Palm Sunday 2014

Good evening, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus the Lord:

I hope everybody had a blessed Palm Sunday! I know I certainly did.

I and my family have decided to make the most of Holy Week 2014. Indeed, I pray we all will.

As a matter of fact, my family and I have already worked out a daily schedule of activities. This is apart from my official schedule with my brother EMHCs at our Shrine.

It is a joy to discover what one can do with Jesus. Let me witness to each of you that in spite of my sins and despite of my weaknesses, our blessed Savior has never once failed me nor my family. Nada. Not a one.

Trouble with me always begins 100% - when I fail in my duties - communal or personal - to our God.

The health of my spiritual life is always a good indicator of the well being of my whole soul - this means my prayer life is always where I draw the line. And as regards my prayer life, my Queen is our Lady.

If prayer to a Catholic is battle, our Lady is warrior-in-chief. And Mary always leads to The Victory so we have to be sharp.

So there - most of our Holy Week activities are designed to sharpen our attitudes toward prayer. We have to be in love with the act of praying. Because prayer is an attitude of the heart. This is #1.

Because we seek God in prayer - if we are to know how to deepen our prayer life, we should learn to relate with God on a more intimate basis. We have to know the Father and there is no better way of knowing the Father than through the Son.

And so this is the reason for the season - everything that leads up to Easter, Jesus the Lord, designed for us, even here - in our own times, so we could maximize on knowing Who it is we have come to see, and Whose voice it is that constantly calls out to us, "Come and see".

That we may together discover that as Christians, our Lent is truly never without an Easter. And that this Longest Night shall not be without a Morning.
---<--@

We, of the Laity, have a duty to initiate in ourselves the Spirit of the New Evangelization.

We, of the Laity, who Jesus Christ sent forth into deep water have a duty to honor and to make His peace more and more known in our present time, that His Kingdom may be in us and His good will among the Nations prevail for all Mankind.

We have something to give to our world. It is Love - the perfecting Covenant.

We are the children because we are the most vulnerable.
We are the children because we are also the most precious.

Palm Sunday 2014 in Pakistan. You are such a beautiful people, don't you know? May Peace be in Pakistan, India, and throughout South Asia. God bless us all.

Memorial of the Guardian Angels

Remember LORD, 
the unfailing faithfulness of thy Guardian Angels,
Who deigned through their vigilant and loving stewardship
to vouchsafe in the life of our souls,
the unfailing truth of Thy paternal love and solicitude
over our Everlasting safety.

We ask Thee Eternal Father
Thou bless us with a Remembrance of them -

Who stand invisibly to watch over our thoughts
and guard our memories against the spirit of evil;
who against the Devil and the desolation of the War
keep safe for us - the enabling reality of thy own Truth:

Our Angel Guardians, who keep for us a way of safe return
away from the Night - and the sin which hides in the darkness
unto Christ, our Light, and unto Thee, dear Father of our hearts,
unto Thy Sacraments, unto Penance, and the fruits of Repentance -
which is the fullness of each these Friendships - Thou hath ordained.

Which is Truth everlasting in the knowledge of the Father and the Son
on this day of their Eternal Memorial, O LORD, united in Thy Holy Spirit -
alleluia, alleluia, glory to one Most High God forever, alleluia - forever.

AMEN.
---<--@

Turn the Other Cheek

When the Lord said to "turn the other cheek", it doesn't mean to invite more disaster. We Christians should understand we do not want to suffer more than what we have to, for suffering is evil.

But to suffer well we must. For our Lord did suffer well, indeed well enough to overcome the world and all it's evil for all humanity for all time.

And so we are taught by our Jesus to "turn the other cheek" as a form of non-retaliation and forgiveness to those who are unjust and seek violent means for violent ends and to keep our Christian dignity even in the face of our oppressors.

When we turn the other cheek, we forgive, we learn, and we let go.

When we turn the other cheek, we desire to break down cycles of violence, teach justice and Christian love over adversarial hate and contempt for human life, and return all souls to God.

When we turn the other cheek, we do not seek to invite more evil to come upon us but seek to invite more peace to come among us - and make what once was wounded and divided, healthy and whole once again.

Let us together meditate on this and pray about it.
---<--@

Habemus Papam!

Mabuhay Holy Father Francis!

Let us pray to the LORD a hymn of thanksgiving - alleluia to God - 

a great song of praise to the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, 

in humble adoration of His Son, our Savior - Emmanuel;

a people grateful for the guidance of the Holy Spirit

for the Good Shepherd He has raised among us - and for us -

to lead us back - across our nations - to the path of peace 

unto oneness with our one God - the fullness of the new age - 

and the peace of Jesus Christ to all people of good will.

---<--@

Truth ---> Understanding ---> Action

Salutation #170

Every gift of life... is wrought in love
and every love of life... is wrought in light
for the one light of life is... Jesus Christ the Lord.



(Christmas 2012)

MAY every Christmas bring us peace;
the beginnings of peace which is peace,
the workings of peace which is peace,
and the fruits of peace which is peace.

Because Christmas means -

I love you.

- selah -

So may all be in this love sheltered
and be brought forth anew each and every year
that all may through this love know in the truth
the spirit of every Christmas season
which is peace.

May all be at peace.
May all know the peace.

And may this peace be the peace
that was wrought in our world
by the Prince of Peace
which is Jesus Christ the Lord
that it may continue to serve
to bring our humanity forth
from darkness into the
one Light of God
everlasting.

May our journeys in this life
through Christmas be fulfilled
in the LORD, our God -
the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit,
alleluia, alleluia,
AMEN.
---<--@

Happy Christmas to us all! 

Peace be among the nations - and -
good will to all men and women of peace.

May we never be bereft of the light of God's peace.



Christ chose to be born in a place of love
surrounded with nothing else but love,
did He not, darling Starshine?

For the giving is the gift.

Is not our Lord and Savior an awesome God?

Salutation #114

(Easter 2012)

LET the depths of the earth

and the heights of heaven proclaim!

LET all of God's creatures rejoice

and the souls of all living beings exclaim!

Today is the day!

Jesus Christ the Lord is Risen!

Our Faith became. His Love overcame.

And Hope received from God our Father
her wings and her crown.

Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to God - 

Alleluia to the LORD on high!
---<--@

Love is a Healer of Wounds

Unless the heart of Man is made whole -
it remains in darkness, divided against itself.

It shall see not. 

Neither shall it be seen.


(Our Blessed Lord and Bartimaeus)

Love is a Healer of Wounds!

And -
the deepest wound
in the life of our Mankind
and that which causes Man to suffer
- the pain of death -
is the wounding in our spirit
that have divided us
(against God, against each other)
in our soul.

Now,
the deepest of wounds
- require -
the deepest of love
and this wonderful, healing Love
is given to each of us
here and now
- to freely accept -
by the Father
through Jesus Christ
the Lord -

the one Redeemer

of all Mankind!

- selah -

May our Lenten Journey be
a healing experience.
---<--@



For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. (John 3: 16)

Salutation #79

The freedom of Man

and the freedom of Angels

are not unlike each other!

Therefore,

Let us always remember that the liberty

of all the nations of the children of Mankind

is established not for the taking but for the giving -

for it is in giving that we receive;

it is in giving that all Men are set free.

- selah -

(Religion in the Public Domain)

Don't be a hypocrite.

Don't be afraid to say it - "Merry Christmas!"

How can we respect other religions if we can not respect our own?

Remember,

a genuine respect for the power of faith - in any person -

only comes from a genuine experience of religion.

So if you are afraid to practice your own - for any reason,

how can you hope to understand

what substance of truth there is to be had

in the exercise of your own faith?

If you do not understand

- with a knowledge of the truth -

the blessings bestowed upon you by your own religion,

how can you understand the hope

that other people must invest

in the free exercise of theirs

however different they may be to you?

There is a place for religion in the public domain -

for so long as (1) it does compete,

one against the other - to the confusion of many,

for a position of dominance in the civic sphere;

for so long as (2) the Spirit of God is given a free hand

to work the work of completion He intends in all human hearts ;

for so long as (3) the spirit of War is denied entry into the heart of our nations;

for it shall be natural for all truth to come together -

not so that all things may be the same - conformity without diversity,

but so that the purpose of God in all things may be fulfilled.

Merry Christmas!

---<--@

Can you see through the cartoon -

If you love humanity, say to thy own soul:

Drink deeply, O my heart, we have much to do...

---<--@

Think about it -

"People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things." (Anne Frank, July 6, 1944)

Take note of how my Anne described the activity of faith in religion - a gift.

---<--@

Shalom, Salaam, Peace - Maligayang Pasko!

Mabuhay po tayong lahat ngayong Pasko at kapayapaan sa darating na taon.

Sinag Tala

Sisikatan din tayo ng sinag araw - bayan ko -

kapag isa na uli ang ating puso at buo na uli ang ating bukas.

Pero bago ang lahat - habang madilim pa rin ang gabi -

ang sinag tala muna ang dapat nating malaman at masilayan sa isa't isa.

'Pagkat kapayapaan ang tunay ang himig ng Pasko

- ngayon at magpakailanman ang katotohana'y laging ngang ganito -

sana'y mapagnilay-nilayan natin ito.

---<--@

Maghari po sana ang kapayapan ng Diyos sa lupain ng Pangako.

20110815

The Greatest of Marian Knights

Yesterday was the feast day of one of the principal Saints in my life, Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe.

You will notice that I take my name from Saint Maximilian.

This is so because I have a great devotion to this Saint of God. To Saint Maximilian, I owe much of my Roman Catholic formation.

In many ways, he is to me the greatest of all Marian Knights.

He and my darling Annelies Marie share a connection in my life that have proven to be more than mere coincidence.

He is the patron Saint of the suffering addict and refuge of the recovering addict.

My own Marian character was taught to me by Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe.

Glorified be God forever in all His Angels and in all His Saints!

---<--@

The Feast of the Assumption

Today is the feast day of the Assumption of our Lady.

It is the focal Marian feast that reveals through the life of our Lady the immense joy of our Christian faith.

It is equivalent to the Transfiguration in the life of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in that both of these are a preparatory experience in the Christian life.

Simply put, a Marian character in a Roman Catholic soul multiplies joy.

This Marian joy lends its strength to Christian endurance. It prepares our hearts to live the hope of ordinary time.

- selah -

Now, if there is anything our Lady desires of thee, O my Philippines - it is thy own heart at prayer.

You know this in your own hearts, my fellow Filipino compatriots, that God has set a labor before our hearts and a challenge for all the world to repent unto Peace and forsake War.

For these are defining times indeed, we are living in a transition from age to age.

Prayer is a battle we can not refuse to fight.

But our prayers can not ascend to the unity of the LORD, O my nation, if War is in our heart.

- selah -

We have to learn to pray as a nation:

We have to learn to desire what a nation desires.

We have to forsake the divisions that have prevented our unity.

We have to let go of the bitterness that have fed these animosities.

We have to stand up against the despair that have shackled our dreaming.

We have to see our generations through this midnight darkness

ever by the light of our faith in God and in each other as citizens together.

We have to understand -

A nation that prays as one, stays as one.

And a nation at one with its own truth is a nation at peace.

Verily, as a nation, we can not be anything else but one.

So let us pray to God for the gift of prayer for our nation. Let us desire it from God as our Lady desires it from us now so that in time we may all profess to the LORD as one the truth that the prayer of the Philippines is Peace.

---<--@

Closing Reflection -

The common religion of every Man is peace - it is that mysterious desire dwelling deep within all of us to be able to somehow return to the happiness and perfection of that one common belonging written in each our heart; the Peace of the LORD, the one God of All creation.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Hope Taking Wing

An Act of Unity

20110713

Salutation #35

(WYD Madrid - The Peace of Jesus Christ)

We live in a world of contradictions,

a temporal world hidden from the Eternal,

where the One divine reality cause being to exist

and so cause existence to also be meaningful to us

because God is infinitely wise,

incomparably good and full of loving kindness to all His creatures.

We could live in a world of chaos and disorder

where all things and thought in time

float in utter meaninglessness

but the human soul will not do so well

in an environment that is void of spiritual essence.

For like outer space is void of air to breathe,

the soul of a man will suffocate

in a place apart from what God knows is best for us.

So let us praise the LORD and bless His Name!

- selah -

Hear me, Starshine

of the Christian communities from among all our nations!

PEACE, I salute you.

A truly Christian life is a truly human life -

recast in the original purpose of God - in us and for us -

as His image (Love) and likeness (Life) upon the earth,

to be counted among the true living lights of the universe,

the living jewels in the crown of His glory and majesty in all visible creation,

His stewards and co-creators, servants and friends to Him alike;

the preservers of the Sacred Life of all His nations

of the one family of the nations of the children of Mankind.

We are among the many -

as numberless as the stars of our Father Abraham

and allied with the peace of all His nations -

one whole sky.

Rebuild the Church around the Holy Father

and from within thy nations

serve all souls without distinction.

For our Christianity is not a source of division

but of strength for our human communities.

Neither is the Name of Jesus Christ

a source of division, discord, dilution and dissolution

among the nations but of peace.

The beginnings of a better world

begins with Jesus Christ in our heart of hearts.

Therefore,

incline thy hearts to Peace -

forsake War today while it is still today.

As it was before must never be again!

(Refer also to Generation Y)

Viva la Espana!

---<--@

The Separation of Church and State in our Republic

As regards to the PCSO issue, I do not think one can completely blame the CBCP for what happened. Though it is painful and disheartening to witness these kinds of issues, my honorable compatriots, it is better to learn the lessons now than later.

We are not yet as established as other Countries after all. I think what history will remember most about this time is how we managed to pull together to make it better in behalf of those generations to come.

We can not look at another Country (better or worse than ourselves) and with false comparisons fail to grasp the reality that is presently confronting our common will of belonging that we must presently confront as a nation. If we do so, we only allow for evil to flourish again in our times.

Therefore, it is not the weight of these present divisions but our will of unity above all that will matter for us in the long run.

I will refer us to the current topic of our monthly exercise.

And bid each one of us to say a quiet prayer invoking God to preserve us from the evil of these present times.

Let us bear in mind and heart, my brother and sister Filipinos, that the healing of the wounds of this nation of ours depends on the strength of individuals.

No generation is ever remembered for the evils they have failed to overcome. And no evil is ever truly overcome by a nation divided against itself.

My own thoughts on the matter is this -

It is just not right for the Church to accept donations from the State.

There must exist a distinct separation between Church (Religion) and State (but not between God and human reality) in our Republic. Because the Church is not part of the Republic per se (i.e. its three elements).

The Church is for the Nation(s) alone and the Nation(s) for the Church.

All honorable religion, in this Republic undertaking of Country, ennobles our politics not through its direct participation but by its constant illumination in the heart of the Nation.

As the Blessed John Paul II taught -

The way of the Church is Man. The way of Man is Christ.

(Refer also to Human Nation)

---<--@

Our National Golden Rule

The Faux Golden Rule of Old Compliant -

"Whosoever has the gold rules."

This is the rule of Mammon. Its cohorts are War and greed.

The Golden Rule of Old Defiant -

Our rule of gold shall be the will of the God of old for all His human nations -

"You shall love the LORD, O my people, with everything and in everything."

If we remain with this rule, as a particular undertaking of Country upon the earth, not only shall we become rich, O my nation, we shall become rich indeed.

Let this be our National Golden Rule!

---<--@

Christ-centeredness is other-centeredness.

---<--@

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

One Nation

Loving Obedience

20110619

PEACE be with you, Starshine -

Words are but empty vessels if they are to remain without meaning for you.

Just the same, in everything you say or do, Beloved of God, do not remain hollow - because you must practice, you must pray.

Now then, didn't you know the best prayer of all is Holy Mass?

To learn the heart of this most important of all Christian prayers ask your local parish priest for a Catechesis of the Holy Mass today - and then pray...

For prayer is an attitude of the heart present to the Presence of the LORD of all hearts - it is a sense of connectedness (unity) we must fight to always maintain in ourselves, Starshine.

In this sense, prayer is battle (2725, Catechism of the Catholic Church).

And it must naturally lead our heart of prayer toward a deepening sense of inter-connectedness (community) with each other as human beings and as citizens of all creation.

For in prayer is Peace because its results are the works of peace.

Pray, pray, pray therefore - pray for all Mankind, my most precious Starshine - pray for all our poor, broken nations, know of their needs intimately in thyself, tolerate no division, no chaos, no enmity in thy heart of hearts and let us storm the one God of all heaven and earth with our common human hopes -

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday.

On Prayer

AS A RULE, my precious Starshine,

prayer is always more

than the sum of all that we can see

with our unseeing eyes.

A soul in prayer is a heart present to its thought;

a walk across the vast, empty deserts within;

a reaching out to places beyond self;

a looking above from within.

It is silence contemplating Silence -

alone with the Alone.

It is a growing, persevering,

often times frustrating work

born of great necessity,

out of thy love of God.

Prayer is an ascent to the timeless,

anchored upon ageless truth,

of all the things we love

and of the Love that all created things hope for,

most especially by the truth of thy heart of love,

and of thy faith yearning to God in prayer.

The way to God is a crooked line,

for we are all but human.

But the way of prayer

makes this way certain.

For the soul that perseveres in prayer

shall indeed profit

from the LORD Who rewards all things,

great and small, known and known to God alone,

when done out of love and fear

of the one common Creator

of all common creation, seen and unseen.

It is not only important that we pray,

and persevere in this way, my precious friend,

in private, above all in community with each other,

it is simply necessary for human happiness

and the well-being of the still small truth that lives,

like a mustard seed,

inside of every self

for all things true and everlasting

depend on a heart of prayer.

Prayer is spiritual.

Therefore,

there are seasons within the soul that range

from sweet to dry or empty

but never must thy heart stay still,

you must gather when it needs gathering

and to know also when to look beyond these seasons;

you must be vigilant,

pressing on till you reach the heart of God

to lay your hopes in the LORD.

So prayer may be long

or it may be short

but it must always be timeless,

its substance is the motion

that lives like a love longing for Itself.

And when the Silence shall to your bowed heart speak,

It shall do so swift as light,

being Spoken without words

and instantly manifest to your soul as winged truth -

then you shall seek to forget all other things

but God and God alone.

And in God you shall range far,

self cognizant of self,

intimate with the Intimate,

to dwell in holy remembrance of all things.

For far may your wandering heart be

but to love and in Love

you shall forever remain

when you shall in prayer persevere.

So do so, dearest Starshine,

and say AMEN:

Know for thy own self

why the heart that believes

believes only because it prays.
---<--@

(produced 20090223)

Salutation #16

(Salutation to all Christian minorities among the nations)

To all our Christian communities, Peace.

Take courage,
my beloved brothers and sisters,

peace be with you!

Let us remember each other

as we heed the call of Christ

Who upon the mount of Tabor
was Transfigured into glory
that we may see beyond time
into the timeless brilliance
of our great Home in eternity.

Let us be meek like our Savior
and seek shelter in His humility
Who upon the mount of Tabor
by our witness of a living faith
was Transfigured into glory
to unveil for us,

our Christian hope
and give courage in adversity -
"Arise, be not afraid." (Mat 17: 7)

God is our surest Refuge!

We include you in our hearts,

my beloved brothers and sisters,

our prayers constantly reach out to you
asking the LORD for His mercy
that we may always together endure

for God alone provides

and His grace alone is sufficient.

Though you may feel alone

at times, O Beloved of Christ,

surely, you must know

in your heart of hearts

our baptism is for always.

Ever in God then,

my beloved brothers and sisters,
in time and in eternity

we are but

one Communion of Saints.

Ever to God then,

my beloved brothers and sisters,

toward peace and brotherhood

and the unity of God's Perfection

where your hope becomes our hope

your virtue becomes our virtue

your sin becomes our penance
whatever helps you helps us
whatever hurts you hurts us
your gladness being our gladness
your sorrow being our sorrow
for we are but one bread,
one Love, broken for others.

Hold fast to the peace of Jesus
for His peace is our abundance
and the abundance of Christ is life
being the promise of eternal bliss
revealed in the Most Holy Trinity
as the truth of the most high God
unveiled in the Father and the Son
and in the unity of the Holy Spirit -
one God that transcends all time
one Truth that illumine all truth
one Will that fulfills all our being
one Being that sustains all of life
one Love that gathers us together
like a love ever longing for Itself:
one blessed, triune Perfection!

Alleluia, my brothers and sisters,
distance is no longer a tyranny
nor separation bear it's sting
to every Christian who trusts
in the Name of Jesus Christ
Who is Emmanuel, God with us.

Alleluia, Amen to Christ, Alleluia.

---<--@

Let us pray especially for our brethren and sister Christians in the Holy Land. For the Holy Land is a special place. And the Christians in the Holy Land are a special people.

Let us therefore, extend to them willingly our hearts and hands.

Let us bear in mind and heart this day, all human minorities of whatever distinction from among all our nations, peace - mabuhay!

And also let us pray for Dondon Celestino Lanuza, an OFW on death row in KSA.

Mabuhay po tayong lahat! God bless all His Christian communities.

God Encompassing God

O LORD,

God encompassing God,

God encompassing All in Thyself!

O LORD,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -

Blessed Unity,

Holy Trinity,

Perfect Company!

O LORD,

there is none but Thee,

there is none like Thee!

O LORD,

Thou art from everlasting to everlasting -

in Thee All draw their being,

in Thee All draw their living life,

in Thee there is no shadow of turning,

in Thee there is neither darkness nor Night,

in Thee there is joy, abundance and peace,

in Thee there is only love and the Light!

O LORD,

Thou desire salvation for all beings

to Whom shall all needful souls turn to,

my God, but to Thee?

O LORD,

Thou art the one Sovereign of all nations

unto Whom shall Thy exile peoples return to,

my God, but unto Thee?

Abide in us, O LORD, be with us!

Be the God of our lives, our families,

and our national communities!

O Goal of all my goals,

I love, I trust, and I adore Thee!

---<--@

Our God, O my beloved of my heart, is a God of relationships - One, Triune Perfection!

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!

20101102

Another Hostage-Taking Incident



There was an attack on Christians in Iraq yesterday; a hostage-taking incident at Our Lady of Deliverance Church in Baghdad. It left at least 58 people dead, 78 wounded, an entire minority community traumatized further still, and a nation left wounded yet again.

First of all, as we know all too well now, my fellow Filipino compatriots, the act of taking innocent lives hostage is condemnable. Because life, above all human life, is non-negotiable.

Second, the persecution of any minority community in any nation defeats all four of the Four Faithful Causes upon which all nations under God is established in all its ages unto fruition in time and in eternity. Because the craft of all nations is peace.

Lastly, a Republic is a guardian to its people. Any perceived inability to preserve its own body politic against war is a weakening of its own destiny. And I mean the word "war" here in the context of the spirit of war which is division in all its forms.

Needless to say, I personally condemn this atrocious crime not just because I am a Christian but because I myself am a citizen of a Republic undertaking of Country and a human being.

I will not rail against it neither will I repay it with evil. It only makes me even more determined to help strengthen the institutions within my own Country against forces hostile to our peace and to pray that the good people of Iraq may also come to complete their own remembrances in their own due time, God-willing. What benefits one - in a family of nations - benefits all.

I grieve with the victims, they and those whose lives and promise were so abruptly taken from them shall be in my prayers to God in Holy Mass today, All Souls' Day.

I recognize their hopes for a better Iraq, and know that amidst all that disorder, this lineage is what must remain for that embattled nation. So I especially enjoin the youth of that land and all lands likewise divided by war and torn by strife, including our own Filipino youth, to trace upon this forgetful night, thy Arcs in the Sky:

Starshine,
the heavens above thee
seemingly unconscious to thy self
is never without its seeing
nor the unseen realms
that embrace and penetrate thee
amidst this unfeeling earth
without its desire for each thy precious company,
this evil is only allowed to tarry for a time,
for We are nearer to each of thee,
our beloved Starshine,
than you can ever imagine.

Keep thee a record,
an account of thy heart,
most especially those of thee
who are in the midst of conflicts
those of thee who are
no less loved than the rest of us
sorely affected by the curse of War
for the heavens reign true
to the remembrance of thy longings
and so it is for the needful earth
that you shall begin to write,
O precious Starshine,
and upon this forgetful night
let thy starlight be shed
to trace upon the darkness
thy arcs in the sky.
---<--@

My fellow Filipino compatriots, let us say mabuhay, peace unto the nation of Iraq and continue to complete our own remembrances. We have much to do - together this time.

Let us continue to be vigilant and to pray for peace.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.


Brokenness

20100920

Heart Speaks Unto Heart

Pope Benedict XVI concluded a successful visit to the UK yesterday.

As a Roman Catholic Christian, I am personally very appreciative of the welcome given to the Holy Father, our 265th and current Pope.

It surely is gratifying to see a multicultural society like modern Britain come together in all her levels and - for that one splendid moment in eternity - prevail over those enduring shadows that I know haunts us still.

Dissenters and supporters alike came together peacefully, in the spirit of fairness - a resounding credit to the maturity of British democracy.

There is a lot to be learned about this trip, O my nation. The contributions of the UK to the peace of the world for one can not be forgot. What reality we are presently endowed owes much to the undying sacrifices of many of her sons and daughters.

Now, the way ahead of us is made clearer still.

All the nations of the world - from the least to the most responsible - are being called to come together and write a new history, one that is not defined by the evils of past things.

The way of peace that lie before us is quite distinct from the way of the past. Unity here does not have to imply disgrace.

For unity is a work whose ends we can always entrust to God. The ways of God are so much beyond our understanding yet we all know in faith that the LORD, our God, is a most beneficent God and singularly worthy of all our love and trust. We just have to be found by Him to be willing to do the work.

If we allow the work of the times to define and ennoble us, we stand to gain much.

For just as there are a myriad colors in eternity that are not even visible to this world of ours, desperately and inescapably caught up in the ebb and flow tides of exile time, there are wonders upon wonders waiting in their wings to come into deepest realization for our good and the good of all Mankind if only we choose to believe in our heart of hearts in those hopes that lead us there - away from the darkness - together this time.

Indeed, it's a good time for all Christians to come join together in the work.

Indeed, it is a good time for all kindred peoples of the peace, Christians and non-Christians alike - above all our brethren Muslims and Jews in the faith and good will of our Father Abraham - to come together in the work of building the necessary foundations of a better age.

It shall be difficult, I promise. But it shall no longer be a work wrought in bitter tears.

The personal motto of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman says it all: Cor ad Cor Loquitur - Heart Speaks unto Heart.

Thank you, UK!

Mabuhay po kayong lahat!

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Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God blesss us all.

Likewise, let us pray Godspeed to President Noy and his delegation who are flying to the United States tonight for a seven day working visit. May their efforts on our behalf be similarly blessed by the LORD of all of us.