First, I would like to thank Bridget Fogarty, our Parish Pastoral Facilitator, Tim Fogarty from the Leadership Team and Bill Girardi, our Pastoral Associate for doing my column in the bulletin while I was on vacation. I guess when you are on vacation, the least you think about is your work. You want to take a break from your routine and enjoy your vacation. That is what I did as I spent my time with my family back in the Philippines.
As I shared with you last Sunday in my mass, it was not totally a vacation because I did celebrate mass in my home parish, baptized my niece, went to see the new bishop in our diocese and attended our 25th Batch Reunion in High School. But I still had a great time with my family, especially with all six siblings present for the 65th birthday of our mother and 31st birthday of our youngest brother. It was a happy reunion for us, especially for our mom. The only problem I encountered was the weather because although I thought I was used to the heat already, I could not bear it anymore. I felt my skin was burning, even inside the house. I was perspiring so much that I needed to take a shower more than once a day and changed my clothes three times a day. It was so embarrassing to my mom and the rest of my siblings, especially when I bought an air conditioning unit to my bedroom because I could not sleep at night due to heat. It was humid and brutally hot. They teased me that I was no longer used to the summer in the Philippines and that I was becoming Americanized. I said not that way. Maybe when you are away from your country for so long that is what happens. You need to readjust to everything - time, weather, food and others. Anyways, it is good to go away on a vacation to relax and unwind, but just as anything has an end, so it does with vacationing.
Coming back was hard, especially when I missed the flight. I went back home and rebooked my flight. It was not fun. But I guess it is part of the adventure of a vacation. You either encounter pleasant or unpleasant surprises along the way. But let me tell you, even Jesus had these encounters. In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus was in route to Jerusalem for some events and decided to pass through a Samaritan village for a stop. Unfortunately, the people did not welcome him because they learned that his destination was not actually towards them but in Jerusalem. The disciples of Jesus displayed anger towards the people but Jesus rebuked them and said let us journey to another village.
This can also happen to us whether in traveling or in dealing with others. If things do not go on our way, Jesus is saying don’t be angry. Just move on. It may be hard and disappointing to you, but what can we do? Learn from it and chill. Move on. Relax. Be patient or else your day will be ruined. There are things that sometimes happen unexpectedly and are not within our control.