Selamat Pagi!

I never did march at my college graduation.

On the day of the ceremony, I was on an airplane to Indonesia. Immediately after my last academic day at the UP, I was invited to work as a full time missionary worker (a "fulltimer", as we were lovingly called) for Singles for Christ and Youth for Christ -- a dream come true for me, as it still is for many young SFC and YFC members.

It would be my first trip outside of Philippine territory. On the plane, I dreamed of truly heroic missionary things to do: preach the Gospel, convert non-believers, defend the Catholic Church and the Christian Faith, stand-up to those who lambasted Christianity, die a martyrs death...

Okay, so the last one was a fleeting thought more than a prolonged daydream.

At any rate, I spent the hours on the plane writing letters to my parents and siblings, praying the rosary and reading the Bible. For some reason, I came across the story of the Tower of Babel.

And then it hit me.

I did not speak a word of Bahasa Indonesia!

Suddenly, my dream of preaching to hundreds showed me speaking gibberish on a street corner in downtown Jakarta, and non-believers were suddenly offering sacrifices to their gods to drive away the evil that had me speaking gibberish in the first place.

So much for defending the Catholic Church and preaching the Gospel of Christ.

"Selamat Pagi..." said the voice over the planes' intercom. That's all I remember, everything was, well, gibberish to me. Apparently we had started our decent towards Soekarno Hata Airport -- this was confirmed by the English translation of the first announcement.

If I were to preach anything, it would have to be through a translator. I wondered how that would be like. I have been giving talks for years before this very mission, and I have never had to speak through a translator.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways..." the Lord said in Isaiah 55:8

It is impossible to even begin to understand the complexity and greatness of God's Being. It is impossible, that is, by every human way.

But not by God's way.

God, in His love for us, sent us his messengers: preachers, priests, ministers, elders and other such learned people. By His Spirit these people have become enlightened such that they now serve to translate God's Word into our everyday lives. By listening to God's Word spoken through them, we become enlightened, and we become translators for those to whom the Gospel is yet to be preached and taught.

The way of the Lord is to send His Spirit upon those who seek Him, such that we become enlightened to and by the Word.

No dream -- no matter how noble -- of martyrdom or sainthood becomes a reality without the leading and guidance of the Spirit.

We must want to know God "with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind". Only then will we begin to become enlightened by the Spirit such that we become worthy to preach the Gospel in our everyday lives.

As my fellow missionaries met me at the arrival lounge, I greeted them all a warm and sincere "Selamat Pagi!"

I spoke through translators for most of my talks then -- and believe me, aside from delayed laughter after cracking a joke, God's Word got through.

His way. Not mine.