri." A part of me wanted to laugh (it sounded like beri-beri) while another part of me wanted to turn off the tv (because of the equally irritating dance moves). I don't know if that word will ever enter my vocabulary. It is super kakaiba.

Speaking of "super", I am currently reading one of the books given to me by my inaanak, Queenie (who has given me more than I have given her). It is a book by Bob Ong, author of the now bestseller "ABNKKBSNPLAKo". Some people dismiss Bob's writings as nonsense but I think he deserves some credit. His sarcastic humor conceals well the depth of his commentaries and opinions. I can relate to his take on the word "super." Let me quote a part of it:

"Super thank you. Ano ba ang pinagkaiba pag sinabihan ka ng 'thank you' at 'super thank you?' Natutuwa ako pag nakakarinig ng mga dalagitang nagsasabi ng super thank you. Kasi nai-imagine ko na may kapa at special powers ang thank you nila. Pag nag-thank you sa 'yo ang ibang tao, thank you lang talaga. Pero pag mga dalagita, it's Soooooper Teeeengkyooo!!!! <*TANA-NANAN-TANAN*> Di lang yan. Tulad ng Superdog ni Superman, may sidekick ding Super Sorry ang Super Thank You. Tipong pag sinabihan ka ng sorry, pwedeng sumama pa rin loob mo. Pero pag sinabihan ka ng SUPER SORRY, naku - bawal na magtampo! Kasi SUPER na yan. Kasing lakas na yan ng mga paputok na Super Lolo. At kung 'super' pa lang e ganyan na kalakas, hindi mo na gugustuhing malaman pa ang resulta pag dinagdagan pa yan ng 'duper.'!" (Bob Ong, "Stainless Longganisa")

Wala lang. Super natawa lang ako habang binabasa ko yan. I hear that a lot from young people (and a few adults who were young once and still cannot get over their adolescence.) Yun lang. (super walang kwenta yata itong sinulat ko. kung nainis kayo, e di, supeeeer sooooorrry!)

Encounter

Ate Noemi and I met last July 1, 2007 in Sorsogon! Of all places, we met at the beach. She was with her husband and I was with my batchmates. I was underwater, when one of her companions asked my classmates: "di ba si fr. egay 'yan?". My classmates confirmed my identity and she told me that she is from Comembo and she was with ate Noemi.

Here are the proofs of our chance encounter:

These pictures were taken at the Paguriran Island, Sawanga, Bacon District, Sorsogon City... If you happen to have a 2007 PNOC calendar, this was featured on the month of May. You are all welcome to visit the land of Kasanggayahan!

Despedida for Kayabe

When this parish was established 7 yrs ago, I brought along with me a group of young seminarians from San Jose Seminary. They had to say goodbye to their apostolate area that year, St. Anthony de Padua Parish in Singalong, Manila. Msgr. Clem Ignacio was good enough to let go of the seminarians and said that I needed more assistance from them since we were just starting the parish. The original group of Kayabe's (the BEC name of the seminarians, to which I also belong when I was still in the seminary -- and I still do -- once a Kayabe, Kayabe forever!) were Bro. Egay Cleofe (Sorsogon), Bro. Merwin Kangleon (Leyte), Bro. Jun Limbaga (Dumaguete), Bro. Adrian San Juan (Manila), Bro. Charlie Celeste (Cotabato) and Bro. Junjun Gonzaga (Samar). They taught catechism to little children on Saturday afternoons, joined the BEC prayer meetings in the evenings, served in the masses on Sunday mornings, gave formation talks to BEC coordinators and youth leaders, taught the choirs, etc. They also played a major role in the first ever parish pastoral planning and the formation of our vision-mission statement which were held in San Jose Seminary. Five out of those six seminarians are now priests in their respective dioceses. Fr. Egay is now the rector of Our Lady of Penafrancia Seminary in Sorsogon, Fr. Merwin is the School Director of St. Thomas Aquinas School in Leyte, Fr. Jun is the Chaplain at St. Paul's University in Dumaguete, Fr. Aids is Assistant Parish Priest in Immaculate Conception Parish in Tondo, Fr. Cha is assistant Parish Priest in Cotabato. While Junjun is now a padre de familia working in STI Calbayog City.

Every year some of them will leave but new seminarians will arrive to replace them. Among those who became part of our apostolate program were Bro. Arnold Fernandez, Bro. Dong Yadao (Cubao), Bro. Lao Bringino (Daet), Bro. Donghur Estolloso, Bro. Sheng Lapaan (Bontoc), Bro. Kevin Crisostomo (Paranaque), Bro. Red Golez (Tagum) and Bro. Mel Felizardo (Antipolo).

This year we realized it's time to move on. The Kayabe's have become part of this parish's history. But like the disciples they have to move on and help out other communities the way they helped us. We have been graced by their love and presence, I am sure the other communities they will visit for their apostolate will be twice as blessed.

Last Sunday a despedida was held in the parish Multi Purpose Hall. The BEC Coordinators were emotional during the short program. Sis. Agnes, Sis. Ghie, Sis. Mia, Sis. Baby, Sis. Medy, Sis. Precy, Sis. Estela, Sis. Fely (who is in Australia right now), and Sis. Edna have become second mothers to the seminarians.

For now our BEC coordinators will try to stand on their own. Like the early Christians, they will learn to be independent from the apostles in performing their mission. But who knows? A sequel to their part in our parish history may be in the offing.

God bless our Kayabe's.