The Rt. Rev. Dorsey McConnell, Bishop of Pittsburgh, writes on his Iron City Bishop weblog:
Imagine a traffic jam. Then put 23 million people into it. That’s Manila.
This is a world-class city, full of really hard-working people who seem to be going 24/7. You’d expect them to be grumpy all the time. So far I haven’t met a soul that fits that description. Rather they are gentle, solicitous, thoughtful, kind. Caught in a traffic snarl that would cause homicides in New York or Boston, they rarely use the horn. They are deeply oriented toward each other. Filipinos do almost nothing by themselves.
Maybe this is one reason why Fr. Marc’s house of scholars in Agata Street is so full of grace.