Edil Fitr Nostalgia

People, excuse me.

Once again, I am here to share a hodge-podge of some points raised by Mr. Aurangazeb M. Ali, Chief Socio-Economic Officer of The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos of Regions 6, 7 and 8. I have this inkling that I have to share these points in order to vanquished certain untoward biases thrown at Muslims.

These points are the following:
1. Koran needs "exegesis"  for it to be understood exactly.
2. Beware of the facade set up by some elite people in order to redirect people's attention to the true problem. Eg. Basic Bangsamoro Law, Democratization of Arab Lands.
3. Anything that is against life is unIslamic. Eg. Abu Sayaff, ICIS.

Indeed, some people, even the famous fourth state circumvent some news in order to serve the agenda of some elite people. I don't like to make a very lengthy discussion with regard to this matter. That's for you to ponder upon.

Excuse me.

REFLECTION ON SMSC's ANNUAL THRUST 2014-2015

SEMINARIO MAYOR DE SAN CARLOS

A year of seminary formation has just ended - a year that was never seen in a linear predictability. But, no matter what, we beat the odds it presents to us. Pausing for some candid moments, I'd like to evaluate how far we aligned our mindset as a community to the annual thrust which is, " a discerning community of priests and lay faithful towards integral formation for the service of the reign of God."

Discerning? is such a strong word and implies a continuous movement because it is a progressive form of the verb discern. Are we discerning as a community? Perhaps discerning is an overarching theme of man's life. The dimension to which this power is tilted makes the difference. Our community directed it to integral formation. By integral we mean holistic. Basing on this criterion, holistic, I bet we fall short in fully accomplishing the said challenge. But, since the theme conveys a progressive movement this is to say that the annual thrust's challenge is not yet ended. The last important phrase, I believe, is the telos; the phrase is "for the service of the reign of God." The annual thrust then is a challenge to serve - a challenge to go out and listen to the discourse of the Other. This then is simply said but not easy done thus a challenge worth fighting for. As a personal opinion I'd like to say that it is only in grounding ourselves to the reality of ourselves and opening ourselves to the dimension or discourse of the Other can we truly appropriate our actions toward building a Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

The challenge is not yet over. As our theme has a progressive tone thus, community of Charles, never stop believing we can do better every time. And if everything else fails, don't forget that the very heart of the greater scheme of things is God, a God who became incarnate and became like us in all things except sin.

Say to progress then SMSC! God bless us all. 

HOLY?

Excuse me!

Indubitably, anyone who claims to be holy nowadays needs a therapy of any sort, name them and you have them.

It is one of the facts that one of the adjectives that best describe the Church is holy? Are you agreeable to this claim? Moreover, thus the Church then needs a therapy of any sort?

Reflecting upon this claim I discern two important points. One, the Church is holy inasmuch as it is a place and space for sanctification and two, the Church is a sinner inasmuch as her members , which is the Church, are sinners.

Whatever is your fundamental claim, either the first one or the second, it will affect the whole of your life. But I caution you, "beware the LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEE" which can be encapsulated in one word which is HYPOCRISY. Think of the repercussions of the two points and then decide.

Excuse me, the floor for reasoning is opened. Tsadang!

Pilipino: Nasaan Ka?

Another inhumane attack to a group of Filipino soldiers happened and the question that is always asked is , " who is to be blamed." The intent of this blog post is not to point a finger on who must answer to justice. More often than not, justice seems an ideal and cannot be incarnate.

Inasmuch as this event evokes a second thought evaluation of the peace negotiations in Mindanao, this event also evokes hatred. More than the cry of justice, the subconscious of  the people especially those who are affected and those who have more reasons to hate the killers or the victims cries for REVENGE.

No amount of peace negotiations can thwart the powers underneath the intent of revenge. Revenge as they say is a soup best eaten cold. Inasmuch as time heals, time also fires the desire for revenge to such an amount we can never imagine.

Remembering my elementary years, I would always sing out loud our Pambansang Awit. The last lines of which goes, " aming ligaya na pag may mang-aapi, ang mamatay nang dahil sa'yo." Nasaan ka Pilipino? Our heroes offered their lives for the sake of this august country, that it was their joy to lay down their lives in defense of their fellow Filipino people. I believe this is not a matter of religion, of ideologies, of political maneuver, of "game of the generals", of hatred, of group affiliation but its a conglomeration of everything.

To all Filipinos who contributed in one way or another to this national and to some extent international event I'd like to ask," Pilipino: Nasaan Ka?" We must not protect only the territorial jurisdiction of the our country, we must protect the Filipino people. This we must bear in mind when we sing, "aming ligaya na pag may mang-aapi, ang mamatay nang dahil sa'yo."

Excuse me.

ILLUSION

               After being overwhelmed by two big events, the Visit of Pope Francis and the Sinulog 2015 I cannot help to thank God for the people who invented the internet - through them I can easily have myself "updated" with the whereabouts of the mentioned events. We cannot deny that the internet is good. Yet inasmuch as it is good, more often than not if we are not careful, we fall into the world of illusion and the real is taken for granted.
              Excuse me to cite this issue.
              But folks, I do not condemn the internet for such tendency; the problem lies mostly on the user. Thus, this blog is addressed to all who use the net.
 What good is it to have a million friends in the Facebook if in reality you have no one.
What good is it to have a million followers in the Twitter if in reality you have no one.
Do not take reality for granted.
Bring it with you when you enter the portals of the virtual world.
               The last line of my not-so-good "balak" means that the real world offers us interpersonal tips. Utilize them in making the virtual world more likely real. After all, you know which are illusions and which are not.
God bless you.

               Tsadang! Excuse me.
              

POPE FRANCIS: THE CYNICAL

Excuse me. Thank you.

Perhaps, I can describe the effect of Pope Francis to all the people in the world with these words, "excuse me." The words connote many meanings depending on how it is uttered, isn't it? By these words we can conclude that Pope Francis is a cynic - a person who questions the conventional wisdom of the world.

Pope Francis has not yet reached two years in shepherding the Roman Catholic Church yet his papacy cannot but challenge us, not only those who belong to the Catholic fold, but every human being to be instruments of mercy and compassion in today's world which experience the lack of them. He calls us to a deeper questioning of our present ways saying, "is that human beings ought to do?"

A caution: I don't intend that we should become cynical also, excuse me. Like Pope Francis I challenge you to look at the wisdom behind the things in this world created by my God and your God.

But isn't it unnerving to shout," Pope Francis: the Cynical," side by side with ,"Welcome Pope Francis to the Philippines?" Well, I leave it to your venerable hands.

Excuse me.

Mabuhay!

CHORAL DIRECTION

       
  Hey! Kumusta? Once again let me say another greeting of excuse me in order to welcome you to this another blog post of mine. In my previous blogs, if you happen to read, I hope so, the topics do not say about myself. In this blog let me tell you about myself; a talent of mine which helps me to learn the art of good attitude, in which also goodwill is my hope for success.

I love music. This passion of mine is a God-given talent. I love also to sing. All these talents in music I lay down in the arena of choral direction. But blimey, it is not music I encounter, rather it is life. Directing choral groups, young and old alike, becomes challenging because I am confronted with the challenges of aligning the different attitudes of the members and mine inasmuch as I see to it that harmony will come out in the choral singing. I discover that choral direction is not so much about music, it is 'bout life.

So fellow choral directors, I exhort you to be conscious not only of the musicality of the group but rather be attentive to the lives entrusted to you. And I would like to say, " do everything so that the best in them will surface."

I wish that you will be the melody that brings all voices into one great melody. The wonder indeed in choral direction.