Change is inevitable so they say. There is nothing in life that do not change. The only constant is change. This year marks my 33 years of existence – a life I am starting only to enjoy and find meaning to but also with so much struggles and anxieties,too. Life is never easy. At least a little or maybe just so much easier for me compared to thousands who could not even get one full meal a day or sleep in a decent house for a few minutes. I am grateful.
Things come to an end and new things begin. This year as I turn 33, I will be graduating from my theological studies, slowly leaving the four walls of the seminary but also begin my new life as a deacon soon and eventually an ordained priest. My only hope and prayer is that I will be able to live out my promises as an ordained priest one day. To be Christ’s good priest. Once my rector commented that I am going to be crucified soon. Another former companion in the parish in Fiji wrote me an e-mail saying, “Please remember the day of your ordination as Deacon is the day of your castration. It doesn’t sound good but its true. Keep on and to become a good priest for the Church.” It sounds weird. Don’t get naughty in your mind. There will be no castration happening 🙂
This year I want to be crazy in love. To be in love with the Lord. May God bless us more with beautiful days and surprises.
Here’s some interesting facts or information about the number 33:
1. The divine name Elohim appears 33 times in the story of creation in the opening chapters of Genesis.
2. Jesus’s age when he was crucified in 33 A.D., according to many Christian traditions, though not verified historically.
3. According to Al-Ghazali the dwellers of Heaven will exist eternally in a state of being age 33.
4. Jesus performed 33 recorded miracles.
5. Islamic prayer beads are generally arranged in sets of 33, corresponding to the widespread use of this number in dhikr rituals. Such beads may number thirty-three in total or three distinct sets of thirty-three for a total of ninety-nine, corresponding to the names of God.
6. 33 is not only a numerical representation of “the Star of David,” but also the numerical equivalent of AMEN: 1+13+5+14=33.
7. Pope John Paul I, the 33-day pope. One of the shortest reigns in papal history, and it resulted in the most recent 3-pope year.
8. the highest degree in the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.
9. A religious image of the Virgin Mary from the 18th century is known in Uruguay as “Virgen de los Treinta y Tres” (Virgin of the Thirty-Three); it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in his visit to Uruguay in 1988. There are several churches dedicated to this Marian devotion, being the most important the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three in Florida, Uruguay.
Source: Wikipedia
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