Saturday, April 30, 2011

20110430

Salutation #8


(Awakening)

I shall speak plainly -
we are a nation emerging,
a Republic awakening to itself!

So awaken, O Filipino soul -
return to a knowledge of yourself,
O my honorable compatriots, peace.

There will be a time
for building our material prosperity
but that time is not yet come.

I shall speak plainly -
we are a nation emerging,
a Republic awakening to itself!


Once we have emerged
we shall know how to build.
Only then shall we build.

Today, we shall remember.
---<--@

A little note:

Globalization is dangerous unless the world shifts from a mixture of Emerging and Developed Countries into a mixture of Developing and Mature Countries.

This may only be achieved in a climate of peace.

Of the Ages of Country, the transition from Emerging to Developing is an internal shift which though different in character is not unlike the transition from Developed to Mature.

When we will have completed this shift by 2012, my honorable compatriots, we will have completed our remembrances as a nation.

What proceeds is vigorous national development through to 2045.

Do not be overly anxious or perplexed by wars or rumors of wars, or of earthquakes, or of the general atmosphere of our world approaching 2012. What really matters is what we are to do with our time today - together.

The things concerning the end of time as we know it or the Last Day (General Judgment) shall indeed be fulfilled. But it is the LORD, our God, alone Who knows the hour of the fulfillment (to our vigilance belong the discernment of the season).

Our work as individuals apart and as individual nations together is to always be ready for the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and so our greatest security against the uncertainties we shall be facing in the near future is the knowledge that we are indeed doing this necessary work of humble preparation not just as human individuals but also as human nations.

For this is the labor required of us, nothing more, nothing less.

Now, my friends, we will do this vital work in a season of peace.

That season is today.

So let us do all that is humanly possible for us, my fellow Filipino compatriots, bearing in mind and heart that God will fill what is impossible for us to do.

Peace to all our nations and good will to all men and women of peace.
---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Healing Work

Monday, April 25, 2011

20110425

Salutation #7


(Unity)

OPEN A WAY FOR PEACE!
Give way to a sense of self-belonging
that you may believe in your own heart
that we are a nation.

Open a way for the poor!
They are the measure by which
God shall open for us the way forward
lest we, as sowers, sow upon scattering winds
the sacred trust by which the Providence of God
have called us together as a nation.

For this is the truth! Therefore,
establish upon thy hearts a reign of Justice
and recognize the ground upon which we build -
a lasting edifice to the economy of our generations,
an altar of Sacred Life, and a shelter of law -
the noble vision of our own Eden rebuilt,
our great labor of Country!


Our work of Country
is the labor of our generations
to the very last of our generations.

The longevity of the Republic whole
is not established on individual lifetimes.
We do not rise and fall with the tides of exile time
for no matter how great or how small we seem,
everything that is good about our citizenry
is everything that we carry forward,
ascending with but one ascending.

So remember this, my honorable compatriots,
and do not be discouraged by the littleness
nor be disillusioned by the sheer fragility of it all.
We are always more than what the eye can see
for the nation in ourselves is greater in force
than what
individual hearts can muster -


But if the one heart of the people is divided
we shall be but a shadow of ourselves indeed!
For peace is what brings the people together,
bound by the freedoms that make us responsible
to the noble promise concealed in our individual fragility
and to the great dignity of our common humanity,
not so that we may each be the same
but so that we may together against
the darkness prevail.

Just as the shattering of the angelic realms
was brought about by War in the heart,
plunging our native skies into unconsciousness,
War in the heart shall likewise have claim over the earth
if our nations do not stand together.


It will institute a desolation before its time;
an abomination it shall call "peace" -
and a wasteland shall be the inheritance
of our generations.
---<--@


IN THE SAME WAY that a tree upon our world is possessed of life, so are we.

In the same way there is a breathing that breathes in the birds in the sky, and in the animals upon the land, and in the fishes in the sea, so are we likewise possessed by that same living that make us all peers to Sacred Life.

For as all things alive in all of creation, seen and unseen, are all things immersed in the unseen waters of an everlasting substance, so are we.

But much more than those green things that grow upon our earth and greater still than the animals that fill our world with much color and motion, we are because to our native reason is granted the names and the knowledge of all these things, that they may share our voice.

To each of us is granted the faith to freely and commonly apply our hearts to the keeping of our Creator's creative ideal in this world that we may by our lives' width and breadth, render service to all of life's longing for itself and preserve our LORD's peace upon the inhabited earth which is the glory of God in all things.

The faith that makes us common, Beloved of God, makes us all servants to the one LORD of all the living and the everliving.
---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.


Sacred Life is all of life, plant and animal, above all human life.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

20110424

Easter 2011


JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN!

To all my Christian brothers and sisters in the Philippines and around the world, a very happy and meaningful Easter 2011.


This season of Lent must have been one of the best ones for me so far and I hope you all had a blessed Lenten season as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us continue to hope and to pray for Christian unity.

Together with our common baptism, let our common belief in the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, draw us nearer to the fulfillment of the prayer in the heart of our one Savior that we be one as He and the Father is one which is the unity of God in all of blessed Christendom.

Today is the favorable season!

May the peace of the Risen Lord be always in our hearts today and for always.
---<--@

Gloria in Excelsis Deo!


Monday, April 18, 2011

To the Class of 2011


DREAM BIG DREAMS!

Your nation, dear starshine, is in need of your dreams. So you must dream big!

I kid you not, there is a strain of thinking in Filipino society these days that is so smallish, so restrictive, so constrained, so limited, it predisposes the unwary to a life of penury.

Don't you know you are the equal of any of your contemporaries on the planet? What dreams the youth of our world today are capable of - you are capable of.

So don't sell yourself short. My advice to you is to go and dream those dreams.

Dreams are all about possibilities. They are the "stuff" of yet unborn realities.

If you shall ask me what is this "stuff"?

I shall answer you with a question - "what are your possibilities"?

We are not a material (i.e. unspiritual) people, starshine. Everything you really need is already in yourself.

The plight of many of our poor people here in the Philippines is desperate indeed. But material poverty is no obstacle to the human heart. Many successful Filipinos will attest to that.

The only kind of poverty that truly impoverishes is the spiritual kind. Remember, we are not a material people, starshine.

Everything you really need is already in yourself.

Let go of the thinking that money is the goal of education. Better yet, let go of the thinking that wealth is about money. Money per se is not wealth. Wealth is much larger than money.

Learning itself is wealth. The ability to dream is wealth. Virtue is wealth. Health is wealth. A good friend is wealth. A good family is wealth. A lively faith is wealth. A healthy parish community is wealth. A vibrant and prospering barangay community is wealth. A strong and faithful nation is wealth. There are a lot of things other than money that make one rich indeed and you may add them all to this list.

So do not be restricted by the thinking that money is the ultimate end of your life's labors upon this world.

Let your dreaming be a dream of happiness. Let it be one of sweet release and of joyous realization.

What you believe in your heart, dearest starshine, are like seeds planted in your soul. So it is very important for you to know where these seeds come from and what these seeds are.

Because the souls of the young are fertile ground indeed. You must, especially in your youth, be aware to nurture only those things in yourself that shall lead you to your dreams that you may work sedulously to awaken these dreams in yourself - that you may bring it out into our needful world.

There are things - truths - proper to you. You must seek them and come to an understanding of them that you may come to know who you are as God intended you to be - who you must be and therefore, work to become.

You must become this person, dear starshine, and when you do, your dreams will come true.

Find yourself and the rest will follow.

The real secret to making money is not the desire to make money - it is simply the willingness to be yourself.

Money is a by product of the knowledge that comes with being happy with who you are - mature in your gifts, secure in your faith, steadfast in your hopes, and alive in your love.

It takes a lot of hard work to be happy - but isn't happiness the ultimate aim of all human labor? So why be skimpy?

Go and dream big dreams!Some people study with a view to making big money and end up sad and broken. They think with their minds by excluding their hearts.

There can be great desolation even in the midst of great material wealth. This is a sad fact indeed.

You must not be this way, dear starshine. You must always lead with your mind but think with your heart. For we are not a material people.

Jesus taught, "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be given you besides".

Isn't this the same as to say, "everything you really need is already in yourself"?

Think about it, our precious starshine, and don't forget to pray.

Find yourself, Beloved of God: Believe.
---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless the Class of 2011.


Dreamer of Dreams

Saturday, April 16, 2011

20110416

The Republic Peace

THIS PEACE can not be enforced from the outside, as by force of arms.

Our Republic Peace is first and foremost, a free and willing observance. It is born of promise; a dream in the wing, born of a proven reality.

And if this necessary reality require more proving, my honorable compatriots, then let this be our striving - together this time.


Peace may only be embraced as its remembrance is honored - by all, from least to great, it is thing that must be present in the heart of the people.

Peace is a role of nations - it is the necessary atmosphere that guarantees national progress and human development. Peace is the responsibility of the national government - it is the necessary medium of political cohesion and meaningful national dialogue.

Without it, nations perish and governments fail. Entire civilizations depend on it.

A deficiency in the vision of peace is a serious lack. For the Filipino dream will always remain a counterfeit dream for as long as this dream is not our own dreaming together.

So what are we, my fellow Filipino compatriots, and why for are we born to this particular time and place?

If I say I am Filipino and you say you are Filipino, what binds us in love and truth? What makes of you and I, a nation distinct but not apart from other nations?

It is this peace. So what is it?

It is a belief, a sacred trust embraced across our generations, that we shall as citizens together prevail over the unknown earth. It is an unassailable truth founded on the guarantee of a clear vision of the national destiny.

It is a remembrance of God and Country. This remembrance is an essential component of the sacred trust of our one undertaking of Country.

So what is this undertaking of Country?

It is the indivisible labor of all our generations, under the eternal vigilance of God Almighty, to bring this peace to pass, from hope to hope, strength to strength, across the wide, barren desert expense of exile time and into our Home in eternity. It is a work of return to our Eden rebuilt.

Now, there are many undertakings of Country upon the earth, yet we are each called to the labor of one and this one undertaking of Country is our Republic of the Philippines.

So what is a Republic undertaking of Country?

It is a guardian to a people orphaned by War. It is this guardian spirit that preserves the necessary Republic form - for the nation. If we are to remain true to the Republic form, we must come to realize its potency in ourselves.

We shall be to each other, a keeper and a friend.

For just as a nation is not a nation without the LORD, a citizen is not a citizen by his or herself alone.

Our Republic government must be a shepherd state; a responsible steward of the Causes that advance the peace of our people - a servant after God's own Heart, a Responsible State, willing and able to be generous enough to freely respond to the needs of a hurt and wounded people in disinterested, selfless and loyal public service.

We have to work to realize in ourselves with conviction of heart that as a Republic, we are across our generations to the last of our generations, under the eternal vigilance of God, one work, one people, one destiny.

The deeper the roots of our Republic peace (that is, the more this peace becomes present among our people), the stronger its hold on the ground of its own truth, the more trusted its fruits.

If we do not understand Country, we shall be as wandering stars, scattered, having no certainty of its own light; without a past, without a present, and without a future.

If we are to be as real stars, those that arc in the sky, being certain of its own light (that is, my fellow Filipino compatriots, being certain that this light is not its own and shall therefore end up possessing that Light) we must know that we are as a nation commanded by God to -

build up the earth,
love the least,
protect all minorities,
preserve and uphold justice,
observe the law,
and cherish Sacred Life

- and that we are as thus arrayed as a Republic because of our common will to carry out this divine command, for our own good and the good of all nations.

That we are gifted with a will of Country is proof that the nation is alive in ourselves and that God has preserved this reality in our hearts not because of what evil there is but because there is merit in our people.

So we are a Republic, my honorable Filipino compatriots, and the first rule of service in the Republic form is this - know that the real treasure of this nation is the people.

Therefore, O my people, you shall live to love the LORD, thy God, in everything and with everything.

We shall be victorious according to what dignity and promise we shall together work to accord and help to realize in the very least of our Countrymen.

So we are a Republic - a lineage of hope 7,107 islands strong, one work, one people, one destiny.

Only one thing shall ruin us, my honorable compatriots, War in the heart.

Because the craft of all nations is peace.
---<--@


Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Vision.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

20110409

Sources of Poverty

I have often meditated on the problem of poverty.

We are mistaken who should believe that the problem of widespread poverty in the Philippines is a purely material phenomenon.


We can not make the poor rich through purely external means. So those traditional economic indicators of a nation's wealth (or lack thereof) are only indicative of a part of the process and certainly not the whole.

We can not completely rely on what other economies think, well-meaning though they are, about our own economy because the roots of our national destiny is planted not on the soil of their land nor is the will of our nationhood established upon the soul of their experience as a people.

Surely, we can not look at a happy, smiling picture of another nation and say to ourselves it is our own without deceiving ourselves. For no nation upon the earth is the same.

Though we are all allied to each other by blood and covenant, each of us - each nation - is as distinct as individual human beings are unique.

The progress of any other nation is built upon the backs of its own sweat, blood, and tears.

Each their own journeys in time shaped by their own common experience of a love willingly and freely shed and therefore, shared from among its people across their generations; their peace a result of the reality they have crafted by grace of God from their own belonging together.

We are not any other nation, my fellow Filipino compatriots, we are this nation.


How we see ourselves as ourselves has a very direct as well as distinct bearing on our national destiny.

It might seem to fade in contrast to the obvious reality of the material but we must remember that the roots of our poverty goes deeper than the things of this world - and that is the truth.


And it matters not what name we should call ourselves - we are what we do.

If our understanding of the Angel of the Philippines (or the spirit of the one Filipino people) is wont to teach us anything, it is this:

We could choose to change the name of our nation (not that I am for it, mind you, I am completely against it) but it shall always remain for all our generations that we are who we are inside of ourselves more than what or how or by what name we appear (or make ourselves appear) from the outside.

We shall wear our Flag on the inside before anything else or not at all.

Because time is a flow and once it has gone out of the timeless within our hearts, once time has flowed out of the Sanctuary of the LORD in our every hearts, it is no longer time but consequence and is near impossible to change. (You may refer to the River in Ezekiel 47: 1-12.)

Only a miracle of God can change the course of consequence.


These miracles do happen but if we rely exclusively on them, we tempt the LORD.

For the small and hidden miracles that God works in the hearts of all men are plentiful indeed and more than enough to change the course of our history - we just need to pay attention and hear Him.

Verily, we can not rely purely on externals to solve our problems as a people.

The fact of the matter is poverty is a social justice issue here in the Philippines. It is therefore, a wrong that our society as a whole must make right.

We have to become willing to re-think ourselves again as ourselves - together this time.

People are poor who have accepted the reality of being poor. A nation is defeated who have come to accept its own defeat. No nation can so thoroughly deplete the spirit and exhaust the will of another nation as completely as it can its own self.

We are not a defeated people. We have spirit enough in ourselves to make it right. So we have to educate ourselves aright, above all our youth.


Our history writes that the Philippines was re-discovered in 1521 by a nation not its own.

Let it write further here today that in the third Christian millennium, the Philippines is re-discovered once again by its own nation; by a people wholly its own and a generation called to re-constitute once more our original culture of life and peace.


Carry on with determination, President Noy.


Do not let your faith waver nor the belief in your heart be weakened by those things that oppose your good will and spirit of Country.

Rather, let if flow out of yourself as a mighty river, continue to strive to be the change to inspire us and to work in the nation a remembrance of itself, mabuhay!

We are with you, sir - all the way.

Furthermore, please refer to 20110317, The Roots of the Problem - and consider these also as major sources of poverty.
---<--@

Araw ng Kagitingan


Today we commemorate "Araw ng Kagitingan" or Day of Valour. This day marks the surrender of Bataan and Corregidor during WWII.


Through it, we commemorate the universal spirit of the Filipino profession of arms in general and our friendship with the US Armed Forces in specific.

To do justice to the undying sacrifices of our soldiers and of all soldiers from every nation, we must always remember that there is no such thing as a "just" war, only just causes.

That it is the lives and the actions of just and virtuous military men and women of our nation and of every nation that we shall remember to honor this day, because, my honorable compatriots, in stark contrast to the atrocities of war and the dishonor of war criminals, it is these that redeem.

Military blood ties are permanent.

We ignore the counsel of our own military remembrances at our own peril.

Lest we forget. Lest we forget.
---<--@

A Tragedy in Brazil


I was shocked and saddened by the recent school shooting in Brazil. There are no words enough to express it. I stand in silent sympathy with them.


Let us pray for the victims of this tragedy, feel their hurt, and ask God above for healing for the Brazilian nation.

Let us say peace be upon Brazil, peace be upon the Brazilian people.
---<--@

Another Earthquake in Japan

Japan has done so much for the Philippines. In this time of great stress, let us continue to pray for Japan. May God bless the Japanese nation!


May their indomitable strength of spirit triumph against this test.

Please visit Asia For Japan.
---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

20110405

Diyos ay Katotohanan, Bayan Ko

Ang Diyos ay Katotohanan! Lahat ay pawang panaginip lamang kung ang mga ito ay hindi malayang bumubukal sa Katotohanang ang Diyos ay Diyos at wala nang iba pang Katotohanan maliban sa Kanya.


Kung ang isip at malay ng tao ay pawang gising at malaya, ito ay dahil ang Diyos ay gising sa ating katotohanan sa Kanya.

Kung tayo ay malaya ito ay dahil tayo ay gising din sa katotohanang ang Diyos ay Diyos at wala Siyang katulad sa langit o sa lupa, maging sa lahat ng mga bagay na nakikita o hindi nakikita.

Iisa lamang po ang Diyos nang lahat nang mga ito; ang Poong May gawa nang lahat ng bagay sa lupa man o sa langit.

Sadyang napakabuti po ng Diyos sa tao. Alalahanin natin ang Diyos, Bayan ko. Siya po ang ating mahal na Diyos at Siya lamang.

Ang Diyos po ay ang Katotohanang nagbibigay tanglaw sa tao at laya sa mga bansang iniluklok Niya sa lupa para na rin sa buong sangkatauhan; mga bansang patuloy pa ring naglalakbay patungo sa katuparan ng Kanyang ipinangakong kaligtasan sa atin.

Ang Diyos ay malapit sa tao. Ang Diyos ay Espiritu at ang lahat nang ating mga saloobin ay Kanyang nalalaman. Ang ating mga isip-isipin at mga inspirasyon ay tanglaw ng katotohanang ang Diyos ay Espiritu. Kung ang Diyos po ang lalayo sa atin, tayo pong lahat ay maglalaho sa dilim. Kung magulo ang lagay ng mundo sa ngayon ito ay dahil sa tao na malimit ay nagpupumilit na lumayo sa Kanya.

Nakasisilaw po kasing tumingin sa araw. Pero tayo po ay nabubuhay dahil ang araw ay palaging nakasubahbay sa ating mundo. Hindi naman kailangang itapat ang ating mga mata sa araw para po natin malamang may Liwanag. Dahil po ang Liwanag ay nakikita at nararamdaman po natin sa paligid natin at higit sa lahat sa pusong marunong magtiwala sa Diyos na Siyang tunay na araw na nakasubaybay sa puso ng lahat ng tao.


Sa mga kapwa ko Kristyano, ang Liwanag ng Diyos ay si Kristo Hesus.


Iisa lamang po ang Diyos. Alamin mo ang Diyos, Pilipino. Hanapin mo Siya ng buong puso, buong lakas at nang may kababaang loob.

Hanapin mo Siya sa iyong puso at sa iyong kapwa Pilipino.

Hanapin mo Siya sa mga taong nauuhaw at nagugutom, hanapin mo Siya sa mga taong hubad sa karapatang pangtao, sa mga api at inaalipusta ng lipunang bulag sa kakulangan ng Liwanag at tamad sa mga gawaing nagbibigay buhay sa tao at dangal sa mga bansa ng tao.

Sa bansa nating Pilipinas, Pilipino, magi kang tunay na matapat, maka-Diyos, at makatao. Ikaw ay matutong magsilbi ng mahusay at maligaya.

Walang taong nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang. Walang taong naliligtas dahil sa sarili lamang.


Gawin mo ito ng buong tapang at nang may pananalig sa Katotohanang ang Diyos ay Diyos - wala Siyang katulad at wala nang iba pang diyos maliban sa Kanya.


Hindi relihiyon ang problema, hindi dahil sa tayo ay marami at may iba't ibang kulay, boses, pangarap at pag-iisip ay wala na tayong saysay bilang bansang Pilipinas.

Ang bansa po natin ay itinatag po hindi ng tao kundi ng Diyos para sa tao. Lahat po ng mga ito ay ginawa ng Diyos para sa atin na rin.

Ang ating kasaysayan ay binigyang hugis ng Diyos - lahat ng mga sakit, lumbay, paghihirap, at mga tagumpay nito - upang tayo ay Kanyang akaying unti-unti patungo sa panahong atin na nagayong inaangkin at dapat pangalagaan.

Dahil ito po ay panahon na natin para magising sa mga katotohanang ito.


Ang puso ng Pilipinas ay iisa lamang, Pilipino.

Kung ito ay ating tatanggapin, pangangalagaan at pauunlarin, sa Ngalan na rin ng PANGINOON na Diyos nating lahat, mga kapatid ko, ay walang dahilan para hindi tayo umunlad at umani ng tagumpay.

Masdan mong maiigi ang puso ng ating mga bayani, Pilipino.

Masdan mong maigi ang kagandan, kagitingan, galing at pagmamahal sa kapwa na nabubuhay sa mga puso nila Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, GomBurZa, Gregorio del Pilar, Apolinario Mabini, Emilio Jacinto, Ramon Magsaysay, Ninoy Aquino, atbp. masdan mo ito, mga kapwa ko kapatid sa pangako sapagka't ang pusong ito ay puso mo rin.


Ipinagdasadal ko, kapatid kong Pilipino, na iyong pagninilaynilayan ang tawag ng ating panahon.

Hanapin mo ang Diyos at nawa'y makita at malaman mong muli kung sino ka talaga, Pilipino. Hindi po ito madali. Pero wala na pong makagagawa nito para sa bayang Pilipinas kundi tayo lamang, Pilipino - ikaw at ako.

Ang bayan natin ay lupain ng pangako. Marahil po ay hindi na rin natin makikita at masisilayan ang katuparan ng marami sa mga pangakong ito. Pero kung hindi natin sisimulan ito - naghahari ba talaga ang Diyos sa puso natin? Kilala ba natin talaga ang Pilipinas na ating bansang nagmamahal at naghihirap ngayon.

Mahal mo ba talaga ang Pilipinas - totoo ba siya sa iyo?


Maglalaho po nawa lahat ng balakid, O Diyos, para sa ating mga Pilipino.
---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang Pilipino.


Mapalad ang Bayan na ang Diyos ay ang PANGINOON.