Good Morning Talk

For the first time, I was given the chance to give a Good Morning Talk to Bosconians. Here is the complete text.

When I was in High School, I attended a Franciscan school at Paranaque which is of course run by the Franciscan sisters. In my 10 years of stay in that school starting from grade 1 to fourth year high school, I have always thought of those nuns as a very serious lot. They seem to be very cloistered in their convents, so intent in their prayers, and very serious in their work for the school. Since it is a Franciscan school, they have taught us the life of St. Francis of Assisi. I have seen a lot of his pictures, mind you, they show his face in a very serious tone and mood. Because of these experiences, I have formed inside my mind a picture of holiness as something very serious, something that requires a very straight face, eyes tightly closed, and eyebrows on the brink of touching each other.

Everything changed when I met Don Bosco. I live in Brgy. Don Bosco in Paranaque, but I never knew who he really was until I was around 15 (I was 3rd year at that time). I have learned of his life through the Salesians in our Parish, The National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians. The salesian clerics who became great friends of mine showed me Don Bosco's path to holiness. What I've learned is that holiness is not so much being dead serious, talking to no one but God alone, and not even staying long hours in the church praying from sun up to sun down. What I have learned is that holiness can be achieved through a simple smile.

We smile as we do our household chores.

We smile when we attend Sunday masses.

We smile when we go to school.

We smile at our friends.

We smile at Jesus in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

We smile at the blessed mother whenever we ask for her intercession.

We smile whenever our teachers ask us to do some work.

We smile before and after confessions.

We smile even if all circumstances around us ask us to be sad.

Basically, we smile at all ordinary duties that we have. Meaning, we do all of them with a happy heart with joy and optimism.

Through this joy and optimism we become saints. I have heard it said many times before that there is no such thing as a sad saint. True enough.

Can a sad saint be able to help others in need?

Can a sad saint endure being persecuted?

Can a sad saint be generous?

Can a sad saint be kind?

Can a sad saint even pray to God properly?

Definitely not.

My dear Bosconians, you only have but one destiny which God himself crafted for you, and that is Heaven, to be a saint. Never ever veer away from this destiny that you are meant to reach and that you are meant to be. I have learned that you can only be a happy saint if you have a clear conscience. So, my dear Bosconians, confess. Confess as if your lives depended on it because it actually is depending on it. And after confession, you will indeed find yourself having all the reason in the world to smile and be happy again because your heart is once again clean.

So, when I look back at those franciscan sisters and even the life of St. Francis of Assisi, I now realize that they may look serious on the outside, but inside they are jumping for joy because of their clean heart and the thought that the simple duties that they are doing are all meant for God.

Thank you and good morning to everyone.