MikeLigalig.com

Supernatural Ability

We have the supernatural ability to overcome the self-indulgence that leads us to serious personal problems. With the Holy Spirit’s aid, we can say no to the temptations that lure us into serious wrongdoing.

It is deemed correct and proper to make your complains ( valid complains) and suggest an alternative to rectify irregularities, a lot better than whining.
Glad to see that an intelligent Valenciahanon, knows a lot better what is happening in Guindulman, is he not worth admiring?

Blessed Didacus of Cadiz
(d. 1801)





Born in Cadiz, Spain, and christened Joseph Francis, the youth spent much of his free time around the Capuchin friars and their church. But his desire to enter the Franciscan Order was delayed because of the difficulty he had with his studies. Finally he was admitted to the novitiate of the Capuchins in Seville as Brother Didacus. He later was ordained a priest and sent out to preach.

His gift of preaching was soon evident. He journeyed tirelessly through the territory of Andalusia of Spain, speaking in small towns and crowded cities. His words were able to touch the minds and hearts of young and old, rich and poor, students and professors. His work in the confessional completed the conversions his words began.

This unlearned man was called "the apostle of the Holy Trinity" because of his devotion to the Trinity and the ease with which he preached about this sublime mystery. One day a child gave away his secret, crying out: "Mother, mother, see the dove resting on the shoulder of Father Didacus! I could preach like that too if a dove told me all that I should say."

Didacus was that close to God, spending nights in prayer and preparing for his sermons by severe penances. His reply to those who criticized him: "My sins and the sins of the people compel me to do it. Those who have been charged with the conversions of sinners must remember that the Lord has imposed on them the sins of all their clients."

It is said that sometimes when he preached on the love of God he would be elevated above the pulpit. Crowds in village and town squares were entranced by his words and would attempt to tear off pieces of his habit as he passed by.

He died in 1801 at age 58, a holy and revered man. He was beatified in 1894.


Comment:

Didacus was such a poor student that the Franciscans wouldn’t have him. When Capuchins finally took him into their order and eventually ordained him, he proved to be a powerful preacherâ€"to everyone’s surprise. As we often do, Didacus’s contemporaries expected little from someone with a slow mind. Didacus proved to them that intelligence is not the only measure. The person who has a loving heart, a listening ear and a wealth of compassion is, in the long run, much wiser.

Supernatural Intimacy    

We have direct access to God because the Father and Son have made a home in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have a supernatural intimacy with the Trinity.

palosot si Ondoy Hubs, sige na Doy aron makit-an ang katag!

Annunciation of the Lord



The feast of the Annunciation goes back to the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the Incarnation: God has become one of us. From all eternity God had decided that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now, as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love. Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering and an agonizing death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

Mary has an important role to play in God’s plan. From all eternity God destined her to be the mother of Jesus and closely related to him in the creation and redemption of the world. We could say that God’s decrees of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of Incarnation. Because Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she owes to the Trinity.

She is the virgin-mother who fulfills Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out the will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38).

Together with Jesus, the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth. She is the human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of human existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She shows how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances of life. She exemplifies what the Church and every member of the Church is meant to become. She is the ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of God. She manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of us.


Comment:

Sometimes spiritual writers are accused of putting Mary on a pedestal and thereby discouraging ordinary humans from imitating her. Perhaps such an observation is misguided. God did put Mary on a pedestal and has put all human beings on a pedestal. We have scarcely begun to realize the magnificence of divine grace, the wonder of God’s freely given love. The marvel of Maryâ€"even in the midst of her very ordinary lifeâ€"is God’s shout to us to wake up to the marvelous creatures that we all are by divine design.

Quote:

“Enriched from the first instant of her conception with the splendor of an entirely unique holiness, the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding angel, by divine command, as ‘full of grace’ (cf. Luke 1:28). To the heavenly messenger she replies: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word’ (Luke 1:38). Thus the daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus. Committing herself wholeheartedly and impeded by no sin to God’s saving will, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with him, serving the mystery of redemption, by the grace of Almighty God” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 56).

Singing Praises

Jesus, I need your help to reach my final fulfillment in your Kingdom. Stay with me to the endâ€"until I can join in singing your praises with all those saved by your love.

roman orthodox don´t like this number, it has something to do with Satan.

nganong nagpa Manila kana Doy? Are you working now at the US embassy?

calling Calle/Topac, brownman, alayman, Pete Cadorna, Luisa Morales, maybe hubag bohol?

Doy naa ni sa FB ni Gwargz, simply click and it will be enlarged readable to your beautiful eyes, okay?

A farmer carries an impressive crop of cucumbers from his field to sell at a market in the northern Indian city of Allahabad on Tuesday.

ps
Jara morag wahti!

Lab results ni Ondoy Gwargz!

St. Catherine of Genoa
(1447-1510)

Going to confession one day was the turning point of Catherine’s life.

When Catherine was born, many Italian nobles were supporting Renaissance artists and writers. The needs of the poor and the sick were often overshadowed by a hunger for luxury and self-indulgence.

Catherine’s parents were members of the nobility in Genoa. At 13 she attempted to become a nun but failed because of her age. At 16 she married Julian, a nobleman who turned out to be selfish and unfaithful. For a while she tried to numb her disappointment by a life of selfish pleasure.

One day in confession she had a new sense of her own sins and how much God loved her. She reformed her life and gave good example to Julian, who soon turned from his self-centered life of distraction.

Julian’s spending, however, had ruined them financially. He and Catherine decided to live in the Pammatone, a large hospital in Genoa, and to dedicate themselves to works of charity there. After Julian’s death in 1497, Catherine took over management of the hospital.

She wrote about purgatory which, she said, begins on earth for souls open to God. Life with God in heaven is a continuation and perfection of the life with God begun on earth.

Exhausted by her life of self-sacrifice, she died September 15, 1510, and was canonized in 1737.


Comment:

Regular confessions and frequent Communion can help us see the direction (or drift) of our life with God. People who have a realistic sense of their own sinfulness and of the greatness of God are often the ones who are most ready to meet the needs of their neighbors. Catherine began her hospital work with enthusiasm and was faithful to it through difficult times because she was inspired by the love of God, a love which was renewed in her by the Scriptures and the sacraments.

Quote:

Shortly before Catherine’s death she told her goddaughter: "Tomasina! Jesus in your heart! Eternity in your mind! The will of God in all your actions! But above all, love, God’s love, entire love!" (Marion A. Habig, O.F.M., The Franciscan Book of Saints, p. 212).

Gift of Love    

Leading a good moral life is not the cause of God’s loving me, but the consequence of God’s loving me. God’s gift of love comes before my task of responding to it, and not the other way around.

Beyonce Perform Etta James At Last

Quote from: taga tigbao on March 18, 2011, 01:01:51 PM
Dili ba hasow na pagasolinahan Bay Hubs?

electric car ni, test phase pah!

Thank you very much for this extensive thread on Elizabeth Taylor, truly we lost an icon. May she rest in peace.

St. Turibius of Mogrovejo
(1538-1606)

Together with Rose of Lima, Turibius is the first known saint of the New World, serving the Lord in Peru, South America, for 26 years.

Born in Spain and educated for the law, he became so brilliant a scholar that he was made professor of law at the University of Salamanca and eventually became chief judge of the Inquisition at Granada. He succeeded too well. But he was not sharp enough a lawyer to prevent a surprising sequence of events.

When the archdiocese of Lima in Peru required a new leader, Turibius was chosen to fill the post: He was the one person with the strength of character and holiness of spirit to heal the scandals that had infected that area.

He cited all the canons that forbade giving laymen ecclesiastical dignities, but he was overruled. He was ordained priest and bishop and sent to Peru, where he found colonialism at its worst. The Spanish conquerors were guilty of every sort of oppression of the native population. Abuses among the clergy were flagrant, and he devoted his energies (and suffering) to this area first.

He began the long and arduous visitation of an immense archdiocese, studying the language, staying two or three days in each place, often with neither bed nor food. He confessed every morning to his chaplain, and celebrated Mass with intense fervor. Among those to whom he gave the Sacrament of Confirmation was St. Rose of Lima, and possibly St. Martin de Porres. After 1590 he had the help of another great missionary, St. Francis Solanus.

His people, though very poor, were sensitive, dreading to accept public charity from others. Turibius solved the problem by helping them anonymously.


Comment:

The Lord indeed writes straight with crooked lines. Against his will, and from the unlikely springboard of an Inquisition tribunal, this man became the Christlike shepherd of a poor and oppressed people. God gave him the gift of loving others as they needed it.

Dependence on God    

Like Christ himself, we should not hesitate to recognize our dependence on God and pray for our daily needs and, of course, those of our neighbor.

from my mailbox;
I'm currently still in one piece, writing from my room in the Narita crew hotel.
It's 8am. This is my inaugural trans-pacific trip as a brand new, recently
checked out, international 767 Captain and it has been interesting, to say the
least, so far. I've crossed the Atlantic three times so far so the ocean
crossing procedures were familiar.

By the way, stunning scenery flying over the Aleutian Islands. Everything was
going fine until 100 miles out from Tokyo and in the descent for arrival. The
first indication of any trouble was that Japan air traffic control started
putting everyone into holding patterns. At first we thought it was usual
congestion on arrival. Then we got a company data link message advising about
the earthquake, followed by another stating Narita airport was temporarily
closed for inspection and expected to open shortly (the company is always so
po sitive).

From our perspective things were obviously looking a little different. The
Japanese controller's anxiety level seemed quite high and he said expect
"indefinite" holding time. No one would commit to a time frame on that so I got
my copilot and relief pilot busy looking at divert stations and our fuel
situation, which, after an ocean crossing is typically low.

It wasn't long, maybe ten minutes, before the first pilots started requesting
diversions to other airports. Air Canada, American, United, etc. all reporting
minimal fuel situations. I still had enough fuel for 1.5 to 2.0 hours of
holding. Needless to say, the diverts started complicating the situation.

Japan air traffic control then announced Narita was closed indefinitely due to
damage. Planes immediately started requesting arrivals into Haneada, near Tokyo,
a half dozen JAL and western planes got clearance in that direction but then ATC
announced Haenada had j ust closed. Uh oh! Now instead of just holding, we all
had to start looking at more distant alternatives like Osaka, or Nagoya.

One bad thing about a large airliner is that you can't just be-pop into any
little airport. We generally need lots of runway. With more planes piling in
from both east and west, all needing a place to land and several now fuel
critical ATC was getting over-whelmed. In the scramble, and without waiting for
my fuel to get critical, I got my flight a clearance to head for Nagoya, fuel
situation still okay. So far so good. A few minutes into heading that way, I was
"ordered" by ATC to reverse course. Nagoya was saturated with traffic and unable
to handle more planes (read- airport full). Ditto for Osaka.

With that statement, my situation went instantly from fuel okay, to fuel minimal
considering we might have to divert a much farther distance. Multiply my
situation by a dozen other aircraft all in the same boa t, all making demands
requests and threats to ATC for clearances somewhere. Air Canada and then
someone else went to "emergency" fuel situation. Planes started to heading for
air force bases. The nearest to Tokyo was Yokoda AFB. I threw my hat in the ring
for that initially. The answer - Yokoda closed! no more space.

By now it was a three ring circus in the cockpit, my copilot on the radios, me
flying and making decisions and the relief copilot buried in the air charts
trying to figure out where to go that was within range while data link messages
were flying back and forth between us and company dispatch in Atlanta. I picked
Misawa AFB at the north end of Honshu island. We could get there with minimal
fuel remaining. ATC was happy to get rid of us so we cleared out of the
maelstrom of the Tokyo region. We heard ATC try to send planes toward Sendai, a
small regional airport on the coast which was later the one I think that got
flood ed by a tsunami.

Atlanta dispatch then sent us a message asking if we could continue to Chitose
airport on the Island of Hokkaido, north of Honshu. Other Delta planes were
heading that way. More scrambling in the cockpit - check weather, check charts,
check fuel, okay. We could still make it and not be going into a fuel critical
situation ... if we had no other fuel delays. As we approached Misawa we got
clearance to continue to Chitose. Critical decision thought process. Let's see -
trying to help company - plane overflies perfectly good divert airport for one
farther away...wonder how that will look in the safety report, if anything goes
wrong.

Suddenly ATC comes up and gives us a vector to a fix well short of Chitose and
tells us to standby for holding instructions. Nightmare realized. Situation
rapidly deteriorating. After initially holding near Tokyo, starting a divert to
Nagoya, reversing course back to Tokyo then to re-di verting north toward Misawa,
all that happy fuel reserve that I had was vaporizing fast. My subsequent
conversation, paraphrased of course...., went something like this:

"Sapparo Control - Delta XX requesting immediate clearance direct to Chitose,
minimum fuel, unable hold."

"Negative Ghost-Rider, the Pattern is full" <<< top gun quote <<<

"Sapparo Control - make that - Delta XX declaring emergency, low fuel,
proceeding direct Chitose"

"Roger Delta XX, understood, you are cleared direct to Chitose, contact Chitose
approach....etc...."

Enough was enough, I had decided to preempt actually running critically low on
fuel while in another indefinite holding pattern, especially after bypassing
Misawa, and played my last ace...declaring an emergency. The problem with that
is now I have a bit of company paperwork to do but what the heck.

As it was - landed Chitose, safe, with at least 30 minutes of f uel remaining
before reaching a "true" fuel emergency situation. That's always a good feeling,
being safe. They taxied us off to some remote parking area where we shut down
and watched a half dozen or more other airplanes come streaming in. In the end,
Delta had two 747s, my 767 and another 767 and a 777 all on the ramp at Chitose.
We saw to American airlines planes, a United and two Air Canada as well. Not to
mention several extra Al Nippon and Japan Air Lines planes.

Post-script - 9 hours later, Japan air lines finally got around to getting a
boarding ladder to the plane where we were able to get off and clear customs. -
that however, is another interesting story.

By the way - while writing this - I have felt four additional tremors that shook
the hotel slightly - all in 45 minutes.

Cheers,

J.D.

An estimated 1,000 people converged on Sunday at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate for a pillow fight flash mob as the city celebrated the transition from gray winter to sunny spring. "We're driving the winter away, bring your pillows along," organizers had written in an Internet posting. The mobsters not only had a good time -- they also left a large coating of feathers that could be seen across Pariser Platz, the square in front of the Brandenburg Gate, on Monday morning.

St. Nicholas Owen
(d. 1606)


Nicholas, familiarly known as "Little John," was small in stature but big in the esteem of his fellow Jesuits.

Born at Oxford, this humble artisan saved the lives of many priests and laypersons in England during the penal times (1559-1829), when a series of statutes punished Catholics for the practice of their faith. Over a period of about 20 years he used his skills to build secret hiding places for priests throughout the country. His work, which he did completely by himself as both architect and builder, was so good that time and time again priests in hiding were undetected by raiding parties. He was a genius at finding, and creating, places of safety: subterranean passages, small spaces between walls, impenetrable recesses. At one point he was even able to mastermind the escape of two Jesuits from the Tower of London. Whenever Nicholas set out to design such hiding places, he began by receiving the Holy Eucharist, and he would turn to God in prayer throughout the long, dangerous construction process.

After many years at his unusual task, he entered the Society of Jesus and served as a lay brother, althoughâ€"for very good reasonsâ€"his connection with the Jesuits was kept secret.

After a number of narrow escapes, he himself was finally caught in 1594. Despite protracted torture, he refused to disclose the names of other Catholics. After being released following the payment of a ransom, "Little John" went back to his work. He was arrested again in 1606. This time he was subjected to horrible tortures, suffering an agonizing death. The jailers tried suggesting that he had confessed and committed suicide, but his heroism and sufferings soon were widely known.

He was canonized in 1970 as one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales.


Comment:

Nicholas was a clever builder and architect who used his skills to protect endangered priests. Without his help, hundreds of English Catholics would have been deprived of the sacraments. His gift for spotting unlikely places to hide priests was impressive, but more impressive was his habit of seeking support for his work in prayer and the Eucharist. If we follow his example, we may also discover surprising ways to put our skills to God’s service.

The Perfect Prayer    

Let’s not overlook the Eucharist as Christianity’s most perfect prayer and primary pathway leading us as a body of believersâ€"and as individualsâ€"into union with God.

this is a strong impression of my son Chris, in a tapok-tapok why is it that tanduay is in the middle paired with cola ( mao niy tawag sa mag aleman sa coke). Akong tubag; hanoy ang istorya kon adunay tubil.

di-a rah Padre! Aduna ko sa balay kay si Consing maoy gamiton mas barato kono kaysa shellane. kerosene man gani ang akong ihapas kon panohoton.

mga bombay sa una kosog mosoroy mamaligya, hulog-hulogan!

Quote from: hubag bohol on March 21, 2011, 05:51:03 PM



He he... 

tulo laway ko sa iyang mga pahiyom!

Tanduay of course!

Blessed John of Parma
(1209-1289)



The seventh general minister of the Franciscan Order, John was known for his attempts to bring back the earlier spirit of the Order after the death of St. Francis of Assisi.

He was born in Parma, Italy, in 1209. It was when he was a young philosophy professor known for his piety and learning that God called him to bid good-bye to the world he was used to and enter the new world of the Franciscan Order. After his profession John was sent to Paris to complete his theological studies. Ordained to the priesthood, he was appointed to teach theology at Bologna, then Naples and finally Rome.

In 1245, Pope Innocent IV called a general council in the city of Lyons, France. Crescentius, the Franciscan minister general at the time, was ailing and unable to attend. In his place he sent Father John, who made a deep impression on the Church leaders gathered there. Two years later, when the same pope presided at the election of a minister general of the Franciscans, he remembered Father John well and held him up as the man best qualified for the office.

And so, in 1247, John of Parma was elected to be minister general. The surviving disciples of St. Francis rejoiced in his election, expecting a return to the spirit of poverty and humility of the early days of the Order. And they were not disappointed. As general of the Order John traveled on foot, accompanied by one or two companions, to practically all of the Franciscan convents in existence. Sometimes he would arrive and not be recognized, remaining there for a number of days to test the true spirit of the brothers.

The pope called on John to serve as legate to Constantinople, where he was most successful in winning back the schismatic Greeks. Upon his return he asked that someone else take his place to govern the Order. St. Bonaventure, at John's urging, was chosen to succeed him. John took up a life of prayer in the hermitage at Greccio.

Many years later, John learned that the Greeks, who had been reconciled with the Church for a time, had relapsed into schism. Though 80 years old by then, John received permission from Pope Nicholas IV to return to the East in an effort to restore unity once again. On his way, John fell sick and died.

He was beatified in 1781.


Comment:

In the 13th century, people in their 30s were middle-aged; hardly anyone lived to the ripe old age of 80. John did, but he didn’t ease into retirement. Instead he was on his way to try to heal a schism in the Church when he died. Our society today boasts a lot of folks in their later decades. Like John, many of them lead active lives. But some aren’t so fortunate. Weakness or ill health keeps them confined and lonelyâ€"waiting to hear from us.

God Forgives!    

God does not judge, nor does he condemn; God forgives! The proof of this is in the full measure of good gifts that he has poured into our laps through Jesus his Son.

tonight´s full mood is a natural splendor!

Manay needs help. This coming May, Saint Mary Academy will make a reunion. I want to know how much is a souvenir program for this occassion circa 30 pages.

St. Salvator of Horta
(1520-1567)

A reputation for holiness does have some drawbacks. Public recognition can be a nuisance at timesâ€"as the confreres of Salvator found out.

Salvator was born during Spain’s Golden Age. Art, politics and wealth were flourishing. So was religion. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540.

Salvator’s parents were poor. At the age of 21 he entered the Franciscans as a brother and was soon known for his asceticism, humility and simplicity.

As cook, porter and later the official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his charity. He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars transferred him to Horta. Again the sick flocked to ask his intercession; one person estimated that two thousand people a week came to see Salvator. He told them to examine their consciences, to go to confession and to receive Holy Communion worthily. He refused to pray for those who would not receive those sacraments.

The public attention given to Salvator was relentless. The crowds would sometimes tear off pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was moved again, this time to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. He died at Cagliari saying, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." He was canonized in 1938.


Comment:

Medical science is now seeing more clearly the relation of some diseases to one’s emotional and spiritual life. In Healing Life’s Hurts, Matthew and Dennis Linn report that sometimes people experience relief from illness only when they have decided to forgive others. Salvator prayed that people might be healed, and many were. Surely not all diseases can be treated this way; medical help should not be abandoned. But notice that Salvator urged his petitioners to reestablish their priorities in life before they asked for healing.

Quote:

"Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness" (Matthew 10:1).

Shining Light    

The light of the Transfiguration isn't exclusively for Peter, James, and John but for all men and women, that we might no longer be afraid of our fragile, fallen humanity but might get up and go where the Lord is leading us.

natawo na tingali kining bata-a!

Quote from: hubag bohol on March 19, 2011, 06:50:57 PM
Fregoli delusion

The Fregoli delusion or Fregoli syndrome is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes their appearance or is in disguise. Often this belief is of a paranoid nature with the delusional person believing that they are being persecuted by the person whom they believe to be following them.

The condition is named after the Italian actor Leopold Fregoli who was renowned for his ability to make quick changes of appearance during his stage act.

It was first reported in a paper by Courbon and Fail in 1927. They discussed the case study of a 27-year old woman who believed she was being persecuted by two actors who she often went to see at the theatre. She believed that these people "pursued her closely, taking the form of people she knows or meets".

The Fregoli delusion is classed as a delusional misidentification syndrome, a class of delusional beliefs that involves the misidentification of people, places or objects. Like Capgras delusion, it is thought to be related to a breakdown in normal face recognition processes.

http://neohumanism.org/

Is there any theraphy for this disorder?

this is truly touching, thanks Indayon for sharing this thread with us. Japan can prepare himself against earthquake but tsunami is beyond human strength and scope.

I would say that the Filipinos faith in the Divine Providence is unwavering. Karon lang ko nasayud nga mas peligro pa diay ang atong kahimtang kay sa Japan.

you are so kind and witty, islahon, I´m a fan of yours, God bless!

Expand My Heart

It is only charity that can expand my heart. O Jesus, since this sweet flame consumes it, I run with joy in the way of your NEW commandment.

St. Joseph


The Bible pays Joseph the highest compliment: he was a “just” man. The quality meant a lot more than faithfulness in paying debts.

When the Bible speaks of God “justifying” someone, it means that God, the all-holy or “righteous” One, so transforms a person that the individual shares somehow in God’s own holiness, and hence it is really “right” for God to love him or her. In other words, God is not playing games, acting as if we were lovable when we are not.

By saying Joseph was “just,” the Bible means that he was one who was completely open to all that God wanted to do for him. He became holy by opening himself totally to God.

The rest we can easily surmise. Think of the kind of love with which he wooed and won Mary, and the depth of the love they shared during their marriage.

It is no contradiction of Joseph’s manly holiness that he decided to divorce Mary when she was found to be with child. The important words of the Bible are that he planned to do this “quietly” because he was “a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame” (Matthew 1:19).

The just man was simply, joyfully, wholeheartedly obedient to Godâ€"in marrying Mary, in naming Jesus, in shepherding the precious pair to Egypt, in bringing them to Nazareth, in the undetermined number of years of quiet faith and courage.


Comment:

The Bible tells us nothing of Joseph in the years after the return to Nazareth except the incident of finding Jesus in the Temple (see Luke 2:41â€"51). Perhaps this can be taken to mean that God wants us to realize that the holiest family was like every other family, that the circumstances of life for the holiest family were like those of every family, so that when Jesus’ mysterious nature began to appear, people couldn’t believe that he came from such humble beginnings: “Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary...?” (Matthew 13:55a). It was almost as indignant as “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46b).

Quote:

“He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord’” (St. Bernardine of Siena).

Patron Saint of:

Belgium
Canada
Carpenters
China
Church
Death
Fathers
Happy death
Peru
Russia
Social justice
Travelers
Universal Church
Vietnam
Workers

Quote from: Deepwater on March 15, 2011, 01:52:06 PM
yes, you can always text not say anything but share what you feel through letters... hehehe. there's a video am trying to look sa youtube about this.
It started where the girl was sitting under a tree reading and was on earphones apparently listening to something then a guy sat next to her and not wanting to disturb her, wrote in a post it for her to read, "can i listen to what your listening on your earphones?" the girl simply replied no on the piece of paper. so he stopped bothering her. the next day, the guy wrote two more notes and she replied but they never talked. soon they knew a lot of things about each other just through writing notes until the girl decided i guess its ok if he listens to her earphones, they she gave it to him. When he held it to his ear, there was no music. :-)

morag ihong-hong sa bungol!

very interesting thanks for this, I might visit this place someday.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem
(315?-386)


The crises that the Church faces today may seem minor when compared with the threat posed by the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ and almost overcame Christinity in the fourth century. Cyril was to be caught up in the controversy, accused (later) of Arianism by St. Jerome, and ultimately vindicated both by the men of his own time and by being declared a Doctor of the Church in 1822. Raised in Jerusalem, well-educated, especially in the Scriptures, he was ordained a priest by the bishop of Jerusalem and given the task of catechizing during Lent those preparing for Baptism and during the Easter season the newly baptized. His Catecheses remain valuable as examples of the ritual and theology of the Church in the mid-fourth century.

There are conflicting reports about the circumstances of his becoming bishop of Jerusalem. It is certain that he was validly consecrated by bishops of the province. Since one of them was an Arian, Acacius, it may have been expected that his “cooperation” would follow. Conflict soon rose between Cyril and Acacius, bishop of the rival nearby see of Caesarea. Cyril was summoned to a council, accused of insubordination and of selling Church property to relieve the poor. Probably, however, a theological difference was also involved. He was condemned, driven from Jerusalem, and later vindicated, not without some association and help of Semi-Arians. Half his episcopate was spent in exile (his first experience was repeated twice). He finally returned to find Jerusalem torn with heresy, schism and strife, and wracked with crime. Even St. Gregory of Nyssa, sent to help, left in despair.

They both went to the (second ecumenical) Council of Constantinople, where the amended form of the Nicene Creed was promulgated. Cyril accepted the word consubstantial (that is, of Christ and the Father). Some said it was an act of repentance, but the bishops of the Council praised him as a champion of orthodoxy against the Arians. Though not friendly with the greatest defender of orthodoxy against the Arians, Cyril may be counted among those whom Athanasius called “brothers, who mean what we mean, and differ only about the word [consubstantial].”


Comment:

Those who imagine that the lives of saints are simple and placid, untouched by the vulgar breath of controversy, are rudely shocked by history. Yet it should be no surprise that saints, indeed all Christians, will experience the same difficulties as their Master. The definition of truth is an endless, complex pursuit, and good men and women have suffered the pain of both controversy and error. Intellectual, emotional and political roadblocks may slow up people like Cyril for a time. But their lives taken as a whole are monuments to honesty and courage.

Quote:

“It is not only among us, who are marked with the name of Christ, that the dignity of faith is great; all the business of the world, even of those outside the Church, is accomplished by faith. By faith, marriage laws join in union persons who were strangers to one another. By faith, agriculture is sustained; for a man does not endure the toil involved unless he believes he will reap a harvest. By faith, seafaring men, entrusting themselves to a tiny wooden craft, exchange the solid element of the land for the unstable motion of the waves. Not only among us does this hold true but also, as I have said, among those outside the fold. For though they do not accept the Scriptures but advance certain doctrines of their own, yet even these they receive on faith” (Catechesis V).

Centering Prayer    

Centering our lives on the gravitational pull of Christ makes us open and responsive to others. There is no hesitation in trying to do whatever we can for someone, even if all we can do is pray.

he he he, namalik naman gani ang THW ( tech. hilfswerke)from germany kay walay seguro nga hasta sila ma-miligro. Kon mag harakiri sila, who will shoulder the insurance in case of accidents or future illness due to exposure of nuclear radiation?

Quote from: insurectus on March 18, 2011, 05:58:27 AM
depende pod sa website pero og kargado css code ang site dakong posibilidad nga
bungkag tanawon sa IE

tagai ko ug pananglitay Doy, palihog. Gawas pa unsa man ang diperensya sa laing website diay?

wow, mozilla firefox nako Day, lipay ko sa imong posting, mingaw pod gamay.

Daghang pop-ups!

so with Chep lap kok airport in Hongkong, the UK enigneers are surprised that their calculations is wrong, it is also sinking faster thaniit should.

St. Patrick
(415?-493?)

Legends about Patrick abound; but truth is best served by our seeing two solid qualities in him: He was humble and he was courageous. The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference guided the life of God’s instrument for winning most of Ireland for Christ.

Details of his life are uncertain. Current research places his dates of birth and death a little later than earlier accounts. Patrick may have been born in Dunbarton, Scotland, Cumberland, England, or in northern Wales. He called himself both a Roman and a Briton. At 16, he and a large number of his father’s slaves and vassals were captured by Irish raiders and sold as slaves in Ireland. Forced to work as a shepherd, he suffered greatly from hunger and cold.

After six years, Patrick escaped, probably to France, and later returned to Britain at the age of 22. His captivity had meant spiritual conversion. He may have studied at Lerins, off the French coast; he spent years at Auxerre, France, and was consecrated bishop at the age of 43. His great desire was to proclaim the Good News to the Irish.

In a dream vision it seemed “all the children of Ireland from their mothers’ wombs were stretching out their hands” to him. He understood the vision to be a call to do mission work in pagan Ireland. Despite opposition from those who felt his education had been defective, he was sent to carry out the task. He went to the west and north, where the faith had never been preached, obtained the protection of local kings and made numerous converts.

Because of the island’s pagan background, Patrick was emphatic in encouraging widows to remain chaste and young women to consecrate their virginity to Christ. He ordained many priests, divided the country into dioceses, held Church councils, founded several monasteries and continually urged his people to greater holiness in Christ.

He suffered much opposition from pagan druids, and was criticized in both England and Ireland for the way he conducted his mission.

In a relatively short time the island had experienced deeply the Christian spirit, and was prepared to send out missionaries whose efforts were greatly responsible for Christianizing Europe.

Patrick was a man of action, with little inclination toward learning. He had a rocklike belief in his vocation, in the cause he had espoused.

One of the few certainly authentic writings is his Confessio, above all an act of homage to God for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.

There is hope rather than irony in the fact that his burial place is said to be in strife-torn Ulster, in County Down.


Comment:

What distinguishes Patrick is the durability of his efforts. When one considers the state of Ireland when he began his mission work, the vast extent of his labors (all of Ireland) and how the seeds he planted continued to grow and flourish, one can only admire the kind of man Patrick must have been. The holiness of a person is known only by the fruits of his or her work.

Quote:

“Christ shield me this day: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me” (from “The Breastplate of St. Patrick”).

Patron Saint of:

Engineers
Ireland
Nigeria

The Church Community


The Church reminds us that we are not orphans but members of God’s family. Through her maternal care and wise instruction, she builds up strength within us. She relentlessly reminds us that we are the handiwork of God and that he will never forsake us.

BBC:  Experts unravel 'churkey' appearance mystery



The Transylvanian naked neck chicken has been dubbed the "churkey"

The "churkey" owes its distinctive look to a complex genetic mutation, according to scientists.

Experts at Edinburgh University set out to discover how the Transylvanian naked neck chicken came by its appearance.

The bird, which has also been dubbed the turken, has the neck of a turkey and the body of a chicken.

The scientists said the effects of the genetic mutation were enhanced by a vitamin A-derived substance produced around the bird's neck.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

    It could have practical implications for helping poultry production in hot countries, including those in the developing world”

End Quote Dr Denis Headon The Roslin Institute

This causes a protein, BMP12, to be produced, suppressing feather growth and causing the bird to have its bald neck, according to researchers at the Roslin Institute at Edinburgh University.

The team said the findings could help poultry production in hot countries because chickens with naked necks were better equipped to withstand the heat.

They also have implications for understanding how birds, including vultures, evolved to have featherless necks.

Transylvanian naked neck chickens, which are thought to have originated from the north of Romania, were introduced to Britain in the 1920s.

Researchers analysed DNA samples from naked neck chickens in Mexico, France and Hungary to find the genetic mutation.

Skin samples from embryonic chickens were also analysed using complex mathematical modelling.

Dr Denis Headon, who led the research, said: "Not only does this help our understanding of developmental biology and give insight into how different breeds have evolved, but it could have practical implications for helping poultry production in hot countries, including those in the developing world."

The research, published in the journal PLoS, was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Niigata, Japan, Mar 12, 2011 / 07:17 am (CNA).- The epicenter of the earthquake that caused a deadly March 11 tsunami is located near the site of an apparition in which Mary warned about a worldwide disaster that could afflict humanity.

Japanese church officials have confirmed that the Diocese of Sendai, in the north of the country, was hit hardest by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake â€" the worst in Japanese history â€" and the resulting 23-foot waves.

Hundreds of people have already been confirmed dead in the city of Sendai, located less than 90 miles away from the apparition site of Our Lady of Akita in the town of Yuzawa.

The city of Akita, which experienced fire damage and flooding along with many parts of northern Japan, is a place of veneration for Catholics.

In 1973, the Virgin Mary was said to have predicted a number of future events â€" including natural disasters even more serious than Friday's earthquake and tsunami â€" during three appearances to a Japanese religious sister, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa.

The purported appearances of the Virgin Mary in Japan were reviewed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1988. During his time as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prior to his election as Pope Benedict XVI, he let stand the local bishop’s judgment that the apparitions and the messages were acceptable for the faithful.

The messages warned of chaos within the Church, and disasters which could afflict the world.

“If men do not repent and better themselves, God the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity,” Mary reportedly told Sr. Agnes. “It will be a punishment greater than the (biblical) flood, such as never seen before.”

“Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful,” she said. “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church, in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops.”

“Churches and altars will be sacked. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises, and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.”

“Each day, recite the prayers of the Rosary,” she told Sr. Agnes. “With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.”

Two years after the last message, the statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel where the apparitions had occurred began to emit tears and drops of blood. The occurrence continued for more than six years.

Reports from Akita following Friday's earthquake indicate that the city received significantly less damage than other parts of northern Japan, despite its proximity to the epicenter. However, residents did report power outages, burst pipes, and fires.

Bishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Niigata, whose territory includes the Akita apparition site, is also the president of Caritas Japan, which will be working to assist victims of the earthquake and tsunami. The relief organization is accepting contributions to its emergency fund at www.caritas.org.

Wow, kujawa nimo oy! kugi man jud, I would like to try but I don´t have time to do that and candles here are so cheap. Please post your work of art, share it with us and thanks in advance.

Manay went to the streets during Marcos era to protest about this nuclear plant in Bataan, nitagoktok ang akong ulo sa batuta sa pulis kay nasakpan ko sa dinaganay!Aray!

There are high quality paraffins to make your candle in better quality, I mean if you make a deco candles. Kon sa Pinas kini dili magdugay ang imong kandila angin sa sobrang init.

meanwhile here are more lies about nuclear plants in the USA;

Fukushima Ongoing Nuclear Disaster March 14th, 2011 Chernobyl Winds overlay

-
~~~ excerpt fr posting below by Ace Hoffman

By now we all surely know that all governments lie about everything having to do with nuclear issues.  If they didn't, America's own 23 old and dilapidated General Electric Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactors -- the kind that have proven to be so uncontrollable in a disaster -- would be permanently closed right now, and all our coastal reactors would be, too, regardless of what type they are, and all our other reactors would be closed, too.  But lies have sustained the nuclear industry for a long time, and they are coming at us fast and furious this week.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Nuclear_Power_Plant

ambot hinaut pa nga maka huna huna sila ug tarong, usik ang kwarta, taxpayers money is used to maintian UNO! Sad to say some mediocre ideas pop-up like this.

St. Clement Mary Hofbauer
(1751-1820)


Clement might be called the second founder of the Redemptorists, as it was he who carried the congregation of St. Alphonsus Liguori to the people north of the Alps.

John, the name given him at Baptism, was born in Moravia into a poor family, the ninth of 12 children. Although he longed to be a priest there was no money for studies, and he was apprenticed to a baker. But God guided the young man's fortunes. He found work in the bakery of a monastery where he was allowed to attend classes in its Latin school. After the abbot there died, John tried the life of a hermit but when Emperor Joseph II abolished hermitages, John again returned to Vienna and to baking. One day after serving Mass at the cathedral of St. Stephen, he called a carriage for two ladies waiting there in the rain. In their conversation they learned that he could not pursue his priestly studies because of a lack of funds. They generously offered to support both him and his friend, Thaddeus, in their seminary studies. The two went to Rome, where they were drawn to St. Alphonsus' vision of religious life and to the Redemptorists. The two young men were ordained together in 1785.

Newly professed at age 34, Clement Mary, as he was now called, and Thaddeus were sent back to Vienna. But the religious difficulties there caused them to leave and continue north to Warsaw, Poland. There they encountered numerous German-speaking Catholics who had been left priestless by the suppression of the Jesuits. At first they had to live in great poverty and preached outdoor sermons. They were given the church of St. Benno, and for the next nine years they preached five sermons a day, two in German and three in Polish, converting many to the faith. They were active in social work among the poor, founding an orphanage and then a school for boys.

Drawing candidates to the congregation, they were able to send missionaries to Poland, Germany and Switzerland. All of these foundations had eventually to be abandoned because of the political and religious tensions of the times. After 20 years of difficult work Clement himself was imprisoned and expelled from the country. Only after another arrest was he able to reach Vienna, where he was to live and work the final 12 years of his life. He quickly became "the apostle of Vienna," hearing the confessions of the rich and poor, visiting the sick, acting as a counselor to the powerful, sharing his holiness with all in the city. His crowning work was the establishment of a Catholic college in his beloved city.

Persecution followed him, and there were those in authority who were able for a while to stop him from preaching. An attempt was made at the highest levels to have him banished. But his holiness and fame protected him and the growth of the Redemptorists. Due to his efforts, the congregation, upon his death in 1820, was firmly established north of the Alps.

He was canonized in 1909.


Comment:

Clement saw his life’s work meet with disaster. Religious and political tensions forced him and his brothers to abandon their ministry in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. Clement himself was exiled from Poland and had to start all over again. Someone once pointed out that the followers of the crucified Jesus should see only new possibilities opening up whenever they meet failure. He encourages us to follow his example, trusting in the Lord to guide us.

God's Redemptive

As Jesus went about the three years of his public ministry, doing the bidding of God, he was announcing something unimagined and unexpected. In him God “repented of the evil that he had threatened.” God wants no one to perish but wants everyone to return to him and live.

'Sex talk' in U.N., compliments of Nat'l Educ. Assoc.


Caution: This article contains terms that some may find offensive.



A social policy research group is exposing a radical sexual ideology that was on display at a United Nations' meeting.



The two-week annual gathering of the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women recently concluded in New York City.

Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), tells OneNewsNow that one of the side events there included a panel discussion where Diane Schneider, a representative with the National Education Association (NEA), said that graphic sex education needs to be taught in the classroom.

Speaking to a panel on combating "homophobia" and "transphobia," Schneider stated: "Oral sex, masturbation, and orgasms need to be taught in education." According to Ruse, the NEA representative did not stop there.

Austin Ruse (C-FAM)"She went on to say that comprehensive sex education is -- quote - 'the only way to combat heterosexism and gender conformity,'" he reports. "She said that 'gender identity expression' and sexual orientation are a spectrum, and...that those [who are] opposed to homosexuality are stuck -- quote -- 'in a binary box that religion and family create.'"

Ruse says such outrageous statements reveal that organizations like the NEA -- the largest teachers union in the country -- are way out of touch with the mainstream. "Most Americans, I think, would feel like they were completely in foreign territory if they sat in on one of these side events at the United Nations or if they heard a United Nations debate on comprehensive sex education," he shares.

The C-FAM leader says the radical sexual agenda on display at the Commission on the Status of Women will influence U.N. policy in the near future.


Mr Ruse

St. Louise de Marillac
(d. 1660)

Louise, born near Meux, France, lost her mother when she was still a child, her beloved father when she was but 15. Her desire to become a nun was discouraged by her confessor, and a marriage was arranged. One son was born of this union. But she soon found herself nursing her beloved husband through a long illness that finally led to his death.

Louise was fortunate to have a wise and sympathetic counselor, St. Francis de Sales, and then his friend, the Bishop of Belley, France. Both of these men were available to her only periodically. But from an interior illumination she understood that she was to undertake a great work under the guidance of another person she had not yet met. This was the holy priest M. Vincent, later to be known as St. Vincent de Paul.

At first he was reluctant to be her confessor, busy as he was with his "Confraternities of Charity." Members were aristocratic ladies of charity who were helping him nurse the poor and look after neglected children, a real need of the day. But the ladies were busy with many of their own concerns and duties. His work needed many more helpers, especially ones who were peasants themselves and therefore close to the poor and could win their hearts. He also needed someone who could teach them and organize them.

Only over a long period of time, as Vincent de Paul became more acquainted with Louise, did he come to realize that she was the answer to his prayers. She was intelligent, self-effacing and had physical strength and endurance that belied her continuing feeble health. The missions he sent her on eventually led to four simple young women joining her. Her rented home in Paris became the training center for those accepted for the service of the sick and poor. Growth was rapid and soon there was need of a so-called rule of life, which Louise herself, under the guidance of Vincent, drew up for the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (though he preferred "Daughters" of Charity).

He had always been slow and prudent in his dealings with Louise and the new group. He said that he had never had any idea of starting a new community, that it was God who did everything. "Your convent," he said, "will be the house of the sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital." Their dress was to be that of the peasant women. It was not until years later that Vincent de Paul would finally permit four of the women to take annual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. It was still more years before the company would be formally approved by Rome and placed under the direction of Vincent's own congregation of priests.

Many of the young women were illiterate and it was with reluctance that the new community undertook the care of neglected children. Louise was busy helping wherever needed despite her poor health. She traveled throughout France, establishing her community members in hospitals, orphanages and other institutions. At her death on March 15, 1660, the congregation had more than 40 houses in France. Six months later St. Vincent de Paul followed her in death.

Louise de Marillac was canonized in 1934 and declared patroness of social workers in 1960.


Comment:

In Louise’s day, serving the needs of the poor was usually a luxury only fine ladies could afford. Her mentor, St. Vincent de Paul, wisely realized that women of peasant stock could reach poor people more effectively, and the Sisters of Charity were born under her leadership. Today that Order continues to nurse the sick and aging and provide refuge for orphans. Many of its members are social workers toiling under Louise’s patronage. The rest of us must share her concern for the disadvantaged.

Patron Saint of:

Social workers

The Greatest Wonder    

In Christ God speaks to each one of us, not at us. Jesus is the definitive sign and greatest wonder that has ever come forth from God, because he brings us into perpetual conversation with God.

Here is a worst case scenario;
An American nuclear expert says radiation from Japan could spread across the Pacific and reach the United States if a complete meltdown occurs at a Japanese nuclear facility damaged as a result of last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami. 

Nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund says Japan’s nuclear crisis is in a critical phase.

The whims of nature teaches us to be humble.
Japan knew that their country lie in a very precarious fault. They were so cock-sure of their technological know-how and advancement, now comes a mjor earthquake  and a tsunami beyond our imaginations. The rest is history.

The attitude of the wolf can be summed up simply: it is a constant visualization of success. The collective wisdom of wolves has been progressively programmed into their genetic makeup throughout the centuries. Wolves have mastered the technique of focusing their energies toward the activities that will lead to the accomplishment of their goals.

Wolves do not aimlessly run around their intended victims, yipping and yapping. They have a strategic plan and execute it through constant communication. When the moment of truth arrives, each understands his role and understands exactly what the pack expects of him.

The wolf does not depend on luck. The cohesion, teamwork and training of the pack determines whether the pack lives or dies.

There is a silly maxim in some organizations that everyone, to be a valuable member, must aspire to be the leader. This is personified by the misguided CEO who says he only hires people who say they want to take his job. Evidently, this is supposed to ensure that the person has ambition, courage, spunk, honesty, drive - whatever. In reality, it is simply a contrived situation, with the interviewee jumping through the boss's hoops. It sends warnings of competition and one-upsmanship throughout the organization rather than signals of cooperation, teamwork and loyalty.

Everyone does not strive to be the leader in the wolf pack. Some are consummate hunters or caregivers or jokesters, but each seems to gravitate to the role he does best. This is not to say there are not challenges to authority, position and status - there are. But each wolf's role begins emerging from playtime as a pup and refines itself through the rest of its years. The wolf's attitude is always based upon the question, "What is best for the pack?" This is in marked contrast to us humans, who will often sabotage our organizations, families or businesses, if we do not get what we want.

Wolves are seldom truly threatened by other animals. By constantly engaging their senses and skills, they are practically unassailable. They are masters of planning for the moment of opportunity to present itself, and when it does, they are ready to act.

Because of training, preparation, planning, communication and a preference for action, the wolf's expectation is always to be victorious. While in actuality this is true only 10 percent of the time or less, the wolf's attitude is always that success will come-and it does.

he has been long dead!

St. Maximilian
(d. 295)



We have an early, precious, almost unembellished account of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian in modern-day Algeria.

Brought before the proconsul Dion, Maximilian refused enlistment in the Roman army saying, "I cannot serve, I cannot do evil. I am a Christian."

Dion replied: "You must serve or die."

Maximilian: "I will never serve. You can cut off my head, but I will not be a soldier of this world, for I am a soldier of Christ. My army is the army of God, and I cannot fight for this world. I tell you I am a Christian."

Dion: "There are Christian soldiers serving our rulers Diocletian and Maximian, Constantius and Galerius."

Maximilian: "That is their business. I also am a Christian, and I cannot serve."

Dion: "But what harm do soldiers do?"

Maximilian: "You know well enough."

Dion: "If you will not do your service I shall condemn you to death for contempt of the army."

Maximilian: "I shall not die. If I go from this earth my soul will live with Christ my Lord."

Maximilian was 21 years old when he gladly offered his life to God. His father went home from the execution site joyful, thanking God that he had been able to offer heaven such a gift.

Genuine Prayer    

Ongoing conversation with God opens us towards others without force, resentment, or the expectation of reward, while being attentive and responsive to others carries us right back to God. At the final judgment many will be shocked to learn that every facet of their lives had become prayer.

Happy Birthday Inday Grace!

I stopped taking my medications.

St. Leander of Seville
(c. 550-600)

The next time you recite the Nicene Creed at Mass, think of today’s saint. For it was Leander of Seville who, as bishop, introduced the practice in the sixth century. He saw it as a way to help reinforce the faith of his people and as an antidote against the heresy of Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ. By the end of his life, Leander had helped Christianity flourish in Spain at a time of political and religious upheaval.

Leander’s own family was heavily influenced by Arianism, but he himself grew up to be a fervent Christian. He entered a monastery as a young man and spent three years in prayer and study. At the end of that tranquil period he was made a bishop. For the rest of his life he worked strenuously to fight against heresy. The death of the anti-Christian king in 586 helped Leander’s cause. He and the new king worked hand in hand to restore orthodoxy and a renewed sense of morality. Leander succeeded in persuading many Arian bishops to change their loyalties.

Leander died around 600. In Spain he is honored as a Doctor of the Church.

Bending Our Will

Lent is a time when we can shatter the deceptions of Satan by holding fast to the righteousness of Christ. Lent is a time for seeing that all of creation is good for guiding us to a greater knowledge of God.

Blessed Angela Salawa
(1881-1922)


Angela served Christ and Christ’s little ones with all her strength.

Born in Siepraw, near Kraków, Poland, she was the 11th child of Bartlomiej and Ewa Salawa. In 1897, she moved to Kraków where her older sister Therese lived. Angela immediately began to gather together and instruct young women domestic workers. During World War I, she helped prisoners of war without regard for their nationality or religion. The writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross were a great comfort to her.

Angela gave great service in caring for soldiers wounded in World War I. After 1918 her health did not permit her to exercise her customary apostolate. Addressing herself to Christ, she wrote in her diary, "I want you to be adored as much as you were destroyed." In another place, she wrote, "Lord, I live by your will. I shall die when you desire; save me because you can."

At her 1991 beatification in Kraków, Pope John Paul II said: "It is in this city that she worked, that she suffered and that her holiness came to maturity. While connected to the spirituality of St. Francis, she showed an extraordinary responsiveness to the action of the Holy Spirit" (L'Osservatore Romano, volume 34, number 4, 1991).


Comment:

Humility should never be mistaken for lack of conviction, insight or energy. Angela brought the Good News and material assistance to some of Christ’s "least ones." Her self-sacrifice inspired others to do the same.

Quote:

Henri de Lubac, S.J., wrote: "The best Christians and the most vital are by no means to be found either inevitably or even generally among the wise or the clever, the intelligentsia or the politically-minded, or those of social consequence. And consequently what they say does not make the headlines; what they do does not come to the public eye. Their lives are hidden from the eyes of the world, and if they do come to some degree of notoriety, that is usually late in the day, and exceptional, and always attended by the risk of distortion" (The Splendor of the Church, p. 187).

Giving Alms

While giving alms may sometimes require contributing what has been earned through human labor, the gift of oneself is of greater value. After all, the debt incurred by sin wasn’t paid in the currency of the world but in the flesh of Christ.

as of the latest news tsunami warning is lifted in the Philippines per Daily Inquirer news.

We pray, O Christ, for a joyful heart that we may celebrate your generous love and care for us.



Happy Birthday Padre!

St. John Ogilvie
(c. 1579-1615)


John Ogilvie's noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to the continent to be educated. There John became interested in the popular debates going on between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. Confused by the arguments of Catholic scholars whom he sought out, he turned to Scripture. Two texts particularly struck him: "God wills all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth," and "Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you."

Slowly, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17.

John continued his studies, first with the Benedictines, then as a student at the Jesuit College at Olmutz. He joined the Jesuits and for the next 10 years underwent their rigorous intellectual and spiritual training. Ordained a priest in France in 1610, he met two Jesuits who had just returned from Scotland after suffering arrest and imprisonment. They saw little hope for any successful work there in view of the tightening of the penal laws. But a fire had been lit within John. For the next two and a half years he pleaded to be missioned there.

Sent by his superiors, he secretly entered Scotland posing as a horse trader or a soldier returning from the wars in Europe. Unable to do significant work among the relatively few Catholics in Scotland, John made his way back to Paris to consult his superiors. Rebuked for having left his assignment in Scotland, he was sent back. He warmed to the task before him and had some success in making converts and in secretly serving Scottish Catholics. But he was soon betrayed, arrested and brought before the court. His trial dragged on until he had been without food for 26 hours. He was imprisoned and deprived of sleep. For eight days and nights he was dragged around, prodded with sharp sticks, his hair pulled out. Still, he refused to reveal the names of Catholics or to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the king in spiritual affairs. He underwent a second and third trial but held firm. At his final trial he assured his judges: "In all that concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him. But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey."

Condemned to death as a traitor, he was faithful to the end, even when on the scaffold he was offered his freedom and a fine living if he would deny his faith. His courage in prison and in his martyrdom was reported throughout Scotland.

John Ogilvie was canonized in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250.


Comment:

John came of age when neither Catholics nor Protestants were willing to tolerate one another. Turning to Scripture, he found words that enlarged his vision. Although he became a Catholic and died for his faith, he understood the meaning of “small-c catholic,” the wide range of believers who embrace Christianity. Even now he undoubtedly rejoices in the ecumenical spirit fostered by the Second Vatican Council and joins us in our prayer for unity with all believers.

Deeper Appreciation    

Fasting symbolizes our ever deepening hunger for God and ensures that our sights stay fixed on eternal life and makes us appreciate more fully all the goods of the earth and the goodness in one another.

Dr Carol Pagaduan-Araullo

Subject: Streetwise - A woman's liberation

Streetwise*
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo

A womans liberation

Last March 8, GABRIELA, the foremost Filipino womens alliance
championing womens rights, held a nation-wide mobilization to
commemorate 100 years of International Women's Day (IWD).

Let us recall that it was Clara Zetkin, an outstanding German socialist
and a fighter for women's rights, who proposed in 1910 that an
international working women's day be held on March 8 of each year.  March
8 marked the day when hundreds of women workers in the United States of
America demonstrated for the right to suffrage and to build a powerful
garments union.

The following year in March 1911, more than one million women and men in
Europe attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote,
to hold public office, equal pay for equal work, maternity and child
benefits and better working conditions as well as for the general
upliftment, emancipation and empowerment of women.

GABRIELA emphasized that this year,  IWD will be commemorated as,
worldwide, women join their menfolk in mass protests and uprisings
spurred by the burgeoning impact of protracted global depression
especially  in poor and backward countries in the Middle East, Africa,
Latin America and Asia.

Further, the alliance said, Filipino women, like our toiling sisters
in other countries, suffer from the same torment of poverty, hunger and
violence caused by imperialism's last ditch attempt to salvage its
moribund existence by plundering poor nations and further enslaving the
working class people.

GABRIELA concluded that Filipino women must demand immediate respite from
the Aquino government through urgent socio-economic reforms as well as
join the rest of the Filipino people in struggling for fundamental
change, for genuine freedom and democracy, against an elite-ruled and
foreign-dominated social order.

At the March 8 rally, as I waited to deliver my speech to the thousands
of women gathered at some distance from the Presidential Palace, I could
not help but reflect on my own sojourn as a woman, from a carefree middle
class upbringing to one defined by the social and political struggles and
upheavals of my generation.

I thought about how I had been surrounded by feisty, assertive and
articulate women all my life: a mother who transcended social
stereotypes, was an outstanding operating room nurse and a working woman
all her life;  aunts who despite economic hardships guided their brood to
stable and successful careers;  sisters who are capable and personable
individuals, accomplished in their own fields; friends and most of all
comrades who have struggled to combine the roles of working/career women,
activist/revolutionary and wife/mother/daughter - to varying degrees of
success.

My father gave us a very liberal upbringing. He made sure his children
had all the opportunities to excel in school and have an active social
life.  There was never any stereotyping of girls as good cooks,
homemakers, fashionistas.  But he did expect his daughters to serve him
his coffee while the only boy was free to gallivant.

My education in an all-girls school run by socially-oriented nuns, who
were exacting in academic work and disciplinarians to boot, gave me the
basic skills, self-confidence, and empathy for the poor and
underprivileged that served me well in my adult life.  It also provided
the inestimable benefit of growing up in an academic environment where
being a male was no advantage.  There werent any.

In high school, I was introduced to the concept of womens liberation
by my eldest sister who left for the US to do graduate studies and
eventually settled there.  She had strained against the social
conventions of her time that kept even middle class, educated women from
being equal to men and achieving their full potential as individuals.
She became a feminist and an active participant in the US womens
liberation movement.

When I entered the University of the Philippines, the liberal arts
program of the general education course (which UP has since abolished)
reinforced my openness to feminist views from the West, my involvement in
moderate social activism at the UP Student Catholic Action, and later, in
more radical student activism as a member of the student council and
while doing organizing work among jeepney drivers and the urban poor.

My stint at UPSCA was a major venue for male-female socialization.  A
milestone in my life took place in the friendly environs of Delaney Hall
and the UP Chapel: that is where I met my first boyfriend who eventually
ended up as my lifelong partner.

My husband deserves several sentences in this narrative.  Being much
older than me, he was mature where I was immature. Being an engineering
graduate, he was practical-minded where I was an idealistic AB Psychology
student.  Being a patriot, a democrat, and a closet Leftist, he was
supportive of my political activism.

And being the self-confident, loving man that he was, he let me pursue my
passions  and my commitments with nary a hint of jealousy nor insecurity
even as he worried and watched out for me at every turn. (Yes, of course,
we wrangled about the inherent dangers and the time away from family that
was the offshoot of my political activities.)

As I grew more deeply involved in the national democratic movement, my
ideas about egalitarianism, social progress and commitment to a cause
higher than oneself resonated with the movements Marxist philosophy,
revolutionary political analysis and program and its mantra Serve the
People.

This includes the presumption that being a woman is no barrier to being a
dedicated activist and revolutionary.  It also meant subordinating
boyfriend-girlfriend relationships to political considerations.

It meant making independent decisions that entailed risks and sacrifices
including the risk of being separated from one's boyfriend or husband.
This was a harsh reality especially during martial law when the tempo and
direction of one's life were altered in major, unanticipated ways.

The struggle for women's emancipation from feudal culture as well as
bourgeois stereotypes had to be carried through inside the nd
movement.  Notions of sexual roles were rapidly being transformed even as
there was also resistance to change and the vestiges of old-type
relationships persisted.

More important, the need to organize women who, as Chairman Mao said,
hold up half the sky, to achieve their own liberation from
economic, political and cultural bondage was met by the conscious effort
to build a distinct womens movement integrated into the peoples
movement for national and social liberation.

I will always credit and be grateful to the two major influences towards
my liberation as a woman  the national democratic movement and the
people  women and men alike - who fostered my full development as an
activist/revolutionary and as an emancipated wife and mother.  #

*Published in Business World
11- 12 March 2011

ma in-love jud ko nimo Hubs, kay pirmi ko gitikon sa imong postings! It makes my day to laugh, you´re wonderful. Asa man ka karon kay ako kang tuoron, mag-inom?


Tagay! Cheers! Prosit!

Ako sa buhgan, Aray!

its the manifestation of the opposite; Hatred!

Yehey, botangi Bennysan, balhin natah sa ilonggo .

St John Ogilvie

Born in 1579, John Ogilvie belonged to Scottish nobility. Raised a Calvinist, he was educated on the continent. Exposed to the religious controversies of his day and impressed with the faith of the martyrs, he decided to become a Catholic. In 1596, at age seventeen he was received into the Church at Louvain. Later John attended a variety of Catholic educational institutions, and eventually he sought admission into the Jesuits. He was ordained at Paris in 1610 and asked to be sent to Scotland, hoping some Catholic nobles there would aid him given his lineage. Finding none, he went to London, then back to Paris, and finally returned to Scotland. John's work was quite successful in bring back many people to the Faith. Some time later he was betrayed by one posing as a Catholic. After his arrest he was tortured in prison in an effort to get him to reveal the names of other Catholics, but he refused. After three trials, John was convicted of high treason because he converted Protestants to the Catholic Faith as well as denied the king's spiritual jurisdiction by upholding the Pope's spiritual primacy and condemning the oaths of supremacy and allegiance. Sentenced to death, the courageous priest was hanged at Glasgow in 1615 at the age of thirty-six. His feast day is March 10.

Selfless Love    

In looking on the one we love, we actually begin to see ourselves in new and healthier ways and are freed from the constraints of self-interest.

There was a documentary film about him, his struggling years in Vienna before he went to Germany, it was told that he was with men all the time, he doesn´t know how to court a lady.

ps
FYI,  he is of Austrian origin and not German.

he is gay!

this is a wonderful poem, salamat for sharing!

aduna pay sumpay Doy`mora man pod ug Leo Tolstoy!

There are kids here missing sexually assaulted and killed. Once the killer is captured and declares he is not in his mind, he got a minimum of 3-5 years, after serving the sentence  he starts to repeat the crime again. If one of the victim is your child, Lorenzo, how will you react?

Lent is the period of 40 days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. Lent is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities.

Whereas Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after his death on the cross, Lent recalls the events leading up to and including Jesus' crucifixion by Rome. This is believed to have taken place in Roman occupied Jerusalem.

The Christian churches that observe Lent in the 21st century (and not all do significantly) use it as a time for prayer and penance. Only a small number of people today fast for the whole of Lent, although some maintain the practice on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It is more common these days for believers to surrender a particular vice such as favourite foods or smoking. Whatever the sacrifice it is a reflection of Jesus' deprivation in the wilderness and a test of self-discipline.
Why 40 days?

40 is a significant number in Jewish-Christian scripture:

    * In Genesis, the flood which destroyed the earth was brought about by 40 days and nights of rain.
    * The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the land promised to them by God.
    * Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai.
    * Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry.

Most Christians regard Jesus' time in the wilderness as the key event for the duration of Lent.
Why is it called Lent?

Lent is an old English word meaning 'lengthen'. Lent is observed in spring, when the days begin to get longer.
The colour purple

Purple is the symbolic colour used in some churches throughout Lent, for drapes and altar frontals.

Purple is used for two reasons: firstly because it is associated with mourning and so anticipates the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, and secondly because purple is the colour associated with royalty, and celebrates Christ's resurrection and sovereignty.
East and West

Both the eastern and western churches observe Lent but they count the 40 days differently.

The western church excludes Sundays (which is celebrated as the day of Christ's resurrection) whereas the eastern church includes them.

The churches also start Lent on different days.

Western churches start Lent on the 7th Wednesday before Easter Day (called Ash Wednesday).

Eastern churches start Lent on the Monday of the 7th week before Easter and end it on the Friday 9 days before Easter. Eastern churches call this period the 'Great Lent'. bbc



the priest says;  "Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return."

St. Frances of Rome
(1384-1440)


Frances’s life combines aspects of secular and religious life. A devoted and loving wife, she longed for a lifestyle of prayer and service, so she organized a group of women to minister to the needs of Rome’s poor.

Born of wealthy parents, Frances found herself attracted to the religious life during her youth. But her parents objected and a young nobleman was selected to be her husband.

As she became acquainted with her new relatives, Frances soon discovered that the wife of her husband’s brother also wished to live a life of service and prayer. So the two, Frances and Vannozza, set out togetherâ€"with their husbands’ blessingsâ€"to help the poor.

Frances fell ill for a time, but this apparently only deepened her commitment to the suffering people she met. The years passed, and Frances gave birth to two sons and a daughter. With the new responsibilities of family life, the young mother turned her attention more to the needs of her own household. The family flourished under Frances’s care, but within a few years a great plague began to sweep across Italy. It struck Rome with devastating cruelty and left Frances’s second son dead. In an effort to help alleviate some of the suffering, Frances used all her money and sold her possessions to buy whatever the sick might possibly need. When all the resources had been exhausted, Frances and Vannozza went door to door begging. Later, Frances’s daughter died, and the saint opened a section of her house as a hospital.

Frances became more and more convinced that this way of life was so necessary for the world, and it was not long before she requested and was given permission to found a society of women bound by no vows. They simply offered themselves to God and to the service of the poor. Once the society was established, Frances chose not to live at the community residence, but rather at home with her husband. She did this for seven years, until her husband passed away, and then came to live the remainder of her life with the societyâ€"serving the poorest of the poor.


Comment:

Looking at the exemplary life of fidelity to God and devotion to her fellow human beings which Frances of Rome was blessed to lead, one cannot help but be reminded of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (September 5), who loved Jesus Christ in prayer and also in the poor. The life of Frances of Rome calls each of us not only to look deeply for God in prayer, but also to carry our devotion to Jesus living in the suffering of our world. Frances shows us that this life need not be restricted to those bound by vows.

Quote:

Malcolm Muggeridge's book Something Beautiful for God contains this quote from Mother Teresa sa about each sister in her community: “Let Christ radiate and live his life in her and through her in the slums. Let the poor seeing her be drawn to Christ and invite him to enter their homes and lives.” Says Frances of Rome: “It is most laudable in a married woman to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a housewife. And sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her housekeeping” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints).

Patron Saint of:

Motorists
Widows

Loving Sacrifices
   
Being conscious of our weakness, frailty, and vulnerability allows us to reach out to God in prayer, to express our love for him through sacrifice, and to spend ourselves for others in love.

Keep going strong ladies!

NTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY CENTENARY 1911 - 2011

International Women's Day (IWD) was first declared in 1910 with the first IWD event held in 1911. 2011 sees 100 years of International Women's Day having been celebrated around the world. Widespread increased activity is anticipated globally on 8 March 2011 honouring 100 years of International Women's Day.
Vision
To get the whole world behind supporting and celebrating 100 years of International Women's Day in 2011.

Why
The International Women's Day Centenary should make the women of past proud, the women of current inspired, and the women of the future envisioned. Women have made great strides in equality yet there is still a great deal to be achieved on many fronts and the 2011 IWD Centenary will provide a unique and global opportunity to reignite, inspire and channel women's equality for the future.

The challenge
www.internationalwomensday.com has been providing a useful service and resources for women, organisations, companies, governments and media all around the world for the past decade - and now we need your help.

How can you get involved?
We would love to hear your ideas, visions, challenges in the lead up to the 2011 IWD Centenary. We are actively looking for global supporters (corporations, charities, media partners, agencies, etc) to assist with the vision. We are calling for Global Partners to support various initiatives and opportunities.

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/centenary.asp

Mabuhay ang lakas ng  kababaihan!

Celebrations are underway across the globe on Tuesday for the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. Italian women are demonstrating against philandering Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Filipino women are rallying for a new reproductive health law which would provide poor women increased access to birth control, and flower vendors everywhere have laid in an extra supply. Even these female prisoners in Cambodia are getting in on the act. The Cambodian NGO Licadho is providing food to imprisoned women and children in honor of International Women's Day.