The Journey with Teddy

MORNING PRAISE March 27, 2020 Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent The Feast of the Tabernacles |  John 7:1-2,10,25-30 PERSONAL REFLECTION           Sometimes I wonder if Jesus had someone who would check on Him from time to time – someone who knew Him enough to sense if something was wrong with Him; if there is something more to His silence; and recognize even the subtlest tinge of pain behind His smile. I would wonder if this person knew Jesus well enough to detect if He was still okay in the midst of His tiring ministry. I would wonder if this person would readily know when to offer Jesus a pat on the back, and when instead to offer a shoulder for Jesus to rest His head upon when things got particularly rough and draining. I wonder because I imagine that by human standards, Jesus’ life was one that was tiring, frustrating, stressful, and anxiety-inducing. I can only imagine how it must have felt like to devote yourself to healing people and yet be called all sorts of t

MORNING PRAISE March 18, 2020 Wednesday of the Third Week in Lent Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem Advantages of Fidelity | Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 PERSONAL REFLECTION Feelings of being left out; feelings of stagnation; feelings of uncertainty. Those were the dominant feelings I had as of my last morning praise. I was at such a low point in my discernment journey (at least for the second semester), and it felt like I couldn’t possibly go any lower than that. As the days unfolded soon after, I was unfortunately proven wrong. Memories of a traumatic experience from my teenage years came back to haunt me, after having been forgotten for two decades. With the emergence of Covid-19 cases, the stock market crashed, and I lost (and continue to lose) a painful sum of money from my pension fund investment. Then, the first few Covid-19 cases were announced in my city, which reminded me that our household consists of two senior citizens (my parents) and a minor (my niece) who had her

Many years ago, I read a Paulo Coelho book entitled “ By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept. ” At the moment, I don’t recall much of the details of the book except for two things: first, it tells the story of a young woman named Pilar and her childhood friend: a young, charismatic, and handsome man who, in the story, travels with Pilar as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery as they cross over the Spanish border into France. The plot thickens: there is a lot of passionate, romantic chemistry between Pilar and her friend. In fact, he is in love with Pilar and she likewise loves him; but then the thing is, he’s a seminarian. The second detail, and perhaps the more important one: the title of the book alludes to Psalm 137, which begins with the verse: “ By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat weeping when we remembered Zion. ”              Psalm 137 expresses the yearning of the Jewish people during the Babylonian exile: how they refuse to sing the Lord’s song in a strange lan

MORNING PRAISE March 9, 2020 Monday of the Second Week in Lent Arrival at Sinai |  Exodus 19:3-8 PERSONAL REFLECTION “ Tumatakbo ang oras naiiwan na ako ng panahon. Di na nagbago bawat araw, pare-pareho parang kahapon. Tumatakbo ang oras (Time is running and I am being left out. The days are not changing, they’re all the same, just like yesterday. Time is running.)…” Those words are from the song “ Tumatakbo ” (Running) from Filipino pop-rock band Mojofly. Those words pretty much sum up the dominant feeling I have been having these past few weeks: feelings of being left out; feelings of stagnation; feelings of uncertainty. My MBA classmates have completed their coursework and are now gearing up for their comprehensive exams. At work, some of my closest friends have celebrated very important milestones: a promotion that took 9 long years to happen, a 15 th year service anniversary, and a friend that I have trained intensively while she was a new hire has decided t