TIMEOUT: Welcome to Hell Week

students of this day and age have coined the term "hell week" as the week of submissions of various requirements in preparation for their final examinations. i am not really a fan of the term as well as the week itself. for one, academic requirements should have been done earlier than the week of its submission. and of course, as a former teacher, the so-called hell-week of students entail an earlier stretch of "hell weeks" for teachers themselves: from the preparation and approval of these projects, its explanation, actual implementation, submission, and to its checking, grading, and submission of grades.

now, as i have already returned to the other side of the classroom as a student, i am on my own end of hell week. but that's beyond the point of this entry.

the fires of the so-called hell week can be extinguished by the water of life. in our apostolate area, one of the most striking scenes during sunday mass is the end of the celebration, where people come to the priest and ask for a blessing by sprinkling of holy water. interestingly, some people literally want their own dose of holy water as they would like to experience the drops of holy water sprinkled in one way or another to their own selves. perhaps this is a reflection of people's desires and aspirations today: the water of life quenching the thirst of their souls to bring life in their lives.

with submissions coming up and exams looming from the distance, let us ask for this blessing of water from god, our own spring of life.

here is one of the songs that i love playing in the mass, entitled "pababasbas." composed by fr. manoling francisco sj (my future thesis moderator hahaha) and mr. jandi arboleda, the song lyrics actually speak of the rite of dedication of churches. but on a more general sense, we also ask for dedication and blessing of our own selves: our bodies as temples of the spirit, our minds as gifts of god towards responsible stewardship, and our spirits as means to consecrate our thoughts, words, and actions for god's greater glory.

god bless us all in our respective hell weeks!