MikeLigalig.com

Emanate God's Life 

Today we pray that God emerges from the tombs of our strivings, our depression and our falseness, and brings us new life. We are the life of God on this earth. 

This is a wonderful thread, where is your source?

Hala si Inday Blue nauwahi! ha ha ha si baby Isabella kay kosog na mo istorya, dili ba Day Bulak? Pag post ug picture please.

Daghan ng Rambo diay? Kon mangahobog ug mabikil, mamusil?

Yes, he has to sort it out which direction will he lead. Being a super golfer and a billoinaire makes him an Alpha male, this trait jeopardizes his popularity and moral credibility which counts most.*

*
In human societies alpha male can mean very different things. Some use the term to mean the guy who seems most at ease with women and can essentially marry or date any woman of his choice. In this sense the alpha male is often good-looking, has a great build, and may have a relatively high socioeconomic status. These distinctions may be less noticed in human groups like high school settings. Generally the alpha male (or a group of alpha males) are the cutest guys, usually muscle-bound, sometimes the “jocks,” while beta males may be less assured around females and may participate in less “male” activities. The alpha male in adult society is likely to be confident, attractive, and wealthy. Questions remain as to whether the alpha male can retain mates, since relationships often require ability to compromise, to discuss feelings and to be sensitive. Some alpha males have these characteristics typically thought of as beta, but many of them lack such traits. You can certainly point to prominent alpha males in our society who seem to have poor track records with women, either involving themselves in a succession of failed relationships or marrying one woman after another, with no marriage lasting for very long.

Firstvitaplus, nakalosot na kini sa Europe?

Manghinaut ko nga tinood nga pobre ang maka-avail ni-aning nga medical services.

I think lambanog is comparable to vodka since its alcohol contents can reach 80-90%.  But knowing the Pinoy mentality sayang ang lambanog kon i-spray lang, i-spray na lang sa totonlan, Tagay!

Salamat Inday Grazie, hago man diay kini. Way koy oras, apan kon makalugar ko akong paningkamotan nga himoon for my own consumption.

St. John of the Cross
(1541-1591)

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John is a saint because his life was a heroic effort to live up to his name: “of the Cross.” The folly of the cross came to full realization in time. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34b) is the story of John’s life. The Paschal Mysteryâ€"through death to lifeâ€"strongly marks John as reformer, mystic-poet and theologian-priest.
Ordained a Carmelite priest at 25 (1567), John met Teresa of Jesus (Avila--October 15) and like her vowed himself to the primitive Rule of the Carmelites. As partner with Teresa and in his own right, John engaged in the work of reform, and came to experience the price of reform: increasing opposition, misunderstanding, persecution, imprisonment. He came to know the cross acutelyâ€"to experience the dying of Jesusâ€"as he sat month after month in his dark, damp, narrow cell with only his God!

Yet, the paradox! In this dying of imprisonment John came to life, uttering poetry. In the darkness of the dungeon, John’s spirit came into the Light. There are many mystics, many poets; John is unique as mystic-poet, expressing in his prison-cross the ecstasy of mystical union with God in the Spiritual Canticle.

But as agony leads to ecstasy, so John had his Ascent to Mt. Carmel, as he named it in his prose masterpiece. As man-Christian-Carmelite, he experienced in himself this purifying ascent; as spiritual director, he sensed it in others; as psychologist-theologian, he described and analyzed it in his prose writings. His prose works are outstanding in underscoring the cost of discipleship, the path of union with God: rigorous discipline, abandonment, purification. Uniquely and strongly John underlines the gospel paradox: The cross leads to resurrection, agony to ecstasy, darkness to light, abandonment to possession, denial to self to union with God. If you want to save your life, you must lose it. John is truly “of the Cross.” He died at 49â€"a life short, but full.




Comment:

John in his life and writings has a crucial word for us today. We tend to be rich, soft, comfortable. We shrink even from words like self-denial, mortification, purification, asceticism, discipline. We run from the cross. John’s messageâ€"like the gospelâ€"is loud and clear: Don’tâ€"if you really want to live!


Quote:

Thomas Merton said of John: "Just as we can never separate asceticism from mysticism, so in St. John of the Cross we find darkness and light, suffering and joy, sacrifice and love united together so closely that they seem at times to be identified."
In John's words:
"Never was fount so clear,
undimmed and bright;
From it alone, I know proceeds all light
although 'tis night."




Patron Saint of:

Mystics

New Life   

I walked tomb-side with you Lord, I dared to enter in. I felt the touch of darkness there, but I felt new life stir in deep recesses of stone and light. 

St. Lucy
(d. 304)

Every little girl named Lucy must bite her tongue in disappointment when she first tries to find out what there is to know about her patron saint. The older books will have a lengthy paragraph detailing a small number of traditions. Newer books will have a lengthy paragraph showing that there is little basis in history for these traditions. The single fact survives that a disappointed suitor accused Lucy of being a Christian and she was executed in Syracuse (Sicily) in the year 304. But it is also true that her name is mentioned in the First Eucharistic Prayer, geographical places are named after her, a popular song has her name as its title and down through the centuries many thousands of little girls have been proud of the name Lucy.
One can easily imagine what a young Christian woman had to contend with in pagan Sicily in the year 300. If you have trouble imagining, just glance at today’s pleasure-at-all-costs world and the barriers it presents against leading a good Christian life.

Her friends must have wondered aloud about this hero of Lucy’s, an obscure itinerant preacher in a far-off captive nation that had been destroyed more than 200 years before. Once a carpenter, he had been crucified by the Roman soldiers after his own people turned him over to the Roman authorities. Lucy believed with her whole soul that this man had risen from the dead. Heaven had put a stamp on all he said and did. To give witness to her faith she had made a vow of virginity.

What a hubbub this caused among her pagan friends! The kindlier ones just thought her a little strange. To be pure before marriage was an ancient Roman ideal, rarely found but not to be condemned. To exclude marriage altogether, however, was too much. She must have something sinister to hide, the tongues wagged.

Lucy knew of the heroism of earlier virgin martyrs. She remained faithful to their example and to the example of the carpenter, whom she knew to be the Son of God. She is the patroness of eyesight.




Comment:

If you are a little girl named Lucy, you need not bite your tongue in disappointment. Your patron is a genuine, authentic heroine, first class, an abiding inspiration for you and for all Christians. The moral courage of the young Sicilian martyr shines forth as a guiding light, just as bright for today’s youth as it was in A.D. 304.


Quote:

“The Gospel tells us of all that Jesus suffered, of the insults that fell upon him. But, from Bethlehem to Calvary, the brilliance that radiates from his divine purity spread more and more and won over the crowds. So great was the austerity and the enchantment of his conduct.”
“So may it be with you, beloved daughters. Blessed be the discretion, the mortifications and the renouncements with which you seek to render this virtue more brilliant.... May your conduct prove to all that chastity is not only a possible virtue but a social virtue, which must be strongly defended through prayer, vigilance and the mortification of the senses” (Blessed Pope John XXIII, Letter to Women Religious).




Patron Saint of:

Blind
Eye disorders

God of Grace   

God, you are a God of grace who bends to touch me in every hurting place. I need you. Be with me all the day. Send living water to refresh me until I sit in quiet with you again. 

Attorney Ondo Granada did not served Guindulman well but got a nice record as a womanizer.

nindot jamo kining christmas give aways nga imong hinimo, please Inday Grace reveal your recipe as an additional benefits of Vodka.

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1. To remove a bandage painlessly, Saturate the bandage with vodka.
The stuff dissolves adhesive.



2. To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers,   
Fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking,   
Let set five minutes and wash clean. The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew.



3. To clean your eyeglasses,

Simply wipe the  lenses with a soft,  Clean cloth dampened with vodka.  The alcohol in the  vodka cleans the glass and kills germs.


4. Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka  And letting your safety razor blade 
Soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting.



5. Spray vodka on wine stains, Scrub with a brush, and then blot dry.

6. Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face As an astringent to cleanse the skin and tighten pores.


7. Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo.
The alcohol cleanses the scalp,removes toxins from hair, 
And stimulates the growth of healthy hair.

8. Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle with vodka and spray bees or wasps to kill them.

9 Pour one-half cup vodka   
And one-half cup water into a Ziploc freezer bag And freeze for a slushy, refreshing ice pack for aches, 
Pain or black eyes.

10. Fill a clean, used mayonnaise jar
With freshly packed lavender flowers,
Fill the jar with vodka, seal the lid tightly   
And set in the sun for three days. 
Strain liquid through a coffee filter,   
Then apply the tincture to aches and pains.


11. To relieve a fever, use a washcloth
To rub vodka on your chest and back as a liniment.

12. To cure foot odor,

Wash your feet with vodka.

13 Vodka will disinfect

And alleviate a jellyfish sting.
14. Pour vodka over an area affected with poison ivy

To remove the urushiol oil from your skin.
15. Swish a shot of vodka over an aching tooth.

Allow your gums to absorb some of the alcohol to numb the pain.

And silly me!
   
Drink the vodka and you won't care about any of the above !

     Cherokee Legend
      Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of  Passage?

      Here it goes….

          His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him an leaves him
          alone.  He is required to sit on a stump the
          whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the
          morning sun shine through it.  He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

         Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

         He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad
         come into manhood on his own.

         The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild
         beasts must surely be all around him .. Maybe even some human might
         do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump,
         but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only
         way he could become a man!

         Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.
         It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.   

         He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from
         harm.

                We, too, are never alone..   

           Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the
           stump beside us.   

                When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

         
          If you liked this story, pass it on.   
          If not, you took off your blindfold  before dawn.


          Moral of the story:

          Just because you can't see God,
          Doesn't mean He is not there.

               "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

mabuhay ka Loneman21, ako ay nagulat sa iyong pahayag sapagkat ang pagmamahal sa Diyos ay katapat ng pagmamahal sa kapwa. Ito ang kanyang gintong aral, kaya kahit na gaano pa ang mga salawikain at banggitin man ang boong bibliya and tunay na takda nang Panginoon ay ganoon pa rin, mahalin mo ang iyong kapwa tulad ng iyong pagmamahal sa sarili.

Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feastday: December 12
Patron of the Americas


Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12 (USA) When we reflect on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe we learn two important lessons, one of faith and one of understanding.

Missionaries who first came to Mexico with the conquistadors had little success in the beginning. After nearly a generation, only a few hundred Native Mexicans had converted to the Christian faith. Whether they simply did not understand what the missionaries had to offer or whether they resented these people who made them slaves, Christianity was not popular among the native people.

Then in 1531 miracles began to happen. Jesus' own mother appeared to humble Juan Diego. The signs -- of the roses, of the uncle miraculously cured of a deadly illness, and especially of her beautiful image on Juan's mantle -- convinced the people there was something to be considered in Christianity. Within a short time, six million Native Mexicans had themselves baptized as Christians.

The first lesson is that God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus. No matter what critics may say of the devotion of Mexicans (and Mexican descendants) to Our Lady of Guadalupe, they owe their Christianity to her influence. If it were not for her, they would not know her son, and so they are eternally grateful. The second lesson we take from Mary herself. Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European madonna but as a beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to understand and know Christ. Our Lady of Guadalupe is patron of the Americas.

an excerpt of a BBC article about the Pope´s reaction to clergy´s pedophile abuse (relevant to this thread)

"He wishes once more to express his profound regret at the actions of some members of the clergy who have betrayed their solemn promises to God, as well as the trust placed in them by the victims and their families, and by society at large."

The Pope summoned the Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, to Rome after the Vatican was criticised for failing to respond to the Murphy inquiry.


  The Holy See takes very seriously the central issues raised by the Report, including questions concerning the governance of local Church leaders with ultimate responsibility for the pastoral care of children.


The Holy Father intends to address a Pastoral Letter to the faithful of Ireland in which he will clearly indicate the initiatives that are to be taken in response to the situation.



Finally, His Holiness encourages all those who have dedicated their lives in generous service to children to persevere in their good works in imitation of Christ the Good Shepherd.

The Murphy report, which was published two weeks ago, laid bare a culture of concealment within the Dublin archdiocese and found that four consecutive archbishops prioritised the church's reputation above the welfare of children who were being physically and sexually abused.

Instead, paedophile priests were moved from parish to parish, free to repeat their actions on new victims.

Immediately after the publication, Cardinal Brady said he was "deeply sorry and ashamed" at the abuse of children described in the report.

Sakto jud ka ma-describe ang Pilipino mass as boring, apan unsay naka-angin nga kini boring? Kini ni-a raman nato, kay kon atong paminawon ang mga polong sa kinasing kasing nga paagi, kini motigmo sa ating alimpatakan. Sa atong pangisip molambo ang buot isabyaw sa Espiritu Santo, atong dugangan ang atong pag-ampo ang santos nga misa mao ang atong tubogan sa espirituhanon nga kinabuhi.

St. Damasus I
(305?-384)


To his secretary St. Jerome, Damasus was “an incomparable person, learned in the Scriptures, a virgin doctor of the virgin Church, who loved chastity and heard its praises with pleasure.”
Damasus seldom heard such unrestrained praise. Internal political struggles, doctrinal heresies, uneasy relations with his fellow bishops and those of the Eastern Church marred the peace of his pontificate.

The son of a Roman priest, possibly of Spanish extraction, Damasus started as a deacon in his father’s church, and served as a priest in what later became the basilica of San Lorenzo in Rome. He served Pope Liberius (352-366) and followed him into exile.

When Liberius died, Damasus was elected bishop of Rome; but a minority elected and consecrated another deacon, Ursinus, as pope. The controversy between Damasus and the antipope resulted in violent battles in two basilicas, scandalizing the bishops of Italy. At the synod Damasus called on the occasion of his birthday, he asked them to approve his actions. The bishops’ reply was curt: “We assembled for a birthday, not to condemn a man unheard.” Supporters of the antipope even managed to get Damasus accused of a grave crimeâ€"probably sexualâ€"as late as A.D. 378. He had to clear himself before both a civil court and a Church synod.

As pope his lifestyle was simple in contrast to other ecclesiastics of Rome, and he was fierce in his denunciation of Arianism and other heresies. A misunderstanding of the Trinitarian terminology used by Rome threatened amicable relations with the Eastern Church, and Damasus was only moderately successful in dealing with the situation.

During his pontificate Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman state (380), and Latin became the principal liturgical language as part of the pope’s reforms. His encouragement of St. Jerome’s biblical studies led to the Vulgate, the Latin translation of Scripture which the Council of Trent (12 centuries later) declared to be “authentic in public readings, disputations, preachings.”



Comment:

The history of the papacy and the Church is inextricably mixed with the personal biography of Damasus. In a troubled and pivotal period of Church history, he stands forth as a zealous defender of the faith who knew when to be progressive and when to entrench.
Damasus makes us aware of two qualities of good leadership: alertness to the promptings of the Spirit and service. His struggles are a reminder that Jesus never promised his Rock protection from hurricane winds nor his followers immunity from difficulties. His only guarantee is final victory.



Quote:

"He who walking on the sea could calm the bitter waves, who gives life to the dying seeds of the earth; he who was able to loose the mortal chains of death, and after three days' darkness could bring again to the upper world the brother for his sister Martha: he, I believe, will make Damasus rise again from the dust" (epitaph Damasus wrote for himself).

Forgiveness   

Lord, forgive me when I trespass against others, and let my forgiveness toward them be swift and sweet. 

from a friend thru his email;
Foie Gras pronounced "Pwe Grah"
(pwera Gaba! )

Day to day we eat food that are delicious and tasty & did we even stop to wonder how these food come about & their origin? Below is an example... Foie Gras means "Fat Liver"

It's a very luxurious menu which originated from France

But this dish comes through FORCE FEEDING a goose to make them develop FATTY LIVER DISEASE.



The metal pipe are passed into the throat to the stomach ...even if it does not want to eat


To make the liver bigger and fatter the geese are kept in cages that are very small and they are forced to stay in one position to avoid using energy, thus converting all food into fat.
Their legs becomes bloated from longstanding everyday. They can't sleep because they will be forced fed from time to time

They are forced to eat until they can't stand it anymore.You can still see  the leftover food in its' mouth .
Those which survived have inflamed and bloodied asses.... 
Not only their mouth & throat hurts all the time, their stomach ache from the food , fats bloated their legs.
The result is to get a "beautiful" and unusually large white liver .
Foie gras is a popular and well-known delicacy in French cuisine. Its flavour is described as rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike that of a regular duck or goose liver. Foie gras is sold whole, or is prepared into mousse, parfait, or pâté (the lowest quality), and may also be served as an accompaniment to another food item, such as steak. French law states that "Foie gras belongs to the protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France.


STOP THIS PRACTICE
STOP TAKING THIS DISH AND YOU WILL STOP THIS KIND OF TORTURE AND CRUELTY
FORWARD  THIS MESSAGE SO AS TO END THIS CRUELTY.   

KASAMA ITO SA MGA KINAIN NG TROPA NI PGMA SA NYC

Nalipay jud ko jamo, kon moabot ang panahon nga tapokon ang mga anak sa mga tubagbohol members, diha jud sila ma-attract sa pinaka gwapa nga Lola da Bins! 

Blessed Adolph Kolping
(1813-1865)



The rise of the factory system in 19th-century Germany brought many single men into cities where they faced new challenges to their faith. Father Adolph Kolping began a ministry to them, hoping that they would not be lost to the Catholic faith as was happening to workers elsewhere in industrialized Europe.
Born in the village of Kerpen, Adolph became a shoemaker at an early age because of his family’s economic situation. Ordained in 1845, he ministered to young workers in Cologne, establishing a choir, which by 1849 had grown into the Young Workmen’s Society. A branch of this began in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1856. Nine years later there were over 400 Gesellenvereine (workman’s societies) around the world. Today this group has over 400,000 members in 54 countries across the globe.

More commonly called the Kolping Society, it emphasizes the sanctification of family life and the dignity of labor. Father Kolping worked to improve conditions for workers and greatly assisted those in need. He and St. John Bosco in Turin had similar interests in working with young men in big cities. He told his followers, “The needs of the times will teach you what to do.

”Father Kolping once said, “The first thing that a person finds in life and the last to which he holds out his hand, and the most precious that he possess, even if he does not realize it, is family life.”

He and Blessed John Duns Scotus are buried in Cologne’s Minoritenkirche, originally served by the Conventual Franciscans. The Kolping Society’s international headquarters is across from this church.

Kolping members journeyed to Rome from Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Oceania for Father Kolping’s beatification in 1991, the 100th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s revolutionary encyclical Rerum Novarum (On the Social Order). Father Kolping’s personal witness and apostolate helped prepare for that encyclical.




Comment:

Some people thought that Father Kolping was wasting his time and talents on young working men in industrialized cities. In some countries, the Catholic Church was seen by many workers as the ally of owners and the enemy of workers. Men like Adolph Kolping showed that was not true.


Quote:

“Adolph Kolping gathered skilled workers and factory laborers together. Thus he overcame their isolation and defeatism. A faith society gave them the strength to go out into their everyday lives as Christ’s witnesses before God and the world. To come together, to become strengthened in the assembly, and thus to scatter again is and still remains our duty today. We are not Christians for ourselves alone, but always for others too” (Pope John Paul II, beatification homily).

Intimacy With God   

O God, you created me and your intimacy with me astounds me! That you love me so much and accept me as I am is wondrous to me. 

Yes friends, see places, and in this time of the season please visit Pampang. They are now famous with their huge Christmas lanters, a tourist attraction.


an excerpt about the giant lantern festival in Pampanga;

One version tells us that it was in the year 1931 that electricity was introduced to the San Fernando lantern, thus sparking the birth of the first Giant Lantern Festival. The added illusion of dancing lights highlighted the bright colors and intricate designs of these Giant Lanterns. At this time, the lights were controlled by individual switches that were turned on and off following the beat of the music. The barangays of Del Pilar, Sta. Lucia and San Jose were among the first barangays to participate in the festival.

According to another version claimed by old folks, the Giant Lantern Festival started during the time of President Manuel L. Quezon. At that time, President Quezon was trying to make Pampanga a model province. In fact, Quezon made Arayat his resting place and converted the legendary Mount Arayat into a tourist resort. As a show of gratitude to Quezon, the people of San Fernando held a Christmas lantern contest to honor the first family. Quezon himself donated the prize for this lantern contest, which was personally awarded to the winner by First Lady Aurora Aragon Quezon.

Grasya sa langit, Praise the Lord!  I will light a candle for her tomorrow.

Anne, karon nako kalaag-laag kay dagko na ang mga bata. Si Chris 16, solido nga teen-ager. Sa una ang akong concern sila pirmi.
Karon sa akong pang-edaron, akong gibag-o ang akong panglantaw sa kinabuhi.
I try to enjoy and make the best  of my day. I don´t worry about tomorrow. I see to it that I get the most and I travel as much as I could.
Pohon, sa Pinas paningkamotan nako nga makasoroy sa laing probinsya sama sa Ilocos region, Palawan, Bataan etc.

Bugsay salute ko nimo! What a creative mind you have!

reminding you of the medicinal effects of okra;

One out of every five Filipino adults is diabetic. This figure comes from the latest national survey conducted on the prevalence of diabetes in the country. In addition, as many as three out of five adults are already diabetics or on the verge of developing diabetes unless they change their lifestyles.

Aside from the famous ampalaya, okra can be touted as another nature’s answer to diabetes. Okra is a rich source of many nutrients, including fiber, vitamin B6 and folic acid. Dr. Sylvia W. Zook, an American nutritionist, said that the superior fiber found in okra helps to stabilize blood sugar as it curbs the rate at which sugar is absorbed from the intestinal tract.

Filipino farmers and gardeners should take a closer look at this crop known in the science world as Hibiscus esculentus. Why? “The plant could have a future in serving the booming markets for health foods. Given an aging global population increasingly concerned over sickness prevention, mucilage (that sticky substance with thickening properties) is big business these days,” the source said.

In addition, okra could also function as one of the ingredients in the making of commercial laxative. Its gelatinous substances absorb water, swell, and ensure the bulky stools that obviate and overcome constipation. Any and all dietary fiber is helpful but okra seems to rank with two crops now commanding multimillion-dollar markets: flaxseed and psyllium. In other words, this vegetable may not only bind excess cholesterol and toxins but assure their quick and easy passage out of the body.

Okra apparently originated in the Ethiopian highlands (although the manner of distribution from there is undocumented. The routes by which okra was taken from Ethiopia to North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, Arabia, and India, and when, are by no means certain. Although it has been commonly cultivated in Egypt for many hundreds of years, no sign of it has ever been found in any of the ancient monuments or relics of old Egypt. One of the earliest accounts was by a Spanish Moor who visited Egypt in 1216, and described the plant (which was under cultivation by the locals who ate the tender) as young pods with meat.

Today, okra is widely used in a thick stew made with vegetables and meat in Egypt, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen and other parts of the Mediterranean. In Indian cooking, okra is sauteed or added to gravy-based preparations and is very popular in South India. In the Caribbean islands, okra is cooked up and eaten as soup, often with fish.

Okra became a popular vegetable in Japanese cuisine. It is served with soy sauce and katsuobushi or as tempura. Breaded, deep fried okra is served in the southern United States, The immature pods may also be pickled.

Okra forms part of several regional “signature” dishes. Frango com quiabo (chicken with okra) is a Brazilian dish that is especially famous in the region of Minas Gerais. Gumbo, a hearty stew whose key ingredient is okra, is found throughout the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is also an expected ingredient in c alia loo, a Caribbean dish and the national dish of Trinidad and Tobago. In the Philippines, okra is the important ingredient in the Ilocano dish pinakbet.

In some countries okra seeds are of most interest rather than the whole young pods. When ripe, the seeds yield edible oil that is the equal of many other cooking oils, including olive oil. The greenish yellow edible oil of okra has a pleasant taste and odor, and is high in unsaturated fats such as oleic add and linoleic acid. The oil content of the seed is quite high at about 40%. Oil yields from okra crops are also high. At 794 kilograms per hectare, the yield was exceeded only by that of sunflower oil in one trial.

Like soybean, the seed provides excellent vegetable protein for uses including full- and fat-free meals, flours, protein concentrates and isolates, cooking oils, lecithin, and nutraceuticals (foods with functional health benefits). Okra protein is both rich in tryptophan and adequate in the sulfur-containing amino acids, a rare combination that should give it exceptional power to reduce human malnutrition.

The ripe seeds of okra are sometimes roasted and ground as a substitute for coffee. In the 1800s, slaves from Africa used ground okra as   part of their diet, and this apparently ted to the use of ground okra seeds as a coffee substitute by other southerners during the American Civil War blockades of the 1860s. The Austin State Gazette noted: “An acre of okra will produce seed enough to furnish a plantation of 50 Negroes with coffee in every way equal to that imported from Rio.”

In Turkey, the leaves are used in preparing a medicament to soothe or reduce inflammation.

Source: Henrylito D. Tacio (Author), Marid Digest

 

Oneness With God   

O God, you search me and you know me, all my ways lie open to your gaze. When I stand and when I sit, you draw near me. 

St. Juan Diego
(1474-1548)

 
Thousands of people gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe July 31, 2002, for the canonization of Juan Diego, to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in the 16th century. Pope John Paul II celebrated the ceremony at which the poor Indian peasant became the Church’s first saint indigenous to the Americas.
The Holy Father called the new saint “a simple, humble Indian” who accepted Christianity without giving up his identity as an Indian. “In praising the Indian Juan Diego, I want to express to all of you the closeness of the church and the pope, embracing you with love and encouraging you to overcome with hope the difficult times you are going through,” John Paul said. Among the thousands present for the event were members of Mexico’s 64 indigenous groups.

First called Cuauhtlatohuac (“The eagle who speaks”), Juan Diego’s name is forever linked with Our Lady of Guadalupe because it was to him that she first appeared at Tepeyac hill on December 9, 1531. The most famous part of his story is told in connection with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12). After the roses gathered in his tilma were transformed into the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, however, little more is said about Juan Diego.

In time he lived near the shrine constructed at Tepeyac, revered as a holy, unselfish and compassionate catechist who taught by word and especially by example.

During his 1990 pastoral visit to Mexico, Pope John Paul II confirmed the long-standing liturgical cult in honor of Juan Diego, beatifying him. Twelve years later he was proclaimed a saint.



Comment:

God counted on Juan Diego to play a humble yet huge role in bringing the Good News to the peoples of Mexico. Overcoming his own fear and the doubts of Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, Juan Diego cooperated with God’s grace in showing his people that the Good News of Jesus is for everyone. Pope John Paul II used the occasion of this beatification to urge Mexican lay men and women to assume their responsibilities for passing on the Good News and witnessing to it.


Quote:

“Similar to ancient biblical personages who were collective representations of all the people, we could say that Juan Diego represents all the indigenous peoples who accepted the Gospel of Jesus, thanks to the maternal aid of Mary, who is always inseparable from the manifestation of her Son and the spread of the Church, as was her presence among the Apostles on the day of Pentecost” (Pope John Paul II, beatification homily).

Permanente ang mistyeyed, ang avatar sa imong pinangga ang ibutang palihug!


God bless and best wishes to the newly married couple, hope you share some wedding pix, patan-aw pod mi Inday Misty!

Luckily, Germany is in the middle of Europe. Travelling by car , train or bus is a comfort to reach places or other countries. Here in North Rhine-Wesphalia, 2 hours tua nako sa Amsterdam, 4 hours Brussels, Belgium, 8 hours Austria, 7-8 ours Scandanavian countries ( Denmark, Norway , Sweden).
Ang biyahe sa Beauring 23 Euro (bring your own provision) circa 1,400 Phil pesos. Kadtong sa Poland 5 days 4 nights with breakfast/dinner and overnight, 170 Euro, circa 13, 000 Phil pesos. Basta mantigo lang mag budget sa kwarta ug may adlaw nga libre, dili problema and mag soroy-soroy sa laing nasud, labina na karon nga open ang bounderies, makadala kami ug undocumented kababayans.

Please take notice of this.
If you are driving at night and are attacked with eggs, do not operate the wiper and spray any water.

Because eggs mixed with water become milky and block your vision up to 92.5%.

Then you are forced to stop at the road side and become a victim of robbers.

This is a new technique used by robbers.
Please inform your friends and relatives.
Please take this seriously.  Pass it on even if you don't drive.

Ganahan jud ko nimo Belle, you have a  wacky sense of humor, this really made my day!

I don´t like the term enemies, it is somewhat related to hate which is not in consonance to loving God.

ngilo jud ka mo-inenglish Ben, mangita jud ko ug dictionary kay morag napapas na ang akong kaalam. you got the indept of the present political situation, in my opinion Panglao International airport is a huge white elephant for the politicians and those who sits in Malacanang.

Nganong daghang mang born again sa mga artista? Gusto nilang mo-adjust ang catholic faith sa ilang ways of life?

Feast of the Immaculate Conception
 
A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the eleventh century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. In the eighteenth century it became a feast of the universal Church.
In 1854, Pius IX solemnly proclaimed: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

It took a long time for this doctrine to develop. While many Fathers and Doctors of the Church considered Mary the greatest and holiest of the saints, they often had difficulty in seeing Mary as sinlessâ€"either at her conception or throughout her life. This is one of the Church teachings that arose more from the piety of the faithful than from the insights of brilliant theologians. Even such champions of Mary as Bernard and Thomas Aquinas could not see theological justification for this teaching.

Two Franciscans, William of Ware and Blessed John Duns Scotus, helped develop the theology. They point out that Mary’s Immaculate Conception enhances Jesus’ redemptive work. Other members of the human race are cleansed from original sin after birth. In Mary, Jesus’ work was so powerful as to prevent original sin at the outset.




Comment:

In Luke 1:28 the angel Gabriel, speaking on God’s behalf, addresses Mary as “full of grace” (or “highly favored”). In that context this phrase means that Mary is receiving all the special divine help necessary for the task ahead. However, the Church grows in understanding with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led the Church, especially non-theologians, to the insight that Mary had to be the most perfect work of God next to the Incarnation. Or rather, Mary’s intimate association with the Incarnation called for the special involvement of God in Mary’s whole life. The logic of piety helped God’s people to believe that Mary was full of grace and free of sin from the first moment of her existence. Moreover, this great privilege of Mary is the highlight of all that God has done in Jesus. Rightly understood, the incomparable holiness of Mary shows forth the incomparable goodness of God.


Quote:

“[Mary] gave to the world the Life that renews all things, and she was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.
“It is no wonder, then, that the usage prevailed among the holy Fathers whereby they called the mother of God entirely holy and free from all stain of sin, fashioned by the Holy Spirit into a kind of new substance and new creature. Adorned from the first instant of her conception with the splendors of an entirely unique holiness, the Virgin of Nazareth is, on God’s command, greeted by an angel messenger 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)” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 56).




Patron Saint of:

Brazil
United States

ps
Pearl Harbor was bombed on this day,  extending the second world war to the Pacific including the Philippines.

Kingdom of Heaven   

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

How do you respond to praise and adulation?

 

Honor. Many people seek it, while others try to avoid it at all costs. Those who work diligently for honor sometimes find it hollow when it is received, or worse, cheated when it is not given. In either case, these people figured they earned the praise and adulation. Some may wonder if the effort was worth it.

 

Those who try to avoid praise are, sometimes, lavished with honor. They respond with surprise or remarks that attempt to deflect the spotlight. They act with humility many times because they did not earn the honor bestowed.

 

The honor was, in a sense, a gift.

 

Two millennia ago, a young woman tried to deflect an honor given her, but the giver and the gift were too great to be ignored.

 

Hi Pressy,

An email is on the way,  take good care always

hofelina

nindota sab kini nga thread uy, ma-challenge man sad ang atong intelligence, encore please.

Kamo nga na-a sa layo, maoy akong pagahandomon, labina  kadtong nabilin  sa atong yutang natawhan. Dool na ang eleksyon, hinaut pa dili kaayo samok, kay kosog molihok ang mga panulay. Kini mao na unta ang higayon nga mabag-o ang kaugmaon sa atong nasud.

Ning abroad na ang mga NPA! ha ha ha

ps

Doy Lindy, himos lagi ka sa imong Avatar! Your country must be full of excitement for this coming winter Olympics.

Kinsa man kining Bulaka? Mama ni Inday Isabella?
Hey Kamusta naman ka diha? Hilom-hilom lang ka, da?



A toast to your health and lots of luck to all of your undertakings.

Kini nga project taod-taod na tuod, gikan ni sa iyang kaugalingong bulsa. Siya naningkamot nga ang mga kabus sa baryo nga iyang gipamolohan matabangan, kay kini dili man kompleto sa gamit busa menos ang mosalig. Negative reactions are to be expected,way laing nitabang kaniya bisan adunay mga adonahan pod diha sa Barrio Basdio.
Sa panahon karon sa ginatawag nga economic crunch labi na sa Germany ( mao kasagarana ng iyang mga customers), hinay ang negosyo kini dili lang sa Bitoun beach. Ang mga empleyado iyang gihangyo nga mohonong sa trabaho kay dili maapas ug sweldo, dili man motoo. Busa ang mahitabo walay sweldo nga ikahatag.
This is not a gimmick because of the coming elections. She just wanted to help in her own small way. I appreciate her vision to help and serve. She has been donating to all sport groups who needs uniforms and other kind of donations long before she committed her self as a barrio captain. Well anyway as the saying goes, you can not  please everybody. Bisan adunay mga biay-biay, lahutay lang intawon si Madam Eden. Kining kalibutana adunay may ingrato.

Inday Lumine, ikaw jud akong gihandom, mao nga na-inspire ko pag post kay basin ug malingaw ka ug ang imong bana, kamusta diay mo diha.
I was thinking all the while the difference between Beauring and Banneux, the message of Mother Mary is the same but the atmosphere is different. Banneux was able to elevate her status like that of Lourdes. Our Lady of the Poor in Banneux answered my prayers, whereas in Beauring, it was like meeting her as another patroness out of gratitude for all the graces.

Simply go to Bohol, the only place worth visiting in the Philippines ( vouschafe by Amnesty International Europe) !

this is another exerpt of an email from another Forum;

A SPIRITUAL  CHALLENGE TO BOL-ANON  LEADERS, FROM BOHOL ’S ENLIGHTENED CIVIL SOCIETY

 
EDGAR CHATTO, JULIUS HERRERA, AND CESAR MONTANO:

WE DARE YOU TO TAKE A CLEAR STAND AND ANSWER HONESTLY QUICKLY!
 

            On July 22, 1997 major multi-sectoral leaders in our province signed the Bohol Covenant for Sustainable Development on the occasion of the symbolic launching of the Bohol Environment Summit and Code in which they pledged to “sincerely commit their time, talent and resources in their individual and official capacity without reservation; to bequeath to our children and our children’s children the legacy of our rich cultural heritage and productive natural resources for their well-being”.


            The Covenant and the Environment Code further enshrined the principles of participative governance toward sustainable development; God-centered stewardship of nature; enactment and enforcement of laws for environmental protection and conservation; the use of environment-friendly and appropriate techonologies as a basic foundation for a healthy and progressive generation; that all development activities shall always give importance and respect for cultural practices, including gender and population concerns consistent with ecological principles; the judicious use of our natural resources with equitable access to all; and ensuring the right of every Boholano to be informed and to participate in all undertakings pertinent to the sustainable utilization of Bohol’s resources.
 

            Today, there is no more doubt about the reality of global climate change requiring decisive and urgent concrete steps from each of us.  As the three top  political leaders of Bohol  you are expected to lead responsibly.   Instead what we have  witnessed within the last ten years  is a gross betrayal  of almost  all of the principles and commitments mandated by the Covenant and the Code.

            Humungous projects (by Bohol standard)  with serious  irreversible and deleterious  effects on the ecology of the land and  the lives of our people such as: 

Panglao Airport,

Cebu-Bohol Water Supply

Project, Panglao Oasis Island,

Agri-Aquaculture Projects, 

and the so-called Cebu-Bohol Friendship Bridge, have been decided by powerful politicians who consult only their business partners and political  cronies.  Genuine meaningful multi-sectoral consultation on these so-called “mega projects” have been  absent.  Decisions affecting our fragile island forever have been  decided based on  token “multi-sectoral” consultations held in exclusive high-end resorts where participants are carefully selected  to prevent or discourage any dissenting or alternative opinions.


            In this context, we therefore challenge you to:
 

Put a moratorium on all so-called mega projects and subject them to further in-depth, transparent  and broad-based scrutiny wherein  the mandates of the Bohol Covenant For Sustainable Development and the Bohol Environment Code are  respectfully  upheld.    In your quest for fame, fortune and power  you three may have forgotten  that  Land is sacred. Bohol is sacred.


Let our Provincial Government instead  refocus to human capital needs such as food production and security, more basic physical infrastructure such as renewable energy, clean water and sewerage, education, and health services which are  time proven and genuine  (as in India ) potent vehicles to usher  agrarian based people out of poverty;


Promote green transport such as e-jeepneys, e-buses, e-tricycles wherein our local governments will facilitate access to affordable loans during the period of transition;


Promote organic agriculture and zero-waste management such as compost pits in home backyards; and adopt other proactive measures  to adapt to climate change.


            We, of the civil society organizations, will in turn pledge our all-out support to such initiatives if you commit your leadership to these pro-people and pro-environment objectives.


            In the midst of the present political atmosphere, yours is the singular opportunity to show that you can  genuinely lead us, Boholanos, out of this mess.


            What are your concrete commitments to respond to these challenges? 


            The ball is in your hands.  The Boholanos await your  honest response.   MABUHI ANG BOHOL!         

 

City of Tagbilaran :  28 November 2009.

 
THE BOHOL ENVIRONMENT FORUM

   

Isidore Ancog                             Zenaida D. Darunday                          Salvio Makinano

President, BONACONSO          Executive Director, BONACONSO    Vice President, BONACONSO

   

Lilia  Adecer Cajilog--------------------Truth or Consequences, NM 89701 (64),

Henry A. Cajilog------------------------Tracy, CA 95377-2284 (54)

Myrna S. Cajilog------------------------Tracy,  CA 95377-2284 (50)

Crystal S. Cajilog----------------------- UC, Santa Cruz, CA (20)

Ann A. Cajilog--------------------------Upland, CA 91031 (52)

 

All of Valencia, Bohol.

More signatories are coming after meeting.
--------------------------------------------

I need to hear your feedbacks especially tubagbohol members based in the USA, salamat jamo!

Manay

I was so upset about this email, getting it from another Forum. This is about us, Bol-anon. Are we not concerned? here are some excerpts;

PLEASE HELP US AT BONACONSO (BOHOL NATURE CONSERVATION SOCIETY)  SAVE THE ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY  OF BOHOL.....IF YOU GENUINELY LOVE BOHOL YOU  MUST NOT LET IT END UP LIKE MACTAN ISLAND OF CEBU-- (cement jungle of hotels, motels and  hundreds of migrant prostitutes  from the defunct Clark Airbase)  or BORACAY  ( ecoli level of water is criminally high due to 30,000 septic tanks that leak to the postcard perfect blue sea  and  Caucasian foreigners married to indigenous native  women in order to own Boracay super expensive real estate, plus  the usual prostitutes while it does not even have a decent hospital. 

Consciencious Boholanos cannot and must  not let  shortsightedness and greed destroy our beloved Bohol.     


Firefly (Lilia Adecer Cajilog)
Tawo Seed Carrier
POB 1456
South Pasadena, CA 91031


pls google Bonaconso to get more details-Manay

Help Me to Seek Peace   

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 

St. Ambrose
(340?-397)


One of Ambrose’s biographers observed that at the Last Judgment people would still be divided between those who admired Ambrose and those who heartily disliked him. He emerges as the man of action who cut a furrow through the lives of his contemporaries. Even royal personages were numbered among those who were to suffer crushing divine punishments for standing in Ambrose’s way.
When the Empress Justina attempted to wrest two basilicas from Ambrose’s Catholics and give them to the Arians, he dared the eunuchs of the court to execute him. His own people rallied behind him in the face of imperial troops. In the midst of riots, he both spurred and calmed his people with bewitching new hymns set to exciting Eastern melodies.

In his disputes with the Emperor Auxentius, he coined the principle: “The emperor is in the Church, not above the Church.” He publicly admonished Emperor Theodosius for the massacre of 7,000 innocent people. The emperor did public penance for his crime. This was Ambrose, the fighter, sent to Milan as Roman governor and chosen while yet a catechumen to be the people’s bishop.

There is yet another side of Ambroseâ€"one which influenced Augustine, whom Ambrose converted. Ambrose was a passionate little man with a high forehead, a long melancholy face and great eyes. We can picture him as a frail figure clasping the codex of sacred Scripture. This was the Ambrose of aristocratic heritage and learning.

Augustine found the oratory of Ambrose less soothing and entertaining but far more learned than that of other contemporaries. Ambrose’s sermons were often modeled on Cicero and his ideas betrayed the influence of contemporary thinkers and philosophers. He had no scruples in borrowing at length from pagan authors. He gloried in the pulpit in his ability to parade his spoilsâ€"“gold of the Egyptians”â€"taken over from the pagan philosophers.

His sermons, his writings and his personal life reveal him as an otherworldly man involved in the great issues of his day. Humanity, for Ambrose, was, above all, spirit. In order to think rightly of God and the human soul, the closest thing to God, no material reality at all was to be dwelt upon. He was an enthusiastic champion of consecrated virginity.

The influence of Ambrose on Augustine will always be open for discussion. The Confessions reveal some manly, brusque encounters between Ambrose and Augustine, but there can be no doubt of Augustine’s profound esteem for the learned bishop.

Neither is there any doubt that Monica loved Ambrose as an angel of God who uprooted her son from his former ways and led him to his convictions about Christ. It was Ambrose, after all, who placed his hands on the shoulders of the naked Augustine as he descended into the baptismal fountain to put on Christ.




Comment:

Ambrose exemplifies for us the truly catholic character of Christianity. He is a man steeped in the learning, law and culture of the ancients and of his contemporaries. Yet, in the midst of active involvement in this world, this thought runs through Ambrose’s life and preaching: The hidden meaning of the Scriptures calls our spirit to rise to another world.


Quote:

“Women and men are not mistaken when they regard themselves as superior to mere bodily creatures and as more than mere particles of nature or nameless units in modern society. For by their power to know themselves in the depths of their being they rise above the entire universe of mere objects.... Endowed with wisdom, women and men are led through visible realities to those which are invisible” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 14â€"15, Austin Flannery translation).


Patron Saint of:

Bee keepers
Learning

Day Bins, kaming mga taga-Este, solidarity gajud. I´m glad to see Felix beaming with pride together with his daughter.

Kinsa man kini nga kalaki? Bawal mobikil ug taga-Pampanga.

Jun dili pa kini mao!  Moabot pa pohon ang Magsaysay Award, with all your accomplishments and dedication to serve, you deserve this one. God bless.

Anne, we have places of pilgrimages in our country like in Antipolo, Manaoag, in Batangas, the shrine of our Lady will be blessed in Sept. 2010  ( Fr Suarez), somehwere in Cebu, ug sa Calape Bohol.
Our Lady made an apparition in Lipa City ( Batangas ) and showered rose petals with religious pictures on them.
Our Lady presented herself in Vietnam and Japan. If you prepare yourself, you could make it too ( financially and spiritually).

This is the Italian group from Wuppertal, Remscheid and Radervormwald Germany who made this pilgrimage and I´m the only Pinay.


An old church in Beauring, Namur


A city plan/map




The group marching to the chapel.


The statue of Our Lady just as she requested behind the bridge


Yours truly infront of the Sanctuary, an old building, for meditation/contemplation in front of the Holy Eucharist and you could request for confessions.


Take note of the chair, it could be used as a kneeler, if turned the other way around.

After the mass we got the privelege to meet one of the survivor, Gilbert now 83 years old. The old lady was so crooked after having been hit by a car. It was not easy to communicate because she speaks French, I simply kissed her forehead and wished her well.


The catholic priest with white hairs, looks like the late Ted Kennedy. Luckily he speaks english and I congratulated him for their new saint the Belgian St Damien, who spent years in Molluccan and Hawaii to serve the sick lepers ( he became sick with leprosy himself ).

Nindot jamo! Salamat Bedo. Nangsang asa naman si Angie, nanganak na siya?

OUR LADY OF BEAURING â€" BEAURING
At Beauraing, province of Namur, Our Lady appeared to four little girls and a little boy from 2 December 1932 to 3 January  1933. The Blessed Mother, appearing on a mayflower bush of in the garden of a home for retired nuns, presented herself as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven and promised to convert sinners in exchange for prayers and the edification of a chapel and pilgrimages to it. As in Fatima, Our Lady showed her heart not crowned with thorns, but covered in gold and therefore glorified and sparkling with love for God and for mankind. The effects of the apparition were immediately visible: tens of thousands attended the last apparitions and the Home became a famous place of pilgrimage.
As it often happens, great Sensus Fidei led to the recognition of the apparition and the garden became an open air shrine, and extended later to the grounds of the ancient Beauraing Castle, with its park and a covered part of the area with a basement building to protect the sick pilgrims in bad weather.
The Bishop of Namur gave permission for public devotion in 1943 and in 1948 he recognised the authenticity of the apparitions and two cases of healing which happened in the early years.

St. Nicholas
(d. 350?)

Size: A A


 
The absence of the “hard facts” of history is not necessarily an obstacle to the popularity of saints, as the devotion to St. Nicholas shows. Both the Eastern and Western Churches honor him, and it is claimed that, after the Blessed Virgin, he is the saint most pictured by Christian artists. And yet, historically, we can pinpoint only the fact that Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor.
As with many of the saints, however, we are able to capture the relationship which Nicholas had with God through the admiration which Christians have had for himâ€"an admiration expressed in the colorful stories which have been told and retold through the centuries.

Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age. Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married. Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast. In the English-speaking countries, St. Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Clausâ€"further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.



Comment:

The critical eye of modern history makes us take a deeper look at the legends surrounding St. Nicholas. But perhaps we can utilize the lesson taught by his legendary charity, look deeper at our approach to material goods in the Christmas season and seek ways to extend our sharing to those in real need.


Quote:

“In order to be able to consult more suitably the welfare of the faithful according to the condition of each one, a bishop should strive to become duly acquainted with their needs in the social circumstances in which they live.... He should manifest his concern for all, no matter what their age, condition, or nationality, be they natives, strangers, or foreigners” (Decree on the Bishops' Pastoral Office, 16).


Patron Saint of:

Bakers
Brewers
Brides
Children
Greece
Grooms
Merchants
Pawnbrokers
Russia
Travelers

Radiate Happiness

O St. Nicholas, teach me how to sow happiness around me. Amen.

we are reacting to this thread and if you feel Ondoy Bran that something is wrong than address it to the author or simply close this one, you are the admin and you have done it before during the heydays of Ayessa. I miss this highly intellectual person.
You are talking of Pinoys in your sorroundings, and the history you are telling are all just as told history. Noong alaw, sad to say you did not have the chance to grew up in the society where we grew-up. Luckily you are highly priviledged and protected in the United States of America. Katilaw kana ug oneday one eat adto sa Manila kay aron maningpalad? Anha ka maka-ila sa mga lain-lain nga nilalang. That is fighting for survival. I know what I´m talking about. Prejudices are also a lot here in Germany. This is a normal social behaviour.

Lorenzo my dear you are out of this world, your environment is America. Never heared of cliche´s? Of course it is not polite and proper. But had you grown up here in Pinas as a true-blooded Bol-anon/Pinoy and hears some prejudices like these, you will be annoyed, too.

Arroyo has no other choice since she is getting enough international pressure about this massacre, this action is counterproductive to her political interest.  Lives lost will never be given justice in this manner, but I think this step is positive to put the Ampatuan clan´s bellligerence.

BBC news

Andal Ampatuan Jr behind bars, 26 Nov
Local mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr faces 25 counts of murder

President Gloria Arroyo has imposed martial law in the Philippines province of Maguindanao after the election-related massacre of 57 people.

Authorities also took the head of a powerful clan and several other members of the family into custody for questioning over the killings.

Troops raided the family's compounds on Friday, finding a buried arsenal.

The favourite for next year's presidential elections, Senator Benigno Aquino, was quoted as opposing the move.

"We believe there's no basis for the implementation of martial law," he said.

Officials said they acted after receiving reports that armed groups loyal to the Ampatuan clan were planning an insurrection.

Among those taken into custody were Andal Ampatuan Sr, a powerful local official, and one of his sons, Zaldy - governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which includes Maguindanao.

Another son, Andal Ampatuan Jr, has been charged with 25 counts of murder and has so far been the main suspect in the case.

Arroyo legacy at risk in massacre

Prosecutors have issued subpoenas to six members of the Ampatuan family, including Andal Ampatuan Sr, to appear at a hearing on 18 December.

They deny any involvement in the 23 November attack on a political rival's convoy and have not yet been charged.

Presidential spokesman Cerge Remonde told reporters that President Arroyo had "taken this bold step [of declaring martial law in the province] in answer to the cry for justice of the [relatives of the] victims of the Maguindanao massacre".

The BBC's Rachel Harvey says this is a politically sensitive move by President Arroyo.

"We felt that this is a very imminent threat, so we recommended this proclamation," said armed forces head Gen Victor Ibrado.

"By their sheer number, they are really a threat to the peace and order of the province."

The deputy chief of staff, Maj Gen Gaudencio Pangilinan, said the military needed to help the area "return to normalcy as soon as we can".

"Right now there is a complete breakdown of the function of the government in the area," he said.

The Ampatuan clan have long controlled Maguindanao province and have been loyal supporters of President Arroyo.

Since the killings, Mr Ampatuan Sr and other members of the family have been expelled from her party.

Friday's raids followed the discovery of what a military spokesman described as an arsenal of weapons buried several hundred of metres outside the Ampatuan compound in Maguindanao's capital, Shariff Aguak.

"We estimate that these weapons are enough to arm a battalion [500 soldiers]," national police chief Jesus Verzosa said.

The government has armed militias in the south to act as an auxiliary force to the army and police battling insurgents but they often end up as the private armies of local strongmen.

Former Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law nationwide from 1972 until 1981. He stayed in power until 1986.

Lolong asa naman diay ka nagpoyo karon?
Kining pag semento sa Sawang, Bulawan usa ka proyekto sa Engineering district, wala kini masakop sa kamayoran sa Guindulman. Kon ang tumong dinhi aron daygon ang Mayor, kay kini demokratiko man nga paagi, kita andam modawat nga adunay mosopak. Diskosyon kini dili panlibak.
There are facts here that are really true and I hope I could confront Fe why on earth are the acacia trees gone. This lousy reasoning that the trees are sore to the eyes is not valid. Trees undergone some biological process or cycle due to some stress in its habitat.

This is a tree in winter

This is a tree in spring

I would like to know how it came that Kapampangans are better known as may dugong aso.

Happy Beersday Doy! Way bahal diha sa Canada, busa beer na lang. Unsay maajong polotan?

Mayor (Dr. Piezas).

To set things clear Fe Piezas is a registered nurse and not a doctor, it´s her husband.

Martila law is implemented in Maguindanao, who cares? This is a a killing field anyway.

Spirit of Childhood   

O good holy Nicholas, you who brought joy to children, put in my heart the spirit of childhood about which the Gospel speaks.

December 5, 2009


St. Sabas


(b. 439)


 

Born in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey), Sabas is one of the most highly regarded patriarchs among the monks of Palestine and is considered one of the founders of Eastern monasticism.
After an unhappy childhood in which he was abused and ran away several times, Sabas finally sought refuge in a monastery. While family members tried to persuade him to return home, the young boy felt drawn to monastic life. Although the youngest monk in the house, he excelled in virtue.

At age 18 he traveled to Jerusalem, seeking to learn more about living in solitude. Soon he asked to be accepted as a disciple of a well-known local solitary, though initially he was regarded as too young to live completely as a hermit. Initially, Sabas lived in a monastery, where he worked during the day and spent much of the night in prayer. At the age of 30 he was given permission to spend five days each week in a nearby remote cave, engaging in prayer and manual labor in the form of weaving baskets. Following the death of his mentor, St. Euthymius, Sabas moved farther into the desert near Jericho. There he lived for several years in a cave near the brook Cedron. A rope was his means of access. Wild herbs among the rocks were his food. Occasionally men brought him other food and items, while he had to go a distance for his water.

Some of these men came to him desiring to join him in his solitude. At first he refused. But not long after relenting, his followers swelled to more than 150, all of them living in individual huts grouped around a church, called a laura.

The bishop persuaded a reluctant Sabas, then in his early 50s, to prepare for the priesthood so that he could better serve his monastic community in leadership. While functioning as abbot among a large community of monks, he felt ever called to live the life of a hermit. Throughout each year â€"consistently in Lentâ€"he left his monks for long periods of time, often to their distress. A group of 60 men left the monastery, settling at a nearby ruined facility. W hen Sabas learned of the difficulties they were facing, he generously gave them supplies and assisted in the repair of their church.

Over the years Sabas traveled throughout Palestine, preaching the true faith and successfully bringing back many to the Church. At the age of 91, in response to a plea from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sabas undertook a journey to Constantinople in conjunction with the Samaritan revolt and its violent repression. He fell ill and, soon after his return, died at the monastery at Mar Saba. Today the monastery is still inhabited by monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and St. Sabas is regarded as one of the most noteworthy figures of early monasticism.

Comment:

Few of us share Sabas’s yearning for a cave in the desert, but most of us sometimes resent the demands others place on our time. Sabas understands that. When at last he gained the solitude for which he yearned, a community immediately began to gather around him and he was forced into a leadership role. He stands as a model of patient generosity for anyone whose time and energy are required by othersâ€"that is, for all of

Unsa gidaman ang nag post ni-ani?

Hallo Shel, minyo kana Day?

Mag-ihap kon pila ko ka oras nakatolog.

Welcome Shela, do you speak the dialect Bol-anon? Just asking  because most of the interesting replies/postings are in vernacular.

Manay

I agree with Mike, I open tubagbohol with firefox browser, comparing to internet explorer  there are lots of pop-ups, ads and the like.

Unsa man ka Day/Doy, tuta ka ni Piezas?

Ang Kahitas-an ra ang atong gisaligan Day Grace. Keep doing the good work.

Belated birthday greetings Glace, bulak nga pula alang sa paghigugma!

Porno watching is advised among couples whose sexlife has become dry, boring and dead. This sounds to put more excitement and impuls to the relationship.

St. John Damascene
(676?-749)



John spent most of his life in the monastery of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem, and all of his life under Muslim rule, indeed, protected by it. He was born in Damascus, received a classical and theological education, and followed his father in a government position under the Arabs. After a few years he resigned and went to the monastery of St. Sabas.
He is famous in three areas. First, he is known for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images. Paradoxically, it was the Eastern Christian emperor Leo who forbade the practice, and it was because John lived in Muslim territory that his enemies could not silence him. Second, he is famous for his treatise, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the Greek Fathers (of which he became the last). It is said that this book is for Eastern schools what the Summa of Aquinas became for the West. Thirdly, he is known as a poet, one of the two greatest of the Eastern Church, the other being Romanus the Melodist. His devotion to the Blessed Mother and his sermons on her feasts are well known.




Comment:

John defended the Church’s understanding of the veneration of images and explained the faith of the Church in several other controversies. For over 30 years he combined a life of prayer with these defenses and his other writings. His holiness expressed itself in putting his literary and preaching talents at the service of the Lord.


Quote:

“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: ‘But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....’ Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory” (Exposition of the Orthodox Faith).

Grasyahan ka sa kanunay sa Kahitas-an, many happy returns of the day!  Manay tess

Why are men like strawberries?
Because they take a long time to mature and by the time they do most are rotten.

God, Help Me Be Pure.   

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

The World’s Worst Industrial Disaster

Just after midnight, on the night of 2nd/ 3rd December 1984, a catastrophic gas leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India saw the beginning of the worst industrial disaster in history. It has come to be known as the Hiroshima of the chemical industry.

40 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate gas, used in the manufacture of the pesticide Sevin, spewed from the plant into the surrounding areas. The effect on the people living in the shanty settlements, just over the fence, was immediate and devastating.

Many died in their beds, others staggered from their homes, blinded and choking, to die in the street. Many more died later after reaching hospitals and emergency aid centres. The best, accepted estimates say that 8-10,000 people died within the first 72 hours.

Since that day at least another 15,000 people have died as a result of their exposure to the toxic gas and another 120,000 have chronic medical conditions that require constant healthcare.

(For comparison, Chernobyl is estimated to have caused 57 direct deaths, with some 4,000 additional deaths from cancer).

'Still contaminated'

Campaigner Satinath Sarangi says he has ample evidence that the Union Carbide plant is still, after all these years, leaking toxins into the ground water supply on which many people still depend.

"We are talking about thousands of tons of waste that was dumped here and covered over. It has never been cleaned up," he says. BBC

This area is still contaminated and the people are still fighting for justice.

St. Francis Xavier
(1506-1552)


Jesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him.
Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534 joined his little community (the infant Society of Jesus). Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope.

From Venice, where he was ordained priest in 1537, Francis Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India.

Wherever he went, he lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy.

Francis went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa.



Comment:

All of us are called to “go and preach to all nations” (see Matthew 28:19). Our preaching is not necessarily on distant shores but to our families, our children, our husband or wife, our coworkers. And we are called to preach not with words, but by our everyday lives. Only by sacrifice, the giving up of all selfish gain, could Francis Xavier be free to bear the Good News to the world. Sacrifice is leaving yourself behind at times for a greater good, the good of prayer, the good of helping someone in need, the good of just listening to another. The greatest gift we have is our time. Francis gave his to others.


Patron Saint of:

Japan
Missionaries

Blessed are the Merciful   

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy

The Hour of Grace

The 8th of December is an important day - the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is also the day on which in 1947 Our Blessed Mother gave us the Hour of Grace.

Our Lady said as follows: "It is my wish that every year, on 8th December, at noon, the HOUR OF GRACE FOR THE WORLD be celebrated. Many divine and bodily graces will be received through this devotion. Our Lord, my Divine Son Jesus, will send His overflowing mercy if good people will pray continuously for their sinful brother.... it is my wish that the HOUR OF GRACE FOR THE WORLD be made known and spread throughout the world. If anyone is unable to visit his church, yet will pray at home, he will also receive graces through me.... will find a secure heavenly ladder and receive protection and grace through my motherly heart."

Our Lady promised she will hear any prayer we make at this time.

THE REQUEST OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER FOR THE HOUR OF GRACE:

Day and time of the Hour of Grace: December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, to be started at 12:00 noon and continuing until 1:00 p.m. for one full hour of prayer.

During this hour, the person making the Hour of Grace either at home or at church must put away all distractions (do not answer the telephones, or answer any doors, or do anything but totally concentrate on your union with God during this special Hour of Grace).

Begin the Hour of Grace by praying three times the 51st Psalm with out-stretched arms. (Psalm 51 appears below).

The rest of the Hour of Grace may be spent in silent communication with God meditating upon the Passion of Jesus, saying the Holy Rosary, praising God in your own way, or by using favorite prayers, singing hymns, meditating upon other psalms, etc.

Please copy and distribute this message. Remember to pray for your country during this hour. The Blessed Virgin has requested that her important message be sent throughout the entire world. Please help her Mission: that all souls be drawn to God, and that Jesus will be loved in every heart. This is the perpetual song of her heart. Let it also be yours.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

PSALM 51

Have mercy on on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offence.
Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.
For I know my offence; my sin is always before me.
Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight that you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn.
True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.
Still, you insist on sincerity of heart; in my innermost being teach me wisdom.
Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow.
Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt.
A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.
Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit.
Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit.
I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you.
Rescue me from death, God, my saving God, that my tongue may praise your healing power.
Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.
For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.
My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.
Make Zion prosper in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifice, burnt offerings and holocausts; then bullocks will be offered on your altar.
 

This is a fact, European countries are preparing ahead for the rising of the water, this means lots of towns living near coastal waters will lose some space. The Netherlands are taking this seriously since they are affected by the rising water.
My daughter is starting to concentrate on this issue since this is her major. The country of Panama is requesting to help the project ( 10 years) to widen and modernise the canal.

Can you tell where to get the detailed research, this is somewhat vague. There are inconsistencies on this matter.

Lorenzo is right as the adage goes, money talks. Sad to say there are persons with political ambitions and honest intentions but the locals are corrupt they sell their votes, so they should not cry if the elected poloticians do not function.

there is only one occassion where the mandate of the people was an overwhelming success, this is in Pampanga in the name of Panlilio.

Blessed Rafal Chylinski
(1694-1741)


Born near Buk in the Poznan region of Poland, Melchior showed early signs of religious devotion; family members nicknamed him "the little monk." After completing his studies at the Jesuit college in Poznan, Melchior joined the cavalry and was promoted to the rank of officer within three years.
Against the urgings of his military comrades, in 1715 Melchior joined the Conventual Franciscans in Kraków, receiving the name Rafal, and was ordained two years later. After pastoral assignments in nine cities, he came to Lagiewniki (central Poland), where he spent the last 13 years of his life, except for 20 months ministering to flood and epidemic victims in Warsaw. In all these places, Rafal was known for his simple and candid sermons, for his generosity as well as his ministry in the confessional. People of all levels of society were drawn to the self-sacrificing way he lived out his religious profession and priestly ministry.

Rafal played the harp, lute and mandolin to accompany liturgical hymns. In Lagiewniki he distributed food, supplies and clothing to the poor. After his death, the Conventual church in that city became a place of pilgrimage for people throughout Poland. He was beatified in Warsaw in 1991.



Comment:

The sermons preached by Rafal were powerfully reinforced by the living sermon of his life. The Sacrament of Reconciliation can help us bring our daily choices into harmony with our words about Jesus’ influence in our life.


Quote:

During the beatification homily, Pope John Paul II said, "May Blessed Rafal remind us that every one of us, even though we are sinners, has been called to love and to holiness" (L'Osservatore Romano, 1991, vol. 25, number 19).

Mao ni patay-patay ka Doy!

Thank you ellac for this thread, I wonder where is you avatar?  calling calle!

Dear Kuya, when the heart is full the mouth speaketh. She must be grateful for having a loving kuya like you Ondoy Bran!