Look at the stars in the sky December 18, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in Uncategorized.add a comment
Look at the stars in the sky
Filled with small lights at night
We are the stars at night,
we are the children of God.
But the wise men saw the big star in the east,
that our Savior was born.
The star is the biggest and brightest
Of all the stars in the sky.
The biggest star will shine on you
With rays of peace, hope, and love.
Jesus is the bright, morning star,
And offspring of David.
He is the true hope and light for all.
People find more hope
In times of their adversities and weaknesses
Jesus is the sure, big hope
To bring more comfort
For those who are filled with anxieties and hopelessness.
Pray and ask to the Lord about the big star
To shine on you this Christmas.
Christmas is a season of bliss.
Christmas is a season of rejoicing
Because the big star that shines on you!
A blessed Christmas to all!
Breaking My Silence December 7, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in A Blog Protest!, Exposition.add a comment
This is the hardest part of my life to write here in my blog to break my silence and to tell the truth. For more than seven years ago, my father’s third eldest brother, Bienvenido Diaz (or Ninong Toto) is filled with hatred against to his nine siblings.
The latest happened to the eldest sister Zenaida Diaz who was accused and called a “thief” by her brother Ninong Toto and expelled her from his house last February. He showed me the bank certificate from Metrobank Zubarran Branch in Sta. Cruz Manila with the face value worth more than P 3 million. The owners of the certificate were Zenaida “Tita Zeny” Diaz and Carmelita “Tita Nene” Diaz but the name Bienvenido Diaz was not included. He directly accused to his eldest sister and called him to her a “thief” to delete/manipulate her brother’s name at the bank certificate. For me, Ninong Toto did not show me other documents or evidences to prove the accusations that Zenaida Diaz as a thief/manipulator of her brother’s bank account including their second eldest sister Carmelita Diaz as a conspirator! Therefore, this accusations will be dismissed either in court or in prosecution due to lack of evidence.
I knew the attitudes of Ninong Toto who has filled with hatred and hypocrisy when I was in Guam 7 years ago. He is enslaved and brainwashed by his wife and my foolish aunt Debbie Diaz. He worked as a pianist at the Okura Hotel in Guam for 25 years but some hotels were rejected to hire him. My parents wanted to give milk fishes to Tito Noli Buan as a keepsake but Ninong Toto did not give this keepsake to his cousin! I told to my parents that Ninong Toto did not give pieces of milk fish to Tito Noli Buan because Ninong Toto made an alibi to cook the milk fish either in lunch or dinner in his home!
He learned to use the taboo words like “bullshit”, “shut-up” or any slang term from his wife to destroy my reputation.
I remember this couple who conducted the eavesdropping while I was talking to my parents on the phone. I did not know that they had an extension phone to humiliate me with painful words. They thought I was an enemy in their house. I was a victim of verbal abuse by Ninong Toto and Tita Debbie until then!!!
You know, Ninong Toto, you said to me that your wife is more intelligent in accounting than to my parents? I doubt you! I found out your stupid wife learned Quickbooks through payroll only on the accounting department of Unlimited Services Group!
Oh come on, my mother became a simple accounting clerk, got the certified public accountant (CPA) in the early 80s, until comptroller in North Davao Mining Company (NDMC) that she started in 1975. She left NDMC in 1989 and joined to Nesic Philippines (a Japanese Electronic firm) from Comptroller to Executive Vice President! She learned to use Lotus 123, Microsoft Excel, and Oracle for accounting purposes! She is stricter accountant than your wife, Ninong Toto! My mom is so serious to audit figures at Nesic for more than 15 years, don’t you ever think that, Ninong Toto? I sum it up that my mom spent her life as an accountant for almost 30 years!
What about you, Ninong Toto? Where is your proof to show me the CPA license of your wife? Where? Getting the accounting license is so strict in the United States! Tita Debbie learned only in Quickbooks and a colorum accountant! A true accountant is not just handling Quickbooks but he/she handles audit, comptrollership, administration and the entire corporate world with CPA license.
Ninong Toto, I strongly condemn that you are not a Christ! You claim the verses from the Scriptures in John 8:58; 14:6, 9. The Lord Jesus Christ warns Christian believers must not believe in false messiahs as it was written in Matthew 24:4-5, 23-26. You deceived your siblings including your nephews and nieces because of your hoax teachings! You are still ignorant of learning of the Scriptures and inventing your own teachings that you said “I smelled the holy fragrance”. He has filled with hallucinations! Ninong Toto is Anti-Christ, spiritually and mentally handicapped because I found out he is making his own teachings and building own religion to worship him as a human person for deceitful purposes. Worshiping a creature is a strongest violation against God’s law in the Scriptures! Therefore, I am strongly refused to worship that human Christ.
An authentic Christ who came from heaven and God became man. Jesus Christ did not follow the teachings from the Pharisees and scribes. He has an authority to forgive the people from sins. He fed the hungry and brought the lost souls to comfort. He obeyed the Scriptures from the Old Testament until his death on the cross and redeemed the world.
The name of the Father is not a Jehovah that was claimed by the Jehovah’s witnesses and Ninong Toto! I am writing the excerpts from the preface of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV):
“To the four consonants YHWH of the Name, which had come to be regarded as too sacred to be pronounced, they attached vowel signs indicating that in its place should be read the Hebrew word Adonai meaning ‘Lord’ (or Elohim meaning ‘God’). Ancient Greek translators employed the word Kyrios (‘Lord’) for the name. The Vulgate likewise used the Latin word Dominus (‘Lord’). The form ‘Jehovah’ is of late medieval origin; it is a combination of the consonants of the Divine Name and the vowels attached to it by the Masoretes but belonging to an entirely different word. Although the American Standard Version (1901) had used ‘Jehovah’ to render the Tetragrammaton (the sound of Y being represented by J and the sound of W by V, as in Latin), for two reasons the Committees that produced the RSV and NRSV returned to the more familiar usage of the King James Version. (1) The word ‘Jehovah’ does not accurately represent any form of the name ever used in Hebrew. (2) The use of any proper name for the one and only God, as though there were other gods from whom the true God had to be distinguished, began to be discontinued in Judaism before the Christian era and is inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church.”
The Tetragrammaton YHWH is a respected name for the Hebrews. I also respect that name, too. But Jesus Christ introduces God as the Father. It is written in Matthew 6:9 in NRSV: “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Never call “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” but call what Jesus said “Our Father in heaven,…!” If Ninong Toto won’t disregard this, he committed blasphemy to the Lord and in danger of eternal condemnation according to Jesus (Mark 3:29).
Ninong Toto, I believe that God will revoke your spirit inside your house soon and pull you to Satan because I accuse you of hatred and hypocrisy. You are not easily escaped in judgment day because the Lord will review your past days including your pessimistic attitudes and bitterness to your nine siblings including your nephew! I am no longer to fetch you to the airport when you will arrive back home here in Manila.
My Catholic-Christian faith will not change in my life. I am following the policies and commandments of Christ according to the Scriptures and the traditions of being a Catholic. I believe in Jesus Christ who died and washed my sins through his blood and cleansed my heart from sins. I am ready to die by defending the truth of God and His Son Jesus and accepting honors from the Almighty better than school honors due to cheating and dishonesty!
St. Catherine Laboure–Saint of Silence December 1, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in Hope, Miraculous Medal, Nora V. Clemente-Arnaldo, Sr. Catherine Laboure.add a comment
[I would like to thank Sis. Nora V. Clemente-Arnaldo for granting me the permission to publish on my blog about the life of St. Catherine Laboure. She is my mentor and former president of the Mary Help of Christians Praesidium of the Legion of Mary at the Presentation of the Child Jesus Parish. This article was published by Totus Tuus, Maria magazine on July-September 2009. She is sharing to all readers here in my blog to know about the life of St. Catherine, a quiet saint.]
by Nora V. Clemente-Arnaldo
The death of her mother brought the young Catherine untold sadness. Then, she thought of the statue of the Blessed Virgin on the mantel. Quickly, she ran and hugged the statue, “Now you will be my mother,” declared the nine-year-old Catherine.
Catherine Laboure (pronounced Lah-boray) was born on 2 May 1806 in the small peaceful French village of Fain-les-Moutiers (pronounced Fah-Lay-Mout-i-ay), a village which had more cows than people. Baptized Catherine Zoe (which means life), she was the seventh of nine children. Catherine was a pious girl, attending daily mass in the hapel of the Daughters of Charity, a mile away from her home. Her eldest sister, Marie Louise, entered the Daughters of Charity congregation at age 23.
One night, Catherine had a dream. “I was praying in the church. An old priest came to say Mass. He looked at me and I felt like running away. Then he said ‘Someday, you will meet me again. God has plans for you.’ “
When she intimated to her father her wish to be a Daughter of Charity, he put his foot down saying, “I have given Marie Louise to God. That’s enough.” Her father liked to see her married. In fact Catherine declined two marriage proposals. Hoping to discourage her from becoming a nun, Catherine’s father sent her to Paris to help her brother Charles in his restaurant. Circumstances eventually permitted her to enter the Daughters of Charity at Rue du Bac in Paris on 21 April 1830 at the age of 24. At the entrance to the house of the Daughters of Charity, she noticed the painting of a priest. She asked a sister who the priest was. “St. Vincent de Paul, our founder” was the answer. “He’s the priest I saw in my dream!” Catherine exclaimed.
In the novitiate, the days were full of work, prayer and study. Catherine was no different from the others.
The Lady Calls
On July 18, a little before midnight, she heard a child’s voice saying, “Sister Catherine, Sister Catherine, get up quickly. Come to the chapel. Our Lady is waiting for you.” She got up quickly and found a little child of about five years, radiant with light, beside her bed. She followed him to the chapel which was all lit up. The Blessed Mother sat on the chair which was reserved for the director of the Sisters. Catherine quickly knelt before the Blessed Mother on the steps of the altar and she was permitted to rest her folded hands on the knees of the Blessed Mother who told her, “Come to the foot of this altar. Graces will be showered on you and on all who shall ask them, rich and poor.” She added, “Do not be afraid of difficulties. Pray to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament. ” When Catherine went back to her room, it was 2:00 in the morning already!
On November 27, Our Lady visited Sr. Catherine for the second time. Here’s her account:
I saw the Blessed Mother standing there, offering to God the globe of the eath which she was holding in her hands. Rays of light came out of her hands. They stood for the graces which Our Blessed Mother gives to people who ask for them. Then I saw a sort of oval shape appear around Mary. This prayer was written in it ‘O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’ The oval turned around and on the back of it I saw the letter ‘M’. On top, there was a cross with two heart beneath. One was the heart of Jesus crowned with thorns. The other was the heart of Mary pierced by a sword. A voice said to me ‘Have a medal just like this made. People who wear it with trust, especially around their neck, will receive many graces.’
How would Sr. Catherine go about this mission of having the medal made without letting others know that she had seen the Blessed Mother? She talked to Fr. Aladel, her spiritual director, who at first was not convinced. The first medals, however, were finally made in 1832 with the permission of the Archbishop of Paris. Fr. Aladel went to give medals to the Sisters at the hospice and how he admired Catherine receiving her medal without making any show.
At this time in Paris, a cholera epidemic was killing thousands of people. The Sisters gave the medal to every one. Surprisingly, people were cured. Due to countless miraculous healings, the medal was called “Miraculous Medal”. IN 1835, there were 1.5 million medals made and distributed all throughout Europe.
The prayer on the medal “O Mary conceived without sin….” was preparing people for an important event in the church. On 8 December 1854 Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Four years later, a “Beautiful Lady” whose name was “Immaculate Conception” appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France. Everyone knew Bernadette had seen the Virgin Mary. But Catherine kept silent for 46 years about her visions of Mary. When someone would suggest that perhaps she was the Sister of the apparitions, she would just laugh.
In the meantime, Catherine was getting older and weaker. She was worried because she had not yet finished her mission. And Fr. Aladel had died already. She went to the Mother Superior, Sr. Jeanne Dufes (pronounce Doo-feh) and told her about her conversation with the Blessed Mother, “Sister Jeanne,” Catherine said, “I am not well-educated. If Mary chose me, it was so that no one could doubt that the idea came from her. A statue must be made of Mary holding the earth in her hands. Just as the Mother carries her child in her arms, so Mary presents to God all the life of the world. She invites us to love the world as Jesus loved it.”
She Kept Her Silence Till Death
In December 1876, when Catherine’s health was fast deteriorating, she predicted that she would not see the end of the year. True enough, in December 31, she received Holy Communion and while the sisters were praying the rosary with her, she passed away peacefully with a smile on her lips. Sr. Jeanne declared to the sisters, “There is no need to hide anything from you anymore Sisters. It was Sr. Catherine who saw the Blessed Virgin and who received the mission of having the Miraculous Medal made.”
Sr. Catherine was declared saint by Pope Pius XII on 28 July 1947. Her feast day is observed on November 28, a day after the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
The incorrupt body of St. Catherine Laboure encased in glass is under a side altar of Our Lady in the motherhouse chapel on Rue du Bac. The upturned hands around which a rosary is entwined are made of wax. The incorrupt hands which rested on the knees of the Blessed Mother are now enshrined in the novitiate cloister of the motherhouse. The heart of the saint was likewise put i a special reliquary made of jeweled crystal and gold and is reverently kept in the chapel at Rue de Reuilly where St. Catherine spent 46 years of her life.
First Apparition of Lady Appeared to Sr. Catherine Laboure
Second Apparition
The Third Apparition showing with rays and the two Medals
Advent: Season of Waiting Hope November 29, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in Hope, Uncategorized.2 comments
I begin this writing and to greet to all the Catholics around the world “A Happy New Year!”
The ORDO 2009 book which contains liturgical readings and readings of the Divine Office ended last Saturday, November 28, 2009. I bought the new ORDO for 2010 at the Catholic Book Center in Intramuros, Manila last August.
We are now on the season of Advent, the season of waiting hope. Advent is the “first season” of every liturgical year. From the Latin “adventus” means both “coming” and “expectation.” The period of Advent starts either the end of November or the beginning of December and ends on December 24 or Christmas eve. It includes four Sundays and divides into two parts: the first goes from the beginning up to December 16. The second part stretches from December 17 to 24.
In the first part, we focus on Christ’s Second Coming, with its consequent appeal to watchfulness and converstion. On the seond part, we relive the expectation of the people of Israel and the whole of mankind for the coming of the “Messiah,” the universal Savior promised by the Almighty God through the prophets.
Advent, thus, is like the season of Lent to repent our sins. If we remember John the Baptist, the cousin and precursor of Christ, said: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ” (Matthew 3:2-3, NRSV).
John the Baptist is our main guide/example during the first period with his emphasis on conversion. In the second period, Mary Most Holy, with the example of openness to God and availability to cooperate actively in the fulfillment of His plan.
We are on the season of hope, my dear bloggers. We faced ferocious typhoons struck in the Philippines. Other countries experienced tsunamis, earthquakes and such disasters in this world. We focus in God, because He is our hope and righteous.
Advent is not just for “external” preparation to decorate lanterns, Christmas decors, send greetings, and exchange gifts. Our internal preparation during Advent needs to repent for the salvation and be watchful in prayer on the Second Coming of Christ. My invitation to all who read this blog “be watchful” in faith and prayer, in humble openness and total availability to welcome and serve Christ even the most unlikely or unexpected persons and events.
Let us wake up from the cares of this world and be focus on the unseen things which our hope is eternal (II Corinthians 4:18).
God bless you all this season of Advent!
EFREN PENAFLORIDA IS THE CNN HERO OF THE YEAR November 23, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in CNN Hero of the Year.1 comment so far
Efren Penaflorida, who founded the “pushcart education” for the poor children in the Philippines, has been hailed as CNN Hero of the Year 2009. Penaflorida received the award during the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California, Saturday. He was the outstanding among the nine other nominees from different countries for the Hero Year Award.
Penaflorida is the first Filipino to win the prestigious award from CNN.
In his valedictory address, Penaflorida told CNN: “Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry… Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need. So to each and every person inside in this theater and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed. Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers … you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.”
Peñaflorida will receive $100,000, which will be used to fund his work in the Dynamic Teen Company (DTC), a volunteer organization that he put up to conduct his “Kariton Klasrum” program.
Peñaflorida’s program conducts weekly visits to poor and under-served areas in Cavite, north of Luzon, to teach young people basic lessons in Mathematics, English, and Science using only a specially designed pushcart.
Efren’s humble beginnings
On the website www.dynamicteencompany.org, Efren “Kuya Ef!” Penaflorida Jr. who is residing near the city dump site and one of the group’s founder, began to reach out to slum kids in 1999. This marked the emergence of the “Kalingain Batang Mahirap” (Care of Impoverished Children), DTC’s feeding project for children who scavenge for left-overs and spoiled food from the dump site. The group had a hard time involving older people to the cause and so they trained themselves to be self-sufficient enough to teach the young kids themselves. The group was able to support itself and its projects by showcasing their talents in staged concerts and performances; and by selling old newspapers, bottles, and recycled products. This enabled DTC to train more potential youth leaders and eventually led to a purchase of a pedicab for its literacy and feeding projects.
Today, with the training and supervision of Kuya Ef who is a professional educator, DTC has indeed come a long way. Their mission to teach unschooled, labor-exploited and neglected street children is slowly being realized today. The group also conducts weekly feeding, first aid treatment of scabies and wounds, and values formation activities through their K4 Project (Kariton Klasrum, Klinik at Kantin). Hygiene and first aid skills are supervised by registered midwives and professional nurses who are DTC Alumni.
The fruits of their labor are slowly being reaped as former drug users and petty thieves who were reformed through their projects are now also serving as volunteers. Former scavengers are now in school and are helping to raise funds. Some of the children who remain unschooled are now able to read and write. DTC was able to reach thousands of children through their Mind Your Rights (MY RIGHTS) campaign and through their health-literacy work.
In 2007, they launched the “WE ARE THE CHANGE” campaign to inspire people to be the catalyst for change – in what they want to see in their home, community and the world we live in. For they believe that real change happens when we begin to touch one soul and change one heart at a time.
We need more like Efren
We need more “upright” educators like Efren Penaflorida. Our country has filled with laxity of classrooms and low quality of education. If you want to improve our country’s image, cease all forms of corruption in all government agencies, punish corrupt government officials and bring them to justice. I include also to the rich people (to the oil sectors) to stop greed in all forms. Better to collect money to all oil players for public schools to improve or make higher quality of education than to put in your pockets!
To all presidential aspirants must stop greed and ambitions in their hearts. Their priorities must improve the quality of education and stop the tuition fee hikes in all private schools and colleges.
I call to all the non-government organizations who wish to start and provide mobile classrooms for the poor children who live in slum areas in different regions in our country. Let’s help our children to alleviate poverty and all forms of illiteracy.
I believe Filipinos, in desperate times, are world-class because they can excel in arts, education, sports, and other fields. Let us prove that we are not dumb Filipinos but we are more intelligent than the other people around the world. Kaya natin ito, pinoy! Mabuhay si Efren Penaflorida! Mabuhay ang buong sambayanang Filipino at sa buong mundo!
Lord, Make Me Happy November 11, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in Deeper Prayer.add a comment
Almighty Father In Heaven, I am writing directly here in my blog to hear and answer my prayer. Lord, my depression still accumulates in my life right now. My visa applications were rejected by the Canadian Visa officers thrice. Lord, I am filled with confusions because that confusions have been stricken me by depressions and pessimism of evil spirit. I need to spare my future while I am at the age of 31. I am already tired and almost surrendered to you.
Dear Jesus, I want to let go and set me free from the pasts. I cannot move on because of the hindrances of bitterness, hate, rejections, failures, attempting suicides, misunderstandings and such negative impressions or criticisms that haunted me from the pasts. My Lord, Jesus, crucify me with excruciating pain and sufferings on the cross. I need the negative pasts die down and raise me up from my fall. Forgive me that I have an Asperger’s syndrome but help me to live in a normal life.
Father, take me out from the darkness and live me with true light with your Son, Jesus. I need to end darkness, depression, low self-esteem, timidity, attempting suicides and such sins in my whole body due to confusion. From now on, I bury this pessimism through baptism in the mighty name of Jesus.
Lord, may I request to send down the Holy Spirit immediately to ban negative thoughts forever because I am losing focus due to Satan’s pessimism. Lord, make me happy today to be a pianist not just in the hotels but to be a star someday. I need to slow me down from too much pressures that I may cause sickness and death.
I am holding to your Word which was written in the Holy Scriptures and accepting Lord and Savior in my life. Lord, bring more happiness in me. May I request the approval of my permanent visa to Canada and open the hearts to all the visa officers, the secretaries, and all the staff at the Embassy of Canada in the mighty name of Jesus to reunite with my parents there in Canada.
Thank you Father. All this I ask in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
PESSIMISM October 25, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in Exposition, Health, Hope, My life.add a comment
It’s time to write here on the blog what is the real meaning of “Pessimism.” I would like to define two meanings of pessimism according to Merriam Webster Dictionary.
First, pessimism defines an inclination to adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst outcome. And;
Second, pessimism is the doctrine that reality is essentially evil. This doctrine that evil overbalances the happiness of life.
I would define on my own that pessimism is the highest spiritual disorder against Christians. It dissolves positive values due to the negative colors and the perceptions of life including the future events. People, nowadays, are still blinded by Satan. Satan is the real behind of pessimism who blinded the minds of the people. His angels command to spread evil and inject the minds of the people resulting into spiritual confusion and hindrances of faith to God.
Pessimism accumulates depression. Psychologists trace pessimistic attitudes to emotional pain or even biology. Aaron Beck argues that depression is due to unrealistic negative views about the world. Beck starts treatment by engaging in conversation with clients about their negative thoughts. Pessimists, however, are often able to provide arguments that suggest that their understanding of reality is justified (pessimistic realism). (Courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessimism under the topic psychology pessimism).
Friedrich Nietzsche believed that the ancient Greeks created tragedy as a result of their pessimism. “Is pessimism necessarily a sign of decline, decay, degeneration, weary and weak instincts … Is there a pessimism of strength? An intellectual predilection for the hard, gruesome, evil, problematic aspect of existence, prompted by well-being, by overflowing health, by the fullness of existence?” (From Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy or Hellenism or Pessimism, “Attempt at a Self-Criticism,” §1 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessimism under the topic psychology pessimism).
Nietzsche’s response to pessimism was the opposite of Schopenhauer’s. ” ‘That which bestows on everything tragic, its peculiar elevating force’ ” – he (Schopenhauer) says in The World as Will and Representation, Volume II, P. 495 – ” ‘is the discovery that the world, that life, can never give real satisfaction and hence is not worthy of our affection: this constitutes the tragic spirit – it leads to resignation.’ ” How differently Dionysus spoke to me! How far removed I was from all this resignationism!” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessimism under the topic psychology pessimism).
I am a victim of the world’s pessimism, dear blog readers. I have an emotional disorder due to physical and verbal abuse when I was young. Until then, this disorder accumulates immaturity in my life. Yelling of my uncle and aunt at my father’s side or other people increases fear and trembling in my life. Forgive me, my dear readers, I need your help to mend my heart through emotional healing due to pessimistic world. God knows who shall punish those people in judgment filled with pessimism against me and Him! Please pray for my undergo healing of emotions in my life. Forgive me. Set me free, Lord, from them!
A Time To Pray October 21, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in Canada, Canadian Visa Officers, Christian Discussion, Complicated Issue, Deeper Prayer, Embassy of Canada in Manila, Encouragement, Hope, My life, Personal.add a comment
My friend Joyce Burton Titular who advised me at facebook chat last night to ignore the negative sayings from my relatives at Sta. Cruz Manila. Thanks Joyce for giving me the unsolicited advice.
I heard God’s voice while praying this evening and said, “Chester, from now on I am removing the teachings of Ninong Toto from your heart because his truth is far from me and the ill advices of your relatives in Sta. Cruz, Manila. Never call, go or listen with them. Listen to the advice of your parents and focus your reconsideration letter. If you want to grant your student visa application, attend the daily mass. Follow me.”
I must follow God. I am guilty that I failed to heed the advice of my parents because that said advice came from the Lord. I am grounded by the Lord to call my relatives on my father side in Sta. Cruz Manila and have no time to listen from them. He said to me to attend the daily mass if I want to grant my student visa application and focus my reconsideration letter. I failed to follow the indefinite 40 day period of prayer and reflection because I was distracted by watching television, surfing to the internet up to the long wee hours and visiting relatives at Sta. Cruz, Manila in vain.
It’s time to pray and move on. I was thrice rejected by the Canadian visa officers at the Canadian Embassy. It’s time to focus the reconsideration letter. I am not giving up on praying to the Canadian officers to touch and soften their hearts because they follow the Immigration, Refugee, and Protection Act (IRPA). That IRPA still amended by the Canadian legislators until then. I believe that the Lord’s time will soften and touch the hearts of the Canadian visa officers to read my reconsideration letter and grant my student visa application.
I will seriously pray to the Lord that I have a one percent dream to go to Canada. I am telling directly to him and forbidding me to write any single details of prayer here on my blog. I have high hopes from the Lord but I avoid hypocrisy in my life. Forgive me that I am not perfect in my life but I am perfect to obey God’s Word. I believe God’s Word is more powerful than IRPA and such filthy sayings of the people. God disallows me not to listen the philosophies of men. It is written in Colossians 2:8:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ” (TNIV).
I believe the philosophies of Christ which were written in the holy scriptures. I am no longer entertaining deceptive philosophies contain pessimism that was created by humans. I am still holding firm to God’s Word in the Scriptures to preach not by mouth but by the letter sent and written by the evangelists and apostles to all the Gentiles around the world. I believe I am a prayerful person and a child of God because I am no longer to listen or watch those people filled with abject thoughts but I am holding the thoughts of God through Christ Jesus. Little by little, I am filled by the Holy Spirit and I am more obedient to God and to my parents, too.
Cruz retires, Villegas takes over September 9, 2009
Posted by chester2278 in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
MANILA, Sept. 8, 2009— One of the consistent critics of the Arroyo administration has retired and has been replaced by another government critic.
The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI had agreed to Archbishop Oscar Cruz’s retirement as archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan.
An outspoken advocate of democracy, the archbishop has been a vocal champion of human rights and social justice.
During his tenure, the 74-year old prelate criticized the Arroyo government for alleged cases of graft and corruption and for failing to curb “jueteng”, an illegal numbers game.
The archbishop will be succeeded by Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas, former auxiliary bishop to the charismatic Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin.
At 48, Bishop Villegas will soon become the country’s youngest archbishop.
Archbishop Cruz’s retirement and the appointment of Bishop Villegas as successor were announced in Vatican 12 noon (6 p.m. local time).
Early resignation
Archbishop Cruz first tendered his resignation in March 2007. He previously said that that he already filed his resignation despite the fact that he was only turning 73 old that year.
The Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law sets the age for retirement of bishops at 75 and the prelate is about to reach that age on November 17.
Local media earlier quoted him as saying he planned to concentrate on his advocacies and also as head of matrimonial tribunal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines after his retirement.
‘Thank the Virgin Mary’
Archbishop Cruz said “the first thought that came to my mind upon knowing of the change of my ecclesiastical status is to thank the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.”
“The reason is it’s her birthday anniversary today,” he said.
The Church official said he is most grateful to the clergy, the religious and the laity in the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan, “for being very patient with me and understanding.”
He said the clergy, religious and laity “were able to bear with me for about two decades and that is to their credit.”
‘A man of integrity’
Archbishop Cruz was appointed prelate of Lingayen-Dagupan in July 15, 1991 and was installed August 24, 1991.
Born in 1934, Archbishop Cruz was ordained priest at the age of 27 on February 10, 1962. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Manila on March 4, 1976 and as archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan on July 5, 1991.
He also served as CBCP president from 1995 to 1999.
“If I were to be asked what other immediate things come to my mind: first, I am very proud of my clergy and second, I am very happy with my forthcoming successor Archbishop Socrates Villegas whom I know to be a man of integrity and competence,” he said.
Along with Archbishop Cruz last year, Bishop Villegas was among the five bishops who declared that “that the time for a new government is now.” They strongly condemned corruption in government that they said had become “endemic, massive, systemic and rampant in our politics.”
The others who called for radical reforms were CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Masbate Bishop Joel Baylon and Legazpi Bishop-Emeritus Jose Sorra.
The bishop followed the group’s declaration with a statement on Nov. 27, also last year, calling on the faithful to “fight the sin of graft and corruption” and not to leave the solution to corrupt officials.”
Bishop Villegas was born on September 28, 1960 in Manila and was ordained to the priesthood on October 5, 1985. He was appointed Bishop in July 25, 2001.
He was ordained Bishop in August 31, 2001 and became Auxiliary Bishop of Manila and Rector of Mary Queen of Peace, Our Lady of EDSA Shrine from December 8, 1989 to May 2004.
He was later appointed Bishop of Balanga in May 3, 2004 and was installed July 3, 2004.
From http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/10397
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