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Two days ago the Mass readings were taken from Numbers 20:1-13 (Children of Israel’s journey to the desert) and Mt 16:13-23 (the rebuke of Peter). The first reading describes to us the attitude of the whole congregation of the children of Israel at the onset of human perils : how they, with great impatience and lack of faith, have contented with Moses and then the Gospel of that day speaks about the disposition of Peter when faced with the overwhelming plan of the Divine. I wonder what it was that made faith a difficult thing to have despite the miracles at hand.

The children of Israel have heard the voice of the Lord and yet their hearts were hardened. Faith was still hard to come by despite the multitude of miracles and even the little that they have was always ready to be thrown away at the slightest hint of discomfort. What it appears to me, this long journey to the promised land, is that, in a way, it is the longest direct conversation between God and his people. A testament of how difficult and arduous the path for a simple message of God to break through the barriers of human pride. And that goes the same with Peter, who had just professed his belief to the Lord can only utter, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” (Mt 16:22) at the moment of knowing what was the will of the Divine.

The miracles at hand were all easy to believe at but that which requires faith such as the the will of God is just something that is so foreign to the human understanding and acceptance. I wonder, for Peter, the children of Israel, and also myself, how much convincing and evidence does a creature need to put his faith in his creator? Read more

I woke up this morning automatically scheduling the decades of my daily Rosary through the errands I have to do today.  Between all the work, the commute, and engagements for tonight my devotion is broken up into an almost unrecognizable prayer that would last for 12 hours that the end seems to me now is something I couldn’t wish for more than a football fan would wish for a “Hail Mary”.

It used to be effective in muting my conscience by thinking that I am only trying to fill up my idle times with prayer times. Well, not anymore.  Not that it is not good to do such but it is my behaviour that is unacceptable anymore, because not only I have learned to fill my idle times but it has now become a routine- that prayer times can only be during idle times.

Whenever I make the sign of the cross I am aware that I am preparing myself to be transported to a place where I am going to have a conversation with our Lord.  No appointments made and with a complete disregard for His availability I commanded Him to be there to spend some time listening to me but only to hear me say, “Wait, I just have to get on this bus” or “Hold on, I just had an interesting thought”.  

I know that whenever I pray I am “standing on Holy Ground”, He is exactly where and when I asked Him to be but the place and time have become where and when only sometimes I was.  So on one hand, it is good that I know where He is and that He will always be there, but on the other, whenever I step out of it to do something else I am actually going where He is not.

It is not fair.  And not because He deserves more from me in the sense that He needs my complete attention to make Him happy and feel godly, because there is nothing in me that will benefit Him since He is the source of all things, but in the sense that everything I have I ought to give.  My time, attention, and everything I have to Him I should give and what better place is there to start with than in my daily prayers.

Planned Parenthood fights bid to force reporting child rape. Thanks to Dawn Eden for catching this news.

Fr Dwight Longenecker expects something of more depth from Albert Mohler’s comment on the recent CDF document.

Gerald Augustinus of The Cafeteria Is Closed blog has a video of his interview with Cardinal Schoenborn here

and his thoughts on the recent circular by the Archdiocese of Manila… that our good friend Manny Amador blogged about two days ago. Also worth reading is Kay Vardeleon’s. Here are the direct links to the circular and poster for proper attire in church.

The #6 video of The Catholic Show entitled “You Are A Priest Forever” by our friends from the Rosary Army is now available for viewing, you can watch it here.

And lastly, the new website of the Vatican State.

One of the many reasons why I like reading blogs by priests is their sense of humour.  Fr. Joe has something about The Power of Beer and  Fr. Justin of Nova et Vetera has his take on why the recent Motu Propio is not about what the people have been waiting for.

 On a different note Cardinal Sean’s blog has a link to the movie trailer of  Bella.

On a serious note, Fr. Dwight Longnecker of Standing on My Head has some honest questions on the Latin Mass which are answered by Shawn Tribe of National Liturgical Movement (NLM).  It is worth reading.

(Thanks again to Fr Tim Finigan of The Hermeneutic of Continuity  for the links.)

 

Two of the blogs I regularly read have interesting articles lately.  On Standing on My Head, Fr. Dwight Longenecker had written a review of  an old movie, Schindler’s List.  His interesting take on the movie made me want to watch it again, if I’m lucky to find a copy, that is.  Read his review here.

                                        

The other blog is The hermeneutic of continuity.  Fr. Tim Finigan has an article about this young lady who will be taking her school to the High Court over her claim to the right to wear a ring that symbolizes Christian purity in a school where headscarves are allowed to be worn by muslims.  Headscarves are ok but not rings?  Read about it here. 

I found this picture from another blog, Letters From a Young Catholic .  And Im really wondering what the odds are that the little boy has a vocation to the priesthood. 

Last May 18 would have been your 87th Birthday our beloved John Paul the Great. 12 years ago on the Parade Grounds of University of Santo Tomas, in Manila, where I was on my second year in college, you challenged us, the youth, with the most profound and deeply inspiring words that have always been the theme of your Pontificate, “Be not afraid!”. Words that

will take another 10 years to sink in and realize the challenge you had placed at the forefront of our journey. Now, a decade has passed and while I still tremble standing at the door of the future it is not so much of the uncertainty of life that I fear more but on the extent of suffering that has to be endured with love. My past had taught me that with fear comes a secured future but your words pushed me into realizing that the future depends on the strength of fortitude. That there is no reason to fear not being afraid. To you our beloved Pope, just as what the youth of the Filipino people chanted that day, we say to you now, “JP2, We Love You!”

” Most of you are still young, and youth constitutes a very special chapter in the book of life: there is enthusiasm, energy, hope and expectation. The “problems of life” have not yet come to stay. Instead, you are acquiring the skills and experience which will make you mature citizens of your nation and true sons and daughters of the Church – the Church which loves you and needs your co–operation.

What does the Church look for in Filipino youth? For help in saving your own generation from the futility, frustration and emptiness in which so many of your contemporaries find themselves. When I think of all the young men and women who should be the strength, the hope and even the conscience of society, but instead are caught in a web of uncertainty, or are desperately seeking happiness along paths that cannot lead to happiness – then I pray all the more that the young Catholics of the end of the twentieth century will come to an ever more profound knowledge of Jesus Christ and will be convinced of the marvelous challenge and adventure which he represents for every one of us.

In Christ and in his teaching you will find “the way, and the truth, and the life”. In him you will discover the answer to all the fundamental questions. The world and the Church need young people who know that the beauty of living consists in giving oneself to others, in doing good to others. Let the light of Christ enlighten your consciences to true good, and to the evil of sin and everything that tarnishes true love.” - John Paul II, Manila Philippines

The Bells of Balangiga…are church bells of the Parish of Balangiga in the Philippines but now displayed on the grounds of F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  How did the bells get there? 

Well, in a nutshell, during the Philippine-American War (1901), in the town of Balangiga, located some 400 miles south of Manila, the bells were used by Filipino insurgents to signal a surprise attack on an American garrison in that town that left about 50 Us soldiers dead.  This incident led to reprisals, one of which is the razing of several Catholic churches in the area and the confiscation of the Bells of Balangiga…as trophies of war.

For some Americans, the bells, aside from being trophies of war, serve as a memorial for the American soldiers who died from that incident.  Thus, the bells are to remain in the possession of US and never to be returned.

Numerous petitions were made to get the bells back to where they really belong,  which is the Diocese of Borongan where the Parish of Balangiga is, but it seems that the tragedy of that event has a much heavier weight than the purpose of usage and legitimacy of possession.

Please do not get me wrong.  I am a Filipino living here in America and my heart goes to those who suffered a tragic death. I do not know how many Filipino casualties there were but it is enough for me to grieve knowing that there are at least 5O human lives lost. Be that as it may, whether for an American or Filipino, that fateful encounter proved that war, which is not always inevitable, is something that has nothing good to offer but an open door for death.  And even a century after, the ghost of that war remains to continue to hunt and divide. But then again, this is not about patriotism or whose side do we belong, just simply on the matter of who own the bells and how the bells are to be used. 

Provided the fact that they were used to signal an attack that fateful incident, whether with the knowledge or cooperation of the parish priest or not, the act of the priest, if he is guilty of such, should not fault the real owner of the bells nor does the act entitles the victor to deprive the real owner of the bells of his rights to the property, which is the Bishop of the Diocese then, and now the Most Rev. Leonardo Y. Medroso, D.D., who by the way, have nothing to do with the incident.

I couldnt agree more when Bishop Leonardo Medroso of the Diocese of Borongan said, “The bells of Balangiga, if they remain there, will always be a reminder of that fateful encounter and therefore fuels grudges and hatred. Let us do away with grudges and hatred. Return the bells to Balangiga. We will use them to call people to prayer.”   

Please join me in prayers that the bells may toll again in the Philippine soil, that they may serve the people by reminding them of the merciful and loving God than the pain and casualties of war.  

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