By Fr. Bel R. San Luis, SVD
Today we celebrate the feast of Jesus’ ASCENSION to heaven. His Ascension means not just a “space travel” but that Christ entered into a new dimension, an unseen but definitive presence which is the spiritual or immaterial.
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Moreover, his Ascension was not a separation. Neither was it some kind of a “retirement from public service” after accomplishing his mission. Rather it signified his exaltation as universal sovereign Lord of heaven after a fruitful life on earth.
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The message of Ascension is that we are all destined to pass from this life to the next. Just like Christ, after we have faithfully accomplished our mission in this world, we will also ascend to the heavenly glory. However, there’s one important thing to remember: We must fulfill God’s command, that is, love God, love your neighbor.
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Tomorrow is Election Day for barangay officers and SK (Samahang Kabataan). Voters exercise your sovereign right to vote. But vote wisely and responsibly.
Here are the “10 Commandments for Responsible Voting,” prepared by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV):
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1) Thou shalt vote according to the dictates of your conscience.
2) Thou shalt respect the decision of others in choosing their candidates.
3) Thou shalt seek to know the moral integrity, capabilities and other personal qualities of the candidates you will vote for.
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4) Thou shalt strive to understand the issues, platform and programs of candidates and parties seeking your vote.
5) Thou shalt not sell your vote.
6) Thou shalt not vote for candidates using guns, goons and gold.
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7) Thou shalt not vote for candidates with records of graft and corruption and to add: involved in illegal drugs.
8) Thou shalt not vote for candidates just because of utang na loob or debt of gratitude, popularity or pakikisama (goodwill).
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9) Thou shalt not vote for candidates living an immoral life.
10) Thou shalt put the welfare of the country above all else in choosing the candidate you will vote for.
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Today is Mothers’ Day. It focuses our attention on the value, the love and indispensability of our mothers.
Years before he became Pope Pius X, the newly-installed bishop, Joseph Melchiorre Sarto of Mantua (Italy), paid his mother a visit one day. In the course of the conversation, the prince of the church showed off to his mother his stone-studded episcopal ring.
Her mother simply smiled, put forward her hand calloused by years of hard work. Showing a plain wedding ring, she said, “Son, without this ring you would not have yours.”
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Incidentally, do you know that the Church is called the “Holy Mother the Church”? It’s because, aside from her undying maternal care and love, she gives birth to us spiritually in the Sacrament of Baptism.
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Let’s pray for mothers-in-law, too, even if they are caricatured as “contra bida,” meddlers and irritant.
As a joke goes: the husband is the POST of the family, the wife is the LIGHT, and the mother-in-law? She’s the TERMITE (anay) of the family. (Of course, not all are termites).
HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY!
