Our House Has 3 Gates; Angels and Demons

Our house here in Lucena has three gates: one for the passenger jeepney, one for the garage that holds a car and a Revo, and a small gate that most guests go through which leads to a porch and the front door. Upon entering the front door, you’ll find our living room and if you walk forward towards the wall (where the TV cabinet that houses our ancient stereo system, as well as wooden carvings of the face of Jesus and the Sto. Niño on top of speakers are all lined up), you’ll see two doors to your left and a door and the main dining area to your right.

Ivan and I used one of the rooms to the left as our room, while Vanessa had the other room to herself. My parents occupied the room to the right, which incidentally has a door that leads to the porch; Papa and Mama used half of their room as their clinic. Their room was smaller than our room; in fact, our room was originally designed to be the Master’s bedroom. When the time came for the Master’s bedroom to live up to its name, the walls had stickers on it, the paint was falling off, the wooden-tiled floors had lots of wooden tiles missing, and the closets had puncture marks from pins that Ivan and I used to put posters and whatnot of our favorite cartoon characters.

I don’t quite remember the exact year when we moved to this house; we first lived in a small house about 10 minutes bike ride from here, and I had my earliest memories there… or rather, most of my baby pictures were taken there, including my first birthday and pictures of me and my brother in sando and briefs. My brother had his first kiss at that street, he was only 5 when I was dared to kiss our neighbor. But I couldn’t and so my brother was dared. He went for the kiss. Hehe.

Right now, I’m here in my sister’s bedroom (which was the room my parents used when we were kids) and I’ll be using this room for at least the next three months. Right now, my sister is in Manila and she had just started taking BS Psychology in Holy Spirit. And even though I’m quite scared for her being a stone’s throw away from the circus that is Malacanang, I am proud that she had finally taken a step out of her sanctuary and braves the scary world that is Manila and college-life.

Anyway, it’s quite funny that I had already made this my room in one night: I took out the small TV my sis was using and put the big TV that was in the living room, then I had set up the Playstation 2, then I rearranged the abubot that my sis has piled up to make room for some of my stuff and I had filled her closet with my clothes. Exciting… it’s been quite a while since I actually felt I lived here. Ever since I went to Pisay for highschool, everytime I stay here in Lucena for the weekend or the summer vacation, I felt like I’m forever a guest because I don’t have my own room. They displaced me since I rarely stay here, especially when college came where a whole sem would pass before I go back home. Now I have a room again, and quite frankly, I’m giddy.

You might be wondering what I’m doing here in Lucena… I’ll be working here. Nothing permanent though, its only for a 3-5 months. I still want that perfect job in Manila, close to my Hunnie and to Canto Cinco. Obviously, I’m not that excited about working here but then again, I keep in mind what Sheila texted me, that this will give me time with my parents, at hindi nabibili yon. I also keep in mind what K told me the other day, na kapag sumuweldo na ako, malayo man ako sa Hunnie ko, hindi ko na proproblemahin ang pamasahe para puntahan siya. :)

^___^

Right now, the new series True Horror is showing in Discovery and the host (who is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer veteran… let me find out who this is in a while), was tackling real life Demons and exorcism.

And they showed footage of an actual exorcism… creepy stuff that you don’t want to see but you won’t be able to take your eyes off. He interviewed Father Gabriel, the president of the International Society of Exorcism (or something like that) in Vatican City, who has faced many adversaries, from Lucifer to Lilith. They also reenacted the exorcism in 1556 called the Miracle of Laon, where a 16 year old girl French girl named Nicole (not sure about the spelling) was possessed by Beelzebub for at least 2 months before finally exorcised leaving her body broken, her sanity hanging by a thread, and the whole community of Laon, France believing that demons and God exist.

I have always been skeptical about the existence of these demons. I am equally skeptical about angels and spirits too. It’s just not believable when you can’t seem to sense them nor see them. And yet the Catholic Church says they exist, and so somehow, I still believe that they exist. And I have these friends in Canto Cinco that actually experienced Succubus attacks... as well as being saved by angels.

During the Canto Cinco outing in Laguna, we hiked and swam a river to a small waterfalls; it was our way of taking a break from the hectic ministry work and communing with God’s handicraft. It was quite an experience; but what made it really memorable for me was when I believe “my” guardian angel made his/her presence known to me. Let me retell how it went…

There were parts in the hike where we have to swim against long stretches of downstream-flowing water. I am not much of a swimmer, but I did brave swimming against the river, aided by the small backpack my Hunnie brought which I carried for her. Along the way, I noticed that I had scraped the sando I wore on the moss-covered rocks and it was stained. I tried rubbing off the stains from the sando but it just won’t come off. There was something peculiar with the stain; it outlined something so I showed it to Deedee. Upon seeing it, she said to me, “Julz! Angel yan!” I was perplexed but then when I looked at it, it did outline the shape of an angel as viewed from the side. I wish I could show it to you right now but I don’t have the means (maybe on Sunday). Anyway, it was an angel facing to the left; you’ll clearly see the head, its garment including the sleeves, and its wings. I couldn’t believe it. I even laughed to myself at how stereotypical this angel looked like. But then… how many times would you see a stain from scraping against moss-covered rocks that is shaped like an angel?

But hey, I’m still not a total believer. I’m still skeptical about these things but it is quite nice to know that I am being guarded by heavenly beings and that somebody of pure goodness is looking over me.