Tiziano Vecelli, a.k.a. Titian

Reading 1

Dn 7:13-14

As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 93:1, 1-2, 5

R. (1a) The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

The LORD is king, in splendor robed;

robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.

R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

And he has made the world firm,

not to be moved.

Your throne stands firm from of old;

from everlasting you are, O LORD.

R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed;

holiness befits your house,

O LORD, for length of days.

R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

Reading II

Rv 1:5-8

Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him.

Yes. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”

Gospel

Jn 18:33b-37

Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”

So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?”

Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

END OF POST

Holy Week

In the Orthodox Church the last week of Christ’s life is officially called Passion Week. In popular terminology it is called Holy Week. Each day is designated in the service books as “great and holy.” There are special services every day of the week which are fulfilled in all churches. Earthly life ceases for the faithful as they “go up with the Lord to Jerusalem” (Matins of Great and Holy Monday).

Each day of Holy Week has its own particular theme. The theme of Monday is that of the sterile fig tree which yields no fruit and is condemned. Tuesday the accent is on the vigilance of the wise virgins who, unlike their foolish sisters, were ready when the Lord came to them. Wednesday the focus is on the fallen woman who repents. Great emphasis is made in the liturgical services to compare the woman, a sinful harlot who is saved, to Judas, a chosen apostle who is lost. The one gives her wealth to Christ and kisses his feet; the other betrays Christ for money with a kiss.

On each of these three days the Gospel is read at the Hours, as well as at the Vespers when the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served. The Old Testamental readings are from Exodus, Job, and the Prophets. The Gospel is also read at the Matins services which are traditionally called the “Bridegroom” services because the general theme of each of these days is the end of the world and the judgment of Christ. It is the common practice to serve the Bridegroom services at night.

Behold, the bridegroom comes in the middle of the night and blessed is the servant whom he shall find watching, and unworthy the servant whom he shall find heedless. Take care then, 0 my soul, and be not weighed down by sleep that you will not be given over unto death and be excluded from the Kingdom. But rise up and call out: Holy, Holy, Holy art T hou O God, by the Theotokos have mercy on us (Troparion of the First Three Days).

During the first three days of Holy Week, the Church prescribes that the entire Four Gospels be read at the Hours up to the point in each where the passion of Christ begins. Although this is not usually possible in parish churches, an attempt is sometimes made to read at least one complete Gospel, privately or in common, before Holy Thursday.

http://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=72

Walter Brueggemann is a recently discovered voice of inspiration. This sermon was given at Duke University Chapel on May 15th 2009. I cannot help but be laid bare by this sermon. I love it. This is the work I’ve done for two years, this is what I hope I am like someday when i’m all grown up.

I think Bruegemman is exactly right when he mentions that this is not an ordinary life, it is a life of yieldedness, of faithfulness and waiting. It is a life of trust, of candor and of suffering. The Christian life is extraordinary.

My favorite lines from the homily:

“My Times are in your hands”

“She tastes the bread and it [The Bread of the Eucharist] tastes like faithfulness”

What do you think of this? Any responses?

TEXT: Philippians 2:8 “And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.”

MAIN THEME/TOPIC: What did Jesus do during Holy Week? He got ready to die for our salvation!

MAIN POINT: Holy Week is the final week in God’s plan to get us back!

TALKING POINTS:

1. Sometime in the mid-1990s a youth group developed a bracelet that would become a best selling item in just a short time. Its four letters, WWJD, would be on not just bracelets, but posters, jewelry of all kinds, and also the subjects of sermons and the basis for books and curricula for teens and adults and a top-selling song. WWJD What Would Jesus Do?

2. The point of WWJD has been to make us stop and consider our actions and attitudes in light of Christ’s actions that are recorded in the first four books of the New Testament – the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – actions that climax during this week – Holy Week. Today, I want us to reflect on a different set of letters, WDJD – What Did Jesus Do – for two reasons: to acquaint or re-acquaint ourselves with some of the events of that week and to more fully understand that holy week was the final week in God’s plan to get us back.

3. As we walk through this very important week, we are going to read segments of the story, primarily in Mark’s account. As we read through each segment, I want us to reflect on this question: Why did Jesus do this?

4. Jesus Reflected – Mark 11:1-11

On the first day of the last week before His death, Jesus entered Jerusalem and Mark notes in verse 11, “So Jesus. . . went into the Temple. He looked around carefully at everything, and then he left because it was late in the afternoon.” Why did he look around carefully? What was going through his mind?

We know what Jesus was up to as we read in verse 15. He was getting ready to cleanse the Temple. But, then was not the time because it was late in the afternoon, the group that He wanted to confront was not there. In the morning it would be.

But one thing was clear to Jesus at that point: It was becoming less and less the Temple – a House of Prayer - and more and more a marketplace – a den of thieves. As He looked around He grew angry, because this was not what His Father had in mind.  Jesus reflected on the condition of the Temple because He knew that it reflected the condition of the occupants’ hearts. Why did Jesus do this?

Jesus did this because He was the Son of God whose mission was to turn hearts back to His Father and the plan that had been in place to make that turning back possible was not working our anymore. And so, as we turn to our next segment, His anger and frustration spilled out.

5.  Jesus Got Angry – Mark 11:15 – 22

Now what does anger have to do this final week? We’ve been told that one of the reasons that we experience anger is due to the fact that we feel cheated about something at some point and we are angry that we have been cheated out of that something.

Was this the same kind of anger that Jesus had that next morning as he drove out the merchants and their customers? They were there because the sacrificial requirements, set down by God the Father, required the use of certain animals to atone for their sins and they needed to get them from somewhere so why not right there in the Temple?

But, what Jesus saw that morning, and the day before, and the day before that, and the time before that, was not what the Father had in mind. What Jesus saw was far from the original intent of God when He had given the Law, the practices and rituals of faith, to Moses and the people of Israel. They were practices and rituals that were designed to help them to live in a right relationship with God. But, those purposes were not evident, as Jesus knew in His three years of ministry, in the lives of those who proclaimed the faith, but did not live it out. And that is what made Jesus angry.

How do we know this? We have to look at what happened after this incident. When they returned to Jerusalem the next day (they were staying in Bethany, close to Jerusalem) a fig tree that had been cursed by Jesus the previous morning was noticed by the disciples to have withered. As it was called to Jesus’ attention, the reason for anger came into the discussion. It had to do with faith.

The fig tree was a symbol of a dead faith. As we notice in verses 13 and 14, “He noticed a fig tree a little way off that was in full leaf, so he went over to see if he could find any figs on it. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. ¹⁴Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it.”

It takes three years for a fig tree to be able to bear fruit and this tree appeared to be full of fruit but it was not and it reminded Jesus of what He had carefully noticed in the temple on the first day – a barren faith, a fruitless religion. And it made Him livid with anger!

Jesus was angry that more people did not believe. In Luke 18:8, just prior to this final week, Jesus asked a question that is very much worth pondering, “But when I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?”

Why did Jesus do this? He was grieved that there was not the kind of faith in people’s lives that made a difference in their relationship to God and in their relationship with others. But, while Jesus experienced and expressed anger that week because of the lack of faith, He did find it still in some people’s hearts as we see in the next segment.

6. Jesus Affirms – Mark 14:1 – 9

We all need affirmation. We need to know that others value our efforts and us. And the main trait that Jesus was always willing to affirm was faith. Throughout the gospels, Jesus affirmed faith no matter where He found it because He found it in the most unlikely people. For example, in Matthew 8, Jesus finds faith in a Roman officer who believes that Jesus can heal his servant with just a spoken word and does not have to be physically present to do so. We read in verse 10, “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel!”

What is faith? I still like Hebrews 11:1 definition of faith. “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.”

Faith is the confident assurance that someone will come through or something will take place. The phrase, “I have faith in you,” is a powerful motivator to step forward and trust and try not knowing the outcome.

In this passage, Jesus affirms what really is a statement of faith. The woman perhaps knows something that the rest of the crowd does not. And in response to her act of anointing, something that would be done after death in preparation for burial as noted in verse 8, Jesus states that this act would be remembered when ever the Good News, the gospel, would be preached. Why did Jesus do this?

Jesus did this because He did not find faith in the place where it should have been clearly seen, the Temple. He found in this act of worship by a woman whose reputation, according to other accounts of this event, was rather seamy.

Jesus, closer to death, took the time to affirm someone who mattered to God because of her faith expressed in a very costly way. I would ask us today to consider what that affirmation meant to this woman. Jesus affirmed the honest faith He saw in her. Jesus affirms the honest faith He sees in us.

Now, while Jesus reflected on what had been going on, expressed anger at the lack of faith that He saw, yet affirmed an act of faith, there was one other thing that He did that final week, something that reminds us of Jesus’ humanity. He wrestled with obedience as we read in our next segment.

7. Jesus Obeys – Mark 14:32-42

Last week we spoke of obedience and we were encouraged to note that God desires our willing obedience. In this passage, we clearly see Jesus wrestling with obedience to God’s plan.

Now, we cannot put ourselves in Jesus’ shoes and fully understand that depth and agony of those moments in prayer when Jesus knew what was coming. He knew that Judas and his associates were on their way to arrest Him. He knew that He only had 18 or so hours left before He would say, “It is finished,” and die.

Jesus was frustrated with Peter, James, and John who were so tired by that time, that they kept falling asleep. Jesus had to go it alone on this one. He was crushed with grief; he was filled with horror and deep distress. There was an agony in his soul that created such a tremendous turmoil. Yet, He said, “I want your will, not mine.” “Your plan Father, not my desire. Your purpose, Abba, not my hope.”

Finally the time came. And Jesus arose and went to be betrayed, to be arrested, to be unjustly tried and convicted, and to be hung on a cross, out in the open. Why did Jesus do this?

It was the plan God had decided upon to make it possible for all of humanity, not just one group of people, all of humanity, to be forgiven and redeemed and made right with God. Holy Week was the final week in God’s plan to get us back!

CONCLUSION:

I have an assignment for you. I want you to read Mark chapters 11 through 15 as often as you can this week. It is the entire Holy Week story from the Triumphal Entry that we celebrate today to the poignant moment when Mary and Mary Magdalene stood before the tomb of Jesus after He was buried.

As you read this story, I want you to ask yourself this question, “Where am I in this story?” Will you be among the crowds who lined the streets of Jerusalem and shouted “Hosanna! Hosanna!” Or will you find yourself among those who lined those same streets a few days’ later shouting insults and jeers and saying, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him?”

Will you find yourself among those being driven out of the Temple by an angry Jesus because you’re there for all the wrong reasons? Will you be amongst the twelve who a trying to understand the point of a withered fig tree? Or will you see yourself sleeping next to Peter, trying to stay awake, trying to do what Jesus’ asks but you are so tired and exhausted that you cannot stay awake? Where will you find yourself in this story and what are you going to do about it? Stay in the crowd? Run when the SWAT team comes to make the arrest? Or betray Him? Or will you have faith and do the right but very expensive thing?

We are closing today in a different way.  We are going to sing the first three verses of Were You There and then quietly depart. There will be no benediction. And the reason for this way of concluding is that I think that to fully appreciate the joy and power of Easter, we have go through Holy Week and honestly examine our lives in light of the cross. May God be with you this week. Let us sing.

[As stated in my About, I want to tell the world about the Orthodox faith. Up to this point, my blogs have somewhat unorganized to do that. Now God has given me a more coorinated way to do that. I will be sharing articles from the Orthodox Faith.

This will be a long series, but I trust it will be profitable to you in learning about the Orthodox faith. From time to time, I will also provide addition blogs of interest.  - Herman Art]

Hours, Compline and Nocturne

Luke 23:32-43

Main point – Anyone could have hung as a thief next to Jesus – including one of us.

(Sermon begins with _______, dressed as the repentant thief, and dramatic narrative)

The Passion Week story is filled with characters that we could, and perhaps should, spend time examining because they illustrate the human race of every historical age.

The status quo is present in the persons of the Pharisees and Sanhedrin. Every age of history has such people – religious or not. They are the ones with the power, influence, and wealth. They have gotten to where they are either by heritage or honest hard work or dishonesty and illegal means. And they sometimes are not about to let others have a share of what they have. They see Jesus as a threat that is to be eliminated.

There are those at the opposite ends from the status quo in every age. They are the disenfranchised. They are the revolutionaries. They seek to change the system. They are present in some of the disciples like Judas or in people who stand in the shadows of the towns and villages through which Jesus walked and cared while on His way to Jerusalem. They are out to change the system. They see Jesus as their hope for big changes of a revolutionary nature.

Then there are those who are there because they are simply in that place and time at that place and time. They are present in the Roman Soldiers who beat Jesus and nail Him to the cross. They are there because that is where their orders sent them. It is their tour of duty. Jesus is just another person who is being executed. They could care less who is being executed. They are carrying out orders.

Then there are the two thieves who will hang next to Jesus. Where do we place them? Where do we see them in relation to the human race? How do they view Jesus?

We could argue that they are a part of revolutionaries who seek major change by trying to overthrow the Roman government. They may even argue that they were framed for their offenses because of their political connections.

Or we could argue that they are simply there because of the choices they made and were caught and are facing the punishment. Haley notes, “crucifixion was Rome’s punishment for slaves, foreigners, and criminals who were not Roman citizens.” And Leon-Dufour concurs with Haley when he says; “It was applied to slaves and non-citizens (in the case of a revolt, or theft or murder), sometimes to citizens (in the case of high treason).” But no matter what the reason, they were found guilty and were sentenced to death.

Who were these two men? We know little about them but their responses to Jesus while hanging alongside Him says volumes about who they are and about us because the two thieves represent the two basic responses to Christ that are common to all of human history.

In our text for this morning, Luke 23:32-43, we notice the following about these two men:

1. They hung alongside Jesus.

2. They both observed the intense mockery and ridicule of Jesus.

3. They both heard him called in jest, “The King of the Jews.”

4. One thief joins in the horrific and merciless verbal abuse of Jesus challenging Him to save Himself and them from death.

5. The other thief rebukes his cohort by reminding him that they are deserving of their punishment while Jesus is not deserving of His.

Have you ever wondered what these thieves experienced during the last week of their lives? We have a record of how Jesus spent His last week before His death. But, we don’t really know how these two spent the last week of their lives.

They could have spent the last week of their lives trying to appeal their case before Roman authorities. They could have had the best defense team possible to try and stay their executions.

They could have launched a large media campaign trying to portray themselves as innocent bystanders who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. They could have portrayed themselves as good kids gone bad. Misguided misfits who need to pay for what they did, but who also need to get some help and positive attention.

Or maybe they spent their last week stealing and barely missed getting caught until they did get caught and arrested and tried. Maybe they kept saying, “Just one more time and then we quit stealing.” But, they could not quit and their greed finally got them.

Maybe they were in the crowd on Palm Sunday looking for opportunities to steal while the crowds gathered to welcome Jesus. Maybe they were from the countryside and were glad for the large crowds gathering for the Passover celebration because they would increasing their wealth. Or maybe they were so poor and in such dire need that thievery was their only means of making a living.

These were somebody’s children. They mattered to someone. Perhaps, like Mary, their mothers stood nearby and observed their slow and painful death. They also mattered to Jesus.

We don’t know about their last week on earth. We can only speculate. But it is in this Biblical account that we have heard this morning that we learn the most important thing about these two thieves. We learn their choice about whether or not they are going to let Jesus into their lives.

Why did the one choose to mock Jesus and die, as far as we know, unrepentant? Why did he reject the opportunity to ask for Jesus to “remember” him this day?

Why did the other choose to be repentant and ask to be remembered in the Kingdom? What was it that made him rebuke his fellow criminal?

As I have meditated on this passage I can see the talk shows and the news casts and Dr Phil and Oprah all point to relational and psychological reasons for the choices they made that led them to this point of their lives. I can see a parade of psychologists and psychiatrists and social workers and educators and a whole bunch of other people parading before the microphones and TV cameras to give their insight as to why these two men were who they were and why they responded to Jesus like they did.

Some would say, “They had issues with authority.” “They had problems with their fathers.” “They were neglected.”

But, the real reason they ended up where they did is personal. The real reason is deep within their souls. It is a spiritual reason.

It is more than a case of dysfunctional relationships although dysfunctional relationships have spiritual roots. (Cain and Abel is an illustration of this). It is more than an authority issue as well. (Although Absolom and David illustrate this.) It is about a basic choice to allow God to be a part of our lives, or not.

In verses 40 – 41, two good clues are present as to why the one criminal, the one thief, seeks Jesus’ forgiveness.

“Don’t you fear God even when you are dying?” “We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” These words indicate a spiritual awakening has taken place in the soul of this man. Perhaps he knew of and about Jesus for quite a while.

Maybe he had witnessed Jesus doing a miracle. Maybe he had talked with Jesus, perhaps at length, some point in Jesus’ ministry. Maybe he had been a part of the crowd as recorded by Luke in chapter 9 and verses 57 – 62 who had wanted to follow Jesus but found it to be too hard to do at that time in his life. But, by this point he is aware of who Jesus truly is by his desire to remembered when Jesus enters His Kingdom.

Now time is short. Life is about over. And the man responds to Jesus in the closing moments of his life.

It is his honest confession about his own guilt and the guiltless of Jesus as well as his own fear, respect, and recognition of God that creates the opening in his heart and soul through which God goes to him and he to God. And Jesus assures him that “today you will be with me in paradise.”

We really know nothing about these two thieves. But, what we do know is that they choose to respond to Jesus in two different ways at a critical moment in their lives. One chose to reject Him and one choose to accept Him.

These two thieves represent the human race of all human history that have a choice to make when they encounter Jesus Christ. It is a choice that each of us must make, not just once, but over and over throughout our lives.

If this was your final week, like the thieves, how would you spend it? And would God have a place in it? Would you be open to God and recognize your guilt and your need for God?

This morning we are going to conclude with a moment of silent prayer. The altar is open if you would like to use it.

As we pray let’s allow God into our hearts and lives so that we do not wait until the last possible moment to let Him in then. And let us think about Jesus’ last week and all those who were a part of that time and their responses to Jesus.

This was the final week of two sons. One died without God. One died with God. But, it was also the final week in which God’s only Son died so that all the sons and daughters of Adam could be in paradise for ever and ever, Amen.

Holy Week in Ayacucho It is one of the most famous religious feasts in Peru. Originally celebrated in Spain, represents sacrifice and death of Jesus in the Calvary. All the citizens of this city participate. Every year, thousands of people from all the country and foreigners arrive to Ayacucho to participate of the religious devotion of these people. People from the surrounding cities arrive in caravans to Ayacucho. Celebrations begin on Sunday, they call it “Domingo de Ramos” (Palms), and they end the next Sunday, “Domingo de Pascua” (Easter). Every day, during the Holy Week processions take place as well as religious manifestations. They are accompanied with folkloric dances. Parallel to these celebrations, artisan and cattle fairs take place. During the first Sunday of the Holy Week, people do a remembrance of the triumphal entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem. Very early in the morning, donkeys and llamas, with herbs from the area, enter the city. Later those herbs are incinerated during the next Sunday (Easter). Then, on Wednesday, the image of Jesus is venerated. All the pilgrims surround the image holding candles in their hands, and in that moment, the light from the city is turned down. Images of some other saints, taken from churches of the area, accompany this procession. After that, on Thursday, people do their visit to 33 churches of the city. On Friday, there is a big procession to the Saint Sepulcher. It begins during the evening from Santo Domingo Church. A coffin made of crystal with the image of Jesus that lays on white rose petals, go over the city, followed with another images and women from the city all dressed in black. Saturday is the day in which “Morochucos”, riding on horses, climb the Acuchimay Mountain with people from Ayacucho. Then, on Sunday all the people wake up with the ringing of the bells from all the churches in Ayacucho. After that they go to the Cathedral, carrying out a very big image of Jesus brought back to life, this image is carried by more than 250 men. They go around the city, with many pilgrims, giving end to this special Holy Week.

Your Critique Geek traveled to India to sample some culinary delights during the festivals of Eid el-Fitr (Muslim) and Navaratra (Hindu) for an India Special Travel Edition, aka Critique Geek Holy Week!  To catch up on posts in time for the next special travel edition, CGFD decided to truncate the India Edition by limiting subsequent posts to bullet point reviews (with photos of course).  Sorry to deprive you of the indepth reporting, but you should trust my bottom line.  If you don’t know me by now, you will never never never know me.

B  A  T  A  N  E  S  w Sabtang & Batan Island 2010

PHOTOS http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/Greennature/photos

BATANES is the smallest province in the Philippine archipelago but probably popular province because of it’s undisturbed and unspoiled beauty of nature preserved by peace loving people.  BATANES is different – wind swept hills and boulder-hemmed shores that lure, challenge and haunt. The people are different – a brave and skillful race of hardy, inscrutable survivors.  The houses is different – stone walls, whitened with lime, and roofed in thatch of grass.

ITINERARY Batanes is the New Zealand or Ireland or Scotland of the Philippines. Visit Valugan Basco, Sto. Domingo Church, Chanarian Beach, Long and winding road in Chawa, San Carlos Church, Diatay Falls, Jojmoron Cove, Maydangeb Cove, Mt. Matarem, Idjang, Ruins of Songsong, Vernacular houses, Alapad, Malboro Country, Snack in HONESTY RESTAURANT, San Vicente Church, Barrio Nakanmuan, Barrio Sumnanga, Rest, Relax and unwind in White Sand China Beach, Bario Savidug and Barrio Chavayan. Fisherman’s Village, Cristal Cave, Racjuaide, Spring of youth, Tukon Radar and Naidi Hills

Archeological tour also included upon request for additional price. World war 2 tunnels, boat shape burial site, Idjang old settlement and more.

4 DAYS & 3 NIGHTS (WITH AIRLINES): P23,000.00/PAX

(Minimum of 10pax)

INCLUSION:

• Round Trip Airfare (Seair)
• Round trip Airport/Hotel Transfer
• Welcome drinks
• Resort Accommodation, air con/triple accom. (Batanes Resort/Seaside Lodge)
• All meals, 4 set breakfast, 3 buffet lunch & 3 semi-buffet dinner (other drinks on guest account)
• 2 days tour in mainland
• 1 day full tour in Sabtang
• Private Tour Transfers
• Round Trip boat rides with life vest
• Professional Ivatan guide
• Detailed and organized itinerary after payment
• Free consultation at our Manila office

FOR LAND ARRANGEMENT ONLY: P9,000.00/PAX (min of 10pax, Inclusion same as above airfare excluded)

HOLY WEEK 2010 PROMO: 4 DAYS AND 3 NIGHT (open to small group)

PERIOD: MARCH 28-31, 2010,  P25,000.00/PAX (16 slots available)

PERIOD: APRIL 1-4, 2010 P26,000.00/PAX (24 slots available)

INCLUSION:

• Round Trip Airfare (Seair)
• Round trip Airport/Hotel Transfer
• Welcome drinks
• Resort Accommodation, air con/triple accom. (Batanes Resort/Seaside Lodge)
• All meals, 4 set breakfast, 3 buffet lunch & 3 semi-buffet dinner (other drinks on guest account)
• 2 days tour in mainland
• 1 day full tour in Sabtang
• Private Tour Transfers
• Round Trip boat rides with life vest
• Professional Ivatan Tour guide
• Ethnic Cultural presentation, “Palo-Palo”
• Detailed and organized itinerary after payment
• Free consultation at our Manila office

A P500.00 DISCOUNT FOR CLIENTS WHO WILL PAY FULL THIS YEAR 2009 (Transferable but non refundable and non rebookable.)

NOT INCLUDED terminal fee, tip to the local tourguide, snacks, tips, overtime fees, tourist fee, environment fee.

INQUIRIES & RESERVATION

• All Nature Schedule are on very limited seats for high quality control of  service.
• Please Fill up the blanks below and email to earthspirit13us@yahoo.com

Company/Group: _______________________

Contact Person :___________________________

Land Line ___________________

Cellphone :_______________________

Email Address:______________________

Target EcoTour: ___________________

Target Date of Travel :________________

Number of Participants: _______________

Incomplete information will not be entertained

• Book and Buy, First Come First Serve Reservation, limited to 16 seats blocking.
• Confirmation is guaranteed after fullpayment of the package
• TIP : make a really early reservation

For all you Brueggemann-philes (of which I am one), here is a sermon he preached in April 2009 at Duke University Chapel . . . . which I have attended, and where my masters hooding at Duke took place . . . .

It is a very fine sermon, and vintage Brueggemann.  Do watch and comment!

This is a contribution I asked for to my friend Debora Colyn, with photos of Grant Beare and myself (Carmen Laborin)

Carnaval is to Mérida what Mardi Gras is to New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro. The theme of this year’s Carnaval  in the “White City” was “The Carnaval of Cinema”.

Carnaval 2009 was celebrated from 18th to 25th February and was indeed an unforgettable experience enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.

The event culminates in a huge fancy dress themed parade down the full length of the impressive boulevard of Paseo Montejo watched by cheering spectators in the temporary stands and in the bars and restaurants along the route. Scores of extravagantly decorated floats and hundreds of participants reflecting the Hollywood theme provided a spectacular and cacophonous scene with scores of clowns, stilt walkers and other street artists performing tricks and entertaining spectators on the fringes. Marching bands provide a musical backdrop and live radio and television broadcasts and personal appearances by numerous celebrities add to the huge sense of occasion.

Floats, costumes and choreography are all judged with the outstanding performers winning much coveted prizes.

The streets in the downtown Centro area are closed to vehicular traffic for the entire week of Carnaval and in these central streets plays host to numerous displays of music, singing and dancing whilst street vendors do a roaring trade in providing snacks and cooling drinks for the celebrating families. Throughout the carnival period traditional Yucatecan dancing can be seen in the many squares and plazas with the ladies dressed in the beautiful traditionally embroidered and colorful ternos with the men folk dressed all in white.

Even on pre carnival days the community warms up for the main event with colorful fireworks displays all over the city whilst the festivities continue for the whole weekend finishing on Mardi Gras or literally Fat Tuesday. This final day features the spectacular Battle of Flowers with this grand finale involving flowers being thrown into the celebrating crowds from the numerous floats as a prelude to night long music, dancing and partying.

Malaga City Malaga city is located in southern Spain on the Costa del Sol and is unfortunately too often overlooked by tourists because of their targeted on the small coastal towns and the hunt for summer and sun. Many thousands of tourists each year visit Costa del Sol has a sense of Malaga as a place with many people, traffic and chaos. This is far from true. Malaga has approx. 600.000 inhabitants and contains many fantastic attractions and also beautiful beaches. The city has in recent years undergone a change and the historic city centre is modern with plenty of exclusive shops and lovely restaurants. Many of the old buildings are currently still being renovated and the city is working hard of the construction of both the Metro and a major new port area, because Malaga is in the run-up to become Culture City 2016. The city simply contains everything you need to keep a perfect city break – sun and beach, port, city, mountains, nightlife, gastronomy and lots of attractions. Holy week and the Fairy in August are the two major events in city and if you have the opportunity to experience this – don’t miss it. Also, Malaga is centrally located, since there are only 150 km to the Sierra Nevada where there is the opportunity to ski in winter and only 100 km from Gibraltar. Have you not yet visited this city and want to spend your perfect city break in Spain, we can warmly recommend Malaga for your next holidays. There are plenty of good hotels, but also other accommodation options in the form of city holiday apartments.

Never ever go to Marinduque during Holy Week. Or at least, go back to Manila on Easter Sunday. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. I called it madness (and then the voice in my head adds, “No, THIS! IS! SPARTA!!!”), and madness did we find.

We returned from the biking trip in the morning at the Marinduque Consolidated Mines ruins (all that was left were obviously quarried out mountains and a man-made lake that was unbelievably blue:

and a carabao sunning itself on the waters.) and immediately prepared to go back to Manila. We took a bath, packed, had lunch, etc. Marco’s sister, Maan, had left earlier (at around 6 am) to go to the ports and hopefully escape the mad crush of people who would arrive later on.

So we went to Balanacan Port and it was madness.

We were like refugees camping out, waiting for tickets that were sold out. Marco got Alvin to line up for the tickets and the others amused themselves by playing PSP or just people watching. I bought pasalubong.

By this time, we had discovered that Maan, who had left hours before us, was still at the port, stranded just like the hundreds or so. We banded together, and when we heard cheers coming from the ticketing side of the terminal, we hoped against hoped that Alvin would be able to get us tickets. No such luck.

People lined up ahead of Alvin bought tickets in bulk, buying 15, 17 tickets in one go. The end of the line never got to him because in just a short while, the tickets were gone. We thought about going back home to Marco’s and just waiting for the madness to disappear, but calls from Manila (Direk Jason asking where Marco was because he needed him to do an edit the following day), highlighted the urgency of the situation. We needed to get back to Manila that night.

Marco heard through the grapevine (friends of cousins, or cousins of friends, or cousins of cousins) that the other port, Cawit, was deserted. With nothing to lose, we got on a jeepney and after an hour, we were at Cawit Port. And compared to Balanacan Port, Cawit was a ghost town. Tickets were available, but the boat had yet to arrive. We were leaving Marinduque at 8pm.

We killed time in a warm place:

And when the boat arrived, it was madness once again. People had heard by then that it was easier to get a ride in Cawit Port so like bees to honey, they swarmed in droves. I’m mixing metaphors, but that was what it felt like.

As the ferry docked, the mob of people went up to meet it, creating a problem when the people on the boat couldn’t get off. But it eventually got straightened out (with the help of the port’s very makata announcer. “Ang mga may tangan po na ticket ng Montenegro lines, wag niyo pong salubungin ang barko. Makakasakay po tayong lahat.”

And when at last, we finally got on the boat, we heaved a sigh of relief, glad that we got seats, and tried to squish ourselves into comfortable positions so that we could rest.

{Note: I have created a slideshow of the best images from Good Friday on my portfolio website. Please visit, and let me know your impressions. Critiques are welcome in the comments box below}

Somewhere, buried in the emotions and endurance of Holy Week’s brutal processions was a story angle. A child walking in their first parade, an old centurion wearing his Roman helmet and armor for the 40th straight year, a devout gringo who signed on and was carrying a shrine to St. Peter. I wanted to know about them, understand them and retell their story in some way.

But as the stream of parishioners flowed out of Oratorio de San Felipe Neri into San Miguel de Allende’s streets, it was clear that I was only going to encounter these personal tales on the surface. I was wedged between a hulky teenager and a posse of expat Texas housewives at a nearby intersection, legs locked, with little mobility, and, oh yeah, little command of Spanish. The writer in me would never get to the bottom of these stories. I was merely an observer with a 200mm lens.

This was to be the ultimate spectacle of the week: the funeral procession of the savior. Hundreds of the faithful dressed in all black, or in the garb of period piece re-enactment, waltzing somberly to the slowest drumbeat on Earth. After high noon’s broiling crucifixion ceremony, standing through five more hours of slow-motion walking might sound like torture, but it wasn’t. All I can say is that sometimes the mystery of something can captivate you so much that time, bloodless legs and cooking skin are rendered insignificant.

“You’ve found the best spot in all of San Mee-gul. How’d ya know?” asked one of the Texans. She had bleach-blonde hair that was tamed into a bob by what could only be called an ample amount of hair spray.

“I guess its because we came early and scouted where we wanted to be,” I remarked.

“Well, you’ll get great pictures from here. I do every year, but you’ve got a better camera.” It’s true, I did, but I was paying for it with a spine that had been twisted severely from the awkward weight of my camera bag and its multitude of lenses. Such is the price of devotion to a hobby.

Then again, my devotion was nothing by comparison. Take for instance, the women in black. Caught between the need to dress sufficiently dark and somber, and the need to look graceful, many of them shouldered the weight of the massive altars on top of severe, four inch heels. The simple physics equation of doing so — on cobblestones no less — befuddled Hailey.

As the minutes passed, I came to realize that we may have had the best spot in the city for viewing the procession. It hung a sweeping left turn in front of us, affording a 270-degree view as it went by. An hour into the parade, the sun passed low enough down the street to allow for amazing backlighting conditions. Flooded with sun, my 24mm, 50mm and 200mm lenses were capturing an ethereal light that washed the images with warmth.

Nothing was done the easy way during Holy Week. Midway through, music was provided by an actually orchestra, who carried their instruments — from flutes to timpanis — through the streets. Eventually, the casket and shrine of Christ — a massive 10-foot tall structure of wood, brass, glass, plaster and flowers — was ushered through the crowd by 20 men.

We were 100 yards from the starting and ending point of the procession — the Oratorio San Felipe Neri — and after the casket and shrine to Christ passed, the corridor of people dispersed and reorganized to accommodate the parade’s return. Just as they did, the front of the snaking procession (pictured below) appeared down the street in the late evening light.

By now, we were three and a half hours in, and somehow, someway, each character in the procession remained true to their part, even the children.

We stayed until nightfall — five total hours — and quietly watched as the casket and shrine of Christ passed through a corridor of lit lanterns. The crushed plants that the angels had sprinkled on the pavement (a mixture of herbs and daisies) were scattered across the cobbles, a pleasing but biting smell of tarragon hanging in the air. But as the parade rounded the last turn to head back into the church, a cleaning crew — an army of sweepers and blowers positioned in a V formation around a sanitation truck — turned the tranquil, meditative street into a buzzing dustbowl. Good Friday had come to a close.

Un documento revelador. Inquietante, como diría Iker Jiménez. El parecido es, cuanto menos, asombroso. La misma mirada limpia de corruptelas y vicios, el semblante virginal y claro. La actitud serena y sosegada… Virtudes ampliamente reconocidas en ambos personajes. ¿No da que pensar? Miren si no…

Los pelos como escarpias, oigan.

Philippines, being a predominantly Catholic country, celebrates Holy week, locally known as Semana Santa or Mahal na Araw, as one of its most important festivities.

The week starts with Palm Sunday wherein reenactments of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem are present in almost all Churches celebrating the Holy Mass. Continuous chanting of prayers of Jesus’ life called Pabasa occurs from Holy Monday to Holy Wednesday. Maundy Thursday involves Church visits or Visita Iglesia while Good Friday is commemorated with street processions. Black Saturday should be observed with solemnity but ironically, this also happens to be the best time of the year for family reunions and outings. The week ends at Easter Sunday with a ceremony called Salubong featuring kids dressed as angels who are lifted up into mid-air.

We wonder if the tattoo was done as a form of penitensya, another peculiar activity by the Filipinos during Holy Week.

(for PinoyTattoos.com)

{Note: I have created a slideshow of the best images from Good Friday on my portfolio website. Please visit, and let me know your impressions. Critiques are welcome in the comments box below}

Just outside San Miguel de Allende lies a village named San Luis Rey, where the Passion is enacted with such brutal devotion on Good Friday, they actually tie three men to crosses and hang them up in the hot sun. Such is the intensity of faith in this part of Mexico.

But in San Miguel de Allende, it was appearing that Good Friday was just as much a spectacle for visitors as it was a community event. What had seemed like a sleepy hamlet in the middle of nowhere on Monday, had by Friday become the center of attention. El Jardin — the charming tree-lined square set underneath La Parroquia — was swarming with Mexicans on vacation, gringos clammering for a spot on the parade route, and Indian women aggressively selling dolls. By the time the procession began to flow from the stairsteps of La Parroquia, the hot April sun was directly overhead, the makings of a sunburn and a brain-boiling headache underway.

A steady drumbeat once again set the even and slow pace. Women in all black lead with a large altar bearing a sculpture of Mary, followed by a small boy in a purple tunic carrying a skull. More children followed, dressed as angels or wisemen with beards painted across their cheeks, and then the centurions — the brutish, stone-faced warriors who were so effectively played by the men of the town. They marched with a swagger and a touch of subtle arrogance, as if they were the embodiment of man’s flawed sense of justice.

Pontius Pilate emerged, a sneer spread across his face as the hot wind blew his white cape. He lurched from step to step, stopped, produced a microphone, and read the death sentence of Christ to the hushed crowd.

As the drum beat picked up and the procession threaded through the streets, barefoot men in purple robes with thorny crowns followed in twos bearing large wooden crosses, and just beyond them…

…two shirtless men, tied to posts with nails dramatically positioned as if they’d been nailed through their palms. These were the two thieves who had been crucified alongside Christ, and they were covered with rusty paint to signify their profuse bleeding.

Two centurions handled them with a taunt rope, and occasionally would unleash a ghastly flog across the men’s back. The audience gasped in horror, an exasperation of disbelief that these men were actually being whipped. Despite all of the gringo tourists (and I do not pretend that I was not one of them), Good Friday would not resign itself to a quaint cultural festival. This was the supreme sacrifice, a moment of deep meaning and transcendence, and by reenacting the cruelty of their savior’s death, these people were somehow closer and more intimate with his suffering. It was a level of devotion that was all at once remarkable and rare.

The thieves were followed by a richly decorated altar of Christ carrying the cross, and then more figures on more altars — St. Peter, Mary Magdalene, Joseph — each weighing a few hundred pounds and bearing the scent of lilies. Scattered girls dressed as angels dropped herbs and petals on the streets. It was a beautiful set of contrasts and juxtapositions. Pain, suffering, death. Beauty, rebirth and fragility.

The parade redefined our notions of endurance; we had thought we were enduring physical distress just by standing, locked legs, in the 100-degree heat. As the parade tapered off, we ducked back into El Jardin’s shade and I quickly deleted images I knew were no good. A blocked face here, an out-of-focus subject there. In a mere 45 minutes I had fired off 300-some shots.

As the procession circled back to the square, we headed back out into the sun and found a prime viewing spot for its return. The procession’s players were looking exhausted: the angels seemed restless, the men behind their fake beards were clearly melting, and the barefoot devotees who had carried their crosses through town for 90 minutes looked utterly spent.

And then again, there were the two thieves — one looking down the whole time, the other gazing into the distance. A centurion flogged the older of the two, who winced and then returned to his far-off gazing. Guilt spread on the centurion’s face, a moment of humanity in a role of utter brutality.

By 6pm — after our regular afternoon of puzzling and napping at Casa X — we made our way to La Capilla, which is frequently regarded as one of San Miguel de Allende’s finest restaurants. Based on location alone, I’d have to agree. Situated on Calle Allende snug up against the towering La Parroquia, the restaurant utilizes a courtyard and an old, crumbling side chapel as its dining space (pictured below). Our plan was to have a glass of wine, do some birdwatching, walk around at dusk and come back for dinner. Yes, that’s right. I said birdwatching.

We had heard from a Canadian couple that a pair of barn owls was nesting in an alcove above the restaurant. At nightfall, the parents could be seen flying out to hunt for their chick. Seeing the mother and father owl proved elusive (at least on this night), but the chick was a noisy little one. From the restaurant’s patio you could see its white, fuzzy little profile on the alcove edge, its screeching for food an odd accompaniment to the fine dining happening just below. Abrasive shrieking aside, I found it magical. Certain birds have a way of adding mystery to an old place, and the owls’ hole-in-the-wall home lent the church a haunting quality.

San Miguel de Allende not only had these nesting barn owls, but also a nightly appearance from thousands of white-faced ibis (pictured below), who would migrate in flowing V formations over the city at sundown. The birds were extraordinary, perhaps because nobody else seemed to notice them.

La Capilla would also serve the best dish of our entire Mexico trip. It was a simple yellow pepper and tomato soup that got increasingly complex with each spoonful. Bold and rich tanginess defined the pepper side while nutmeg, smoke and a touch of heat defined the tomato side. The bowl looked like a yellow-and-red yin-yang with an artistic swirl of white cream down the middle. Getting a little of all three elements in one taste was the most transcendent food experience I’ve had since Italy.

It was also Holy Thursday, a day that lacked the pageantry of the two days that book-ended it. Still, it was no less moving and compelling. Each year in the evening of Holy Thursday, the faithful commemorate the Last Supper by going from church to church to have their feet washed. Lines braided from the church doors out onto the streets at Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, Templo de San Francisco and La Parroquia. Coming from a place where lines like these were more synonymous with buying concert tickets, I couldn’t help but be moved. Devotion wasn’t just something you claimed, you practiced it, even if it meant standing for an hour, washing your feet, then going and standing in another line for another hour and repeating.

We strolled around town in the mild night, circumnavigating El Jardin a few times to the sound of wheezing toys, giggling children and mariachi music. This old town was amazing at night — a place where kids had no bedtime and the temperature was perfect.

A full moon rose over the hillside to the east and crested the church towers. The next day would be Good Friday, and I was getting nervous about shooting the event. I had no deadline, no assignment, no client — this was all self-imposed pressure to do the spectacle justice.

It is Spring Eve, she said to all the Doubts.
Gather around! All of you.

One by one, she called their names aloud:
Fear…Neglect…Sadness…Guilt…Worry…
Lack…Shame…Carelessness…Overdoing…
Like little mice in a fairy tale gone wrong
they congregated at the hem of her garment.
With kindness and fierceness in her voice,
She continued to call on all that prevents:
Gather around! All of you!
Non-Action…Blame…Regret…Cold Heart…
Envy…Judgment…Greed..Malice…
and you too, yes you! Mediocrity. Cynicism.
and Just Joking. And you!
Unwilling to change. Unwilling to look.
Unwilling to see what is needed.
Unwilling to Hope.

It is nighttime and the fireflies
are the only thing lighting the room,
and when all the parts of all of these
were gathered at the feet of the Blessed Mother,
this is what she said:

It is Spring Eve, and you all know what that means.
As I speak these words, the Spirit of Hope
is being renewed. All of you have your part
in the Great Way of how all things work:
To alert us and teach us – to guard us and to warn us -
to remind us – to get us to pay attention -
to choose differently and to overcome.
And for this, I thank you.
However, in any given situation, once your part is done -
your presence is no longer needed,
nor does it serve.

Now, I am calling forth your elder twin cousins:
Old Patterns! Come! and Not Enough! Come!
With a swirl of dust they came in.
The chatter of all the others increased,
getting louder and louder and…
QUIET! Everyone!
This is how people feel when you are all in the room!
The rooms of their hearts and minds!
They cannot even hear themselves think.
Hearing my voice is even harder.
Because you are all so demanding.

My Children try everything to quiet you.
Prayer, therapy, anger management, workshops,
spells, potions, mantras, self help books, doctors, drugs,
television and escapism of very kind.

Everything! All to try to quiet you
so they can be at peace with themselves
and the uncertainty of all things.

But it is their job to do the work! shouted Blame.
They have too much baggage to get started, quipped Non-Action.
They cannot do it! exclaimed Fear.
Whatever, muttered Mediocrity, with a shrug.
I’m not going anywhere, said Old Patterns nonchalantly.

ENOUGH! Silence! ALL of you are here to serve,
not to be served. And it just so happens
that you are not in charge. At all.
Those gathered began to cower.

I declare the First Day of Spring to be forever more
dedicated to the SPIRIT of HOPE.
I declare the First Day of Spring to be forever more
presided over by the POWER of LOVE.
Those gathered began to dissolve.
And then she released her decree.

I do hereby decree:
CREATIVITY shall illumine our minds and hearts
to choose powerfully, on our own behalf,
the way of being that enables us to live the most vital life.
CREATIVITY shall reign as the antidote
to all patterns of thinking that do not serve.
CREATIVITY focused with the intention of creating wellness
will inform us about the highest good of all.
CREATIVITY!

By the time she finished speaking the last word
there was nothing left but a tiny pile of sparkles and dust
in the middle of her kitchen floor.
She got out the Great Broom of her Grandmother
that her Grandfather had made
for just such an occasion and she swept the tiny pile
into her solid gold dustpan.
She opened the kitchen window, and with a great breath
she blew the contents out the window.

They swirled up to make their own constellation
and spiraled into the cosmos.
She called that configuration What Was.
And she set the Seven Sisters to watch over them.

Then she sat back in her rocker
with a cup of rose petal and jasmine tea
in the newly created stillness of What Was,
her silver cat, Jupiter curled at her feet.
And she meditated upon What Was To Come.

She knew that Creativity would do the trick.
It always does. She mused.
In our soul resides the spark of the creative fire
whose activity, when tended, will light the path.
And one does not have to be an artist,
to do this creative work of Banishing the Doubts.
But if one will choose to use the tool of creativity
as the approach to the work of being well—
progress happens! We gain access
to our own inner resources and reasoning.
And that is connected with
the Wisdom of the Great Creative One,
The Creator.
Then the choices we make are empowering.

We must all learn to deal with these influences-
no matter what one calls them-that distract, and accuse.
We must learn to banish them.
We must learn to practice wellness as a way of being.

Gathering her turquoise shawl
around her hair and shoulders
in the quickening dawn she says,
It is my job
to keep those influences that harm
as far away from my children as possible,
and to provide them the tools to do the work with me.
Tools like Faith. Practice. Wisdom. Study. Art Making.
Song and Dance. Hope and Creativity.
She lights a candle for her night watch,
going over in her mind and heart the week ahead,
always mixed with the pain of Death,
and with the joy of yet New Life.
Then there is the power of the ritual
of observing her Son’s journey -
it’s parallels and consequences
in the physical and spiritual lives of her other children.

So much left to be resolved.
So much that just cannot be explained or understood.
Still, New Life continues and flourishes.
That is what her Son brings. Resurrection of the body and spirt.
Life is filled with them mystery of how it works together for good.
Death and New Life. Side by side.
Sorrow and Joy. Despair and Hope.

She wants her children to know
that New Life is possible!
And, no matter how bleak it might look,
it is happening every second.
She wants her children to know
that they do not have to understand everything
in order to overcome.
The Creator is always with every single one of you
she says.

She walks into her garden – smelling dew and dawn.
Daffodil, Narcissus, Hyacinth, Red Rose, Lily, ah, the Star Gazer.
The Sun is about to get up. It’s first slim rays glimmer
through the cherry blossoms and cast light on her hands.
She looks at her hands,
appreciating them for all their handiwork.
That white robin flies to her window sill, and watches her.
She raises her arms and opens her palms to the sky.
Her heart flame illuminates the dawn.
She lifts up her voice.

COME RENEWAL! COME FORGIVENESS!
COME All YE FAITHFUL! COME HEALING!
COME BLESSINGS! COME NEW LIFE!
GRATITUDE, COME!

At the sound of her voice
all over the world
the tulips poke up their heads.
Little lambs, saying their little baaaaah,
stumble to their feet.
Birds begin their chorus of song.
Whales send up flurries of sea water.
Buds break open.
Children begin stirring….

COME SPIRIT of HOPE!
She calls into the gold pink morning light.
And she feels that all is well.

She returns to her kitchen
and hears the stirrings of her beloved,
she pour his cup of coffee.

Good Morning My Beloved! Happy Spring!
They smile and kiss one another.
She puts honey and cream in the big white mug of coffee.
As they sit around the kitchen table, he says
We have such a busy week ahead! (Holy Week)
The whole kitchen and the whole earth, and you, are glowing!
I can see that you have already gotten us off to a mighty start!
Oh yes, she replies, smiling. Oh yes.

©2008

Fr. Weslin dragged off to jail singing Ave Maria…

There are no words.

OCMC Associate Director and Family Celebrate Pascha with Hogar Raphael Ayau

Communications and Fr. David

OCMC Associate Director Fr. David Rucker and his family celebrated Holy Week and Pascha with the children and nuns of the Hogar Raphael Ayau.

Although this orphanage has been open to children since 1857, it is only since 1996 that the Orthodox nuns of the Monasterio Ortodoxo Lavra Mambré have run this vital ministry of the Church in Guatemala.

Every year since 1998 OCMC Mission Teams have come to minister to these precious youngsters, who range in age from infancy to their early teens. Currently, approximately 70 children live at the Hogar.

The Hogar has had visits from several priests and from two OCF Real Break teams during the Lenten season, but they do not have a permanent priest.

Fr. Rucker has made two previous trips to the orphanage, but this was his first time to celebrate Pascha there. He was impressed by the children, who knew many of the Holy Week and Pascha hymns by heart.

When asked about his trip, Fr. David Rucker said:

When I learned that the blessed mothers of the monastery, over 70 children in the orphanage, and all the staff and Faithful would be without a priest in Guatemala, I thought, “How can I say no to them?” I was going to be serving in a parish in the USA with several priests and two Deacons ministering to perhaps 500 people, and here was an entire country without a single Orthodox priest during the highest feast days of the year.

Many years ago my wife and I prayed a very simple prayer: “God, our family belongs to you. We will go wherever You send us. We will do whatever you ask us to do. We belong to You.“

Serving in Guatemala this past Holy Week and Pascha was a great privilege for our family. As is the case with almost all missionary work, we received far more than we could ever give. It is our joy on behalf of OCMC to contribute in a small way to all that God is doing in Latin America through the prayers of these blessed mothers and the children they love and serve. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Mt. 9:37-38).

(   http://www.ocmc.org/resources/view_article.aspx?ArticleId=134 )

Donations to OCMC

Hogar Rafael Ayau

Mother Inés was invited to go to the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore where Father Dean Moralis is the pries to give a retreat. Due to health problems she was unable to attend at the last moment and Mother Christophora, Abbess of the Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration in Ellwood City was able to go on her behalf and preach a wonderful retreat. Thank you Mother. Mother Inés is following her treatment for a problem on the cervical vertebrae. We thank Dr. Fredy Abed from our parish, who was very kind and efficient taking care of Mother Inés at the hospital and afterwards, and the other generous doctors. We also thank all the people who have called and phoned to know about her with so much love. Thank you for your prayers!

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Sergio Valaam was transplanted in Pittsburgh! Cynthia Raftis and Demetria Pappas have been taking care of all the needs of the chubby small fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers! Please visit the news about Sergio on this webpage.

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Two students of Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (Ana María Salas de Morales and Marily Gálvez de Mata) started their practices for Special Education. They are helping children with difficulties in their development and learning. The students of the different universities in Guatemala City are a great help for the children.

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Mr. Alan Russell came to the Hogar to follow up with the wood projects at the woodshop here. The girls from high school are learning a lot with him, the workshop is almost ready to start with nice wood projects in May. At the end of his week here, he treated all the children to ice cream, nice cookies, and cakes to celebrate some birthdays. Gracias… muchas gracias!

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Harriet Stratis and the Lipane Family (Jim, Georgia, and 14 year old Josh) came for a couple of days. On Holy Thursday for the Catholic Church they went to Antigua to visit some churches and see the processions, they were accompanied by the older girls. On Good Friday for the Catholic Church, Mother Ivonne took Harriet and again, the teenage girls to walk all around downtown to see the processions and visit some of the churches. At least 5 kilometers were walked by these Orthodox on that interesting and pious afternoon for the lay Roman Catholics in the country. Harriet was very interested as she is an art restorer in Chicago. We hope she liked these beautiful days. Some of the children also saw some of the processions passing by the streets of the Hogar.

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Holy Week

We had a quiet start of Holy Week since we did not have a priest to celebrate the Saturday of Lazarus, Palm Sunday, and Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The children took care of the church and they decorated it with palms and we also had the procession around the Hogar. On the first three days we read the four Gospels, many children participated and we all took turns to read one chapter of each Gospel.

On Holy Tuesday we received bad and sad news since our dear friends Mr. Khalil Musa Bassila and his daughter Marjorie (Mamush for all who loved her) were tragically killed in Guatemala City. We attended the funeral and the burial on Holy Wednesday. That same day, we received the news that ninety seven year old Tia Concha (Mother Ines’s aunt and grand- mother to our babies) peacefully reposed in the Lord, we attended the wake and the burial on Holy Thursday and Father David Rucker accompanied us. Memory eternal!

Some of the boys at AkTenamit arrived on Holy Tuesday, they look and are so happy at Rio Dulce. The ones who came to worship our Lord for Holy Week were: Cristian and his brother Cristopher, Mauro and his brother Edgar, Jorge Luis, and Jember. They were a great help in the Altar serving with Father David.

Father David Rucker from OCMC arrived at noon time on Holy Wednesday accompanied by his family, Matushka Rozanne, Lauren, and Andrew. He celebrated the Service of Holy Unction on Wednesday evening. All the services for Holy Thursday and Holy Friday were also celebrated.

On Holy Thursday Roberto Brol was chrismated into the church. He was very close to our dear Irina Darlee and he was brought to our church by Irina. He was chrismated on that day as it was Saint Ireneus! Many years to Ireneo! Sadly, that afternoon Ireneus’s uncle was tragically killed. Memory eternal to José Angel Morales.

The Vesperal Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great on Saturday morning was so joyful and the light entered abundantly into the church when changing the dark vestments into white ones! Glory to God for the light!

We started Nocturns at 11:30 pm and continued with the reading of the Gospel outside, followed by Matins, and the joyful Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. The children were wide awake and sang throughout all the service following the joy that Father David felt.

After the blessing of the Kulish brought by the Russians, the hard color eggs brought by the Arabs, and and the Cheese Pascha we went to the comedor to have a Paschal breakfast at around 4 am. The family of Father David went back to Florida early in the morning and he stayed behind for a couple of days in another mission.

The Agape Service took place at noon time on Pascha and many Russians visiting the Russian Embassy in Guatemala attended church and participated also of our Paschal luncheon. The children ate a lot and received many candies that the missionaries had brought. After the meal the children received their bag of presents with new clothes and toys kindly brought by the missionaries in the mission teams. We thank you all for making this possible!

Bright Week

Father David celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Bright Monday, we were all tired but it was such a bright Liturgy! The proclamation of the Gospels was read in the four corners of the church for our joy. He left afterwards for a special mission of OCMC among the natives. We are tremendously grateful to Father David for coming to be with us and celebrate so beautiful, together with his family. Many years dear Father David!

The following days some of the children were able to visit Aquarium Nais Restaurant and enjoy the tropical fish in the Aquarium. Later on, lunch was in Pollo Campero so the children were thrilled. We thank Harriet Stratis and the Lipane family for treating the children to this nice Bright Week treat!

On Bright Thursday we rented a bus and all the children went to the Monastery where Father Antonio Perdomo, who was visiting Guatemala on behalf of OCMC, celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Afterwards a delicious brunch was served with grilled chicken and rabbit! Some of the children went down to the lake and almost everyone visited their new home being built.

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Mr. and Mrs. John and Susan Ralich Quick arrived to Guatemala to have a meeting with the court system as the adoption of little Kimberly is extremely delayed. Please pray that the adoption continues and is concluded for the joy of this family.

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Students of Universidad Landivar brought a joyful morning to the children, they had piñatas full of candies and many activities for them, they also gave a delicious snack of hotdogs to them. That same day, in the afternoon, students of Universidad del Itsmo brought their choir so the children could hear them sing. They also gave them a snack.

Some of the children celebrated their birthdays in April: Jorge Luis, Carina, Rafaela, Manuel Alexander, Rebeca, Moisés Abraham, Kevin Suar, and Cristian. Many years to all of them!

We thank all the people that help us! God bless you!

(   http://www.hogarafaelayau.org/cgi-bin/news/print.pl?article=185 )

Donatios to Hogar Rafael Ayau Guatemala

Επισκέπτες στο ορφανοτροφείο του Αγίου Ραφαήλ στη Γουατεμάλα ! News from Hogar Rafael Ayau , Guatemala.

News from Orthodox church in Guatemala