The Second Week
Yesterday marked the second week of our stay in Cebu in preparation for the medical boards this August. The week was almost similar to the previous week. The entire weekdays were scheduled for studying from sunrise to sundown, even till midnight. The studying was only dotted with lunchbreaks and dinner. This morning, we attended mass at the Church of Our lady of Guadalupe. Guadalupe has been our earnest patroness. The Image of the Virgin Mother which I brought with me and before which we pray our rosary every night is the Image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe. I am a devotee of Guadalupe and I even named my first born after the saint to whom she appeared in Mexico, St. Juan Diego. I named him after the saint because he was born on the year when John Paul II declared Juan Diego a saint.
Coincidentally, we started the 3 9-day novena series last Wednesday and the first set of novena was a novena to the Our Lady of Guadalupe. The mass at Guadalupe Church was special because we prayed our 5th day Novena after the mass in the church which was built in her honor.
We are running a marathon here and the remaining weeks is like a sprint to the finish line. In the middle of the week I could sense the weariness and the feeling of almost giving up. But we have to finish the race. We may not end up the first to reach the finish line but we will reach the finish line, even if we are to drag ourselves and crawl towards the finale.
Back at home, I receive words of encouragement from my family and close friends. I am hoping that God will truly answer their prayers and through the motherly intercession of Guadalupe, He will grant them their request: for me and my batch mates to pass the boards 100%.
My prayer is repetitious and persistent: 100% passing rate for USLS College of Medicine Class 2006. Although my initial motive for my request is to silence our ardent critics, I now have a different motive in mind. If God grants us a 100% passing rate, then it would be not just to silence the criticisms but to draw praise for the miraculous wonder of God. It is obvious: USLS College of Medicine Class 2006 is the under dog in this race. Only God now can turn things around for us. We have studied hard and will be studying hard until the final day of exams. But what good is our physical efforts if God will not grant us an extra drive, an extra push, to cross that finish line? We are the underdogs and we are not expected to succeed in full more so than we are expected by some to fail. But God will shame them. For He will manifest His bounty when He will Turn Things Around For Us.
This is my faith. This is the faith my batchmates share. This is the faith of our families. And this faith, no matter how big or small, shall push us up to the hill.
Coincidentally, we started the 3 9-day novena series last Wednesday and the first set of novena was a novena to the Our Lady of Guadalupe. The mass at Guadalupe Church was special because we prayed our 5th day Novena after the mass in the church which was built in her honor.
We are running a marathon here and the remaining weeks is like a sprint to the finish line. In the middle of the week I could sense the weariness and the feeling of almost giving up. But we have to finish the race. We may not end up the first to reach the finish line but we will reach the finish line, even if we are to drag ourselves and crawl towards the finale.
Back at home, I receive words of encouragement from my family and close friends. I am hoping that God will truly answer their prayers and through the motherly intercession of Guadalupe, He will grant them their request: for me and my batch mates to pass the boards 100%.
My prayer is repetitious and persistent: 100% passing rate for USLS College of Medicine Class 2006. Although my initial motive for my request is to silence our ardent critics, I now have a different motive in mind. If God grants us a 100% passing rate, then it would be not just to silence the criticisms but to draw praise for the miraculous wonder of God. It is obvious: USLS College of Medicine Class 2006 is the under dog in this race. Only God now can turn things around for us. We have studied hard and will be studying hard until the final day of exams. But what good is our physical efforts if God will not grant us an extra drive, an extra push, to cross that finish line? We are the underdogs and we are not expected to succeed in full more so than we are expected by some to fail. But God will shame them. For He will manifest His bounty when He will Turn Things Around For Us.
This is my faith. This is the faith my batchmates share. This is the faith of our families. And this faith, no matter how big or small, shall push us up to the hill.
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