Breakfast with A Cardinal, Anyone

The Season of Lent naturally calls for spiritual intensity, but it doesnt have to be gloomy, or I suppose so. Yes, I broke fast with a Cardinal To my shame, I came in late! They were already digging in their helpings of tinola, fish tapa, and was it fried rice? They, I mean, His Eminence, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, our dear Archbishop Jose Palma and the rest of the GonzagaHaus tenants. As I kissed the hands of the good bishops, I heard they were discussing Discipline, the American brand. I right away tuned myself in to the theme, having hurried some black coffee and a cinnamon roll. The Cardinal: My brother, who is a doctor, has long been in the USA being married to a pure American woman. One time, I carelessly emptied the scraps from an ashtray to the ground. My brother sternly called my attention, Why did you do that? and continued: Dont you know you can be fined for that? In the USA, said the Cardinal, people follow the law. They are brought up as law-abiding citizens. Archbishop Palma could no more agree than by saying: Indeed, there is no sense in breaking the law! Our guest continued: An Australian visitor to Manila, once commented on our terrible traffic: Dont you have any laws here? The Cardinal hence could only retort: Sometimes theyre not laws, but mere suggestions. Having made us giggle, Cardinal Rosales concluded: I say its not politics that can change our country but discipline! And he related another anecdote on traffic discipline, this time happening in Germany. Why can people there respect the red light, even when nobody is watching? The way for the Philippines, according to the good Cardinal is still Discipline! What perchance he thinks of our politicians? You guess To our added delight, rain spattered outside. Fr. Gani commented to the Cardinal that the CBCPs Oratio Imperata proved effective. So, the talk quickly shifted to global climate change and Philippine economy. Archbishop Palma described how since his childhood he loved everything about the rain. His folks being farmers sincerely deem it to be natures blessing! The Cardinal said that he has a set of CDs on sounds of nature: rain, lightning, storms, etc... He loves music! I discovered for myself how Cardinal Rosales is a big fan of Wolgang Amadeus Mozart! He told us, rather not obviating his pride, that he was gifted with a set of the complete works of Mozart. Gesticulating he added: It weighs almost two kilos, and indeed it includes all of Mozarts, including his earliest worksMozarts since two or three years old! The Cardinal hummed the most familiar Learning ABCs tune, and told us- to my astonishment: Even that tune is Mozarts! Dont tell him I told you Dont you know that Cardinal Rosales even writes his powerful theological musings under the melodic ambiance of a Mozart? Mention was made of the Pope being an audiophile, too! I remembered reading that in the Times myself; Pope Benedict XVI is a many splendored things. The Cardinal detailed that the Pope and his lone brother George are both erudite in music. While the former is better theologian, the other is complete musician. Archbishop Palma added: He even writes profound Theology on Music! The Cardinal stores his music library in his IPod. Yes, an IPod! And who said its a minus for a Cardinal to have savoir-faire in hippy gadgets, anyway? He also informed us about his CD collection of all Academy Awards Movies. You name it, he knows it! So, our assembly then touched on themes related to Piracy, Intellectual Property and Patent Rights, to mention a few. One time in Los Angeles, said the Cardinal, somebody insisted that he asked anything for gift. Since he has neither fancy nor penchant for more clothes and the likes, he blurted to his gracious host hed rather have a CD set of the Encyclopedia. He learned to his dismay, he said, that the thing cost his host almost $200. Thats around P8, 000!, he counted. But whats hilarious is this. On his return to Manila, he saw the same CD set of the Encyclopedia at Harrison Plaza for only P300! That totally changed his take on Piracy and Intellectual Property Rights. When he further discovered that one blank re-writable CD barely costs P5 each, he really decided that the multinationals are pulling a leg! They charge too much for too littleCest moi. I cannot disagree. The doctrine on the Universal Destination of Goods so affirms: Access to human patrimony is rightfully a human right. Technology was the last course to be tabled! Almost everything now is available, accessible, and even possible. We spoke of microchips, nanotechnology, GPS and more. The good Cardinal thought out loud: What if next theyre going to know what youll think? There was a thoughtful pause, and our Archbishop led the after-meal prayer. This coffee is so good! the good Cardinal complimented to finish. I sat wowed: This life is so good! Indeed, a single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month's study of books. The Cardinal is. Fellas, perks are sometimes for the paupers at the palace