BACK TO BLOGGING

It’s 2011. January 26.

I haven’t uploaded my blog for a long, long time!

The last time was a liturgical note on Christ the King.

The cover page is still the Ordinary Time, that is, my blog at the iWeb (Mac).

No. I did not just become lazy.

All of a sudden, when Advent came, I just became busy... busy... busy!

It was the first time in years that I could say I was busy!

There was the Advent Course that I did for the parishioners.

There was the “upgrade” of our Christmas decorations in the parish.

There were talks that had to be delivered.

There was the follow-up of the Confirmation Course of the Middle and High School Confirmandi in Yamato Church.

There was this... there was that...

Facebook and news...

Youtube and readings...

I was so happy to be busy... after so many years!

Is this a sign I am picking up and now in my usual element?

Then, dear Lord, let me grow and give me this wonderful chance to contribute in evangelizing through the net.

Note 1:

I am going back to the Google Blogger because iWeb is just too-o-o-o-o-o-o slow in publishing it to the web. Pity that its style and format is so great, but the speed just can't catch up with my personal needs. Anyway, I hope to find something to solve this.

Note 2:

Ah yes, the photo was taken while on board the Enoden Line along the Sagami Bay from Kamakura. The dry season gives us a beautiful opportunity to see the most beautiful sight in Japan!

Recent Personal Happenings

Spring is definitely coming here in Shizuoka... they say, earlier than usual.   The start of the new school year used to be the time when the cherry blossoms are blooming, but it seems it will not be anymore.  Cherry blossoms are expected to go full bloom by tomorrow over here.  

Just in front of the church compound is the inner moat that used to protect Sunpu Castle, 

the last place where the famous Ieyasu Tokugawa lived.  It was from this castle that 

the declaration to persecute Christians was handed 

down.  The castle is no more.  But there is a beautiful park in it.  On dry, cold winter days, one can see the beautiful, yet, 

imposing Mt. Fuji, white and mysterious, as if Mt. Olympus was just a stone's throw.  

Come March 

29, it will be the elections of the City Parliament.  The way they conduct their campaign is something Filipinos should 

learn from.  They make their speeches on places where people usually pass through like train stations and city squares.  They do not make rallies... and I suppose DO NOT COERCE people to become the crowd of these rallies.  All they do is make their speeches heard -- perhaps targeting the "unattentive" passerby's mind, 

knowing that it will naturally sink into his/her own thinking process.

But what actually strikes me is the limitation of posters.  Yes, no big streamers or tarpaulins!  No stickers or a barrage of posters on walls!  Just the designated, temporary board with 

the designated size for only ONE poster per candidate.  We, Filipinos, may still accuse the Japanese to be barbaric 

World War II offenders... but elections is one proof that they may be less "barbaric" than us, Pinoys, when it comes to elections. 

Last February 22, I received a text message from the bishop to see him for an emergency talk.  I went to his office the next day -- my mother's birthday! -- and he told me the surprising news: that I am moving from Shizuoka to Kamakura to become assistant parish priest.

No, it's not a promotion.  It's just that the parish priest of Kamakura (Yukinoshita Church) really needs a replacement for one of his assistants (who will be parish priest of another church).  The bishop told me he specifically asked for me.  Flattered or not, this is one new challenge for me.  Yet, I just cannot avoid thinking of the fact that this is my 8th transfer in my 9 years in Japan.  I feel like one of the Israelites in Moses' time traveling for 40 years to get to the Promised Land.   

(Right: picture of the church that I downloaded from its website.)