year end memories

By the time you read this diary you would have already put in the laundry your polka dotted dress and your red shirt, your thirteen round fruits would have been eaten or are rotting away in the basket and you would have already exhausted yourself talking and raging about somebody else’s child who lost a finger or two from firecrackers. It’s New Year, the earth is a year older and so are we.


As most people think about the prospects of the New Year and preoccupy themselves with the predictions of Madame Auring, Feng Shui, horospcopes, astrology, the Chinese Calendar , including tarot cards and the ever reliable bulang kristal (considering that it is as “reliable” as any other instrument for predictions), I would rather focus myself now on the lessons of the past than on the prospects of the future (which is unpredictable anyway.).
Looking back at the year that was, one cannot help but make a sigh of relief as well as shout for joy and thanksgiving at the many blessings we have received as a parish. Yes we have survived but more than that we were greatly blessed!
Permit me “to count” these blessings:
In the year that was, we have established three pilot areas for our BEC program, namely, Barangay Simon Ledesma (Balasbas), Barangay Tabuc Suba (Ilaya) and Barangay San Vicente. For these pilot areas we have identified and commissioned volunteers who will nurture these areas for the next three years – We refer to this team by simply calling them BEC Team 1.
Since there is a Team 1 we also have the BEC Team 2 to prepare the groundwork for the other barangays in our Parish (Taft North, Bakhaw, San Roque, Desamparados, Calubihan, Tatay Zone II, Tabuc Suba Proper, Cuartero, and Lourdes). They are there to animate the Urna Cells, galvanize our faith-sharing groups, scout for possible leaders, animate the barangays by organizing ministries and activities that would make people conscious of their responsibilities and duties to their parish with the program, Parokya Ko, Salabton Ko. Some people pointed out to me that a fourth of the 22 volunteers for BEC Team 2 are “quite old” for the task. Well, what could I say . . . never underestimate the power of the “old ones” - one of them produced a John the Baptist! (SHouldn’t we be asking instead why are there less younger people as entusiastic as these old ones to volunteer for the parish?)
In the year that was, we have also started the KABALAKA Project. With this project we are already thinking and preparing ahead. The BEC program is not just a “spiritual”program. It is a wholistic program. It is a program that develops the human being in his or her totality – body, mind, spirit, soul. No they are not just formed to pray, go to mass and say the rosary and just that. Their prayer rather must transform them and their surroundings and that includes the formation of the mind through education, the transformation of the spirit through the inculcation of values, the liberation of the soul through spiritual exercises, and the upliftment of the body through programs that would liberate from poverty and dependency. With the Kabalaka Project we have therefore equipped ourselves with the necessary tools that would help the parish take seriously the mandate to build Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC).
In the year that was, the young people are making a headway. Little the little, step by step our campus ministry is taking off in Jaro National High School. As I always do, I believe in small beginnings. I am always suspicious with programs that emphasizes grand schemes – big rallies, grand processions, loud programs, mass mobilizations etc., because they always end up as it is - nothing but grand schemes and even grandstanding, so that their organizers can have their egos tickled to their personal delight, but without the desired effects of real transformation which the gospel asks for.
This is our point in our program for the youth. We started with small groups, oases in the desert and flickers of light in the darkness like fireflies. This is my view because it dawned on me one day that, whether we like it or not, Christianity is no longer a majority (the real one, that is), and so we need to change our pastoral methods and treat everything as if we are just starting the work of evangelization – just like the first christians, silent, even anonymous, but strong.
The young people are making a headway and we are starting at Barangay Benedicto – one barangay at a time.
In the year that was the financial system of the parish has become more and more transparent. And these include the parish church and offices, the rectory, the cemetery, the Libreria and the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Kinder School. By recovering this value we have augmented our resources to cater to the pastoral programs of the parish. Because of transparency in the parish and the offices we have provided our parish workers with salaries with the minimum wage and even a little more than what is required by law. The Libreria donates substantially to the pastoral needs of the parish, even including donating some of its profits to the on-going construction of the Cathedral. The Kinder School, though still undergoing a lot of changes, some of them painful, is keeping up with the trend on accountability and transparency. It is one of the biggest donors so far to the construction project.
The cemetery is also undergoing a lot of transformation, though in the background, in the less than obvious way. The rentals for the nicho were given a boost last November 1 and 2 when we gave out notices for late rentals. Although most were happy with the scheme (being reminded, that is) some people loudly complained. Sometimes I could not understand these people – why should you be angry when you are reminded that you have an utang? As one parish angel told me – some people never care to look back to their dead when what they have right now is because of the labor, the sweat and the love of their ancestors for them. Well I won’t be surprised if their children will treat them the same way they treated their ancestors in their lifetime! Karma they say, gaba some would insist, but I say, the way we treat our children now will be repaid not to us, but on how your children would treat your children’s children. Anyway, because of Katapusan nga Aviso notices we have established a fund that would be used solely for the maintenance of the Cemetery.
In the year that was we have hired 8 more catechists (this is also due to transparency and accountability in the use of our resources). These catechists have weekly classes handled by the priests of the cathedral themselves. They are given tests, with the results and with their performance in school these will be used as a gage for raising their future compensation.
In the year that was we have transferred from the cathedral to the grotto for our masses and now we are back to a more beautiful church. Though it’s still a bit dusty and workers are still buzzing about, in time we will have a fully restored cathedral with the ambience of its former glory and the convenience of new technology. It is not yet finished and we still have to go through some inconveniences before we can fully appreciate its grandeur.
Anyway, and let me end it with this note, I personally like it when things in our parish are still “under construction” whether we are referring to the cathedral building or to our pastoral programs. When things are “under construction” one is still given that “once in a lifetime” opportunity to leave one’s mark in it, a chance to contribute your “brick” to the edifice. I believe this is the advantage when instead of succumbing to the temptation of predicting 2010, we look back instead to 2009 and assess where we have been, what we have done, the things to be thankful about, even the things to regret, for from these we can proceed to the more important question for 2010, what are we called to do now?