Father Joeker

One of the Holy Spirit Sisters in Nkwatia, Ghana told us that one night their watchman came asking for sleeping tablets because he could not sleep.  Surprised, the good Sister reminded him, “But you are not supposed to sleep!  You’re a watchman!”

Umbrella in Boracay

I was with Fr. Eli Yyance and Fr. Owie Obmaces in Boracay but they didn’t feel happy strolling with me along the beach because I was using an umbrella in a place where everybody was sunbathing hoping to get a good tan.  People looked at me in bewilderment wondering if I had gone mad.  I didn’t care.  I had a natural tan already.

The Love Boat

Taking a walk one morning in Boracay island beach, I reached Station 3 ticketing outlet where a boatman was counting all the would-be passengers who formed a long queue.  The last count fell on a foreigner who shifted his alarmed look to his wife who was not included in the count. It seemed like she would have to take the next boat.  I said jokingly to the man counting, “No divorce in Boracay.”   Smiling to himself he included the beautiful tall wife who in gratitude gave me a wink, as her husband watched with a touch of suspicion.  Maybe it was better that I missed that boat.

Piglet Chorale

At the Adoration Convent of the Pink Sisters in New Washington, Aklan, the organist and I were practicing some songs for the Holy Week.  At the middle of a song, I heard a disturbing squeaking noise.  I thought it was coming from the organ.  The Sister stopped playing and I stopped singing and we discovered that the noise came from the piglets outside. “Oh, I thought it was coming from you,” said the Sister rather candidly.  Or was it sarcastically?