Two Homilies

Last Sunday, I had a wonderful opportunity to listen to two homilies on TV - one on Channel 5 and the other on Studio 23.

But before I tell you about either one, I have to inform you first that the previous day, a friend of mine suggested that I watch "The Last Lecture" on YouTube. It was given by a college professor, Randy Pausch, diagnosed to have terminal cancer. So he gave a last lesture in his university and wrote a book of the same title. The book became a bestseller as it talks about having fun, going back to one's childhood dreams, never giving up, etc.

Well, that gave me a wonderful idea! Why don't I write books that will surely be bestsellers so I can help pay for my medical expenses! I was so excited! Already, I was thinking of finishing my long overdue book, "Mission:Possible!" plus at three more: "Something More to Thank About", "Things I Learned from Loved Ones, Friends and Strangers", and "Fit for God".

But when I listened to the first homily the following day, the priest talked about bestsellers and I was convicted! The story goes this way. A writer died and went to heaven bringing a wagon of his best-selling books which were many. He was waiting by the pearly gates, confident to gain entry. Comes an old woman with a wagon with even more books. Curious, the writer asked if the woman was also a writer. The woman shook her head and said she could neither read nor write.
All she did was take care of babies not her own but her nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews.

So why all the books? The woman said she was just given the books to carry and asked the writer the favor of reading the titles of the books. So the writer read out the title of each book and it turned out that each book was about every single baby that the woman took care of and what became of them. Baby Arthur, now a barrio doctor. Baby Juana, now a mother of a special child. Baby Lita, now a sister of the Missionaries of Charity and so on.

Guess who got admitted inside heaven?

Of course, that does not mean that I will no longer aim to write bestsellers but it is more important that my life touch many people so these people could change for the better.

Second homily was by my favorite priest, Fr. Mario Sobrejuanite. He talked lengthily about the movie "Vertical Limit". He said that it was about mountain climbing and vertical limit is that limit
where going up becomes extremely dangerous and life-threatening.


Anyway, to make the long story short, the story is not only about courage but also of sacrificing one's lives for others. I am reminded of the song, "In the evening of my life, I shall ask this question - was I brave, and strong, and true."

I would like to think that I am not yet in the evening of my life but then...why wait for evening when we can do the sacrificing now?