Visiting religious places in the world

Thursday, July 14, 2011

MY WIFE and I believed in church wedding for it is a foundation to a family, a basic unit of society.

So I got married to my wife some 40 years ago in 1971 here in our city at the Nazareno Church with the late Fr. Luis Cebrero as the officiating priest.

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When we had a family already, we pledged that if we have enough savings and sales from a few of our lands, we will travel abroad.

When my wife and I went to central Europe for the first time and for 31 days from London, England, to Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria to Spain, Switzerland and to Holland, we stayed for two days in each major 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 Monastery in Loreto, Italy and the Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy.

She failed to join me for the four days Rotary International Convention in Nice, France since she had to go back to Cagayan de Oro hurriedly for her father, Santiago Gavas, who was 90 years old, passed away unexpectedly.

Our son 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 brief testimony of the living saint, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, India, an Austrian national a small and fragile woman who touched the Rotarians in a simple speech in English.

An American Astronaut, John Glenn, who later on became 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 beautiful city of Prague in the Czech Republic.

For three times, my wife and I went back to the USA with our sons Bong and Rommel and the third time was with widow Grace Dalisay where I attended a Rotary Convention in Calgary, Canada. We took off from Seattle City in a small plane to Calgary and we had a very scary flight for it was a stormy night and the flight was extra bumpy. Thank God we arrived safely in Calgary for we prayed to Him intensely.

In our return home, we went to Vancouver, Canada and witnessed the beautiful Niagara Falls and we traveled by train from Buffalo City to New York City and returned home via Honolulu, Hawaii to Manila.

It's good always to be back in our beautiful country, the Pearl of the Orient Seas.

When we travelled to Singapore 10 years after with our sons, then to Shenzhen, China, Macau and Shanghai, in Mainland China, our grandchildren joined us. We visited modern and sophisticated cities via train from Hongkong.

My grandchildren enjoyed it very much. It was very memorable to them.
Of course, it was quite expensive but the experiences were enhancing and widening.

When my wife and I joined the Eucharistic Congress of the Heart of Jesus in Guadalajara, Mexico, it was a different kind of religious exposure. Some Dominican Priests of UST and Sacred Heart of Jesus Priests were with us in that spiritual convention.

My wife and I saw the majestic Pyramids of the pagans in Mexico City where my wife climbed it up with the younger priests. I did not go up anymore and some of the participants.

Then for the first time, I saw with my wife the Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe where the Blessed Virgin appeared to Juan Diego, a native of Mexico, and where the image of the Blessed Mary was printed in his coat. It was a miracle.

The Divine Mercy devotion was still unheard of and my wife was a devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Today, I'm all alone in our house but my sons 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 leaders in the Catholic church alone. Monsignor Rey Manuel Monsanto together with some four Philippine priests, Monina Tayamin, a national evangelist from Manila, and Fr. Mar Arenas, president of the Philippine Apostolic Congress of Mercy and the rector of the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Marilao, Bulacan, and Msgr. Rey Manuel Monsanto who is the spiritual director of the Western Mindanao Divine Mercy ecclesiastical region where he is the regional spiritual director.

I'm all for the glory of God even if my wife is not with me, for she needs such deep knowledge on how to effectively promote in Mindanao, in her area of responsibility, the glory of God through the devotion of the Divine Mercy together with other lay leaders in Mindanao.

She'll be home in the last week of July where I'll meet her at the NAIA Airport with my son Rommel and his wife Kookie.

In the remaining years of our lives, we will dedicate it devotedly for God's glory and just like the biblical leader, Joshua, when he said, as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.

Looking back, the Lord prepared us to serve in His Shrine.