Sunday, April 11th. I am very enlightened by the homily that day. "By being faithful to the Lord," it says, "we Christians are all given a great opportunity to fulfill our duties and responsibilities in the Church. We all have the chance to meet our forthcoming salvation in the day of Judgment."
I was so blessed that I was the one at the center, in front of the Center Chair (the chair of the late Ka Erdy, as well as Ka Eduardo). It always reminds me how high are God's expectations for me. As a key person, being at the center, I was expected to lead my fellow choir members in standing, sitting and singing, of course ... and not only that! Being placed in that chair comes high pressure. Your actions shown to the other brethren can make or break you. (Whoa! I think I can't take it anymore!)
After a few hours, I was using Uncle Cev (my mom's only brother)'s laptop at that time, when my mom, as they were going out for the 3:45pm worship service for the afternoon, told me that we were going to the the truly magnificent Templo Central in Diliman, Quezon City. At first, I heard that we will attend the 3:45pm worship service (I don't know what the exact time of the worship service there). But I still continued to fix up my account in FB, my files and projects that I am going to pass, et cetera, et cetera. Until the time came. It was already 4:30pm when I went out of my grandmom's room to fix our things that we'll be using for our upcoming 7pm practice. I was so surprised to see that my little brother Sean Michael and cousin Karlos Roi were already dressed. Too bad I have excessively wasted my time on the lappy!
And then I asked my uncle Roy (my mom's brother in law) if he is going and whom we will be fetching at the chapel. As I was very curious of what is happening, well, I just let myself ask so many questions ... and I was already informed -- we are not to attend the worship service at the Locale of Central, but, we are to visit the remains of the late Executive Minister, Brother Eraño G. Manalo (also known as Ka Erdy, or Ka Erdie) at the Tabernacle nearby.
Actually, I am really so happy to know that my Lola Sally (also known as Lola Puti, to many of my cousins and relatives) is going to us. Therefore, hindi lang pala ako nag-iisa na first time na pupunta sa puntod ni Ka Erdy, marami pala kami!
In fact, we are a family of us! I, together with my mom and my brother Sean, my aunts and uncles, my granddad and grandmom, special mention ... Lola Puti! :)
When we entered inside, there was a moment of silence. Tears start to fall on our cheeks, then to our lower jaws ...
After few months of keeping our hearts up (despite of the fact that everything was crawling down), here we go again, reminiscing the moments when Ka Erdy has touched the hearts of all of us in the flock ...
We weeped in silence, in sympathy, in sadness ... but then, it indeed had helped us once again to keep our faith in God alive.
I am so proud that I've already got there.. I am very happy, because, even though I may not have seen Ka Erdy during the wake, I became contented of this very momentous experience I had in the Tabernacle.
'Twas indeed a very "unforgettable moment in an unforgettable place"!
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