Kaalagad Gospel Reflections
Volume 8 Release No. 12
Jan. 21, 2007
Feast of Sto. Niño
Luke 2:41-52
41Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.
42And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.
43When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.
44Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends.
45When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.
46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
48When his parents {Gk [they]} saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety."
49He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" {Or [be about my Father's interests?]}
50But they did not understand what he said to them.
51Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
52And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, {Or [in stature]} and in divine and human favor.
Luke 2:41-52, “Jesus Lost and Found,” invites us to meditate on the child Jesus and the children of today in rippling social contexts. The story is simple: Jesus is lost in a festival; his parents search for him for three days; he is found in the temple in open forum with teachers; he returns to Nazareth; he grows in wisdom, years and grace. Undergirding the event is the word of God for us assigned to rear ourselves and our children for the sake of the Kingdom.
Author Robert Fulghum says that all he really needed to know he learned in kindergarten -- how to live and what to do and how to be – like: “Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” And so on.
Fulghum learned these lessons late in kindergarten! Jesus learned all this early at home at the feet of his mother and in the carpentry shop of his foster father. Jesus was surely at times naughty (he must have deserved a pingot, pinch of the ear, for dipping his fingers in the cookie jar; and a reprimand for getting lost in the festival; but all in all he was a nice boy. Legend (?) tells us that Mary was a colegiala educated in the temple. It must have been from her that precocious Jesus learned the basics of Bible and Torah. It was Mary and Joseph who helped Jesus increase in wisdom and grace before and after his twelfth year.
That he learned his lessons well is evidenced by his Sermon on the Mount, childhood lessons simply rehashed to penetrate hard heads and stony hearts of people, like you and me. Love one another, he said. Forgive seventy times seven times. Clothe the naked; visit the imprisoned, give drink to the thirsty. Change your low quality habits of thinking (metanoite/repent!). Remember, God loves you more than the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.
Did not our parents teach us all this too?
So what happens when the lessons of home, kindergarten and Mount are forgotten, for example, by big business, big government, big technocrats, big military, and perhaps by us? People suffer. Our children, santos ninyos, most of all, suffer. The Department of Social Welfare and Development reports:
* Infant mortality rate is pegged at 42.73 per 1,000 live births (Department of Health, 1 September 1999).
* 28% of children under age 5 are severely and moderately underweight based on international standards (World Summit Goals for Children, 1998).
* 49% of the total population of infants and 26% of the total population of children with ages ranging from 1 - 6 years old suffer from iron-deficiency anemia.
* More than half of the over 42,000 barangays in the country do not have provisions for a pre-school. Only 19% of children aged 4 to 6 years old are able to go to public and private pre-schools.
* More than 1/3 of the more than 42,000 barangays in the country could not offer the required six years of elementary education.
* Sixty percent of the children drop out of school when they reach the second grade (PDI, 18 May 1997).
* Sixty-one towns in the country do not have a high school.
* It is estimated that there are about five million child laborers in the country (UNICEF 1995). Two-thirds of them are found in the rural areas.
* There are 1.5 million streetchildren. DSWD estimates that this number increases annually by 6,365.
* Of the 1.5 million streetchildren, 60,000 are prostituted (ECPAT 1996). The DSWD claims that the annual average increase of prostituted children is 3,266. The Philippines is the fourth country with the most number of prostituted children (Intersect, December 1995).
* Research studies conducted in schools show that for every 3 Filipino children, one child experiences abuse (Manila Bulletin, 11 February 1996). During the first semester of 1999 alone, there were 2,393 children who fell prey to rape, attempted rape, incest, acts of lasciviousness and prostitution (DSWD 1st semester, CY 1999).
The statistics are growing each day. These clearly depict the immense hardship which Filipino children are subjected to.
“Do this in memory of me,” he said, in different words at different times, when he transformed water into wine, preached to the poor, healed the sick, reprimanded the scribes and Pharisees, raised the dead to life, and gave himself as bread an wine for all.
We recall he played with and blessed the children. He said: “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3)
So, when lost in the world of globalized capitalism and semifeudalism, -- say, of burnt- out Bush and Glory -- or, when lost as single or separated parents, or when confused and directionless in life, or when helpless in the workplace; or when our children are lost or are being lost to Society and Church, let us go back to mama and kindergarten, and reread the instructions of childhood; or return to the holy Mount and listen again to the Sermon; be obedient to Life; increase in wisdom; and go forth to teach, proclaim the Kingdom, and heal the world. Let us find ourselves and our children. And may they too learn well the lessons of childhood.
-- Rev. Fr. Francisco R. Albano, Diocese of Ilagan
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
Gary Granada's ordeal with McDonald's
My name is Gary Granada, I am a Kaalagad volunteer, and I need 5 seconds of your time to help reduce the use of styrofoam in fast food chains.
What was meant to be a nice and simple Saint Francis Day motorcade-march to McDonald’s turned out to be a nightmare. We were rudely treated by McDonald’s, to put it mildly. Weeks before, we already sought a dialogue with them to reiterate our concern for their reluctance to reduce their use of styrofoam, despite their pledge to seriously attend to it during our dialogue in 2002! (Jollibee said the same thing, and while we are not satisfied with their response, at least they made some effort to shift to other packaging and serving materials.) We wrote to them, went to their office, made follow ups, waited for a response. The most we got from them was ‘you wait for our call’. They never called, never wrote back, but verbally said they will assign representatives to receive our motorcade’s representatives.
When we got there, their representatives turned out to be the Citibank Building’s security detail. Ill-mannered and impolite, they told us that they were told by McDonald’s that they were not expecting us. One of our staff went up to their 17th floor office to find out whether they were willing to sit down and talk matters. Told to tell us to wait, we waited. The giant that it is, the bosses of McDonald’s apparently regard little children, nuns, mothers, priests and concerned consumers as their employees. We asked how long we were supposed to wait and got no
straight answer. Finally they sent word for me to come up, just me, no one else. I thought these people must have seen too many spaghetti movies, perhaps they thought they had a hostage crisis. I was led to a conference room that could easily sit six or seven people and was greeted by two bright boys.
Think about it. Naglakad kami papuntang McDonald's, at pagdating namin doon, wala man lang
bumaba para kausapin kami ng maayos. At pinatawag ako nitong dalawang batang managers!
It occurred to me that there were far more basic issues that plague McDonald’s than styrofoam. Like common courtesy. So I explained to these rich young rulers that the courteous thing to do was to go down, greet the delegation and ask how they may be of help. I even asked them where they were schooled, because in the public school in an obscure town where I came from, they manage to teach such things in Grade One. Their bloated bright brains must have taken up the space that was meant for their ears. It felt like talking to an electric fan.
Meanwhile I insisted that somebody from Greenpeace, the Ecowaste Coalition, Franciscan
Movement for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, and the JPICC of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (our partners in the activity) be present as well. They said they can only accommodate three people at most. Fine. So I said I and our staff will go down and we will send three people up. But at the lobby, the three representatives we sent were barred by security people from proceeding, again upon McDonald’s instructions we were told. It looked hopeless.
We decided to wrap up the program when out of nowhere a condescending woman materialized and introduced herself as the media relations officer of McDonalds. She said ‘Why don’t you go to Jollibee instead, they’re number One.’ To which Father Ben Moraleda replied, ‘We did, and at least they are doing something.’
On the side, irked by her audacity, Fr. Ben quipped, ‘And please take that hand of yours off my
shoulders, I don’t like you.’
And all that commotion for a very simple and very reasonable plan: that McDonald’s reduce the use of styrofoam by 50% within one year. McDonald’s has once again demonstrated its arrogance and incapacity to appreciate the sincere and constructive efforts of common folks to protect our environment. Unlike them, we do not make money doing what little we can to help make things a little better for everybody.
5 seconds, that’s all I ask of you to help reduce the use of styrofoam. Sa mundo ng mga mayayabang, papansinin lang nila tayo kung tayo ay maninindigan. Take 5 seconds to think twice before choosing where to dine or order food.
WHEN YOU HAVE A CHOICE, DON’T CHOOSE MCDONALD’S
I feel sad for that woman and those two young managers. So young, so successful, so ahead of their game, so privileged; so rude, so arrogant, so lacking in character, so bland. And I have since stopped wondering why their burgers taste the way they do.
_________________
What was meant to be a nice and simple Saint Francis Day motorcade-march to McDonald’s turned out to be a nightmare. We were rudely treated by McDonald’s, to put it mildly. Weeks before, we already sought a dialogue with them to reiterate our concern for their reluctance to reduce their use of styrofoam, despite their pledge to seriously attend to it during our dialogue in 2002! (Jollibee said the same thing, and while we are not satisfied with their response, at least they made some effort to shift to other packaging and serving materials.) We wrote to them, went to their office, made follow ups, waited for a response. The most we got from them was ‘you wait for our call’. They never called, never wrote back, but verbally said they will assign representatives to receive our motorcade’s representatives.
When we got there, their representatives turned out to be the Citibank Building’s security detail. Ill-mannered and impolite, they told us that they were told by McDonald’s that they were not expecting us. One of our staff went up to their 17th floor office to find out whether they were willing to sit down and talk matters. Told to tell us to wait, we waited. The giant that it is, the bosses of McDonald’s apparently regard little children, nuns, mothers, priests and concerned consumers as their employees. We asked how long we were supposed to wait and got no
straight answer. Finally they sent word for me to come up, just me, no one else. I thought these people must have seen too many spaghetti movies, perhaps they thought they had a hostage crisis. I was led to a conference room that could easily sit six or seven people and was greeted by two bright boys.
Think about it. Naglakad kami papuntang McDonald's, at pagdating namin doon, wala man lang
bumaba para kausapin kami ng maayos. At pinatawag ako nitong dalawang batang managers!
It occurred to me that there were far more basic issues that plague McDonald’s than styrofoam. Like common courtesy. So I explained to these rich young rulers that the courteous thing to do was to go down, greet the delegation and ask how they may be of help. I even asked them where they were schooled, because in the public school in an obscure town where I came from, they manage to teach such things in Grade One. Their bloated bright brains must have taken up the space that was meant for their ears. It felt like talking to an electric fan.
Meanwhile I insisted that somebody from Greenpeace, the Ecowaste Coalition, Franciscan
Movement for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, and the JPICC of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (our partners in the activity) be present as well. They said they can only accommodate three people at most. Fine. So I said I and our staff will go down and we will send three people up. But at the lobby, the three representatives we sent were barred by security people from proceeding, again upon McDonald’s instructions we were told. It looked hopeless.
We decided to wrap up the program when out of nowhere a condescending woman materialized and introduced herself as the media relations officer of McDonalds. She said ‘Why don’t you go to Jollibee instead, they’re number One.’ To which Father Ben Moraleda replied, ‘We did, and at least they are doing something.’
On the side, irked by her audacity, Fr. Ben quipped, ‘And please take that hand of yours off my
shoulders, I don’t like you.’
And all that commotion for a very simple and very reasonable plan: that McDonald’s reduce the use of styrofoam by 50% within one year. McDonald’s has once again demonstrated its arrogance and incapacity to appreciate the sincere and constructive efforts of common folks to protect our environment. Unlike them, we do not make money doing what little we can to help make things a little better for everybody.
5 seconds, that’s all I ask of you to help reduce the use of styrofoam. Sa mundo ng mga mayayabang, papansinin lang nila tayo kung tayo ay maninindigan. Take 5 seconds to think twice before choosing where to dine or order food.
WHEN YOU HAVE A CHOICE, DON’T CHOOSE MCDONALD’S
I feel sad for that woman and those two young managers. So young, so successful, so ahead of their game, so privileged; so rude, so arrogant, so lacking in character, so bland. And I have since stopped wondering why their burgers taste the way they do.
_________________
Cana Joy
Volume 8 Release no. 11
January 14, 2007
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
John 2: 1-11
1ON the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there;
2Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.
3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
4And Jesus said to her, "O woman [Lady], what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
7Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
8He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it.
9When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom 10and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
“Lady, my hour has not yet come,” Jesus gently said. And Mary said, tenderly, sweetly, “Son, change your schedule; the time is now; make us happy. Besides, I want another glass.” So Jesus transformed water into wine. Tuloy ang ligaya. And for that Jesus got a kiss from mama.
At Cana Jesus learned vital lessons for sound human God-living:
- He learned to listen to good advice from his mother, who must have enjoyed parties and a good glass of wine.
- He learned that the future of the future is now. Now is the time to help people enjoy themselves and one another’s company and food and wine. Now is the time to enable people to enjoy a good life any day, every day. Later he would heal the physically and spiritually disadvantaged so they too could enjoy life. He would enjoy the hospitality of both Pharisees and publicans like Levi and Zachaeus. Indeed, life is not life if it is not joyous and enjoyable. His word for life would be “the kingdom.”
- He learned that time, his time specially, is for people with enjoyment as a natural need. Time is for people and not people for time. Later he would say the Sabbath is for people and not people for the Sabbath.
- He learned that time, always now, is and must be, most of all, a mode of divine presence. And so did he manifest his glory, and enabled his disciples to believe in him. Time must be filled with events of God’s glory so people will adore and praise the Lord.
We do well to learn what Jesus learned and taught, namely that all life --symbolized by 180 gallons of excellent wine! -- is to be shared, consumed, enjoyed. The lessons he summed up in the event of the Last Supper.
Let us also “fuse horizons” with John and our bible scholars to learn more about the Cana event. The experts tell us that the water jars provided water for the Old Testament purifying ceremonies of the Jews. Not to cleanse the feet on entry to the house was taboo; and so too not to handwash before a meal and in between courses. The scholars believe that the transformation of exclusivist ceremonial water into excellent wine for the enjoyment of all meant the end of the old order and the beginning of a new order proclaimed by Jesus. Ritualism gives way to worship and fellowship in spirit and in truth, and we add, in joy. Cana of the Old Testament is changed into Cana of the new testament of the kingdom of God. Cana becomes a mode of divine presence.
The Cana event suggests that we ask ourselves whether there are today families, communities, nations, and even local and global church formations that are Canas drinking insipid wine of a severely limited social order, one hoarding water that is changeable into wine of joy. Can there be transformations into Canas of everflowing wine?
We do well to imagine the mother of Jesus telling us today: “Mga anak, wala ng pantulak. Your country has become a Cana where joy is running out. Kulang ng pagkain at inumin para sa mga anak ng bayan. Ang lahat niyang kayaman ay kamal-kamal na naubos. Ang lahat niyang kalayaan ay sabay-sabay na natapos. But you are other Christs, and my children too, no?”
Indeed there is unduly limited joy and much pain and sadness among the people, our people, and the poor, deprived and oppressed of other counties. Mother Mary (or is it Inang Bayan?) suggests we can do something. There jars of water around; plentiful human, natural and technological resources for a hundred miracles to happen in a pax americana of greed, monopolies and monopsonies, cartels and wars of aggression; and in a pax gloriana of trade liberalization and privatization, deregulation and human rights violations. Should not the enemies of life be denied entry into the nuptial hall of life?
People of the New Testament that we are, just stewards of creation that we are, we have been blessed by God. We have wisdom and power; we have methods of science and of faith to bring about the good life through genuine land reform, nationalist industrialization, just struggles for justice, cultural and spiritual renewal of self and community. Our hands are intended to be extensions of Jesus the miracle worker to end the time of unholy Empire and Temple, to bring about the peace of God that all people of good will may enjoy the banquet of life. The crucial key is owning the wholesome attitude of Jesus and his mother. Readjust our schedules for miracles, we must; for our time has come, and it is now.
The Cana event commands us all: Reveal God’s glory! Thou shalt not kill joy!
-- Rev. Fr. Francisco R. Albano, Diocese of Ilagan
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Pagtatapat ng Isang Praning
January 7, 2006
Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
Ang Pagdalaw ng PantasMateo 2:1-12
Si Jesus ay ipinanganak sa Betlehem ng Judea sa kapanahunan ni Haring Herodes. Dumating naman sa Jerusalem ang ilang Pantas mula sa Silangan 2 at nagtanung-tanong doon: “Nasaan ang ipinanganak na HAri ng Judio? Nakita naming sa Silangan ang kanyang tala at naparito kami upang sambahin siya.”
3 Nang mabalitaan ito ni Haring Herodes, siya’y naligalig, gayon din ang buong Jerusalem. 4Kaya’t tinipon niya ang lahat ng punong saserdote at mga eskriba sa Israel at itinanong sa kanila kung saan ipinanganak ang Mesias. 5 “Sa Betlehem po ng Judea,” tugon nila. “Ganito ang sinulat ng propeta:
6 ‘At ikaw, Betlehem, sa lupain ng Juda,
Ay hindi nga huli sa mga pangunahing bayan ng Juda.
Sapagkat sa iyo lilitaw ang isang pinuno
Na mamamahala sa aking baying Israel.’ ”
7 Nang mabatid ito, lihim na ipinatawag ni Herodes ang mga Pantas at itinanong kung kailan lumitaw ang tala. 8 At pinalakad niya sila patungong Betlehem matapos pagbilinan ng ganito: “Humayo kayo at inyong hanaping mabuti ang sanggol. Kapag inyong natagpuan, ibalita agad ninyo sa akin upang ako’y makasamba sa kanya.” 9At lumakad na ang mga Pantas. Muli silang pinangunahan ng talang nakita nila sa Silangan hanggang sumapit ito sa kinaroroonan ng bata. 10 Gayon na lamang ang galak ng mga Pantas nang makita ang tala! 11 Pagpasok sa bahay, nakita nila ang bata sa piling ng kanyang inang si Maria. Lumapit sila at nagpatirapa at sinamba ang bata. Binuksan nila ang kanilang sisidlan at inihandog sa kanya ang dala nilang ginto, kamanyang at mira.
12 Nang sila’y pabalik na, sinabi sa kanila ng Diyos sa pamamagitan ng panaginip na huwag na silang babalik kay Herodes. Kaya’t nag-iba na sila ng daan pauwi.
_________________________________
Naging usapan sa buong bayan ang pagdating ng ilang mga pantas mula sa Silangan. Sa ilang sandali ang bayang abala sa normal na gawain nito sa araw-araw ay napuno ng agam-agam at pagkalito. Nagugulumihanan sila sa biglaang pagsulpot ng nakagayak ng grupo. Dagliang naglaho ang dating ingay ng mga pamilihan. Ang mga batang dati ng naghahabulan at nagtitilian sa langsangan ay kagyat na kinaon ng kanilang magulang at ipininid sa kanilang tahanan. Halos naikubli naman ng makapal na alikabok na iniwan ng mga humahangos tao ang mga pulubi sa lungsod. Subalit kakatwa na wala sa kanilang nagtangka na humingi ng limos sa mga estrangherong dumaraan, bagkus pilit nilang ikinukubli ang kanilang mukha sa gutay-gutay nilang balabal na tila nahintatakutan.
Sa kabila ng lahat ng ito hindi naman naging ganap ang katahimikan. Umaalingawngaw ang mga bulung-bulungan patungkol sa pakay ng mga marangyang mga bisita. Hinahanap daw nila ang kasisilang lamang na hari ng mga Hudyo. “Hari ng mga Hudyo!” kagyat na bulalas ng bawat nakaririnig.
Higit na kumalat ang kilabot ng maaninag nila na humahangos sa kalsada patungo palasyo ang mga tagapayo ng haring Herodes, ang mga punong seserdote at ang mga tagapagturo ng Batas. Mabilis na kumalat ang balita ng nagkakagulo daw sa palasyo at dumating na rin daw ang karagdagang pwersang militar upang ipagtanggol ito sa anumang pagtatangka ng kudeta. May dahilang mapraning si Herodes; maliban sa may isinilang na bagong hari ito rin daw ang magpapalaya sa kanyang mga kababayan.
Malakas na ang tensyon at di na kinaya ng marami. Nagsara na sila ng mga pintuan at ibinaba ang mga bintana. Nagtira lamang sila ng siwang na sapat na sisilipan upang agad na makakilos kung anu’t-anuman ang mangyari. Hinatak ko ang aming bintana upang lumapat ito nang husto at pagkatapos ay pasalya kong itinulak ang aking asawa na sumisilip dito. Pagkatapos ko siyang sulyapan ng matalim ay agad akong bumalik sa bodega upang madaliin ang aking mga alipin sa pag-iimbak ng mga naitago kong mga trigo. Pagkatapos ay inutusan ko ang mga bayaran kong manggagawa na ipinid at itali ang mga aliping naging kabayaran ng mga pagkakautang ng kanilang mga magulang sa akin sa isang silid. Malakas ang kabog ng dibdib na dali-dali akong bumalik sa bahay upang kumuha ng sisidlan. Sa may sala ay nadaanan ko ang aking mag-ina na magkayakap na umiiyak. Tinatapunan ng liwanag mula sa siwang ng mga dingding ang mga sariwa pa nitong mga pasa at galos. Hinatak ko ang asawa ko sa buhok at buong balasik na pinagbantaan, “Huwag kang magkakamaling tumakas at magsumbong, papatayin ko kayong mag-ina!”
Dali-dali akong pumanhik sa itaas at inilagay sa isang sisidlan lahat ng aking salapi at mamahaling mga bato. Kasama ang isang tapat na katiwala patagong binaybay namin ang abandonadong mga daan. Sa isang tahanan kami ay huminto at pasalya naming binuksan ang pinto nito ng kami ay ‘di pagbuksan ng may-ari. Kinaladkad ng tapat kong alipin ang lalake ng tahanan at pabalandrang isinandal ito sa isang poste ng bahay. Binunot ko ang aking punyal at itinutok sa leeg nito sabay sabi, “Wala ng panahon para maghintay pa, kailangan ko ngayon ang kabayaran ng iyong utang sa akin.” Lumuluha ang asawa’t anak na nagmakaawa sa akin dala ang isang kasulatan, “Wala kaming salapi, narito ang titulo ng aming lupain kunin mo ito alam ko namang ito talaga ang habol mo.”
Magdidilim na ng lumabas kami ng tahanang iyon at tumuloy kami sa Ilog Hordan. Pagsapit duon ay ibinigay ko ang sisidlan sa aking katiwala at inutasang dalhin iyon at itago sa mga bayan sa kabila ng ilog. Dagling tumalima ng aking alipin at nang matiyak ko na nakatawid na sya ay dali-dali akong bumalik ng aking bahay. Parang hibang na pumasok sa aking silid at tiniyak na sarado ang lahat ng pinto at mga bintana. Lumagok ng alak na nasa aking mesa at inilabas ang punyal na aking sukbit, subalit wala akong intensyong gamitin iyon kahit kanino; “Isa ka raw makatarungang hari, bago mo pa makuha ang lahat sa akin at bago mo pa ako maipagsakdal, itatarak ko muna ang balaraw na ito sa aking lalamunan!”
Sa araw ng pagdating ng Panginoon, hindi lamang si Herodes ang may dahilang mapraning. Ang mga nag-aastang hari at makapangyarihan sa mundong ito ay labis na nababahala sa nalalapit na pagtatagumpay ng katotohanan, kabutihan at katarungan. Ang mga nalulong sa mga bagay na makamundo at alipin ng salapi at kapangyarihan ay nanghihilakbot sa araw ng paghahari ng Diyos. Subalit sa bawat pantas, sa bawat biktima ng pang-aapi, at sa bawat isa na may mabuting kalooban, buong galak na sasalubungin ang Kanyang pagdating.
Dumating ka na nawa Panginoon!
-Nestor M. Ravilas, Kaalagad Member
Against A Diabolic Regime, A Vigilant People Prevails!
Press Statement
17 December 2006
For Reference: Fr. Ben Moraleda, Spokesperson
(02)-4381322, 09152455294
"This is the day the Lord has made,
Let us rejoice and be glad!"
These past several months have been most crucial for our nation and its people.
The self-serving enemies of democratic processes and institutions have gone all out in their effort to confuse, bribe, threaten and coerce the people into accepting their scheme for total control. In the guise of correcting a deficient system, these veteran wolves-in-sheep-clothing have outdone even themselves in their diabolic machinations:
First, there was Sigaw ng Bayan with its millions of fake and dubious signatures which no less than the highest court of the land declared null and without merit, having been gathered deceptively and fraudulently. Then the notorious Trapos of Congress self-appointed themselves into a Constitutive Assembly, working overtime to expedite the Con-Ass bill even without the required concurrence of Senate.
Meanwhile, the real framers and financiers who hatched the Cha-cha scheme to cover the illegitimacy of the Presidency, worked double time behind-the-scene in Malacañang, even as they publicly feigned ignorance of, and even disinterest in, what was going on in the Lower House. With the people’s money, they got the votes and almost pulled it off! Oh GMA! Oh, what limitless capacity for shamelessness!
But they had underestimated the people. In arrogant haste, they forgot that "one can fool some of the people some of the time, but one cannot fool all the people all the time". This indeed is a major victory for the Filipino People. With this united stance, the Sovereign Will of this sovereign People has prevailed: "We will not allow anyone or any group to deprive us full participation in the process of nation-building. And we will fight anything and anyone who will attempt to sideline us."
The struggle does not end with this victory. Like the biblical evil spirit that was once cast out but came back with seven others, even more evil than itself, the enemies are not about to retreat forever in defeat. They will be back, again and again, perhaps more in number, but definitely armed with more shameful and more violent schemes, in order to foist their diabolic will on the whole nation. We must be prepared for them. We must forever be vigilant.
Kaalagad commends and cheers a resilient and resolute people! Mabuhay ang mga magigiting na Pilipino! Patuloy na maging mapagbantay!
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Tuesday, January 2, 2007
MARY'S FAITH
Volume 8 Release No. 8
December 24, 2006
Fourth Sunday of Advent
| Gospel Reading (Luke 1:39-47) In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a lout cry, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, |
"Blessed are you who believed that the Lord's word would come true."
That was how Elizabeth was inspired to see as the root of her cousin Mary's blessedness (or, being set apart from all women) - her steadfast faith in God.
A story I read a long time ago aptly illustrates this: Just minutes before landing, an international flight ran smack into a mighty storm. And the strong winds were throwing and tossing the huge Boeing 707, as if it were an empty cardboard box. All in the plane were in near-panic, even the dozen or so stewards and stewardesses, who couldn't disguise their fear as they tried to comfort and secure their wards. All except a little girl who sat in her corner, calmly reading a book, seemingly unperturbed by, or even unaware of the danger they were in.
After what seemed like eternity, the pilot was finally able to control the plane and land it safely. It was only then that the little girl looked up from the book she had been reading. A stewardess, who had been observing the child, approached her and said to her, “You read your book through the horrible nightmare we had just gone through. Were you not afraid we would crush?" "No, I was not afraid. My father was piloting the plane" she smiled, "and he always lands it safely home!"
I guess that is what faith ultimately means - letting go of the need to be in control, and enjoying being in the safe hands of a trusted one. Just like Mary - 'rudely' snatched, so to speak, from her youthful private life to become the Mother of Emmanuel! "How can this be" she had tried to protest to the angel-messenger, "I am too young even to 'know' man."
But as soon as it was clear to Mary that this was what God has planned for her, and that 'nothing was impossible with God', she let go of the control of her life and surrendered it totally to her God: "I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it done to me as you have said." (Lk.1-27-28).
And it was this deep faith in God of Mary rather than her being the mother of the messiah that Elizabeth was primarily paying tribute to in her joyful greeting to her cousin, “Blessed are you who believed that the Lord's word would come true!" A fact that Jesus was later to affirm and highlight to His disciples in Lk.11:27: "As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to him: 'Blessed is the one who bore you and nursed you. Jesus answered, "Surely, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it as well!" Mary's Yes to God's Plan was Mary 'letting God be in control' in and with her life.
But if Mary's Faith meant handing over to God the total control of her life, it did not mean she was absolving herself from responding to God's control. On the contrary, letting go of control obliged her even more to respond to him and be accountable her response. For faith does not mean doing nothing. It means acting in obedience to God's will. And Jesus pointed this out explicitly when he told the woman, "Surely blessed are those who hear the word of God AND keeps (does) keeps it as well!" And at the wedding feast at Cana, Mary showed that she too understood this only too well when she told the servants "Do whatever he tells you." Believing in God means acting according to his will. Saying to God's will means doing our part that God's will is done.
It is important to remember this when we pray.
It is oftentimes said that we Filipinos are a praying nation, and that is good.
But it is necessary to remind each other often that authentic prayer ultimately aims to align our hopes and our dreams, our needs and our wants to the Will of God our Father/Mother. Biblical scholars and spiritual writers say that the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father) has in fact only one prayer, that "Your Kingdom come and that Your Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven". And that the rest of that prayer merely enumerates what it is that the Heavenly Father's wills, namely, a) that all will have enough food everyday, b) that we learn to forgive one another as God himself forgives each of us, c) that we do not wish cause nor cause each other any harm, but rather d) that we help each other to be delivered from any and all evil. Therefore, to pray the Our Father, i.e. to align ourselves to what the Heavenly Father wills means not only saying Amen to what he wants, but to do our part so that all that He wants will indeed happen. For, blessed indeed are those who hear the Will of God and keep it as well.
Fr. Ben Moraleda, CSsR
Spokesperson, Kaalagad Katipunang Kristyano
Coming Into Our Own
Gospel Reading: Luke 2: 41-52
41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did no know it. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends,. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search fro him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” 49He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor
The story of the presentation of Jesus in the temple shows us that Jesus, Son of Man, belonged to a Jewish family with its customs and tradition. He grew up normal, so to speak, and Luke establishes a connection between the infant Jesus whom shepherds guard and angels sing and the Jesus who ministered to the sick, the disabled, the poor and the oppressed. More than a Christological sequencing however, the Presentation in the Temple and especially today’s gospel offer us an understanding of Jesus beyond historical details and the need to question his origins. What was Luke trying to say when he chose the story of Jesus finding in the temple?
It may have been to answer a question that must have arisen: if during his public ministry Jesus worked miracles and claimed oneness with God, when did he acquire such powers? During his forty days in the desert? at his baptism? This story gives us a glimpse that he already had these powers from an early age.
The finding in the temple, however, becomes more relevant as we reflect on Luke’s characterization of the Holy Family, especially Mary and Jesus.
Mary is suddenly afflicted with the very real sorrow of any parent: not being able to understand her own son. Suddenly, Jesus talks about my Father who until then has been Joseph. Suddenly, there is my Father’s business and he was discussing with the elders and Scribes. They did not understand, Luke narrates, and we can remember the many times we too are thrust in a situation we do not / cannot understand: an unexpected illness, getting wrongly accused, the onslaught of natural calamities, the seeming “luck” of Gloria Arroyo who continues to hold power despite a negative trend in popularity, and the like. We are invited to continue to ponder and hold on in hope in the God of history who has shown us the power of his might and has raised the lowly
Jesus response likewise bears upon us another growing up reality. Children are unique persons, different from and not extensions of parents or mentors or elders. At a certain point in our lives, after being nurtured and nourished (rightly or wrongly), we come into our own and take charge of our lives, no matter how much it hurts them. Jesus coming of age, when he chose to engage the elders in discussion and thus not to go home with his parents and relatives, bewildered and hurt his parents but he stood for what he knew in his heart to be his most important relationship: his relationship with God. The question begs: how often do you stand witness to your own relationship with your God?
To ponder, to testify, to wait. Indeed, the story then goes on to say that after declaring he was just about his Father's business, Jesus went home with his parents and grew in all ways. No other boyhood stories, 18 more years of his life captured in that one sentence. The Messiah was born but Israel still waited. These are stances or attitudes that require much faith but point the way to true freedom. The invitation is to nurture a relationship of fidelity to the word of God revealed in so many ways in our lives through Scripture, events, the cries of the poor and the increasingly insistent cries of the earth.
The gospel reading comes to us on the last day of 2006, a time of “crossing over”, making that one step into another unknown. Luke attempted to bridge Jesus’ infancy and ministry with a “slice of life” of the Holy Family and we receive the invitation to ponder, to testify, to wait.
Indeed, the story then goes on to say that after declaring he was just about his Father’s business, Jesus went home with his parents and grew in all ways. No other boyhood stories, 18 more years of his life captured in that one sentence. The Messiah was born but Israel still waited. These are stances or attitudes that require much faith but point the way to true freedom. We are called to nurture a relationship of fidelity to the word of God revealed in so many ways in our lives “through Scripture, events, the cries of the poor and the increasingly insistent cries of the earth“so that we may ‘act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with God’, especially for our country now so severely tried at all fronts and in all levels of society.
As the year closes and another one dawns on us, may we truly come into our own. In our own persons and also in our own nation. May we learn to center our lives on the One who continues to create and recreate with us so that the universe may truly reflect the beauty and goodness and truth of our Creator
Terence Osorio
Canossian Justice and Peace
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