Apparently, the Sunday Mass Gospel reading for November 22nd was from Jn 18:33b-37. (I attended a special mass hosted by my 3/5 Catholic family)
The highlighted verse caught my attention:

33Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

34″Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

35″Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

36Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

37″You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

The reason it stood out was that Pastor who gave a sermon I listened to earlier that day quoted Matthew 16:21-23:

21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

I thought it was interesting I heard the two different sermons in one day! Is it me, or is there a contradiction between the two passages?

This really happened in the late 90s, when Ang Dating Doon on Bubble Gang enjoyed a strong following. I was a Montessori teacher-trainee in an AMI school in Southern Metro Manila.

I was setting up a Filipino grammar work with a child in her second year in Montessori elementary. Our work was on feminine and masculine nouns. The filling boxes are usually ordered from abroad and they are in English. Since there were no filling boxes in Filipino, I improvised. We set up two classifications of Kasarian ng Pangngalan: Pambabae (feminine) and Panlalaki (masculine). (During the first lesson we didn’t include the other classifications Walang Kasarian (no gender) and Di-Tiyak (unspecified). It wasn’t appropriate for the game anyway.) The object of our game was to select a noun from a pile of cards, place it under the appropriate heading, then think of its equivalent in the opposite heading. We were doing quite well, when we finally got to “madre” (nun). Mayumi* places it under Pambabae. Then she pauses… “Hmmm…Brod Pete?”

*Had to change the student’s name =)

I agree with Nathan Leigh when he said that actual bibles should still be brought to church, not replaced by Powerpoints. But to have a Glo for study? That would be awesome. (Oh, btw, my birthday’s in January.)

(A little break from Ondoy)

10. You have Blue Eagles memorabilia from waaaay back.

9. You remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when Gec Chia made the shot.

8. You watch the games live, go to the Gesu after (even if you’re not Catholic), then hurry home to watch the replay.

7. Nonoy for President is not a typographical error.

6. People congratulate you when you when the Eagles win!

5. You find ways to watch the games even when abroad.

4. Your pic was on Fabilioh.com and/or the 2002 coffee table book.

3. Your doctor has required you not to cheer too loud at the games, lest your laryngitis recurs.

2. You unabashedly take a sick leave to watch  the juniors and seniors game. (Or you bring papers to mark during timeouts.)

and last, but not least… the number one telltale sign your heart bleeds blue is…

1. You never stopped being a fan, even during the Dark Ages.

Congrats to the  Ateneo Blue Eaglets and Ateneo Blue Eagles for winning double back-to-back championships! 2008-2009

Congrats Ateneo Grade School for winning SBP!

Happy Sesquicentennial Ateneo de Manila University! 1859-2009

Win or lose it’s the school we choose!

+ AMDG

No one expected tropical depression Ondoy (international name : Ketsana) to drop a month’s worth of rainfall in September in the Philippines, in just five hours. According to the newspapers, this was even greater than the Hurricane Katrina rainfall. Lots of families are affected. If you have a burden for the victims – here is a note I’m reposting from one of my Facebook friends:

Philippine peso donations: If you’re unable to go out and buy relief goods for the flood victims, please donate 100 pesos each for Red Cross rescue & relief. To make a donation to Red Cross via SMS: text RED(space)AMOUNT to… 2899 (Globe) or 4483 …(Smart). The service only accepts the following amounts in Php 10, 25, 50 and 10, but you can always resend a new amount after the first donation comes through.

9/28 Update: As of this writing, Globe has waived its transaction fee. Come on, Smart! You can do it too! Bayanihan!

9/29 Update: Smart’s transaction fee is waived!

10/2 Update: Donations via Paypal are temporarily being received at redcross.ph

Repost from Cris Golamco Barancik: Post trauma debriefing orientation for  volunteers who  can provide psychosocial help 4 Ondoy survivors.  9/29 130-330 PM, Ateneo de Manila University Psych Lab, Social Science Building.

For more details, please contact 0905-2708013.

More ways to help:

Map http://www.google.com/landing/typhoon-ondoy.html

Missing people list: http://ateneotaskforceondoy.misa.org.ph/

Also, I have a friend from WA State who is leaving for the Philippines on October 5th. Please let me know if you have any donations for the typhoon victims (hygiene items, vitamin C, etc.) and I will pass it on. She is willing to pick it up from your place if you are in or around the Graham, WA area.  (Don’t want to post her personal info here)

10/7 Update: Long-term aid:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/note.php?note_id=159642454336&id=120255645152&ref=nf

10/8 Update: New Bilibid Prisons Maximum Security inmates skip a meal to donate to Typhoon Ondoy victims.

I’m thankful Ninoy used his God-given talents to do what was right. He knew he that his assassination was a huge possibility, and yet, he knew coming home was imperative to continue his fight against the dictatorship. After spending three years in the US after his triple bypass, Ninoy returned to the Philippines and was shot at the tarmac of NAIA on August 21, 1983.

His sacrifice sparked a revolution that dismantled a 2-decade martial rule in the Philippines. One thing that resulted was a free press for which I am grateful. (Although it is a double-edged sword) The sentiment is that there is still much to be done, however.

People continue to yearn for heroes like Ninoy to lift the Philippines out of its greatest need. I used to be one of those who thought about the supreme importance of leadership and its infinite possibilities for economic change.

However, I no longer adhere to this kind of thinking (that leadership is the solution to the Philippines’ problems) as I believe the only hero Filipinos need is someone who will do more than change the state of the nation around. We need Jesus Christ as our savior, for He has already defeated the real enemy – not a power-hungry tyrant, not poverty, not the communist insurgency. It is sin, which enslaves, and keeps us from truly being free.

The Last Journey of Ninoy can be accessed through TFC Now. Some requirements to view it: Internet Explorer 7 (I know!), TFC Now registration, a Media Viewing License downloaded to the computer you want to view it in and $3 by credit card. (Make sure you have good spyware protection as IE 7 is highly susceptible)

Bing*, a managerial executive at a well-known Philippine firm, is effective at her job. Perhaps this was a reason for one of her colleagues to feel threatened by her. During a crisis at work, the said colleague whom we will call Jovita*, convinced their boss that Bing was at fault (a lie). Consequently, she lost several privileges at work, and Jovita took on some prominence at the workplace.

Bing was human. She was tempted (in her own words), to curse Jovita. However, she humbled herself. During this period, Bing’s prayer to God was for her to love unlovable Jovita, for the boss to know the truth, and for him to restore the faith he had in Bing for all her years of service and dedication to the firm. She did not take matters into her own hands, but just waited on the Lord.

In time, someone managing their computer systems found a network error that was traced directly to the past crisis. Bing, in effect, was exonerated, and the spotlight focused on Jovita, who had manipulated things to make Bing guilty of something she had no control of. The boss reprimanded Jovita and gave back to Bing some of the responsibilities she was relieved of.

Jovita suffered another blow as well – her home went down in flames. Rather than recall the past hurt Jovita inflicted, Bing, like the Good Samaritan, prayed for her and helped her through her difficult time. Jovita was able to get a loan and started to rebuild their house. God humbled her, and now she is making amends with everyone at work, especially Bing, whom she used to despise so much. Bing shared to her about God’s love, both through her actions and in her verbal testimony.

Can you guess what happened to Jovita? Yup! She surrendered her to life to Jesus.

* * *

I was so blessed by this that I had to share it. I had to change the names and leave out some details, but this is a true story.

I’m planning a trip to the Holy Land in 2010! Itinerary suggestions, guide suggestions, trip tips, etc. are most welcome!

One of the greatest ironies is this: that when you relinquish to God all authority, then you are freer than you have ever been.