The Climb
by Mari Begonia Cinco, II University of Santo Tomas, BS Nursing
Reposted from The Examiner, June 2010
Everything was pretty new for me. I’ve only been going to Tanglaw University Center for scarcely a year and I haven’t gone to a lot of out-of-the-center events. I’m only sixteen and I get nervous when it comes to going somewhere I’m not familiar with for too long a time. My mother said it’d be great, though. So did my friends at Tanglaw. Plus, I needed a break after summer training. I had to pray really hard about this before I decided I needed daring and responsibility – daring to reach out to new things—good things, responsibility to shape myself and my interior life. I packed my things the night before the big day.
Latag is beautiful and peaceful. It has the feel of a retreat house and a center. I got to meet wonderful girls in college as myself, but from a variety of centers and fields. I also met the organizers of the event: Meldy, Janice and Brenda. The theme of the seminar revolved around Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man (Mark 10: 17-31). “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This is also taken from the late Pope John Paul II’s letter Dilecti Amici, which was addressed to the youth. As young as we are, not a lot of us care to think much of interior life. A lot of people save that for adulthood, and even later. We have to remember though that there is never too young a soul to follow God. Jesus specifically say to the young man, “Come and follow me.” And he did said this with love. That was the foundation of everything we gained at the seminar. To try and follow Jesus. To come to Him.
We did some of the usual things we’d do at the Center, only more focused this time. We had lovely meditations, get-togethers, morning Mass, and classes. The classes were a real treat. Father Millian, the priest for the seminar, taught us about Nature and Grace. Tanglaw’s very own Professor Liza Ocampo taught us about Philosophical Anthropology. Brenda Quismorio talked about Spiritual Direction. During the get-togethers, we learned about each other, ourselves, and even about the beginning of the activities with women in Opus Dei.
It was one mental roller coaster. If those were all about the mind, this was balanced with the physical challenges we took when we climbed Mount Manabu, which wasn’t too far away from Latag. We all went on an early Saturday morning.
On Sunday morning, after a wonderful Mass celebrating the feast day of the Holy Trinity, we said our goodbyes, made a group hug and promised to keep in touch and see each other again someday. Up to now, I’m still thinking of the whole thing. I’m also thinking about how I forgot that along with the knowledge I gained and the triumph of climbing a mountain, I had gained something spiritually, intellectually – something of the soul. I believe that more than ever, I’m closer to God. I can do anything for Him. Climbing a mountain proved it. I also realized there’s nothing we can’t do for Him. Like O. Henry had once said, “When one loves, no service seems too hard.” #
Mri is from UST
*Mari