Puso ng Ina

Ang aking ina ay mayroong Alzheimer. Marami na siyang hindi nagagawa. Marami na siyang hindi naaalala. Marami na siyang hindi naiintindihan. Madalas malayo na siya sa "realidad'. Bagama't ganuon na ang kanyang kalagayan, lumalabas pa rin ang puso ng isang ina.

Kapag ako ay may sipon at ubo, agad sasabihin niya, "uminom ka na ba ng gamot?" at idadag pa nya, "kapag may kailangan ka, sasabihin mo sa akin, ha." Miski hindi na siya madalas nakakaalala ng mga mukha, ang kanyang isip pa rin ay sa pagiging ina at pag-aaruga. "Si Ikitti, takot yung mag-isa." o "Si PJ, nakagat yata ng aso." o "Si Kirbie, umiiyak yata."

It's paradoxical that at her old age, she became a child again physically - being fed, washed, and wearing diapers. Yet, no matter how deteriorated the brain and the body become, the heart of a mother lingers.

I am not romanticizing the disease; It is truly a difficult and challenging one. Still, It is at such a time when the rational mind is not at its best that St. Francis de Sales' motto "Heart speaks unto heart [Cor ad Cor Loquitur]" takes on a deeper meaning. Trying to listen to the heart of another and allowing it to reach the very depths of our being. When it seems we can't understand each other, just let heart speak unto heart.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, make our hearts like unto Thine.

Article of Sandro Magister

On Homosexuality and Abortion, the Voice of the Third World

Pope Francis urges openness to the "peripheries" of the globe. But then it cannot be Germany and France that establish the Church's teaching and practice on gay marriage and communion for the remarried

by Sandro Magister

ROME, May 6, 2014 – In the run-up to the synod on the family, one of the most striking elements has been the questionnaire distributed "for the purpose of obtaining concrete and real data on the theme of the synod":

> "Pastoral challenges…"

Both the formulation of the 39 questions of the questionnaire and the ways in which the responses were collected were not such as to permit a statistical compilation of the results. The responses were supposed to remain confidential. Some episcopates made them public, however, especially in Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland, highlighting the vast distance in their respective countries between the Church's moral teaching and the behavior of many of the faithful.

The secretariat of the synod is preparing a comprehensive report on the responses to the questionnaire.

But in the meantime, it can be useful to skim the results of a scientific survey carried out in 40 countries of the five continents by the most accredited center of research on religion, the Washington-based Pew Research Center:


> Global Views on Morality

The survey, conducted between 2013 and the beginning of 2014 and made public on April 15, asked the interviewees if they thought eight situations or behaviors were morally acceptable or not, six of them regarding the synod's theme, the family:

- abortion,
- homosexuality,
- extramarital sexual relations on the part of married persons,
- sexual relations between unmarried adults,
- divorce,
- contraception.

The European countries surveyed are the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia.

In North America, the United States and Canada.

In Latin America, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, Venezuela.

In Asia, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Philippines, South Korea.

In Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda.

In Oceania, Australia.

The responses vary from issue to issue and from country to country. But while contraception and divorce are approved of by the majority of the population everywhere, abortion, homosexuality, and extramarital relations are considered morally unacceptable by the majority of interviewees in the majority of countries.

For example, here are the percentages of persons who in each of the following countries consider abortion morally unacceptable:

Philippines 93 percent
Ghana 92
Indonesia 89
Uganda 88
El Salvador 85
Pakistan 85
Bolivia 83
Kenya 82
Nigeria 80
Brazil 79
Malaysia 79
Tunisia 77
Venezuela 77
Chile 64
Mexico 63
Egypt 62
South Africa 61
India 58
South Korea 58
Argentina 56
Lebanon 56
Greece 54
Palestinian Territories 54
Jordan 53
Senegal 52
Turkey 52
United States 49
Poland 47
Russia 44
Italy 41
China 37
Israel 35
Japan 28
Australia 26
Canada 26
Spain 26
United Kingdom 25
Germany 19
Czech Republic 18
France 14

While these are the percentages of those who consider homosexuality morally unacceptable:

Ghana 98 percent
Egypt 95
Jordan 95
Palestinian Territories 94
Indonesia 93
Uganda 93
Tunisia 92
Kenya 88
Malaysia 88
Nigeria 85
Pakistan 85
Lebanon 80
Turkey 78
Russia 72
El Salvador 70
Senegal 68
India 67
Philippines 65
South Africa 62
China 61
South Korea 57
Bolivia 51
Venezuela 49
Greece 45
Poland 44
Israel 43
Mexico 40
Brazil 39
United States 37
Chile 32
Japan 31
Argentina 27
Italy 19
Australia 18
United Kingdom 17
Canada 15
Czech Republic 14
France 14
Germany 8
Spain 6

As can be noted, the main division in the numbers is between some European countries and Canada on the one hand, and on the other the African countries and those with a predominantly Muslim population.

In Latin America, Argentina is the country that comes closest to the European standards.

But the survey of the Pew Research Center also highlights the nature of the division: between the majority opinion in some areas of Europe and North America, where indifference reigns with regard to abortion, the dissolution of marriage, and "gender" ideology, and the opposite sensibility of other immense areas of the world, especially in Africa and Asia, which nonetheless have serious problems of their own, from arranged marriages to polygamy.

If, as Pope Francis tirelessly preaches, the Church's mission is not to close itself off in its old geographical and cultural perimeters but to open itself to the "peripheries" of the world, it is evident that the Catholicism of Germany cannot be - as is happening to some extent - the universal parameter for changing the teaching and practice of the Church in matters of family, communion for the divorced and remarried, and same-sex marriage.

__________


English translation by Matthew Sherry, Ballwin, Missouri, U.S.A.

http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350787?eng=y

Save Us from Ourselves

It must be an incredibly numb world that a woman would film her abortion. It is all about her vantage point but nary a child's.

What if the child in the womb films his/her story as the abortion goes. The struggle for survival. The horror of being invaded and cut into pieces. The silent cry of "mommy!"

We all have the capacity to save others from other people's attack, from natural disasters, from accidents; But only God can save us from ourselves. Our concupiscence that masked itself in freedom but is actually leading us to self-destruction, a self that is not just a physical being but with a soul. Lord, save us.

Church Architecture in My Mind

Designing a Church would really be awesome for any Architect. I, myself, have built some in my imagination and the design would be influenced mainly by my present interest incorporated.

I have thought of a Church building ala Guggenheim Museum with just a continuous ramp and a huge Crucifix at the center three storeys high. Prayer candles would surround the ramp so from the exterior it will be an array of flickering candles rising up.

Then, I also had the nature church where it would be surrounded by plants, running water, aviary. Hehe. That would be so terrible.

I had also thought of the table setting like the Last Supper and had even thought that there should be no chairs at all. Everyone should be sitting on the floor. Of course, one must also think of one's ethnicity - a Philippine architecture - with bamboos, capiz, banana motif.



That's the horrible wild imagination without knowing the GIRM, the history of Church architecture, and the rich symbolism. That's purely "me" design without consulting a priest or someone in the know.

I wouldn't really know if the modern church architecture where conceived by the architects alone given a free rein by the priests or bishops who have no time for such "trivialities". On the other hand, Mother Angelica of EWTN made sure of the design and specifications of the Church in Birmingham, Alabama. In the past, there were many priests who were also architects and artists. In one book I have read of St. John of the Cross, he also made some architectural design.

So glad that my church architectural designs remained in my imagination. Looking at the beautiful Church architectures of the past, I would be so ashamed.

Love Transcends the Seasons of Life

We live in dreary times when every phase of life is calculated in monetary value. Death is viewed as a cost-cutting measure or an escape route to every kind of problems - poverty, environmental, self-esteem and whatever. Although wrapped in good intentions, it is a sad thing. It destroys the very beauty of life and love that transcends the seasons of life.

Prayer for our Bishops

Dear Jesus,

You have deigned our bishops to be the successors of Your Apostles, grant them courage to remain faithful to Your teachings in accordance with the Holy Bible, Apostolic Tradition, and Magisterium. Give them true humility that honors You as the Divine Founder of the Church with Your Real Presence in the Sacraments.

Guide them with Thy Holy Spirit that they may be true shepherds echoing Your unchanging Truth in the ever-changing times.

By Your abundant grace, make them holy bishops reflecting You as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

May Mary, the queen of the Apostles intercede for them always. Amen.

Adult's Tantrum over a Baby's Cry

I don't exactly know how to categorize such attitude. Baby-hater? Rudeness? Ill-temper?
Pure arrogance?

Evangelization Travails

With the many things being put forward with the new evangelization, the travails go on. Not Weigel nor Francis could make it happen to usher a new springtime for the church.

the frustrations of Pat Archibold expresses the sentiments of those who love the Church.

We have partied on the train tracks for so long, we delude ourselves into thinking them abandoned. But the train is coming, I can see the light in the distance and I know with certainty it will arrive. I cannot tell how far out is the light of the train and I can't say how fast it is moving. But it is coming, of this I have no doubt.

When will others see it and will it be too late?

As a blogger, I pray and ask for guidance. Lord, should I just pack it in and just focus on getting my family through this time. Or, should I be shouting the obvious from the rooftops, even though I know I will continue to be ignored and vilified. I don't know, I guess I will keep praying.

The difficulty of evangelization is how can one point towards the Catholic Church when within the Church are many imitations of the true Catholic Church. There are now too many claimants to what being Catholic is.
In the history of the Church, heresies are of prime concern for the successors of the Apostles. In this way, people who wants to be Christians would always know what to believe and what it takes to be a Catholic. Denouncing heresies allowed the Truth to be more clearly expressed; Thus, making the deposit of Faith richer and knowing God clearer.

As we tread on the path of "no offense" and "whatever makes you happy", truth will continually be obscured; And truth being the language of love will find us a society so deprived of love. That is real poverty.