Misguided Priorities?

An American millionaire, according to Yahoo News, donated $8 million to Wombat Awareness Organization, a "non-profit organization specializing in large scare rescue and rehabilitation of the Southern, hairy-nosed wombat." The donation will come $1 million per year starting next year. The news spurred tremendous web interest in these creatures that "wombat" search nearly doubled in 24 hours. These animals are found in Australia. They are chubby, nocturnal, burrowing marsupials often the target of fed-up farmers as they cause destruction to their farmland.

I find it amazing how some people can be so overwhelmingly generous to unknown animals. But what surprises me more is that there were actually rich people who squandered their wealth uselessly.

Hotel icon and "Queen of Mean" Leona Helmsley left a staggering $12 million to her dog "Trouble" in 2007. But that is nothing compared to what a German Shepherd named Gunther III inherited in 1992. His owner, German countess Karlotta Libenstein left her pet an unbelievable sum of $60 million. When Gunther III died, the fortune went to --- of course --- Gunther IV.

Millionaire Dog - Gunther IV

Indeed Dogs are better off than millions of people on the other side of the world who live much worse than animals. How our priorities can really go wrong at times to give more importance to lesser creatures than the children of God who need food, shelter and education to be able to live decently.

Prayers for an Atheist

A day of prayer has been organized for author and outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens who is dying of esophageal cancer by his friend Larry Tauton, an ardent believer in Christ . Though their views are poles apart yet Larry, who heads an Alabama-based group dedicated to defend Christianity, prays for his friend; and Hitcchens takes no offense, the source said.

Hitchens is best known for his 2007 book "God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." This writer has made a career in skewering organized religion. Though he is undergoing his 4th round of chemotherapy he rules out a change of heart. The cancer has now spread in his neck and lungs. Smoking and drinking alcohol regularly has been the cause of his cancer.

He hopes to be remembered with affection by some; with passion by others and hopefully as a good father by his 3 children. As for his work, he would be happy to be recalled simply as one of those "who are attempting to uphold reason and science against superstition."

Reading about such incidents give me pain in the heart. Its sad to note that people like him see religion as mere "superstition." This makes me realize that my faith is a great gift. The doubting Thomas was fortunate to have seen the risen Christ. Many today has never yet experience the saving grace of Jesus. Let us pray for them. Its heart-warming to note that Larry, his friend has not given up on him. Perhaps the power of friendship can supply the gap between Hitchens' science and reason towards intelligent faith.

Our Lady of Penafrancia - Vienna Style

It was my first time to join the celebration of Our Lady of Penafrancia. It was more memorable because it was in Vienna. I was invited by the Bicol Society of Austria (BSA) especially Christy and the Divine Mercy Devotees to join their festivity. It was a fluvial pilgrimage and procession from Vienna to Bratislava aboard a first class cruise along the Blue Danube river. This was the culmination of a 9-day novena in Our Lady's honor. The fluvial pilgrimage is the 11th year in the history of BSA in Vienna.

It took us 3 hours to get there. After the procession partcipated in by more than 600 of our kababayans, we had mass at the basilica of St. Martin. Our main celebrant was imported from Naga City, Philippines - Msgr. Noe de los Santos. The event marked the 300th anniversary of the devotion which goes back to a young seminarian and son of a spanish government official from Penafrancia, Spain, Miguel Covarrubias who was healed of an illness. When he became a priest, he started the devotion in 1710 which the Bicolanos embraced with ardent devotion.

Many miracles have been attributed to Our Lady. The most recent is the healing of Archbiship Leonardo Legaspi, bishop of Nueva Caceres of stage three lung tumor. The story has been published in the Inquirer on August 31, 2010. The prelate claims that Our Lady of Penafrancia healed him.

I was impressed by the show of love of our people here in a foreign land. Ina as the Bicolanos fondly call her, continues to draw her devotees to remember her and love her. The big church seemed small when it was filled up to capacity by our kababayans. My prayer is that this devotion will challenge our people to unity, selflessness and genuine love for our Inang Bayan under the guidance of Our Blessed Mother. Viva la Virgen!



Our Lady of Penafrancia

The pilgrims





The Procession



Another Year

Today is my dad's 69th birthday! Yes, he was born in 1941. During the war. It was a difficult time to be born. But that's how God intervened in his life. He survived the war and he is still surviving all the battles and storms in his life. In God's magnificent plan he entrusted us to him - to teach us, to mold us, to let us grow. Of course he was not alone in this challenging task, nay a mission of parenting. Parenting is such a noble vocation many today take for granted. Parenting is a most un-selfish vocation. It demands everything - all natural, human and spiritual resources. Thank you dad for such love and sacrifice.

The best moments i had with my dad was when i was a seminarian in Don Bosco, Canlubang. It was fortunate that he was assigned in San Pablo City. He came to visit me many times on sundays. We got to talk and know each other better. It was a boost to my emerging self. They say parents can give 2 things to their children: roots and wings. My parents, my dad for that matter gave me both.

Thanks dad for my roots and my wings. Though i have soared so high i know i have the family nest to rest awhile. I still have miles to go; the flight is not yet over but my heart smiles when i think of you. You are one of the best thing that ever happened to me. Happy birthday dad!

God's Overwhelming Mercy

The Filipino Chaplaincy in Vienna organized a 3-day pilgrimage to Poland from 2-4 September. Fifty-seven participants registered. I was fortunate to have made it into the list at the last moment. It was spearheaded by the devotees of the Divine Mercy. Obviously one of the main highlights of the trip was the visit to the basilica of the Divine Mercy where we had a glimpse of the convent where Sr. Faustina Kowalska receive her apparitions from Jesus. The bus ride took us 7 hours from Vienna to Poland passing through the Czech Republic.

It was my fist time to set foot on the soil of Poland. For me, this country is synonymous with the great John Paul II acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. In his native land he is widely held as instrumental in ending Communist rule founded in 1952. Communist dominance waned during the labor turmoil in 1980 that led to the formation of the Solidarity Party which the Pope openly supported. Lech Walesa, a Solidarity Movement candidate, eventually won the presidency in 1990. Today, despite experiencing temporary slumps in the economy, it has emerged as the healthiest of the post-communist countries and one of the fastest growing economy in the European Union.

At our departure the weather forecast was not very favorable. It said it would be mostly cloudy with strong rain showers and a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. But as it turned out, the weather cooperated very well because we had sun most of the time that made our trip memorable and less cold. Arriving at the city of Krakow, the second largest city and one of the oldest of Poland, we traversed through one of its thoroughfare known as “John Paul II Avenue.” It should be remembered that Karol Cardinal Wojtyla was Archbishop of Krakow for 15 years from 1963-1978 before being elevated as Supreme Pontiff.

After our mass in one of the chapels at the convent of the Sisters of Mercy, the congregation Sr. Faustina belonged, we went to pray at the big modern basilica and dropped by her tomb. Standing before her remains I thought about her life. How God can play favorites! Like Mary, she was a humble maiden chosen to proclaim a mystery we sometimes doubt : the great mercy of God!

Her life was a paragon of simplicity. Born into a poor Polish family with 13 siblings, she was given the name Helen. She had only three years of formal education because she had to work to help her family. At 20 years old she felt a strong stirring for the religious life. However she was turned down by the congregations she applied to many times because of her poor educational background. When she was finally accepted, she took the religious name Sr. Faustina. She lived in the congregation for 13 years working as a cook, gardener and porter.

Yet behind such ordinariness and monotony, she hid a rich mystical interior life. She received revelations, visions, prophecy and even participation in the suffering of Jesus. Despite her limited literacy, she kept a diary. It was later published under the title “Divine Mercy in my soul: The Diary of St. Faustina.” She wrote that Jesus revealed her purpose – to spread the devotion of the Mercy of God. On February 22, 1931 she had a vision of the now famous image of Jesus as “King of Divine Mercy” with the inscription at the bottom “Jesus I trust in you.” Sr. Faustina was later canonized by John Paul II on April 30, 2000.

St. Faustina’s life echoes God’s concern for the poor and the lost. The Parable of Mercy found in Luke chapter 15 brings us back to the very character of God. Jesus welcomes everyone without distinction. Amazingly, He has a bias for the little ones. At times we are tempted to love only those who are lovable or nice or cute. But the challenge is to love courageously even those who are less lovable or difficult; much more if they cannot give back in return. Such is God’s overwhelming mystery of mercy.

God is good - homily at the Shrine of the Black Madona

God is good!

It’s my first visit to Poland. I feel I’m a Promdi Pilgrim: promdi because I come from Cebu Province. Promdi pagkat ako’y nalulula sa nakikita ko. Yesterday we were in the Wieliczka Salt Mine descending 440 feet underground. A lot of “what if” came to my mind – what if mag brown out, what if mg earthquake & we’ll be trap. Yet here we are still alive to see the light.

This experience is very overwhelming for me. I’m so amazed! My heart is full of joy and exaltation. Like Mary I would like to exclaim and explode in my own Magnificat – my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord! That why I started with “God is good!” I choose to feed and to nourish my faith through this experience. I choose to learn and understand.

I have 3 reasons for the overwhelming experience:

1. We visited the chapel of the apparition and the tomb of St. Faustina – the Apostle of Mercy. I said to myself: and swerte mo Randy! I used to speak about her in my talks and homilies reading from a book; now I’ve come to the real thing. Reflecting on her life, Sr. Faustina was almost illiterate. She was turned down by several religious congregations because she was academically poor. But soon after entering the Congregations of the Sisters of Mercy, she began to receive visions of Jesus. She became the Apostle of Mercy throughout the world. God has a strong bias for the little ones. If you think you are “small” – congratulations. God loves you!

2. We visited the hometown and birthplace of the future Pope John Paul II. I was overwhelmed. He sparked the flame of my vocation. JP II was the reason why I became a priest. He was one of the biggest thing that ever happened to me. The story goes back in 1981 when he came to visit Cebu. I was observing the tarpaulins beside the basilica. To my dismay, nothing about the Philippines. Not even the World Youth Day 1995 was remembered when it gathered 5-7 million and considered as the largest single gathering in Christian history. My story may not be written in history but deep in my heart his visit changed my personal history. He made such a deep impact on me and my life story. I’m a fruit of his visit.

I was then a grade 6 student in USC. Our religion classes were discussions and stories about the pope. Our teacher asked us one time: who among you would like to become a priest?” I raised my hand to impress my classmates and my teacher hoping to get additional points in class. Other classmates also raised theirs. Perhaps they were thinking the same way. The teacher was delighted! But I realized – you can’t make jokes with God. Talagang tutuhanin Nya! Since I was willing He called me. Now I’m going 13 years in the Ministry.

3. We are in Poland’s holiest relic and one of the country’s national symbol – the Black Madonna. Legend says St. Luke the Evangelist made the icon from a cypress wood while Mary was narrating her experience of Jesus. According to one of the oldest document of Jasna Gora, the picture transferred ownership many, many times as it travelled from Jerusalem, to Constantinople (now Turkey) and finally it ended here in Czestochowa. This icon has been claimed to be miraculous. One of its famous intervention is saving the monastery of Jasna Gora in the 17th century from Swedish invasion known as “The Deluge.” For such a miracle King John II of Poland crowned the Black Madonna as “The Queen and Protector” of Poland in 1656.

The icon has 2 scars on her right cheek. The story is told that there was a religious war between Catholics and Protestants in 1430. Protestants stormed the monastery plundering it. One of the stolen item was this icon. Putting it in their wagon, the horses would not move. One guy threw the portrait on the ground while another d and drew a sword and inflicted 2 deep strikes on the Madonna’s right cheek. At that point he fell to the ground and squirmed in pain. So the men retreated and left the painting.

Before I came to Vienna, my younger sister experienced a miracle. On August 20 they boarded a bus on their way to a retreat with about 40 young people in Mantalongon, Dalaguete. The bus had an overheat and the driver opened the radiator which squirted burning him. He jumped off and the bus skidded downwards to a ravine 500 meters deep. In panic some students jumped off pushing my sister wounding her nose. Through Mary’s help, the bus was caught by a small tree preventing it from falling.

These experiences may seem very simple, common place and part of our iter. But its God way of telling us that He is acting in our lives. He is part of our journey, our pilgrim companion. Let us not take them for granted. We choose to understand and learn. We grown in faith. Let us really be thankful. God is with us. And He is infinitely and definitely good!