the end of an era

tonight marks the end of another chapter in our lives as grade six teachers...the end of bukas palad night....through sheer grit and determination, we managed a record setting pace of a BPN for 5 consecutive weeks.... and a BPN on the eve of sem break so as to start the new year with a clean slate, so to speak.... so what was so special about this BPN? well, if you think about it, not much...if anything, this batch of grade six kids benefitted a lot from the 2 batches who went and forged their way through the program, most especially the amazing street kids race....just like other batches, we had our share of pasaway kids, cry babies and of course those kids who would do anything and everything to get us to do things their way.... yeah, one might say...same old, same old.... but then again, looking back on the past 8 days and nights of BPN, there are a few things that set us apart...for one, my class, 6C had the living rosary in the newly renovated EED formation center. the living rosary has been something that i wanted to share to the community in general and to my anaks in particular. i was truly overjoyed when i got to share it with my anaks. secondly, i got to interact with the volunteers more because of the station i handled. the grade 7 boys, charles, chico....and lastly, one notable thing about the series of BPN was the people involved in it. the students and the teachers who sacrificed the start of their weekend (and sem break) to be with the students and the students who had to go through a lot of mockery and hardship in order to realize a lesson that hopefully they will carry in their hearts for a long long time...and this is embodied in the questions i posed to my advisees as we discussed out committment....

what have i done for christ? (who is in my classmates)
what am i doing for christ? (who is in my family)
what ought i do for christ? (who is in the street children)

and so, as another chapter closes, we sit back and eagerly anticipate the fruits of our sacrifice....the knowledge that these fruits might ripen now or in the next 1...5, 10 or even perhaps 20 years from now is immaterial. what matters most is that the seed is planted and we have faith that it will bear fruit...all for the greater glory of GOD