By the Jal-o River

    So that we may believe that God the Father has sent you to shepherd us, we pray for your oneness in mind and heart. We pray that you lead us away from the encircling gloom with your staff and protect us by your strong arms from the malaise that prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.     We pray to Jesus, our Lord, that you parry the confusion out of our tired hearts and that you may win the trust and confidence of those that you pasture.     We pray that the Holy Spirit inspires you to break bread with your brethren and show us the example of how good and pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity.     With Mary, our mother, we pray for all to be sympathetic, to be compassionate and humble in dealing with one another whom we see Jesus in each of them, more so in the poor and the least among us.     Amen.

Republic Act No. 1716 is a very short law promulgated in June 21, 1957. It only contains two sections, the declaration and its effecacy. No other explanation was supplied. But the title speaks for itself and it says, "An Act Changing the name of Barrio Morthon in the Municipality of Balete, Capiz to Barrio Fulgencio". See herewith its capture form from Chan Robles Virtual Library :

A relevant resident by the Jal-o sent me the following text message through short message service (SMS) the other day. The message reads: "Look at the month of July, you have never seen this. This year July has 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays and 5 Tuesdays. This apparently happens once in every 823 years. "This is called money bags. "So send this to any 20 friends and money will arrive in 5 days. Based on Chinese Mythology, the one who does not pass this on will have money troubles for the rest of the year. It won't cost you much for that 20 text." ( sic )   In logic, this is called a fallacious argument , or better still, an informal fallacy known as a mixture of an argument from the scripture , retrospective determinism and argumentum ad baculum . Let us deconstruct it for clarity's sake. There are three components in the text message. First, the framer awed the reader with a fact, i.e., July 2012 being the most unique having 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays and 5 Tue

        O, Ginuo, amon nga Diyos nga Amay, ano kanami tan-awon ro imong mga tawo nga nagakabuhi sa gugma ag pag-ambitanay. Ano ka sadya pamatian ro andang kanta it pag-iegmanghuran ag pagbueuligan sa oras it pagtilaw!       Ikaw ro amon nga ginadayaw sa tiempo ngara it pagbag-o. Kabay, nga sa rayang panahon padayon kami nga ibhan ni San Rafael nga Arcangel sa among nga pagpamanawon sa daean it pag-eigmanghuran kay Kristo-Hesus. Ro imong presensya hay magtao kamon it inspirasyon nga panestigusan rong kamatuuran sa pihak kung pagtilaw it kapurilan. Ikaw ro among kaisog sa pagbag-o ku dapat bag-uhon, rong kaaeam nga nagagiya kamon sa paghimo it tama ag matarong nga desisyon.         Ro Imong Espiritu ro among manuglipay ag kabulig sa pag-abaga ku mga paeas-anon daea ku among responsibilidad bilang mga lideres ag miembro kung Kristianong Katilingban. Kabay, nga padayon imaw nga mag-tao it kaaeam kamon, eabi eon guid sa rayang adlaw it pagbag-o, sa among pagpang-eakaton nga na

With the expressed interest of giving the Pledge System a second look following its lull of more than seven years, questions from the younger generations are cropping up with little answers being justly provided for. Thus, in this article, let me devote some time approximating the answers to frequently asked questions regarding the system.   Question 1 (Q1) - What is Pledge System?   Answer 1 (A1) - Pledge System is a means of providing or extending expressed temporal support by the faithful to the local church where they are ecclesiastically part of for her proper objectives. It is a method of fulfilling one's obligation as provided for in Canon 222 §1   according to each person's possibilities by taking into account his or her familial obligations. Pledge is not tithing per se as biblically understood. Rather, it approximates tithing as while it is not compulsory, one binds herself/himself to the pledge she/he made before God and her/his neighbors (i.e., the local c

My promise of love: Ginakueang ako it bisaea Agud ika paabot kimo Pero bisan pa, akong hinyo Nga sa akong pag-ako Nga ikaw hay hinigugma Kunta hay mahangpan mo Ako hay tawo man lang May kinahang-ean, may kahinaan Indi ko kimo ika-promisa Pareho ko iba Rong mga bituon ag ro buean Una sa kaeangitan Haead ko kimo Akong taguipusoon Puno it nina Padayon nga nagabaga Bisan pa nga kon amat Hay maeuya. I wrote it because I am loved. I am loved and called to love in the process. I respond to it in my own pace. In my day-to-day approximations, I am becoming certain that Euclid's postulate that straight line is the shortest way from one point to another is wrong when it comes to human intersubjectivity.  In loving, I have to mean every word of it and approximate its meaning every day of my life. Aware of my strengths and flaws, I hasten to live its truth in my day-to-day struggles. Even if at times, love seems to stab the wounded and scarred heart.