July 3 is a blessed day for me and my wife. We started the day going to mass after the kids were sent to school. The homily was given by one of our favorite Capuchin priest, Fr. Tonet. He said that while we see Thomas as the one who doubted, perhaps there's another side of him why he wanted to see the Lord first before believing. Deep inside of him, he has this 'expectant faith'. He is claiming that he wants to see the Lord who is risen and so he was given that extraordinary chance of even touching His wounds.
This day also marks the start of our annual Christian Life Program at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Our group, Couples for Christ, has been ironing it out for the past three months and just a week before, I was appointed as the new team leader (talk about surprises!). We are scheduled to do two CLPs this year and I was supposed to handle the second. Though I have reservations doing a second one because of our limited manpower, I can only agree to the work that God has given us.
I went home early from the office to be able to prepare for our event. Around 3:30 pm I went to the church to check first on the venue. Mang Jerry, the caretaker, cannot be found. Two guards assisted me to look for him but still no mang Jerry, and our venue is closed (padlocked is more like it). Oh well, the guard promised to remind him of our schedule when they see him and I went on my way home.
A terrible traffic jam occured at the stretch of Quezon ave and Araneta after a truck had an accident. My wife, who is now on her way to pick up our children texted me for help. She's already stuck for more than an hour and was worried she can only pick up our son over at Tomas Morato but not our daughters at Examiner street, which is just a short distance across Quezon ave. So off I went to pick the girls via Delmonte which is now also at a crawling pace but I had to pass by the church first to see if mang Jerry got my message. The guard welcomed me and said that everything is already set. Whew!
I was lucky to get through to the girls but going back is something else. Traffic is now a big mess and covered even the secondary roads. I panicked as I saw the time on my watch reads 6:30pm. My wife, who by this time already got Jiego, is still stuck on now E. Rodriguez avenue after ditching the route where she came from. I even had to detour to Baler instead of my route earlier when traffic then was tolerable. We texted our brothers and sisters about our situation in hopes of getting them to come early and be aware of the traffic jam. I was home 7:25 just a few minutes later than my wife.
Moving on to our CLP, Suzette and I arrived 10 minutes before the schedule but the place is already being filled with participants! I was overwhelmed! God never ceases to amaze me. The hall hasn't seen this number of participants in ages! In the past, the ratio of service team to participants is around 4:1, now it's the other way around. We even ran out of info sheets!
As I started the opening remarks, I remembered the day's gospel. I remembered how I doubted but at the same time, had this expectant faith that God will bless us with participants. I am humbled and overwhelmed as he called on all these people from all over to attend this gathering. Truly, "My Lord and My God!".
Indeed, it was a Spirit-filled affair. Fr. Monching Atanacio, our parish priest, welcomed our guests much to their delight and our speaker and member of the CFC board of elders, bro. Mon De Leon gave everybody a wonderful orientation night. Bro Larry and sis Rory also willingly gave their personal testimony on why the CLP can be a tool to enhance love and relationships. God truly gives and it pours!
This morning I read the gospel with God's message: "pour new wine into new wineskins" (Mt.9:14-17). Now the work begins. All praise be to God!
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