Simbang Gabi

The last time I completed nine mornings was when I was still in college.

After that, I think I lost interest in this particular Catholic tradition knowing I've already accomplished it. I had a lot of excuses then: a thesis to finish, then a day job, then the need to make up for sleep lost during the weekdays.

This year, I'm still not feeling up to it. My excuse is that I have exams to take care of and going to mass early in the morning would "cramp my style".

Simbang Gabi is an oxymoron. Its name, which literally translates to "evening mass" in English, refers to a mass held in the early hours of the morning. It's also not just one mass but nine masses spread out across nine mornings, thus negating the singular word "Simbang Gabi" ("Mga Simbang Umaga" is more grammatically apt).

But, then again, you have to hand it over to us Filipinos for observing this tradition. Despite these shallow observations, nothing could be more appropriate for the time of advent. The scene of hundreds of people emerging from the darkness of the streets to the well-lit chambers of a church or a humble chapel echoes the initial, haphazard, yet purposeful embrace of humanity of this once little-known religion called Christianity. From the darkest time of the night, the people gather and celebrate the coming as the morning sun breaks out of the horizon.

It is a scene wrapped in poetic metaphor and it is reminiscent of a passage in the Bible which remains true to this day:

"The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone." - Matthew 4,16
 
Merry Christmas.

A Tip For Marital Bliss

Sir Kokok offered me a nugget of wisdom last night.

During our conversation, he shared that he and his wife have made it a point never to divulge their respective salaries nor even draw out a family budget.

What they do instead is list down the expenditures of the household and decide who among them gets to shoulder each one.

Should there be excess money, it doesn't go to the household but is kept as personal savings by each party (and the spouse need not know).

I asked him if it could be unfair at times, considering that the other might be shouldering a disproportionate amount of the family's expenses. Ever the fatalist sage, Sir Kokok went on explaining that, should this be the case, then if one of them dies, at least the surviving spouse will get more in the form of the deceased' bigger savings.

 The beauty of this arrangement, as Sir Kokok would put it, is the flexibility to use one's own money without the other's interference. Say, one has to give or lend money to a relative on one's side of the family; one can do so as long as the household's finances are not compromised.

In short, there are no fights over money because nothing is common.

Pretty neat, isn't it?

Ang Evangelio Ni Paolo

I'm feeling ambivalent about this blog.

Last month, my boss got wind of this through a colleague of mine and I was stunned for a few seconds, my mind furiously racing through the past asking my present if I had placed anything here that would jeopardize my relationship with my boss.

The incident left me thinking again about what this blog really is. On one hand, I want to lend some permanence into my thoughts by writing them down in this very public medium. On the other, I want these writings to be accessible only to a select group of people: strangers who don't know me and friends who don't care about what I write. I'm contradicting myself but, there you go, that's my dilemma.

The fact is that, whether I've written down something bad, gooey, or good, all of it, all of the writings on the wall, is me. There's no escaping this and whatever repercussions there be stemming from what I've written down are to be confronted and accepted (being the responsible adult that everyone thinks I am).

Better screen my stuff from now on. My boss may be glancing this blog from time to time. Peace out.

100

In the game Sims, you have this overall game objective, the lifetime wish, which your sim pursues. Your sim might find fulfillment in being a millionaire, or become a spy, and so on. In exchange for accomplishing these, you get to enjoy some perks along the way. It's nice to know that, in this sense, the game manages to capture the essence of our living: we are animated by one overriding desire or goal, without which our life would cease to have meaning.

As for me, I think I stumbled upon it already. The realization didn't come as an instant epiphany though but was a gradual unveiling through the years, like piecing together the various jigsaw puzzle pieces of my life to make a coherent picture.

However, unlike the Sims, mine aims to help others but is, in the first place, predicated on my own financial success. And it's not original too since many before me have done similar things in their lives and have watched the results.

I want to have a hundred of my scholars graduate college.

That's it.

And if, at the twilight of my years, I will have achieved this then I'll see to it that another hundred will graduate before I die. As to how I'm going to do it, I still don't know (that's the hard part actually). Yet I'm still happy that I think I know now what I'm supposed to do and what will make my life worthwhile: I want to support a hundred scholars and I want to see them march on graduation day. 

Please Lang

Dear Fr. Pabillo,

First of all, let me just say that I, as a trying-hard Catholic, is utterly dismayed over the series of shenanigans done by the clergy in its opposition to the RH Bill. 

Don't get me wrong; I am against the RH Bill for reasons I've disclosed in my past posts. 

But to compel or bully the Congress to not vote for it by playing on their fears of losing in the coming elections is nothing short of appalling. To campaign against the bill is acceptable but to openly hoodwink politicos into submission by suggestions of political sabotage is sheer manipulation. Truly, this is not the church that I know.

Now you add to my misery. Let me repeat to you what you've said.

In an article by Christine Herrera, you commented on Typhoon Pablo and its possible insinuation:

“I don’t know if that’s a coincidence or if God has a message for us that if we discuss this (RH Bill), much suffering will be brought down upon us."

You further added that tragedies happen whenever lawmakers push for the RH bill.

Oh. My. Gosh.

What kind of irresponsible statement is this? Aside from the fact that it is logically flawed, your words reek of arrogance and confidence at having triumphantly discerned God's so-called "Will": that the deliberations on the RH Bill are intimately tied with Typhoon Pablo, God's "tool for vengeance" against the enemies of the Church. 

Well then, how do you explain your statement to the thousands who are now stranded across the flooded plains of Compostela Valley? To the many theologians who are now shaking their heads at your naivety? To the many Catholics disappointingly crushed at such insolent and self-defeating remarks?

Please lang.