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May
16
According to Chief Justice Ronald George about the recent ruling in California on Gay marriage, “In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation,”
I wonder whose children is he talking about. Read the news here.
Apr
11
Way of the Cross by the then Card. Ratzinger | Papal Visit
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What a wonderful gift we received from the Holy Father these meditations and prayers! In the anticipation of the Holy Father’s visit let us all pray using the Way of the Cross for his health & safety and the same for all the people who will come to see Him.
Here is a video and the transcript of his message to Catholics and people of America on the occasion of his apostolic visit.
For other info on the Papal Visit:
http://www.uspapalvisit.org/
My prayers to you all who will be joining the thousands and thousands of people who will come to see the Holy Father and for all the people who will be watching him on TV. For those who are and will be in New York I invite you to join us young adults at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer to participate in a Papal Visit Thanksgiving Mass which will be followed by a short presentation on the life & mission of the Pope. This is for to know more about him and appreciate this apostolic journey of the successor of Peter himself.
Mar
4
Months ago I posted a news article about the arrest of Fr. Ed Abano who was charged with criminal sexual conduct. Testimonies of his charity for his vocation and parishioners flooded the web and even materialize a website dedicated to the cause of saving the good pastor of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Piscataway. Recently the case was dismissed. Praise be to God!
Here are some news article about the dismissal of the case and an open letter from Fr. Ed himself. NewsLinks courtesy of Susan S. (My thanks to Susan for the update on this case.)
Clergyman reveals joy at
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080227/NEWS010209/802270412
Diocese says grand jury has cleared Piscataway priest of sexual misconduct
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080226/NEWS/80226017
Feb
10
I thought this was interesting. A Philippine mother believes her young son is possessed, and seeks an exorcism.
Jan
19
TV Maria, Philippines
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I have to say that I am overwhelmed with joy for what is going on in our beloved country, the Phillipines. After learning about the plan for Monte Maria, a shrine for our Blessed Virgin Mother, now comes TV Maria- a national television network of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Our country is truly a Marian country. Despite of the difficulty that our country is going through it is comforting to know that the Church is alive. She is always there to bring us hope during these time of turmoil. Ave Maria!
You can read about it here & here , and pictures of the official launch here.
Jan
8
Updates on Monte Maria, Philippines
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A month ago I posted a couple of videos about this wonderful shrine to be constructed in the Philippines. Here are some links I found about the shrine and more interesting articles.
Stage set for RP as global healing center from the Catholic Pilgrim blog.
Monte Maria mega shrine not yet up but healing stones abound By Allison Lopez for Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://www.fatherfernando.com/articles.shtml
Dec
22
Hapag ng Pag-asa
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Below is a picture of a painting, entitled “Hapag ng Pag-asa” (Table of Hope), by Joey Velasco on the latest post of our good friend Kay Vardeleon who maintains the very insightful blog Break Me. It is a painting of a Last Supper but in the place of the 12 Apostles are 12 impoverished children in the Philippines….not from imagination but real people that he paid to pose for him. (The video at the bottom of this article tells us of his wonderful journey of faith, how he found himself through these children.)
However, due to the relativity of perceptions and sensitivity that discussing every virtue it invokes would take more than a blog to cover just the basics, if not a book that will always remain unfinished with a chapter being added every time for as long as mind can retain the intangible representation of this image, I will concentrate on what seems to posses the strongest of all that creates the deepest imprint on my visual memory but in the most mysterious way also the least obvious: on how God calls us in so many different ways, how each call is always personal and exclusive to the person being called, but basically in general, how both in suffering and in triumph he is calling us.
Through suffering.
It is in the hunger, thirst, and difficulties these children endure that they become partakers of the supper the Lord has prepared for them. Are we not drowning His call for communion whenever we savor the joys of abundance apart from our Host?
At this time and world society of ours that seem to give more importance on instant gratification and “doing away” with suffering by removal of awareness and desensitization, are we not also refusing to hear His call?
For it is in our hunger, thirst, and suffering that we realize our dependency to Him that it is with great importance that neither we must turn our backs nor close our eyes from the reality of human suffering. We must embrace it, we must continue not just to see but to look, not just to hear but to listen.
It is not the glory of a pleasurable life disconnected from Christ that is to become the dictator of our lives. It is only when we are ready to feel hungry that we become able to see that the food we need is only served on the “Table of Plenty”. We know, from the interview below that the children are real but in my mind on their faces I can see mine, I can see us all, that unless we “become like [these] little children…” (Mt 18:3) we will never be able to sit with him and feed on what he had given up so that we may become partakers of the Divine nature of God that we can only be when we asked to receive his flesh and blood as the bread that we eat and the wine that we drink.
He is calling us, he is telling us that in our everyday suffering, be it from work, financial difficulty, personal relationships, etc…, it is not that he had abandoned us or that we are suffering from his punishment but he is there sitting on the table offering us nourishment. He is telling us, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt. 11:28, 29)
Through triumph
Through the things that we do which makes us truly happy we can hear his calling. This is what Joey Velasco have just experienced. Discovery of himself came from doing what he loves to do, by using his God-given talent he is able to find himself. So we should never be afraid to take heed and hear his call, to reflect on all the good things that were given to us and try to discern for His will amid the abundance, to resist the temptation of regarding every good thing as a reward for doing a good deed as if it was a price that He owes us for doing good, because in triumph is his call for communion as well. All that we love when connected with Christ becomes a joy in our lives and such is his way of telling us to “Take my yoke upon you…” and that yoke, the yoke of Christ is not always a blessing in disguise of suffering…sometimes, they truly appear like the true blessing that they really are.
Praise be to God.
Dec
5
Simbang Gabi sa Katedral
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Thanks to bcv2024 (youtube.com) for these videos.
Dec
5
This impressive undertaking is worth telling the whole world. According to some articles I found online, they broke ground Last January to build this mega-Shrine of Montemaria dedicated to “Mary Mother of the Poor” at the Southern part of Batangas City Bay area. The statue of the Shrine of Montemaria will be 102 meters high, that is about the size of, if not more than, the Statue of Liberty. Oh, what a great way to venerate our Virgin Mother.
Related articles:
http://www.fatherfernando.com/
http://internetcommunications.tmcnet.com/news/2007/12/01/3134422.htm
Nov
28
Reflections on The Parables - Part 1: The Friend in Need
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One of the many things that I find interesting in the Bible is the Parables, stories of which Christ had chosen to relay his message to his people. I find them unique because it is in their utmost simplicity that we find the universality of his message embedded in these stories. They speak of everyday occurrence in our life but with a well-chosen theme and interesting plot that resonates with all kinds of people and situations regardless of time. They are a source of an inexhaustible wisdom for the lessons we can learn from them are as many as the number of reflections we can do. If we really think about it, they are, after all, stories made by no other than Christ, the Divine author, who is the Word upon which the salvation of mankind rests. There is no other stories like so.
However the unfortunate fate of every common thing in the hands of human weakness is its decline to an almost non-significance by which all that is universal seemingly suffers from due to the tendency of our minds to be constantly craving for something new, to be shocked, to be taken by surprise. Unless the story is that which we haven’t heard before we will continue to go by the impression that there is nothing more to learn from it. But the parables, they are always worth the time to go back to as we go about our life’s journey as if they are always new because only then we can perceive the freshness of his message- that, by the way, has always been there hidden by our own complacency. I say, how blessed are we to have these stories to guide us as we go through our life.
Luke 11:5-13 tells us of the Parable of a friend in need.
He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’ and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’? I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs. “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
