John Quincy A Caballo SDB Seminar on Dogma August 7, 2017

BTh 3
A HOME BUILT ON DREAMS
I had a chance to chat with our next door neighbor: a family man who owns a
construction company. Being a home-based business, you would normally find him at his
home/office. I was fortunate enough to find him there just as he was closing shop.
The reason why I went to the house was that one of our formators mentioned that the
family has been looking for the funny brother. So I mustered enough confidence and dared to
present myself. But not as fortunate as I thought I was, I was only able to talk with the father and
the youngest son.
This is a family composed of a business man father, a dentist mother, and four boys who
almost came one after anotherexcept for the youngest. Franky, the father, was telling me how
he started out as a poor businessman who went from customer to customer bringing his own
materials to sell, driving the truck, and carrying the materials a little after he makes a deal with a
client. That was how he started out. His philosophy in life was that good relationships are central
to a good lifeeven and most especially in business. He was sharing that with the kids, he and
his wife are strict without being condescending and harsh. Lydia, the Mom/Dentist, is a Cebuana
so I am quite confident speaking Cebuano with her. She is the regular dentist of our formators
and of some of our brothers.
Tito Franky was sharing with me about how they prayed as a family and how he makes
sure that he makes time to talk to the kids, follow them up in school, and yes, even to take time
out. He says that his business is quite successful and they are even looking forward to moving to
a bigger place. But never will they ever forget to spend time together, even to pray before going
to school/work and to attend the Sunday Eucharist. But he says there is still so much to learn for
their family. After my sharing with him, he even thought of inviting me again over dinner to
have a kind-of sharing.
Oh, by the way, they have a dream they are not quite ready to tell the kids: they are
praying that one of them becomes a priest. Let us see it is only our Lord with the help of
Mama Mary, by which we shall know. I asked them even to start praying the Holy Rosary as a
family. This will certainly be a big, big help for the kids to discover the vocations in life and
most especially, to become a true domestic Church.