Excited State

I tidied up all the Christmas decor at home yesterday while Nidz and Chiara were busy cooking ginataang bilo-bilo (glutinous rice balls cooked with coconut milk). For some reason, the song "A Holly, Jolly Christmas" kept playing in my mind. 

It was just a month ago when we put up the Nativity scene, Christmas tree, etc. Back then, there was a feeling of hopeful expectation for the Lord's Birth. An excitement for the holidays. A time with the people dear to you.

I note how a friend spoke about our circle of friends when we were at their place on New Year's Eve. Way back before the holidays, friends were quite busy and didn't have much time to communicate with each other. In our group conversation in Messenger, the usual response then would be just a thumbs up or a hand wave. But when Christmas and New Year came, friends became more engaged. 

In quantum mechanics, an atom, molecule, or nucleus experiences a higher energy level. It gets excited. Once it goes back to its ground state, it emits light.  I'd like to think of ourselves experiencing a similar condition. Christmas has brought about a degree of excitement in us, that good and outgoing feeling. The season has woken us up from our ground state, our comfort zone, to something higher. It could be reaching out to family, friends, and even strangers. It could be spending more time in the community. It could be taking a harder look at ourselves and resolving issues we have taken for granted for so long. I am sure that, one way or another, the Christ Child has touched us this blessed season.

As we return to our ground state, as we head back to the ordinariness of our lives, I hope that like that excited atom or molecule or nucleus, we'll all emit the Light of Jesus to all.

Here's to a Christ-filled New Year!

The Blessings of 2012

The beginning of 2012 saw our family adjusting - our little one started going to nursery school.  The weather then was miserable and, to make matters worse, Chiara was having a bad cough and cold.  Still, she carried through and found school to be enjoyable, meeting other Pinoy kids and still more kids from other nationalities. For Nidz and I, having a child in school brought us back to the world of learning or should I say re-learning.  The stock knowledge that we have on the basic Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic) was put into motion.  We begun to rethink what we were taught and, luckily they're still correct!  Reading,writing, and talking through the lesson with and for your kid was a wonderful mental exercise!

We've seen how Chiara got through those first few months of the year.  Last October, I was happy and proud to see her and other children performing in their Nursery Rhyme event.  We adults have taken for granted these songs we use to sing before, but when I heard the kids sing these my heart melted!

It was nice to take a respite in New York in September to celebrate our daughter's 4th birthday.  Although New York has been part of the Valdes-Albano clan's life since time immemorial, my link with this popular state has started in 1982 when my father moved there to provide for his family.   If it took me 20 years to see Rome, it took me 30 years to be in the Big Apple!  I am truly grateful to bring my own family there and be reunited with my parents, sisters, and other relatives most of whom I haven't seen for ages. Chiara, of course, was most delighted!

Our life as a family has been linked too with the parish community, the Filipino Rosary Crusade-Nottingham North, Anluwage, and the Poor Clare sisters.  These communities have been sources of support and inspiration in our spiritual growth. A few days before Christmas, I got a phone call from Mother Mercy, Abbess of the Poor Clares, asking me to see them in the monastery. When we came there, I was surprised that they have a doll for Chiara! They are such a cheerful group of nuns exuding that serenity which people elsewhere couldn't find nor experience.

This month, we flew to Benidorm, Spain to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.  A place by the sea and full of sunshine, we enjoyed walking in the sea shore (The waters are already cold and are not that conducive for swimming.), meet other tourists, enjoyed the food, etc.  It was nice too to speak Spanish even if it's un poco (a little). We were blessed that there was a church (Iglesia de San Juan Bautista) just at the back of the hotel where we live.  The parishioners -mostly elderly people - were welcoming. One even kissed Chiara's hand during the Sign of Peace.

We came back to Nottingham in time for our rosary crusade's Christmas Party and the Nochebuena.  Indeed, as my father told me "It is the best time to celebrate Christmas: with family and friends."

Looking back at the previous months, I am thankful for the many blessings the Lord has given my family. Believing and trusting in His love, we'll welcome 2013.

Happy New Year!

Blue Monday

The previous Monday has been called “Blue Monday” because it was said to be the most depressing day of the year. According to Wikipedia, “…the date was calculated by using many factors, including: weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.”

Some of us may have been affected by Blue Monday. Some may not have noticed it to be a depressing day. But I guess, all of us would have experienced a low point in our lives, a moment when our enthusiasm seem to have waned. Have you been through those mornings when you would turn off the alarm clock and go back to sleep? Did you just “go with the flow” at work? Were you tempted to throw in the towel when your prayers seem unanswered or your efforts not being appreciated?

I did.

One morning this week, as I was saying my Morning Prayer while on the bus, I read this quotation of St Charles Borromeo: “He who desires to make any progress in the service of God must begin every day of his life with a new ardour.”

This saying struck a chord in me. St Charles’ words were so straightforward that it made my day.

As Christians, it is our duty to know, love, and serve God. Service to God, as our faith would teach us, is not only confined within the four walls of the church (unless you are a ‘Sunday Christian’) nor is it reserved for priests and nuns. Our service to the Lord is so broad it is that we can serve Him anywhere (home, work, community) 24/7! Indeed as St Paul once wrote, whatever we do let’s do it for the glory of God.

And yet, there are instances when our service to Him becomes “matabang” (lackluster), “papatay-patay” (inconsistent), or done just for the sake of obligation.

As we go back to normality after the Christmas season, as we recover from the symptoms of Blue Monday, as we welcome the New Year let us make it a point at the start of each day to call on God and ask Him for that new ardour, that new passion to serve Him wherever He sends us.

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Birthday blessings to my three friends who are all celebrating their natal day today. First, Ms Edna Marco, my former Religion and Music teacher in Letran High School. Ma’am Edna comes across as an approachable person who easily gets along well with her students. When our First Year Adviser was ill and unable to come to class, Ms Marco was our class “takbuhan” (refuge) since her room was just next to ours. I enjoyed working in some school projects with her and Ms Melba Silvela (my Religion teacher in fourth year), memorable of which were our outreach programmes in Marikina and Tagaytay as well as the Valentine’s Day serenade for teachers.


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Second celebrant is Rev Fr Roy M Rosales from the Diocese of Pasig. I worked with Fr Roy when he was assigned as Vice Rector of the Manila Cathedral (where I was then serving as a lector/commentator). During his short stint, he was able to whip into shape a number of ministries such as the Lectors/Commentators, Ushers and Collectors, Altar Servers, and choir. I would fondly remember him as always asking us “How is everybody?” and having breakfast with him at the Cathedral refectory after Mass.

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Last, but not least is Joe Panganiban, a former colleague in the Manila Cathedral’s Lectors/Commentators Group. Bro Joe was my predecessor as Coordinator of the said group. I learned a lot from him in his grasp of the liturgy and theology.

Happy birthday, Ma’am Edna, Fr Roy, and Bro Joe! God bless you three!


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Wishing you all, especially our Chinese readers, a Healthy and Happy Year of the Dragon!

Gong xi fa cai! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Be A Tiger!

January derives its name from this mythical god called Janus who has been depicted to have two heads each facing a different direction: the old and the new year. Indeed, this first month of the New Year is a time to look back at 2009 and then face 2010(using the lessons from the old year). Hmmm...2009 wasn't a bad year at all for me: Chiara turned one, we bought a car (Sandy's her name by the way!), I completed a course on leadership and management with flying colours, Kristina (my youngest sister) got married, our web had its successful events, staff promotions and recruitments, we held the first ever rosary devotion in our Pinoy neighbourhood in Nottingham, etc.

I thank God for these and other blessings that I might have unnoticed and look forward to 2010 as a better and brighter year. I found out that this year is, according to the Lunar Calendar, the Year of the Tiger which makes it more exciting for me since I was born in the Year of the Tiger.

As a kid, my parents bought me a white shirt with a staring tiger printed in front. I donned this in one of our class pictures in 'Playhouse' (equivalent to Nursery) at the Angelicum School (now College).

Tigers are said to be ferocious and suspicious. Perhaps these two attributes (regardless of being negative) are what we need for this new year. Ferocious could mean being assertive and proactive in making things happen, in moving forward to achieve that long-time dream (of course without hurting others).

A few days before 2009 came to a close, I was thinking of my New Year's resolution. Suddenly I thought of Sandy whose official brand name is actually Fiat (abbreviation for the Italian car manufacturer). Now the word fiat in Latin means 'Let it be'. In very simple language fiat means 'Yes'. Following the tiger's assertiveness, I am saying Yes to life, to my family, to my career progression, to my service to God.

A tiger's suspiciousness could mean being discriminative. To filter the good from the bad, the true from the false, the essential from the excess baggage. Nowadays, one has to be careful in making decisions, to weigh the costs, to consider various factors, to spend on what's only important. Indeed, I may sound 'suplado' if I were to be discriminate, but you must maintain your 'taste' for things if you wish to succeed. Again, without sacrificing what is good and those you hold dear in your heart.

I believe that if we are assertive, proactive, and discriminative, we'll spare ourselves the troubles we may have encountered in 2009. Let's welcome and walk through 2010 with a growl!

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One thing upcoming in 2010 is the implementation of the new English translation of the Roman Missal. I heard that in England and Wales, the new translation would come in force in Advent.

Examples: the people's response to the priest's 'The Lord be with you' will be 'And with your spirit' (from the original Latin 'Et cum spiritu tuo') and the response to 'Let us give thanks to the Lord our God' will be 'It is right and just'(Latin: 'Dignum et justum est'). By the way, 'And with your spirit' and 'It is right and just' were the text used in the Mass before the current English translation was enforced.

It has been said that the current translation wasn't that faithful to the original Latin text and have lost the 'solemnity' that was there in the original. There have been concerns that this new translation is one step backward from the gains of Vatican II. Then first time I heard of this new translation was five years ago and a priest friend aired his misgivings in the change that would happen. I must admit that decisions are made by the Church hierarchy, however it doesn't mean not communicating with and consulting the majority of the faithful who would definitely ask 'What's in it for me?'

Talking about being discriminative, the Church hierarchy should realize that it's best to delay it so we could reflect more on it and, like anything new, pilot test it. If there would be any flaws then it's best to deal with it on a small scale rather than a full-blown one.

I love the Mass and what I would hate to see is more people getting disillusioned from it because of these proposed changes.