In The Hole

My short break is ended. I got back to the parish yesterday and found out that I've been missed. Yesterday, I went to our Resurrection chapel to celebrate the six o'clock mass and found the parishioners, both young and old, happy to see me. They were lined up after the mass to kiss my hand and to... Sign in to see full entry.

Is it been seven days since the last update? My, I must have been really distracted. I am currently on a short break from parish chores; the break started Monday last week. Since then, all I've been doing is read, blog and listen to music. That is when I am not fooling around with my sister's... Sign in to see full entry.

This afternoon, I went to the bookstore and found Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life" on display. I was surprised to find it priced economically. Normally, books imported from the States would cost at least 800 PHP. Checking the copyright gave me the reason why: the book and those which are... Sign in to see full entry.

Since July 2001, I have been communicating through the web using different techniques that my limited programming know how would allow. I have put up a website at agustinongpinoy.com and used the resources offered in the world wide web to make it known: search engines, banner exchanges, direct... Sign in to see full entry.

About thirty friars from all over the Philippines left their respective "holes" to attend the yearly retreat at the Talavera Retreat House in Cebu. For most of us it was also a time for getting together and talking about our new assignments. A bishop presided over the retreat, helping us read our... Sign in to see full entry.

Every year, we friars get together for a retreat. We normally do it in two groups so that we don't leave the institutions we administer "friar-less." This week, I go on retreat with the friars. The venue will be the Recollect Retreat House in Cebu where we went to last year. Our retreat facilitator... Sign in to see full entry.

I attended the priests' assembly of Laguna the other day. I had the opportunity to renew ties with some members of the clergy. Some of them studied with me at the Central Seminary of the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila. Others I have met in one or two special occassions. The highlight of the... Sign in to see full entry.

El cafe y el rosario. That was how the Spaniards of Spanish Philippines characterized the activities of the friar. Perhaps that was what they were doing every time people saw them. If someone looked at the veranda of a convent at certain times of the day, he might see a friar drinking a cup of... Sign in to see full entry.

At 10:45 this morning I found myself in a small corner somewhere in the flooded streets of San Juan. I had slept over at my parents' place the night before. When I woke up in the morning, my Dad told me that he would bring me back to Laguna but via a route that will bring us first to my... Sign in to see full entry.

The retreat for the nuns turned out fine. I was given two separate occassions to speak to them. The occassion is the renewal of vows of about one hundred and fifty of our Augustinian sisters. I talked about "Mary and the Religious Life". Many of the nuns I knew since I was a seminarian were there to... Sign in to see full entry.