Holy Cross High School 2011 Grand Homecoming

“AND THE CHILD GREW AND BECAME STRONG, FILLED WITH WISDOM; AND THE FAVOR OF GOD WAS UPON HIM” (LK 2:40). The reason I’m standing here right now is a text message I received yesterday telling me to prepare a 5-minute sharing during today’s celebration, to which I replied, “OK”! It was Fr. Dhems. Feeling a bit nervous about it, I decided to put this into writing because I know it would not be easy to speak before fellow alumni and alumnae, not to mention the fact that it’s my first time to attend a homecoming.

   For those of you who don’t know me, I am Oliver Orlasan Verdejo, a 1993 alumnus of Holy Cross High School and the school’s first recipient of the Alfonso Yap Award for National Discipline. Quite an honor, right? I was told my photo appeared together with the other awardees on a national paper, which I did not see. But you know? Now I think, to receive that award was too good to be true. It took me all these years from my high school till now to really begin to understand what “discipline” really is all about. My life, perhaps similar to yours, is not only full of glorious “ups”, but it is also full of painful “downs”. Interestingly, it was not the former that became my best teacher. It was my “down moments” that best taught me self-discipline, taught me some wisdom about life. My life has been a journey from self-centeredness to God-centeredness, from seeking myself to seeking