Some facts about doing my laundry
by Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco
The Season of Lent has two important invitations: to turn away from sin and to be faithful in the message of the Gospel. I believe, nobody will ever be challenged by these injunctions unless he has gone deep into himself and be aware of what is going on in his life. I think this is what happened to me in the past days. Paradoxically, the things that I have been carrying out in routine, say, doing my laundry, has opened my awareness to the recurring issues I keep on dealing with myself in the past twenty-eight years of my personal journey. What seemed to be tedious and boring has turned out to be an opportunity for self-discovery, and that I was able to regress inwardly as I searched for inner peace and healing.
Hence, allow me to share to you some facts about doing my laundry...
WASH
It’s been ages that I washed my clothes with my bare hands. As far as I can remember, the last time I stretched and crumpled those dirty shirts of mine was when the pulsator of our washing machine at home screwed up and I had no choice but to put everything inside the large tub, and let my 10 fingers do the job. Now I am doing it again, reminding myself that everything has to start from the basic...
At the back of my mind, I was torn between living the easy life and taking responsibility for myself…I have been so used in getting things done in a jiffy that my understanding of personal accountability and trustworthiness were shrouded…I was so into my comfort zones lately that I almost forgot where I actually came from…I know that I have endured a lot through the years but my painless and worry-free disposition has reduced my memory to practicality…all I ever wanted was an easy life and there was a point in time that I thought everything was possible…but in reality, it wasn’t. Just like washing my clothes, life is difficult…
RINSE
I usually rinse my clothes three times before I finally drench it in a separate tub of fabric conditioner mixed with water. This is to make sure that what I will be wearing is free from remnants of soap suds. I just don’t like the impression that my laundry was haphazardly done especially when my folks notice some white marks on my shirt as if I applied too much baby powder on my body (which I don’t usually do)…I am also very particular with stains. If they still remain after several washing, I would throw or give that shirt away.
In life, there have been instances that I hate myself because of my woundedness…that I often question my credibility and worthiness, thinking that I don’t deserve anything…that happiness can never be free or spontaneous because I have to work hard for it all the time…like the stains on my shirt, there are certain experiences that I’d rather forget because it is too painful to remember…only to realize later on that facing it squarely, when I had the chance, would have made me courageous and strong…sometimes ,I feel bad when the "ghosts" of my past would haunt me again because I have deliberately thrown them away…Now, I am reminded that there is such a thing called “grace” and this “grace” is usually build on nature.
DRY
Drying my clothes is not a simple task for I have to bear the scorching heat of the sun…or better wait for several days before I can finally wear my favorite shirt if it’s raining…or put it inside the dryer and spin it in eternity...Occasionally (and with much desperation), I’d like to defy time, ironing my damp clothes forcibly so that I can use them again, only to be embarrassed later on that they are not actually parched up but stinky.
In life, there are occasions when I get so impatient over certain matters…that I jump easily to conclusion without weighing down the odds…that I have been so attached to the results of my words and actions that I have failed to look closely into myself and discern which is more loving and life-giving…and then, I am reminded once again that my thoughts are faster than my words so that I can ponder things well inside my mind before blurting them out…and that I can be reasonable enough to control myself for the greater good…
FOLD
I am a certified “neat freak”. Folding clothes for me is like solving a geometrical equation , where I would painstakingly pleat every edges in order to come up with a perfect square…more so, I would arrange them neatly- segregating the whites from coloreds, the plain shirts from printed shirts, the crew necks from v-necks, those with "sleeves" from those without "sleeves. It gives me satisfaction and contentment to see my cabinet in order…I would always aim for tidiness and harmony…
At times, I’d like to see life that way too…that everything’s fixed and all I have to do is to rely on what has been planned or scheduled. but having this idealism has left me frustrated in the past years…there are things that are beyond my control…in the end, I am only invited to take risk and let go for life is not all about precision…I will learn so much if I have the willingness to compromise and be comfortable with the occasional mistakes that I have committed. Failure makes sense sometimes. It makes me grow better as a person.
Perhaps, I should thank our labandera for making me realize these things once again. Salamat Nang Minda!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!”
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!”
(cf. Mark 1:15)
by Bp. Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D.
This is the formula used with the giving of ashes at the start of the Lenten Season, another alternative to “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return!” (cf. Genesis 3:19).
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!” This could be a powerful program for our Lenten discipline as well as for our efforts in building and strengthening our BEC’s. It has two movements: away from and moving towards. During these 40 days of Lent, we can ask ourselves in prayer: “From what or even whom am I being asked by the Lord to turn away from?” and “How can I be more faithful to the Gospel?” Reflecting on my life, the journey of our community, and the circumstances of our world today, “Where am I most challenged to grow to become a more loving person as God is to us?” “How can I be an instrument of communion?”
In his Lenten Message this year, the Holy Father Benedict XVI focuses on the value and meaning of fasting, which is an important means together with prayer and almsgiving, to make our Lenten spiritual exercises fruitful. Among other things, he says, “Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God. At the same time, fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live.”
He quoted Saint Peter Chrysologus who writes: “Fasting is the soul of prayer; mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself” (Sermo 43: PL 52, 320. 322).
And then the Holy Father goes on to say, “It is precisely to keep alive this welcoming and attentive attitude towards our brothers and sisters that I encourage the parishes and every other community to intensify in Lent the custom of private and communal fasts, joined to the reading of the Word of God, prayer and almsgiving. From the beginning, this has been the hallmark of the Christian community, in which special collections were taken up (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27), the faithful being invited to give to the poor what had been set aside from their fast (Didascalia Ap., V, 20,18). This practice needs to be rediscovered and encouraged again in our day, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.”
This is especially relevant with the recent experience of fire that burned around 40 houses in our community in Zone 2 Brgy. Bakhaw and led to the untimely and painful death of an elderly couple Romeo and Filomena Hisog. This also acquires more meaning as we pay attention to the plight of all Filipino migrant workers and their families during this first Sunday of Lent, contemplating Jesus being led by the Spirit into the desert, where He remained for 40 days and being tempted by Satan. As we observe fasting and abstinence and other works of mercy, let these words of Jesus be our inspiration: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work.” (John 4:34)
I join the Holy Father in prayer and hope that every family and Christian community may use well this time of Lent in order to cast aside all that distracts the spirit and grow in whatever nourishes the soul, moving it to love of God and neighbor.
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!”
(cf. Mark 1:15)
by Bp. Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D.
This is the formula used with the giving of ashes at the start of the Lenten Season, another alternative to “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return!” (cf. Genesis 3:19).
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!” This could be a powerful program for our Lenten discipline as well as for our efforts in building and strengthening our BEC’s. It has two movements: away from and moving towards. During these 40 days of Lent, we can ask ourselves in prayer: “From what or even whom am I being asked by the Lord to turn away from?” and “How can I be more faithful to the Gospel?” Reflecting on my life, the journey of our community, and the circumstances of our world today, “Where am I most challenged to grow to become a more loving person as God is to us?” “How can I be an instrument of communion?”
In his Lenten Message this year, the Holy Father Benedict XVI focuses on the value and meaning of fasting, which is an important means together with prayer and almsgiving, to make our Lenten spiritual exercises fruitful. Among other things, he says, “Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God. At the same time, fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live.”
He quoted Saint Peter Chrysologus who writes: “Fasting is the soul of prayer; mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself” (Sermo 43: PL 52, 320. 322).
And then the Holy Father goes on to say, “It is precisely to keep alive this welcoming and attentive attitude towards our brothers and sisters that I encourage the parishes and every other community to intensify in Lent the custom of private and communal fasts, joined to the reading of the Word of God, prayer and almsgiving. From the beginning, this has been the hallmark of the Christian community, in which special collections were taken up (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27), the faithful being invited to give to the poor what had been set aside from their fast (Didascalia Ap., V, 20,18). This practice needs to be rediscovered and encouraged again in our day, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.”
This is especially relevant with the recent experience of fire that burned around 40 houses in our community in Zone 2 Brgy. Bakhaw and led to the untimely and painful death of an elderly couple Romeo and Filomena Hisog. This also acquires more meaning as we pay attention to the plight of all Filipino migrant workers and their families during this first Sunday of Lent, contemplating Jesus being led by the Spirit into the desert, where He remained for 40 days and being tempted by Satan. As we observe fasting and abstinence and other works of mercy, let these words of Jesus be our inspiration: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work.” (John 4:34)
I join the Holy Father in prayer and hope that every family and Christian community may use well this time of Lent in order to cast aside all that distracts the spirit and grow in whatever nourishes the soul, moving it to love of God and neighbor.
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!”
May Sunog! May Milagro!
May Sunog! May Milagro!
by Evelyn B. Nervato
Fe Marina S. Siacon
Nagkinarankaran ang tanan, nagalukdo sang mga gamit, nagaguyod sang mga sapat, sa paglikaw sa isa ka daku nga sunog nga natabo sa Barangay Bakhaw sang nagligad nga Pebrero 23, 2009. Nag-umpisa ini mga alas kwatro sa aga, nagikan sa kandila nga ginsindihan bangud sang brown-out. Diri sini nga balay nag-umpisa ang sunog. Madamo nga mga pamalay ang nagkalasunog lakip na diri ang mag-asawa. Malapad ang ginlamon sang kalayo humalin didto sa tangkulan sang taytay (taytay nga nagaangot sa Jaro market) pakadto sa old chapel nayon. Maayo lang kay ining old chapel ukon kapiya wala man masunog, pero sa kilid kag likod sini naupos gid. Diri nag-untat ang kalayo. Napalong ang kalayo sa bulig sang mga bombero, kag subong man sang mga tao mismo sa sini nga barangay nga wala nila ginbale ang kabudlay sa paghakot sang tubig gikan sa bomba. Masigbitbit lang sang ila balde.
Pagkatapos sang sunog, gintawgan ni Bishop Alminaza ang Pastoral Service Ministry sa pagkadto sa nasunugan sa pagpangungisa sang halit nga natuga sa mga tao upod kay Fr. Andy. Si Msgr. Oso nagpadala man gilayon sang onse ka sako nga used clothing kag mga tinapay sa kaalwan sang Angelina. Nagpadala man ang parokya sang materiales (subong abi sang mga pusog, kawayan, lansang, amakan kag galvanized iron) bulig sa pagpatindog sang balay sang mga tao nga nasunugan.
Sa sini nga hitabo, diri naton masaksihan ang espirito sang bayanihan. Ang mga tao sa sining magamay nga katilingban naghugpong, nagbululigay, wala ginbale ang daku nga kabudlay mabuligan lang sang tanan ang pagtapna sang kalayo. May ara man nga nagasiling nga daku nga milagro ang natabo kay ngaa nga sa balay gid sang Mahal nga Birhen nag-untat ang kalayo.
Nagahibi nga nagapanaysayon ang isa ka nanay nga nagakongkong pa sang iya baby. Siling niya: “Ginbuligan gid kami sang Mahal nga Birhen sang Medalya Milagrosa. Nagapati ako nga ginhumlad niya ang iya manto sa paghatag proteksyon sa amon. Milagrosa gid siya matuod. Kabay pa nga matandog man ang mga tagipusuon sang mga tao kag maghatag man sing kabilinggan sa Mahal nga Birhen paagi sa pagpangadi sang Santo Rosario.” May isa man didto nga naghambal, “Sang pagbaha wala man ang Mahal nga Iloy maano. Nag-untat ang pagdalom sang tubig sa iya nayon.”
Pagpuas sang kalayo, nagkadto ako sa old chapel, didto man gihapon ang Mahal nga Iloy, sa gihapon nagatan-ay sang iya mga kamot, handa sa pagbulig sa iya mga kaanakan. Nagpasalamat ako sa iya kay ako man nagapati nga tungod sa iya bulig wala maglapta ang kalayo.
by Evelyn B. Nervato
Fe Marina S. Siacon
Nagkinarankaran ang tanan, nagalukdo sang mga gamit, nagaguyod sang mga sapat, sa paglikaw sa isa ka daku nga sunog nga natabo sa Barangay Bakhaw sang nagligad nga Pebrero 23, 2009. Nag-umpisa ini mga alas kwatro sa aga, nagikan sa kandila nga ginsindihan bangud sang brown-out. Diri sini nga balay nag-umpisa ang sunog. Madamo nga mga pamalay ang nagkalasunog lakip na diri ang mag-asawa. Malapad ang ginlamon sang kalayo humalin didto sa tangkulan sang taytay (taytay nga nagaangot sa Jaro market) pakadto sa old chapel nayon. Maayo lang kay ining old chapel ukon kapiya wala man masunog, pero sa kilid kag likod sini naupos gid. Diri nag-untat ang kalayo. Napalong ang kalayo sa bulig sang mga bombero, kag subong man sang mga tao mismo sa sini nga barangay nga wala nila ginbale ang kabudlay sa paghakot sang tubig gikan sa bomba. Masigbitbit lang sang ila balde.
Pagkatapos sang sunog, gintawgan ni Bishop Alminaza ang Pastoral Service Ministry sa pagkadto sa nasunugan sa pagpangungisa sang halit nga natuga sa mga tao upod kay Fr. Andy. Si Msgr. Oso nagpadala man gilayon sang onse ka sako nga used clothing kag mga tinapay sa kaalwan sang Angelina. Nagpadala man ang parokya sang materiales (subong abi sang mga pusog, kawayan, lansang, amakan kag galvanized iron) bulig sa pagpatindog sang balay sang mga tao nga nasunugan.
Sa sini nga hitabo, diri naton masaksihan ang espirito sang bayanihan. Ang mga tao sa sining magamay nga katilingban naghugpong, nagbululigay, wala ginbale ang daku nga kabudlay mabuligan lang sang tanan ang pagtapna sang kalayo. May ara man nga nagasiling nga daku nga milagro ang natabo kay ngaa nga sa balay gid sang Mahal nga Birhen nag-untat ang kalayo.
Nagahibi nga nagapanaysayon ang isa ka nanay nga nagakongkong pa sang iya baby. Siling niya: “Ginbuligan gid kami sang Mahal nga Birhen sang Medalya Milagrosa. Nagapati ako nga ginhumlad niya ang iya manto sa paghatag proteksyon sa amon. Milagrosa gid siya matuod. Kabay pa nga matandog man ang mga tagipusuon sang mga tao kag maghatag man sing kabilinggan sa Mahal nga Birhen paagi sa pagpangadi sang Santo Rosario.” May isa man didto nga naghambal, “Sang pagbaha wala man ang Mahal nga Iloy maano. Nag-untat ang pagdalom sang tubig sa iya nayon.”
Pagpuas sang kalayo, nagkadto ako sa old chapel, didto man gihapon ang Mahal nga Iloy, sa gihapon nagatan-ay sang iya mga kamot, handa sa pagbulig sa iya mga kaanakan. Nagpasalamat ako sa iya kay ako man nagapati nga tungod sa iya bulig wala maglapta ang kalayo.
Parents’ Formation Update
Parents’ Formation Update
by Evelyn B. Nervato
The Parish of Our Lady of Candles in partnership with the Jaro Archdiocesan Social Action Center (JASAC) continues to enrich the parish program by helping the poor especially the under-nourished children. This program does not only feed the children but most importantly it enriches the parents’ spirituality. A group of Jaro Catechists conducted a spiritual formation session to the parents of these under-nourished children. These parents are also taught the proper care and feeding of their children.
The first session, “Ang Pagtuga” was given last February 19 in Barangay Cuartero Hi-way. The second session, “Ang Pagkilalahay” was given last February 24 and 27 in four barangays - Taytay Zone II, San Vicente, and Cuartero Hi-way.
by Evelyn B. Nervato
The Parish of Our Lady of Candles in partnership with the Jaro Archdiocesan Social Action Center (JASAC) continues to enrich the parish program by helping the poor especially the under-nourished children. This program does not only feed the children but most importantly it enriches the parents’ spirituality. A group of Jaro Catechists conducted a spiritual formation session to the parents of these under-nourished children. These parents are also taught the proper care and feeding of their children.
The first session, “Ang Pagtuga” was given last February 19 in Barangay Cuartero Hi-way. The second session, “Ang Pagkilalahay” was given last February 24 and 27 in four barangays - Taytay Zone II, San Vicente, and Cuartero Hi-way.
Private Schools Urge ‘Clear Guidelines‘ For Conduct of Drug Testing
Private Schools Urge ‘Clear Guidelines‘ For Conduct of Drug Testing
(News condensed from CBCP Monitor, Vol.13 No. 4, February 16 – March 1, 2009, by Roy Lagarde – News Editor)
by Armando A. Suñe
Catholic schools are in favor of the government plan for random drug testing to be conducted in both public and private schools in the country.
But the Catholic Educators Association in the Philippines (CEAP) along with other private schools wants the government to provide strict and clear guidelines in the conduct of drug testing in all high schools and tertiary levels.
I
n a statement, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) said that while the drug testing is worthy of support there are still facets that need concern.
The educators said authorities have to assure the anxious public that it has set in place safeguards to prevent negligence or malice aimed at incriminating students.
The group cited the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 which provides that “students of secondary and tertiary schools shall, pursuant to the related rules and regulations as contained in the school’s student handbook and with notice to the parents, undergo random drug testing, the expenses of which will be borne by the government.”
“Hence, in the interest of safeguarding the rights of its students from being violated in the process, clear implementing guidelines should be created in consultation with school officials and be discussed with appropriate stakeholders,” it added.
And while the COCOPEA acknowledges the value of the random drug testing, they said that the government’s campaign against illegal drugs should “substantively focus on the drug pushers and not the victims – such as the students.”
Reflecting on the issue, it should prove prudent indeed for the government to issue “definite and clear guidelines”, in consultation with the private and public education sector, in order to forestall possible confusion, finger-pointing, blaming, and, to put it optimistically, to ensure the honest success of the random drug-testing campaign.
The drug-use problem in our country is an issue too dangerous to be left aside. It is like a Pandora’s Box which, if left unchecked and curtailed, will open a plethora of more problems detrimental to our country – an illegal-drugs-trade-fueled economy, weakened and lessened able-bodied labor force, loss of moral values, breakdown of family life, and decreasing importance of personal religious affiliations. In fact, some of these problems have already begun to take root beyond our comfortable knowledge.
Jose Rizal was right after all when he said, “The youth is the fair hope of the fatherland.” A drug-crazed generation in our youth sector would certainly hamper our quest for a better Philippines. Anyone among us doesn’t need to look far to witness the destructive effects of drugs on the victimized person.
The random drug-testing program of the government doesn’t have to go awry and unsuccessful because of poor and hasty planning. We commend and are one with the COCOPEA in calling awareness towards the urgent need for such “clear guidelines” to be issued and implemented by the government. As private citizens of our country, we join in the well-meaning call for the transparent pro-active response of the government authorities concerned. After all, as Ninoy Aquino said, “The Filipino is worth dying for,” and all the efforts of both the private sector and government should have no other motive than the honest and sincere delivery of the welfare needs of our people.
(News condensed from CBCP Monitor, Vol.13 No. 4, February 16 – March 1, 2009, by Roy Lagarde – News Editor)
by Armando A. Suñe
Catholic schools are in favor of the government plan for random drug testing to be conducted in both public and private schools in the country.
But the Catholic Educators Association in the Philippines (CEAP) along with other private schools wants the government to provide strict and clear guidelines in the conduct of drug testing in all high schools and tertiary levels.
I
n a statement, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) said that while the drug testing is worthy of support there are still facets that need concern.
The educators said authorities have to assure the anxious public that it has set in place safeguards to prevent negligence or malice aimed at incriminating students.
The group cited the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 which provides that “students of secondary and tertiary schools shall, pursuant to the related rules and regulations as contained in the school’s student handbook and with notice to the parents, undergo random drug testing, the expenses of which will be borne by the government.”
“Hence, in the interest of safeguarding the rights of its students from being violated in the process, clear implementing guidelines should be created in consultation with school officials and be discussed with appropriate stakeholders,” it added.
And while the COCOPEA acknowledges the value of the random drug testing, they said that the government’s campaign against illegal drugs should “substantively focus on the drug pushers and not the victims – such as the students.”
Reflecting on the issue, it should prove prudent indeed for the government to issue “definite and clear guidelines”, in consultation with the private and public education sector, in order to forestall possible confusion, finger-pointing, blaming, and, to put it optimistically, to ensure the honest success of the random drug-testing campaign.
The drug-use problem in our country is an issue too dangerous to be left aside. It is like a Pandora’s Box which, if left unchecked and curtailed, will open a plethora of more problems detrimental to our country – an illegal-drugs-trade-fueled economy, weakened and lessened able-bodied labor force, loss of moral values, breakdown of family life, and decreasing importance of personal religious affiliations. In fact, some of these problems have already begun to take root beyond our comfortable knowledge.
Jose Rizal was right after all when he said, “The youth is the fair hope of the fatherland.” A drug-crazed generation in our youth sector would certainly hamper our quest for a better Philippines. Anyone among us doesn’t need to look far to witness the destructive effects of drugs on the victimized person.
The random drug-testing program of the government doesn’t have to go awry and unsuccessful because of poor and hasty planning. We commend and are one with the COCOPEA in calling awareness towards the urgent need for such “clear guidelines” to be issued and implemented by the government. As private citizens of our country, we join in the well-meaning call for the transparent pro-active response of the government authorities concerned. After all, as Ninoy Aquino said, “The Filipino is worth dying for,” and all the efforts of both the private sector and government should have no other motive than the honest and sincere delivery of the welfare needs of our people.
Rediscover Confession, Urges Benedict XVI
Rediscover Confession, Urges Benedict XVI
Calls It Sacrament of Forgiveness
(News condensed from CBCP Monitor, Vol.13 No.4, February 16 – March1, 2009; Zenit)
by Armando A. Suñe
VATICAN CITY, February 15, 2009 – Sin is what puts distance between the believer and God, and it’s the sacrament of confession that brings the two back together, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today in a Gospel reflection on Mark’s account of the healed leper (Mark 2: 1-12), which he delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
“It is not…physical malady that distances us from God, as the ancient norms supposed, but sin, the spiritual and moral evil.”
Benedict XVI reflected: “The sins we commit distance us from God, and, if they are not humbly confessed, trusting in the divine mercy, they will finally bring about the death of the soul. This miracle ( of the healed leper) thus has powerful symbolic value.
“In the Sacrament of Penance Christ crucified and risen, through his ministers, purified us with his infinite mercy, restores us to communion with the heavenly Father and our brothers, and makes a gift of his love, joy, and peace to us.”
“Dear brothers and sisters,” he concluded, “let us invoke the Virgin Mary, whom God preserved from every stain of sin, that she help us to avoid sin and to have frequent recourse to the sacrament of confession, the sacrament of forgiveness, whose value and importance for our Christian life needs to be rediscovered today.”
Our reflection on Pope Benedict XVI’s message makes us conclude that, beyond the physical healing that may take place because of confession, confession itself heals our relationship with God and makes us children of God again. Sin separates us from God and takes us away from the “State of Grace” necessary to enter into friendship with HIM. Confession restores that “State of Grace” in us and makes us friends with God again. Going to confession requires HUMILITY, which means one has to die from the refusal of admitting to God his sins, all because of his stubbornness and pride.
Why do a lot of Catholics these days refuse to go to confession? It is because of this pride and stubbornness, the same Sin that Adam and Eve committed. Worst, a lot of Catholics these days have adopted the wrong attitude of non-Catholics who were wrongly taught to believe they should confess only directly to God. As Catholics, we need to remember what Jesus Christ said to Peter and the Apostles during the resurrection, “Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” Priests ordained in the Roman Catholic Church are the present-day successors of Peter and the Apostles. Christ forgives us of our sins during confession through these ordained Roman Catholic priests. Let us not be afraid then to go to our priests for Confession, especially this Lenten season.
Confession does give us the bonus of a liberating feeling of well-being, of light-heartedness, of an unexplainable feeling of goodness and freedom of spirit in God’s name, and of knowing that we are back in God’s care and protection. This results in a general feeling of good health and a possible return to physical healing of our infirmities itself. Only those who have gone to a good Confession with a priest receive this blessing – this feeling of relief, goodness and well-being. No drug-abuse habit can come up to this unexplainable “HIGH” that only comes from God. Just ask your friend who has gone to a good Confession, dear reader. Now, I am asking you: Wanna try going to Confession? I dare you, dear reader. Try it. You won’t regret it.
Calls It Sacrament of Forgiveness
(News condensed from CBCP Monitor, Vol.13 No.4, February 16 – March1, 2009; Zenit)
by Armando A. Suñe
VATICAN CITY, February 15, 2009 – Sin is what puts distance between the believer and God, and it’s the sacrament of confession that brings the two back together, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today in a Gospel reflection on Mark’s account of the healed leper (Mark 2: 1-12), which he delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
“It is not…physical malady that distances us from God, as the ancient norms supposed, but sin, the spiritual and moral evil.”
Benedict XVI reflected: “The sins we commit distance us from God, and, if they are not humbly confessed, trusting in the divine mercy, they will finally bring about the death of the soul. This miracle ( of the healed leper) thus has powerful symbolic value.
“In the Sacrament of Penance Christ crucified and risen, through his ministers, purified us with his infinite mercy, restores us to communion with the heavenly Father and our brothers, and makes a gift of his love, joy, and peace to us.”
“Dear brothers and sisters,” he concluded, “let us invoke the Virgin Mary, whom God preserved from every stain of sin, that she help us to avoid sin and to have frequent recourse to the sacrament of confession, the sacrament of forgiveness, whose value and importance for our Christian life needs to be rediscovered today.”
Our reflection on Pope Benedict XVI’s message makes us conclude that, beyond the physical healing that may take place because of confession, confession itself heals our relationship with God and makes us children of God again. Sin separates us from God and takes us away from the “State of Grace” necessary to enter into friendship with HIM. Confession restores that “State of Grace” in us and makes us friends with God again. Going to confession requires HUMILITY, which means one has to die from the refusal of admitting to God his sins, all because of his stubbornness and pride.
Why do a lot of Catholics these days refuse to go to confession? It is because of this pride and stubbornness, the same Sin that Adam and Eve committed. Worst, a lot of Catholics these days have adopted the wrong attitude of non-Catholics who were wrongly taught to believe they should confess only directly to God. As Catholics, we need to remember what Jesus Christ said to Peter and the Apostles during the resurrection, “Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” Priests ordained in the Roman Catholic Church are the present-day successors of Peter and the Apostles. Christ forgives us of our sins during confession through these ordained Roman Catholic priests. Let us not be afraid then to go to our priests for Confession, especially this Lenten season.
Confession does give us the bonus of a liberating feeling of well-being, of light-heartedness, of an unexplainable feeling of goodness and freedom of spirit in God’s name, and of knowing that we are back in God’s care and protection. This results in a general feeling of good health and a possible return to physical healing of our infirmities itself. Only those who have gone to a good Confession with a priest receive this blessing – this feeling of relief, goodness and well-being. No drug-abuse habit can come up to this unexplainable “HIGH” that only comes from God. Just ask your friend who has gone to a good Confession, dear reader. Now, I am asking you: Wanna try going to Confession? I dare you, dear reader. Try it. You won’t regret it.
Archbishop's Message for Lent Season
LENT is an opportune occasion for profound re-examination of life, for confronting ourselves with the truth of the Gospel, which demands radical moral renewal. Jesus Christ begins his public ministry with the message: “The time of fulfillment has come … Repent (i.e. change your mind and behavior), and believe in the Gospel” (Mk. 1/15). St. Paul the Apostle gives his rejoinder: “Be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4/23).
Along this line, the scientist, Albert Einstein, offered a formula for solving the problems and crises that churches, institutions and governments are facing when he said: “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created these problems and crises.” We will not solve our problems – religious, social, economic, political- by insisting on doing the same things that have produced the problems. The call of Lent is for moral renewal. To achieve this we need at least a critical mass of citizens-leaders who are willing to “break out of the box,” to jump on to the beginning of a new wave, to move into a new cycle of development, to operate with a new social consciousness and conscience, not for their individual or group security, but for the good of the greatest number.
We stated, some years ago, at the National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal, that “failures in renewal have come from a deeper source: our hardness of heart and resistance to conversion….We, as Church, have to confess responsibility for many of the continuing ills of Philippine society.” In a Pastoral Statement on “Renewing Our Political Life” (January 29, 2006), we said, and we can say it again, that “at the bottom of our political chaos is a crisis of moral values, a crisis of truth and justice, of unity and solidarity for the sake of common good and genuine peace.”
The most seriously affected by the crisis of moral values are the poor, the marginalized, oftentimes treated like commodities. Graft and corruption breeds widespread poverty. Widespread poverty in turn breeds graft and corruption. There is a concatenation of crisis and corruption that goes down to the barangay level, up and down and up, infecting the whole of society, like a contagious cancer.
To cure this social cancer we need a new breed of leaders in our country. The forthcoming national elections must not simply be a changing of hats for the same persons, or change of faces but with unchanged hearts. We must be able to gather a critical mass of citizens-leaders with a genuine passion and obsession for good governance and prophetic leadership. This critical mass will be the training ground of other citizens who will lead our country with the value s of honesty and justice, truth and integrity, credibility and accountability, transparency and stewardship. These are the moral values that citizens must use to criticize and measure the present brand of leaders and raise up a new breed of leaders.
Along this line, the scientist, Albert Einstein, offered a formula for solving the problems and crises that churches, institutions and governments are facing when he said: “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created these problems and crises.” We will not solve our problems – religious, social, economic, political- by insisting on doing the same things that have produced the problems. The call of Lent is for moral renewal. To achieve this we need at least a critical mass of citizens-leaders who are willing to “break out of the box,” to jump on to the beginning of a new wave, to move into a new cycle of development, to operate with a new social consciousness and conscience, not for their individual or group security, but for the good of the greatest number.
We stated, some years ago, at the National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal, that “failures in renewal have come from a deeper source: our hardness of heart and resistance to conversion….We, as Church, have to confess responsibility for many of the continuing ills of Philippine society.” In a Pastoral Statement on “Renewing Our Political Life” (January 29, 2006), we said, and we can say it again, that “at the bottom of our political chaos is a crisis of moral values, a crisis of truth and justice, of unity and solidarity for the sake of common good and genuine peace.”
The most seriously affected by the crisis of moral values are the poor, the marginalized, oftentimes treated like commodities. Graft and corruption breeds widespread poverty. Widespread poverty in turn breeds graft and corruption. There is a concatenation of crisis and corruption that goes down to the barangay level, up and down and up, infecting the whole of society, like a contagious cancer.
To cure this social cancer we need a new breed of leaders in our country. The forthcoming national elections must not simply be a changing of hats for the same persons, or change of faces but with unchanged hearts. We must be able to gather a critical mass of citizens-leaders with a genuine passion and obsession for good governance and prophetic leadership. This critical mass will be the training ground of other citizens who will lead our country with the value s of honesty and justice, truth and integrity, credibility and accountability, transparency and stewardship. These are the moral values that citizens must use to criticize and measure the present brand of leaders and raise up a new breed of leaders.
St. Perpetua and St. Felicity (+202-203)
St. Perpetua and St. Felicity (+202-203)
by Fe Marina S. Siacon
These two saints faced martyrdom hand in hand at Carthage in North Africa during the Persecution of Septimus Severus. The account of their deaths was probably written by Tertullian. The account was so highly esteemed that in the fourth century it was read publicly in the Churches of Northern Africa.
Perpetua, 22 years of age, was the daughter of a pagan nobleman and she was the mother of an infant still in swaddling clothes. Felicity, a slave, gave birth to a child prematurely while in prison. Three other catechumens were imprisoned with Perpetua and Felicity and they were soon joined by their teacher, Saturus. They were baptized while in prison, prior to their death in the amphitheater. The detailed account of their martyrdom is one of the greatest literary treasures that have come down to us from the early Church.
Reflection Their martyrdom highlights the intensity of their love for God. Felicity was asked by a prison guard to avoid martyrdom for the sake of her unborn child, but she refused, standing firmly for her faith. She said that even if she was going through the pains of labor she will never give up. Her love for God transcends one of the most powerful of human love. Her response to the prison guard can serve as a protest today against the widespread slaughter of the unborn through abortion. Today even the government officials are trying to propose a health bill leading to abortion in the guise of family planning. Let us pray for their enlightenment. Perpetua although from a pagan upbringing, grew in faith after her baptism. The account of her imprisonment would still be relevant today, for she said, “The Spirit inspired me to ask from the water of baptism nothing more than constancy of the flesh.” Both of them were given by the Holy Spirit the courage to endure the torments of martyrdom. Prayer: Father, Your love gave saints Perpetua and Felicity courage to suffer a cruel martyrdom. We too, are suffering from martyrdom; martyrdom in poverty, injustice, and inequality; degradation of values, and high level of political maneuvering. Help us grow in love for You despite our sufferings. Let Sts. Perpetua and Felicity intercede for us before You. Amen.
by Fe Marina S. Siacon
These two saints faced martyrdom hand in hand at Carthage in North Africa during the Persecution of Septimus Severus. The account of their deaths was probably written by Tertullian. The account was so highly esteemed that in the fourth century it was read publicly in the Churches of Northern Africa.
Perpetua, 22 years of age, was the daughter of a pagan nobleman and she was the mother of an infant still in swaddling clothes. Felicity, a slave, gave birth to a child prematurely while in prison. Three other catechumens were imprisoned with Perpetua and Felicity and they were soon joined by their teacher, Saturus. They were baptized while in prison, prior to their death in the amphitheater. The detailed account of their martyrdom is one of the greatest literary treasures that have come down to us from the early Church.
Reflection Their martyrdom highlights the intensity of their love for God. Felicity was asked by a prison guard to avoid martyrdom for the sake of her unborn child, but she refused, standing firmly for her faith. She said that even if she was going through the pains of labor she will never give up. Her love for God transcends one of the most powerful of human love. Her response to the prison guard can serve as a protest today against the widespread slaughter of the unborn through abortion. Today even the government officials are trying to propose a health bill leading to abortion in the guise of family planning. Let us pray for their enlightenment. Perpetua although from a pagan upbringing, grew in faith after her baptism. The account of her imprisonment would still be relevant today, for she said, “The Spirit inspired me to ask from the water of baptism nothing more than constancy of the flesh.” Both of them were given by the Holy Spirit the courage to endure the torments of martyrdom. Prayer: Father, Your love gave saints Perpetua and Felicity courage to suffer a cruel martyrdom. We too, are suffering from martyrdom; martyrdom in poverty, injustice, and inequality; degradation of values, and high level of political maneuvering. Help us grow in love for You despite our sufferings. Let Sts. Perpetua and Felicity intercede for us before You. Amen.
WHO AM I?
WHO AM I?
by Khristyne Joy S. Paniza
Who would ever think that a sinner like me would be loved by someone so omnipotent? Why would He offer himself to save me from my sins? Am I worth the sacrifice He did 2000 years ago? As the songs goes, “Who am I that the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name, would care to know myhurt?”
These are the questions that I often ask myself of how I came into being despite my unworthiness of His great sacrifice. I sometimes find myself rejecting His love and I tend to dwell on earthly things, thinking that this could heal the brokenness in me. Human as I am, I struggle to understand life’s uncertainties and I admit it is hard to find meaning in every endeavor I have. I would sometimes feel empty, scared and not even knowing why these things are happening in my life. The innate vulnerability in me caused me hurts and rejections that left my young and fragile heart wounded. I admit that I was scared of letting go things; things that are within my comfort zone because I was scared of the responsibility that lies ahead when I’ll grow maturely as a Christian. But then I realized that I have God who unconditionally loves me and accepts me for who I am; our Savior who never fails to understand and forgives our sins. There is nothing I should be scared of because He will be there to catch me in every downfall. He would be there to make me understand things and make me appreciate the sacrifice He did. I have God who would always be there for me even if others would depart and I know that I am nothing without God.
As we celebrate the Lenten season, may it remind us of God’s unending love for us, make us value why He offered Himself to save us from our sins 2000 years ago. We may be sinners but we have God who sacrificed for us and who is always willing to forgive us of our sins. We have a God who will make us strong and steadfast when we are tormented by life’s cruelties. We should be thankful that God gave up Himself to redeem us of our sins . May we never fail to submit to His will and in turn, let us unselfishly offer ourselves to Him also.
The next time you’ll ask yourself “Who am I?” never hesitate to answer:
“Lord, I am yours”.
by Khristyne Joy S. Paniza
Who would ever think that a sinner like me would be loved by someone so omnipotent? Why would He offer himself to save me from my sins? Am I worth the sacrifice He did 2000 years ago? As the songs goes, “Who am I that the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name, would care to know myhurt?”
These are the questions that I often ask myself of how I came into being despite my unworthiness of His great sacrifice. I sometimes find myself rejecting His love and I tend to dwell on earthly things, thinking that this could heal the brokenness in me. Human as I am, I struggle to understand life’s uncertainties and I admit it is hard to find meaning in every endeavor I have. I would sometimes feel empty, scared and not even knowing why these things are happening in my life. The innate vulnerability in me caused me hurts and rejections that left my young and fragile heart wounded. I admit that I was scared of letting go things; things that are within my comfort zone because I was scared of the responsibility that lies ahead when I’ll grow maturely as a Christian. But then I realized that I have God who unconditionally loves me and accepts me for who I am; our Savior who never fails to understand and forgives our sins. There is nothing I should be scared of because He will be there to catch me in every downfall. He would be there to make me understand things and make me appreciate the sacrifice He did. I have God who would always be there for me even if others would depart and I know that I am nothing without God.
As we celebrate the Lenten season, may it remind us of God’s unending love for us, make us value why He offered Himself to save us from our sins 2000 years ago. We may be sinners but we have God who sacrificed for us and who is always willing to forgive us of our sins. We have a God who will make us strong and steadfast when we are tormented by life’s cruelties. We should be thankful that God gave up Himself to redeem us of our sins . May we never fail to submit to His will and in turn, let us unselfishly offer ourselves to Him also.
The next time you’ll ask yourself “Who am I?” never hesitate to answer:
“Lord, I am yours”.
Stop and Read!
Stop and Read!
by Jesa Christine T. Capagal
If you really want something in life, you will work really hard for it – even if it takes few hours of overtime. There are even times at night when you pray so hard so that these wishes will be given to you. However, if you are like this, then it is time to stop and breathe for awhile.
These hectic hours of your life are sometimes referred to as your “moments overlooked”. We become self-centered and hoped for things only to the advantage of ourselves. We forget to stop and just thank God that something good is happening in our lives. Could you just consider giving a hand to someone in need, to give a warm smile to those who are aching, and to give a comforting shoulder to someone in pain? These are just a few things the world really needs.
Just like Jesus, he never thought of Himself but US. These lives that we hold in hand are only lent to us by God. We are here to fulfill His miracles for humankind. Miracles that only we, ourselves could do: a smile, a hug and a concern for those in need. We are not only here to strive for our betterment but to help each other to survive.
by Jesa Christine T. Capagal
If you really want something in life, you will work really hard for it – even if it takes few hours of overtime. There are even times at night when you pray so hard so that these wishes will be given to you. However, if you are like this, then it is time to stop and breathe for awhile.
These hectic hours of your life are sometimes referred to as your “moments overlooked”. We become self-centered and hoped for things only to the advantage of ourselves. We forget to stop and just thank God that something good is happening in our lives. Could you just consider giving a hand to someone in need, to give a warm smile to those who are aching, and to give a comforting shoulder to someone in pain? These are just a few things the world really needs.
Just like Jesus, he never thought of Himself but US. These lives that we hold in hand are only lent to us by God. We are here to fulfill His miracles for humankind. Miracles that only we, ourselves could do: a smile, a hug and a concern for those in need. We are not only here to strive for our betterment but to help each other to survive.
Lent, A Call for Change
Lent, A Call for Change
by Francine Caram
For many Christians the Lenten season can be a mystery. For some, lent is a period of going on a diet, for others lent is a time when their Catholic friends wear ashes on their foreheads and eat fish on Fridays, but in a larger sense, lent is the period of fasting leading up the feast of Easter, recalling Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness.
The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, where according to th Bible he endured temptation by Satan.
The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer, through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We usually spend the Lenten season with our families. Some of our parents see this as a time for the members of the family to be one in prayer.
If we look at it clearly, Lent also serves as the time for change. As the time for us to realize how much we owe God for making all things possible, for keeping us in tract when the rode leads nowhere. It’s such ashame to see that after the forty days of bringing yourself closer to God, you’re still the same person you were the very first time you walked down the aisle and the priest put that ash cross on your forehead till the time Easter comes to an end.
Perhaps this is our wake up call, our chance to be better children of God. For once the priest puts that ash cross on your forehead and says, “Of dust you are made and of dust you shall return.” It is only rightful that we reminisce all He has dedicated to us. My dear brothers and sisters, let us seek for guidance in darkness, for we are His children, and together we believe in Him even if He does not speak.
by Francine Caram
For many Christians the Lenten season can be a mystery. For some, lent is a period of going on a diet, for others lent is a time when their Catholic friends wear ashes on their foreheads and eat fish on Fridays, but in a larger sense, lent is the period of fasting leading up the feast of Easter, recalling Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness.
The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, where according to th Bible he endured temptation by Satan.
The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer, through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We usually spend the Lenten season with our families. Some of our parents see this as a time for the members of the family to be one in prayer.
If we look at it clearly, Lent also serves as the time for change. As the time for us to realize how much we owe God for making all things possible, for keeping us in tract when the rode leads nowhere. It’s such ashame to see that after the forty days of bringing yourself closer to God, you’re still the same person you were the very first time you walked down the aisle and the priest put that ash cross on your forehead till the time Easter comes to an end.
Perhaps this is our wake up call, our chance to be better children of God. For once the priest puts that ash cross on your forehead and says, “Of dust you are made and of dust you shall return.” It is only rightful that we reminisce all He has dedicated to us. My dear brothers and sisters, let us seek for guidance in darkness, for we are His children, and together we believe in Him even if He does not speak.
Three Seasons in Our Hearts
Three Seasons in Our Hearts
by Pureza D. Lacuesta
Christianity is not confined to celebrating the three seasons of the year in the months precisely prescribed for them. Christianity is for all time.
Every Christian has to enshrine in his heart the image and virtues of Jesus, and make I his daily practice to implement the cycle of joy (Christmas time), love (Valentine’s Day) and repentance (Lenten season), as long as he lives.
It is not easy to celebrate these three feelings if we only think about them – philosophies and arguments may rise within us, time element and job responsibilities may pause as obstacles, but if we are determined to do it, we really can. “It is will power and determination, firm decision and instant implementation that can move us to be truly Christian.” I enclose this line with quotation marks because this is a borrowed line from the homily of Fr. Andy Esperancilla, two Sundays back.
Look! Isn’t sharing your food with a hungry child, a season of joy? Aren’t you happy if that hungry child smiles at you with gratitude in his eyes? Isn’t that December for you? Or, don’t you feel the joy of December if you cover the bare shoulders of an old, shivering woman and she presses your hand with gratitude? Tell me if that isn’t Christmas.
Then, when you hurry home and your mother is relieved of her kitchen work;
Like washing the clothes, or cleaning of the house, and she smiles at you gratefully, isn’t that love? If you lead an old woman across the street, visit a friend in the hospital, give hope to a desperate person or pray for people who have no time for prayer, isn’t that love, greater than the love shown on Valentine’s Day? Love can be given in many ways. The avenue is open every moment of the day.
It is night time, time to rest. The sky is dark. It marks the end of another day. Wouldn’t it be prudent to evaluate our day, and recall if we have hurt somebody through unkind words or actions or even in our thoughts? Couldn’t we ask forgiveness from the Lord, as we accept our failings? Make it your lent.
We are never sure when our final moment would come. We can never tell when our last footstep would stop. We can never tell when we will face the judgment seat. It is therefore an insurance of salvation if we live the three seasons everyday. It is not difficult if we are determined. It is not difficult if we aredecided.
Try to adjust your timetable to a Christian’s “Three-Season-Day” and you will feel more patient, helpful, sincere and friendly to God and our fellowmen. Make the three seasons your permanent vineyard, your voluntary assignment in the field of Christianity.
by Pureza D. Lacuesta
Christianity is not confined to celebrating the three seasons of the year in the months precisely prescribed for them. Christianity is for all time.
Every Christian has to enshrine in his heart the image and virtues of Jesus, and make I his daily practice to implement the cycle of joy (Christmas time), love (Valentine’s Day) and repentance (Lenten season), as long as he lives.
It is not easy to celebrate these three feelings if we only think about them – philosophies and arguments may rise within us, time element and job responsibilities may pause as obstacles, but if we are determined to do it, we really can. “It is will power and determination, firm decision and instant implementation that can move us to be truly Christian.” I enclose this line with quotation marks because this is a borrowed line from the homily of Fr. Andy Esperancilla, two Sundays back.
Look! Isn’t sharing your food with a hungry child, a season of joy? Aren’t you happy if that hungry child smiles at you with gratitude in his eyes? Isn’t that December for you? Or, don’t you feel the joy of December if you cover the bare shoulders of an old, shivering woman and she presses your hand with gratitude? Tell me if that isn’t Christmas.
Then, when you hurry home and your mother is relieved of her kitchen work;
Like washing the clothes, or cleaning of the house, and she smiles at you gratefully, isn’t that love? If you lead an old woman across the street, visit a friend in the hospital, give hope to a desperate person or pray for people who have no time for prayer, isn’t that love, greater than the love shown on Valentine’s Day? Love can be given in many ways. The avenue is open every moment of the day.
It is night time, time to rest. The sky is dark. It marks the end of another day. Wouldn’t it be prudent to evaluate our day, and recall if we have hurt somebody through unkind words or actions or even in our thoughts? Couldn’t we ask forgiveness from the Lord, as we accept our failings? Make it your lent.
We are never sure when our final moment would come. We can never tell when our last footstep would stop. We can never tell when we will face the judgment seat. It is therefore an insurance of salvation if we live the three seasons everyday. It is not difficult if we are determined. It is not difficult if we aredecided.
Try to adjust your timetable to a Christian’s “Three-Season-Day” and you will feel more patient, helpful, sincere and friendly to God and our fellowmen. Make the three seasons your permanent vineyard, your voluntary assignment in the field of Christianity.
Kay Sin-o kag Diin Ako Masugod? SA PAGHILIUSA ARA ANG KABASKOG…
Kay Sin-o kag Diin Ako Masugod?
SA PAGHILIUSA ARA ANG KABASKOG…
“Kari kamo ang tanan nahanda na
Sa punsyon sang paghigugma
Maghi-ugyon nga may kasadya
Sa pagkabuhi sang bug-os nga paghiliusa”
Ini una nga mga dinalan sang amba sang ikatlo nga Sinodo Diosesano sang Jaro. Sa ambahanon, mabasa naton nga “ang tanan nahanda na sa punsyon sang paghigugma…” apang pamangkuton naton ang aton kaugalingon: Ako bala bahin sinang punsyon sang paghigugma? Ako bala handa sa pagbugras sang akon makinaiya-iyahon nga pamatasan kag makig-ugyon sa mga katapo sang akon panimalay, sa akon mga kasilingan tungod kay sila, pareho ko, nahamtang o nagapuyo sa isa lamang ka komunidad? Ako bala handa sa pagtan-ay sang akon mga kamot sa akon mga kaupod sa akon ginaobrahan? Ako bala handa makig-uli o makipag-abyan sa akon mga kaaway?
Ang paghiusa nagasugod sa aton mismo kaugalingon. Ang matuod nga pagpakig-angot mahimo lamang kon kita wala sing pagpakuno-kuno… kon ano ang aton ginapanumdom amo ang aton ginahambal; kon ano ang aton ginapabutyag amo ang aton ginabuhat; kon ano ang aton ginapanumdom kag ginapabutyag aton ginakabuhi… bangod kay katapo kita sang isa ka Kristohanon nga panimalay nga katapo man sang isa ka katilingban nga may isa ka direksyon, may isa ka misyon, may isa ka panan-awan padulong sa bug-os nga paghiliusa.
Sa paghiliusa ara ang kabaskog. Madamo ang mahimo/mabuhat kon may paghiliusa. Kami makapanaksi sini sa amon mga gin-agihan sang ginpatigayon ang pagpangkadto namon sa mga barangay nga ginhugpong sa siyam ka mga zona nga nasakupan sang mga masunod nga mga barangay:
Zona I San Vicente, Lourdes Jalandoni, Lourdes DB
Zona II Benedicto, Luna
Zona III Democracia, Simon Ledesma
Zona IV Tabuc Suba Proper, Tabuc Suba Ilaya
Zona V Ma. Cristina, San Roque
Zona VI Libertad, Fajardo, Arguelles
Zona VII Taytay Zone II, Cuartero, Calubihan
Zona VIII Taft North, Bakhaw
Zona IX Desamparados, CC El 98, Seminario
Sa wala pa matalana ang adlaw sang pagsugod sang pagpanglakaton sa mga zona upod sang imahen sang Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, may mga pagsinapol nga ginhiwat sa diin ginplanohan sang Committee on Worship upod kay Fr. Andy kag Fr. Philip ang mga buluhaton kag mga tawo nga magapatigayon sini.
Duna sa pamatasan sang mga tawo ang pagtililipon bangod kay ang tawo “social being”; apang ang paghugpong sang mga ini sa isa ka balaan nga tinutuyo isa ka mabudlay nga hilikuton. Ang madamo nga mga tawo sa zona nga nag-abi-abi sang pag-abot sang imahen sang aton Mahal nga Patrona amat-amat nga nagkaladula o nangindulaan sang ang tagpatigayon sa pagpaambit nahanungod sang mga hilikuton sang isa ka gamay nga katilingban nagsugod sa paghambal. Kami nga grupo halin sa katedral nakapamangkot: Diin ang ila “commitment”? Tubtob diin lang kag ano lang ang ila masarangan nga ihatag sa katilingban para mabalay ang isa ka paghiliusa?
Natigayon ang siyam ka adlaw nga pagsugat-pagdul-ong sang imahen sang Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, pagpakig-ambit bahin sa urna kag “Ang Gamay nga Kristianong Katilingban: Alagyan Padulong sa Bug-os nga Paghiliusa,” pagpartisipar sa Santos nga Misa, salamat sa paghugpong sang mga masunod, may ulan man ukon wala:
Fr. Andy Esperancilla Fr. Philip Sinco
Fr. Macky Sortido Bp. Gerry Alminaza,D.D.
Fr. Caloy Noquez Fr. Richard Daulo
Lourdes Prudente Remy Mationg
Evelyn Jimena Monico Alitao
Princess Descalsota Louie Vi Vergara
Ludy Alconga Virginita Vergara
Annabelle Guevara Jervin Vinzon
Jerly Docdocil Richard Camilotes
Neneng Siscar Darlee Estribo
Evelyn Nervato Vicente Gonzales
John Cloyd Pahila Kirby Guevara
Harvey Guevara Kate Sevilla
Dolores Pahila Felma Bering
Jennifer Addun Ione Espartero
Christopher Villa Paulo Pasquin
Lourdes Villa Roseller Villa
Ang amon mga inagihan- masadya, masubo, kaulugot/kailinit- nagpatubo pa gid sa amon bilang katapo sang isa ka daku nga katilingban, ang Parokya sang Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria; apang ang mga masunod nga mga pamalangkutanon magapadayon sa pagpangita sang mga sabat nga dapat naton tanan-tanan panumdoman:
Ano ang akon bahin sa pagtukod sang isa ka gamay nga katilingban indi lamang sa akon panimalay kundi lakip na sa akon barangay?
Paano ako makabulig sa pagpalapnag sang Kristianong pagtuluohan?
Hamtong na bala ako sa akon pagtuo kag handa na bala sa pagpaambit sang paghigugma nga wala nagapaabot sang balos?
Kon ang tagsa-tagsa sa aton may kabalaka sa isa kag isa kag maghimo sang dapat niya himuon (sugod sa kaugalingon), indi malayo nga malambot/matigayon ang bug-os nga paghiliusa.
SA PAGHILIUSA ARA ANG KABASKOG…
“Kari kamo ang tanan nahanda na
Sa punsyon sang paghigugma
Maghi-ugyon nga may kasadya
Sa pagkabuhi sang bug-os nga paghiliusa”
Ini una nga mga dinalan sang amba sang ikatlo nga Sinodo Diosesano sang Jaro. Sa ambahanon, mabasa naton nga “ang tanan nahanda na sa punsyon sang paghigugma…” apang pamangkuton naton ang aton kaugalingon: Ako bala bahin sinang punsyon sang paghigugma? Ako bala handa sa pagbugras sang akon makinaiya-iyahon nga pamatasan kag makig-ugyon sa mga katapo sang akon panimalay, sa akon mga kasilingan tungod kay sila, pareho ko, nahamtang o nagapuyo sa isa lamang ka komunidad? Ako bala handa sa pagtan-ay sang akon mga kamot sa akon mga kaupod sa akon ginaobrahan? Ako bala handa makig-uli o makipag-abyan sa akon mga kaaway?
Ang paghiusa nagasugod sa aton mismo kaugalingon. Ang matuod nga pagpakig-angot mahimo lamang kon kita wala sing pagpakuno-kuno… kon ano ang aton ginapanumdom amo ang aton ginahambal; kon ano ang aton ginapabutyag amo ang aton ginabuhat; kon ano ang aton ginapanumdom kag ginapabutyag aton ginakabuhi… bangod kay katapo kita sang isa ka Kristohanon nga panimalay nga katapo man sang isa ka katilingban nga may isa ka direksyon, may isa ka misyon, may isa ka panan-awan padulong sa bug-os nga paghiliusa.
Sa paghiliusa ara ang kabaskog. Madamo ang mahimo/mabuhat kon may paghiliusa. Kami makapanaksi sini sa amon mga gin-agihan sang ginpatigayon ang pagpangkadto namon sa mga barangay nga ginhugpong sa siyam ka mga zona nga nasakupan sang mga masunod nga mga barangay:
Zona I San Vicente, Lourdes Jalandoni, Lourdes DB
Zona II Benedicto, Luna
Zona III Democracia, Simon Ledesma
Zona IV Tabuc Suba Proper, Tabuc Suba Ilaya
Zona V Ma. Cristina, San Roque
Zona VI Libertad, Fajardo, Arguelles
Zona VII Taytay Zone II, Cuartero, Calubihan
Zona VIII Taft North, Bakhaw
Zona IX Desamparados, CC El 98, Seminario
Sa wala pa matalana ang adlaw sang pagsugod sang pagpanglakaton sa mga zona upod sang imahen sang Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, may mga pagsinapol nga ginhiwat sa diin ginplanohan sang Committee on Worship upod kay Fr. Andy kag Fr. Philip ang mga buluhaton kag mga tawo nga magapatigayon sini.
Duna sa pamatasan sang mga tawo ang pagtililipon bangod kay ang tawo “social being”; apang ang paghugpong sang mga ini sa isa ka balaan nga tinutuyo isa ka mabudlay nga hilikuton. Ang madamo nga mga tawo sa zona nga nag-abi-abi sang pag-abot sang imahen sang aton Mahal nga Patrona amat-amat nga nagkaladula o nangindulaan sang ang tagpatigayon sa pagpaambit nahanungod sang mga hilikuton sang isa ka gamay nga katilingban nagsugod sa paghambal. Kami nga grupo halin sa katedral nakapamangkot: Diin ang ila “commitment”? Tubtob diin lang kag ano lang ang ila masarangan nga ihatag sa katilingban para mabalay ang isa ka paghiliusa?
Natigayon ang siyam ka adlaw nga pagsugat-pagdul-ong sang imahen sang Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, pagpakig-ambit bahin sa urna kag “Ang Gamay nga Kristianong Katilingban: Alagyan Padulong sa Bug-os nga Paghiliusa,” pagpartisipar sa Santos nga Misa, salamat sa paghugpong sang mga masunod, may ulan man ukon wala:
Fr. Andy Esperancilla Fr. Philip Sinco
Fr. Macky Sortido Bp. Gerry Alminaza,D.D.
Fr. Caloy Noquez Fr. Richard Daulo
Lourdes Prudente Remy Mationg
Evelyn Jimena Monico Alitao
Princess Descalsota Louie Vi Vergara
Ludy Alconga Virginita Vergara
Annabelle Guevara Jervin Vinzon
Jerly Docdocil Richard Camilotes
Neneng Siscar Darlee Estribo
Evelyn Nervato Vicente Gonzales
John Cloyd Pahila Kirby Guevara
Harvey Guevara Kate Sevilla
Dolores Pahila Felma Bering
Jennifer Addun Ione Espartero
Christopher Villa Paulo Pasquin
Lourdes Villa Roseller Villa
Ang amon mga inagihan- masadya, masubo, kaulugot/kailinit- nagpatubo pa gid sa amon bilang katapo sang isa ka daku nga katilingban, ang Parokya sang Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria; apang ang mga masunod nga mga pamalangkutanon magapadayon sa pagpangita sang mga sabat nga dapat naton tanan-tanan panumdoman:
Ano ang akon bahin sa pagtukod sang isa ka gamay nga katilingban indi lamang sa akon panimalay kundi lakip na sa akon barangay?
Paano ako makabulig sa pagpalapnag sang Kristianong pagtuluohan?
Hamtong na bala ako sa akon pagtuo kag handa na bala sa pagpaambit sang paghigugma nga wala nagapaabot sang balos?
Kon ang tagsa-tagsa sa aton may kabalaka sa isa kag isa kag maghimo sang dapat niya himuon (sugod sa kaugalingon), indi malayo nga malambot/matigayon ang bug-os nga paghiliusa.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Healing and Personal Transformation
Healing and Personal Transformation
by Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco
Philippine General Hospital. No other place on earth I have ever experienced such struggle of the human spirit as I brave the hallways of this apparently dismal institution where life and death, sanity and madness, courage and fear collide. At times, I find myself in an emotional whirlwind, trying to figure out my feelings as I make a choice of whether to play numb or give in to the situation. If there’s one word that best describes my sentiments everytime I enter the doorways of each service ward I am assigned to visit for patient care and counselling, it would have to be helplessness. In my encounters with sick people, I am often placed in a confusing stance as I ask myself the following questions:
Imagine that you are standing right next to a person in her deathbed as she grimaces in pain due to an illness which cannot be treated and you catch yourself dumbfounded because you don’t know how to handle the situation…what would you do?
Imagine that you are trying your best to alleviate the seemingly hopeless situation (perhaps, in your own little way) yet the chances are at odds and you’re struggling to hold back your tears because you can’t do anything about it…what would you do?
Imagine that you’re listening to a person’s woes and she’s wailing in front of you, not for the pain her sickness had caused her but for the fact that she was all alone, and her loved ones abandoned her…what would you do?
Imagine that you’re beside a person whose accident has traumatized her that much that she’s unwilling to forgive the one who made her life miserable despite the fact that you’ve been wasting your time telling all the blahs about love and forgiveness…what would you do?
These are the usual scenarios I encounter every time I visit the sick patients lying on their bedposts. I thought I’d be able to handle the various dilemmas given the fact that I’m equipped with theological and pastoral skills I’ve learned from school. I was wrong. In real life situations, when you have the chance of getting a grip out of people’s lives, you will find yourself being humbled and you will realize that indeed, there is so much to learn. And from the many faces I came across the hospital ward, they would always tell me that they are hoping for the day they will receive healing, not just for their physical ailments but for their emotional and spiritual hurts as well. They are after the possibility of a personal transformation, a metamorphosis and a change of heart that will truly make them better persons for their loved ones as they await for the actual cure. Indeed, it is a lasting proof that what should receive healing first and foremost is the inner human core in order to battle life’s endless sorrows and dissensions. Ironically, healing takes place as the person suffers from sickness because his physical state will bring him to a consciousness that he is not invincible and there is a God whom he can depend on when everything else fails.
I’d like to end this with a thought. In his poem, “Fever”, John Updike, in all jocularity tells something about inner healing that accompanies one’s sickness:
I have brought back a good
message from the land of 102 degrees:
God exists.
I had seriously doubted it before;
but the bedposts spoke of it with utmost confidence,
the threads in my p blanket took it for granted,
the tree outside the window dismissed all complaints,
and I have not slept so justly for years.
It is hard, now, to convey
how emblematically appearances sat
upon the membranes of my consciousness;
but it is truth long known,
that some secrets are hidden from health.
Oddly enough, sickness can at times bring out the best in people...if only one wishes to be healed by the loving hands of God.
by Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco
Philippine General Hospital. No other place on earth I have ever experienced such struggle of the human spirit as I brave the hallways of this apparently dismal institution where life and death, sanity and madness, courage and fear collide. At times, I find myself in an emotional whirlwind, trying to figure out my feelings as I make a choice of whether to play numb or give in to the situation. If there’s one word that best describes my sentiments everytime I enter the doorways of each service ward I am assigned to visit for patient care and counselling, it would have to be helplessness. In my encounters with sick people, I am often placed in a confusing stance as I ask myself the following questions:
Imagine that you are standing right next to a person in her deathbed as she grimaces in pain due to an illness which cannot be treated and you catch yourself dumbfounded because you don’t know how to handle the situation…what would you do?
Imagine that you are trying your best to alleviate the seemingly hopeless situation (perhaps, in your own little way) yet the chances are at odds and you’re struggling to hold back your tears because you can’t do anything about it…what would you do?
Imagine that you’re listening to a person’s woes and she’s wailing in front of you, not for the pain her sickness had caused her but for the fact that she was all alone, and her loved ones abandoned her…what would you do?
Imagine that you’re beside a person whose accident has traumatized her that much that she’s unwilling to forgive the one who made her life miserable despite the fact that you’ve been wasting your time telling all the blahs about love and forgiveness…what would you do?
These are the usual scenarios I encounter every time I visit the sick patients lying on their bedposts. I thought I’d be able to handle the various dilemmas given the fact that I’m equipped with theological and pastoral skills I’ve learned from school. I was wrong. In real life situations, when you have the chance of getting a grip out of people’s lives, you will find yourself being humbled and you will realize that indeed, there is so much to learn. And from the many faces I came across the hospital ward, they would always tell me that they are hoping for the day they will receive healing, not just for their physical ailments but for their emotional and spiritual hurts as well. They are after the possibility of a personal transformation, a metamorphosis and a change of heart that will truly make them better persons for their loved ones as they await for the actual cure. Indeed, it is a lasting proof that what should receive healing first and foremost is the inner human core in order to battle life’s endless sorrows and dissensions. Ironically, healing takes place as the person suffers from sickness because his physical state will bring him to a consciousness that he is not invincible and there is a God whom he can depend on when everything else fails.
I’d like to end this with a thought. In his poem, “Fever”, John Updike, in all jocularity tells something about inner healing that accompanies one’s sickness:
I have brought back a good
message from the land of 102 degrees:
God exists.
I had seriously doubted it before;
but the bedposts spoke of it with utmost confidence,
the threads in my p blanket took it for granted,
the tree outside the window dismissed all complaints,
and I have not slept so justly for years.
It is hard, now, to convey
how emblematically appearances sat
upon the membranes of my consciousness;
but it is truth long known,
that some secrets are hidden from health.
Oddly enough, sickness can at times bring out the best in people...if only one wishes to be healed by the loving hands of God.
God’s eyes are ALWAYS on us…
God’s eyes are ALWAYS on us…
by Bp. Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D.
Once in one of the weekly panimbahon or faith-sharing of a group of lay faithful who are active members of a neighbourhood community or what we now commonly call the basic ecclesial community (BEC), their attention was drawn to chapter three, verse three of the book of Malachi, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” There was a very animated exchange on what could this possibly mean and how could this be applied in their daily life. They wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next panimbahon. That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.
She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”
He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy - It’s fully refined when I can see my image in it.”
As we make our final preparations for cur annual discipline of Lent, it is good to contemplate God like the silversmith, who sits “as a refiner and purifier of silver.” Let us allow ourselves to be affected by this beautiful image of God in the story. Let the forty days of Lent enable us to participate in God’s unique way of “refining” us until He can see His image clearly reflected in us. We can calmly go about our daily task of building God’s reign among us, facing and accepting whatever it costs us to be faithful to it knowing that God never takes His eyes off us when we are in the fire!
by Bp. Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D.
Once in one of the weekly panimbahon or faith-sharing of a group of lay faithful who are active members of a neighbourhood community or what we now commonly call the basic ecclesial community (BEC), their attention was drawn to chapter three, verse three of the book of Malachi, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” There was a very animated exchange on what could this possibly mean and how could this be applied in their daily life. They wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next panimbahon. That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.
She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”
He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy - It’s fully refined when I can see my image in it.”
As we make our final preparations for cur annual discipline of Lent, it is good to contemplate God like the silversmith, who sits “as a refiner and purifier of silver.” Let us allow ourselves to be affected by this beautiful image of God in the story. Let the forty days of Lent enable us to participate in God’s unique way of “refining” us until He can see His image clearly reflected in us. We can calmly go about our daily task of building God’s reign among us, facing and accepting whatever it costs us to be faithful to it knowing that God never takes His eyes off us when we are in the fire!
Rev. Fr. Sinco Graces CFL Chapter Assembly
Rev. Fr. Sinco Graces CFL Chapter Assembly
by Braulia P. Cababasay
Let us hold on together witn one major aim – to revitalize and strengthen the weakening Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) that the parish has organized years ago,” the challenge hurled by Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco, Jaro Parochial Vicar and Spiritual Director of the Christian Family Life Ministry members during its assembly.
This gathering was held at the De Colores Hall, Jaro Cathedral Compound last February 15, 2009 at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon. The members responded positively by stating their activities they were conducting in their barangays under the leadership of their respective unit and household leaders.
As a matter of fact during the assembly there was an awarding of a pedicab unit (trisikad) to a member, Bro. Dandy Cayanong a father of three young children of Brgy. Ma. Cristina.
This project is in line with one of the thrusts of the ministry that is to provide members means by earning their livelihood. The recipient will pay the pedicab unit through its daily earnings until the term set is completed.
The investment can be rolled over by purchasing additional units to be distributed to other needy and members, as stated by Bro. Sandy Jamero, the Chapter Head of the CFL, Jaro Parish.
by Braulia P. Cababasay
Let us hold on together witn one major aim – to revitalize and strengthen the weakening Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) that the parish has organized years ago,” the challenge hurled by Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco, Jaro Parochial Vicar and Spiritual Director of the Christian Family Life Ministry members during its assembly.
This gathering was held at the De Colores Hall, Jaro Cathedral Compound last February 15, 2009 at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon. The members responded positively by stating their activities they were conducting in their barangays under the leadership of their respective unit and household leaders.
As a matter of fact during the assembly there was an awarding of a pedicab unit (trisikad) to a member, Bro. Dandy Cayanong a father of three young children of Brgy. Ma. Cristina.
This project is in line with one of the thrusts of the ministry that is to provide members means by earning their livelihood. The recipient will pay the pedicab unit through its daily earnings until the term set is completed.
The investment can be rolled over by purchasing additional units to be distributed to other needy and members, as stated by Bro. Sandy Jamero, the Chapter Head of the CFL, Jaro Parish.
Panginbulahan! Welcome sa Kristyanong Katilingban!
Panginbulahan! Welcome sa Kristyanong Katilingban!
Sanday Lina D. Belandres, 49 years old Lorenel S. Estorninos, 18 years old kag Jochebeb Kyle D. Failaban, 20 years old ginbunyagan sang Pebrero 18, 2009 5:30 sa hapon, sa sulod sang Santos nga Misa nga ginsaulog ni Rev. Fr. Carlo Noquez. Ginsunod ang sakramento sang pagkompirma kag kalawat. Ini ang ginatawag nga Full Initiation, nga amo ang pundasyon sang tagsa ka kristyano sa pagkabuhi espirituhanon. Pagkatapos sang seremonya malipayon nga ginpakilala sang aton pinalanga nga pari ang mga binunyagan.
Sa ila pagpabunyag nangin bag-o sila nga tinuga nga ginpabakud sang sacramento sa pagkompirma. Nagbaton sila sang tinapay sang kabuhi sa Santos nga Eukaristia.
Ining tatlo ka binunyagan hilway nga nagpresentar sang ila kaugalingon para magpabautiso sa simbahan Katoliko. Gintalana ang ila interview kay Rev. Fr. Andy Esperancilla. Pagkatapos sina nagpaidalum sila sa katesismo sa sulod sang isa ka bulan sa idalum sang pagtudlo ni Mr. Antonio Pasquin.
Ining pagpabunyag nila isa ka prebelehiyo nga ginbugaysa ila sang mahal nga Dios. Tungod sining mga sakramento nga ila nabaton nagpatubo sa ila sang grasya sang pagtuo sa pagtuman sang binubuot sang Dios.
Sanday Lina D. Belandres, 49 years old Lorenel S. Estorninos, 18 years old kag Jochebeb Kyle D. Failaban, 20 years old ginbunyagan sang Pebrero 18, 2009 5:30 sa hapon, sa sulod sang Santos nga Misa nga ginsaulog ni Rev. Fr. Carlo Noquez. Ginsunod ang sakramento sang pagkompirma kag kalawat. Ini ang ginatawag nga Full Initiation, nga amo ang pundasyon sang tagsa ka kristyano sa pagkabuhi espirituhanon. Pagkatapos sang seremonya malipayon nga ginpakilala sang aton pinalanga nga pari ang mga binunyagan.
Sa ila pagpabunyag nangin bag-o sila nga tinuga nga ginpabakud sang sacramento sa pagkompirma. Nagbaton sila sang tinapay sang kabuhi sa Santos nga Eukaristia.
Ining tatlo ka binunyagan hilway nga nagpresentar sang ila kaugalingon para magpabautiso sa simbahan Katoliko. Gintalana ang ila interview kay Rev. Fr. Andy Esperancilla. Pagkatapos sina nagpaidalum sila sa katesismo sa sulod sang isa ka bulan sa idalum sang pagtudlo ni Mr. Antonio Pasquin.
Ining pagpabunyag nila isa ka prebelehiyo nga ginbugaysa ila sang mahal nga Dios. Tungod sining mga sakramento nga ila nabaton nagpatubo sa ila sang grasya sang pagtuo sa pagtuman sang binubuot sang Dios.
Our Lady of Candles Charismatic Prayer Community Celebrate 27th Anniversary
Our Lady of Candles Charismatic Prayer Community Celebrate 27th Anniversary
by Victoria L. Capalla
The Foundation Day of OLCPC was February 11, 1982 of which the first Spiritual Director was Rev. Fr. Evaristo Ablona and to commemorate the 27th Anniversary this year February 14 and February 15 activities were observed. This was made possible through the effort and initiative of Bro. Cef Borromeo, the Youth Chairman, planner and organizer of these activities.
One way of surviving tensions against economic crisis was enjoying the fun at the beach to spend the Day of Hearts. Thanks so much to Rev. Fr. Carlo M. Noquez because the bonding as one charismatic family was strengthened at his beach resort at Brgy. Alegre, Oton, Iloilo last February 14th. There was a registration, followed by the joyful songs led by the Youth Music Ministry. Sis. Mindanita Albaran, OLCPC Chairman gave her welcome address. Both the old and young charismatics enjoyed the games and awarding of prizes. After the joyful songs in the afternoon, Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco gave his Inspirational Message as the Spiritual Director. It was also a great privilege to have Rev. Fr. Macario N. Sortido who greeted the group “Happy Valentine’s Day” when he graced the occasion.
The following day February 15 was a very special day. The Holy Mass was held at 12:00 noon officiated by Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco. He also officiated the Rite of Commissioning of OLCPC Charismatic officers and members and as they said the pledges before the symbols of candles, Holy Bible, and Cross.
“May these symbols inspire us to be instruments of God and glorify His name through our works of Love.”
Happy 27th Anniversary to OLCPC!
by Victoria L. Capalla
The Foundation Day of OLCPC was February 11, 1982 of which the first Spiritual Director was Rev. Fr. Evaristo Ablona and to commemorate the 27th Anniversary this year February 14 and February 15 activities were observed. This was made possible through the effort and initiative of Bro. Cef Borromeo, the Youth Chairman, planner and organizer of these activities.
One way of surviving tensions against economic crisis was enjoying the fun at the beach to spend the Day of Hearts. Thanks so much to Rev. Fr. Carlo M. Noquez because the bonding as one charismatic family was strengthened at his beach resort at Brgy. Alegre, Oton, Iloilo last February 14th. There was a registration, followed by the joyful songs led by the Youth Music Ministry. Sis. Mindanita Albaran, OLCPC Chairman gave her welcome address. Both the old and young charismatics enjoyed the games and awarding of prizes. After the joyful songs in the afternoon, Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco gave his Inspirational Message as the Spiritual Director. It was also a great privilege to have Rev. Fr. Macario N. Sortido who greeted the group “Happy Valentine’s Day” when he graced the occasion.
The following day February 15 was a very special day. The Holy Mass was held at 12:00 noon officiated by Rev. Fr. Philip Vincent S. Sinco. He also officiated the Rite of Commissioning of OLCPC Charismatic officers and members and as they said the pledges before the symbols of candles, Holy Bible, and Cross.
“May these symbols inspire us to be instruments of God and glorify His name through our works of Love.”
Happy 27th Anniversary to OLCPC!
Isolated Good Acts - The Power of Christianity
Isolated Good Acts
The Power of Christianity
by Joseph Sylvester Pampliega
Last February 15, 2009, Fr. John Flynn, LC reported on recent cases of religious discrimination in his article “Believers and Pro-Lifers targeted by Political Correctness.” Here, he said that “censorship is back; not against pornography or unpopular opinions, but against Christianity and pro-life opinions.” He narrated a number of recent cases that highlight the trend to silence unpopular convictions: Caroline Petrie, a Baptist nurse, was suspended from her job at the North Somerset Primary Care Trust for offering to pray for a patient; a four-volume Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization was burned by Wiley-Blackwell, a British publisher, for being “too Christian” after a group of scholars protested about the “excessive” Christian content and even objecting to the chronological terms such as BC and AD; Rev. G. P. Taylor, an Anglican priest and author of “Shadowmancer” which top the book sales for 15 weeks in 2003, was no longer welcome to appear on the BBC for promoting Christianity in his books; a Pro-Life club of the University of Calgary was revoked for censorship, stripping the club of facilities and funding; and greatly, in the United States, government funding of charitable activities run by the Catholic Church is under threat.
from:http://www.zenit.org/article-25097?I=english
Reflecting on this news from Rome, I am positive how Christianity is doing in such a very secular world. I would even venture to say that “the profane,” in contradiction to the triumph of “the sacred,” is anxious and desperate to take power, but to no avail since the very beginning of time. Come to think of it, the cases narrated by Fr. Flynn, LC are isolated cases but are reflective of the fortitude of Christianity until now, more so, even in times of darkness.
Our faith has reached even to new (even newer) frontiers, not only in material space and time (i.e. from one country to another, from one century to the next), but even in the recesses of consciousness, in philosophies and value- and belief-systems that offer alternatives that are pro-life, pro-environment, pro-peace, etc., (in the end, in all its faces and names, Pro-God!) By this spread of our faith system into the consciousness of human beings (who may not even profess the same faith), the “profane” world doubles its vigilance to such an extent that they become paranoid, scrutinizing to the detail the isolated good acts of good Christians who become silent warriors of the faith in our generation; and the minions of the “profane” world is simply anxious of their fleeting powers, which after a long endless futile struggle, will soon be extinguished.
Pope Benedict XVI said that “a society that is secular in a healthy way does not ignore the spiritual dimension and its values.” Furthermore, he added, “Religion is not an obstacle but rather a solid foundation for the building of a more just and free society.” This being, according to Fr. Flynn, LC, “a statement that raises the question about what sort of society we will have if Christianity is censored and excluded.”
Maybe we don’t need to write another book of our salvation history; may be, all we need is a compilation of vignettes (of small stories or pictures) of these isolated good acts of good persons all over the world, carrying the face and suffering the cross of Christ, and triumphant like Christ in every trail and tribulation surpassed. This gives us something to think about. We don’t need to do great things to effect evangelization; we don’t even need to be conscious of our little efforts of goodness. As persons, by our nature, we share with God’s goodness; and it is by this unconscious/natural participation that these cases narrated by Fr. Flynn is possible; and to make it a manifestation of the triumph of our faith, is put to the test, and is overcome (gloriously!) — This is our power; this is the power of Christianity!
I believe this is not a report of distress or defeat in our part as Christians, but as a testimony that we are still heading towards that “heaven here on earth;” and more so, we are willing to face the challenges and beat them one by one, even if it takes the constancy of our lifetime.
The Power of Christianity
by Joseph Sylvester Pampliega
Last February 15, 2009, Fr. John Flynn, LC reported on recent cases of religious discrimination in his article “Believers and Pro-Lifers targeted by Political Correctness.” Here, he said that “censorship is back; not against pornography or unpopular opinions, but against Christianity and pro-life opinions.” He narrated a number of recent cases that highlight the trend to silence unpopular convictions: Caroline Petrie, a Baptist nurse, was suspended from her job at the North Somerset Primary Care Trust for offering to pray for a patient; a four-volume Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization was burned by Wiley-Blackwell, a British publisher, for being “too Christian” after a group of scholars protested about the “excessive” Christian content and even objecting to the chronological terms such as BC and AD; Rev. G. P. Taylor, an Anglican priest and author of “Shadowmancer” which top the book sales for 15 weeks in 2003, was no longer welcome to appear on the BBC for promoting Christianity in his books; a Pro-Life club of the University of Calgary was revoked for censorship, stripping the club of facilities and funding; and greatly, in the United States, government funding of charitable activities run by the Catholic Church is under threat.
from:http://www.zenit.org/article-25097?I=english
Reflecting on this news from Rome, I am positive how Christianity is doing in such a very secular world. I would even venture to say that “the profane,” in contradiction to the triumph of “the sacred,” is anxious and desperate to take power, but to no avail since the very beginning of time. Come to think of it, the cases narrated by Fr. Flynn, LC are isolated cases but are reflective of the fortitude of Christianity until now, more so, even in times of darkness.
Our faith has reached even to new (even newer) frontiers, not only in material space and time (i.e. from one country to another, from one century to the next), but even in the recesses of consciousness, in philosophies and value- and belief-systems that offer alternatives that are pro-life, pro-environment, pro-peace, etc., (in the end, in all its faces and names, Pro-God!) By this spread of our faith system into the consciousness of human beings (who may not even profess the same faith), the “profane” world doubles its vigilance to such an extent that they become paranoid, scrutinizing to the detail the isolated good acts of good Christians who become silent warriors of the faith in our generation; and the minions of the “profane” world is simply anxious of their fleeting powers, which after a long endless futile struggle, will soon be extinguished.
Pope Benedict XVI said that “a society that is secular in a healthy way does not ignore the spiritual dimension and its values.” Furthermore, he added, “Religion is not an obstacle but rather a solid foundation for the building of a more just and free society.” This being, according to Fr. Flynn, LC, “a statement that raises the question about what sort of society we will have if Christianity is censored and excluded.”
Maybe we don’t need to write another book of our salvation history; may be, all we need is a compilation of vignettes (of small stories or pictures) of these isolated good acts of good persons all over the world, carrying the face and suffering the cross of Christ, and triumphant like Christ in every trail and tribulation surpassed. This gives us something to think about. We don’t need to do great things to effect evangelization; we don’t even need to be conscious of our little efforts of goodness. As persons, by our nature, we share with God’s goodness; and it is by this unconscious/natural participation that these cases narrated by Fr. Flynn is possible; and to make it a manifestation of the triumph of our faith, is put to the test, and is overcome (gloriously!) — This is our power; this is the power of Christianity!
I believe this is not a report of distress or defeat in our part as Christians, but as a testimony that we are still heading towards that “heaven here on earth;” and more so, we are willing to face the challenges and beat them one by one, even if it takes the constancy of our lifetime.
“A Part” of but never “Apart” from the World
“A Part” of but never “Apart” from the World
A Way of Looking at the Spirituality of Stewardship
by Joseph Sylvester Pampliega
In a seminar-workshop on the Spirituality of Stewardship (Buhay-Katiwala) last February 13, 2009 held at the Our Lady of the Reparatrix Center, Tagaytay City, attended by over 100 participants from 18 dioceses and 4 Episcopal Commissions, the head of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), our beloved Archbishop, Angel Lagdameo, challenged the secretaries of the Episcopal Commissions to develop a “comprehensive theology of stewardship” as decreed by PCP II.
As stated in Article 31, Section 1 of the PCP II decrees, “The Church, through the initiatives of CBCP, should develop a comprehensive theology of stewardship and, in the light of this theology, should make ecology a special concern of the social action apostolate down to the parochial level, with the end in view of making everyone a true steward of God’s creation.” Following through with this decree, he said, “Each one of us, each one of you, may consider himself/herself as steward,” furthering stressing that as stewards, “one is not the absolute owner or master of himself and possessions, nor the world of nature and of grace…that everything has been received as gift and talent from God.”
The decree of PCP II on Stewardship focuses on ecology, to which Archbishop Lagdameo qualifies as both a “gift” and a “talent” from God. It is from this perspective that we see ourselves – human beings – not merely an “overseer,” who is “apart” from the world but that, we are “a part” of the world. As Larry L. Rasmussen puts it in his book “Earth Community, Earth Ethics,” (2005, 9) “[Ecology] Nature is not what is around us or where we live in, but the reason we are alive at all; nature is the reason each and every society and culture that ever existed did so.” Rasmussen further elaborates that “society and nature [ecology] together – that is, earth – is a community, without an exit.”
Reflecting upon these words, from the challenge of Archbishop Lagdameo and the insights of Rasmussen, I would imagine myself standing at the center of fertile green fields, carpeted by flowers of different kinds and colors, surrounded by a parade of mountains with towering trees covering them, seeing flocks of birds flying back and forth the blue skies, herds or packs of animals playing around, as the wind slowly brushing off my skin, cooling it — this is a view that I am in a “home” (oikos+logos=ecology) and much of it demands from me, being their right, too, to take care of these “gifts” or “talents” (“treasures” that God wanted multiplied like that of the “Parable of the Talents”). This is the meaning of what God commanded us to do, “to subdue the earth,” to be responsible of our “home” for our sake because we are “a part” of it. Their life means our life, too. And come to think of it, it is irreversible; we could not say, “my life” or “our life” means the life of Mother Earth. To morbidly put it, our deaths – collectively - would not mean the death of Mother Earth, but the death of Mother Earth means our death — and this is what Rasmussen has qualified as “a community without an exit;” we will surely go where Mother Earth, our “home,” goes.
To inspire and challenge us all further, he continues, “The Spirituality of Stewardship would then be an overarching value that will provide other related values such as cooperation, co-responsibility, partnership, collaboration, interdependence, solidarity, servanthood and subsidiarity…Through you, individually and collectively, the Philippine Church will be in a state of stewardship…This you will do together with the priests, religious and other lay people and of course, with the bishops, who are the primary stewards in their respective local churches.”
It is from this that, Archbishop Lagdameo said, “we must use them [Earth, Ecology, “home,” Mother Earth, “Kalibutan,” etc.] as grateful, accountable and responsible persons, in accordance with the intention or plan of the Divine Owner, to promote the common good and to establish the reign of God in the hearts of men.”
A Way of Looking at the Spirituality of Stewardship
by Joseph Sylvester Pampliega
In a seminar-workshop on the Spirituality of Stewardship (Buhay-Katiwala) last February 13, 2009 held at the Our Lady of the Reparatrix Center, Tagaytay City, attended by over 100 participants from 18 dioceses and 4 Episcopal Commissions, the head of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), our beloved Archbishop, Angel Lagdameo, challenged the secretaries of the Episcopal Commissions to develop a “comprehensive theology of stewardship” as decreed by PCP II.
As stated in Article 31, Section 1 of the PCP II decrees, “The Church, through the initiatives of CBCP, should develop a comprehensive theology of stewardship and, in the light of this theology, should make ecology a special concern of the social action apostolate down to the parochial level, with the end in view of making everyone a true steward of God’s creation.” Following through with this decree, he said, “Each one of us, each one of you, may consider himself/herself as steward,” furthering stressing that as stewards, “one is not the absolute owner or master of himself and possessions, nor the world of nature and of grace…that everything has been received as gift and talent from God.”
The decree of PCP II on Stewardship focuses on ecology, to which Archbishop Lagdameo qualifies as both a “gift” and a “talent” from God. It is from this perspective that we see ourselves – human beings – not merely an “overseer,” who is “apart” from the world but that, we are “a part” of the world. As Larry L. Rasmussen puts it in his book “Earth Community, Earth Ethics,” (2005, 9) “[Ecology] Nature is not what is around us or where we live in, but the reason we are alive at all; nature is the reason each and every society and culture that ever existed did so.” Rasmussen further elaborates that “society and nature [ecology] together – that is, earth – is a community, without an exit.”
Reflecting upon these words, from the challenge of Archbishop Lagdameo and the insights of Rasmussen, I would imagine myself standing at the center of fertile green fields, carpeted by flowers of different kinds and colors, surrounded by a parade of mountains with towering trees covering them, seeing flocks of birds flying back and forth the blue skies, herds or packs of animals playing around, as the wind slowly brushing off my skin, cooling it — this is a view that I am in a “home” (oikos+logos=ecology) and much of it demands from me, being their right, too, to take care of these “gifts” or “talents” (“treasures” that God wanted multiplied like that of the “Parable of the Talents”). This is the meaning of what God commanded us to do, “to subdue the earth,” to be responsible of our “home” for our sake because we are “a part” of it. Their life means our life, too. And come to think of it, it is irreversible; we could not say, “my life” or “our life” means the life of Mother Earth. To morbidly put it, our deaths – collectively - would not mean the death of Mother Earth, but the death of Mother Earth means our death — and this is what Rasmussen has qualified as “a community without an exit;” we will surely go where Mother Earth, our “home,” goes.
To inspire and challenge us all further, he continues, “The Spirituality of Stewardship would then be an overarching value that will provide other related values such as cooperation, co-responsibility, partnership, collaboration, interdependence, solidarity, servanthood and subsidiarity…Through you, individually and collectively, the Philippine Church will be in a state of stewardship…This you will do together with the priests, religious and other lay people and of course, with the bishops, who are the primary stewards in their respective local churches.”
It is from this that, Archbishop Lagdameo said, “we must use them [Earth, Ecology, “home,” Mother Earth, “Kalibutan,” etc.] as grateful, accountable and responsible persons, in accordance with the intention or plan of the Divine Owner, to promote the common good and to establish the reign of God in the hearts of men.”
Vision of Love
Vision of Love
by Albert H. Yanga
Very lucid imaginative foresight
Your image formed so bright,
Even if you are out of my sight
You took my heart and my mind.
I was so perplexed of things I’m not sure
Imagination which is difficult to capture,
Vision that I’ve seen in the near future
Our love flourish and filled of treasure.
Since then you’ve been kind to me
Kept my anxiety away,
You brighten my day and I feel okay
When you’re beside me, nothing to worry.
If I try to imagine and think of it
It’s really you who’s hard to forget,
Early in the morning I send you my text
Saying I love you, take care and God Bless.
Now you and I will be able to see
The vision of our love if what it can be,
The Grace of our Lord, God Almighty
Will join us together and lead us our way.
by Albert H. Yanga
Very lucid imaginative foresight
Your image formed so bright,
Even if you are out of my sight
You took my heart and my mind.
I was so perplexed of things I’m not sure
Imagination which is difficult to capture,
Vision that I’ve seen in the near future
Our love flourish and filled of treasure.
Since then you’ve been kind to me
Kept my anxiety away,
You brighten my day and I feel okay
When you’re beside me, nothing to worry.
If I try to imagine and think of it
It’s really you who’s hard to forget,
Early in the morning I send you my text
Saying I love you, take care and God Bless.
Now you and I will be able to see
The vision of our love if what it can be,
The Grace of our Lord, God Almighty
Will join us together and lead us our way.
Do What the Children Do
Do What the Children Do
by Francine Caram
Prayer is something we can really depend on. It is something simple coming from the heart, ye it holds such great power.
When the Lord was in danger, He went to this place called Gethsemane with His disciples. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him. All He asked of them was to just stay awake with Him as He prayed. He threw Himself down and said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass by me. Yet not my will, but Yours be done.”
In hard times, especially when we don’t know which way to go, we turn to God for guidance and protection. A simple prayer can draw the people close to Him.
He is the hope for the hopeless, the food for those who hunger, the answers for our problems. We cannot do things totally alone. We are all in need of help.
A simple prayer is what we need most nowadays, especially since the quality of education is quickly degrading. Since all we have to do is what children do even before they could read, pray.
by Francine Caram
Prayer is something we can really depend on. It is something simple coming from the heart, ye it holds such great power.
When the Lord was in danger, He went to this place called Gethsemane with His disciples. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him. All He asked of them was to just stay awake with Him as He prayed. He threw Himself down and said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass by me. Yet not my will, but Yours be done.”
In hard times, especially when we don’t know which way to go, we turn to God for guidance and protection. A simple prayer can draw the people close to Him.
He is the hope for the hopeless, the food for those who hunger, the answers for our problems. We cannot do things totally alone. We are all in need of help.
A simple prayer is what we need most nowadays, especially since the quality of education is quickly degrading. Since all we have to do is what children do even before they could read, pray.
. . . that all may be one
. . . that all may be one
( A valentine’s date with the Lord)
February 14 is always a date to remember. Wherever we are, whatever we do, it’s a day that everybody is waiting to spread and experience the love it brings. It’s Valentine’s day. What we do usually do during this day? Dating? Meeting with a special someone? Buying dozens of roses and boxes of chocolates? Or trying out something different and unique like attending a TAIZE Prayer?
TAIZE prayer is a yearly celebration that the young, young professionals or even young at hearts anticipates. It’s a different way of experiencing Valentine’s through God’s overflowing love and care. Although it rained this Valentine’s day, we had still seen many participants who joined and opted to celebrate their hearts day with us. This Year the Youth Ministry celebrated TAIZE with a mass presided by our beloved parish priest, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza. After the mass the TAIZE proper started with a beautiful liturgy and songs that made the celebration more meaningful. The lighting of candles was also a highlight for it gave the cathedral a reflective ambiance. The candles that was lighted symbolizes that there is still hope amidst darkness. That God is always there ready to comfort and embrace our weary and restless heart. I had also reflected that during this time or this kind of celebration all are united, that we are one in celebrating GOD’S unconditional love. We may differ in may ways be in the eyes of God we are still one.
Special thanks to all who made this activity a success. To all members of the Youth Ministry, your gift of persons is truly appreciated. We say thank you also to all the schools, parishes, youth organizations and other organizations who had spent their heart’s day with us. Truly it’s a gathering worth remembering, experiencing something different and most of all being ONE with God. Hope you had a great Valentine’s With Us. GOD loves you! See you in the next TAIZE prayer!
( A valentine’s date with the Lord)
February 14 is always a date to remember. Wherever we are, whatever we do, it’s a day that everybody is waiting to spread and experience the love it brings. It’s Valentine’s day. What we do usually do during this day? Dating? Meeting with a special someone? Buying dozens of roses and boxes of chocolates? Or trying out something different and unique like attending a TAIZE Prayer?
TAIZE prayer is a yearly celebration that the young, young professionals or even young at hearts anticipates. It’s a different way of experiencing Valentine’s through God’s overflowing love and care. Although it rained this Valentine’s day, we had still seen many participants who joined and opted to celebrate their hearts day with us. This Year the Youth Ministry celebrated TAIZE with a mass presided by our beloved parish priest, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza. After the mass the TAIZE proper started with a beautiful liturgy and songs that made the celebration more meaningful. The lighting of candles was also a highlight for it gave the cathedral a reflective ambiance. The candles that was lighted symbolizes that there is still hope amidst darkness. That God is always there ready to comfort and embrace our weary and restless heart. I had also reflected that during this time or this kind of celebration all are united, that we are one in celebrating GOD’S unconditional love. We may differ in may ways be in the eyes of God we are still one.
Special thanks to all who made this activity a success. To all members of the Youth Ministry, your gift of persons is truly appreciated. We say thank you also to all the schools, parishes, youth organizations and other organizations who had spent their heart’s day with us. Truly it’s a gathering worth remembering, experiencing something different and most of all being ONE with God. Hope you had a great Valentine’s With Us. GOD loves you! See you in the next TAIZE prayer!
Sweet Nurse
Sweet Nurse
by Jesa Christine T. Capagal
Ice creams come in different flavors: vanilla, cookies and cream, mango and chocolate to name a few. Some of us want it in cones, some have it sprinkled with mallows or topped with barquillos, and some just want it ice cold in cups dodging in with a spoon.
Among these characteristics, only few of us have discovered the “secret” that lies within the lavishing taste of an ice cream. This secret offers a hand to help you in undertakings which often misleads you to misery. This secret is the healing power of ice creams.
Yes, you’ve read it right. Ice creams can heal. It can heal your loneliness, your heartaches, or any depressing state you are in. That is the power of ice creams. Buy your favorite flavor and be creative. Add some chips or rice flakes on it. Anything you could do to keep your attention to it for awhile. After you sweat through making it then savor your own-made ice cream delight and feel good that you are alive tasting the sweet ice cream you have in your hand.
We build our own prisons. If we hold on to any distress, then we will live with it. Take a time off and enjoy an ice cream. Pause for a moment to think things through. Never let go of a word unless you really mean it. Never curse when you are mad; never promise when you are happy. For all we know, emotions are constantly changing but logically, if you set your mind to something, then that will be the end result.
by Jesa Christine T. Capagal
Ice creams come in different flavors: vanilla, cookies and cream, mango and chocolate to name a few. Some of us want it in cones, some have it sprinkled with mallows or topped with barquillos, and some just want it ice cold in cups dodging in with a spoon.
Among these characteristics, only few of us have discovered the “secret” that lies within the lavishing taste of an ice cream. This secret offers a hand to help you in undertakings which often misleads you to misery. This secret is the healing power of ice creams.
Yes, you’ve read it right. Ice creams can heal. It can heal your loneliness, your heartaches, or any depressing state you are in. That is the power of ice creams. Buy your favorite flavor and be creative. Add some chips or rice flakes on it. Anything you could do to keep your attention to it for awhile. After you sweat through making it then savor your own-made ice cream delight and feel good that you are alive tasting the sweet ice cream you have in your hand.
We build our own prisons. If we hold on to any distress, then we will live with it. Take a time off and enjoy an ice cream. Pause for a moment to think things through. Never let go of a word unless you really mean it. Never curse when you are mad; never promise when you are happy. For all we know, emotions are constantly changing but logically, if you set your mind to something, then that will be the end result.
Give Time to God
Give Time to God
by Pureza D. Lacuesta
Is the world turning upside down, or is there a tremor shaking all the continents, causing the earth to open and swallow everything that is good; animals, land, crops, and even people?
Accidents and crimes are no longer news. They have become so ordinary that with the coming of every new day, something is expected to happen that can divert us from our usual routine and make us shudder or shrug our shoulders.
We are still alive and we need to use all our energy, both spiritual and physical, in order to live as decent human beings. We need to identify honestly and distinctly which values are right and which are wrong. If there is much to be changed then change there must be with no loss of time. However, change cannot only be realized with brilliance of the intellect and the knowledge of principles and strategies. It can only be achieved if all of us are sincere in our decision to remove all the cobwebs in our lives as Christians, and put God first, even before the preservation of our earthly existence. God must be recognized as a Supreme Being, before Whom, all knees must bend. God must be recognized as our Creator Who owns us and Who has the liberty to give us not what we want, but what He wants. We need to pray to Him, but His decision which rests on His love and mercy, is always supreme.
As I Progress in age through the years, the purpose of God in creating me, grows visible moment by moment. I can see that I received life because I can be made an instrument in making others live too. Little by little, I can feel and understand that my life is not mine alone, but it is an area, which is open for others to see what good they can get from me.
That hungry aeta who needs to eat, must be given a share from my purse. That helpless blind woman can see me through the alms I can place in her hand. That ignorant fellow who looks helpless and lost, can find his way through my friendly attention and can regain his composure through my patient treatment of him.
God is visible if we use the sight of our heart. Christianity is not difficult to practice if we meditate on the seven swords which pierced the Heart of Mary – as soon as we awake to the dawn of a new day.
Give time to God. Give time to Mama Mary and Jesus in His Divine Mercy will also give time to us.
by Pureza D. Lacuesta
Is the world turning upside down, or is there a tremor shaking all the continents, causing the earth to open and swallow everything that is good; animals, land, crops, and even people?
Accidents and crimes are no longer news. They have become so ordinary that with the coming of every new day, something is expected to happen that can divert us from our usual routine and make us shudder or shrug our shoulders.
We are still alive and we need to use all our energy, both spiritual and physical, in order to live as decent human beings. We need to identify honestly and distinctly which values are right and which are wrong. If there is much to be changed then change there must be with no loss of time. However, change cannot only be realized with brilliance of the intellect and the knowledge of principles and strategies. It can only be achieved if all of us are sincere in our decision to remove all the cobwebs in our lives as Christians, and put God first, even before the preservation of our earthly existence. God must be recognized as a Supreme Being, before Whom, all knees must bend. God must be recognized as our Creator Who owns us and Who has the liberty to give us not what we want, but what He wants. We need to pray to Him, but His decision which rests on His love and mercy, is always supreme.
As I Progress in age through the years, the purpose of God in creating me, grows visible moment by moment. I can see that I received life because I can be made an instrument in making others live too. Little by little, I can feel and understand that my life is not mine alone, but it is an area, which is open for others to see what good they can get from me.
That hungry aeta who needs to eat, must be given a share from my purse. That helpless blind woman can see me through the alms I can place in her hand. That ignorant fellow who looks helpless and lost, can find his way through my friendly attention and can regain his composure through my patient treatment of him.
God is visible if we use the sight of our heart. Christianity is not difficult to practice if we meditate on the seven swords which pierced the Heart of Mary – as soon as we awake to the dawn of a new day.
Give time to God. Give time to Mama Mary and Jesus in His Divine Mercy will also give time to us.
St. Polycarp
St. Polycarp
How would you feel having heard first hand information from a person who had been with Jesus, who had walked with Jesus, seen Him and touched Him. Polycarp became part of these historical events through St. John the Evangelist. He was a bishop of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey), disciple of St. John the Apostle and friend of St. Ignatius of Antioch who was a revered Christian leader during the first half of the second century.
With the apostles gone, heresies sprang up pretending to be the true teaching. Persecution was strong, and controversies arose over how to celebrate liturgy that Jesus never laid down rules for.
Polycarp, as a holy man and bishop of Smyrna, found there was only one answer -- to be true to the life of Jesus and imitate that life. Saint Ignatius of Antioch told Polycarp, "Your mind is grounded in God as on an immovable rock."
When faced with heresy, he showed the "candid face" and imitated Jesus' response to the Pharisees. Marcion, the leader of the Marcionites who followed a dualistic heresy, confronted Polycarp and demanded respect by saying, "Recognize us, Polycarp." Polycarp responded, "I recognize you, yes, I recognize the son of Satan."
St. Ignatius, on his way to Rome to be martyred, visited Polycarp at Smyrna, and later at Troas wrote him a personal letter. The Asia Minor Churches recognized Polycarp’s leadership by choosing him as a representative to discuss with Pope Anicetus the date of the Easter celebration in Rome—quite a controversy in the early Church. One day, during a bloody martyrdom when Christians were attacked by wild animals in the arena, the crowd became so mad that they demanded more blood by crying, "Down with the atheists; let Polycarp be found." (They considered Christians "atheists" because they didn't believe in their pantheon of gods.) Since Polycarp was not only known as a leader but as someone holy "even before his grey hair appeared", this was a horrible demand. Polycarp was calm but others persuaded him to leave the city. He spent his time in prayer for people he knew and for the Church. During his prayer he saw a vision of his pillow turned to fire and announced to his friends that the dream meant he would be burned alive. Later he was caught.
As he entered the arena, the crowd cheered and roared like animals. Those around Polycarp heard a voice from heaven above the crowd, "Be brave, Polycarp, and act like a man."
The proconsul begged the eighty-six-year-old bishop to give in because of his age. Say, 'Away with the atheists'. Polycarp calmly turned to face the crowd, looked straight at them, and said, "Away with the atheists." The proconsul continued to plead with him. When he asked Polycarp to swear by Caesar to save himself, Polycarp answered, "If you imagine that I will swear by Caesar, you do not know who I am. Let me tell you plainly, I am a Christian." Finally, when all else failed the proconsul reminded Polycarp that he would be thrown to the wild animals unless he changed his mind. Polycarp answered, "Change of mind from better to worse is not a change allowed to us."
When he was tied up to be burned, Polycarp prayed, "Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers, of the whole creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May I be received today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, among those who are in you presence, as you have prepared and foretold and fulfilled, God who is faithful and true. For this and for all benefits I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be to you with him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to come. Amen."
The fire was lit as Polycarp said Amen and then the eyewitnesses who reported said they saw a miracle. The fire burst up in an arch around Polycarp, the flames surrounding him like sails, and instead of being burned he seemed to glow like bread baking, or gold being melted in a furnace. When the captors saw he wasn't being burned, they stabbed him. The blood that flowed put the fire out. The flames did not harm him and he was finally killed by a dagger. The centurion ordered the saint’s body burned. The “Acts” of Polycarp’s martyrdom are the earliest preserved, fully reliable account of a Christian martyr’s death. He died in 156 at the age of 86.
Reflection: I had faced so many trials in life. Upon reading St. Polycarp’s life, I was inspired by his holiness and strong mind grounded in God. Belonging to a Christian community I invite you to pray his prayer for martyrdom daily to strengthen our faith. This prayer includes the true doctrine of the church we must learn by heart. (See the above prayer .) St. Polycarp help us to be close to Jesus Christ whom we felt seemed so far away from us. Inspire us, so that he will be close to us, and be near us by imitating His Life as you did.
How would you feel having heard first hand information from a person who had been with Jesus, who had walked with Jesus, seen Him and touched Him. Polycarp became part of these historical events through St. John the Evangelist. He was a bishop of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey), disciple of St. John the Apostle and friend of St. Ignatius of Antioch who was a revered Christian leader during the first half of the second century.
With the apostles gone, heresies sprang up pretending to be the true teaching. Persecution was strong, and controversies arose over how to celebrate liturgy that Jesus never laid down rules for.
Polycarp, as a holy man and bishop of Smyrna, found there was only one answer -- to be true to the life of Jesus and imitate that life. Saint Ignatius of Antioch told Polycarp, "Your mind is grounded in God as on an immovable rock."
When faced with heresy, he showed the "candid face" and imitated Jesus' response to the Pharisees. Marcion, the leader of the Marcionites who followed a dualistic heresy, confronted Polycarp and demanded respect by saying, "Recognize us, Polycarp." Polycarp responded, "I recognize you, yes, I recognize the son of Satan."
St. Ignatius, on his way to Rome to be martyred, visited Polycarp at Smyrna, and later at Troas wrote him a personal letter. The Asia Minor Churches recognized Polycarp’s leadership by choosing him as a representative to discuss with Pope Anicetus the date of the Easter celebration in Rome—quite a controversy in the early Church. One day, during a bloody martyrdom when Christians were attacked by wild animals in the arena, the crowd became so mad that they demanded more blood by crying, "Down with the atheists; let Polycarp be found." (They considered Christians "atheists" because they didn't believe in their pantheon of gods.) Since Polycarp was not only known as a leader but as someone holy "even before his grey hair appeared", this was a horrible demand. Polycarp was calm but others persuaded him to leave the city. He spent his time in prayer for people he knew and for the Church. During his prayer he saw a vision of his pillow turned to fire and announced to his friends that the dream meant he would be burned alive. Later he was caught.
As he entered the arena, the crowd cheered and roared like animals. Those around Polycarp heard a voice from heaven above the crowd, "Be brave, Polycarp, and act like a man."
The proconsul begged the eighty-six-year-old bishop to give in because of his age. Say, 'Away with the atheists'. Polycarp calmly turned to face the crowd, looked straight at them, and said, "Away with the atheists." The proconsul continued to plead with him. When he asked Polycarp to swear by Caesar to save himself, Polycarp answered, "If you imagine that I will swear by Caesar, you do not know who I am. Let me tell you plainly, I am a Christian." Finally, when all else failed the proconsul reminded Polycarp that he would be thrown to the wild animals unless he changed his mind. Polycarp answered, "Change of mind from better to worse is not a change allowed to us."
When he was tied up to be burned, Polycarp prayed, "Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers, of the whole creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May I be received today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, among those who are in you presence, as you have prepared and foretold and fulfilled, God who is faithful and true. For this and for all benefits I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be to you with him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to come. Amen."
The fire was lit as Polycarp said Amen and then the eyewitnesses who reported said they saw a miracle. The fire burst up in an arch around Polycarp, the flames surrounding him like sails, and instead of being burned he seemed to glow like bread baking, or gold being melted in a furnace. When the captors saw he wasn't being burned, they stabbed him. The blood that flowed put the fire out. The flames did not harm him and he was finally killed by a dagger. The centurion ordered the saint’s body burned. The “Acts” of Polycarp’s martyrdom are the earliest preserved, fully reliable account of a Christian martyr’s death. He died in 156 at the age of 86.
Reflection: I had faced so many trials in life. Upon reading St. Polycarp’s life, I was inspired by his holiness and strong mind grounded in God. Belonging to a Christian community I invite you to pray his prayer for martyrdom daily to strengthen our faith. This prayer includes the true doctrine of the church we must learn by heart. (See the above prayer .) St. Polycarp help us to be close to Jesus Christ whom we felt seemed so far away from us. Inspire us, so that he will be close to us, and be near us by imitating His Life as you did.
Can healing take place?
Can healing take place?
by Fe Marina Siacon
A helpful friend? To what category? Can a friend heal our wounds? Can they be trusted? In any relationship, either between a doctor and patient or among friends the value of trust must prevail. “Any relationship in fact, has to be anchored in trust if it were to prosper,” says Doc Bing. Yes, healing is anchored with trust, but once you do something which is contrary to trust, trust is lost. On the other hand once you respect one’s person or property, then you will be trusted. The value of respect here refers to not touching anything which does not belong to your jurisdiction or to you. These two values are interrelated. Some friends are willing to do extra efforts to help. Some are very much willing to help however it would be wise thing first to wait for the right moment. That person might get hurt because he might think you are intervening in his life, respect him as a person for this help might be mistakenly taken as an insult to his being.
The intention might be good. But it could have been in proper perspective and in the right time with respect. The act done without the presence or confirmation of somebody is act done in the wrong place and in the wrong time by the wrong person. Trust would be lost and healing or forgiving would be far beyond reach. The wound will take time to heal but the scar remains, however scarred people are beautiful.
If ever I am doing my work I do it in the best of what I can do, with great effort, and responsibly conscious of the time quality that I spent with it. Time as in number of seconds, minutes, or hours spent as in legal eight hours? No, it’s not. It’s the value of time taken seriously and responsibly. I know time is precious. I can be in the office eight hours a day, but if I spend most of it in a nonsense tete-a-tete, that’s another point. So whatever things I do, (in the office or at home) I do it with seriousness and I trust no one will ever touch it. I feel confident.
A friend is a privilege. We have to appreciate them with respect. In the Church, Jesus provides us with many friends with faith. Brothers and sisters ready to assist and serve us in time of need. Gets involve in the barangay or small community and in the local church. Jesus has so many friends also. Even those who hurt him, He still considered them a friend, because he said, “love your enemy”. Of course, humanly speaking, it is hard to love someone whom you have lost confidence with. That is why I still would like to instill in one’s heart the value of respect. With this in our hearts we will be able to nurture our network of friends with trust, with confidence, with faith and share these values with one another. Once all these are in one, love springs out.
Perhaps then healing will take place though it may take some time.
by Fe Marina Siacon
A helpful friend? To what category? Can a friend heal our wounds? Can they be trusted? In any relationship, either between a doctor and patient or among friends the value of trust must prevail. “Any relationship in fact, has to be anchored in trust if it were to prosper,” says Doc Bing. Yes, healing is anchored with trust, but once you do something which is contrary to trust, trust is lost. On the other hand once you respect one’s person or property, then you will be trusted. The value of respect here refers to not touching anything which does not belong to your jurisdiction or to you. These two values are interrelated. Some friends are willing to do extra efforts to help. Some are very much willing to help however it would be wise thing first to wait for the right moment. That person might get hurt because he might think you are intervening in his life, respect him as a person for this help might be mistakenly taken as an insult to his being.
The intention might be good. But it could have been in proper perspective and in the right time with respect. The act done without the presence or confirmation of somebody is act done in the wrong place and in the wrong time by the wrong person. Trust would be lost and healing or forgiving would be far beyond reach. The wound will take time to heal but the scar remains, however scarred people are beautiful.
If ever I am doing my work I do it in the best of what I can do, with great effort, and responsibly conscious of the time quality that I spent with it. Time as in number of seconds, minutes, or hours spent as in legal eight hours? No, it’s not. It’s the value of time taken seriously and responsibly. I know time is precious. I can be in the office eight hours a day, but if I spend most of it in a nonsense tete-a-tete, that’s another point. So whatever things I do, (in the office or at home) I do it with seriousness and I trust no one will ever touch it. I feel confident.
A friend is a privilege. We have to appreciate them with respect. In the Church, Jesus provides us with many friends with faith. Brothers and sisters ready to assist and serve us in time of need. Gets involve in the barangay or small community and in the local church. Jesus has so many friends also. Even those who hurt him, He still considered them a friend, because he said, “love your enemy”. Of course, humanly speaking, it is hard to love someone whom you have lost confidence with. That is why I still would like to instill in one’s heart the value of respect. With this in our hearts we will be able to nurture our network of friends with trust, with confidence, with faith and share these values with one another. Once all these are in one, love springs out.
Perhaps then healing will take place though it may take some time.
Healing Vibrations
Healing Vibrations
by Ma. Rosario L. Rote-Tejada, MD
It was during my actual clinical exposure that I really felt the life I am into. The feeling it gave me was that of awe-full gratitude and pride - gratitude to God for calling me into this vocation and to my parents, elders and teachers, who have patiently and generously molded me to who and what I am now; pride – for being God’s partner in the ministry of healing.
The first patients I can never forget are those who are critically and terminally ill. They have proven time and again, that if God calls a person to return to Him, man, though how rich or poor he may be, cannot do anything to refuse His call. The moment of death is an opportunity for us, the living, to ask the dying person, especially if he is a person of goodwill, to intercede for us in our efforts in achieving a very important wish. For me then, it was to pass the board exams. Of course, it was a wish granted! It was not simply their work; it was coupled with my hard work, too. Here, I saw the living and the dying in a partnership while their Creator sits back and looks at them, encouraging the good in each one dominate.
Immersion and empathy with my patients are important. It was so hard for me to reach out if I cannot understand them. This I realized when I had my first job at the Altavas District Hospital in Aklan. Akænon dialect was Greek to me. The place was so silently noisy because of the aloneness I felt within. Lucky for me, there was an Ilongga aid who acted as my interpreter. After about a month, I can already understand them though I cannot speak their dialect correctly. The two years I spent with them were memories I will always treasure.
The years of my residency training taught me how to deal not only with children’s illnesses, but also to let them speak for themselves. I also learned how to deal with their parents and most of all their more panicky grandparents.
Children always fear pain. The white gown is always equated with the pointed needle for injection. I appeal to you, Dear Parents, please do not equate us doctors, especially pediatricians, with injections. Don’t make them think we’ll get angry if they do not keep still. That is part of their normal growth and development. They need to be free to explore their capabilities and environment. Let’s be alert and anticipate, guide them and if needed, catch them when they fall. These are teachings both for them and for us. Let the children be. For us parents, whether we like it or not, there will always come a time we have to let go of our children. They have their own lives to live as we do.
Trust and faith are essential for healing to take place. The paralytic in the Gospel did not permit himself to be dropped from the roof to be brought to Jesus’ attention if he did not trust in the people who helped him and faith in Jesus to heal him. Same is true with the doctor-patient relationship. Any relationship in fact, has to be anchored in trust if it were to prosper. Healing will be achieved if there is trust. I have always felt this. Healing receptors from both patient and doctor will be opened and recovery takes place as healing vibrations are conveyed and absorbed.
With all these, I clothe my prescriptions with a prayer whispered to God to make my hands and judgment channels of His caring touch and wisdom to manage His love and care for children.
We are all God’s children and He cares for us deeply. He knows and wants only the best for us. We trust and pray for Him to heal us - our persons, our families, our communities, our country, our world. Amen.
by Ma. Rosario L. Rote-Tejada, MD
It was during my actual clinical exposure that I really felt the life I am into. The feeling it gave me was that of awe-full gratitude and pride - gratitude to God for calling me into this vocation and to my parents, elders and teachers, who have patiently and generously molded me to who and what I am now; pride – for being God’s partner in the ministry of healing.
The first patients I can never forget are those who are critically and terminally ill. They have proven time and again, that if God calls a person to return to Him, man, though how rich or poor he may be, cannot do anything to refuse His call. The moment of death is an opportunity for us, the living, to ask the dying person, especially if he is a person of goodwill, to intercede for us in our efforts in achieving a very important wish. For me then, it was to pass the board exams. Of course, it was a wish granted! It was not simply their work; it was coupled with my hard work, too. Here, I saw the living and the dying in a partnership while their Creator sits back and looks at them, encouraging the good in each one dominate.
Immersion and empathy with my patients are important. It was so hard for me to reach out if I cannot understand them. This I realized when I had my first job at the Altavas District Hospital in Aklan. Akænon dialect was Greek to me. The place was so silently noisy because of the aloneness I felt within. Lucky for me, there was an Ilongga aid who acted as my interpreter. After about a month, I can already understand them though I cannot speak their dialect correctly. The two years I spent with them were memories I will always treasure.
The years of my residency training taught me how to deal not only with children’s illnesses, but also to let them speak for themselves. I also learned how to deal with their parents and most of all their more panicky grandparents.
Children always fear pain. The white gown is always equated with the pointed needle for injection. I appeal to you, Dear Parents, please do not equate us doctors, especially pediatricians, with injections. Don’t make them think we’ll get angry if they do not keep still. That is part of their normal growth and development. They need to be free to explore their capabilities and environment. Let’s be alert and anticipate, guide them and if needed, catch them when they fall. These are teachings both for them and for us. Let the children be. For us parents, whether we like it or not, there will always come a time we have to let go of our children. They have their own lives to live as we do.
Trust and faith are essential for healing to take place. The paralytic in the Gospel did not permit himself to be dropped from the roof to be brought to Jesus’ attention if he did not trust in the people who helped him and faith in Jesus to heal him. Same is true with the doctor-patient relationship. Any relationship in fact, has to be anchored in trust if it were to prosper. Healing will be achieved if there is trust. I have always felt this. Healing receptors from both patient and doctor will be opened and recovery takes place as healing vibrations are conveyed and absorbed.
With all these, I clothe my prescriptions with a prayer whispered to God to make my hands and judgment channels of His caring touch and wisdom to manage His love and care for children.
We are all God’s children and He cares for us deeply. He knows and wants only the best for us. We trust and pray for Him to heal us - our persons, our families, our communities, our country, our world. Amen.
Why we love?
Why we love?
by Rev. Fr. Rex Paul Arjona
It is February, which many people now calls the “love month”. This sociological itch to extend the celebration of certain events that people can’t get enough of – February 14 in this case – makes for an interesting study.
This heightened interest also provides an opportunity to reflect on the theme of love – beyond the mushiness, hopefully.
So what is love anyway?
Wikipedia, the iconic resource of knowledge of almost everything in the information age (which made our search for answers democratic, pluralistic, and, more than one cares to admit, oftentimes reliable) defines love as “any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure to intense interpersonal attraction.”
St. Thomas Aquinas describes love as a “concupiscible passion”, i.e., a feeling evoked by being drawn to a beloved, which does not only mean a romantic interest, but also extends to things, ideals and, of course, God.
Pope Benedict XVI’s first papal encyclical is an extended discourse on the centrality of love in Christianity, Deus caritas est, “God is love”. He sought to clarify and reconcile two Greek words and ideas on love: eros, which has a possessive nature expressed in the desire of the lover to possess the beloved, and agape, self-sacrificing love, in which the lover offers himself for the good of the beloved.
For Pope Benedict, genuine Christian love does not seek to eliminate eros, which is good in itself, but to complement and complete it with agape. The best model for agape is God himself. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3,16).
Elizabeth Barrett-Browning asked in her classic love poem, “How do I love thee?” Now, let us count some of the ways by which we love.
Love of God. The two great truths shared by Christianity, Judaism and Islam are (1) that we have only God, and (2) this God loves us. And so the most apt response for us humans is to love God back. Thus, to the question “What is the greatest commandment?”, Jesus replied, quoting the Jewish prayer Shema: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt. 22,37).
Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. wrote the most stirring words on loving God: “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
Love of Neighbor. The greatest commandment is not complete without the next verse: “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22,38).
Apart from self-love, love of neighbor is peculiarly informed by yet another virtue: justice. The compassion of love is thus extended especially to the weak and disadvantaged, and to the assurance that fairness and equality should be given to everyone. Love of neighbor is also extended to the larger community, to nations and to the rest of creation.
Among the most sublime lines written on the love of neighbor via the aspirations for national unity and freedom is Andres Bonifacio’s nationalistic paean Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa: “Áling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya, sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila, gaya ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa? Wala na nga, wala…”
Love of Family, Friends, Romantic Interest. There is a need to distinguish between the more universal love of neighbor and the love that governs special relationships. There are degrees to our relationship with people; some we love more than others. This is not being unfair. This reality actually refers to the very nature and logic of our being relational beings. Even God, in order to bring about universal salvation, elects first His “Chosen People”.
The virtue that informs this expression of love is fidelity. The virtue ethicist, Fr. James Keenan, SJ, describes fidelity as “the virtue that nurtures and sustains the bonds of those special relationships that we enjoy whether by blood, marriage, love, or sacrament. Fidelity requires that we treat with special care those who are closer to us.”
The drama and finality of fidelity is most profoundly expressed in the Christian marriage rite: “I take you, for my wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”
Love of Self or self-care is different from being selfish or self-centered. It is more than just possessing self-esteem or self-respect. Self-care is rooted in our genetic and natural predisposition for self-preservation and survival. Jesus Himself recognizes its importance when he taught about the second greatest commandment as based on one’s love for oneself. Indeed, a healthy love of self is the basis for all our loving relationships.
One of the most celebrated cases of child abuse and survival is that of David James Pelzer. His story is chronicled in the three books he wrote: A Child Called It, The Lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave. As a child, Dave was abused by his mother, who thought of it as a game. Among other things, he was starved, forced to drink ammonia, and was once stabbed in the chest. His teachers finally stepped in when he was 12, and he was placed in foster care. Dave Pelzer narrates in his books his struggle to trust people and engage in loving relationships, seeing himself as broken and lacking in initial experience of loving affirming relationships.
The point is without a healthy sense of self-love, it is difficult to love others in a healthy affirming way as well. I remember a saying I learned in my high school Latin classes: nemo dat quod non habet, “one cannot give what one doesn’t have”.
Why we love. So why do we love? Why do we embrace this complex beguiling and consuming emotion, sometimes with all the human energy that we can muster?
As the song says, “We are made for loving.” If God is love, and the Trinity is a communion of love, and if we are created in the image and likeness of God, then the way towards self-fulfillment and self-actualization, indeed, towards our destiny, is to love.
Rev. Fr. Rex Paul Arjona was ordained priest on December 8, 2006 and presently the Chancellor of the Diocese of Legazpi, Province of Albay.
by Rev. Fr. Rex Paul Arjona
It is February, which many people now calls the “love month”. This sociological itch to extend the celebration of certain events that people can’t get enough of – February 14 in this case – makes for an interesting study.
This heightened interest also provides an opportunity to reflect on the theme of love – beyond the mushiness, hopefully.
So what is love anyway?
Wikipedia, the iconic resource of knowledge of almost everything in the information age (which made our search for answers democratic, pluralistic, and, more than one cares to admit, oftentimes reliable) defines love as “any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure to intense interpersonal attraction.”
St. Thomas Aquinas describes love as a “concupiscible passion”, i.e., a feeling evoked by being drawn to a beloved, which does not only mean a romantic interest, but also extends to things, ideals and, of course, God.
Pope Benedict XVI’s first papal encyclical is an extended discourse on the centrality of love in Christianity, Deus caritas est, “God is love”. He sought to clarify and reconcile two Greek words and ideas on love: eros, which has a possessive nature expressed in the desire of the lover to possess the beloved, and agape, self-sacrificing love, in which the lover offers himself for the good of the beloved.
For Pope Benedict, genuine Christian love does not seek to eliminate eros, which is good in itself, but to complement and complete it with agape. The best model for agape is God himself. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3,16).
Elizabeth Barrett-Browning asked in her classic love poem, “How do I love thee?” Now, let us count some of the ways by which we love.
Love of God. The two great truths shared by Christianity, Judaism and Islam are (1) that we have only God, and (2) this God loves us. And so the most apt response for us humans is to love God back. Thus, to the question “What is the greatest commandment?”, Jesus replied, quoting the Jewish prayer Shema: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt. 22,37).
Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. wrote the most stirring words on loving God: “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
Love of Neighbor. The greatest commandment is not complete without the next verse: “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22,38).
Apart from self-love, love of neighbor is peculiarly informed by yet another virtue: justice. The compassion of love is thus extended especially to the weak and disadvantaged, and to the assurance that fairness and equality should be given to everyone. Love of neighbor is also extended to the larger community, to nations and to the rest of creation.
Among the most sublime lines written on the love of neighbor via the aspirations for national unity and freedom is Andres Bonifacio’s nationalistic paean Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa: “Áling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya, sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila, gaya ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa? Wala na nga, wala…”
Love of Family, Friends, Romantic Interest. There is a need to distinguish between the more universal love of neighbor and the love that governs special relationships. There are degrees to our relationship with people; some we love more than others. This is not being unfair. This reality actually refers to the very nature and logic of our being relational beings. Even God, in order to bring about universal salvation, elects first His “Chosen People”.
The virtue that informs this expression of love is fidelity. The virtue ethicist, Fr. James Keenan, SJ, describes fidelity as “the virtue that nurtures and sustains the bonds of those special relationships that we enjoy whether by blood, marriage, love, or sacrament. Fidelity requires that we treat with special care those who are closer to us.”
The drama and finality of fidelity is most profoundly expressed in the Christian marriage rite: “I take you, for my wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”
Love of Self or self-care is different from being selfish or self-centered. It is more than just possessing self-esteem or self-respect. Self-care is rooted in our genetic and natural predisposition for self-preservation and survival. Jesus Himself recognizes its importance when he taught about the second greatest commandment as based on one’s love for oneself. Indeed, a healthy love of self is the basis for all our loving relationships.
One of the most celebrated cases of child abuse and survival is that of David James Pelzer. His story is chronicled in the three books he wrote: A Child Called It, The Lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave. As a child, Dave was abused by his mother, who thought of it as a game. Among other things, he was starved, forced to drink ammonia, and was once stabbed in the chest. His teachers finally stepped in when he was 12, and he was placed in foster care. Dave Pelzer narrates in his books his struggle to trust people and engage in loving relationships, seeing himself as broken and lacking in initial experience of loving affirming relationships.
The point is without a healthy sense of self-love, it is difficult to love others in a healthy affirming way as well. I remember a saying I learned in my high school Latin classes: nemo dat quod non habet, “one cannot give what one doesn’t have”.
Why we love. So why do we love? Why do we embrace this complex beguiling and consuming emotion, sometimes with all the human energy that we can muster?
As the song says, “We are made for loving.” If God is love, and the Trinity is a communion of love, and if we are created in the image and likeness of God, then the way towards self-fulfillment and self-actualization, indeed, towards our destiny, is to love.
Rev. Fr. Rex Paul Arjona was ordained priest on December 8, 2006 and presently the Chancellor of the Diocese of Legazpi, Province of Albay.
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