My return to my Catholic roots began in 2011. My gf at the time was a devout Catholic and she gave me a rosary bought by her uncle in one of his visits to the Vatican.

Her uncle is the Most Reverend Jose Palma, the current Archbishop of Cebu. I also have an uncle (on my father's side) who was also a bishop, the Most Reverend Jose Sorra, bishop of the Diocese of Virac from 1974 to 1993, and of the Diocese of Legazpi, 1993 to 2005. He passed away in 2021.

My first name is also Jose, so to my then gf, having three Joses, esp. with two of them being high-ranking priests, in her life at the time, made me conscious of my own faith. It made me feel the need to live up to the meaning of my name.

It's also with her that I began going back to mass back in 2011.