St. Expeditus: Patron Saint of Speedy Causes

-
Image
St. Expeditus:  Patron Saint of Speedy Causes The venerated image of St. Expeditus in  the Lipa Cathedral In the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Lipa City is a venerated image of a young Roman Centurion saint named Expeditus. Every month of April, a nine day novena in his honor is held in the cathedral that culminates in the celebration of his feast day on the 19th of the month. Who is this saint whose intercession was also invoked in the Oratio Imperata  to avert a catastrophic eruption of Taal Volcano prepared by the Archdiocese of Lipa when the volcano exhibited extra-ordinary activity early  in January, 2020?  St. Expeditus could have found affinity with the Lipenos since the martyr shares a lot of commonality with St. Sebastian, the city’s patron. St. Expeditus, like St. Sebastian was also a young Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and was also martyred as a consequence, during the period of Diocletian persecution.  Hence, a devotion to him has developed amo
Post a Comment

Homilies and Reflections: July 3, 2020. Friday. Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Filipino)

-

Hulyo 3, 2020. Friday. Kapistahan ni Sto. Tomas, Apostol

Pagninilay sa Mabuting Balita ng Panginoon ayon kay San Juan 20: 24-29

Ano ang matututunan natin sa ating Mabuting Balita ngayong ating ipinagdiriwang ang kapistahan ni Apostol Sto. Tomas?

Ang mga alagad, hindi sila sila piniling perpekto. Katulad rin natin sila. Sa simula, hindi rin nila agad naunawaan si Kristo, pinanghihinaan din sila ng loob, nakakaramdam ng takot at pagdududa. Wala silang gaanong pinagkaiba sa atin.

Ordinaryong ordinaryo din silang tulad natin. Ngunit habang tumatagal nilang kasama si Hesus at lumalalim ang kanilang ugnayan sa Kanya, unti-unti, nagiging matibay at matatag sila.

Nakalulungkot na nakilala si Tomas sa kasaysayan bilang “Doubting Thomas” Ang alagad na nagduda sa muling pagkabuhay ng Panginoon. Pero hindi natapos sa pagdududa si Tomas. Yon ang mas mahalaga. Bagkus nang kanyang makita ang Panginoon at ipahawak sa kanya ang mga sugat na tinamo ni Hesus, naroon naman ang pinakamalalim na hugot ng pananampalataya – “Panginoon ko at Diyos ko!”

At pagkatapos ng pangyayaring ito, nagpatuloy si Tomas na mas malakas, mas nananalig sa kanyang pagpapahayag ng Mabuting Balita sa buong sangkalupan. At nakarating siya sa India at duon ay nangaral at pagkatapos ay humarap sa kamatayan dahil sa pananampalatayang kanyang ipinahahayag ukol kay Hesus na muling nabuhay.

Ang pag-unlad sa pananampalataya ay isang “gradual process”. Hindi ka matutulog mamayang gabi at paggising mo ay nakahanda ka nang mamatay para kay Kristo dahil sa laki ng tiwala mo sa kanya. Ang tunay na paglago sa pananampalataya ay ang araw-araw na pagsasabuhay ng turo ni Hesus hanggang sa maging bahagi na ito ng iyong buhay. Sa araw-araw mong pagsasabuhay, ikaw ay magkakamali, madadapa pa kung minsan. Pero kaagad-agad kang babangon at magpipilit bumalik sa tamang landas.

Utay-utay, lumalago tayo sa pananampalataya. Lumalalim ang ating ugnayan kay Hesus. Mas nakikilala natin Siya at mas nararanasan sa araw-araw nating pamumuhay.

Kapatid, magandang tingnan ang mga pagkakataon sa buhay mo na pinagdudahan mo ang kakayahan at kapangyarihan ng Diyos at pagkatapos ay naranasan mo ang kanyang pagpapadama ng kanyang pag-ibig at hindi ka niya iniwan at pinabayaan. Maari mong panghawakan ang karanasang iyan sa mga darating na pagsubok pa sa iyong buhay. Balikan mo ang pangyayaring iyan at diyan ka maaaring humugot at makasumpong ng kapayapaan sa iyong mga pagdududa. Mahal ka ng Diyos. Hindi ka Niya pababayaan.

Maaring pagdudahan natin ang pagmamahal ng Diyos para sa atin, pero ang DIyos, hinding hindi magdududa sa katotohanang iyan. Amen.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lipa City: The Little Rome of the Philippines

-
Image
Lipa Cathedral interior I was born and grew up in a city where it is not uncommon to see nuns garbed in habits of various shades of blue, grey, brown and white and seminarians and religious brothers garbed in their cassocks, clerical shirts or religious habit, in any given day, attending church services in the different churches, shrines and monasteries in the city and its outskirts. On Sundays, all churches are full to capacity of people coming from all walks of life fulfilling their Sunday obligation. On a typical Wednesday, the Redemptorist shrine of Divino Amor welcomes throngs of devotees of Our Lady of Perpetual Help coming from different places. Every 12th of the month, there is a penitential procession from the Cathedral going to Carmel and there are also liturgical activities in Carmel every first Saturday of the month dedicated to the Blessed Mother. Welcome to the city of my birth, Lipa City, the "Little Rome of the Philippines." With its elevation of 1,025 feet ab
Read more

Laureana "Ka Luring" Franco: The Holy Catechist of Manila

-
Image
Laureana "Ka Luring" Franco: The Holy Catechist of Manila Ka Luring Franco (1936 - 2011) God indeed reveals Himself to the humble in the lowliest of disguises. And Ka Luring was sensitive to that fact - she found God and recognized Him revealing Himself in the faces of the the little children she so loved catechizing and the poor she so selflessly helped and served; that she herself became a reflection of that God she found among God's poor, which she so perfectly radiated with stunning simplicity and overflowing joy. Laureana Franco gave up her job in a government office in order to pursue her true calling and first love, the teaching of catechism to children. From then on, Ka Luring spent the rest of her years pursuing in what for her, was her real vocation and mission in life – that of being a catechist.  She has earned the title, "The Legendary Catechist of the Archdiocese of Manila” because of her commitment to the ministry of catechizing children. She knew so
Read more

Lipa City: A Historical Sketch

-
Image
Lipa: A Historical Sketch I wrote this short history of the city  for a primer prepared by the City Government of Lipa City years ago. It also appeared in the website of Wow Batangas. Portions of this article were also extracted from the book I wrote "Take and Receive: The Life and Legacy of Madre Laura Mendoza"... Photographs appearing in this article are not the author's, credit is given to their respective owners.  Early Beginnings The wonderful, almost epical saga of a people in search of a permanent settlement where they could live secure and peaceful lives began in the panoramic lake shores that surround the stunningly beautiful yet dangerous Taal Volcano. Aerial view of the Cathedral and the poblacion Tradition has it that the early settlements of Tagbakin in the southeastern region of Bombon Lake were inhabited by the war-like descendants of the two Bornean Datus Dumangsil and Balkasusa. From these pre-colonial settlements evolved the ancestry of Lipa. It is said
Read more