Wonderful Sacrament Sunday

Last Sacrament Sunday was a wonderful day for me - I went to Confession after two months of living a "sinful" life. I felt great afterwards after receiving God's love and mercy once again. Fr. D was back from his US trip. He asked me during Confession why it took me two months to confess my sins, most of which were serious ones and I jested in reply "because you were not here" and he smiled somewhat surprised and replied, "don't make me an excuse" and we both laughed a bit. It was kinda like an ice breaker in an otherwise serious conversation we were having.

During the mass the room was quite full and we had two unexpected guests. I will get to that a little later. Fr. D's homily on the Gospel account of Peter walking on the water and sinking later was excellent. Fr. D reminded us to keep our focus on the Lord no matter how great the storm so that we will never falter and sink in the deadly waters of sin, despair, and hopelessness, and if ever we do we need to pray the same words that Peter said when he was sinking: "Lord, save me!" Wonderful homily as always.

At the end of the mass, Bro. R called upon Bro. V in front for a short speech. We were all clueless at the beginning. All eyes were fixed on this guy in front of us. Later on as he was speaking we were amazed and inspired. You see, our dear brother is going to tie the knot very soon and he brought the two guests - his parents - to this mass to introduce our group to them. It was so brave of you Bro. V and I really admire you for that. How I wish I could also bring my parents to attend a Courage mass, but for now that still remains a farfetched dream. Bro. V also announced that he would be leaving soon to work in Singapore as a cook. Lucky guy! After his speech, I was beaming with happiness and pride for what this guy has accomplished so far in his journey of healing, and I am sharing this to everyone to remind us that dreams do still come true. Kudos to Bro. V and I wish you happiness and success in this new chapter of your life. After the mass, Bro V. and his parents went to his fiancee for the traditional "pamanhikan".

The fellowship was a joyful moment too as there were lots of food, and the older members were given a chance to introduce themselves to the newer ones. So much laughter and fun as always. It did not stop there though as most of us went straight to the biggest mall on the other side of Redemptorist Church - SM Mall of Asia of course - and we ate a little more for a little get together and chitchats.

(Sidebits: Bro. J was a revelation to me. While in the car on the way to MOA, he was like a livewire inside. We were very noisy and very giggly inside the car. We were having a little great time. People outside seeing us may think we were having some party - all because of Bro J! He was so "makulit" as in! We were virtually laughing nonstop along the way and I felt I lost all my belly fats in 10 minutes flat doing just that.)