Fr. Jun's Quotable quotes:

1. Prayer is not to change God's will but to change our hearts.

2. Lent is a time when we are reminded to give up some basic things [such as meat on fridays] so that we may once feel poor. Lent is a time to sympathize with the poor.

3. During Lent, we practice giving up what we like to remind us that there is one thing that we cannot give up: God.

Good out of something evil.

The recent bombing attacks of the Abu Sayyaf against our Filipino brothers and sisters who were merely coming from their 10 hour work schedule to earn their keep for their family can either jolt us or numb us.

People already start complaining about how the government tries to secure the country against these acts of terrorism, but we can never absolutely blame the government for failing. Can I blame you for failing to go to work on time? We all fail and the government is no exception. The government will never please everyone under her care for there are many stakeholders that the government has to please and all of them are not pleased by only one and the same decision.

Then who we can ultimately blame for all these? Sin. Sin is the cause of all the unhappiness in this world. Our pride that bogs us down when we fail. Our pride that bogs us down when we can instead at humbly before rejections. Our envy for other's apparent and true happiness. Our anger against people who contradict us. Our lustful tendencies that lead us to feed two families. Our greed for money, for food, always just concerned about pleasing oneself when there is infinite joy in giving. It is not the fighting that causes divorce. It is one man's or woman's lust, greed, or anger.

Let's end the talk on sin.

One thing that spurs us to hope is this: that God will draw out something good from the evil that is happening. All we have to do is to raise our minds to the same level as God's and we will start seeing the good from all this. In every failure, there is something good that we can draw out: learning. In every rejection is humility. In every bombing, we learn to trust in God and renew our piety. In every tsunami, in every accident, a good. Build this spirit of optimism in all of us and the devil will scorn us for still smiling at his effort to turn our eyes away from God.

Remember, the devil celebrates at every sin we commit. Let's resolve to go to confession soon, prepare ourselves for our indefinite deaths, and start smiling more often with God's grace.

Eres Tú

Como una promesa eres tú, eres tú,
como una mañana de verano,
como una sonrisa eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.

Toda mi esperanza eres tú, eres tú,
como lluvia fresca en mis manos,
como fuerte brisa eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.

Eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar,
eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar.

Como un poema eres tú, eres tú,
como una guitarra en la noche,
como el horizonte eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.

Eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar,
eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar.

Something Beautiful

Wonderful song. Just simply beautiful. I'd sing this to anyone who I think needs to be encouraged. I sing this whenever I receive some blessing. This could be my life's soundtrack. :)

When storms have tossed your heart
And left you weak and wan
Then you must think upon something beautiful
When all your fondest dreams
Are scattered here and yon
Then you must think upon something beautiful

The tree transformed by autumn
The way a sunset close
A water fall
A wedding cake, a rose

When every friend has foe
And hope is all but come
It's time to think upon summer skies
Carousels, butterflies
Whereupon through your eyes you'll see
That living still can be
Something beautiful

My First Pack in Years.

I bought my first pack of cigarettes in years.

I have quit smoking for 8 1/2 years. It wasn't a smoke free 8.5 years but perhaps some 5 sticks escaped my fingers during this span. I probably bought a menthol pack once and didn't finish it. My sister gave me a pack two years ago which I kept in my cabinet for "emergency". When I had recently urged for a smoke, I thought I could still brave a stale pack but when I saw the stains leaching through the packaging, I never dared. So today, I officially bought my first pack.

I must be in a pretty terrible situation now that I had finally dared myself to buy one. You must be curious whether I have opened the pack already or not. Yes, as soon as I got home, I opened it and lit my first serious cigarette. It was rough in my tonsils. It's not used to it anymore. I coughed after I took my last puff of the cigarette. It's been years... and the whole sensation brought me back to those years naive years of my college when I started smoking. It made me laugh.

Funny, I bought it on an Ash Wednesday. Pretty bad timing to buy. I could have bought it another day. But never mind. I guess it's "symbolic" that I also shed some ash with my cigarette on an Ash Wednesday. That would make this day more memorable. Haha.

So what's on my mind? I am just horribly saddened by all the wrong decisions I made. It's hard to make major decisions, all the more harder to undo them. It's hard. I know now that it is right. But the right is always hard to swallow. I need some assurance.

The Truth.

How would you know the truth?

I am in an existential crisis of truth. I hear of several people's views (especially of opinions of how people are) and they all differ. I don't know who to believe. I don't know who to trust. There is only one person I trust. I trust God who is all-knowing. No matter how tainted people think of others, God knows who is telling the truth. I'll just have to trust Him.

What do I do now?

I am distancing myself from the people who are confusing me. I don't want to talk to them anymore. That's it. But I do understand why people think differently. It's because we all lie in order to get what we want. Perhaps not lie. Just to give evasive answers or opinions. The best is to be just simply sincere and straightforward, folks. If you try to be "kind" in your words to make a bad thing sound good, then you'll in for a whole mess. Just say things as they are. Call them by their real names.

Just Slightly Nerdy

I am nerdier than 56% of all people. Are you nerdier?

Cheer up.

"Kasama Ka"

Sana’y masabi sa awit kong ito
Lahat ng ninanais nitong puso ko
Sana saan man patungo sa buhay
May pag-ibig, pag-asa; may saya at saysay
Sana sa bawat sandali’y matikman pa
sarap ng pagsasama,at simpleng ligaya
Tara na, sakyan lang, malay mo
Andiyan lang, andiyan lang… ang hinahanap mo!

-From the TV commercial “I Wish” launched January 1, 2005 for Coke

Breaking up is hard to do.

No, I didn't have a boyfriend.

I know I have told you about my friend and how lucky I am to have her as friend, but last night we have finally ended our friendship. She doesn't want to do anything with me anymore. She doesn't want to be associated with me. I tried to salvage the friendship by offering a simple compromise but she was not open. It's either we were really good friends or not friends. And so I conceded to her side: Fine, no more dealings with each other. And so that part of my story ends.

Epilogue.

I have lost a really good friend. Who will I call now when I'm feeling really bad? Who will I share my corny jokes with? Who will I share my latest escapades to now? I didn't want to really end the friendship. I just simply wanted the texting at odd and several times. She didn't like the idea. And so it ended. Though I lost a friend, I know in my heart that she will still be the same friend I described to you before. I would love to think this way at least that she'll be there -- God willing! -- at my funeral. She is still a friend. She doesn't want to do anything with me, but I will still consider her a friend. Her number will still remain in my phonebook. I will still cherish the memories we have had with each other.

Thanks, Martha, for everything. No doubt you were a very supportive and "useful" friend.

Al's Two views

Got this from John Gibson's blog. Just to teach you some guys about simple logic. :-)
----------------------------------

Al seems to be having a moral disconnect... Here, I will try to help him.

Al has said the following on Abortion:

Women can choose about their life and their body (November 5th)
Conserve Roe v. Wade (March 6)
Abortion is wrong, but let women choose (Jan 2002)
His Supreme Court nominees will allow right to choose (Jan 2002)

Al Sharpton on KFC

KFC treats chickens inhumanely
KFC needs to be boycotted so they change
KFC is wrong for treating chickens like this


Now... lets try something here

Abortion treats children inhumanely
Planned Parenthood needs to be boycotted so they change
America is wrong for allowing people to treat children like this

So... Why does Al believe that Roe v. Wade should be upheld and KFC should be boycotted?

KFC has a choice about their chickens lives and their chickens bodies
Inhumane abuse is wrong, but let KFC choose
His nominees will allow KFC to choose how it treats its Chickens

So in Al's world view... Children in the womb have no rights... Chickens who are about to be slaughtered for food do have rights...

Anyone else getting a major brain fart on this one?

Crazy Mass Celebrations

I hope this won't happen in our country, but I don't think it's not far. Perhaps, it is already happening! Ö

Mass Tour: An Update- Holy Family Parish

The Oldest Couple: Marriage is really Forever.

Nice!

Not that I want to live until I'm 101 or 104 but I wish I could marry someone who will be with me forever, too.

What about you?

Bad Impressions on Opus Dei

It's sad that Opus Dei is a favorite subject of criticisms among non-Catholics and Catholics (laity and clergy!) even.

1. They are for the rich and famous. (There is a jeepney driver in the Philippines who is a member.)
2. They ARE the landed rich. (Who doesn't need land to put up Catholic schools, convents, monasteries, and Churches?)
3. They think women are second-class citizens. (I don't exactly understand the nuance of "second-class.")
4. They are the Pope's secret army. (Heck! Then it's not so secret anymore!)
5. They are too demanding on their members. (Ever heard of how to acquire virtues?)
6. They are too conservative. (Shouldn't all Catholics try to conserve the real intentions and meanings of the Church's teachings?)
7. They are out to dominate the world. (I'd be glad if they do! I don't mind some strong Catholics leading my country. Wouldn't that be utopic?)

I think the above summarizes all most common "accusations" (unjust!) against Opus Dei.

It's sad that even Catholics who are supposed to be "hard core" Catholics speak bad about the organization or at least don't fully understand their mission. I don't want to judge them, but I guess they started on the wrong foot about Opus Dei. I reckon that people who think bad about Opus Dei have first encountered the organization by reading a lot of articles that speak against it. It has created some sort of prejudice in them.

I'm sure that the books written by the Founder of Opus Dei, St. Escriva, are not included in the Index Librorum Prohibitorium, nor other works of Opus Dei. I would like to recommend the Navarre Bible series of texts and commentaries of the different books of the old and new testaments (taken from the Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition Bible). The commentaries are made by Theologians who happen to be members of Opus Dei. You can check out Scepter Publishers.


You won't see St. Josemaria's books inside this bag! Fr. Sibley, I love this bag! Wish you could deliver to the Philippines!

The King's English and I

I thought of posting this to my blog. Very interesting impression of the King's English. Good read. :-)

By Carla Montemayor
Sheffield--

I have always had a love affair with English, and for that reason I write in this language. I've encountered Singlish (the okay lahs of Singapore), Deep South English (brung and y'all), Japanese English (no R's), Ilocano English (all R's), and I have never had major surprises until now with English English, the way they speak it here in the UK.

It's not that I was ignorant of its peculiarities. I had read British authors, watched British films, and spoken with British people long before I got here. All that, however, still did not prepare me for the shock of the colloquial.

For starters, there's the verbose politesse. The British will not just say "thanks," they will invariably say, "Thank you very much indeed," or "Thank you ever so much." Ever so much na, indeed pa. How does one reply adequately to that? "You are profoundly welcome from the deepest recesses of my heart"?

Sometimes I feel like bowing. Then there are the dramatic exclamations. Things are never just "okay" or "nice" or even "great"; they are "splendid," "fantastic," and "brilliant." It's overwhelming and somewhat suspicious for someone whose own language is restrained in the deployment of superlatives.

Maganda (beautiful), magaling (good), and ang galing-galing (really good) are about all we can bring ourselves to describe anything we're impressed with, although we do make up for it with emphatic gestures and lively vocal tones. The British, when pronouncing something as being "superb," will make the most frugal of lip movements and the slightest of eyebrow lifts.

Requests are bound to be long-winded. "You don't suppose you could turn the light on, do you, that is if you don't mind and if it's not too much trouble, of course?" I'm tempted to reply with a similar treatise, but I just say, yes, I suppose the Filipino CAN!

But CANS are not in vogue here. My housemate asked me for a TIN opener, not a CAN opener. And we're all supposed to throw our trash in the trash BIN, not the trash CAN. This must have confused the English when Bin Laden burst into the political scene because, well, the bin is always laden and that is why one must empty it regularly.

One evening, I decided I could speak fancy English as well as everyone, and so I announced to my housemates that I would be buying a small SKILLET. That was met with blank expressions. I am buying a small skillet so that we won't have to fry eggs in that big pan, I announced again. Oh, a FRYING PAN, they chorused. (Celtic barbarians, I muttered under my breath.) But when they did fry poTAHtoes in that pan, they weren't FRIES at all but had somehow been transformed into CHIPS.

Don't get me started with those poTAHtoes and toMAHtoes. I scoured the grocery shelves and there wasn't any toMAHto SAUCE, just diced toMAHtoes in toMAHto JUICE. But I don't want to drink it! I want to cook with it! I went on to the vegetable section already stressed out. No one knows of EGGPLANTS around here, just AUBERGINES. I could not positively identify the ZUCCHINIS because they were hiding under the alias COURGETTES. I've lost all hope of finding mustasa because I'm sure they're not called "moustache." I've seen menus featuring "spotted dick," but I'm too embarrassed to order it. I searched for BISCUITS, ignoring large packages of DIGESTIVES, which I thought were for septuagenarians who had to put all solid food through a blender.

And because this is the north of England, I've been invited to TEA in the evening in which no tea was served it was actually DINNER. Then I was asked to DINNER, which turned out to be LUNCH. So now when they ask what I'm having for "tea," I say "rice." And when someone invites me to "dinner," I no longer plan to wear a shiny dress.

I have also ceased to recoil upon hearing the various endearments with which total strangers address me: "luv" (fairly common), "flower," "angel," and get this "duck." Why the name of a domestic fowl is considered a fond nickname, I have no idea. If someone called me "bibe" (duck) back home, I would surely be livid and yell back, "Itik" (skinny Philippine fowl)!

I have had to LOAD credits onto a local SIM card given to me by a friend, but I found out right away that there is no pre-paid "loading" here, only TOP-UP service. You top-up your mobile phone, tuition, bank balance. All that topping up requires money, of course, and I cannot help making mental computations to convert pounds into pesos. (One pound is now about a hundred pesos.) So when I get a "concession" ticket (a discounted ticket for students) to watch a movie for "just" five pounds, I have actually spent P500 to see a film. Oh, bollocks! as the Brits would exclaim, and to that I can certainly relate because it sounds like bulok (rotten) and in the plural, too. In other words, bulok na bulok (very rotten).

Due to all the budgeting I have had to do, I have become better at MATHS yes, in the plural, as well. But for the first time in my life, my spelling skills have to be, er, topped up. It's labour, with a U. It's analyse and offence. All my written academic work is riddled with words underlined in red. I am completely DISORIENTED, but since this is England, I must be DISORIENTATED. Bloody strange, if you will excuse my  English.

Anyway, I don't understand why "bloody" or "bleeding" is considered a swear word in this country. In Tagalog, if a meeting or a confrontation is particularly tense, it will be described as madugo (bloody). How is that filthy?

Probably for the same reason that here, "phlegmatic" is something of a flattering adjective. To be full of phlegm is to be quintessentially British: calm and unflappable. Me, I'm from a population of weak lungs where the horror of tuberculosis is still euphemized by the term "primary complex." I neither possess nor desire any phlegm whatsoever.

To each language its own bodily fluid. lovely, isn't it? =) c u later, my ducks! =)

Am I Hurrying?

You read my previous blog when I talked to you about my dad's incentives? Yeah?

Probably just an epilogue to it: I'm not giving in to these incentives. Just want to make it clear. I don't care if I get the condo for free because I'm getting married. No one should ever get married for these reasons. Don't get fooled again by parents who are giving you these incentives. No one should really hurry their choosing a husband or a wife for that matter.

Each in one's own time. Patience is a virtue.

Read This.

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd
waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of
the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses
and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs
is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought
slpeling was ipmorantt! tahts so cool!!!

Well, I don't know what you think about this, but I think it's kinda cool but also stupid. Don't be fooled by the above because it only used common words we are so familiar with. People who read words and not see the order of the letters, learned to read from children's story books taught by non-teaching adults. We don't read letters, true, but we produce the sound of the letters. If we learn to read words, we will have a hard time learning a new language because doing so require that we learn to read the sounds of the letters and learn to pronounce them. For those who speak English as their second language, they can easily read the above paragraph with no problem at all, but at the same time, pronounce words we may encounter for the first time.

Age Test

You Are 26 Years Old

26 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

I got the link for this test and I thought I'd take it since I always think that I act older than my real age. I thought it will really come out something like 30+ but to my surprise, the quiz judged me to act just a year younger than I really am! Imagine that, I actually act younger than mmy age! Well, i think it is pretty consoling to know this little detail though I know I shouldn't take these tests too seriously for it has pretty vague descriptions. ;P It's fun though.

Ultimatum.

I don't know if this the bright side of things, but my father gave me an ultimatum of sorts.

Remember that "casual conversation" we had? Well, he also gave me an ultimatum. Maybe not so much as an ultimatum, but an "incentive." He told me that I can get more "benefits" and "inheritances" if I get married by June 30, 2005.

Uh-huh. You read that right. Now, how many fathers would have actually told their daughters these words or similar words? Maybe, just one. Mine. I don't know if I should rejoice or not. Definitely, I won't marry by June 30 this year. First of all, I don't have a boyfriend. Suitors? None even. I can probably find a boyfriend, spend a whole day with him to get to know him, decide if I should marry him within a month. Ii get engage, say March. Wedding preparations can be done in three months (like my sister's). Hmmm. Not bad if suddenly I meet my soul mate tomorrow. Naturally, it won't happen this quick. So I guess, my dad's "hopes" for my inheritances are really nihil. Non-existent. So why bother for that inheritance? Ah, and one more thing he said - he's attaching incentives to everything that cannot be planned - he'll give more inheritance for every child borne from his children (that's my sister and me). I'd believe this one. Sounds more realistic.

Getting married is not just a matter of incentive. It is not just a task that you have to do for the heck of an incentive. It is beyond incentives and rewards and inheritances. It requires waiting. What if I don't get married? So I won't get any inheritance? Well, I don't mind. That's the consequence of not getting married.

Hmmmm... Maybe my dad is pressuring me to get married quick by making it seem difficult for me to fulfill my dreams being alone. He probably wanted me to conclude that I just simply get married... He has to understand though that it is not that I don't want to get married. They are just not coming. Maybe marriage is really not for me. Anyway, let's just wait and see.

One thing's for sure, I won't marry for the heck of incentive. If I have to live it out in the province and drive a rusty car, I will.

Letting Myself Be Deceived

My "dreams" were just shattered by my father's words.

I have recently dreamt of my own flat in the City and a nice new economy car I can replace for my current 9 year old one, with the hope of actually being able to get one, based on my father's words: "I'll give it to you as advanced inheritance." Well, it was just a casual conversation which I took quite seriously since I trust my father a lot. I knew him as someone who says one thing and will live by it. Since I was blinded by thought of actually having the chance of owning my "dreams," I took his words literally. I had let myself be deceived.

My dad, who holds a CPA, asked for my financial statement (like a summary of my monthly income and expenses). I didn't know what for, but I saw it as a "requirement" for getting the condo of my dreams. He reviewed my FS, and after a week or so, he now talks to me about it telling me, "I think you are living beyond your expenses. I think if you want to get that condo, you need a better job, a more stable job that will earn you an income enough to pay for both the condo and the car." I was open to what he said. Regarding my living beyond my expenses, I somehow didn't react surprised - maybe because I know that I am living beyond my expenses (not that my expenses are more than my income, heck no). As for finding a better job to accommodate my luxuries, I wasn't quite open. I am not for the corporate world. I don't really see myself working for the money. I don't see myself working from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, in the same office, doing the same thing. Honestly, I don't have the discipline for such a job. I like movement, dynamism, but not activism.

So I tried to clarify his words during our "casual conversation" regarding the "inheritance." Well, now that it is clarified, it really isn't about shelling out the whole cash for me without my paying back. What he actually meant was that he was willing to finance it for me. So much for an inheritance. [Is that what I'll expect for my actual inheritance?]

After that quick conversation, my spirits were down. I didn't want to talk to him anymore. I just avoided his gaze and anymore possible conversation that may worsen the issue.

Fairly enough, I learned my lesson. It truly was a humbling experience. I am posting this experience here as a way to combat my pride. Pride does not do us any good. And I don't want it to harm my relationship with my father, who I owe a lot. This is my way of swallowing and stepping on my pride. Besides, why am I trying to seek happiness where I cannot find it?

What about you? Do you make the effort to step on yours?

C. S. Lewis on Friendship.

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival."

Again and again, I almost lost the same friend. I have become too independent minded as to reach this point of thinking that I can live on my own without having a real friend. It has only caused me loneliness. I almost lost her.

"He who has found a friend, has found a treasure." I have found a treasure in her only when I almost lost her. Does it always have to happen that we only realize the value of a treasure when it is already gone? Well, I think it just had to happen to me. Although I am happy that I had not exactly lost her. She is so patient with me. She gave me countless chances to reconcile with her. I don't mind you guys interpreting this as something else. Maybe you just have not found a real friend.

Anyway, I am resolved to keep this treasure from now own. I won't let something like this to happen again. It took me many days of tears before I could muster some courage to tell her that I wanted to keep her as a friend no matter what. I was an ingrat, an ungrateful fool, who'd let a treasure slip by my hands so easily. Thank God, I arrived at a conclusion that she truly is a treasure. I am glad that I have a friend who will sacrifice to do me favors. I am glad that I have a friend who will give me a great eulogy when I die. I am glad that I have a friend who will pray the rosary beside my death bed and call for a priest to give the last sacraments. I am glad that I have a friend who'll do anything to cheer me up. I am glad that I have friend who will free up some of her time to listen to my woes. I am glad that I have friend who I know will visit me in the "basement" if I suddenly go insane. I am glad that I have a friend who has a family who treats me like I am one of their daughters. I am glad that I have a friend who will point to me the things that I am doing wrong. I am glad to have a friend who I know is a real treasure.

What about you, have you found a treasure like I have found mine?