While the medical watch with extreme caution how the existing H1N1 pandemic level 6 play out, one can clearly see the demographic migration and effect of the strain carriers as they travel to different places causing some contraction of the virus to those who have made contact. From its initial detection in Mexico by the middle of April, the virus has spread with rapidity to around 70 countries and causing cluster of cases which finally led to declaration of the pandemic level 6.
For timely and correct updates, please check the official WHO website - http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/
But unknown to some, there is another H1N1* virus that has been going around since time immemorial. It has experienced its ups and down when the infection rate was really high and at times when it can hardly be noticed at all.
Nobody is immune to it.
We all have it inside.
Our ancestors have it.
Our great great grandfathers have it.
All of us living in the present time have it.
Our children and all future children will have it also.
Even the bible reminded us about it.
Maybe one can try to deny it but in the end, this “virus” which finds its initial stages inside the heart of a person, work its way into all parts of the human body until reaching its final terminating point which are the lips and hands.
We can call it the H1N1* virus.
It is an acronym for Helping One Neighbor One (each) day.
It is universally known as kindness.
May all of us aware of this positive infection within us allow the good virus to completely take over our body, for this is the only way to awaken other people with the same capacity to be kind yet are still reluctant for some reasons.
Kindness is infectious only if the carrier is willing to do it.
Be kind even if other are not, will not or opt not.
Be kind to one another.
God bless.
Ephesians 4:31-32
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
2009/06/13
Spic and Span
Catholic question: What part of the Holy Eucharist proceeds after the general greeting of the priest? The answer to this will be given later.
First, a growing health concern for the world..
It has been quite a while since the H1N1 virus was detected and monitored around the world with the World Health Organization at the helm in leading all international health agencies. Everyday, there is news about which country has the latest contraction and local transmission. With considerable efficiency, the trace back of an infected person’s itinerary is being established and those people deemed in close proximity to an infected person are advised or forced to initiate self-quarantine. This surveillance and the strong medical and epidemiological capacity is what many perceive to be the difference-maker in solving a future pandemic. These were sorely lacking during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that left millions infected and carriers leading to huge humanitarian loss in the millions.
A lot is still unknown about the latest H1N1 virus, yet the medical community is already certain that transmission is quite easy by any form of droplets from a carrier to other unsuspecting person. The best way to minimize the possibility of being infected is by wearing face masks and keeping ourselves clean at all times possible. The commonest advice is to wash hands thoroughly, as oftentimes as possible.
Before and after eating, we wash hands. When medicating a wound, we wash it first before applying the medicine. Before going to work and retiring at night, we wash ourselves by taking a bath. Most of us know that nurses and doctors spend almost an hour washing their hands, correction, scrubbing their hands clean before going inside the operating room. How about the cooks who keep on washing their hands to make certain their food is not only luscious but hygienic as well?
Washing and cleaning is really essential in our health and good hygiene and it oftentimes precedes an important activity.
Now to answer our opening question.
After the welcome greetings by the priest, the community penitential prayer follows.
The Church of God examines their conscience and prays for the cleansing of their spirit before proceeding with the Liturgy of the Word and Flesh. Every participant is encourage to do this in order to make themselves worthy to receive and partake in the Holy Communion.
The Lord spoke this to us clearly when He said in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
In more simple terms, we must clean our heart first from any anger and other forms of sinfulness before our life offering can be most pleasing to His eyes. In the similar sense of washing and cleaning our physical body, our spirit also needs cleansing from the dirt and stains of sinfulness before the rain of graces and blessings can be well-received and appreciated by us.
For us Catholics, cleansing our spirit is consummated by going to the designated “red light” district of the church or more commonly known us confessional box. It is through the Sacrament of Reconcilliation can we become worthy of receiving God in the Eucharistic form of bread and wine.
Truly we can say, cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness for only a clean heart can stand next to Him in His utmost majesty and glory.
God bless.
First, a growing health concern for the world..
It has been quite a while since the H1N1 virus was detected and monitored around the world with the World Health Organization at the helm in leading all international health agencies. Everyday, there is news about which country has the latest contraction and local transmission. With considerable efficiency, the trace back of an infected person’s itinerary is being established and those people deemed in close proximity to an infected person are advised or forced to initiate self-quarantine. This surveillance and the strong medical and epidemiological capacity is what many perceive to be the difference-maker in solving a future pandemic. These were sorely lacking during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that left millions infected and carriers leading to huge humanitarian loss in the millions.
A lot is still unknown about the latest H1N1 virus, yet the medical community is already certain that transmission is quite easy by any form of droplets from a carrier to other unsuspecting person. The best way to minimize the possibility of being infected is by wearing face masks and keeping ourselves clean at all times possible. The commonest advice is to wash hands thoroughly, as oftentimes as possible.
Before and after eating, we wash hands. When medicating a wound, we wash it first before applying the medicine. Before going to work and retiring at night, we wash ourselves by taking a bath. Most of us know that nurses and doctors spend almost an hour washing their hands, correction, scrubbing their hands clean before going inside the operating room. How about the cooks who keep on washing their hands to make certain their food is not only luscious but hygienic as well?
Washing and cleaning is really essential in our health and good hygiene and it oftentimes precedes an important activity.
Now to answer our opening question.
After the welcome greetings by the priest, the community penitential prayer follows.
The Church of God examines their conscience and prays for the cleansing of their spirit before proceeding with the Liturgy of the Word and Flesh. Every participant is encourage to do this in order to make themselves worthy to receive and partake in the Holy Communion.
The Lord spoke this to us clearly when He said in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
In more simple terms, we must clean our heart first from any anger and other forms of sinfulness before our life offering can be most pleasing to His eyes. In the similar sense of washing and cleaning our physical body, our spirit also needs cleansing from the dirt and stains of sinfulness before the rain of graces and blessings can be well-received and appreciated by us.
For us Catholics, cleansing our spirit is consummated by going to the designated “red light” district of the church or more commonly known us confessional box. It is through the Sacrament of Reconcilliation can we become worthy of receiving God in the Eucharistic form of bread and wine.
Truly we can say, cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness for only a clean heart can stand next to Him in His utmost majesty and glory.
God bless.
2009/06/08
Happy Father's Day!
O God, You have given me the name of Father;
You have given me Your own name.
Help me to be true to it.
- taken from “A Father’s Prayer”
They have dedicated all their lives to the betterment of us, their children, guiding us and encouraging us to do good. They never ran out of good and sound advices to give and are always tireless in their effort to help those in need. They work everyday, especially on Sundays, to make sure that we have a place to gather around for a special meal.Inspite of all they have done, a lot of them are hurting and misunderstood. Whenever they commit a mistake, whether miniscule or major, by accident or wrong choice, we always try to prejudicially magnify it against them. We easily label them as unfit, undeserving or out of place. Criticism, gossips and disobedience are but few unpleasant rewards they receive from loving us.
Today is Father’s Day. And though the first thing that pops into our head are the heroes of our family lives, there are the other “fathers” worth remembering and honoring on this day as well.
They are our priest, our religious formators and counselors.
They are our spiritual fathers tasked by God to lead and give direction to our lives.
I have been blessed to have such inspiring fathers in my life.
I would like to honor them now.
Monsignor Andy Valera started the Knights of the Altar for the Parish of the Immaculate Conception when I was still in grade school where I was one of those proud pioneer wearing our red and white clothes during our investiture. I remember when we have our KoA meeting in your room with only a single bed, a table and an empty refrigerator with drinking water. Your simplicity and dedication to God’s service were actually the first seeds of my young vocation to be a priest also. Well, God did have another purpose for me after all, because I am now happily married. But the mustard seed of desire to serve never wavered and continues to grow nevertheless.
Fr. Esteng Mendoza was our seminary spiritual director (now a religious monk) during the short 3 years I have stayed inside. He was always the seminarian’s choice to be assisted with during barrio masses because there will always be an extra treat along the way – sweet cakes or bread, or even balut (a unique Filipino delicacy of duck-embryo boiled inside the egg). For those living “outside”, this would amount to nothing but to us insiders used to eating tuyo, pork maling and any mixed food viand (“experiment” is a more appropriate term) day in and day out, any sweet goodie can make us drool. But more than his kindness to us, he has helped us to develop a very good sense and positive attitude towards the sacrament of Penance which he imparted to us in every given opportunity. We felt comfortable (sometimes too comfortable for our own good) doing it knowing that our confessor is a kind and re-assuring personification of God. So even though I felt that he did not support my return for the 4th year, I now know that he was God’s instrument in letting me know that I was not meant to be one of His chosens one for this particular vocation.
Fr. Godofredo Atienza is our Salesian family-friend who epitomizes the Bosconian anthem of simplicity and loving the poor children. He was our priest celebrant and one of our god-parents of our wedding in the Basilica Minor of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo. His mild-manner yet witty remarks and deep-knowledge can really bring out the thoughts inside us. He is the rector of Salesian seminary in Cebu and also heads the Salesian house catering to the poor youth by sending them to vocational schools, training them and educating them. One of our unforgettable moment with him was when he visited their Salesian office in Hongkong and he invited us to visit it at the same time. My wife, who was then a few months pregnant with our Maia, have to walk through a lot of elevated streets and footbridges looking for their place and yet she felt little tiredness. Fr. Godo, patiently waited for us before saying his mass with 3 participants – me, my wife and Zek. Yes, it was an exclusive Eucharistic mass for my family. We felt so blessed.
Fr. J. Orbos is my spiritual and virtual father whom I have not met and yet made a big impact in my nourishing my spiritual life. His weekly Sunday writings – Moments, has consistently been one of my favorite articles for reading. He always starts with a humor story or quote and expound deeply into the Sunday gospel reading and its messages, oftentimes exhorting his readers to seize each “moment” to follow God and to do good to every fellow man.
Fr. Mike Paez is the first and present parish priest of our Holy Spirit Parish which he helped to establish and improve through the years. He finished his BSChe and had a working experience before responding to the call of priesthood. He is also one of the spiritual advisers of our Maia Foundation. Fr. Ric Eguia is a parish priest in Marikina who I met in the internet (and almost met personally in Shenzhen China if not for the poor schedule of their tour guides). His inspiration to pusue priesthood came after finishing his BSEE degree in college (we have the same alma mater) and also working for some time. He is my consultant about Church matters and faith that are unclear to me. Fr. Oliver “Tegs” Ortega is our lone batch-mate who has successfully become a priest. I just recently have made contact with him after many years. He is now California-based. Fr. Gboi is another kind-hearted priest belonging to the senior seminarians during my short stint. Then there was Father Nas whose worse case of Parkinson’s never deterred him from saying mass. Fr/s. Narciso Sampana, Danny Bermudo and other seminary priests. Fr. Adams who is our regular guest-priest in the Sunday Eucharistic celebrations in Shekou China, was the first priest to offer not only his sincere condolences but his intimate reflection of death as well during the painful loss of our daughter a few months ago.
And lastly, I can never forget the father of all our fathers – our Blessed Pope John Paul II whose powerful and awesome presence during the World Youth Day 95 in Manila will always be one of the highlights of my Catholic life. Seeing his frail and old body, swirling his cane joyfully in the air during the praise-fest is a very humble candidness of him to show and make-believers among the youth that he is one in spirit and mind with the young generation of the faithful. Now succeeded by Pope Benedict 16th, he was the most traveled and arguably the most loved pope of his time for his huge effort to seek out others and make peace with those who were in conflict with the church before.
Let us pray for all our “fathers” that they may remain faithful to their vocation in the service of God and for the good of all.
Happy Father’s Day to all our Priests.
You have given me Your own name.
Help me to be true to it.
- taken from “A Father’s Prayer”
They have dedicated all their lives to the betterment of us, their children, guiding us and encouraging us to do good. They never ran out of good and sound advices to give and are always tireless in their effort to help those in need. They work everyday, especially on Sundays, to make sure that we have a place to gather around for a special meal.Inspite of all they have done, a lot of them are hurting and misunderstood. Whenever they commit a mistake, whether miniscule or major, by accident or wrong choice, we always try to prejudicially magnify it against them. We easily label them as unfit, undeserving or out of place. Criticism, gossips and disobedience are but few unpleasant rewards they receive from loving us.
Today is Father’s Day. And though the first thing that pops into our head are the heroes of our family lives, there are the other “fathers” worth remembering and honoring on this day as well.
They are our priest, our religious formators and counselors.
They are our spiritual fathers tasked by God to lead and give direction to our lives.
I have been blessed to have such inspiring fathers in my life.
I would like to honor them now.
Monsignor Andy Valera started the Knights of the Altar for the Parish of the Immaculate Conception when I was still in grade school where I was one of those proud pioneer wearing our red and white clothes during our investiture. I remember when we have our KoA meeting in your room with only a single bed, a table and an empty refrigerator with drinking water. Your simplicity and dedication to God’s service were actually the first seeds of my young vocation to be a priest also. Well, God did have another purpose for me after all, because I am now happily married. But the mustard seed of desire to serve never wavered and continues to grow nevertheless.
Fr. Esteng Mendoza was our seminary spiritual director (now a religious monk) during the short 3 years I have stayed inside. He was always the seminarian’s choice to be assisted with during barrio masses because there will always be an extra treat along the way – sweet cakes or bread, or even balut (a unique Filipino delicacy of duck-embryo boiled inside the egg). For those living “outside”, this would amount to nothing but to us insiders used to eating tuyo, pork maling and any mixed food viand (“experiment” is a more appropriate term) day in and day out, any sweet goodie can make us drool. But more than his kindness to us, he has helped us to develop a very good sense and positive attitude towards the sacrament of Penance which he imparted to us in every given opportunity. We felt comfortable (sometimes too comfortable for our own good) doing it knowing that our confessor is a kind and re-assuring personification of God. So even though I felt that he did not support my return for the 4th year, I now know that he was God’s instrument in letting me know that I was not meant to be one of His chosens one for this particular vocation.
Fr. Godofredo Atienza is our Salesian family-friend who epitomizes the Bosconian anthem of simplicity and loving the poor children. He was our priest celebrant and one of our god-parents of our wedding in the Basilica Minor of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo. His mild-manner yet witty remarks and deep-knowledge can really bring out the thoughts inside us. He is the rector of Salesian seminary in Cebu and also heads the Salesian house catering to the poor youth by sending them to vocational schools, training them and educating them. One of our unforgettable moment with him was when he visited their Salesian office in Hongkong and he invited us to visit it at the same time. My wife, who was then a few months pregnant with our Maia, have to walk through a lot of elevated streets and footbridges looking for their place and yet she felt little tiredness. Fr. Godo, patiently waited for us before saying his mass with 3 participants – me, my wife and Zek. Yes, it was an exclusive Eucharistic mass for my family. We felt so blessed.
Fr. J. Orbos is my spiritual and virtual father whom I have not met and yet made a big impact in my nourishing my spiritual life. His weekly Sunday writings – Moments, has consistently been one of my favorite articles for reading. He always starts with a humor story or quote and expound deeply into the Sunday gospel reading and its messages, oftentimes exhorting his readers to seize each “moment” to follow God and to do good to every fellow man.
Fr. Mike Paez is the first and present parish priest of our Holy Spirit Parish which he helped to establish and improve through the years. He finished his BSChe and had a working experience before responding to the call of priesthood. He is also one of the spiritual advisers of our Maia Foundation. Fr. Ric Eguia is a parish priest in Marikina who I met in the internet (and almost met personally in Shenzhen China if not for the poor schedule of their tour guides). His inspiration to pusue priesthood came after finishing his BSEE degree in college (we have the same alma mater) and also working for some time. He is my consultant about Church matters and faith that are unclear to me. Fr. Oliver “Tegs” Ortega is our lone batch-mate who has successfully become a priest. I just recently have made contact with him after many years. He is now California-based. Fr. Gboi is another kind-hearted priest belonging to the senior seminarians during my short stint. Then there was Father Nas whose worse case of Parkinson’s never deterred him from saying mass. Fr/s. Narciso Sampana, Danny Bermudo and other seminary priests. Fr. Adams who is our regular guest-priest in the Sunday Eucharistic celebrations in Shekou China, was the first priest to offer not only his sincere condolences but his intimate reflection of death as well during the painful loss of our daughter a few months ago.
And lastly, I can never forget the father of all our fathers – our Blessed Pope John Paul II whose powerful and awesome presence during the World Youth Day 95 in Manila will always be one of the highlights of my Catholic life. Seeing his frail and old body, swirling his cane joyfully in the air during the praise-fest is a very humble candidness of him to show and make-believers among the youth that he is one in spirit and mind with the young generation of the faithful. Now succeeded by Pope Benedict 16th, he was the most traveled and arguably the most loved pope of his time for his huge effort to seek out others and make peace with those who were in conflict with the church before.
Let us pray for all our “fathers” that they may remain faithful to their vocation in the service of God and for the good of all.
Happy Father’s Day to all our Priests.
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