My two cents on the poor widow

(x-posted in CatholicFriends)
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Mark 12:38-44)
November 8, 2009

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As the story goes, a man being mugged by two thugs put up a tremendous fight. Finally, the thugs subdued him and took his wallet. Upon finding only two dollars in the wallet, the surprised thug said “Why did you put up such a fight?” To which the man promptly replied “I was afraid that you would find the $200 hidden in my shoe!”
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The gospel account of the widow who offered two coins in spite of her poverty is well-known.
We still remember this nameless widow more than 2,000 years after she put her last two cents into the treasury.

"...Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents..."

Some say that this biblical account gives credence solely to the adage: Give until it hurts.

Does it? While it is certainly virtuous to sacrifice ones own interest in order to offer something for others, in this instance the account also points out the higher order in things. This is revealed by the contrast demonstrated between rich people giving large sums and the poor widow giving two small coins. It simply shows that generosity and devotion to God is not measured by the amount given but rather in what lies at the heart of the giver. Jesus confirms this when He said: "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.".

The rich might even have felt nonchalance and some reluctance in parting with their money, while the poor widow sincerely gives everything with all joy in her heart, in spite of her spare means. This is what St. Paul refers to when he said: "Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Cor 9:7)

God knows how much we can afford to give, as he knows all the money that we have (even those hidden in our shoe). It is the full devotion to God that the gospel speaks of, and it may not really matter whether one is rich or poor materially. The important thing is that one's heart must be for God -- selflessly, entirely, physically, and spiritually. Jonathan Swift put it nicely: “A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.”

The poor widow had God in her heart, and for that alone, she is infinitely rich.
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CFC Defines Guidelines for CFC GK Work

These guidelines were issued by the CFC International Council to define CFC's GK work. An article containing such guidelines was also reported in the CFC Ugnayan supplement of the recent CBCP Monitor issue for Oct 26-Nov 8, Vol 13, No. 22.

For informational purposes.

Jesus of Nazareth (3)

Part 1
Part 2


Chapter 2 of the book deals with the temptations of Jesus. (Mat 4:1-11)

The three synoptic Gospels tells us that after Jesus' baptism, he was led by the Spirit into the desert "to be tempted by the devil" (Mt 4:1). In relation, CCC 540 states: "Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is the Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes". Pope Benedict also observes that it is a "descent into the perils besettling mankind" - for there is no other way to lift up fallen humanity. "Jesus has to enter into the drama of human existence...to bear it on his shoulders".

This leads into the Pope's very incisive reflections on how these temptations address what truly matters in human life.

"At the heart of all these temptations, as we see here, is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives..."

"Moral posturing is part and parcel of temptation. It does not invite us directly to do evil -- no, that would be far too blatant. It pretends to show us a better way, where we finally abandon our 'illusions' and throw ourselves into the work of actually making the world into a better place...".

Such is the true yet sad commentary for our times. Many people in the modern world - including some professed Christians - fall prey to the beguiling wiles of the devil, all the while thinking there is a better way than what divine revelation really tells us. Worse, many are lured into false "moral posturing", as we take note that the devil in the temptations took it upon himself to even essay and twist Scriptures according to his evil intent. Thus today around the world, we see many activist, "humanitarian" efforts in "making the world into a better place". The liberalization of abortion under the guise of protecting freedom of choice. Public funding of abortions and biased medical rationing under the guise of affordable, universal health care. Promotion of abortifacient contraceptives under the guise of managing population and helping the poor families. Redefining marriage to protect equal rights and "natural tendencies". Destruction of human embryos under the guise of medical research to save lives. Promotion of euthanasia, even child euthanasia, under the guise of compassionate, humane treatment. All of these and more succumb to panem et circenses - the false lure of earthly bread, power, and artificial spectacle that evil tantalizingly offers.

The account of Jesus' temptations ends with Jesus refuting the devil: "Scripture says: worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone", whereupon the devil left him.

Worldly activists might ask: but what did Jesus actually bring if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world?
The answer is very simple: Jesus has brought God.

Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. "Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope and love. It is only because of our hardness of heart that we think this is too little. Yes indeed, God's power works quietly in this world, but it is the true and lasting power."

The only thing that truly endures and saves.
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UN committee to RP: Pass reproductive health bill !!!!!

UN committee to RP: Pass reproductive health bill !!!!!

MANILA, Philippines – Voicing “serious” concern over inadequate reproductive health services and information, low rate of contraceptive use and difficulties in access to artificial methods that contribute to teen pregnancies and high maternal death, a United Nations panel urged the government to pass the Reproductive Health (RH) bill. The UN panel likewise urged the Philippines to ignore the meddling of the Catholic Church in state affairs. The UN panel of course, can always meddle.

A report released this October containing the concluding observations on the Philippines of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the government should “adopt as a matter or urgency the Reproductive Health bill awaiting approval by Congress and ensure that the bill reflect the rights of children and adolescents as enshrined in the Convention [Convention on the Rights of the Child].”. The report added that "the right of the unborn from the moment of conception, as enshrined in the Philippine Constitution, does not need to be discussed.". This is because the UN Committee is still clueless whether a child grows out of a fertilized egg at conception.

“The UN Committee remains seriously concerned at the inadequate reproductive health services and information, the low rates of contraceptive use [36 percent of women relied on modern family planning methods in 2006] and the difficulties in obtaining access to artificial methods of contraception, which contribute to the high rates of teenage pregnancies and maternal deaths,”. The report also urged the government to strengthen formal and informal sex education for girls and boys with focus on the prevention of early pregnancies. The UN Committee cited the success story in Britain (read it here), where sex education is mandatory for kids starting at age five, while contraceptives are absolutely free and readily accessible, yet teenage pregnancies and abortions continue to increase. Oops...wrong example, the red-faced UN spokesperson quickly added. What the UN Committee further emphasizes is "strengthening of HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns". Take for example the success story in Thailand (read it here), which embarked on an aggressive promotion of free condoms, yet HIV cases rises by cumulative figures each year. Oops...wrong again...

Building a church

Tucked somewhere among the remote hills of Antipolo is this modest church which serves as a venue for an ongoing CFC Christian Life Program where I was invited to deliver a talk yesterday. It is located in the Lower Antipolo area where the last stretch leads one through bumpy, rough roads. Having been accustomed to well-appointed churches and formation centers in the city, I was quite awestruck by the bare simplicity of this church and its verdant surroundings. The building is quite unfinished, unpainted and unfurnished. The lower floor serves as the main church-cum-formation center, while the upper floor serves as the priests' modest quarters. The parishioners are mostly from the nearby relocation settlement areas, composed of former squatters who were forcibly relocated from the city. CFC has established GK communities in the area, started around 6 years ago. I heard that more displaced settlers have been recently hauled into the site by the government, poor victims of the recent Ondoy storm devastation. These are people that need the most pastoral care.

I did not get to talk with the parish priest although an incoming assistant priest dropped by and we had the chance for a little chat. It appears they are missionary priests from the Augustinian order, and I guess they chose the right assignment. God bless them. They may have bare facilities, but they certainly know how to build the church.

The economic formulae for solving environment problems

Environmental woes blamed on RP’s huge population

MANILA, Philippines — An economist from the University of the Philippines has tagged the country’s robustly growing population as one of the factors that worsen environment-related problems.
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Ernesto Pernia, former chief economist for the Philippines at the Asian Development Bank, said the environment problems that recently led to hundreds of casualties would not have been as worse had the country’s population been contained. “Nobody has mentioned the population issue as one of the factors contributing to the country’s environmental problems...
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Pernia said that with the country’s population already nearing 100 million, a zero population growth rate would be ideal.
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[Per capita income is the total income of the economy, usually measured in terms of gross domestic product [GDP], divided by the country’s population].
The fact that population growth was already faster than the GDP growth meant that per capital growth had already been declining, Pernia said...

What a neat economic lesson from a chief economist from UP (wow!) .

PROBLEM: Environment problems = growing population

SOLUTION:

STEP 1 - Population growth x zero = Lower divisor for GDP,

STEP 2 - Lower divisor for GDP = Increase in per capita income !

STEP 3 - Increase in per capita income = Less environmental problems,

STEP 4 - Less environmental problems = Less people,

STEP 5 - Less people = Less casualties !!!

Absolutely brilliant !!! Who wuda thunk it? According to Pernia, "Nobody has mentioned the population issue..." (oh, but the incorrigible Rep. Lagman did), and we have to be extremely grateful for such an elegant, no-brainer, economic solution.

But wait --- there's another step.
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STEP 6 - Less people = Less economists = Less problems !!!
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ON PERSONAL ORDINARIATES

All I know about it is that it seems like an ecclesiastical structure for flexible dioceses with no geographical boundaries. It is supposed to be called Personal Ordinariates, Personal Ordinates, Personal Ordinarinates,... whatever. Patrick of CMR says he simply cannot say this term three times in a row with a blood alcohol level of .04 or above. On the other hand I simply cannot say it three times in a row without suffering a nosebleed. At any rate, I had to understand what it really means after the Vatican announced that "the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church...".

It's a good thing I had my friend Doctor G. to supply some enlightening information. Here goes.
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Apostolic Constitution

First of all, the announcement speaks of the promulgation of an "Apostolic constitution." An Apostolic Consitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. It will be a formal charter establishing the canonical terms and conditions upon which the "personal ordinariates" which it creates are to come into being and to continue to exist within the Roman Catholic Church. Now as to the personal ordinariates: they are an amalgam of two already existing structures in the canon law of the Church: personal prelatures and military ordinariates.

Personal prelatures and Military Ordinates

A Personal prelature is an institutional structure of the Roman Catholic Church which comprises a prelate, clergy and possibly laity who undertake specific pastoral activities. Personal prelatures, similar to dioceses and military ordinariates, are under the governance of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops. These three types of ecclesiastical structures are composed of lay people served by their own secular clergy and prelate. Unlike dioceses which cover territories, personal prelatures - like military ordinariates - take charge of persons as regards some objectives regardless of where they live. Opus Dei is an example of a personal prelature (and the only one to date), established by Pope John Paul II in November 28, 1982 thru the apostolic constitution Ut Sit. On the other hand, an example of a military ordinariate is the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines or MOP. It has jurisdiction over all military, police and coast guard personnel, their dependents, and the civilian employees of all branches of the armed forces.

Canon Law

Personal prelatures were made a feature of the 1983 Code of Canon Law after they were established by Pope Paul VI following a recommendation by the Second Vatican Council. Canons
294-297 deals with this feature. Here is Cann 294 to wit:

Can. 294 After the conferences of bishops involved have been heard, the
Apostolic See can erect personal prelatures, which consist of presbyters and
deacons of the secular clergy, to promote a suitable distribution of presbyters
or to accomplish particular pastoral or missionary works for various regions
or for different social groups…

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So there.
Again we welcome our Anglican brethren to Rome Sweet Rome.
And again from Patrick, here’s the refrain from the ditty ‘Romeward Bound’,
with his apologies to Simon and Garfunkel and Anglicans everywhere.

Romeward bound,
I wish I was,
Romeward bound,
Rome - where TAC's escaping,
Rome - where fear's allaying,
Rome - where my Lord lies waiting,
Patiently for me.