Easter Greeting & Blessing From Our Dear Fr. Albert Maria Sammut, OFMConv.

Un cordiale augurio pasquale a voi tutti:

"All was accomplished!
All had finished!
Nothing more left
but the teachings,
the examples,
the prodigies!
All things of the past.
The pious women, convinced,
went to fix that truth,
to anoint it, dead, with fragrant aromas.
And they were stunned, utterly confounded.
The Man was not there anymore!
Lazarus had Him
calling him out of the grave.
He came out of His own accord
as He still owed a confirmation:
That what He had said was the Truth.
And He did not miss that chance."

Halleluiah!

Love and prayers.
fr albert m ofmconv

Christmas At Greccio from the book "St. Francis of Assisi: A Biography" by Omer Englebert

"The people of the country had joined with the friars of the surrounding hermitages, bearing torches and candles to lighten the darkness of this night which, like a star, has shone for centuries and will shine forever. Winding up the mountain, the procession wended its way toward the spot where - between a great ox and a little donkey - the Crib was set up. Under the great trees it was as light as day, and from rock to rock the echo reverberated of the chanting of the friars, mingled with the pious refrains of the crowd. Standing before the Crib, torn with compassion and filled with unspeakable joy, the Poverello, sighing deeply, awaited them.

"The Mass commenced, at an altar placed in an overhanging niche. Never, the celebrant himself confessed, had he experienced such consolation while offering the Holy Sacrifice. Vested in the dalmatic, Francis assisted as deacon. At the proper moment, he intoned the Gospel in a sonorous voice; then he preached a sermon to proclaim the joys of Heaven to those men of good will who had flocked to his appeal. In words honey-sweet he spoke of the poor King who twelve centuries before, on such a night, was born in the little town of Bethlehem, calling him either 'JESUS' or the 'Babe of Bethlehem' like a bleating lamb. And whenever one of these divine names occured in his sermon, he would pass his tongue over his lips that he might longer taste their sweetness.

"Thus it was a night marvelous above all other nights; and we must not be surprised that GOD afterward wished to shower down HIS blessings upon his blessed spot. Many sick folk recovered their health here and even domestic animals who ate a few stalks of hay from the Crib were cured. For it is true that on this hay the Savior of the world had miraculously rested.

"John Velita in fact reported that he saw the Little JESUS asleep on it, and that there was a moment when the Divine Infant awakened, opened His eyes, and smiled at St. Francis.

"This stupendous vision, according to Thomas of Celano and St. Bonaventure, rewarded the zeal of the pious Lord of Greccio; but it likewise symbolized the admirable work accomplished on earth by him who reawakened the faith slumbering in men's hearts - faith in JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end, amen. Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Forwarded Story From A Spiritual Sister

"WET PANTS"


Come with me
to a third grade classroom..... There is a
nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of
a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and
the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his
heart is going to stop because he cannot
possibly imagine how this has happened. It's
never happened before, and he knows that when
the boys find out he will never hear the end of
it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak
to him again as long as he
lives.

The boy
believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his
head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this
is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes
from now I'm dead
meat.'

He looks up
from his prayer and here comes the teacher with
a look in her eyes that says he has been
discovered.

As the
teacher is walking toward him, a class mate
named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is
filled with water. Susie trips in front of the
teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water
in the boy's
lap.

The boy
pretends to be angry, but all the while is
saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you,
Lord!'

Now all of a
sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule,
the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher
rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts
to put on while his pants dry out. All the other
children are on their hands and knees cleaning
up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful.
But as life would have it, the ridicule that
should have been his has been transferred to
someone else -
Susie.

She tries to
help, but they tell her to get out. You've done
enough, you
klutz!'

Finally, at
the end of the day, as they are waiting for the
bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers,
'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie
whispers back, 'I wet my pants once
too.'

May God help
us see the opportunities that are always around
us to do
good..

Remember.....Just going to
church doesn't make you a Christian any more
than standing in your garage makes you a
car.

Each and
everyone one of us is going through tough times
right now, but God is getting ready to bless you
in a way that only He can. Keep the
faith.

(This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another.)

The Prayer:

Father, I ask
You to bless my friends, relatives and those
that I care deeply for, who are reading this
right now. Show them a new revelation of Your
love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to
minister to their spirit at this very moment.
Where there is pain, give them Your peace and
mercy.. Where there is self-doubt, release a
renewed confidence through Your grace. Where
there is need, I ask you to fulfill their needs.
Bless their homes, families, finances, their
goings and their comings.
Amen.

Greetings & Wishes For Brother Harry

A Blessed Birthday Greeting

Kapatid Harry!

Well, birthdays are merely symbolic of how another year has gone by and how little we've grown. No matter how desperate we are that someday a better self will emerge, with each flicker of the candles on the cake, we know it's not

Greetings & Wishes For Brother Cons!

A Blessed Birthday Kapatid CONS!

"We have no choice of what we're born, or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choices over what we make of our lives once we're here." by Mildred Taylor

"DEUS MEUS ET OMNIA!"

Most High Almighty Good LORD,
Yours are praise, glory, honor and all blessing.

To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
And no man is worthy to mention You.

Be praised, my LORD, with all Your creatures,
Especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is daylight, and by him You shed light on us.

And he is beautiful & radiant with great splendor.
Of You, Most High, he is a symbol.

Be praised, My LORD, for Sister Moon & the Stars.
In heaven You have formed them clear & bright & fair.

Be praised, My LORD, for Brother Wind
And for air & cloud & clear & all weather,
By which You give Your creatures nourishment.

Be praised, My LORD, for Sister Water,
For She is very useful, humble, precious & pure.

Be praised, My LORD, for Brother Fire,
By whom You light up the night,
For he is fair & merry & mighty & strong.

Be praised, My LORD, for our Sister Mother Earth,
Who sustains & rules us
And produces varied fruits with many - colored flowers & plants.

Praise and bless My LORD,
And give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility.

Most High Almighty Good LORD,
Yours are praise, glory, honor and all blessing.

To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
And no man is worthy to mention You.

Be praised, My LORD, for those who grant pardon for love of You,
And bear sickness and tribulation.
Blessed are they who shall bear them in peace,
For by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Be praised, My LORD, for our Sister Bodily Death,
From whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are they whom she shall find in Your Most Holy Will.
For the second death shall not harm them.

The Life of the First Friars - Chapter VII of the book St. Francis of Assisi. A Biography by Omer Englebert (Article 4, Continuation)

No less edifying and still more charming was the famous Brother Juniper, who entered the Order in 1210. He was present at the death of St. Clare in 1253, and died in Rome five years later. St. Clare, who loved and understood him, nicknamed him “GOD’s jongleur (troubadour)”. As for Francis, who did not require everyone to be like everybody else, he replied to those who considered Juniper’s whimsies out of place, “O brothers! I wish I had a whole forest of junipers like him!” Brother Juniper enjoyed such reputation for sanctity that we are told possessed persons would flee across fields to avoid meeting him. Francis himself, when he had to deal with some especially recalcitrant demon, had only to say to it, “I am going to call Juniper,” for the demoniac to be immediately delivered. They tell how, in order to observe the rule of “not resisting evil,” Juniper once let himself be taken for a spy at Viterbo and condemned to death without protest. Tied to a horse’s tail, they were already dragging him to the gallows, when at the last moment his guardian rushed up and managed to clear up the confusion and rescue the alleged traitor. It is also reported that in order to practice recollection, Juniper once went six months without saying a word. The first day he kept silent in honor of GOD the Father, the second day in honor of GOD the Son, the third in honor of the Holy Spirit, the fourth for the love of the Blessed Virgin, and so on. Everyday he kept silent in honor of some new saint. But juniper when he did speak, expressed himself with deep wisdom, if we are to judge by the two following examples: “Do you know any noblemen whose nobility would keep them from hauling dung, if that would enable him to win a houseful of gold? Then why should we be so hard to please, and why refuse little humiliations that can gain eternal happiness for us?” To his fellow friars who were discussing how to repel impure thoughts, he indicated his own method: “As for me, as soon as I sense the tempter’s approach, I shut myself up in my heart with holy thoughts. Then I shout to the devil who knocks at the door, ‘Begone!

The inn is full and we’re not opening up to anyone!’ And when the devil hear this, he at once goes away in defeat.”Juniper was not a man who wish for honors here below, content, like so many others, to give the glory to GOD. Some devout Romans learned this at their expense the day they set forth to meet him as he was approaching the Eternal City. Seeing some children playing seesaw, Brother Juniper made a show of entering into their game; and with great seriousness, as if he had nothing better to do that day, he began to seesaw until his disappointed admirers withdrew. The early Rule, following the Gospel, said “Let the Brethren give to all who ask; and if someone takes away their garment and tunic, let them be stripped without protest.” Such precepts made Brother Juniper commit not a few excesses. Like his blessed father, he could not stand seeing a poor man worse clad than he; and sometimes he would give the needy great pieces of cloth cut out of his habit, and sometimes his whole tunic. His guardian had just reprimanded him about this, when he met a beggar shivering in his rags. “You’ve come at a bad time,” said Juniper to him. “My superior has just forbidden me to give away my tunic. But if you want to take it away from me, I won’t stop you.” The beggar needed no second invitation; and lifting up the charitable friar’s habit, he pulled it off wrong side out, so that Juniper had to return home in his drawers. Since much fun was made of him on this occasion, he wanted to repeat the experience so as to acquire new merits.After another such “folly” in which he walked naked from Spoleto to Assisi, the exasperated guardian exclaimed: “O Brother Juniper! I really don’t know what penance to give you this time to such scandalous conduct!” “Father, I’ll tell you,” replied the culprit. “Just command me to go back where I came from in the same regalia.”

After the death of St. Francis, Juniper’s charity took a special turn, and the idea often came to him of distributing to the poor the books and other objects that he deemed superfluous in the Franciscan house. The friars had to put their things under lock and key or else have them disappear. Now how was it, with a reputation like that, that Juniper was entrusted on a feast day with the care of the altar of the Basilica of Assisi? The fact remains that he profited by his charge

to detach some costly silver ringlets from the altar-frontal and give them to a beggar woman. Furious, the Minister General stormed so at Juniper that he almost lost his voice. That night, hearing a knock at the door, he opened it to see Brother Juniper standing there with a candle in one hand and a dish in the other. “Father,” said he, “you shouted so a while ago that I thought you must be hoarse. So I brought you some buttered gruel which will do your throat and chest a lot of good.” The superior refused the remedy and curtly invited Juniper to stop his silly pranks. “Very well,” replied Juniper. “Since you scorn my gruel, which was not made to be thrown away, then please hold the candle for me, and I’ll eat it.” Before such simplicity, the Minister was disarmed, and the two religious feasted fraternally together. Assuredly, this was a superior after St. Francis’ own heart.

For did not the Rule prescribe that superiors were to be servants to the other friars and take delight in washing their feet? While we are not told that Brother Juniper demanded that particular service, his actions often proved even more embarrassing.The Fioretti tells us that a friar was sick in bed at the Portiuncula. “What can I do for you?” Brother Juniper asked him. “I think,” replied the patient, “that I would feel much better if only I could eat a bit of pig’s feet.” “Nothing to it!” replied Juniper. “I’ll get some in no time.” Running to the kitchen, he took a large knife, rushed toward a corner of the woods where the pigs were munching acorns, pounced on the finest pig, straddled it, cut off a foot, came back to the convent, and put the foot in a stew. He then carried it to the sick friar, who ate it with much relish and at once felt better.But soon the owner of the pig arrived, breathing forth fire and brimstone. Even St. Francis was unable to calm him. So he sent for the friar whom he suspected of the crime. “Was it you, by any chance, who cut off the foot of a pig in the woods?”Certainly, Father,” replied Juniper triumphantly. “Didn’t GOD created pigs for man’s use? And this stew did our patient so much good that if I had had to take the feet off a hundred pigs to cure him, I assure you that the Lord would have been pleased!” This speech added fuel to the flames of the farmer’s wrath, and he went off swearing that they would be hearing from him soon. “Brother Juniper!” exclaimed Francis. “This time you have really gone too far, and it is up to you to make amends. Go then, and try to calm this man who is beside himself.” “Gladly, Father!” Brother Juniper caught up with the farmer, threw himself on his neck, pressed him to his heart, fell on his knees, and begged his forgiveness. He spoke to him of the sick friar who was now getting well; and finally got him to agree --- to straighten everything out --- to sacrifice the rest of his beast and think no more about it.

And all this with so much exuberance, grace, and tears, that the farmer wound up weeping himself, agreed to butcher his pig, and soon after, brought it, with apologies, to the Portiuncula. Brotherliness flourished in these Franciscan hermitages, as the friars remembered to practice the Rule’s advice: “If a mother loves her son according to the flesh, with how much greater reason ought brothers according to the spirit to love one another.”

One day when a band of cruel boys were chasing two friars with stones, far from thinking about warding off the blows, each man tried to draw the stones toward himself by placing himself as a shield in front of his companion. Juniper, we are told, particularly loved Brother Tendalbene, whom he could make laugh or cry at will, and who, in addition, was so patient that he would have let himself be beaten all day without a murmur. When his friend died, Juniper’s grief knew no bounds. “Nothing on earth interests me any more,” he would go around saying. “Everything else can perish now that my dear Tendalbene is gone.” And as if to destroy this useless world, Juniper took up a stick and began to smash everything in his path.

“If I followed my own idea,” he would say, “I would take the skull of my dear Brother Tendalbene and divide it in two. One half would make me a bowl to eat from, and the other half a cup to drink from. But my brothers would not understand me, and would probably protest.”

Let no one be surprised that we devote so much space to Brother Juniper. We have simply imitated Brother Leo and his friends in their accounts from which all these little stories are taken. Evidently, Juniper was amusing and of a nature to arouse their enthusiasm. But Leo and his partisans had other good reasons for exalting “GOD’s jongleur,” whom Francis himself had, as it were, canonized. And was not singing the praises of Brother Juniper to condemn at the same time those friars whose books Juniper stole, and whose conduct resembled less and less the way of life of the first friars?

(Ibinahagi mula sa Thailand Ni Kapatid Larry de los Santos/Fra Masseo Charbel Mary)

The Life of the First Friars - Chapter VII of the book St. Francis of Assisi. A Biography by Omer Englebert (Article 3, Continuation)

The Rule commanded the friars to welcome all visitors, “including thieves and robbers.”

About the year 1213, Brother Angelo Tarlati, who like his namesake, Angelo Tancredi, was a former knight. He lived at the hermitage of Monte Casale.

One day, as porter, he received a visit from three notorious robbers. These robbers used to rob travelers in the neighboring woods and now has come to the convent to beg for alms. Brother Angelo Tarlati gave them a very poor reception: “What? Murderers like you, not satisfied with robbing honest folks from the fruit of their toil, would likewise want to take the little belonging of GOD’s servants! You, who have no respect for GOD or man and don’t deserve that the earth should hold you! Get out of here, and don’t let me see you again!” Perhaps the fiery guardian called on his sword which in former days he used to thrust through rascals like them.

Be that as it may, the robbers withdrew very angry. But scarcely had they left when Francis had returned, laden down with the bread and wine which he had collected as alms. Learning what had happened, he reproached the porter; “You have behaved like a man with no religion!” he said. “Does not the Gospel which we have promised to follow declare that it is the sick and not the well who need the doctor? Take this bread and this wine in the name of obedience, and go and find those robbers! Run up hill and down dale until you find them; and as soon as you see them, shout, ‘Come, brother robbers! Come and eat the good things Brother Francis begs you to accept!’ And they will come. Then spread a cloth on the ground and put this bread and this wine on it, to which you will add some egg and cheese. And serve these unfortunate men with humility and good humor until they are satisfied. Then, and not until then, ask them no to kill anybody anymore, adding that serving GOD is not merely so hard as their profession. And I do not doubt that the Lord in His mercy will inspire them with better sentiments.” Indeed, the conversion of the three robbers were not long delayed.

For from this time on, says the chronicler, they were to be seen everyday at the hermitage, bringing on their backs the firewood needed by the friars. And not only did they pledge themselves to gain their living from then on by honest toil, but all three ended up by entering the Order, in which they died the death of saints.

The growing brotherhood thus excluded no one; and like our Lord, Francis received sinners gladly. Did he not have the power to turn dross into gold? Even eccentrics were kindly received by Francis, and his affection for John the Simple and Brother Juniper is well known.

John the Simple was a plowman, and is believed to have lived in Nottiano, eight miles from Assisi, east of Mount Subasio. While tilling his field, he learned that Francis was sweeping a church in the neighborhood. Leaving his oxen, he went off to find him, took the broom out of his hand and finished the cleaning. Then he sat down beside him by the side of the road and open his heart to him: “I have been hearing about you for a long time,” he said, “and wanted to meet you. But I didn’t know where to find you. Since GOD has permitted this meeting, what do I have to do to enter your company?” The Saint decided at once that this simply hearted man would make an excellent friar. “If you want to come with us,” he said, “you must first forsake lawful possessions and give them to the poor, as my other friars have done.” John hastened to unyoke one of his oxen and brought it to Saint Francis. “Here,” said he, “is my lawful portion of the inheritance; for since the time I have been working for my parents, it seems to me that I have earned this ox. So I want to give it to the poor the way you told me to do.” Now John’s parents, poor themselves and with children to take care of, were appalled to learn of their double loss and began to utter cries of distress. Francis took pity on them. “I do not want to see you weep anymore,” he said. “Prepare a good meal. We will eat together; and while we are eating, I will tell you something that will make you happy again.” They sat down to table and presently the Saint began to speak to the parents: “It is a good honor for you to have your son decide to enter GOD’s service, for to serve GOD is to reign. It also means that you will truly become rich, for all the brothers John will find in the Order will become in a sense your own children.

You must then be very happy. But to make you still happier, you will do me the favor of keeping, in memory of your son, this ox which according to the Gospel he ought to have given to the poor?” Now as Francis talked, their tears began to stop, and when the parents learned that John was not going to take his ox when he went away, it was such a relief to them that they were completely consoled.

On receiving the habit, John also took the resolution to imitate his spiritual father in everything. Did Francis stop to pray? At once, Brother John stopped short and began to pray. When Francis knelt, he knelt, and sighed, wept, and raised his arms to heaven the same time Saint Francis did, coughed when he coughed, and, in a word, copied his slightest movement. Puzzled, the Saint asked him one day the reason for all this. “Father,” he replied, “I have resolved to become holy by following your example in everything. And that is why I wouldn’t, for anything in the world, let a single action of yours go by without imitating it.” Francis felt a special affection for John and frequently took him along as his companion. John died early; but often afterwards the Saint used to speak of him, and always called him “our brother St. John.” So sure was he that John was in heaven.

(Ibinahagi mula sa Thailand ni Kapatid Larry delos Santos/Fra Masseo Charbel Mary)

The Life of the First Friars - Chapter VII of the book St. Francis of Assisi A Biography by Omer Englebert (Article 2, Continuation)

The superior of the brotherhood was, of course, Francis. "His orders were not disputed," wrote Thomas of Celano. "Scarcely had he expressed them, when all rushed to carry them out." But Francis did not spend all his time giving orders. He delegated a part of his authority to a friar who bore the name of "mother," and, like a mother, looked out for the community's needs. The "mother" played the role of Martha and led the active life. Thus the others could, like Mary, give themselves to the contemplative life. From time to time - to reverse the roles and even things up - the "children" became "mothers," and the latter became "children." This arrangement was kept up for a time in the hermitages, where number of religious was limited to three or four. But the "mothers" were soon replaced by the "guardians" or local superiors. Their name perhaps came from the fact that they "guarded" the door andwatched over their brethren. The Fiorette shows us two guradians, Brother Masseo and Brother Angelo exercising their charge. A handsomer man or one with a more pleasing personality could nowhere be found than Brother Masseo da Marignano, who, it seems, always brought back the best morsels from the begging tours. Thus he sometimes needed to be humiliated.

One day Francis made him whirl around with arms flung wide, until he became dizzy and fell full length on the ground. Another time he said to him before the assembled community: "Brother Masseo, if the brothers here possess the grace of prayer, you have received the gift of eloquence and know how to talk to people. So let us practice contemplation, you are to have charge of the door, give out alms and do the cooking. While we eat inside, you will eat outside; and if visitors come, you will be there to say some good words to them without our having to be disturbed." Brother Masseo bowed his head drew back his hood in sign of obedience; and for several days he was cook, porter, and almsgiver. But the others soon began to feel remorse to see all the burden of the work fall on Brother Masseo's shoulders, and they came and begged their Father to release him. "Until you have done so," they said, "we feel that we will be lukewarm and distracted in our prayers." They got their request; for, judging that the trial had lasted long enough, Francis restored things as they were before. But if we are to believe the Fiorette, Brother Masseo was again porter and Brother Elias the superior on the day that a youthful pilgrim of a marvelous beauty came to the door of the hermitage and knocked so loud and so long that all in their huts wandered what was going on.

"Young man," said Brother Masseo, "evidently, this is the first time you have come here or you wouldn't knock that way." "And how should I knock?" inquired the stranger. "Like this! First, you knock calmly three times with a little pause between each rap. Then, after the space of an Our Father, if you see that I am not coming, you can knock again." "But I am in a great hurry," replied the visitor. "Could I speak to Brother Francis?" Masseo explained that Francis was praying in the woods, and that it was not customary to disturb him when he was receiving such great graces from Heaven. "Then call Brother Elias, who they say is so learned. I should like to ask him something." But Brother Elias refused to be disturbed and this put Brother Masseo

in an embarassing position. What was he to say to the stranger? If he told him Elias could not come, that would be a lie, but telling the truth would scandalize the visitor. So while he was debating what to do, the caller pounded louder than ever at the door. Masseo came running. "You didn't pay any attention to what I said," he complained to the angel, who soon afterward vanished. For the visitor was an angel who, under color of asking Elias why he had banned the use of meat, had come to congratulate the friars for their observance of the Gospel, which, as everyone knows does not breathe a word of any such prohibition.

For a long time, Brother Masseo prayed GOD for the gift of humility. "Lord," he prayed constantly, "make me humble, even at the price of losing my two eyes." He was finally heard, without losing his eyes; and ever thereafter so great was his happiness that he expressed it in prayer by a gentle moaning, always the same. When Brother James of Falerone, whom this "cooing" wearied slightly, remarked to him that it was a most monotonous sound, Brother Masseo replied: "Does a man who has found happiness think it necessary to change his tune?" Brother Masseo, born in Marignano, near Assisi, lived to be very old, and only died, says Wadding, in 1280. Unlike Brother Lucido, Brother Giles, and so many of the first Franciscans, he did not care for travelling and preferred the society of certain of his brethren even to pilgrimages. "I find I gain more," he said, "associating with living saints than with dead ones. For the latter are silent; whereas the others can talk and tell us of the temptations they have overcome, thus forwarning us against the perils that threaten us."

(Ibinahagi mula sa Thailand ni Kapatid Larry de los Santos/Fra Masseo Charbel)

THIS IS OUR WITNESSING by Cons Salas

Sadly today, success is gauged by material wealth. While men and civilization ought to have become richer, they have become poorer in more ways than one.

Today almost everyone does not have the time anymore to appreciate the sunset, to be awed by the innocence of a baby's smile or to enjoy the rain because everyone is craving for more and more material things. Today the world is suffering from an epidemic which one of my friends aptly calls "affluenza". It is a socially transmitted condition of overload debt resulting from the pursuit of more. Man's way of thinking has become: we ought to have this, we need to have that, we need to keep up with the Joneses. Man is forgetting the reason for his existence. He has become so preoccupied with acquiring material wealth that he has forgotten the very reason why he is in the world. Man has forgotten the reason for his being. So what if he does not have the same mobile

phone as the man beside him in the jeepney, or if he does not have the same trainers as the next person on the line, or if he does not have a mansion as the mayor in town, or if he does not have the same signature clothes as the model on the tarp? If these things could kill, then he would have been ten feet deep down the ground for a long, long time now. If people get shot for not having a Carl Weiss camera on their mobiles then even us would have been all dust and bones by now. There are so many things in life we can actually live without. It is man who makes it real hard and complicated for himself. To all men is given this gentle message: "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these" (Luke 12:27). Man has forgotten that the best things in life are free: parents, family, friends, relationships... It is always noteworthy to lead a very simple, humble, unclutteres, uncomplicated life...

It is my prayer that the Good Lord will constantly shake us and remind us to rise from our mediocrity and be real men in the world. To be a real man now does not mean we have to always say "yes". Just as the Man (St. Francis of Assisi) we are following was also a sign of contradiction in His time, so also must our lives bear that same sign of contradiction and witness. To provide an alternative option to others, this is our witnessing. May our lives reflect that stark difference.

"They laugh at me because I am different. I laugh at them because they are all the same."

CONStantly yours

The Life of the First Friars - Chapter VII of the book St. Francis of Assisi A Biography by Omer Englebert

DRIVEN away from Rivo Torto, the friars had to start looking for other quarters. "Dear children," said Francis to them, "since GOD seems to want to increase our numbers, we must find a church to say our Office in and bury our dead, and a little house of earth and wattles for us to be together in. So if it seems good to you, I will go see the bishop about it."

All approved, and Francis set off for the bishop's palace. Bishop Guido replied that, unfortunately, he had nothing to give him. The Canons of San Rufino gave the same answer, adding that the best thing for the friars to do was to keep working in the lazarets, where they were short of nurses. It was the Benedictine Abbot of Mount Subasio who met the desire of the Little Poor Man by giving him the Portiuncula chapel and the plot of earth around it. Francis would not consent to take it as a gift; and to make it clear that it was a loan, every year by way of rent, the friars brought the monks a hamper of loaches that they had caught in the stream. At the Portiuncula, Francis believed he would really be able to carry out his dream of living the Gospel. Located in the midst of a wood, the hermitage was made up of a chapel of Our Lady of the Angels, a large thatched-covered cabin which served as the community house, and as many huts as there were religious. The large cabin was of puddled clay; the huts were made of wattles; and the whole was surrounded by a hedge. And that is the way the Saint would have liked to see all his residences. Even the churches he always wanted to have "small and built of earth or wood." As for the kind of life lived in the brotherhood, whether at the Portiuncula or elsewhere, it can quite well be depicted by sketching the portraits of Brothers Bernard, Rufino, Giles, Masseo, Juniper and Leo. To speak of these first disciples, who all received their formation from Francis and tried to conform their lives to his example, is to demonstrate what Francis' ideal was, and at the same time evoke the golden age of the Franciscan epic. We have told of the vocations of Bernard & Giles. The others entered the Order in 1210. All merited to be set up as models for all the Brethren. "The good Friar Minor," said Francis, "ought to love poverty like Brother Bernard and prayer like Brother Rufino, who prays even when he is asleep. He ought to be lost in GOD as Brother Giles, as courteous as Brother Angelo and as patient as Brother Juniper, that perfect imitator of Christ crucified. He ought to possess the purity and innocence of Brother Leo, the good manners and common sense of Brother Masseo, and finally, by his charity and detachment from the world, resemble Brother Lucido who never stays more than a month in the same place, asserting that we have no lasting home on earth."

(Ibinahagi ni Kapatid Larry de los Santos/fra masseo charbel mula sa Thailand)

Remembering Ninoy in his 26th Assasination Anniversary

Ninoy Aquino's Letter to His Daughter Ballsy

August 18, 1973
FortBonifacio
Makati, Rizal

Ms. Maria Elena C. Aquino
25 Times St. Quezon City

My dearest Ballsy,

I write you this letter with tears in my eyes and as if steel fingers are crushing my heart because I wanted so much to be with you as you celebrate your legal emancipation. Now that you have come of age, my love, a voice tells me that I am no longer young and suddenly, I feel old.

An old poet gave this advice very long ago "when you are sad, remember the roses will bloom in December." I want to send you bouquet of roses, big red roses from my dreamland garden. Unfortunately for the present, my roses are not in bloom, in fact they have dropped all their petals and only the thorns

are left to keep me company. I do think it is fitting to send you a thicket of thorns on this memorable day!

I am very proud of you because you have inherited all the best traits of your mother. You are sensible, responsible, even-tempered and sincere with the least pretenses and affection which vehemently detest in a woman. I am sure like your mother, you will possess that rare brand of silent courage and that combination of fidelity and fortitude that will be the life vest of your man in the tragic moments of his life.

During my lonely hours of solitary confinement in FortMagsaysay, Laur, Nueva Ecija last March and April with nothing else to do but pray and daydream, with only my fond memories to keep me company, I planned a weekend barrio fiesta for you in Tarlac for your 18th birthday. I fooled myself into believing that my ordeal would end with the fiscal year. I planned to invite all your classmates and friends and their families for the weekends.

The schedule called for an early departure by bus from Manila and the first stop will be Concepcion , where lunch will be served by the pool. And after lunch, you were to visit the SantaRitaElementary School to distribute cookies and ice cream to the children of that public school where you were first enrolled.

I guess sheer nostalgia prompted me to include Santa Rita. We were only three then: Mommie, you and I. Those were the days of happy memories little responsibilities, tremendous freedom, a great future ahead and capped by a fulfillment of love. You are the first fruit of our union, the first proof of our love and the first seal of our affections.

From Concepcion we were to proceed to Luisita for the barrio fiesta. I intended to invite a friend who could roast an entire cow succulently. Swimming, pelota, dancing and eating would have been the order of the day.

Sunday morning was reserved for a trip around the Hacienda and the mill and maybe golf for some of the parents and later a picnic-lunch on Uncle Tony's Island . Return to Manila after lunch. I am afraid this will have to remain as one of the many dreams I had in Laur.

Our future has suddenly become uncertain and our fate unknown. I am even now beginning to doubt whether I'll ever be able to return to you and the family. Hence, I would like to ask you these special favors.

Love your mother, whose love for you, you will never be able to match. She is not the greatest mother in the world, she is your sincerest friend.

Take care of your younger sisters and brother and lavish them with the love and care I would like to continue giving them but am unable to do so.

Help Noy-noy along and pray hard that he will grow to be a real, responsible man who in later years will protect you all.

You are the model for your three younger sisters. Your responsibility is therefore great. Please endeavor to live up to our highest expectations. Be more tolerant to Pinky, more accessible to Viel, our little genius-princess, and more charitable to Krissy, our baby doll, and make up for my neglect.

Finally, forgive me, my love, for not having been an ideal, good and thoughtful father to you all as I pursued public office. I had hopes and high resolve of making up, but I am afraid my destiny will not oblige.

I seal this letter with a drop of tear and a prayer in my heart, that somehow, somewhere we shall meet again and I will finally be able to make up for all my lapses, in the kingdom where justice reigns supreme and love is eternal.

I love you,

Dad

Begging for Quality Time

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’ asked the little boy.

‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.

‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’

‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.

‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’

‘If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’

‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.

‘Daddy, may I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious. ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.’

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think - perhaps there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00. After all, the boy really didn’t ask for money very often The man went to the little boy’s room and opened the door.

‘Are you asleep, son?’ he asked.

‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy.

‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,’ said the man. ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled.

‘Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied.

‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

The modern life is such a rush-rush state of affairs that, often, we fail to spend any semblance of quality time with our loved ones. Sadly, we perhaps place a lot more emphasis on money-related activities - making money, or saving money - at the expense of those we love.

This is a heart-tugging story of a little boy who just yearns to spend a little more time with the dad he loves. While most of us may not be quite so harsh on a small kid, may this story still serve as a reminder to us.