What A Small Boat (World)!

Yes, it’s a small boat (world) after all.

While I’m still reminiscing my Coron trip with friends, I remember one of the incidents in that journey.

Kayangan Lake in Coron, one of the places we visited during our trip.

The sun was up and the sea was blue on that December day — a perfect time to spend the day island hopping. Our tour operator arranged everything. We shared the boat with a young couple of sweethearts, a Canadian and his Filipina wife, and four Chinese citizens.

Initially, we were too caught up with the scene around us that we all enjoyed the silence at sea. But after two or three stops, we began talking with each other. While on the boat waiting for our Chinese companions, the Canadian expressed how he is amazed by the beauty of Palawan.

My friend, proud of her roots, mentioned that her parent’s hometown, Negros Oriental, was equally breathtaking. Upon hearing this, the the man lit up and told her that he met someone from Negros and he dropped the name of the person.

I piped in, “Oh he’s from the other side of the island, Negros Occidental. That’s my province.” The man started mentioning names of Filipinos he knew, and from those names, I seem to get a hint of his interests. He then shared that he read a book written by a priest which tackled the struggles of farmers in my province.

When he mentioned the name of the author, I told him, “I know that priest. He’s a family friend and he was the one who baptized my brother.” The Canadian’s eyes grew large, shocked by my pronouncement. “No way!!!” was all he could say. He was in awe to have met someone who knew the author personally.

We talked about the said priest and his advocacy. I also mentioned our late bishop, Monsignor Fortich, who was known to be a champion of the masses. He has always maintained in “building the Catholic Church as a Church for the Poor.” Even when he has passed this world, his legacy remains as his works and service had brought renewal and transformation in people and society.

As our boat started depart from that stop, I thought of Jesus with His disciples in a boat. They move from place to place to heal and touch people’s lives. When that Canadian mentioned the author-priest, he reminded me of God’s workers in His vineyard who devoted their lives in building His kingdom here on earth. God makes His presence felt through these people.