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A Jesuit ONLINE Holy Week Retreat

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* Do you have access to the internet?

* Do you wish you could go on a Holy Week retreat but cannot seem to squeeze in the time?

Now, you can meet the Lord and have a Holy Week retreat and you need not log off the internet or travel somewhere to an out-of-the-city retreat house. You don’t even have to be in Metro Manila (or for that matter, even in the Philippines).

You can join Fr. Johnny Go, S.J.‘s innovative and interesting ONLINE Holy Week retreat. He is currently the Director of Xavier School.

The online retreat, interestingly called “Meeting Places” is described by Fr. Johnny on his blog as follows:

I’ve called it “MEETING PLACES” because I think the mysteries of Holy Week unfold in three Lenten places: the Garden (Holy Thursday), the Hill (Good Friday), and the Tomb (Black Saturday). If we spend some time in those virtual meeting places, we may encounter the Lord in a special way.

It will come in 3 modules: one each for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Black Saturday. If everything goes as planned, each module will have video clips, songs and maybe even interactive activities. Starting today, there is already a Preparatory Prayer on the Philippine Jesuits’ site that serves as an introduction for the 3 modules which will be made available next week.

Fr. Johnny qualifies that this is not meant to take the place of a face-to-face retreat or be in lieu of the Holy Triduum liturgical services. However, it is another way by which people can, in his words, “find the Lord in yet another way this Holy Week.”

I invite you to visit the site and more than that, spread the word to your family and friends.

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Fire! Fire! Fire??????

Something today almost freaked me out.

I left my office on one of the top floors of the Enterprise Center with plans just to buy lunch and eat it on my desk while continuing to work. 15 minutes tops was all I needed.

I went to the Food Park, bought a burger and dessert, then entered the elevator. It was one of those few times when I had the elevator to myself. Great, I thought to myself. It was an express ride to my floor!

As the elevator reached my floor, I suddenly heard the building’s alarm go off. And worse, the elevator’s arrow suddenly began to point down. I was being brought down against my will by the elevator! And I did not have the faintest idea what was going on outside as I heard the alarms all the way down. During what seemed like eternity, I remember thinking of the movie I had just watched on HBO the other night. It was about the policemen who were trapped when the World Trade Center collapsed. And they were caught where else? The elevator shaft!!!!! Chills ran down my spine!!!

At the mezzanine level, a security man all dressed in neon orange overalls met me and gestured to quickly get out of the building. I followed the growing crowd of employees outside. As we stepped out into the bright noon sunlight, I saw some smoke billowing out of what looked like the Food Park. Did someone’s kitchen catch fire after I left there? Then I saw what seemed like water bursting out of a hose alongside the smoke. Geeeezzzz!

I walked to an outdoor parking lot and looked towards the direction of the smoke and water.

A huge tarpaulin was hung outside the mezzanine level of the building. I missed it on my way to work as it was not facing the area where I was usually dropped off.

What did the tarpaulin say?

My 15-minute lunch became almost an hour-long one. But on the flip side of it all, I got to witness our building’s security people coordinate with the Makati firemen and emergency crew. We were treated to a demo of rescue drills that included rappeling down the building’s side and practicing putting out a raging fire with extinguishers. As I went back to my office, I felt that in a real emergency situation, I was probably safer in this building as everyone seemed well coordinated and safety was a paramount concern.

And, as my desk neighbor kidded later, “You were meant to blog about it!” 🙂

Here are some photos I took with my trusty camera phone:

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We Celebrate International Women’s Day Today!

Every March is International Women’s Month and specifically, March 8 is celebrated globally as International Women’s Day.

On the International Women’s Day (IWD) website, the day is described as follows: “Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. While there are many large-scale initiatives, a rich and diverse fabric of local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women’s craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.”

Many corporations have began to actively support IWD. Even Google reportedly changes its logo every March 8 on its search engine pages.

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I found several activities (many from FilipinaImages.com) in Metro Manila as well as in the provinces that aim to celebrate women and inspire each one to achieve her full potential — to celebrate womanhood in all its forms.

March 9, NBC Tent, Rockwell (7am – 5pm) – all women’s expo and all women’s run of different distances. Sen. Pia Cayetano will be one of those joining the run.

March 9, Quezon Park, Dumaguete City (5am – 10pm) – A 5-kilometer Fun Run/Walk for all women and girls will take place with support from men distributing information flyers on womens rights.

WikiPilipinas is hosting the Portal Encyclopedia of Filipina Women.

Filipiniana.net has a link to Philippine Women Studies which features links to laws relating to women, academic and statistical works on Filipino women, and literary masterpieces written by and for Filipinas.

FilipinaImages.com founders Noemi Dado, Dine Racoma and Lorna Dietz, in collaboration with wikiPilipinas, launched a writing contest, “Filipina Stories” for bloggers.

HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY TO ALL —

Filipina kababayans (fellow citizens), most of all to those who have distinguished themselves in their own fields and given the Filipina a positive image

my Pinay mommy blogger-friends (you know who you are!)

my women blog readers

women all over the world — with special mention to those whose basic rights as women are not respected, upheld or appreciated

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

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Holy Divos!!!

When I was growing up, the priests, as I knew them, conformed to what I always expected of the religious. They said Mass, heard Confession, officiated during weddings, baptisms, and wakes. They were retreat masters, theology teachers, frequent lecturers (with me falling asleep half of the time). You know what I mean…

Lately, a new breed of priests capture the attention of ordinary folks like us and bring us closer to the Lord in a different and personal way primarily because they do things we ordinarily do and share the Word of God in the ordinary-ness of life. They are bloggers and gym rats, composers of songs, lyricists, creative writers, artists. And on my last visit to Dumaguete over the holidays, I met a group of priests who did something else which Filipinos love to do a lot — SING!

Fr. Ray Victor Pascual used to be the chaplain at SM Megamall and some of you may have attended his Masses there. He was also concurrently the Orientation Year and Vocation Director at the San Lorenzo Mission Institute. Several years ago, he was assigned as parish priest of Mary Immaculate Parish in Dumaguete after its parish priest passed away. Since then, that parish has flourished and grown into a dynamic one with an active and vibrant choir and involved parishioners. Fr. Ray also happens to be a relative of my hubby (their ancestors came from the same small Chinese village).

What many probably did not know was that while still in Manila, Fr. Ray was part of a group of singing priests. He had a good singing voice and was just as good with the guitar. Their concerts were always packed. So when he assumed his new post in Dumaguete, it was no longer a surprise that eventually, he and 3 other priests (Fr. Ramonito “Ram” Maata, Fr. Carmelito “Junjun” Limbaga, and Fr. Felino “Linlin” Jumawan) would find each other and put up their own singing group, known as the “Priests in Music”.

The Priests in Music have performed in several concerts and private functions in metro Dumaguete. At my in-laws’ Diamond Anniversary celebration last December, they performed to the delight of the crowd.

When priests like these are able to break into the circle of the youth, they show the young that the priesthood is a vocation which need not be boring, staid or outdated. They are able to share God’s Word without “lecturing” — a big turn-off many times for kids who are used to fast-paced multimedia. The blogger priests I know communicate in the medium best known by the youth. They are able to REACH OUT, then REACH IN.

Who knows….maybe down the road we will see a priest who can breakdance and hiphop alongside the kids. Now that I am looking forward to!

Here is a YouTube video showing the Priests in Music in one of their Dumaguete concerts (Fr. Ray is the one in the opening video, in a purple shirt):

….and “BARKADA” sung in a Visayan upbeat way…

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Choices

Some of our important choices have a time line.
If we delay a decision, the opportunity is gone forever.
Sometimes our doubts keep us from making a choice; thus, an opportunity may be missed.
As someone once said: When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, THAT in itself is a choice.
(from a text I received; author unknown)
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Raising a New Breed of Leaders

It was a stark contrast.

At almost the exact time that thousands rallied in Makati yesterday against our present leaders in government, I found myself attending my daughter C1’s LEAd graduation. She was 1 of 32 new graduates of a 2-year leadership program formed 6 years ago by her school’s Office of Student Affairs to raise potential leaders.

Many of the graduates had to apply, and undergo screening, for LEad, which aptly stands for Leadership, Empowerment and Development. Surprisingly, C1 was only a newbie, a freshman, when her club nominated her for the program. At home, we had to discern whether to allow her to go through it. After all, she was just beginning college life, still unsure of what academic demands would be placed on her, and this program required a solid commitment from her to attend its activities on weekends. But C1 was determined to make it. We eventually had to trust that somehow, in spite of all the adjustments she needed to make in her new school, she would come through.

And what a program it was! I remember many weekends when we hardly saw her. It seemed like she “lived” in school already.

In her first year, they were groomed for leadership. Seminars and workshops were offered to hone their skills. The second year was even tougher. On weekends they went to different places around the metro. I had to steel myself once against turning paranoid when she said they were visiting the Bilibid prisoners. There were other immersion programs as well such as Gawad Kalinga, trips to Nueva Ecija and other exposure trips which opened my once-sheltered daughter to the realities of how people lived around her.

As I sat at the back yesterday, listened to some come up to the podium and relate their experiences, and viewed their powerpoint presentation of programs achieved, I felt a mommy’s pride in C1 welling up. So this was what she had been up to all these weekends.

As one of their school officials told me during dinner, while the program aims to form potential leaders of university organizations and projects, what she hoped to see in them was leadership in terms of social action, character and values as well. We both agreed that our wish was for these 32 new leaders to keep their idealism and values intact even as they leave school and go into the workplace.

I could only wish that if our own national leaders — graduates of prestigious schools including C1’s school — had likewise kept their idealism, nationalism and values intact after they got their degrees, we would not be in this mess we are in today which precipitated the rally in Makati.

To all Batch 6 graduates of LEaD, I reiterate my conviction that young people like YOU are the hope of our land. And to our daughter C1 goes a mommy’s (and daddy’s) prayer that the wisdom and idealism you have now may always stay in your heart. With God’s grace, you will become a leader in your own right and make a difference in our country.

Here is a video I took of LEaD’s activities: