That I may proclaim your wondrous deeds

Psalm 71:17 

A milestone birthday

This 15 October 2025, I am 80 years old. It is 13 years more than the 67 average life expectancy of Filipino males according to the World Bank, and 10.6 more years than the 69.4 average life expectancy of Filipino males according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

God has been very generous to me. I can play badminton and bowling, not bothered by physical pain, and can be on the treadmill for 35 minutes without breathing heavy and feeling tired. But of course, I have my share of maintenance medicines in the morning and evening, including vitamins C, D, and E.

Our spiritual routine

Jean and I attend Holy Mass in person during Sundays, church holidays, and feast days of the Blessed Virgin Mary—as well as online daily Mass and Holy Rosary. We both have our daily personal prayer and Scripture reading time: Jean in the morning and I in the evening before bed. I am currently reading the Book of Kings, but praying and reflecting on the Book of Psalms has repeatedly been my favorite.

As I reach 80 years old, these verses have become a favorite reflection:

You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you know, my bones were not hidden from you. When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth. Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.

—Psalms 139:13-16

Family Gathering for my 80th

I requested all my siblings to come to celebrate together my 80th birthday: Ate Letty, 81 and our eldest, a widow with no children, who just returned from the US but lives alone in Lucena City; Ferry, 78 and married with grown-up children, who lives in San Diego, CA; and Ler, 74 and our youngest, also a widow with grown-up children, who lives in Little Rock, Arizona. They all came with dollar cash gifts for me. I especially like the handwritten greetings of our youngest:

“To my dearest Kuya Jun, Your wrinkles are signs of strength and courage … but wait!!! You don’t have any wrinkles, so does that mean you don’t have strength and courage? Ha ha ha Happy, happy 80th birthday my dearest Kuya. Wishing you many more years of joy and blessings. I love you!!! From your pretty and young-looking 74-year-old sister, LER.”

Noting that we have all reached our twilight years, I have been led to reflect on the psalmist’s lament, although most are of joy and not of sorrow:

Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty, if we are strong; Most of them are sorrow and toil; they pass quickly, we are all but gone. Teach us to count our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.

—Psalms 90:10,12

All our children also came: Joyce, 56 and married with 5 grown-up children, who lives in Santa Clarita, California; Joubert, 54 and married with one daughter, who just came back after 13 years working in Singapore but now lives in Nuvali, Laguna; Jenner, 46 and married with 2 children, who lives with us in Filinvest; and Jon, 39 and single, who lives in his condo at Eastwood City.

Being our only daughter, Joyce is very close to us. I keep her photo in my wallet. During the past few years, she has been generous to us and her siblings, sending presents and cash gifts. Jean has a collection of handbags from her.  

Planning for the Future

I asked all my siblings and our children to come to discuss the possible disposal and liquidation of our co-owned assets. The two coconut farms and a small rice field in San Roque are co-owned by my sisters and myself. We, all siblings, also co-own the house in Lucena City where our eldest sister resides all by herself. We will discuss and decide if we should sell or retain our ancestral home in Unisan, which I had rebuilt and renovated several times.

Jean and I and all our children own shares of stock in our consulting firm, and we need to discuss and agree on who will sell and who will replace us in the company’s Board of Directors. We also need to discuss and decide if we should sell our house in Filinvest and retire in our ancestral home in Unisan, in our co-owned house in Lucena, in a second house owned by our son in Nuvali, or in a condominium. 

But above all these concerns is the challenge of how to continue our service to God through Couples for Christ. We thus ponder on the words of the psalmist:

God, you have taught me from my youth;
to this day I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
Now that I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, God.
That I may proclaim your might
to all generations yet to come.

—Ps 71:17-18

Our Missionary Journey

We fondly recall that in just six months after completing our CLP in May 1992, we moved to Jakarta, Indonesia in January 1993 with a burning desire to expand the CFC community by inviting members of the expatriate community. By bringing in expatriate professionals into CFC, financial resources grew rapidly, and by forming and training those who were fluent in Bahasa Indonesia, missions outside Jakarta were made possible.

As a result, the community grew exponentially from only 16 couples in 1993 to over several hundred couples by the time we left Jakarta for the first time in 1999. 
 
When I joined the United Nations in Thailand, we encouraged the community to hold multiple CLPs annually, giving special focus on inviting couples in mixed marriages. Thus, we had many Thai Buddhist husbands with Filipino Catholic wives in CFC households, attending Mass, praying the Holy Rosary, reading the Bible, singing CFC songs, and actively serving in CFC activities.

With volunteers from CFC Bangkok, we went on missions using personal funds to Yangon, Myanmar and Vientiane, Laos, successfully establishing and growing the CFC communities there. We also went on pastoral missions to Cambodia and Vietnam. We were able to organize three Southeast Asia regional conferences on missio ad gentes: two in Bangkok and one in Phnom Penh. 

A Lifetime of Service

I served as Country Coordinator of Indonesia and Thailand separately, as Regional Coordinator of Southeast Asia, as Moderator of the CFC Board of Elders, and as member of the CFC International Council. I also continue to serve as a member of the CFC Board of Elders, and as Chairman of the CFC Institute.

With God’s grace, I have had the privilege of proclaiming the Lord’s love and might. Now that I am 80, I ask God for the grace to continue to proclaim his wondrous deeds to generations yet to come.