How Dec. 25 came to be Christmas
It is not known by the average Christian Filipino that many practices and teachings of Christianity originated from paganism.
It is not known by the average Christian Filipino that many practices and teachings of Christianity originated from paganism.
It is almost the end of 2013. The thought staggers my mind a bit. Here we are, not quite in mid-November, and in the blink of an eye, we will have a new year. Please, not so fast. There’s much to do.
More than 10 years ago, I met with a Filipino who had grown up abroad, his mother and his uncle, about the young man’s possible entry into Ateneo and be part of the Blue Eagles varsity team in the UAAP. We came to an agreement on how he would prepare for the entrance test and the team tryouts.
“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” (Matthew 16:18)
In an unprecedented move, Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 youths, including a Muslim girl, during the Last Supper Mass on Thursday in a correctional for minors in Rome. He was reenacting Jesus Christ’s washing of the feet of his all-male 12 apostles, including Saint Peter, the first Pope.
The euphoria won’t last. Like the adulation of the crowds during the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the euphoria over the election of Pope Francis might not last once he poses the “unsettling questions” raised against the Church on sexual morality and other “difficult” issues confronting modern society, a Church historian said yesterday.
The liturgy the past week in between the Feast of the Epiphany and the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism today gives us what we might call a “pabaon” (a parting gift) as we enter ordinary time this coming week.
The latest incident in this strange drama happened in Sr. Gloria’s healing center in Novaliches (border of Caloocan) in October 2011, only two months after the Pampanga incident.
About a week after that incident, I went back to the place of Apo Ina, with actor and UFO investigator Roy Alvarez, who was interested in paranormal phenomena. As soon as we entered Apo Ina’s apartment, I avoided staying in front of the altar because I didn’t want to go into trance again. I hurriedly walked past the altar, to the dining room located further inside the apartment area away from the altar.
The mystery of the birth of Christ is relived through the Belen (Nativity Scene) exhibition at the Miguel de Benavides Library inside the University of Santo Tomas campus.
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