Ad Maoirem De Gloriam

EDUCATING YOUNG PEOPLE IN JUSTICE AND PEACE 1. The beginning of a new year, God’s gift to humanity, prompts me to extend to all, with great confidence and affection, my heartfelt good wishes that this time now before us may be marked concretely by justice and peace.  With what attitude should we look to the New Year? We find a very beautiful image in Psalm 130. The Psalmist says that people of faith wait for the Lord “more than those who watch for the morning” (v. 6); they wait for him with firm hope because they know that he will bring light, mercy, salvation. This waiting was born of the experience of the Chosen People, who realized that God taught them to look at the world in its truth and not to be overwhelmed by tribulation. I invite you to look to 2012 with this attitude of confident trust. It is true that the year now ending has been marked by a rising sense of frustration at the crisis looming over society, the world of labour and the economy, a cris

Dear Brothers and Sisters! The reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to Titus that we have just heard begins solemnly with the word “ apparuit ”, which then comes back again in the reading at the Dawn Mass: apparuit – “there has appeared”. This is a programmatic word, by which the Church seeks to express synthetically the essence of Christmas. Formerly, people had spoken of God and formed human images of him in all sorts of different ways. God himself had spoken in many and various ways to mankind (cf. Heb 1:1 – Mass during the Day). But now something new has happened: he has appeared. He has revealed himself. He has emerged from the inaccessible light in which he dwells. He himself has come into our midst. This was the great joy of Christmas for the early Church: God has appeared. No longer is he merely an idea, no longer do we have to form a picture of him on the basis of mere words. He has “appeared”. But now we ask: how has he appeared? Who is he in reality? The r

Hail, holy Lady, Most holy Qu een, Mary, Mother of God, ... Ever Virgin; Chosen by the most holy Father in Heaven, Consecrated by him, With his most holy beloved Son And the Holy Spirit, the comforter. On you descended and in you still remains All the fullness of grace And every good. Hail, his Palace. Hail, his Tabernacle. Hail, his Robe. Hail, his Handmaid. Hail, his Mother. And hail, all holy virtues, Who, by the grace And inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Are poured into the hearts of the faithful So that, faithless no longer, They may be made faithful servants of God through you.

  By Jocelyn R. Uy Philippine Daily Inquirer A Catholic bishop is reminding the faithful that the Holy Day of The Innocents being observed Wednesday is not an occasion to pull pranks on people.  Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani noted that many Filipino Catholics had come to associate the feast following Christmas with April Fool’s Day because of the word “innocent,” which in the Bible refers to infants and young children but to Filipinos may also mean “gullible” or “naïve.” “Filipinos think that when one is innocent, he is also easy to fool,” Bacani said in a phone interview with reporters Tuesday. The bishop explained that the feast also known as Niños Inocentes was not an excuse to play practical jokes but a commemoration of the Biblical story where King Herod of Judea ordered the massacre of all male children aged two years old and under in the town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. In the Gospel according to Matthew, three wise men,

--- thank God, i was able to watch the said movie bit early at SM City Cebu, co'z a humungous flock of movie goers went to watch it, and the line went wild! while heading my way out after watching the said movie, i cant believe that the line of Enteng is so full, it even went near Jollibee infront of thirsty! My gulay! hahaha, i personally enjoy the movie, no dull moments, so funny, love the effects, Eugene Domingo still the best! Ai-Ai and bossing blends very well, and most of all, i love xyrel manabat! she's the best! Congrats to Star Cinema and to Bossing Vic! was thinking of watching it again next week.....! I'll give 10 out of 10! the Best! : )

By Jhunnex Napallacan Inquirer Visayas CEBU CITY—Around 1,500 workers face a bleak Christmas as the downtown shopping mall where they worked was gutted by fire early Friday. It took firefighters over 12 hours to contain the fire that hit Gaisano Capital South located at the corner of Leon Kilat and Colon Streets in Cebu City. The fire broke out at 12:42 a.m. on the second floor of the eight-story building. The fire alarm was raised to Task Force Bravo at 3:55 a.m., said FO2 Ramon Molina of the Cebu City fire department. Eddie Gaisano, owner of the Gaisano Capital Group, was “very devastated,” said Eric Labrada, the firm’s liaison officer. The store in Colon was used as the corporate office of the Gaisano Capital, which has 17 branches nationwide. Labrada said that based on initial report, a spark from the engine room, where the generator was placed, occurred on the second floor before the fire broke out. He said no one was inside the building at that t

By: Paolo G. Montecillo Philippine Daily Inquirer Budget carrier Cebu Pacific has added more frequencies to several key flights to cope with the spike in demand during the holidays. In a statement, the Gokongwei-led carrier said it would increase the number of daily flights between Manila and Hong Kong starting this week up to Jan. 3 next year, noting that the Chinese city had become one of the most preferred tourist destinations of Filipino travellers. This brings the number of flights between Manila and Hong Kong to five a day, the airline said. The company also added flights to Kalibo, Aklan, from Manila and to Caticlan from Cebu “to accommodate the influx of visitors to the island paradise of Boracay, one of Asia’s top beaches.” One daily trip each was also added to flights between Cebu and Davao, Davao and Iloilo, Manila and Cebu, Manila and Davao, Manila and Tacloban, and Manila and Dumagete. As it prepared for the busiest time of the year, the airli

BY: Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, California – Yahoo! on Tuesday announced that it has ramped up the number of its websites around the world that let visitors automatically share what stories they read with Facebook friends. A feature added in September to Yahoo! News in the United States has been extended to 26 more of the California Internet pioneers websites around the world. “This is a first step toward using what your friends are talking about as a meaningful source of programming what you are consuming on Yahoo!,” said Yahoo! vice president of social and personalization Michael Kerns. The feature has been introduced in at Yahoo! News sites in other countries and added to the California company’s entertainment-oriented US websites omg!, Yahoo! TV, Yahoo! Movies, and Yahoo! Games. “As the world’s most popular online news destination, Yahoo! News delivers the most compelling content on the Web through a combination of local editors, advanced technol

By Philip C. Tubeza Philippine Daily Inquirer Filipinos are being urged to seek the intercession of 17th century Cebuano catechist and soon-to-be saint Pedro Calungsod, amid efforts to help the victims and survivors of Tropical Storm “Sendong”. Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, media office director of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), made the call a day after the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had allowed the promulgation of a decree recognizing a miracle required by the Church for Calungsod’s canonization. “This is a big welcome development for the Philippine Church because we would now have another saint after San Lorenzo Ruiz. This will be an inspiration to the youth because Calungsod was a young catechist (when he was martyred),” Quitorio said in an interview on Wednesday. “Pray for his intercession, that we may be strengthened at this time of crisis. May his martyrdom for the faith inspire us Filipinos to serve others uncondition

By Inquirer Visayas , Nestor P. Burgos Jr. , Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer Even before Ateneo de Manila University officially launched its own relief drive on Monday for the victims and survivors of Tropical Storm “Sendong,” one of its security guards had already come forward, carrying a small bag containing two tins of canned goods, instant noodles and some rice. “He said it was the (Christmas) gift he got from his office and that he was giving it to the relief drive,” said Harvey Keh, a program director at the Ateneo School of Government. Organizers didn’t have to wait long for warm bodies to man the processing area, Keh also noted. Two Ateneo scholars, who come from low-income families, immediately volunteered to help. “You can see that poverty is not something that paralyzes people. The response has been tremendous,” said Keh, also a convenor of Kaya Natin!, an advocacy group for good governance which partnered with Ateneo for the relief dri

By Dona Z. Pazzibugan , TJ Burgonio Philippine Daily Inquirer   There may be no good cheer on Christmas for survivors of Tropical Storm “Sendong.” While no storm is in sight, monsoon rains at the weekend are likely to blanket wide areas of the country and trigger floods and landslides not only in Mindanao and the Visayas but also Luzon, particularly the Bicol region, weathermen said Wednesday. As the tail end of the cold front moves southward, Visayas and Mindanao will experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms, said Robert Sawi, weather division chief of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). The rainshowers and thunderstorms will become widespread over the eastern section, and particularly intense in Mindanao on Christmas, he said. “Our countrymen there should prepare because flash floods might occur during the weekend,” he said during a press conference. On the other hand, a

  By: Paolo G. Montecillo   Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—Dominant mobile network Smart Communications is taking a second look at wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology, often seen only in malls or coffee shops, as a way to connect more households across the country to the Internet. Smart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), announced on Tuesday the launch of its “carrier-grade” Wi-Fi service that would allow mobile device users to log on to the web using indoor and outdoor hotspots via prepaid or postpaid accounts. Unlike regular public Wi-Fi hotspots found in malls, shops, and schools, carrier-grade Wi-Fi can be set up even in local neighborhoods. “We will make this possible by installing access points in our base stations, thus allowing users to connect to our Wi-Fi even in their own homes,” PLDT Technology group head Rolando G. Pena said. “All they need to do is sign in with a username and password whi

By: Riza T. Olchondra Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—The Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has contributed $30,000 to relief efforts on Mindanao in the wake of the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Sendong (international name: Washi). MOL president Koichi Muto said in a statement released via email that the company was assisting relief efforts through Manila-based manning firm Magsaysay MOL Marine, Inc. (Magsaysay-MOL). MOL may provide further assistance as the situation in Mindanao unfolds. “We wish to convey our deepest sympathies to all those affected by the typhoon,” Muto said. “We received monetary donations from many people in the Philippines, including our seafarers and their families after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March. We sincerely hope for a swift recovery to the area and a quick return to normal life.” Muto said MOL and the Philippines have “a deep relationship.” The company recrui

The last general audience of 2011, was a festive affair. Traditional Alpine bagpipe players dressed in leather breeches, entertained the eight thousand people packed into the Paul VI audience hall as they waited for Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival, while small children escaped the clutches of their parents to gaze in awe at the life size Nativity Scene gifted this year by the people of Pueblo in Mexico. In fact Christmas, and how we should celebrate the festive season, was also at the heart of the Holy Father’s catechesis this week as he appealed to believers not to allow the external symbols of Christmas time swallow up its truest, most sacred sense. That the Lord is born for us all, even today, for mankind of the third millennium. Speaking in English he said: “As Christmas approaches, I offer prayerful good wishes to you and your families for a spiritually fruitful celebration of the Lord’s birth. At Midnight Mass, we sing: “Today a Saviour is born for us”. This “Tod

By Norman Bordadora Philippine Daily Inquirer CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday declared a state of national calamity and vowed to mobilize assistance for victims of the worst storm to hit his presidency. “I need to ask myself. Did the government do enough to prevent this kind of a tragedy? I don’t think I can accept that we have done everything,” Mr. Aquino told evacuees at Cagayan de Oro Central School during a lightning visit to the disaster zone four days after Tropical Storm “Sendong” struck. “I know we could have done more.” The President himself has been criticized for attending a Christmas Party for his Presidential Security Group on Saturday as Sendong rampaged across Mindanao and the Visayas, igniting flash floods and causing death and destruction. “My concern right now is specifically those missing,” Mr. Aquino said. “Let us exhaust all possible means to try and find all of these missing individuals,” he told national an

  By Kristine L. Alave Philippine Daily Inquirer The tragedy that struck the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan was an event waiting to happen. It was foretold three years ago, but was dismissed by lawmakers as “too alarmist.” Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, chief executive of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF), said Monday the events in Northern Mindanao over the weekend mirrored the prediction. “It was an exact fit,” Tan said. Environmentalists said a simulation of the effects of extreme weather events from climate change such as saltwater intrusion, sea level rise and intense tropical cyclones, showed that major Philippine cities, including Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, were at risk of massive flooding. The simulation of the effects of extreme weather phenomena was drafted in 2009 by the Philippine Imperative for Climate Change (PICC), WWF and Filipino scientists. “At best, this might provide a very rough indicator of areas that may be more vulnerable

  By Ador Vincent Mayol , Candeze R. Mongaya Cebu Daily News The Philippines will have its second saint in Blessed Pedro Calungsod. Pope Benedict XVI recently approved the promulgation of decrees for the canonization of Calungsod, a young native of the Visayas region who was killed in the 16th century. No date was announced yet by the Vatican for the canonization rites, which are traditionally held in St. Peter’s Square. The Vatican’s website announced that Calungsod along with six others from Italy, France, Spain, Germany and America would  be elevated to sainthood. “This is the best Christmas gift,” said Msgr. Cristobal Garcia, chairman of the Commission on Worship of the Cebu Archdiocese. “And we should reciprocate the gift by becoming like Pedro, selfless and faithful, devoted, generous, and a true friend,” Garcia said in a text message  to Cebu Daily News. The miracle attributed to Calungsod happened in 2003. A woman pronounced clinically dead