ASI's 48th Foundation Anniversary

The frenzied preparations and the agitated state in which most of the organizers find themselves in a week before October 2, 2010, finally ended. The much-awaited day came and went without much of a reason to fret or mull over mistakes and miscues.

The processional started exactly at 10 in the morning and when the main celebrant started the Holy Mass everyone was seemingly transfixed by a spell so solemn and yet, joyful, that the Eucharist, the religious and the laity became one.

Truly, the almighty God joined us in that event for I don't think there can be any other plausible explanation for the profusion of blessings and grace on that day.

The program right after lunch was also a success with the ASI foreign students serenading the Apostolic Nuncio with their song and dance numbers while some of the organizers and guests, crowded around the Most Rev. Edward Joseph Adams to express their gratitude and joy for his kindness and warmth. It was indeed a pleasant surprise that a person of his stature can be so approachable and accommodating.

It was a celebration among equals... where there was a union of wills to give back the glory and praise to our God of life and love.

Offertory Prayers on October 2, 2010

1. For the gift of light

O light eternal and ever resplendent

We bask in the comforting warmth of your rays

Like spears cutting through the sinuous darkness

Of our frailties and follies that shackled us with dismay

With heads bowed low and lips quivering in reverence

To Your ethereal throne, we lift up, all glory and praise

For Your truth which awakened us from our sinful reveries

Has now welcomed us to a life where fear has no place

2. For the gift of flowers

Festooned with radiance, colors and grace

In varying hues, luminosities and shades

Constant companions though in muted presence

In all of life’s subtle and defining moments

Neither kings nor emperors could ever surpass

Or any artists could fully on their canvas express

The loving creator’s most tender of face

That on their regal habiliments is forever arrayed

3. For the gift of nourishment

Before You, O Lord, we offer the works of our hands

Which from Your munificence we have drawn our strength

To nurture and nourish the earth’s verdant foliage

And all creatures of the fields, air and seas, to flourish

We thank You for the gift and challenge of stewardship

That bears Your affirmation on the divinity of our being

That in our hands lay the chance to share in co-creating

A world – vibrant, humane and in goodness ever growing