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Chocolate War

I was on my way to the AVR to teach a class of third year students when I saw EJ, an English teacher, who was at that time preparing his learning activities at the Mac Laboratory. He offered me a dvd copy of The Chocolate War. He suggested that I watch it but he expressed caution since the film, and even the novel from which it was based, was, to say the least, controversial. The novel, penned by Robert Cormier, was banned in the U.S. for some time.

The Chocolate War is set in a Catholic boys' prep school. Jerry, a new student, finds himself at odds with Bro. Leon -- the acting administrator of the school. He refuses to sell chocolates at the school's annual fund raising activity which was Bro. Leon's pet project. Jerry's lack of alacrity brings the ire of the school administrator. So, Bro. Leon teams up with Archie, one of the leaders in the school underground fraternity, to make Jerry's life, literally, a living hell. But the uncompromising Jerry stands his ground.

There are different levels to winnow through the story. One commentator suggests that the film "explores the cruelty and betrayal of adolescence."

It did.

It brings light to my present state as a nouveau éducateur. A month has already passed, almost, from the day I first started teaching. I realize that this is not easy stuff. I find dealing and relating with students half my age a very challenging task. It is not easy to relate with adolescents -- well, my adolescent years were not easy also. At one time, I was saying to myself that I ought to visit my high school alma mater and say sorry to the teachers for whom I brought about headaches and heartaches. There isjust so much energy and gusto in teenagers. It is difficult to get their attention and to make them focus on the task at hand.

And I think the commentator is right to say so. There is cruelty and betrayal in adolescence. But it is not because adolescents are cruel. It is just not easy for them. In their eyes, life is difficult. Family concerns, pressures from peers, stress brought about by the future, relationships, identity crisis converge in this area of their life.

Life, for them and as it was for me, is difficult. More than a chocolate war, they are in a war.

As an educator, building trust is of high importance. Sincerity is necessary. In the end it is not about discipline or making their crooked lines straight. It is about journeying with them, nurturing the light. To be an educator, is to be a beacon of hope for them.

Turned Thirty

I just turned thirty last April 30. And as I look back at the past years, I say to myself that I have no regrets. I had have my own share of shortcomings and pieces of pitfalls. But I remain grateful for all those things. Deo gratias! Semper Deo gratias! I think I would not be where, what and who I am had I not coursed through the years of joy, of love, of pain, of tears.

And below are thirty things I learned for the past thirty years.

1. Prayer is very important.
2. Be at peace with yourself.
3. You are God's greatest gift for you and for all your love ones.
4. Keep a journal.
5. A few, good friends are enough.
6. You do not need to please everyone.
7. Read, read and read.
8. Engage with people.
9. Do not be afraid to say, "I love you."
10. Share what you have learned.
11. Attitude matters but it is not enough.
12. Work counts.
13. Passion and rigor is necessary in whatever field you are.
14. Crying is for everyone.
15. Letting go of persons and things are part of the process.
16. Leave a legacy -- it need not be grandiose. It suffices that you touched one soul.
17. It helps to know that I am not superman. I can only do much.
18. Be thankful.
19. Surf, surf, and surf.
20. Blogging is great.
21. Friendster is interesting.
22. What I mean is, get in touch with old friends.
23. Take time to listen to good music, drink a cup of coffee and read a good book.
24. Jogging helps.
25. Treat your parents to a movie and a wonderful dinner.
26. Go for an annual retreat.
27. There is nothing wrong in watching a movie by yourself.
28. Pamper yourself.
29. Sing in the bathroom.
30. Life is short. Live it to the full. Deo gloria; Homo vivens.

Now, its time to look forward for the next thirty years.

A Birdwatcher's Flight

This is a reprint from Windhover's second quarter issue of 2005.

Some men captivate you by the power of their words. Some attract you by the strength of their minds. Few draw you by their mere presence. And Charlie’s presence is both power and strength. A fellow scholastic, on seeing Fr. Charlie basking in the morning sunshine, confides, “ I would want to age and grow old in the Society [of Jesus].”

Even at the age of eighty-five, Charlie infects Jesuits with his serenity. His calmness is contagious. A former novice remembers him as the “man with a red cap strolling at Doyle’s walk – ever constant in his rhythmical cadence. He seems to be undisturbed by any pressing concern. He seems to be seized by his present moment.” The former novice adds, “there is so much gentleness in this man’s heart.” I wonder what makes him such. Probably, it has something to do with the sparrows or the swallows.

When I was in the Novitiate, Charlie was known in the community as the Birdwatcher. It was Scholastic Terence Ang from whom I first heard that endearment. He easily identified those winged creatures. And Charlie knew them by their names.

His love for the birds started quite early in his life. He grew up in a country place – Ant Hills in Pennsylvania where there were lots of, as Charlie himself described, “fields, trees and flowers around” – a good nesting place for the sparrows and swallows and their broods. The naming of the birds was a “family interest.” Charlie shared that, “several members of the family were really interested… they knew a lot about birds… we would be up and walking together… someone would call out, ‘There is a sparrow hawk!’ Then, we would hear the sparrow hawk and see it fly. So I began to identify the birds…”

Like his vocation to the Society, someone called out, not for crying out loud but through letters. At an early age, Charlie wanted to become a priest. “There were good diocesan priests in our place,” Charlie observed. But it was clear to him that he desired to become a religious. He did not study in any Jesuit school. He finished his primary studies at the Mount Aloysius Academy and his secondary studies at the Altoona Catholic High School. He did not know of any Jesuit priest at that time. But his elder brother’s best friend was a certain Bill Rively. Better yet, Bill Rively, nSJ. Bill had been sending letters to Charlie’s family regarding his life in the novitiate. From Bill, he learned of the Jesuits and the activities novices do in the novitiate. His interest in the Society began and at the age of seventeen, he entered the novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pennsylvania.

Charlie and Bill became good friends. So when Bill was sent to the missions the correspondence between the two continued. Charlie might have been touched and edified with what he read. He expressed his intent to go to the mission. In August of 1941, he reached the shores of the Philippines to do his philosophy studies in Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches. The war broke out. Charlie and most of the American missionaries were sent to Los Baños as prisoners of war. There were stories about the prison camp that had seen print but for Charlie all he had to say about it was this: “it had its consolations and desolations.”

After the war, he went back to Pennsylvania to do his regency in Scranton Preparatory School. For two years, he taught Religion, Latin, English and French. Then he studied theology at Woodstock. In June of 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood. He did his Tertianship in Auriesville, New York.

Seven years after the war, he returned to the Philippines. The first few years, he shaped the minds of college students from Ateneo de Naga and Zamboanga. He taught them Language, Philosophy and Theology. He even moderated the Dramatic Society in Naga. In the years that followed, he formed the hearts of our young men. He taught Latin grammar to the Novices. He was even made the Director of Formation of our Jesuit Brothers for the whole Philippine Province. Then, Fr. De la Costa assigned Charlie as the Master of Novices. He was, in the words of one of his former novices, “quite liberal.” “I was just,” he said, “continuing the programs Mike had set in place.”

In the years that followed, he touched and healed the souls of those who came to him. As a man of the Spiritual Exercises, he facilitated retreats. As a fellow Jesuit, he is our spiritual father. “Thank God for the gift of faith,” Charlie would say to those who would go for confession to him. I think this is where his power gets its source. Charlie’s strength is something that can not be stolen. To the God who notices even the single sparrow that falls to the ground, I thank Him for the gift of Charlie, a man of faith. A man whose deep trust in the Lord is articulated by his mere presence. It exudes and overflows. And it touches the hearts of those who see him.

Charlie died last Wednesday, 25th of April 2007, at two in the morning. We lost a good man here on earth. But we thank God for the gift of faith, heaven gained a saint.

Splash Island

smile

Take a Bat!

It happened yesterday.

I strolled along the empty




hallway beside the Oratory.
I saw a bat sleeping on its butt.
"An interesting sight,"
I told myself.
It was the first time I saw a bat
sleeping on its butt --
a bat on its butt.