Sign of the Cross

Come to think of it, it is quite funny why we make that extra motion of touching our chins after making the sign of the cross. It is funny because, if asked what is that for, it is very likely that very few if not none of us will be able to give a sensible reply. We seem to do it by force of habit, but for no known reason. Or so I thought.

Our recollection master this Holy Week, a young SVD priest assigned to do mission work at the tip-most part of Palawan, finally gave a plausible explanation. He told us that, during the Spanish times, believers were taught to make the sign of the cross by crossing their forefingers and their thumbs to form a small cross and touching that small cross on their foreheads, breasts, right shoulders and left shoulders, after which they were told to kiss the small cross with their lips.

The explanation actually gave deep meaning to what I have been doing mindlessly for years. Kissing the cross represents one of the key teachings of Christ. It reminds us that there are harsh things in life that we need to accept with humility and forgiveness. These are our crosses and kissing them makes us like Him, if only for a little bit.

How not to visit a mall

It was my first time to visit the SM Mall of Asia. It's been a long time since the mall opened but I haven't really had to chance to see it. What a way to see it for the first time. I went there to scout for an activity we were going to have the next day. So I was more concerned about the floor plan, the entrances, the exits, which way to go, and things like that. Good thing I have pictures to look at again. See them here.

Petty thoughts

We named our first pet dog Vivian. Yes, after the female lead of that Korean telenovela of the “aja” fame. Vivian, with thick brown hair, was given to us by one of my wife’s officemates when she was just a puppy. She grew up to be a lovely, playful pet.

For one reason or another though, Vivian was afraid of being touched. She would immediately run around once you attempted to hold her. Thus, we were unable to bring her to the vet and have her vaccinated. Eventually, this became the cause of her death.

This playful dog, who likes to run around and tease people passing by, soon became the worry of neighbors. They would later insist that the poor dog be disposed of. One night, she was shot for our neighbors’ peace of mind.

But before Vivian passed away, she left us with two puppies. Originally there were three but we lost one because of disease. Galis actually. In fact, there were times when we thought that the remaining two would die also after having been emasculated by the disease.

With the help of the Bureau of Animal Industry the two puppies survived. They now stand guard at our gate, healthy and strong. We have not named them, unlike Vivian. Still we are happy and consider them part of the family.

About three weeks ago, one of them bore four brown puppies. Lovely puppies. We plan to keep them until we can have them vaccinated at their third month. Then, we’d be glad to give them to interested and responsible pet owners.