‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God’ (Matthew 5:9).
By Rose Jessica ‘Jet’ F. Octaviano
Our Hideaway
The Marines of the Church
By Reynante Bantigue
In my exposure in Negros Occidental, I was able to visit the places in the Diocese of Kabankalan where Columban missionaries have greatly involved for 61 years. Many of their contributions were noticeable: schools and churches they built, various communities organized, many programs and projects initiated; all in the service of justice and the uplifting of human dignity is uplift. I was very impressed.
By ‘Laura’
The author is in 4th year college in Bacolod City, majoring in Information Technology.
In my early years I could clearly tell how difficult it is to be born into a family where you long for love and care. Where there is only a little food that can satisfy your starving stomach. Where you can almost feel your world is spinning upside down because you can no longer stand the scarcity. Where you walk to school empty-handed, no ballpen, no trendy bags such as your classmates have, no paper or whatever.
My mother had to scrimp from her small wage. I tried selling ube candy in grade school when I was just a Kinder II student. I can vividly remember how my classmates laughed at me because I used a Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise jar for my water. To make the humiliation even worse, the jar broke because I was too careless. How I was so envious of my classmates having everything they needed. If only I could, I would work more than my mother did every day and every hour of her life. I used to cry a lot in silence thinking how my life was a mess. Like any puzzled kid, I protested, ‘Why me?’
Trip to Nepal
By Pam Villamor
A few months before my trip to Nepal, many of my friends and officemates asked me why I wanted to go to there. Some had no idea where Nepal was. The only thing I could tell them was that I was going to a country where you can find Mt Everest. I also asked myself why I would go on this trip. So many reasons came out: I deserved a vacation and I loved sightseeing, I was also looking forward to meeting someone there, and I wanted to validate my recent passion for peace work. Sounds exciting, right?
By Erl Dylan J. Tabaco
The author is from Cagayan de Oro and is a Columban seminarian.
As I packed my things for a one-week vacation, I felt very excited because the places we were going to were new to me. Aside from it, I could relax after all the hard work of the school year. It was past seven in the morning when we finally reached our first destination, seven hours by bus from Manila, Banaue, Ifugao. Famous for its mud-walled rice terraces, it engaged my attention. As I was standing in front of that magnificent view, the sun’s rays illuminating the sky reminded me of a beautiful passage in the Bible. Reflecting on the magnificent scenery, I kept wondering about the beauty of God’s creation. It was a dream come true for me because before I had seen the rice terraces only in photos and movies.
Erl and Au Luceno
I Am Here
by Raul Espenocilla
Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself
Said by my brother Jesus to the person with anxiety and distress.
For whoever who believes in Him shall not perish but shall continue to exist
In this world of love where people with pure hearts are holy and blest.
Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find
Knock unto him and the door of happiness will be found.
In the darkness of your soul where light seldom sparks
His arms welcome you, ‘I am with you always until the very end of time’.
A Letter to a Friend
By Kenneth AcapThe author is a former Columban seminarian from Bacolod City.
Dearest Friend,
It is both in profound gratitude and in slight weariness that I am writing you this letter.
You
see, our world has greatly changed. Every single day, my values are
being challenged by television and other media. I can sometimes
see myself caving in, wanting to have a bite of the morsel offered by
the bohemian society. What we have right now is good. I admit, there is
nothing wrong in change. What I am concerned about, though, is when we
change our established core values to accommodate the fleeting and
dictated trends of false self-imaging.
BEING HONEST HURTS
By Suzzanne Saniel
Suzzanne is from Consolacion, Dalaguete, Cebu. She graduated as a
Bachelor in Secondary Education major in Physics and Chemistry last 2007 and has
been teaching in B.R.I.G.H.T. Academy, Banilad, Cebu City for two years.
Presently she is a Chemistry teacher.
As a child, I was told to tell the truth always. I remember confessing just before my First Communion that I had lied many times. The value of honesty has always struck me and I have observed how people easily get around it. As I was growing up, I got confused with telling a twisted truth and a lie. I also realized how being frank enough to tell the truth could even lead to persecution. So if being honest at all times is not good, we try to be prudent.
True Happiness
By Vanessa T. De Guzman
‘There’s true happiness when you find your feet walking in your dream shoes.’
Happiness, according to Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary (1992), is the feelings of joy and pleasure mingled in varying degrees. But we can never define the true happiness of others, no matter how much we know them.
Asian Youth Day Cross visits the Young People of Bacolod
By Giovanni A. Solibio
The author, a teacher by profession, is a volunteer staff member of the Commission on Youth of the Diocese of Bacolod.
While staring at the Cross as it was being carried by some young people of Panay, a feeling of excitement and joy invaded my whole being. The noise of the crowd and the vehicles moving to and fro reminded me of the awesome presence of the Cross. I was so preoccupied then with how the Commission on Youth staff together with the council and the young people of Bacolod could provide accommodation for all. In spite of this, I was able to focus on the Cross as we commenced the caravan around the city passing the different schools with the welcoming students lining the streets. As the Cross visited every corner of each young person’s heart and soul, the power of the icon of God’s love for humanity was so vividly evident. I felt a desire of wanting Christ present to these young people and for the unfolding revelation of God`s love to all people. That very significant moment was strangely distinctive in the sense that it brought about a transfiguration, even for a short period of time, in the lives of the welcoming crowd.