Faith Should Never be Wavered by Hatred Toward Some Priests and Nuns

Faith Should Never Be Wavered

By Hatred toward SOME PRIESTS AND NUNS

By Apolinario Villalobos

 

It is worrying to note that lately, many faithful in whatever spiritual leanings are becoming more vocal about their hatred toward their parish priest, minister and other church leaders, including nuns. In this regard, their emotion should not affect their steadfast Faith, as they have the liberty to choose which congregation to join. After letting go of their pent up emotion, they should move on. If they do not want, for instance, to see the face of their parish priest, they should attend Mass somewhere else. They have the choice in the meantime, and just go back if another parish priest has been assigned after the hated priest’s tour of duty. If they believe in the power of prayer, they should pray that the hated parish priest be transferred posthaste to another area for reasons that only the Bishop knows. Meantime, I admire the guts of those who openly denounce their parish priest due to his unbecoming acts.

 

ALL Christian-based churches are monogamous and teach the goodness of the same God which in this regard, even Islam does…. they are there for our appreciation. Hatred should never be nurtured in one’s heart, especially, if it has been triggered by a hated religious leader. In this regard, the Catholic Church should never threaten members with “ex-communication”, just because they love Duterte and advocate sex education. This issue is founded on the glaring choice between: slow death caused by the evil drug and poverty due to uncontrolled sex, especially, among the impoverished… or saving the future of the youth and affording comfort to the financially deprived.

 

Faith is innately set in our heart, and manifested at the right time through action as dictated by our consciousness as we grow. For some religious denominations, it is dictated by the parents, hence, the baptism of the infant several days after he or she has been born. Other denominations wait until the child has come of required age before baptism is done. For the Catholics, there is a so-called “Confirmation” ceremony for the kids, but I have observed that not a single baptized child has “denounced” the dictated Faith. Understandably, it is because the kids have not yet experienced and observed the unbecoming acts of SOME priests, specifically, their parish priest. As they grow, observations are stored in their consciousness until the time of their crucial decision to attend Mass at another parish, or even move to the fold of any Christian Churches that have proliferated lately, due to spiritual awakening.

 

All Churches should focus on their spiritual responsibilities and shy away from politics. Special mention can be made on SOME Catholic priests and nuns who join political rallies against the present administration, denouncing the killing of drug lords and pushers. But I doubt if they have ever handed out a piece of 2peso bread to a child begging on the street, or give a 10peso recycled plastic bag to a homeless elderly couple to sleep on the sidewalk or to protect them against the pelting rain. If these hypocrites would say that it is not their duty, but DSW’s as they are corporal matters, then why dip their finger into the dirty politics?  If they insist that the DSW and other related agencies are staffed with paid workers out of the people’s tax, they should bear in their wormed mind that churches live on the tithes or donations of their members, for them to do their spiritual duty. Still, if they tenaciously insist that their conscience dictates that they must denounce Dueterte in front of TV cameras, then…IT IS HIGH TIME FOR THEM TO REMOVE THEIR HABITS (UNIFORM DESIGNATING AFFILIATION TO A RELIGIOUS ORDER OR WHATEVER), AND SHOUT THEIR OUTMODED COMMUNISTIC SLOGANS WITH THE LEFTISTS TO THEIR HEART’S CONTENT. IF I SEE ANY OF THOSE “RELIGIOUS” KUNO ON BROADSHEETS AND TABLOIDS WITH TIGHTLY-CLOSED FIST AND AGAPE MOUTH IN STREET CLOTHES, THEN, I WILL BE OBLIGED TO PRAISE THEM IN A BLOG!

 

Finally, the noise from these misled and religious misfits (to be clear, only SOME), should not add up to the discontent which peoples around the world are harboring against the Churches, and which even made many of them openly declare their being Atheist. These religious kuno – spiritual hypocrites, are practically leading people away from God by confusing their mind. Their mandate in joining Religious Orders is to propagate spirituality and NOT TO FOMENT UNREST AMONG THE EXPLOITED AND ALREADY CONFUSED PEOPLE.

 

Ang Nagpakabayani sa Rehimeng Marcos at mga Panggulong Sulsol Ngayon

ANG MGA NAGPAKABAYANI SA REHIMENG MARCOS

AT MGA PANGGULONG SULSOL NGAYON

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

 

Alam ng mga namatay, pinahirapan at nawala noong panahon ng Martial Law ang kahihinatnan nila sa pagsagupa kay Marcos. Hindi naman sila mga attack dogs na basta na lang mangangagat dahil inutusan ng amo nila. Ang mga nakipaglaban kay Marcos noon ay may matatag na adhikain na ang katumbas ay kamatayan nila kaya noon pa man ay tanggap na nila ang magiging kahihinatnan nila. Kung hindi nila tanggap dapat ay tumiwalag na sila sa grupo nila nang maramdaman mainit na sila sa pamahalaan, pero hindi….bagkus ay nagpatuloy sila kahit pa siguro tutol ang mga magulang nila. Nangyari nga ang pinangangambahang kamatayan at pagkawala nila. Nang mawala si Marcos sa Pilipinas walang ginawang aksiyon ang mga pumalit na presidente upang mapanagot ang mga sangkot na ang iba ay nagpalit lang ng kulay kaya may puwestong matataas pa sa gobyerno tulad ni Fidel Ramos at Juan Ponce Enrile….bukod sa mga heneral.

 

Masuwerte ang mga buhay at pinakawalan mula sa kulungan. Ang paglaya naman ng mga naiwang political detainees ay pinaglalaban hanggang ngayon…AT, ANG ISYUNG YAN DAPAT NA PAGTUUNAN NG PANSIN NG MGA NAGSISISIGAW SA MGA KALYE AT HARAP NG US EMBASSY, HINDI ANG ISYU SA PAGKALIBING NI MARCOS SA ISANG SEMENTERYO.

 

HINDI RIN DAPAT NA ISINISIGAW PA NILA ANG ISYU NG MGA NAMATAY NA O DI KAYA AY NAWALA. ANG DAPAT NILANG GAWIN TUNGKOL SA MGA KASAMA NILANG YAN AY MAG-RESEARCH KUNG SINO SILA – PANGALAN AT PROBINSIYANG PINANGGALINGAN AT ESKWELAHANG PINASUKAN. IBIGAY ANG LISTAHAN SA KAALYADO NILA SA KONGRESO AT SENADO AT HIKAYATIN ANG MGA ITO NA GUMAWA NG PANUKALA NA MAG-DEKLARA SA MGA NAMATAY AT NAWALA BILANG, “MGA BAYANI SA PANAHON NG MARTIAL LAW”. SA PAMAMAGITAN NIYAN, MAITATALA ANG MGA PANGALAN NILA SA LAHAT NG MGA AKLAT SA BANSA TUNGKOL SA MARTIAL LAW. PWEDE DING MAGLAGAY NG MARKER NA MAY MGA PANGALAN SA MGA ESKWELAHAN AT PROBINSIYANG PINANGGALINGAN NILA.

 

Siguradong may pera ang mga organisasyong maka-kaliwa o pulahan na panggastos sa suggestion ko. Huwag nilang ibulsa ang mga “donasyon”. Kung hindi nila magagawa, ang kalalabasan nila ay talagang malinaw na “TAGA-PANGGULO” lamang kahit sino pa ang presidente….ang tawag diyan ay “SULSULERO”. Kung ihambing sila sa kulisap, para silang kuto o kuyumad sa ulo o hanep sa balat na nagsasanhi ng kati kaya nakakainis!

 

On Being At The Threshold of Our Lives

by Apolinario B Villalobos

 

Some of us may have gone through a near-death experience in which our past lives were flashed before our eyes, followed by a vision of blinding light at the end of the tunnel. I am among those who did when I fell down Mt. Hibok-hibok on the island of Camiguin during a Friday the 13^th climb many years ago. I did not tell friends about it even my climbing buddies in PAL Mountaineering Club. I realized only now that it could be God’s way of telling me how I fared since the day I was born, how I dealt with others while growing up until that crucial near-death moment. It could have been His way of showing me portions of my life where I erred, hence, for me to realize that I need to take note and change my ways before I face Him.

The presumed God’s message is far from my mind while I had been exerting much effort to change my lifestyle for the better, that resulted to total eradication of my drinking habit. The changes came about spontaneously. I stopped drinking because I noticed palpitation of my heart even after just two bottles of beer. I minimized staying light despite so many writings to do because I noticed that loss of sleep causes my blood pressure to zoom up. I started counting from one to ten every time I am in a situation that I knew would irritate me and make me flare up. As for the diet, there is no problem because I had been a vegetarian for a long time. Today, I can proudly say that I have changed for the better.

As what I had been doing gave me good results, I tried to share them with friends, thinking that I would be doing them a favor. Some heeded me, some did not. Those who heeded me are thankful. Those who did not, told me that, as we will die anyway, we should enjoy life to the fullest.

I am at the threshold of my life and so are my friends with whom I am sharing useful tips on healthful living. It is alright if some of them do not take me seriously, for who am I to tell them, anyway. I am not a doctor, but my sharing is based on my experience. What I cannot comprehend is their adamant refusal to see the truth despite the expositions made by experts through the different media – tv, newspapers, internet, magazines. For me, there is nothing wrong in preparing oneself before we fall at the edge of life which in my case is just a few steps away. To die of sickness is a natural thing, but to suffer before death is another. Suffering could be lessened if we prepare ourselves.

Gasping for air until one dies because of emphysema is very much different from gasping for air as one dies naturally. The first one died while suffering, while the other one made the passage with a smooth sigh. The suffered death happens prematurely. Imagine young people dying of stroke, cancer, emphysema. These diseases may be prevented if only those who suffer from them are cautious in their lifetime. I need not emphasize that these are caused by unhealthy foods, smoking, heavy drinking, loss of sleep, drug abuse. Those concerned knew all the while that what they had been doing were not right, still they refuse to do what were supposed to be helpful to them

The ones with fatalistic attitude will say that cancer is in their blood, anyway, so they are bound to die of that disease. But there is such a thing as prevention which can be done even just to lessen the effect. The first step in this effort should come from them. Medication should come as a last resort. Nobody is exempted from having different diseases in their blood. But external factors aggravate them. Again, everybody knows that these external factors are summarized into just one – habit. We have the habit of smoking, uncontrolled drinking of alcoholic beverage, eating unhealthy foods, intentionally staying late at night making the rounds of night spots. Why not do something about those bad habits? We always forget that regrets always come at the end. Before, we know it, we may already be in the stage that require dialysis, chemo therapy, etc. Whatever strength left in us, may not even be  enough in drawing sighs to lessen our suffering.

While at the threshold of our lives, making the few more steps towards the edge, why not give ourselves  the chance to make up for our wrongdoings in the past? We are not saints as not to have offended others and God  somewhere in the past as we trudge on the path of life. If you have been snooty, why not put a smile on your face, once in a while? (this may take a lot of practice for some due to the permanent crease on their face that resulted from their former sour expression). If you did not care much for your neighbor before, why not start sharing with them your special viand that you cooked? If you have not been nice to your parents-in-law before, why not treat them to a lunch in a mall? Most especially, if you forgot how the chapel in your neighborhood looks like, why not start waking up early on Sundays to attend Mass? (this way, too, you renew your long-lost relationship with God).

Some of you just do not know that you have a knack for community service. I know you can feel it but do not know just how or where to start. Now is your chance as you have all the time, being retired. With so many calamities happening during most months of the year in our country, you may share your service by joining relief distribution groups. If you do not have that much energy, you can stay at relief center repacking and classifying donations. Former colleagues in PAL, Mrs. Tesi Ona and Mrs. Lency Roceles do this. While Mrs. Ona is with a volunteer social workers’ group at St. Luke’s Hospital, Mrs. Roceles is with a foundation, helping on the spot, needy people. I know that there are still others out there who do the same. They may not be with any group, but are happy enough to  do Samaritan works alone.

Each one of us has been given certain blessings in the form of skill by God. It is selfish for us not to share them with others. Some of you are shy to express them. Now is the time to do it. It is not late to join the choir group in your church or evangelists that roam around to share the words of God or religious groups that lead church activities in your communities. Also, you may not know that you have an artistic skill in the field of painting. Mrs. Corazon Aquino tried her best to bring out her artistic inclination just before she passed away. Or you may have the skill to write. Jot down poetic lines to be left behind as mementos to your loved ones.

There are so many things that we can do while we are at the threshold of our lives. Some of us may have already been doing them. But for those who have not yet opened their eyes to realities, by just spending precious times in malls playing bingo, sleeping it out the whole day and spending the rest of the time in the evening imbibing bottles of beer or shots of liquor, playing cards or mahjong at home with friends – think again…while there is still time.