Through God’s grace!

“A writer at heart,” that’s what I would like to call myself after having satisfactorily contributed articles (edited some) and maintained my column-The Newfound Freedom- in our very own La Rivista Marianum for quite challenging two years. Even though I started to write for the school organ since high school days, still I couldn’t have imagined calling myself a writer- and by writer, I mean the real one who gets paid to do work that’s actually published in print and credited through a by-line.

Since then until now, I always have the passion to write. I really love this craft, but nothing more than that. I have often felt like a “writer at heart,” but never a writer by profession. Why? The reality that I am a philosophy student and not someone who holds a degree in Journalism or Mass Communications disqualifies me from such image. Another reason is that I don’t write for a living and thus, I don’t have the right to call myself a journalist in the professional sense. To be honest, nowhere in the road map of my life did I seriously envision having to establish any sort of a professional track record as a writer.

I just love to pen my thoughts and let them freely flow through my nerves. Giving life to empty words is an art. Definitely, that feeling of becoming creative in my own way gives me happiness. I believe that becoming a professional in a particular field isn’t everything but being passionate enough is everything!

In view of the fact that this would be my last chance to get connected to our readers, I would really love to use this portion in thanking our writers, columnists, cartoonists, lay-out artists, photographer and contributors for sharing their skills, stories, efforts and quality time. You have contributed much to the success of this campus journalism. My grateful heart goes out also to our readers, whether members of our scholastic community or outside supporters who inspired our writers to be creative and truthful in putting words together in a piece of paper. I admit that it wasn’t an easy task to write something worth reading and so these people certainly deserve my sincerest gratitude.

Of course, we should not forget those individuals who are the brains that initiated the birth of La Rivista Marianum. Thank you to our ever-supportive school director, Rev. Fr. Michaelangelo Ma. Baco, OSM, for giving us the break to see the products of our creativity get published under our names. How cool is it to get to see your work published! We couldn’t be happier to be granted such a golden opportunity. Though sometimes we are not recognized, but in my part, I am happy and contented with the thought that at least through the La Rivista Marianum, we have had the freedom to speak our minds, have a voice and have it get heard! I think that’s more than enough that we could ask for. I am grateful also to Mr. Arsenio T. Altares, Jr., our moderator, for his supervision and for sharing with us some of his knowledge and experiences about newspaper writing. For all the mentors who took part in our endeavours, many thanks to all of you!

In a very special way, I would like also to thank the most generous Lord for all the graces, for the talents and skills He has bestowed to each of us. Through his graces, we are able to reach our dream of empowering our readers. In Him, we owe everything!

Before finally saying goodbye, I would like to leave some words of encouragement to all La Rivista Marianum hopefuls. Continue honing your skill in writing! Don’t get being mentally paralyzed by the idea of maintaining a “reputation” as a writer. Just simply write as what we used to do, not being bothered by the fear of making mistakes or the anxiety of meeting a high standard output or people’s expectations. Truly, creativity takes courage! Always bear in mind that our motto reminds us to write about what believe to be true, what we would like the public to know and what we think should matter! Be comfortable with your own style of writing and don’t let someone discourage you to pursue your dream to become a crafter of words.

God bless and congratulations to all of us! 

STANDFORSOMETHING

Gone are the days of evergreen. Those virgin concurrences of the past, old fashioned it might seem, would just be part of our iconic past, no matter how we hardly try to reinstate it back.

Living in a fast-pacing civilization is to be trapped in a hunger-game-like-arena. Given the fact that modernization through technological advancements rules over, the tactical scheme of Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest which depicts a cruel act of competition defines one’s expected approach toward modernity. Moreover, people have their own unique ways of coping up with the challenges, thus not living them far beyond the actions.

The endeavour of identifying those mechanisms requires rigorous effort and time, yet, once uncovered, it would pave the way to some sort of a boon. However, here comes the issue of how do [Filipino] people deal in this raging and fast-growing milieu, insofar as harmony over nature is concerned.

I tried to decipher the given setting and somehow take a clue of a major workaround existing, if there’s any. It’s almost undistinguishable not because of its indefinite phenomenological approach but rather due to the enticements the world offers and apparent rapid execution of things.

At this point, I’d like to shed light on the unmitigated act of Pakikisama. Known for integral relativity on the ‘ethos of the Pilipinos’, this what we all have in common. It might have been given several definitions, be it etymological or something else, yet, given a specific circumstance, only few flawlessly represent Pilipino’s sheer approach toward the present. In a 1996 article I’ve read, Pakikisama has been defined as the ability to get along with others in such a way as to avoid outside signs of conflict. In light with this was a contributory insights of Vitaliano Gorospe who views Pakikisama simply as an act of giving in or yielding to the wish of the leader or the majority, even when at times it contradicts ones ideas or the common good. Analysing these philosophical claims, it could be understood that the subject matter is something that can be learned and subjective in action. In short, if someone wishes to avoid conflict and live with others in harmony, he/she should practice it with ease even to the point of deprivation of freedom. Sounds obnoxious, right?

Standing in a secular point of view, these aspects are reasonably justifiable for who would have dared minding all those philosophical stuffs above all? Who wouldn’t like to be rewarded with cooperation and assistance by simply conforming to group’s norms? On the other side, who would like to be chastised by withdrawal for non-dovetailed deeds? There are lot of things to be focused on: jobs, comfy lifestyle, economic growth and so on. Besides, many people would prefer to yield themselves to the mandate of those above them for they usually see it as beneficial. They’re getting rewarded, they’re feeling the sense of security, they’re moving up. In other words, why do they have to take chances on pushing for their individual rights just to reach the life of their likings if they can have it by the mere act of joining the club?

My intention here is not to take the word Pakikisama in a negative way, thus staining wrong notions about its real essence. As I’ve mentioned, the spotlight in this present era and the thespians are we, Filipinos. That would be too much unacceptable to be blinded of what are obviously going on in our country. Let’s stop sugar coating things out, rather, let’s deal those issues, efficiently. Personally, I could verify the existence of how Pakikisama, Filipino value to be considered, is being handled by the people as specified by Gorospe. Indeed, even values have pros and cons depending on how they’ve been contextualized. Ambivalent by nature, people should ‘understand, practiced and lived’ itself to be of help to ‘personal and national development’. In this current time, competition to success is highly tough. One must be flexibly equipped with proper knowledge and skills to catch up the challenges ahead. Above all, as Filipinos are obliged to follow a single constitution, everyone should step out and make a stand because at the end of the day, what really matters most is to arrive in a point of a ‘just and humane society’.

ON THE VALUE OF HUMILITY!

There was a time that I approached a friend of whom I had great expectations. But sad to say, he disappointed me by impulsively responding to a particular situation out of his weakness rather than out of Christ’s presence that I knew within him . However, the power of Christ’s presence prevailed when I reproached him. After a short while, we talked again and instead of defending himself, he disarmed and humbly spoke to me, “I am weak and in need of your forgiveness and prayers.”

We are humble when we face the truth about ourselves. We cannot help but to think of ourselves  as imperfect beings constantly in need of the grace of God. St. Paul willingly boasts his own weakness so that the strenght of Christ may rest upon him. It is undeniably a pure act of humility and total dependence on God. In his own words, St. Paul says that in his weakness, he is strong for God is his source of strenght. We, Christians, should imitate that kind of humility that the apostle of the Gentiles had shown us as an example. If you accept and face the truth that you are weak, it will not be difficult for you to ask and receive the grace of God. To be humble, to be willing to accept the truth about ourselves is actually the strongest kind of protection. Instead of putting up defence for others to attack, we would bow our heads down and leave nothing for them to fight against.

God sees the truth in us. He deeply knows who we are and what we are when we are alone. So, don’t dare to deceive God but instead, humble like a child so that God will exalt you.

Selfie

“I love you” is one if not the most beautiful words that human being possessed. I want to begin by asking the most famous question in a beauty contest “for you what is love?” Generally, we often equate love with romance, the feeling of being “kilig” a term commonly used by the young generation to manifest the feeling of love. Some associate love with sex. Younger generation, according to the report, is most active now in engaging into sexual activity to express that desire of intimacy. While others consider love as a phenomenon, a feeling of the mysterious, of the divine.

There are many notions of love but I want to start by going back to its roots. Does love really exist? Basing on our definitions of love, we can conclude three realities that can prove that love exists. First is, love is an experienced reality. It is something that occurs every day, a part of our existence. All created beings especially humans have the inherent perception about love. It’s a reality that does not need to be thought, to be learned from universities, from books, from google and wikepedia because it is in us, an experienced reality that is part of us and that created us. Second point, after learning that love is an experienced reality, one question arises, how this reality be experienced? The answer is that we could experience love because love is a word, a language.  In order to experience love it has to be understood as a word, as a language, and every meaning assigned to an individual’s definition of love must also be understood. Any meaning which is not understood is infatuation. Infatuation is the misinterpretation of love. By the use of language the meaning of love is brought to its fullness. Language serves as the channel to best communicate love inside of us. Lastly, because love is a language means that it is understandable, comprehensible by us humans. It is rational and logical and love which is chaotic is not love but purely chaos. Even the Bible affirms this fact in its account on the creation. In the beginning before God created the world there was only chaos (absence of love) but through him, who is LOVE, made all things existing because in Himself God is love (no chaos in himself but unity and love), so to say true–love is love understood. As  Immanuel Kant said, “All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason.” So it’s simple as A, B, C that love exists!

After knowing that it exists, we can further ask, if it exists where it came from? Let’s start biblically, “when God created everything he saw the man lonely for he was alone so he made him fell asleep and in him he created woman…” My point is that love sprouts out of loneliness. What is loneliness? Webster dictionary defined it as  “sad from being apart from other people, causing sad feelings that come from being apart from other people.” Meaning the phenomenon of loneliness is part of human experience. Typically, the answer to the problem of loneliness is the reaching out to the other person. Love is the answer to the problem of loneliness because it is only in love that I find oneness with the other and still remain in Himself.

So if love is a two souls united by one heart out of loneliness, it also indicates that for love to be real it must be a reciprocal love! Oftentimes we heard people saying “minahal ko sya ng sobra pero kahit konting sukli walang siyang ibinalik.” This statement suggests that we often misunderstood love as a one highway to heaven. I remembered when I fell in love and had girlfriend, (matagal na po, six years ng single…hihi) I was so pre-occupied by making her happy, that was giving her everything that I had until I came to question my self-worth? Is the meaning of love is this? A one way door to happiness? No, I want to say that love is an active exchange of subjectivity, that is I give myself to you completely, my weaknesses, goodness, my being as a person and the other must do the same.  However, love does not mean a loss of self. In loving the other I do not lose myself but rather, I fulfil and complete it. If my love is to be authentic, the gift of myself must be something valuable to me. I cannot give to the other something which I consider a trash. The other is not a trashcan but is seen more as a treasure chest. There exists in loving the other the desire to be loved in return. That desire is essential but it should not become the motive of loving. I do not love because I expect to be loved in return, but I love because I find my fullness in loving!

Loving reciprocally gives us a new dimension of faithfulness. The theology of the body by pope John Paul II says that love is free, total, fruitful and faithful. This dimension gives birth to the union of  two beings that create its communitarian aspect, the “we” notion of love. Love is not a selfish reality; instead, it is a shared experience, a gift of the self. This gift of the self is more than the gift of what I have, what I possess, or what will I have but rather the gift of what I was, what I am and what will I become, a complete giving of the self.

To conclude this article I want to say that love is eternal! The old song says “first love never dies.” I think that gives us a grasp to the eternal dimension of love. As Gabriel Marcel would say, “I love you” means “you shall not die”. Meaning loving goes beyond space, dimensions and time, maybe I am too progressive in my ideas by saying this but love transcends physics, that love can go to the realm that science cannot even step, that it can penetrate what seems impenetrable by human reason. As Blaise Pascal said, “the heart has its reason which reason cannot comprehend.”  After all the discussions about love, it seems as if love in itself can never be exhausted and truly love is a mystery. To see this mystery is to experience it, rather than talk about it. But what can love do to one’s life. Hmmm… let’s try it anyway and see if without love, we can be anything at all as an old adage asserts, “it’s better to love and have lost it, than never tried to love at all.” And my message to all of you “I Love You” muahhhh…..   

LOVE YOURSELF!

Human as we are, we normally aspire to become successful in our choice of career. In fact, Abraham Maslow in his theory, The Hierarchy of Needs, maintains that the need for self-actualization is very essential and the peak according to the order of human needs. Everyday we stay focus in order not to lose sight on what we believe crucial for our existence. We usually find meaning in life when we fully actualized our potentialities.

The first step, I think, to enjoy life to the fullest is to spend quality time for oneself. For me, it’s very important as much as we want to feel that we have our own life. In my previous column, I was talking about interpersonal relationship and its impact to one’s life. But now, I would like to give accentuation to the significance of being familiar and affectionate to oneself. Many people have a satisfactory interpersonal dealings but they fail when it comes to knowing and loving one’s self. Thus, the implication is they always find their life dependent to what people might say about them or in other words, they live on people’s expections. They struggle everyday on how to please the people around them, forgetting that they have to set boundaries.

If I am going to compare my life in the past four years to my present life, I can say that I have changed a lot. I can attribute this positive change in me, first and foremost, to my spiritual formation- not to mention the rules and regulations that truly helped me in disciplining myself. All these years, I have benefited from my good work and study habit which I have only learned and improved when I entered in the seminary. Spending quality time for myself allows me to recognize my weak spots. By doing so, I am often reminded that I need to remain humble and dependent to God.

Furthermore, good work habit should be accompanied with good thoughts and morals. In my observation, many people are aiming to do big things for their lives because they believe these will lead them to the change and progress they are hoping for. However, in my part, I stick to my belief that small things that I do consistently are enough to make difference. Hence, I do not wish for anything big. It is not that I lack courage and self-confidence or just afraid of big responsibilities but rather I just love to work with small things so that I can still find time to stay calm and focus.

On the other hand, in my stay in the formation house for almost four years I have also learned on how to persevere. As a matter of fact, perseverance is one of my favorite virtues along with humility and prudence. In the academic and spiritual aspects of life, perseverance is unquestionably of great help. You need to persevere and be firm amidst problems and challenges. Though examinations were sometimes pulling me down, I still managed to persevere and keep moving on. In my chosen vocation, I really need to persevere through constant prayers and complete trust to the grace of God. The vicar provincial said in one of our sessions that it’s difficult for a seminarian like me to persevere without establishing a close relationship with God through prayer. Hence, I could conclude that prayer is so vital in sustaining my yes to God.

Let’s pray always for the grace of perseverance and may God inspire us every day through Jesus Christ. I pray that you too will persevere so that we will see each other again the next formation journey. To God be the glory!

Art of Words

Words, according to Mr. Webster, are any spoken or written ideas, messages or brief remarks. Simple definition as it may seem, word carries various thoughts and deep meaning. It’s like a river infinitely flowing into the unknown. Aren’t we a little bit curious on how these words came to be? What is the essence of these groups of letters that we fondly call as words?

Well, it was said that the ancient Phoenicians, tired and helpless of their situation, created the alphabet which was the beginning of speech. These alphabets, grouped together, were formed into words which we now use in everyday conversations. It is amazing how these words were formulated. We are very lucky to be in a generation that uses abundant words, unlike the prehistoric beings who used only hand gestures to communicate.

Each one of us speaks a thousand words each day. Even if we do it in different languages, we still mean the same thing. Heroes have become well-known and popular because of their writings. Take for example, Dr. Jose P. Rizal. He did not fight for freedom with the use of swords and pistols. He did it in a different way, for he believed that pen is mightier than any powerful weapon. He liberated our country through his writings. As the quote “Actions speak louder than words” would say, certainly they speak louder, but others would prefer to stay quiet and low.

Candidates for election in different positions also use words to animate their listeners and convince the people to accept their platform. See how powerful words can be!

Conversely, the cumbersome nature of words is always the source of war and tragedy. Great battles are often caused by heated arguments between tongues. Although our ancestors thought of words as means of communication, many are using them in a wrong way, criticizing and prejudicing others and throwing them into damnation. Others use words to hurt people. A sharp word hurled by someone whom you thought as a friend and confidant is very painful indeed; this is the dark side, the hidden peril of a beautiful day.

But like any other things, there is always a yin and a yang (a negative and a positive). If you just delve deeper, you can see the true beauty of words. The role they play in our day-to-day living is very vital for without them we may not understand each other.

Words are beautiful conceptions of mankind. They add colour to our dull and frugal life. They give us a sense of life, a breath of existence. Just remember, we can’t replay the past or run the time backward. So let us play our “words” well.

THESE ARE THE REASONS WHY I WAKE UP IN THE MORNING:

W – orship the Lord even more

A – affirm my divine identity

K – now more about Him and heavenly things

E – exercise spiritually, mentally and physically

U – nburden or simplify my life (more time with and for God)

P – ersevere (never ever give up)

Message from God:

“Remember that you will die. Today might be your last day and so use it wisely. Spend this day with me.”

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

In green pastures, you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me;

You restore my strength.

You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name.

Even when I walk through a dark valley,

I fear no harm for you are at my side;

Your rod and staff give me courage.

You set a table before me as my enemies watch;

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life;

I will dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.

As you wake up this morning don’t forget to:

1.    Smile from within (wear a big smile all throughout the day).

2.    Pray with an open heart and mind (what does God is telling you today?).

3.    Grab the Bible and read today’s readings.

4.    Be grateful for the brand new day and for all the blessings.

5.    Be Jesus to someone today.

6.    Affirm your deepest desire.

7.    Remember that it might be your last day...

8.    Give your best.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and His mercy never comes to an end and they are new every morning.

WIN YOUR DAY!!!