When We Had A Family Already, We Pledged That If We Have Enough Savings And Sales From A Couple Of Our Lands, We’re Going To Travel Abroad.
When my wife and I went to central Europe for the 1st time and for 31 days from London, England, to Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria to Spain, Switzerland and to Holland, we stayed for 2 days in each main city that we visited.
We visited the famous Shrines of the Blessed Virgin in Lourdes, France also Beiring in Brussels in Belgium, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, the Padre Pio Priory in Loreto, Italy and the Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy.
She did not join me for the 4 days Rotary Global Convention in Nice, France since she had to go back to Cagayan de Oro hurriedly for her father, Santiago Gavas, who was 90 years of age , died surprisingly.
Our child Bong accompanied her back since I had to attend in Nice, France a Rotary International Convention where I pre-registered and it was in this convention where I heard the short lived testimony of the living saint, Mummy Theresa of Calcutta, India, an Austrian state a small and fragile lady who touched the Rotarians in a simple speech in English.
An American Astronaut, John Glenn, who later on changed into a US Senator, shared his experience in outer space which deepened his Christian faith in God.
The second time we were back was in Eastern Europe and we visited the famous Medjugorje Shrine where the Blessed Virgin Mary of Bosnia Herzegovina appeared and we then proceeded to see the famous Shrine of the Black Nazarene and visited the attractive town of Prague in the Czech Republic.In Medjugorje you can find a good Medjugorje accommodation.
For 3 times, my better half and I returned to the United States with our boys Bong and Rommel and the 3rd time was with widow Grace Dalisay where I attended a Rotary Convention in Calgary, Canada. We took off from Seattle City in a tiny plane to Calgary and we had a very frightening flight for it is a stormy night and the flight was additional rough. Thank Heavens we arrived safely in Calgary for we prayed to Him intensely.
In our return home, we went to Vancouver, Canada and witnessed the pretty Niagara Falls and we went by train from Buffalo Town to New York City and returned home through Honolulu, Hawaii to Manila.
It’s good always to be back in our pretty country, the Pearl of the Orient Seas.
When we travelled to Singapore 10 years after with our boys, then to Shenzhen, China, Macau and Shanghai, in Mainland China, our grandkids joined us. We visited modern and classy towns on a train from Hongkong.
My grandkids enjoyed it a great deal. It was very memorable to them.
Naturally, it was kind of expensive but the experiences were enhancing and widening.
When my spouse and I joined the Eucharistic Congress of the Center of Jesus in Guadalajara, Mexico, it was a different kind of non secular exposure. Some Dominican Monks of UST and Holy Heart of Jesus Monks were with us in that non secular convention.
My other half and I saw the magnificent Pyramids of the pagans in Mexico Town where my better half climbed it up with the more youthful monks. I did not go up any more and some of the participators.
Then for the 1st time, I saw with my better half the Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe where the Blessed Virgin seemed to Juan Diego, a native of Mexico, and where the picture of the Blessed Mary was released in his coat. It’s a miracle.
The Divine Mercy attention was still extraordinary and my better half was a devotee of the Holy Heart of Jesus.
Today, I am completely alone in our home but my boys Bong and Rommel who sleep in my room with a male caregiver were there to give me company.
My wife, for the first time in our married life, attended a seminar retreat in Malibu Center in California, USA for six days exclusive for leading players in the Catholic church alone.
Monsignor Rey Manuel Monsanto together with some 4 Philippine monks, Monina Tayamin, a national evangelist from Manila, and Fr. Mar Arenas, president of the Philippine Apostolic Congress of Mercy and the rector of the Nation’s Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Marilao, Bulacan, and Msgr. Rey Manuel Monsanto who is the religious director of the Western Mindanao Divine Mercy ecclesiastical region where he’s the regional non secular director.
I am all for the glory of Almighty God whether or not my better half isn’t with me, for she needs such deep information on how to effectively promote in Mindanao, in her area of responsibility, the glory of God through the attention of the Divine Mercy together with other lay leading players in Mindanao.
She is going to be home in the last week of July where I’ll meet her at the NAIA Airport with my child Rommel and his spouse Kookie.
In the leftover years of our lives, we shall dedicate it devotedly for God’s glory and just like the biblical leader, Joshua, when he claimed, as for me and my household we’re going to serve the Lord.
Looking backwards, the Lord prepared us to serve in His Shrine as reported tagza.com.
Walsh College Commencement – Chelsea Marie Papp – MBA student speaker
