Christian Persecution

A Catholic archbishop seeking shelter in a village a few miles outside the beleaguered city brings us this report on the flight of Christians from Mosul. The city was taken by an Islamic extremist group that also controls parts of northwestern Syria. Other news agencies are reporting that all those remaining in Mosul must convert to Islam or be executed.Orthodox News

The work of Islam in Iraq fromThe Pinoy Catholic

What if that is where we live.

God's Choice

Hallmark Debuts Series Of LGBT eCards For Fathers’ Day. According to a Tumblr blog called Trans Girl Next Door, a person named Kylie Wu created the eCards, and takes special pride in the two gay dads animation. “I’m so proud to be the artist involved in making the first ever same-sex Hallmark eCard featuring two gay dads,” Wu wrote. “And I’m proud of Hallmark for celebrating people’s differences! It doesn’t matter who’s in it, LOVE makes a family.”

Love makes a family. It sounds nice. It is like one of those tweets on Christmas, "I am with people who I choose to be my family". Sounds nice, too. I do have close friends who I consider my second family. Then, there are those who say, "I choose to be a man or a woman." Not bad, it sounds convicted.

Everything had become a choice and choice is power. There are many choices that clash with other people's choices. CHOICE is, indeed, the BATTLEFIELD of GOOD and EVIL.

There is one thing missing. God has a choice, too. God chose the family and race we are brought into. God chose a gender for us. He created them male and female. The tragedy of our generation so obsessed with rights is we clash with God's choice. God's choice is always a gift and a goodwill we have to unlock. In His gifts, there is always a gift within a gift. It is an inexhaustible possibility while our wrong choices often leave us running empty.

Lucas Cranach, 1530

Why Pick on the TLM?

There are many write-ups on NY Cardinal Dolan's dismissal of Fr. Justin Wylie brought about by his sermon on shepherding those who prefer the Traditional Latin Mass.

I do not really understand why there is such a strong resentment or obstruction by bishops and some sectors toward it. The TLM is not mandatory nor prohibited so why should it be so bothersome.

From a non-traditionalist perspective i can only reckon:
• They are no cafeteria Catholics, they are UNCOMPROMISINGLY Catholic. Thus, the progressive Catholics who want to REINVENT the Church would look at them as obstructions to their efforts.

• They are WATCHDOGS or VANGUARDS of everything Catholic- dogma, moral teachings, rubrics, Cathechism, Canon law, and abuses thereof. Thus, they are often perceived as rigid and legalistic. ABUSIVE prelates and laity do not want to be watched. GAME and BUDDY BUDDY prelates and lay leaders just can not enjoy their style and may even be repulsed by it.

• They are using Latin, old Missal, Chant, OLD style vestments.They consider the TLM as the Mass of the Ages. MODERNIST who wants to be in touch with the times consider them as Medieval, out-dated, impractical. Then, there are those who having to learn Latin may find it cumbersome. It can be threatening to some Clerics when they find some laity more adept in Latin.

• It could also be the desire for decentralization and become more nationalistic and cultural while the adherent of TLM would always be a UNIVERSAL CHURCH.

I love the Holy Mass and I still believe in its efficacy for as long as the Holy Eucharist is there... whether it is Novus Ordo or TLM. I have to admit though that the TLM seems more like the Rock upon which the Church is built on --- solid, firm, universal, transcendent. When all the innovations and experimentation on the Novus Ordo will come and go, the TLM will last until Christ returns.

Unhealthy Compromise

In an interview regarding the
Catholic Church in Ireland, Father Tom Forde, OFM Cap, Chaplain at the University of Cork attributes the embrace of Contraception and its consequence as one factor:
With a refusal to co-operate with God’s plan for human sexuality and fertility – a moral problem – there comes the spiritual problem that faith does not thrive under disobedience. This interior conflict leads to either repentance or exterior rebellion – they walk away.

In Fr. Ray Blake's post on Danish gay couples given right to marry in Church, he asks:
I am sure at first most Catholic clergy will refuse and bishops will not comply but down the line, in two or three years, what will happen, and if this law were introduced into England, or the rest if Europe?

There will always be people who will be on artificially contraception or even abort. There will be people who will be in homosexual lifestyles. There will be broken marriages. Institutionalizing is never a solution. Institutionalizing abortion by making it legal did not diminish abortion, nor did it lessen the painful experience of those who undergo it. A wrong even made legal will remain a wrong and the law of nature is not suspended either. Consequences will still be there. A sickness even if it will be declared as no longer a sickness will remain to be what IT IS.

We so often neglect or ignore what are being legislated. It doesn't matter because I am not going to have abortion anyway. Down the line, as Fr. Ray asked, many will acquiesce.

Legalizing poison will always put it in the menu and down the line, more and more trusting people will choose it. Compromise with the devil is extending your hand in a handshake, its grip will lead you in a different direction.

Diosdado Macapagal on Independence Day

Why was Independence Day changed from July 4 to June 12?
From http://www.bibingka.com/phg/documents/whyjun12.htm

June 12 as Independence Day
by Diosdado Macapagal
Former President of the Philippines

"A nation is born into freedom on the day when such a people, moulded into a nation by a process of cultural evolution and sense of oneness born of common struggle and suffering, announces to the world that it asserts its natural right to liberty and is ready to defend it with blood, life, and honor."

The promotion of a healthy nationalism is part of the responsibility of the leaders of newly independent nations. After they lay the foundation for economic development, they promote nationalism and spur the search for national identity. This we can do by honoring our distinguished forebears and notable periods in our history. A step we took in this direction was to change the date for the commemoration of Philippine Independence day.

When I was a congressman, I formed the opinion that July 4 was not the proper independence day for Filipinos and should be changed to June 12-- the date General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Filipinos in Kawit, Cavite, in 1898.

Having served in the foreign service, I noted that the celebration of a common independence day with the United States on July 4 caused considerable inconvenience. The American celebration dwarfed that of the Philippines. As if to compound the irony, July 4 seemed tantamount to the celebration of Philippine subjection to and dependence on the United States which served to perpetuate unpleasant memories.

I felt, too, that July 4 was not inspiring enough for the Filipino youth since it recalled mostly the peaceful independence missions to the United States. The celebration of independence day on June 12, on the other hand, would be a greater inspiration to the youth who would consequently recall the heroes of the revolution against Spain and their acts of sublime heroism and martyrdom. These acts compare favorably with those of the heroes of other nations.

In checking the reaction to my plan to shift independence day to June 12, I found that there was virtual unanimity on the desirability of transferring the celebration from July 4. Likewise, there was a preponderant view for choosing June 12 as the proper day.

A few suggested January 21, the opening day of the Malolos Congress in 1899, or January 23, when the Malolos Congress, ratifying the independence proclamation of June 12, established a republican system of government. The reason for this view was that the government temporarily by Aguinaldo when he proclaimed independence on June 12 was a dictatorship.

There was no difficulty in adhering to June 12, however, because although Aguinaldo Government was a dictatorship in view of the military operations he was then leading, he led in converting it into a republican Government in the Malolos Congress. Moreover, the celebration of independence refers to its proclamation rather than to the final establishment of the government. In the case of America, when independence was proclaimed on July 4, the American Government was still a confederation and it was much later when it finally became a federal government.

The historical fact was that the Filipinos proclaimed their independence from foreign rule on June 12. Even the national anthem and the Filipino flag which are essential features in the birth of a nation were played and displayed respectively at the independence proclamation in Kawit.

When I became President, I knew that this was the opportunity to take action on what had been in my mind since entering public life. The specific question was when to make the change.

The opportunity came when the US House of Representatives rejected the $73 million additional war payment bill on May 9, 1962. There was indignation among the Filipinos. There was a loss of American good will in the Philippines, although this was restored later by the reconsideration of the action of the US lower chamber. At this time, a state visit in the United States had been scheduled for Mrs. Macapagal and me on the initiative and invitation of President John F. Kennedy. Unable to resist the pressure of public opinion, I was constrained to obtain the agreement of Kennedy to defer the state visit for another time.

To postpone the state visit, I wrote a letter on May 14, 1962, to Kennedy, which read in part as follows:

The feeling of resentment among our people and the attitude of the US Congress negate the atmosphere of good will upon which my state visit to your country was predicated. Our people would never understand how, in the circumstances now obtaining, I could go to the United States and in all honesty affirm that I bear their message of good will. It is with deep regret theredore that I am constrained to ask you to agree to the postponement of my visit to a more auspicious time.
On May 28, 1962, Kennedy wrote me explaining the situation on the war damage bill. His letter stated:
In the meantime, I must respect your decision that your visit to the United States should be postponed. We do not want your visit to be less than first class, when it comes. But I do hope that we will be able to find another convenient time.
I decided to effect the change of independence day at that time not as an act of resentment but as a judicious choice of timing for the taking of an action which had previously been decided upon.
I called Press Secretary Rufino Hechanova to consult him on my contemplated action. I asked him outright what he thought of my step if I should move the celebration of independence day from July 4 to June 12.

Hechanova winced and said: "Please Mr. President, don't act on that yet. Let us give it a thorough study. I am flying to Iloilo today and on my return on Monday I will come to discuss it with you."

After his departure, I called in Legal Adviser Juan Cancio. "Johnny," I asked, "Do I have the power to change independence day from July 4 to June 12?" Cancio readily answered: "Yes, sir, because July 4 is being celebrated as independence day not because it is so specifically designated by law but as an official holiday. Since the President has the authority to declare official holidays, you may declare June 12 as a holiday and hold an independence celebration on that day."

I immediately directed Cancio to prepare the proclamation, revised and signed it, and asked him to release it to the press through the Malacañang press office. On May 17, 1962, I certified as urgent to the Congress the enactment of a measure to fix June 12 statutorily as independence day.

The change was justified by the successful celebration. General Emilio Aguinaldo was the guest of honor. At least one million people attended whereas in previous celebrations on July 4, only from two to three hundred thousand came.

Bespeaking of the nobility of the American people, President Kennedy was among the first to extend the congratulations of the United States to the Filipino people in celebrating their freedom on June 12, 1962. In a message to me, he said:

It is with pleasure that I join the people of the United States in extending our best wishes and warmest congratulations to Your Excellency and the people of the Republic of the Philippines on the occasion of the Philippine Independence Day.
A letter of thanks in Spanish was also sent to me by General Aguinaldo on May 19, 1962. A translation of the letter reads in part as follows:
I cannot but send you this letter to express the most profound gratitude for the proclamation which Your Excellency has recently issued naming June 12 as independence day-- the date when we announced to the whole world that we were a free and independent nation. I who took an active if modest part in the effort of our people to break the colonial yoke we were subjected to, feel joy and pride over the patriotic act which Your Excellency has just performed.
In my address on the first June 12 as independence day celebration, I said:
In the discharge of my responsibility as President of the Republic, I moved the observance of the anniversary of our independence to this day because a nation is born into freedom on the day when such a people, moulded into a nation by the process of cultural evolution and a sense of oneness born of common struggle and suffering, announces to the world that it asserts its natural right to liberty and is ready to defend it with blood, life, and honor.
While we were seated at the grandstand during the ceremonies, General Aguinaldo thanked me again for the rectification of an erroneous historical practice and then asked: "When will there be an Aguinaldo monument at the Luneta like that of Rizal?" I could not answer the question. The next generation might have the answer.
The following year the same successful celebration was held. The commemoration on the third year was likewise a success.

I noted by this time that Congress had not yet approved a measure to prescribe June 12 as independence day by statute. I followed up the matter with members of the Senate and the House.

Rep. Ramon Mitra Sr. was leading the spade work in the House for the approval of the new independence day measure. The bill was authored by him and Rep. Justiniano Montano. Senator Lorenzo Tañada authored a similar measure in the Senate.

Among those whom I talked to in following up the bill was Senator Gerardo Roxas, son of President Roxas who raised the Filipino flag on July 4, 1946 to mark the independence of the Philippines from American rule and thereby became the first President of the Republic of the Philippines. I thought it possible that Senator Roxas might be lukewarm toward the change of independence day since the historical focus on the first Presidency of the Republic may shift from Roxas to Aguinaldo. My talk with him did not bear out my fear. Roxas informed me that what had delayed the approval of the independence day bill was the desire of some legislators to retain some significance for July 4. In the consideration of the measure, the snag was solved by the provision that with June 12 being declared Independence Day, July 4 shall be known as Republic Day.

Finally, on August 4, 1964, I signed at Malacañang Republic Act No. 4166 statutorily prescribing June 12 as Philippine Independence Day. Special witnesses invited to the signing were children of Presidents, including Carmen Melencio-Aguinaldo, Manuel Quezon Jr., Maria Osmeña-Charnley, Gerardo Roxas, Tomas Quirino, and my sons Arturo and Diosdado Jr.



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(Thanks to the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles for making this document available.)


Source:
Macapagal, Diosdado. "June 12 as Independence Day" in Hector Santos, ed., Philippine Centennial Series; at http://www.bibingka.com/phg/documents/whyjun12.htm. US, 30 April 1997.

Prayer and Peace

Surely everyone wants peace. Surely any believer would believe that prayer is powerful. So who would be against the peace initiative of Pope Francis in a "together praying" event at the Vatican Gardens. So, let's just hold our peace and pray.
As a tourist, I have entered a Mosque and Buddhist Temples. I have prayed with Protestants, in spite of, some differences.
Many had invoked that it was all in keeping with Jesus' prayer before Ascension, John 17:21 "That they all may be ONE; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ONE in US: that the world may believe that thou hast SENT ME."
The unity and oneness that Jesus desires is a unity with Him. It is "one in faith" that Jesus is the Messiah sent by God. It is being one with the Holy Trinity.
If what we really want is any kind of unity then we can simply submit to the United Nations or to the New World Order. Still, we do not because it is Truth that we ultimately desire communion with. We were created for the Truth... to find it and then, to accept or reject it.
For all the good intentions of the "peace and prayer" initiative and it's warm gesture to seek resolution to world problems, there will be an unsettling feeling that the Truth is being obscured.

The spiritual battle in our time is fiercer. It comes from all sides and inside. There are things happening which one would think only bad people do. Yet, at this time, we see good people whom we admire and respect at the other side of the fence. I have always believed that the biggest losers in the spiritual battle are the ones who do not even know they are in a battlefield.

It would be so wrong to think the Catholic Church is only a field hospital. In a battle, there will be those in the FRONTLINE prepared, armed, and must have full support in their morale and armaments. These are the great defenders of Truth defending the non-negotiables of Benedict XVI- life, marriage, family. Marching, writing, teaching, and speaking out. The CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) and those who fight heresy would likewise be in the frontline category. Someone had to be in the frontline or souls will be lost.

Our Mother Mary is in the frontline of the battlefield.

Then, we have the FIELD HOSPITAL attending to the wounds of the spiritual battle. Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity, Aid to the Church in Need and the like who are reaching out, caring and loving the victims of our unjust world. Wounded and often without help and hope. It doesn't matter what they believe in. Part of the field hospital, too, are the father confessors ready to welcome prodigal children and bathing the soul of those who are healthy. The field hospital is not about cuddling the Enemy who do not even recognize its own woundedness. It is not a diplomat who tries to make compromises with the devil.

Aid to the Church in Need in Syria

The majority would be the TRAINORS and FORMATORS starting with the family, parish church, school, cathechists, and the like. Not everyone would be in the same level of spiritual maturity. It is here where we learn to live with each other, helping and guiding each other. For in each heart is a spiritual battle.

Then, there is also the police or WATCHDOGS of the Church. Making sure there is fraternal correction within the Church. Checking also those who claim to be in the Church. They complement the frontliner and serve also to safeguard them by alerting them to the workings of the Enemy.

The HEART and ARMORY of the Church would be the cloistered nuns, monks, and prayer warriors. They are the secret weapons that give strength and light to those in battle. They provide the armor for everyone in the Church. If there is lacking in armory, the battle becomes fierce and difficult.

There are no prisoners of war in God's camp, only freely can they choose.

There would be many more in the comprehensive scheme. One thing is for sure, this pilgrim world is a battlefield for souls.

Same-Sex Bill

Quite expected in the Obamanatic Aquino administration is the same-sex civil partnership agenda. Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz on “AN ACT GOVERNING PROPERTY OWNERSHIP OF COUPLES OF SAME SEX LIVING TOGETHER” (HB03179) . With all the problems this administration can attend to, they continue to ride the tide of the western world.
When you see TV shows featuring the pitiable plight of gays living together, victimized by society; One can quite see it as a prelude to a political lobby. News will then be featuring "objective" news spots on homosexual victims. We will be outraged and our hearts will go out to them.
We can let our emotions rule but it doesn't change the Truth. The natural law will still be in place.... as created.

CBCP for life Legislative Update

Anti- Family and Life Bills

House Bill 988 An Act Prohibiting Racial, Ethnic, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, and Religious Discrimination
Principal Author: Rep. Teodoro Brawner Baguilat Jr.

An Act Governing Property Ownership of Couples of Same Sex Living Together
Principal Author: Rep. Edcel “Grex” B. Lagman

House Bill 1593 An Act Strengthening the Philippine Comprehensive Policy on HIV and AIDS Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support and Establishing the Philippine National HIV and AIDS Program, Revising for the Purpose Republic Act No. 8504 Otherwise Known as the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, and Appropriating Funds Thereof.
Principal Author: Rep. Gus S. Tambunting


Pro-Family and Life Bills

House Bill 37 “Anti-Divorce Bill - “An act providing for the protection of marriage as an inviolable social institution and the family as the foundation of the nation and for other purposes.”