This was some­thing I gave as a homily years ago when I was still a Jesuit and my par­ents cel­e­brated their 25^th Wed­ding Anniver­sary. In a world where talk is cheap and com­mit­ments more and more tem­po­rary, some peo­ple do stay together despite every­thing. This is about my mom and my dad. And even if their anniver­sary is still in June, I would like to share this at this early part of the year, because it is a good reminder for us to be there for the long haul.

We had the mass in my favorite chapel in Sacred Heart Novi­tiate, the Immac­u­late Con­cep­tion Chapel. It has one of the most beau­ti­ful stat­ues of Mary ever. I hope you could go to Sacred Heart Novi­tiate, in Novaliches, Que­zon City, Philip­pines, and pray in that cute lit­tle chapel and behold the beau­ti­ful Mary pray­ing with us and pray­ing for us as we start our jour­neys this year. May she be there for the long haul. And may we con­tinue to be pleas­antly sur­prised at the many things hap­pen­ing to us.

150 Years. 150 Things About the Ateneo. (101−150)">

This is the last of a three part series on 150 things about the Ate­neo. It’s dif­fi­cult to exhaust every­thing about the Ate­neo; so this is not an attempt at exhaust­ing every­thing about it, it is an attempt to show­case the beauty, and the his­tory, as well as talk about triv­ial things we prob­a­bly do not know about it. I hope it helps all of us Ate­neans (and even those who aren’t) cel­e­brate our expe­ri­ence and cel­e­brate the great­ness of who we are, what we stand for.

This is what we are about. This is the Ate­neo Way.

150 Years. 150 Things About the Ateneo. (51−100)">

We started with the First 50 last week, and we are con­tin­u­ing with the next 50 things about the Ateneo.

150 Years. 150 Things About The Ateneo (First 50)">

I apol­o­gize to non-Ateneans who will be read­ing this. But this is a unabashed expres­sion of love to my alma mater. This year is the Sesqui­cen­ten­nial (it means 150^th year anniversary–I didn’t even know there was such a word until the Arneow started using the term!) of the school. And there are a lot to be thank­ful for. These are 150 odds and ends about the Ateneo…

82: In Loving Memory">

This site is an inter­ac­tive art project by a good friend of mine (and mem­ber of my barkada, the Wednes­day Group) Fr. Jason Dy, SJ. He’s a great artist, and you might want to check out his web­site, Batik­Batik na Karik­tan (the title is a Fil­ip­iniza­tion of Ger­ard Man­ley Hop­kins’ poem Pied Beauty).