Juliana ‘outshines’ Papa Richard - FUNFARE by Ricardo F. Lo

Because her parents refuse to get her a yaya, even when they can well afford to get one, little Juliana Torres-Gomez, all of one month and two weeks, settled comfortably in her dad’s arm as they walked together down the long aisle of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Ormoc City for her aunt Caren’s wedding to Vince Rama of Cebu last Oct. 28, Saturday.

Needless to say, Juliana, by merely cooing and moving her hand, stole the show, even from her parents, Richard and Lucy Gomez. The infant’s favorite position is to nestle her chest on Richard’s hand, as if in a flying motion. To carry her "normally" would only elicit a few cries of discomfort and Richard, who "thinks" he’s a disciplinarian is putty in Juliana’s hand. Looks like Richard has found another person who can make him "mellow" down some more. When Richard was giving her a bath earlier, Juliana constantly moved her legs as if already wanting to walk!

The Gomez couple, as promised, introduced Juliana to Ormocanons. The wedding attracted so much curiosity, the church was strictly SRO. There was an outburst of murmur when Juliana made her entrance on her father’s hand. Juliana has clearly inherited her dad’s eyes, her mom’s nose and her grandmother Julie’s heart-shaped lips. She’s lean and has very, very long limbs.

Grandpa Manuel believes she’ll grow up to be "5’11" minimum," considering that Richard is 6’1 1/2" and Lucy is 5’8". Lucy’s brother Mat is a six-footer, while the youngest, Jules, is about 5’11" at 17. Tall genes clearly prevail over short genes.

The Rama-Torres wedding was quite "memorable." An assortment of Ramas and Torreses were stranded in Cebu, about 120 of them, at the Super Cat port. Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, who was supposed to officiate at the wedding, was unable to take the trip because of the storm. Eddie Gutierrez (ninong to the couple), and Anabelle Rama were with everybody since 5 a.m. last Saturday, waiting for a Super Cat to take them to Ormoc. It was only at 2 p.m. did they get the final word: it was too risky to brave the waves and the winds.

But the wedding went on smoothly, even if it turned out to be a "wedding of proxies." It was a blessing in disguise that Yes! Magazine had pictorial scheduled in Ormoc. Jerome Chang had to do the make-up while photographer Rene Mejia took over as wedding photographer. Rene and his wife Nini were in the last trip by Super Cat from Cebu the day before.

Nice food for thought

Here’s some for thought from reader Johnny T. Vivas (no address given) who sent a piece entitled Ask Yourself Why by Moses Catan:

Why does a 100 peso bill look so big when you take it to church, but so small when you take it out to the shopping mall?/

Why do we get so thrilled when a basketball game goes into overtime, but we complain when a sermon in church is longer than usual?/

Why does the time seem so short when watching a movie, but so long when going to mass?/

Why is it so hard to think of something to say when we pray, but so effortless when chatting with a friend over the cellphone?/

Why do people want to get front seats to any game or concert, but scramble to the back seats at church?/

Why do people believe what newspapers say, but question what the Bible says?/

Why is it so hard to read a chapter in the Bible, but so easy to read 2000 pages of a best-selling novel?/

Why can people sing radio songs at the top of their voices, but murmur when singing in church?/

Why does everyone want to go to heaven, but so few want to hear or do anything that would help them get there?/

There are so many answers to these questions. But one glaring reason why more people are interested in the things of this world than in the things of God is this: a change of allegiance.

This phenomenon isn’t new. During the time of the Romans, St. Paul said,

"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshipped the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever (Romans 1:25)."

Today, people still revere and worship created things rather than the Creator. Many are faithful to TV, devoted to video games, loyal to the Internet, ardent patrons of showbiz, unswerving followers of fashion trends, disciples of opinion columnists, priests of business or apostles of sports. Many, shown by the time they spend on things, have pledged allegiance to created things rather than to the Creator.

Too bad created things can’t give anyone fulfillment, meaning, healing, peace of mind, true joy, nor salvation. Only the Creator can give ALL these.

The question is: By the way you handle your time, to whom have you pledged allegiance?