Memorare This Difficult Time in Man’s Story

Eight days now that I had fervidly tuned in to the news about the ‘Sword of Iron,’ a war Israel declared on the terrorist group known as Hamas operating in the Gaza Strip, with the Gazan Palestinians as their shield. How can I not be so passionate when the massacre that transpired in the surprise incursion of Israel villages sounded so biblical…

Elderly friends sent me messages asking about the prophecies in the book of Revelation, especially Armageddon, which I would not dwell on because of a forewarning that no one should add nor subtract anything from that final book of the Bible. So, I’d let you read for your self..

What I would like to delve about is a prophecy from an Old Testament book called Ezekiel which foretold of the Gog and the Magog….

“14Therefore prophesy, son of man, and tell Gog that this is what the Lord GOD says: On that day when My people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not take notice of this? 15And you will come from your place out of the far north— you and many peoples with you, all riding horses— a mighty horde, a huge army. 16You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.…”

Biblical scholars have studied that “Gog is a person who rules over the land of Magog (Russia). Magog means the “Prince of Rosh.” (Gog) Rosh is the old root word for the land of Russia. God informs Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38:15, “You will come from your place in the far North” (the Hebrew word means “the uttermost part of the North.”

It was also foretold that nations will pepper down Israel till the small nation is down on its belly, and when Israel can no longer fight, help will come.

Just reminding everyone of this biblical prophecy so we know whose side must we be on, for Muslims have already amassed in key cities round the world in their so-called ‘day of rage!; What is the rage for when the terrorists of militant Muslims were the ones who decapitated babies, molested young ladies, and killed ordinary, peaceful citizens.

Let us call on the intercession of our Lady of Guadalupe, aka as Our Lady of Victory on this very difficult time in history. Let us pray the MEMORARE.

Remember of most gracious Virgin Mary

that never was it known

that anyone who fled to Thy protection,

implored Thy help,

or sought Thy intercession,

was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence

I fly unto Thee,

O Virgin of virgins, my Mother.

To Thee do I come,

before Thee I stand,

sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,

despise not my petitions,

but in Thy clement hear and answer me.

Amen.

A Test of Faith.

The liturgy today tells a story from Genesis about how Sarah, the wife of Abraham, upon seeing her son Isaac playing with Ishmael, Abraham’s son with Hagar the Egyptian, asked Abraham to banish the bondswoman and the boy to the wilderness.

Strange the plots our God has written for us in the History of Salvation, for the Muslims, a most formidable challenge to Christianity, were the descendants of Ishmael. In the medieval times, they were called the Saracens.

As God has promised Abraham, the descendants of Ishmael will also become a great nation, for the boy was also of his seed.

Thus the Ottoman Empire succeeded in conquering Constantinople, now Instanbul. Mighty and fierce, the Muslims wanted to seize Rome also but was miraculously defeated in the Battle of Lepanto, through the assistance of our Lady of Guadalupe Whose Image was on one of battleships of the Christians.

The feud exists to this day, the Muslims employ every trick of the trade, by hook or by crook, as the world witnessed the jihadists sow terror on the Christian world.

For many centuries, the Muslims had been trying to erase Christianity. Now they are doing it as cunningly as they could. Did you notice in the 1970’s when someone started crossing out Christ from Christmas, making it X’mas in our Christmas cards? And when Christmas-themed movies became devoid of the Christmas story and focused on Santa, cookies, and decorations.? There was even a survey as to which Christmas story is best – Die Hard 1 or Home Alone? The Muslims are cancelling the Christian culture.

Just telling so we, Christians, would be aware of what is happening in our world, because our God has given us a true test of spirit, if we would fight for our faith.

Onward, Christian soldiers. UIOGD

Image credit from google.

The Good Book.

The Story of the Madonna and Child is a must for our children.

TThe Bible never hurts. The Bible is an anthology of the greatest books ever written, and that includes the greatest story ever told – the Supreme Sacrifice our Lord has offered to save us.

Indeed, the Bible is the history of our salvation, the salvation from the original sin, from which also sprung the first sin on earth, brother killing brother. The Bible is a story of one hurt after another, and it shows how greed and envy, gluttony and lust, anger, sloth and pride consume us.

Our stories are nothing compared to the intensity of grief experienced by the characters in the Bible. That means, we only have to read and know their stories, and we can discern and make good decisions for our own lives.

Problem is, people put down reading the Bible: one, because of its immensity, and two, many others boast about having read it and sort of condescend others who have not, making the others feel insecure.

i suggest, for those who have not read the Bible, to open to the books of the familiar stories, such as Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel, Abraham, Noah, Moses, David and Goliath, David and Jonathan, David and Saul, Ruth, Esther, Susanna, Judith, and just read on. It is easy to get hooked. I will postpone reading Job for a later time, because of the intensity of pain in the story. Get to Daniel and the Lions, Samson and Delilah, Jonas and the Whale, and the Jericho story, and Gideon. Breeze through the Proverbs and learn much about maxims of life, you can memorize them if you like.

Then go to the Gospel, which we actually know already, because we hear it all the time. I will begin reading with the gospel according to St. Luke, because he presented the gospel like a telenovela. And he wrote the Acts of the Apostles, a continuation of the telenovela.

Have fun reading. The Bible is not a scary stuff. The Bible does not mean to make you feel like a sinner in repentance all the time. The Bible is God’s stories for us, and we must enjoy reading His stories.

A Merry Christmas Eve!

The 24th of December is a day of delivering gifts to family, friends, and most importantly, to the needy. So out I was with my younger daughter handing out presents, a delightful activity that actually brings smiles to many faces, especially the children.

Pays to be prepared, with contingency gifts. The aguinaldo seekers came in bulks, mothers carrying their children, and the older children tagging their tiny siblings along. I thought my gifts would ran out. Glad there was more.

In the frenzy of handing out the presents, my daughter and I failed to take pictures. Nevertheless, the images of the happy faces are already engraved in my heart and in my mind.

A long day it was but we came home to a warm Christmas Eve ambiance – a festive grazing table prepared by my elder daughter. A traditional Noche Buena feast of chicken ham and queso de bola, tomato-based spaghetti, baked salmon with corn and carrots made more flavorful with lemon and butter, fruit salad, puto bumbong, fruit cake, minced pies, mochi, and croissants. Appetizer was crackers with Amsterdam cheese and seedless grapes.

Had a late night photo shoot for posterity’s sake.

The Christmas Mass was live online, and it was good to be nudged again of the reason for the season – The WORD made FLESH, and He dwelt amongst us.

Thank you, God, for another beautiful an blessed Christmas.

Our Lady Throughout History.

Today, the Feast of Our Lady of Victory commemorates the miraculous assistance our Lady has bestowed on the Holy League in the Battle of Lepanto against mighty Ottoman Empire in 1571. It was told that the Muslims, the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, also called the Saracens because Sara was the cause of Ismael’s banishment to the wilderness, was intent on conquering the West that ominous day of October 1571, after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

For purposes of our understanding, Constantinople was the seat of the Roman Empire. It was so called after the Constantine the Great, the first emperor to convert to Christianity after his mother Helena made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in search of the Holy Cross.. From that springs the traditional ‘Santacruzan’ that we celebrate May time.

Again, for our understanding, Christianity came to be during the Lifetime of our Lord Jesus. He was born Year 1 when the first census was mandated by the emperor of Rome. That is why we call our years AD or Anno Domini, meaning in the year of our Lord.

On the other hand, Islam came in 610 AD when self-proclaimed prophet Mohammed established the break away of beliefs from Judaism and Christianity.

Remember, our Lord Jesus was a Jew and He came from the Tribe of Judah.

Since 610, the Muslims had always wanted to overcome Christianity, and they almost succeeded in the Fall of Constantinople. But the Battle of Lepanto was a different story because the Holy League’s flagship bore the Image of our Lady of Guadalupe, the miracle of which took place in Mexico in 1531, forty years prior. It was supposed to be a lopsided battle with the naval Ottoman battleships outnumbering the Holy League. Pope Pius ordered every parish church to pray the Rosary. On that seventh day of October, a great mist covered Lepanto that forced the Ottoman ships to retreat. The Holy League advanced and claimed victory.

So you see how important today is that we hold on to our Rosary.

If you noticed, a revolution is going on right now in Iran, when the women are ridding their heads of hijab, a protestation from the Muslim holy war started by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.

The History of the Church our Lord loved has been subjected to the most cruel and brutal of ways, and the Muslims will not stop at just the death of a young liberated woman and a teen-age girl in Iran. It is incumbent upon us to hold our beads and beg the help of our Blessed Mother again.

Our Lady of Victory, please come to our aid. Help us.