Hope Rising

It's Easter Sunday!

This is a day of rejoicing and hope. Rejoicing that Christ is Risen and has defeated death, and Hope for all that after sorrow comes joy.

Hope and Joy! Two of the things that I - and I'm certain, the whole world - pray for during this Easter season.

A song for Healing

Ryan Cayabyab has always been a musical hero.

One of the cassette tapes that I'd often borrow from my Dad's library was Ryan Cayabyab's "One." It was an acapella album where all the songs were just sung by one person - Ryan - of course. This was way, way, way ahead of other acapella groups, and way, way, way ahead of its time.

"Limang dipang tao" and "Tsismis" were my 2 favorite songs from that album. These songs were simply genius. Just like Ryan.

And now, the genius is at work again. Amidst the environment of uncertainty and despair, he repurposed the 2019 SEA Games song to be more relevant to today. From, "We Win as One," the world is now in unison in hoping and praying that "We Heal as One."



Bravo, Maestro! No wonder you're our National Artist.

Spreading Hope part 2

These are uncertain times and worrying is an easy thing to do.

But in the words of St. Pio de Petrelcina:

If we pray more and worry less, we can do the impossible.

Spreading Hope

During times of uncertainty, He is the one who provides calmness and hope.

Like millions of Filipinos, I pray that this virus doesn’t spread any further and that those affected by it are comforted and healed.

At the bottom of the box

One of my favorite mythological stories is "Pandora's Box."

It was my favorite when I was in grade school, and I'd read it on our encyclopedia over and over again. Then, when I was in high school, I did my first school play as Prometheus. Needless to say, the play was "Pandora's Box."

In the story, Pandora inadvertently releases different misfortunes and ills to the world by opening a forbidden box. She closes it after she realizes what she did, and feels so much remorse after. But as she was about to keep the box, she hears a stirring from inside.

When she opens it again, she saw that at the bottom of the box was hope. She releases it so that even with all the ills and misfortunes, people can hope that things will be better.

Typhoon Yolanda is like Pandora's Box. After reading, watching and seeing its trail of death and destruction, you can see how the typhoon released different misfortunes and ills in Tacloban and the Visayas area.

But despite all that destruction, we remember that there is hope.

Hope that generosity will prevail. Hope that the world is coming to their aid. And hope that this, too, shall pass.

So I pray that the people of Tacloban, Samar and other typhoon-struck areas never lose hope.

Hope is, indeed, a powerful thing.