mE, MySeLf & GOD

i don’t know about you guys. but as for me, i always fall in love with the pope… well, considering that i’ve only known two popes: pope jphn paul the great and pope benedict the sixteenth.

i know i really loved pope john paul the great. and i still love him. it’s kind of strange since he doesn’t know me. i didn’t even have the chance to meet him in person during his lifetime! but still, i fell in love with him. i cried when he passed away and was exhilirated when the people expressed their wanting to make him a saint. it’s not actually the love many teen-agers are familiar with. it’s like a love for a very close friend. it’s as if i’ve known him — the boy whowas once called lolek — all my life. it’s as if we’re very close! although in truth, i’ve seen him only on the telly and on newspapers, the reader’s digest, posters, catholic calendars from don bosco, and books. he never saw me. but still, i love him. he will always be a dear friend to me.

and i now, i feel the same way about pope benedict the sixteenth. well at first, i just respected him. i didn’t actually love him. i mean, he’s just a pope to me then. but just now, i fell in love with him. yes, i now love the man — like pope john paul the great before him. why? perhaps it was his easter message aired at ewtn. he spoke in 60 or so different languages! he even, much to my joy, spoke in tagalog! he said, filipino: maligayang pagkabuhay ng panginoon! wow! i was like wow! this man rocks! he’s so cool! i learned recently that he can speak 10 different languages fluently!

i just hope that just like my love for popes john paul the great and benedict the sixteenth, i may also love jesus christ… and perhaps even deeper!

Gosh! The very Batangeneo, very Bridgetine, highly honered GAUDENCIO CARDINAL ROSALES said Mass yesterday evening at the Basilica of the Immaculate Concepcion… Our family went there very early. The Mass was said to start at about 6:15, we went there at past 3:00! We wanted to have seats for ourselves. And boy was I glad we came there early! There were a lot, and I mean a lot, of people who attended the Mass.

Everything was so exhilirating (well, not everything cause not everybody was nice)! I mean, just the thought of a co-Batangueneo (and co-Bridgetine, if I may add) being a CARDINAL is just so amazing! Plus the fact that he’s a friend of my father. Everything went on well, I should say. But there were just a lot of people there. A lot were sitting, and a lot more were standing up. We didn’t mind the heat, we didn’t mind the long wait for the Mass to start. Everybody had our dear old Lolo ‘Dency’ coming to Batangas and sort of thanking the people (and God of course). The people really received him with great honor and joy! When the Mass started, and the priests were all walking towards the altar, the people actually went to Cardinal Rosales to ask for his blessing or just even hold his hand! And when the indtroduction about him was read, everybody applauded with such warmth it gave me goose bumps!

I remember three things from his wonderful homily. The first thing he said was that he’s afraid. He didn’t thought himself worthy of such honor but if God gives it to him, then he submits to His will. He said that gaining such power and honor is a form of temptation — the temptation of holding on to that power and forgetting things that are far more important. Wow! That man is soooo humble! I mean, if I were in his position, I’d probably brag about it!

The next thing I remember is his being a priest — a GOOD PRIEST, as his father requested long ago. He told us of his first income, and his balisong, and how his father told him that to be a priest is no easy job. But although his father wished him to become a doctor and not a priest, he was allowed to enter the seminary on the condition that if he ever made it to priesthood, he should be a GOOD PRIEST. And indeed he is!

Lastly, I remember how proud he is to be a Batangueneo. He even told us that his parents were wedded in that very Basilica, and that he and his siblings were baptized there too, and that he went to school at St. Bridget College (like my Mom and myself… proud to be a Bridgetine!). In his eyes we were certain he really is proud to be from Batangas. He even left us yet another endearing quotation: ‘ANG BATANGUENEONG MABAIT, MAY PUHUNAN SA LANGIT!" So really, to be a GOOD PERSON really pays!

It has been a year now since my dream of going to St. Peter’s and having a one on one talk with Pope John Paul II went down the drain. His passing away caused me and my family sadness, of course. But then, we felt so proud to be Catholics. We knew how much beloved our Pontiff was. I mean a lot of people actually mourned for his demise!

For everything he has done for the Church, we are forever thankful to Pope ‘Lolek’ (as he was fondly called by his parents and his brother, ‘Mundek’). He really is deserving to be named a SAINT. I just hope he knows how much these legions of people (like myself) love him. Of course, I also respect our present Potiff, Pope Benedict XVI… but Pope ‘Lolek’ will always be special to me. Perhaps it’s because he has been Pope since I was born. And I’ve always felt his love for the Church and for God of course even though I’ve never seen him all my life. I kind of envy my parents, who have seen him! My Mom saw him when she was in Baguio. My Dad saw him twice! On one occassion, my Dad was even able to take a picture of him! It was when Pope ‘Lolek’ went to the Lipa Cathedral.

Well, I hope every Catholic remembers that a year has passed since a beloved man joined our Lord in heaven. We ought to remember him. He has done his part in leading us closer the the Lord, our God and to Mary, His mother.

To all the Catholics who love Pope John Paul II, let us rejoice for we know that he is now in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ and all the saints!