The Journey with Teddy

MORNING PRAISE | May 22, 2020 | Jesus' Departure | John 16:20-23 PERSONAL REFLECTION One December evening in 2005, our television’s reception of ABS-CBN was unexpectedly, almost miraculously clear, and this allowed me to watch JesCom’s tv movie called “ Maging Akin Muli .” I never fully grasped back then how this serendipitous moment would turn out to be a decisive moment in my life: for it will apparently mark the beginning of my vocation discernment journey, which, as it turns out, will be one crazy adventure spanning almost 15 long years. Nine days from now, just like each one of you, I will be handed a letter which contains a confirmation of how that 15 years of discernment will come to an end. It’s amazing how much is at stake in that one decisive morning – the coming to an end of a 15-year journey; the conclusion of ten months of adventure in this sacred house that I have learned to call “home.” Much like most of you, I have no idea how that moment will turn...

MORNING PRAISE | May 13, 2020 | The Vine and the Branches | John 15:1-8 PERSONAL REFLECTION There’s a pervasive sense of simplicity and uncomplicatedness in today’s gospel. It can be seen in how Jesus tells his disciples that pruning is necessary for one to bear fruit. It then jumps right at you when Jesus gives the disciples two options: remain in Him so that they may bear fruit; or not remain in Him and face the certainty of withering and eventual burning into a fire. Plain. Simple. Uncomplicated. These days, as I continue to count the remaining days that lead to announcement day, I cannot deny that I crave that same level of plainness and simplicity; to achieve that same sense of clarity and focus in all my life’s affairs. I desire that uncomplicatedness in life; one that is free from the distractions of the many, many things that run through my head on a daily basis. Jesus makes it all sound so simple: choose one and be rewarded; choose the other and suffer. ...

MORNING PRAISE | May 04, 2020 |  The Good Shepherd |  J ohn 10:11-18 PERSONAL REFLECTION If my  Arvisu  journey were a Korean drama following a standard season of 16 episodes,  I would have already been starting episode 1 6  by now: that  calm and quiet stretch  where the climax had been  completed , and the open ends of the story are already being  tied up , in preparation for the  inevitable  finale.  N ew story arcs or plot twists  no longer surface ;  and  no new characters  are  being introduced;  instead, conflicts big and small are being resolved and closed, marking with it the signal for characters to leave the storyline one-by-one.  These days, I often find myself looking back at the discernment  drama  that I have lived for the past 289 days: the struggles, the pains, the joys.  I thought that being alive for 38 years prepares you fully for thi...