HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009

My son Chino took this short vid clip of some fireworks in front of our house on New Year's eve.

Happy New Year!!!

Over par and over the top

The Pinoy blogosphere is in an uproar over the recent fracas in the fairway involving a 27-year old small-town mayor, his Cabinet Secretary father and their bodyguards on one hand, and a 14-year old boy, his 56-year old father and his 18-year old sister on the other hand. As in any harsh conflict, there are two sides on the issue. The first side of the coin is narrated in a first-hand blogpost here, while a direct interview on the contending side is reported here.

It’s amazing how two directly-involved, first-hand accounts paint completely different versions of the same incident. As both of them cannot be truthful at the same time, it is obvious that one or the other is plainly lying through the teeth. One’s emotions will certainly tend to side with the kid and his quite elderly father, as a cursory glance on numerous bloggers’ entries and comments shows that public sympathy definitely goes this way. Which is not surprising, as one pictures the one side wielding guns and goons in a shameless and overpowering display of violent arrogance - against a hapless 14-year old kid and a 56-year old father. The mayor allegedly screamed: "Hindi nila kami kilala! Sabihin mo nga sa kanila kung sino ako!" - as he and his bodyguards reportedly proceed to beat up the kid and the father a second time. The DAR Chief however, denies this and says that it was the De la Pazes who “ganged up on him” (JR, his mayor-son). Lets see whose nose grows.

It started out as an altercation on golf etiquette. Simple fairway right-of-way and good manners. I can imagine the internal script that goes with the scenario:

"HEY, you do not have any golf etiquette, YOU @###$$!!!"
"REALLY?? It’s you who do not have any etiquette, you rude son of a @#&&#$!!!"
"Why you…"
POK! POW! BOG! POK!

It seems far-out to talk about golf etiquette when you see blood spilling after a misunderstanding on its meaning. These kinds of incidents make me wonder how far humankind has matured in its sense of civility, coming from its feudal or early mankind roots. I guess some things never change, from the prehistoric jungle setting to the modern, "civilized" setting. Maybe the title of this post should be: from golf swing to fist swing, or vice-versa.

I was just writing about the Beatitudes on my recent post. I guess some people never heard of the Sermon on the Mount, either. Or maybe they are just prone to quarrel violently over a dispute on the meaning of humility.

A sign of contradiction

Sunday, December 28, 2008

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Jesus is presented at the temple (Luke 2:22-40)

Mary and Joseph went to the temple to fulfill a Jewish ritual. Jesus, being
a firstborn male, must be consecrated to God. Here Mary and Joseph encounter
the two prophets Simeon and Anna. Simeon prophecies that Jesus will
stand as a sign of contradiction.

The Gospel accounts of Jesus' preaching indeed presents an emphasis on struggle, conflict and final reversal of status, contradictions that were often unsettling to its hearers, then and now. They appear in stories and parables depicting the first shall be last; those who exalts themselves will be humbled; those who humble themselves will be exalted; the hungry will be filled; the rich will go away empty... This theme of reversal may have had its most dramatic expression in the Beatitudes. Christ is God's light that enlightens people, but it also blinds, confuses and leads to opposition. It moves people to look at the world and their values in a new way.

But there was also a joyful element in what He proclaimed. During his ministry, Jesus calls those who suffer in his name to leap for joy (Lk 6:23). The 70 disciples whom Jesus sent out, returns with joy. Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit at what they had done. Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. Zacchaeus welcomes Jesus with joy and repents. At Jesus triumphant entry to Jerusalem, the whole multitude of disciples praise God with joy. Following his ascension, the disciples return to Jerusalem with great joy. It is not suprising then, that Paul calls joy the second fruit of the Spirit and places it between love and peace (Gal 5:22). Joy is difficult to describe. While it can be manifested as an outward sign of happiness, it is more often interior - a deep sense of well-being. All of us can probably name a person who, while struggling with suffering, adversity and pain, has also experienced profound inner joy and peace. If God's kingdom had a future dimension, his parables also proclaim that God's reign is already active in this world, here and now.

Thus, in today's Gospel, the prophet Simeon declares:

"See him; he will be for the rise or fall of the multitudes in Israel.
He shall stand as a sign of contradiction,
while a sword will pierce your own soul.
Then the secret thoughts of many may be brought to light".

NO ROOM AT THE INN

I went to the mall today for some last-minute gift shopping. Driving on the way, I was caught in some traffic and I noticed these homeless families by the roadside. I took some quick pics with my camera phone.

I wonder what this Christmas season means to these poor families. Gift-giving would be farthest from their minds. A decent meal and a warm abode might be all that they aspire for, but they cannot find it in this world. This world has shut them out and there is no room for them. May they experience the true meaning of Christmas sometime, somewhere... and may we all find room in our hearts to experience and share the true joy of Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all.

Do you trust me?

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

..."Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
(Lk 1:26-38)
/

In spite of Mary's deep devotion to God, it must have been a startling and fearful experience when the angel Gabriel appeared to her: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus...".

Today it is easy for us to say that it is natural for Mary to accept outright without any deliberation, as it is obviously an honor to be chosen as the mother of the Messiah. Mary had free will to decide either way, but consider putting yourself in the place of Mary at the time. Do you think anybody would really believe that the child was conceived of the Holy Spirit? Wouldn't it be more likely that ill-thinking people will surmise it was borne of an affair with some Roman soldier who were then frequently roaming Nazareth? Mary was then engaged to Joseph. Others might even conclude that Mary and Joseph had gone too far in their relationship with each other and had disobeyed the law of God. In either case, was there not the possibility that Mary could be charged and stoned for fornication?

And what would Joseph think? He would know that he was not responsible for Mary's condition. What would he say? Would he still be willing to marry her? Was she willing to give him up if it would come to that? And what about the child? If these difficult thoughts crossed Mary's mind at the time and made her waver, no one can probably blame her.

Mary was a meditative woman, at least twice we are told that she kept certain things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19, 51). But she did not take very much time to make up her mind here. She answered forthrightly: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
Her decision was to submit to God's will and to trust Him with the consequences. By her obedience, Mary becomes truly the "Mother of God', the "Mother of the living", and the model of our faith.

Submission to God's will, almost always involves some risk. But many times in the bible, God tells his followers from Abraham down to the apostles: do not be afraid. God is always there to work out all the details together, and it is our choice to believe Him if we want to enjoy His peace and power.

Today, God is asking each one of us the same question: "Do you trust me?"

INTENSIFY SEX ED!

A bit of news from UK...

Teenage pregnancies go UP (despite free contraception and sex education for five-year-olds)

"The number of teenage pregnancies leapt last year, despite all Labour's efforts to increase sex education and contraception among children and the young.

...The sudden rise may have inspired a series of new efforts by ministers to intensify sex education and persuade more girls to use contraception...

In October Schools Minister Jim Knight ordered that primary school pupils should for the first time have compulsory sex education from the age of five..."
/
Lets see, it's still not working so there is a need to further "intensify sex education". Right now sex education in Britain is already compulsory from the age of five. I say intensify it further - make it compulsory from the age of two! If that still won't work, from the age of one!!

Priest held up (again)

Priest held up on his way to Mass at Quiapo Church

MANILA, December 15, 2008—A Catholic priest became a victim of a holdupper on his way to officiate Holy Mass in Quiapo Church. Fr. Genaro O. Diwa, director for Liturgical Affairs of the Manila Archdiocese, was on his way to celebrate Holy Mass at Minor Basilica of the Black Nazerene in Quiapo, Manila, when he was held-up and carted away his cell phone. The priest told to the holdupper that he is a priest. The robber replied, “So what? I want your cell phone.” Diwa handed over his cell phone without further argument for fear of untoward incident. The incident happened recently around the vicinity of Quiapo Church. According to the priest, he has lost several cell phones in the past to robbers. The latest was his sixth.
/
My footnotes:

- Is it right for the priest to just surrender his cellphone to the robber? Shouldn't he have resisted gallantly?
If one is under duress or under threat of personal danger, forced material involvement in an evil act is excused. Material involvement in an evil act must be wilfull for it to be considered as a sin.

- Was it right for the holdupper to rob a priest?
No, and it is not right to rob anyone for that matter, priest or otherwise.

- What should the holdupper do to gain forgiveness for his sin of stealing?
He cannot make amends by contributing 10% of the cellphone proceeds to the church.
He should return the cellphone, ask forgiveness from the priest, take a confession, and mend his ways.

- What should the priest do?
Pray for the robber, as all of us should. And next time, avoid isolated passageways while walking to the church. It's a pity that this is already his 6th cellphone that was stolen. Consider acquiring a cheap, old, outdated, basic functional cellphone that no one will even consider stealing. A solid, used Nokia 5110 will do just fine.

- What I'd like to see?
The next time the priest is accosted by a holdupper who says “So what? I want your cell phone.”
The priest should say "Son, you can try and get it." and strike a pose like this