♥

2008

"You will receive power
when the Holy Spirit
comes upon you;
and you will be my witnesses"

(Acts 1:8)
Sydney, Australia
15 - 20 July 2008

pero paano ang june 15th?

Republic of Ateneo

HERE I STAND
By Geronimo L. Sy

Our national identity crisis continues. Several decades back, there was an earnest proposal to change the name of the Republic of the Philippines to Mabuhay Republic or something to that effect. “Philippines,” of course, is derived from then King Philip of Spain when the first Spanish conquistadores invaded our land and claimed dominion for the crown.

Obviously, nothing happened to the suggestion. Otherwise, we would be calling ourselves Mabuhayans, or if you prefer, Mabuhayites. Are we destined to be trapped in our historical past tied up with a social and cultural baggage?

It’s time to launch another campaign to break free from our self-imposed bondage and establish a new identity to build a national consciousness. Watching the final game of the recent Ateneo versus UST championship fight last Monday, one felt as if Jose
Rizal had been shot dead all over again when Atenean JC Intal missed the winning shot. Go Republic of Ateneo! It was us versus them, no turning back. We took leaves and cut classes in order to line up for four hours to get one ticket worth 25 pesos.
Appointments were canceled to cheer ourselves hoarse and to exhaust ourselves for the bewildered Blue Eagle. Why this die-hard, do or die mentality as if there was no tomorrow. If only we translate a fraction of our commitment from our alma mater to our country and do the same rabid thing, RP will be leading the way to the third millennium even with the strongest super typhoons.

We love our school because we grew up in it. We don’t love our country because we grew up here. We wear white and blue to be united with the rest of the community. We hardly wear our national colors or display the flag anywhere lest we be associated with it. We relate to our school because that is where we found ourselves. We can’t relate to our country because we are still lost, terribly lost. We love our team because they give their best each time. Can we say the same for our government team? We are transported unto the basketball court as if we are making the play happen. In governance, participation is being the ball, dribbled till we flop or go out of bounds.

Maybe we go for our team because it’s a winning team. My apologies but in all the university games, I hardly see National University fans packing the tiny Rizal
Stadium. (Note: National University, or NU, is a perennial cellar dweller.) That’s it! We don’t love our country because it’s not a winning one. Heck, we hate the country for being a loser 86 million times over 108-year games.

If what it takes to transform us into full-blooded patriots is the need to identify with the winning side, then by all means, let’s change our name to the Republic of UST or better yet, the Republic of La Salle. Although we promise not to mass migrate—that is a scary thought—we ought to just stick to dear old Philippines.

Seriously, it’s not about hating the other side so much as hating ourselves for not dropping everything por la patria. This zeal, this commitment for our school is a deep-seated frustration for our stunted love for our country. It is a reflection, a
deflection, a channeling of energies to a narrower cause we have some measure of control over. How we yearn to break free and breathe and cup the islands like nationalists of the finest kind.

The reckoning trophy is about the national arena. The falling confetti is about Edsa. The silent prayers are for the nation. Green, yellow, blue—what does color matter when destiny has bound us to be called Filipinos. It is about time we stood up for our school to make our country proud. Our school, our Republic: it is our one choice in these dying seconds.

philo egroup insight

pinost ko sa egroup namin sa Ph101 noong 12 July 2006 (aba, birthday ko yun ah).. haaaaaay..


(whee, first time mag-post)
i agree with this statement..

marahil kaya tayo natatakot dahil ayaw natin malaman na mayroon tayong maling ginagawa. ayun nga, kontento na tayo sa kung nasaan tayo ngayon, at kung sakaling mamulat man tayo--dahil sa pilosopiya--mahihirapan tayong hindi gumawa ng pagbabago sa bagay na napagmulatan natin.. sabi nga sa Spiderman diba? alam ko, sobrang gasgas na nito, pero yung "with great power comes great responsibility".. hindi nga ba't hinahanap natin ang katotohanan? sa landas patungo rito, mapupulot natin ang iba't ibang kaalaman. ang mga ito ang "power" natin. at dahil dito, nagkakaroon tayo ng "responsibilidad" na baguhin ang kung ano man ang kailangan ng pagbabago para sa ikabubuti ng madla..

kaya ayaw o kaya nama'y natatakot tayo dahil masyado nang naging kumportable ang mga bagay na tila ayaw na nating lumisan dito--kahit pa ba'y mali ang mga ito.

We're afraid to Philosophize because we're afraid to live.

iyon lamang sa ngayon..

-jaymee

next set of TS

11. The self possession of the chaste person – which demands a proper regard for the human body, wholesome respect for the handing on of the great good of human life, and respect for the integrity of intimate human relationship – is necessary within every humanly satisfactory life. Certain acts have always been considered by the Church to be violative of and contrary to the fundamental value of the human person himself created in the image and likeness of God, and of truly personal fulfilling and humanizing human relationships.

12. Homosexuality is a moral question that must be evaluated in its complexity. There have been shifts in the understanding of the relationship between the procreative and unitive dimensions of marriage which have been taken to affect the moral evaluation of the issue. Of the four positions as regards the moral evaluation of homosexual acts that can be discerned in contemporary ethical literature, the orientation indicated by the Magisterium, while necessarily tentative, offers the more adequate point of view.

13. If there are motives to space out births, the Church teaches that it is licit to take into account the natural rhythms immanent in the generative functions for the use of marriage in the infecund periods only, and in this way regulate birth without offending moral principles [HV16]. This teaching must be understood in the broader context of the Church’s moral doctrine.



plus kailangan pang aralin ang naunang siyam.

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grabe, ang ganda nung song na "Hold Me" mga 50++ times ko na ata pinakikinggan ito, pero hindi pa rin ako nagsasawa. :)

x

it's hard to understand how another person can affect us.. how when this person has touched us, we cannot remove that moment in our hearts anymore, and how we long for the moment when that contact would happen again..

jaymee!

ito ang version ko ng sarili ko.
see? that's my beloved Aklat-Buhay and my pencil. and the bag! i really have a bag like that! symbolic din ang bag.. :) haha.

"I am a pilgrim of Life."

Congratulations! You Created jaymeeduran.

tingnan mo yung nakasulat sa lower right. natawa ako sobra.
fyi, ginawa ko ang egroup na ito para sa sarili ko, dahil ang hassle minsan kapag may mga files ka, tapos hindi mo ma-access kasi nasa computer mo, tapos brownout! haha. ahem. kaya yung mga importanteng bagay, i-upload ko dito. parang Yahoo! Briefcase, pero dahil hindi ako marunong gumamit non, egroup na lamang. :)

yay.

Hold Me

words and music: Toto Sorioso
additional lyrics: Noel Miranda

REFRAIN:
Hold me gently.
Whisper, You're always with me.
Tell me You'll never leave me alone.
Soothe me, move me.
Fill my heart with love,
enfold me in Your arms,
in a love I've always known.

When the world seems cold and lonely,
let this heart that seeks You only
find its fire and blaze in Your embrace.
Come, fill me with Your grace and... (REFRAIN)

Let me be Your hands that hold
all who stray and leave Your fold.
Help us carry Your load through Your road
--a life and love untold. Just... (REFRAIN)

In Your arms, I am home.


What it means to be held is described in this prayer. To say, "hold me," is a request to be loved and protected. Much more though is asked after being held. We ask as well that we be soothed and moved and filled for a greater cause � to remind the world of His loving embrace � to return to wanting to be enfolded.


*galing rito.

shucks, ang ganda 'diba?

the gift of perseverance

wala lang. ang ganda ng perseverance ano?

about a month ago, i wrote an entry with the same title as my entry today, but i wasn't able to publish it. it was about my experience of the Taize at the colayco pav and fr. dan's words of wisdom. well, let me just quote here what i was able to write:

"Hold on to that. Persevere."
- Fr. Dan

Last Wednesday, since it was Fr. Dan's Sci10 class before my Theo class, I bumped into him on my way to my seat. He asked me how I was, and I answered the usual, "I'm okay." Then he told me, "Hold on to that. Persevere."

I understood what he meant by "Hold on to that." I knew he was talking about my Taize experience. He was telling me to hold on to that presence of my God that I felt during the Taize session last Monday. I guess it was really obvious last Monday, even if we didn't have a chance to talk. I was really crying then. People beside me were already hugging me and reassuring me, even if I didn't know them. The Presence was just so strong that I could not stop crying. The lady seated beside me prayed over me, and I just started to cry more. She was praying "thank You for the gift of Your spirit.. thank You for the gift of tears.. thank you for touching this child of Yours.." In my heart I was also praying those words, and the sobbing did not stop until even after the session.

Fr. Dan told me to hold on to that feeling. And indeed I am holding on to it.

For now I really do not understand the "persevere" part of Fr. Dan's great words. I guess for now I just have to beg for that grace.

- 01 September 2006

well, i think i got the grace. and it's very beautiful.

when we talk about perseverance, we do not deny the fact that there are negative things that we encounter. we persevere in order to reach the "better" side of things. there is a loving struggle, as doc g would always say, with life. these struggles highlight the very beautiful points that happen to us.

i was reassured by the homily of Fr. Tom Green this morning. almost everything that he said, i also have written last night in my journal. i was reminded of the things that i have encountered several months ago--about purification.. about how painful it is.. about how we can never have a perfect reason for loving Him.. about how it is normal to feel hurt.. but in the end, we have to persevere.. i was reminded of my God's active fidelity.. of my God's unconditional Love..

haay. it feels great to be back..
it feels good to be able to experience this again.



"You are my Prince of Peace and I will give my life for You..."



:)

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wala lang, alam niyo ba na ang "Educate to Liberate" ay base sa konsepto ni Amartya Sen? :)

now you know.