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ROCKS

My dear brothers and sisters we are celebrating today the feast of the two great pillars of the Church. Parehas sila matigas ang ulo. Both...

My dear brothers and sisters we are celebrating today the feast of the two great pillars of the Church. Parehas sila matigas ang ulo. Both were rocks and rocked the world. To make it simpler, let me summarize the characters, lives and deeds of these two pillars of the church into the word "ROCK"

R stands for RENEWED - Peter was a proud fisherman and was turned into a humble "fisher of man" when he met Jesus by the lake. His name was Simon but when he was RENEWED, he was RENAMED by Jesus into PETER. Paul was a proud tent maker, a ruler, a well versed person in the Law and the Prophets, he was a serial killer of Christians. But later was moved and RENEWED by his mystical experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was a tent maker but later turned into a "Church Builder". His name was Sul but then he was RENAMED to PAUL.

O stands for OPEN - Peter and Paul were both open to the promptings of the Spirit, open to innovations, to the call, to teach and to preach.

C stands for COMMITTED - Both were COMMITTED to FISH and to MAKE TENTS. Peter was able to invite and convert thousands of new Christians, to fish thousands of faithful. Paul was able to build more tents, more churches for the gentiles.

K stands for KNOWLEDGEABLE - Both knew Jesus Christ. Peter knew Him for he was with Jesus during his earthly ministry. He was called by Jesus personally. He ate, drank, slept, walked, prayed with Him. For Peter, Jesus is "the Messiah, the Son of the Living God" as we have heard in the Gospel today. Paul on the other hand did not live with Jesus Christ but knew Him by the mystical experience he had. He was a great witness to Christ and convinced that Jesus was with him in all his endeavor. He said in the second reading, "the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me, the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it."

Who do you say that I am? Both answers that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

My dear friends, as we celebrate the feast of these two rocks, may we also be "rocks" in this school. I do not mean that you should be matitigas na ulo o puso or sakit sa ulo in this institution dahil ibabato ko kayo palabas. What I mean is that you become Renewed Persons, Open to different innovations and posibilities in teaching, Committed to Educate the future rocks of our country, and you TRULY KNOW what you teach. Aba nag teacher pa kayo kung wala naman pala kayong alam.
Remember that you are building the foundations of these students of Claret. Jesus instructed us in yesterday's Gospel to build our houses on rocks, build then the future of these children on a solid foundation. Renew the children, teach them and let them be open to different possibilities in life, teach them to be committed and give them the knowledge that they should have.

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