Happy Birthday!

I greeted a friend "Happy Birthday" through e-mail a few minutes before I wrote this piece. To which he became confused as it wasn't his birthday.

I have sent the same greeting to a handful of other friends and colleagues...will they be confused as well?

Now this isn't a belated or advanced birthday greeting nor a belated April Fools' Day joke. This Sunday, the Solemnity of Pentecost, the Catholic Church was born. The Church - to which you and I belong to - came into existence.

Happy Birthday to all of you, brothers and sisters in the Catholic Faith!

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As members of the Church, let our birthday gift for her be summed up in what Fr Jerry Orbos once wrote in his weekly column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

To God be the glory. To others grace and bounty. To me mercy.

If this is our way of living, then the Church would really be a strong and vibrant community of believers, each working for the advancement of God's kingdom here on earth, each sharing what he/she has for the good of the disadvantaged.

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Mandated organizations. These two words came to my mind as I reflect on the Church. Parishes, in the Philippines at least, have used this rather old fashioned word more often than not. Abusively though. (Anluwage wasn't classified as such.)

It's a good thing that people are getting out of that mindset. Parish organizations are the life blood of the Christian community. And they all have a mandate (command). Two mandates actually: "Love one another as I have loved you." and "Go and make disciples of all nations..."

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Burmese government impounds UN aid to cyclone victims. How (falsely) proud could you get? The UN (and other organizations) should have sent them to other parts of the globe like the Philippines where these would be welcomed with open arms!

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As I write this piece, Gagalangin Parish would have already begun its Novena to St Joseph as part of its preparation for the Parish Fiesta on the 18th. May our great patron continuously pray for our community, especially our poor townmates who have been adversely affected by the rice crisis and the power rate increase. May the same saint pray for us at anluwage.com that we may continue to carry on Christ's two mandates.