Get-together with the Prelate of Opus Dei

Last July28, I attended the get-together with the Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarria (whom we lovingly call "the Father"). It was held at Teatro Aguinaldo, the same venue where we watched Ibong Adarna back in high school.

This event, though may not be once in a lifetime, is a landmark...would-be part of history. So, I'll try to keep it detailed as possible.

Kwento.

My friend, Vanessa, told me, that the service bus leaves Tanglaw (the University Center along Examiner St.) at 1.30pm. So I arrived 1.41pm. Fortunately, the bus was still there, waiting for more girls to arrive.

According to the ticket, the gate opens at 2.45pm. And the seats are at a first come-first served basis.We arrived at the venue around 2:15pm. There was already a long queue. The event was to be attended by all interested girls who come to receive spiritual formation in the centers of Opus Dei. So, more people were expected to arrive.

The people were allowed to get in at exactly 2.45pm. This is what I love about Opus Dei, the way people value time. We were able to get decent seats. But lo and behold, the event was really to start at 4:45pm. So we had to wait for 2 more hours. We tested our FM transistors (the Father would be speaking in Spanish, so there will be a translation at a certain station.Very amazing.)

Close to 4.45pm, I went to the bathroom, and I saw that there were a lot of girls who weren't able to get seats inside the theater itself. So, they would just have to watch through an LCD screen.

I was literally having my countdown to 4.45. I was very excited to see the Father. And when he finally entered the theatre, (his entrance was focused in the big screen), I really felt like crying. It sent goosebumps all over me, overflow of grace, I guess. So that was what it felt like to be in the presence of a saint.

You see, the Father is already 76 years old. At that age, people don't normally travel halfway across the globe, country-hopping, and being into different timezones every week. So I really admired his strength to come and inspire his daughters.

The get-together itself went like this: the Father gave a long statement to ponder, then he entertained (pre-selected) questions (not necessarily connected to what he said) before giving his blessing.

It was very difficult to concentrate. I wanted to study his gesture, gaze at his face, hear his voice, and understand what he was saying. But since I don't speak Spanish, it's either I listen to the sound of his voice or I listen to the translation. To make all ends meet, at various instants I compromise other things. Sometimes I would just listen to his voice with perfectly no idea what he was saying, or sometimes I just stared at him in amazement.

The Father is truly an amazing person. It was such an honor for me to have met him in person, and to be part of the biggest all-women gathering I've seen in my life (so far). (It's safe to say that all the beautiful girls of the Philippines were in Teatro Aguinaldo with the Father that day. )

PS. I'm not a member of Opus Dei. That's one of the most frequently asked questions about me.