The Immaculate Conception and the Emnity with the Serpent

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

In the recent debates on the RH Bill, Congressman Edcel Lagman refused to look into the beginnings of life: “This House has no competence to tell when life begins,” he said. While scientists still debate on the question, the Church has a very simple answer: at conception. Life begins at conception. The mystery which we celebrate today tells us so: the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We believe that God infused an immaculate human soul into the fertilized ovum in the womb of St. Anne. (On account of the fact that the human soul is infused into the fertilized ovum, it is already a human person.) Mary has never been touched by sin in any way nor in any point in time. She has always been ‘full of grace’. The Lord has always been with her. The Holy Spirit has been dwelling in her soul since the first instance of her conception. (the mere fact that we speak of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Mary at the first instance of her conception already tells us of the existence of the human soul at the early point of her existence. For if it were not so, where would the Holy Spirit dwell in her?) The greatness of Mary has been hers even from the beginning of her life.

The book of Genesis speaks of a perpetual enmity between the serpent and the Woman, between his seed and her seed. The spiritual battle wages on until today and all of us are in it. We have to take sides, there is no neutral ground. Either you are on the side of the Woman or on the side of the serpent. Either you are her seed or the serpent’s own. In this battle between good and evil, God has entrusted his cause to the Woman who was conceived without sin. It is to her that God has given to crush the serpent under her feet. But why? Why did the Lord entrust this spiritual battle to the Woman? Why to a creature so small and humble? Why to someone who seems utterly powerless before the rebellious serpent? Why to the Immaculate Conception? Imagine, the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary at the most vulnerable and most defenseless point in her life. (The human being is most vulnerable and most defenseless at the moment of conception. Why is it so? Well, a morning after pill is enough to expel a fertilized ovum from the womb ) Why did God make this Immaculate Fertilized Ovum the general of His army? The answer is found in the epistle of St. Paul: “And he said to me: ‘My grace is sufficient for thee’; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Our Lady’s humility is so much the reverse of the pride of the serpent. While he declared “I will not serve,” Our Lady said, “Be it done unto me according to your word.” While the serpent, in his arrogance, deemed himself equal to God, our Lady called herself “the handmaid of the Lord.” In the Immaculate Conception, the Lord reveals to us the sufficiency of his grace.

And so, while the enemies of God bask in their self-proclaimed glory, while the enemies of the Church gloat over their money (63 million dollars) and political power, we kneel before the Immaculate Conception and entrust to her our humble cause. All seems lost in our struggle against the culture of death but we continue to have confidence in the Immaculata. To her hands God entrusted the spiritual battle. To her feet God gave the power to crush the serpent’s head. “Who is she that comes forth like the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?” (Song 6:10)

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

UST: True to its Catholic Name

The Main Building with the images of the Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity

This Article on the "Varsitarian" speaks well of the University of Santo Tomas as a Catholic University. I find the following paragraphs as worthy of our considration:

"If faculty members of UST and other Catholic schools feel they need to invoke their academic freedom to make known their stand in conflict with the bishops regarding the RH bill, then they’re free to do so. But they must resign from UST. They must give up their Catholic academic affiliation. They must have the courage of their intellectual conviction. Upholding their conscience, they must respect the Church and her teachings."

"The Ateneo and La Salle professors therefore have been treated with kid gloves by the Jesuits and the Christian Brothers. Although they’re religious and members of Catholic orders, the Jesuits and Christian Brothers have failed to uphold orthodoxy and defend the Church. As far as the RH bill and support for it among their faculty are concerned, they’re lemons. And as far as the Pro-RH Ateneo and La Salle professors are concerned, they’re dishonest and don’t have the courage of their intellectual conviction. Contradicting the bishops and defending the RH bill, they have clung on to their faculty membership in Catholic institutions. They want to have their cake and eat it, too. They’re intellectual mercenaries, nothing more, nothing less.

It is quite gratifying that UST has cracked the whip and reminded its faculty members that they’re members of a Catholic institution and should toe the line."

"In short, over and above academic freedom, the Catholic university exists for evangelical purposes. By going against the stand of the bishops, the Ateneo and La Salle professors are saying they don’t agree with the Church’s mission. If so, they’re free to leave. In fact, they must leave. They must resign if they have the courage of their conviction."

Link: RH bill, Ateneo, and La Salle: Of lemons and cowards

Unstained by the world

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

The raging debate on Reproductive Health has manifested division in the Church, so they say. Catholics for Reproductive Health and of course, the controversial Ateneo professors who hid their dissent under the guise of academic or intellectual freedom, all seem to reveal that not everybody in the Catholic Church listens to the Teaching Authority (Magisterium) of the Church. Media and the whole freethinking world gang up against the Catholic Bishops for what they call repression of intellectual freedom. The accusers of the Church label the bishops as intolerant of modern thought.

Thus, I really think that the Word of God today speaks appropriately about the state of confusion that seems to appear in the Church. In referring to the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, Jesus quotes Sacred Scriptures: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.” Then he said, “You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” The detractors of the Church will apply these verses to bishops and priests whom they call as the modern day scribes and Pharisees. But in reality, these detractors are the ones who teach human precepts as doctrines as they disregard God’s commandments. For did God not make it clear from the very beginning when he created man and woman: “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth…” (Gen. 1:28) and did he not repeat the same commandment to Noah (Gen. 9:1)? In the 1^st reading, Moses said to the people of Israel: “In your observance of the commandments of the Lord your God…you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. Observe them carefully.” What seems to be narrow mindedness to the world is actually fidelity to the commandments of the Lord. We cannot add nor subtract from the commandment of God: Be fertile and multiply. Fill the earth. The staunch stand of the Catholic Magisterium against the so-called “reproductive health” is simply the fulfillment of the Apostolic Mandate which St. James referred to in the 2^nd reading: (to keep) “religion that is pure and undefiled before God.” And what is this “pure and undefiled” religion? “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” To stand up for the commandments of God, even in spite of the “strong popular support” for the contrary, is, in reality, “keeping religion pure” and “keeping oneself unstained by the world.”

Dissenters enjoy much popular support because they say what the world says. They say what everybody says. They say what everybody wants to hear. And the bishops who uphold the clear commandments of God are labeled as narrow minded and outdated. But that is to be expected. For the thoughts of God are so different from the thoughts of man: “My thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways. For I am God and not man.” (Isaiah 55:8) Let us keep our religion pure as God is pure. Let us keep ourselves unstained by the world.

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Falsity is the Sign of the Devil

The Kiss of Judas

In his Angelus Message last Sunday, August 26, 2012, the Holy  Father spoke on the disciples who abandoned the Lord on account of the difficulty of the teachings on the Eucharist. His commentary on Judas Iscariot is worth reflecting on: 

"In the end, Jesus knew that even among the Twelve there was one who did not believe: Judas. Judas too could have left like the other disciples did; perhaps he should have left had he wanted to be honest. Instead he stayed with Jesus. He stayed not because of faith, not because of love, but with the secret plan to get back at the Master. Why? Because Judas felt that Jesus had betrayed him and he decided to betray Jesus in turn. Judas was a zealot and wanted a victorious Messiah who would lead a revolt against the Romans. Jesus frustrated these expectations. The problem is that Judas did not leave and his gravest fault was falsity, which is the sign of the devil. Because of this Jesus said to the Twelve: “One among you is a devil!” (John 6:70). Let us pray to the Virgin Mary, who helps us to believe in Jesus, as St. Peter did, to be ever more sincere with him and with everyone."

I think these are very courageous words. I think dissenters in the Church should not hide their dissent under the guise of Intellectual or Academic Freedom. If you do not believe... by all means, leave! Don't dissent and still call yourself Catholics! Falsity is the sign of the devil.


Read the entire address: ZENIT - On Believing in Jesus, Bread of Life

Truth is truth, there is no compromise

Head of the Baptist, Photo of Louie Nacorda

On the occasion of the Memorial of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, the Holy Father spoke on the Baptist's witness to Christ:

"Dear brothers and sisters, celebrating the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist also reminds us -- Christians in our own times -- that we cannot give into compromise when it comes to our love for Christ, for his Word, for his Truth. The Truth is the Truth; there is no compromise. The Christian life requires, as it were, the "martyrdom" of daily fidelity to the Gospel; the courage, that is, to allow Christ to increase in us and to direct our thoughts and actions. But this can only occur in our lives if our relationship with God is strong. Prayer is not time lost, nor does it steal space away from our activities, even those that are apostolic; it is exactly the opposite: only if we are able to have a life of faithful, constant, trusting prayer, will God himself give us the ability and strength to live in happiness and peace, to overcome difficulties and to courageously bear witness to him. May St. John the Baptist intercede for us, that we might always maintain the primacy of God in our lives."


In the debates on the RH bill, it is important to keep this in mind: Truth is the Truth; there can be no compromise. Let us be faithful to the Gospel.

Dissenters in the Church: Let us allow Christ to increase in us and to direct out thoughts and actions.

Read the entire address: ZENIT - On the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

Prayer by Catholic Congressmen

Calling all REAL CATHOLIC MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: 

As you deliberate on the RH Bill, remember that you are Catholics! Please pray before your deliberation. 

PRAYER TO BE RECITED BY CATHOLIC MEMBERS OF LEGISLATIVE BODIES AND BY CATHOLIC POLITICIANS (By Pope Pius XII)

Great and eternal God, Creator and Lord of all things, foremost Legislator and supreme Ruler, all power emanates from Thee and depends on Thee; and those whose duty is to legislate, determine in Thy name what is just or unjust, as a reflection of Thy divine wisdom. Therefore, we, the Catholic members of Congress and Catholic politicians, upon whom rests the burden of a grave responsibility that places us at the center of the whole nation, implore Thy aid for the fulfillment of our office that we intend to accept and exercise for the greater spiritual and material welfare of our people.


Grant us such a sense of duty as will cause us to omit no preparation or effort for the realization of this noble end. Grant us also that objectivity and sound realism which will guide us on every occasion to a clear perception of that which seems the best. Grant that we may never deviate from that sound impartiality which dictates that we labor without unjust preferences for the good of all. Grant also that we may never fail in loyalty to our people, nor in firm adherence to the principles which we openly profess, nor in the noble resolve to preserve ourselves above all corruption and base selfish ambitions.


Help us to be calm in our deliberations and to be immune from all passion except as is inspired by the honest quest after truth. May our resolutions be in conformity with Thy precepts even if the service of Thy will should demand sufferings and sacrifices. May we, even in our own little way, endeavor to imitate that rectitude and holiness according to which Thou in Thy providence dost direct and govern everything for Thy greater glory and for the true well-being of human society and of all Thy creatures.


Hear us, O Lord, in order that our minds may never be without Thy light, nor our wills without Thy strength, nor our hearts without the warmth of Thy love, for we ought to have a tender love for our people. Keep far from us every form of human ambition and every kind of lust for illicit gain. Inspire us with a real, lively, and profound sentiment of what constitutes a sound social order wherein full regard is had for law and justice. Finally, as a supreme reward, grant us someday to enjoy Thy blessed presence for all eternity, in union with all those who have been entrusted in our care. Amen. 

Prayer to Mary Help of Christians

O Mary, powerful Virgin, thou art the mighty and glorious protector of the Church; thou art the marvelous help of Christians; thou art terrible as an army in battle array; thou alone hast destroyed every heresy in the whole world. In the midst of our anguish, our struggles, and our distress, defend us from the power of the enemy and at the hour of our death, receive our souls in paradise. Amen.

(St. John Bosco) 

The Raccolta, 414

Let us pray for the defense of the Church

On August 7, 2012, the Congress will vote on the termination of the debates on the RH bill. This is meant to expedite the passing of the controversial bill into law. Is it another hurried process to please the President? Let us pray to Mary, Help of Christians!




Rise, O Mary, incline thyself to hear the prayers of the whole Catholic world, and beat flat to the ground the pride of those wretched men, who in their insolence blaspheme Almighty God and would destroy the Church, against which, according to the infallible words of Christ, the gates of hell shall never prevail. let it be seen once more that when thou dost arise to protect the Church, her victory is sure. Amen.

(The Raccolta, 412)

Children as Signs of Contradiction

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

“Lord, what good will your gifts be if I keep on being childless?” so Abram asked God who has showered his faithful servant with many good things. Blessed by God with land, livestock, and many other properties, Abram should have been satisfied with what he had. However, his sterility bothered him. All his properties did not compensate for that longing which remained unsatisfied: he longed for a child, an offspring to whom he shall bequeath his properties, an offspring for whom he shall dedicate his efforts. Such is the generous disposition of Abram. He was truly a man of God because he is like God whose desire to give himself is an expression of his love.

So unlike him is the attitude which characterizes the world we live in. So deep are the roots of materialism in us that we no longer ask what Abram asked the Lord: What good will your gifts be if I keep on being childless? In fact, isn’t this what many modern people want to achieve: to remain childless so as to be free of burdens and responsibilities and also to continue enjoying for the self the fruits of one’s own labors? Ah! The joy of having no children! The less mouths I have to feed, the more I have to enjoy for myself!

When the old Prophet Simeon took the child Jesus into his arms, he declared this child to be a sign that will be contradicted. Early in his life, the Cross begins to cast its shadow upon Jesus. He will be a sign that will be contradicted because the world will hate him for what he will say and for who he is. What he will say will directly oppose what the world teaches. Who he is will threaten the dark forces that control the world: “Have you come to destroy us? We know who you are: the Holy One of God!”

However, when we consider the hostility of the world today towards children, the words “sign of contradiction” begin to take on a new light. In becoming a little child, the Lord Jesus stands in solidarity with all children who, unfortunately are also signs that are contradicted. And the opposition to having children is so subtle because it takes the guise of informed choices, reproductive health, and planned parenthood. And the forces behind this opposition are so great if only we consider how much money is poured behind planned parenthood and the RH bill. So great are these forces that clearly we are up against more than just human beings but against principalities and powers in high places.

Against these principalities and powers that have connived against the child, the Christian family has only one weapon: faith in the Cross. “By faith, (Abraham) received the power to regenerate,” so said St. Paul in his letter to the Hebrews, “…So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.” This faith of Abraham is complemented by the willingness of Mary to take up the cross: “you yourself, a sword will pierce.” In order to defend the child from the forces that contradict it, Christian families must be willing to take up the crosses that go with raising children. Nobody said that having children will be easy. In fact it is difficult but even so, it has to be done because it is the will of God. God wanted Abraham to have “descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.” Difficult as this cross may be, Christian families have to carry it with faith – faith in the wisdom and in the providence of God. After all, God does not impose burdens that we cannot bear. His wisdom sees what the world, in its shortsightedness, cannot see. The world cannot see beyond present convenience. The Lord sees the preservation of humankind. The aging European population is proving right the wisdom of God. With an almost zero birth rate, there is no one to replace an aging workforce. There is no one set to sustain the economy. Indeed, what good will the Lord’s gifts to us be if we were to remain childless?

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Senate shelves reproductive health bill

The Philippine Senate temporarily shelved the Reproductive bill in the light of more pressing concerns like the National Budget for 2012. I find it significant that this happened on the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. What a wonderful tribute to the mystery of Motherhood! Prayers, especially the Rosary, are really answered. When the Bishops of the Philippines had Senator Tito Sotto as their guest, they talked about the status of the RH bill in the Senate. When asked by the bishops about what they could do for to help oppose the passage of a reproductive health bill, Senator Sotto said, "Prayers are really a big help." Thereupon, Bishop Nereo Odchimar, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, wrote to all Parish Priests to ask the faithful to offer their Rosaries during the month of October for the intention of the opposition to the passage of the RH bill.

Now that the bill is temporarily shelved, we should further intensify our Rosary campaign. We should not relent! Like wise soldiers, we should take advantage of the "truce" to store up our armaments to ensure advantage over the enemy when war breaks out. Let us say more Rosaries, increase the treasury of merits, and brace ourselves for fierce spiritual battle come January. After all, our enemies are not just human beings but powers and principalities in high places.

Blessed be the Great Mother of God, Mary most holy!

Senate shelves reproductive health bill

The Distortion of Marriage

"Today, the principles of Christian morality concerning marriage are in many circles being presented in a distorted way. Attempts are being made to impose on environments and even entire societies a model that calls itself "progressive" and "modern". It then goes unnoticed that this model transforms a human being and perhaps especially a woman from a subject into an object (an object of specific manipulation), and the whole great content of love is reduced to "pleasure", which, even though it involved both parties, would still be selfish in its essence. Finally the child, who is the fruit and the fresh incarnation of the love between the two, becomes ever more "an annoying addition". The materialistic and consumeristic civilization is penetrating this whole wonderful complex of conjugal and paternal and maternal love, and stripping it of that profoundly human content which from the beginning was also permeated by a divine mark and reflection.

Dear young friends! Do not allow this treasure to be taken away from you! Do not inscribe in the plan of your life a deformed, impoverished and falsified content: love "rejoices in the truth". Seek out this truth where it is really to be found! If necessary, be resolved to go against the current of popular opinion and propaganda slogans! Do not be afraid of the love that places clear demands on people. These demands-as you find them in the constant teaching of the Church-are precisely capable of making your love a true love.

If anywhere, it is especially here that I wish to repeat the hope which I expressed at the beginning, namely, that you will be "always prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you!". The Church and humanity entrust to you the great reality of that love which is the basis of marriage, the family and the future. The Church and humanity firmly believe that you will bring about its rebirth; they firmly believe that you will make it beautiful: beautiful in a human and Christian way. In a human and Christian way great, mature and responsible. "

Blessed John Paul II, Dilecti Amici, 10.

From belief to unbelief

Minyong Ordonez is a friend whose dedication to the Faith is admirable. His article found in the June 3, 2011 issue of The Philippine Daily Inquirer is worth our consideration.

HOW CAN one say he is a Catholic and ignore the teachings of his religion? Why be a Catholic if one thinks his religion is erroneous? Is there pride and truth in being an egoistic Catholic? Are such Catholics who fill up the church and who participate in the same rituals, say the same prayers, and profess the same beliefs in both God and the Church’s commandments sincere or hypocritical?

Pro-RH lawmakers insist they are Catholics but in the same breath disagree with the Catholic hierarchy’s rejection of the RH bill. This constitutes contradiction of the first degree.

Oneness in doctrine is one of the conditions defining Catholicism. The second is holiness of origin, and the third is apostolic succession. Holiness means that the Church is holy because it has been established by Jesus Christ who is Himself holy and that it is guided by the Holy Spirit in the proclamation of the truth and the administration of sacraments. Apostolic means that the Church traces its authenticity and heritage to the apostles who were instructed by Jesus Christ to evangelize the world headed by the apostle Peter: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. To thee I will give the keys to the kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall also be bound in Heaven. And whatever thou shall loose on earth shall also be loosed in Heaven.”

From this awesome passage in the Holy Scripture declaring the wisdom, love and trust of God, the Church grew and prospered organizationally and doctrinally under the guidance of the Holy Spirit beginning right after Pentecost.

The Catholic Church is firm in its stand that the killing of the unborn is intrinsically evil, a morality issue. And that the right to life and its preservation are guaranteed by the Constitution and that Catholics are free to practice their religious beliefs. If enacted into law the RH bill will be coercive for Catholics because they will be legislated to act against their faith and their will.

In the legislature, we have politicians who push for the enactment of the RH bill while proudly proclaiming that they are Catholics. They become evasive and rhetorical in confronting the Catholic objection to the bill’s birth control objectives which prescribe abortion-inducing abortifacients, contraceptives and invasive means such as ligation and sterilization.

The occurrence in contemporary times of Catholics who do not share the official teachings of the Church’s magisterium is widespread in the United States, the melting pot of rights and freedom for individual thinking and judgment.

Catholics who choose what or what not to believe in the composite teachings of the Church are popularly called “cafeteria Catholics.” Just like in a turo-turo restaurant, they choose to eat only what they like and skip those that don’t appeal to their taste.

Relativism, the “ism” that spawned cafeteria Catholics, was influenced by several philosophical, economic and scientific developments that took place during the last two centuries. In Central Europe, these developments caused the shift of societies’ dependence on the Christian religion as a way of life. The change was labeled as a shift from belief to unbelief. The late Russian Nobel prize-novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn called it anthropocentricity, with makes man the center of everything that exists. One religious philosopher even redefined God as a “progressive providence,” almost modifying the axiom that truth is permanent and unchangeable.

The last century featured decades of more scientific breakthroughs in medicine, food production, engineering, transportation and communication technologies. The advances in marketing and distribution gave birth to globalization of business and consumer habits, further upgrading lifestyles and multiple-choice consumerism in a pluralistic society. The politics of democracy began to manifest its righteousness in the name of freedom, emphasizing human rights as the end-all and be-all in entertaining all possible human needs in pursuit of individualistic pleasures and conveniences, dimming and deadening Christian morality in human awareness and consequent acts.

Relativism has long encroached on the modern urban societies of the Western World, causing changes in both the political, social and religious tradition of politics and culture of the country.

Cafeteria Catholics exemplify this change from belief to unbelief in this age of modernism, affecting not only the legislation of our politics but also the behavior of our constituency.

To preserve the integrity of their faith, Catholics must re-study and re-learn their religion in order to gain depth in and perspective on their faith. They must discern not only the role of faith and reason in enhancing their adherence to the Gospel but also the doctrinal beauty and power of their catechism.

Minyong Ordoñez is a freelance journalist and a member of the Manila Overseas Press Club. Email: hgordonez@gmail.com


follow this link: From belief to unbelief

Belittling Pacquiao

I found this interesting article by Antonio Montalvan II in the June 6, 2011 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Belittling Pacquiao

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago always has a mouthful to say, but none perhaps as distasteful as when she said that Manny Pacquiao should not enter into the ring of the RH debates. That was classic intellectual arrogance. Adding to the fray was media’s suspicion that Pacquiao was cornered by the bishops into defending their stance against the RH bill.

Both are farthest from the truth.

Many people certainly do not know that Manny’s stand on contraceptive use, in fact, outdates all the current debates on the Reproductive Health bill. Early this year, a prolife advocate visited Pacquiao in Congress. There he told the story of his family to the advocate, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Davao City.

Prayer had always been a tradition in his family, he narrated. His mother Dionisia would never fail to gather the entire brood together and pray the rosary on their knees at four in the morning. That he, said, taught them to hurdle the many difficulties they had gone through in the past. It was this that not only solidified their family, but brought them to love the Catholic Church and its tenets.

He also said that he had long made up his mind on his stand against the RH bill. It was a stand that his family culture had shaped and molded long before.

For people to speculate now that he was only being used as a tool of the bishops and as a puppet by the anti-RH representatives in Congress is not only getting the facts wrong. It is precisely belittling Manny’s own ability to make judgments on an important social issue festering in the country. For those who believe that they are intellectually gifted, it is certainly a conceited way of saying that those who they perceive to have nothing between their ears have nothing to say on the issue. That is the height of egotism.

A family that prays and loves the Church and its tenets—these are in fact simple virtues but profound principles that are now staring us in the face in the midst of all this anti-Church bashing over the RH bill. And the lesson comes from Manny Pacquiao. His foray into the debates, I understand, has angered the pro-RH camp who would have loved to have had him as their poster boy. In fact, it is they who need enlightenment and change allegiances at this time to join him and those who are pro-life, many of whom are lay people and not bishops and priests.

For the RH debate is a debate about faith. It is not about the license to formulate one’s theological tenets. Commentary writer Minyong Ordoñez said it very plainly in his opinion piece last Friday. Those who openly bash the Church and think they are still Catholics are in fact living lives of inconsistency. “Why be a Catholic if one thinks his religion is erroneous?”

Those who profess for the side of contraception are in fact teaching a very erroneous type of faith. What they are saying now is for us to leave our faith at our doorsteps each time we venture outside the home. A fellow columnist once seethed with rage when I said that the bedroom is part of the Church, something that was not understood from the perspective of faith praxis. But it is correct, our faith is present everywhere we are, whether in the private or public forum.

When we leave the house, we cannot command our faith, “Stay!” as though it were a lapdog. Legislators who profess they are Catholics are in fact showing us the way to schizophrenia.

Faith cannot be legislated. Faith is a matter of personal preference. To legislate something that mandates people to act against their faith is abominable to one’s human rights. To use contraceptives is a personal question of preference. If one does not prefer to practice it because it is deemed against one’s faith, we cannot question that. Hence, to prosecute people for not allowing contraceptive use is the greatest coercion. The best way to end this division is not to have a Reproductive Health bill at all.

But these are times we live in when it is common for many Catholics not to agree with the official teachings of the Church. That is why surveys and polls are not the solution. Church teachings are not taught according to popularity. The so-called “sense of the faithful” becomes a sense only if those who avow it are truly faithful to Church teaching. Fidelity to the Church requires holiness. These are old truths that cannot be changed just because many do not agree with it.

If the Church were to cave in to pressure in the style of a cafeteria mob demanding that their individual choices be served pronto, what would become of it in the future, for the cafeteria fare also changes? Surely the Church would crumble. A Church it would be no more. That is precisely why the Church has survived all these centuries. This is certainly not the first mass issue it faces. It has faced more perverse issues in the past. But why has it survived? There is something there to be asked.

The RH bill can only be understood if we practice what we preach and preserve the integrity of our faith. It is in that faith where we find the answers. Even Manny Pacquiao may not have the answers. But he shows us the way.


follow the link: Belittling Pacquiao

The Lord of Heaven and Earth

Resucitado, a photo by robbyandharry on Flickr.

“He ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father Almighty.” I have serious doubts as to whether we mean what we say or at least understand what we profess whenever we recite these words of the Creed. We acknowledge that our Lord now is enthroned at the right hand of the Father but apparently, we do not see how his exaltation and enthronement is related to our daily lives. As far as many of us are concerned, the ascension of Christ into heaven may have exalted him but also it sort of isolated him. Now that he is up there in heaven, the Lord Jesus no longer has anything to do with our society and our individual lives as well. By ascending into heaven, the Lord has secluded himself in some sort of tower of ivory. Because he is way up there, we conduct our affairs here on earth the way we want them to be. Amidst the controversy about the RH bill, the legalization of divorce in very Catholic Malta gives the enemies of the Church an occasion to pursue now the cause of divorce in the Philippines. Many consider this as a test of the influence of the Catholic Church in society.

But are these issues simply tests on the social influence of the Church? I see something sinister here because what is at issue is not simply the social impact of the Catholic religion. Rather, what is at stake here is the recognition of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This is what the ascension is about. It is about the exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father “far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the age to come.” This means that the Father bestows upon Jesus all authority in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He has power to rule and he reigns as king. He has the right to our obedience and humble submission: “(The Father) put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.” What is happening throughout the world is really a whole scale rebellion against the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Just think of it: the rejection of the sanctity and the creative powers of the Marital Act, the rejection of the lifelong bond of Sacred Matrimony – are these not outright rejections of Divinely revealed commandments and precepts? It does not need much effort to recognize the diabolic hand behind all these. An infernal enemy is preventing the spread of the Kingdom of God on earth. A diabolic enemy is turning the flock against the Shepherd by undermining the divinity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. It is true that our struggle today is not merely against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in higher places.

The Ascension did not isolate Jesus into some ivory tower up there. The Ascension is the enthronement of Jesus as King and Lord of heaven and earth. Being Lord, his laws and teachings apply here on earth as it is in heaven. This is why those who oppose the teachings of the Church ought to clarify in categorical terms: Do you profess allegiance to Jesus Christ? Is he your Lord and King? Because if he is, then obey his commandments. Because no one can serve two masters, no one can call for the use of artificial contraception and for Divorce and at the same time say that they belong to Christ. Catholics for a free choice are not Catholics at all! Either you are for him or you are against him. If you are not for Jesus, then you belong to the evil one. There is no grey area. “He who does not gather with me scatters,” says the Lord. Either you are a subject of Christ or his enemy. Let us call a spade a spade.

On our part, it is our mandate to “make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that (Christ) has commanded (us).” While Christ’s enemies are bent on hindering the spread of his kingdom, let us never tire of teaching all to observe his commandments. All nations are his. He redeemed us at the price of his Blood. He deserves to receive the obedience of all nations.

Lesser of two evils?

Fr. Giovanni Trigilio of The Black Biretta gives a very simple explanation on the controversial words of Pope Benedict XVI about the use of condoms. It is the lesser of two evils? Why not choose NO EVIL?

Follow this link: The Black Biretta: Condomania ad nauseam

Dissent in the Church

In the heated debate on the Reproductive Rights Bill, a Jesuit theologian came out in the open to express favor for the bill. He teaches in his classes that in this issue, the Church is divided between the Vatican and the Moral Theologians. First, I disagree that the Church is divided on this issue because Moral Theologians do not consist a parallel Magisterium to that of the Pope and the Bishops in Communion with him. Theologians must remember that "the task of authentically interpreting the Word of God, whether in its written form or in that of Tradition, has been entrusted only to those charged with the Church's living Magisterium, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ." (Dei Verbum, 10; Veritatis Splendor, 27.)

Pope John Paul II had this to say about dissent in the Church:

"While exchanges and conflicts of opinion may constitute normal expressions of public life in a representative democracy, moral teaching cannot depend simply upon respect for a process: indeed, it is no way established by following the rules and deliberative procedure typical of a democracy. Dissent, in the form of carefully orchestrated protests and polemics carried on in the media, is opposed to ecclesial communion and to a correct understanding of the hierarchical constitution of the People of God. Opposition to the teachings of the Church's Pastors cannot be seen as a legitimate expression either of Christian freedom or of the diversity of the Spirit's gifts. When this happens, the Church's Pastors have the duty to act in conformity with their apostolic mission, insisting that the right of the faithful to receive Catholic doctrine in its purity and integrity must always be respected. 'Never forgetting that he too is a member of the People of God, the theologian must be respectful of them and be committed to offering them a teaching which in no way does harm to the doctrine of the faith.' "

John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor, 113.

On the Sanctity of the Marital Act

The heated debate on the Reproductive Health bill has taken a turn for the worse when so-called "Catholic" groups emerged in support of this bill. They say that they continue to be "faithful" Catholics while rebuking the Philippine bishops for their opposition against the said bill. How can they call themselves "faithful" when the mere support of the bill in a clear defiance of the teaching of Catholic Magisterium? Many falsely think that the Church's opposition to this bill is simply founded on the fact that we equate artificial contraceptives with abortion. Many think that if this were the issue, then the Church is "mistaken" because not all contraceptives are abortifacients. Their reasoning is that contraceptives prevent conception. Therefore, how could these cause abortion when these are used before conception takes place? Without a fetus involved, there is no abortion.

But many of us forget that the issue here is not abortion but rather the integrity of the marital or the sexual intercourse between husband and wife. Pope Pius XI, in Casti Connubii, taught:

"53. And now, Venerable Brethren, we shall explain in detail the evils opposed to each of the benefits of matrimony. First consideration is due to the offspring, which many have the boldness to call the disagreeable burden of matrimony and which they say is to be carefully avoided by married people not through virtuous continence (which Christian law permits in matrimony when both parties consent) but by frustrating the marriage act. Some justify this criminal abuse on the ground that they are weary of children and wish to gratify their desire without their consequent burden. Others say that they cannot on the one hand remain continent nor on the other can they have children because of the difficulties whether on the part of the mother oron the part of family consequences.

"54. But no reason, however grave, may be put forward by which anything intrinsically against nature may become conformable to nature and morally good. Since, therefore, the conjugal act is destined primarily by nature for the begetting of children, those who in exercising it deliberately frustrate its natural power and purpose sin against nature and commit a deed which is shameful and intrinsically vicious.

"55. Small wonder, therefore, if Holy Writ bears witness that the Divine Majesty regards with greatest detestation this horrible crime and at times has punished it with death. As St. Augustine notes, 'Intercourse even with one's legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the conception of the offspring is prevented. Onan, the son of Juda, did this and the Lord killed him for it.' (S. Augustine, De coniug. adult., lib II, n. 12, Gen XXXVIII, 8-10.)

"56. Since, therefore, openly departing from the uninterrupted Christian tradition some recently have judged it possible solemnly to declare another doctrine regarding this question, the Catholic Church, to whom God has entrusted the defense of the integrity and purity of morals, standing erect in the midst of the moral ruin that surrounds her, in order that she may preserve the chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, raises her voice in token of her divine ambassadorship and through Our mouth proclaims anew: any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and the law of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin.

"57. We admonish, therefore, priests who hear confessions and others who have the care of souls, in virtue of Our supreme authority and in Our sollicitude for the salvation of souls, not to allow the faithful entrusted to them to err regarding this most grave law of God; much more, that they keep themselves immune from such false opinions, in no way conniving in them. If any confessor or pastor of souls, which may God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted to him into these errors or should at least confirm them by approval or by guilty silence, let him be mindful of the fact that he must render a strict account to God, the Supreme Judge, for the betrayal of his sacred trust, and let him take to himself the words of Christ: 'They are blind and leaders of the blind: and if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit.' (Matthew XV, 14.)

Pius XI, Casti Connubii, 31 December, 1930.