A Tribute To Benjamin Santos,Sr. , A Friend and A Godfather

A Tribute to Benjamin Santos, Sr., A Friend, and a Godfather.

Dear friends on our stay as members
Our journey is only a dream
For we are dead in our slumbers
But we are alive as a team.

At North Francisco, we all met
Nurses, dentists, lawyers, priest
The North, West, South without retreat
And we are one. That we insist.

We work in joy and in sorrow
To fulfill each one's destiny
And to write our own tomorrow
Whatever will be, it will be.

Time is fleeting not our yearning
We are in the land of the brave
And alive our hearts are beating
We pray for a friend on his grave.

Lives of those who left remind us
That Life is precious and sublime
That we must depart not to rush
Leave footmarks on the road of Time.

Let us, then,  be firm in praying
In our hearts with love not hate
Still hoping and still believing
That this is our cherished Fate.

(N.B.)  This poem is a glimpse of our mid-seventies arrival as immigrants in the United States for a greener pasture and a breath of fresh air from the ashes of Martial Law. We landed on North Francisco Avenue near the Norwegian-American Hospital and the Humboldt Park area which is between North Avenue to the North and Chicago Street to the South. This was memorable and remarkable as nurses, dentists, doctors, accountants, teachers, lawyers, and engineers huddled together in the coldness of the Windy City to form a bond of friendship and a compact of professionalism sans hubris in a newfound frontier.  These immigrants were the true daring Filipinos of The Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers coming from the North of the largest island of Luzon, the West of the Visayan islands, and the South of the second largest island called Mindanao. These professionals were from a sovereign country of more than 7,000 islands, the Pearl of the Orient Sea better known as the Philippines named after King Philipp of Spain. Spain colonized the Philippines for more than 300 years, brought the Catholic religion, built churches, cathedrals, and parochial religious schools; while America stayed for over 50 years with its Torch of Education, the Protestant religion, and the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

Our beloved friend Benjamin Santos, Sr. who is a godfather to my eldest son. is a lawyer and a Fiscal of Cotabato. However, he is from Zamboanga City, a Zamboanga A.E. College law graduate but practiced his law profession in Cotabato where his brother, a Zamboanga Normal College graduate occupied a prominent position in the public schools. In the twist of circumstance, he found a Florence Nightingale, a practicing nurse, and a graduate of the Philippine General Hospital School of Nursing in Manila, who eventually became his best half. Pare' Ben is a man with a good heart and helping hands. He had helped us several times when my car broke down and when somebody attempted to rob me as I approached to park in my garage, he sent his guys to my succor.

And his family is a lighthouse in times of distress.

Pare' Ben, rest in peace, and may perpetual light shine upon you!

( By: Greg Intas Caponong Alcala Trabanca)

The Time of Our Life

Nostalgic Past

The sure coming of four scores years
Of rural lovely memories
Didn't bother me to drop  some tears
Or dare to think of more worries,

Twenty nineteen is now ending;

This creeps into my little mind, 

Boyhood memories come rushing

The plan must now be realigned.

Those were the times when days were long

When the brooks sang and the flowers smiled

Joyfully we hummed and jogged along

On this journey of a glorious ride.

They were all friends the  people we met

Exchanging stories and glad we did

We plowed the field and watched the sunset

We worked, we played and we studied.

Simbang Gabi Note 1

2019 

'Twas a good year, the best of years

'Twas the month of the Simbang Gabi

A nine-day novena that gears

To the birth of the Most Holy. 

For a delightful mortal life

The fulfillment of the nine-day

Prayer for peace and out of strife

For this is what Christmas can say.

For me, it was this: I was able to finish the 9-day attendance of the 5:30 A.M. Simbang Gabi/Misa de Gallo and also celebrated my birthday on two venues without really trying. Picture 2 B-Day celebrations in one day! Luck of your life! One at 5:30 am at Transfiguration Church 'til 7:30 am. The other at 7:00 pm at St. Henry Church with Fr Jose' Baptista, the celebrant of the Holy Eucharist.

Memorable Birthday Sans Really Trying (12/19/19)

Four scores years in the annals of the history of a man's life is a feat or a faux pas (foh pah).

This is the story of a man who celebrated a natal day party without really trying. 

He has never held a birthday anniversary party in his life but just like the shadow it just follows wherever and whenever his day of birth arrives. It sounds unusual and it is true because of the strategic date in the calendar in the zodiac sign of Saggitarius which falls in December when many occasions are observed. Is it then his fault when the circumstance is favorable on his court?

 And especially that it is the month that the mystery of "the Bread of Life and the Chalice of Salvation" comes into full credence of its very essence and veracity in the tapestry of humanity's spiritual life.

Such is the fate of this man, a treasure of clay, so to speak. 

He was born barely after the Great Depression. He witnessed his native land under the era of colonialism struggling to be free. No appropriate epithet can describe the journey of this son of the Creator who nourished and shielded him from an onslaught of the vicissitude of time.

Simbang Gabi Note 2

12/16/2020. This year's Simbang Gabi, a Filipino Catholic Christian tradition was memorable in the annals of Simbang Gabi history as it was streamed globally with modern technology. It was observed at the Vatican with Pope Francis.

Simbang Gabi, is a nine-day novena to the Blessed Mother that culminates in Christmas eve . This tradition was observed after Spain's conquest of the Philippines who brought with them missionaries whose primary objective was to catechize and evangelize the population.

Simbang Gabi evolves from "Misa de Gallo" pre-dawn mass to accommodate the native Filipinos who were mostly farmers and fishermen.  And also, "Misa de Aguinaldo", Mass of the Gift (gift of incarnation).

In Illinois, particularly in Chicago, the Transfiguration Church observed a nine-day pre-dawn (5:30 AM) Simbang Gabi mass and St. Henry, a nine-night ( 7:00 PM) Simbang Gabi.

The theme of this year's Simbang Gabi is- Jesus: still, the Word that we proclaim.

On the homily of Bishop Blase at St. Robert Bellarmine Church, I was reminded of the book written by an Australian-born catholic author and speaker, Matthew Kelley whom I met and witnessed physically in one of his lectures. His book entitled, The Shepherd is a story about a man who has found the happiness that our hungry hearts desire. His simple and peaceful spirit provides a vision of happiness that is deeply rooted in ancient wisdom but may just be that can rescue us all.

It is a modern parable about our search for happiness, that the human heart is on a quest for happiness. As individuals, we are all so unique and different, but we are bound together by our common yearning for happiness.