a tea ceremony with the pontifex
I have never been to a tea ceremony before but I have read about it. It is interesting like many things Japanese where the position, gesture, arrangement and even minute details symbolize something. It is very oriental indeed, for things are not seen primarily in its utilitarian aspect but more so in its symbolic value.
The tea ceremony is a very slow process, very slow. Even the preparation and the pouring and the sipping of the tea are done so slowly. In the mouth and on the tongue the tea must be savored as if every molecule, every atom should be tasted. This is because the tea ceremony symbolizes the recognition that every human encounter is a singular occasion which can and will never recur again. Thus, every aspect, every part, every second of the tea ceremony should be savored by all for what it gives all - the human encounter as a singular occasion which can never ever recur again, savored to the last drop.
Tonight we have this ceremony to symbolize that human encounter which begun 4 years, 2 years, 6 years, 8 years ago.
For this I would like to give recognition to my human encounter with the pontifex – the bridge builders.
It was never a smooth relationship. They started with a Biadog, Espinosa, Gotera, Lamoste, Larroza, Martinez, Martizano, Sinoy and Tribunal – all in all 9 brothers initiated in Tigbauan as the Pontifex. Of these builders of bridges only 3 remained and only 3 will go completing the course of the building.
A is for Artist and all its derivatives – (artistahon, artihan). They very well apply to Espop. Artists usually see beyond what we usually see. They dig deeper. They dive fathoms deep. They look beyond and transcend the normal. They sleep the sleep – that is why it is hard to wake them up at times. They dream the dream – that is why they may look blank at times. When the artista runs the country or the community they bring trouble. But the trouble they bring may actually be good for us for they disturb and distract us from our way of looking so that we can look and see the obvious once more. Remember Joseph Estrada, the erstwhile artista and the good realizations and self-examination he brought upon the church which prides itself as being church of the poor but which in reality is a church of the rich.
Different people have different ways of looking at artistas and Espop in particular. They call them various names – the community would call him – Espop, the nut case; I would call him in the IC, Espop the dreamer; people in the chapel would call him Espop the long winded talker who brought down Erryl to the number two slot. But precisely because there is something to write about, that he speaks, and he speaks because he thinks, an activity quite becoming a rare commodity in our world today.
Espop may not be a good company to keep. He does not make you laugh the way Carmelo, Paul and Alex make us laugh. He is one artista who does not have an iota of entertainment appeal flunking him from ever taking a place in the much coveted star circle. But he has the courage to say what needs to be said even if he is not understood. He possesses the charm that may not be attractive to girls but would nevertheless attract those who may want to wish a different perspective.
B is for boyish. Now that’s Arvin. I would have placed B as in barangisi which would aptly describe the perpetual grin in the face of Arvin but I chose boyish because it would holistically describe my encounter with him. Like any boy he started out shy and he ended up walang hiya as in kapal muks which actually means a person who has come to accept the reality of who he is. Like any boy he started as a humble person, content of being in the sidelines, content in doing menial work, content and silent even when his achievements and potentials were publicly announced. He ended up still a humble person, a humble person who have a new way of practicing humility – a person now conscious of his own potentials without having to flag them around; a person now conscious of his talents and abilities without showing them around like an insecure self-doubting imbecile; a person conscious of his own uniqueness without having to insist it on anyone; a person conscious of his giftedness but nevertheless conscious of them as gifts freely given, gifts to be thankful for.
Arvin as a boy is a survivor and I believe in the fact that it is precisely because he is a boy, a little boy, that he became a survivor. Doctors have often wondered why of all people infants and little children survive better than adults in a catastrophe. It is in their system, in the way they adjust with death defying skill not by doing anything but by doing the opposite - keeping still, keep still. Arvin survived because he kept still. He kept his cool. He stayed focus and persistent despite the discouragements hurled against him by us adults, adults who thought with their logic has discounted the workings of grace in a weak frail boy. Unbelieving we may have been discouraged. But believing, Arvin kept his ground to show us that in formation grace is at work. With his courage and persistence, with his trust and faith Arvin as a boy has shown us how it is to be a man.
Now the boy goes out into the world. On regency he goes back to his roots. Free, he will enjoy newfound relationships that would make him first of all human before becoming a priest. This newfound relationship has finally broken the barrier that will prepare the boy to move from self-giving to life-giving, from self-centeredness to other-centeredness, for if one could not love with such passion a single person, he could not love the church with the love of a servant, with the same intense love of a bridegroom to his bride, the people of God.
You may blame Father Ralph for making Arvin play this dangerous game. We may blame the pharmacists whose stay here has made our lives similar to the holy rosary – it has given Ralph all the glorious mysteries and some of you all the joyful, and me with your problems only the sorrowful mystery. Nevertheless like the rosary life would never be complete without all these mysterious mysteries which continue to haunt us, to challenge us and make us grow. Arvin survived before, can he survive it now? Humanly speaking no. But you see I am an adult and Arvin is a boy, and with grace he will.
C – I do not know what to select but several things came to my mind. Probably the better letter C to describe Yves is co-redemptrix – the co-redeemer of his class for having encouraged them to move on; the co-mediatrix of all graces for praying for the class, for I believe all the graces that rested upon Espop and Arvin passed through him first and only through him. I also wanted to choose Control. Living the life of Yves needs a lot of control on himself. I just can’t imagine how he controlled himself trying to bear the burden which is Espop and Arvin. I don’t know how much control he had expended living with his ultra-nemesis, arch-enemy, prime adversary Alex Amantillo. I just cannot imagine how much control he had to bear living in a community which is full of maginoo pero puro bastos. Yves is control. He started out very rigid like a horse with blinders on its eyes and a train which does not entertain diversions on its tracks. He is one person who never doubted, who never took wild turns and wild runs once in a while. Strong and self-willed he looks at the world the way a monk would look at it in his quest for God through the dictum fuga mundi. With eyebrows coming into close contact with each other, and deep penetrating looks which makes one feel naked in his sight, he pursued his quest with rigor and vengeance. Fr. Ralph would call him smile, not for anything but to challenge him to smile more. What made Yves become what he is now? Probably his frequent contact with Fr. Ralph who is his exact opposite. Probably his resignation and surrender with having Arvin and Espop for classmates. Probably his frequent contact with Fr. Ryan, who I don’t know by what magic, made Yves his personal entertainer. Probably it was the pharmacists again. You see women possess a certain magic that would make even the most saintly and the most frugal monk weak kneed.
If there is anything that the community should learn from Yves it is his faithfulness to prayer. I have learned that from him. When I forget my prayers and see Yves passing by, it is as if I see my breviary passing by in four volumes. I am reminded to pray, the community is reminded to persevere in prayer. Indeed a co-mediatrix – for through him we are reminded to do what we should be doing first and foremost in our ministry – to become pray-ers not just for ourselves but primarily for the people of God, to become channels of grace through our prayers.
Control is one quality Yves have. He can assert with no qualms nor effort. It is part of him. He is the only person I know who inspects the fingernails of the kitchen personnel. He is the only person I know who could call the attention of Fr. Ralph. He is the only person I know who can say with confidence in the presence of an all-girl, all-women audience – I may be sleepy but I am handsome. Can anybody do that here? I don’t think you can. Yves did, in front of all the pharmacists.
Yves is control and it comes from a person convinced of his mission in life, convinced of his call, confirmed and strengthened by prayers and sacrifices, and hardened by perseverance amidst the trials of his class.
And so the human encounter ends, but like tea, we have sipped it and savored every part of it to the last gulp and drop. I am thankful for their presence. I am glad they became part of my life. I will miss Espop. I will miss Arvin. I will miss Yves. I don’t know if they will miss me. That does not matter. What is important for me now is the fact that having savored them in my encounter with them I let them go. They will go. They can go. I am happy to see them go. With Jesus may they bear fruit, fruit that will last.
The tea ceremony is a very slow process, very slow. Even the preparation and the pouring and the sipping of the tea are done so slowly. In the mouth and on the tongue the tea must be savored as if every molecule, every atom should be tasted. This is because the tea ceremony symbolizes the recognition that every human encounter is a singular occasion which can and will never recur again. Thus, every aspect, every part, every second of the tea ceremony should be savored by all for what it gives all - the human encounter as a singular occasion which can never ever recur again, savored to the last drop.
Tonight we have this ceremony to symbolize that human encounter which begun 4 years, 2 years, 6 years, 8 years ago.
For this I would like to give recognition to my human encounter with the pontifex – the bridge builders.
It was never a smooth relationship. They started with a Biadog, Espinosa, Gotera, Lamoste, Larroza, Martinez, Martizano, Sinoy and Tribunal – all in all 9 brothers initiated in Tigbauan as the Pontifex. Of these builders of bridges only 3 remained and only 3 will go completing the course of the building.
A is for Artist and all its derivatives – (artistahon, artihan). They very well apply to Espop. Artists usually see beyond what we usually see. They dig deeper. They dive fathoms deep. They look beyond and transcend the normal. They sleep the sleep – that is why it is hard to wake them up at times. They dream the dream – that is why they may look blank at times. When the artista runs the country or the community they bring trouble. But the trouble they bring may actually be good for us for they disturb and distract us from our way of looking so that we can look and see the obvious once more. Remember Joseph Estrada, the erstwhile artista and the good realizations and self-examination he brought upon the church which prides itself as being church of the poor but which in reality is a church of the rich.
Different people have different ways of looking at artistas and Espop in particular. They call them various names – the community would call him – Espop, the nut case; I would call him in the IC, Espop the dreamer; people in the chapel would call him Espop the long winded talker who brought down Erryl to the number two slot. But precisely because there is something to write about, that he speaks, and he speaks because he thinks, an activity quite becoming a rare commodity in our world today.
Espop may not be a good company to keep. He does not make you laugh the way Carmelo, Paul and Alex make us laugh. He is one artista who does not have an iota of entertainment appeal flunking him from ever taking a place in the much coveted star circle. But he has the courage to say what needs to be said even if he is not understood. He possesses the charm that may not be attractive to girls but would nevertheless attract those who may want to wish a different perspective.
B is for boyish. Now that’s Arvin. I would have placed B as in barangisi which would aptly describe the perpetual grin in the face of Arvin but I chose boyish because it would holistically describe my encounter with him. Like any boy he started out shy and he ended up walang hiya as in kapal muks which actually means a person who has come to accept the reality of who he is. Like any boy he started as a humble person, content of being in the sidelines, content in doing menial work, content and silent even when his achievements and potentials were publicly announced. He ended up still a humble person, a humble person who have a new way of practicing humility – a person now conscious of his own potentials without having to flag them around; a person now conscious of his talents and abilities without showing them around like an insecure self-doubting imbecile; a person conscious of his own uniqueness without having to insist it on anyone; a person conscious of his giftedness but nevertheless conscious of them as gifts freely given, gifts to be thankful for.
Arvin as a boy is a survivor and I believe in the fact that it is precisely because he is a boy, a little boy, that he became a survivor. Doctors have often wondered why of all people infants and little children survive better than adults in a catastrophe. It is in their system, in the way they adjust with death defying skill not by doing anything but by doing the opposite - keeping still, keep still. Arvin survived because he kept still. He kept his cool. He stayed focus and persistent despite the discouragements hurled against him by us adults, adults who thought with their logic has discounted the workings of grace in a weak frail boy. Unbelieving we may have been discouraged. But believing, Arvin kept his ground to show us that in formation grace is at work. With his courage and persistence, with his trust and faith Arvin as a boy has shown us how it is to be a man.
Now the boy goes out into the world. On regency he goes back to his roots. Free, he will enjoy newfound relationships that would make him first of all human before becoming a priest. This newfound relationship has finally broken the barrier that will prepare the boy to move from self-giving to life-giving, from self-centeredness to other-centeredness, for if one could not love with such passion a single person, he could not love the church with the love of a servant, with the same intense love of a bridegroom to his bride, the people of God.
You may blame Father Ralph for making Arvin play this dangerous game. We may blame the pharmacists whose stay here has made our lives similar to the holy rosary – it has given Ralph all the glorious mysteries and some of you all the joyful, and me with your problems only the sorrowful mystery. Nevertheless like the rosary life would never be complete without all these mysterious mysteries which continue to haunt us, to challenge us and make us grow. Arvin survived before, can he survive it now? Humanly speaking no. But you see I am an adult and Arvin is a boy, and with grace he will.
C – I do not know what to select but several things came to my mind. Probably the better letter C to describe Yves is co-redemptrix – the co-redeemer of his class for having encouraged them to move on; the co-mediatrix of all graces for praying for the class, for I believe all the graces that rested upon Espop and Arvin passed through him first and only through him. I also wanted to choose Control. Living the life of Yves needs a lot of control on himself. I just can’t imagine how he controlled himself trying to bear the burden which is Espop and Arvin. I don’t know how much control he had expended living with his ultra-nemesis, arch-enemy, prime adversary Alex Amantillo. I just cannot imagine how much control he had to bear living in a community which is full of maginoo pero puro bastos. Yves is control. He started out very rigid like a horse with blinders on its eyes and a train which does not entertain diversions on its tracks. He is one person who never doubted, who never took wild turns and wild runs once in a while. Strong and self-willed he looks at the world the way a monk would look at it in his quest for God through the dictum fuga mundi. With eyebrows coming into close contact with each other, and deep penetrating looks which makes one feel naked in his sight, he pursued his quest with rigor and vengeance. Fr. Ralph would call him smile, not for anything but to challenge him to smile more. What made Yves become what he is now? Probably his frequent contact with Fr. Ralph who is his exact opposite. Probably his resignation and surrender with having Arvin and Espop for classmates. Probably his frequent contact with Fr. Ryan, who I don’t know by what magic, made Yves his personal entertainer. Probably it was the pharmacists again. You see women possess a certain magic that would make even the most saintly and the most frugal monk weak kneed.
If there is anything that the community should learn from Yves it is his faithfulness to prayer. I have learned that from him. When I forget my prayers and see Yves passing by, it is as if I see my breviary passing by in four volumes. I am reminded to pray, the community is reminded to persevere in prayer. Indeed a co-mediatrix – for through him we are reminded to do what we should be doing first and foremost in our ministry – to become pray-ers not just for ourselves but primarily for the people of God, to become channels of grace through our prayers.
Control is one quality Yves have. He can assert with no qualms nor effort. It is part of him. He is the only person I know who inspects the fingernails of the kitchen personnel. He is the only person I know who could call the attention of Fr. Ralph. He is the only person I know who can say with confidence in the presence of an all-girl, all-women audience – I may be sleepy but I am handsome. Can anybody do that here? I don’t think you can. Yves did, in front of all the pharmacists.
Yves is control and it comes from a person convinced of his mission in life, convinced of his call, confirmed and strengthened by prayers and sacrifices, and hardened by perseverance amidst the trials of his class.
And so the human encounter ends, but like tea, we have sipped it and savored every part of it to the last gulp and drop. I am thankful for their presence. I am glad they became part of my life. I will miss Espop. I will miss Arvin. I will miss Yves. I don’t know if they will miss me. That does not matter. What is important for me now is the fact that having savored them in my encounter with them I let them go. They will go. They can go. I am happy to see them go. With Jesus may they bear fruit, fruit that will last.
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