ANG PASIMHAY ONLINE (Ang Patunay ng Simbahang Buhay)-The Blog That Informs & Inspires

Chastity is possible among youth By BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS

2011-06-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

The obsession with the promotion of artificial contraceptives among those pushing the so-called RH Bill is partly based on the assumption that we have to prevent unwanted pregnancies among adolescents who find it impossible to avoid premarital sex.

This presupposition is based on the empirical observation that in many countries in the Western world, the majority of teenage girls have had sex before they get married. Those in favor of the RH Bill claim that they are just being “realists.” To them chastity is an impossible ideal. Well, I claim that they are defeatists.

They are assuming that the youth in the Philippines cannot rise above their purely animal instincts. Before they even try, these lawmakers have given up on values and character education of the youth and the spiritual formation that can come from religious faith, whatever the creed.

It was very refreshing for me to read a blog of sports and media celebrity, Chris Tiu. This famous basketball star wrote a commentary on an event he attended at the SMX of Mall of Asia where he joined some 8,000 people, most of them young women and men, to listen to Jason Evert, an American “Chastity” speaker.

Mr. Evert was in the Philippines during the last days of February, 2011, and spoke to various audiences in Metro Manila and Iloilo about the importance of fostering the virtue of chastity among the young people of the Philippines. Let us listen to what Chris Tiu said about the talk of Jason Evert.

“I never could have imagined myself attending a chastity talk although I am a believer of chastity and purity... Honestly, my understanding was that it was going to be a talk about love and relationships, not about chastity... The program started with a Holy Mass, after which I was introduced to Jason by a friend... Jason must have read what was going on in my mind and so he picked me as a volunteer at the beginning of his talk

He wanted to start his talk with the question, ‘How far is too far in a relationship.’ And to illustrate his point he made me put on a ‘Lady Gaga’ wig and acted out as if we were on a date. And in an instant, he lifted me upon his shoulders! One hand supporting me, and the other holding the mic! Deep inside, I was thinking, Wow! This guy is strong! I stand at 5’ 11” and Jason was just about 5’ 7.” He was probably 30 lbs lighter than I. Then he lifted me towards the end of the stage and asked me if he should still go on. Of course, I said NO! And he took me down and thanked me for volunteering!

“So, what’s his point? The point is not to put our loved ones in danger. We said that asking ‘How far can I go with a girl without sinning?’ can be put more positively into ‘How far can I go with a girl in protecting her innocence?’

Think of it this way.

He invited us to think of our future wife who may be dating another guy right now. How far do we want that guy to go with her? It is like Stephen Covey’s ‘thinking with the end in mind,’ the end here being marriage. Then he said, ‘Girls, do not allow a guy to lift the veil of your body before he lifts the veil on your head – in marriage.’

“To illustrate his point further, he cited statistics in the US which show that those who married as virgins had a divorce rate 70% less than those who were not. This was taken from a 700-page book compiling the results of a research that had the largest survey respondents.

What made me think deeper was his analogy of our love for our future wife with the love of Christ for the Church. He quoted St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. I couldn’t help but think of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ where he described how Jesus suffered for us, His Church, His Bride.

He said that that’s how much we have to be willing to suffer for our future wife. And part of that sacrifice is to live a chaste life now. We need to free ourselves so that we can love!”

Chris Tiu was especially impressed with the candor with which Jason spoke about his own personal experience. The eloquent speaker from the US was addressing especially the girls in the audience. He wanted to disabuse them of the idea that by giving in to the lustful desire of a boyfriend, they would be loved more. On the contrary, that would be the best way to lose his respect. To demonstrate this point, he told the story of a lady named Cristalina:

“When she allowed her boyfriend to have sex with her, he started mistreating her and calling her names. After a while, the usual excitement of being together was gone. Love had been confused with lust. Until her mom insisted and dragged her to attend a chastity talk.

Finally, she decided to break off with the guy. Instead of engaging in sexual acts, what she did was she started writing love letters for her future husband whom she had not yet met. The letters indicated that ‘I did not give in to temptation tonight, because I am saving myself for you!’

After a few years, on her wedding day, she gave them all to her husband, who happened to be Jason himself! She also gave him a white candle with a fresh wick (as a symbol of preserving her body up to the time of marriage from her conversion).

I am sure there are numerous young women and men reading this article who can think as Chris Tiu does about the importance of chastity before marriage. They can distinguish between love and lust. They can have enough strength of character, reinforced by the grace from prayer and the Sacraments, so that chastity before marriage is not an impossible ideal for them.

They can give the lie to the insulting presupposition of those pushing for artificial contraceptives that chastity before marriage is an impossible ideal. For comments, my email address is bvillegas@uap.edu.ph.

TRIVIA: Anthonian symbols

2011-06-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

conography of St Anthony includes a series of symbols: youth, the habit, a book, the baby Jesus, the lily, a flame, a heart, bread. These express either a characteristic of his personality (memory functions), or the gifts and qualities which popular devotion have attributed to him (symbolic function).

The most widely diffused image is of Anthony as a young religious, with the Christ child in his arms and a lily in his hand.

Youth is connected to the ideal image of him as, pure, good, receptive to everyone.

The Franciscan habit (brown or black) is reminiscent of the Franciscan Order, but with some particular characteristics. Some people think - wrongly - that he created his own order and they have problems connecting him to St. Francis.

The baby Jesus is reminiscent of the vision that Anthony had in Camposampiero.

It also expresses his attachment to the humanity of Christ and his closeness to God.

The Lily represents his purity and his battle against the demon since childhood.

The flame indicates his love for God and his neighbour.

Many votive offerings are heart-shaped, and the reliquary for the voice box (larynx), found intact at the last recognition, has been made in the shape of a flame.

Bread is reminiscent of his charity to the poor. This image is connected with the charity "St. Anthony's bread for the poor", which is still operating.

This is also connected with Saint Anthony's Charities, which spreads the solidarity of St. Anthony all over the world.

In the end, the oldest image and that which is nearest to reality is represented by the book, a symbol of his science, of his doctrine, of his preaching and of his teaching, always inspired by the book par excellence: the Bible.

PRAYER FOR PRIVATE DEVOTION TO ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA-

2011-06-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

PRAYER TO RECOVER LOST OR STOLEN THINGS

O Blessed St. Anthony, The grace of God has made you a powerful advocate in all necessities and the patron for the restoration of things lost or stolen. To you we return today with child-like love and heartfelt confidence. How many thousands have you miraculously aided in the recovery of lost goods. You are the counselors of sinners, the comforter of the afflicted, the healer of the sick, the raiser of the dead, the deliverer of the captive, the refuge of the afflicted. To you do we hasten O Blessed St. Anthony. Help us in our affliction. We entrust what we have lost to your care, in the secure hope that you will restore it to be the greater glory of God and to the benefit of our soul. Amen..

A STUDENT’S PRAYER

St. Anthony, you distinguished yourself for truly human and Christian wisdom, I entrust my studies to your guidance. You know how important they are for my life and what commitment they require of me: grant me a firm will to apply myself with constancy, the intelligence to penetrate the wonders of science, a memory to remember and use what I have been taught.

May school be for me an arena of life where I may learn together with human knowledge the teachings of the Gospel.

Through your help, may I continue and conclude successfully may studies and thus be useful to others and find my place in life with Christian responsibility. Amen.

PANALANGIN PARA SA ARAW NG MGA INA

2011-05-06T05:16:00.000-07:00

Diyos na pinagmumulan ng Buhay
Diyos ng mga babaeng banal tulad nina Sara, Ruth, at Rebecca.
Diyos ni Elisabet na ina ni Juan Bautista

Diyos ng Mahal na Birheng Maria na ina ng iyong Anak na si Hesu-Kristo,
dinggin po ninyo ang aming panalangin, at pagkalooban ng pagbabasbas
ang lahat ng mga ina at lolang natitipon sa lugar na ito.

Basbasan mo po sila ng lakas na nagmumula sa iyong Banal na Espiritu
sapagkat sa pamamagitan nila natutunan ng mga anak at apo
kung paanong tumayo at lumakad,
kung paanong magsalita at maglaro,
at kung paanong makalapit sa Iyong banal na harapan
sa pamamagitan ng tapat na pananalangin.

Pagkalooban mo po sila ng biyayang makiisa sa Iyong Banal na Hapag
at matanggap ang Pagkaing nagbibigay buhay
sapagkat sila ang mga nagtaguyod at nagpakain sa amin
at sila din ang nagturo sa amin kung paanong itaguyod ang aming mga sarili
at ang aming mga pamilya.

Pagkalooban mo po sila ng kalusugan at kapayapaan,
ng galak at kaligayahan,
at ng pagkakataong kami’y kanilang maipagmalaki bilang mga anak.

Pagkalooban mo din po sila ng mga kaibigang mananatiling tapat
upang kanilang patuloy na madama ang Iyong pagkalinga’t pagmamahal.

Gayundin aming isinasama sa panalangin ang mga babaeng walang nakakaalaala
lalo na ang mga tahimik na itinataguyod ang kanilang pamilya,
naglilingkod ng may kababaang-loob, at nagtitiis ng hirap sa buhay para sa kapakanan ng kanilang asawa’t mga anak.

Kaya ang aming hiling, O Diyos ng kadalisayan,
na ika’y manahan sa aming lahat na naririto,
sa ngalan ng Ama, at ng Anak, at ng Espiritu Santo. Amen.

Evangelization is a challenge in digital world, says official

2011-05-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

ROME, May 5, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Evangelization in a world of communications technology is the biggest challenge the Vatican is facing today, according to the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

Archbishop Claudio Celli said this at a study day organized by Italian Catholic Action, leading up to this weekend's national assembly.

"The new technologies place us before unimaginable possibilities," the archbishop said.

The Vatican is taking steps to rise to the challenge. Last Monday, it hosted a meeting for bloggers, and Archbishop Celli noted another meeting held for Twitter users.

The 69-year-old prelate spoke of it as a phase of learning.

He pointed to a problem that bloggers trying to defend the faith are sometimes "unable to establish a dialogue."

This is a very important point, he stressed, because the "Pope does not invite us to proselytism or to a form of aggressive defense of what we believe."

Not just words

Archbishop Celli said Catholic communicators need to be aware of belonging to a Church "that does not just engage in communication but that is communication -- not of intellectual concepts, as if it were an ideology, but essentially communication of the love of God, of a God who loves man and seeks him with tireless love."

Sadly, "there still exists in the Church an instrumental view of the media," even though John Paul II already understood "that the new technologies were generating a new culture," the prelate claimed.

This new culture is reflected in the example of 400,000 primary school children in Uruguay studying on laptops, the archbishop proposed.

"From first grade," he said, "they learn to relate to and to know one another through the computer. To find out something they go to Wikipedia, and they connect from home with their friends. A child who lives in connection with others, for example, understands better what it means to be in communication." And he will also be able "to understand better what the Mystical Body of Christ is" because he will understand better what it means to be in communication with the Church.

Nevertheless, the Vatican official cautioned, a paradox exists, because "while one is connected, at the same time one is very alone."

Problem

How well is the Church able to communicate and proclaim the Gospel in this digital culture?

That is the basic problem, according to Archbishop Celli.

"We should ask ourselves to what degree we minister in the digital realm, and we have to understand outright that we are still lacking in this regard," he said. "To what degree do we know how to dialogue with the digital culture, with the youthful reality." This is "the greatest challenge we are facing."

To meet it, the Church needs the language of the culture, which implies more than just technology, he suggested.

What is entailed is a "cultural mediation in the context of this digital world," which requires "an anthropological dimension of language," Archbishop Celli said.

"It is necessary to understand the problems of the man of today," otherwise there can be technological initiatives that are beautiful, but ineffective, the prelate warned. There must be "a language that can be well understood, which succeeds in bearing within it the message of the Gospel."

Church sets prayer rally vs RH bill on May 9

2011-05-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Church has set May 9 as a “National Day of Prayer” to pray for the final rejection of the controversial Reproductive Health Bill in Congress.

Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles called on the faithful to devote special time in praying for the lawmakers that they reject the RH bill. He urged Catholics to pray the rosary regularly starting on Monday until the controversial measure is finally junked.

“I-alay natin ang pagdarasal ng rosary sa mga kongresista, Ssenador at kay Pangulong Aquino na maliwanagan ang kanilang pag-iisip at pahalagahan ang buhay,” Arguelles said in an interview over Radyo Veritas.

In Southern Philippines, Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said they are launching a “text brigade” for the success of the National Day of Prayer.

“This will manifest our unity. To show to everybody that all sectors of the society are against the proposed bill,” said Bagaforo.

“This is also an opportunity for us as one nation… one voice in prayer."

In Agusan Del Sur, Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos said the church will also lead a protest against the passage of the RH bill.

Pueblos said he is set to make a directive to his priests to observe the National Day of Prayer by also wearing blue or white shirts or by wearing white ribbon pins.

He said he will also order the holding of a prayer vigil on Monday.

“I will call my people to do this, let’s storm the heaven with prayers,” Pueblos said.

In Manila, the Church is currently on its 5th day of holding a novena-for-life against RH bill.

The novena will end on May 9, the day Congress will again take up the proposed legislative measure on birth control.

The novena-for-life is scheduled from 6:00 to 9:00 pm daily at the chapel of the Arzobispado in Intramuros, Manila. Report by CBCPNews

3 Laguna solons vows to reject RH bill - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

2011-03-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

3 Laguna solons vows to reject RH bill - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Panalangin sa Panahon ng Trahedyang Dulot ng Lindol at Tsunami sa Bansang Hapon*

2011-03-25T04:17:00.000-07:00

Diyos Amang makapangyariahan at mapagmahal,

Dumudulog kami sa ngalan ng Inyong Anak na aming Tagapagligtas, Kristong Hesus. Namimintuho kami para sa aming mga kapatid na labis na nagdurusa dahil sa matinding kalamidad na idinulot ng mga paglindol at tsunami sa bansang Hapon.

O, Panginoon, para sa kanila na binawian ng buhay at sa kanilang naghihinagpis sa pagkawala ng kanilang mga kaibiga’t kaanak, Iyong awa ang aming hiling.

O, Panginoon, para sa kanilang sugatan at naghihintay pa ng tulong, paghilom at pagkalinga ang aming naisin.

O Panginoon, para sa kanilang nagbibigay tulong at tumutugon sa pangangailangan ng lahat ng mga nasalanta pati na rin sila na ang tungkulin ay ang paghahanap sa mga nasawi, patnubay, lakas ng loob at higit pang materyal at espirituwal na biyaya ang aming dalangin.

O Amang mahabagin, alam namin na hindi Mo kami iiwanan at lilisanin. Kapiling ka namin magpakailan man, anumang pighati at trahedyang aming sapitin at harapin.

Ngayong panahon ng Kuwaresma, naway ang kaganapang ito ay magpasidhi pa ng aming pagititiwala at pananampalataya sa Iyo. Naway ang masaklap na pangyayaring ito ay maging paanyaya na kami’y makibahagi sa Iyong naisin na kami ay patuloy na tumugon nang bukas loob at walang pag-aalinlangan sa lahat ng mga nagdurusa at nangangailangan. Nawa’y higit pa kaming maudyok na makapagmahal nang walang kapalit upang sa gayo’y mabanaagan namin sa mga mukha ng aming kapwa ang mukha ng Iyong Anak.

Hinihiling namin ito sa ngalan ni Kristong Hesus na aming Tagapagligtas,

Amen

PANANAW AT MISYON NG PAROKYA NG SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA BINAN, LAGUNA

2011-03-24T03:31:00.000-07:00

PANANAW NG PAROKYA NG SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA BINAN, LAGUNA

Ang Bayan ng Diyos ng Parokya ng San Antonio de Padua, Binan, Laguna nagkakaisang naglalakbay tungo sa kaganapan ng buhay na may pananampalataya, pag-ibig at gawa upang maging isang kapatiran ng mga tunay na alagad ni Kristo at Iglesya ng mga Maralita.

MISYON NG PAROKYA NG SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA BINAN, LAGUNA

Pinasigla ng mga kaloob ng Espiritu Santo at sa patuloy na panalangin ni Maria, Ina ng Diyos, at ni San Antonio de Padua, kami ay nagtatalaga ng aming sarili sa:

Pagpapatatag ng isang buhay, masigla at nagkakaisang pamayanang Kristiyano, sa pamamagitan ng mga gawain ng pangangaral, paglinang at paghubog ng bawat namumuno at kasapi ng parokya;

Paglikha at pagpapatupad ng mga programa na magpapatibay sa kahalagahan ng pamilyang Kristiyano at pagpapalaganap ng Katekesis;

Pagtugon sa kakulangan ng mga taong higit na nangangailangan sa pamamagitan ng aktibong pakikisangkot sa mga isyung panlipunan tungo sa pag-unlad at pag-angat ng Dangal ng Tao.

Sa pamamagitan nito, magiging pamayanan kami ng mga tunay na alagad ni Kristo bilang Iglesya ng mga Maralita na maka-Diyos, makatao, makabayan at maka-Kalikasan.

Ang Pasimhay: Ang Pagbabalik!

2011-03-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

Matapos ang ilang taong pananahimik ay muling magbabalik ang isa sa mga katangi-tanging proyekto ng parokya higit sampung taon na ang nakakaraan.

Ang muling paglabas ng Ang Pasimhay Journal, ang opisyal na pahayagang pamparokya na pinangunahan at pinangasiwaan ng Parish Youth Ministry (PYM) noon at ngayon ay muling bibigyang buhay at sigla ng Anthonians@Work, ang New Media Ministry ng Parokya kasama ang ilang miyembro ng Ministry of Church Greeters and Collectors (MCGC) na dumaan sa isang selection process at kasalukuyang dumadaan sa ilang news and feature writing workshops and training.

Matapos ang isang taon na paghahanda sa paglabas ng bagong pahayagang pamparokya, ay ilulunsad na nga ito sa darating na April 10, 2011 upang ipakilala ang bagong pangasiwaan nito at upang ipasilip na rin sa publiko ang magiging anyo nito at lalamanin sa paglabas nito sa buwan ng Mayo 2011.

Kasama sa nasabing paghahanda ay ang muling pagbubukas ng blogsite ng parokya, ANG PASIMHAY ONLINE, na mahigit isang taon na hindi nagbigay at naglabas ng mga bagong balita tungkol sa parokya at sa mga grupong naglilingkod dito. Simula ngayon ay magkasabay ng maghahatid ng mga impormasyon at inspirasyon sa parokya ang ANG PASIMHAY JOURNAL at ANG PASIMHAY ONLINE.

Sa linggong ito ay ilulunsad na rin ng Anthonians@Work New Media Ministry ang fan page ng Parokya ng San Antonio sa Facebook at Twitter! Ang Pasimhay Facebook & Twitter Page!

See you then!

“Ang Bayan sa Mata ng Kabataan”: THE PPCRV BINAN YOUTH FORUM 2010

2010-03-04T04:43:00.000-08:00

This coming March 11, 2010, Thursday, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) of Biñan Laguna will be having a Youth Forum entitled “Ang Bayan sa Mata ng Kabataan”. The activity is in line also with the voter’s education activities of PPC-RV Biñan which aims to help the faithful especially the first time voters and our young people to develop an “informed and principled stand” on various issues of the country/society in view of the coming Elections.

For the said forum, the group was able to invite His Excellency, Most Rev. Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez as the Main Guest Speaker. Bishop Iñiguez is the current Bishop of the Diocese of Caloocan and concurrently the Director for Public Affairs of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). The forum will be held at the St. Theodore Hall of St. Michael’s College from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. During the forum we also invited the local COMELEC to present the new election process including the demonstration on the Precinct Count Optical Scan or popularly known as the PCOS Machine for the participants to have a better appreciation of the new process and on the machine itself.

BOTO KO DANGAL KO IPAGTATANGGOL KO! ( A Blue Ribbon Campaign)

2010-02-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

This coming May 2010 elections, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) of the Vicariate of Binan in cooperation with Anthonians@Work (A New Media Ministry) and Ministry of Church Greeters & Collectors of San Antonio de Padua Parish will be having a voters education campaign throughout the parish which aims to help the faithful develop an “informed and principled stand” on various issues of the country/society in view of the coming Elections.

The project shall be simply called as “Blue Ribbon Campaign” which will be symbolized by a blue ribbon pins. The campaign will be launched this coming February 14, 2010 Sunday at the San Antonio De Padua Parish during the 9:00 a.m. Mass. The campaign will carry the official motto of PPCRV: Boto Ko, Dangal Ko! Ipagtatanggol ko! as its battle cry. The said statement implies a very strong message of reminder and challenge to every citizen to protect our rights and do something to ensure that it will not be abused by anyone.

PROJECT MECHANICS:

To create a strong awareness on the program among the local electorates the organizers will distribute the following materials:
1. blue ribbon pins
2. blue arm bands
3. tarpaulin materials carrying the Blue Ribbon Icon along with the battle cry of the project.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Various activities will be held like Seminars, Forums, Contests, Film Showing and even Prayer Rallies/Motorcades to ensure its success.

INITIAL LISTS OF SERVICE PARTNERS:

Anthonians@Work-A New Media Ministry of San Antonio De Padua Parish
Ministry of Church Greeters & Collectors (MCGC) of San Antonio De Padua Parish
Catholic Women's League (CWL)
Parish Youth Council (PYC)
Parish Catechetical Ministry
Michaelian’s Business Management Society (MBMS) of St. Michael’s College of Laguna
Laguna Assistance Group (LAG)

ONLINE AGAIN!

2010-02-11T08:07:00.000-08:00

In the next few days, you will see the various news articles & features that were hold for publish for the last three months due to technical problems. . .

Church Province of Manila holds Congress of the Clergy

2009-11-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

The Ecclesiastical Province of Manila will hold a Congress of the Clergy on November 17, 2009 at the SMX Convention Center, MOA, Pasay City. The Congress is a pre-event of the Second National Congress of the Clergy set on January 25-29, 2010, at the World Trade Center, where more than 5,000 priests from all over the Philippines and even some countries in Asia, are expected to attend.

The provincial congress will gather priests from the Archdiocese of Manila and its suffragans of nine dioceses, two Apostolic Vicariates and the Military Ordinariate. The Dioceses are Antipolo, Cubao, Imus, Kalookan, Malolos, Novaliches, Parañaque, Pasig, San Pablo. The Apostolic Vicariates are Puerto Princesa and Taytay in Palawan.

The theme of the congress follows the theme of the Year for Priests (June 2009 to June 2010) as declared by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, “Faithfulness of Christ, Faithfulness of Priests.”

Diocese of Imus Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle will lead in the “Disposition Reflection on the Theme in Preparation for the Second National Congress of the Clergy.”

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales will preside at the closing Mass of the one-day Congress.

A SPOON OF LOVE A CUP OF SMILE (Hapag-mamahal at Hapag-Asa Parish Feeding Program) May 2009-October 2009

2009-11-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

Hunger of Body and Spirit

Of the many scourges that mankind faces, one might say that hunger is the most insidious of foes. Slowly, yet with sinister certainty, hunger and malnutrition eat away not just a person's health, but also his sense of self-respect, his dignity, and finally, his faith in the mercy of God.

The Parish, however, has always believed in the virtue of "small things", and that even the smallest advancement can make a considerable difference in a person's life - and thus, even the simplest of meals can still provide sustenance to a hungry child. While it is true that many families must cope with very meager resources, it is the belief of the Parish that - as in the story of the loaves and fish - modest resources coupled with a community spirit and faith in the compassion of a Merciful God, can indeed work miracles.

And so it was that in four (4) of the most populous areas in the Parish- Umboy Riverside, Faraon Subdivision, Garcia Subdivision Slums Area, Municipal Cemetery – the Parish began its humble efforts to give a handful of hungry children a spoon of love thru a hot and nutritious meal in exchange of a cup of smile.

Let the little ones come to Me …

A day at the Hapag-mamahal at Hapag-asa Feeding Program Site will start in much the same way as an ordinary day would start in homes across the country - with some exceptions. Here, the family is slightly larger, and includes volunteers from the parish as well as the mothers of some of the children who are the young beneficiaries of the program. Amid this domestic flurry, however, the project volunteers work to teach their young guests a number of ordinary habits that have extraordinary effects.

The food at the Hapag-mamahal at Hapag-asa table is simple, yet nutritious; it would not be unusual to see a bowl of steaming misua soup, made even tastier and truly healthful by the addition of vegetables - an excellent alternative to instant noodles. Yet what makes a meal at the Hapag-mamahal at Hapag-asa table truly a feast for the spirit are the gentle lessons learned by the children who come to share these simple yet nourishing meals. To say "magandang hapon po." To wash up before eating. To sit properly at the dining table. To say a prayer of thanks before a single morsel is eaten. Courtesy. Cleanliness. Self-respect. And yes, gratitude.

In many ways, the food that was offered at the Hapag-mamahal at Hapag-asa table is nourishment not only for the body, but certainly for the soul. The Hapag-mamahal at Hapag-Asa Program aims to alleviate extreme hunger among poor children in the parish. Its four major components: supplemental feeding, health education, spiritual formation and livelihood.

Good things lasts . . .

Last October 23, 2009, the Hapag-mamahal at Hapag-asa Parish Feeding Program ended after six months of daily servings of nutritious food prepared by volunteers from the different parish organizations. It is with deep pride and joy that all the malnourished sixty (60) children beneficiaries enrolled last May 2009 are already in normal nutritional status. However, in the end of the program only 59 children were able to attend the last day because one of the beneficiaries died two weeks before the end of the program due to vehicular accident.

During the last week of the program, the children were given especially prepared meals like chicken, pasta and pork that were donated by some generous individuals. The said feeding program is now considered as the most successful social action initiatives by the Parish given the outpouring of support from different groups and the outcome of the project itself.

The heroes of the program . . .

Members of Mother Butler Guild (MBG)
Members of Catholic Women’s League (CWL)
Members of Lectors and Commentators Ministry (LCM)
Members of El Shaddai Prayer Group
Members of Parish Catechetical Ministry (PCM)
Members of Ministry of Church Greeters & Collectors (MCGC)

Security Force of Barangay San Antonio
Brgy. Capt. Eric Jimenez
Brgy. Nutrition Scholar (BNS) Rowena V. Conde
Office of the Municipal Nutrition Action Office
Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office
Office of the Mayor of Binan, Laguna
Faculty & Staff of Pedro H. Escueta Memorial School
St. Michael’s College of Laguna

DSWD-Region IV-A
Kabisig ng Kalahi Foundation (Funder)
Mead Johnson Philippines
Unilever Philippines

Parish Newsbitz: Novena to San Lorenzo Ruiz starts today!

2009-09-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

In line with the celebration of the Feast Day of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, the novena in his honor will start today at 5:30 p.m. and will be followed by the Holy mass. The novenas will be held until September 27, 2009 Sunday and the Feast Day will be held on the 28th with a Holy Mass at 6:00 in the morning.

San Lorenzo Ruiz along with Blessed Pedro Calungsod is also being honored this month as Patron Saints of the Laity in observance of the National Laity Week that will start on September 27 to October 3, 2009.

Parish Calendar

2009-09-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

September 08, 2009
Celebration of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Holy Mass-6:00 p.m.
Procession-7:00 p.m.

September 12, 2009
Orientation & Workshop for the 2009 Parish Survey
7:30 p.m onwards
All members of the different ministries and organizations in the parish are required to attend.

September 26, 2009
-Parish Survey Day
-Kumpilang Bayan 2009

September 30, 2009
Laity Week Celebration of the Parish
6:00 p.m.-Holy Mass
7:00 p.m.-Program

October 3, 2009
Catholic LIfe in the Spirit Seminar (CLSS)
7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

2009 PARISH SURVEY-SEPTEMBER 26, 2009

2009-09-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

In view of the scheduled ad limina visit of His Excellency, Most Rev. Bishop Leo Drona D.D., Bishop of San Pablo, on December 2010, the Diocese has mandated all the parishes within its jurisdiction to prepare a Parish Statistical Report for the years 2002-2010 thru a Parish Survey. The said report is very much essential in the said visit of Bishop Drona for him to be able to effectively report to the Holy See the plight or true state of his Diocese.

For our part, our parish created a Parish Survey Committee that will specifically address the needs and requirements of the said undertaking. The committee has lined various activities to be able to ensure that the Parish will deliver its share on time and most importantly to submit a correct, precise and credible information with the end view of using the output for the betterment of the community.

SEPTEMBER 06-SEPTEMBER 25, 2009
Parish Survey Campaign-to promote awareness among the target audience of the survey thru constant reminders in the Holy Mass and public address system of the LGU to entice full cooperation.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2009 / SATURDAY at 7:30 p.m. onwards
Orientation and Workshop for the Enumerators and Volunteers

SEPTEMBER 26, 2009 / SATURDAY
Parish Survey Day

JUST A TRIVIA. . .
The visit ad limina means, technically, the obligation incumbent on certain members of the hierarchy of visiting, at stated times, the "thresholds of the Apostles", Sts. Peter and Paul, and of presenting themselves before the pope to give an account of the state of their dioceses. The object of the visit is not merely to make a pilgrimage to the tombs of the apostles, but, above all, to show the proper reverence for the Successor of St. Peter, to acknowledge practically his universal jurisdiction by giving an account of the condition of particular churches, to receive his admonitions and counsels, and thus bind more closely the members of the Church to its Divinely appointed head.

Parish Feeding Program Update

2009-08-23T07:23:00.001-07:00

The parish feeding program has been officially invited by Mead Johnson Nutrition and Kabisig ng Kalahi Foundation to participate in the story writing contest dubbed as Kwento Mula sa Puso wherein feeding program beneficiaries and their parents may send their stories based on their experiences, knowledge and lessons gained or the impact/importance of the Feeding Program during its six months of implementation. The Parish Feeding Program core group in cooperation with the Parish Catechetical Ministry Members will start to gather the stories of the participating Mothers this week to be able to catch up with the Monthly Finals this September 2009.

Parish News Bits

2009-08-23T06:55:00.001-07:00

Parish Youth Commission (PYC)

The group started already the recruitment & formation program for new members dubbed as Go Lets Seminar. The seminar series will run for four (4) consecutive weeks from August 22, 2009 to September 19, 2009 to be held at the Parish Multi-Purpose Hall from 7pm onwards.

Parish Catechetical Ministry (PCM)

Nagsimula na ang mga paghuhubog para sa mga nagnanais na makatanggap ng Sakramento ng Kumpil sa Parokya. Ito ay sinimulan ngayong araw, August 23, 2009 sa Sta. Catalina College sa pangunguna ng mga kabataang katekista mula parin sa Sta. Catalina College at mga aktibong myembro ng PCM.

Ministry of Church Greeters & Collectors (MCGC)

In view of the intention of the group to have its own installation or induction ceremony this coming September 2009, a formation seminar was held last August 21, 2009 for the first batch of members comprising of the Senior and Junior members in preparation for the said installation. Another session will be held on September 13 for the second batch to be comprised mostly of the newly recruited Greeters and Collectors.

The formation program of the group is now being handled by the newly formed Formation and Spiritual Development Group, tasks to handle the spiritual education requirement of MCGC comprised of its Senior Member Dingdong Baban, Ms. Jojie Alesna of the Parish Catechetical Ministry and Alice Javier of Sta. Catalina College as consultants/advisers.

San Antonio Youth Choir (SAYC)

Noong nakaraang Biyernes, August 21, 2009 ay nagkaroon ng Recollection ang mga kasapi ng San Antonio Youth Choir na pinangunahan ni Bro. Lito Angulo as the main facilitator. Ang nasabing gawain ay isang espesyal na pagkakataon para sa mga miyembro ng nasabing koro na magnilay sa pinaka dahilan at pundasyon ng kanilang panglilingkod sa Inang Simbahan. Ibat-ibang mga panayam ang ibinigay ni Bro. Lito kabilang na ang ilang mga group activities na tunay na nagpalalim at nagbigay inspirasyon sa kanilang pananampalataya at paglilingkod.

KUMPILAN BAYAN 2009

2009-08-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

Ipinaaalam po sa lahat na tayo po ay magkakaroon ng pagdiriwang ng SAKRAMENTO NG KUMPIL.

Ang lahat ng nagnanais tumanggap ay kinakailangan ang mga sumusunod bilang bahagi ng paghahanda:

Magpatala/magpalista sa Opisina ng Parokya hangang Ika-23 ng Agosto 2009
EDAD-12 taong gulang pataas
I-submit ang mga sumususod na dokumento:
-Birth & Baptismal Certificate
(Original & Photocopy/Xerox)
-Marriage Contract ng Magulang o kasulatan ng di pagiging kasal.
Dumalo ang Bata at mga Magulang sa mga takdang araw ng “Formation” o “Seminar”

SCHEDULE:
Aug. 23 & 30, 2009
Sept. 6 & 13, 2009

ORAS:
7:00-8:00 N.U (Banal na Misa sa Parokya)
8:00 N.U.-3:00 N.H. (Seminar-Sta. Catalina)

Ang mga ADULTS na may edad na 20 pataas ay magkakaraon ng hiwalay na paghuhubog o seminar.
Para sa mga karagdagang impormasyon o katanungan, kayo po ay maaaring makipag-ugnayan sa tanggapan ng ating Parokya:

ARAW: Martes haggang Linggo
ORAS: 9:00 N.U.-12:00 N.T.
2:00 N.H.-5:00 N.H.

Parish Feeding Program Celebrates NUTRITION MONTH

2009-07-28T02:14:00.000-07:00

The month of July is considered as the official month of Nutrition Awareness and various campaigns, program and activities are being held in schools and various communities. As part of our share in the said celebration, the Parish Feeding Program Secretariat came up with its own activities to celebrate the same as part of its continuing campaign against malnutrition.

The said activity was held last July 25, 2009 Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Parish Multi-Purpose Hall wherein various activities like cooking demonstration, lecture, games and raffles were held for the program beneficiaries and their parents. The program proper was attended by the Municipal Nutrition Action Officer (MNAO) of Binan, Ms. Doris Alias and Brgy. Captain Eric Jimenez of Brgy. San Antonio. The two officials proudly announced during the program that Barangay San Antonio was cited for being the lone barangay in Binan that developed and created a feeding program and with the church as the lead group. It was also disclosed that the program of the parish is now the model of the feeding program to be launched by the local government in other barangays given the effective formula created by the parish. The sincerest appreciation of the parish to the Barangay Government particularly to Brgy. Chairman Eric Jimenez for the every day assistance of the Barangay Government who provides the service for the beneficiaries and their parents and the volunteers were relayed by one of the Pillars of the Program, Ms. Jojie Alesna in behalf of the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Toochy Ubarco.

After the program proper, two sessions of cooking demo were held for the parents of the beneficiaries that were led by the members of Catholic Womens League and Mother Butler Guild with Tofu Picadillo and Mock Meat (Kalabasa and Tofu Mixture) Balls as featured menu. The new Kapamilya of the Parish Feeding program, the Colegio San Antonio, also joined the activity that day by facilitating the simple childrens party for the beneficiaries along with the members of the Parish Catechetical Ministry (PCM)who also provided the values formation session earlier that day.

Another good news that day was provided by the resident Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) volunteer of the program, Mrs. Rowena Villaruz-Conde. According to her, for the last three (3) months of the program, almsot 70% of the children beneficiaries has already normalized in terms of weight, the remaining 30% are actually in the almost near to normal status already and expected to reach the normal level in the next two to three weeks. The program has already reached the half of the required feeding program period and it was disclosed that substantial achievement has already been reached and the remaining months will be allotted to maintain and further improved the beneficiaries' health status.

This coming August 15, 2009, a medical and dental mission solely for the program benefiaries and their parents will be held in cooperation with the Binan Medical and Dental Society, College of Nursing of SMCL and Ministry of Church Greeters and Collectors (MCGC)

Parish Newsbits: "The Parish Visits the Binan Prison Inmates"

2009-07-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, July 25, 2009 the parish was given the opportunity to visit and interact with the prison inmates of the Binan Municipal Jail as part of the Prison Awareness Month. Rev. Fr. Toochy Ubarco led the Eucharistic celebration, the highlight of the activity, along with some of the members of the various ministries and organizations of the parish. After the mass, the group distributed foods and other small items that were prepared by the parish as a simple gesture of care and love to our brothers in the Jail.

The activity is an annual undertaking organized by the Vicariate of Binan that intends to awaken the public on the plight of the prisoners. Various programs were also lined up by the Vicariate thru the parishes that will promote and provide programs and opportunities to meet the unique needs of the prisoners and their families, ex-prisoners and their families, victims and their families, the correctional employees and the volunteers in prison service.

BREAKING NEWSBITS: Adoracion Nocturna Filipina Turno 1193 Imposes New Members

2009-07-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

This afternoon San Antonio De Padua Parish scored another milestone when Rev. Fr. Toochy Ubarco, Parish Priest, imposed a total of 18 new adorers mostly from the Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Eucharist(EMHC). The ceremony was also attended by the ANF National President and the Section President of Binan, Br. Ding Ang as witnesses of the imposition.

In his message, Fr.Ubarco reminded the group and the new adorers of their distinct role in the church especially in these trying times that prayers is needed. Also, on his part, the ANF National President stressed the need to encourage the young people to join the adorers group to ensure that the organization will remain alive and active being one of the most oldest organization in the Catholic Church. It took almost a year before the group was formally imposed although mid of last year, the group revived the monthly Eucharistic Adoration in the Parish every third saturday of the month.

Sambahin ang Panginoon-Magpakailanman!

GRAND PARENTS DAY-JUNE 26, 2009 (Feast of Sts. Joachim and Ann)

2009-07-26T05:48:00.000-07:00

In the Scriptures, Matthew and Luke furnish a legal family history of Jesus, tracing ancestry to show that Jesus is the culmination of great promises. Not only is his mother’s family neglected, we also know nothing factual about them except that they existed. Even the names Joachim and Ann come from a legendary source written more than a century after Jesus died.

The heroism and holiness of these people, however, is inferred from the whole family atmosphere around Mary in the Scriptures. Whether we rely on the legends about Mary’s childhood or make guesses from the information in the Bible, we see in her a fulfillment of many generations of prayerful persons, herself steeped in the religious traditions of her people.

The strong character of Mary in making decisions, her continuous practice of prayer, her devotion to the laws of her faith, her steadiness at moments of crisis, and her devotion to her relatives—all indicate a close-knit, loving family that looked forward to the next generation even while retaining the best of the past.

Joachim and Ann—whether these are their real names or not—represent that entire quiet series of generations who faithfully perform their duties, practice their faith and establish an atmosphere for the coming of the Messiah, but remain obscure.

Comment:

This is the “feast of grandparents.” It reminds grandparents of their responsibility to establish a tone for generations to come: They must make the traditions live and offer them as a promise to little children. But the feast has a message for the younger generation as well. It reminds the young that older people’s greater perspective, depth of experience and appreciation of life’s profound rhythms are all part of a wisdom not to be taken lightly or ignored.

Quote:

“...[T]he family is the foundation of society. In it the various generations come together and help one another to grow wise and to harmonize personal rights with the other requirements of social life” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 52).

GOSPEL & REFLECTION TODAY: JULY 04, 2009

2009-07-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Gospel: Mt 9:14–17
The disciples of John came to him with the question, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not your disciples?”
Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? Time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast.
“No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole in the coat. Besides you don’t put new wine in old wineskins. If you do, the wineskins will burst and the wine be spilt. No, you put new wine in fresh skins; then both are preserved.”

REFLECTION
We all operate on two levels of consciousness: the first consciousness, or the Esau personality, propels our physical life and focuses on the self. Its actions and desires are motivated by the quest for self-preservation and self-gratification. The second consciousness, or the Jacob personality, is drawn to its divine source, striving to become one with the all-pervading truth of God. When we have two distinct personalities living within the same body, it is hard to expect our inner workings to be an inviolable whole. Why are even the most spiritually refined people vulnerable to earthly, animalistic cravings? And why is it so much more difficult to talk to God than to gossip?
Through prayer, reflection and meditation, an intense, divine energy can overcome our animal personality. The animal personality desperately needs the continuous guidance and discipline of its divine counterpart for cultivation and refinement. But, in this process, the animal personality grants the spiritual personality a boundless creativity and passion that it could never attain on its own. It is only through union that our twin personalities can reach their ultimate potential; and it is in our collaboration with God that we fulfill the objective for which we were created!

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/daily-gospel/07/03/09/gospel-july-04-2009-saturday

FEATURE ARTICLE: Prayer for Children's Spiritual Well-Being

2009-06-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

How important is it to you that your children have good grades in school, have lots of friends and succeed in sports and other activities? How much time do you spend helping your children with their homework, driving them to band practice or watching them play basketball? Now compare that with how much time you spend supporting your children in their spiritual journeys.

Your children’s sports statistics and school grades are not indicative of their spiritual health. While these can be legitimate concerns, success in athletics and academics will not necessarily help them love their neighbor better or grow in their relationship with God. You must show your children the way to heaven—by your words and example. And you must pray for them.

Father, you have given me beautiful children. I want them to love you here on Earth and live forever with you in heaven.

Fill them with your grace. Send down your Spirit upon them. Grant them faith, hope and love. Protect them from evil, and show them the way to you.

FEATURE ARTICLE: Prayer for Patience with Children

2009-06-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

While your children bring you pride and joy, they also cause you great consternation. Don’t they understand that you are telling them the truth? Don’t they understand that you know best?

First, you must change your attitude. You are not always right. And even when you are right, you must understand that your children are autonomous individuals, walking their own paths. You made mistakes, and they will make mistakes. They cannot always see things the way you do, because they are not you.

If you wish to teach your children, you must do so with love. Then you must pray and wait. Lack of patience will only lead to further misunderstanding and resistance. To grow in patience you must grow in love and faith: love for your Lord and love for your children, faith in your Lord and faith in your children.

Lord Jesus, you know my great pain: My children do not understand my direction ,and I have run out of patience.

This hurts because I love my children very much.

I cannot raise them well on my own. I need your help. These children are more yours than mine.

Help me trust that, in your love for them, you will protect them.

I ask for the grace of patience. Even if my children do not understand my opinion, may they know that I love them.

Saint Joseph, father of my Lord, intercede for me, that I may be a good father.

PANALANGIN SA ARAW NG MGA AMA

2009-06-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Ama naming Makapangyarihan, Maylikha ng langit at lupa.

Noong iyong ipinagkaloob sa amin ang Iyong Bugtong na Anak na si Hesukristo upang maging aming Manunubos, niloob mong ipagkatiwala Siya sa ilalim ng pangangalaga ni San Jose bilang kanyang ama dito sa lupa.

Hinihiling naming Inyo pong basbasan ang lahat ng mga ama at lolong natitipon sa pagdiriwang na ito ng Banal na Eukaristiya.

Pagkalooban mo po sila ng lakas buhat sa iyong Banal na Espiritu; upang kanilang mahalin nang may katapatan at pagmamahal ang kanilang asawa;

Upang kanilang maitaguyod ng may pagtitiyaga ang kanilang mga pamilya;at upang sila ay maging huwaran ng mabuting pamumuhay bilang mga Kristiyano.

Amin ding inaala-la ang lahat ng mga amang naghahanap-buhay sa labas ng bansa upang kanilang matustusan

Ang mga pang araw-araw na pangangailangan ng kanilang pamilya.
Manatili nawa silang tapat sa Iyong mga kautusan, manatili nawa silang tapat sa kanilang mga sinumpaang pananagutan sa sakramento ng kasal;

At iadya mo po sila sa ano mang uri ng sakuna at karamdaman sa pangangatawan.
Ito’y aming hinihiling sa pamamagitan ni Hesukristo kasama ng Espiritu Santo magpasawalang hanggan.

Amen.

CHURCH NEWS BITS: June 2009 to June 2010 as Year for Priests & Year of the Two Hearts for Peace-Building and Lay Participation in Social Change

2009-06-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has declared June 2009 to June 2010 as Year for Priests. In conjunction with this the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines also declared the same period as Year of the Two Hearts for Peace-Building and Lay Participation in Social Change. The celebrations for both open on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart last June 19, 2009.

Let this period dedicated by the Church for the Sanctification of Priests inflame in us and in all the faithful under our care a deeper love for Jesus and His most Sacred Heart, full of trust on Mary, His Mother, and our Mother, too, that she will constantly and lovingly guide us to Her Son.

KAPISTAHAN NI SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA, ISANG MALAKING TAGUMPAY!

2009-06-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

Isang maringal na pagdiriwang ang naganap noong nakaraang Kapistahan ni San Antonio De Padua sa Parokya. Maraming mga kaparian ang nakilahok sa mga Banal na Misa nang araw na iyon na pinangunahan ng Lubhang Kagalang-galang Obispo Leo M. Drona ng Diyosesis ng San Pablo. Sa kanyang homiliya ay binigyan diin ng Mahal na Obispo ang naging buhay, pagpapakasakit at kabanalan ng Mahal na Patron San Antonio. Sa kanyang pagtatapos ay hinimok niya ang lahat na isabuhay ang pananampalataya sa pamamagitan ng gawa.

Ang araw na iyon ay tunay ngang espesyal at katangi-tangi nang dahil na rin sa ilang mga bagay tulad ng mga bagong kasuotan ng mga Kaparian na nakilahok at nakiisa sa pagdiriwang kung saan makikita ang imahe ni San Antonio De Padua at ng batang si Hesus, ang mga naggagandahang bulaklak na espesyal na inayos at ginawa para sa Altar at sa paligid nito at ang mga bagong awitin na inihanda ng mga Koro ng Parokya.

Ang lahat ng apat na Misa sa buong araw ay dinagsa din ng maraming tao na pagpapatunay lamang na magpahanggang sa ngayon ay buhay na buhay ang pamimintuho sa Mahal na Patron San Antonio De Padua. Ang napakalaking tagumpay ng Kapistahan ni San Antonio De Padua ay produkto ng pagsasama-sama at pagtutulungan ng ibat-ibang samahang pansimbahan sa pangunguna ng Kura Paroko, Reb. Padre Toochy Ubarco kaagapay ang buong pamunuan ng Barangay sa pangunguna ni Kapitan Eric Jimenez at kanyang konseho at higit sa lahat ang tulong at panalangin ng mga parokyano ni San Antonio De Padua.

Unang Araw ng Nobenaryo-Ika-4 ng Hunyo 2009

2009-06-04T05:24:00.000-07:00

Ngayong araw Huwebes ika-4 ng Hunyo taon 2009, ay pormal ng binuksan at sinimulan ang selebrasyon ng Kapistahan na ating Mahal na Patron, San Antonio De Padua sa pamamagitan ng Nobena at Banal na Misa sa loob ng siyam na araw. Kapansin-pansin na marami ang mga nakilahok at dumalo sa unang araw ng Nobenaryo sa Karangalan ni San Antonio.

Isa ng tradisyon sa ating Parokya ang mag-imbita ng ibat-ibang mga kaparian mula sa mga kalapit na parokya at distrito upang pangunahan ang Banal na Misa sa siyam na araw ng Nobenaryo. Ang unang araw ng nobenaryo ay pinangunahan ni Rev. Fr. Zaldy Urgena, ang Kura Paroko ng Nuestra Senora Dela Paz y Buenviaje Parish sa Brgy. Dela Paz.

Sa kanyang homiliya, ay binigyan diin ni Fr. Zaldy ang tungkol sa 2 mahalagang utos ng Diyos, ang Pagmamahal sa Diyos at sa kapwa. At ayon sa kanya, ang pagsunod sa utos ay may dalawang uri, ang una ay pagsunod dahil sa udyok ng pagmamahal at ang isa ay pagsunod dahil sa tayo ay napipilitan lamang. Ang ating patron, si San Antonio, ayon pa rin sa kanyang paglalahad ay isa mga patunay ng pagsunod ng dahil sa pagmamahal. Nang dahil sa pagmamahal ni San Antonio, nagawa niyang magpakasakit at magpakababa para sa kaluwalhatian ng Poong Maykapal.

Sa kanyang pagtatapos ay kanyang ibinigay ang isang hamon, tanungin natin ang ating mga sarili, "Ano nga ba ang kalooban niya para sa atin? At ano ang gagawin natin ukol dito?

Thirteen-day Novena to Saint Anthony

2009-05-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

Dear brothers and sisters, let us present our petitions to Jesus, so that through Saint Anthony's intercession, He may pour out His mercy on us.

1. O Lord, you have made Saint Anthony an apostle of the Gospel. Grant us, through his intercession, a strong and humble faith and make our lives coherent with the creed that we profess.

Glory be to the Father…

2. O God Almighty, you have made Saint Anthony a constructor of peace and fraternal charity. Look upon the victims of violence and war. Grant that in this confused world full of tensions, we may become courageous witnesses of non-violence, promoting human life and peace.

Glory be to the Father…

3. O God, you have granted Saint Anthony the gift of healing and performing miracles. Grant us health of soul and body. Grant serenity and solace to those who have asked for our prayers and make us always ready to serve the sick, the elderly and the distressed.

Glory be to the Father…

4. O Lord, you made Saint Anthony an untiring preacher of the Gospels along mankind's many paths. In your Fatherly mercy protect the homeless, refugees and emigrants; keep them safe from every danger and guide their steps along the path of peace.

Glory be to the Father…

5. O God Almighty, you granted Saint Anthony the power to reunite severed limbs. Reunite all Christians in your One and Holy Church, and grant that we may all live the mystery of unity, thus becoming one heart and one soul.

Glory be to the Father…

6. O Lord Jesus, you made Saint Anthony a great master of spiritual life. Grant us the ability to renew our lives according to the teachings of the Gospel and the beatitudes, and make us promoters of spiritual life for our brothers and sisters.

Glory be to the Father…

7. O Jesus, you granted Saint Anthony the incomparable grace of holding you as a child in his arms. Bless our children, and grant that they may grow in goodness and in health and that they may live their lives in the fear of God.

Glory be to the Father…

8. O Merciful Jesus, you granted Saint Anthony the wisdom and gifts necessary to guide souls to holiness through his preaching and priestly ministry. Grant that we may approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the great gift of your love, with humility and faith.

Glory be to the Father…

9. O Holy Spirit, in Saint Anthony you gave the Church and the world a great master of holy doctrine. Grant that all those who work in the sphere of information may feel the great responsibility they have and serve truth in charity and with respect for others.

Glory be to the Father…

10. O Lord, you are the Lord of the harvest. Through the intercession of Saint Anthony send many worthy religious and priests into your field, fill them with zeal, generosity and your love.

Glory be to the Father…

11. O Jesus, you called the pope to be a universal pastor, high priest and messenger of truth and peace. Through the intercession of Saint Anthony sustain and console him in his mission.

Glory be to the Father…

12. O Holy Trinity, you granted Saint Anthony the grace to know, to love and to glorify the Virgin Mary, your Blessed Mother, and our Heavenly Mother, grant that we may grow ever closer to her motherly heart, to better serve, love and glorify you, who are love itself.

Glory be to the Father…

13. O Lord, you allowed Saint Anthony to meet sister death with a serene soul. Direct our lives towards you, assist the dying and grant eternal peace to the souls of our departed brothers and sisters.

Glory be to the Father…

DEAR ST. ANTHONY: Help me to find

2009-05-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Saint Anthony is famous throughout the world as the saint who finds lost objects, from everyday items to important documents, to faith itself. The prayer that follows invokes Saint Anthony's aid in the search for what has been lost.

Glorious Saint Anthony, for centuries you have exercised the God-given power to find what was lost. Help me to recover God's grace and make me zealous in the service of God and in the practice of virtue. Let me find whatever I have lost, thus showing me the presence of your goodness.
(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be)

Let us pray

Saint Anthony, glorious servant of God, famous for your merits and powerful miracles, help us to find what was lost, give us help during moments of trial and enlighten our minds in the search for God's will. Help us to find once again the life of grace, which our sin destroyed, and lead us to the glory promised to us by our Saviour. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

MAY THE MONTH OF MARY

2009-05-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

by Friar Mario
messengersaintanthony.com

MAY IS that time of the year in which piety is especially directed to Our Blessed Lady; it is the occasion for a tribute of faith and love to the Queen of Heaven.

In his 1965 Encyclical Mense Maio (the Month of May), which focuses on the Mother of God, Pope Paul VI wrote, “During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God’s mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance”.

Many painters and sculptors have represented and continue to represent the Madonna holding the Baby Jesus very tightly and closely to herself. She seems to be afraid that somebody will try to take him away from her, or even just try to touch him. In my opinion, these artists have not understood Mary’s fundamental attitude, which is that of offering, of giving, and not of possessing.
Personally, I find Donatello’s bronze statue of the Virgin Mary, which can be admired on the High Altar of the Basilica of Saint Anthony, much more insightful. Mary has been captured in the act of standing up from her throne, reaching out in front of herself. She is holding the Baby Jesus like a paten, as an offering, and the smiling Baby seems to want to escape from his mother’s arms, almost as if he were looking for an infinite number of other hands and arms to receive him. I would even go so far as to say that in both the Madonna and the Child one can note a kind of impatience: the impatience of wanting to give something immediately.

Mary brought her son into the world but, unlike most mothers, she did not have any pretensions about wanting to keep him for herself. She gave her son to the world, to humankind. She knew full well that her son did not belong to her, but was destined to belong to others. Her son was a gift from God for all of us. The Gospels present Mary of Nazareth as a silent person who prefers to remain in the background, almost hidden, as it were.

Mary is the woman who does not step into the limelight. Her presence is a teaching of discretion and giving: it is the Word that must speak and be heard, not her. We should not be upset by this: the monstrance that bears the Word is splendid inasmuch as it is wrought from the same rare material of silence, and this silence of Mary expresses fullness, not lack of ability.

In front of that masterpiece of God which is the Virgin Mary, the correct stance for us should be that of contemplation, of openness and of silence. Devotion to Mary is really authentic if it makes us look at our inner selves, if it produces meditation on our faith which is nurtured above all by God’s love, rather than by apparitions and miracles. After all, even Mary had to find answers for the many doubts in her life without any special assistance.

Luke the Evangelist ends his version of the Annunciation with the phrase “Then, the Angel left her.” This is certainly not a happy ending. If anything it is a difficult and binding beginning. Mary was left alone, with no further extraordinary communication or reassuring message which removed her doubts. She had to make her journey with the help of her own faith, and not with the special assistance of an angel. Even in her life, as in our lives, her doubts and questions grew. She had to draw light from the darkest moments, and did not find easy ready-made answers. The angel had finished speaking, and from that moment on Mary would have to question the events of her life in order to try and understand. The same is true for all of us.

KAPISTAHAN NI SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA

2009-05-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

Sa darating na Ika-4 ng Hunyo 2009 ay sisimulan na sa ating parokya ang siyam (9) na araw ng Nobenaryo sa karangalan ng ating patron San Antonio De Padua. Ang Banal na Misa ay idaraos sa ganap na ika-6 ng hapon na magsisimula sa Hunyo 4 hanggang Hunyo 12 kung saan maraming mga kaparian ang inimbitahan upang pangunahan ang mga nasabing misa at pagninilay sa kapistahan ni San Antonio De Padua. Sa darating na Ika-13 ng Hunyo araw ng kapistahan ni San Antonio, ang mga oras ng Misa ay ang mga sumusunod:

Ika-6 ng umaga-Pangungunahan ng Kanyang Kabunyian,Obispo Leo Drona
Ika-7 ng umaga
Ika-8 ng umaga
Ika-9 at kalahati ng umaga-Misa Konselebrada
Ika-5 ng hapon-Huling Misa

UPDATE ON THE PARISH FEEDING PROGRAM

2009-05-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last May 08, 2009, the Parish Feeding Program started with 60 malnourished children from different areas in the Parish as beneficiaries. These children were selected by the Barangay Nutrition Council thru its Brgy. Nutrition Scholar (BNS) in coordination with the Municipal Social Welfare Office and Municipal Nutrition Action Officer of Binan, Laguna. The organizers of the program is using the approach and techniques provided by the Department of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD) Region IV-A on a per module basis composed of the required manpower complements for the food preparations, marketing, meal menu and even the education/formation of the parents beneficiaries.

The facilities of the Parish Hall serves as the official kitchen area of the program while the covered court of the Pedro H. Escueta Memorial School in Garcia Subdivision is chosen as the official feeding venue of the program given the proximity of the place and convenience on the part of the beneficiaries. The venue is also a good site for the available space for the Gulayan sa Bakuran project of the program which will be launched this June 2009 for the benefit of the parent’s beneficiaries.

The feeding program is on a daily basis Monday to Friday at 4:00 in the afternoon. This coming June 2009 various sub-programs within the project itself will be launched with the assistance of other private and government agencies that will complement the very purpose of the program which include the following:
• Gulayan ni San Antonio (container and backyard gardening project)
• Nutrition Education Program to be led by the Municipal Nutrition Action Officer of MSWD
• Kabuhayan 101-a livelihood education and training program to be led by the professors and students of the College of Business Administration of St. Michael’s College of Laguna.

Also, this coming school year, the organizers will start to accept student volunteers thru the Bayanihan sa Parokya Project as part of the community service awareness campaign of the program wherein they will be given exposures and hands on experience on every aspect of the program from food preparations to parent’s education and training activities. For those who are interested to join you may contact the following numbers:
049-511-7895 (Parish Office)
0932-222-9711 (Feeding Program Secretariat)

Isang Pagpupugay sa Dakilang Ilaw ng Tahanan-An Open Letter to all the Mothers of the Parish during the 2009 Mothers Day Tribute

2009-05-14T03:38:00.000-07:00

NANAY NGAYON ANG ESPESYAL NA ARAW MO, OO MARAMING OKASYON AT SELEBRASYON KUNG SAAN MAARI KONG ALALAHANIN ANG IYONG PAGMAMAHAL AT PAGKALINGA SUBALIT ANG ISANG ITO ANG KATANGI-TANGI DAHIL ITO ANG ARAW KUNG SAAN HIGIT KONG DAPAT NA ALALAHANIN ANG IYONG PAGIGING INA, ANG DAKILANG BOKASYON NG ISANG BABAENG TULAD MO.

DAHIL DITO ‘NAY, BAYAAN MONG BUKSAN KO ANG NILALAMAN NG PUSO KO SA ORAS NA ITO SA PAMAMAGITAN NG MGA PAGBABALIK ALAALA SA MGA NAKARAANG PANGYAYARI SA ATING DALAWA NITONG NAGDAAANG MGA ARAW:

• SA DINAMI-DAMI NG MGA NAGAWA KONG KASALANAN SA IYO ALAM KO AT NARARAMDAMAN KO KUNG ALIN SA MGA ITO ANG HIGIT NA DUMUDUROG SA PUSO MO. MARAMING PAGKAKATAON HINDI AKO NAGSASABI NG TOTOO SA ILANG MGA BAGAY , TUMATAKAS AKO SA MGA PAGKATATAON NA KAILANGAN MO ANG AKING PRESENSYA PARA SA MGA GAWAING BAHAY LAHAT NG MGA ITO BALEWALA LANG SA IYO, MINSAN NAKAKAPAGTAAS KA NG BOSES DAHIL SA MGA ITO PERO MADALING MAPAPAWI ANG GALIT MO.

PERO ‘NAY NATATANDAAN MO BA ANG UNANG PAGKAKATAON NA NAGAWA KONG MAGTAAS NG BOSES SA IYO AT SIGAWAN KA? SARIWANG SARIWA SA AKING DIWA ANG PANGAYAYARING IYON. . .HINDI KA NAGSALITA NAKATINGIN KA LANG SA AKIN. . .NATULALA KA AT NAPAISIP SA AKING GINAWA. . .

• MAY MGA PAGKAKATAON NA HINDI TAYO NAGKAKAINTINDIHAN SA ILANG MGA BAGAY AT USAPIN SA BAHAY, PILIT MONG PINAPALIWANAG AT ITINUTURO SA AKIN ANG DAPAT GAWIN PERO DAHIL SA TINGIN KO MAS TAMA AKO HINDI KITA PINAKINGGAN. . .AT NAGALIT KA DAHIL DITO PERO MATIGAS TALAGA ANG ULO KO AT HINDI KO MATANGGAP ANG SINASABI MO KAYA AAMININ KO MASAMA ANG LOOB KA SA IYO. . .GALIT AKO ‘NAY, YAN ANG DAHILAN KUNG BAKIT HAGGANG NGAYON HINDI KITA PINAPANSIN AT KINIKIBO. . .

‘NAY PASENSYA KA NA WALA AKONG LAKAS NG LOOB NA LUMAPIT SA IYO AT PERSONAL NA IPALIWANAG ANG NARARAMDAMAN KO, HINDI NAMAN AKO SANAY NA KAUSAPIN KA NG GANITO. . .ALAM KO ITO ANG IYONG ARAW, PERO MAY DALAWANG BAGAY LANG AKO NA GUSTONG HINGIN SA IYO SA PAGKAKATAONG ITO . . .KAHIT NGAYON LANG,

‘NAY PWEDE BA KITANG YAKAPIN NG MAHIGPIT? TULAD NOON, NA KAPAG AKO’Y NA SA IYONG BISIG WALANG ANUMAN O SINUMAN ANG MAARING MAKASALING SA AKIN, ANG DAMING KONG PROBLEMA NGAYON ‘NAY, ISANG YAKAP LANG. . .

AT HALIKAN MO NAMAN AKO SA NOO, YUNG DATING MONG GINAGAWA? ANG HALIK NA KAPAG DUMADAMPI SA AKING NOO AY NARARAMDAMAN KO ANG IYONG PAGHINGA, ANG IYONG PAGHINGA NA NAGBIGAY SA AKIN NG LAKAS NA MAGPAHANGGANG NGAYON AY AKING TAGLAY.

ANG PASIMHAY IS ONLINE AGAIN!

2009-05-14T02:19:00.000-07:00

After more than 2 months of being offline, the site has already been re-activated and will give its fresh new looks in the next few weeks! More news and feature articles including fresh photos will be uploaded in the next few days for everyone to be continually updated in all the activities of the Parish. To be able to give the best service, the Administrator of the site shifted to a new ISP, it's now the GLOBE BROADBAND that will provide the internet access and services requirements of the administrator.

WELCOME BACK!

UPDATE ON THE PARISH FEEDING PROGRAM

2009-02-24T06:27:00.000-08:00

Just recently, Ushers & Collectors Ministry (UCM) received a notice from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)Regional Office thru its Head, Mrs. Precy Escalante that the Hapag-asa, Hapagmamahal Feeding Program of UCM has already been accredited by the Department.

As an accredited partner of the DSWD, UCM will be receiving logistics and financial support from the NGO partner of DSWD for the feeding programs, the Kabisig ng Lahi Foundation including support and assistance from Unilever Philippines and Mead Jhonson Philippines for the entire 6 month duration of the program.

Under the program, 60 identified malnourished children under the level 1 and 2 classifications as validated and confirmed by the local social workers helping the UCM since last year shall be provided an everyday meal including milk supplements for 6 months. The beneficiaries has already been identified from key areas of the program like Garcia Subdivision, Faraon Subdivision and Umboy Riverside.

Mrs. Escalante revealed that the people from Kabisig and their partners from Unilever and MeadJohnson are very excited with the tie up with UCM considering that it will be the very first time in the history of the program that they will be working with a religious/parish based organization. Kabisig is expecting to launch the program in the parish this coming March 2009 and has already scheduled a visit to the Parish next week to meet the core group of UCM handling the program including the selected parents of the beneficiaries to ensure the effective and smooth implementation of the program.

PARISH VISITA IGLESIA 2009-PRIMER II-ILOCOS NORTE

2009-02-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

Brief History

Long before the coming of the Spaniards, there already existed an extensive region (consisting of the present provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra and La Union) renowned for its gold mines. Merchants from Japan and China would often visit the area to trade gold with beads, ceramics and silk. The inhabitants of the region, believed to be of Malay origin, called their place "samtoy", from "sao mi toy", which literally meant “our language.”

In 1591, when the Spanish conquistadors had Manila more or less under their control, they began looking for new sites to conquer. Legaspi's grandson, Juan De Salcedo, volunteered to lead one of these expeditions. Together with 8 armed boats and 45 men, the 22 year old voyager headed north. On June 13, 1572, Salcedo and his men landed in Vigan and then proceeded towards Laoag, Currimao and Badoc. As they sailed along the coast, they were surprised to see numerous sheltered coves ("looc") where the locals lived in harmony. As a result, they named the region “Ylocos” and its people “Ylocanos.”

As the Christianization of the region grew, so did the landscape of the area. Vast tracks of land were utilized for churches and bell towers in line with the Spanish mission of "bajo las campanas". In the town plaza, it was not uncommon to see garrisons under the church bells. The colonization process was slowly being carried out.

The Spanish colonization of the region, however, was never completely successful. Owing to the abusive practices of many Augustinian friars, a number of Ilocanos revolted against their colonizers. Noteworthy of these were the Dingras uprising (1589) and Pedro Almasan revolt (San Nicolas, 1660). In 1762, Diego Silang led a series of battles aimed at freeing the Ilocanos from the Spanish yoke. When he died from an assassin's bullet, his widow Gabriela continued the cause. Unfortunately, she too was captured and hanged. In 1807, the sugar cane ("basi") brewers of Piddig rose up in arms to protest the government's monopoly of the wine industry. In 1898, the church excommunicated Gregorio Aglipay for refusing to cut off ties with the revolutionary forces of Sen. Emilio Aguinaldo. Unperturbed, he established the "Iglesia Filipina Independiente". Aglipay’s movement and the nationalist sentiment it espoused helped restore the self-respect of many Filipinos.

In an effort to gain more political control and because of the increasing population of the region, a Royal Decree was signed on February 2, 1818 splitting Ilocos into two provinces: Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. Soon thereafter, the provinces of La Union and Abra likewise became independent.

Political Subdivision

Ilocos Norte has 22 municipalities namely: Adams, Badoc, Bacarra, Bangui, Batac, Burgos, Carasi, Currimao, Dingras, Dumalneg, Espiritu, Marcos, Nueva Era, Pagudpud, Paoay, Pasuquin, Piddig, Pinili, San Nicolas, Sarrat, Solsona and Vintar. Laoag converted into a city on June 19, 1965 under R.A. 4584, remains as capital. The municipalities and Laoag City are further subdivided into 550 barangays and 2 districts.

Climate

The province experiences dry season from November to April and wet season from May to October. Annual rainfall is 2,067.2 mm. while average temperature is 27.8oC. The province is occasionally visited by tropical cyclones and storms during the southwest monsoon season.

Population

Population of the province in 2000 was 514,241. This figure is projected to increase to 553,080 in 2005.
Language / Dialect

Ilocano (Iloko) is the major dialect. English and Filipino are the tools of instruction in schools.
People, Culture and Arts

“Ilocanos” comprise the overwhelming majority of the province’s inhabitants, although there are small communities of Isnegs and Tinguians in the eastern and southeastern fringes of the province. The people do not differ from other Ilocanos in customs, but as a result of the establishment of the Aglipayan Church, a majority of the population are members of the independent church.

Hundreds of years of Catholic preeminence had made Ilocos Norte home to many old Catholic Churches. Most famous is the Paoay Church which is a unique combination of baroque and Southeast Asian motifs blended into a distinct style called earthquake baroque. Another is The Cathedral of St. William the Hermit (San Guillermo) that possesses a unique two-storey façade held up by four pairs of coupled columns.

The province is also the birthplace of many important personalities whose ancestral homes had been converted to museums. The Juan Luna Shrine in Badoc, is a preserved brick-type house of the hero-painter and is a repository of his memorabilia, including replicas of his masterpieces. Another museum called Balay ti Ili (house of the people) is the ancestral home of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

Major Industries

Agriculture is the main livelihood of the people. Garlic is the principal cash crop. Fishing and manufacturing are other industries. Cottage industries include weaving, pottery, blacksmithing and furniture-making.

PARISH VISITA IGLESIA 2009-PRIMER-ILOCOS SUR

2009-02-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

The Visita Iglesia (Visit of the Churches) is one of the most pleasant traditions that Catholics observe during the Lenten season.

And by going to the right churches, Catholics can do two things at the same time: Offer a solemn prayer and immerse in culture kept alive within church walls.

For this year, the Parish has chosen the magnificent province of Ilocandia as this year's place of the Visita Iglesia. As a primer of the said activity, the site has decided to feature the province of Ilocos for the parishioners to have a better appreciation of the province and its culture.

ILOCOS SUR

Brief History

Before the advent of the Spanish Regime, settlements already existed along the coves or “looc” in the northern part of Luzon. These settlements called the “Ylocos” which extended from Bangui in the north to Namacpacan in the south were discovered during the expedition led by Juan de Salcedo in 1572.

Juan de Salcedo decided to establish his headquarters in a settlement along the Mestizo River, then named “Kabigaan” because of the “gabi” like plants abundantly growing by the bank of the river. Vigan also became the seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia and was called “Ciudad Fernandina” in honor of King Ferdinand. Vigan remains to be the capital city of Ilocos Sur.

On February 2, 1818, the Ylocos was divided into two provinces: Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. At that time, Ilocos Sur encompassed what are now the northern towns of La Union up to Luna and Abra. Also annexed were Lepanto and Amburayan in Mt. Province. Act 2683 passed on March 1917 by the Philippine Legislature defined the present geographical boundaries of Ilocos Sur.

Geography

Ilocos Sur is located along the western coast of Northern Luzon It is bounded by Ilocos Sur Norte on the north, Abra on the northeast, Mt. Province on the east, Benguet on the southeast, La Union on the south and the China Sea on the west. Its area of 2,579.58 square kilometers occupies about 20.11 % of the total land area of Region 1.

The topography of Ilocos Sur is undulating to rolling with elevations ranging from 10 to 1,700 meters above sea level.

Political Subdivision

Ilocos Sur has 32 municipalities and 2 cities which are subdivided into 764 barangays. They are Alilem, Banayoyo, Bantay, Burgos, Cabugao, Caoayan, Cervantes, Galimuyod, Gregorio del Pilar, Lidlidda, Magsingal, Nagbukel, Narvacan, Quirino, Salcedo, San Emilio, San Esteban, San Ildefonso, San Juan, San Vicente, Santa, Santiago, Sta. Catalina, Sta. Cruz, Sta. Lucia, Sta. Maria, Sto. Domingo, Sigay, Sinait, Sugpon, Suyo, Tagudin. The cities include Candon City and Vigan City.

Climate

The climate is generally dry as defined by the Hernandez type of climate. Classification is characterized by more dry months usually from October to May. However, the southernmost portion (part of Cervantes) is observed to be humid and rain is even distributed throughout the year while the eastern part of Sugpon is dry with rain not sufficiently distributed. August has the most rainfall while January and February have the least. The mean temperature in the province is 27oC. January is the coldest.

Population

In the 2000 census, the population of Ilocos Sur was 594,206. Vigan City, the capital of Ilocos Sur, has a population of 45,143. The population in the province for year 2000 increased by 1.85% relative to the 1995 census.

Language / Dialect

Filipino and English are the basic tools of instruction in schools while Ilocano is the principal dialect. Kankanaey and Itneg are spoken in cultural communities.

Religion

Christianity is widely spread in the province. Approximately 85 percent of the total population professes Roman Catholicism, the prevailing religion in the province. The remaining percentage of the population professes to Protestantism, Buddhism, Iglesia ni Cristo, Aglipayan, Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Seventh Day Adventists.

Major Industries

The people are engaged in farming producing food crops mostly rice, corn, vegetable, rootcrops and fruits. Non-food crops include tobacco, cotton and tigergrass. Cottage industries include loomweaving, furniture making, jewelry making, ceramics, blacksmithing and food processing.

VISITA IGLESIA

2009-02-19T04:52:00.000-08:00

Q: Why do people visit seven churches on Holy Thursday?

A: The custom goes back to the early Church when Christians would visit the seven great basilicas in Rome for adoration of the blessed sacrament after the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. The sacramentary, the official altar book of the Church, says that after this Mass, "The faithful should be encouraged to continue adoration before the blessed sacrament for a suitable period of time during the night, according to local circumstances, but there should be no solemn adoration after midnight."

Visita Iglesia is a practice in cities, where there are many churches, in countries as diverse as Malta, Poland, Ireland and The Philippines. Filipinos have brought it to places in North America that never had it before.

- Source: The Catholic Herald

GOSPEL REFLECTION: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

2009-02-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

The Gospel for this Sunday is not just about leprosy otherwise it would be irrelevant to most of us here since we don’t have leprosy. Nevertheless, the message of the Gospel today, and also, of course, the message of the Church, is: Jesus can heal you. Jesus can make you clean.

But we have to stop thinking in terms of physical diseases. We have to go to the level of sin; that is really what Jesus came to take away. If he is not curing you or your loved one from some disease, or taking away some difficulty, it is because it is not his will to do so; it is not his will to intervene.

Leprosy has always been a clear image of sin. It is contagious, disfiguring, repulsive, cuts us off from the community, and causes death. We can see our bodies but we can’t see our souls. Leprosy we can see; sin remains invisible.

But God can see our soul. He can see whether it is diseased and ugly, dead or alive.

The Good News is that although Jesus, for the good of our soul, may delay healing us of disease, he is ‘dying’ to heal our soul from sin. How? Well, if it’s a matter of an everyday sin (a venial sin), Jesus has ALREADY relieved us of that burden during the Penitential Rite of the Mass. Indeed, every time we make a sincere act of sorrow our venial sins are forgiven. However, if it’s a matter of a grave sin (a mortal sin), we have only to come to the priest in Confession and acknowledge that sin to him. In Jesus’ name he will forgive that sin or those sins and relieve us instantly of that burden. What’s stopping us; what's stopping you? The leper in today’s Gospel was not allowed to approach Jesus but he did. What’s stopping you from approaching Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where he is waiting, longing for you - to set you free?

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Are you ashamed? Are you frightened? Are you proud?
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Are you in denial about your sin? - I have no sin.
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Are you uncertain about whether to confess to a priest?

To all of them I say “Well don't be!"

Don’t be ashamed. Don’t be frightened. Don’t be proud. Don’t be uncertain about whether Jesus wants to use a priest to forgive your sins. He sent lepers to the priests and he sends sinners to the priest.

I sit in that confessional every weekend but very few people come. Is that because no one commits mortal sin anymore? No. It is because today people deny they have mortal sin: I have no leprosy! This is certainly one of the grave evils in the Church today; the denial of mortal sin.

Are you not sure whether you have sin? Whether you are a leper? The priest will tell you .. don’t worry about that. In the Old Testament if people thought they might have leprosy they went to see the priest and if they thought they had been cured they went to see the priest. Jesus told the leper in today’s gospel to go and see the priest.

And what would I say? I would say what the Church says:

Using contraceptives because you want to avoid pregnancy? - you are in sin; had a tubal ligation, vasectomy? - you are in sin; sleeping with someone outside of marriage? - you are in sin; divorced and then remarried outside the Church? - you are in sin; consulting fortune tellers or mediums? - you are in sin; had an abortion, or advised someone to have an abortion? - you are in sin, grave sin; deliberately missing Mass on Sunday? you are in sin; going to Holy Communion without confessing grave sin? - you are in sin.

It does not matter to God whether we are in our Sunday best and going to Mass every Sunday because he can see our souls as plain as the nose on our face, and if we are in mortal sin we are to God as ugly as lepers, even uglier.

It does not matter to me if the church is filled to the brim with parishioners if they are not in communion with Jesus and his Church; in other words, not in the state of grace.

If you are in mortal sin there is something you must do first, you must go to confession.

Jesus can make you clean and Jesus wants to make you clean through the absolution given by the priest. What could be more simple?

Do you know that Jesus is so eager to take away our sins that he is willing to become a leper for us? Look at what happens in today’s Gospel: The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived.

Jesus is willing to make himself a leper for us; what more could he do? So what’s keeping us? What’s keeping you?

GOSPEL REFLECTION: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

2009-02-07T00:18:00.000-08:00

Today is the 5th Sunday in Ordinary time and for the last three weeks the readings have been looking at the man Jesus setting out on his mission to preach the Good News of the Kingdom.

On the 2nd Sunday we saw Jesus inviting the disciples of John to follow him to ‘come and see’ where he lived. We see their excitement as they return home after spending only a day with him and announcing: We have found the Messiah!

Then on the 3rd Sunday we saw the attraction Jesus has for those seeking the truth. He calls four men to become his apostles and they follow without hesitation.

Last week, the 4th Sunday, we saw Jesus teaching in the synagogue and all were impressed by the authority of his teaching and astonished at the power of his word which could give orders even to unclean spirits.

And today we meet him once again in the Gospel. We see him at work; we watch him in action. We draw closer to him, trying to get to know him and understand him a little better.

So what do we see about Jesus in today’s Gospel?

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We see a strong, energetic, busy Jesus, working hard to spread the Good News of the Kingdom. From the synagogue where he cast out the evil spirit from a possessed man he went straight to Simon’s house and cured his mother-in-law. Then crowds came and after sunset he is still working. Long before dawn he got up for prayer: let us go elsewhere (let us keep moving) … he went all through Galilee.

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There is a sense of urgency, of mission, of energy, of driven-ness. Jesus is like the sower of seed who doesn’t stop to look back where the seed has fallen but one who goes on sowing.

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We see a man of great simplicity and power. Jesus comes to the bed of Simon’s mother-in-law and takes her by the hand and helps her up – her illness now gone. The words of Jesus and the deeds of Jesus are one and the same thing, equally powerful. Simplicity and power!

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We see a man of prayer, a man who keeps his priorities straight; his relationship to his Father stays in the first place. A man who refuses to let the busy routine dictate the terms of his life. A man who defends the spiritual from the practical, as well as from the temptation of popularity.

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Finally, we see a man who is busy teaching us. Not only by what he says but by what he does.

This Gospel shows us one of the greatest and most significant aspects of what Jesus came to teach us. When he goes off to preach elsewhere and leaves behind all those who are not yet cured and who are still suffering he shows us that he did not come to take all this away. He could have gone on curing till there was no one left to cure but in moving on he showed us that he had not come to inaugurate a paradise on earth without illness or suffering.

Nor did he exempt himself from suffering.

Jesus came to show us by the example of his life and death that the way to happiness and eternal life was through the human situation – and not around it.

Jesus did not come to take away our suffering but to show us how to make it – in union with him – a vehicle to eternal life. He came to bring happiness IN our human condition – and not through exemption from it.

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Do we live our Christian life with a sense of urgency, with a sense that the day will come when it will end and that then it will be too late for all the things we need to accomplish?

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Are we simple and humble about how we deal with others or do we have lots of self interest? Are we simple about our good deeds?

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Are we people of prayer? Do we put energy into our prayer? Do we make time for prayer, even getting up early, like Jesus? Do we look for a time and a place, every day? If Christians are serious about their Christian life they will pray.

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Are we constantly praying for exemptions from suffering; for privileges, for favours? Or do we pray for the strength to remain happy and peace in these sufferings?

Our present life is a special time of grace, a time of favour. Let us set to work before it runs out.

Ang mas pinasiglang Pondo ng Pinoy!

2009-01-30T05:47:00.000-08:00

Abangan ang pagbabalik ng mas pinasiglang Pondo ng Pinoy sa Parokya sa pangunguna ng Parish Catechetical Ministry at mga bagong kaagapay.

Mulin nating alalahanin at sariwain ang mga gintong aral ng Pondo ng Pinoy mula sa mga mensahe ng Kanyang Kabunyian Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales. . .

Lazarus, the beggar, was not asking to be seated with the rich; neither was he asking for the food of the wealthy man. The question here is neither of wealth nor of position. The poor was only asking for crumbs, useless scraps that fell from the rich man’s table of daily living. When the quarrel is over millions and billions, the stake is for the devil; but when the issue is about crumbs and morsels the obvious destiny is heaven as the saying goes “Ano mang magaling, kahit maliit, basta’t malimit ay patungong langit.”

How true to the Lord’s teaching on littleness as the beginning steps to the Kingdom of heaven. Feeding the poor and providing for the needs of the disadvantaged will begin with as little as crumbs we gather everyday.

We have already weighed a crumb and its value is 25 centavos. Every Filipino believer in the goodness and love of God, as expressed in Jesus His Son, will set aside “a crumb”, 25 centavos everyday. An educational component, called catechesis, will always accompany the witnessing to the values of Pondo ng Pinoy. No one gives more than one peso a day. (Of course for others, crumbs can be relative in size or value.) The practice will make love and compassion a way of life.

Pondo ng Pinoy is about the love of God lived by us. It is about the littleness in the expression of the love of God in behalf of our brothers and sisters. It will involve all of us – rich and poor, strong and weak, young and old, educated or untutored, priests, bishops, religious, brothers, sisters, the laity, teachers, students, anyone – who accept the love and goodness of God in His Son Jesus.

The Church is the initiator. The Church is the motivator. The Church is the steward.

But again do not be deluded into thinking that PnP is merely a resource enhancing movement. It is an evangelization tool and a development process. Through its catechesis, Pondo ng Pinoy is slowly going to clarify the person’s vision and it will set an aim in life. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls that life he wanted to give us as “fullness of life.” (John 10:10). The Church calls this now as “integral evangelization”. Through the love of God and the poor Pondo ng Pinoy will help purify one’s values. Participated in collectively, a community of believing citizens will slowly transform to a community of a “built up” people who belong to the Father’s Kingdom and not just to an uncaring nation.

Make sure that daily every Filipino will have just enough love for God and brother or sister even only the size of “a crumb”.

If you have that love, join us in this movement!

If you cannot spare God and his poor that little morsel then do not join us. Take your “crumb” with you, and go where the rich man in the parable was told by God to go.

PnP is PONDO NG PINOY.
PnP is PAGIBIG NG PANGINOON.
PnP is PAGASA NG PILIPINO.

GOSPEL REFLECTION-Year B: Mark 1:21-28 - A new kind of teaching, with authority - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2009-01-30T03:57:00.000-08:00

In the Scriptures we frequently hear mention of the city of Capernaum, it was on the north west shore of the sea of Galilee and was the centre of Jesus' activities in Galilee. It is in the synagogue that Mark describes the first public act of Jesus and we hear that Jesus is powerful in both word and deed.

On the Sabbath the service in the Synagogue would feature prayers, Scripture readings and teachings in fact our Liturgy of the Word follows a similar pattern. Anyone with sufficient learning would be invited to teach as there was no need for Rabbinic "ordination" in the time of Jesus.

The Scribes based their teaching on the Scriptures but we hear that the teaching of Jesus was 'new', so Jesus' style would have been more direct and confident of his own authority because when Jesus spoke about God he was speaking about a God he called Abba.

While Jesus did heal the man passed by a demon, he shows that he is not merely a wonder worker because of the authority of his teaching. The demon objects to Jesus' meddling in the domain of evil. The coming of God's kingdom would spell the end of the demon's power and the demon recognises Jesus' identity and his significance for the coming kingdom.

The fact that Jesus cures the possessed man by word alone indicates the power of God's incarnate Word, Jesus. You and I are exposed to the power of God's word every time we read or listen to the Scriptures. We can thank the teachings of the Second Vatican Council for the greater significance Catholics now place on the Scriptures. To be denied God's Word would make us a "people who live in darkness".

When we live in the darkness of secularism we can be possessed by various demons - uncontrollable urges to participate in addictions or activities that shrink the life out of us and can turn us into bitter, angry, frightened and anxious people. Addictions to drugs, to alcohol, to power, to materialism, to consumerism, to gossip, to vindictive behaviour, all deny us the openness needed to be Christ's disciples.

It is worth considering what it is that we need to be liberated from and ask God to free us, so that when we interact with people they encounter a person of peace, a person of love, a person of hope, a person who makes them wonder what it is that makes us different. The answer would be found in the liberation that God gives us when we open ourselves to God's incredible love.

HAPAG-MAMAHAL HAPAG-ASA SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDING PROGRAM UPDATE:

2009-01-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

The Feeding program of the Parish at Umboy Riverside is already on its 6th week now and almost 150 children are being served every Saturday morning. Aside from the senior members of UCM, there are other regular volunteers also from the Municipal Social Welfare Office of Binan including two (2) nurse volunteers from the University of Perpetual Help System-Laguna who’s sharing their precious time for these less fortunate children. The documentation and updating of the records of the beneficiaries are assigned to them for proper monitoring purposes especially with the intention of the DSWD to accredit and link the program to the existing health care and nutrition programs of the government.

Starting next week, January 31, 2009, the second phase of the program or the Lecture/Briefing Sessions with the Parents of the beneficiaries will already commence wherein issues and concerns on heath care and sanitation will be given emphasis. The sessions will run for four (4) consecutive Saturdays to be led by the College of Nursing of St. Michaels College of Laguna.

The group is simultaneously working on the third (3rd) phase of the program which is the livelihood components for the parents also of the beneficiaries which will start immediately after the Health Care and Sanitation Sessions in the next few weeks. The livelihood components shall be handled by another group of NGO’s who made the commitment last year to support the program.

The Image of the Sto. Nino

2009-01-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

The country’s oldest and most precious Christian relic, the
Santo Nino, is with Magellan’s Cross, the most popular symbol of Cebu. Expressive of the pleasing oppositions in Cebuano culture, it is at once both foreign and native. In history, it was made by Flemish artisans, brought to the island by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. In local tradition, it is a miraculous piece of wood, cast out of the Visayan sea, worshipped from “times immemorial”.

On the other hand, it is a powerful deity that, in the colonial period, was called Capitan General and honored with a 21-gun salute when taken out from the church for a procession. On the other hand, it is an icon that “disappears” to become a playful and innocent child cavorting with peasants and fishermen. Invoked by rulers and subjects to the present day, enshrined in business suites and cardboard shanties, it is metaphor for Cebuanos as a people and for what they desire.

A Tale Of The Santo Nino

2009-01-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

It is told that when, in the days of Legaspi, the capital was moved from Cebu to Manila, the authorities decreed that the image of the Sto. Nino should also be moved to the new capital.

So, the image was crated and shipped to manila, but the crate arrived there empty. The image miraculously disappeared, reappearing in its shrine in Cebu. It was recreated, and the crate placed inside another box, and then shipped to manila. Again, the boxes arrived in Manila empty. The image was crated a third time, and the crate placed not in one but in two boxes - but in vain. The Santo Nino was back in Cebu.

Eventually, the shippers sent the image out in a series of Chinese boxes, one inside another, with the seventh and inner-most box containing the image. In this manner, the image arrived in Manila and was enthroned in the Augustinian church of the capital city. The image, however, kept disappearing from the Augustinian church and reappearing in its shrine in Cebu. And so, it is told, the Manila Augustinians decided to cut off one of the Holy Child’s legs to stop it from escaping and returning to Cebu. This proved of no avail. The Santo Nino still kept on returning to Cebu

Manila finally gave up and Cebu kept its little Lord. Today, it is said, one can still notice how unevenly the Santo Nino stands. It is a sign of how, at one time, it had been amputated to keep it from returning to its beloved home.

In other versions of this story, the image was shipped not to Manila but to Spain. Whatever the version, however, it is a story told to show how intimately wedded to each other Cebu and the Santo Nino have become.

UCM BADMINTON TOURNAMENT 2009

2009-01-04T05:05:00.000-08:00

The Bread of St. Anthony (BSA), the social action arm of Ushers & Collectors Ministry (UCM) will be having a Badminton Tournament entitled “Smash for Love” on February 15, 2009 Sunday in cooperation with San Antonio Badminton Club to be held at the Smashers Point Badminton Court in Brgy. Sto.Nino, Binan, Laguna, near the University of Perpetual Help System-Binan Campus. The said tournament is for the benefit of the group’s various community service outreach projects including the on-going Supplemental Feeding Program at Umboy Riverside, and the Free Dental & Circumcision Mission in cooperation with Binan Medical & Dental Society to be held on April 18, 2009.

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE WORLD DAY OF PEACE 1 JANUARY 2009

2009-01-02T08:25:00.000-08:00

FIGHTING POVERTY TO BUILD PEACE

1. Once again, as the new year begins, I want to extend good wishes for peace to people everywhere. With this Message I would like to propose a reflection on the theme: Fighting Poverty to Build Peace. Back in 1993, my venerable Predecessor Pope John Paul II, in his Message for the World Day of Peace that year, drew attention to the negative repercussions for peace when entire populations live in poverty. Poverty is often a contributory factor or a compounding element in conflicts, including armed ones. In turn, these conflicts fuel further tragic situations of poverty. “Our world”, he wrote, “shows increasing evidence of another grave threat to peace: many individuals and indeed whole peoples are living today in conditions of extreme poverty. The gap between rich and poor has become more marked, even in the most economically developed nations. This is a problem which the conscience of humanity cannot ignore, since the conditions in which a great number of people are living are an insult to their innate dignity and as a result are a threat to the authentic and harmonious progress of the world community” [1].

2. In this context, fighting poverty requires attentive consideration of the complex phenomenon of globalization. This is important from a methodological standpoint, because it suggests drawing upon the fruits of economic and sociological research into the many different aspects of poverty. Yet the reference to globalization should also alert us to the spiritual and moral implications of the question, urging us, in our dealings with the poor, to set out from the clear recognition that we all share in a single divine plan: we are called to form one family in which all – individuals, peoples and nations – model their behaviour according to the principles of fraternity and responsibility.

This perspective requires an understanding of poverty that is wide-ranging and well articulated. If it were a question of material poverty alone, then the social sciences, which enable us to measure phenomena on the basis of mainly quantitative data, would be sufficient to illustrate its principal characteristics. Yet we know that other, non-material forms of poverty exist which are not the direct and automatic consequence of material deprivation. For example, in advanced wealthy societies, there is evidence of marginalization, as well as affective, moral and spiritual poverty, seen in people whose interior lives are disoriented and who experience various forms of malaise despite their economic prosperity. On the one hand, I have in mind what is known as “moral underdevelopment”[2], and on the other hand the negative consequences of “superdevelopment”[3]. Nor can I forget that, in so-called “poor” societies, economic growth is often hampered by cultural impediments which lead to inefficient use of available resources. It remains true, however, that every form of externally imposed poverty has at its root a lack of respect for the transcendent dignity of the human person. When man is not considered within the total context of his vocation, and when the demands of a true “human ecology” [4] are not respected, the cruel forces of poverty are unleashed, as is evident in certain specific areas that I shall now consider briefly one by one.

Poverty and moral implications

3. Poverty is often considered a consequence of demographic change. For this reason, there are international campaigns afoot to reduce birth-rates, sometimes using methods that respect neither the dignity of the woman, nor the right of parents to choose responsibly how many children to have[5]; graver still, these methods often fail to respect even the right to life. The extermination of millions of unborn children, in the name of the fight against poverty, actually constitutes the destruction of the poorest of all human beings. And yet it remains the case that in 1981, around 40% of the world's population was below the threshold of absolute poverty, while today that percentage has been reduced by as much as a half, and whole peoples have escaped from poverty despite experiencing substantial demographic growth. This goes to show that resources to solve the problem of poverty do exist, even in the face of an increasing population. Nor must it be forgotten that, since the end of the Second World War, the world's population has grown by four billion, largely because of certain countries that have recently emerged on the international scene as new economic powers, and have experienced rapid development specifically because of the large number of their inhabitants. Moreover, among the most developed nations, those with higher birth-rates enjoy better opportunities for development. In other words, population is proving to be an asset, not a factor that contributes to poverty.

4. Another area of concern has to do with pandemic diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Insofar as they affect the wealth-producing sectors of the population, they are a significant factor in the overall deterioration of conditions in the country concerned. Efforts to rein in the consequences of these diseases on the population do not always achieve significant results. It also happens that countries afflicted by some of these pandemics find themselves held hostage, when they try to address them, by those who make economic aid conditional upon the implementation of anti-life policies. It is especially hard to combat AIDS, a major cause of poverty, unless the moral issues connected with the spread of the virus are also addressed. First and foremost, educational campaigns are needed, aimed especially at the young, to promote a sexual ethic that fully corresponds to the dignity of the person; initiatives of this kind have already borne important fruits, causing a reduction in the spread of AIDS. Then, too, the necessary medicines and treatment must be made available to poorer peoples as well. This presupposes a determined effort to promote medical research and innovative forms of treatment, as well as flexible application, when required, of the international rules protecting intellectual property, so as to guarantee necessary basic healthcare to all people.

5. A third area requiring attention in programmes for fighting poverty, which once again highlights its intrinsic moral dimension, is child poverty. When poverty strikes a family, the children prove to be the most vulnerable victims: almost half of those living in absolute poverty today are children. To take the side of children when considering poverty means giving priority to those objectives which concern them most directly, such as caring for mothers, commitment to education, access to vaccines, medical care and drinking water, safeguarding the environment, and above all, commitment to defence of the family and the stability of relations within it. When the family is weakened, it is inevitably children who suffer. If the dignity of women and mothers is not protected, it is the children who are affected most.

6. A fourth area needing particular attention from the moral standpoint is the relationship between disarmament and development. The current level of world military expenditure gives cause for concern. As I have pointed out before, it can happen that “immense military expenditure, involving material and human resources and arms, is in fact diverted from development projects for peoples, especially the poorest who are most in need of aid. This is contrary to what is stated in the Charter of the United Nations, which engages the international community and States in particular ‘to promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic resources' (art. 26)” [6].

This state of affairs does nothing to promote, and indeed seriously impedes, attainment of the ambitious development targets of the international community. What is more, an excessive increase in military expenditure risks accelerating the arms race, producing pockets of underdevelopment and desperation, so that it can paradoxically become a cause of instability, tension and conflict. As my venerable Predecessor Paul VI wisely observed, “the new name for peace is development”[7]. States are therefore invited to reflect seriously on the underlying reasons for conflicts, often provoked by injustice, and to practise courageous self-criticism. If relations can be improved, it should be possible to reduce expenditure on arms. The resources saved could then be earmarked for development projects to assist the poorest and most needy individuals and peoples: efforts expended in this way would be efforts for peace within the human family.

7. A fifth area connected with the fight against material poverty concerns the current food crisis, which places in jeopardy the fulfilment of basic needs. This crisis is characterized not so much by a shortage of food, as by difficulty in gaining access to it and by different forms of speculation: in other words, by a structural lack of political and economic institutions capable of addressing needs and emergencies. Malnutrition can also cause grave mental and physical damage to the population, depriving many people of the energy necessary to escape from poverty unaided. This contributes to the widening gap of inequality, and can provoke violent reactions. All the indicators of relative poverty in recent years point to an increased disparity between rich and poor. No doubt the principal reasons for this are, on the one hand, advances in technology, which mainly benefit the more affluent, and on the other hand, changes in the prices of industrial products, which rise much faster than those of agricultural products and raw materials in the possession of poorer countries. In this way, the majority of the population in the poorest countries suffers a double marginalization, through the adverse effects of lower incomes and higher prices.

Global solidarity and the fight against poverty

8. One of the most important ways of building peace is through a form of globalization directed towards the interests of the whole human family[8]. In order to govern globalization, however, there needs to be a strong sense of global solidarity [9] between rich and poor countries, as well as within individual countries, including affluent ones. A “common code of ethics”[10]

is also needed, consisting of norms based not upon mere consensus, but rooted in the natural law inscribed by the Creator on the conscience of every human being (cf. Rom 2:14-15). Does not every one of us sense deep within his or her conscience a call to make a personal contribution to the common good and to peace in society? Globalization eliminates certain barriers, but is still able to build new ones; it brings peoples together, but spatial and temporal proximity does not of itself create the conditions for true communion and authentic peace. Effective means to redress the marginalization of the world's poor through globalization will only be found if people everywhere feel personally outraged by the injustices in the world and by the concomitant violations of human rights. The Church, which is the “sign and instrument of communion with God and of the unity of the entire human race” [11] will continue to offer her contribution so that injustices and misunderstandings may be resolved, leading to a world of greater peace and solidarity.

9. In the field of international commerce and finance, there are processes at work today which permit a positive integration of economies, leading to an overall improvement in conditions, but there are also processes tending in the opposite direction, dividing and marginalizing peoples, and creating dangerous situations that can erupt into wars and conflicts. Since the Second World War, international trade in goods and services has grown extraordinarily fast, with a momentum unprecedented in history. Much of this global trade has involved countries that were industrialized early, with the significant addition of many newly- emerging countries which have now entered onto the world stage. Yet there are other low-income countries which are still seriously marginalized in terms of trade. Their growth has been negatively influenced by the rapid decline, seen in recent decades, in the prices of commodities, which constitute practically the whole of their exports. In these countries, which are mostly in Africa, dependence on the exportation of commodities continues to constitute a potent risk factor. Here I should like to renew an appeal for all countries to be given equal opportunities of access to the world market, without exclusion or marginalization.

10. A similar reflection may be made in the area of finance, which is a key aspect of the phenomenon of globalization, owing to the development of technology and policies of liberalization in the flow of capital between countries. Objectively, the most important function of finance is to sustain the possibility of long- term investment and hence of development. Today this appears extremely fragile: it is experiencing the negative repercussions of a system of financial dealings – both national and global – based upon very short-term thinking, which aims at increasing the value of financial operations and concentrates on the technical management of various forms of risk. The recent crisis demonstrates how financial activity can at times be completely turned in on itself, lacking any long-term consideration of the common good. This lowering of the objectives of global finance to the very short term reduces its capacity to function as a bridge between the present and the future, and as a stimulus to the creation of new opportunities for production and for work in the long term. Finance limited in this way to the short and very short term becomes dangerous for everyone, even for those who benefit when the markets perform well[12].

11. All of this would indicate that the fight against poverty requires cooperation both on the economic level and on the legal level, so as to allow the international community, and especially poorer countries, to identify and implement coordinated strategies to deal with the problems discussed above, thereby providing an effective legal framework for the economy. Incentives are needed for establishing efficient participatory institutions, and support is needed in fighting crime and fostering a culture of legality. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that policies which place too much emphasis on assistance underlie many of the failures in providing aid to poor countries. Investing in the formation of people and developing a specific and well-integrated culture of enterprise would seem at present to be the right approach in the medium and long term. If economic activities require a favourable context in order to develop, this must not distract attention from the need to generate revenue. While it has been rightly emphasized that increasing per capita income cannot be the ultimate goal of political and economic activity, it is still an important means of attaining the objective of the fight against hunger and absolute poverty. Hence, the illusion that a policy of mere redistribution of existing wealth can definitively resolve the problem must be set aside. In a modern economy, the value of assets is utterly dependent on the capacity to generate revenue in the present and the future. Wealth creation therefore becomes an inescapable duty, which must be kept in mind if the fight against material poverty is to be effective in the long term.

12. If the poor are to be given priority, then there has to be enough room for an ethical approach to economics on the part of those active in the international market, an ethical approach to politics on the part of those in public office, and an ethical approach to participation capable of harnessing the contributions of civil society at local and international levels. International agencies themselves have come to recognize the value and advantage of economic initiatives taken by civil society or local administrations to promote the emancipation and social inclusion of those sectors of the population that often fall below the threshold of extreme poverty and yet are not easily reached by official aid. The history of twentieth-century economic development teaches us that good development policies depend for their effectiveness on responsible implementation by human agents and on the creation of positive partnerships between markets, civil society and States. Civil society in particular plays a key part in every process of development, since development is essentially a cultural phenomenon, and culture is born and develops in the civil sphere[13].

13. As my venerable Predecessor Pope John Paul II had occasion to remark, globalization “is notably ambivalent”[14] and therefore needs to be managed with great prudence. This will include giving priority to the needs of the world's poor, and overcoming the scandal of the imbalance between the problems of poverty and the measures which have been adopted in order to address them. The imbalance lies both in the cultural and political order and in the spiritual and moral order. In fact we often consider only the superficial and instrumental causes of poverty without attending to those harboured within the human heart, like greed and narrow vision. The problems of development, aid and international cooperation are sometimes addressed without any real attention to the human element, but as merely technical questions – limited, that is, to establishing structures, setting up trade agreements, and allocating funding impersonally. What the fight against poverty really needs are men and women who live in a profoundly fraternal way and are able to accompany individuals, families and communities on journeys of authentic human development.

Conclusion

14. In the Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, John Paul II warned of the need to “abandon a mentality in which the poor – as individuals and as peoples – are considered a burden, as irksome intruders trying to consume what others have produced.” The poor, he wrote, “ask for the right to share in enjoying material goods and to make good use of their capacity for work, thus creating a world that is more just and prosperous for all” [15]. In today's globalized world, it is increasingly evident that peace can be built only if everyone is assured the possibility of reasonable growth: sooner or later, the distortions produced by unjust systems have to be paid for by everyone. It is utterly foolish to build a luxury home in the midst of desert or decay. Globalization on its own is incapable of building peace, and in many cases, it actually creates divisions and conflicts. If anything it points to a need: to be oriented towards a goal of profound solidarity that seeks the good of each and all. In this sense, globalization should be seen as a good opportunity to achieve something important in the fight against poverty, and to place at the disposal of justice and peace resources which were scarcely conceivable previously.

15. The Church's social teaching has always been concerned with the poor. At the time of the Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum, the poor were identified mainly as the workers in the new industrial society; in the social Magisterium of Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II, new forms of poverty were gradually explored, as the scope of the social question widened to reach global proportions[16]. This expansion of the social question to the worldwide scale has to be considered not just as a quantitative extension, but also as a qualitative growth in the understanding of man and the needs of the human family. For this reason, while attentively following the current phenomena of globalization and their impact on human poverty, the Church points out the new aspects of the social question, not only in their breadth but also in their depth, insofar as they concern man's identity and his relationship with God. These principles of social teaching tend to clarify the links between poverty and globalization and they help to guide action towards the building of peace. Among these principles, it is timely to recall in particular the “preferential love for the poor”[17], in the light of the primacy of charity, which is attested throughout Christian tradition, beginning with that of the early Church (cf. Acts 4:32-36; 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8-9; Gal 2:10).

“Everyone should put his hand to the work which falls to his share, at once and immediately”, wrote Leo XIII in 1891, and he added: “In regard to the Church, her cooperation will never be wanting, be the time or the occasion what it may”[18]. It is in the same spirit that the Church to this day carries out her work for the poor, in whom she sees Christ[19], and she constantly hears echoing in her heart the command of the Prince of Peace to his Apostles: “Vos date illis manducare – Give them something to eat yourselves” (Lk 9:13). Faithful to this summons from the Lord, the Christian community will never fail, then, to assure the entire human family of her support through gestures of creative solidarity, not only by “giving from one's surplus”, but above all by “a change of life- styles, of models of production and consumption, and of the established structures of power which today govern societies” [20]. At the start of the New Year, then, I extend to every disciple of Christ and to every person of good will a warm invitation to expand their hearts to meet the needs of the poor and to take whatever practical steps are possible in order to help them. The truth of the axiom cannot be refuted: “to fight poverty is to build peace.”

From the Vatican, 8 December 2008.

“Mother of God and our Mother”

2009-01-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

The humility of my holy Mother Mary! She is not to be seen amid the palms of Jerusalem, nor at the hour of the great miracles--except at that first one at Cana. But she doesn't escape from the contempt at Golgotha; there she stands, juxta crucem Jesu, the Mother of Jesus, beside his Cross. (The Way, 507)

This has always been the true belief of Christians. Against those who denied it, the Council of Ephesus proclaimed that ‘if anyone should deny that the Emmanuel is truly God, and that therefore the most Blessed Virgin is the Mother of God, since she gave birth according to the flesh to the incarnate Word of God, let him be anathema’.

The Blessed Trinity, in choosing Mary as the Mother of Christ, a Man like us, has brought each one of us under the shelter of her maternal cloak. She is the Mother of God and our Mother.

The divine Motherhood of Mary is the source of all the perfections and privileges with which she is endowed. Because of it, she was conceived immaculate and is full of grace; because of it, she is ever virgin, she was taken up body and soul to heaven and has been crowned Queen of all creation, above the angels and saints. Greater than she, none but God. ‘The Blessed Virgin from the fact that she is the Mother of God has a certain infinite dignity which comes from the infinite good, which is God.’ There is no danger of exaggerating. We can never hope to fathom this inexpressible mystery; nor will we ever be able to give sufficient thanks to our Mother for bringing us into such intimacy with the Blessed Trinity.

We were sinners and enemies of God. Redemption has not only freed us from sin and reconciled us with Our Lord. It has also made us into children of God and has given us a Mother, the very Mother who gave birth to the Word when he took human nature. Could there ever be a greater, more generous, outpouring of love? (Friends of God, 275-275) [Top]

http://www.opusdei.ph/art.php?p=12605

The 2008 Parish Christmas Party

2008-12-29T09:29:00.000-08:00

Isang napakalaking tagumpay ang naganap na Parish Christmas Party kagabi December 29, 2008 sa parking area ng parokya. Sa nasabing pagtitipon ay muling ipinakita ng halos lahat ng mga samahang pansimbahan ang kani-kanilang mga talento sa larangan ng musika, sayaw at maging sa pag-arte para bigyan kasiyahan ang lahat. Kabilang sa mga naging tampok na palabas ng gabing iyon ay ang pagsasayaw ng mga miyembro ng Lectors & Commentators Ministry (LCM), Mother Butler at LCM mula sa Resurrecion Chapel-Tulay Bato at ang “comedy skit” ng mga kabataang miyembro ng Lingkod ng Dambana. Katulad ng mga nakagawiang pagsasama-sama ay nagkaroon din ng pagsasalo na tinampukan ng mga pagkaing inihanda ng bawat grupo.

Sa espesyal na mensahe mula sa ating Kura Paroko, Rev. Fr. Toochy Ubarco, ay kanyang binigyang diin ang kahalagahan ng pagsasama-sama ng pamilya ng parokya upang higit pang magkaroon ng matibay at matiwasay na pagsasamahan tungo sa isang mas epektibong paglilingkod. Ang lahat ay umuwi ng may kanya-kanyang alaala ng ngiti at galak dulot ng kasiyahang naihatid ng nasabing pagtitipon na higit pa sa mga material na premyong ipinamahagi ng gabing iyon.

“Jesus is still looking for shelter”

2008-12-27T04:20:00.000-08:00

Jesus was born in a cave in Bethlehem because, Sacred Scripture tells us, ``there was no room for them in the inn.'' I am not departing from theological truth when I say that Jesus is still looking for shelter in your heart. (The Forge, 274)

I am not at all stretching the truth when I tell you that Jesus is still looking for a resting‑place in our heart. We have to ask him to forgive our personal blindness and ingratitude. We must ask him to give us the grace never to close the door of our soul on him again.

Our Lord does not disguise the fact that his wholehearted obedience to God’s will calls for renunciation and self‑sacrifice. Love does not claim rights, it seeks to serve. Jesus has led the way. How did he obey? “Unto death, death on a cross” [1]. You have to get out of yourself; you have to complicate your life, losing it for love of God and souls. “So you wanted to live a quiet life. But God wanted otherwise. Two wills exist: your will should be corrected to become identified with God’s will: you must not bend God’s will to suit yours” [2].

It has made me very happy to see so many souls spend their lives — like you, Lord, “even unto death” — fulfilling what God was asking of them. They have dedicated all their yearnings and their professional work to the service of the Church, for the good of all men.

Let us learn to obey, let us learn to serve. There is no better leadership than wanting to give yourself freely, to be useful to others. When we feel pride swell up within us, making us think we are supermen, the time has come to say “no”. Our only triumph will be the triumph of humility. In this way we will identify ourselves with Christ on the cross — not unwillingly or restlessly or sullenly, but joyfully. For the joy which comes from forgetting ourselves is the best proof of love. (Christ is passing by, 19)
[1] Phil 2:8 usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis
[2] St Augustine, Enarrationes in psalmos, Ps 31:2, 26 (PL 36,274) [Top]

http://www.opusdei.ph/art.php?p=19281

Feature Group of the Week: EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS OF THE HOLY COMMUNION

2008-12-27T04:18:00.000-08:00

Service to God, our life commitment
Ministering the Holy Eucharist, our very existence
Humility and obedience, our working virtues
Christ-centered, our source of strength…

The Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Communion (EMHC) was founded on 1986 through the initiatives then of former Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Jack Diaz and their basic responsibility is to assist the Clergy in administering Holy Communion to the faithful during masses and in special cases, to the sick, disabled and elderly in their homes.

The first appointed Lay Eucharistic Ministers were Bro. Mario Calatin and the late Bro. Dadoy Dela Rosa and Jojo Mangalile.

Vision:
A community of men where spirituality is a way of life, dedicated to the service of the Holy Eucharist…

Whose every member is mindful and respectful of one’s dignity, build on each other’s strength to achieve shared goals in unity of efforts that satisfies the parishioners with dedicated quality service of helping the clergy to distribute the Holy Communion; and

Whose members are persons of piety, dignity, good moral character, humble, obedient, and humane in his chosen ministry.

Mission:
To create a community of pious members, who are committed to serve as Ministers of the Holy Communion.

Objectives:
To be able to provide a truly responsible, committed and spiritually dedicated service to the Holy Eucharist.

Activities:
• Regular meetings every 2nd Friday of the month
• Regular formation program
• Annual Retreat
• Annual Participation to Diocesan formation programs
• Participation in various parish pastoral activities

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

2008-12-21T01:09:00.000-08:00

Fourth Week of Advent

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Today we light again the candles of hope, love, and joy, and the fourth PURPLE candle, the candle of peace. Christ is the Prince of peace, come to reconcile us with God and others. Christ helps us to see that peace is possible.

Feature Group of the Week: Parish Youth Commission

2008-12-16T07:42:00.000-08:00

PARISH YOUTH COMMISSION

The commission aims to provide the formation and organization of the youth to realize their potential, elicit their participation in Church activities, and to prepare them as future parish leaders. It also aspires to mobilize the youth as instruments of evangelization among their fellow youth and other people. The Ministry also implements programs that foster enthusiasm and goodwill among the youth that will address their special needs.

National Youth Day-December 16, 2008

Feature Group of the Week: Lingkod Ng Dambana

2008-12-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

The Celebration Ministry’s main apostolate is to provide for orderly, animated and meaningful liturgical celebrations, especially, of the Eucharist and the sacraments, and other para-liturgical activities in the parish center and in the different Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) zone and pastoral areas: to promote the growth and deepen the commitment of the different liturgical ministries and organizations meant to enhance worship life; to promote devotion to the Eucharist and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or particularly to the person of the parish.

LINGKOD NG DAMBANA
“Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.”
– John 12: 26

The Lingkod ng Dambana is a group of young male servers assisting in the parish liturgical celebrations. Its main goal is to encourage young boys and men to become worthy guards of honor to the Eucharistic King and enkindle greater piety and devotion to Christ through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Feast of the Immaculate Concepcion

2008-12-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

Mary Immaculate

“You are all-beautiful, my beloved,
and there is no blemish in you.”
(Song of Songs 4:7)

Mary was conceived without original sin. This is the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

But did not Paul say that “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)? Yes, but this is precisely what shows how special Mary is. She is the only human being after the fall who was the one exception.

Mary would bear the Son of God, and God is perfectly holy. It could not be that an imperfect vessel would bear a perfect God. So according to God’s eternal plan, God did not allow Mary to be conceived with any stain of sin.

God wants those that He intends to use to be clean and pure instruments. Such purity was to be from the time of their conception.

Manoah’s wife, who would give birth to Samson, was told “to be careful to take no wine or strong drink and to eat nothing unclean.” (Jgs 13:4). This was because Samson was “to be consecrated to God from the womb” and would “begin the deliverance of Israel from the power of the Philistines” (Jgs 13:5).

Jeremiah, one of the great prophets of Israel, was told by God: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” (Jer 1:5).

Zechariah was told by the angel Gabriel that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son. John the Baptist became the precursor of Christ. Zechariah was told that John would “be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.” (Lk 1:15-16).

Being a deliverer of Israel, a prophet to the nations, a restorer of Israel’s children to the Lordall these were mighty works of God, for which He raised pure instruments.

But Mary was the greatest instrument of all according to God’s plan. She would be the mother of the Savior, the mother of God Himself. As such, she needed to be a perfectly pure instrument.

But others would still insist that what the Bible says is perfectly true, that “all have sinned” (Rom 3:23a). The only exception is Jesus, “who did not know sin” (2 Cor 5:21). As such, then Mary was subject to original sin as well. Let us follow this trend of thought.

All of us indeed have sinned. We are born with original sin, the sin of our first parents. But through the blood shed for us by Jesus on the cross, our sin has been expiated. We “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed” (Rom 3:24-25). We have sinned, but in and through Jesus we are cleansed, if we accept his saving death on the cross by faith.

Now God is not governed by time and space. God transcends time and space. So what God did was to extend to Mary his grace of expiation from sin, won on the cross, but applied backward to the time of Mary’s conception. Thus Mary, like everyone else, was redeemed by the blood of Jesus, but rather than being freed from sin already incurred, she was preserved from original sin.

Can God do that? Of course He can! There is nothing impossible for God! (Lk 1:37).

Indeed notice that with her Magnificat, Mary says her spirit rejoices in God her savior (Lk 1:47). She did not say she will rejoice, but that she already rejoices. But Jesus the Savior was still to be born, and still had to go to the cross to win salvation for all. Thus for Mary, Jesus had already saved her, even before he physically went to the cross. The prophecy of Isaiah rightfully applies to her: “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, ….. like a bride bedecked with her jewels.” (Is 61:10).

So Mary was conceived without sin.

We also need to see the Immaculate Conception in view of salvation history. When our first parents sinned, there was the first promise of a Redeemer. The Lord God told the devil that there would be enmity between him and the woman and between their offsprings, and that the offspring of the woman would strike him a mortal blow (Gen 3:15). It is a fight between the woman and the serpent. Now the woman is Mary, and so it is a fight between Mary and the devil. If the woman had original sin, then she would be subject to the power of the devil and would not be able to defeat him. So she needed to be free from sin.

And so in the fullness of time, God brought Mary into the world, and then revealed to her His plan. The angel Gabriel addressed her with the words “Hail, favored one!” (Lk 1:28). Another way to put the greeting is “Hail, fully graced.” Mary was full of grace! One who is fully graced cannot have the stain of sin.

And of course, God intended for Mary to bear His own Son. She was to become the mother of God. As the mother of the Holy One, she had to be unstained.

Consider also that there were other humans not covered by Paul’s assertion that all had sinned. These were Adam and Eve. They were born unstained, created in the image and likeness of God Himself (Gen 1:27). When God looked at what He had created, He “found it very good” (Gen 1:31). God being Who He is, what He creates is perfect. God cannot create something in His image and likeness that is stained in some way.

So Adam and Eve started out with no sin, because there was no sin as yet in the world. Now Mary is the new Eve. If Eve was created sinless, then how much more Mary who would become the mother of God?

And so Mary was conceived without sin. It was not that she had original sin and was freed from it, but rather that God preserved her from original sin, from the very beginning. She was still redeemed by Jesus, but in God’s mysterious ways, experienced this redemption from sin even before the actual physical event of Jesus’ crucifixion and death on the cross.

For reflection
1. We are all proud of our mothers and think they are the best moms in the world. Think about how your mom has been a blessing to you. Thank God for her.
2. Think about your Mother Mary, who was pure and immaculate and full of grace. How proud of her are you?
(Taken from the forthcoming new book of Frank Padilla entitled “40 More Days with Mary”)

LUMANG LARUAN BAGONG SAYA 2008

2008-11-28T23:49:00.000-08:00

The Ushers & Collectors Ministry (UCM) of the Parish thru its social action arm, The Bread of St. Anthony, will be having a gift giving project this Christmas season for the less fortunate children of the Parish entitled “Lumang Laruan Bagong Ngiti”. The said undertaking is one of the annual community outreach projects to be adapted by the group starting this year for our less fortunate parishioners this Christmas Season.

The project is actually in line with the tradition of the Angel Basket Program that was developed by the undersigned along with the pioneer members of Michaelian’s Business Management Society (MBMS) of St. Michael’s College ten (10) years ago. Last November 22, 2008, the group started to solicit old toys and will lasts until December 22, 2008 in time for the actual gift giving on December 24, 2008 to coincide also with the Pamasko Sa Kaparokya 2008 Project of the Parish.

Everyone is welcome to join us for the said project and be one of our official apostolate partner and let us relive once again the spirit of genuine service and love for our less fortunate brothers and sisters. As a group of concerned men and women of the parish, we take it upon ourselves to help our “kaparokya”. However, inasmuch as we would like to help all of them, we cannot do this on our own. Thus, we need as much help as we can get.

The project is also in partnership with Sta. Catalina College who has always been part of the UCM Family from the very start.

KUMPISALANG BAYAN

2008-11-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

Sa darating na December 02, 2008 Martes ay magkakaroon ng Kumpisalang Bayan sa ating Parokya bilang bahagi pa rin ng taunang aktibidades sa panahon ng Adbiyento. Ang Kumpisalang Bayan ay magsisimula sa ganap na ika 7 ng gabi pagkatapos ng Banal na Misa. Inaasahang makikibahagi ang lahat ng mga kaparian sa buong Bikarya ng Binan kung kaya't ang lahat ng mga dadalo ay magkakaroon ng lubos na oras at pagkakataon upang makadulog sa Banal na sakramento ng pakikipagsundo.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

2008-11-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

The gospel for the first Sunday of advent urges us to do two things: to stay awake and to be prepared.

Stay awake! The season of advent invites us to stay awake as we commemorate the birth anniversary of our Lord Jesus Christ who was born over 2000 years ago. Being awake here means celebrating with hope the coming of Jesus in our hearts amidst the experience of loneliness, disappointments, and frustrations of life. It is so easy to sulk in despair. But Jesus who comes to us brings not only consolation to our hearts but also healing so that we can once again experience fullness of life.

We are also called to stay awake for the future coming of Christ because we do not know the day or the hour. Being awake here means anticipating the time when God will judge all of us. When this time comes, we will either receive the gift of eternal life or the punishment of eternal damnation. It can be so convenient to think and feel that we have a lot of time to “sleep” and take it easy in life. In so doing, the many sinful pleasures of the world can lure us and destroy our lives. But when we are always alert and aware of the Lord’s second coming, that the parousia is just around the corner, we know that life has to be lived to the full according to God’s holy will, and we have to help and influence others to live their lives to the full.

Be prepared! Advent is also a season of waiting. Waiting for Christ entails preparation. We can either wait passively or actively. But since it is the Lord who comes to us, we are called to wait actively. How? Like preparing for any important event, we are urged to do our best in everything to lovingly welcome Christ in our hearts.

There are three practical ways to prepare. The first is personal prayer. To be a Christian means to always be connected to the God. Personal prayer is that Christian activity that disposes us to make our lives always in touch with God. When we prayer constantly, we condition our hearts to an experience of communion with the divine, with Jesus Christ himself the source of all life and love. The second is the Eucharist. The Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life challenges us to become bread broken and shared with others. Every celebration of the Eucharist is a blessed opportunity to commune not only with Jesus but also with the Christian community, the Body of Christ. The third is reconciliation. We should make every effort to reconcile with persons whom we have hurt or those who have hurt us. This means asking forgiveness and offering it too. The road to reconciliation is the road to deeper communion with God and others. These three practical ways become avenues to prepare us to achieve fullness of Christian life.

Let us then stay awake and be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ in our lives. In the words of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta: “Let us pray that we shall be able to welcome Jesus at Christmas not in the cold manger of our heart but in a heart full of love and humility, a heart warm with love for one another.”

Rev. Msgr. Mylo Hubert Vergara
Pastor
Parish of the Holy Sacrifice,
UP Diliman Campus, Quezon City

Isang Bukas na Liham para sa ating Kura Paroko: Rev. Fr. Buenaventura C. Ubarco

2008-11-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

Noong isang taon, sa ganito ding petsa ay aming inalala sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon ang anibersaryo ng iyong pagiging pari sa pamamagitan ng isang panalangin kung saan aming hiniling na nawa ay iyong ibigay sa amin si Kristo at tanging si Kristo lamang sa inspirasyon ng mga pananalita ng Banal na si Mother Teresa ng Calcutta.

Sa ating pag-alala sa katangi-tanging araw na ito, ay bayaan mong ihalaw namin ang aming mensahe sa iyo sa inspirasyon ng paglalahad ng Santo Papa sa kanyang unang ensiklikal “Deus est Caritas” na nagtuturo sa atin sa pamamayani ng pag-ibig bilang pagkakakilanlan sa mga alagad ni Kristo.

Pag-ibig ang simula at hantungan ng lahat. Marahil ikaw po ay sasang-ayon sa aming pananaw na Pag-ibig ang buod ng iyong pagiging pari. Kung wala tayong pag-ibig ay mawawalan ng ugat at kinabukasan ang anumang ating ginagawa.

Ang mga pari ay tila mayroong paniniwala na buhay at masigla ang parokya kapag maraming programa at gawain. Kung maraming ginagawa sa simbahan at mahigpit ang iskedyul sa maghapon. Programa at proyekto, mga pulong at gawain ang sa wari natin ay tanda ng buhay na simbahan.

Kung walang pag-ibig sa programa at proyekto, kung walang pagmamahalan at bayanihan sa mga pulong, paano natin masasabing buhay ang simbahan. Ang buhay ng simbahan ay hindi sa sunud-sunod na programa kundi sa tanikala ng pag-ibig na bumibigkis sa atin sa Panginoon at sa isa’t isa.

Maraming Salamat Po Father at kami ay ginapos mo sa tanikalang ito!

Sa iyong mga homiliya sa halos dalawang (2) taon ay walang pag-iimbot mong ipinadama ang pag-ibig ng pagiging isa. Hindi lamang pagkakaisa kundi pag-ibig na nagbubuklod sa diwa at puso. Katulad ng paglalarawan ng Diyos ng kanyang pagmamahal sa tao sa pamamagitan ng pag-ibig ng mag-asawa—iisang puso at katawan, iisang isip at kaluluwa.

Naks Father ang lalim na ng aming mga kaisipan ngayon! Galing naman ang mga ito sa iyong Homiliya may patunay ka nang hindi ka namin tinutulugan!

Ang pag-ibig ay presensiya. Hindi tayo maaaring magmahal ng “absentia”. Kaya nga ipinakita ng Diyos ang Kanyang pag-ibig sa atin sa pamamagitan ng pagkakatawang-tao at pakikipamayan sa atin. Hindi maaaring malayo tayo sa ating mahal.

Sa halos dalawang taon na ikaw’y nasa aming piling tunay na aming naramdaman na ikaw’y ang aming paring kababayan at aming paring kapitbahay lamang. Patunay dito ang pagsahog namin sa iyo paminsan-minsan sa aming pananghalian at salo-salo kung minsan.

Isa rin sa mga unang pangaral na aming nadinig mula sa iyo at aaminin namin na isa din ito sa mga nakasaling sa aming damdamin dahil totoo ang iyong mga tinuran!

“Sa ating libangan at kuwentuhan, tanungin natin ang sarili kung ang ating pinag-uusapan ay totoo, mabuti at makatutulong. Kung isa man sa tatlong katangian ay wala, higit na marangal ang katahimikan.” Sabagay hindi nga naman tayo mga artista o showbiz personalities.

Ang tunay na pag-ibig ay mapagbigay. Ang alagad na hindi marunong maghandog ay hindi yumayaman. Ang alagad na hindi naghahandog ay alagad na buhay subalit patay na. Ang tunay na kahulugan ng buhay ay nasa pagbibigay. Kapag ikaw ay nanawagan overwhelming ang suporta mula sa pinansyal, pagkain at hanggang sa mga toothbrush at toothpaste!

Si Jesukristo na araw-araw mong hinahawakan sa altar at inihahandog sa amin ay patuloy nawa naming masilayan at maramdaman sa pamamagitan ng iyong Banal na Bokasyon.

Father Toochy Mahal namin kayo at kung sa wari ninyo ay kulang pa ang aming pagmamahal sa inyo, sabihan ninyo at pagsisikapan pa naming ito ay dagdagan.

Ika 22 Taon ng Pagkapari ni Rev. Fr. Buenaventura C. Ubarco Inalala

2008-11-11T06:58:00.000-08:00

Noong nakaraang Sabado, November 08, 2008 ay binigyan ng isang sorpresang pag-alala ang ika 22 taon anibersaryo ng pagka-pari ni Fr. Toochy sa pangunguna ng Parish Pastoral Council at mga myembro ng ibat-ibang samahang pansimbahan. Isang bukas na liham ang binasa na naging tradisyon na pagsasapit ang nasabing okasyon. Sa kanyang mensahe ng pasasalamat sa pagpapahalaga at pag-alala sa kanyang "sacerdotal anniversary" ay binigyan diin niya ang kahalagahan ng panalangin sa buhay ng isang pari.

Ayon sa kanya, ang pagtalikod ng mga kaparian sa kanilang bokasyon ay hindi sanhi ng kanilang pagnanais na mag-asawa kundi ang pagkawala o paghina ng buhay panalangin ng isang pari kung kaya't kanyang pinakiusapan ang lahat na patuloy na mag-alay ng panalangin para sa mga kaparian nang sa gayon ay patuloy nilang mapaglabanan ang mga hamon at tukso sa kanilang bokasyon.

Feature Group of the Week: Lectors & Commentators Ministry (LCM)

2008-10-27T05:03:00.000-07:00

LECTORS & COMMENTATORS MINISTRY
The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts. — Hebrews 4:12

The Lectors and Commentators Ministry (LCM) serves a unique role in the liturgy. While it is Jesus Himself who speaks in the Scriptures, the lector in proclaiming the Scriptures uses voice, presence, and personality so that the Word of God may be heard by the faithful. These individuals serve the community by proclaiming the first and second readings, and by offering the prayers of general intercession.

Currently there are 60 Lectors serving at the daily and weekend Masses, alternating between commentators and readers. The objective of the ministry is to extends its appreciation of this most vital of ministries from a mechanical process of reading God's word to one of deep reflection, careful preparation and powerful, expressive proclamation of Gods' word. Periodic opportunities are therefore provided to Lectors to meet and discuss ways to improve the quality of their preparation and reading of God's Word through their regular monthly meetings held every third Sunday of every month. This includes practical tips on the use of the microphone, speed, strength of reading and use of the Lectionary.

KASALANG BAYAN 2008

2008-10-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

Isang malaking tagumpay ang naganap na Kasalang Bayan sa Parokya noong nakaraang Sabado October 25, 2008 kung saan 13 pares ang tumanggap ng Sakramento ng Kasal sa pangunguna ni Rev. Fr.Toochy Ubarco. Ang nasabing gawain ay taunang proyekto ng parokya sa pamamagitan ng Family & Life Ministry (FLM) at pakikiisa ng lahat ng mga samahang pansimbahan katulad ng Mother Butler Guild (MBG), Catholic Women’s League (CWL), San Antonio Youth Choir (SAYC) at Ushers and Collectors Ministry (UCM).

Pagkatapos ng Banal na Misa ay nagkaroon ng isang salo-salo sa Parish Hall para sa lahat ng mga ikinasal kasama ang kanilang mga Ninong at Ninang kung saan bukod sa mga masasarap na pagkain mula sa iba’t-ibang organisasyon sa parokya ang lahat ay hinarana at inaliw din ng mga myembro ng San Antonio Youth Choir (SAYC). Katulad noong nakaraang taon, muling nagbigay ng tulong at pakikiisa ang St. Michael’s College sa pamamagitan ng pagkakaloob ng libreng serbisyo mula sa mga HRM Students ng kolehiyo. Mula sa pamunuan ng Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) at ng Family and Life Ministry (FLM) ang kanilang lubos na pasasalamat ay ipinahahatid sa lahat ng mga tumulong at nagkaloob ng kanilang mga oras, talino at yaman.

Grand Living Rosary 2008

2008-10-19T05:09:00.000-07:00

To culminate the celebration of the Holy Rosary Month in the Parish, the Parish Youth Commission will lead the annual Living Rosary this coming October 26, 2008 Sunday at 7:00 in the evening after the 6:00 p.m. Sunday Mass. The traditional Living Rosary is now on its 26th year which was started by the pioneer members of the Parish Youth Council (PYC) and their parents. This year's theme is "Ang Santo Rosaryo ni Maria kaagapay ng bawat pamilya tungo sa paglago sa kaganapan ng buhay."

Feature Group of the Week: Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV)

2008-10-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

PARICH PASTORAL COUNCIL FOR RESPONSIBLE VOTING (PPC-RV)
“PPCRV uses the infrastructure of the parish in advocating for responsible citizenship through responsible voting and calling for solidarity among all citizens—voters, as well as those aspiring for public office—towards this aim”

Formed in October 1991 as a program of the Diocese of San Pablo in preparation for the 1992 elections, PPCRV of San Antonio De Padua has grown to become one of the most active and dependable group in the Diocese. Early members then came from the concerned citizens of the Parish who are actively joining the causes and campaign for all the National issues including those young people from the Parish Youth Council (PYC) and remained with the group through the years.

“PPCRV responds to the signs of the times. The political situation in our country is such that no way can responsible voting be abstracted from the life of our democracy or from our Christian life. PPCRV looks into strategies that harness people participation in ensuring good governance – election is a powerful means. If unscrupulous politicians have been using elections for their own good, it’s time we turn the tables around. Get the fools out and let the angels in.” says PPCRV national chairperson, Ambassador Henrietta de Villa.

Over the years, PPCRV has played a major role during and in-between election time by mobilizing its volunteers to man polling precincts in the Parish, helping safeguard the integrity of the ballot, ensuring a meaningful electoral process, and campaigning non-stop for voters’ education and information on key issues.

During the May 2007 elections, almost 60 PPCRV members and volunteers of the Parish participated in poll watching and canvassing of ballots.

This year, PPCRV will roll out various voters’ education drive in the next few months by conducting Public Forums on various national and local issues as a way to “concretized its continuing advocacy to help the Parishioners develop an informed and principled stand” on these issues.

GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS: THE MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER

2008-10-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

CELEBRATION OF THE THIRD HOUR
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI AT THE OPENING OF THE 12th ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
Synod HallMonday, 6 October 2008

Dear Brothers in the Episcopacy, Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At the beginning of our Synod the Liturgy of the Hours presents a passage from Psalm 118 on the Word of God: a praise of his Word, an expression of the joy of Israel in learning it and, in it, to recognize his will and his Face. I would like to meditate on some verses of this Psalm with you.
It begins like this: "In aeternum, Domine, verbum tuum constitutum est in caelo... firmasti terram, et permanet". This refers to the solidity of the Word. It is solid, it is the true reality on which one must base one's life. Let us remember the words of Jesus who continues the words of this Psalm: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away". Humanly speaking, the word, my human word, is almost nothing in reality, a breath. As soon as it is pronounced it disappears. It seems to be nothing. But already the human word has incredible power. Words create history, words form thoughts, the thoughts that create the word. It is the word that forms history, reality.
Furthermore, the Word of God is the foundation of everything, it is the true reality. And to be realistic, we must rely upon this reality. We must change our idea that matter, solid things, things we can touch, are the more solid, the more certain reality. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount the Lord speaks to us about the two possible foundations for building the house of one's life: sand and rock. The one who builds on sand builds only on visible and tangible things, on success, on career, on money. Apparently these are the true realities. But all this one day will pass away. We can see this now with the fall of large banks: this money disappears, it is nothing. And thus all things, which seem to be the true realities we can count on, are only realities of a secondary order. The one who builds his life on these realities, on matter, on success, on appearances, builds upon sand. Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, it is as stable as the heavens and more than the heavens, it is reality. Therefore, we must change our concept of realism. The realist is the one who recognizes the Word of God, in this apparently weak reality, as the foundation of all things. Realist is the one who builds his life on this foundation, which is permanent. Thus the first verses of the Psalm invite us to discover what reality is and how to find the foundation of our life, how to build life.
The following verse says: "Omnia serviunt tibi". All things come from the Word, they are products of the Word. "In the beginning was the Word". In the beginning the heavens spoke. And thus reality was born of the Word, it is "creatura Verbi". All is created from the Word and all is called to serve the Word. This means that all of creation, in the end, is conceived of to create the place of encounter between God and his creature, a place where the history of love between God and his creature can develop. "Omnia serviunt tibi". The history of salvation is not a small event, on a poor planet, in the immensity of the universe. It is not a minimal thing which happens by chance on a lost planet. It is the motive for everything, the motive for creation. Everything is created so that this story can exist, the encounter between God and his creature. In this sense, salvation history, the Covenant, precedes creation. During the Hellenistic period, Judaism developed the idea that the Torah would have preceded the creation of the material world. This material world seems to have been created solely to make room for the Torah, for this Word of God that creates the answer and becomes the history of love. The mystery of Christ already is mysteriously revealed here. This is what we are told in the Letter to the Ephesians and to the Colossians: Christ is the protòtypos, the first-born of creation, the idea for which the universe was conceived. He welcomes all. We enter in the movement of the universe by uniting with Christ. One can say that, while material creation is the condition for the history of salvation, the history of the Covenant is the true cause of the cosmos. We reach the roots of being by reaching the mystery of Christ, his living word that is the aim of all creation.
"Omnia serviunt tibi". In serving the Lord we achieve the purpose of being, the purpose of our own existence. Let us take a leap forward: "Mandata tua exquisivi". We are always searching for the Word of God. It is not merely present in us. Just reading it does not mean necessarily that we have truly understood the Word of God. The danger is that we only see the human words and do not find the true actor within, the Holy Spirit. We do not find the Word in the words.
In this context St Augustine recalls the scribes and pharisees who were consulted by Herod when the Magi arrived. Herod wants to know where the Saviour of the world would be born. They know it, they give the correct answer: in Bethlehem. They are great specialists who know everything. However they do not see reality, they do not know the Saviour. St Augustine says: they are signs on the road for others, but they themselves do not move. This is a great danger as well in our reading of Scripture: we stop at the human words, words form the past, history of the past, and we do not discover the present in the past, the Holy Spirit who speaks to us today in the words from the past. In this way we do not enter the interior movement of the Word, which in human words conceals and which opens the divine words. Therefore, there is always a need for "exquisivi". We must always look for the Word within the words.
Therefore, exegesis, the true reading of Holy Scripture, is not only a literary phenomenon, not only reading a text. It is the movement of my existence. It is moving towards the Word of God in the human words. Only by conforming ourselves to the Mystery of God, to the Lord who is the Word, can we enter within the Word, can we truly find the Word of God in human words. Let us pray to the Lord that he may help us search the word, not only with our intellect but also with our entire existence.
At the end: "Omni consummationi vidi finem, latum praeceptum tuum nimis". All human things, all the things we can invent, create, are finite. Even all human religious experiences are finite, showing an aspect of reality, because our being is finite and can only understand a part, some elements: "latum praeceptum tuum nimis". Only God is infinite. And therefore His Word too is universal and knows no boundaries. Therefore by entering into the Word of God we really enter into the divine universe. We escape the limits of our experience and we enter into the reality that is truly universal. Entering into communion with the Word of God, we enter a communion of the Church that lives the Word of God. We do not enter into a small group, with the rules of a small group, but we go beyond our limitations. We go towards the depths, in the true grandeur of the only truth, the great truth of God. We are truly a part of what is universal. And thus we go out into the communion of all our brothers and sisters, of all humanity, because the desire for the Word of God, which is one, is hidden in our heart. Therefore even evangelization, the proclamation of the Gospel, the mission are not a type of ecclesial colonialism, where we wish to insert others into our group. It means going beyond the individual culture into the universality that connects all, unites all, makes us all brothers. Let us pray once again that the Lord may help us to truly enter the "breadth" of His Word and thus to open ourselves to the universal horizon that unites us with all our differences.
At the end, we return to a preceding verse: "Tuus sum ego: salvum me fac". The text translates as: "I am yours". The Word of God is like a stairway that we can climb and, with Christ, even descend into the depths of his love. It is a stairway to reach the Word in the words. "I am yours". The word has a Face, it is a person, Christ. Before we can say "I am yours", he has already told us "I am yours". The Letter to the Hebrews, quoting Psalm 39, says: "You gave me a body.... Then I said, "Here I am, I am coming'". The Lord prepared a body to come. With his Incarnation he said: I am yours. And in Baptism he said to me: I am yours. In the Holy Eucharist, he say ever anew: I am yours, so that we may respond: Lord, I am yours. In the way of the Word, entering the mystery of his Incarnation, of his being among us, we want to appropriate his being, we want expropriate our existence, giving ourselves to him who gave Himself to us.
"I am yours". Let us pray the Lord that we may learn to say this word with our whole being. Thus we will be in the heart of the Word. Thus we will be saved.

Dapat mo bang suportahan ang Reproductive Health Bill No. 5043? Sagutin ang simpleng mga katanungang ito upang mabatid.

2008-10-13T05:53:00.000-07:00

Bilang may-pagawaan, sumasangayon ka ba na sapilitan kang magbigay ng libreng serbisyo sa pangkalusugang pangangalaga sa pag-aanak, mga gamit nito, mga kasangkapan at pagtistis (kasama na ang vasectomy at ligation) sa iyong mga manggagawa, at ipakulong ka at/o pagmultahin sa bawa’t pagkakataon na hindi mo ito natupad?

Ang Seksyon 17 ay nagpapahayag na ang mga may-pagawaan ay magbibigay ng libreng serbisyo sa pangkalusugang pangangalaga sa pag-aanak, mga gamit nito at mga kasangkapan para sa mga manggagawa lalung-lalo na sa mga kababaihang manggagawa. (Basahin ang Kahulugan ng Reproductive Health and Rights Section 4, paragraph g, Section 21, Paragraph c at Section 22 ukol sa mga Kaparusahan.)

Bilang health care service provider, sumasangayon ka ba na ikaw ay ipakulong at/o pagmultahin, kung ikaw ay hindi makatupad na makapagbigay ng serbisyo sa pangkalusugang pangangalaga sa pag-aanak katulad ng mga pamamaraan sa pagpaplano ng pamilya at pagbibigay ng serbisyong katulad ng ligation at vasectomy, may-asawa man o wala ang pasyente, anuman ang kasarian, relihiyon o edad?

(Basahin ang Section 21 ng Prohibited Acts, Letter a, Paragraph 1 hanggang 5 at Section 22 ukol sa mga Kaparusahan)

Bilang kabiyak, sumasangayon ka ba na ang asawa mo ay dumaan sa ligation o vasectomy ng wala kang pahintulot o kaalaman man lamang?

Basahin ang Section 21 ng Prohibited Acts, Letter a, Paragraph 2)

Bilang mga magulang, sumasangayon ka ba na ang inyong mga anak na may edad simula 10 hanggang 17 ay dapat turuan na ng kanilang sekswal na karapatan at mga paraan kung paano makatamo ng kasiyahan at “ligtas” na buhay-sekswal bilang bahagi ng curriculum sa kanilang paaralan?

Ang Reproductive Health Education ay sapilitang itatadhana mula sa Grade 5 hanggang makatapos ng High School (Tingnan ang Seksyon 12 sa Reproductive Health Education and Section 4 Definition of Family Planning and Reproductive Health, Paragraph b, c and d).

Sumasangayon ka ba na ipakulong ka at/o pagmultahin, dahil sa pagpapahayag ng palagay laban sa alinman sa itinatadhana ng batas na ito, kung ang pagpapahayag na iyon ng iyung palagay ay bigyan-pakahulugan na naglalaman ng “malisyosong maling impormasyon”.

(Tingnan ang Section 21 on Prohibited Acts, Paragraph f and Section 22 on Penalties)

BABALA LABAN SA REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL 5043

2008-10-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

Nais po naming paalalahanan ang lahat sa panganib na idudulot ng ipinapanukalang Reproductive Health Bill 5043. Layunin daw ng panukala na mas maging ligtas ang kalusugan ng mga manganganak. Masyado raw tayong marami kaya di sapat ang pagkain at trabaho. Kulang daw ang pera ng gobyerno upang matustusan ang pangangailangan ng mga tao. Pero ang totoo, ang nais ay sugpuin ang ating populasyon, sa pamamaraan na sisira sa moralidad, sa pamilya at karapatan.

Pag naisa batas ang RHB 5043, pwersadong tuturuan ang ating mga anak/ apo mula Grade 5 hanggang 4th year high school kung paano makakapagtalik ng ligtas sa sakit at hindi mabubuntis o makabubuntis. Gagamitin ang pera ng gobyerno sa pagpapalaganap ng libreng condom, pills, IUD, vasectomy atbp. Alam po natin na hindi 100% effective ang mga naturang contraceptives at ang susunod na ipapanukala ay abortion naman – ganito ang landas na tinahak ng lahat ng bansang nag-umpisa sa panukalang gaya ng RHB 5043.

Pag naipasa ang bill na ito ay lalong magkaka ideya ang mga bata tungkol sa pagtatalik, kaya batang bata pa ay mawawala na ang kamusmusan. Nagkakaproblema na tayo ngayon. Lalo na pong lalala. Ang mga pribadong kumpanya naman ay pwersadong magbigay ng birth control measures sa kanilang mga empleyado.

Ang mas nakakatakot pa bukod sa paglaganap ng immoralidad ay pag nagpahayag ka ng kontra sa batas ay kulong o multa ka.

Mag-ingat po tayo, magmatyag at kumilos. Taon-taon ay may nagtutulak ng panukalang ito. Medyo matindi po ngayon at mukhang hindi sila titigil. Pero kung magkakaisa ang mga Katoliko, hindi po ito makakalusot. Sa ating pagkilos at pagkakaisa nakasalalay ang kinabukasan ng pamilyang Pilipino, na gusto nating panatilihing banal.

Pag-aralan po natin ang isyu at makilahok sa mga gawaing tumututol sa RHB 5043. Kaugnay po nito, ang Couples For Christ Foundation for Family and Life ay namimigay po ng mga leaflets sa harap ng simbahan. Nag-aanyaya po sila sa inyong lahat na lumagda sa isang petisyon laban sa masamang idudulot ng RHB 5043.

Higit sa lahat, ating ipagdasal ang mga namumuno ng ating gobyerno.

Maraming salamat po at nawa’y mapasa atin ang pagpapala ng Banal na Pamilya sa Nazareth. Nawa’y sa darating na Pasko, at sa lahat ng Pasko, ay manatiling ligtas sa mapanirang impluwensya ang pamilyang Pilipino.

Pagpalain po tayong lahat ng Diyos!

Maraming Salamat Po Bishop Deogracias Iniguez!

2008-10-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

Naging isang malaking tagumpay ang nakaraang Bihilya sa Kabanal-banalang Sakramento Kasama ang Mahal na Birhen Maria noong nakaraang Sabado October 11, 2008 bilang bahagi pa rin ng pagdiriwang ng Buwan ng Rosaryo sa parokya. Ang nasabing gawain ay pinangunahan ng Obispo ng Diyosesis ng Kalookan, Most Rev. Bishop Deogracias S. Iniguez, bilang Punong Tagapagdiwang sa Banal na Misa. Sa kanyang homiliya binigyan diin ng Mahal na Obispo na ang ating debosyon sa Banal na Rosaryo ay isang tunay na paglalakbay patungo kay Kristo na masasalamin sa bawat misteryo nito:

Sa mga Misteryo ng Tuwa na tumatalakay sa mga tagpo ng pagkakatawang Tao ng Salita, ang Verbo si Kristo.

Sa mga Misteryo ng Liwanag na nagpapakita ng mga gawain o tagpo ng ministeryo ng Panginoon at pagpapalaganap ng Kaharian ng Diyos.

Sa mga Misteryo ng Hapis na nagpapaalala ng mga pinagdaanang sakit at hirap ng Panginoon upang tubisin ang ating mga kasalanan.

Sa mga Misteryo ng Luwalhati na nagpapakita ng tagumpay at Kaluwalhatian ng Diyos kasama ang Mahal na Birhen Maria.

Ang lahat ng mga samahang pansimbahan ng Parokya ay nakiisa at dumalo sa Banal na Misa at Bihilya kabilang na ang pamunuan at mga guro ng Sta. Catalina College na walang sawa at pagod na nakikiisa at sumusuporta sa mga gawain ng Parokya. Ang ginanap na Bihilya sa Kabanal-banalang Sakramento Kasama ang Mahal na Birhen Maria para sa taong ito ay buong pagkakaisang pinangunahan ng Adoracion Nocturna Filipina Turno 1193, Ushers & Collectors Ministry (UCM) at Catholic Women's League (CWL)

Feature Group of the Week: Parish Catechetical Ministry (PCM)

2008-10-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

It is an organization in which the main task is teaching Religion class in intermediate and secondary levels, both in public schools. As catechists, they devote their time and voluntarily render service in schools and in the parish. They also assist in the preparation of the First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

It was started by Rev. Fr. Jacinto S. Diaz in 1986. Catechesis was started by the students from Sta. Catalina College and the Lay parishioners, led by Sis. Rowena Ambas and Joji Alesna who volunteered to teach in the two (2) Public Schools in the parish, which includes Pagkakaisa Elementary School and Platero Elementary School. At present there are 9 Parish catechists and 46 student catechists from Sta. Catalina College reachingout to 4,631 students for the SY 2007-2008.

INCOMING ACTIVITIES OF THE PARISH FOR OCTOBER

2008-10-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 25, 2008 / KASALANG BAYAN 2008

This coming October 25, 2008 Saturday at 9:00 a.m. onwards, the Parish thru the Family & Life Ministry (FLM) will hold the annual Kasalang Bayan for the parishioners who have yet to receive the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony.

OCTOBER 30, 2008 / ROSARY CRUSADE

The activity is the annual tradition of San Roque Chapel in comemmorating the Month of the Holy Rosary ad propagating the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary thru the Holy Rosary.

OCTOBER 31, 2008 / LIVING ROSARY 2008

The activity aims to comemmorate the Month of the Holy Rosary and to promote the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary thru the Holy Rosary. The Living Rosary thru the efforts of the Parish Youth Commission has been a regular activity of the Parish every year that started almost 15 years ago.

Eucharistic & Marian Vigil

2008-10-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

In celebration of the Month of the Most Holy Rosary this October 2008, our Parish will be having a Eucharistic & Marian Vigil to be organized by the Adoracion Nocturna Filipina (ANF) Turno 1193 and Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Eucharist (EMHC) in cooperation with the Ushers & Collectors Ministry (UCM) and Catholic Women’s League (CWL) to be held on the
11th of October, Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
at the parish church.

For this year’s celebration, our parish invited His Excellency, Most Rev. Bishop Deogracias S. Iniguez, Jr., D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Caloocan as the Mass Celebrant.

Sign and Support the Petition against the Reproductive Health Bill (HB5043)

2008-10-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

Sign the petition at :

http://www.petitiononline.com/xxhb5043/petition.html

http://www.petitiononline.com/xxhb5043/petition.html

http://www.petitiononline.com/xxhb5043/petition.html

No to Reproductive Health Bill (HB5043)

2008-10-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

To: Congress of the Philippines

We strongly oppose the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill (HB5043) for the following reasons:
1. AS EMPLOYERS, we do not want to be compelled to provide free reproductive health care services, supplies, devices and surgical procedures (including vasectomy and ligation) to our employees, and be subjected to both imprisonment and/or a fine, for every time that we fail to comply. (Section 17 states that employers shall provide for free delivery of reproductive health care services, supplies and devices to all workers more particularly women workers. (Definition of Reproductive Health and Rights Section 4, paragraph g, Section 21, Paragraph c and Section 22 on Penalties)

2. AS HEALTH CARE SERVICE PROVIDERS, we do not want to be subjected to imprisonment and/or a fine, if we fail to provide reproductive health care services such as giving information on family planning methods and providing services like ligation and vasectomy, regardless of the patient's civil status, gender, religion or age ( Section 21 on Prohibited Acts, Letter a, Paragraphs 1 to 5 and Section 22 on Penalties)

3. AS SPOUSES, we do not agree that our husband or wife can undergo a ligation or vasectomy without our consent or knowledge. (Section 21 on Prohibited Acts, Letter a, Paragraph 2)

4. AS PARENTS, we do not agree that children from age 10 to 17 should be taught their sexual rights and the means to have a satisfying and "safe" sex life as part of their school curriculum. (Section 12 on Reproductive Health Education and Section 4 Definition of Family Planning and Productive Health, Paragraph b, c and d)

5. AS CITIZENS, we do not want to be subjected to imprisonment and/or pay a fine, for expressing an opinion against any provision of this law, if such expression of opinion is interpreted as constituting "malicious disinformation" ( Section 21 on Prohibited Acts, Paragraph f and Section 22 on Penalties)

6. We also oppose other provisions such as losing our parental authority over a minor child who was raped and found pregnant (Section 21, a, no.3)

7. We also do not agree to the provision which reclassifies contraceptives as essential medicines (Section 10) and appropriating limited government funds to reproductive services instead of basic services (Section 23) Thus, we urge you to immediately stop deliberations on the bill and stop wasting taxpayers money.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

CBCP asks Pope to visit Manila in 2009

2008-09-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

by ARIES RUFO, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak 09/29/2008 6:05 PM

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has formally invited Pope Benedict XVI to attend next year’s celebration of Asian Youth Day to be held in Manila, abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak has learned.

It will be the second invitation extended by the Catholic Church to the Holy Father, who declined an offer this year to make a side trip to the Philippines from his visit to Australia for the World Youth Day last July.

Two bishops confirmed that an invitation has been forwarded to the Vatican, following consultations with other CBCP members.

The invitation was prompted by a separate request of the Catholic Church in Taiwan for the Pope to attend its 150th anniversary of its evangelization. Taipei’s local bishops have asked the CBCP to also invite the Pope, noting that Manila would host the Asian Youth Day next year.
The Asian Youth Day (AYD), a regional version of the World Youth Day, was last observed in Hongkong in 2006.

But one of the sources said the Pope is likely to refuse the offer, considering the diplomatic implication of the Pope’s visit to Taiwan, which is still considered a “renegade” province by China.

Asian Youth Day

According to a July 30, 2008 story on Asian Youth Day on the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) website, organizers plan to hold the AYD in the Philippines last week of November or first week of December 2009.

The UCAN report said, “AYD organizers have not decided on the theme for the celebration, but activities will center on the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) thrust toward Eucharist in the context of the young.”

The report said “AYD celebrations, held in years when no international WYD celebration takes place, aim to inspire Asian Catholics to continue and live their faith “passionately, in a more dedicated way,” according to Jessica Joy Candelario, the head of the desk of the FABC’s Office of Laity and Family.

Asian bishops vowed in a previous World Youth Day celebration to “give more priority to the needs of young people.” They agreed to establish a “youth office that will give a more concrete voice for young Asians,” the UCAN report said.

“Three years later, the FABC established its laity office’s Youth Desk. The desk organized the first AYD celebration in Thailand in 1999,” the UCAN report said.

Eucharistic & Marian Vigil

2008-09-30T21:54:00.001-07:00

In celebration of the Month of the Most Holy Rosary this October 2008, our Parish will be having a Eucharistic & Marian Vigil to be organized by the Adoracion Nocturna Filipina (ANF) Turno 1193 and Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Eucharist (EMHC) in cooperation with the Ushers & Collectors Ministry (UCM) and Catholic Women’s League (CWL) to be held on the 11th of October, Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the parish church.

For this year’s celebration, our parish invited His Excellency, Most Rev. Bishop Deogracias S. Iniguez, Jr., D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Caloocan as the Mass Celebrant.

PANALANGIN NG LAYKO

2008-09-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Mapagmahal naming Ama,
Ikaw ang may akda ng buhaySalamat, ang dangal nami’y binigyang halaga.Ikaw ang bukal ng karununganSalamat, kalooban nami’y pinukaw mong ganap.Ikaw ang pinagmulan ng pag-ibigSalamat, puso nami’y tinuruang magmahal.

Mapagkalingang Hesus
Ikaw ang Pastol ng mga layko.Hayaan mo kaming makatugonSa iyong makapangyarihang tinig,upang kami’y makapaglingkod sa iyong kawannang may pag-ibig at pagmamalasakit.

Espiritung Banal,
Halina’t likhain kaming muliupang maging isang simbahanghandang maging mukha ni Kristosa bawa’t pamilya’t tahanan,handang maging tinig ng Diyos, nagpapalaganapat nagsasabuhay ng Mabuting Balita,handang maging puso ni Hesus,naglilingkod at nagbabahagi sa lahat ng panahon.

O Kabanal-banalang Santatlo,
Salamat sa halimbawang ipinakitani San Lorenzo Ruiz,Ibinahagi niya ang kanyang pag-ibig sa Diyosat katapatan sa misyon.Pagindapatin mo pong kami’y maging tulad niya,Isang lingkod na tapat, isang laykong may dangal,nananalangi’t nagmamahal ngayon at kailanman.

Amen.

The National Laity Week 2008 Celebration

2008-09-30T21:49:00.001-07:00

Last September 26, 2008 Friday, the parish celebrated the National Laity Week which started last September 21 and will end yesterday October 1, 2008. The activity aims to promote lay apostolate and to honor San Lorenzo Ruiz and Blessed Pedro Calungsod, the Patron Saints of the Catholic Laity in the Philippines. The activity was held at Bulwagang Sta. Catalina thru the kindness of the Dominican Sisters.

The Organizing Committee of this year’s Laity Week Celebration has adopted the theme: “PISTA NG MGA LAIKO”. The recognition of the efforts contributed by different church mandated organizations, ministries and communities of renewal were presented thru a “festive fair variety program” ala Barrio Fiesta” set-up.

Most of the organizations, presented various colorful native dances which really moved the audience to move their feet and ”harana” song medley that helped the audience reminisced some of their memorable moments as young ones then.

On top of the variety program, ,the church workers of the parish enjoyed the food that were brought by the different organizations which include, dinuguan, puto, suman, sago at gulaman and even sorbetes!

The activity is actually an annual affair in the parish that started last year wherein an Exhibit was held showcasing the various organizations thru the use of native and indigenous materials.
One of the highlights of the activity is the Special Message given by Rev. Fr. Toochy Ubarco wherein he stressed that the joy brought about by the Fiesta atmosphere should also be illuminated in the life of a lay person no matter what circumstances they have. The very same joy that each lay perosn should posses to be able to spread the Good News.

The Year That Was-The 2007 Parish Year End Report

2008-09-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

2007 was a milestone year at San Antonio De Padua Parish, with the appointment of Rev. Fr. Buenaventura C. Ubarco as the new Pastor and various tangible innovations—implemented both by the Parish Pastoral Council and the parochial ministries and organizations themselves—to deepen the parishioners’ spiritual life.

Revival of the Novena in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help every Wednesday; (February 2007)

Revival of one of the most pleasant traditions that Catholics observe during the Lenten season, The Visita Iglesia (Visit of the Churches). For 2007, the Parish visited the churches in the Province of Zambales; (March 24, 2007)

New approach on the Salubong Rite was also introduced wherein balloons were attached to the veil of the Blessed Virgin Mary which was released along with the balloons during the actual encuentro. The parish contact numbers were attached on the veil in order for the people who will be lucky enough to get it shall be able to call the Parish for such blessing. The parish prepared some grocery items and other gift packs for the lucky recipient. On its first year, the veil landed in the hand of a Farm caretaker in Antipolo City. On top of the gifts that were presented to the recipient, a Holy Mass was also held in the said area that was led by Fr. Toochy and attended by selected church workers; (March & August 2007)

The parish also adapted the 31-day Novena for the Flores De Mayo created by Msgr. Sabino Vengco, Jr.; (May 2007)

The Parish was also visited by one of the well known Healing Priest, Rev. Fr. Joey Faller. The said visit of Fr. Faller was noted as one of the most well attended gathering in the Parish as substantial number of faithful attended the activity which lasted for almost 5 hours. (July 10, 2007)

Through the efforts of the new Pastor, the Parishioners actively participated in the observance of the Prison Awareness Month as reflected in the substantial donations that were gathered for the prisoners of the Binan Municipal Jail. (September 2007)

In celebration of the National Laity Week, the Parish conducted another pioneering efforts when it held the first-ever Pista ng Layko. Various booths were set up showcasing ingenuity and creativity of the church workers. The celebration was made even memorable with the Merienda ala Barrio Fiesta set up. (September 22-23, 2007)

Through the efforts of the Family Life Ministry, the Parish organized a Kasalang Bayan wherein 10 couples who are either civilly married or living together for at least five years were finally blessed by the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony last October 27, 2007. These couples came from the Brgy. Platero and San Antonio. Fr. Toochy officiated the mass wedding while the reception followed at the Parish Multi-Purpose Hall with the HRM students of St. Michael’s College providing the reception accommodations;

In celebration of the Month of the Holy Rosary, the Parish was able to invite the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Novaliches, His Excellency Teodoro C. Bacani, Jr., D.D. The good Bishop graced the Parish for a Holy Mass and talk on the topic “Maria, ang Talang Gabay sa ating Paglalakbay sa Dagat ng Buhay”;

Lastly, the parish revived the yearly tradition of distributing Christmas bags to our less fortunate parishioners dubbed as Pamaskong Handog 2007. More than 300 families were given bags of grocery items collected from the offertory in the nine day Misa De Gallo.

The Former Pastors

2008-09-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

Since the installation of the Parish in 1979, the Parish of San Antonio De Padua has been under the Pastoral Care of seven (7) Parish Priests.

PARISH PRIEST
PERIOD OF ASSIGNMENT
PASTORAL THRUST

Rev. Fr. Emilio C. Palma
January 1979-1983
To establish the Parish and organize church mandated organizations including youth groups.

Rev. Fr. Jacinto S. Diaz
1983-August 1988
Formation and establishment of Basic Ecclesial Communities and Bible Studies.

Rev. Fr. Felipe A. Almosa
August 1988-July 1991
A Living church that cares for its people.

Rev. Fr. Tomas D. Cuenca
July 1991-November 1995
Revival of Parish and other church mandated organizations thru active lay participation in parish activities

Rev. Fr. Ricardo R. De Luna
November 1995-January 2003
Renewed evangelization thru Parish Renewal Experience

Rev. Fr. Rex MP. Delos Angeles
January 10, 2003-January 14, 2007
To be rather than to do

Rev. Fr. Buenaventura C. Ubarco
January 14, 2007-Present

Parish Profile

2008-09-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

ECONOMIC STATUS

The parishioners are mostly professionals, employees: bank executives, lawyers, physicians, school administrators, accountants, teachers, office workers. Some have their own businesses like rice milling & trading, fast food stalls, grocery stores, fruit and meat stalls, passenger jeeps and tricycles, shoe making and shuttle buses for students and employees, and ready-to-wear clothes as well as handicrafts. Their monthly income approximately range from a low P8,000 to a high of P50,000 or more.

However, there are thousands of families living below poverty line. There were few slum areas, residents of which are either underprivileged or unemployed. The men work as jeep or tricycle drivers. The women seek employment as laundry women. There are some who work in factories situated in special economic and industrial zones in Binan and nearby towns.

SPIRITUAL PROFILE

About 85% of the populations are Roman Catholic and 15% belong to different religious affiliations such as, Protestants, Baptist, Born Again-Christians, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Aglipay, Adventist Church of Christ, and others. While 85% of the population are Roman Catholics, not even 10% are practicing although there were substantial number of them that are actively involved in the El Shaddai Prayer Partner Groups especially those in Brgy. Platero

At present the Parish serves two (2) Chapels who are represented in the meetings and activities of the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC). These chapels are as follows:
1. Resureccion Chapel-Tulay Bato
2. San Roque Chapel-Brgy. Platero

Masses are celebrated in these chapels every Saturday and Sunday by the Parish Priest and other visiting priests through arrangements made with the Parochial Office.

Presence of Religious congregation in any parish provide significant pastoral support for its catechetical ministry and religious education programs. San Antonio De Padua Parish is very fortunate with the presence of the lone religious house within its jurisdiction, Sta. Catalina College of the Dominican congregation or from the Order of Preachers (OP). This gives hope that in following the charism of their congregation in the Parish will continue to develop greater collaboration with parish groups and the parish priest, as well as among themselves and their institution, and thus enhance the catechetical work throughout the Parish.

Regarding other Religious Sects, there are twelve (12) Christian Assemblies which have fellowships done mostly on Sundays. There is also one (1) Aglipay Chapel (Sta. Filomena) at Municipal Cemetery, one (1) Hindi/Moslem Mosque at G&F Subdivision in Brgy. Platero and a Jehovah Assembly at Golden Meadows Subdivision.

SOCIO-CULTURAL PROFILE

The town of Binan attracts and offers business opportunities, as the town is considered the center of trade to nearby towns and provinces. Nearly 30% of the Parish’ population are migrants. Majority of these migrants come from Quezon Province and the Bicol Region. Some are here due to intermarriage in the course of business pursuits. Filipino language is the main dialect interspersed by one’s own region or province accent. Generally, the people are warm and friendly that can be attributed to their being in the trade business.

Our Parish History

2008-09-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Digging out facts regarding the parish history is quite arduous due to the inadequacy, if not at all the absence of authoritative records. Compounding the problem even more was the unfortunate fire that raged the Chancery Office at Calauan, Laguna in 1992. Interviews of the barrio’s old folks on the basis of oral accounts were made and collated.

The collated account pointed out the Parish had its humble beginnings. The first edifice church was built of nipa and bamboo and was dedicated to San Antonio De Padua because the early churchgoers and workers then were devotees of San Antonio. As the faithful began to grow and to set out on its journey as a community of Christian towards the fullness of the Kingdom of God, the chapel could no longer fully accommodate the growing number of people so it became necessary to build a larger church. Started in 1940s up to 1970s a new church built of concrete stone was erected to where it is located now.

It was 1979 that the Chapel of San Antonio De Padua was formally established as a Parish and carved out of San Isidro Labrador Parish thru the initiatives of the late Rev. Fr. Emilio C. Palma who also became the first Pastor. There it expanded to a wide territory embracing today’s Barrio San Antonio and Platero.

Today, this church dedicated to San Antonio de Padua, stands as a symbol of the peoples faith in God. The people also consider it as their living spiritual legacy to their children and their children's children.

Ang Pasimhay-The Blog Version

2008-09-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

Last 1997, during the time of Rev. Fr. Ricardo R. De Luna, San Antonio De Padua Parish Binan, Laguna created a Parish Journal entitled "Ang Pasimhay" or Ang Patunay ng Simbahang Buhay. The journal served as the newsletter of the parish for almost two (2) years and became the bridge that closes the gap between the parishioners and the Parish Church.

It even uses the tag line, "The only paper that informs and inspires" since aside from bringing updates and news on the latest and incoming activities in the Parish, it also features inspiring articles that aims to somehow inspires the parishioners to reflect on the message of the Gospel thru heart warming stories.

The newsletter only lasted for two (2) years due to financial concerns particularly on the printing expenses as there are no major advertisements and subsidies from the parish that could somehow support the paper then.

In the advent of new technology and channel like the internet more particularly the Blog mania, the passion for the apostolate on new means of communication or new media has remained strong, thus, this blog site.

The people that will maintain this site is almost the same creative minds behind the dream of Ang Pasimhay 11 years ago. The site will also carry the same tagline before of Ang Pasimhay but this time with a twist, "the site that informs and inspires"

Unlike the newsletter then, the site can be a source of stories everyday and even information and latest updates of the Parish affairs and even from the persona behind it. Welcome and may we hear from you soon!