A night with the priests from Leyte

Our parish has four visitor priests who are participants in the ongoing 2nd National Congress of the Clergy at the World Trade Center. They are from the Diocese of Maasin, Leyte and are staying at the homes of some parishioners for the duration of the five-day congress. Our family is hosting one of them - Fr. Van Caabug-Os. I'm not sure how to pronounce his surname right. Tonight, our parish priest, the PPC, and some of the parishioners shared dinner with them at the church patio, and we had this short program for them. It turned out the four priests had a surprise number for us too, and so they dished out a wonderful song in the Cebuano dialect, with one of them playing the guitar. Glorious voices. Come to think of it, I have yet to meet a priest who doesn't have a good singing voice.



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Odds and Ends 1/26/10

Read the whole thing...

Marlene Aguilar to seek Hillary Clinton's help?

Grabe.

Makati councilors’ feud delays tax ordinance

Mas grabe.

Villar allies, critics face off on C-5 deal

Mas lalung grabe.
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Haay...

A Holiday for eternity

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21

...He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
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Imagine worldly liberation being declared right then and there.
It is an astounding message, even as it promptly makes its hearers skeptical of the bearer: "Isn't he the son of Joseph?".

In the third chapter of "Jesus of Nazareth", Pope Benedict XVI writes:

The core content of the Gospel [the evangelium] is this: The Kingdom of God is at hand. A milestone is set up in the flow of time; something new takes place.
And an answer to this gift is demanded of man: conversion and faith. The center of this announcement is the message that God's Kingdom is at hand. This announcement is the actual core of Jesus' words and works.

Conversion and Faith. No wonder the message of the Gospel is very difficult to internalize then and now. The thing is, I am always amazed for example, by the very rich people who continue amass unnecessary power and wealth by unscrupulous, violent means. As the law is written in the heart of every man, why then is there unbridled selfishness and greed that trample upon universally understood norms, even as nothing really compels? Where is the motivation?

C.S. Lewis has an idea in the "Weight of Glory":

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he
cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

And may I add, the holiday package is free, and the ticket is good now and forever.
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Odds and Ends 1/22/10

Marlene Aguilar implicates Briton in Ebarle slay

MANILA, Philippines—If the mother of road rage suspect Jason Ivler is to be believed, Renato Ebarle Jr. was killed by mystery shrouded bodyguard to set up her son on orders from people who supposedly did not like what she has written in a book.

"There are powerful people who want me to stop writing what I know and they set up Jason with the help of my bodyguard, because Jason is my weakest link,'' Marlene Aguilar told the Inquirer in an interview.
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Really. Her book must be a rousing bestseller?? It's like saying the powerful atheists of this world are scheming big-time against me for my writing in this blog. Ho-ho.
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Police claim drop in crime due to gun ban

MANILA, Philippines—Director Roberto Rosales, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, claimed Friday there has been a decrease in the incidence of crime and attributed it to the gun ban being enforced nationwide by the Commission on Elections and security forces in the runup to the May 10 national elections...

He did not cite any comparative crime figures, however, to back up his claim..
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Good job, but c'mon. Are you saying that a gun ban is the solution to decreasing crime?
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2 ex-finance execs seek dismissal of plunder raps

MANILA, Philippines – Two former finance employees are asking the Sandiganbayan to throw out the plunder charge filed against them over an alleged tax credit scam from 1994 to 1997 that allegedly deprived the government of more than P73 million in taxes...

But in their motion to quash, Magdaet and Asuncion said: “There is absolutely no finding that the accused public officers ‘amassed, accumulated or acquired’ any part of the alleged amount of P73 million.’”

“On the contrary, the resolution [of the Ombudsman] expressly stated that it was accused private persons, the ‘spouses Faustino and Gloria Chingkoe’ who ‘unjustly enriched themselves’ and not any of the accused public officers,” they said.
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Oh? P73 Million at any rate. No guns here.

Seriously merry

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Wedding at Cana
(John 2:1-11)

After commenting on the immortality of the human soul in "The Weight of Glory", C.S. Lewis says:

"This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously."
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The very first time I read St John's account of the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11), I was quite mystified at Jesus' response to the concern of mother Mary that the wine has run out:
“Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”
It becomes clear however, that Mary's subsequent actions did not regard Jesus' response as a refusal, proven by the fact of her immediate direction to the servants: "Do whatever he tells you."

From the outset, Mary had been aware that the child Jesus was destined for a divine plan. At the earliest times of her blessed motherhood, Mary kept all the sayings and doings of Jesus in her heart (Lk 2:15; 2:51). As Jesus was already "about 30 years old" (Lk 3:23) when he began his public ministry, we can be certain that the special and private bond within the Holy Family enriched and deepened throughout the years prior to Jesus' public ministry,
at the time when "Jesus advanced in wisdom, age and favor before God and man." (Lk 2:52)

When the wine ran out, Mary understood that Jesus would favorably respond to her concern, and Jesus understood likewise, inspite of his initial seeming words to the contrary. There is something special that exists between Jesus and mother Mary, and there are simply so many things in there that are not directly conveyed by the printed word. Now we realize that the Wedding at Cana is a testament to Mother Mary's powerful intercession, in as much as we also understand that Jesus accorded so much love and honor to his mother. And that is why we love and honor Mary likewise. That is also why, all the more, we have much reason to be seriously merry.

Please pass the wine.
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HAITI EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

Pope Calls for Prayers, Emergency Aid
Dateline 1/13/2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, JAN. 13, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is appealing for aid for victims of the earthquake that devastated Haiti and killed the archbishop of the Port-au-Prince Archdiocese.
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Devastating.

Today in his general audience, the Pope also called for prayers for victims of the "dramatic situation currently being experienced in Haiti."

"My thoughts go in particular to the population hit just a few hours ago by a devastating earthquake which has caused serious loss of human life, large numbers of homeless and missing people, and vast material damage," he said.

The Pontiff invited "everyone to join my prayers to the Lord for the victims of this catastrophe and for those who mourn their loss."

He continued: "I give assurances of my spiritual closeness to people who have lost their homes and to everyone who, in various ways, has been affected by this terrible calamity, imploring God to bring them consolation and relief in their suffering.

"I appeal to the generosity of all people so that these our brothers and sisters who are experiencing a moment of need and suffering may not lack our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community."

The Holy Father affirmed that the "Catholic Church will not fail to move immediately, through her charitable institutions, to meet the most immediate needs of the population."

This quake, which was followed by 12 aftershocks ranging between a magnitude of 5.0 and 5.9, was the strongest in that region since 1770.

Although the death toll is uncertain, it is estimated that some 3 million people were affected by the disaster. There is concern that the country's impoverished economy will leave the people without adequate emergency services.
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CFC Leaders Conference Jan 2010

"Fullness of Life in Christ"

CFC Leaders Conference
January 9, 2010
Araneta Coliseum, Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines




for 2011 event click here