The Journey with Teddy

MORNING PRAISE | November 28, 2019 | Thursday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time The Christian Family | Colossians 3:12-21   PERSONAL REFLECTION Corned beef. Eggs. Rice. Peanut Butter. Cream Cheese. Bread. What a feast! Staring at the breakfast table last Saturday during our genogram recollection, my memories immediately took me back to when I was in first grade, as my classmates and teacher laughed in confusion when I tell them that my favorite breakfast is kanin-kape: that is, instant coffee (not the 3-in-1 variant, mind you) poured over the prior night’s leftover rice. I tell my parents this and they laugh it off, telling me not to mind it so much. It was the day I came to understand that I was a poor boy studying in a private school. Three decades since, I imagine it must have hurt my parents to see their bunso (youngest child) suffering from that ordeal – to be ridiculed by semi-rich kids for the only breakfast they could provide. It must have hurt them too to se...

MORNING PRAISE | November 15, 2019 | Memorial of St. Albert, the Great The Day of the Son of Man |  Luke 17: 26-37 PERSONAL REFLECTION While watching “Avengers: Infinity War” last year, I could not help myself but think: If this whole thing was real, what would have happened to me? Would I have survived the snapping of Thanos’ fingers? Or would I have been one of those unlucky ones to suffer through seeing my loved ones turn into dust before my very eyes? It’s a tragic and scary situation either way. Today’s gospel comes with the same terrifying, ominous undertone as Avengers: Infinity Wars. Ang lakas maka-Thanos ni Lord today , especially that part of the gospel which talks about the two people in the same bed and the two women grinding meal together: one will be taken, while the other left. I suppose that’s terrifying for me because over the course of my life, I have met people that I have learned to love, and the mere thought of seeing them taken away fr...

Here in the middle of my brokenness I wallow in the memories Of the words I wish I never said And things I wish I’ve never done They gather right in front of me Like tears collected in a well While You embrace me so tightly To remind me that I am loved.