Should we stop thinking and caring for those people who don’t think or care about us?

Should we stop thinking and caring for those people who don’t think or care about us?

This question suddenly entered my mind while I am preparing for my upcoming Mass sharing this Sunday. As a philosopher I may say that Yes we should stop thinking and caring about them. What benefit can you get from caring and thinking about people who donnot love you in the first place? But Am I being so selfish in doing that or am I just being practical and logical about that. Well a good relief because I also studied Theology (from a prestigious university near the University of the Philippines). Jesus said in the gospels Love your enemies (Luke 6:27). Well if thats the case, should I ask Jesus this, Lord Should I also love people who donnot love me but do not fall under the category enemy? Am I to Love people who shows no concern about me. But Life is unfair, Sometime the people whom we enormously love doesn’t even understand and appreciate it. But isn’t that the experience of Jesus with us? He loved us so much that he died in the cross and yet some people around him didn’t recognize it. Well I will not go to far as what the Lord did but what I am saying is that “MAYBE HE WANTS US TO FEEL THE SAME FEELING HE FEEL ABOUT US” THE FEELING OF BEING Forsaken. Well now I kind a understand Chiara Lubic (founder of the focolare movement) in his theology of Jesus forsaken.

So Next time we feel that we are forsaken always remember that Jesus is forsaken as well. But he didn’t give up.

So My Answer is No.. well maybe for now Yes.. I don’t know...

Sharing for Ascension Sunday (June 5, 2011)

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  AMDG

Sharing on Ascension Sunday

By: Nathaniel T. Brazil,

A Sharing delivered at the Church of Saint Marys in Taradale, New Zealand

Our dearly beloved parish priest Fr. Don, Fr. Tery, Bro Ferdinand, My dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ a blessed Sunday.

Today we celebrate the solemnity of the ascension of our Lord to Heaven; I would like to share three points, on the importance of this celebration in our faith.

Back in the Philippines I used to teach secondary school students, One day I ask a student,

After your Graduation what do you want to do?
He answered, I want to go to college.
After college what do you want to do?
-I want to get a job.
Then what do you want to do?
- I want to make big money.
What do you want to do after making money?
- I want to build a big house.
After that ?
- I want to get married.
What will you do after getting married?
- I will have a family.
After that?
- I will retire.
Then?
- I want to take a rest.
What will you do after taking a rest?
- I don’t know.
Then I ask, Will you die?
He answered Oh yes, I will die too.

We are so busy doing things, achieving, making progress that we can forget life is all about, preparing to meet God in heaven. The Ascension of Jesus is a reminder for all of us that we are “only passing through” on this world ,. We are pilgrims on a journey. Just as Jesus’ earthly life was temporary, and he ascended to Heaven, so also our lives here are temporary, will come to an end, and we will meet God in the next life.

Secondly Ascension is a fulfilment of a promise. Jesus had promise us in the gospel, that he would prepare a place for us in heaven. It is like a picture of a mighty general, who after a winning a great war will go back to his homeland, carrying a sword and announcing to his fellow man that he had won the battle. Jesus had won the battle over death! Sin! and evil ! And now he is in heaven, preparing a place for his mighty soldiers, who had been faithful and loyal to him.
Lastly the feast of the ascension is a challenge for us, to proclaim and preach the good news that we had receives from God. In last part of the Gospel for today, Jesus is commanding his apostles and disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Fr. Paul the parish priest in Napier told us that several decades ago New Zealand used to send missionary and priest to the Philippines to assist in the missionary efforts in our place. Today The Philippines is sending missionaries and priests to assist the missionary efforts in New Zealand. I think this event is not just paying back the generosity of the Kiwis to the Filipinos, more than that it is being obedient and faithful to the command of Christ, to make disciples of all nations. Who knows maybe decades from now Kiwi Missionaries and Priests will again be send to the Philippines, to assist our local church. We can do this because Christ is our head, and we are his body. Even though we are Kiwis, Filipinos, Maori, Samoans, Indians, Tongans but for Christ we are all his one body.

May this feast of the Ascension, of our Lord remind us, that Jesus is waiting for us in Heaven.

Amen.

in ombibus caritas

Prayer For New Zealand

Prayer for New Zealand

Lord Jesus,
You said to go and teach all nations.
To baptize them in your name
that they might fully share your life

Help us, Oh Lord to live
your Gospel, so deeply, so truly
so generously that no peoples of the world
remain untouched by our love which is yours

Amen.

Mary Assumed int Heaven, Pray for New Zealand
St. Peter Chanel, SM Pray for New Zealand

BLACK SATURDAY

Holy Saturday (Latin: Sabbatum Sanctum) is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week and Lent, in which Christians prepare for Easter. This day commemorates the day that Jesus Christ's body laid in the tomb. It is sometimes known as Black Saturday or Easter Saturday,[1] though the latter name is more correctly applied to the Saturday in Easter week.

In Roman Catholic churches, the sanctuary remains stripped completely bare (following the Mass on Holy Thursday) while the administration of the sacraments is severely limited. Holy Communion after the Good Friday service is given only as Viaticum to the dying. Baptism, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick may be administered because they, like Viaticum, are helpful to ensuring salvation for the dying.

All Masses are severely limited. No Mass at all appears in the normal liturgy for this day, although Mass can be said on Good Friday and on Holy Saturday for an extremely grave or solemn situation with a dispensation from the Vatican or the local bishop. Many of the churches of the Anglican Communion as well as Lutheran, Methodist, and some other Churches observe most of the same; however, their altars may be covered in black instead of being stripped.

In some Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, provision is made for a simple Liturgy of the Word on this day, with readings commemorating the burial of Christ, but no Eucharist.

Liturgically speaking, Holy Saturday lasts until dusk, after which the Easter Vigil is celebrated, marking the official start of the Easter season. In Roman Catholic observance, during the "Gloria" of the Mass (which is the first Mass since that of Holy Thursday), the church statues and icons, in places where they are covered with purple veils during Passiontide, are dramatically unveiled.

source: wikipedia.com

Life is Simple don't Complicate it!

I found a blog entry by the famous novelist Paulo Coelo (author of The Alchemist) and I would like to share it with you. Hopefully you may realize how simple life can be and how we can enjoy it.

-Nath

The Fisherman and The Businessman

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”

classic Brazilian story, probably also present in other cultures. Someone found the English version, but I could not identify the translator

From: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2010/09/08/the-fisherman-and-the-businessman/

APRIL 2: BL. PEDRO CALUNGSOD, Filipino Martyr

Blessed Pedro Calungsod (c. 1654[1] – April 2, 1672) is a Filipino Roman Catholic martyr who was killed while doing missionary work in Guam in 1672. He was beatified on March 5, 2000, by Pope John Paul II. As a skilled sacristan, he was a companion of Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores to the Marianas Islands. Through their efforts, many receive the sacraments especially that of baptism. A plot to kill Pedro and San Vitores started when a certain Choco, a Chinese who gained influence over the Macanas of Marianas Island, circulated false accusations that the missionaries were spreading poison through the ritual of the pouring of water (i.e. baptism), and through the ritual of Catholic Masses.