On Devotion

If your mother used to tell you, "You should have a devotion," and didn't know what it meant, don't worry, that makes us two.

Shrine of San Antonio De Padua
Pila, Laguna

She used to tell me that when I was a kid, but never really understood. I never really knew what it meant. I was a kid, well, old enough to give up playing Cops and Robbers, but too young to understand these words.

This is just one of the million things that mothers told us about life. And this is just one of those thousand things that we never really bothered to understand.

But I guess I understand it now, somehow.

Ever since I was good enough to ride the jeepney after my surgery, I never failed to go on Tuesdays. And that, is a record for me. If this is what my mom called devotion, then, I should have been brave enough and humble enough to ask her back then, what it meant, so I could have followed her since. But mothers will usually just keep quiet about it, hoping that one day, we will understand what she said and leave it to Him to enlighten us.

But ours is a HIM who understands; who gives us time to realize things, who gives us unlimited chances to discover what it is to make a mistake and learn from it.

If you live anywhere near the town and wanted to hear the healing mass, or even from afar but still wanted to hear the healing mass, there are two services offered every Tuesdays - San Antonio De Padua Day. One is at 11:00 in the morning and the other is at 4:30 in the afternoon. If you have a wish, write a letter before you go. This letter, together with those that are made by other devotees, will be burned somewhere during the mass. A way of getting our messages and wishes through.