Importance of Ensuring your Template/Web Design Browser Compatibility

Just recently, I tried using Internet Explorer (IE) to view some of my blogs, and to my surprise I found out that some templates that I were using had a browser incompatibility problem with IE.

Luckily for me, it just dropped one of the sidebars, and did not jumble the contents, although the contents are still readable, it still caused me some disappointment 'cause I only noticed it yesterday and to think that I had been using the said template for almost a year now.

What causes browser incompatibility anyways, and how come most of the time it only affects IE and not the other browsers?

Well, browser incompatibility results from the way our HTML with CSS and XHTML codes are interpreted by the browser that we use. 

Do remember that whenever we try to  access a website, our system downloads this codes and our browser interprets them. 

HTML with CSS and XHTML codings have already evolved in time. If the browser that we are using to surf the web is outdated, there is a great chance that it will interpret websites developed using the newer HTML with CSS and XHTML standards differently. 

But why is it that even if  I'm already using the latest web browser, I still encounter this kind of problem?

Although most web sites nowadays were developed using the W3C standards that helps resolve this problem in the case of IE, it was designed to use a different standards in interpreting these codes, unlike Firefox and Chrome that are W3C standards compliant.

Since HTML with CSS and XHTML codes can be written in many ways, and is still expected to produced the same type of output, when a different standards are used to read this codes, the end result is browser incompatibility -- which simply means the inability of a browser to correctly interpret HTML and CSS codes used in a website.

In my case, what caused the problem was the width setting of the sidebars.  For Goggle Chrome and Firefox, the width was interpreted correctly, but differently by IE.

The remedy, I simply increased the total width of the template from 980 to 1000.

The lesson learned?

Before you decide to use web templates that were developed by others for your website or blogger, never forget to check if this template was tested with other browsers, less you encounter same problem as I did.

Luckily enough for me, it only caused a slight problem, but what if it caused a problem that jumbled your contents? 

The "Six (6) Ms" of a Teresian Secular Carmelite

As members of a Teresian Carmelite Secular Community, we commit  ourselves in following  six(6) guiding principles that guides our daily life better known as the "six Ms" of Secular Discalced Carmelites.

It aims to help us in achieving our goal of becoming a true friend of  "the one we know loves us."

These are:

1. Mental Prayer - to fulfill our commitment of living in allegiance to Jesus Christ, we dedicate at least 30 minutes to an hour of our time everyday to God by quieting our selves and listening to Gods voice in silence.
2. Mary - the Blessed Virgin Mary is the model of our faithfulness to the Lord and in service to Him and to others. 
3. Mass - our participation to daily mass as much as possible, enriches our commitment to live a life of evangelical poverty, obedience and chastity.  
4. Morning, Evening and if possible Night prayer - by our daily prayers  of the Liturgy of the Hours (LOH), we participate in the prayers of the Universal Church, ensuring that the world is unceasingly making daily offerings to God in prayers.  
5. Meetings - our monthly meetings does not only allow us to develop camaraderie among our members, but also allow us to develop our community spirit.  Learning to be at the side of the other, enlivening our love for our community and for others.   
6. Mission - by following the individual mission given by God to each member of a Carmelite Secular Community, we seek "mysterious union with God", by way of this apostolic activity, indissolubly joined together for the service to the Church.
   

With excerpts from the OCDS Constitution and the OCDS Philippines Provincial Statutes.

Global Warming?

It's really a good thing that with our previous experience with powerful cyclones, the Philippine Government was able to adopt it self to the situation and was able to make the necessary precautionary measures, and was, at least with the latest typhoon "Juan" able to prepare ahead of time and warned it's people in advance averting a similar situation with typhoon "Undoy".

Although Typhoon Signal number four was raised prior to "Juan" making a landfall at the Pacific Coastal Region of the country, the people who were living in the coastal area were properly warned with most of them evacuated before the typhoon hits.  Aside from this, although there were still a great amount of damage, specially to farming, some farmers with the early warning, were able to harvest their crops averting a repeat of last years experience that caused a heavy tool on crops.

The difference between a Typhoon and Hurricane

But before I continue, allow me to share to you an answer to, most probably a similar question that I had regarding the difference between a typhoon, cyclone and a hurricane. 

As I do my browsing and research I chanced upon this article publish by the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) as contribute by Chris Landsea, in their "Frequently Asked Questions" page.

The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters with organized convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation (Holland 1993).

Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) are called "tropical depressions" (This is not to be confused with the condition mid-latitude people get during a long, cold and grey winter wishing they could be closer to the equator ;-)). Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) they are typically called a "tropical storm" and assigned a name. If winds reach 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph)), then they are called:

• "hurricane" (the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E)
• "typhoon" (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)
• "severe tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90E)
• "severe cyclonic storm" (the North Indian Ocean)
• "tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Indian Ocean)

(Neumann 1993).

From this information, I guess the only difference between the two is the terminology that is being used to describe a strong tropical cyclone, and from the looks of it what we refer in the Philippines as a "Typhoon Signal" is referred to as "Categories" in other countries.

Thus, typhoon signal number four (4) in the Philippines is the same as Category four (4) Hurricane in the US.

Effects of Global Warming?

In my lifetime, seldom does a typhoon having a disastrous power of above 185kms per hour ever hits our country. 

Is the Philippines now suffering the effects of "global warming"?  It's a question that will be very hard to answer,  specially when it is not taken as a priority by our government.

A few months ago Former Vice President Al Gore  of the United States visited our country and held a conference  about global warming with Students of the University of the Philippines, and I believe some of our government officials attended too.

Whatever the outcome of that conference in the future is still something for us  Filipinos to see, I'm just hopeful that instead of our government focusing and spending more money on contraceptives, that they instead start addressing and start studying the possible effect of global warming. 

One can always debate whether global warming is a fact or a mere fiction, what I do know however, in a layman's point of view, is that in my 40 years of existence, I had never experienced the kind of weather  that I am experiencing right now.

The sign of the times? or is it the sign of "nature miss management" in a global proportion?

I'm hopeful  that our government starts "asking the questions, and start telling the people."

Sources :

• The Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) as contribute by Chris Landsea, in their "Frequently Asked Questions" page.
• Rephrased tag line of Julie Yap Daza's former show, Tell the People.
• Photo by Evgeni Dinev of Free Digital Photos . net

 

Prayer of the two Hearts for Peace Building and Lay Participation in Social Change

O sacred Heart of Jesus,

the reality of our deeply wounded and broken country impels us to respond with new urgency to the most pressing problems of our times.

We are a broken people; our hearts are fragmented and we are discouraged.  We need Your Heart, O Lord, as we seek to be made whole.

Rooted in our faith in You and love for our country, we want to participate in Your work of transformation of persons, families, organizations and society.

Through the transforming power of the love of Your Heart, we draw a new dynamism, a strong inspiration, a fire, which can change and transfigure our lives as individuals and as a nation.

(Please pause for a specific intention)

Love of the Heart of Jesus, give us courage and patience.  Wisdom of the Heart of Jesus, teach us to pray and to act with hope and charity at all times. Amen.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines

Google Webmaster Tool

If you want to know your websites standing and the possible problems that Google has encountered when its Bot crawls your website/s or blog, Goggle Webmaster Tools can help a lot.

By adding your site to Goggle Webmaster Tools, you will be able to:

• analyze search queries that are related to your site;
• see links to your site;
• know common keywords that goggle found during its queries;
• see your sites internal links;
• submit site maps that could help goggle bot when crawling your site;
• removed indexed deleted pages on your site;
• and other information that could help you in your Goggle search engine ranking.

Aside from these features, it also has diagnostic capabilities that can inform you of possible malware presence, crawl errors that the Goggle bot has/have encountered, crawl statistics and HTML suggestions regarding your meta tags and possible non-indexable pages.

This tool was really helpful to me that I have eventually added all my blogs in it.

Why not try and see for your self?

Prayer for the Canonization of Pope John Paul the Great

Blessed Trinity, we thank you for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care, the glory of the cross of Christ and the splendor of the Holy Spirit to shine through him.  

Trusting Fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good  Sheperd, and has shown us Christian Life and is the way of achieving eternal Communion with you.  

Grant us, by his intercession and according to Your will, the graces we now implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.

Google Browser for Windows, Mac and Linux

All Internet surfers cannot deny the importance of web browsers.  It is the application that we use to surf the web.  

Sadly, there exist a problem when it comes to the availability of browsers that could be use over the different Operating Systems (OS) and Computer Systems that are currently available, since not all web browsers are designed to run on multiple OS or multiple systems.

This is where Goggle Chrome or Chrome, developed by Google comes in. 

Goggle Chrome browser where designed so that it could could be run over three different platforms, namely: PC, Mac and Linux.

Designed for web surfers that requires speed, security and simplicity.  It also has lots of features that is readily available depending on user preferences.

I use Google Chrome to test web layout compatibility issues, being a web developer and a blogger by hobby, it allows me to see compatibility issues that I might miss when designing and developing web layouts.

You can download Goggle Chrome by clicking Here.  For on-line instructions you can click here.

The Living Flame of Love

Songs of the soul in the intimate communication of loving union with God.

1. 

Oh living flame of love that tenderly 

    wounds my soul

    in its deepest center!

Since now you are not oppressive,

    now consummate!

It it be your will:

    tear through the veil of this

    sweet encounter!

2.

O sweet cautery,

O delightful wound!

O gentle hand! 

O delicate touch that tastes of eternal life

    and pays every debt!

In killing you changed death to life.

3.

O lamps of fire!

In whose splendors the deep

    caverns of feeling, 

    once obscure and blind,

    now give forth, so rarely,

    so exquisitely,

    both warmth and light to their

    Beloved.

4. 

How gently and lovingly

    you make my heart,

    where in secret you dwell alone;

    and in your sweet breathing,

    filled with good and glory,

    how tenderly you swell my heart with love.

- St. John of the Cross

Source:

St. John of the Cross, Collected Works
Revised Edition
Translated by:
Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD
Otilio Rodriguez, OCD

Image of St. John of the Cross
Wikipedia.com - St. John of the Cross
under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 (Unported). and the GNU Free Documentation License

Introduction to the Aspirancy

Part 1 Introduction to the Aspirancy
Lesson 1 Orientation

Objectives:

• To have an initial experience of a life of prayer that is liturgical, devotional and personal; 
• and to be able to draw out the core experience of attraction to the Order generated by a prayerful and cordial atmosphere.

Scripture Reading:

• Luke 8:4-15 (The Parable of the sower)

Topics for Discussion:


1. Getting to know

• General Information about self 
• What attracted you to Carmel? (Identify core experience) 
• What are your expectations?

2. Briefing on the following:

• Formation Syllabus 
• Formation Schedule 
• Reference Materials 
• Methodology 
• Other Requirements.

Reference:

Holy Scriptures (Catholic Edition)
Copy of formation syllabus and schedules

My Journal: Reflection 

How I came to know the OCDS of subic Carmel

Why Do I Feel Sad?

Often times I wonder, why do I feel sad?

It's the kind of question that commonly creeps into my mind specially when I become too engrossed on things that are necessary but tends to overcome things of necessity.

It's also the kind of questions that I often find hard to answer, less I go back in the past and start recalling what I had been doing lately that led me to feel this way.

You see, it has always been my belief, that the present is always the by product of what we did in the past. And whatever is it that we feel today is the result of what we did yesterday.

So now I'm wondering again, why do I feel sad?...

  

... Maybe it's because I've been fooling my self  into believing that I can survive without You, even  if it is the fact that I MISS YOU SO MUCH...

------------------------------------------------------------

Huwag Limutin By Arnel DC Aquino, SJ

I.
H'wag limutin nakaraang araw, sariwain kahit balik tanaw.
Takipsilim di man mapigilan, sandali lang ang dilim.

II.
'Yong bilangin and bawa't sandaling kagalaka'y wari'y walang patid.
Magkasama tayo sa pagsapit ng 'sang langit sa daigdig.

Koro:

Minamahal kitang tunay ang tinig Ko sa'yo'y bubuhay.
Sambitin mo ang aking himig at Ako sa iyo'y aawit

III.
Alaala ng pag kakaibigan, sa puso itago't ingatan.
Sa pagsilay ng bukas tingnan, ala-ala't puso'y iisa!

-----------------------------------------------------------

- Jov of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, OCDS

OCDS Philippines Formation Program

To become  a full-fledge member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS) requires, that one must undergo  an initial formation program based on the teaching of the Catholic Church through its Catechism; the teaching of the three Great Doctors of the Church and Carmelite Saints Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Therese of the Child Jesus; and the other Saints of the Order.

Through this program, future members are formed in order to develop their human, Cristian and Spiritual maturity that aims to aid them in living-out their commitment as members of the Church, and as Seculars of the Order of Discalced Carmelites.

Formation Period

Although, an observation period and at least three (3) consecutive attendance to community monthly meeting is required before  one can be accepted to its formation program, the initial formation program has a nominal duration of six years to complete, that is divided into three levels:

• One year of Aspirancy
• Two years of Novitiate
• and Three years of Temporary Promise that leads to the Definitive Promise

Aspirancy

the aspirancy is the first level of  the formation program.  Under this level,  the community and the candidate is given an ample time and opportunity to make an adequate discernment in finding out if a candidate has a vocation in living-out the calling of a Secular Discalced Carmelite.

After one year of discernment and after the required deliberation, a candidate can be invited for clothing to enter a much deeper formation program as a Novice.

Novitiate

The novitiate program introduces a Novice to a much deeper study of Carmelite Spirituality and the Origin of the Discalced Carmelite Order.  

Through this program, members are strengthened in their Baptismal commitment for the service of the Church, in faithfulness to the Teresian Carmelite Charism as they strive to live their promise of  evangelical perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience through the Beatitudes.

Temporary Promise

After making the First Promise, a member will now undertake for three more years a more intensive study of prayer and the scriptures; the documents of the Church; the teachings of the three Great Doctors and Saints of the Order; and the formation requirement in preparation for their Apostolate of the Order.

Definitive Promise

One's entry to the Definitive Promise formally ends the Initial Formation Program, but marks the beginning of a members On-going Formation.

Through their on-going formation, members are expected to continuously learn and grow in their Spirituality as Discalced Carmelites as they continue their pilgrimage of life.

Only after the definitive promise, can formands be considered full-fledged members of the Secular Order.

Resources:

• OCDS Philippines Provincial Statutes 
• OCDS Philippines Program of Formation

Importance of Formation

As I was doing my usual web browsing and surfing over the net looking for documents that I could use on my research about our Secular Order, I happened to have chanced upon and downloaded a document written by our former Superior General Rev. Fr. Luis Arostegui, OCD regarding the pastoral care of the Secular Order, which dates back, 14th of December 2006.

Practically, the document is a guideline pertaining to the Pastoral Care of the Secular Order. (You can download a copy of this document here.

Curious about its contents, I started reading it.

What struck me though was in the first five paragraphs of the document as he states the rationale of this document.

It is where Fr. Superior General started to describe the start of the Secular Order, which dates back to the time of St. Francis of Assisi and his comparison between the different structure and purpose of the lay members of a Mendicant order, known as "Seculars" and the Monastic Orders that predates before the time of the Franciscan Order, better known as the "Oblates".

He pointed out that “one might say that the involvement of lay persons with monastic life was to bring those persons in the world into the spirituality of the monastery, and the involvement of lay persons with mendicant life was to bring the spirituality of the Mendicant Orders into the life of lay persons in the world."

This document although specifically addressed to the Provincials, Provincial Delegates and Spiritual Assistants, fully elaborates and answers a common question that we always encounter (at least in our community), regarding the importance of our formation and the different possible apostolate that each of our members can partake.

What's the connection then?

Allow me tell my story and to elaborate before I continue.

When I first learned (discovered is the usual word that I use) about the OCDS here in Subic, what really took my attention was the formation program that was written in the brochure that was given to me by one of our Elders.

As a Cursillista and a Rollista for a Cursillo Movement based in Metro Manila, who has been isolated from my group for years (I had been isolated from my Cursillo Group for almost 10 years since we transferred in Zambales and aside from the fact that I was problematic then), when I learned about the OCDS, the word "formation program" hit me like a lightning hitting a tree, that immediately made me more interested in joining the group and more convinced of the reasons why I was called to Carmel.

Only to realized that my expectations of formation greatly differs then, to the kind of formation that our community was doing. What I was expecting was more of classroom type formation, were we are required to study the history, origin, reasons of existence of the Order, etc.

Eventually the kind of formation that we had then, were focused more on the experiences of each member (which is, personally I believe is also important).

But during those days, frankly speaking, I was more interested to know more about the Order in itself (Trivia, the only time that I found out that St. Therese of the Child Jesus was a Carmelite, was when I joined the OCDS).

Until, the OCDS-Formation Program was used in the formation process (now were getting somewhere... just kidding).

Although we have already started to use the OCDS-Program of Formation before it was mandated by our Provincial Delegate (I had already finished it before my promotion to Novitiate), there were still problems that needs to be address by the community, and some of those were pockets of small resistance that questions the importance of the formation program and the methods of delivery per se...

The Importance of Formation

“…the involvement of lay persons with mendicant life was to bring the spirituality of the Mendicant Orders into the life of lay persons in the world.”  - Rev. Fr. Luis Arostegui, OCD

The words that our Fr. Superior General have used to state the mission in general, of members of a mendicant secular Order already provides an idea of how important formation is.

For already it states in principle that in accomplishing our task as members of a Secular Mendicant Order, we are required to bring to the world the very spirituality that we have learned.

And since we are not monastic and do not “exercise its responsibility in the convent or in the monastery, but in the world (saeculum)”, there is a need for us to communicate the Spirituality of our Order to the world around us through our connection with the Friars.

Thus the moment we become members of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, not only the Order, but the Universal (Catholos) Church as a whole, expects something from us, which is to fulfill a mission, "...to bring the spirituality of the Mendicant Orders into the life of lay persons in the world..." and in order to fulfill this mission there is a need to strengthen our conviction, which can only be made possible through our formation.

Resources:

Pastoral care of the Secular Order, Rev. Fr. Luis Arostegui, OCD, December 14, 2006

Notes:

This document is part of the Introductory Lecture that I have prepared For Part 1 “Introduction to the Aspirancy “Lesson 1 – Orientation, of the OCDS-Program of Formation Syllabus for the Aspirancy . Titled “the importance of Formation”

"The Catholic Church's Interference in Politics"

In the past decade since 1986, most people believed that the action of the Catholic Church in voicing it's opinion on social issues and politics is an act of interference, and just recently was even accused of "bedeviling" our government and "holding hostage" our leaders.

But why does the Catholic Church do this, despite of earning criticism rather than support?  Why does the Catholic Church continues to do so, despite of the fact that it's gaining minimal support, and is even being accused by its own members?

Is the Catholic Church, in the words of Hon. Edcel Lagman, really "bedeviling" our Government?  Is the Catholic Church's action, in the words of Mr. Carlos Celdran, really trying to "hold hostage" our Leaders?

With this article, allow me to give a little insight on the roles of the Catholic Church, her mission and conviction as given forth and handed down to her by her Bride Groom.

Her Mission and Mandate as given by Christ

The Church being having been betrothed to Christ (CCC 796) her founder, is one with Him and United to him in continuance of His salvific mission. (CFC 1391)

Having risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, Christ ensured that what He had revealed about God and Himself to the Apostles shall be guarded and  propagated not only to those who were able to witness Him when He was with men, but for everyone, from thereon until His return. (CCC 74, 934-939)

This responsibility that Christ has given His Church, the Church has abided and continued on from the time of Pentecost to date. 

If we go back in history, we can clearly see  how the early  Church Fathers despite of  threat of suffering, death and persecution continued to perform their mission,  even if it means being ridiculed, being imprisoned and even being punished with death.

And who were they up against with? Society as a whole.

They went against, Emperors and Kings.  

When an Emperor proclaims that there is no other God but "Caligula" and threatens to kill those who oppose it. The Early Church Fathers  Accepted death as punishment in order to prove that the Emperor is wrong.

When a King asked that he be allowed to divorce his wife so that he could  remarry and have a child, the leaders of the Church despite of being threatened of death, stand by the Truth and said no!

In the entire 2000 years of History of the Catholic Church, it is very clear, that despite of society not agreeing to what She (the Church) proclaims, the church has faced the storm and held on to what was revealed to Her.  (This is the reason why we have so many Saints.)

Why? because " the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes" (CCC 98).

And what it is that she believes?

What was handed down by Jesus Orally to the Apostles, and what the Apostles have handed down Orally and in Writing to  the Bishops, their rightful successors (CCC 76 - 79),... which is the "Truth".

The stand that the CBCP have taken, and us members of the laity who have decided to cling-on to the teaching of the Church, is not a stand that we have made-up ourselves. 

Rather it is a position that the Universal (Catholic) Church have taken as written by Pope Paul VI and reaffirmed by his successor.

"... the Catholic Church has been accused of many things in the past, but never was she accused of being inconsistent in her teaching of faith and morals..."

It is a position whom we have decided to fight for, not because we expect anything in return, but we fight for it to stand  for the Truth, as the Apostles, the early Church Fathers and all the Saints have done before.

That we intend to continue-on while on pilgrimage on Earth.

In the words of Pope Benedict XVI "... what was true before, is also true today..."

And for this you can call us many names as long as you want.

You can do all the form of defamation and lambasting that you can do, one thing is for sure, we are not benefiting from this fight in anyways. 

How about you?

"  Therefore do not be afraid of them.  Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.  What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim in the housetops.  And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can kill the soul and the body in Gahenna."   (Mat 10: 26-28) NAB

To Jesus through Mary!

- Jov of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, OCDS

Related Links:

• Celdran's "Damaso Law"
• "Unchristian" Arrest
• Are you a Practicing Catholic?"

Firefox

For more than a year now, I had been using Firefox as my primary web browser.

Not only do I find it more useful in blogging but the add-ons that a user can deploy is far more than what I had expected when I first installed and actually used it.

Take for example this utility add-on that I'm currently using to write this post.

This utility is called Scribefire. A utility designed for blog writers that allows us to publish our post without actually manually logging into my domain.

As a blogger that uses this utility, I can easily view my previous post, add tags and just publish or edit my post by just clicking a single button, making my life easier than meets the eye.

Aside from this, another Firefox feature that really helps me a lot, is its tab capability, which allows me to view and visit different sites without necessarily running another browser, thus, limiting memory usage and conserving processor power.

And of course its security feature had allowed me to browse pages even in the absence of a web filtering software.

There are still lots of features and add-ons that I haven't tried yet, but so far I'm really satisfied with this web browser.

So why not try it and see for yourself.

Living a Routine

Well peeps, another day is about to end again, and here I am, just like as before living out a routine schedule.

Checking my logs, my emails, my stats, playing frontierville at facebook, drinking a couple of beers to ease out the remaining tensions caused by my day job, talking to my wife on our budget and so on and so forth...

Well I guess that's my life...

More than a year ago before I finally reached the right age for marriage (no violent reactions please... well of course I can't deny the fact that I was already 38 when I got married ... but at long last after nearly 14 years of going steady...) well, what I was thinking then was that, at last a change in routine.

Guess I was wrong, well there we're changes that's for sure.

If before, when I arrive home, who I always find greeting me is my dog "sport" nowadays it has changed. For now its "bon-bon" (it's my other dog).

If before when I arrive home the very first thing I do is to cook, now I only need to get one and not to prepare it anymore...

Well there were changes, but I guess not that much. Not until after three months of our marriage, when my wife told me that she was pregnant.

Guess what? My entire life made a 360 degree turn.

For all of a sudden, I find my self, longing, patiently waiting and preparing for the big day...

Nine months after, my entire world has totally changed,
for there in front of me,
the greatest joy of my life I see,

Miguel at 2 days old

the gift that was promised to me,
by my Friend,
my Lord,
and my God.

The greatest treasure of my life... my child Miguel.

As I had mentioned in the opening of this post of mine, I still lived in a routine, but this time although I still lived in the same routine, it's purpose has changed. Since, for this time I miss my routine, for in it is the time that I need to spend with my child...

 

Now there is only one thing that I do ask and pray for, for my child, to be able to seek and grow fully in fulfillment of his mission of destiny... for my child to be able to say someday to our Lord the following words " Lord, let your servant go in peace, for your Word has been fulfilled..."

- Jov of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, OCDS

Subic Examiner

Early this year, I was given a chance to write on an on-line news under the opinion page of Subic-Examiner. Given a title "Voice from the month".

Unluckily enough for me, I wasn't able to continue writing due to time constraints, although I have already written two articles.

Anyway, within the next few days or two I intend to submit a new article,  which is precisely the reason, why I'm creating this dedicated area, so that those who reads my article at subic-examiner will be able to post their comments, reactions (violent or not) on this blog of mine instead.  Since I have not place a comment area on the website.

Oh yes, before I forget, I'm the one who administers the site. 

My Opinion Articles, although outdated, but might still be worth of reading, at least in my honest opinion... well, that's were I write anyways...

It's Election Time, A Time To Make a Choice

What is a Discalced Carmelites?

In Christ,

- Jov of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, OCDS

The Pilgrim's Theme

This music is a reflection of our reasons why we need to do our best to achieve our common goal as pilgrims of this world.

How I came to Know Carmel of the Holy Spirit and My Expectations on Formation

Journal - First Formation Proper

Scriptural reflections:

I see the parable of the sower as a form of a challenge for me, of finding out for myself what will happen to the seeds that fell on me. Will I allow the devil to snatch it away from me? Will I just receive it gladly but not allow it to sink deep into my heart? Will I allow the worries and riches and pleasures of this life crowd in and choke me? Or will I be one of those who will accept it openly, nurture it and allow it to bear fruit?

Truthfully, how I wish that I am part of the last option, but to say that the other three is not possible will be a form deception in my part, for I will not be able to do the fourth option without the grace of God.

How I came to know Carmel of the Holy Spirit, Subic.

I never believed in coincidence and never will, it is my belief that when things happens there is always a purpose, and what ever that purpose is, it is for me to find out.

Though I had already heard of the Carmelites at Subic, I never went there since we transferred from Quezon City to San Marcelino, Zambales until one day…

It all happened in the month of July 2006, during those times when my mother was still undergoing purification (bed ridden. she passed away two months later ) and I had a heavy heart and was about to go to Olongapo and meet a relative of ours. Prior to this I decided to drop by at St. Nicholas Parish Castillejos to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, unluckily for me the Parish Priest was not available.

I was really troubled then as I traveled from Castillejos to Olongapo, so I decided to pray the rosary as I travel. Then, as I pass by the Shrine of our Lady of the Miraculous Medal at Subic Hills, something within me made me remember the Carmelites, since I’m not really familiar of its location, though I do know I will pass by it before Subic town proper, I just could not help the feeling to drop by the place for some unknown reasons.

Then there it was, I stopped the bus and hurried down and move towards the entrance, though I’m not really sure if I will be able to enter the place, I just move towards it. Upon entry, I could see there were no people around the place, but in a distant I saw two figures talking. I decided to move towards them thou I’m not really sure why I went there in the first place.

I found out later that the figures I saw was a common visitor of the Carmelites and a nun talking. After the visitor had left the nun asked me If there’s anything that she could do to help me (she though that I was a seminarian) since it’s the first time she saw me in the place, I never knew what happened then, I just found my self crying my heart out and telling her my hurt, fears and anguish, she just listened and said some consoling words, then afterwards she asked me if I wanted to pray at the Chapel, I said yes and she pointed me to a make shift chapel, since the Carmelite Chapel is still undergoing renovation at that time (although we are already using the chapel now).

Before I entered the Chapel there I saw the image of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (I never knew until that day that St. Therese whom I pray to from time to time was a Carmelite). I stayed in the chapel for some time before I left for Olongapo, had my confession and then met my relatives.

After that experience, for some unknown reason I started attending mass every morning…yes… at Carmel of the Holy Spirit, Subic. Until one day it was early August of the same year, I was invited then by the OCDS President (He’s no longer the Community President after serving the Community for how many terms, and has already joined our Father in Heaven) to attend one of their monthly meetings. I never had any Idea nor even heard the acronym OCDS, until that day, and the rest were history…

My Expectations

I guess, my expectations for now are simply to know more about the Order and to grow in my spirituality the Carmelite way.


(Contents of this post is my journal- in formation that I wrote during my formation proper in Aspirancy, which I had finished prior to my clothing in 2007, and was only posted on this blog  on a  later date.  Indicated dates does not reflect recent events but, but events that had taken place years ago.)