We know from past World History how religion came to be an excuse for misguided fanatics causing tensions, disturbances and upheavals. But such is a far cry from what true religion should be. If that was in the past, it is up to us to correct the mistakes of the past. As St. Paul advised in his first letter to the Corinthians—“As for prophets, let two or three of them speak, and the others attend to them. If one of the listeners receives a revelation, then the man who is already speaking should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn, so that everybody will learn something and everybody will be encouraged. Prophets can always control their prophetic spirits, since God is not a God of disorder but of peace “ (1 Cor. 14: 29-33). Jesus Himself showed respect for human freedom. When in the 6th chapter of St. John’s gospel Jesus spoke about Himself being food and drink for humanity and the bread of life, the gospel relates in Jn. 6:65-69: “After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’” (Jn. 6:65-69).
In matters of religion we do have and enjoy an air of freedom because none is supposed to be forced into any religion against his or her own free will. Nevertheless since religion is supposed to be instrumental in providing us important truths connected to our eternal destiny of happiness versus an eternal destiny of woe and pain, and punishment, surely we are all obliged to seek for the clear and simple truths that can bring us to our true destiny of happiness as reward for our good works. “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behavior (his works)” (Mt. 16:27).
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Face the Situation Fearlessly
When Jesus or His followers or His angels came to console and encourage people, He used to allay all fears by saying those words which the late Blessed Pope John Paul II quoted upon the beginning of his term as pope in 1978: “Be not afraid.” Actually the more mature we become the less fears we have, since we put more trust in God Almighty, while of course doing the best we can from our own efforts.
That is what one writer, Dr. Alexander Cannon, implied when he wrote the book titled “Powers That Be” in 1935. “Therefore, I say to you: Dream of a great future and that future will come to you! For ‘all things are possible to him that believeth’ (Mk. 9:23). Fear will vanish when you walk up to it and face it like a man. The lion takes its fierceness from your fear: walk up to him and he will run from you; run away from him and he will run after you. Banish fear and you also banish evil. Love one another and hate will be no more. Face a situation fearlessly and there is no situation to be faced.
Never despise the day of small things! Don’t be a spiritual snob! Cast your whole enrgy into loving the little things as well as the big ones, for the little things presage greater ones ahead. You will get signs of the Promised Land long before you see it. Before Christopher Columbus reached the great continent of America, he saw birds in the air, and twigs in the water which told him that his great day was near. So it is with your life!”
That is what one writer, Dr. Alexander Cannon, implied when he wrote the book titled “Powers That Be” in 1935. “Therefore, I say to you: Dream of a great future and that future will come to you! For ‘all things are possible to him that believeth’ (Mk. 9:23). Fear will vanish when you walk up to it and face it like a man. The lion takes its fierceness from your fear: walk up to him and he will run from you; run away from him and he will run after you. Banish fear and you also banish evil. Love one another and hate will be no more. Face a situation fearlessly and there is no situation to be faced.
Never despise the day of small things! Don’t be a spiritual snob! Cast your whole enrgy into loving the little things as well as the big ones, for the little things presage greater ones ahead. You will get signs of the Promised Land long before you see it. Before Christopher Columbus reached the great continent of America, he saw birds in the air, and twigs in the water which told him that his great day was near. So it is with your life!”
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Grave harm to the environment
(cannot pay for many lives lost)
The consequences of indiscriminate mining and logging have just shown how many lives were lost during the storm that hit Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City specifically) last Dec. 16-17, 2011, including other parts of the Philippines, like Dumaguete City, etc. This is of course one wake up call for us all to be reminded of
God’s word that warns us: “The love of money is the root of all evils and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds” (1 Tim. 6:10). People just have not been educated in the right and successful way of making money, as expressed by the organization and business expert Robert Townsend, author of the bestseller “Up the Organization” (1970). We quote some of his words here: “Money, like prestige, if sought directly, is almost never gained. It must come as a byproduct of some worthwhile objective or result which is sought and achieved for its own sake.” The idea is to give good service to the people, money will just naturally follow from our honest and quality service. Money is part of human transactions but should not be the prime motive.
Since those disastrous storms and floods more than a thousand lives were lost, which are of greater value than money. It’s time we Filipinos evaluate our principles. We need to think it over and remember past incidents and occurrences. Perhaps we may recall a proverb that may incite us to greater depth in our actuations or reactions to situations—“the thinking man is always striking out something new.” Yes, by thinking or reflective thought we may find better ways to meet the daily challenges, instead of just talking or being good at criticizing. Yes, remember history so you won’t repeat the mistakes of history. Otherwise when people are just thoughtless or enslaved to money, power and material things, the following question mark will crop up in people’s minds: “When will they ever learn” as is echoed in a favorite song after World War II, “Where have all the flowers gone,” when millions of people died and lost their lives. So it is good that we be active in spreading good ideas of truth and love and justice, yes proclaiming the Good News Jesus Christ. Otherwise the opposite might prevail, the thoughts of hatred, darkness, deception, and materialism. Psalm no. 1 advices us: “He who meditates on the Law of the Lord day and night shall bear fruit in due season as a tree that is planted beside water streams.” We must wake up and do our part to avoid the dangers ensuing from ecological or environmental devastation. God’s word tells us that: “A stubborn heart will come to a bad end at last, and whoever loves danger will perish in it” (Sir. 3:27), in Bisaya—“Ang kagahig ulo sa katapusan magdala kanimo ngadto sa kagubot. Ang magpaduol sa peligro, sa peligro usab madaut” (Sir. 3:27).
The consequences of indiscriminate mining and logging have just shown how many lives were lost during the storm that hit Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City specifically) last Dec. 16-17, 2011, including other parts of the Philippines, like Dumaguete City, etc. This is of course one wake up call for us all to be reminded of
God’s word that warns us: “The love of money is the root of all evils and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds” (1 Tim. 6:10). People just have not been educated in the right and successful way of making money, as expressed by the organization and business expert Robert Townsend, author of the bestseller “Up the Organization” (1970). We quote some of his words here: “Money, like prestige, if sought directly, is almost never gained. It must come as a byproduct of some worthwhile objective or result which is sought and achieved for its own sake.” The idea is to give good service to the people, money will just naturally follow from our honest and quality service. Money is part of human transactions but should not be the prime motive.
Since those disastrous storms and floods more than a thousand lives were lost, which are of greater value than money. It’s time we Filipinos evaluate our principles. We need to think it over and remember past incidents and occurrences. Perhaps we may recall a proverb that may incite us to greater depth in our actuations or reactions to situations—“the thinking man is always striking out something new.” Yes, by thinking or reflective thought we may find better ways to meet the daily challenges, instead of just talking or being good at criticizing. Yes, remember history so you won’t repeat the mistakes of history. Otherwise when people are just thoughtless or enslaved to money, power and material things, the following question mark will crop up in people’s minds: “When will they ever learn” as is echoed in a favorite song after World War II, “Where have all the flowers gone,” when millions of people died and lost their lives. So it is good that we be active in spreading good ideas of truth and love and justice, yes proclaiming the Good News Jesus Christ. Otherwise the opposite might prevail, the thoughts of hatred, darkness, deception, and materialism. Psalm no. 1 advices us: “He who meditates on the Law of the Lord day and night shall bear fruit in due season as a tree that is planted beside water streams.” We must wake up and do our part to avoid the dangers ensuing from ecological or environmental devastation. God’s word tells us that: “A stubborn heart will come to a bad end at last, and whoever loves danger will perish in it” (Sir. 3:27), in Bisaya—“Ang kagahig ulo sa katapusan magdala kanimo ngadto sa kagubot. Ang magpaduol sa peligro, sa peligro usab madaut” (Sir. 3:27).
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
DESOLATE LAND
“They have made it a mournful, desolate place, desolate before me. The whole land has been devastated and no one takes it to heart.” (Jer.12:11-12) Considering present situations that are happening in the Philippines today because of acute discords as regards the RH Bills, it seems to be at the root of many problems, as we know that some big nations and pharmaceutical companies are offering monetary bribes just to sway people’s minds and control the Philippine population.
Check following data for example, and evaluate in conscience what is true for you. After all “truth will out”. One way or another, in spite of all efforts to conceal it, the truth will come to be known. As the above text from Prophet Jeremiah suggests to us – let’s “take it to heart”, that is, be serious about the present happenings, in connection with RH Bills.
A) In 2004, Joseph Chamie, Director of the U.N. Population Division, reported that 60 countries have TFRs (total fertility rates) below 2.1 which means that they will eventually
experience decline and aging. He asserted that the efforts of these countries to raise fertility rates will not be enough to bring them back to replacement levels. Many of these countries are now asking their people to have more children. Why then are our legislators thinking of cutting down our best asset, our people?
B) The Church in the official stand expressed in the Encyclical of Pope Paul VI Humanae Vitae, (on Human Life, dated 1968) has expressed its official stand versus abortion and the abortifacient contraceptives that definitely contribute to the decline of population.
C) The Church defends that since marriage is for love and family institution, sexual relations must be kept for transmission of new life. And then, they must not hide the following truth –
D) Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCPs) have been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group 1 carcinogenics (cancer inducing).
E) The Church’s mind is that the table of life must be open to guests as good citizens of the earthly country because of facilities of food, work and education and then become future citizens of the kingdom of heaven, which is our eternal and final destiny as a reward of the good works we may have done.
While legislators are still presently deliberating and debating on the merits or pros and cons of the RH Bill, one important angle is to tackle the issue on the Church’s position banning contraceptives and abortion as immoral and anti-life because it tends towards an aging population that eventually will self-extinct . God’s word has spoken on this in Genesis 1:28, the very first book of the Bible: “God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it’.“ Are they going to legislate on what is evil and immoral, anti-life and anti-Filipino? The Catholic position expressed at the Vatican Ecumenical Council spoke then: “The judgment concerning the interval of time between births, and that regarding the number of children, belongs to the spouses alone. This is one of their inalienable rights, to be exercised before God with due consideration of their obligations towards themselves, their children already born, the family and society.” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2368).
I believe it unnecessary for legislators to threaten with sanctions in the RH Bill, v.g. 6 months imprisonment or a fine of P50,000 “to maliciously engage in disinformation about the intent or provisions of this Act.” First of all we have to resolve the question whether it is moral to enforce contraception and abortion that may tend towards an aging population and eventual self-extinction.
If we know these plus other facts why are there so many monetary bribes to propagate what is harmful to the people. We ought to respect the future of life, not just look on these realities under the aspect of scot-free pleasures, forgetting that for all our actions we are answerable to God. “What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with the angels, and, when He does, He will reward each one according to his behavior.” (Mt.16:26-27).
Check following data for example, and evaluate in conscience what is true for you. After all “truth will out”. One way or another, in spite of all efforts to conceal it, the truth will come to be known. As the above text from Prophet Jeremiah suggests to us – let’s “take it to heart”, that is, be serious about the present happenings, in connection with RH Bills.
A) In 2004, Joseph Chamie, Director of the U.N. Population Division, reported that 60 countries have TFRs (total fertility rates) below 2.1 which means that they will eventually
experience decline and aging. He asserted that the efforts of these countries to raise fertility rates will not be enough to bring them back to replacement levels. Many of these countries are now asking their people to have more children. Why then are our legislators thinking of cutting down our best asset, our people?
B) The Church in the official stand expressed in the Encyclical of Pope Paul VI Humanae Vitae, (on Human Life, dated 1968) has expressed its official stand versus abortion and the abortifacient contraceptives that definitely contribute to the decline of population.
C) The Church defends that since marriage is for love and family institution, sexual relations must be kept for transmission of new life. And then, they must not hide the following truth –
D) Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCPs) have been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group 1 carcinogenics (cancer inducing).
E) The Church’s mind is that the table of life must be open to guests as good citizens of the earthly country because of facilities of food, work and education and then become future citizens of the kingdom of heaven, which is our eternal and final destiny as a reward of the good works we may have done.
While legislators are still presently deliberating and debating on the merits or pros and cons of the RH Bill, one important angle is to tackle the issue on the Church’s position banning contraceptives and abortion as immoral and anti-life because it tends towards an aging population that eventually will self-extinct . God’s word has spoken on this in Genesis 1:28, the very first book of the Bible: “God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it’.“ Are they going to legislate on what is evil and immoral, anti-life and anti-Filipino? The Catholic position expressed at the Vatican Ecumenical Council spoke then: “The judgment concerning the interval of time between births, and that regarding the number of children, belongs to the spouses alone. This is one of their inalienable rights, to be exercised before God with due consideration of their obligations towards themselves, their children already born, the family and society.” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2368).
I believe it unnecessary for legislators to threaten with sanctions in the RH Bill, v.g. 6 months imprisonment or a fine of P50,000 “to maliciously engage in disinformation about the intent or provisions of this Act.” First of all we have to resolve the question whether it is moral to enforce contraception and abortion that may tend towards an aging population and eventual self-extinction.
If we know these plus other facts why are there so many monetary bribes to propagate what is harmful to the people. We ought to respect the future of life, not just look on these realities under the aspect of scot-free pleasures, forgetting that for all our actions we are answerable to God. “What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with the angels, and, when He does, He will reward each one according to his behavior.” (Mt.16:26-27).
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
When Will the Killings End ?
This title appeared in one of the feature articles of the Davao Catholic Herald published in the October 2011 month. The question is really vital and actual. It is good to delve deeper into that query. It is true we cannot right a wrong with another wrong. St. Paul attests to that in his letter to the Romans 3:8. Actually we must all do something, being the one Body of Christ, to spread the positive ideas instead of the ideas of hatred, envy, greed, and materialism that are at the base of those harmful and violent reactions. Such people are only harming themselves since Jesus had warned us ‘the measure of what you give or do towards others will be the same measure to be turned back to you’ (Lk. 6:36). The Latin proverb (ideae regunt mundum.- translated: it is ideas that rule the world) has really a lot of import and momentousness in the subject we are dealing right now. It is so important we spread ideas that are true and based of justice. In the scuffle at the garden of olives Jesus told his followers who got swords to defend Him, “Put your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Mt. 26:52).
As members of the one body of Christ we, each one of us, have an important task to do. That is, by word, deed, sacrifice and prayer to be instruments spreading the positive ideas which Christ brought to our world: the ideas of love, joy, peace, harmony, patience, understanding, and concern for the fellowman or woman. Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Populorum Progressio mentions ‘development is the new name for peace’. Each of us therefore has to do our part, like St. Francis who prayed, ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred let me bring your love.. For it is in giving that we receive and in dying that we’re born to eternal life’. Also one Spanish proverb asserts thus: Quien da pan, da paz (He who gives bread, gives peace). Jesus Himself tells us. “It is more blessed to give than to receive”(Acts 20:35). Let’s do our part, each of us, to spread ideas that are positive rather than negative, developmental rather than destructive, understanding rather than judgmental. It’s basic in the teachings of Jesus: ‘Judge not and you shall not be judged for with what judgments you judge, you shall likewise be judged” (Mt. 7:1).
Let’s follow the Prince of peace, the truly victorious one who assured us in the end, whose life showed no trace of violence but only love and sacrifice—“In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world” (Jn. 16:33).
As members of the one body of Christ we, each one of us, have an important task to do. That is, by word, deed, sacrifice and prayer to be instruments spreading the positive ideas which Christ brought to our world: the ideas of love, joy, peace, harmony, patience, understanding, and concern for the fellowman or woman. Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Populorum Progressio mentions ‘development is the new name for peace’. Each of us therefore has to do our part, like St. Francis who prayed, ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred let me bring your love.. For it is in giving that we receive and in dying that we’re born to eternal life’. Also one Spanish proverb asserts thus: Quien da pan, da paz (He who gives bread, gives peace). Jesus Himself tells us. “It is more blessed to give than to receive”(Acts 20:35). Let’s do our part, each of us, to spread ideas that are positive rather than negative, developmental rather than destructive, understanding rather than judgmental. It’s basic in the teachings of Jesus: ‘Judge not and you shall not be judged for with what judgments you judge, you shall likewise be judged” (Mt. 7:1).
Let’s follow the Prince of peace, the truly victorious one who assured us in the end, whose life showed no trace of violence but only love and sacrifice—“In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world” (Jn. 16:33).
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