The stand of the Catholic Church on sexual abuse issue

I never expected it coming this morning.

I always attend the 10:00 o'clock mass at Sta. Barbara Parish here in Dededo, Guam. The celebrant was Fr. Dan Bien, a Filipino priest, and his homily focuses on the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd takes care of his flock. And with that he explained that Jesus Christ Shepherding responsibility was given to the Apostles and handed it to the Pope and the bishops and the bishops handed it also to the priest in-charge of the parish.

He re-iterated that the Church condemns such act and the Church does not protect priest who does not uphold justice and abuse their position. He implores the laity to continually pray for the clergy that they may be good shepherds. Also he quoted an article by a Jewish religious leader. The article points out that the media is ganging up on the Catholic Church because such case is not limited to the Catholic Church but also to other sects and denominations. The Catholic Church is being singled out by the media for no reason at all. He ask the laity to remain steadfast in the Faith and keep the Faith. This is just one of the trials we as Catholics has to struggle and in the end we will be led to the right path as we hear and heed the true Shepherds voice, Jesus Christ.

I am a former seminarian and I would be hypocrite to say of I didn't heard of anything like this in the past. But I cannot say as well who are these priest who have failed to do what our Lord has task them to do, to take care of His flock. There is only one thing I know though, priest are humans like you and me. They feel the same things that we feel and the more they are bombarded with  temptation. Thus we need to continually pray for the clergy to never give in and never give up the calling they are called for. 

What I ask personally is for priests who has done such act should give themselves up to the proper authorities and accept responsibility for their actions. To our Church leaders I ask that they be transparent and help the victims to surpass the anguish these abuses has inflicted in them and not be silent about it. There is something wrong so we should as early as possible correct what is wrong before it corrupts us all. To my fellow Catholics as well as our brothers and sisters in the faith I asks your continuous prayer, help, and vigilance to stop such acts. 

 

I remember my co-seminarians motto in our yearbook: Hate the sin not the sinner. We are a community and thus we should not condemn and shun people but rather hate the action that they did and help them realize the wrong that they did and make the right decisions and actions about it rather than pointing and accusing and let the issue grow and grow until it will be impossible to resolve it.

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When Boredom comes part what?

Hahaha sorry about my last post. I was angry that day and wanted to write my anger in my blog but the moment I tried to type and put to words the feeling it was hard. 

I am not that kind of angry person that would start throwing foul words. I don't know why, I never say the S***, F***, and the rest of all the words which the young of today seems just a word of expression. I was angry because I am put in the middle of the warring parties. I felt trap and paralyze. I don't know which to side on. My mind started thinking why. Reasons come crashing to me that these people have no respect of me anymore and as if I owe anyone of them. In fact I never owe any one of them, they owe me big time.

Well it has been more than a week that I am having problem sleeping. Not only that there is something bothering me mentally but also physically. My body aches and my mind seems thinking of thinking of possibilities of how I would get into a car accident. Also my other problem has re-surface. I have figure out why I am doing that and also found the solution but the recent stress and my dreams and goals seem to pull me back to it. Now how will I ever find the one if the same old me, the one that I am not, keeps on coming and wanting to take over the real me.

Don't worry I am not a psycho. I just wanted to put to words the feeling deep down my subconscious. It will soon pass. All I need is to face it and find the reason why and from there figure out the solution. I want a better me, a better Louis. Do I need help? Oh yes I do. I need your prayers and enabling words. 

I will because I can. 

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When boredom comes

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Still learning to be a better blogger

Yup that is right. Even though I have nearly 4 years of blogging experience(mostly are personal blogs so they are more of a diary) I am still no better that is why my quest to be a good blogger is still up and running. I bought the e-book of Darren Rowse of Problogger, 31 Days to Building a better blog, and one free stuff I got is an audio interview of Darren  with a blogger which is here in the same island I am currently working.

His name is Leo Babauta. His blog Zen Habits has been one of the top 100 blogs and I was humbled to know that someone who is so simple has that influence in the blogosphere.  And besides that he has publish a book and e-books that are even sold at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Borders, and IndieBound. It's my dream also to write at least an e-book regarding my passion and profession, accounting, so maybe by following Leo and his works will eventually lead me to my dream of becoming a full problogger and a writer.

Leo's book, The Power of Less, demonstrates how to streamline your life by identifying the essential and eliminating the unnecessary — freeing you from everyday clutter and allowing you to focus on accomplishing the goals that can change your life for the better.

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A sad story: Cover up of priest abusing a minor pinned to the Pope

The news about a priest abusing young boys in his parish somewhere in Bavaria was linked to the Pope which back then was the Cardinal Ratzinger. 

The said priest was convicted but accusations that such could have been prevented if then Cardinal Ratzinger has done actions since such was under his jurisdiction. The news said that Pope Benedict knows about such pedophile priest and that just like other diocese transferred the said erring priest to hide or prevent the story from escalating to the media.

It is sad that such things happen. Specially now that we are celebrating Easter, most of the story is about it and some say that the former Pope, John Paul II, might have knowledge about such reports and no actions were made. For me being part of the Catholic community and a former seminarian puts me in a situation in which I had to chose side, to condemn this non-action or defend the Church. 

It is not new to me. Back in the Philippines there were cases of abuses that shattered the lives of young altar boys and some seminarians which were abuse by the very least person that they know would do such a thing. Such act is highly not condone by the Church. I would like to appeal to all Christians that we as part of the community must be vigilant about such sensitive issues. In Archdiocese and I believe in all diocese we celebrate Clergy Day. It is a celebration for priest to renew their commitment to the priesthood. Though they have undergone such rigorous training, priest are just as same as we are. They are vulnerable to temptation and the strength of temptation is much more stronger on there side since one they have no family on their own(I mean they have no wife and children due to the vows of chastity), they might be assigned to places far from their family(in the case of missionaries very far), and responsibility for them to take care of the flock is great since they have to accept a bigger family of which they need to focus.

I only ask one thing for those priest that faltered; please come out and face the consequences of your actions. Don't hide or ask other priest to help you out in getting out of the mess you have done. Please come out and face it.

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Why does Jesus have to die in the cross?

Death in the cross was the most shameful way to die in the Roman times. A cross was the symbol of disgrace. Criminals die in the cross...nailed let there die.

I was able to watch a documentary regarding the quest of knowing if the image in the Shroud of Turin is Jesus or not. I noticed that the documentary keeps on repeating that the story is about wether that the image in the shroud is the image of Jesus or not. It has been the mission of the 3D artist to know how Jesus looks like based on the image on the Shroud of Turin. In his quest he work hand in hand with the members f STURP(Shroud of Turin Research Project). Based on he data he gathered the man that was covered with the shroud was brutally beaten. in his back and legs where marks of scratches and wounds. a wound that could have been made by nailing was found in his wrist and feet. A deep wound was also found in his side...similarly of that of our Lord Jesus.

Jesus died for us to set an example of love. Jesus loves us, He loves us to the point of giving His life. The greatest way of teaching is by way of an example. He also have to die to teach us about the resurrection. If Jesus never died then how will He resurrect. Thus He has to die in order for us to understand the love of God that one day we will rise form the dead just as He has risen. That is why he has to day like ordinary man so that He can show us how our God loves us. 

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Watching music videos in the tube: a déjà vu feeling and a concern at the same time

It has been awhile since I watched music videos in TV. Watching it from the net is very different from watching it on TV. In the net you can search the one that you want to see but in TV whatever they are currently playing is the one you going to watch or you can press the power button to shut it down if you don’t like it.

I was tuned into MTV’s AMTV and VH1’s Jumpstart. The first one I saw was at MTV titled “Live like were dying.” I already heard this in the radio but seeing it is different. The artist, , is new to me. I like the combination of the usual singing plus the speed rapping he does. It kinda pace up your rhythm. Then I have been hearing this new song also in radio it’s sung by featuring Ludacris. The title is “Baby” and the lyrics is kinda cute…the typical teen music.
Then I saw rapper featuring Justin Timberlake. For my personal opinion most videos these days are sexual oriented and some language is explicit. That is why the young viewers are absorbing and manifesting these bad behavior due to the influence of their environment. Yes we can argue that the environment is co-incidental to a person’s persona and the choice is really theirs to make. The youth of today are independent and that has two way effect. One is that they are able to take charge of what they really want and the other is that the standard they abide is the one that is what they have grown into thus having such exposure to media with sexual content and language makes them have this kind of thinking.

I am not entirely against media or music video, I truly love them. Only that there should be responsibility because we cannot stop young people to view these videos because they have that right to choose. The youth of today needs guidance but not to strict just like before. They are vulnerable. I just saw the news regarding a boy beating nearly to death a girl in school because of a text message. The boy who is about 14 years old might be judge as an adult according to the news because as per the disposition the act was premeditated. Simple actions or words might have different interpretations because of the influences the youth of today are receiving daily.
Please don’t hesitate to add your comments.

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You can educate the poor children of Philippines through Big Brother, Big Sister Project

Are you one of the kinded hearted person who wanted to help the poor children in the remote areas of the Philippines?

The Big Brother,Big Sister has a project in the Philippines called " It only takes a spark.." This project aims to sent school supplies to children in the remotest area in the Philippines. Each volunteer mountaineers will bring a Php 300.00 worth of school supplies. You can help by donating Php 300.00 or by being a volunnteer mountaineer to bring the school supplies. The said distribution of the school supplies will be this coming May 22-23, 2010.

You can donate via PayPal or Direct bank deposit. Details below:

PayPal:  helpbbbs@gmail.com

Bank deposits:

Account Name:  MARILET DE GUZMAN 
Account No. :  6220111000 
Banco de Oro, Sienna-Del Monte Branch 
409 Del Monte Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines

If deposits will be made from outside the Philippines, just specify the Bank Swift Code:  BNORPHMM

Account Name:  JOANNE MAE DEL MINDO 
Account No.:  3029-0176-61 
Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI Card Center 
Ground Flr., BPI Credit Card Bldg.  

8753 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City, Philippine

If deposits will be made from outside the Philippines, just specify the Bank Swift Code:  BOPIPHMM

Please keep the deposit slip for reference.  Kindly inform us the date and amount of the deposit through helpbbbs@gmail.com or contact Joanne Del Mindo +639163444404 or Marilet de Guzman +639285032075.

 To register as a volunteer, please provide the following information:

Fullname

Nickname

Phone Number

E-mail Address

Home Address

Birthdate (year of birth optional)

Blood Type

Shirt Size (S-M-L-XL)

Are you a mountaineer?

In case of emergency:

    Contact Person

    Contact Number

Relationship

Preferred repacking date (May 8 or May 15)

Who do you prefer to be grouped with? (as a guide only, subject to change)

Please take note of the ffg. dates:

1. May 6, 8pm - briefing for non-mountaineers at Conference
    Room A, 4th Floor, Makati Stock Exchange Bldg., Ayala cor. 
    Makati Ave., Makati City.

2.May 13, 8pm - Team pre-climb meeting at the Penthouse Flr., 
   Makati Stock Exchange Bldg., Ayala cor, . Makati Ave., Makati 
   City.  Attendance is a must!  No preclimb, no climb! Reserved 
   slots will be given to those on waitlist.

3.May 8 or May 15, 9am - repacking of the school supplies.  All
   volunteers joining the trek are required to help in at least one 
   repacking session.  No repacking, no climb!  Reserved slots will 
   be given to those on waitlist.  Venue is at 200 Danny Floro St. 
   (formerly Canley Road), Pasig.

For other volunteer information, you may contact:

Sharon Ponio:  sharon.ponio@gmail.com or +639178010033 
Angel Constantino:  angelamc23@gmail.com or +639175375276
Medi Nazar:   meds511@yahoo.com 
Juliet Cayabyab:  cayabyabjuliet@gmail.com

For more info and updates, you may visit the BBBS website: http://www.bbbsoutreach.com or Multiply site:  http://bbbs2005.multiply.co

Or you can pledge your support to Maia Outreach Program

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Pacquiao vs. Clottey.....Pacman vs. Grandmaster

Guys here we go again. I am sure Manila's street tomorrow will be open wide and your ordinary 1 - 2 hour traffic will be reduce to 5 - 10 minutes. It has always been like this since Philippines's "Pambansang Kamao" (National Fist) has given glory to the country through boxing.

Pacman's coach, Freddie Roach, remark that this fight be go to the score cards and then retracted it saying it won't last to 9 rounds upon seeing Pacquiao's ultimate weapon for Clottey. Well little is known about Clottey or should I say "I know little about Clottey." 

Clottey is origianlly from Ghana and now lives in Bronx, NY. He is welterweight boxer and have a record of 35-3-0 of which 20 are KO. Has a solid defense and a combination of size, speed, stamina, boxing skills, power, and chin. Clottey has top defensive skills; the way he uses his gloves and arms to protect himself from his opponent's punches is very similar to Winky Wright's defensive stance.

One of my co-worker's comment is that Pacquiao might loose. The height of his career has already begun and as he said all things that go up must some point in time will go down. The size of Clottey might be Pacquiao's big hindrance and as some observers commented, Clottey is a like Pacman himself in his speed and toughness. Clottey had this big break to fight the world's considered best pound-per-pound boxer when the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight did not materialize. 

Tomorrow will be the fight and all boxing fans will be glued in to their plasma tv to see weather Clottey has it takes to be the boxer to stop Pacquiao's career or will this fight be the proof of Pacquiao's dominance in boxing. 

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Thinking of earning online and making e-books online

Lately I am hype on updating and enhancing my blogs to get more visitors and make them read and explore my sites. I have some tips from Jomar Hilario and some internet sources that guided me in making my blogs search engine reachable and reader appealing.

Knowing what to write is one of the key on earning online. Somewhere out there are groups that have a passion for what you write and might be looking for your content or blog. When your blog is widely read and have a good number of visitors called traffic, advertisers are likely to see the potential of your site thus they place ads on your site. Google Adsense has been one of the leading online advertising companies to introduce such way of advertising. In Asia Nuffnang has been gaining ground. 

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