"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - Saint Augustine

29 March, 2013

Good Friday of the Lord's Passion

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John: (JN 18:1- 19:42)

Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to where there was a garden,
into which he and his disciples entered.
Judas his betrayer also knew the place,
because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards
from the chief priests and the Pharisees
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,
went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?”
They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
He said to them, “I AM.”
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he said to them, “I AM, “
they turned away and fell to the ground.
So he again asked them,
“Whom are you looking for?”
They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
Jesus answered,
“I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
This was to fulfill what he had said,
“I have not lost any of those you gave me.”
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,
struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.
The slave’s name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter,
“Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”

So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus,
bound him, and brought him to Annas first.
He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews
that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.
Now the other disciple was known to the high priest,
and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.
But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest,
went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter,
“You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”
He said, “I am not.”
Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire
that they had made, because it was cold,
and were warming themselves.
Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

The high priest questioned Jesus
about his disciples and about his doctrine.
Jesus answered him,
“I have spoken publicly to the world.
I have always taught in a synagogue
or in the temple area where all the Jews gather,
and in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me?
Ask those who heard me what I said to them.
They know what I said.”
When he had said this,
one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said,
“Is this the way you answer the high priest?”
Jesus answered him,
“If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong;
but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”
Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm.
And they said to him,
“You are not one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it and said,
“I am not.”
One of the slaves of the high priest,
a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
“Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
Again Peter denied it.
And immediately the cock crowed.

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
It was morning.
And they themselves did not enter the praetorium,
in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said,
“What charge do you bring against this man?”
They answered and said to him,
“If he were not a criminal,
we would not have handed him over to you.”
At this, Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.”
The Jews answered him,
“We do not have the right to execute anyone, “
in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.
So Pilate went back into the praetorium
and summoned Jesus and said to him,
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answered,
“Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?”
Pilate answered,
“I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?”
Jesus answered,
“My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
So Pilate said to him,
“Then you are a king?”
Jesus answered,
“You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

When he had said this,
he again went out to the Jews and said to them,
“I find no guilt in him.
But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.
Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
They cried out again,
“Not this one but Barabbas!”
Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.



Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,
and clothed him in a purple cloak,
and they came to him and said,
“Hail, King of the Jews!”
And they struck him repeatedly.
Once more Pilate went out and said to them,
“Look, I am bringing him out to you,
so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
So Jesus came out,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And he said to them, “Behold, the man!”
When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,
“Crucify him, crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves and crucify him.
I find no guilt in him.”
The Jews answered,
“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God.”
Now when Pilate heard this statement,
he became even more afraid,
and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,
“Where are you from?”
Jesus did not answer him.
So Pilate said to him,
“Do you not speak to me?
Do you not know that I have power to release you
and I have power to crucify you?”
Jesus answered him,
“You would have no power over me
if it had not been given to you from above.
For this reason the one who handed me over to you
has the greater sin.”
Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out,
“If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out
and seated him on the judge’s bench
in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews,
“Behold, your king!”
They cried out,
“Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Shall I crucify your king?”
The chief priests answered,
“We have no king but Caesar.”
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself,
he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull,
in Hebrew, Golgotha.
There they crucified him, and with him two others,
one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It read,
“Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.”
Now many of the Jews read this inscription,
because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
“Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’
but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.”
Pilate answered,
“What I have written, I have written.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his clothes and divided them into four shares,
a share for each soldier.
They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top down.
So they said to one another,
“Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be, “
in order that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled that says:
They divided my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
This is what the soldiers did.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.



After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.”
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
“It is finished.”
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
Not a bone of it will be broken.
And again another passage says:
They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And Pilate permitted it.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night,
also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes
weighing about one hundred pounds.
They took the body of Jesus
and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices,
according to the Jewish burial custom.
Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day;
for the tomb was close by.

26 March, 2013

Happy Birthday Tatay!

MABUHAY!

Today, Tatay (grandpa) Gudoy turns 83 years old!




Happy 83rd Birthday Tatay Gudoy! We Love You very much! We pray that God gives you many more years!

24 March, 2013

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord"

MABUHAY!

It's here. Holy Week officially starts today! Today we start of Holy Week with Palm Sunday. 


Today the church embarks on the journey of Holy Week. This is probably the most intense and most holiest and solemn week in the whole liturgical calendar. For me, Holy Week is a time of repentance, forgiveness and preparation. This week we repent for all our sins. As Lent officially closes on Wednesday evening during Tenebrae service, we should reflect back on our "giving up" this Lent, we should ask ourselve how successful we were at it, how it impacted us and what we could have done better. Holy Week is a time when we should prepare ourselves, open up our hearts for the Risen Christ. Often times people ask, "how can we prepare ourself?" The solution is, go to confession. Going to confession this week specially before the Triduum begins is one of the best medicine to cure our sins. Talk to your parish priest about it. If you don't feel comfortable with your parish priest, go to a different church and talk to a priest there. I'm sure he wouldn't deny a confession.

Now- how do we open our hearts for the coming of the Risen Christ? Simple- attend all of the liturgies that the church has. One of the most important liturgies in the whole church is the Easter Vigil. Often times, people ask why it is more important than Christmas, the answer is simple. Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth. On Christmas we celebrate how the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to the Son of God. It is significant because Christ takes the form of human flesh to be with us. Easter is a whole different ball game. Even though Christmas is about Christ's birth, Easter is "better" because Christ truly reveals that he is the Son of God, but fulfilling what the scriptures say, "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:4 or as in the Nicene Creed. Even though Christmas is important, Easter truly shows us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. 

Back to what I was saying about attending the liturgies. Even though Easter Vigil lasts about 3 hours, the readings are magnificent. This liturgy is magnificent because it explains the whole history of the church in this liturgy. It's like a history book re-enactment of some type. The incense and holy water, the sounds of the bell at the Gloria is truly magnificent! If you haven't attended the Easter Vigil before, I highly suggest that you go. Check your local bulletin or call your local parish to ask them what time it begins. Some churches start as early as 7pm and some as late as 9pm. Not just the Easter Vigil, but I encourage you to attend all of the services this week from Tenebrae (Wednesday; if your church does), Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. It will be a great way to deepen your faith and understanding in this Year of Faith! 


With that said, I leave you all today in this Palm Sunday. I hope to see some of you at church throughout the week. I encourage you to attend the services/ Masses, and most importantly to clean your hearts by attending confession so that you can have more space for Christ in your heart this Easter. Have A Great Day!


23 March, 2013

Mark Your Calendars!

MABUHAY!

Today is another day in history! For the first time ever, the two Roman Pontiffs, His Holiness Benedict XVI and His Holiness Pope Francis meet. This is the first time EVER! that the successor pope meets his predecessor!

Pretty Incredible if you ask me!



I wonder how many more events, will we witness in this year?

Saint Francis of Assisi, Pray for Us!
Saint Benedict, Pray for us!

Have A Great Day!

18 March, 2013

The Next Two Weeks!

MABUHAY!

Since today's a snow day, I figured why not update the blog. At least for a while. As the end of the year wraps up and we get closer and closer to May- I pretty much have a run down schedule of what I will be doing for the next two weeks. Schoolwise and church wise.

Wednesday- Mass at 7pm followed by High School Religion Classes at 8pm. This is the last Mass on Wednesday evening for Lent.
Thursday- Starfires Got Talent! at the South Adams Auditorium! Looking forward to see this year's talented Starfires!
Friday- at 3pm starts Spring Break 2013. As all of you know since it falls during Holy Week, that we will just stay home and attend the Holy Week Liturgies.

Holy Week 2013

Sunday- Palm Sunday. This marks the beginning of Holy Week! I will be at Mass and at the Stations of the Cross following it.



Monday & Tuesday- Holy days of the week, will probably go to church those mornings and help out with whatever I can.
Wednesday- Tenebrae at Sundown. Liturgy starts at 7pm.



Thursday- Holy Thursday Mass with closing of Lent and beginning of the Tridiuum.



Friday- Good Friday of the Lord's Passion. Liturgy at 1pm. Diving Mercy at 3pm. Then watching Passion of the Christ.



Saturday- Holy Saturday (Sabado de Gloria in the Philippines). Probably thee best Mass of the whole entire year!



Sunday- Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection. I am very honored to be reading at this Solemn Mass!


Monday- Emmaus Day. Mass at 7:30pm.

Hope to see you attend these powerful and solemn liturgies!

Have A Blessed Holy Week!



13 March, 2013

Habemus Papam! Deo Gratias!

MABUHAY!

With prayers and peace!



The official white smoke!



His Eminence Cardinal Tauran proclaiming the famous words "Habemus Papam!"



His Holiness Pope Francis I.




Giving his first blessing as Pope!


Laedetur Iesu Christe! May God Bless Him and His Ministries!

08 March, 2013

Sede Vacante



We simply have no Pope. Let us pray for the next successor of Saint Peter!

Mark Your Calendars!

MABUHAY!

There are two big events happening next Tuesday, 12 March 2013!

As we all know, all 115 Cardinal Electors are at the Vatican to elect the Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Roman Church!



http://www.romereports.com/palio/conclave-set-to-begin-tuesday-march-12-english-9304.html#.UTq-rE_i05o.blogger

Also, 12, March is also the day that we arrived in the good 'ole United States of America!



Have A Good Day!

MMXIV ~ 2014

MMXIV ~ 2014
Let's Anticipate On A Peaceful Year!

World Leaders

World Leaders
Pray for World Leaders & Politicians

World Peace

World Peace
Desperately Needed, Please Pray!