New Blesseds soon to be beatified!

Vatican City, Apr 4, 2011 / 01:41 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Twenty-two martyrs of the Spanish Civil War and a priest beheaded during the French Revolution will be declared “blessed” by the Church in coming months.

On April 2, the Pope met with Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, to review canonization causes up for advancement.

The Vatican announced April 2 that Pope Benedict XVI had approved 29 beatification decrees and recognized the "heroic virtue" of six candidates for sainthood.

The causes of Father Francisco Esteban Lacal of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and 21 of his companions – among them Oblate students, religious and priests – were approved for martyrdom. They were killed in 1936 along with a layman, Candido Castan San Jose, after a series of persecutions against them for their work in religious communities and parishes.

It is estimated that nearly 7,000 clergy and religious, including 12 bishops, were killed for their faith during the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War.

The Vatican also determined that Father Peter Adrian Toulorge of the Premonstratensian Regular Canons died as a martyr during the French Revolution. He was guillotined in Coutances, France in 1793 for being a Catholic priest.

His cause was opened in 1922, along with those of 56 other priests from France's Normandy region.

In addition to the newly declared martyrs, the Vatican approved miracles attributed to the intercession of two priests and three religious sisters from Italy and Spain, thus paving the way for their beatifications.

Among them is Father Clemente Vismara, an Italian priest of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions who died in 1988 at 91 years old. The miracle involved a 10-year old boy in Myanmar, where Fr. Vismara worked.

The boy hit his head on a rock after he fell from a tree branch 15-feet above the ground. He went into a coma, but after three days of prayer for Fr. Vismara's intercession, the boy woke up and suffered no permanent damage.

Although no canonization causes were approved to fully recognize sainthood, six Catholic faithful were recognized for having shown "heroic virtue" in their lives. Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry, the first bishop of Changanacherry, India, Canadian religious Br. Theophanius-Leo Chatillon of the Brothers of Christian Schools and 14-year old Bernhard Lehner, a courageously faithful German teenager who died from an illness in 1944 were among them.

***

And these rabid blood thirsty lunatics killed these martyrs all in the name of...

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!

Read your history.  And you know which society fought and is still fighting for such a thing?

Get you square and compass to measure this one out!

Isn't that the same thing the Filipino Freedumbers are shouting?

'Oh come on, Pinoy Catholic.  They won't be after the blood of Catholics!"

Yeah, not now that we are still the majority in the Philippines.

But the way things are going...with lines being drawn even within the Church and how dissident priests and nuns are working in the sidelines, you'd be sure that a lot of anti-Catholic sentiments are brewing and are just waiting to explode.

And that fat obnoxious attention seeking homo still calls herself Catholic!

Ugh!

Pope: The whole of our salvation rests on prayer

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is reminding the faithful of the need for prayer, citing the teaching of an 18th century doctor of the Church who particularly encouraged visits to the Blessed Sacrament.The Pope dedicated his reflection at today's general audience to St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787).

The saint was gifted with an exceptional intellect -- completing studies in canon and civil law by age 16 -- but also "a way of acting marked by gentle and meek goodness, which was born from his intense relationship with God, who is infinite Goodness."  [wow!  kids nowadays would have a closer relationship with their gadgets rather than Him!]

The Holy Father recalled how Alphonsus "insisted a lot on the need for prayer" as a condition for doing God's will and achieving holiness.

He cited the priest, who wrote, "God does not deny to anyone the grace of prayer, with which one obtains the help to overcome every concupiscence and every temptation. And I say, and repeat and will always repeat, for my entire life, that the whole of our salvation rests on prayer." [Remember the Gospel passage about the persistent widow and the judge in Luke?  That is how we sound and look like when we pray the Rosary and as Cardinal Sin once said "Storm Heaven with our prayers."  Persistence pays folks.  You do not get what you want just by saying that you paid your tithes and you belong to the One True Church from the Far East!  Oh...]

"Outstanding among the forms of prayer fervently recommended by St. Alphonsus is the visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament or, as we would say today, adoration -- brief or prolonged, personal or in community -- of the Eucharist," the Pope added. "'Certainly,' wrote Alphonsus, 'among all the devotions this one of adoration of the sacramental Jesus is the first after the sacraments, the dearest to God and the most useful to us. O, what a beautiful delight to be before an altar with faith and to present to him our needs, as a friend does to another friend with whom one has full confidence!'"

Benedict XVI recounted how Alphonsus had a very successful ministry among the poor of Naples, some of whom "often were dedicated to vices and carried out criminal activity."

He explained, "With patience he taught them to pray, encouraging them to improve their way of living. Alphonsus obtained great results: In the poorest quarters of the city, there were increasing groups of persons who gathered in the evening in private homes and shops, to pray and meditate on the Word of God, under the guidance of some catechists formed by Alphonsus and other priests, who regularly visited these groups of faithful. [...] [These meetings] were a real and proper source of moral education, of social healing, of reciprocal help among the poor: thefts, duels and prostitution virtually disappeared." [This is the right way to do prayer meetings!  With priests around who taught the Word of God.  Not the kind we see in BECs, BCCs, GKKs, Kapitbahayan...and all that jazz...where any Tom, Dick and Jane stands up and 'shares' his reflection on the Readings and sounds like he is doing a theological treatise.  Dangerous, folks!  That is how some Catholics I knew, drew away from the Faith and became Evangelicals.]

The Pontiff proposed that such meetings could be "a model of missionary action in which we can be inspired today as well, for a 'new evangelization,' particularly among the poorest." [I know some missionaries whose form of "evangelization" is to go on house visits and talk about...the latest episode of their favorite telenovela aka soap opera or have a toast with the boys.  Yup.  Evangelization does not involve the Gospel.  It is "just being with the poor".  Just being.  No Gospel.  Yup.  No joke.]

The Bishop of Rome concluded by emphasizing how Alphonsus taught that holiness is meant for everyone: "The religious as religious, the lay person as lay person, the priest as priest, the married as married, the merchant as merchant, the soldier as soldier, and so on."  [Like how St. Francis de Sales and St. Josemaria Escriva taught it!]

The Pope affirmed his gratitude to God, who "raises saints and doctors in different times and places who, speaking the same language, invite us to grow in faith and to live with love and joy our being Christians in the simple actions of every day, to walk on the path of holiness, on the path to God and to true joy."

***

One liturgist, who teaches liturgy at MST, told me once that the need to have the tabernacle put to the side, and any place else, like a separate chapel, other than the center of the sanctuary or on the Main Altar, is for the people not to be confused and the priest not to be turning his back of the Lord Who is in the Tabernacle.

Wha?!

And...he continued, (yup, he was not yet done.) to foster more devotion to the Eucharist so that the focus of the people during Mass is the sacred action being done on the Altar and that the people would not focus their attention on the Tabernacle.

Wha?!

Quite frankly, judging by how this priest/liturgist lives his life...and how I do not even see him visit the Adoration Chapel or spend more time in the private chapel in the Rectory....uhm...

NEXT TOPIC PLEEEAAASSSEEE!

***

Here are some beautiful quotes about the Eucharist from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:

“It was not until 1973, when we began our daily Holy Hour that our community started to grow and blossom... In our congregation, we used to have adoration once a week for one hour, and then in 1973, we decided to have adoration one hour every day.  We have much work to do.  Our homes for the sick and dying destitute are full everywhere.  And from the time we started having adoration every day, our love for Jesus became more intimate, our love for each other more understanding, our love for the poor more compassionate, and we have double the number of vocations.  God has blessed us with many wonderful vocations. The time we spend in having our daily audience with God is the most precious part of the whole day.”

“When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now. This is why you should ask your parish priest to have Perpetual Adoration in your parish. I beg the Blessed Mother to touch the hearts of all parish priests that they may have Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in their parishes, and that it may spread throughout the entire world.

“The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven, and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth."

Now those are nice thoughts to end the post.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

If you do not want to suffer a terrible headache the whole day, then don't watch this!

If you still want to, pray this.

Jesus, You practiced temperance;

You were the Model of self-restraint,

Never over-indulging in the temporal.

My body being the Temple of the Lord,

I must treat it with ongoing respect.

Self-abuse destroys the body;

Be it alcohol, drugs, or excess food.

Lord Jesus, bestow fortitude upon me

For my soul to control my body,

To practice the virtue of temperance.

Jesus, You are the source of my vigour.

Through You, all is possible!

And we all thought that after Mahoney left everything will be purified.

Well, let's give Archbishop Gomez the benefit of the doubt.

More reasons why we need Summorum Pontificum.

This is not a Catholic Mass.

Looks more like a production of the Cultural Center of the Philippines about the Mass.

Ready for work

The Holy Father is prepped up for a much needed renovation of...

...The Cathedral of Los Angeles...
...the theology schools in Aurora Boulevard, Tandang Sora and...
...that school in Bukidnon...

How the Rational Thinkers really "think"

FYI. They are the same people who are anti-life and pro-RH

The reform of the reform reaches Davao!

Davao, one of the best places in the Philippines that I love to go to!

Here is the BEFORE photo of the sanctuary of the Davao Metropolitan Cathedral.

And now look at this...

Yup, folks.  I too was dumbfounded when I saw this.  And I am pretty sure the liberal Caucasian missionaries in Davao would be wincing in pain at seeing a retablo rising again.

Here is the archbishop, Most. Rev. Fernando Capalla, seated on his throne.

And here is a view of the retablo and the cathedra.  The archbishop is kneeling for the Litany of the Saints.  This is for the ordination of six deacons of the archdiocese.  Take note!  He is wearing the pallium!  Take note!  I guess you can recall why I point this out because I had been blogging about an archbishop who ordains his clergy without wearing the pallium.  No folks, it does not effect the sacrament.  I am just wondering why he is not wearing it when he is performing a function as a metropolitan. Well, anyways...

Thanks to the Latin Mass Society of Davao for the photos.

Yup, the Latin Mass has regained a new following in Davao.  And guess where it will be held..

St. Francis Xavier Pre-College Seminary

Ulas, Davao City

Saturday, April 9 · 5:00pm - 6:30pm

LATIN MASS...

IN THE SEMINARY...

No seriously guys.  This is no April Fool's joke...

And you don't need the Instruction on Summorum Pontificum to have this!

Is Manila following?

Guess we need an ad limina every year, eh?

JOKING!

GOD BLESS ARCHBISHOP FERNANDO CAPALLA AND AUXILIARY BISHOP GEORGE RIMANDO AND THE CLERGY OF DAVAO!!!

I hope the Latin Mass Society of Davao regularly updates us with their schedule. AND EVEN SHARE THE IMPRESSION OF THE PRIESTS AND SEMINARIANS WHO EITHER OFFERED OR ASSISTED IN THE MASS!

God bless you!

***

PS:  Which of the two church art lifts your hearts and minds to God?  Hmmm?

Pinoy bishop implements the law!

And I thought it was an April fool's joke because I never expected to read this in UCANews.

***

A Filipino Catholic bishop has denied funeral rites to a parishioner who was a Freemason. [Which is the right thing to do.]

Bishop Florentino Cinense [God bless the bishop!] of the Diocese of Tarlac in the northern Philippines said that his refusal to allow Christian rites for Dr. Manuel Yu of the parish of Saint Jude was in accordance with Church law. [In other words, he is just doing his job folks.  So stop the anti-Catholic hysteria!]

Bishop Cinense said all churches in the diocese have been advised not to give Church rites to Yu, who was laid to rest today at Paniqui Memorial Park.

A Mass was, however, held in the family’s residence hours before Yu was buried.

It is not the first time the Philippine Catholic Church denied funeral rites to a Freemason.

The late Governor Rafael Nantes of Quezon province, a known Freemason and “born-again Christian,” was also denied Catholic funeral rites by Bishop Emilio Marquez of the Diocese of Lucena.  [He is not even Catholic.  Even if he were not a Mason, he will not be given the funeral rites since HE IS NOT A CATHOLIC.]

Bishop Marquez, a known critic of Nantes, said the Church’s Code of Canon Law denies Catholic burial rites for the likes of Nantes “unless some signs of repentance before death had been shown.”

The bishop said the governor’s death in a helicopter crash in May last year was sudden and unexpected and there was no way for the Church to determine whether he had repented.

“We did not in any way forbid prayers for the eternal repose of his soul or to bless the mortal remains of the governor,” Bishop Marquez said. [Praying for the repose of the soul of a dead, Catholic or not, is a charitable way to do.]

He said the Church did not prohibit the celebration of Mass for the late provincial executive “as long as his (Nantes) body was not there.”

***

Thank God that we have bishops in the Philippines who are in their dioceses doing their job the way they are expected to do it.

Nah...don't say I am pertaining to one bishop.

.....................yeah, maybe.

God bless you Bishop Cinense!

Rubbish goes on all because of dissidents in schools

And it is not isolated in a US college.

It happens here in the Philippines as well.

From dissident bishops, priests, nuns and theologians who received their education from dissident schools.

Remember how germ passes from one hand to another?

The perfect defense is still reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church and reading blogs such as this and subscribing to The Vortex and reading the other blogs in my blog roll.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

Don't believe these dissidents and fall into their traps, hook, line and sinker.

Former womynpriest supporter restored back to the Church

San Diego, Calif., Mar 31, 2011 / 01:55 am (CNA).- A former advocate of women's ordination, who later renounced her attempt to be ordained as a deacon and declared her adherence to Church teaching, announced on March 25 that she has been fully reconciled with the Church following a decree from the Vatican.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has lifted any canonical sanctions that I incurred by attempting ordination as a deacon,” wrote Dr. Norma Jean Coon, in an online update to an earlier letter in which she acknowledged that her actions had resulted in excommunication.

Dr. Coon said the bishop of her diocese, Bishop Robert H. Brom of San Diego, had written to inform her of the Vatican congregation's decision that she “may now return to the full practice of our Catholic faith.” Under new rules established in July 2010, attempts to ordain women now fall under the jurisdiction of the doctrinal office, along with other offenses against the priesthood and sacraments. [it is no joke simulating being a priest even if a man "performs" the Mass, it has serious repercussions.  Hey Mark Bunag!]

“I have been very touched at the remarkable support of my actions and the prayers offered in my behalf during this trying time,” said Coon. “I wish to thank all those who have prayed for me and for my family.”

On July 22, 2007, Coon participated in an attempted ordination to the diaconate. The event was led by Patricia Fresen, a former Dominican sister from South Africa who claims to have been consecrated as a bishop. [you can dump a truckload of oils on your head and hands and cut the hand of Bishop Duarte Costa, but still you cannot be a deacon, priest or bishop!]

The Catholic Church holds that Fresen – who has been excommunicated – is not a bishop, and that her attempts to ordain other women or men have no sacramental validity.

In her earlier letter renouncing her “alleged ordination” to the diaconate, Coon said she acknowledged “the authority of the Holy Father on these issues of ordination,” including the judgment that Pope John Paul II confirmed in his encyclical “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.”  [Read and learn.  This is an ex cathedra encyclical.  John Paul II proclaims that the Church did not receive the mandate from her Divine Founder Himself when Christ did not ordain or chose women to be his apostles.  And you know what, feminists call Christ "sexist".  ugh!]

In that encyclical, the Pope declared that “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women,” and stated that this judgment was to be “definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.” [And you can hear dissident theologians say that this is like Humanae Vitae...it is not binding.  And whose is?  Theirs?  Ugh!  And another Ugh!]

Coon had previously sought to become a priest through a program offered by Fresen's group. But she reconsidered soon after participating in one of the organization's liturgies. “I withdrew from the program within two weeks of the ceremony,” she recounted, “because I realized I had made a mistake in studying for the priesthood.”

Although the attempt to ordain women has no sacramental effect, it is a serious offense from the perspective of moral theology and canon law.

The Church regards a simulated ordination, and any subsequent action in which a non-ordained person acts as a member of the clergy, as a form of sacrilege.

***

God bless Dr. Norma Jeen Coon!

And did you know that there are dissident theologians who insist that the Supreme Authority of the Church regarding the issue of women ordination got it all wrong?

Yup.  One of them is Agnes Brazal.  And she is a member of this group.

Ugh!

I wish I have a dollar every time I squirm in pain.

Planned Parenthood is IN the Philippines

From the Planned Parenthood website

***

Since abortion is illegal in the Philippines except to save a woman's life, and is highly stigmatized within this largely Catholic society, many women suffer the devastating effects of unsafe abortion. There are an estimated 473,000 abortions performed each year, many of which are illegal and unsafe, and which result in the hospitalization of 79,000 women.

In the Philippines, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) works to improve contraceptive use among adolescents [ I thought this is for birth control?  Why involve the young and the unmarried?] and youth through peer education and outreach programs, and reduce the rate of maternal death and disability by increasing access to comprehensive and quality post-abortion services.

Since 1971, PPFA has been working with partner organizations in the Philippines to increase the provision of youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health care services, including peer counseling programs in which youths increase their awareness and encourage each other to make responsible reproductive health choices. PPFA's work also involves training doctors and mid-level providers in post-abortion care to ensure that women have access to safe and quality services. [Safe service?  Post abortion care?  Are they talking about taking care of women who attempted to have their babies aborted and are in the brink of death because of clandestine operations?  Hey, folks, women who attempted abortion should be taken cared of if there were complications arising from the botched operation and then...sent to jail!]

PPFA's programs in the Philippines are expanding fast, with programs such as the Reproductive Health Program for Street Children and Yo! LEAD, which are dedicated to reproductive health peer education and peer leadership programs for underserved and out-of-school youth in areas like Metro Manila.

The Prevention and Management of Abortion Complications project, implemented by Likhaan — one of the country's key women's rights organizations —[ugh!  they always run that line that anything that a woman wants with her body is her right.  Ok, then.  Immolate yourself in public, jump from a skyscraper...the authorities will not intervene?  not a chance!] trains private and public health care workers to provide comprehensive post-abortion care services for women suffering from complications from unsafe abortions. [jail them!] The project also enables the provision of gender-sensitive [abortionists and gay marriage peoplpe] and rights-based quality information and services to Filipina women, and thereby serves as an important vehicle for reproductive rights advocacy in the Philippines. [how can a veiled campaign of same sex and abortion advocates got anything to do with reproductive rights?]

***

Be on the lookout folks!

The Devil's agents have landed on our shores!

Cardinal Rosales: Moral tragedy of the RH Bill

Here is the full text of the homily of Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales which he preached at the Quirino Grandstand, during the Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation and the Pro-Life Rally against the RH Bill.

It's in Filipino. Sorry to my English speaking readers...

Anyone care to translate this?

***


Nagsalita ang Panginoong Diyos kay Moises at sa mga sumasampalataya sa kanya nang ganito: “Tatawagin ko ang langit at lupa na sumaksi laban sa inyo. ‘Ihahain ko sa inyo ay buhay o kamatayan, ang pagpapala o ang sumpa. Piliin na ninyo ang buhay, nang sa gayo’y kayo at ang inyong salin-lahi ay mabuhay sa pagibig ng Panginoong inyong Diyos, tumatalima at nananatili sa Kanya.” (Deuteronomio 30:19).

Simulan natin ang pagninilay sa prinsipyo na ang buhay ay ang pinakamahalagang biyaya na kaloob ng Panginoong Diyos sa sinumang tao. Ito ang matinding paniniwala at turo ng Simbahang Katoliko na ang buhay ng tao, kahima’t mahina or nagdurusa ay palaging isang pinakamalaking biyaya ng kabutihan ng Diyos (Familiaris Consortio, n. 30).

Kapag hindi ninyo pinahalagahan ang buhay na iyan sa alinman o saan mang yugto ng buhay ng tao (sanggol, foetus, matanda, malakas o mahina), hinding-hindi igagalang ang buhay ng sinuman --- at diyan kapag wala ng halaga o walang pagpapahalaga, wala ng magtatanggol sa buhay, dadayain ang buhay na yan, aapihin, kikidnapin na, pagsisinungalingan na, pagnanakawan na ang buhay na ‘yan ng tao!

Kanya napaka-ganda ang pagtuturo ng Simbahan --- alagaan, ipagtanggol at itaguyod ang buhay. Huwag hahadlangan ng anuman sandata o anumang artipisyal na paraan ang buhay. Ang paglalapastangan sa buhay na iyan, malakas man o mahina, na ating laging, pinapahalagahan ay labag sa kulturang Pilipino tungkol sa buhay ng tao. (Pastoral Letter, CBCP, 30 January 2011).

Ang kahirapan ng tao o kaya’y ang pagdami ng tao ay likas na merong solusyon at ang kasagutan dito ay aral na rin ng Panginoong Hesukristo. Una, ang yaman ng daigdig or kaya’y ang pinagsikapan ng tao ay sapa’t na at sobra pa upang pagsaluhan ng lahat. “Magmahalan kayo” at magdamayan sa ngalan ng pagibig. Ikalawa, mayroong paraan na inilagay ang Panginoong Diyos sa kalikasan ng katawan ng lalaki at babae, na ito ay marapat alamin o pag-aralan upang matiyak ang mga araw kung kalian maaaring madulot ng panibagong buhay sa pagtatalik ang binhi ng lalaki at babae. Sa bawa’t pagtatalik ang mag-asawa ay maaaring maging katuwang ng Panginoong Diyos sa paglikha ng panibagong buhay. (Humanae Vitae, n. 11).

Banal ang buhay ng magasawa at sapagkat ito ay banal ito ay ginagantihan ng Panginoong Diyos ng tuwa at ligaya ang bawa’t pagsasama ng sinuman magasawa, sapagka’t habang buhay nilang ipag-papatuloy ang masidhing pangangalaga hanggang sa ang mga anak ay akayin sa kabutihang asal, banal ring pamumuhay na mayroong pagdamay at paggalang sa kapwa hanggang sa katandaan.

Mayroon naming natural na paraan sa paghahanda sa mahalagang buhay na iyan. At iyan ang tinatawag na NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING. At ito ay kaloob ng Panginoong Diyos sa kalikasan ng bawat tao, lalaki or babae. Alam ng makapangyarihang Panginoong Diyos na darating ang araw na dapat lalung pag-aralan at may pananagutang balakin ang dakilang paghahanda sa buhay na iyan. Kung kaya’t inilagay ng Panginoong Diyos sa kalikasan ng katawan ng tao—lalaki at babae—ang wasto at tiyak na paraan at panahon ng hinog na binhi (ng buhay) para magsilang ng bagong buhay ng tao, lalang, at sa kawangis at kalarawan ng Diyos. (Henesis 1:27).

Sa pag-aaral ng paraan para tiyakin ang mahalaga at banal na mga sandaling ng nahihinog na binhi ng buhay, malalaman ng sinuman ang mga banal na sandaling iyan—at kailangan naman sa mga tiyak na sandal at araw na iyan ang pagtitimpi, pagpigil sa sarili (pagpigil sa pang-gigigil). Yan ang sakripisyo ng tao. Alalaon baga ay kailangan ang mga sandal ng disiplina. Kapag may disiplina sa kama, tiyak na magkakaroon ng disiplina sa kalsada, maging sa pitaka (karta moneda). Dito mapapahalagahan natin ang “values” na itinuturo ng Simbahan.

Banal po mga kapatid ang Gawain ng mag-asawa, kaya naman ginagantihan ng Butihing Diyos ng ligaya at tuwa ang mag-asawa hindi lamang sa pagtatalik, kung hindi hanggang sa mapalaki sa kabutihang asal, kabaitan at akayin sa kabanalan ang kanilang mga anak. Kasama diyan ng magasawa ang Panginoong Diyos. At ang tapat na magasawa ay hindi pinababayaan ng Panginoon.

Banal ang pag-aasawa; banal ang pagtatalik sapagka’t ito ay kalakip ng pagbibigay ng buhay na galling sa Panginoong Diyos. Hindi ito laru-laruan na ituturo sa mga bata sa paggamit ng goma, lobo o condom, para iwasan daw ang sakit? Bakit mga bata ang tuturuan ng ganitong laro? Hindi po ba ang tamang ituro sa kabataan ay ang magandang halimbawa ng matatanda at ang kahalagahan ng buhay, ang kabanalan ng pagpipigil sa sarili na ang tawag ay disiplina? Ang awag po noong una ay kapag may pagpipigil, mayroong disiplina at paggalang at magkakaroon din ng Karakter ang tao. Ngayon ang gusting ipamulat sa kabataan ay ito: gamitin ang goma, maglaro kayo! Ganyan kabarato ang buhay ng tao ngayon.

Salamat at mayroong Simbahan at salamat at mayroong Pananampalataya na nagpapaalaala pa (kahit mayroong ilang mga mambabatas o matatanda na kakaiba ang isip na hindi na mabuting makapangaral, hindi na kayang magpagturo ng magandang asal at batas na magpapabalik pa sa dahan-dahang nawawala at nanghihinang magandang hiyas na ating kabihasnang Pilipino.

At bakit bata pa ay tinuturuan na ang mga anak ng ilang mga matatanda at mambabatas sa pag-iwas sa responsibilidad at ang pagwawalang bahala sa katuwiran at kalinisan? (Sa pangalan daw ng sanidad at kalusugan). Puro maalawang palusot ang gustong ituro sa kabataan ng ilang mambabatas—kanya ganiyan ang magiging bukas ng Pilipinas—mga mamayan na puro palusot, lahat ng padulas ang alam. May peligrong mawawala ang halag (value) ng kristiyano at tunay na Filipino. Ang dapat ituro sa kabataan ay kalinisan ng budhi, kalinisan ng puso, disiplina at pagpipigil sa sarili at paggalang sa hindi sariling pera.

Anong klaseng panukalang batas itong RH Bill na kung maging batas na, at ang itinuro o ipaliwanag ng Simbahan at mga naglilingkod dito ay ang katwiran ng galing sa Bibliya, Pananampalataya at konsensiya ng Kristiyano tungkol sa Buhay at Kalinisan, sa halip na ang turo ay ang RH law, ay maaaring papag-multahin o ibilanggo ang mga ito? Paparusahan pa ang sumusunod sa konsensiya at Pananampalataya. Hindi ito ang Pilipinas! Hindi na tayo babanggit ng anumang bansa, pero hindi ito ang Pilipinas na minahal at pinag-alayan ng buhay ng mga bayani, sampo ng tatlong Pari --- Padre Mariano Gomez, Padre Jose Burgos, at Padre Jacinto Zamora. Sa El Filibusterismo, ang unang pahina ay inihandog ni Jose Rizal sa tatlong pari na iyan. (At ang gusto pang alalahanin ng ilan ay si DAMASO na ito naman ay hindi Pilipino!)

Ito ang paninindigan ng Simbahan:

1. Ang pagmamalasakit sa katatayuan ng maraming mahihirap, lalo na ang mga nagdurusang kababaihan na nagsusumikap upang gumanda ang buhay at kailangan pang mangibang bayan upang kamtin ito o kailangan pang pumasok sa isang hindi disenteng paghahanap-buhay. Nababagabag ang Simbahan diyan.

2. Ang Simbahang Katoliko ay para sa buhay at dapat ipagsanggalang ang buhay ng tao mula sa sandal na ito ay ipaglihi o mabuo hanggang sa natural ng katapusan nito.

3. Naniniwala ang Simbahan sa mapanagutang (responsible) pagsasaayos ng bilang at panahon ng pagsisilang sa pamamagitan ng Natural Family Planning. Dito kailangan ang pagbuo ng matatag na kalooban (character building) na nagtataglay ng sakripisyo, disiplina at paggalang sa dangal ng asawa. Kung wala kang sakripisyo, hindi ka makakabuo ng karakter.

4. Ang sinumang tao ay tagapangasiwa lamang ng kanyang katawan. Ang pananagutan sa ating katawan ay dapat umalinsunod sa kalooban ng Diyos na nangungusap sa atin sa pamamagitan ng konsensiya (budhi). Kapag hindi pinakinggan at iginalang ang tinig na ‘yan ng Diyos (sa konsensiya), yayanigin at lilindulin, hindi ang bundok at dagat, kung hindi ang budhing ‘yan ng sinumang tao.

5. Aming paninindigan na sa mga pagpili kaugnay ng RH Bill, ang budhi (konsensiya) ay hindi lamang sapat na kabatiran kung hindi higit sa lahat ay ginagabayan ng mga itinuturo ng kanyang pananampalataya.

6. Naniniwala kami sa kalayaan sa relihiyon at sa karapatan ng pagtutol ayon sa budhi (konsensiya) sa mga bagay na labag sa sariling pananampalataya. Ang nakapataw at parusa sa napapaloob sa minumungkahing RH Bill ay dahilan para sa aming pagtutol dito. (Pastoral Letter, CBCP, 30 January 2011).

May panahon pa upang maiwasan ang trahedya moral na idudulot ng RH Bill.

Baguhin ang mga panukalang ‘yan, o ibagsak ang kayang kabuuan ng siyang pugad ng walang paggalang sa buhay, pagkawala ng responsibilidad at disiplina na siyang tunay na kailangan ngayon ng tao at bayan.

Kung ang mga bata ay natuturuan pa ng Simbahan, ang mambabatas ay amin rin pinapaalalahan. Lahat kayo, ngayon at bukas, ay kasama sa aming dalangin.

Pagpalain kayong lahat at ang Bayan ng Poong Maykapal! Mahal tayo ng Diyos at alaga ng Ina ni Hesus!


+Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales
Prayer Rally
Feast of the Annunciation
25 March 2011

***

UPDATE (APRIL 4, 2011)

Dr. Quirino Sugon, of the Ateneo Latin Mass Society and Monk's Hobbit has posted an English Translation of the Homily.

Thanks for the work, Doc!

Davide vs. Hontiveros

From CBCP News

***

MANILA, March 27, 2011— Retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide has criticized a new television ad on the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill.

The ad showed former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquiel presented the bill as “a chance” for families to have a better future.  [Does this woman really care for poor families or she is just out to gain from this campaigning?  She lost in the last elections.  Imagine that!]

Davide admitted he was disappointed by the content of the ad in a statement read by Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Reyes Jr. during a “Work for Life” [actually it is Walk not Work] in Manila on Saturday organized by the Knights of Columbus Philippines – Luzon Jurisdiction.  [reason why I was not blogging much this past days.]

The former Supreme Court chief and Reyes are senior officials of the K of C who led the protest march to raise their strong objection against the measure.

Davide said he was “deeply saddened, discouraged and troubled” by the advertisement shown on a commercial television reportedly sponsored by the RH bill lobby group Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD). [Agents of Planned Parenthood]

“In short, she (Baraquel) says that the RH bill provides the chance for a better future of a family or of a child, for a better health of the child, of the mother, etc.” Davide said.

“I asked myself: Have we lost our faith and trust in God that we now would leave our future to chance,” he said.  [For a God-less society that Hontiveros wants, yes I guess so.]

At least 7,000 K of C members and their families participated in the rally carrying anti-RH bill placards and streamers from Intramuros to Rajah Sulayman Park in Malate where a program was also held.

A Mass was held first at the San Agustin Church where Davide was present but failed join the march and the program because he had to attend his grandchild’s graduation.

Davide also pointed that if the bill is passed, it would violate the first and most fundamental human right which the right to life.

“The right to life begins with the right to life of the unborn and human mystery of Creation,” he said.  [Ask Dr. Esperanza Cabral and she'll tell you that it is the woman's right to choose that is important and not the right to live.]

Meanwhile, K of C Luzon spokesperson Arsenio Isidro Yap said that if the RH bill passes Congress, they might question its constitutionality before the SC.

“We see it as unconstitutional because for Congress life begins at implementation. [(sic.  It should be implantation.)] While in the Constitution, life begins at conception,” Yaps said.

“So there is a violation there…If they want to uphold that, they should change the Constitution first and define when life begins,” he said. [That is why the Catholic Church is also against any efforts to change the Constitution.]

Davide, meanwhile, called on his fellow “Knights” to exert all possible means to defeat “the forces that threaten the right to itself, especially the right of the unborn.”

“At no other time than now must we walk, stand, fight, work and pray unceasingly with the courage, resources and might we could give and muster, for life,” he said.  [These so called human rights champions do not have any moral ascendancy to fight for another person's right if they cannot even give the chance for a 1 day old human being inside a woman's womb to be delivered into the world!]

Also present in the rally was Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Alonso Tan, K of C Luzon State Deputy and Supreme Director.

The Knights of Columbus is a militant anti-abortion group composed of more than 280,000 members nationwide. (CBCPNews) [Not only anti-abortion, but anti-contraceptive as well!]