Redeeming Halloween

Image borrowed here

Here's a repost from one my fave Catholic blogs :)

There is much confusion about the origins of Halloween, and about what the Church celebrates on and around this day. Sometimes it can be a little difficult to make sense of it all. As a result, I offer the following links to articles and other resources that will help you to learn more about these holidays, and to defend them against the oh-so-typical charge that Catholics are pagans (in case you're wondering, we're not).

• My High Holy Day by John Zmirak - crisismagazine.com
• Halloween: It's Origins and Celebration - EWTN
• All Hallow's Eve by Mary Reed Newland - Catholic Education Resource Center
• Ideas for Sanctifying Halloween by Jen Miller - Catholic Education Resource Center
• How Halloween can be Redeemed by Page Zyromski - AmericanCatholic.org
• Is the celebration of Halloween a pagan feast? - Catholics United for the Faith, Inc.
• All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day - New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

Hunger for Holiness

Is an act of contrition any different from an act of love? 

In spite of those faults into which we fall again and again, we should remain eager to be united to Christ and to imitate him , eager to let ourselves be sanctified by him more and more. These are the signs, I assure you, of a hunger for holiness.

Tu solus Sanctus, Jesu Christe.

+ George Chevrot, The Eight Beatitudes - Ch.18, p.134

Creative Juice #035: OdoSketch

Here's my first shot at making a masterpiece in Odosketch - entitled 'Seminarian' :) 

Stumbled upon the site while bloghopping. It's super simple to use and 

I just looove its sketchy aesthetic :) Why not try making yours?

Odosketch seeks to recreate the decidedly non-digital experience of working with a sketchbook. Its papery textures, variety of brushes and intentional imperfections make you forget you're working on a screen.

We also added a playback feature that recreates a drawing from empty canvas to the completed piece animating the drawer's brush strokes (complete with erasures, cross-outs and do overs) and revealing the creative process at work.

Tears

The language of tears has something sacred about it. 

It replaces the powerlessness of the world to express what is indefinable and inconsolable in sorrow. It stops all talk completely: when faced with tears, we can only be silent.

+ George Chevrot, The Eight Beatitudes, Ch. 15, p. 107

No Other Woman: A Fatherly Advice

My mom and I made it to the cinema just in time for the show start of “No Other Woman,” starring Derek Ramsey, Anne Curtis and Christine Reyes. With a marking of R-13 from the MTRCB (despite its adulterous theme), the movie enfolds a story between a very suspecting wife, a lax and denying husband, and a casual and captivated temptress in their scenes of suspicion, retorts and lies. I usually don’t watch local films (because sometimes I think they are just plain superficial and corny) but my mom insisted so I finally gave in. Pass the heated graphic scenes (I have no idea the Filipinos can have those in movies!) and the dramatic background of the atmosphere; what I find most entertaining was the character played by Carmi Martin (Christine Reyes' mom) with her unequivocally hilarious motherly wisdom. 

Promotional poster of 'No Other Woman'

The writers did a great job with the catchy lines and quotable quotes of the movie; almost automatically making a laughing uproar among the viewers and netizens adding only to the movie's popularity. But ever trying to be cognizant of the words of the actors, the best for me probably came from the Mr. Zalderiaga - played by Tirso Cruz III (father of Kara - Anne Curtis' role) in a scene where he was enraged over the male protagonist at the plot’s resolution. It was a piece of unprecedented advice that almost also knocked me off: 

“Maybe if you’d stop hating your father so much, 

you’d start being a good man.” 

I promised Tirso Cruz III, I am in the process of doing just that.

Update 10.9.11: Three Encounters

• Council Leader: Woke up last Monday with an urge to repair restrained relationships. I marched in our community center and talked uninhibitedly with our council leader. Expressed and unloaded diplomatically my true frustrations and disappointments as a young councilor with all the rumors and shenanigans going around. I realized that building lasting relationships truly takes time and effort but how I truly wish there really was an untainted ground to start with. It’s just so hard to grow in a toxic environment.
• Beggar: It was almost a week now since I had that spontaneous tender regard from a beggar that I encountered on my way to the university. I saw him in the footbridge in Cubao wearing only some rugged clothes in the middle of so many passersby. Barefoot and extending his hand to whosoever kind that will spare him some change, it was evident from his tears how exasperated and painful he felt. It was in this sight that I had a strong nudging urge to embrace him and tell him that God loves him so much. But I just walked past him with only tears welling up my eyes. I offered a prayer for him while I was on the jeepney. I wish I had done something to ease any pain that he had. I wish I had embraced him and whispered that everything’s going to be alright. I just wish I had…
• Blogger Friend: I have a blogger friend who’s also contemplating about entering the seminary. Can’t wait to meet up with him and just share stories. I’m glad that I’m not alone in this one. I’ve been downloading a lot of vocation stories in Youtube for some perspective. I’m also thinking about devoting 1-2 hours of my time every other day in front of the Blessed Sacrament and continuing with my parish visits on free days. I should deposit myself more in stillness and silence.

ArchInspire #022: SARAT Low-Cost Housing for the Aetas

We crammed another research and design translation. Haha. So here's a preview of our group's work-in-progress in Housing and Human Settlements - a low-cost housing project for the Aeta indigenous community  of Floridablanca, Pampanga. Kept my group busy for the past two days. Forgive the rather sloppy grammar - it's the product of two coffee-saturated sleepless nights :) Tomorrow is 'Indigenous People Sunday!' How timely my post is :)

The Mourning

One needs to have suffered to hear within oneself 

the first timid calls of hope; hope, however, soon shows to whoever consents to listen 

the dim and unknown pathways of faith.

Les Beatitudes, George Chevrot

Unconscious

Narvacan Stop-over, Northern Ilocos

It was an eye-opener on my part. I’ve been talking a lot about introspection in my blog but nothing could top that Thursday when I have been blessed to see and understand some of the aspects of myself that have remained hidden for years – covered up by layers and layers of defense mechanisms and of masks. I am deeply conscious of the hurts and traumas I’ve had as a child but I didn’t know that some truly could have adverse effects on my behavior and reactions as I grow up.