Gasgas na ba?

Siguro isa sa pinaka gasgas na naririnig natin sa simbahan o kung sa ano pa mang religious preaching is yung tungkol sa "Good Samaritan". Lumaki na kasi akong paulit ulit ko itong naririnig every once in a while. Ginagawang halimbawa kung paano ba dapat maging mabuting kapwa.

So let me brief describe the story on my own words, kung gusto ninyo basahin straight from the bible eto ang reference: Luke 10:30-35. May isang lalake na nakahandusay sa daanan at may maramig sugat sa katawan. Sya ay hubad at halos wala nang buhay. Nadaanan siya ng isang Pari ngunit lumihis sya ng landas. Dinaanan din siya ng isang Levita ngunit di niya tinulungan. Syempre ang bida sa kwento ang Samaritano ang sumunod na dumaan at siya ang tumulong sa lalaki.

Eto ang blog entry ko ngayon kasi nga gaya nang sinabi ko kanina, gasgas na para sa akin ang kwento na ito. Ang alam ko lang dapat tumulong ka sa kapwa mo dahil yan ang kinalulugdan ng Diyos. Well, tama naman.

Sa homily ng aming Parish Priest meron pa palang ilalawig ang parabulang ito. Noong panahon daw na iyon, ang mga Hudyo (Jews) ang tinuturing lang na kapwa nila ay ang kapwa ay yung Hudyo din - Base ito sa kanilang batas. Kapag hindi Hudyo hindi nila ito kapwa.

Noong dumaan daw yung pari, hindi niya ito tinulungan (Isasantabi ang factor na baka wala siyang awa) dahil hindi niya alam kung Hudyo ito kasi nga walang kasootan. Sa pananamit daw nalalaman kung Hudyo siya. So kung hindi sya Hudyo bawal niya itong tulungan. Bawal lumapit sa hindi Hudyo lalo na sa mga Samaritano. "Marurumihan" sila.

Ang pangalawang dumaan ay isang Levita. Ang Levita daw ay Hudyo din. Analogy: Parang ang mga Ilocano ay Pilipino din. Hindi niya ito tinulungan (Isasantabi uli natin ang factor na baka wala siyang awa) dahil alam nya na yung nauna sa kanya na pari ay hindi ito tinulungan, so unsure din sya kung Hudyo ito. At kung tutulungan niya ito, malaking insulto sa Pari. At kung sakaling patay na yung lalaking nakahandusay ay bawal sa kanila ang humawak sa mga Patay.

So madaming rules na involved.Si Samaritan naman, the hero of the story helped the man. So ang tanong, ano ba talaga ang lahi nung lalaking halos patay na? according sa homily ni father, di-tiyak, unknown. So let's leave it with that. Eto ngayon ang mga pwedeng mangyari. Kung ang lalaki ay Samaritano din, walang issue. Kung ang lalaki ay isang Hudyo, at ito ay nabuhay - magagalit pa daw ito sa Samaritano dahil dinumihan siya nito. Sa lipunan kasi nila noon madumi ang tingin nila sa mga nakakasalamuha ng mga Samaritano. At kung sakaling hindi mahuhuli yung mga taong nanakit sa kanya, ang Samaritano ang maaring mahatulan. How unfortunate. Napanganga na lang ako.

I will never see this parable the same way again.

Apostle's Creed

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Awit ng Paghahangad

O Diyos Ikaw ang laging hanap,
Loob ko'y Ikaw ang tanging hangad.
Nauuhaw akong parang tigang na lupa
Sa tubig ng 'Yong pag-aaruga.

Ika'y pagmamasdan sa dakong banal,
Nang makita ko ang 'Yong pagkarangal.
Dadalangin akong nakataas aking kamay,
Magagalak na aawit ng papuring iaalay.

Koro:
Gunita ko'y Ikaw
Habang nahihimlay
Pagkat ang tulong Mo sa tuwina'y taglay.
Sa lilim ng Iyong mga pakpak
(umaawit akong buong galak/umaawit, umaawit, umaawit akong buong galak.)

Aking kaluluwa'y kumakapit sa 'Yo,
Kaligtasa'y t'yak kong hawak Mo ako.
Magdiriwang ang hari ang Diyos S'yang dahilan.
Ang sa Iyo ay nangakong galak yaong makakamtan. (koro)

Isangtatlo

Not because we don't understand it, it doesn't mean it is not true. Today I thank God for the mystery. We are blessed with so much love from God. Our God is mysterious.

Hindi kayang intindihin ng utak natin ang kapangyarihan ng Diyos. Sabi nga ni St Augustine:

"If you understood him, it would not be God". 

Siguro yung karunungan ng tao 0.0000000000001 lang ng karunungan ng Diyos. Baka nga wala pa tayong karapatan maintindihan yun.

If we have faith in God, good for us. We do not need explanation. 

image from www.holytrinityoldcatholicchurch.org 

Dear God,

Thank you for this day, for another chance to live, for good health, for all the blessings. Dear God, please send me the holy spirit to uplift my soul, to do good to others, to be a blessings to others.

Please dear lord help me to become better servant of yours. May my movements be your reflections. Help me take away the fear in me. I know that you have a plan for me. Please lead me lord to that.

I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Elijah and John

I came across a site about John the Baptist being the reincarnated Elijah, the prophet of fire from the old testament. The Catholic church does not believe in reincarnation.

Let me quote some text from the site:

"In fact, he [Elijah] already has come, but he wasn't recognized, and was badly mistreated by many... Then the disciples realized he was speaking of John the Baptist."-Matthew 17:10-13 (LIVING BIBLE-CATHOLIC EDITION) (this account can also be found in: Mark 9:11-13).

Perhaps we can read more from this site

http://bci.org/prophecy-fulfilled/elijah.htm

I am no priest nor bible expert. I am just sharing what an ordinary soul has encountered. 

Sign of the Cross

I asked myself why do we do signing of the cross? Honestly I am just doing it because, I was doing it ever since I am a child. On this year, year of faith. It is good to trace back how did this start.

Well first of all, the always available wikipedia and here it goes:

According to newadvent.org

The course of development seems to have been the following. The cross was originally traced by Christians with the thumb or finger on their own foreheads. This practice is attested by numberless allusions in Patristic literature, and it was clearly associated in idea with certain references in Scripture, notably Ezekiel 9:4 (of the mark of the letter Tau); Exodus 17:9-14; and especially Apocalypse 7:3, 9:4 and 14:1.

see more. www.newadvent.org

Ezekiel 9:4

Then the Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem. Put a mark on the forehead of everyone who feels sad and upset about all the terrible things people are doing in this city.”