IT WAS THE Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. That Saturday morning when the Legionaries of the Holy Spirit Parish assembled on the church grounds, their meeting place before taking off for Tagaytay, for their Outdoor Function. The Holy Spirit School Bus was already there to carry Sisters Isa, Tess, Pinky, Pam, Carrot, and Ria and Fr. Robert. I found early worm Kuya Ed at the Spiritus Hall and it didn’t take long for Fr. Robert to arrive. The Custodio Family’s Toyota Grandia soon emerged with Kuya Bong, Ate Myla, their three (out of five) kids Gracee, Bea, and Anton. Ate Daisy, Kuya Ed, and yours truly completed the vehicle’s passenger list.
Ruben drove the school bus while Kuya Utoy did the Grandia.
As we pulled out of BF Homes, Ate Daisy started to lead the rosary while the soothing melodies of Gracee’s blend of Korean telenovena backgrounds and Japanese animated movie themes cradled our journey. We left the church grounds at 6:30 am according to schedule. First stop was breakfast at Jollibee Alabang.
We arrived at the SVD Eco Farm, where Fr. Roberto Custodio had an arrangement with the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) overseeing the place to celebrate the 10 am Mass. He did not prepare for a homily, was just aware that he was to celebrate Mass but it was late for that and it did not matter. No one plannned to be late, nor expected traffic to be heavy on the approach to Cavite; like Mary never planned to be the mother of God. But if we must be bearers of Jesus, he intoned, we have to be empty, so Christ can fill us. Long homily short, he enjoined everyone to not worry but worship, turn battles into blessings, troubles into treasures, and frustrations into fortunes. Bea was the perfect reader. Sis Carrot knew where she would sing; I was coveniently next to her. Her alto and my tenor took a little adjustment to merge, but we sailed through. After the Mass, we surveyed the place. It was on a hilltop so understandably cool and, for being built just after the pandemic struck, was already attracting an increasing number of visitors. We didn’t fail to notice the treats the kiosk was turning out (waiters hoisting their aroma-filled trays while calling the numbers corresponding to the orders) and Kuya Bong rewarded our hungry, wishful eyes with his order of vegetable pizza and sandwiches for all.
The initial pleasure continued. Traffic pulled our spirits down RFM Restaurant was a breezy change of scenery that also pampered our bellies.
Upon arrival at the venue, I reassured Anton that my gut feel told me there’s wifi (because I caught sight of a lady by the door of the rest house with a tablet). His puberty lit up in glee and, in a jiffy, confirmed my hunch a cinch.
From the male hands, I knew the owners of the house at 103 Alilio Drive, Brgy. Upli, Alfonso, Cavite, to be Steven and Lilay Peñaranda of Las Piñas. Sis Carrot and I agreed that the rest house was well-kept and cutely festooned with various signages on tidiness (even the garden had them). Best of all, aside from a permanent welcome sign on the front door, a minute marquee hang on the wall to the stairs to the second and third floors that indicated the reason for our occupying the haven.
The group was animated by an invisible force. Instant committees were formed to take care of dishwashing, food preparation, cooking, setting the table, and various tasks. No one minded doing the chore assigned, all were quick to get on the job. Like a well-oiled machine, Mary’s blue army had everything ready. Enough to get spiritually prepared for the Talk by Fr. Roberto at 4 pm and the ensuing sharing. After his Opening Prayer, he handed out a copy of a reading on The Road to Emmaus where, from his start, each read a line and stopped for the next person to pick up where s/he started until the last person was accounted for. Fr. Roberto’s catalyst, that “even in one’s darkest hour, one is not alone, because in brokenness is wholeness when God is present,” led to the second point, that what made “The Road to Emmaus” unique is its twist at the beginning, that in spite of our mistakes, God keeps us company, as soon as we start to live, because He is a God of beginnings. His third point emphasized that strangers open up to Jesus at once, because you’re not less of a person when you ask for His help, you just need to be listened to, even if in the process you expose secrets. And he cited the case of Richard Poon and Maricar Reyes, especially the latter’s controversy, which she did not try to cover up, so the former accepted without judgment, and their mutual acceptance and honesty brought them closer together.
Reaching Emmaus, Jesus told the two men that He was going to another place but He allowed to be stayed by them. They invited Him to break bread with them, a hospitality that broke the barrier of His next stop (which turned out to be a ploy). To obviously stop the two men from leaving Jerusalem, which was effective in that they encountered Jesus, and what better way to stay. And they got to tell the others that they found Jesus, who actually found them.
My seatmate, eleven-year-old Anton, had a question. How does one tell a person if they are right even if he is wrong? Fr. Robert answered that you accept their choice, not whether they are right or wrong, because lies are not always wrong, and it is not for us to judge. We lie because we cannot yet reach the truth. The kid agreed knowledgeably.
The conversation veered towards the Collect portion of the Mass, which is an encompassing consecration of the priest alongside the congregation’s petitions. So it is imperative that the petitioner must also pray along with the presider, or the intention will not hold water.
Having thus satiated, the group gathered (after a sumptuous dinner) in a sing-along spectacular that featured the singing chops of the Function Chaplain, Kuya Bong, Kuya Ed, Kuya Ham, and the young divas in the persons of Bea, Gracee, and Carrot. (We did not force Anton; there’s time enough for him in the seminary.) Dancing queens Tess, Pinky, and Isa would not be discouraged and gave the gentlemen and their younger counterparts a sampling of how fun their company – and choreography – can be.
Pardon the omission of Ate Myla’s and Sis Ria’s “Sinta,” which broke a few glassware.
Therefore, the morning after found everyone recharged for the pre-departure 10 am Mass that Fr. Robert celebrated. His Homily focused on four significant points of Jesus’ raising of Lazarus: 1. Dead-ends are actual crossroads; remove the stone and be unemcumbered; don’t invalidate your pain, for God will not deny your call for help; and come out of your comfort zone, even if it is a dark place, for light awaits.
Before their last lunch, the 17 diversely united army moved as animatedly as they arrived to make sure they left the place in the same spic-and-span shape they found it. And, as soon as they boarded their vehicles, brought out their paraprayernalia to bless their homeward-bound euphoria.
Amen.