Graveyards - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Graveyards - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Youngblood
Graveyards
By Crystal Mary I. Mendoza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:48:00 10/30/2009

Filed Under: Youth, death notices

THANK GOD for long weekends. It had been A while, and seeing my high school tropa made me realize how much I missed the old days. Although we enrolled in different universities, we managed to keep in touch, keeping the flames of friendship going.

Stories were exchanged, both funny and frustrating, peppered with new experiences and views absorbed during the first few months of college. I saw myself in their faces: we are young, barely making it in the world, still filled with fresh innocence, and open to the possibilities of life. I wondered how long it would take before life caught up with us and changed or shaped us into new persons. Thankfully, the thought soon faded as we continued to tell stories.

We strolled along the path that led to our former school. I was quite proud to be among many members of our family who finished there. My mom graduated there, and so did all of her brothers and sisters. Located in the center of our town, just right behind the Plazuela, it is near all the important places: the public market, the municipal hall, the church—even the cemetery. Through the years, renovations have changed the façade of most of these buildings. But not the cemetery. It merely expanded, and last year, a new memorial park was built.

The idea of strolling over manicured grass underneath tall ornamental trees was very inviting to our group, and so we went ahead and did it.

The park was almost empty when we got there. We saw only two workers right next to a newly dug hole in the ground. The ground was a bit wet since it rained earlier that day. We parked our butts under the umbrella of trees and watched as a procession of people entered the park, following a bone-white limousine. Of course, this was a memorial park, and although loitering was free, some people had to pay big bucks to be buried where the grass remains green all-year round.

It was a bit creepy—us enjoying the afternoon while a burial was a taking place. One of my friends made her way to the burial site after seeing someone she knew in the mourning throng. The rest of us watched in silence, absorbed in our own thoughts.

I stared at the clouds that layered the skies. The afternoon sun remained hidden behind the canopy, yet its bright light managed to seep through, like a heavenly light shining on another soul departing to higher planes.

It’s not my habit to think of such melancholy. I guess no matter how pretty the park may be, with its manicured grass and decorative trees and plants, it remains a graveyard, a place where tears are mixed with the earth.

Our friend made her way back to where we sat, her eyes still brimming with tears. She said she had not known until then that a classmate in grade school had lost his dad.

“Oh,” was all we could manage to say in response.

We lingered there for a while, all silent and in deep thought pondering. About the future. About the things we missed while we were not around. About the possibility that we may not be there for each other when we needed each other most.

It was almost twilight when we decided to leave the park. I said a silent prayer, hoping that somehow time will wait for us.

Crystal Mary I. Mendoza, 16, is an accounting freshman at the University of Santo Tomas.

To define it rudely but not ineptly, engineering is the art of doing that well with one dollar, which any bungler can do with two after a fashion.
More funny Arthur Wellesley quotes

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miss my nephews...

103_0133, originally uploaded by arleighmac.

hehehe... soon ill be with them... playing...

Duplicate Yourself To Duplicate Your Income from BO SANCCHEZ SOULFOOD NEWSLETTER

Duplicate Yourself To Duplicate Your Income

Why do people not grow?
One of the reasons why you've remained stagnant is because you haven't duplicated yourself.
You haven't followed the Law of Duplication.
But duplication is everywhere.
Nature is based on duplication.
Just look around you and you'll find it at work.
Once upon a time, there was only Mom and Dad.
But they fell in love, walked down the aisle, and they decided to duplicate. So they gave birth to five average children and one exceptional child. (Who is that exceptional child? I won't say.)
And then these six children duplicated themselves too.
So far, my parents have eight lovely grandkids too.
God created the Law of Duplication.

(To continue reading Bo's inspiring article, click here.)



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God's Message For You Today, March 15, 2010

15 March
Monday TODAY'S READINGS:

DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH
DIDACHE

HOW FAITH GROWS

The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. – John 4:50

Once there was a seed. God said to him, "You may appear to be tiny and insignificant but in due time, you will become a huge plant. But you have to fulfill certain conditions before this will come to pass. You have to allow yourself to be buried in soil and be exposed to rain, wind and sunshine."
The seed wasn't happy with what he heard for he didn't want to get dirty and wet and bear the sun's heat.
The seed disobeyed God. He hid himself from human hands. He waited. Months, years and decades passed but nothing happened. He remained just a seed.
In today's Gospel, we witnessed how the royal official's faith grew. First, he believed that Jesus could heal his son. Second, he believed that Jesus would do what He claimed. Third, he and his whole family believed in Jesus.
Faith must be used in order for it to grow. It's not enough that we believe that Jesus can help us with our concerns. We need to show that in our actions. How's your faith? Do you live as though Jesus can do what He says? Judith Concepcion (svp_jmc@yahoo.com)

REFLECTION:
"Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

Lord Jesus, increase my faith.

Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
COMPANION

1st READING

Isaiah promises a time of great blessing. This prophecy is designed to instill hope in people and encourage them to persevere through their trials and difficulties. They can be sure that there is something worth the struggle that will result. God's promises are sure so we can know that this is not an empty hope.

Isaiah 65:17-21
17 Thus says the LORD: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there, or the sound of crying; 20 no longer shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime; he dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years, and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed. 21 They shall live in the houses they build, and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.

P S A L M

Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12a, 13b
R: I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
1 [2] I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. 3 [4] O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world; you preserved me from among those going down into the pit. (R) 4 [5] Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 [6] For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. (R) 10 [11] "Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me; O LORD, be my helper." 11 [12] You changed my mourning into dancing; 12 [13] O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks. (R)

G O S P E L

This is the first of Jesus' miracles in John's Gospel. It marks the public appearance of Jesus as a miracle worker and, as such, it means that His name will become a household word in a matter of time. The people begin to flock to Jesus to see what He has to say and they find Him to be different. He speaks with mercy and authority; the answers He gives to questions are not quite what is expected. Even today we should expect the unexpected from our faith as it is Jesus who is still at work.

John 4:43-54
43 At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. 44 For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. 45 When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast. 46 Then he returned to Cana in
Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. 48 Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe." 49 The royal official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus said to him, "You may go; your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. 51 While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. 52 He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, "The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon." 53 The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live," and he
and his whole household came to believe. 54 Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.

my reflections
t h i n k : G od's promises are sure so we can know that this is not an empty hope.

_________________________________________________________

God's special verse/thought for me today________________
_________________________________________________________

T O D A Y ' S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for:____________________________________
_______________________________________________________

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Genesis 28-30

Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
SABBATH

Beyond Signs and Wonders

The 1970s saw the birth of the Charismatic renewal movement from the Pentecostal and Evangelical traditions of Christianity. This movement has brought to our attention as church the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the transforming power of the Word of God. Through the years, however, avid followers of the renewal have been attracted more and more to powerful signs and wonders – those that we commonly call "charisms" – such as miracles, healings, singing and speaking in tongues. Among Catholics, there came the growing practice of celebrating "healing Eucharists" and the recognition of the faithful of the giftedness of some ministers who
have been fondly called "healing priests." This has sent the sick and those in desperate predicament to flock and elbow each other looking for signs and wonders of God through "miracle and healing explosions."
We are grateful to the Lord for these outpouring charisms that have helped to build up communities and lift up the personal faith of many. Our Gospel story, however, reminds us that there are many ways through which our merciful God may want to touch our lives. The official was a bit forceful in his words that Jesus should come down personally to his house to heal his son who was critically ill, saying, "Sir, come down before my son dies." Jesus, however, sent the official home with only the assurance flowing from His words: "Go, your son will live."
A documentary featured over EWTN on the renowned waters of the Marian grotto of Lourdes explains that not all the Church-recognized, medically and scientifically proven miracles attributed to Lourdes came from the waters. Others occurred during the Eucharistic procession and benediction. Some others occurred while the infirmed persons were taking a train on their way home after a pilgrimage in the shrine. There were those that were felt instantaneously; there were those that came gradually. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

Reflection Question:
After reading the Gospel for today, close your eyes, put yourself into the Gospel story, and say to Jesus: "Lord, I believe that You are healing and touching me now, right now, in the hiddenness of my room, and through the anointing of Your Word that I welcome with faith and humility. Amen."

Let me be open and sensitive to the many ways that You want to reach out to me, O Lord.

St. Nicander, pray for us.

Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
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Too young, too soon... from YOUNGBLOOD of INQUIRER.net... thanks guys...

Youngblood
Too young, too soon
By Brian Ranoco Eclarinal
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:45:00 11/02/2009

Filed Under: Religion & Belief, Belief (Faith)

By the time I started writing this story, I knew he was gone for a long journey, and he would never come back again. His stay was short, yet memories of him will linger with us who had been blessed by his presence. “He was too young, and his journey was too short,” I recalled someone saying at the necrological services for a former patient who had succumbed to the Big C.

That patient of mine was an ardent Adventist, a devoted head of the family, and a respected colleague in his religious community. Throughout his life, he had enjoyed his time with his family and his church. He never considered chemotherapy or any surgical procedure we had offered to him. He believed that when God wanted his presence, he had to go without hesitation and without delay. His family, knowing that he was going to die, had the opportunity to put things in order. On the day he died, the members of his family were inside his hospital room, surrounding him and assuring him they would be all right should he wish to leave.

His acceptance of death was truly inspiring. He composed the songs to be sung by the choir during his funeral services. To me his death story was like a fairy tale that ended with “and they lived happily ever after.” An expected death seemed to me like a better way to go than one that happens on short notice, or even without a notice. Others like my friend Mike didn’t have the opportunity to experience such a peaceful death.

I was shocked to hear the bad news being relayed to me over the phone. The caller was his best friend and cousin, and he was saying, “Bry, wala na si Mike.” He was crying over the phone.

I was moved to tears by the unexpected news. Mike was only 22 years old. He was the only child and both of his parents were working abroad. He was a new registered nurse.

I responded with shock to the announcement of his death, and asked him how and when it happened.

“Minutes ago,” his cousin said still sobbing. “I am still in the emergency room. He had no enemies. He got hit by a stray bullet. ”

The cousin narrated that Mike was taking his meal in an eatery when a gun man on board a motorcycle opened fire. The target, was a barangay official (who also got killed in the shooting). Mike was hit on the chest and the bullet pierced his heart. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

I had known Mike since he was a college freshman. We were dorm mates. He was an intelligent, good natured, humble and silent person. We constantly talked about show biz, politics, hospital duty, and so many other things. We used to watch horror movies inside our room with the lights off, and I would laugh when I noticed how afraid he was to go out of the room later. There were times when our other dorm mates would turn off the light as he was taking a shower in our communal bathroom. And then he would scream until they turned it on again.

At his wake, I saw Mike in a coat and tie, lying on a silvery coffin. The smile on his face was gone.

I could feel the heartache and grief of his parents who could not spend much time with him, and had to fly back to the country, not to attend his oath taking as a nurse, but to attend to his burial. I could see in their faces their deep sadness over having their only child taken away from them. The grandmother who raised him up was also filled with grief. His loved ones and friends shared the same feelings of loss, regret, and disappointment over what happened to him. It was a death we never expected, a senseless killing of an innocent person, a young man with many dreams and the potential to help others. Brian had a pure heart who did not judge people or hold grudges against others.

On the day he was buried next to his grandfather, we were weeping over the loss of a good friend. Why him? Why too soon? Why him, he was too young? What would happen to his dreams of having a family of his own, working as a nurse or as a broadcast journalist? Is it true that the good die young? What kind of death do we wish for ourselves? Do we want to die expectedly like my former patient, or suddenly like Mike? Should we fear death? I guess not, because each of us will come face to face with it in God’s own time. I know Mike was not ready when his time came. But God decides. The people who killed him will soon face their own death. If justice cannot be served hear on Earth, then God will surely judge them in due time.

Mike’s death was untimely. He never had the chance to kiss his parents and say goodbye. But maybe God wants them to do it when they see each other again in His kingdom where peace and love abound. When God calls us to be with Him for eternity, who are we to say not yet? Who are we to disobey His will? We can only wish that God takes us when we are old enough, when our family and loved ones are ready and prepared, and when we have accomplished much of what we dreamed of.

Each passing day could be our last. We should seize it as an opportunity to live life fully.

(Brian Ranoco Eclarinal, 27, is a staff nurse at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, Manila.)