#Iglesia Filipina Independiente

[whatisonthemoon]

On CIA’s Intense Religious Efforts to Combat the “Christian Left” in the Philippines

Excerpted from "A Commentary on the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church" by Christians for National Liberation (in the Philippines)

More on the cultural field, the CIA and its conduits have used and continue to employ the Christian religion to disrupt and distort the progressive aspect of Christianity and the victory of the Filipino people against Spanish colonialism that made use of Catholicism in order to subjugate the Philippines for more than 300 years. It can even be construed that the CIA backed up financially the Iglesia ni Kristo (INK), founded by Felix Y. Manalo in 1914, which attracted a significant membership and started to build big I.N.K. churches after World War II. The CIA could have done this covertly in order to make the I.N.K. the Filipino opposite church of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), founded on August 3, 1902 by Filipino Katipunan revolutionary priest Gregorio Labayan Aglipay with Union Obrera Democratica (UOD) labor leader Isabelo de los Reyes, Sr., popularly known as Don Belong. In fact, the US imperialists were very much displeased when they came to know that Obispo Maximo or Supreme Bishop Aglipay secretly gave support when the Socialist and Communist Parties of the Philippines merged in 1938 and when he expressed interest and enthusiasm in the universal theory of Marxism-Leninism after he read Marxist classics in Spanish sent by his friend, James S. Allen of the Communist Party US, as the bishop said in 1939: 

The first one I read has already confirmed me in my convictions about communism and that the salvation of mankind lies only in its hands. I have always declared that we must concentrate all our efforts in making this a better world, without wasting anything in vain delusions about what lies beyond this life. And it gives me a thrill discovering that Lenin, Marx, Stalin and all the friends of the Proletariat are one with me in this.

The openness of Filipino Christians to struggle for national liberation, as shown by the Filipino Catholic clergy who joined the revolution against Spanish colonialism, and even to Marxism as manifested by Bishop Aglipay in his statement mentioned above, had led US imperialism to continue commissioning the CIA to persist in utilizing the Christian religion to hide the exploitation and oppression of US imperialism in the Philippines. For instance, the CIA initiated the entry of Christian “socialism,” which became the ideological foundation of the Christian Social Movement (CSM) headed by Manglapus and Manahan among pro-US imperialist politicians to counter Filipino nationalist politicians, led by the late Senator Claro M. Recto. Senator C. M. Recto was a staunch anti-US imperialist critic and was believed to have been a victim of the CIA, as he died mysteriously of heart attack, though he had no known heart ailment, in Rome, Italy after an appointment with two Caucasians in business suits in 1958. During the 1960s to the 1970s, the CIA established the Campus Crusaders for Christ (CCC) in various universities and colleges throughout the Philippines; the New Tribes Mission (NTM) stations and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) centers were formed by the CIA in the mountainous areas of the national minorities throughout the Philippines. And since the 1980s up to the present period, all sorts of CIA-backed charismatic congregations, the Dating Daan of Eli Soriano, the Sonship Kingdom of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy (a megalomaniac and self-appointed Son of God in Davao and a friend of tyrant Duterte; has expropriated Lumad lands; owns Son Shine Radio with 16 transmitters stationed strategically throughout the country, fully supports tyrant Duterte’s Build, Build, Build projects; and actively participates in the surrender campaign of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict or NTF-ELCAC), “praise the Lord” groups, “Christ to the Orient” and “free believers” have proliferated. And usually, the use of the Bible and Christianity for the CIA-backed evangelists is to attack the mainline Christian Churches that adhere to human rights in Philippine society.

Currently in this 3rd millennium of Christianity, the newest “church,” that may have been introduced by the CIA in the Philippines, is the “Christ the Way of Salvation: Divine Covenant International Church.” It projects itself as a global church and claims to have many congregations of worshipers in the US, Spain, the Philippines, and other countries. Based on the findings of the CNL research team, this newest “international Church” has worshipping centers in various places in the Philippines such as in Manabo and Pilar, Abra; Nueva Era, Ilocos Norte; Rosales, Pangasinan; Romblon; and other areas of the country. This “International church” sees itself as very different from the mainline Christian Churches (RC, UCCP, IFI, UMC, ECP, LCP), though almost all its members come from the mainline Christian Churches.

Some may question the veracity if the “Christ the Way of Salvation: Divine Covenant International Church” is, indeed, a CIA-created and -inspired one. For one thing, the CIA makes use of various international fronts and conduits to conceal its mission to maintain US imperialist global hegemony. But one may conclude that it may have been established by the CIA: first, when such a Christian church is “international” in scope and is very well-funded; second, though biblically based, a so-called “International Church” limits itself to only a few New Testament passages and does not mention the prophets of the Old Testament and the various denunciations by Jesus Christ addressed to the rich and powerful; third, it does not recognize as “apostolic” the traditions of the mainline Christian Churches (particularly the Roman Catholic and Orthodox in other countries); fourth, it considers itself as very different from the mainline Christian churches and does not worry itself about ecumenical concerns; fifth, it does not bother itself as regards the global problems of wars, poverty and inequalities among peoples and nations; and, sixth, it merely stresses spiritual conversion and salvation of individual persons. One example of this is defined and found in The Way of Salvation. It states: 

There are differences within Christian churches that have created various denominations… These denominations have differences regarding their beliefs in God and salvation… [But] the church that preaches the true gospel today is the true one that continues the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles… There are three integral phases in the complete Christian conversion and salvation…: (1) Confess Jesus As Lord; (2) Receive the Life of Christ… by accepting the three sacraments: baptism, footwashing [CNL], and Holy Communion; [and] (3) Live by the Spirit.

Some Church leaders and CNL cadres in Northern Luzon, Philippines even suspect that CIA elements may also be using the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol in order to spy on the activities of the progressive Church people. The basis of this is the fact that the CNL research team found out in 2019 that some ordained priests and ministers in Northern Luzon were issued Interpol badges at ₱500 per badge. One priest was, in fact, given an Interpol badge, ranking him as a brigadier general! Those given Interpol badges were told to submit regularly their findings on people involved in various criminalities, including those engaged in the communist insurgency. Such suspicion by some Church leaders and CNL cadres may have been based on the fact that even the United Nations’ Security Council is under the direct control of US imperialism and other imperialist powers. Therefore, it is easy to assume the great possibility that the CIA forces currently at work in the Philippines are already using the Interpol in order to spy on the CNL, even though the Interpol clearly states in its international policy that it “is strictly non-political and is forbidden to undertake any activities of a religious, racial, or military nature; and only government-approved police bodies may hold Interpol membership.”

It must, therefore, be very clear to all Christians—the ordained, the religious, the laity—that US imperialism and the CIA provocateurs go on using the Christian religion and the anti-communist propaganda to thwart the participation of Christians—the ordained, the religious and the laity— in the Philippine NDR which has a socialist perspective. And although it would be expounded on in the CNL’s 8th topic, CNL’s Concluding Remarks: God’s Kingdom as the Reign of Truth, Justice, Peace, Love, Equality and Liberation, all CNL members further pray that all Filipino Christians relegate the Church’s more than two-century old partiality to capitalism, be open to dialogue with Marxists, and be inspired by Pope Francis who said in his November 11, 2016 interview at the Vatican City: “It’s the communists who think like Christians.”

[pannaginip]

The para-teachers of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente’s (IFI) Eskwelayan project denounced the harassment of its community organization Samahan ng Maralita sa Temporary Housing (SMTH). They have been subjected to surveillance by the Philippine military.

The first incident happened in March 2023 when soldiers visited them daily at the daycare center, taking photographs of their operations and asking for their personal information.

“The harassment faced by the leaders of SMTH deeply troubles us. It prompts us to reflect on why the military is targeting this community-based, cause-oriented group that is simply advocating for their fundamental rights to housing and livelihood,” The Rt. Rev’d Dindo Ranojo, IFI general secretary, said in a statement.

The SMTH was established in 2016 due to threats of demolition in the community. It advocates for the rights of the residents in housing and livelihood.

In February 2024, several incidents of red-tagging were documented involving the 11th Civil Military Operations Kaugnayan Battalion’s Facebook post. Some residents are tagged as members of SMTH under the pretext of “fake surrenders.” Another post indicated that they would later sign a commitment of support to the NTF-ELCAC.

The teachers filed a barangay blotter and a formal complaint with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) against the military personnel. However, only high-ranking officers faced the organization.

2024 Mar. 31

[jimstan2024]

"One Voice, One Faith, One YIFI [YOUTH]: Mission in Action to the Fullness of Life"

As one faithful community, as one organization, and as one church, how do we make sure that our lives are one and we are in action – that we are achieving the fullness of life?

The key lies in our relationships, and in the one who restores them.

“At the heart of a broken world there are broken relationships. In a life that seems less than full, this is one of the first things we should look to. And this doesn’t just mean relationships with other people. For an abundant life, we need to look to our relationships with God, with creation, and with ourselves – as well as with others.”

Jesus is able to offer life to the fullness of it because he is able to bring harmony to all these things. ‘Through him all things were made’ (John 1:3), and through him all things are remade: he is the great healer and restorer, the one who is ‘making everything new.’ (Revelation 21:5) the story on healing the paralytic man shows the oneness of life in one faith in one action embracing total acceptance and inclusiveness.

This is why we, the YOUTH are so passionate about working through our ministry. We know that it is the restoration of relationships that we will enable people to lift themselves out of disconnection to the society.

The entire organization and ministry of the Youth has been called to look back the journey of the Youth of Iglesia Filipina Independiente, coming from ordinary Young People becoming a Modern Hero casting all form of dehumanization in the society and influence young people to be empowered, motivated and unified.

One Voice: “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1,Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding” Proverbs 2:3. “That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”Romans 15:6-7 ESV. These text expresses that as young people our ministry advocates to be the voice of our ministry. As we work hand-in-hand, the life and witnessing journey of each youth member of this institution amplifies the voice of those young people who are dis-heard by the community.

One Faith: "Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.” — C.S. Lewis. Faith is a fundamental part of the christian life . As Youth of the church One Faith defines the needs on leaning on faith in difficult situations can help ministry overcomes even the most harmful and challenging it face during on its service. Moreover, we can be left feeling hopeless, broken, and desperate. Having faith along with a positive outlook can help to motivate and encourage the people around us to do the same. After we take a look at these moving leap-of-faith, we can share your vision with friends and family so they can be encouraged, as well.

One YIFI: We do have lots of different lay ministries. Ministry maintain the action of advocacy in life. An organization that talk and consider while the fullness of the ministries serve and care. A young people  make decisions and implement actions.  YFI  that implementer and decision-makers. The people who do the ministry get to make their own decisions about that ministry. We do not separate authority from responsibility. We trust young people with both. YIFI that evolves and involve themselves as strong individual with interconnected personality to promote the avenue of action achieving the ministry of Christ in today's context.

Mission in Action to the Fullness of Life: We must remember that the church is a body not a business. It is an organism not just an organization, and so God intends for it to operate on the basis of spiritual gifts. . You have to figure out who your evangelistic mission is and focus on it. No style of church can possibly reach everyone, that’s the reason young people is needed. Take a close look and you’ll find that every church has a culture. This culture is determined by the predominant kind of people who make up the congregation. Whoever your church has right now is who you’re likely to attract more of whether you like that fact or not.

The most overlooked principle for ministry growth is we have to love people the way Jesus did. The reason Jesus attracted such large crowds is because He loved people. On the other hand, the real reason they don’t have a crowd is because they don't want a crowd! They love their own comfort more than they love lost people. To reach unbelievers you have to move outside your own comfort zone and do things that often feel awkward and uncomfortable to you. It takes unselfish people to grow a church. Lost people have a lot of problems and their lives are messy. Its not by accident that Jesus compared evangelism to fishing. Fishing is often messy and smelly. So many churches want the fish they catch to be precanceled, gutted, cleaned and cooked. That’s why they never reach anyone.

There is no ONE WAY to grow a ministry! It takes all kinds of individual to reach all kinds of people. If you’re getting the job done lives are being changed then like the way you’re doing it, move forward to the fullness of life as ONE.

[halkonensis]

Rumaragasang ilog ang katarungan:

Ang masaker sa pamilya Fausto at ang Kristiyanong pagsisikap para sa kapayapaan

Sa halip ay padaluyin ninyo ang katarungan, gaya ng isang ilog; gayundin ang katuwiran tulad ng isang di natutuyong batis. Amos 5:24 MBBTAG

Trigger warning: graphic descriptions of military violence

Nakagigimbal ang pagpaslang ng pamilya Fausto, mga magsasaka at kapanalig ng Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), sa kamay ng mga kagawad ng 94th Infantry Battalion ng Philippine Army (IBPA), sa Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City, Negros Oriental noong Hunyo 14.

Kumikintil pa rin sa diwa ang mga litrato ng kubong tinutuluyan ng mag-anak: mga duguang bangkay na nakalaylay sa pintuan at sa hagdan. Apat na katawang balot sa puting tela, nakahandusay sina Roly Fausto, ama; Emelda Fausto, ina; at sina Ben at Ravin, mga anak.

Sinasalaysay lamang ng mga litrato ang isang parte ng kuwento. Marami pang mga pinagkakait ang 94th IBPA at ang Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) na mga detalye.

Ayon sa September 21 Movement, isang grupo para sa karapatang pantao, matagal nang target ng panliligalig ang mga Fausto sapagkat kasapi ang pamilya ng Baklayan, Bito, and Cabagal Farmers and Farmworkers Association (BABICAFA). Kasama sa mga ginawang paglabag sa karapatang pantao ng mga kagawad ng 94th IBPA ang panunutok ng sundang kay Emelda, pagnanakaw, pangtotortyur kay Roly upang pasukuin bilang di-umanong kasabwat ng New People’s Army (NPA), at pangraransak sa bahay, bago ang sukdulang pangmamasaker sa mag-anak.

Ngunit sa pag-iral ng kasamaan ng AFP, imbes na itaguyod ang hustisya at panagutin ang mga maysala sa kanilang hanay, pilit nilang binabalahura ang alaala ng pamilya sa pamamagitan ng pagbabaluktot sa katotohanan. Ayon kay Orlando Edralin, opisyal ng 94th IBPA, sa isang panayam sa DNX News, asset daw ng militar si Roly na nais nang bumaklas sa pagkakasabwat mula sa NPA, at ang pumatay raw sa mga Fausto ay ang mga NPA, bagay na pinabulaanan ng kaanak ng mga biktima.

Kade-kadenang Paglabag sa Karapatang Pantao

Di makakaila ang track record ng AFP (at ng estado sa pangkabuuan) sa karapatang pantao. Sa kasamaang-palad, pinupuno lamang ito ng mga paglabag.

Sa Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, minasaker noong Hulyo 22, 2022 ng pinagsanib na puwersa ng 62nd IBPA at PNP ang 18 taong gulang na si Everly Kee Jacolbe, buntis niyang ina na si Maria Christina Jacolbe, at kamag-anak na si Rodan Montero, matapos ang walang-humpay na red-tagging at pagpapahirap.

Sa ulat naman ng Karapatan Negros, pinatay naman noong Enero 9 ang magsasakang si Jose Gonazales sa Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan City ng 94th IBPA, kapwa mga kagawad ding pumaslang sa mga Fausto. Nilapastangan pa ng mga sundalo ang bangkay ni Gonzales sa pagparada nito bilang babala sa mga mamamayan sa di-umanong rebelyon, ngunit pinasinungalingan ito ng mag-anak ng pinaslang.

Kamakailan lang din, nagsagawa ng seminar ang NTF-Elcac na primaryang pinatatakbo ng kasundaluhan sa mga pagawaan ng Philfoods Fresh Baked Products Inc. at Gardenia Bakeries, Phils. sa probinsya ng Laguna upang pigilan ang pagtatayo at paglakas ng unyon ng mga manggagawa. Di nagpapigil ang mga sundalong i-red-tag ang Unyon ng Panadero-Gardenia Bakeries, Phils. (PANADERO-OLALIA-KMU) at paratangang NPA ang opisyal nitong si Rhoel Alconera. Ganito ring panliligalig ang ginagawa ng mga kagawad ng NTF-Elcac at mga sundalo sa mga pagawaan tulad ng Wyeth-Nestle at Fuji sa Laguna.

Ang Kristiyanong Sagot: Kapayapaang batay sa Katarungan

Ngunit sa harap ng lantarang paglabag sa karapatang pantao, ano ang dapat itugon ng kabataang Kristiyano?

Ang sagot ay nakasaad sa Banal na Aklat: pagsikapang matamo ang kapayapaang nakabatay sa katarungan. (Isa 2:4, Mik. 4:3, Joel 4:10)

Batay sa katotohanang ang tao ay nilalang na kawangis ng Diyos, ang katarungan ay ang pagtataguyod ng dignidad ng bawat buhay ng tao. Nilalapastangan ng rehimeng Marcos-Duterte ang dignidad na ito sa porma ng pagkakait ng pagtataas ng sahod, pagpapabayang tumaas ang presyo ng bilihin, kawalan ng reporma sa lupa, hindi pagsasaayos ng matagalang krisis sa edukasyon, at pagpapatahimik sa mga balidong daing ng mamamayan. Isama pa ang pagdaragdag ng base-militar ng US sa lupain ng Pilipinas, pagraratsada ng Mandatory ROTC, at pagtutulak sa Maharlika Wealth Fund.

Kung totoo ngang kapayapaan ang nais makamit ng rehimen gamit ang mga galamay nito tulad ng AFP at PNP, ano ba ang pagpapakahulugan nila sa kapayapaan? Ito ang kalagayang wala nang lumalaban sa kanila upang magawa ang lahat ng gusto nila at makuha ang lahat ng luho nila.

Labis naman itong kaiba sa kapayapaan para sa sambayanang Pilipino. Simple ang hangad: magkaroon ng marangal na kabuhayan, tamang oras ng masustansyang pagkain, tirahang sasanggala mula sa init at ulan, karapatan sa pagpapahayag, at edukasyon ng mga kabataan. Kung ikukumpara sa kasalukuyang kalagayan, talagang nakaririndi ang kawalan ng kapayapaan lalo na at nabubuhay ang sambayanan sa panahon ng kawalang-katarungan.

Bilang mga kabataang Kristiyano naghahangad ng kapayapaan at nagtataguyod ng katarungan, kailangang balikan ang Mabuting Balita ayon kay Lucas. Mula sa pagsasalaysay, sinabi ni Cristo na kaakibat ng pagsunod sa kanya ang pagtatakwil sa sarili at pagpapasan sa krus (9:23). Mapapatotoo natin ang pangakong Kaharian ng Diyos dito sa lupa sa pagsunod natin kay Jesus. Dapat nating iwaksi ang pagkamakasarili sa pamamagitan ng pag-ugnay ng problema ng kabataan sa mas malawak na problemang kinahaharap ng sambayanang Pilipino. Ang krus na papasanin natin ay ang mabigat na krus ng aktibong pagbaka at pakikibaka laban sa namamayaning kasamaang nagpapahirap sa bayan ng Diyos.

Wika nga ni Jesus sa kanyang sermon sa bundok, “Pinagpala ang mga gumagawa ng paraan sa kapayapaan, sapagkat sila’y ituturing na mga anak ng Diyos.” (Mt. 5:9 MBBTAG) Gayong mahaba ang landasin ng Kalbaryo para sa Kristiyanong kabataan at sambayanang lumalaban, tayo rin ang bubukalan ng katuwiran upang dumaloy ang katarungang parang ilog (Amos 5:24).

Magsumikap para sa kapayapaan! Paragasain natin ang ilog ng katarungan!

Hustisya para sa pamilya Fausto! Singilin ang 94th IBPA at ang rehimeng Marcos-Duterte!

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Thursday, September 1st, the 244th day of 2022. There are 121 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

256: North African bishops vote unanimously that Christians who were baptized by rival sects must be rebaptized upon reentering the catholic church. The vote leads to a war of words between the North Africans and Rome, where Bishop Stephen (pope) disagrees. Eventually the worldwide church accepts the position held by Stephen.

1680: Beheading of Angelis, a young goldsmith in Constantinople who had shown little seriousness toward his faith. However, when confronted with the choice to convert to Islam or lose his life, he had boldly confessed Christ.

1687: Death at Cambridge, England, of Dr. Henry More, a theologian and philosopher deeply interested in mystical questions regarding spiritual beings, apologetics, and union with God, as well as more standard philosophical and scientific topics. He had communicated with many thinkers of repute in his day, including Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, and Rene Descartes.

1784: Shortly after four in the morning, John Wesley meets with Thomas Coke and James Creighton, presbyters of the Church of England, to ordain Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as deacons for America. The following day they will ordain Whatcoat and Vasey as elders (Presbyters) and appoint Coke as Superintendent  (Bishop) for America.

1803: The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is instituted in Boston, the first tract society established in North America.

1836: When missionaries Marcus Whitman, H. H. Spalding, and their wives reach Walla Walla, Washington, Eliza Spaulding and Narcissa Whitman are the first white women to have crossed the North American continent.

1901: Death of Isabella Thoburn from Asiatic cholera. She had been a notable missionary-educator.

1923: Jessie Wengler, an Assemblies of God missionary in Japan, experiences an earthquake and flees to a bamboo grove for safety.

1936: Death of Lewis E. Jones, YMCA leader. He wrote the hymn tune POWER IN THE BLOOD ( “Would You Be Free from Your Burden of Sin?”).

1940: Death in Manila of Gregorio Aglipay, the main founder and first bishop of the Philippine Independent Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente).

1957: At a massive rally in Times Square, Billy Graham concludes his sixteen-week New York City evangelistic crusade in New York City, attended by nearly two million people.

1970: Mei Yibao begins serving as president of the New Asia College of the Chinese University in Hong Kong. A Christian, he had served as traveling secretary for the YMCA for a year and had led Yanching University, a Christian institution, during the difficult days of Japanese occupation.

1975: Martyrdom in Boniato Prison of Gerardo Gonzalez Alvarez, a Cuban Bible preacher.

2018: A mob of nearly 1,000 Islamists attacks Christians gathered in a home to pray in Dimshaw, Egypt. The mob claims that the Christians don’t have a license, and a rumor spreads that they are on the verge of building a new church. Only twenty-five attackers are arrested and the court will release twenty-one of them.

[milkboydotnet]

Catholic Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos on the island of Negros said the slain human rights activist was “always present in search for justice.” Alvarez handled and prepared hundreds of “fact sheets” of cases of extrajudicial killings to help the families of victims file cases in court. She spent days and nights going to communities to gather case profiles of victims. . . . 

In September 2019, Alvarez attended a human rights conference in Potsdam, Germany, where she met Bishop Antonio Ablon of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.

The prelate told Alvarez to stay in Europe “at least for the rest of the year” and “seek refuge” because of the threats to her life.

“I have to go back home,” she told the bishop. “I cannot leave my work with the peasant and workers.”

Bishop Ablon told LiCAS.news that she cannot blame Alvarez for ignoring his advice.

“She lived out what it means to serve the people and offered her life for the masses until her last breath,” said the prelate.

Bishop Ablon described the slain woman as “a heroine of the oppressed people who longed for genuine peace and transformation of society.”

[birdscreeches]

Resting Places | Aisha R.

When somebody lives in Marikina and then dies in Marikina, their body needs to go somewhere. Out on Marcos Highway, there’s Paraiso Memorial Parks, Incorporated. Up in Concepcion Uno, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente Cemetery is nestled between the always-busy streets of J.P. Rizal and J. Molina. Follow J.P. Rizal down past bayan and the surroundings turn into swatches of time. Three-story buildings from the 80s still standing with their peeling paint, old wooden houses with the capiz shell windows riddled with cavities of rot, warehouse surplus stores passed down from generation to generation. Sta. Elena Old Cemetery lives quietly in the middle of these architectural refusals of death. Scattered across the city, resting places sleep soundly among the living.

Backtrack from J.P. Rizal and there’s an intersection with Sumulong Highway, a road that cuts through the city and leads to Marcos Highway, out and away from Marikina. Before that road turns into Sumulong Highway, it first starts as A. Bonifacio Avenue. Along A. Bonifacio Avenue, less than a ten-minute walk away from each other, Loyola Memorial Park and Barangka Municipal Cemetery hold their dead in different worlds.

-

The thing about dying is that it can’t happen without first living. It’s a no-brainer, but when the reality of it actually happens, things aren’t as clear. My Lolo had lived for eighty-two years, but he spent that last year wracked with terminal illness, dying so slowly in our own home that when his heart finally stopped beating, I didn’t notice the difference.  I was there in the room, watching him, when Lolo took his last breath and I couldn’t see the threshold between living and dying.

The wake was held at Loyola Memorial Park. Loyola Memorial Park was established in 1964 and The Loyola Chapel set up its services in 1999. They boasted nine airconditioned chapels complete with a viewing area, a family room, a bathroom, a pantry, a water dispenser, however many monobloc chairs you requested, and, in the super deluxe and premier chapels, a bed, a microwave, and a hot and cold shower. The Loyola Chapel was well known for their crematory services, assuring you that the whole process can be done in under two hours. This, I knew from experience. Three years ago, I slept through forty minutes of those two hours, head leaning against the bone-white wall where, on the other side, a fire burned Lolo’s body to ashes.

A lot can happen in the span of three years. I graduate high school and enter Lolo’s alma mater. Our family gets two dogs. A three-year-old child would have learned how to say its own name.

-

My family and I left for Loyola Memorial at night. Or at the edge of night. We took a trike to the bridge. Another trike to rumble across A. Bonifacio Avenue. By the time the stuttering engine wound through enough homes for me to see of ashen walls of the cemetery, the sky was purpling with dusk.

We get dropped off outside of Tañong High School and the road is already lined pop-up stalls. There’s a Dunkin Donuts stall right next to a PLDT stall that sat across from a Cignal stall that was right across from a stall for St. Peter Chapels, a booth entirely in pink complete with a pink coffin people could enter and take a picture in. Somebody at that booth, under the assumption that I was a lot younger than I actually was, had given me a bag of candy while Tatay had his picture taken.

Past these stalls was the gated entrance to the cemetery. In front of it, two whole streets of flower shops. Inday’s Flower Shop, Ojay’s Flower Shop, Tessie’s Flower Shop. An entire basketball court had been converted into a place to store endless rows upon rows of bouquets. Plaza de las Flores, said a sign on a concrete island dividing the streets. Next to it, a fountain with flower statues painted bright colors, chipped at the edges, only staying vibrant thanks to a coat of new paint every year. Bouquets were lined up on the storefronts, each of them boasting brighter flowers, better arrangements, livelier splashes of color.

In front of the gate, the police stall with a tarp saying OPLAN KALULUWA, and the events room at the mouth of the entrance was a small circular platform. It was raised a few inches above the ground. On it lay a statue of a bronze colored rose. The sign behind it said BULAKLAK NG PAKIKIRAMAY NG MARIKINA SA MGA NAGMAMAHAL.

The pedestal was mostly covered during Undas. Swathes of people lining up to enter the cemetery blocked the view.

As my family and I got inside and walked along the road, the scenes passed by. Near the entrance were the graves of those who had a lot of money. This I knew because there were literal buildings among the graves. Some were a single floor, just enough to house the entire family clan, but others were three storeys high. Through the clear windows, I saw a beds, a fridge, a dining table. A whole house to live in. In one building, I saw an entire chapel inside. The buildings taper off as we walked further, replaced instead by tents and plastic chairs. Kids were running around, in and out of tents, hopping over graves, screaming in delight until one of their family members called them over.

The walk took a few minutes. The park was large, and we were hindered even more by the slowly driving cars looking for a parking area, by the food stalls set up inside---Buko Juice, Yellow Cab, an Andok’s with an entire rotisserie set up, and more---by the rest of the people also walking at a glacial pace. Having just sprained my ankle a day before, my older brother piggybacked me the rest of the way, giving me a view of the large, sprawling lands of Loyola Memorial drowned with people, cars, and lights.

The night had finally set in after minutes of merely loitering about in indigo. The new darkness gave us this; twinkling candles speckled over the flat expanse of land.

My family and I finally reach the grave. We carefully walk over the other graves to make our way to it. We laid a blanket over the grave, bought food and a couple cans of soda, and ate peacefully while Nanay lit candles for our dead. The candles sat next to a bouquet of flowers, flanked on each side.

The flickering flame gave enough light to make the lapida readable. Sesinando M. R. July 16,  1933 - July 28, 2015. Dead for three years after a pretty solid run of eighty two years. Under Lolo’s name was Myren. Michael Lauren V. R. December 29, 1990.

-

I never got to meet Myren. He was the firstborn child that died just minutes after taking his first breath. I never knew why or what he died from. Perhaps I asked at some point, but the answer is lost to the rest of my memories, and so many years after the fact, I didn’t see the point in asking again. I never got to meet him, but I grew up with him. Nanay had told us all about him by calling him our guardian angel, and every year, as a thank you for watching over us, we’d visit him.

Myren wasn’t always in Loyola Memorial. When Lolo died, we had Myren transferred to Lolo’s lot because now we had the money to do so. Myren died three days after Christmas, just a month after Nanay turned twenty one and five months after Tatay had turned nineteen. Both still in college, they couldn’t exactly afford to cash out the tens of thousands of pesos needed to buy a lot in Loyola Memorial. Thankfully, just a ten minute walk away, the price of Barangka Municipal Cemetery was much a more feasible one hundred pesos per year, a fee we paid for twenty five years of the total twenty eight Myren had been dead.

A lot can happen in twenty eight years. Four more children are born. Our family goes through a list of pets, several chickens, some goldfish, a few hamsters, before finally settling on dogs. An eighty two year old man dies.

-

The last time I had been there, I was sixteen years old. And I remember this:

The mass of people breathed in and breathed out. Not all at once, but the crowd teemed with it. Gasps, wheezes, and breathy noises, rattling under the 10am sun. Hot enough to sweat but cool enough that nobody popped open an umbrella. A moment frozen in toleration before the crowd surged into the movement it never stopped, trying to funnel into a small nook at the side of the road.

The entrance to Barangka Municipal cemetery wasn’t big enough for the hundreds of people crowding to come in and it certainly wasn’t big enough for the hundreds crowding to get out. It was an opening just wide enough for a car to enter, its only possible method of leaving being a slow and halting reverse. People bumped into each other, pushed against everybody else, getting lost in the sea of people funneling into this crevice, all to see their dead.

The small road only had one marker dictating it as more than it was. An arched sign held up by metal poles. Three or four steps past that sign, there were a few stores selling candles of all colors and one stall selling small stickers with the year on it.  Quickly, before she could get swept away, Nanay bought one candle and one sticker.

Past these stores, the graves begun, and the crowd pushed its way forth.

It wouldn’t be correct to say that bodies here were buried. Graves here weren’t underground, but over. And when they ran out of space, they just kept building upwards, higher and higher.

Here were concrete towers of graves. A single grave was a box around the size of an oven door, extending longer inwards to just how tall the person was when they passed. Graves near the entrance were as high end as they could get in this cemetery. They had their own space. Sometimes a whole roof and walls built around them, protected with metal bars and a padlock only the living family had. It was a semblance of privacy, however flimsy. The further I walked into the cemetery, those tiny houses whittled away, leaving only the towers.

I called them towers in the most literal sense. A grave began on the ground and then they would stack one over that and another over that, over and over, side by side, until some graves were so high that they had to build a ladder at the side. At the side of some towers, there were pieces of rebar bent into brackets stuck through the concrete, makeshift steps you could climb up to wherever your dead was to light a candle.  Some graves were so high and in the middle of these towers that it would be impossible to get to them without scaling the graves by their tombstones, which some people did, just to stick a few flowers into the metal candle holders wedged into the graves of their beloved. Others would simply stand, look up, and pray.

The main pathway diverged at points. Like arteries that split into veins, smaller, thinner pathways branched out to the side, leading to more graves and towers. There were no signs here. The only landmarks being a certain grave of a certain color that meant that it was time to turn.  It probably would’ve been smart to remember a name of a grave instead of a vague color and the assurance that I’d know where to turn, but it seemed too personal and, more importantly, that I was doing something terrible. A stranger’s life and death turned into a street sign. To remember somebody’s name just to know where to go and where to walk away from them.

Our family managed to traverse the maze twice every year with no trouble. It was easier to navigate in December, when the cemetery was empty and we had the luxury to get lost and take our time, but the flow of the living pushed us, pulled us, and finding the right fork in the pathway was the only way to break free.

These smaller pathways were no longer paved. The ground was a mix of soil, rocks, chunks of concrete and cement, plastic bags now empty of the chips their brand advertised, and graves themselves. In my head, a constant litany of ‘excuse mes’ and ‘I’m sorrys’ rattled off. Some made it past my lips whenever I felt a pronounced curve of a grave digging into the soles of my shoes. Often, I’d trip over a tree root, still surprised after all these years that a few had managed to grow past everything in its way, casting a low shade over a section of the cemetery.

Myren’s grave was in the middle of the tower we got to. It was just about at my eye level, but I knew that slowly, it would sink like it did last time. His grave wasn’t always in this exact spot. It was once located deeper in the cemetery, so deep that even during Undas, it would nearly be nearly empty. There, the grave started at a height taller than I was, but year after year, the ground would get higher. The graves wouldn’t sink so much as stand, frozen and unmoving, unable to do anything as more graves were piled on, as the earth slowly rose and buried them. By the time the ground was touching his grave, our family had to have him exhumed and place him elsewhere. Here.

Nanay put the sticker on my brother’s grave, shiny, new, and right above last year’s sticker. A yearly fee of one hundred pesos for marker that told everybody that people were still visiting him. That he wasn’t allowed to get swallowed up by the earth or destroyed to make way for another lot, because we were still coming. Beneath him, the stickers were old. 2008. 2004. There was a 1999 that barely peeked out of the ground. The graves were faded. The ink of their names and dates weathered away with day or rain and sun. The only reason Myren’s was so bold was because we’d always pay somebody to touch it up, to bolden the letters and wipe the dirt and grime off. Clear as day, both the words and the message we were trying to say: we’re still here.

-

Monuments of our persevering presence had to stay small enough to fit in places so filled with the dead, but big enough to be seen and noticed. I don’t mean this necessarily in size, but more in what it means. The passage of time in cemeteries, afterall, is something that seems to constantly be in flux. Our little stickers on the lapida fade with each year, but one day there’s a new one, and some visitors place their stickers over the previous one, as if those past years had never had happened at all. Barangka Municipal Cemetery marks time by rising dirt and debris, by sinking forgotten loved ones, by footfalls that stamp the ground down as it goes up, obscuring the movement into a slowness that nobody could see until twenty-five years after 1990, and by that point, there was a new body to be buried elsewhere.

Time in Loyola Memorial was different. The land here stayed at the height it always was. The grass stayed green and the horizon was as constant as the dead in foreground. The only real thing to keep track of was how the bouquets by the graves would slowly wilt, then rot, then disappear. Time wasn’t an issue for the deceased. Time was for us, the living, who were bound by it until we didn’t have to care about it anymore.

I guess this meant that all the gifts we left for Myren and Lolo were for as us as much as it was for them.

For Myren, there were the candles, of course. Fire burning until either the wind blew them out or the wax melted and dripped to the ground below. Flowers were easier to leave in Loyola Memorial because we didn’t have to stick them through a grate stuck into a tower of graves, now happy with the privilege of flat, steady land. On his 18th birthday, back in Barangka Municipal, my older brother left Myren a bottle of Ginebra. Loyola Memorial felt a little more formal than Barangka Memorial, so when Lolo’s ashes were put into the ground, instead of his favorite alcoholic drink, we left him his favorite food--a Jollibee Champ, pristine in its bright red box---on the newly set soil.

I don’t know how long those gifts last. I don’t know who takes them, because eventually, somebody must. I don’t know what we’ll leave next along with our flowers and candles. All I do know is that visiting is implicit in the later act of leaving, and even if it doesn’t matter to the dead, it matters to us that we leave something, anything, as a sign that we were there and that we’d be back. We’d keep coming back for as long as we could.

The last words Lolo heard were actually my own. I was about to leave for school, so I told him “See you later.” His heart stopped beating then, just about as easily as I walked out of the room, oblivious to the fact of his death, something I’d only get told a few minutes later. In a sense, I wasn’t wrong. I did see him later. We all did, year after year.

Three years. Eighty-two years. Twenty-five years. Myren was turning twenty-eight soon. Lolo was turning eighty-six next year. Our new dogs would be turning four at the same time. I was turning twenty in five months. When Tatay was my age, he had a son, and then lost him.  

-

We weren’t the only people in the cemetery. Undas crowded every cemetery in the city with a reminder of this, but Undas wasn’t the only time we’d visit. Myren’s birthday was in December and Lolo’s was in June. In December and June, cemeteries weren’t heaving with every Marikeño seeing their dead. December and June were for visitors like faint gusts of wind and handfuls of people walking around with umbrellas to shield from the afternoon sun.

Robert was always there when we visited in December and June. He was one of the caretakers for the graves, ours one of them, and he never failed to materialize from the distance just as we settled down by our lot. Robert often wore a cap, always brought garden shears, and never did his job the way Nanay wanted him to. Nanay paid him to keep the grass over our lot trimmed before we arrived, but we’d always find the grass unruly and unkempt. Nanay and I would watch him smile, apologize good naturedly, and bend down to cut the grass away. The wind passed by and caught blades of green, blowing it past us, past anything we could see.

Lola came with us in June. Her short cropped hair would always catch the light, revealing the grey close to her scalp, undyed by the brown she usually used. When I asked her how long she and Lolo had been married, she laughed, sound lilting like a bird call, and said she couldn’t remember anymore. We’d bring a little folding chair for Lola, her bones too creaky to sit on the ground, and she’d sit with an air of soft contentment much like how she sat next to Lolo’s bedside that last year as he was hooked up to countless beeping machines until they beeped no longer.

Nanay always visited. Sometimes she’d visit with nobody else. Myren was her son, and Lolo was her father. She was the one who immediately made arrangements for Lolo’s wake a mere hours after his passing. She’d be the one to buy the flowers, to light the candles, to take the pictures. She bought the stickers, but if I remember correctly, the purchase of the lot was between her and Tatay. Once the life was over, the now, she’d take care of the after.

“You know,” she said. I had asked her about the stickers when we visited for this year’s Undas. After talking about the yearly fee, she put her hand to her face, pensive. “When I had Myren moved, I wasn’t there.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I told them we were going to move him but I told them not to open the grave unless I was with them,” she told me. There was an odd smile Nanay would get, sometimes, when she was angry about something but didn’t want to look it. She wore that smile now, frayed around the edges with use. “They didn’t listen to me.”

“Oh.”

“So I’m not actually sure.”

“Of what?”

“If that’s Myren.” Nanay’s smile persisted as she went on. The graves in Barangka Municipal are so close to each other, so crowded. The ground is made of dirt and debris, and the remains of a newborn baby worn down by a decade and a half of time could look like anything. She wasn’t actually sure. “That was all I had left of my baby, and now I’m not sure if the remains are even his.”

The sky was dark. The air was cool. The words stuck in my throat. I didn’t know what to say to that. Twenty-five years, and whoever was tasked to do the moving couldn’t wait a day or two. Before I could ask her anything else, we started walking forward through the crowded sidewalk to leave the cemetery the way we came. The way we kept coming.

She might not have been sure, and was upset at the fact, but yet here she was along with the rest of us.

-

There were a lot of reasons why we kept visiting. There was tradition, of course. A tri-yearly routine ingrained in our minds, in our bodies that kept making the trek to and through the cemetery. But ingrained elsewhere, thrumming with the same energy of heaving crowds and slow driving cars, moving forwards in spite of everything, was some kind of devotion. If anything, dying often meant leaving people behind, and most were never content with staying where they were left, trailing after their dead year after year. A man can die, a baby can die, but the people around him didn’t. Lives take a lot of effort, but after bits held just as much weight. The dead can wake the living, can make us wait for sunrises and sunsets in resting places, can carve out cities in shapes and planes made just for them.

One time in Barangka Municipal Cemetery, the space around Myren’s grave was congested with people. There was a section of the cemetery farther than this, so people walked by, overwhelming in quiet ways. Nanay motioned for me to climb the ladder at the side so I could breathe and avoid an asthma attack. With stilted, awkward hefts, I climbed. I climbed past my own height, past the heads of the passerbys, past the top of a smaller tower, and I wondered how far I could go. How high up. Barangka Municipal cemetery was right against the edge of Marikina, right next to where a sudden incline of land marked the ascent into Quezon City. Huddled here like a shelf, it was being built up, stacking graves and drowning more, and it would go on endlessly so long as people kept living and dying in the way people always did. The dead here were lifting Marikina higher, a watchtower over the city they called home.

[phgq]

Lenten activities banned in Bataan town

#PHnews: Lenten activities banned in Bataan town

SAMAL, Bataan – Lenten activities held annually in this town during the Holy Week will be called off for the second straight year due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Those doing penance here on Wednesday welcomed the temporary ban on their activities but felt sad that this will be the second Lenten season that they have to forego their penitential preparations and traditions.

“Siyempre hindi naman mapipigilan malungkot kaso pandemic kaya wala kaming magagawa (Of course, we feel sad but because of the pandemic we cannot do anything),” Jonady de Guzman, 2; and Marcos Angel, 40, both of Barangay Sapa said when asked how they felt about the ban.

Jonady has been a participant in the Cenakulo for 10 years but has played the role of Magdalena in the last five years. Her father, Andy de Guzman, is the present director and president and has played many roles in the cenakulo that has been in existence for many years.

Jonady said they have kept their costumes in a closet and raring to join the group once given the signal. She said she keeps in contact with the group through social media.

Angel has been a flagellant for 14 years with the vow to complete the penance for 16 straight years. As a flagellant, he uses bamboo beads to strike his bloodied back. His wish for his penance is for his children to have a good life.

He said that because he was unable to perform the flagellation last year and again this year, he has to go back to square one.

“Sumunod tayo kay mayor dahil para naman ito sa ating kabutihan. Wala tayong magagawa dahil ganoon talaga ang sitwasyon (Let us follow the mayor because it is for our own good. We can't do anything because that's the situation),” Angel said.

The temporary prohibition on the holding of Lenten activities was based on Executive Order No. 42 issued by Mayor Aida Macalinao.

The mayor said she has issued the EO where the holding of pabasa (reading of the passion), construction of kalbaryo (calvary), cenakulo and pinetensiya (penitence) like flagellant, carrying of the cross are temporarily prohibited.

Processions and other activities like Visita Iglesia are also disallowed.

Religious gatherings such as Holy Mass and similar activities held inside the church are allowed but with only 30 percent of the seating capacity filled and provided that strict health protocols like wearing of face masks and shields with social distancing and hand-sanitizing are followed.

The EO that calls for the strict implementation of health protocols is effective from March 23 to April 4, 2021.

Macalinao also imposes curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m in all 14 barangays, except for essential travels.

A 24-hour curfew is set for minors aged below 15 years and senior citizens from 65 years and above, except for essential travels as defined in the order.

Liquor ban from March 24 to April 4, 2021 was also among the content of the EO.

The mayor said she was saddened by the report that this town has three Covid-19 cases with two already in quarantine and a four-month-old died in Manila. Another three, all rural health workers were tested positive although with mild symptoms.

She has directed the temporary closure of the rural health unit for two days for disinfection and contact tracing of those exposed is ongoing.

Samal is known for putting-up colorful kalbaryos where pabasa are held while flagellants carrying wooden crosses are common sights in this town on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

Visitors come in droves in barangay Calaguiman here to witness the cenakulo or street play on the crucifixion of Christ where performers, especially the Roman soldiers, wear colorful costumes.

The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) in the town following the executive order has informed its members of the prohibition and asked to support activities allowed in the order. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Lenten activities banned in Bataan town." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134768 (accessed March 25, 2021 at 03:10AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Lenten activities banned in Bataan town." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134768 (archived).

[trendingph]

Providing emergency assistance after typhoons in the Philippines - Philippines Episcopal Relief & Development, in partnership with the Anglican Board of Mission-Australia and Iglesia Filipina Independiente (The Philippine Independent Church – IFI), to provide assistance in response to three successive typhoons that ... https://trendingph.net/providing-emergency-assistance-after-typhoons-in-the-philippines-philippines/?feed_id=59708&_unique_id=5fec76d440a20 #assistance #emergency #philippinenews #philippines #philippinesnews #providing #trendingph #typhoons

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Wednesday, September 1st, the 244th day of 2021. There are 121 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

1680: Beheading of Angelis, a young goldsmith in Constantinople who had shown little seriousness toward his faith. However, when confronted with the choice to convert to Islam or lose his life, he had boldly confessed Christ.

1687: Death at Cambridge, England, of Dr. Henry More, a theologian and philosopher deeply interested in mystical questions regarding spiritual beings, apologetics, and union with God, as well as more standard philosophical and scientific topics. He had communicated with many thinkers of repute in his day, including Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, and Rene Descartes.

1784: Shortly after four in the morning, John Wesley meets with Thomas Coke and James Creighton, presbyters of the Church of England, to ordain Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as deacons for America. The following day they will ordain Whatcoat and Vasey as elders (Presbyters) and appoint Coke as Superintendent  (Bishop) for America.

1803: The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is instituted in Boston, the first tract society established in North America.

1836: When missionaries Marcus Whitman, H. H. Spalding, and their wives reach Walla Walla, Washington, Eliza Spaulding and Narcissa Whitman are the first white women to have crossed the North American continent.

1901: Death of Isabella Thoburn from Asiatic cholera. She had been a notable missionary-educator.

1923: Jessie Wengler, an Assemblies of God missionary in Japan, experiences an earthquake and flees to a bamboo grove for safety.

1936: Death of Lewis E. Jones, YMCA leader. He wrote the hymn tune POWER IN THE BLOOD ( “Would You Be Free from Your Burden of Sin?” ).

1940: Death in Manila of Gregorio Aglipay, the main founder and first bishop of the Philippine Independent Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente).

1957: At a massive rally in Times Square, Billy Graham concludes his sixteen-week New York City evangelistic crusade in New York City, attended by nearly two million people.

1970: Mei Yibao begins serving as president of the New Asia College of the Chinese University in Hong Kong. A Christian, he had served as traveling secretary for the YMCA for a year and had led Yanching University, a Christian institution, during the difficult days of Japanese occupation.

1975: Martyrdom in Boniato Prison of Gerardo Gonzalez Alvarez, a Cuban Bible preacher.

2018: A mob of nearly 1,000 Islamists attacks Christians gathered in a home to pray in Dimshaw, Egypt. The mob claims that the Christians don’t have a license, and a rumor spreads that they are on the verge of building a new church. Only twenty-five attackers are arrested and the court will release twenty-one of them.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Bayan Metro Manila invites you to an educational forum on fascism and the escalating state-perpetuated violence of the Duterte regime, at the Iglesia Filipina Independiente in Taft Avenue, Manila on January 20, Saturday, 1:00 PM.

#FightTyranny #EndStateFascism

[anntindi]

Happy Lord's day. 💕 (at Iglesia Filipina Independiente National Cathedral) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7fX37rgMWi0OnrDj3rjvKID4SVZSA6AmYXAQQ0/?igshid=17ock1kxk1wpw

[akocomyk]

Looking back at the year’s unblogged bloggable moments.

Here’s #1 • Here’s #2 • Here’s #3 • Here’s #4 • Here’s #5

Active Servant

The church I grew up with is the Iglesia Filipina Independiente. I'm an Aglipayan, as more commonly referred, and I'm proud of that. I wouldn't dare change it, although I remain open when it comes to faith and religion.

When I was 16, I was an active youth choir member. It went on for a few years until I got busy with college and slowly faded away from the scene.

But then the present choir members asked me to come and aid them for the Holy Week, starting from Palm Sunday.  I wanted to stay low-key when I resumed attendance at that church, but I couldn’t resist.  So I was there, singing for the choir, for every event of our church’s Lenten traditions.  I even played the guitar a few times since the choir organist wasn’t present during those times.

I hadn’t been this active since I was a teenager.  It brought back memories of me and my mother always spending our time at our church.

My active service went on until St. Anthony’s feast day.

Then it dwindled. Until I came back to a casual, weekly church-goer. They don’t sing on all Sunday masses like they used to—just at the third mass, and I only attend the second. There were even plans by the older members of the choir to gather singers and form a new choir dedicated to the second mass, to be led by me. I was thrilled and humbled by the idea, and I thought it would be nice to impart my choral knowledge to others.

But the idea also dwindled and eventually died. 

I didn’t think they ever really considered me a member once more. They didn’t inform me whenever there were rehearsals.

So… I decided to stay low-key from then on, just as I originally planned. I thought it best to leave them on their own. It’s nice to offer your talents to the Lord, but what’s more important is your personal relationship with God.

I know that our church has always had a history of drama and politics… and of people trying to bring others down who they think are rising above them. It’s quite ironic to find such quality from people who are supposedly active church-goers.

• • • • •

That’s it. This is the last of this Reviewing 2019 series. I thank you for having gone this far—especially if you consistently waited for my post every day. I may never know your reason for doing so—maybe you’re a close friend of mine, or you’re just a casual chismoso or chismosa—but I highly appreciate your interest.

For any comments, suggestions, or violent reactions, please feel free to message me.

Coming up soon by the start of the new year will be my actual Top 10 Best Moments of 2019. I’m gonna be posting the list one memory at a time, similarly to this series… so stay tuned for that. Maybe you’ll be the reason for one of my best memories. Who knows? (Well, I do.)

Again, thank you so much for reading.

[culturizando]

#UnDíaComoHoy: 23 de septiembre en la historia

El 23 de septiembre es el día 266.º día del año. Quedan 99 días para finalizar el año. Te presentamos una lista de eventos importantes que ocurrieron un día como hoy 23 de septiembre.

-Hoy  se conmemora el Día Internacional de la Bisexualidad. Fue celebrado por primera vez en 1999 cuando tres activistas de derechos bisexuales de Estados Unidos – Wendy Curry de Maine, Michael Page de Florida, y Gigi Raven Wilbur de Texas lo instauraron. Este último dijo:

“Después de la rebelión de Stonewall, la comunidad gay y lesbiana ha crecido en fuerza y visibilidad. La comunidad bisexual también creció en fuerza, pero en muchos aspectos estamos todavía invisibles. También he estado condicionado por la sociedad para tachar automáticamente una pareja caminando de la mano como heterosexual o gay, dependiendo del género percibido de cada persona.” Esta celebración de la bisexualidad, en particular, a diferencia de los eventos LGBT en general, fue concebida como una respuesta a los prejuicios y la marginación de las personas bisexuales por algunas comunidades heterosexuales o incluso la propia LGBT.

En su primer año, se llevó a cabo una celebración en la Asociación Internacional de Gays y Lesbianas, que tuvo lugar durante la semana del 23. Si bien en un principio la fiesta tenía fuerte presencia bisexual, ahora son más los testigos de estos eventos con debates, cenas y bailes en Toronto y una gran mascarada en Queensland, Australia. En la Universidad de Texas hay una semana de debates y mesas redondas presentadas donde se formulan preguntas y respuestas. También se ha celebrado en Alemania, Japón, Nueva Zelanda, Suecia y el Reino Unido.

-Además se conmemora el Día Internacional contra la Explotación Sexual y el Tráfico de Mujeres, Niñas y Niños. Este día fue instaurado por la Conferencia Mundial de la Coalición Contra el Tráfico de Personas en coordinación con la Conferencia de Mujeres que tuvo lugar en Dhaka, Bangladesh, en enero de 1999, para celebrar una fecha argentina: la del 23 de setiembre de 1913 día en el que fuera promulgada la ley 9.143; la primera norma legal en el mundo contra la prostitución infantil.

-63 a. C.: nace César Augusto, emperador romano.

-1338: ocurre la Batalla de Arnemuiden, la primera batalla naval de la Guerra de los Cien años y la primera en usar artillería.

-1519: en México, el conquistador español Hernán Cortés entra en Tlaxcala.

-1846: en Europa los astrónomos Urbain Le Verrier (francés) y John Couch Adams (inglés) descubren el planeta Neptuno. Johann Gottfried Galle (alemán) verificó el descubrimiento. Neptuno es el octavo planeta del Sistema Solar. Forma parte de los denominados planetas exteriores o gigantes gaseosos, y es el primero que fue descubierto gracias a predicciones matemáticas. Su nombre proviene del dios romano Neptuno, el dios del mar. Fue descubierto el 23 de septiembre de 1846. Tras el descubrimiento del planeta Urano, se observó que las órbitas de Urano, Saturno y Júpiter no se comportaban tal como predecían las leyes de Kepler y de Newton. Adams y Le Verrier, de forma independiente, calcularon la posición de otro planeta, Neptuno, que encontró Galle, el 23 de septiembre de 1846, a menos de un grado de la posición calculada por Adams y Le Verrier. Más tarde, se advirtió que Galileo ya había observado Neptuno en 1611, pero lo había tomado por una estrella. Neptuno es un planeta dinámico, con manchas que recuerdan las tempestades de Júpiter. La más grande, la Gran Mancha Oscura, tenía un tamaño similar al de la Tierra, pero en 1994 desapareció y se ha formado otra. Los vientos más fuertes de cualquier planeta del Sistema Solar son los de Neptuno.

-1868: en Puerto Rico se produce el Grito de Lares. El Grito de Lares fue una insurrección armada ocurrida el 23 de septiembre de 1868 que pretendió la independencia de Puerto Rico del gobierno colonial de España . se enmarcó dentro del sentimiento anticolonialista que se apoderó del caribe hispano y que fue abortado por la Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense en la que Estados Unidos resultó victorioso, despojando a España de las Filipinas, Guam, Cuba y Puerto Rico.

-1889: en Japón se funda la fábrica de naipes Nintendo (que en el futuro se convertiría en el gigante de los videojuegos). Durante los años que van de 1963 a 1968, Nintendo probó suerte con pequeñas experiencias empresariales, entre ellas destacan una compañía de taxis, una cadena de “Hoteles del amor” (un hotel para que las parejas japonesas puedan tener intimidad), una cadena de TV, una compañía de comida (que trataba de vender arroz instantáneo, similar a tallarines instantáneos), y muchas otras cosas (que incluían un juguete a control remoto que realizaba funciones de aspiradora y se llamaba Chiritory, y el cual se puede ver en el juego Wario Ware para Wii, dentro de uno de los minijuegos).

-1910: entre Suiza e Italia, el piloto peruano-francés Jorge Chávez cruza Los Alpes por primera vez en el monoplano Blériot XI.

-1930: nace Ray Charles, cantante y pianista estadounidense. Autodidacta del piano y ciego desde la infancia, hoy en día es considerado el mejor cantante masculino y como el segundo mejor cantante de todos los tiempos, sólo superado por Aretha Franklin. La revista Rolling Stone lo nombró #10 en su lista de los 100 mejores artistas de todos los tiempos. Ray falleció un 10 de junio de 2004.

-1939: muere Sigmund Freud, médico neurólogo austriaco. Considerado el padre del psicoanálisis y una de las mayores figuras intelectuales del siglo XX. Freud nació el 6 de mayo de 1856, en Příbor, Moravia, Imperio austríaco (actualmente República Checa) y falleció. Freud postuló la existencia de una sexualidad infantil perversa polimorfa, tesis que causó una intensa polémica en la sociedad puritana de la Viena de principios del siglo XX y por la cual fue acusado de pansexualista.

  -1943: en Saló (provincia de Brescia, en Lombardía), Benito Mussolini forma el primer Gobierno de la República Social Italiana.

-1943: nace Julio Iglesias, cantante español. Ha sido galardonado en dos ocasiones con el premio Record Guiness. En 1983 como el artista que más discos ha vendido en más idiomas en el mundo, y en el 2013 como el artista latino que más discos ha vendido de la historia. Es reconocido como el cantante europeo con más éxito comercial a nivel internacional hasta hoy día.

-1949: nace Bruce Springsteen, músico estadounidense. Apodado a menudo The Boss, Springsteen es ampliamente conocido por su trabajo con el grupo The E Street Band y considerado uno de los artistas más exitosos de la música rock, con ventas que superan los 64,5 millones de álbumes en los Estados Unidos y más de 120 millones a nivel mundial, y un total de diez discos números uno, un registro solo superado por The Beatles y Jay-Z.

-1959: nace Jason Alexander, actor estadounidense. Conocido por interpretar a George en Seinfeld.

-1973: muere Pablo Neruda, escritor chileno. De nacimiento Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, fue un poeta chileno, considerado entre los mejores y más influyentes artistas de su siglo; «el más grande poeta del siglo XX en cualquier idioma», según Gabriel García Márquez. Entre sus múltiples reconocimientos, destacan el Premio Nobel de Literatura en 1971 y un Doctorado Honoris Causa por la Universidad de Oxford. «Ningún poeta del hemisferio occidental de nuestro siglo admite comparación con él», ha escrito el crítico literario Harold Bloom, quien lo considera uno de los veintiséis autores centrales del canon de la literatura occidental de todos los tiempos. Además, fue un destacado activista político, senador, miembro del Comité Central del Partido Comunista, precandidato a la presidencia de su país y embajador en Francia.

-1980: Bob Marley da su último concierto. El álbum Uprising, producido por Chris Blackwell, fue lanzado en mayo de 1980. Con su Redemption Song, Bob Marley parecía estar aceptando su condición mortal ya que años atrás se había hecho una herida en el pie jugando al fútbol. En julio de 1977 se descubrió que se le había formado un melanoma acral lentiginoso, una forma maligna de melanoma, en el dedo gordo de su pie derecho. A pesar de su enfermedad, Bob deseó seguir adelante con las actuaciones programadas y ni se extirpó el cáncer ni se puso en tratamiento. La banda concluyó una importante gira por Europa, dentro de la cual dieron su concierto más multitudinario, en Milán, al que acudieron unos cien mil espectadores. Tras la gira, Marley regresó a los Estados Unidos, en donde ofreció dos conciertos en el Madison Square Garden como parte del Uprising Tour. Poco después de eso su salud empeoró considerablemente. El cáncer se le había extendido por todo el cuerpo. El resto de la gira fue cancelada y Marley ingresó en la clínica bávara de Josef Issels, en Alemania, y comenzó un controvertido tratamiento a base de evitar ciertos alimentos, bebidas y otras sustancias. Bob Marley actúo por última vez el 23 de septiembre de 1980 en Pittsburgh (Estados Unidos), un concierto que 30 años después se pusoa la venta en todo el mundo en formato CD, LP y digital.

-2008: lanzamiento inicial del sistema operativo Android para teléfonos inteligentes.

La entrada #UnDíaComoHoy: 23 de septiembre en la historia aparece primero en culturizando.com | Alimenta tu Mente.

[tetet14]

#ImpongMaria (at La Purisima Concepcion de Malabon Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente)) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2t4YdPA4zXUShU6DBJYb7yH1Z9iYcS0igyZVA0/?igshid=1h7ie9ck1ri6o

[forcommunities]

#latepost #Dumaguete With much 💗 and gratitude for All / Spirits / Blessings Filipino peoples’ indigenous liturgies illuminate/cleanse/sustain/renew/inspire/free us from grief and fear amidst real threats to life, worship truly becomes “O God, a Wellspring of Just Peace*” (*Klein F. Emperado, 2019) with head / heart / hands moved by communities’ courageous conviction and bold prophetic witness in struggles for human dignity for All / Life (...to be continued) (at Iglesia Filipina Independiente - Pro Cathedral of St. Andrew the Apostle) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1NlkWSgdbU/?igshid=1kkwfg5pmrxik