Blessed
January 22, 2008
Psalm 41:1-3, “Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble. The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; He will bless them in the land and not surrender him to the desires of his foes. The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.”
The day after my first chemotherapy treatment, I was numb and strangely inarticulate. I did not feel like doing anything at all. Like I was at sea, and drifting. After a while, I realized I had one thing I did want to do. I simply sat down, opened my Bible, found the passage above. Eventually I found my quiet place, and penned the following lines on my journal:
Father, thank You for Your faithfulness. I praise You because You are always true to Your promises. You never fail. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Your Word, Oh Lord, sustains me.
Oh Lord, You are Awesome, so Great, so full of mercy. You are my Everything, my Source of everlasting Joy.
I am feeling so tired right now, couldn’t understand what’s going on in my body - but Lord, You are in control, and I trust in You. You are my Strength and my Healer. I love You Lord. Amen.
There will always be everything else. But also, there is peace.
Kaamulan
January 18, 2008
this is our rationale for the kaamulan project:
We are a group of Filipino-Americans who share a parish, and a faith, with you. We are no more ordinary, or no less special than you. Some of us grew up in a different culture; a culture that has proven hazy in the minds of our American children, and a culture our hearts wistfully yearn to impart in some meaningful way to our young. For, as much as we work to nurture them into their strengths, they needed to understand where we came from, and how love can still flourish while bridging the widest cultural differences.
As parents of budding teenagers, we have also been long bemused as to how to counter peer pressure and the allures of this time and age, and how to bring our children past the experiences — both painful and needless — into the spiritual foundations of meaningful maturity.
It is thus, more from gratitude than pride, more from the need to serve than to be served, that we have banded together, parents and children both, to cross the divides, and to produce KAAMULAN, a cultural show, in song, in dance, in rituals, and share them with you on January 19, 2008, at 7:00 P.M., Saturday, at the St. Vincent Ferrer School Auditorium.
“Kaamulan”, in Filipino dialect, simply means “the gathering”, or “celebration”. It is basically, an annual gathering of southern tribes, still conducted to this day, in the southern hinterlands of the Philippines. It is a gathering to celebrate creation, in thanksgiving for bountiful harvests, in gratefulness to the Creator, and to cherish traditions together in the most basic ways, in a world now both gone strange and complicated.
Our young people have worked at their conceptualization, interpretation, and at their rehearsals since March of this year, and our show has now come into shape and promise, built on the loving sharing and growing rapport between children and parents, among our choreographers and organizers and our participants.
Under the aegis of an evolving Parish and a most-wonderful faith we have all learned to cherish, we are finally growing into a mutual joy for Christian service. This cultural show is to the sole benefit of the Emmanuel Catholic Church building fund. It is already a benefit to the participants, simply from involvement. It is our loving intent, to share the fruit of our labors with you, and with the community.
A church is not just a building, it is a people united in the loving embrace of love and Jesus Christ. Join us in building a bigger and stronger assembly. Get a ticket for the show, for you, your family and your friends, donate to the Emmanuel building fund in the name of this endeavor, buy advertising space in our proposed souvenir program.
Come with us to The Gathering, celebrate with us as we sing and dance our thanksgiving to God. Join us as we seek, once again, to glorify the most wonderful wholeness of our Christian faith.
Ticket information:
Emmanuel Parish Office
Fr. Ding Zamora
Booking and Sponsorship information:
Bella Simbajon
Marivic Penserga
Welcome to the New Home of Fosni
January 10, 2008
We are in the process of upgrading our site. Please be patient with us while we do so.
In the meantime, please pray with us, for the success of the Kaamulan Cultural Show on Saturday, January 19, 2008, at St Vincent Ferrer Auditorium, 840 George Bush Blvd., Delray Beach, Florida.
Thank you.
Fosni Staff.
Photo: Noah C. Omamalin. c. 2008
Don’t Quit
January 5, 2008
Gifts
January 2, 2008
A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.
He said, ‘Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.’ The young man held out this package. ‘I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.’
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. ‘Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.’
The father hung the portrait over his mantel. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. ‘We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?’
There was silence.
Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, ‘We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.’
But the auctioneer persisted. ‘Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?’
Another voice angrily. ‘We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!’
But still the auctioneer continued. ‘The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?’
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. ‘I’ll give $10 for the painting..’ Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.
‘We have $10, who will bid $20?’
‘Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.’
‘$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?’
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel. ‘Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!’
A man sitting on the second row shouted, ‘Now let’s get on with the collection!’
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. ‘I’m sorry, the auction is over.’
‘What about the paintings?’
‘I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!’
(forwarded by A. de Leon)
Photo: cache.eb.com