Do NPAs really want peace? St. Vianney Feast
THE interest of President Rodrigo Duterte to forge a lasting peace with the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) is highly laudable.
* * * However, two days after, the unilateral ceasefire offered by the President was broken when a communist group attacked a camp in Surigao del Sur, killing a militia man and wounding others. This compelled the President to call off the ceasefire.
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Are the communist rebels really interested in laying down their arms and advancing an enduring peace in the country?
From the latest development, it appears they are not. Are they showing their true color of a Marxist-Maoist ideology which uses violence to undermine the government and terrorize the people in the countryside?
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‘REMOTE-CONTROL’ LEADER. What I cannot understand is how the communist leader, Jose Maria Sison, has been leading, since 1987, his warriors from his perch in far-away Netherlands. It baffles me, too, how his followers, who are enduring the hardships in their rugged mountain lairs could still accept a leader who’s wallowing in a life of relative luxury abroad.
* * * If Sison and his followers really love the country, they should take the auspicious opportunity offered by the President to lay down their arms unconditionally and work with the government for peace and unity.
* * * When will our communist brethren fulfill the messianic words of the prophet Isaiah (2,5)? “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”
* * * ST. JOHN VIANNEY. CLERGY DAY. A late vocation and not-intellectually gifted priest is the beloved patron of all parish priests, diocesans or religious.
Yes, that’s Jean (John) Marie Vianney, born 1786 in France whose feast is celebrated today, August 4. He had such difficulty in his studies that some “divine intervention” was needed for him to get ordained as a priest.
* * * It’s been related that when the final oral exam required for ordination was conducted, he was third on deck. Chances of his passing were slim because the guest examiner was a no-nonsense, fastidious priest.
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When the first two examinees before John Vianney had their turn, they proved so good that the professor decided to forego the third (John), having gotten an idea of the candidates’ quality. That’s how John was spared!
When he finally got ordained, he was sent to a tiny, obscure, notorious village called Ars, an assignment his bishop thought was equivalent to his limited intelligence.
* * * What John lacked in brains, however, he made up in diligence, dedication to pastoral work, and above all, holiness. With much prayer, sacrifices, catechism classes, and endless hours spent in hearing confessions -- he heard confessions for 16 hours daily!--the holy Cure of Ars transformed a God-forsaken parish into a haven of holiness.
* * * Today, the CLERGY DAY CELEBRATION of the Cubao Diocese is hosted by the SVD Shrine of Jesus the Divine Word at Christ the King Seminary on E. Rodriguez Boulevard, Quezon City.
ST. JUDE. Got a serious problem with money, studies, sickness, or marital/family relationship?
Today, FIRST Thursday, join our novena at the Divine Word Shrine, Christ the King Seminary, on E. Rodriguez Boulevard, Quezon City, after the 6 p.m. Mass.
A healing and anointing of the sick follow.