The Silence of Man

...who was with her...

- Genesis 3: 6

I wonder about the silence of Adam.

The Serpent at the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil, did not represent evil, though - in that very particular - it carried an evil will.

Not all Serpents, however, are evil inspired - the Seraph Serpent in the Sinai at the time of the Patriarch Moses, was raised to save many lives.

The Tree itself was not representative of an evil in the Garden of our common origins but of a good. For all things at the time were indeed, very good.

The command of the LORD about the Tree itself which is complete allegiance to God represented "the Knowledge" that was represented by the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil as the not partaking of it, was truth itself.

And in the symbology of Genesis, I am convinced, the Serpent represented the strangest of strangers to Man - the creature most unlike himself. And woman, the most familiar... In fact, the only one, the ONLY one who is like Man, the only living soul (i.e. a soul congnizant of its cognizance of itself) in all of creation Adam could identify with - his faithful helper upon whom he could depend, his loyal friend unto whom he could trust, and his beloved wife whom he was destined to love and to hold as one - forever.

So Adam just looked by as the Strangest of Strangers whispered into Eve's own heart? We all know the result - for we all know of it's inescapable pains. Why was Man silent in Woman's most desperate hour?

I know I wouldn't. The Man in me would most definitely revolt at the sight and would very probably have intervened in some way.

This strange silence, it seems to me, had something to do in the suffering of Woman through the ages just as much as the Fall of our First Parents had something to do with the death of our common humanity from the Original Truth we were once completely alive unto in the LORD and in All living creation.

BUT at the Cross of our Redemption, our blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, was NOT silent in Woman's most desperate hour.

In that most tender and loving of moments, as our Savior waited in agony for the embrace of death, He gave unto each of us through Saint John, His Mother - the Blessed Virgin Mary - to be our Mother - the Mother of the Church - and just as importantly - afterwards, our Savior gave Adam back to his Eve and Eve back to her Adam - making peace whole again between Man and Woman - eternally.

"Qui Tacet Consentire" - "Who is Silent Gives Consent".

Can Man afford to remain silent again?
---<--@

There is no weaker sex, only the perception of weakness wrought by the division that the sin of the Devil had also placed between the man and his most faithful helper.

There is only man and there is only woman. And there is only man and woman joined together by God in their particular strengths to form the nucleus of every human family.

Salutation #172 - The Parity of the Sexes

Salutation #172

There is no weaker sex, only the perception of weakness wrought by the division that the sin of the Devil had also placed between the man and his most faithful helper.

There is only man and there is only woman. And there is only man and woman joined together by God in their particular strengths to form the nucleus of every human family.

(Parity of the Sexes)

Listen,
dear Starshine -

Gender equality
does not mean parity of the sexes
in terms of physical distinction,
which is complementary by nature,
the one and the other making a whole
- the nucleus of the family -
but in terms of spiritual endowment.

For man is indeed equal to woman
in terms of human dignity
and human promise.

Man
will always have
a preferential view of woman,
this is so that man can make the world safe
for woman.

Woman
will always have
a preferential need of man,
this is so that woman can make the world less unfamiliar
for man.

These two natures work
to complement each other
- and when taken together -
bonds the human family
in bonds of freedom
and strength.

Yet both man and woman
are the image of God - in that -
their very soul contains the breath of life.
This very life gives shape to their corporeal body
to give a definite form unto a unique person - that -
being made alive in the Spirit of God as living souls
formed in our Creator's very own likeness
radiates it even as the LORD radiates it
- ever like the everlasting Light -
sustaining the living life
of all His creation.

To recognize this image
in the being of each man and woman
is to recognize the dignity of God in all Mankind
and to uphold this dignity of man and woman
is to honor the divine dignity of the LORD
(Who is Being, Whose Image IS Existence)
the one Creator of all Mankind -
and of all worlds, seen and unseen:
This is the basis of all human respect
and is the universal medium of peace.

To recognize this likeness
in the soul of each man and woman
is to recognize the presence of God on earth
(Who is THE Truth, Whose Likeness IS Life Everlasting)
and to nurture this presence in man and woman
is to love the Divine Presence of the LORD
our Holy Sustainer and one Provider - in all Creation -
this is the basis of respect for all human life
and is the universal foundation of earthly justice.

Man and woman
in their spiritual endowments
are the same - yet they are also -
created by God to be different.

To seek to understand the parity of the sexes
is to seek to know it - without opposition -
to the justice of the wisdom of God
in both the image and the likeness
of God in man and woman.

In this way
- the symmetry of its truth -
is made meaningful
to thee.
---<--@

Salutation #107

A COMMUNITY DEPRIVED
of the feminine expression is barren and desolate.

It knows of no hearth,
no home, no place of rest...

no company to renew,

no heart to come home into;

no cheer to grace with solace,

no warmth to bless with courage;

no gaze to remind of beauty,

no love to bear with injury;

no touch to soften the harshness,

no fire to tame the wilderness;

no peace to prosper life,

no strength to ward off strife.

---<--@

(Woman)

When God made Woman,

the LORD fashioned her as a companion to Man;

a faithful helper, equal in dignity and promise,

without which Man

shall never be complete

as himself.

For there are no creatures

- upon the earth -

like Woman is to Man.

From this new community

God fashioned out of Man in Woman

comes the lineages

of all the generations

of the children of Mankind.

The truths established by God

in the story of the joining of Man and Woman

form the common foundations

of the institution of the human family.

It is the strength of the family

that determines the strength of the nations

unto which the preservation

of both human dignity and human promise

is universally entrusted by God

for the sustenance and protection

of all our generations

to the very last of our generations.

When the dignity of Woman

is left unprotected - and her promise -

is left undefended,

Man is not elevated but diminished.

When Man and Woman

exist in conflict with each other,

no nation will hope to survive the test of time.

That is the truth.

- selah -

Truly, truly,
each human relationship, no matter how humble,
have a lasting impact on individuals.

For these are the bonds
that God deigns to place in our way
not to entangle our spirits
and create more brokenness in our lives
but to liberate us
and allow us to freely enter
into the Truth with Him
and in Him.

Community is the LORD's way
of enlarging the love kept in our souls,
because our God is a great and good God.

We can see this in the way
God created the first community
in Adam and Eve.

Let us ask ourselves
how instead of reprogramming Adam,
which was not beyond the LORD's power to do,
why did our God choose to bless him
with a partner in Eve?

- selah -

Relationships matter
just as much as individuals -
each creates and recreates the other
and does so in a way and a fashion
that only the LORD can generate and perfect
with our willing cooperation.

One who seeks maturity
and longs for wholeness in the self
should always tread the holy ground of relationships
(either thine own or others like thine own)
carefully, gently, and with love.

- selah -

This is why

it is important for us to celebrate

International Women's Day -

We must ever be reminded

of this fundamental community of Man and Woman

and must always live in remembrance

of this most vital of all human relationships

- established by God Himself -

which forms the nucleus of every human family.

The success of any nation depends on it.

The ultimate destiny of all Countries is shaped

by how deeply we understand its truth.

Man and Woman

together form a common bond

and this bond guarantees

not only the order of our generations

but the quality of our everyday human living.

Man and Woman

together form a common witness
for the universal example

of the peace of their marital togetherness

- safeguards -

not only the transmission of human life

but the divinely ordained purpose

of the nations of the children of Mankind.

---<--@

Think about it -

I once thought that Filipina hair

was just plain black hair and that was all.

Obviously,

I was not at all in love

with my Philippines then.

I never really noticed

that our women sported not just plain black hair!

Framed by the warm light of our tropical sun,

our women's hair is actually cast

- in many subtle hues -

in darkest shades of golden brown.

Subtle, not obvious -

and pretty but

- only when -

love is in the eye of the beholder.

Exactly in keeping with our conservative nature.

As far as I am concerned,

all our Filipinas are princesses.

Beauty being what it is, inherited.

We should work to make sure

- this Country of ours -

is more a suitable place for all our women!

---<--@

March 8 is International Women's Day.

I love my Miyang. PERIOD.

Justice for Given

The color black is the color of hope. Green is the color of the perennial nature of hope.

For hope is upon the earth, in a constant state of subtle transformation, rising and falling as all things ascend to God, in steady cycles of loss and fulfillment.

When black is used to remember death, it is not used to signal the finality of death, but to remind us of the hope that is invested in death - for black is also the color of the expectation of life.

- selah -

Justice for Given

This hurt is bigger than UPLB...

When God made Woman, the LORD fashioned her as a companion to Man; a faithful helper, equal in dignity and promise, without which Man shall never be complete as himself. For there are no creatures upon the earth like Woman is to Man. From this new community God fashioned out of Man in Woman comes the lineages of all the generations of the children of Mankind.

The truths established by God in the story of the joining of Man and Woman form the common foundations of the institution of the human family.

It is the strength of the family that determines the strength of the nations unto which the preservation of both human dignity and human promise is universally entrusted by God for the sustenance and protection of all our generations to the very last of our generations.

Why do I say this? Because the ripples felt by the stealing away of the promise of Given Grace Cebanico touches exactly those truths. When the criminal case is presented, it shall be animated by the fact that this crime affects all Filipinos.

When the dignity of Woman is left unprotected and her promise is left undefended, Man is not elevated but diminished. When Man and Woman exist in conflict with each other, no nation will hope to survive the test of time. That is the truth.

I am saddened by the loss of one so young and promising because we can never take back what she stands for - there shall always be a missing life that our nation has to account for in time as well as before God in Eternity.

For us as one nation, my brothers and sisters of the Promise, the pain of this crime shall never go away but we can as a Republic work as one Country to assist in the healing and recovery of Given's family, pray for her soul, convict the transgressor/s, and protect our community from this evil.

This is why Justice for Given is vital. May she find her way back to God and through God to our Home in Eternity with the LORD. The only way that remains to show our love for her now is to expedite her final hopes on earth.

---<--@

To all my Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, let us please take all of this to God in prayer especially at Holy Mass today.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! God bless us all.

Peace be with you, Given Grace - via con Dios -

taken so young, now young forever.

You hope is now our hope.