At-home-on-the-road.docx

Sr. Maridel R. Ibañez, O.P. SITF 2 S.Y. 2018-2019 Final Exam: Audience:

Fr. Marcelino Saria, O.P. Preaching

10 minutes speech SITF 2 At Home On The Road

A wonderful afternoon Sisters! I am happy to share with you some of my inspiring experiences that happened on the road which eventually lead me to feel “at home on the road”. Since I enrolled here in UST in August 2017 for Theological Formation course I was travelling I travelled from Tuesday to Friday by a jeepney from Polo, Valenzuela City to UST and vice versa. It is quiet quite burdensome to commute daily especially when it is too the weather is hot, or when it rains raining and the traffic is heavy; not to add the long line of passengers waiting to board for a jeep in the terminal at night. It took takes me three rides to reach UST in more or less than two hours. But in spite of these I still find travelling as something enjoyable because I became familiar with the places travel through. Also, and while inside on the jeep, I enjoyed listening to the music being played on the radio; songs that once you hear heard you cannot but remember your good old days. Jose Mari Chan, a great singer and composer sweetly put it in his song “Constant Change”: “We’re on the road, we move from place to place. And oftentimes when I’m about to call it home, we have to move alone.” Last April, I was transferred to my new assignment, at an orphanage in Guiguinto, Bulacan. A little bit farther from UST than in Valenzuela City. This made my travel time double and everything that entails it. Sometimes I spent longer time on the road travelling than inside the classroom. But the longer I am on the road the more I enjoyed love it, to the point that I am not simply familiar to it but “at home.” You may ask me why? Because on the road I can still actualize the values I learned from home (community) and the lessons we learned from our second home, the school. It is on the road that I realize many things. Isn’t on the road that a Samaritan found the chance to perform act of mercy to a man lying almost dead? Every day, as we walk on the road we see people young and old alike who are in pitiable condition. They are waiting for us to come to them and do as the Good Samaritan did. One drizzly night, as I was waiting for a bus in Balintawak, I was caught by the sight of a young boy walking barefooted on the file of concrete beams. He was wearing a collared shirt much bigger for to his size and which almost damped. I called him “Bunso! Bunso!” (youngest son). He ran to me and I asked for his name. He was prompt in his answer, “Alfred po.” In the course of our short conversation I knew that they live under the bridge of Balintawak. They have no house, only tent. And their source of light in the night is the light coming from the vehicles passing by. I came to their place the following night to give something for Alfred and I found

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him and his mother lying on a carton cartoon with only a blanket to protect from the cold of the night and dust. They literally sleep on the road. For sure I am not alone at home on the road, they are too. Since then, once in a while I make time to come to them before I go home. I see the joy onin Alfred’s face as well as onin his parents’ each time we meet. How about Saul? Where did his encounter with Jesus happen? WasIs it not on his way to Damascus that he was converted? Oftentimes, God allows me to witness or experience different situations on the road in order for me to be converted from being self-centered, thinking only of my own comfort to othercentered, mindful of the needs of the people I am with at the moment. Before, the moment I stepped on the bus I would close my eyes and pretend to sleep be sleeping so that I would not feel guilty to see an older passenger standing. But now, as long as could offer my seat I would. When somebody persistently offers me his/her seat I will still give it to the one who needs it most. I am just happy when somebody offers me a seathis. And I grab the opportunity to be in solidarity with those who are standing thinking that they are tired from their work and once they reach home they still have to serve their family. Finally, just like the experience of the two disciples of Jesus on their way to Emmaus. Their hearts burned within them were because of what had happened. As they walk along the road, suddenly a man walked and conversed with them and they hearts were enflamedlightened up. On the road, I often meet people who are totally new to me. I usually initiated a conversation with them by asking where they come from or where they are going and their names. Surprisingly, we find ourselves opening one’s story and it feels light. Don’t talk to strangers is no longer a rule for me. Just like Jesus, let us talk to strangers. Who knows, it is you who can guide a youth who has gone astray or it is that stranger who can inspire you to remain persevering stay inon your vocation?. Oliver Goldsmith said “Life is a journey that we must traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.” On the road, I have Lolos, Lolas, Nanays, Tatays, Kuyas, Ates, Bunso. That’s how I addressed the people I meet along the road. They are a family to me. We may never see each other again but at least we touch each other’s heart in one way or another, even only during in a single meeting. To end, Barry Manilow is hopeful in his song “Somewhere Down The Road” and it goes “Somewhere down the road, our roads are gonna cross again it doesn’t really matter when. But somewhere down the road, I know that heart of yours will come to see, that you belong to me.” Thank you!

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