My last days of December 2008 was spent here at Cebu City with my youngest brother. He was given cash as Christmas gift by my mother to buy new shirts and a pair of jeans. So off we went visiting malls and searching for the best “fits” for him. After the hassle and bustle (roaming malls is not really my thing), we hurried to go rest in my room.
We had dinner at a nearby barbecue stall and went to my Ramos barkadas for some drinks of beer. Although my brother is still in high school, I allow him to accompany me with these gatherings because I believe that exposing him to “realities” of life will be better rather than restricting him to have drinks with other people. I think that the more we restrict youngsters with their “new-found vices”, the more it will drive them to be rebellious. I want my brother to discover new things with me and thus be guided on what's really right and wrong. Actually, I am also learning from the process of teaching him the more important aspects of life.
Although I haven't been to Church for a while, I made it a point that we attend the mass that day so that I can impart to my brother that going to church should be part of his Sunday (if not everyday) routine. So off we went to Sto. Rosario Church which I have grown to love back from my College days at USC. The reading that Sunday was about the Holy Family. And the officiating priest during his Homily simply called families who have eleven children with them at the mass. He called it sort of a "Bring Me" game and promised to give a price of P500 from his pocket. Since no one approached him with eleven children, he proceeded on to call: "families with 10 children- nobody came up the pulpit; families with 9 children- still nobody came up; 8 kids- nobody stirred; 7 kids- nobody came yet; 6 kids- still none; at the count of: “5 kids! Bring me five kids, with father and mother...” At last, a throng of kids moved in front of the altar with the youngest carried by the mother. The people clapped their hands and the family received the P500 gift which the priest doubled to P1,000 so that the whole family can go to Jollibee after the mass, as he said. He then continued on to preach that the purpose of his “bring-me game” is to encourage people to hear mass as a family.
“How many of you comes to mass with the whole family?” This question still rang in my ears as the priest gave us his last blessings when the mass ended. What with everyone's busy schedules, it is in fact very rare that my own family goes to Church together. I myself find some excuse every time my Mother asks us to accompany her to Church. I made a resolve then to make it often to mass. And thankfully enough, I haven't skipped Church for three consecutive Sundays now. Not yet, anyway. So the mass we attended that day was really enlightening not only for my brother but for me, as well.
