The Three Monks of Tolstoy

I’ve been gifted with a book last Good Friday which I have started reading.

“The Only Necessary Thing” is a collection of writings by Henri Nouwen. Here is an excerpted anecdote which gives an insight into prayerfulness.

- o -

Three Russian monks lived on a faraway island. Nobody ever went there, but one day their bishop decided to make a pastoral visit. When he arrived he discovered that the monks didn't even know the Lord's Prayer. So he spent all of his time and energy teaching them the "Our Father" and then left, satisfied with his pastoral work. But when the ship had left the island and was back in the open sea, he suddenly noticed the three hermits walking on the water - in fact they were running after the ship! When they reached it they cried, "Dear Father, we have forgotten the prayer you taught us." The bishop, overwhelmed by what he was seeing and hearing, said, "But, dear brothers, how then do you pray?" They answered, "Well, we just say, 'Dear God, there are three of us and there are three of you, have mercy on us!'" The bishop, awestruck by their sanctity and simplicity, said, "Go back to your island and be at peace."

- o -

Images of Lent: Easter Vigil

My eldest Miguel is so happy to have been assigned to the "insenso".













Careful...













There it goes...


























Lighting of the Easter Candle




























Chino's growing fast. I just noticed here his "sutana" is now quite small for him. I will have to get him a new one. 13 y/o but he's almost as tall as the priest...










The Resurrection of Jesus, the crowning truth of our faith in Christ,
a faith believed and lived as a central truth by the first Christian community;
handed on as fundamental by Tradition;
established by the documents of the New Testament;
and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the cross:
Christ is risen from the dead !
Dying he conquered death;
To the dead, he has given life.
(CCC 638)


REJOICE AND BE GLAD !

HAPPY EASTER

Images of Lent : Good Friday

Siete Palabras.

"Father forgive them..."











Couples For Christ Choir













"Amen, I say to you, today..."













Side note: There were some glitches with the
sound system. The parish priest, who was seated
next to me, remarked : "They do not know what
they are doing. Father forgive them".










Procession for Santo Entierro

Images of Lent : Holy Thursday

Chrism Mass













Bishop Ongtioco of Cubao Diocese













Mass of the Last Supper













Washing of the feet













Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament



























Altar of Repository

On Jesus Last Words: The Second

“Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)

Some of my musings on the words “today” and “paradise”:

Christ addresses the repentant thief on the cross.

Jesus ascended into “paradise” with the thief that very day after He died? There is a considerable debate on the exact meaning of the word “paradise” as used in Jesus Christ’s promise to the repentant thief. The common inference is that Jesus took the thief with him to heaven on that very day after He died, though equating “paradise” with heaven in the context.

There are even interpretations which claim that a supposed placement of a comma between the words “today” and “you” reveals the correct orientation of the message, meaning that Christ emphasized “truly I say to you today, you…”, which only assigns a superfluous use of the word “today”. However, we note from the Apostles' Creed that Jesus "was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day he rose again from the dead."

By further reference to 1 Peter 18-19, Scripture tells us “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison”.

Afterwards, Jesus stays another 40 days with his disciples (Acts 1:3) and then was received up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God (Mk 16:19).

Catechism stands for a clear reference at this point:

633. Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which Christ went down, “hell” – Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek – because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the redeemer: which does not mean their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into ‘Abraham’s bosom’. (see Luke 16:22-26).

Paradise in the statement clearly then is 'Abraham’s bosom' - that intermediate stage where the righteous of the Old Testament await Christ’s saving sacrifice, where Jesus Christ descended and proclaimed the good news of salvation to the imprisoned souls after His death. It was a place a step short of heaven but where the righteous are comforted (Luke 16:25). Only after Christ’s death were the gates of heaven opened, for all the righteous in Abraham’s bosom - and for the repentant thief, just as Christ promised.

The second word is even debated by fundamentalists as disproving the necessity of baptism as essential for salvation. To this it is simply noted that baptism as it is now commanded became part of the new covenant only after Christ’s death and resurrection – the thief was saved before the new covenant began. All of which reminds me again that Scriptures can be quite perplexing, especially when one digresses from the essential message at hand. We simply track back a few verses from Luke 23:43 to understand that Christ’s second word is in response to the thief’s Repentance and Faith, which is the real essence which Jesus’ second word addresses.

GO JANINA !

Ok, everyone should have known the story by now.

The media, youtube and the blogosphere had a field day.

On youtube alone, there are over a hundred clips and millions of combined views.

Here’s one of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKwmseoKFCo

“…My family is the most important persons in my life...”

Frankly, I find it all very funny and entertaining. I was alternately smiling and laughing out loud the first time I saw that video clip.

But look again: TV patrol interviews her afterwards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgE8ckEwSXo

“…Inspirasyon ko po talaga ang pamilya ko...”

Now, some of my sober thoughts:

- Her father is a jeepney driver. She’s a college student at U.E. Think of her family’s challenging economic conditions. Think of her family rooting for her. Try to picture her as your sister or daughter. Then think of motivation, importance, and inspiration.

- What really is the criteria? I personally do not know, and even how the pageant judges saw it. But I think: beauty - inside and out - is in the eye of the beholder.

- Courage involves overcoming fear, and sometimes courage recklessly sets aside weaknesses. But then think again: motivation, importance, and inspiration.

- All of us had embarassing moments at one time or another. All of us had some defining moments likewise. Think about whether these two are the same or not.

- Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Mat 7:1)

- I love underdogs.

All in all, I still think it was all very funny and entertaining, but still I say: GO JANINA!

How (not) to protect “Reproductive Health”

Two recent TIME stories:

one: US Syphilis Up for 7th Straight Year -
“U.S. syphilis cases climbed for the seventh straight year in 2007… “
and
two: Study: 1 in 4 US Teen Girls Has STD -
“at least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease…”

- makes one wonder why sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are on the rise in the U.S., where the use of condoms is widely promoted - ironically to combat STDs and unwanted pregnancies.
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U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Randall Tobias, the global anti-AIDS czar, saw the writing way back in 2004. He has this to say: "Statistics show that condoms really have not been very effective," Tobias said, adding, "It's been the principal prevention device for the last 20 years, and I think one needs only to look at what's happening with the infection rates in the world to recognize that has not been working.".
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On a rather belated note, Belmonte OKs new QC population policy . The new ordinance stresses the use of condoms and other artificial methods for “reproductive health” .
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Tell that to the Marines.