June is for Championship League

June is for Messi

The week of hot summery days in Germany, in June. When I asked my dear Rajah Puti (the white Rajah) if we are watching Euro Cup that hot Saturday, 6th of June, he almost exploded and gave me instant briefing on the difference between Championship League and the UEFA-Euro Cup. 
"So now, you know what's at stake tonight," he finished his sporty lecture touching on these and those football clubs which may qualify for the games. My response: I really don't care. I only want to see cute football players." End of lecture. The rest is history. 
3 to 1 against Juventus Turin. (And my heart bleeds for Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon but they remain in the list of my champion league.)

Congratulations FC Barcelona, Barça "Mes que un Club" (Catalan word which means more than a club). May you keep your aspiration to be the best ambassador for sport in Catalonia, Spain and to be seen as a defender of human rights and democratic freedom. Real Champions!

Remembering dear Father Avel

We are saying goodbye to a dearly loved and respected friend and parish priest of the Filipino Community in Barcelona, Father Avel Sapida. A staunch supporter for the rights of migrants, he founded the Centro Filipino, a center for Filipino migrants in the capital city of Catalunya, Spain where migrants come looking for consultation, help and celebrate small gatherings. Courses and other info activities on the situation of migrants especially in Barcelona are offered in the Centro Filipino San Benito. 

Fr. Avel being given a recognition from Diwata, the women's network in Greece during Babaylan's 20th Year of Celebration in Barcelona in 2012.

Below is one of the hundreds of tribute to Father Avel.

As a priest, a friend, a brother, a father or a grandfather, what FR. AVEL had done will always be a significant part in the history of the Filipino Community in Barcelona. He will always be remembered as THE ONE WHO CAME, THE ONE WHO SEARCHED AND THE ONE WHO GATHERED.

To you Fr. Avel, thank you very much for unconditionally loving the Filipino community in Barcelona. For opening our eyes to the plight of our kababayans abroad. For defending, protecting and fighting for the rights of migrant workers.

I heartily thank you for touching my life, for showing and inspiring me to serve our Kababayans in my own little way. I will always remember you, Fr. Avel. The man I truly admire and look up to. Rest in peace and may you have a pleasant journey to a place where happiness is eternal and love is everlasting.

I join the whole Filipino community in Catalunya in praying for the eternal repose of Fr. Avel Sapida.

From Nats Sisma Villaluna.

 Today, May 5, Greece is celebrating Easter Sunday. I would like to share my video where Fr. Avel explained briefly the meaning of Easter. Video was taken during Easter Sunday celebration in Barcelona in 2011.

We found a home in Barcelona in his presence.

Babaylanes Women Honouring Father Avel

Such a loving host, spoiling us and even tolerating our "splurging" moods by driving us around. 

You will surely be missed, Fr. Avel.

BIUTIFUL

Biutiful is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens, illuminating the inheritances bestowed from father to child, and the paternal guiding hand that navigates life’s corridors, whether bright, bad – or biutiful
(Source:Biutiful)


A must see film!