tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-302634102024-03-28T11:06:47.480+08:00And that's the truthAnd Jesus said, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-67919304980321151712024-03-28T11:06:00.000+08:002024-03-28T11:06:12.231+08:00Reviving the blog<p>Today, which marks the 509th birth anniversary of St. Teresa of Avila, i intend to revive this blog which has been dormant for various reasons (including the Covid-19 isolation) although i had not stopped writing for other media. I will enable the Comments here to welcome all your comments. For Truth's sake let's do this together! </p>And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-33398331894181746622019-05-15T13:01:00.000+08:002019-05-16T23:48:27.221+08:00Life after elections<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Two days after
the midterm elections, the air still crackles with comments and complaints
about the conduct of the democratic exercise—mostly revolving around the
disconnect between Comelec’s claim of the “successful and peaceful” election
and the voters’ contrary observation regarding the 600 malfunctioning
vote-counting machines (VCM).</span><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6YkERcEdgpztpHWxNjO9dMz9CzzPy_C8w7Tt8OOyqPB3iGOZ5N0Lm1-aaF3_2MATOA3ZNNvMohe-F-X0r9m8pnB7TOQqjynbzG_3d0Fm1sv5Q4WFleSgJZQGwNzgDZn7hfS_5lg/s1600/Vote+french+tips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6YkERcEdgpztpHWxNjO9dMz9CzzPy_C8w7Tt8OOyqPB3iGOZ5N0Lm1-aaF3_2MATOA3ZNNvMohe-F-X0r9m8pnB7TOQqjynbzG_3d0Fm1sv5Q4WFleSgJZQGwNzgDZn7hfS_5lg/s320/Vote+french+tips.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Whether our bets
won or lost, we will all continue losing if we dismiss these irregularities as “normal”,
especially since the deals with Smartmatic have long been under question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are worse than mere “technical
glitches”, because it’s human beings, not machines that close deals leading to
such unfortunate developments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And like
it or not, they sow doubt and suspicion in the mind of voters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Would you not
smell something fishy that the malfunctions and the delays in the transmission
of results, et al, would be explained away by a simple “Java error”, or “walang
signal” in the area?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or by the claim
that the SD cards were “defective” because they were “not bundled with the Smartmatic
package?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we can shrug off a dozen
or so malfunctioning VCM as lemons, but not 600!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A monumental amount of 10.18 billion pesos of
taxpayers’ money was allotted to COMELEC for this year—voters deserve explanations,
not excuses that insult their intelligence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those involved should be transparent and open
their documents for public scrutiny—or risk repeating the same rotten mistakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">On the upside?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Political dynasties have reportedly been
toppled, with former Goliaths downed by emerging Davids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Look again—four members of the Marcos clan won in Ilocos Norte; and the
Cayetanos are lording it over in Taguig.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And aren’t the newly elected leaders mostly descendants of TRAPOS,
too?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wait a few years—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">dynasties die
hard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lest we forget
that life goes on outside of our puny political concerns, we turn our attention
to “the world outside”, recall the news and read the message behind events. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">At the beginning
of this year, on January 27, the Our Lady of Mount Carmel cathedral in Jolo was
bombed, killing 22 worshippers, as Mass was being celebrated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri
Lanka were attacked, again killing worshippers that numbered to hundreds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last May 12, during Mass, an attack on a
Catholic church in central Burkina Faso left six persons dead, including the
priest; it was the third attack on a church in five weeks in that country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In Germany, at
least eight churches have been vandalized and damaged since early April.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently random attacks have also been
noted in Scotland, England,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poland,
Spain, Italy and Austria, and continued attacks on churches in France have been
reported<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>despite the national outpouring
of grief that followed the fire that devastated Notre Dame Cathedral April 15. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The sacrilegious
acts include the decapitation of a statue of the Virgin Mary; bashing a statue
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; stealing crucifixes, candlesticks, and
consecrated hosts; overturning and smashing statues of Saints; defacing church
doors with anti-Catholic slogans; and setting sacristies on fire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14.0pt;">A desecration of a different kind took place during
last Easter Mass in the church of San Giovanni in Trieste, Italy, when a man
who was receiving communion responded to the traditional formula “the Body of
Christ” by saying “Thanks” and then asking “What part of the body is this?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before the shocked congregation he walked
away, carrying the consecrated host and denouncing the Catholic religion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14.0pt;">For the longest time the Church has been rocked
by sex scandals—all over the world priests have had to face charges and
allegations of pedophilia and sexual abuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Church has had to defrock high-profile Cardinals for the same
offenses, and during the summit on clerical sex abuse held in Rome last
February, Pope Francis promised an end to cover ups.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14.0pt;">So what’s new?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Such scandals as recorded in history books have been there since time
immemorial, but now with the internet and social media, news of one offense is
magnified millions of times over, and it hurts the soul in ways that may scar
it for life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is the Church to do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14.0pt;">“At that time news reached me of the harm being
done in France and of the havoc the heretics had caused and how much this
miserable sect was growing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The news
distressed me greatly, and as though I could do something or were something, I
cried to the Lord and begged Him to remedy this great evil…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world is on fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men try to condemn Christ once again, as it
were, for they bring a thousand false witnesses against Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They would raze His church to the ground. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are we to waste our time asking for things
that if God were to give them we’d have one soul less in Heaven?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No…this is no time to treat with God for
things of little importance.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14.0pt;">These are the words of the great saint from
Avila, Teresa of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, after
almost 500 years, they ring relevant, timely, and true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Face to face with the attacks on the Body of
Christ, do we have more time to waste on our mundane businesses?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are we to continue trusting in partisan
politics and things that lure us away from Christ?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Divorced from the cross of Christ even the
most brilliant political platforms on earth cannot save us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-40447388872889854702019-04-03T10:58:00.000+08:002019-05-17T10:58:52.637+08:00'Ningas-kugon'<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Are Filipinos
that forgiving or are we simply forgetful?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In our Social
Studies (in the 50s in my case), we were taught about the destructive habits or
attitudes of the Filipinos—the Manana Habit, Talangka Mentality, Filipino Time,
Ningas-kugon, Colonial Mentality, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was too young to care, but being a conscientious pupil, I retained what I learned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially the very graphic explanations of
the teacher about the “talangka” (crabs) pulling one another down to clamber to
the top of the bucket, and of dried cogon grass bursting into flames and just
as quickly dying out. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5gncoxp-lu7YouDzavDqJBqn_WbnEtN8MBqLrUPKA504z1-skSBn8WT5kBGVHR-x133wIoymiXWe4KTxT0hNmD3qf9KW19iH3M4pKswff0wgcFsJwzGNi-21cfTKDBM_24-AxkQ/s1600/ningas.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="220" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5gncoxp-lu7YouDzavDqJBqn_WbnEtN8MBqLrUPKA504z1-skSBn8WT5kBGVHR-x133wIoymiXWe4KTxT0hNmD3qf9KW19iH3M4pKswff0wgcFsJwzGNi-21cfTKDBM_24-AxkQ/s400/ningas.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ningas-kugon: short-lived enthusiasm, as grass fire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Over the years,
many disappointing experiences with fellow Filipinos would convince me that
those bad habits we heard about in elementary school somehow do have basis in
fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our country’s current
socio-political situation, for instance, the Ningas-kugon mentality reigns
supreme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scandalous incidents of
national importance would hog the headlines for days or weeks, and then fizzle
out even before anything conclusive is reached.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or is it the public’s interest that wanes through time? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Remember the
so-called Mamasapano Massacre, when on January 25,2015, 44 SAF police commandos
were slain in the botched anti-terror raid in Maguindanao?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nation was shocked over the tragedy, and
felt betrayed by the government officials who planned the raid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The public indignation soared when the 44
coffins arrived at the Manila airport and there was no Noynoy to pay respects
to them—he was busy attending a car manufacturing event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Headlines and social media comments burned
with righteous anger in sympathy for the bereaved—such a cold-hearted
president!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bloody incident came to
be tagged as “SAF 44.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXSkRXBEu_vYtWd9dAy_93VFJ2olX4alPX1Oy4GjZcz1RxExmbJee4sYKrR8SV17halBjUZQAvwYQKrL0WwAWCNrtrAP_BbMWjOVExdmcO6YezoSzedDWhOGKYmSxmj5qnnbuEw/s1600/saf+44.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="298" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXSkRXBEu_vYtWd9dAy_93VFJ2olX4alPX1Oy4GjZcz1RxExmbJee4sYKrR8SV17halBjUZQAvwYQKrL0WwAWCNrtrAP_BbMWjOVExdmcO6YezoSzedDWhOGKYmSxmj5qnnbuEw/s400/saf+44.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remains of the fallen SAF 44 arrive in Manila</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On July 14,
2017, it was reported that former president Benigno Aquino III would face
criminal trial over Mamasapano tragedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A statement from the investigating body said Ombudsman Conchita
Carpio-Morales had ordered Aquino charged with usurpation of authority and
violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">January 25,
2019, on the fourth anniversary of SAF 44, families of the fallen troopers
called on the Supreme Court on Padre Faura in Manila to seek justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They called on the authorities to act on the
case:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Please notice our pleading
because we have been seeking justice for four years now.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are they joined in their plea by the public?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t seem so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No sustained reporting from mainstream media;
no angry outbursts from netizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The grass has burned
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ningas-kugon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Who remembers
the bank cyber-heist that happened in February 2016?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It involved Bangladesh Bank, the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in
the Philippines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reactions to the news
smacked of warnings, and not a few bank clients feared for their money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There followed televised hearings (in aid of
legislation?), which the man on the street found upsetting if not
incredible—for how can something that big happen when Philippine banks are so
strict?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even opening an ordinary savings
account with one-thousand pesos would require the client to fill up so many
papers with personal information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
much more if the new accounts involved millions of US dollars?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the initial furor, the case was
forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTO7162rxuJgvft39I2mPrV_w9xUNM8pjYmWdW10yrb_cCPfUvbU17KUof9-8axSGpA0-C0C2jiOmDVGzXH0dUnip6cFL75_JPt1u_ewPQmY5JgAzhFS_YMgzYA2X7Sm9heHKGsw/s1600/money+hands.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTO7162rxuJgvft39I2mPrV_w9xUNM8pjYmWdW10yrb_cCPfUvbU17KUof9-8axSGpA0-C0C2jiOmDVGzXH0dUnip6cFL75_JPt1u_ewPQmY5JgAzhFS_YMgzYA2X7Sm9heHKGsw/s1600/money+hands.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Until January
10, 2019, when the RCBC branch ex-manager Maia Santos-Deguito was reported
guilty in the $81-million Bangladesh Bank heist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The news said Makati Regional Trial court
Branch 149 Presiding Judge Cesar Untalan found Deguito guilty beyond reasonable
doubt of violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again it raised eyebrows, even in banking
circles, where “everybody knows a mere branch manager cannot do such things on
her own.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some believe there’s a cover
up somewhere, and that Deguito was persuaded to be tied to the whipping post
for a huge consolation sum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever,
the fire seems to have gone out—the people who were alarmed before continue to use
banks to safekeep their money. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those
with money to burn go on burning it away in our casinos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Another half-forgotten
scandal: the alleged role of the Bureau of Customs in the shipment from China <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on May 17, 1017 of illegal drugs worth over
six billion pesos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On record as
containing “kitchenware”, the container with methamphetamine was reportedly
passed through the green lane, escaping the xray scanning—a violation of BoC protocol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Senate and House hearings invited so many
“persons of interest” and disclosed names of companies and individuals
(including the president’s son Paolo Duterte) implicated in the shipment, some
of them Chinese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, the public
reaction was one of outrage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On September 5,
2018, the news said “The government has lost its drug transportation case over
the 6.4 billion pesos shabu shipment from China that ended up at a warehouse in
Valenzuela City, due to double jeopardy… While Taguba and Tan are detained at
the Camp Bagong Diwa jail, Richard Tan, whose Hongfei Logistics company leased
the warehouse where the shabu was found, and his other Chinese or Taiwanese
co-accused remain at large since the Manila RTC ordered their arrest for the
drug importation case.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now the case
seems buried beneath an avalanche of sensational news items.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should we not be looking deeper into the
court decision?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or at least, gather
concerned agencies and citizens to ask, for instance, where the confiscated
shabu has gone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are the accused still in
the country, or have they forever escaped prosecution through the help of
Immigration?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not want to think ill
of our government agencies but circumstances like this make us doubt their
sincerity in serving the public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-E8xECz6nT69PK27oQ6UpnBTftuz2CWJ_d96zJTKJzynwhDpVZ76FMd-Tjy0RoydNmpxEDCNsYGLpbyxyL1cVOg1vmoeRQLXSmpMNk_CeRgPso5qqdHjA21sW1JedTZwKB-uuA/s1600/milita+sea.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-E8xECz6nT69PK27oQ6UpnBTftuz2CWJ_d96zJTKJzynwhDpVZ76FMd-Tjy0RoydNmpxEDCNsYGLpbyxyL1cVOg1vmoeRQLXSmpMNk_CeRgPso5qqdHjA21sW1JedTZwKB-uuA/s400/milita+sea.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">China's militarization in Philippine territory</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ningas-kugon
destroys more than grass—it keeps us in a stupor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are quick to say the country is a mess,
but are we doing our part to right the wrong being done?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are but a few of the scandalous things
that caused us to burst into flames of anger in the recent past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you will peep into history you will see
that there have been many more that aroused our ire in the distant past,
hindering our growth as a nation, but which we soon forgot—or forgave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where is our ningas-kugon mentality leading
us to? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One day, about
two years ago, we just woke up to find our waters invaded, with artificial
islands containing military installations by a bully nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were furious—but didn’t stay so for
long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last weekend of March we were told
that for the first quarter of 2019 alone, more than 600 “Chinese fishing
vessels have been recorded surrounding the sandbars of Pag-asa Island.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That many?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We would be naïve to think these vessels are only after our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">galunggong</i>—mackerel scad, which,
incidentally, they export back to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>More than just cursing China over its bullying tactics, we should do our
homework and intelligently plan to preserve our sovereignty and save our
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can’t afford to treat serious
matters with our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ningas-kugon</i>
attitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must keep the fire
burning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise, Pilipinas might one
day wake up to find it is already a province of China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-24210809384965013122019-03-18T11:06:00.000+08:002019-05-17T11:32:57.068+08:00A letter lights a candle in the dark<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJTCAFFwKjAeqsv4SlqjlNTU3g_aW2kmWu6DrQ3ojwLeki5-Wh4s_hNeWvRJdrYvtTD7UgKsMkv3DG2w_ypsH04IBak82zHTs5rvwmnKhO1ioH9q7m5Z6c90LBcDopOJnJFejkg/s1600/monk+writing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="185" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJTCAFFwKjAeqsv4SlqjlNTU3g_aW2kmWu6DrQ3ojwLeki5-Wh4s_hNeWvRJdrYvtTD7UgKsMkv3DG2w_ypsH04IBak82zHTs5rvwmnKhO1ioH9q7m5Z6c90LBcDopOJnJFejkg/s400/monk+writing.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 1cm;">Sometimes my email inbox yields
something so precious that I feel it must reach as many eyes and ears as
possible. One example is this one sent
to me by my dear nuns at the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 1cm;">Sœurs de la Famille
Missionnaire de Notre-Dame convent in Cannes, France.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> It is a letter from a priest, addressed to a
journalist. I believe it is what we
sorely need to hear these days when media and various bashers seem all fangs
and claws chasing after the Catholic Church. After reading this letter in its entirety, you
might agree with what the Soeurs say of it, “What more can be added? All is said!”
So allow me to print the letter here, Google-translated from the French—perhaps
awkward in some parts but clear enough, with sentiments fully captured.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Dear Brother Reporter:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I am a simple Catholic
priest. I feel happy and proud of my vocation. For 20 years I've lived in
Angola as a missionary.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I read in many means of communication,
especially in your newspaper, the amplification of the theme of pedophile
priests, that a morbid way, looking in detail in the lives of priests, past
mistakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is one, in a city in the United
States in the 70s, another in Australia in the 80s, and so on, other more
recent ..... Certainly all reprehensible cases <i>when real course!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are weighted and balanced
journalistic presentations, other amplified, full of prejudice and even hatred.
I feel myself a great pain for the immense harm that people who should be signs
of the love of God, be a dagger into the lives of innocent beings. There are no
words to justify such acts. There is no doubt that the Church can not be, if
not on the side of the weak, the poor. For this reason, all measures that can
be taken for the prevention and protection of the dignity of children will
always be a top priority.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But it is curious how
little news and the lack of interest for the thousands of priests who sacrifice
their lives and spend for millions of children, adolescents and for the poor
around the world.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I think that your newspaper, it does
not interest him:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1) That I had to carry a lot of hungry
children by roads mined because of the war in 2002 since Cangumbe to Lwena
(Angola), because neither the government could do neither NGOs there were
authorized;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2) That I had to bury dozens of dead
children because of the movements of the war;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">3) Whether we have saved the lives of
thousands of people in Mexico through the only existing health center in an
area of 90,000 km2 with the distribution of food and seeds;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">4) What we could provide are education
and schools in the last decade to more than 110,000 children;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">5) This remains uninspiring that with
other priests, we had to rescue about 15,000 people in the camps of the
guerrillas after they surrendered, because the Government of the UN Food and n
'not arrive;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">6) This is not a new interesting that a
priest of 75 years, Father Roberto, through the city of Luanda, healing the
street children, leading them to a shelter, so they are detoxified of gasoline
they aspire earning a living as flame thrower;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">7) Literacy of hundreds of prisoners
are not new;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">8) other priests like Father Stephane,
organizing transition houses for young mistreated, beaten, raped, to find
refuge;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">9) No more, that Father Maiato, 80,
visit the homes of the poor one by one comforting the sick and desperate;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">10) <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It's
not news that more than 6,000 among the 40,000 priests and religious today have
left their country and their families to serve their brothers in a leper
colony, hospitals, refugee camps, orphanages for children accused of sorcery or
orphans of parents to AIDS in schools for the poor, vocational training
centers, reception centers for HIV positive ...... etc ......</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">11) Or, especially,
spending their lives in parishes and missions, motivating people to live better
and above all to love;</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">12) It is not news that my friend
Father Marcus Aurelius, to save children during the war in Angola, transported
Kalulo in Dondo and in returning from his mission, he was machine-gunned in
path; as Brother Francis with five ladies catechists, are killed in an
accident, going help the most remote rural areas of the country;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">13) That dozens of missionaries in
Angola have died for lack of health facilities, because of simple malaria;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">14) What others have jumped in the air
due to mine by visiting their faithful; Indeed, in the cemetery of Kalulo are
the tombs of the first priests who arrived in the region ...... none exceeded
40 years ..........;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">15) This is not a new one, that of
following a "normal" priest in his daily work, its difficulties and
joys, spending his life quietly for the community it serves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The truth is that we are not looking to
make the news, if not simply bring the "Good News", the New, which
quietly began on Easter morning. A tree that falls makes more noise than a
thousand trees growing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It makes much ado about a priest who
commits a foul than for thousands who give their lives for thousands of poor
and needy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I do not pretend to apologize for the
Church and priests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A priest is neither a hero nor a
neurotic. It is simply a normal man who, with his human nature seeks to follow
Jesus and to serve Him in his brothers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are miseries of poverty and
weaknesses like all human beings; but there is beauty and grandeur as in every
creature ......... Insist an obsession-born and persecutory manner on a painful
topic, losing sight of the whole of the work really creates offensive cartoons
of the Catholic priesthood, by which I feel offended.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I ask you only journalist friend, to
seek the Truth, Good and Beauty. This will grow your profession.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In Christ,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">P. Martin Lasarte SDB”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Searching for the letter’s possible
presence in the internet I gathered that it is indeed a letter sent to the New
York Times in April 2010 and which the paper ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appears to have been published in a blog
in January 2011, and then again by zenit.org on May 24, 2011, then in different
news agencies again in September and in October 2018.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Salesian author of the letter, Fr.
Lasarte is an Uruguayan missionary—perhaps the original was written in Spanish
and translated to French, I’m not sure, but the English translations I found
vary only in some parts—the spirit of the intention is intact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do you think the New York Times ignored
it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe because it is the priest’s
reaction, expressing his feelings about the media feasting on priests’ abuses
while choosing to be blind to the other good things other priests do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was about eight years ago—today Fr.
Lasarte’s words still ring true, and if mainstream media are too biased or
cowardly to give way to such expressions, then surely social media can rise to
be fair and defend the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fr.
Lasarte’s signature in the letter is followed by this quote:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"My
past, Lord, I entrust to your mercy; my present to your love; My future in your
providence." </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If even one-tenth of Catholic
netizens would give space to this letter, they would be lighting a candle in
the dark, proving the reality of God’s providence that Fr. Lasarte is
entrusting his future to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the
truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-9457706017398303532019-03-06T11:29:00.000+08:002019-05-17T11:30:31.244+08:00The one choice we must make<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQX_8bSFGIOYdskAy3XQAg92ZkVvMhTb0QVzz2QuY2bTMuznBc8Xpf1w78lrxYKl8eUHW5Knkb-FxUSstF2ihKnN-Id4MHdU9FbxrkioxuIlCfDAqzbtHk8f6xQ9fUOHTZ4681Q/s1600/forked+road.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="207" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQX_8bSFGIOYdskAy3XQAg92ZkVvMhTb0QVzz2QuY2bTMuznBc8Xpf1w78lrxYKl8eUHW5Knkb-FxUSstF2ihKnN-Id4MHdU9FbxrkioxuIlCfDAqzbtHk8f6xQ9fUOHTZ4681Q/s320/forked+road.jpeg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is only one forked road we have to face,.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even for the “most religious” among us, it
is not that easy to latch on to God’s every word as we go through the
hurly-burly of our daily life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Almost
everything in our environment—especially in the metropolis—tells us that
earning a living ought to be our most important concern, and that all our
waking moments must revolve around it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And to be effective at earning a living, we must be and acceptable to
the world, because our face, our appearance, is our calling card.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 18.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Advertisements reinforce this idea in
telling us how to start our day: they nudge us to drink brand-X coffee if we
want to be alert and productive from nine to five, to shower with brand-Y soap
so that we’re germ-free all day, to use brand-Z deodorant in order not to
offend the noses of fellow train passengers, to wear this or that style to
project power, to drive this or that car, etc. etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Media reinforce the dream that advertisers
sell, lionizing “successful” people and their lifestyles, making the illusion
so widespread that people thoughtlessly believe it is true. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The world offers us so many choices, but
sets only one worldly goal—success—and so it teaches us that to be successful
we must be smart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to be “cool”
in everything we do, in choosing what to wear, say, and do; where to eat; what
projects to do; whom to hang around with; which stocks to invest in; etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the way of the world, achieving “a happy
and successful life” does not necessarily mean choosing to be ethical, moral, or
even legal sometimes—we just have to be smart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But is this the way we should go as citizens of the “only Christian
nation in Asia”?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In reality—come to think of it—there is
only one choice we as baptized Christians have to make in order for us to live
a happy, productive, and fulfilling life of dignity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is only one forked road we have to
face, and there we ask ourselves: shall I follow the will of God or only mine? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Choosing to follow God’s will over ours
means recognizing our Creator, gratefully giving Him Number One position in our
life, and embracing the truth that He has sent His Only Son to us in order to
show us the way to life eternal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earning
a living may be important, but it is only so if that living points to another
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This world is beautiful, marvelous,
and enjoyable, but it is only a stepping stone to the next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 18.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Debunk the advertisers’ promises, puncture
the illusions media propagate about having a “happy and successful life” as a
human being’s worthiest goal. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we
call ourselves followers of Christ we should let Him cleanse our system of
false ideals and worthless models.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
came to live with us to show us lonely goal worth pursuing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Believing in the cause that Jesus died for, we
are given the grace to live “on every word that comes forth from the mouth of
God”—we are renewed, “re-programmed” to receive and be moved by the Divine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This season of Lent, we take a break as we
turn our back to the monsters that we have created by our inordinate belief in
their worth—events, persons, things, news that give us nothing but bad vibes
and tempt us to forget about God’s eternal love for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These next 40 days, we pray even for a whiff
of that strength that sustained our Lord in the desert against the devil’s
temptations. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not true that we are
“only human” and therefore too weak to rise above the allurements of this
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do have a choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is such a thing as transcendence, and because
we are God’s children the desire for it is in our DNA, so to speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This holy season of Christ’s passion, we pray
to be able to make that one choice to transcendence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-8762330390733393782018-08-08T08:45:00.000+08:002018-08-11T15:59:32.764+08:00Duterte to found a new religion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Davao City, August 7, 2018—What had been mere
speculation weeks ago is now a reality: President Rodrigo Duterte is determined
to found a new religion.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Making a
surprise appearance today at the ongoing 4</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> National Catholic Media
Convention in Davao where his daughter, Davao City mayor Sarah Duterte-Carpio
failed to show up to give the Welcome Remarks at the Opening Mass on August 6,
the president announced to the 141 Catholic media practitioners from all over
the country that he is, indeed, bent on founding a new religion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bishop of Pasig and chair of the Episcopal
Commission on Social Communications Mylo Hubert Vergara, was attending a
meeting with Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles at the latter’s residence when
Duterte popped up at the Mergrande Ocean Resort where the annual convention is
being held.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the surprise and delight
of the media people present, President Duterte held a no-holds-barred impromptu
press conference, and said, “You are in Davao, you are all my guests, so I will
be generous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So fire away!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask me anything and I’ll give you scoops I
will not give to the stupid Manila media!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The first question, from Edwin Lopez of EWTN, was
“Why are you starting a new religion?” to which Duterte replied, “There is a
need for one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not satisfied with
the existing religions—they are all useless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>None of them can help the suffering of our people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Puro sila seremonya, kanta-kanta,
bibliya-bibliya!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Makain mo bang bibliya,
putang-ina!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only religious service
worth watching is Quiboloy’s—ang gaganda ng mga babae don, nakakalaway!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dapat yang mga pari, mag-switch na ke
Quiboloy, stop being hypocrites!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMYRW-mJEbs7DNZKqnui9_mgDsgHa2GJKRsyUpjIz3vsizZeOtGfjNHbmSAqdBOWS0sK4ntS-qb7wEl2nV8A20kI2YDad2CLt8AF5Lxh2z2AyIsjQFIH6qE-Fd7xiJNA8orhJnw/s1600/duterte+dailypedia+religion.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="308" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcMYRW-mJEbs7DNZKqnui9_mgDsgHa2GJKRsyUpjIz3vsizZeOtGfjNHbmSAqdBOWS0sK4ntS-qb7wEl2nV8A20kI2YDad2CLt8AF5Lxh2z2AyIsjQFIH6qE-Fd7xiJNA8orhJnw/s400/duterte+dailypedia+religion.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A follow up question was: “Would your founding a new
religion mean total war against the Catholic Church?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are always attacking the priests…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Duterte replied, “Eh sinong gusto mong
tirahin ko, mga Mormons? Suminga lang ako, patay na sila!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Siyempre mas malaking challenge na tirahin yang
mga Katoliko—may kato na, baliko pa!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are the powerful ones, and being powerful they can be oppressive
toward the people, sa totoo lang! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look,
all the Catholic nations have poverty as a major problem!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huwag kayong tatanga-tanga, mag-research
kayo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In countries where Catholics are a
majority, there is an unbridgeable gap between the rich and the poor!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A parish pastoral worker from Albay, John Paul
Gutierrez, asked, “How do you propose to start your new religion—isn’t it a
tedious process?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His reply:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I am the President of the Philippines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If any country boy can start a religion that
would become an international sensation, why not a President of a
republic?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can do what I want not only
because I have the power to do so, but because I have the passion for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kayo, kahit ang Pope niyo, hindi magawa iyan!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFu8sz4uqhL04l0Bxiko8_Pqmw8YFWoNvOecUnaGQI_5UdKHSj_q-W5-s1QgqSdSmmM-sYKpNFAVzon6zN2uInPzaFtwBYaGZcja1lcHoHmnPJ7ebXivzb0-sUnBppdoiGJIaT2Q/s1600/duterte+inc+marcos+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="440" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFu8sz4uqhL04l0Bxiko8_Pqmw8YFWoNvOecUnaGQI_5UdKHSj_q-W5-s1QgqSdSmmM-sYKpNFAVzon6zN2uInPzaFtwBYaGZcja1lcHoHmnPJ7ebXivzb0-sUnBppdoiGJIaT2Q/s320/duterte+inc+marcos+cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Follow up question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“But wouldn’t your founding a religion be a slap in the face of the
Iglesia ni Kristo who all voted for you?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Duterte grinned and said, “Ah, I love the Iglesia ni Kristo—they are not
an enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I intend to make them
a sister-religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yung sa akin, Iglesia
ni Digong.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sr. Everlyn Miramar, a nun
from St. Paul, stood up boldly and asked, “Will your new religion also have
nuns, sir?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Duterte snorted and said,
“Ay siyempre naman, sister, kung wala, sino na magpunas ng puwet ng mga
pari?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laughter followed, then Duterte
rebounded, “Joke lang Sister, wag mo siryosohin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Na-kyutan lang ako sa iyo. Hindi ko pa alam
kung magkaroon ng mga madre ang relihiyon ko, but I suppose they will be useful
for rehabilitating drug addicts, or as caregivers to politicians in the
departure area, you know, like Enrile, etc.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Minnie Agdeppa from the Diocese of Novaliches asked,
“Mr. President, how do you plan to win decent followers to your new religion
when you cannot keep your promise to clean your language?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without missing a beat, the president said,
“Why are you media people always criticizing my language?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s who I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s how I get things done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s how I got voted into office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero sa totoo lang, walang masama diyan sa
akin!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have foul language because I eat
durian for breakfast, lunch and dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What’s so immoral about that?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzrz0CD4iNY7Xm4oKpvZyFbH6wvCw1oofx50l51Xj4bgWxDP6lYOD6fEDoMgL0wyvD4HnJItu4oDfCOm0nqPLTa0d14hNVsBKTILs9vVPaCoqB1FuNYXTVtehONhBKv6eUYJWaQ/s1600/duterte+bible.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="301" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzrz0CD4iNY7Xm4oKpvZyFbH6wvCw1oofx50l51Xj4bgWxDP6lYOD6fEDoMgL0wyvD4HnJItu4oDfCOm0nqPLTa0d14hNVsBKTILs9vVPaCoqB1FuNYXTVtehONhBKv6eUYJWaQ/s320/duterte+bible.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Apolinario Samar, who works at the Pasig Diocesan
office, politely asked, “What will be the principal teaching of your religion,
sir?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Duterte replied, “You know. I
cannot rush these things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have to
give me time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am still waiting for inspiration,
maybe in six months it will come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
I am sure na sa relihiyon ko, walang bawal-bawal!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can do anything you want!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pero dapat meron ding Ten Commandments…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crowd speechlessly hung on to the
president’s word:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Siyempre you can’t
take that away from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was raised a
Catholic—ang nanay ko, rosary yan umaga, tanghali, gabi, para ako bumait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AjxUBoqn431k2tlX0kdgva-ZgdFZYgkhQyu3KJqKgW8LpjiZyRL0tna040oN2s1lPfBaM0P5AgSXyregl7ACa6BxeNjoBbrJYue7aCunMNN6r5h3Pdz1j0Txh3dCP5dQ6p2EIQ/s1600/duterte+boy+family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AjxUBoqn431k2tlX0kdgva-ZgdFZYgkhQyu3KJqKgW8LpjiZyRL0tna040oN2s1lPfBaM0P5AgSXyregl7ACa6BxeNjoBbrJYue7aCunMNN6r5h3Pdz1j0Txh3dCP5dQ6p2EIQ/s320/duterte+boy+family.jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duterte the boy. Photo courtesy of Pinterest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sabi niya sa akin nung bata pa ako, hindi pa
ako tuli non, ‘Panoorin mo yang Ten Commandments para maniwala ka sa
Diyos.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So pinanood ko sa sine, favorite
ko diyan yung nabiyak yung dagat, and the stupid Egyptians drowned. Because the
god of the Israelites was a smart god.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naniwala
nga ako sa diyos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, I have time for
one last question, hinintay na ako ni Honeylet, baka isipin non ka-date ko si
Mocha Uson.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A voice from the back row
asked, “Sir, may we have your Ten Commandments?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Duterte snapped, “Of course, I said you are
my guests, I’ll tell you everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here they are:<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am the Lodi your god.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thou shalt not have other Lodis before me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thou
shalt not speak the name of your Lodi in vain, because I am not a stupid god.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Honor
the Sabbath Day—kung wala kang pahinga, mamatay ka maaga.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Honor
thy father and thy mother—otherwise hindi ka nila pamanahan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thou
shalt not kill—puwera lang kung nanlaban.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thou
shalt not commit adultery—but it’s okay to kiss thy neighbor’s wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thou
shalt not steal anything below six million pesos—and don’t get caught, please.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thou
shalt not bear false witness against me—that’s fake news.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife—kill the husband first to legalize your
lust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods—unless
you’re Chinese.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The media people took selfies with the president on
his way out, but they admitted they were reluctant to file stories anywhere,
because one never knows when the president is joking or serious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The encounter, however, became the highlight
of the day at the convention whose theme is “Fake News and Journalism for
Peace.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As you may have noticed by now, dear readers, the
above news item is fake news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s
the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-60719459691146817292018-07-11T17:01:00.000+08:002018-07-20T13:36:07.641+08:00After ‘stupid god’, what?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS0l1YfSip4pt4ZBwKPvBkGsPu_tbJDMnJucQ1wDIFuO28P0AuU3z02EdvwBbmF6bfO9dOAZP4f66mSCXhX1qPYVCGOtWCFePOJ4Cu28O4PT4kHTZ7ZqrXThImLUCCIW6njMb8oQ/s1600/peter+ear.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS0l1YfSip4pt4ZBwKPvBkGsPu_tbJDMnJucQ1wDIFuO28P0AuU3z02EdvwBbmF6bfO9dOAZP4f66mSCXhX1qPYVCGOtWCFePOJ4Cu28O4PT4kHTZ7ZqrXThImLUCCIW6njMb8oQ/s1600/peter+ear.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">I’ve been asked repeatedly about my take on the
“stupid God” issue, and all I’d say was, “Maybe I’ll say it in one of my
columns.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Initially I dismissed the remark as I would his
typical outbursts—something issuing from a form of verbal diarrhea that the
president apparently has been suffering from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His foul language is legend by now and so what’s new?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bothering would be stooping to level of a
stupid remark—“Hindi na pinapatulan yan!”, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d say, and add that we can expect worse
pronouncements from him as long as he lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But when someone tried to drag me into voting for the “better shepherd”,
I said, Oops, time to speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of
just jumping into the fray, I think we should step back and examine where our
zeal is taking us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mr. Duterte’s “stupid God” remark disturbed the
believers’ beehive,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the bees, taking
offense, went abuzz with fervor—some more noisily than others, many inclined to
rabble rouse, and a few poised to sting with justifiable anger and
heart-rending prose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am not about to stop Christians who fight tooth
and nail to “defend our God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I honestly
believe all of them sincerely feel that it is what God wants them to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If militant types want to attack the
president with swords and clubs, whether in social media or the pulpit, I’m
okay with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when these zealous
fighters sneer, hoot, and call “cowards” other Christians for not joining them
in the combat zone, then they’re playing into the devil’s trap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s exactly what the devil wants, isn’t
it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See Satan licking his chops over
that!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing empowers the devil more
than a divided Church, and no one is more qualified as a collaborator of the
devil than the self-righteous believer himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We let the devil score when we idolize our shepherds
and pit them against one another: Francis vs. Benedict; Benedict vs. John Paul;
Archbishop This vs. Cardinal That.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
saddens me to see that in the midst of this “stupid god” hoopla, some people—
members of a praying community, at that—would compare Church leaders and cheer
those whose fighting stance is to their liking, and sneer at those who appeal
for sobriety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I admire Fr. So-and-So
for his guts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fr. Etc. is too soft,” is
a typical remark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Hey guys, are we
watching a boxing match here?) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We Catholics profess the same Credo, we share
fundamental beliefs, and the beauty of it is we are free to express and defend
our beliefs in an endless variety of ways and styles, all of which are valid,
given that we are proceeding from a place of Love—Love as our Lord Jesus
taught. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Look at the apostles: Peter in anger cut off the ear
of a Roman soldier, remember?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was
not heard from then, in Gethsemane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in
Golgotha, at the foot of the cross as Jesus hung dying, John was there, Peter
was not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This doesn’t mean one apostle
is better than the other, or that one is brave and the other is a coward; it
just shows we have been given different gifts as individual as our
fingerprints, and so we must trust that our Creator knows how to use them all
for His purpose.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuad-2GlqR4JIWSS67fbEph_bhGMXJ0aYDwd0v_AQFFKQgGP_VmfOVq0WLBkpp1zHZdKE0mMbgRlQgkd85lMyd3Fu-nypVx5PoItdpe-4QpnbR1I60UGLmUxTmMCe0EgM0exwaMw/s1600/john+foot.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="213" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuad-2GlqR4JIWSS67fbEph_bhGMXJ0aYDwd0v_AQFFKQgGP_VmfOVq0WLBkpp1zHZdKE0mMbgRlQgkd85lMyd3Fu-nypVx5PoItdpe-4QpnbR1I60UGLmUxTmMCe0EgM0exwaMw/s320/john+foot.jpeg" width="288" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Those who feel offended by Duterte’s “insulting our
God” and tend to react by hitting back may need to ask themselves if they
really believe anyone can insult God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is possible that they feel “offended”
because their belief in God is so fragile that it can be threatened by a
“stupid god” remark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it really God
who’s been insulted or just the God they think is God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And why say “our God” when there is only one
God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who bash God in anyway do it
because they do not know God, and if we Christians are truly doing as Christ
asks us to, shouldn’t we care enough to bring God to them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let us not bite the devil’s bait and be carried away
by the presidential fireworks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even at
prayer the devil comes to distract us, but we must hold on to God’s hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In dealing with this matter, let us balance
emotion and devotion with calm and an effective trust in God; turning our anger
into an inward look at ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Allow me to share an insight that came through years
of persevering in prayer even when I thought God was not listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may have known how competitive the media
profession is, how fierce professional jealousy can be, and how vicious some
practitioners could get to cling to the perks and power of position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After years of often being maligned, thought
of as ambitious, suspected of sowing intrigues, I would wring my mind dry
asking the Lord, Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Why, when all I
want is to serve You?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would cry, but still, no answer came.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just the pain inflicted by a silent God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I hung on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then one day, the
words crossed my mind, but I swear they didn’t come from me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Lord, please help me see what it is about
myself that is making these people sin by maligning me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want anyone to sin because of
me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those words changed my suffering to
inner peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because God finally
answered by opening my eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So it’s the same with this “stupid god” issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Mr. Duterte is bashing the Church, calling
us hypocrites, mocking our theology, and maligning our priests, instead of
bashing him back and calling him the nastiest sinner of all, shouldn’t we as
Church keep on praying and waiting in silence for God to show us what it is
about ourselves that is making him sin?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A silly remark should concern us, but not cause us
to panic and fall into a trap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the
great St. Teresa of Avila wrote in her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Autobiography</i>,
“Do we not know that Satan cannot stir without the permission of God?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the centuries, the Church has been
demonized over and over again, Dutertes have come and gone, and surely they
have done so with an omniscient God’s permission?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps in all humility we who claim to
belong to God’s Church should in a spirit of penance fast and pray, not only
for three days, but for as long as Love demands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-67744393923155182452018-06-27T09:55:00.000+08:002018-06-29T10:25:53.031+08:00Building, building, building<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">While we are all kept agog over
sensational headlines about continued killing of “nanlaban” suspects,
“anti-tambay” arrests, corruption in high places, Dengvaxia damage and denials,
the contentious TRAIN law and the rising cost of everything, politicians’
bickerings, celebrity squabbles, and trending presidential antics (just a
fortnight ago, it was a scandalous kiss in Korea, now it’s his “stupid God” remark),
China is still stealthily building, building, building fortresses on reefs in
our territory.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">In, our, territory!</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEoUgWGYelGI_GRd5CUSu2WnLzVbZ0-RKVdgXVMFBxKVKwrpvY3M0BeheQmupopcSPzuOSeMfBDz6Jqol3FL36gV6q6aOdrrM79gcMpyS0eWyZ42wEQgafpSIa6LGZUdh0qxyNQQ/s1600/PDI+zamora+reef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEoUgWGYelGI_GRd5CUSu2WnLzVbZ0-RKVdgXVMFBxKVKwrpvY3M0BeheQmupopcSPzuOSeMfBDz6Jqol3FL36gV6q6aOdrrM79gcMpyS0eWyZ42wEQgafpSIa6LGZUdh0qxyNQQ/s400/PDI+zamora+reef.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For more photos, visit: <a href="http://www.inquirer.net/specials/exclusive-china-militarization-south-china-sea"> http://www.inquirer.net/specials/exclusive-china-militarization-south-china-sea</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Photographs released exclusively by the
Philippine Daily Inquirer in February this year are alarming, to say the least,
and if they fail to make you seethe with righteous anger, chances are you’re
one of those ashamed to sing our national anthem at movie houses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The authenticated photos, taken from an
altitude of 1.5 km., clearly show such islands now studded with naval bases and
military installations, but sadly the expose could boast of only 41, 213
shares.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mocha Uson’s 5.3 million blog
followers could have done something to make a difference—if they only truly
cared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">According to the Asia Maritime
Transparency Initiative (AMTI), 2017 proved to be a bumper year for China’s
base building in the heavily disputed South China Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The three-kilometer runways for the three
biggest reefs—Kagitingan, Zamora, and Panganiban (which the UN-backed Permanent
Court of Arbitration in The Hague has ruled as belonging to the
Philippines)—were apparently ready for use as of November 15, 2017,
complemented by hangars, radars and high-frequency antennas, lighthouses,
missile shelters, and multi-story buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Photos of the smaller reefs Burgos, Calderon, Mabini, and McKennan
revealed the presence of helipads, observation and communication towers,
radomes, and wind turbines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
waters, the ubiquitous cargo ships (transporting construction materials), coast
guard patrolers, and military ships were photographed so clearly their ID
numbers were legible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“With its construction unrestrained,”
the report said, “China will soon have military bastions on Kagitingan Reef,
known internationally as Fiery Cross Reef; Calderon (Cuarteron), Burgos
(Gaven), Mabini (Johnson South), Panganiban (Mischief), Zamora (Subi) and
McKennan (Hughes) reefs from which to project its power throughout the region.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To see for yourself, go to: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.inquirer.net/specials/exclusive-china-militarization-south-china-sea#ixzz5Jb2LLm5S">http://www.inquirer.net/specials/exclusive-china-militarization-south-china-sea#ixzz5Jb2LLm5S</a></i>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqc94n1_JaRqHixsIgEiP7Yv1qnMBmF6eMx8AXbk1-dVys-YrLE4QiHiIqBCbz2XS_eCyo3jnU22sbZU1HLmcfWhXeCquHPJENB5fbLFED8tgnfRs88r40GqVTFDb1s45dB3s5g/s1600/west-philippine-sea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqc94n1_JaRqHixsIgEiP7Yv1qnMBmF6eMx8AXbk1-dVys-YrLE4QiHiIqBCbz2XS_eCyo3jnU22sbZU1HLmcfWhXeCquHPJENB5fbLFED8tgnfRs88r40GqVTFDb1s45dB3s5g/s400/west-philippine-sea.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For videos of what China is doing in disuted waters, go to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YPFGRkI4XQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YPFGRkI4XQ</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From the days when our biggest
territory-related problem was shooing away Chinese fishing vessels from Panatag
shoal and jailing the poachers for loading their dynamite equipped boats with
marine turtles, corals, and giant clams, China has certainly come a long
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1974 the Philippine government
built an airstrip on Pag-asa, the biggest island of the Kalayaan group; the
airstrip was the first ever constructed in the Spratly archipelago, and it was
big enough for use by C-130 transport planes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pag-asa then also boasted of a fully-armed army and marine detachment,
but as the winds of politics blew hither and thither, securing Pag-asa was
pushed down the priority list of succeeding administrations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, the Chinese fishermen continued to
brave the Philippine coast guard’s patrol boats and to doggedly harvest goodies
from our rich marine resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now,
looking at the photos of China’s military installations in the region—wouldn’t
you even suspect that those Chinese fishermen were actually spies? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I wouldn’t wonder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years back, we at the FOCAP (Foreign
Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines) were almost sure that the
correspondents from Xinhua News Agency, a nice, well-mannered husband-and-wife
tandem, were spies in disguise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
wouldn’t be impossible, we were told, that their hotel room was bugged, and
that they were also under oath to spy on each other!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s Chinese espionage for you—but, given
China’s determination to become the number one imperial world power, its
espionage methods have grown so sophisticated through the years that its cyber
espionage has been considered a threat to national security by their enemies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But lest we fear that we are the only
one being bullied by China’s powers-that-be, let us look at the bigger picture
in the hope to see the real root behind China’s land-grabbing binge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would you believe local authorities in China
bully even their own farmers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s
just one instance of farmers tearfully protesting land seizures and being
beaten with metal pipes by their own countrymen, filmed by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Al Jazeera</i>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBO8UL-INXA.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">China has also been eating up the
Himalayan borderland it shares with India—“bite by kilometer-size bite.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As reported in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wall Street Journal </i>in September 2014, there have been 1,171
Chinese transgressions from January 2012 to June 2014 along the 2,500-mile-long
border.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of India’s foremost
strategic thinkers, Brahma Chellaney, likens China’s land-grabbing strategy in
India to its tactics in the South China Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In India, China first sends civilians like herders, farmers, and grazers
to settle the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(In the Philippines,
these “civilians” would be the fishermen.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Once the civilians are in place, says the report, the People’s
Liberation Army comes in to provide protection, allowing them to establish a
more permanent presence in the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When a foothold is gained, Chellaney says China begins “cutting off
access to an adversary’s previously controlled territory and gradually
surrounding it with multiple civilian and security layers.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While no single action may be construed as
an alarming aggression, over time, the territorial grab expands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sounds familiar, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just last April, the Pentagon expressed
concern for the US over China’s reported massive land grabbing in Maldives,
which is in India’s backyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #212121;">“We have seen concerning developments in
Maldives as far as the Chinese influence is concerned,” said Joe Felter, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, in a report in the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Hindustan Times, </i>corroborating the
allegation made by a former foreign minister of Maldives, Ahmed Naseem, that
China was meddling in the island nation’s internal affairs and </span><span style="color: #212121;">appeared to be keen on building a base which one day may
house warships and submarines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maldives’
former president Mohamed Nasheed last February also revealed in an interview
with the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Times of India</i> </span><em><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1pt none; color: #333333; font-style: normal; padding: 0cm;">that
the Chinese who have taken control of 17 islands in the Maldives, are “</span></em><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;">talking about investing $ 40 million in
each of the islands but we don’t really know what is the purpose for that.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9cb9c; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And who
could forget how China in 1950 invaded Tibet for its natural resources, seized
the Potala Palace for its treasures, and drove Tibet’s spiritual leader, the
Dalai Lama, out of their sacred land and into exile, in order to militarize the
strategically important border with India?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Dalai Lama—speaking of the atrocities the Chinese invaders inflicted
upon his people then—told me in 1981, when we met in Bali, Indonesia, “No other
people on earth could be more charming than the Chinese, just as none could
match them in their brutality.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whys
and wherefores of that land-grab could fill volumes, and it could show us that
China will stop at nothing to expand its territories—plans for which at present
include the Moon and Mars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9cb9c; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Remarkable
strides in China’s space program seem to show that the Chinese Communist Party
is bent on making its mark on the space race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 2013, president Xi Jinping promised his people that China will send a
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">taikonaut</i> (Chinese astronaut) to the
moon by the 2030s, but now they are speaking of sending colonies to the moon
and Mars, targeting to beat the US and Russia to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those planets are no man’s territory as far
as China is concerned—thus, the first one who gets there gets to own it, and to
make maps to subsequently prove their ownership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>China announced last April that it would send
late this year a lunar probe that would conduct biological experiments
unprecedented in space history, such as planting potatoes and cultivating
silkworm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From military installations on reclaimed
islands in the South China Sea to planting potatoes in the moon—what’s China up
to?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9cb9c; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A 73-year
old Party official, aerospace engineer and head of the Chinese lunar
exploration program, Ye Peijan, sums it up when asked (at the CCP’s annual
plenary sessions in Beijing last year) why China is going to the moon: “The
universe is an ocean, the moon is the Diaoyu Islands, Mars is Huangyan Island.
If we don't go there now even though we’re capable of doing so, then we will be
blamed by our descendants. If others go there, then they will take over, and
you won’t be able to go even if you want to. This is reason enough.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9cb9c; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Does
that sound Confucian or confusing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Diaoyu Islands Ye Peijan speaks of refers to Senkaku in Japan, and Huangyan
Island is Panatag Shoal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why Ye should
cite such names when the topic is lunar occupation mirrors the CCP’s stand that
China goes into space not as a matter of national pride or scientific
achievement, but simply to beat their competitors in wresting control of new
land from other nations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9cb9c; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Where
does that leave us now—supposedly God-fearing people who love fiestas in a
country whose president calls their God “stupid” and is playing dangerous
footsies with China?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It's more obvious than obvious that it's not just <i>siopao </i>or <i>hopia </i>factories China has been building in territory that is legally ours. </span>War is out of the
question—our weapons are but blowguns compared to China’s, but how can we
really rely on diplomacy with a control-obsessed Leninist leadership that acknowledges
no authority above itself? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9cb9c; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Many see
our situation as helpless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But are we,
really, that helpless?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are times
to go down on our knees and invoke the mercy of our God, the One who led His
people out of slavery and parted the Red Sea for their safe passage <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Exodus 14:21-31)</i>— the same Living God
who sent fire upon Elijah’s sacrifice in Mt. Carmel for all to see that his God
is God <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(1 Kings 18:16-45).</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of their best intentions, our politicians
are never saviors; even the most brilliant among them cannot stand up to a
fire-breathing dragon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we have God
and His promise to rely on:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If my
people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. President, call me stupid, but I do
believe this, with all my being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s
the truth. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-31908827550568025272018-06-13T08:57:00.000+08:002018-06-29T08:57:38.429+08:00Kiss Kiss Bang Bang<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEURRpeE_GJC68hXiZFDZnUiDndfnqw69OOf_2sukHKzFz4Mz8uOQwDD9LUv_lVb9JYyfbLH_yerlb7oXS8dhv7v5GXmHTUjDD0i1I2spOQde6dXDn2w1nv0rbv88er1hyphenhyphenMJ2TQ/s1600/kiss+bang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEURRpeE_GJC68hXiZFDZnUiDndfnqw69OOf_2sukHKzFz4Mz8uOQwDD9LUv_lVb9JYyfbLH_yerlb7oXS8dhv7v5GXmHTUjDD0i1I2spOQde6dXDn2w1nv0rbv88er1hyphenhyphenMJ2TQ/s400/kiss+bang.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After kissing a married woman on the lips in public,
what will Chief Executive Digong do next?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I didn’t get the details when I first heard of that “historic kiss” over
the radio, and so I dismissed it as just another Du30 gimmick.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He was probably fishing for approval from the
OFWs during his visit to South Korea, so what’s new?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But when station after station rattled on about
“the kiss”, and I learned soon after that the kiss was on the lips, and that
the woman was married, and that our showman-of-a-president demanded the kiss in
return for a scandalous book, I thought, “Uh-oh, that’s material for a my next
column.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And then came the videos, and the blasts from social
media, pro and con.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to watch the
video before I could judge the act (without being judgmental).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw the lady’s reluctance, the president’s
insistence, and the kiss which, truth to tell, wasn’t intimate enough to spread
a virus, but why did it go viral just the same?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CNN,
BBC, Time, CBS, Washington Post</i> among others think it was newsworthy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The head of state who is known for getting
into hot water because of his mouth has done it again—this time not because of
cussing but because of kissing; caused not by a joke, but by a joke of a
kiss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The uproar was like thunder rolling from east to
west, north to south—why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because—as the
song goes, “You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a
sigh… The fundamental things apply, as time goes by…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A kiss is a kiss is a kiss, and a kiss on
the lips is big time in our culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See
how a lips-to-lips kiss caps our wedding ceremonies, where the groom waits
until the priest/minister says “You may now kiss the bride” before lifting her
veil and kissing her lips?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly you
have this mischievous president soliciting a kiss from somebody else’s
wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What the ….!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would have constituted sexual harassment
in the corporate world!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But besides the fact of the kiss, it’s the public
reaction to the president’s intention that needs examination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The audience shrieked and hooted their
approval of the act—why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it okay
that their country’s leader turned a kiss into live entertainment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it more important to be “made happy” than
to be made proud of your well-mannered president?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True to form, Digong said of his critics,
“Inggit lang kayo!” while his spokesman said that kiss is an “act of
endearment” to show the president does love the OFWs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(OmG, roll your eyes and chuckle, it’s Mediocrity
Unlimited.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m sorry for the lady—Bea Kim, married to a Korean
national, mother of two—who seemed to think she had no choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were two Filipinas on stage reportedly;
the first one offered her cheek which the president kissed without a fuss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Bea, upon Digong’s insistence, relented
and allowed him to do as he’d wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s what’s pathetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well,
maybe she is not old enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the
president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could have said, smiling,
“No way, Mr. President, my husband will divorce me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sa pisngi na lang po!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or she could have given her hand to be kissed
instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder what Mr. Kim feels
now, or how that viral video of his wife being kissed by a notoriously
womanizing president will affect their marital life from now on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also wonder what Sarah Duterte or Honeylet or
ex-wife Elizabeth think of it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or what
Kitty feels among her schoolmates talking behind her back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s even more regrettable is how Mrs. Kim
apparently felt obliged to defend the president’s temerity by telling media
that there’s “no malice” in that kiss which “didn’t mean anything except to
entertain and make other Filipinos in the gathering happy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Okay, “no malice” then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is anyone asking about the choice of the
book the president gave away to Overseas Filipino Workers in South Korea?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Altar of Secrets: Sex, Money and Politics in
the Philippine Catholic Church”—a pathetic rehash of the author’s previously
published articles which didn’t quite make the cut due to its glaring lack of
depth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why did the president choose to
spread this “book” instead of giving the overseas Pinoys something really
useful and constructive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like maybe a
coffee table book about the beauty of the Philippines to show off to their
non-Filipino friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe a volume
on Workers’ Rights to educate and empower the OFWs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or perhaps an Etiquette Book that may help them
deal smoothly with their employers and other people they meet abroad?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why of all books, this one?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No malice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Giving that book to people and then asking for a kiss in return—hello,
presidential advisers, do you love your country?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like giving rotting fish for people to
eat and then ordering them to pay a steep price for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in the name of “making them happy”? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And so the fuss over the kiss went on, overshadowing
much more important issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the same
day of “the kiss”, June 6, Beijing must have bristled as a US military ship—the
USNS Milinocket, which can transport troops, boasts of a helipad and has
loading ramps for military vehicles—was reported to have docked in Palawan,
which faces the South China Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On top
of that, two nuclear-capable US bombers flew near Spratly Islands, in the wake
of the accusation by US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis of China’s “intimidation
and coercion” in the South China Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do
Pinoys care about that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the same day, a 64-year-old Catholic priest, Fr.
Rey Urmeneta of St. Michael the Archangel parish in Calamba was on his way to a
church meeting when two would be assassins shot him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sustained two gunshot wounds but survived
the attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More shootings: also on June
6, police gunned down two suspected robbers in separate incidents in Cavite—the
first was one of two motorcycle-riders who tried to steal from a convenience
store in Silang; the second was a trespasser in a subdivision in Tagaytay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Because we Pinoys love circuses, we seem to have
become deaf to the gunshots around us, or even to the threat of war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A kissing here, a shooting there—made me
title this piece “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, although this has nothing to do with
the Hollywood black comedy bearing that name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d like to echo the women’s sentiments during their Independence Day
march last June 12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enraged over the
kissing incident in South Korea, the marchers—bearing a huge streamer that said
“Babae Ako, Lumalaban!”—protested Duterte’s “misogynistic” ways and challenged
him to step down. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recalling his
unabashed admission of his womanizing, his rape jokes, and his order for
soldiers to shoot rebel women in their private parts, the over a thousand women
said “We have had enough”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For your own good, Mr. President, enough of
kiss kiss bang bang—and do be careful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Next time you kiss a woman in public, they might just take you down with
a bang.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth.<span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-90736181984874417962018-05-02T14:50:00.000+08:002018-05-05T14:54:45.092+08:00Faith by numbers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4RJa4yfYeb7pYm4UKAMxn2LwlyyZsvTu8gAQY30azgfmEMnDaS_HRpeqIPGJZWsks013dhnsh4Z_zGQ4U2itaD8fyqANgY2w4VUpUSct0NS-8AYqev1AAnPsVD3ME9pWc91LcQ/s1600/novena+laptop.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4RJa4yfYeb7pYm4UKAMxn2LwlyyZsvTu8gAQY30azgfmEMnDaS_HRpeqIPGJZWsks013dhnsh4Z_zGQ4U2itaD8fyqANgY2w4VUpUSct0NS-8AYqev1AAnPsVD3ME9pWc91LcQ/s400/novena+laptop.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">I don’t understand why supposedly
prayerful, polite, educated, civilized persons would forward chain messages (via
Messenger) that urge you to pray, and then to pass on the same prayer to a
number of people in order to be divinely rewarded. Here’s just one example: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">“jesus christ is giving you mystery to
take care of your family, you will give good news after 29 minutes nag try ako
totoo, swerte daw ang makabasa nito kya pinasahan kita. Panginoon tulungan mo
kami na malutas ang aming mga problema, bukas andyan na yong good news. Please
sacrifice huwag mo tong buburahin hanggat di mo naipapasa sa 25 na tao. start
now.” There’s also one that urges you to
make a wish and then pray just one Hail Mary, but it ends with “send this
novena to 30 persons including me. Don’t
break the chain, you wish will not be granted.”
And there are so many others similar in purpose and in tone.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There’s no doubt the sender means well
(I close my eyes to the ridiculous claims), but I can’t help wondering: why the
particular numbers 25, 29, 30, or sometimes 18, 9 12, et al.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have the superstitions about numbers crept
into our consciousness, too, like for instance the Chinese?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or is there something about their beliefs
that needs to be “adjusted” by proper catechism? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A broker friend of mine complains that
“It’s very difficult to sell condo units with numbers that end in “4” because,
as she rightly concludes, majority of condo buyers are Chinese investors, and
that is also why condominium developers build high rises without a fourth
floor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, their elevators skip the
fourth floor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Chinese believe “4” is
an “unlucky number” because it sounds like the word for “death”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My broker friend observes “Nag-uunahan yung
mga intsik sa units with number 8 because for them it’s a very lucky number. In
fact the units on the 8<sup>th</sup> floor sell fastest, and sometimes even at
a higher price.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interesting to note
that many elevators also skip the 13<sup>th</sup> floor, “13” being believed as
an unlucky number, this time by Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is reported that the United States
loses about a billion dollars on a Friday, the 13<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The normally acquisitive American wouldn’t
want to make a major purchase—car, house, boat, etc.—or sign a major contract
on a Friday that falls on the 13<sup>th</sup> of the month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It’s bad luck”, a thought that has magnified
into a phobia that has seemed to affect the rest of the civilized world,
including numerologists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One numerologist I know is a devout
Catholic, but who sincerely, really sincerely believes there are “auspicious
dates” for making big decisions or moves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He once cautioned me against flying on a certain date I had decided to
fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t listen to him because, as
I teasingly spoke his language, “I have my own superstitions about
numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No number is a bad number for
me; they all bring me good luck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Try
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pick any number from 1 to 10.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He said, “Four, the dreaded
number.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easy, I quipped: four ends of
the cross, proof of God’s love for us, reaching out to all four corners of the
earth, east, west, north, south.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Eight?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Infinity—on and on and on, like the love of
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Six?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary, the six-point star Star of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Three?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Indwelling Trinity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Five?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus’ wounds on the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I interrupted our little game by playfully
volunteering related information using his own science: “Our house stands on a
rock, supported by 12 concrete posts—12 apostles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the street level to living room entrance
you climb 39 steps—the 39 lashes Jesus suffered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our house is a simple box—four corners for
the ground floor plus 4 corners for the second floor equals eight corners,
infinity, remember?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our street address
is number 41:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“4” represents M (as in
Mary), the 13<sup>th</sup> letter of the alphabet, 1+3=4; and “1” represents J
(as in Jesus or Joseph), the 10<sup>th</sup> letter of the alphabet,
1+0=1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You want more of my
superstitions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So don’t try to scare me
with yours!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It would be nice to study biblical
numerology but really, I believe we don’t need such knowledge to rise above the
petty threats of chain messages, or to brush aside the sincere but unnecessary
anxieties of our “psychic” friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just
as all roads lead to Rome, for me all numbers lead to Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I can embrace as His will whatever
comes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-34622208108085199102018-04-18T14:41:00.000+08:002018-05-05T14:42:33.690+08:00Lost in fake news<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHfV8wrWERkTuJ5Bc8GI86tNFmkuSUmnf357iHWSmEcKYsIfVnjIgTbleVMtP8-wGWqild35_cAM7ZTwU6XS5zcMcovE2BMX1EkeyC1VL1g7DsQET9ttRTmoFI5zcRnS-xpQCew/s1600/fake+news.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="266" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHfV8wrWERkTuJ5Bc8GI86tNFmkuSUmnf357iHWSmEcKYsIfVnjIgTbleVMtP8-wGWqild35_cAM7ZTwU6XS5zcMcovE2BMX1EkeyC1VL1g7DsQET9ttRTmoFI5zcRnS-xpQCew/s400/fake+news.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Question
1:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Why would people—often brilliant
ones—create fake news?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Question
2:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would supposedly intelligent and
educated people believe and spread fake news?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Question
3:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone spreads fake news in
social media with the intention of “informing everybody”—does it mean he or she
may be straying from The Truth?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Answer
1: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People create fake news to gain power
and to make money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus defines “fake news” as “false
stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media,
usually created to influence political views or as a joke.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wikipedia adds:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Fake news is a type of yellow journalism or
propaganda that consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes spread via
traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with the intent to mislead in order to damage
an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically, often
using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines…” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And from Pope Francis’ Message (for World
Communications Day 2018): “…fake news refers to the spreading of disinformation
on line or in the traditional media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
has to do with false information based on non-existent or distorted data meant
to deceive and manipulate the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Spreading fake news can serve to advance specific goals, influence
political decisions, and serve economic interests.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s
pretty clear—fake news generators aim to gain power by influencing public
opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, they make money
twice—from the client who hires them to do the job, and from the so-called
internet click revenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fake news
fabricators use websites to run fake news, and these websites accept
advertisers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each time a reader clicks
on an ad, money comes in for the website creator. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fake news creators are experts at making
sensational headlines or “clickbaits”—for example, “Pope endorses Trump”—to
attract readers “who want to know the truth”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lies are big business, you see?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Answer
2:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even supposedly intelligent and
educated people like some lawyers and doctors and university professors may
unwittingly become purveyors of fake news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>People have a conscious desire for true information, but due to carelessness
or personal bias, they are prone to consume—and spread—false information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Messages may appeal to people because they
respond to their own desires or prejudices, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">t</b>hus they not only accept such messages on faith, but also forward
them without verification.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Classic
examples of these are fake news that either praise or lambast political
candidates, dignitaries. and celebrities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
is called the “illusory truth effect” also plays a huge part in the propagation
of fake news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recent research in psychology
reveals that exposure to fake stories leaves a subtle impression each
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experiments prove that each time
we receive a forwarded false story on Facebook, and then receive the same
multiple times from more friends and friends of friends, the story grows more
familiar and that familiarity, according to the experts, casts the illusion of
truth: “The illusory truth effect comes to play when we hear or read fake news
claims repeated, no matter how ridiculous or illogical they sound.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember that law of propaganda attributed to
the Nazi Joseph Goebbels: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the
truth.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A piece of fake news is a lie,
so….?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Answer
3:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, someone who spreads fake news in social
media, even with the intention of “informing everybody”, may be straying from
The Truth because he/she has become so anxious, contemptuous, angry, and
emotionally fired up that he/she loses sight of what is good and doesn’t bother
anymore to discern the data received in the light of Christ’s teachings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(That’s what you get for squandering your
hours on social media). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pope Francis
says “The tragedy of disinformation is that it discredits others, presenting
them as enemies, to the point of demonizing them and fomenting conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fake news is a sign of intolerant and
hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is the end result of untruth.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
you’ve been dragged into participating in this fake news thing, is there an
easy fix to the problem?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is correct </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">to
see it as a problem because one who is lost in the world of fake news has a
divided heart. There is a sure fix but it may not be that easy: abstain from
social media and reconnect with The Truth “I am the truth…” (John 12:6) until
He makes you whole again.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">And that’s the
truth.</span></div>
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And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-8351002180558894452018-03-21T14:30:00.000+08:002018-05-05T14:36:36.358+08:00‘Walang forever’ is fake news<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7CyAm41N_mnAZFcuLyleijdgWJ_y0QFbrex2jDYg1Q5y-f0OT3FVOsHxxx-r7xSBbUB_SVEXbljF3pd3PUYBfNoAeorxoZEc2u-whrkG_Bw5kpsfLr7xenJ5J9wY3-FPR1UJoA/s1600/PAMPHLET+Louis-Zelie-Martin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="580" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7CyAm41N_mnAZFcuLyleijdgWJ_y0QFbrex2jDYg1Q5y-f0OT3FVOsHxxx-r7xSBbUB_SVEXbljF3pd3PUYBfNoAeorxoZEc2u-whrkG_Bw5kpsfLr7xenJ5J9wY3-FPR1UJoA/s400/PAMPHLET+Louis-Zelie-Martin.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Isn’t
it ironic that on March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph—family man par
excellence who chose not to divorce Mary, the mother of Jesus—the divorce bill
was approved on its third and final reading by Congress?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Officially known as House Bill 7303 or “An
Act Instituting Absolute Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage in the
Philippines”, the bill was voted on 134-57.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">To date, the Philippines and the Vatican are the only states where
divorce is illegal, and Filipino Catholics take pride in that.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">But with a vote of 134 vs. 57… who knows what
Senate will say?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Filipinos
are a family-loving people, we celebrate births and birthdays, we respect life,
we love wedding anniversaries and happily-ever-after movies, and we truly
believe that “walang forever” is fake news, manufactured by the broken
hearted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is forever, and with the
relics of St. Therese of Lisieux in our midst (since January 12) until May 2018,
we may yet be inspired to imitate her parents, St. Zelie and St. Louis, to help
us form virtuous spouses who would love their children enough to rule out
divorce as an escape from marital trials—and yes, stay together, forever. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Church did not make Louis and Zelie Saints because their daughter is a Saint;
rather, the Church acknowledges that their daughter became a Saint because she
was raised by saintly parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
Therese wrote “Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just
what God wants us to be”, she must have had her parents in mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Before
they met, both Zelie and Louis had wanted the religious life—he as a monk and
she as a nun—but God wanted something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So they met (curiously, on a bridge) and barely four months later got
married on July 12, 1858; he was 34, she was 26.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, with their consuming desire for
sanctity, Louis and Zelie decided they would, while married, live a “celibate”
life together—but God didn’t allow that either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A priest soon advised them to do as married people normally do, have
children, and raise them for God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
obeyed the priest, but prayed for sons with the noble intention of offering
them to the Lord as priests—but again, God had other plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had nine children, and the only two boys
God took back in their infancy, along with two girls in their childhood,
leaving the couple five girls who grew up into adulthood and became nuns, all
of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For decimating all of their
dreams, did Zelie and Louis balk at God’s alternatives?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, they would go with the flow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Although
their respective crafts and businesses kept Louis and Zelie busy, they were
never too busy for their children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zelie
would set aside her lace-making for two hours to “have a dinner party” with the
girls and their dolls, and Louis would likewise play along, saying “I am a big
child with my children.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike the
other businessmen of their day, Louis and Zelie refused to open shop on
Sundays, a day reserved exclusively for worship and enjoyment with the
family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Martins’ devotional
practices included early morning Mass daily, family prayers said regularly, and
spiritual reading of favorites like “The Imitation of Christ” and biographies
of French Saints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In May, they would
surround the statue of Our Lady of the Smile with plants and flowers in keeping
with the Catholic tradition of devoting the month to Mary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They would also go on pilgrimages—Louis
visiting local churches and shrines on foot, and Zelie to Lourdes by train when
she suffered from breast cancer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
death of four of their nine children, while painful for the God-fearing
parents, were to become tragedies that intensified their love for each
other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of wallowing in their
shared grief, Louis and Zelie poured out their affection on the surviving
children, all girls: Marie, 12; Pauline, 11; Leonie, 9; Celine, 3; and the
new-born, blonde and blue-eyed Marie Therese Francoise, who would after a
hundred years come to be known as St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower of
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">About
the pain of losing her children to death, Zelie would write in one of her
letters: “<span style="background: white; color: #262626;">When I closed the eyes
of my dear little children and when I buried them, I felt great pain, but it
was always with resignation. I didn’t regret the sorrows and the problems I had
endured for them. Several people said to me, ‘It would be better to never have
had them.’ I can’t bear that kind of talk. I don’t think the sorrows and
problems could be weighed against the eternal happiness of my children. So they
weren’t lost forever. Life is short and full of misery. We’ll see them again in
Heaven.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in another letter, Zelie
summed up the essence of parenthood: </span>“When we had our children, our
ideas changed somewhat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We lived only
for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were all our happiness,
and we never found any except in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In short, nothing was too difficult, and the world was no longer a
burden for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, our children were
a great compensation, so I wanted to have a lot of them in order to raise them
for Heaven.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perhaps
this is one value to be learned from the fourth visit of the relics of St.
Therese of the Child Jesus in the Philippines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Returning to our shores at a time when we are losing our children due to
disasters, human traffickers, war, or a contentious vaccine, could Therese be
hinting that we befriend and imitate her parents so that we may also cherish
and raise our children as gifts from a loving God? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Relics
bring the presence of Saints in our midst. No doubt there will be more stories
of miracles or favors granted during the six-month duration of St. Therese’s
relics’ visit in our country; churches again will overflow with people pleading
for succor, even those who hardly go to church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As we queue up to kiss or touch these holy remains and pray for favors
through the Saints’ intercession, may we realize that our Church presents
Saints to us not only for our edification or comfort but more so for our
imitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what if we do not receive
the miracle we pray for?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, we take
a cue from St. Zelie Martin who, dying of cancer, went on pilgrimage to Lourdes
(France), praying to be cured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Denied
her request, she wrote in a letter:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The
Blessed Mother didn’t cure me in Lourdes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What can you do, my time is at an end, and God wants me to rest elsewhere
other than on earth.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
faith that does not hinge on miracles but aims for surrender to God’s will—we
can bring ourselves to ask that from God through Sts. Zelie and Louis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides lobbying against divorce, perhaps
there is little or nothing else we can do to sway our pro-divorce lawmakers’
thinking to ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not want
divorce, but if worse comes to worst and it is passed into law we will in
complete trust continue to be docile to God’s, persevering in marriage and
parenthood, and like Zelie and Louis Martin, focused on “raising children for
heaven”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because we know that deep
within our hearts, God has planted the seed of forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-35918819092697671172018-02-21T14:17:00.000+08:002018-05-05T14:18:06.285+08:00Clean our souls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2cpYfEcrZIPxJ_kRBEEg7L-7ZCrAi0wEIckM22eeiiLJAEOUiAm2lSug1JkRixD11M7VRGvzwDXa_5BhdovVnvWFOZQeqsWJv_rDAYR4xhIZEuSBtL3GQYOFhMIJ93d6FGyo5vA/s1600/leper.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2cpYfEcrZIPxJ_kRBEEg7L-7ZCrAi0wEIckM22eeiiLJAEOUiAm2lSug1JkRixD11M7VRGvzwDXa_5BhdovVnvWFOZQeqsWJv_rDAYR4xhIZEuSBtL3GQYOFhMIJ93d6FGyo5vA/s400/leper.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Health
is wealth—it is true.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Ask those who have
lost it, and you’ll know how sickness reduces one to a pathetic level of
poverty that’s worse than mere economic want.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">That is why when we are blessed with good health we should do our best
to preserve it by using moderation in everything we do: no overeating,
over-drinking, overworking, over-playing, over-worrying—no over-anything.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">But there are those who—over confident of
their “great health” and “fantastic immune system”—dismiss sound </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">health advice; when they finally fall ill and
are put on a diet they would continue indulging their appetites, reasoning that
“Me gamot naman eh!” (There are medicines anyway!).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">This attitude afflicts many people whether
they are learned or not, rich or poor, male or female, clergy or consecrated
persons.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Then, when science or their
doctors give up on them, they run to Padre Pio, or buy a pilgrimage to Lourdes,
or light candles in some other popular shrine—begging for miracles.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">I actually know of a few terminally ill
persons who zealously did so, only to die without receiving the miracle they
prayed for.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">It is sad to see them die
with eyes open and mouth gaping wide, still hoping for healing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
healing of the leper by Jesus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Mark 1:
40-45)</i> is a story with many layers to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Usually, we see only the level that is readily visible, and that’s the
kind of miracle people are wont to pray for—instant healing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But isn’t it rather disrespectful to live
carelessly—apart from Jesus—and then to ask Him to free us from the disastrous consequences
of our carelessness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, of course, unjust,
but we Christians are taught that there is also God’s mercy to beg for, and so
we go down on our knees and try to feel sorry for our sins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Like
the leper we ask Jesus to “clean me”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike
the leper, our skin may be clean but our souls may not be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the leper’s skin is filthy but his
soul is pure—who can say?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note how he
recognizes the Lord’s power, aware of his own deplorable condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so the leper says, “If you wish, you can
make me clean.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Humble in his
helplessness he leaves it entirely up to Jesus to make him whole again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When
we ask God to heal our bodies, why not first <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">implore</b> Him to help us clean our souls?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so we humbly say, as the leper does, “If
you wish…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-20125520863786716002018-02-07T13:35:00.000+08:002018-05-05T13:40:12.358+08:00An open letter to my daughter, the nun <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXGKiUwo4-t9wNndFzJCNkENB7917OIdsPwlAXKRDaW85QE6IIupZ3rgmiEoqi5joeVafI0LSAutFxsm4mWs3uxg8Bq58ERmgiANaS1F3hbBOr7TofvwUtEtfp4dghtaE78UVSg/s1600/nun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXGKiUwo4-t9wNndFzJCNkENB7917OIdsPwlAXKRDaW85QE6IIupZ3rgmiEoqi5joeVafI0LSAutFxsm4mWs3uxg8Bq58ERmgiANaS1F3hbBOr7TofvwUtEtfp4dghtaE78UVSg/s400/nun.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">My
dearest daughter:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Let me begin this
letter with a plea for pardon.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">I am
aware that what I am about to say may sting you, and yet in conscience I
believe that my silence might hurt you more.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">I have spent countless nights turning these thoughts over and over in my
head—specifically since last Christmas when for a few days we had the privilege
of having you at home with us and enjoying all those family reunions and
parties—agonizing over how I could share with you my observations without
sounding like a meddler.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">I do not know
how it happened but after you had gone and life went back to normal, bits and
pieces of those holiday moments with you would flash back to mind, very much
like a silent movie trailer challenging me to listen to what was left unsaid.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Strangely
I would catch myself seeing you not just as a nun but also as a daughter I had
given up for good, for God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I
would see through your religious habit the tomboyish grade-schooler, the spunky
papa’s girl, the teen-ager beginning to notice boys and scare them away with
her high IQ, the budding young woman we had hoped to give us brilliant
grandchildren in time, and the radiant “bride of Christ” crowned with roses on
her “wedding day.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the women’s lib
generation would say: “You’ve come a long way, baby!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe your mom is just getting old and
worrisome, but I cannot help singing to you along with Diana Ross your own
favorite song, “Do you know where you’re going to?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
you are going, my daughter, is my rightful concern, too, in spite of the
security you enjoy within the convent walls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Your being a nun creates expectations in others, whether you like it or
not—expectations which, by the nature of your vocation, you may not just take
for granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The public expects you to
be different—because they believe you to be several notches above us in virtue
or holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are aware of this, as
your numerous anecdotes about receiving special treatment from strangers
reveal. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We, your family, have our own
expectations, too, that in the spirit of fairness must not be ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like all others, rightly or wrongly we do
believe you are somehow morally superior to us, after all, you have “given up
everything” for God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a consecrated
person, do you not feel obliged, for love of God, to be what people expect and
believe you to be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And does not God have
expectations of you as well? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
hope you will not take offense at my temerity, but for now I do not want to
call you “Sister”; instead I just want to think of you as Nina, my daughter who
happens to be a nun. I as the woman who brought you to this world feel morally
obliged to speak out now, for I do believe God has expectations of me,
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may not have a Ph. D. as you do,
but child, if your two doctorate degrees teach you to dismiss as grumblings the
observations of one who has given birth to and raised six children, then I will
not think twice about twisting your ear so you can hear your mother ask, “Do
you know where you’re going to?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
a much younger nun, you were a perfect blessing to us, I’d dare say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were much easier to get along with, for
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were a model of congeniality
and humility for all of us; your nephews and nieces adored you and listened
eagerly to your bible stories; your cousins sought your advice; even our house
help revered you as you would always volunteer to do the dishes, sweep the
floor or change the curtains while vacationing with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your father and I secretly felt very proud of
you as we did not have any doubts anymore that you were in the place God had
called you to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But last Christmas, I
sensed a disconnect between that young nun and the 45-year old “Superiora” you
are now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What bothers me is you seem
unaware of the effects your ways now have on others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, do you care at all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Take,
for example, that time when, besides the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lechon
paksiw</i> and other holiday take-home food you had been given, you asked for
the unopened bags of chips and chocolates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Did you not notice the furtive glances from those at the table as
you—loading them into a huge bag—were saying “Walang ganito sa kumbento eh!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was quiet lest you think I was depriving
you of a little luxury, but I was thinking, “My child, if they don’t give you
junk food in the convent, there must be a good reason for it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It alarms me as your mother to realize that
your appetite for such “goodies” has made you forgetful of your doctor’s
warning about the threat of diabetes—and your very own concern about weight
gain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
also noticed something in your conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While it was good that you sounded very well informed about world news—and
your nieces and nephews said <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you were
“cool” to be abreast of internet trends and social media—I missed the way you
used to make us see mundane affairs in the light of the gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was something only you in the family could do—lead us to the Lord through your
insights as a daughter of the Church. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years
ago I had felt sure your higher studies, your travels abroad, your interaction
with anointed men, and your assignments to important posts would make you an
even better story-teller, enriching our lives and drawing people closer to the
Lord, but last Christmas I saw that it did not happen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point you even expressed
dissatisfaction over the homily of a bishop. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I had been blind (and therefore could not
see your religious habit), I could swear I was just listening to a college
professor who may not even be Catholic at all! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt sad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
as a mother also felt sad for your siblings when you acted disappointed since
none of them could accommodate your request for a ride back to your
convent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know they had done that for
you willingly before, but people’s needs change, and so do their priorities,
and it upset me that you, Sister Nina, were too insensitive to empathize with
them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They now have growing families,
with countless familial duties to cope with, but because they—not even your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kuya</i>—could not directly beg off and risk
displeasing you, they had to rely on me, your mother, to plead for your
consideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I suggested you take
a taxi instead, and you snapped, “Such a small favor to ask, and no one can
help?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know I’m afraid to take taxis!”
I seethed inside and managed to stifle a curt “Afraid?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So where is your God?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That night I couldn’t sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered what traumatic thing you had suffered
that made you dread taxi rides; you used to take taxis, jeepneys, buses, and
tricycles without fuss before you entered the convent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Your
religious habit opens many doors for you—you know how our people hold priests
and nuns in high esteem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People believe
you are “malakas kay Lord” and count on your “hotline to God” to obtain favors for
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But not all of those whom you help
are poor, and those who are not have rewarded your friendship and intercession
with gifts only the well-off can afford—like iPads, gadgets, branded bags and
shoes, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Has this gotten into your
head?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subtly ignited a sense of
entitlement in you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or am I just guilty
of inordinately taking your religious vows more seriously than you are?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nina, my child, forgive me if I have been too
harsh on you, but I only wish to let you know that with what I have seen and
heard of you now, I am missing the young nun<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>we all knew many years ago who by her purity and simplicity spoke to us
of a divine reality to strive for in this life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have a few more years left before I join your father in the
afterlife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray you will look for that
young “bride of Christ” and find her still alive in the core of your being,
because when I am finally reunited with your father, I am sure he will ask
about you; I do not want to have to tell him, “I am sorry I lost her.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-35100787607116571572018-01-24T12:11:00.000+08:002018-05-05T12:11:46.450+08:00How do we solve the problem of Duterteeeeee?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVvmKxB_cQkz_86GYtmzWNcMxSh0wdND-NvE0SXCTCc29fGH6YKcMkD6NsdM9XtjivEC3uvlu6t7taHesc2yIFT3BEcbGKRksjfZfvIIFnQR-LSQko3VHZo-PzLH-_Ktn-s-2w0A/s1600/duterte.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVvmKxB_cQkz_86GYtmzWNcMxSh0wdND-NvE0SXCTCc29fGH6YKcMkD6NsdM9XtjivEC3uvlu6t7taHesc2yIFT3BEcbGKRksjfZfvIIFnQR-LSQko3VHZo-PzLH-_Ktn-s-2w0A/s400/duterte.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Eighteen
months into office and still, Rodrigo Duterte escapes identification; well, at
least as far as my little world is concerned.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Whenever two or more people are gathered, and the discussion drifts into
politics, there Duterte is in the midst of them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;">Whether it’s a casual chat between cabbie and
passenger, a family reunion, or a no-holds barred exchange between friends or
among media colleagues, I find myself having to articulate more seriously than
I would want, an opinion about the Philippines’ 13</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 14.2pt;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> president.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 14.2pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Due
perhaps to my occupation as a media person, I am always, always asked “What do
you think of Duterte?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I maintain that I
don’t think of Duterte at all, but an answer is expected of me just the
same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just two weeks ago, at a small
gathering of religious and laypeople, the subject of Duterte inevitably sprung
up; then a nun grinned and broke into song, a la <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sound of Music</i>: “How do you solve the problem of Duterteeeeee?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aye, there’s the rub!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t see Du30 as a problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were I to join the nun in a duet, I’d change
the lyrics into “How do you solve the puzzle that’s Duterteeeee?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
love solving puzzles, from the simplest kindergarten stuff to Mensa’s mind
bogglers—and the strangest chief executive that Pinas has ever had must be a
puzzle somewhere in between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
everything Duterte has revealed of himself since pre-election time to the
present, I see as a work in progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neither the man nor his work is a simple thing, and so the relationship
between him and the people—as the Facebook population would say—is necessarily
“complicated”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be imprudent (and
a waste of time) to say anything conclusive about him or his work, in reaction
to his actions, because he himself appears to be a bundle of contradictions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Earlier
on, when “PRRD” was just beginning to be exposed through media, I would cringe
at his cussing (as we say, “Ang lutong magmura!”), being embarrassed for the
Filipino people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Gawd, what would the
international community say, we have one of the most foul-mouthed leaders in
the history of the world?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’d also frankly
criticize him for his brazen display of misogyny, particularly when he joked
that he should have been the first to rape the murdered Australian woman
missionary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Kadiring presidente”, I’d
hiss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as time marches on and the man
reveals more and more of himself through word and deed, I—for the sake of my
blood pressure—am finding it judicious to view him with a little more Christian
empathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man seems unhinged, but
being so is not without its uses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He’s
unconventional—attending important functions in T-shirt and jeans, or a barong
with sleeves rolled up, with total disregard for diplomatic refinement—but so
is his inaugural menu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Avoiding
unnecessary burden on the national coffers he chose to feed the dignitaries
with munggo and danggit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Impressive
conviction—how many of us would dare do that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
contradicts himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He once declared,
with clenched fist, that he would ride a jet ski to plant a Philippine flag on
a contested island grabbed by China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
now he’s playing footsies with China and tightening the noose on the United
States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does he know what he’s doing, or
is it part of a clever strategy? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
once said he’d kill his own children if he found out they were using drugs, but
is now mum on the six-billion peso shabu shipment from China that dragged his
son’s name into the controversy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once rejecting being compared to the
loose-lipped US president Donald Trump, he said “He’s a bigot, I am not.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Months later, after a friendly phone chat
with Trump where the latter expressed support for his drug war, Duterte totally
forgot that he might be dealing with a “bigot”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
carelessly makes promises he can’t keep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember when he swore he’d stop cussing because his daughter was getting
the flak in school on account of her president-father’s laughable foul
mouth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tried, his speech became
bland, but only for a week or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
also that incident when he said God talked to him on the plane, and he promised
never to cuss again because “a promise to God is a promise to the Filipino
people”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that campaign trail
promise to rid the country of drugs in three-to-six months?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See the pattern?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same banana.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
trivializes matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He blurts out
something infuriating and then turns around and says he’s just joking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irate over the pronouncement of US human
rights experts about the drug killings being a crime under international law,
Duterte exploded into expletives, called the experts “stupid”, and threatened
to pull out of the UN, only to say later he was just joking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a campaign rally he said about the raped
and murdered Australian missionary: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #404040;">"Nakita ko ang mukha, maganda… sabi ko sayang, na
rape, pinilahan nila.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Galit ako dahil
na-rape siya, pero maganda, naisip ko, dapat ang mayor ang pinauna nila.” (I
saw her face and I thought, 'What a pity... they raped her, they all lined up.
I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should
have been first.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His office defended
his “joke”, saying it was simply “how men talk,” but later on issued an apology
to pacify furious female voters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
people can’t tell when he’s joking and when he’s not, it’s probably because the
man himself doesn’t know how to make heads or tails of the problems in his
hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sounded funny and bragging
when he said, campaigning, </span><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">“If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do
just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you
better go out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I'll kill you…I'll
dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But thousands of drug related deaths later, mostly
of drug users and pushers who “resisted arrest” by the police, we realize
Duterte wasn’t joking about fattening the fish in Manila Bay, by feeding them
the small fry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A funny joker
president?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scary, to say the least.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Joking or not,
Duterte makes brash off-the-cuff remarks that should easily earn him the title
of “Pambansang Kahihiyan”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who
causes him displeasure he cusses as a “son of a whore”—former US president
Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (“a fool”) over human rights issues,
and Pope Francis (“you son of a whore, go home and never come back”) for
indirectly causing him to get stuck in a traffic jam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Du30’s mouth also spewed
obscenities when the European Union urged his government to investigate human
rights abuses, calling the EU hypocrites, giving them the dirty finger, and accusing
them of "atoning" for their ancestors’ sins and "guilt
feelings" over occupying other countries in the past.</span><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 14.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
Are his intentions noble? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is he a misguided maverick? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He always says he loves his country and would
get rid of anyone harming it or hurting the Filipinos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the drug users and pushers are Filipinos,
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why is he vowing to kill the
country’s alleged three million drug addicts—“I’d be happy to slaughter them as
Hitler massacred the Jews… to finish the problem of my country and save the
next generation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or does he simply enjoy
shocking polite society, as when at a meeting with businessmen, he bragged
about being a womanizer thus, <span style="color: #404040;">"I was separated
from my wife. I'm not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang
forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #404040;">If the surveys are to be
believed, PRRD seems to be still enjoying a high trust rating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it because he pushed for free education up
to college, higher salaries for soldiers and teachers, more services for the
poor, the purge against corrupt officials, etc. etc.? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I for one, though neither a fan nor a critic
of the man, think his warrior nature served the country well when he put his
foot down on the terrorists during the Marawi siege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first video I saw of it was of the ISIS
recruits burning the cathedral and bashing the images inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that the terrorists are well funded
from abroad shows this is a real threat to the country, and the president for
once acted as a president should—with determination to fight off the
invaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shuddered to think what
could have happened had the one sitting in Malacanang then been any of his
rivals—Roxas, Binay, Poe, or (RIP) Santiago?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #404040;">If everything is wrong
about Duterte, then not everything could be right about the 16,000,000
Filipinos who put him into office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
heard him during his campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew
he was a womanizer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They enjoyed his
jokes and his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kanto-boy </i>cussing, and
yet they counted on his promises and voted for him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lest we forget that the Philippines is not
just its president, or the president and his supporters, but is each and
everyone of us, we need to discern more in order to make of ourselves the best
we can be for the sake of our country and the future of our children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we solve the problem of Duterte?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Accept that in spite of our purest intentions
there are things we cannot change—surely not the habits of conflicted leaders
that go against our grain or violate our standards of decency—and so try to
focus on changing ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can help
ourselves through prayer and obedience to the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we solve the puzzle that’s
Duterte?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we face the challenge
that’s Duterte?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like it or not he is a
challenge to our faith, our humility, our charity, and our avowed desire for
God’s will to be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the
truth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-48940783479739295132018-01-10T11:44:00.000+08:002018-05-05T11:53:14.943+08:00Of relics and expectations<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">With the fourth visit of the relics of St. Therese
of Lisieux in the Philippines, we may expect another surge of devotion for one
of the country’s most popular—if not the most popular—Saints.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although claims of miraculous healings or
conversions have been made since her relics’ first visit in 2002, visit
organizers admit that they have yet to document, gather, investigate, and
authenticate such stories for them to hold water as an evangelizing tool for
the Church. And that takes time.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmVpLaAGSkOHkpYv2N6nkpGJUAUWFffFNmXkTm4rqfU87qlCzhP3g2FY99udZbZOr6TCxiPg_ynaHE2QqLeg-7Ya-9fmlqKPSB48jNqpiz3kmU9g-i1uDwqnw2ZE0qSnAflOJ1w/s1600/Devotee+with+roses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmVpLaAGSkOHkpYv2N6nkpGJUAUWFffFNmXkTm4rqfU87qlCzhP3g2FY99udZbZOr6TCxiPg_ynaHE2QqLeg-7Ya-9fmlqKPSB48jNqpiz3kmU9g-i1uDwqnw2ZE0qSnAflOJ1w/s400/Devotee+with+roses.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Devotees venerate the relics of St. Therese at the Carmel Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Tuba, Benguet<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our crowd-drawing events—for instance, the Black
Nazarene procession, papal visits, fabulous Holy Week processions—seem to
reveal the Filipino predilection for spectacle and drama.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Remember the “EDSA Revolution”?)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The long queues to kiss a
believed-to-be-miraculous image in shrines (Manaoag, Antipolo, Quiapo, Padre
Pio, Divine Mercy, et al) or during the veneration of visiting relics all over
the country also present an interesting study of the Filipino’s faith in divine
intervention.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But lest we forget that divine intervention does not
always come in the form of earth-shaking events, let us remember that St.
Therese herself did not ask for miracles but instead walked the path of the
“little way”, missing “no single opportunity of making </span><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a
kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">And let us not forget, too, that Therese’s
desire for holiness didn’t come by itself—she was even such a temperamental
child that her mother didn’t quite know how to handle her—but instead was
unwittingly absorbed through the nurturing of God-loving parents, Zelie and
Louis Martin, the first married couple proclaimed as Saints by the Catholic
Church.</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwRrN3yWqs_YGADK_IwOmZoidrjByWf6X1VHP9V7PzIz-3LqptNJcQqS_sT9YQ2gTQlt82nkOqpx5aCHVuyfNDAXz54Obu4JLNLIZTmte0NSUc0X98VGZMiovRTUDF9xRUHZKHQ/s400/Sisters+venerate+relics+4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discalced Carmelite nuns pose for a souvenir shot with Therese before the Saint goes to La Union </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwRrN3yWqs_YGADK_IwOmZoidrjByWf6X1VHP9V7PzIz-3LqptNJcQqS_sT9YQ2gTQlt82nkOqpx5aCHVuyfNDAXz54Obu4JLNLIZTmte0NSUc0X98VGZMiovRTUDF9xRUHZKHQ/s1600/Sisters+venerate+relics+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwRrN3yWqs_YGADK_IwOmZoidrjByWf6X1VHP9V7PzIz-3LqptNJcQqS_sT9YQ2gTQlt82nkOqpx5aCHVuyfNDAXz54Obu4JLNLIZTmte0NSUc0X98VGZMiovRTUDF9xRUHZKHQ/s1600/Sisters+venerate+relics+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Indeed it could be said that the Church did not make
Louis and Zelie Saints because their daughter is a Saint; rather, the Church
acknowledges that their daughter became a Saint because she was raised by
saintly parents.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I surmise that when
Therese wrote “Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just
what God wants us to be”, she must have had her parents in mind. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before they met, both Zelie and Louis had
wanted the religious life—he as a monk and she as a nun—but God wanted
something else.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">So they met (curiously,
on a bridge) and barely four months later got married.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Still, with their consuming desire for sanctity,
Louis and Zelie decided they would, while married, live a “celibate” life
together—but God didn’t allow that either.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A priest soon advised them to do as married people normally do, have
children, and raise them for God.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">They
obeyed the priest, but prayed for sons with the noble intention of offering
them to the Lord as priests—but again, God had other plans.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">They had nine children, and the only two boys
God took back in their infancy, along with two girls in their childhood,
leaving the couple five girls who grew up into adulthood and became nuns, all
of them.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">For decimating all of their
dreams, did Zelie and Louis balk at God’s alternatives?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">No, they would go with the flow.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">About the pain of losing her children to death,
Zelie would write in one of her letters:<span style="background-color: white;"> “<span style="color: #262626;">When I closed the eyes of my dear little children and when I
buried them, I felt great pain, but it was always with resignation. I didn’t
regret the sorrows and the problems I had endured for them. Several people said
to me, ‘It would be better to never have had them.’ I can’t bear that kind of
talk. I don’t think the sorrows and problems could be weighed against the
eternal happiness of my children. So they weren’t lost forever. Life is short
and full of misery. We’ll see them again in Heaven.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in another letter, she summed up the
essence of parenthood: </span></span>“When we had our children, our ideas changed
somewhat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We lived only for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were all our happiness, and we never
found any except in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short,
nothing was too difficult, and the world was no longer a burden for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, our children were a great
compensation, so I wanted to have a lot of them in order to raise them for
Heaven.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps this is one value to be learned from the
fourth visit of the relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in the Philippines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Returning to our shores at a time when we are
losing our children due to disasters, human traffickers, war, or a contentious
vaccine, could Therese be hinting that we befriend and imitate her parents so
that we may also cherish and raise our children as gifts from a loving God? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Relics bring the presence of Saints in our midst. No
doubt there will be more stories of miracles or favors granted during the
six-month duration of the relics’ visit; churches again will overflow with
people pleading for succor, even those who hardly go to church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we queue up to kiss or touch these holy
remains and pray for favors through the Saints’ intercession, may we realize
that our Church presents Saints to us not only for our edification or comfort
but more so for our imitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
would we do if we do not receive the miracle we hope for?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We take a cue from St. Zelie Martin who,
dying of cancer, went on pilgrimage to Lourdes (France), praying to be cured. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Denied her request, she wrote in a
letter:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Blessed Mother didn’t cure
me in Lourdes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What can you do, my time
is at an end, and God wants me to rest elsewhere other than on earth.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A faith that does not hinge on miracles but
aims for surrender to God’s will—perhaps that is what we should pray for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-84427398155008901222018-01-07T11:17:00.000+08:002018-01-07T11:32:33.057+08:00Bethlehem without borders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zTVT9wsMELblJ1GuU5TVFoxCOdmhuYx9Bu2C7IebDSB-1St0TDfIJDqXlCt1vadJimAvSEHBAOZP1tG-5BDIOGRdxcKhoWZPkdH3cBtnoawwLlkYv0e4UnSXlf1vZugLEKXqfg/s1600/belen+bethlehem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="900" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zTVT9wsMELblJ1GuU5TVFoxCOdmhuYx9Bu2C7IebDSB-1St0TDfIJDqXlCt1vadJimAvSEHBAOZP1tG-5BDIOGRdxcKhoWZPkdH3cBtnoawwLlkYv0e4UnSXlf1vZugLEKXqfg/s400/belen+bethlehem.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS </b></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">On my last birthday, I was struck by the cruel truth
that I will this year be celebrating my 73</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">rd</sup><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Christmas.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Seventy-three, OmG, it’s like ice water
thrown at my face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I usually dedicate my birth month to examining my
life and meditating on mortality—and it helps that it’s the month of all Saints
and all souls. Last November turned out
to be nostalgic—which confronted me with the fact of aging, because nostalgia
is a right most deserved by those coming closer and closer to the grave. Thinking, “God, how many more Christmases
will You give me before You finally call me back?”, I reviewed my Christmases
as far back as memory could take me, and asked myself which of those brought me
closest to the baby Jesus. It’s a no-brainer:
the Christmas that did this was that which etched itself earliest in my memory—with
the help of the creche in my Uncle Jose Fermin’s house, painstakingly put
together by his wife, Tita Chol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This “belen” was the highlight of my childhood
Christmases—a huge table by the Christmas tree (live pine) covered with sand to
contain a miniature Bethlehem, not only Mary, Joseph and the baby in a manger,
but also the Three Kings, a caravan of camels, shepherds and sheep, goats,
cattle, a rooster (!), and an angel floating over the manger and holding a
ribbon that said “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”.
These plaster figurines fascinated me endlessly, introduced me to
Bethlehem, and fuelled my imagination as I fondled them, in the same way that
maybe a little boy today would play war games in his mind with plastic soldiers
or “Star Wars” figurines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The “belen” would since then accompany me through
life. When I was a young girl, Christmas
decorating was a family affair where everybody had an assignment; I was
expected to help make the “parol”. When
I reached my teens, I was put in charge of the “belen”, but my creations were
nowhere near Tita Chol’s elaborate tableau—just a few cardboard cut-outs of the
most important characters propped up on a bed of “hay” on top of the television
cabinet, or a ready-made “scayola” set placed beneath the seven-foot Christmas
tree, among the gift-wrapped empty boxes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjro5zdzCAN5MwQkic02nKaZ4aWaAp6wgXPjz2h1qYRlWNKYtPYJBxU77hlALoouBe9C8IoB2x7HhOCB9q8IcBlQFxDsJQrd8pB5Bbc7Fvw1-ql3vLuyUeu7TD9DHYXp-ZtYll53A/s1600/belen+cutout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="273" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjro5zdzCAN5MwQkic02nKaZ4aWaAp6wgXPjz2h1qYRlWNKYtPYJBxU77hlALoouBe9C8IoB2x7HhOCB9q8IcBlQFxDsJQrd8pB5Bbc7Fvw1-ql3vLuyUeu7TD9DHYXp-ZtYll53A/s320/belen+cutout.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, there was one Christmas I was too busy to
keep up with the “belen” tradition—being in the thick of preparations for a
wedding. In fact, on Christmas night, my
fiancé and I were in Quiapo, ordering flowers for our wedding the next morning.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The time came to bring Bethlehem to our own cozy home
through a “belen” for our little son. It
was fun to craft my own nativity scene from cardboard cones and crepe paper, at
times supplementing the catechesis with an assortment of pretty nativity-themed
Christmas cards collected through the years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was exhausting for me in my 20s to braid together
career and homemaking (I was wife, mother, tutor, nurse, yaya, diplomat,
psychologist, etc.) so that there were Christmases without any manger scene at
all in our house—just a white Christmas tree fashioned from tissue paper and
shiny balls, or worse, a foldaway meter-tall plastic evergreen, a mere ghost of
the fresh pine Christmas tree of my childhood.
(By then it was already a crime of sorts to cut down Baguio pine trees). But
what we didn’t have in the house we enjoyed outside of it; we would drive
around to gawk at life-size crèches in town plazas and churches, and the
motorized Christmas tableau that was then the pride of COD Department Store in
Cubao, and years later, Greenhills. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One day we received a Balikbayan box from the United
States; inside was—<i>Wow!</i>—a 19-piece
ceramic nativity set my mother-in-law Flor de Liz had painted at an arts-and-crafts
class for senior citizens! How sweet of
her! With lights, décor, and props
added, it was to become a conversation piece for many many years in our modest home,
so gorgeous even Tita Chol would have loved it!
But now… what’s left of the set is stashed away in a storeroom; I don’t
think I’ll ever want to put it up again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I had lent the whole set to a retreat house, putting
it up myself. I was happy to share my
joy to so many retreatants and guests, but when it came back to me, the Baby
Jesus was missing, and a lamb, and a camel, too! Were they broken? Pocketed by some child who couldn’t resist
their cuteness? None of the staff could
tell—as though the trio merely vanished into thin air. It saddened me a bit, for what’s a crèche
without Baby Jesus? Never mind the sheep
and the camel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now that I’m recalling its glory days, and about to
savor my 73<sup>rd</sup> Christmas, I find that the nativity’s magic can still
transport me back to the age of innocence, imagining that the Baby Jesus (after
years of being displayed in our living room) had grown tall enough to mount a camel
and look for the lost lamb. “That’s why
they disappeared,” I tell myself and muse, “for all I know I was the lost lamb,
with one leg caught in quick sand, slowly being sucked into a system that
served many gods but had no time for the One True God.” Irony of ironies, in reality I’d gotten lost
while looking frantically for God, unaware that in my meandering He was looking
for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do I now have a nativity scene at home? No, I don’t.
Tell me if it’s due to old age. In
the Holy Land where over several years I have escorted pilgrims five times, I
have strolled in the Shepherds’ field in Bethlehem, venerated the place of His
birth, walked down Via Dolorosa bearing a token cross, done the whole pilgrim
route over and over again it’s like the classic “been there, done that”. It matters little to me now whether or not I
have a crèche in my “hermitage”, but I do seriously wonder how Jesus would feel
about the state of Bethlehem today, in the light of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, this endless fight over borders. A carol rings between my ears: <i>“O little town of Bethlehem, how still we
see thee lie…”</i> I cannot say
Bethlehem today lies still. Peace is
elusive in the place where the Prince of Peace was born. Were Jesus to revisit Bethlehem today as man,
would he weep over it as he did over Jerusalem before he was crucified? And would he be welcome there?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFNkus9Bv2SfY8raBsbm3UB1biGEArvjxwXl2uwNasTd8orUvC6ATt4ygHQkFpuTv_XgXq93u-Mq6T2nCjNFwMS0BA3-an1eeeSpJ5KNmU9AvkkPvc2BiOCzozoChhyphenhyphenEIDjS2mw/s1600/heart+open+door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFNkus9Bv2SfY8raBsbm3UB1biGEArvjxwXl2uwNasTd8orUvC6ATt4ygHQkFpuTv_XgXq93u-Mq6T2nCjNFwMS0BA3-an1eeeSpJ5KNmU9AvkkPvc2BiOCzozoChhyphenhyphenEIDjS2mw/s1600/heart+open+door.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We can outgrow Santa Claus, but we should never
outgrow Bethlehem. In spite of all that
Bethlehem has been through, we continue to celebrate the fact that our Savior
was born there, and pray that one day we can say to the Lord Himself, “I am
Bethlehem; come, be born in me.” The carol
reverberates inside my head: <i>“O Holy
Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in, be born to us today…”</i> As I write this, I pray that each of us may
become a Bethlehem without borders, witnessing to the love of God for all
mankind. And that's the truth.</span></div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-17207504245406579772017-09-30T19:05:00.000+08:002017-10-07T21:46:46.195+08:00Precious facts about St. Therese of Lisieux<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidOmiO_wN2-c0hDp_AvH4U3zJM0m77LW_NcV2zAXQtiVpPxXEH3Zjm4WB8US3Zjoi_y1-Ez8TaKgssvqENTZjM5iSsAxr8ys2-7gEe1enRKyFtPwuvE-rdiWXvrOLeuT2JJ3CMsQ/s1600/Baclaran+lock+Therese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidOmiO_wN2-c0hDp_AvH4U3zJM0m77LW_NcV2zAXQtiVpPxXEH3Zjm4WB8US3Zjoi_y1-Ez8TaKgssvqENTZjM5iSsAxr8ys2-7gEe1enRKyFtPwuvE-rdiWXvrOLeuT2JJ3CMsQ/s320/Baclaran+lock+Therese.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "open sans" , serif;">Did you know that in Baclaran
church, by the parking lot, stands a gazebo with a life-size statue of St.
Therese of the Child Jesus? The railing
behind the statue is heavy with locks left by the faithful—a fairly new
practice in our country, imitating the love-lock tradition in many cities in
all the continents of the globe, where love-struck romantics swear undying love
by fastening a lock with their initials to a bridge, and then tossing its key
to be buried forever in the river below. (Yes, like Pont des Arts over the River Seine,
in Paris).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3l-JNSeNZgFkLxtjXbcCf8F6px3-aYd6TMT5nd7X_kOZFF455YII3gwR3gsxfE7S-dQJz4ePiHwfNcz5fvgCLegl2yRFh9jE-T_l1QQzhJajaMl_HWXa73yE-e6B5AWC-lOO_2Q/s1600/Baclaran+lock+fence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3l-JNSeNZgFkLxtjXbcCf8F6px3-aYd6TMT5nd7X_kOZFF455YII3gwR3gsxfE7S-dQJz4ePiHwfNcz5fvgCLegl2yRFh9jE-T_l1QQzhJajaMl_HWXa73yE-e6B5AWC-lOO_2Q/s200/Baclaran+lock+fence.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "open sans" , serif;">So far, love-locks on a
bridge are unheard of in the Philippines, but on the railings protecting a
Saint’s statue, yes. The love-lock tradition must have been brought to the
Baclaran church by OFWs who have seen the practice abroad. The last time I saw
it, the Baclaran locks were the most numerous behind St. Therese’s statue, and
they seemed to represent wishes and petitions to this favorite Saint. “Sana ma-approve na yung application ko to
work in Dubai,” said one devotee I chatted with. “Hiling ko ke Sta. Teresita magbalikan na yung
mga parents ko, para mabuo na ulit ang pamilya namin,” said another. A third one said after fastening her lock,
“Nagtirik din ako ng kandila for my secret wish, but no, I’m not walking on my
knees in the church.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "open sans" , serif;">If Baclaran’s “wish-locks”
indicate a fondness or a great faith in St. Therese of Lisieux, one wonders how
well these devotees know the young French saint. The following facts may spur their interest
to know St. Therese more intimately:</span><span style="font-family: "open sans" , serif; text-indent: 1cm;"> </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: , serif;">St. Therese was a spoiled brat.</span></b><span style="font-family: , serif;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">As a 22-year-old nun, Therese herself admitted, “I
was far from being a perfect little girl.” Testimonies </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_of_Lisieux#cite_note-87"></a><span style="color: #242424;">during the process of Therese’s beatification included a
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<span style="color: #242424;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij46fUVlt9y-wE6_YAddJUZuUeg1boFxQAW5QfpiaFPHrnumrqja0_SViUWNMM06OJqxlluFA1wB-vmoiQpSy-tEKnUBrlVPnZSsJz3JE_lNHzPWxBEv0MlRdm-b6sNoDRlTQ4pg/s1600/therese+%2526+celine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="634" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij46fUVlt9y-wE6_YAddJUZuUeg1boFxQAW5QfpiaFPHrnumrqja0_SViUWNMM06OJqxlluFA1wB-vmoiQpSy-tEKnUBrlVPnZSsJz3JE_lNHzPWxBEv0MlRdm-b6sNoDRlTQ4pg/s200/therese+%2526+celine.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: #242424;"> <span style="color: #242424; text-indent: 1cm;">letter written by her mother, Zelie Martin (now also a Saint) which said: “I
have to slap this poor baby who gets into frightening tantrums when she cannot
have her own way. She rolls about on the ground in despair as if all is lost. Sometimes
she is so overcome she almost chokes. She
is a very high-strung child.” Zelie also
wrote of Thérèse and her sister Celine: “My little Celine is drawn to the
practice of virtue; it’s part of her nature; she is candid and has a horror of
evil. As for the little imp, one doesn’t know how things will go, she is so
small, so thoughtless! Her intelligence is superior to Celine’s, but she’s less
gentle and has a stubborn streak in her that is almost invincible.” Therese was to write in her mature years, as
though in appreciation: </span><span style="color: #222222; text-indent: 1cm;"> “The loveliest masterpiece of
the heart of God is the heart of a mother.”</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: , serif;">St. Therese’s “Little Way” began in Scriptures.</span></b><span style="font-family: , serif;"> St. Therese’s “petite
voie” or “little way”, which was to greatly influence and inspire the faithful
to this day, started as a spark she felt upon a chance reading of <i>Proverbs 9:4</i>,<i> “Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me.”</i> She was to write later</span>: “<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I will seek out a means of getting to Heaven by a little way—very short
and very straight, a little way that is wholly new. We live in an age of
inventions; nowadays the rich need not trouble to climb the stairs, they have
lifts instead. Well, I mean to try and find a lift by which I may be raised
unto God, for I am too tiny to climb the steep stairway of perfection… Thine
Arms, then, O Jesus, are the lift which must raise me up even unto Heaven. To
get there I need not grow; on the contrary, I must remain little, I must become
still less.” </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: , serif;">St. Therese’s greatest desire was to become a missionary. </span></b><span style="font-family: , serif;">As a young contemplative nun, Therese desperately wanted to be a
missionary in Vietnam where the Lisieux missionaries were to </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjeyVWLJI33MI_BtMRP0UPH-3DA7yyLrJIEqu7eIZBCEp2opqiWIJZGnqf71Fql6Knm41_dRBQX5KltEtfVucilTkW6RXVFxKb5fijAcReJiLfU9C9XnpPh49RQ-Mlr7k2kQfxw/s1600/Therese+Gilmore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="639" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjeyVWLJI33MI_BtMRP0UPH-3DA7yyLrJIEqu7eIZBCEp2opqiWIJZGnqf71Fql6Knm41_dRBQX5KltEtfVucilTkW6RXVFxKb5fijAcReJiLfU9C9XnpPh49RQ-Mlr7k2kQfxw/s320/Therese+Gilmore.jpg" width="179" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: , serif;">found the first
Carmelite Convent in the Far East. But a
painful bout against tuberculosis ended her life at age 24, leaving her dream
unrealized. </span> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222;">On her death-bed, she is reported to have said, “I have reached the
point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to
me.”</span> <span style="font-family: , serif;">In all the nine years of
a life of obscurity in the Carmelite Convent of Lisieux, she never went beyond
its walls, and yet she came to be proclaimed Patron Saint of the Missions due
to the numerous miracles in mission lands attributed to her intercession.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: , serif;">St. Therese inspired St. Teresa of Calcutta. </span></b><span style="font-family: , serif;">Born Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Macedonia, “Mother Teresa” chose for
her religious name “Teresa” as the Carmelite Saint’s simplicity inspired her to
be “little” and to do ordinary things with extraordinary love. Many of Mother Teresa’s dearly remembered
words echo those of the French nun who died 13 years before Mother Teresa was
born. <strong><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif";"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">St. Therese wrote “I’m a little brush that Jesus has chosen in order to
paint His own image in the souls entrusted to my care”; Mother Teresa said,</span></strong><b> </b><strong><span style="font-family: "sans-serif" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">“I am a little pencil in the hand
of God who is sending a love letter to the world.” St. Therese wrote, “My vocation is love”; Mother
Teresa said, “Our vocation is the love of Jesus.”</span></strong></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<b>St. Therese had
Saints and revered souls and celebrities among her devotees. </b><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The long roster of devotees of St. Therese of the
Child Jesus includes: St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, American journalist turned
Trappist monk Thomas Merton, French singer Edith Piaf, martyr of Auschwitz St.
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEW6WblXUTl51MdbtacIFkSrFZ8x2jLpvZgUJ06813CHGQeJRRJ87O5e0zAm0Seve1ofriJxUSx0QUaKK0f0YQsIJ_662CzVLUAmSwLwIoNZqQ17kIya8_SEUFr7_e_yhwuonFA/s1600/francis-therese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEW6WblXUTl51MdbtacIFkSrFZ8x2jLpvZgUJ06813CHGQeJRRJ87O5e0zAm0Seve1ofriJxUSx0QUaKK0f0YQsIJ_662CzVLUAmSwLwIoNZqQ17kIya8_SEUFr7_e_yhwuonFA/s200/francis-therese.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Maximillian Kolbe, Filipino bishop Alfredo Obviar, Nobel laureate Henry
Bergson, Pope John Paul I Al</span><span style="color: #242424;">bino Luciani,
Pope Francis Jorge Mario Bergoglio, etc.
Speaking to journalists on the plane to visit the Philippines in January
2015, Pope Francis spoke of his special devotion thus: </span><span style="font-family: "open sans" , serif;">“When I don’t know how
things are going to go, I have the custom of asking St. Therese of the Child
Jesus to take the problem into her hands and send me a rose.” Enjoy this video of Jorge Bergoglio speaking
about his devotion to St. Therese long before he became pope: </span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2LTR4_4h2Xw&h=ATNUx24UMFitSv-kKrPy5kOP3rEnG-yL_SWUtJpTA6LxQRXdjmuYSjU_3-oyGjleO6c0aOERYI4FXjrQDYAt2jTmY272K3_VJtBx6MS0G4FSr-KRj7igq1EANRyPRjrXYtiVTO5qZ_eYZeNVG2A7IA0gYsDHdXanEUzoQwLFqkCaopB_Io9lrDjQAb7ka6Nj1djDcyFOZHAMQcCoPWOVYIJOP8_6FWgtpE94toXcRl2B56YCEQmzH671CBYgWBm8DvSCG18r_RlguNpm9RkJgLtZOodGsAo4MqPMsC3hKPfNdGz8BJjI" target="_blank"><span style="color: #365899; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTR4_4h2Xw</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "open sans" , serif;"> </span><b style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: "open sans" , serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">St. Therese’s pilgrim relics will visit the Philippines
for the fourth time. </span></b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "open sans" , serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">The Saints’ relics bring us into
contact with the person and remind us of their great love for God.</span><span style="color: #663300; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "open sans" , serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">It might delight her devotees—Baclaran lock-lovers included—to know that
next year, from January 13 to May 31, 2018, her pilgrim relics will be brought
for veneration to various dioceses all over the country. The theme this time will be “Salamat, <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvHVqfddhJjaedBKuYwQZIICaEMNnO9mDaCGBVHAkGENN422yy3sAqtNlqUC4qfWGbemj-FnszKuyuHVIsb2_qNmittS3jjup_Z0pKEjJ9SgNofX9gJlJrGl-CM5eMo7MnVZRvg/s1600/Benedict+Therese+relics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="350" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvHVqfddhJjaedBKuYwQZIICaEMNnO9mDaCGBVHAkGENN422yy3sAqtNlqUC4qfWGbemj-FnszKuyuHVIsb2_qNmittS3jjup_Z0pKEjJ9SgNofX9gJlJrGl-CM5eMo7MnVZRvg/s320/Benedict+Therese+relics.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PE Benedict XVI venerates St. Therese's relics.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
St.
Therese!” Her previous visits—which were
attended by kilometric queues of devotees wherever she went—were marked by a
shower of graces, favors, and miracles, all attesting to the love of God; thus
the theme of gratitude for next year. In
fact, everyone is invited to share their story of miracles big or small
obtained through St. Therese. Do you
have a story of gratitude to share? Go
and write it, as it might even become part of a special documentary about the
Little Flower that is being prepared for her forthcoming visit. Email your
story to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:SalamatStTherese@gmail.com"><i><span style="font-family: "open sans" , "serif";">SalamatStTherese@gmail.com</span></i></a></span><i style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: "open sans" , serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "open sans" , serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">We end this piece
with a wish-prayer from St. Therese: “May you be content knowing you are a
child of God.” </span></div>
</div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-3054399588031957962017-09-06T16:32:00.000+08:002017-09-20T16:41:14.228+08:009 facts about Fatima’s seers for us in The Age of the Selfie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2B-mPCUfvyJlKrNRxYiYbVZo-XogvsT0eo7bdheAaFC26dmnBs4AR61feEa60BqTbF0gEoydLOqI2K4VUVNVouRq8aLtn_kvf9l4hpqd0fUIZRFtn-JvZHJdNLf8XzKq0NLouw/s1600/3+fatima_children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2B-mPCUfvyJlKrNRxYiYbVZo-XogvsT0eo7bdheAaFC26dmnBs4AR61feEa60BqTbF0gEoydLOqI2K4VUVNVouRq8aLtn_kvf9l4hpqd0fUIZRFtn-JvZHJdNLf8XzKq0NLouw/s320/3+fatima_children.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="text-indent: 36pt;">October 13, 2017
marks the 100</span><sup style="text-indent: 36pt;">th</sup><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> anniversary of the last of the six apparitions of
Our Lady of Fatima to the three shepherd children Jacinta and Francisco Marto
who are siblings, and their cousin, Lucia.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Much of the basic facts about Fatima –like the “Miracle of the Sun” that
took place on October 13, 1917 and witnessed by 70,000 people—are by now known
to so many people all around the world, but few know the young seers
deeply.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Here are facts that endearingly
show the seers as they are, plain unschooled children responding to a phenomena
as innocent hearts do—with absolute trust.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong>Fact 1.</strong> Our Lady directed the 10-year-old Lucia
alone to learn to read (and write). In
those days children like Lucia grew up illiterate—they wouldn’t need reading
and writing to herd sheep all their life.
Our Lady’s request, made on June 13, 1017, her second appearance, was
unusual but it was to be proven later to be part of the divine plan.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Our Lady told
Lucia, “Yes, I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon, but you will remain a
little longer, since Jesus wishes you to make me known and loved on earth.” </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Jacinta died at age 9, Francisco at age
11.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Having survived until</span><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </b><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">age 98</span><b style="text-indent: 36pt;">, </b><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Lucia accomplished her mission to spread the Fatima message to
the world.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">How could she have done that if
she had remained illiterate?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Obedience to Our
Lady made the shepherd girl Lucia, in a way, a shepherd, too—but of
souls—becoming a cloistered Carmelite nun (and later even learning to use the
word processor) who would author three books</span><i style="text-indent: 36pt;">: Calls from the Message of Fatima, Fatima in
Lucia’s Own Words 1</i><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">and </span><i style="text-indent: 36pt;">Fatima in
Lucia’s Own Words</i><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><i style="text-indent: 36pt;">2</i><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b style="text-indent: 36pt;">Fact 2.</b><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Even as a
9-year-old, Jacinta welcomed suffering for the love of Jesus, as Our Lady had
foretold her that she would greatly suffer for the conversion of sinners and in
reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, notably
sins of the flesh.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">When Jacinta’s tomb
was opened on Sept. 13, 1935—for her remains to be transferred from a chapel in
Ourem to be beside Francisco in Fatima’s cemetery—her body was found to be
incorrupt, a sign of holiness in the eyes of the Church.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Because she had
died of the dreaded Spanish flu epidemic, in compliance with the law then, her
body was treated with quicklime for speedy decomposition, and yet, 15 years
after her death, she remained intact despite the quicklime treatment.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Because of this the local bishop instructed
Lucia, already a Carmelite nun by that time, to write the memoirs of Jacinta
and Francisco.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP45tvlLjTCQHGz4VLnJzhvjqkyLJ09yoipR-arWQjSib2l5WJJHUyGhmDyPDMqNFC1o7C73uQ-acGlfTYA6aIwXjRdkVtsNIY06gXKaiUf7CvJXXUhBMWmvoj_ak0mfEAy0mTZQ/s1600/Fatima+seers%2527+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP45tvlLjTCQHGz4VLnJzhvjqkyLJ09yoipR-arWQjSib2l5WJJHUyGhmDyPDMqNFC1o7C73uQ-acGlfTYA6aIwXjRdkVtsNIY06gXKaiUf7CvJXXUhBMWmvoj_ak0mfEAy0mTZQ/s320/Fatima+seers%2527+house.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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">
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o:title=""/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="height: 4px; margin-left: 782px; margin-top: 270px; mso-ignore: vglayout; position: absolute; width: 4px; z-index: 251659264;"><img height="4" src="file:///C:/Users/TRT/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png" v:shapes="Ink_x0020_27" width="4" /></span><!--[endif]--><b>Fact 3.</b> In her <i>Memoirs</i>,
Sr. Lucia describes Jacinta and Francisco before and after the
apparitions. Before, Jacinta was “the
personification of enthusiasm and caprice.”
But after seeing Our Lady, Jacinta was never afraid to speak up and
would reprimand an adult or child who would do or say inappropriate things,
telling them, “Don’t do that, for you are offending the Lord our God, and He is
already so much offended!” All Jacinta’s
actions after the apparitions began “seemed to reflect the presence of God in
the way proper to people of mature age and great virtue,” Sr. Lucia wrote.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fact 4.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> While in an institute for exceptionally ill
children in Lisbon, Jacinta the young mystic received visits and insights from
our Lady which were recorded at the time she spoke them. Some of these insights as listed in Fr. John
de Marchi’s book, <i>The True Story of
Fatima.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">are: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"The
sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Fashions
will much offend our Lord. People who serve God should not follow the fashions.
The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"If
men knew what eternity is, they would do everything to change their
lives."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"People
are lost because they do not think of the death of our Lord, and do not do
penance."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Wars
are the punishments for sin."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Penance
is necessary. If people amend their lives, our Lord will even yet save the
world, but if not, punishment will come.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"You
must pray much for sinners, and for priests and religious. Priests should
concern themselves only with the things of the Church."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Priests
must be very, very pure."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Disobedience
of priests and religious to their superiors displeases our Lord very
much."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Fly
from riches and luxury…Love poverty and silence."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Have
charity, even for bad people."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Do
not speak evil of people, and fly from evil speakers."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Mortification
and sacrifice please our Lord very much."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Confession
is a sacrament of mercy, and we must confess with joy and trust. There can be
no salvation without confession."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"The
Mother of God wants more virgin souls bound by a vow of chastity."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"To
be pure in body means to be chaste, and to be pure in mind means not to commit
sins; not to look at what one should not see, not to steal or lie, and always
to speak the truth, even if it is hard."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fact 5.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Francisco’s first and last communion took
place on the day before he died, in 1919—a fulfilment of his great wish to
receive Jesus in Holy Communion. Like
Jacinta, he knew that he was not going to stay long in this world. Our Lady had assured him of heaven, although
“he must recite many many rosaries.” Sr.
Lucia revealed in her memoirs the change in Francisco as a result of Our Lady’s
apparitions—the young shepherd boy became a mystic of sorts, contemplating and
praying in solitude, and offering sacrifices “to console Jesus who was so sad
due to man’s sins”. On the way to school
he would tell Lucia to go ahead for “It’s not worth my while learning to read
as I’ll be going to Heaven very soon.”
So he would walk off alone to the church “to be close to the Hidden
Jesus”—to </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">first of
all console “Hidden Jesus” and then pray for the conversion of sinners.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fact 6. </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Four years ago, Brazilian boy<b>, </b></span><span style= font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">Lucas
Batista Maeda de Mourao, sustained serious brain injury when he fell from the
window of his grandfather’s home. Taking
the boy to the hospital, his father tearfully prayed to Our Lady of Fatima, Blessed
Jacinta, and Blessed Francisco. As Lucas
lay unconscious in the hospital, his father and a local community of Carmelite
nuns begged the intercession of the Blessed shepherd siblings to cure the boy. A few days later, Lucas got up and walked home
as if nothing happened. This amazed the
doctors, and last February, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints
unanimously concluded that Lucas’s healing was a miracle as it could not be
scientifically explained. This miracle which was recognized by Pope Francis led
to the canonization of the shepherd children of Fatima. Now 10-years-old, Lucas
was present at the canonization in Fatima, and brought up the offertory gifts
during the Mass. By this time, all the
tombs of the three visionaries—Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia—are already in the
basilica, side by side.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fact 7</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">.
Jacinta and Francisco Marto are the first child saints in the history of
the Church who are not martyrs. To date,
four popes have made pilgrimages to Fatima, attesting to the importance of Our
Lady’s messages handed down through these children. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">On the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the
apparitions, May 13, 1967, Pope Paul VI was the first pope to visit the place
where Our Lady appeared to the children.
On May 13, 2000, Pope John Paul II traveled to Fatima to beatify the
seers Francisco and Jacinta who became two of the youngest “Blesseds”
ever. He said, about the children’s
docility to Mother Mary: “Devoting themselves with total generosity to such a
good Teacher, Jacinta and Francisco soon reached the heights of
perfection.” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
went on a four-day “apostolic journey” to Fatima, on May 11-14, 2010, and in
answering journalists’ questions on the plane said, “For us, Fatima is a sign
of the presence of faith, of the fact that it is precisely from the little ones
that faith gains new strength…” On May 13, 2017, the 100<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of Our Lady’s first apparition, Pope Francis made an overnight
pilgrimage to Fatima on May 12-13, and elevated Blessed Jacinta and Blessed
Francisco to sainthood.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fact 8</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Now let’s look at Lucia, the child seer who
lived up to two years short of 100: there was a side to her that no one probably knew
then, especially as the three children were being subjected to investigation by
authorities and the mockery of non-believers. Lucia, who lived to become a Discalced Carmelite
nun—giving life to the words of Our Lady that Jesus would use her to make her
known and loved on earth—was the incarnation of joy, according to the Carmelite
nuns who lived with her at Carmel of Coimbra and who wrote <i>A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary</i>.
For example, she would joke even into her 90s and was seriously ill.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Sr. Lucia
was described as “…as real as a plate of cookies… an absolutely normal
personality… and if I were obliged to point out her outstanding natural
characteristic I would say it was her gaiety. No one has been able to detect in
her the least sign of morbid temperament or exclusive self-concern,” by a
priest who knew her very well, Fr. John de Marchi, in his book </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">The True Story of Fatima.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Dr.
Branca Paul, who attended to Sr. Lucia during the last 15 years of her life,
would be amazed that the sick and aging nun would be “great to be around…so
normal, simple and humble,” despite the untold suffering she was going through
for the sake of the conversion of sinners.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">The physician said that Sr. Lucia showed amazing energy when talking
about Fatima, the Blessed Mother’s messages and requests, in particular praying
the Rosary.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Levity
aside, Sr. Lucia would be frustrated when people wanted to focus on the miracles
and secrets, said her doctor.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Even her
fellow Carmelite nuns disclosed that it always pained Sr. Lucia when some
people would insist on revealing the third part of the Secret.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Sr. Lucia reportedly would say “The miracles
and secrets aren’t important. We must concentrate on Our Lady’s message.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Live the Ten Commandments. That’s what’s
important… If only they’d live what is the most important thing, which has
already been said…They only concern themselves with what is left to be said,
instead of complying with the request that was prayer and penance!”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b>Fact 9. </b>How is all this of
any concern to us, living in an age of the selfie? If the occurrences, miracles, messages, and
controversies arising from the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima were to be condensed
for the modern man, it would boil down to three simple truths: 1) that man is
capable of evil actions, and that these actions, from the smallest to the
biggest, have dreadful consequences (as history shows, from 1917 to the
present); 2) to turn the tide, we must repent, do penance, and pray. Our Lady even recommended praying the rosary
to begin with—a prayer anyone can do, not only with our lips but more so with
our heart; and 3) Mary is our loving
Mother who is our bridge to Jesus.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="text-indent: 36pt;">The message of
Fatima is extremely relevant in a planet endangered by greed and megalomania.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Just think ISIS, or North Korea’s nuclear
tests—don’t they feel like the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads?</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">I don’t mean to sound like a prophet of doom
but after 100 years of Fatima, perhaps it’s about time we surrendered our
madness and became like the shepherd children Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia, who
without question loved and obeyed Our Lady, thereby reminding the world that
God is indeed alive and with us. And that’s the truth.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
</div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-84247496121154251872017-08-22T20:38:00.002+08:002017-08-22T20:38:36.108+08:00The Sacred Heart in the clouds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmOZIL5g0JZxpUp0fsMIhgqQmkp3LlAlxPkEYh1JXuMzZtbNgkx7g4MmfvKFE0CpJLk1evOQ1mavlkhsD9B4tfelBx0CUC007JFBACyZqU3Bf2wFxigYB0ghPU_2rCYXnP5Imsg/s1600/jesus+clouds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="227" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmOZIL5g0JZxpUp0fsMIhgqQmkp3LlAlxPkEYh1JXuMzZtbNgkx7g4MmfvKFE0CpJLk1evOQ1mavlkhsD9B4tfelBx0CUC007JFBACyZqU3Bf2wFxigYB0ghPU_2rCYXnP5Imsg/s320/jesus+clouds.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Once upon a time, a 5-year-old girl was looking out
the window watching cloud</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">formations.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> <strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Cloud-watching was a game
her mother had taught her earlier on. Their
house, situated on the highest point of the street, afforded them a good view
of the town and the city beyond, and, of course, of the huge expanse of the
skies above. Mother and daughter would—on late afternoons before sunset—scan
the skies for cloud formations that resembled creatures on earth. Her mother
would say, “Look for an elephant!” and the little girl who had never been to a
zoo would look for the animal as she had seen it in a coloring book. Happy that the girl would quickly find the
elephant, the mother would snap, “Very good! Now, look for the bear!” and the
little girl would find it fast, too, for she had seen a bear in the flash cards
of her teacher-aunt.</span></strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Now, that particular afternoon she was cloud-watching alone, the clouds
were sparse and the sky was a beautiful blue. There were no “animals” but still,
the little girl saw in it a sea, as the clouds looked like foamy waves coming
up the shore. She hoped, though, that clouds would thicken and swell so that
even a few rabbits would appear, but they did not. Her eyes were getting tired
and her eyelids heavy from the long wait, but the little girl did not give up.
Then, she noticed images slowly forming from nothing and then moving in the
blue sky, as though a movie was playing before her. One of two images was
herself, the five-year old girl, wearing a long white tunic, sitting on the lap
of Jesus, playing with His beard!</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">The little girl could identify Jesus from the many “stampitas” her
grandmother kept as markers in her bible, and from the calendars from the
lumber store tacked ubiquitously on the walls of their house. This Jesus moving
in the sky was the one whose heart was exposed, but his heart was as big as a
dinner plate, and the little girl was playfully poking it with her finger. She noticed that it felt and looked like a
giant pin cushion, being soft and made of red satin.</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">“Why is your heart very big?” she asked Jesus. Came His reply, “Because
it has to have room for everyone.” The little girl, still touching and
exploring Jesus’ heart, remarked, “It is very soft…like a pillow”. Then, Jesus hugged her tight and she hugged Him,
too, while complaining that he was too big for her arms to hug tight.</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">When Jesus let go, the little girl noticed that her own heart was outside
of her chest, too, just like His pin-cushion heart, though not as big. She was
surprised, however, that hers was bleeding although she felt no pain. Jesus
read her mind and said, “When you hugged me, your heart was pressed against
mine and got wounded by the thorns around my heart.”</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">The little girl looked at Jesus’ heart which was no longer a big pin
cushion but already a real heart outside of his chest, ringed with thorns and
bleeding, like the one in “stampitas”
and calendars. She glanced at her heart, too, and noticed that the blood was
coming from two little wounds, but still she felt no pain. A smiling Jesus continued,
“Now you see why you are wounded but you do not feel the pain because I am the
one bearing all the pain— because I love you.”</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">The images slowly faded away and the little girl’s attention returned to
her cloud-watching. Did she fall asleep, she wondered, for what transpired was
similar to dreaming. No, she was merely watching, and in fact she noticed that
everything seemed to happen in a wink, because the clouds that looked like
foamy waves had not shifted at all! But the little girl had no doubt that the
movie-like story she saw was real, not a dream. However, she did not feel an
urge to tell anyone about it.</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Many many many years later, when the little girl had grown into a woman
who was to go through trials and tribulations in life, this particular cloud-watching
episode would worm its way into her consciousness. She would come to realize that it was the
Sacred Heart of Jesus she met in the clouds.
Just as the heart has its own memory, it also has its own reason beyond
reason, and now, the woman whose heart as a little girl received two wounds
from the thorns around His Heart knows and believes: Jesus is wounded by the
errors of both those who claim or even vow to love Him, and those who mock and
spurn Him.</span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<strong style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Knowing His heart is wounded causes her heart to bleed, too, but now she
would feel His pain as well, but instead of crippling her in her efforts to
love others, she would remember the huge heart of Jesus she saw in her
cloud-watching—the tender heart the size of a dinner plate. Jesus asks that her heart have room for everyone,
too, to love sinners and saints alike. Because
in her heart that cloud-watching child is still very much alive, she does as He
says, grateful for the lesson she was taught in the clouds. And that's the truth.</span></strong></div>
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And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-10161243159846324572017-08-09T11:20:00.000+08:002018-03-02T22:15:33.572+08:00Together forever and forever, (Conclusion)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQMc2L7Ma930xn76BM7LXM8nDQmvRkKhFiIPidXAiPF3W0aLuamfjkvfb_a5GHclGgfFoBbqGerO_k2DXXAY-BXIFvLcDz9w3yOebp0ppPp5lyTBQCBsrgoird3__OEQwQXX5aw/s1600/claustro+dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="900" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQMc2L7Ma930xn76BM7LXM8nDQmvRkKhFiIPidXAiPF3W0aLuamfjkvfb_a5GHclGgfFoBbqGerO_k2DXXAY-BXIFvLcDz9w3yOebp0ppPp5lyTBQCBsrgoird3__OEQwQXX5aw/s320/claustro+dead.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">As a Catholic I agree, absolutely, with the
Church’s teaching that the ashes of our dear departed must be interred in an
appropriate place like a cemetery or a church, but I’m pretty much tolerant of
other people’s beliefs when it came to such, whether or not they’re
Catholics.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Having lived in other lands and
met or known people of divergent cultures and beliefs I’ve come to empathize
with those who don’t share my thinking. It's a live and let live world, after all. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve been to a non-Catholic home in Metromanila
that has a collection of urns containing ancestors’ ashes in the living room,
which the homeowners display with as much pride as Filipino parents have who
fill their walls with diplomas of their children. I’ve been to a truly special garden restaurant
in Quezon Province where a unique four-poster shed stands, with some flowers
and a lighted candle in the middle. Not
seeing the candle’s reason for being in such a place, I asked our guide. He said the shed was actually a shrine, and
he pointed at an earthen jar on top of a post, next to the ceiling, saying it
contained the ashes of the owner’s mother, a Catholic. Apparently the restaurant owner was so close
to his mother in life that he wants to maintain that closeness even in death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Abroad, I met a middle aged lady who didn’t know
what to do with her mother’s ashes in her house. Long before “eco-cemeteries” existed, they scattered
her father’s ashes in a public park, around a flowering hedge. The park was the family’s favorite summer
picnic destination when they were kids—and her mother’s wish was for her ashes
to be joined with her father’s when her turn came. When her turn came, the family went back to
the park to honor her wish. But she
returned home still carrying her mother’s ashes. As they were to learn then, a fire years ago
had razed to the ground a considerable area of the park, making it now
impossible to locate the exact spot of her father’s “burial”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some of the weirdest things people do to be
together forever with their loved ones reflect a somewhast self-centered
sentimentality that makes detachment difficult.
The parents of an apparently well-loved high school student in the US
who died in a car accident reportedly gave little scoops of the boy’s ashes to
his closest friends. Some put theirs in
lockets to wear around the neck; some glued the ashes to the picture of the
deceased and hung it up their study wall; and a few had the ashes ground
superfine, mixed it with tattoo ink, and had themselves tattooed with it. Still, a few snorted the pulverized remains
mixed with illegal drugs for a different kind of high--the ultimate high for
some, plain morbid for others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">An immigrant family I know have for years kept
the ashes of their parents in cardboard boxes in their basement, waiting for
the time they’ll retire in the Philippines after decades of toil for dollars in
the Land of the Free: “We wouldn’t want to leave our parents here alone; we
want to be all together in the place of our birth.” They are Catholics, and want to remain a
closely knit family until they hear the blare of the resurrection trumpets. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A lady friend in her late 30s—she’s Catholic by
birth, New Age-ish by inclination—keeps her mother’s inurned ashes on her night
table, in open defiance of her siblings who wanted to bury them in their
father’s grave which was their mother’s wish.
Whatever people do with the cremains of their dearly departed often
seems to be a matter of purely personal considerations, and show an utter lack
(especially among Catholics) of knowledge or concern for the Church’s stand on
the matter. I have observed that among
many Protestants, it’s just a matter of choice since they say the bible has no
specific teaching on cremation. But we
Catholics do, so why do we behave as though we owned our loved ones’ ashes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I myself would tolerate others’ practices, even
among Catholics I know, but recently I realized I would put my foot firmly down
(that the Church’s rule on this be followed) if it came to my own family. I never thought I’d be “tested” on this until
it was time to bury our daughter-in-law.
Since her demise at age 50 was inevitable due to terminal lung cancer,
the families from both sides had agreed to follow her wishes: wear white, three
nights wake, burial in their family plot in her birth place Bataan, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">As preparations were under way, everything was smooth
sailing, until our family was informed that the ashes, after the three-night
wake in Bataan, would be transported to Manila to wait until the 40<sup>th</sup>
day to be buried. This was not among her
wishes, nor our family’s desire, so where did the idea come from? (And where would the urn be kept in
Manila? Certainly not in our home). We
never did find out who really introduced the changes since it was her siblings
in Bataan who were overseeing everything, and I was careful not to offend her
sibling who had left the Church to become a fervent member of a Christian
sect. But I did my homework. I burned the midnight oil reading up Vatican
documents not only on the Church’s stand on cremation but more specifically on
the treatment of the cremated remains. Our daughter in law was a devoted
Catholic, and so should be buried accordingly.
I wanted to be sure that my feet were planted on solid ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">During the last night of the wake, there was
still nothing final on the proposed 40-day wait in Manila, as no one had raised
the issue. Fortunately, a young priest
came to bless the body—I took the opportunity to ask him about his opinion on
the contentious plan, and sought his affirmation of my readings. Not only was he grateful “for reminding me of
the Church teaching”—he also gave an animated talk to the congregation which
included what we Catholics should and should not do with our beloved’s ashes.
“The remains of the dead do not belong to the family. They belong to God. After the Mass and cremation, straight to the
cemetery, the final resting place, no distributing of ashes, no scattering in
the sea or in the mountains, no wearing the ashes around your neck, no 9-day or
40-day wait.” I believe that kind of
talk should be given at each and every Catholic burial, and I hope that one day
our Lady Vice President would be around to listen. And that’s the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>(Cartoon courtesy of Mad Magazine)</i></span></div>
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And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-12756155177398299702017-07-26T10:43:00.000+08:002018-03-02T22:13:29.145+08:00Together forever, Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpc-PwtqNzRM1w87r_Dz5g8unpkqq_MtEhv64rhIVNohu21OtVdOh5OY_CX-ppgt48y_glqUXpVawFB7r5P23jJi6BDAHgkNstKBys_C6DualnrQ7zGq_TW4wl07TgmGGGcJ18w/s1600/cremation+show.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="229" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpc-PwtqNzRM1w87r_Dz5g8unpkqq_MtEhv64rhIVNohu21OtVdOh5OY_CX-ppgt48y_glqUXpVawFB7r5P23jJi6BDAHgkNstKBys_C6DualnrQ7zGq_TW4wl07TgmGGGcJ18w/s320/cremation+show.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
morning, I was talking with a lady friend about a certain burial I will attend
tomorrow—the interment, finally, of what’s left of the ashes of a man (let’s
call him “Johnny”) who had died 20 years ago.
My friend was so amused hearing about “what’s left of the ashes”, because,
really, what we will be burying tomorrow must be only half of the ashes, as
some (on Johnny’s request) had already been scattered in the sea. In fact, some of it was blown by the wind
into the nostrils of his brother in law, an incident that has spawned jokes and
laughter whenever it’s retold. “Now
we’re together forever as his ashes are stuck in my lungs,” the brother in law
would say, almost with pride that he has remained alive and healthy in spite of
it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So—what’s
left of Johnny’s ashes was placed in an urn that sat for the longest time in
the family’s living room. In fact, only
recently did I learn—as I was helping the wife (“Brenda”) to redesign her house
interiors—that that vase which I’d thought was purely decorative, sitting on a
high shelf, actually contained her husband’s ashes. “Whaaaat?” I exclaimed, incredulous, “You
mean, all the hundreds of times these past 20 years I’d visited you here, half
of Johnny was there watching us?” Yes,
Brenda said, sheepishly. Indeed, but
why—I asked in sympathy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Well,
at first, she felt keeping Johnny’s ashes in the house helped her and her kids
remain close. At first. Because later on, with the children growing
up and finally having families of their own abroad, who remembers, let alone
cares, about their father’s ashes on that shelf? Nobody.
Not even Brenda who admitted it hadn’t even occurred to her to move the
ashes to a more “sacred” spot in her house, like the makeshift altar where she
keeps religious images, rosaries, prayer cards, etc. “What if the urn fell on the floor? You’ll sweep the ashes back into the urn and
mop up the rest?” I asked, and, emboldened by the Vatican’s stand on these
matters I added, “Beloved though Johnny may be, the house of the living is no
place for his ashes. You already bought
space in a columbary, put him to rest there.” They are Catholic and so Brenda didn’t resist;
soon she arranged for the proper interment with Mass tomorrow, exactly the 20<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of Johnny’s death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
my lady friend laughed about burying half of Johnny’s ashes, she said, “Eh yung
vice president nga natin eh, nakasabit pa sa leeg niya yung abo ng asawa
niya! Pati mga anak niya, ano’ng say mo!” (So what about our vice president who wears
her husband’s ashes around her neck?
Even her children do, what say you!) Whaaaat?—again, I was aghast,
especially since she added, “Hindi ba bawal iyon? Close pa naman siya sa Church, di ba? Bad example!”
(Isn’t it a no-no? To think that
she’s known to be close to the Church. Bad
example!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
chat over, I wanted to validate what I’d just heard—at least from Google. After so many websites checked and
double-checked, reading but dismissing the Leni-bashers, I found mainstream
media reports—so it’s true, after all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
a <i>Philippine Daily Inquirer</i> feature on
November 6, 2016, Leni Robredo was reported to have visited on the eve of All
Saints’ Day her husband’s grave, along with their daughters. What caught my attention was this rather
sympathetic line: “All four Robredo
women wore their identical gold pendants, with Jesse’s ashes resting delicately
on their hearts.” A feature article in the
<i>Philippine Star</i> on October 11, 2015 said
in the same vein: “Every day she carries with her a part of her husband—the
ashes in the locket of her necklace. As
long as the locket tugs to her heart she feels Jesse. She’s guided by his example. The luminary that Jesse was is the luminosity
that shines upon Leni. They are never
apart.” Wow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Love must be the motivating factor behind our
attachment to our beloved’s remains. I
know of a religious man who so loves and reveres his deceased mother that he
keeps part of her skull in the glove compartment of his car. (In his car!
Not even the living room! Bah, what’s this?) Then again, a friend of a friend also told me
she keeps a piece of bone from her beloved deceased father not only because she
wants him near but also because, she said, “The bone is bluish. I’m told it’s rare, and that it’s a sign of
nobility.” (Did I hear the alarm
buzz! Talk about love for the dead!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I also know of a man, a senior citizen who—in his
younger wild-oats-sowing days had sired several children with three women now
settled abroad—said in earnest to his broadminded wife, “Pag nauna ako sa iyo,
i-cremate mo ko, tapos hatiin mo yung abo sa apat, isa sa iyo, yung tatlo sa
kanila.” (If I go ahead of you, cremate
me, and then divide my ashes into four, one part for you, the other three to
them.) Without batting an eyelash the
wife quipped, “Anhin ko yung abo mo? Sa
kanila na lang!” (What on earth will I
do with your ashes? They can have
it!) True story, I swear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I understand why people hold on to some remains
of the beloved departed, and I also see that they do so because they are not
reached by Church teaching to wean them away from romantic and prevailing
notions relating to these matters. I
myself wrote once—and it came out in print, mind you—that “I preferred to be
cremated, and my ashes buried in the backyard, on which spot you (my family)
will plant a coconut tree, so that I would still feed you long after I’m dead.” But that was written during my agnostic
years. And I chose a coconut tree
because my family loves buko salad. And
that’s the truth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>(To be continued)</i></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><i>(Thanks to Pinterest for Funeral Funnies cartoon)</i></span></span></div>
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And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-63464024484283560692017-07-16T08:16:00.000+08:002017-08-22T08:17:44.814+08:00Mary’s quiet presence in the brown scapular<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW4pF36lKcfsITF7N9LdKEmSlu8PbOulB3-2rsA0diueLtvJJ-LWQ2j3d01U4JHYJUK8aOVxQQ5bxBl3L7s7Q8CKk7xPjBW0yTs6pRJ8Vz5PUVVb758i04cSmLTtwq16Xw6I6qpw/s1600/OLMC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="251" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW4pF36lKcfsITF7N9LdKEmSlu8PbOulB3-2rsA0diueLtvJJ-LWQ2j3d01U4JHYJUK8aOVxQQ5bxBl3L7s7Q8CKk7xPjBW0yTs6pRJ8Vz5PUVVb758i04cSmLTtwq16Xw6I6qpw/s400/OLMC.jpg" width="175" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">“What’s that thing plastered on your back—Salonpas?” a
male colleague in the newsroom asked.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">“Oh that?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">It’s a scapular.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">I didn’t realize it was semi-visible through
my white shirt, and so, assuring him that I wasn’t in need yet of Salonpas—a pain-relieveng
patch for arthritis or other muscle aches—I felt obliged to tell him a bit
about the brown scapular.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">For us Secular
Carmelites, it is formally imposed during a ceremony marking a stage in our
formation; it’s made up of two pieces of plain brown wool cloth the size indeed
of a Salonpas patch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Maybe he was just kidding about the Salonpas bit, but
it led to his virtual initiation into Carmel and the brown scapular devotion.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Serves him right.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">“Don’t believe what you hear about the brown
scapular protecting you from bullets or knife attacks,” I warned him, “Hindi
iyon anting-anting (amulet) or a lucky charm to make you rich and famous or
find you the right spouse.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">It’s our
Carmelite habit, a sign that we belong to Mary.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">I like what author John Zmirak said about the scapular
being a “sleek and minimalist version of the Carmelite habit”.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">The one we Secular Carmelites wear may be
sleek and minimalist but being made of wool, it’s itchy—to better fortify us against
the pursuit of vainglory?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Yes.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Remember the sackcloth worn by Elijah and
John the Baptist. We’re also not supposed to display it, although some of us,
probably believing it expresses our “zeal for the Living God”, wear all sorts
of ornate scapulars during “gala” occasions—huge like the ID cards during the papal
visit, embroidered with the Carmelite logo, hung with a crucifix, and bearing
the text of the so-called Sabbatine privilege.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">All sorts—all unnecessary, but all tolerated for the love of God.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Come to think of it, judging from the volume of devotees
(in the Philippines) who unabashedly wear the brown scapular—from prison
inmates to celebrities—one would think that Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (OLMC) must
be the best known of Mary’s manifestations in the Church.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">But no, despite the thousands of brown
scapulars sold in religious bookstores and distributed for free during her
feast on July 16, countless others have yet to be introduced to the truth about
it, and how it relates to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel whose popular image wears
brown with a cream colored mantle, holds the Child Jesus in her left arm and in
her right hand—you guessed it—a brown scapular.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">The</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Church teaches that “The scapular is a Marian
habit or garment. It is both a sign and pledge. A sign of belonging to Mary; a
pledge of her motherly protection, not only in this life but after death. As a
sign, it is a conventional sign signifying three elements strictly joined:
first, belonging to a religious family particularly devoted to Mary, especially
dear to Mary, the Carmelite Order; second, consecration to Mary, devotion to
and trust in her Immaculate Heart; third, an urge to become like Mary by
imitating her virtues, above all her humility, chastity, and spirit of prayer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">More
specifically, a </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Discalced Carmelite
priest and a revered authority on Carmelite spirituality Fr. Gabriel of St.
Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, OCD, wrote that devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
means “a special call to the interior life, which is pre-eminently a Marian
life. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Our Lady wants us to resemble her
not only in our outward vesture but, far more, in heart and spirit. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">If we gaze into Mary's soul, we shall see that
grace in her has flowered into a spiritual life of incalculable wealth: a life
of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted oblation to God, continual contact, and
intimate union with him. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">Mary's soul is
a sanctuary reserved for God alone, where no human creature has ever left its
trace, where love and zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of mankind
reign supreme… Those who want to live their devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
to the full must follow Mary into the depths of her interior life. Carmel is
the symbol of the contemplative life, the life wholly dedicated to the quest
for God, wholly orientated towards intimacy with God; and the one who has best
realized this highest of ideals is Our Lady herself, ‘Queen and Splendor of
Carmel’."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span lang="EN-SG" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“If we gaze into Mary’s soul…”</span></i><span lang="EN-SG" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"> Whew, tall order in this day and age of
verbal diarrhea! Gazing implies a numbing silence—shutting out
all words and thoughts as noise impeding the ascent to the Divine through
Mary’s portal. How dare we gaze into
Mary’s soul! But we must at least try,
humbly, as the brown scapular—devoid of popular superstitions and self-serving
notions—reminds us of Mary’s quiet presence in our lives and assures us beyond words
of her untiring maternal guidance. In
“following Mary into the depths of her interior life” we heed her advice in
Cana, “Do as He tells you to do,” knowing beyond doubt that our faith will lead
us to “a spiritual life of incalculable wealth” and an intimate friendship with
our Lord Jesus. And that’s the truth.</span></div>
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And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-570525407265630512015-10-16T10:12:00.002+08:002017-08-22T01:28:08.733+08:00Our political circus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz3BDrnA8rrqrzQLTxUK-SckRgfENOOVql5SGPRdji54O6kyK8G1cMSq2aINVEuQFr7qJy2cZyQJZwV_9anJsX06F6YoYcPmNPF7yvkOBLDpybmxCjbEYjyrIAvwNib2lg3OkPg/s1600/circus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz3BDrnA8rrqrzQLTxUK-SckRgfENOOVql5SGPRdji54O6kyK8G1cMSq2aINVEuQFr7qJy2cZyQJZwV_9anJsX06F6YoYcPmNPF7yvkOBLDpybmxCjbEYjyrIAvwNib2lg3OkPg/s320/circus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
With
the Comelec premises reportedly looking like a plaza on a fiesta during the
week of politicians filing their Certificate of Candidacy (COC), the air waves
are sizzling with more news and interviews related to the forthcoming 2016
elections.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With
candidates of rather colorful public images, character or background, the scene
is getting to look like a veritable circus—with barkers, freak shows, and
animals big and small. Some candidates roar (like lions), some come on heavy
(like elephants), some inspire fear (like snakes), some look cute (like talking
parrots), some are funny and amusing (like monkeys)—and all of them contribute
to the season’s entertainment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
discerning voter without vested interests would realize that much about the
candidates’ image is determined by how media portray them, and since media seem
unable to be a hundred percent accurate, objective, and fair about doing their
job in spite of their best intentions, voters must not depend solely on “what
others say” in choosing candidates to vote for. Much of what is currently surfacing in the political field
can serve not only as directional arrows to guide our choice, but also as
indicators of our level of sophistication and intelligence as an electorate,
and maybe even of who we are as a people.
And so we try to look beneath the surface and in the process come to
probe our psyche.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For
instance, most candidates do not speak meaningfully on issues. Even when hard-pressed for comment on,
say, the conflict with China in the west Philippine Sea, or the Bangsamoro
Basic Law, answers are “generic” and noncommittal. Doing your own research aided by Google won’t yield anything
along this line. Does this silence
mean candidates are simply playing safe, or lack knowledge of the given
situation?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Most
candidates tell stories instead of discussing policies. Full of self-confidence, they say
they’re the man for the job but offer nothing solid about how they’re going to
do the job. Coached no doubt by
their publicists on the kind of image to project in order to appeal to as many
people as possible, candidates score high at “porma” but almost zero on
“plataporma”. If their avowed
desire to “serve the people” is true, shouldn’t they at least “do their
homework” and let the people know what to expect should they win? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Surveys
left and right are exploited and depicted by media as reliable indicators of
candidates’ future performance at the polls. They are not presented for what they truly are—the voice of
1,000 or so voters out of 53,000,000.
Ultimately the victims of such media’s magnification of survey’s
significance are the poor and the majority of us who are not aware that like
any human endeavor, surveys can be manipulated—if the price is right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It’s
alarming to find out how many “political dynasties” we have, and that some of
these dynasties include even extramarital family members. Following tradition and the ways of the
world, all of such dynasties belong to the moneyed minority in our society. The “poor” candidates’ names are
usually not found in the roster of dynasties. What does this imply, besides the already known fact that
more often than not you need loads of money to run for public office? That only the multimillionaires are capable
of serving the public? If cash is
synonymous with clout in the political arena, does it follow that competent
potential candidates may never have a crack at offices higher than that of
barangay captain’s? If the
existence of political dynasties proves anything at all, it is that power is
addictive.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>(To be continued) </i></div>
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And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30263410.post-58692648136117340192015-09-30T20:00:00.000+08:002015-10-09T20:00:29.435+08:00Living Flesh from Buenos Aires<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7sRVfrt5eegh0nilJ0W72o6TFLhb23GqzpUzIHdnJ5fkcESlsan9NnykSaraD4k01d6NyAELR_CjySw_NZ7AlLBplE8QOv1B1rBFr1RAJJSApUGKZtuG8nXbpOalwPdtx1s4ctw/s1600/BAires.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7sRVfrt5eegh0nilJ0W72o6TFLhb23GqzpUzIHdnJ5fkcESlsan9NnykSaraD4k01d6NyAELR_CjySw_NZ7AlLBplE8QOv1B1rBFr1RAJJSApUGKZtuG8nXbpOalwPdtx1s4ctw/s320/BAires.jpg" width="320" /></a>Despite our collective rejoicing and gratitude over Pope Francis’
voluntary visit to the Philippines last January (evidenced by the 7-million
strong crowd that attended his concluding Mass at the Luneta), not a few people
will admit to being “slightly disappointed” that his visit then meant the
Pontiff could not be expected to return in order to be present at the
International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) to be held in January 2016 in Cebu.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
Take heart!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There could be
another way through which the erstwhile Bishop of Buenos Aires, now Bishop of
Rome and “the people’s pope”, could somehow be with us on this monumental
event—by opening the IEC’s doors to what a growing number of people believe to
be the “Eucharistic miracle of Buenos Aires”—with the prerequisite blessing of
the Holy See, of course. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
Documents, photos and videos point to the existence of a “Eucharistic
phenomenon” that reportedly took place on August 18, 1996 at St. Mary Catholic
Church in Buenos Aires, Argentina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As Padre Alejandro Pezet was finishing distribution of the Holy
Communion, a woman came up to say she’d found a host someone had dropped and
refused to pick up to consume it as it had been soiled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fr. Pezet took the host and as is
customary in such instances placed it in a container with water and kept it
locked in the tabernacle. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
On August 26, Fr. Pezet assumed the host had been dissolved and that he
could then respectfully water a plant with it, but to his amazement he found
that instead of being dissolved the host had turned into a seemingly bloody
substance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He reported it to Mons.
Jorge Bergoglio, then Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Antonio Cardinal Quarracino, then
Archbishop of Buenos Aires, instructed that the host be professionally
photographed and the event studied and documented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On September 6, 1996, photographs taken showed a significant
increase in the host’s size. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
the instruction of Cardinal Quarracino, the whole affair was kept a secret.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The host was kept in a container of
distilled water in the tabernacle; meanwhile, photographs and documents were
reportedly submitted to Rome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
Three years later, the host still showed no signs of visible
decomposition, thus in 1999, the now Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Bergoglio
followed the case through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
deemed it best that the host be subjected to scientific examination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On Oct. 5, 1999, Dr. Ricardo Castanon,
a neuro-psycho-physiologist who happens to be an atheist, was allowed to take a
sample of the bloody substance which he was to take to the United States for
analysis following typical FBI procedures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To ensure a prejudice-free study, Dr. Castanon purposely
concealed the origin of the bloody fragment from the team of scientists who
would do the study. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
The team determined that what had been analyzed was real flesh and
blood, containing human DNA. One of these scientists, Dr. Frederick Zugibe, a
well-known cardiologist and forensic pathologist, stated<strong>:</strong> “The
analyzed material is a fragment of the heart muscle found in the wall of
the left ventricle close to the valves. This muscle is responsible for the
contraction of the heart. It should be borne in mind that the left cardiac
ventricle pumps blood to all parts of the body. The heart muscle is in an
inflammatory condition and contains a large number of white blood cells.
This indicates that the heart was alive at the time the sample was taken. It is
my contention that the heart was alive, since white blood cells die outside
a living organism. They require a living organism to sustain
them. Thus, their presence indicates that the heart was alive when the sample
was taken. What is more, these white blood cells had penetrated the tissue,
which further indicates that the heart had been under severe stress, as if the
owner had been beaten severely about the chest.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
Witnessing these tests were two Australians, journalist Mike Willesee
and lawyer Ron Tesoriero; both men knew the background of the sample, and were
naturally stunned to hear Dr. Zugibe’s testimony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Willessee asked Dr. Zugibe, “How long would white blood
cells have remained alive if they have come from a human tissue which had been
kept in water?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Zugibe
replied, “They would have ceased to exist in a matter of minutes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Willessee, gradually unveiling the
truth, informed Dr. Zugibe that before it reached the doctor’s hands, the
sample was “from a tissue that had first been kept in ordinary water for
a month and then in a bowl with distilled water for three years.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Dr. Zugibe had no scientific
explanation for it, Willessee finally told him the truth, that “the analyzed
sample came from a consecrated host.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Astonished, Dr. Zugibe replied that “how and why a host
would change its character to become living flesh and blood would remain an
inexplicable mystery to science, a mystery totally beyond my competence.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
Dr. Castanon then arranged to have the lab reports be compared to those
made of a relic of the similar miracle which took place in Lanciano (Italy) in
the eighth century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The experts
making the comparison were not told of the origin of the samples; nonetheless
they concluded that “the two lab reports must have originated from samples
obtained from the same person.” They further added that both samples revealed
an AB positive blood type, all characteristic of a man who was born and who
lived in the Middle East region.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
Dr. Castanon, reportedly an avowed atheist, set out to disprove the
Eucharistic miracle in Buenos Aires and ended up converting to
Catholicism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Author of the book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cuando La Palabra Hiere</i> (“When the Word
Hurts”) he is now committed to his mission of traveling the world,
investigating Catholic mystical phenomena and running scientific tests to prove
or disprove them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
We know and understand how long it takes for a “miracle” to be
officially approved by the Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It should be so, otherwise, any religious phenomenon could be used to
lead the innocent and the ignorant to perdition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand we have also seen how many a cold heart
has been inflamed by the sight or the feel of a saint’s relic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A countless number of church-goers take
Holy Communion barely knowing its grave significance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even priests sometimes admit to taking the Host for
granted—having celebrated Holy Mass for years, sometimes up to seven times on a
Sunday, “the celebration part is gone, only the obligation part remains.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why not try and bring the Living
Flesh from Buenos Aires to the Philippines for the Eucharistic Congress?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we’ll have not just the Pope from
Buenos Aires but the Lord Himself in our land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our nation is in dire need of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are aware that this suggestion is a shot at the
moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But remembering what Pope
Francis said to the young people of Cuba—“Dream on!”—we dream on and leave our
dreams at the feet of the Crucified Christ, fully trusting in God’s plan for
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
</div>
And that's the truthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01369047294508264664noreply@blogger.com