About the author- litigation lawyer in telecoms, taxation, criminal, labor, appellate, family law and corporate; a radio broadcaster, speaker, author a husband, a father, advocate for consumers, for justice www.angkapatiran.org and a sinner who wants to
be a saint. hilman1108@yahoo.com
Last December 27, 2005, we were fortunate to have visited Agdangan Quezon to pray, to reflect and to see the under construction luminous cross of grace sanctuary in the parish now being shephereded by Father Raul Enriquez. Fr Raul has consistently mentioned how the people of Agdangan are going through a cleansing process in prepartion to hosting pilgrims to this sanctuary that embraces you with inspiration, compassion, forgiveness, humility, meaning, purpose and why we are alive in this world of obvious injustices. We see the simple folk, the farmers, the former jueteng copradors or habitual drinkers, now cleansing themselves, putting their own time, labor and skill to build this sanctuary to the world. Many donors have come and visited and pledged to build not only this santuary but numerous others like it all over the world- an ambitious dream and answer to the Lords call for repentance, for forgiveness, for prayer, for unity of soul, for transparency in governance, for the cleansing of our souls, for values of life, of overcoming temptation as manifested by the seven capital sins. We can not reform by ourselves. we need Gods love and grace.Many have been healed by the messages of the Lord and the good news. Attend mass usually every Tuesday at the 11th floor of the chapel within the Aurora Milestone bldg. Aurora Blvd (beside the katipunan mrt station) in loyola heights Quezon City 1108 Philippines. The Servants of the Luminous Cross of Grace welcomes you and your requests for healing and prayer from 7pm to close to midnight. the mass usually ends between 10 pm and 1030 pm depending on Fr Rauls inspired homily and Aia Halilis updates on the construction and other sharers. Bring a jacket and join us in a humble meal after the prayers. You can also have a confession and intercessory prayer and healings. Praise God .Amen hilman1108@yahoo.com www.luminouscrossofgrace.com www.luminouscrossofgrace.org
The Secret of Love, According to Benedict XVI
Pope Explains Encyclical to Readers of Italian Magazine
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 7, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Breaking with tradition, Benedict XVI decided to present personally his encyclical \”Deus Caritas Est\” to readers of Famiglia Cristiana, the biggest weekly magazine in Italy.
The Pope wrote the lines which follow, taking advantage of the decision of the magazine\’s editors, St. Paul\’s Publications, to give readers a copy of the document with the Feb. 5 issue.
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Dear Readers of Famiglia Cristiana
I am very pleased that Famiglia Cristiana has sent you at home the text of my encyclical and has given me the possibility to accompany it with some words to facilitate its reading. Initially, in fact, the text might seem a bit difficult and theoretical. However, when one begins to read it, it becomes evident that I only wished to respond to a couple of very concrete questions for Christian life.
The first question is the following: Is it possible to love God?; more than that: Can love be something that is obligatory? Is it not a feeling that one has or does not have? The answer to the first question is: Yes, we can love God, given that He has not remained at an unreachable distance but has entered and enters into our lives. He comes to meet each one of us: in the sacraments through which he acts in our lives; with the faith of the Church, through which he addresses us, making us meet with men touched by Him, who transmit light to us; with dispositions through which he intervenes in our lives; also with the signs of the creation he has given us.
Not only has he offered us love, above all he lived it first and knocks on the door of our hearts in many ways to elicit our response of love. Love is not only a feeling; to it also belong the will and the intelligence. With his Word, God addresses our intelligence, our will and our feelings, so that we may learn to love him \”with our whole heart and our whole soul.\” We do not find love, in fact, suddenly all ready; instead, so to speak, it matures. We can learn to love gradually, so that love will involve all our strength and will open the way to an honest life.
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The second question is the following: Can we really love our \”neighbor\” when he is strange or even disagreeable? Yes, we can, if we are God\’s friends, if we are Christ\’s friends and, in this way, it becomes ever clearer that He has loved and loves us, though we often turn our gaze from Him and live according to other criteria. If, instead, friendship with God becomes for us something ever more important and decisive, then we will begin to love those whom God loves and who are in need of us. God wants us to be friends of his friends and we can be so, if we are interiorly close to them.
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Finally, this question is also posed: With her commandments and prohibitions, does not the Church embitter the joy of \”eros,\” of feeling ourselves loved, which pushes us toward the other and seeks to be transformed into union? I have tried to show in the encyclical that the most profound promise of \”eros\” can mature only when we do not seek transitory and sudden happiness alone. On the contrary, together we find the patience to discover the other increasingly in the depth of his person, in the totality of body and soul, so that, finally, the other\’s happiness is more important than our own. Then, we no longer want to receive something but give ourselves and in this liberation from his \”I\” man finds himself and is filled with joy.
I speak in the encyclical of a journey of purification and maturation necessary so that the true promise of \”eros\” may be fulfilled. The language of the tradition of the Church has called this process \”education in chastity,\” which, in the end, means nothing other than to learn the totality of love in the patience of growth and maturation.
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In the second part there is talk of charity, in the service of the communal love of the Church toward all who suffer in body or soul and are in need of the gift of love. Two questions arise here above all: Can the Church leave this service to other philanthropic organizations? The answer is no. The Church cannot do so. The Church must practice love toward the neighbor including as a community; otherwise, it would proclaim the love of God in an incomplete and insufficient way.
The second question: Would it not be better to promote an order of justice in which there are no needy, and charity would become something superfluous? The answer is the following: Undoubtedly the end of politics is to create a just order in society, where what is proper to each one is recognized and where no one suffers from abject poverty. In this case, justice is the true object of politics, as peace cannot exist without justice. By her very nature, the Church does not engage in politics in the first person; rather, she respects the autonomy of the State and of its institutions.
The search for this order of justice corresponds to common reason, just as politics is something that affects all citizens. Often, however, reason is blinded by interests and the will to power. Faith serves to purify reason, so that it may see and decide correctly. Therefore, it is the task of the Church to cure reason and reinforce the will to do good. In this connection, without engaging in politics, the Church participates passionately in the battle for justice. It corresponds to Christians involved in public service to always open, in their political action, new ways for justice.
However, I have only answered the first half of our question. The second half, which I like to stress in the encyclical, says thus: Justice never makes love superfluous. Beyond justice, man will always need love, which alone is able to give a soul to justice. In a world so profoundly wounded, as the one we know in our days, this affirmation does not need demonstrations. The world expects the testimony of Christian love that is inspired in faith. In our world, often so dark, the love of God shines with this love.
Benedict XVI
[Translation by ZENIT]
>AUTHOR UNKNOWN
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>15 Things You Probably Never Knew or Thought About
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>1. At least 5 people in this world love you so
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>much they would die for you.
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>2. At least 15 people in this world love you in
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>some way.
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>3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is
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>because they want to be just like you.
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>4. A smile from you can bring happiness to
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>anyone, even if they don’t like you.
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>5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before
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>they go to sleep.
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>6. You mean the world to someone.
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>7. If not for you, someone may not be living.
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>8. You are special and unique.
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>9. Someone that you don’t even know exists loves
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>you.
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>10. When you make the biggest mistake ever,
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>something good comes from it.
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>11. When you think the world has turned its back
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>on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back
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>on the world.
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>12. When you think you have no chance of getting
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>what you want, you probably won’t get it, but if you
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>believe in yourself, probably, sooner or later, you will get it.
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>13. Always remember the compliments you received.
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>Forget about the rude remarks.
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>14. Always tell someone how you feel about them;
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>you will feel much better when they know.
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>15. If you have a great friend, take the
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>time to let them know that they are great.
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>A Minute: They say it takes a minute to find a
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>special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to
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>love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
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>Take the time… to live and love.
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>Send this letter to all the people you care
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>about, including the person who sent this to you.
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Are you afraid of your wife? Does she verbally abuse you, or critizice you and you never do anything right. Does she beat you up if you are late in coming home? Does she threaten you with violence? You may be a battered husband.
Are you willing to come out in the open? Please do, Republic Act 9262 has to be amended to include the protection of men from violence aside from women and children.
Most of you suffer in silence. Why ? Are you ashamed that you married an abuser. Do not be. SPEAK OUT NOW. ACCORDING TO ONE FILIPINO CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, who interviewed victims of abuse nationwide, for every two(2) battered women, there is one(1) battered man. The psychologist said perhaps the violence we see in our society from men, partly reflects that they suffer in silence because of the supposed MACHO IMAGE. A MACHO MAN does not cry, does not show his weakness , his vulnerability. Personally , if a man cries, he is a real man. He is not afraid to show his hurts, his emotions. If you allow the abuse to continue, you increase the tension and conflict in your personal life.
Dear Doctor, could the number of strokes and heart attack in our society be reflective of this hidden abuse , aside from wrong lifestyle choices. Conflict resolution and training ourselves to resolve conflict properly and civilly should be part of everyones upbringing. SPEAK OUT BATTERED MEN. A MACHO MAN SPEAKS OUT HIS HURTS, HIS FEELINGS , HIS ASPIRATIONS AND CONFRONTS HIS PROBLEMS NOT RUN AWAY FROM THEM.
I received queries on legal separation. This is a relief available to married persons who want to change their property regime. You remain married to each other.
You have to submit the inventory of your conjugal property and you and your spouse
agreed on the proposed division of property, if no agreement then the court will rule considering if there are minor children or not, what are the needs of children etc. If you have any creditors they have to be informed of the petition. You may have children who are of minor age, a proposed support system and custody will also be ruled on by the court.
Of course there is legal separation wherein the other spouse does not agree to the separation, the court will still rule on your request, addressed to the courts’ sound discretion.
There are grounds for legal separation in the family code.
A pre-nuptial agreement if any must be presented to the court, so that the court can proceed from what is stated there in.
The case is filed in the city where the petitioner lives.
attysison2020@yahoo.com
