Monday, January 31, 2011

20110131

To the People of Mindanao of the one Republic of the Philippines

Peace, I salute you -

Let me confirm in all of you,
my dear people of Mindanao,
what I know is already instilled
within each of your heart of hearts -





We are a nation, my dear people,
by pain of battle born and bred
but we shall never attain to victory
if we allow war to rule our way.

Believe with conviction of faith
that there is no hope in war.

For in war is division
and the end of community.

In war is the seeds of discord
and the end to all understanding.

In war is the darkness of deception
and the shadow that keep us in confusion.

In war is the despair of dissolution
and the destruction of our every hope.

So let the stirring in our hearts
awaken us unto a sacred remembrance,
at every present and from every past,
that our promise lies in peace.

Let us strive for this peace,
my fellow Filipino compatriots,
let us work for this remembrance
unto those freedoms cherished
unto that prosperity dreamed about
under the waving of that Banner
that Old Defiant -
of this, our one Republic,
our home away from Home.


So raise that Old Defiant -
rally to the calling of peace!

We shall never suffer loss
without our longing for Justice
but Justice which leads into hope
and an understanding of the peace.

Let that longing within each of us
recall our hearts to the promise of peace
my dear people of Mindanao,
let that longing that have for centuries
beckoned to the will of our people
enable us to know once again,
O my one Filipino nation,
O beloved people of Mindanao
of our one Republic of the Philippines,
what it means for us to labor
together this time
as human beings
responsible for each our common humanity,
under the eternal vigilance of the LORD:
Christians, Muslims, Lumads -
building from hope to hope
and from strength to strength
as citizens to each other,
here and now,
O my one Filipino nation,
at this present time,
and into every present time
for all of our generations
for all of time.
---<--@


Mabuhay ang Pilipinas, long may our remembrance serve us!

Cradle

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

20110119

World Interfaith Harmony Week


On October 20, 2010, the United Nations passed a unanimous resolution to establish a World Interfaith Harmony Week on the first week of every February.

This initiative is being spearheaded by H. M. King Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to whom we should give proper regard for this very praiseworthy undertaking. Therefore, may God bless him and his family for opening for us and for all nations this vital opportunity and may peace be unto the people of Jordan.

This initiative, my fellow Filipino compatriots, if we so choose to willingly undertake and adopt as an official part of our national commemorations shall benefit us greatly.

Because peace is our common salutation: All Christians, Jews and Muslims universally bless each other with it.

Why then is the world so resistant to this truth?

To even begin to comprehend the richness of the spiritual heritage of our three, great Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we must first work to overcome the inertia of the last 2000 years.

We must begin to break down the barriers of ignorance and misconceptions that have for so long fed into those vicious cycles of violence that have set us apart and have denied for our world the promise that the LORD, our God, has intended through our Father Abraham - that we shall in His own time be as the numerous stars, a blessing to all the communities of Mankind.

Indeed, if we are to begin to comprehend the beauty of this promise of old and to finally come to an understanding of the true extent by which God in His graces have established - for our own good sake's - from the beginning of time, for all our nations, a singular path of brotherhood, we must first learn to take into ourselves the spirit of the new age.

And we must do this with much prayer and effort - together this time.

The paradigm of the last age was one of war. Understanding this paradigm of war is important for us, my fellow Filipino compatriots, because it allows us to begin to penetrate the darkness of war and perceive the unseen presence of the beast (spirit) of war.

First of all, it is vital we understand we are entering into an age of thought.

Now, the substance of thought is spirit. This spirit is the force of all truth and this force of truth gives form to all visible things and is comprehended by the soul of Man in terms of meaning not of words. It seeks to fulfill all things in the truth of God Who is Himself Spirit.

The beast of war is the opposite of this. It is a spirit that denies the power of truth. It seeks to corrupt the soul of Man and destroy the meaningfulness of all created things. It seeks to undo the purpose and the order of God in all creation.

This beast of war is ancient. It was cast out of heaven by the holy angels of God by the power of God. It first entered upon the earth at the time Cain killed his brother Abel, when man was first killed by the hand of another man.

Since days of old, this beast of war has fed upon the sufferings of countless innocents. The soil of our earth is soaked in their blood.

But the hope of the innocents cry out to God against war, "this beast is not sustained by virtue of our lives for we are those who lived for peace."

To all the nations of Mankind, they testify, "our blood is shed not to propagate this suffering but as a witness against the deception of war. For war is sustained by its own injustices."

"It has spread to sow the seeds of division upon the ends of the earth. It has shattered the reign of many of the lineages of the kings and rulers of old. It has brought forth the ruin of many nations."

"Upon its deadly wake, Man labor only in bitterness and despair."

Indeed, the last 2000 years have seen the beast of war inflict abomination after abomination upon all the peoples of the world. The last century is a century of genocide.

Now this beast threatens the very purpose and order of the nations of Mankind. For the nations of Man contend against war. But Man was never meant by God to contend against this beast.

Therefore, we must learn to understand the ways of peace and peace as a paradigm.

To do this, we must learn how to think as a nation. This is very important for us to understand, O my nation, because it will provide us with the strength and the solidity necessary to overcome the enormous momentum of the last great age of war.

There is a purpose and an order to our labors upon the earth: (1) The building up of the (unknown) earth (into the inhabited earth) and (2) the preservation of the dignity and promise of the children of Man.

The building up of the (inhabited) earth is a labor commanded by God of all the generations of the children of Man. This building is the purpose of the nations of Mankind. Because the (inhabited) earth may only be built by the labor of Nations. No man lives or dies for self alone.

Now, humanity is created by God to prosper the life of all visible creation. To the keeping of Mankind is entrusted the stewardship of the Sacred Life of all the visible universe entire. (Indeed, the void of the universe have become hostile to all of life itself only because of the shattering brought upon by the outset of war and exile time.)

Sacred Life being all plant and animal life, above all human life, each human being is particularly entrusted to the keeping of every other human being.

Each of us is singular, each of us is near infinite potential and all of us are arrayed from least to greatest according to the freedom of our gifts.

Our nations are so structured and established so as to maintain this design and in so doing to preserve the life of our common humanity and safeguard the order of our generations arrayed according to each their own times and seasons.

For the preservation of the dignity and promise of the children of Man as a reflection of the image and likeness of God in every individual human being is a labor that is likewise commanded by God of all the nations of Mankind.

Towards this purpose and order is established and ordained the brotherhood of the nations of Mankind so that by whatever name every present generation receives the unmistakable call of their original nationhood, this purpose and this order makes it forever meaningful and binding to the souls of all its citizens. For every nationhood is a work (of the heart). It is where it works. It is where it unfolds in time.

All true nationhood is a gift; an unmistakable sign of a divine endowment.

Therefore, true nationhood is not a thing that can be crafted by human hands. It is a reality that may only be granted by God alone. True nationhood is something that the children of Man seeks to obtain from the LORD not because Man is Man but because the LORD is God and He alone is God.

It is spirit and therefore, must always be sought from deep within the individual human heart.

It is timeless and therefore, encompasses all the generations of our people to the very last of our generations.

It is a promise won for Man by the immovable justice of God; a reflection of His great mercy to the children of Man, now fallen into exile.

It is a destiny perfected in the likeness of His love; a revelation of the fullness of His compassion to all creatures, great and small.

These are first principles of nationhood: It is spirit. It is timeless. It is endowed by God with both a purpose and an order. It is both a promise and a destiny.

The nation is the foundation of all human civilization. To begin to understand it as we ought, we must first come to accept it as it is - a particular living creation with us.

The nation is the people. To be more precise, a nation is a people under God; a community bound together in freedom by a spirit entrusted to a particular people of God.

This spirit is a particular angel of the LORD; a guardian of the people.

Therefore, when taken as a whole, the nation in each our minds and our hearts must always be more than what the present reveals.

It is what establishes us forever in the peace of our belongings to each other. It is light to drive away the darkness of an unknown earth; a sword to stay the beast (spirit) of war and a shield to preserve the Sacred Life of the people.

It is a keeper of our past, a guardian of our present, and a steward of our future. It is what keeps us faithful to to the original truth of our founding and the singular source of our common identity as Filipinos.

It is the invincible guardian of all our sacred remembrances, embracing all our generations into one lineage of hope.

It is an unseen reality that surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds all our hearts together into one particular love - the love of Country - the love of each other in God.

When we seek the truth of our belongings to each other, we are likewise sought by the nation in and around ourselves. When we begin to awaken to the reality of our being Filipino, we awaken to the truth of ourselves as ourselves as we begin to encounter the reality of our nationhood.

We know we are Filipino because our nation knows us - equally, individually, each by our own true names written in heaven. When we affirm it in ourselves that we are Filipino, our nation knows that we have come to finally awaken to a knowledge of our citizenship and that we have come to ally ourselves to the love that is the timeless keeper of the common patrimony of our people.

It is what binds all our lives and our fortunes together as one people, one work, one destiny.

For who is a Filipino but this love in the heart?

To seek the peace is to seek the truth of this love. And to understand that this love is not (and never was) beholden to division.

For this love is indeed present in the races but cannot be confined to a mere color of skin, sound of name, or slant of tongue.

It is a love that is, above all, allied to All that is bound by the freedom of the sons and daughters of the LORD, our God; the light in all His living lights.

We can never take this for granted
.

This peace must be something that is constantly sought. For this peace is not the way of this world. Left to itself, our world as we know it will eventually spiral down the gravity of the void. Everything in this world, whether upon the earth or in the heavens above the earth, is destined for destruction.

Indeed, it is an imperfect peace. But it is the perfect acceptance of this imperfect peace that allow our nations to walk in constant humility before the LORD, our God, Who alone brings victory to our peace. Our common sufficiency as nations - indeed, as one family of nations - rely on our free and willing submission to this truth.

Indeed, these days, peace, like love, is oftentimes a word that is emptied out of its meaning. A lot of people know how to say it. But not a lot of people know what it really means.

Some people think peace is the cessation of conflict. But that is not so. For the peace we speak of here is a commitment to the truth in the presence of conflict.

Some people think peace is the side that sits opposite of war. But that is not so. For the peace we speak of here is the overcoming of this very mindset of division.

It is something that must be obtained from God.

It is a free and willing choice made by the individual.

It is an absolute and irrevocable commitment to eternity, virtue, humanity and universality.

Now, the first of these World Interfaith Harmony Weeks is set to begin on the first week of February of this year, my fellow Filipino compatriots.

It is my hope that we may begin to receive this initiative with much enthusiasm and faith this year that we may begin that month with the most advantageous attitude of heart.

Because February of this year is going to be a busy month indeed.

We are, as a Republic undertaking of Country, going to become decidedly, fully engaged in the restructuring of our national psyche - towards the peace, and the peace that prospers.

No man is an island,
no man lives for self alone -
we live for but a moment,
we labor for just a day -
we are here only for a time
then everything passes us away.
---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

The Three Elements of Country

Service, Synergy and Sovereignty

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

20110118



I went to church in Quiapo and found more of myself again - the real me.

I went for a stroll with my mom and my aunt around Quiapo and I loved every moment of it.







Manila - you are such a beautiful city, a community of peace, a city of common dreams!



Underneath all that grime, away from all the noise, and far apart from all that is not you - in that moment - I have seen you, beautiful city, and have come to know the real you.

And so I thank the LORD, our God, for this rare glimpse of you, I thank God for this wonder, this certain grace, this subtle sense of knowing, this hint, this wondrous hint - that after all our troubles, after all that war - you were never lost to us, Manila - because you have always been there for all of us to find once again.



I love you Lord Jesus - thank you so much. Mabuhay ang Hesus Nazareno!
---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Monday, January 3, 2011

20110103

2011



2011 is the year before 2012. This year is going to be a defining year in the life of our nation. It is a year of choices. It is a year of much work, within as well as without.

I am letting you know all this at the very beginning of this year, my fellow Filipino compatriots, so that we may all know in our heart of hearts by the end of this year how blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: Mapalad ang Bayan na ang Diyos ay ang Panginoon.

God has remembered us, O my nation!

Therefore, our hearts stir for a remembrance of Him and of each other in Him. God loves us and we are come to a knowledge of love. Therefore, if we love the LORD, for He is but one God alone, we shall work for peace in our hearts, in our lives, in our communities, and in our world.

It all begins here in the You and I.

Verily, we can not share with other nations, either through word or deed, what we ourselves do not possess as a nation.

If we truly love those other kindred nations, we must achieve peace for ourselves first. So let us work to dispel all forms of prejudices and misconceptions about us and learn to re-discover once more what is right about ourselves - together this time.

If we are to be able to look out to their suffering peoples with much truthfulness and meritorious compassion, then we must learn to understand how to break the rule of war in our own hearts first.

Therefore, we must come to a knowledge of peace that we may by our willingness be as a light to other nations; the light that God would have all nations to be for each other.



Indeed, we must complete our remembrances by the end of this year*. Our focus, being citizens of the one Republic of the Philippines, shall be the peace here in our own nation AND the peace in the Middle East. And I enjoin all citizens of all other nations who are likewise inclined to focus on their own peace processes AND the peace in the Middle East.

Therefore, my fellow Filipino compatriots, let us put peace - rightly understood - at the forefront of our national awareness. Let us make this year THE year for peace. And let us follow through our convictions with concrete moral and civic action.

Lastly, let us fear inaction and complacency. For we can not choose to remain lukewarm. Nor can we stay in the deepening darkness of these midnight times.

Let us engage the darkness; put out into the deep.

The time for peace is now. Today is the favorable season.

This is our time.
---<--@

The Question -

An angel asked me, "...and what do I love, O heart?" For I longed to know.

It led me to a shop and showed me a thing I desired for myself but could not yet afford. Something I knew I knew but did not really think about that much.

"I love all these things that you love, O heart, that leads you to be good", the angel said to me.

"I love all the good clothes that was made for you, I love the cell phone that you'd so wished for so much, oh and that laptop - I love that as well - for you, O heart."

"So how do you love me in return?" The angel's question seem to echo from deep into my being for the lesson has now penetrated me indelibly right into my heart.

There was silence:


"You shall love the LORD thy God as one LORD alone".

"Make peace with the all of creation. Divide it not. Say peace to the river, to the sky, to the earth, to the animals (and the trees) of the earth and the fishes of the seas, to thy nations good will and to all thy fellow human beings, life and abundance. Do this if you love me."
---<--@

Towards the morn, O ye nations,
towards that awakening dawn!
Towards the peace, O ye peoples,
towards the twilight of the new!
Towards the LORD, O ye numberless stars,
towards that promise made of old!
Towards the Light, all ye living lights
away from the darkness,
where all our roads,
lead back to you, Jerusalem.


A blessed and meaningful 2011 to all. May this year bring forth the blessings of peace to our nation and prosperity to our families.


Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.


Revelation 12: 7-9

Salutation to the Holy Angels

I salute all the angels of God!
From the least to the greatest -
I salute all the angels of God!
From the highest of Seraphim
to the guardians of the souls of men.
I acknowledge your unseen presence
with due respect to the unseen reality
that hold back the assault of demons
in our poor world and in my poor life.

I salute all the angels of God!
To the angels of my enemies,
to the angels of my friends,
as well as those of my family,
above all to my guardian dear,
my own angel, faithful and true -
who have known me from eternity;
who came to this world at my birth;
who shall fly me away at my passing.
May God's grace see us through evil
with bonds strong against temptation.
May God bless and purify our friendship
into an union of love that will last forever.

I give thanks and adoration to God
For all the angelic hosts of the LORD.
For the battles they fight
and the victory they proclaim
under the banner of the Lamb,
the leadership of Michael,
and the Queenship of Mary,
by the power of God,
on behalf of suffering mankind.

To the most high and sovereign God
who rules all true things
seen and unseen
and turns all things to good
for those who love and fear Him
may glory, honor and praise belong
forever and ever.

AMEN.

*the time for the completion of our remembrances is till the close of 2012. To be honest with you, I deliberately made it early here to make sure we make it on time - 20110723.