Fr. Armand @ 55

It was Fr. Armand's 55th birthday today, and Cecile and I, together with Grace Feliciano, my friend from the Ateneo "unwinders" attended this celebration. Photo shows Grace, Fr. Armand, Cecile and myself. More than a hundred of Fr. Armand's closest family (including his mom) and friends (from SMC, UPCP, Yuppeace, CodeRED Magazine, etc.) were present for an evening of inspiring words and music.

The invitation read:

“A new leaf emerges in time for Fr. Armand’s 55th birthday. Join us for thanksgiving as we celebrate and nurture the tree of life.

6pm, Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Joy Center, Don Bosco Makati
In lieu of gifts, donations are welcome.”

And there was a letter with his words, and I quote, “I dream for you and for me meaningful lives of Pinoy kagandahang-loob. This is compassionate leadership. It is non-violent. It is the leadership style of Jesus Christ. Together, let us invest our faith on our task of nation-building.

I dream of varied and effective educating initiatives to shape the minds and hearts of the young. I need your support for CodeRED, the family leadership magazine on character and competence. I dream of enriching the lives of our youth leaders with seminars, fora, gigs and more creative strategies. Here is your chance to share your talent, time and treasure. Photo shows Fr. Armand, Carol San Pedro (editor of CodeRED Magazine) and my wife, Cecile Gabutina-Velez. Both Carol and Cecile used to work for J. Walter Thompson.

I dream of a CodeRED Society where individual lives of kagandahang loob, out faith-politics of compassion, our servant leadership magazine as our mouthpiece, with our various servant leadership activities converge with each other to nurture the tree of leadership for our people. Come and journey with me and many others as we gather together the little we could share, and build a future for our children here in our country.

Let us dream for our country. And you know what, it starts in your heart."