OUR PARISH PRIEST

  Sa nakalipas na taong 2022, napag-alaman ng NGO na Open Doors na napakaraming mga Kristiyano, kapwa Protestante at Katoliko, ang pinapahirapang magsabuhay ng pananampalaya at tinutuligsa dahil sa kanilang pagsunod sa ating Panginoong Hesukristo.   Mahigit 5,000 ang pinatay dahil sa pagiging Kristiyano.   Mahigit 4,000 ang inaresto dahil silay ay Kristiyano.   Mahigit 2,000 simbahan ang sinira ng mga galit sa mga Kristiyano.   312 milyong Kristiyano sa buong mundo ang nakakaranas ng pagtuligsa sa pananampalataya.   Nangunguna ang 7 komunistang mga bansa sa ganitong gawain laban sa mga Kristiyano: North Korea, Eritrea, China, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, Nicaragua.   Nangunguna din ang 8 bansang Muslim sa pagtulisa sa mga Kristiyano: Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran at Sudan.   Ang dahilan ng pagtuligsa sa mga Kristiyano ay pulitika lalo na sa mga bansang Komunista, at relihyon, dah...

  Kung akala ninyo e sapat na ang maraming nagsisimba sa Quiapo, sa Baclaran, sa Manaoag o Antipolo… o sa Sto. Niño sa Cebu, teka lang. May katatapos pa lamang na survey kung saan napatunayan kung anu-anong mga bansa ang may mga Katoliko na masipag talagang magsimba… at hindi Pilipinas ang number 1.   Nangunguna dito ang Nigeria kung saan ayon sa survey, 94% ng mga Katoliko ang nagsisimba linggo-linggo. Kasunod dito ang Kenya na may 73% ng mga Katoliko ang mahilig magsimba linggo-linggo. Pangatlo ang Lebanon na may 69%.   Pang-apat pa lamang ang Pilipinas na may 56% at sumusunod ang Colombia, 54%, Poland 52% at Ecuador 50%.   Ang bansang may pinakatamad magsimba na mga Katoliko linggo linggo ay ang Lithuania, 16%, Germany at Canada kapwa 14%, Latvia at Switzerland 11%, Brazil at France 8% at Netherlands 7%.   Nakakagulat na number one ang Nigeria na kung saan isa sa pinaka-delikado maging Kristiyano at Katoliko dahil sa mga pag-...

IN MEMORY OF A MOTHER'S LOVE    re-published May 18, 2022 (10 years later) originally published May 18, 2012 It is not easy to recapture the memories of the day that just passed.  The flurry of events will leave a lasting mark on my soul as a day of deep trial, deep intimacy, deep abandonment into the hands of the Lord. After my mother entered a critical stage connected to her health problem of two years - lung cancer – within three days in the hospital, she seemed to start recovering.  We cheered her on as she was able to enunciate words again, as she showed bodily strength again, as she began to look at and recognize people again. I will never forget the steady glance of her eyes, the struggling reply to my question, the arm she wrapped around my back, the caress I felt from her fingers transporting me to my childhood under her care. The following morning, I thought I needed a break from the stresses of two emergency room episodes in 10 days. A p...

AND THE IMAGES ARE STILL IN OUR HEARTS...   (originally published May 2013) IT IS ALMOST ONE YEAR... BUT KNOW THAT IT IS STILL YOUR LOVE THAT MAKES ME LIVE! I MISS YOU SO MUCH, MOMMY! IN HEAVEN, PRAY FOR ME TO JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH!

  KILALANIN ANG “YOUNG APOSTLE OF MERCY”   (from FB page: "Praying with Carson")     Namumuno siya ng Divine Mercy Chaplet mula sa kanilang bahay sa America.   Karaniwan kasama kasama niya ang kanyang ina at minsan ang kanyang makulit na kapatid na si Charlie. Ang tatay niya ang nag-aasikaso ng sounds ng kanilang video.   Bigla siyang sumikat bilang alagad ng Divine Mercy sa Facebook at ngayon maraming sumasabay o sumusunod sa kanyang pagdarasal.   Binabasa niya at ipagdarasal ang mga kahilingan ng mga viewers niya.   Siya si Carson Kissel, isang binatilyo, 13 taong gulang na deboto ng Divine Mercy at kaibigan ng mga humihingi ng Awa ng Diyos.   Subalit may kakaiba kay Carson. Ipinanganak siyang may karamdamang tinaguriang EB (hindi Eat Bulaga!) kundi Epidermolyis Bullosa, isang kakaibang sakit sa balat.   Ang balat ni Carson ay parang papel na madaling mapunit. Konting bunggo o gasgas lamang ay napupunit, nags...

Priest dares St. Peter: I demand a miracle Philippine Daily Inquirer 6 Mar 2011 By BibsyM. Carballo IT WAS his first visit to Rome that April of 1998, and Fr. Ramil R. Marcos was inordinately excited as Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, to whom he was assistant secretary, had promised him a visit with Pope John Paul II. His mother was even more excited, asking him to bring home a picture with the Pope. Father Ramil is a much-loved and articulate priest. His homilies are posted in the social media by parishioners who are touched by his words. He was ordained by Cardinal Sin on July 31, 1996. He is now parish priest of Santo Tomas de Villanueva in Santolan in the Diocese of Pasig. We sought him out upon being told by a friend that he had a very interesting encounter with the late Pontiff, who is due for beatification in Rome on May 1. Father Ramil told us how he had been praying to be able to meet the Pope after he and fellow seminarians at the San Carlos Seminary saw h...

  MATUTUNGHAYAN NA ANG KUWENTONG ITO SA ATING BAGONG WEBSITE: https://www.ourparishpriest.com/2020/03/paring-pinoy-nilibot-ang-buong-parokya-upang-basbasan-laban-sa-covid19/  

Namamaalam tayo ngayon sa isang higante sa larangan ng isports, sa larong basketball – si Kobe Bean Bryant. Mahalagang malaman ng lahat na ang idolo na ito ng mga kabataan ay isang Katoliko na nagsikap mabuhay ayon sa kanyang pananampalataya, sa gitna ng mga kahinaan at tukso ng buhay, at nakabawi sa mga dagok ng tadhana dahil sa kanya ring pananalig sa Panginoon. Bukod sa basketball, si Kobe ay may magandang asawa at isang ama ng tahanan, at nagsabing sa pinakamalaking pagsubok sa kanyang buhay ang kanyang pananampalatayang Katoliko ang nagtawid sa kanya at sa buhay ng kanyang pamilya. Pinalaking Katoliko si Kobe habang sila noon ay nakatira sa Italy. Nagpakasal sila ng kanyang asawang si Vanessa sa isang parokya sa California. Noong 2013 si Kobe ay dumaan sa malaking pagsubok dahil sa isang maling ugnayan niya sa isang babae, na noong kalaunan ay naayos din naman. Sinabi niyang isang pari ang tumulong sa kanya sa gitna ng pi...

The Chinese can occupy Philippine territory, but a nun cannot stay and serve the Filipino poor! Only in the Philippines?!

THE MOST REV. BARTOLOME GASPAR SANTOS, DD BISHOP-ELECT, DIOCESE OF IBA, ZAMBALES (2018) THE MOST REV. PROTACIO  GUEVARRA. GUNGON, DD FIRST BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF ANTIPOLO, RIZAL  DIED 2014

Early Catholic Images of Luther Pope Leo X (1513-1521) asked the Augustinians to look into the Augustinian German priest who was disseminating “novas res… nova dogmata” among the faihtful.  The Dominicans in Germany , sympathizing with Johann Tetzel their confrere and archenemy of Luther on the matter of the sale of indulgences, started preaching about this “heretic” to the people, warning them that this man undermined religious practice and departed from standard Catholic teaching. Further, they surmised about his eventual disgraceful defeat and possible death at the stake.  Later attempts to apprehend Luther through canonical process showed that he was to be tried as a “suspect of heresy.” The pope, ordering an upgraded process of inquiry on the man and his teachings wrote that Luther was a known and obstinate “teacher of heresy.” ( Jared Wicks, Roman Reactions to Luther, 1983, p. 528 ) Dominican Cardinal Cajetan , the man who was to rep...

(PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS WILL JOINTLY COMMEMORATE THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REFORMATION IN 2017) I entered into a pastoral quiz among some of my friends, all of them Catholics. In an informal survey by text, Facebook and Viber, I asked the question: What comes to your mind when you hear the name Martin Luther? The minority reply revealed a certain ignorance and nonchalance. One respondent said, “Who is that?”, and another wrote simply, “Nothing.”   Another set of replies showed confidence but sadly, also that of a mistaken identity.   Martin Luther was “the great American civil rights advocate.” He fought “for racial equality among black and white peoples.” He was “the assassinated human rights activist.” They were clearly referring to the American Martin Luther King, Jr., than the German founder of the Reformation. A most interesting answer simply said that Luther was the “father of Communism.” More than those who manifested mistaken...

TAPOS NA ANG BOXING (a simple thanks to Fr. Albert Meerschaert, cicm) I’m sure tributes to Fr. Albert abound these days both from priests, ex-seminarians and lay people who knew him in his 51 long years as seminary formator and specially as spiritual director of aspirants to the priesthood. Fr. Albert was my only spiritual director in my 9 years in the seminary. I knew no other guide before him and those who came after him in my life can never equal both the length and depth of relationship he offered me in spiritual friendship and accompaniment. There are so many memories flowing in my mind right now and I believe it will take many pages to scribble them down. But the most significant one for my vocation was the story of how he saved my vocation. Fr. Albert never told me about this incident. It was in fact my Prefect of Discipline in Theology who told me the story, after being so impressed by Fr. Albert’s concern for his seminarians. In the seminary, there...