In Your Prescence


When I think of You
I stand amazed amidst of Everything,
Everything that I do not know of

When I think of You
I lie spread-eagled, falling across the sky
In a sky of Grace, you alone can give

When I think of You
I curl up like a child in moments of Solitude
Sweetest moments when I can be with You

When I think of You
I am humbled into Nothingness
And what a joy it is to know it!

Ratzinger, You're The Man!




I truly trust this guy is really God's servant

ROME (BP)--Those wanting a more liberal pope likely will be disappointed by the election of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger April 19 as Roman Catholics' new pontiff.

The 78-year-old Ratzinger, who took the name of Pope Benedict XVI, is seen as one of the more conservative cardinals who entered the conclave April 18. As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger was in charge of enforcing Catholic orthodoxy.

On issues from abortion to homosexuality to female priests, Ratzinger is seen as a staunch conservative.

Pro-life Catholic groups applauded Ratzinger's election.

"We thankfully recognize the staunch pro-life commitment of Cardinal Ratzinger during the whole of his episcopacy and we are confident that as Pope Benedict XVI, he will continue his strong defense of the Church's teaching on the sanctity of human life," Thomas Euteneuer, president of the pro-life Catholic group Human Life International, said in a statement.

Priests for Life -- which championed Terri Schiavo's cause during her final days -- also praised Ratzinger's election.

"For decades, [Ratzinger] has been a strong voice in favor of life, clearly articulating the Church's teachings," Priests for Life national director Frank Pavone said in a statement. "In particular, he has explained how the Church must be the conscience of the state. We look forward to working together with and under the leadership of the new Pope to advance the Culture of Life."

Pope Benedict XVI replaces Pope John Paul II, who was considered a champion of pro-family causes and who died April 2.

In a Mass that opened the conclave April 18, Ratzinger criticized postmodernism, a worldview that says there is no absolute truth. He presided over the Mass because of his senior position in the Vatican.

"How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking?" Ratzinger asked. "We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires."

The pro-choice group Catholics for a Free Choice released a statement saying it is "deeply concerned" that Ratzinger's election signals "continued dissension within the church."

In a 1991 report Ratzinger criticized nations that legalize abortion.

"... [A] State which arrogates to itself the prerogative of defining which human beings are or are not the subject of rights, and which consequently grants to some the power to violate others' fundamental right to life, contradicts the democratic ideal to which it continues to appeal and undermines the very foundations on which it is built," he wrote. "By allowing the rights of the weakest to be violated, the State also allows the law of force to prevail over the force of law."

Ratzinger's election also drew criticism from homosexual groups. According to Advocate.com, in 1986 Ratzinger called homosexuality an "intrinsic moral evil."

In addition, a few years ago he authored a statement criticizing the move to grant same-sex couples the legal benefits of marriage.

"Those who would move from tolerance to the legitimization of specific rights for cohabiting homosexual persons need to be reminded that the approval or legalization of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil," Ratzinger’s statement read.

Homosexual activists had hoped for a pope who was more liberal than Pope John Paul II. Following the news, homosexual websites called Ratzinger everything from "antigay" to a "homophobe."

"Today, the princes of the Roman Catholic Church elected as Pope a man whose record has been one of unrelenting, venomous hatred for gay people," Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said in a statement.

But pro-family leaders were much more open to the news.

"Joseph Ratzinger represents a decisive vote for the long traditions of Catholicism. As director of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he has been the theological watchdog of the Vatican for years," said Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson. "Although he will be affable and approachable, he will in all probability continue the conservative trend in the Roman Catholic church."

James Leo Garrett, distinguished professor of theology emeritus at Southwestern Seminary, said Ratzinger’s election indeed signals the extension of strict orthodoxy within the Roman Catholic Church.

"His election makes almost certain that the disciplining of deviant theologians will continue and very likely that this papacy will be more confrontational and less interactive with contemporary culture than John Paul II’s," Garrett said. "... Those who anticipated a charismatic preacher and warmhearted pastor as the next pope may have to wait for another conclave. Evangelicals may be prone to celebrate Ratzinger’s orthodoxy on the Trinity, Christology, and no salvation outside Christ but will need to remember Ratzinger’s role in ‘Dominus Iesus’ in 2000, which said that Protestant and evangelical churches ‘are not Churches in the proper sense,’ a statement reckoned by some as a reversal of Vatican II, which implies [Protestants and evangelicals are] ‘sects.’”

Nonetheless, Garrett said, “papal history has had its surprises, and hence we must wait patiently and prayerfully to see what kind of pope the German cardinal proves to be.”

With reporting by Gregory Tomlin.


Copyright (c) 2001 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press
email: bpress@sbc.net

When You Say Goodbye to Friendship


I have realized that clichés such as accept your friends as who they are is a statement irregardless of the situation, a thing of the world. I have this friend once who I thought will bring me out of the darkness of self-destruction and led me to light. I trusted this friend with my whole heart and I thought this friend knows my very needs. As we both journey through this friendship, we've shared too many experiences, the fun, the war and spending boring hours doing things together. However, this friend of mine is only human as I am human. I have wronged him and he has wronged me. Until the time came as we journey in this friendship, we came across a forked road. He wants to go this way, I want to go that way. In this confusing world of worldly standards, it is God only whom we can lay down all our relationships and that includes our friendship. God shows when our friendship ends with a person in order to move forward. God does not identify us with our past and that includes the people we are involved with. God cares about out present and He molds us according to His purpose in you and along the way - some things have to be given up and some things have to be acquired and maintained as long as it is helpful for you to move on and it includes our friends.

To you my very dear friend, I miss the times that we're together but I guess that this is the time when we say, "Do I still know you?". I have always thought that it is I who only felt that way, I'm glad that God has revealed to me that you felt that way too. Truly, God only had the best plans for our individual lives. Wherever you may be, I still pray for you and may God bless you. Until then, who knows maybe our paths will cross again? God only knows.

P.S. "To my friends who had the feeling who knows this friend, please keep this message to yourself. Just leave a comment if you want to say anything."

Thanks God It's Friday


Just came from work... and I'm super tired. It has been a long day of training, finishing reports, rushing urgent tasks and extra tasks ordered by your other bosses. While almost all apprentices have gone back to Manila to refresh this weekend, I will be stuck here in Baguio. As much as I want to go back and spend all my work allowance to buy stuff, I just have a hunch that it would be better to stay here in Baguio. Tomorrow, I might hint to attend the "Cross Current" meeting here in Baguio but all my contact persons are the lamest I've known. One did not know the address, the other hasn't replied to any of my texts. I'm wondering if they really wanted participants to attend in that meeting or symposium. Anyway, I really hope I could attend that seminar for my healing.

Yesterday, I started to read M.Scott Peck's sequel to "Road Less Travelled", the "Further Ahead, The Road Less Travelled". Now, it started with a phrase, "Life is Complex" (In RLT, it was life is difficult)... The first article starts with differentiating two kinds of pain: the pain we must undergo to grow and the unnecessary pain, the one that impedes our spiritual growth. Scott Peck, speak in general terms regardless of religion. There is a light to what he's trying to say. I'll continue to read and tell you more about it.

A Very Long Weekend - Intramuros


After going to church at Word Community Church in Pasig, John, Frank, Peter and I went to Edsa Shangri-la Mall to have our lunch. We ate at Cravings. I ordered something small cause I'm afraid my stomach will ache again. I was planning to go to SM for an afternoon stroll before going back to Baguio but John invited me to accompany the elder guys with him at Intramuros. Peter said he loves history and was very eager to visit the place. It was a 40-minute taxi ride under scorching noon heat. When we got to the Intramuros town square, the old Manila Cathedral stood pridely in sight. It's architecture is a cross of Gothic and Baroque style and I was quite amazed with it. I have only seen buildings of this type during our classes in Humanities. When I get inside, it was breathtaking. The altar was adorned with ancient statues. You could've imagined it was like something of a Sistine chapel.


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Manila Cathedral


Entrance to Fort Santiago

Anyway after that, we got to Fort Santiago, an ancient walled fortress occupied during the Spanish era by the guardia civil. We got to visit the old areas restored, after being destroyed during "The Battle of Manila" in 1945. Finally, we get to heart of Fort Santiago, the Rizal Shrine. Most of Rizal's work are shown on there and when we get to the prison cell. It felt creepy! Like a forlorn spirit was trapped there inside. I felt goosebumps rising on my arms, I immediately left that place. At the final room, where Rizal's last poem, "Mi Ultimo Adios" was carved in a marble stone, I learned how Rizal spent his last night before he was executed. It was a painful story, where his brothers are not allowed to see him and his sisters and his mother could not even touch, let alone embrace him. Exiting Rizal Shrine, there was a tunnel going underground. I went down on it, but it became too dark to continue, even the light from the flashlight seem to have no effect. I bet it leads to Pasig River, just a few meters ahead. After that, we saw the dungeons but their entrances were locked. Nearby, there was a huge cross dedicated to Filipinos and Americans who died of suffocation in the dungeons during the Japanese era.

It was an hours due of adventure inside the fortress so we decided to take a rest. After that we went out and toured the whole of Intramuros community, visiting the National Museum and San Agustin Chruch but I was too tired to appreciate everything, let alone to share to you the whole details of it. It was about 5 when Peter and Frank decided to call it a day and they went home. Meanwhile John and I, took an FX to Cubao. We have a short dinner at Chowking, and John prayed a for me before I went home to get my things nd go back to Baguio.

Well, it concludes my very long weekend! Good night to you all and God Bless You.