Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Real-life couple from 'The Vow' at peace with Hollywood film


(CNA) FARMINGTON, New Mexico--Krickitt Carpenter says she and her husband Kim are at peace with the film version of their story, “The Vow,” despite the movie's failure to mention the couple's deep faith in God.
Kim and Krickitt Carpenter; Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdamsThe recent Hollywood film is based on Kim and Krickitt's real-life struggle to stay faithful to their vows after a 1993 car accident just weeks into their marriage left Krickitt with no recollection of meeting, falling in love with, or marrying her husband.
Despite her memory-loss, Carpenter said she chose to love her husband “based on obedience to God” and not her feelings, “because the feelings had been completely wiped away.”
“We made a vow before God,” she told CNA on Feb. 27, “so I chose to love him.”
“I hadn't read in the word of God that you can divorce over a head injury,” Carpenter joked, adding that she decided to make the best of her situation and “get to know this man that I was married to.”
Although their faith in God played an essential role in the Carpenter's marriage, the film version of “The Vow” – released on Feb. 10 by Sony-owned production company Screen Gems – removed any real mention of God or the couple's Christian faith.
“There's a few things that were terribly off that were a little hard to swallow,” Carpenter said of the movie, which stars Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams.
Carpenter said that she realized the world is “a much different place” now than it was over 15 years ago when she and her husband first signed the movie deal.
“We thought the movie would be a complete reflection of our story,” Carpenter said, “but Hollywood is Hollywood and...this is how the Lord is having it play out.”
Overall, Carpenter said that she and her husband “are at peace” with the film version of their story and trust that it will lead people to their book, which recently topped the New York Times best-seller list.
The movie, despite it's lack of overtly Christian themes, is “definitely putting people towards our book” which is where they will “be able to meet face-to-face with us and the God that did miracles in our lives.”
“When they read the book, they're even more amazed at an awesome story.”
The movie appeals to both “the believer and non-believer” Carpenter said, which is also why she and her husband were mostly pleased with it.
At the suggestion of a therapist, the couple worked to rebuild their relationship by starting over and were re-married in 1996. They now have two children who, Carpenter said, would not be here had she and her husband not remained faithful to their vows. (CNA)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Pasig to conduct diocesan youth ministry fellowship


The Pasig Diocesan Youth Ministry (PDYM) will conduct a youth fellowship on March 10, Saturday, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Youth Formation Center of the John Paul II building in Pasig City.
Ella Alfaro, events head of PDYM said that the priority objective of the fellowship is to equip youth ministers become more effective and qualified in serving the young.
She added that the event hopes to gather youth ministers from different youth ministry setting like parishes, schools, and organization/movements, and come together for a common experience that will lead to a more cohesive and unified diocesan youth ministry.
“We also hope that youth ministers strengthen links and push for a collaborative ministry to effectively serve the youth of the diocese and to provide a venue for sharing of experience especially on being a youth minister,” she furthered.
Three slots for participants are given per parishes, schools and youth organizations/movements in the diocese to attend the event.
A solidarity fee of Php 50.00 per participant will be asked upon registration. (Jandel Posion)

Monday, February 27, 2012

God’s Comfort Zone


“MOMMY, I learned something new in school,” John, a five-grader proudly said.
“What was it honey?” his mom asked as she bent down to receive his embrace and kiss. “Hmmm,” she sniffed his hair, “you had better hit the shower soon young man you’re beginning to smell more Neanderthal.”
“Yes, mum,” John replied obediently.
“So what is it that you’ve learned today,” she asked.
“Do you have a comfort zone, mom?”
“Is that what you learned?” she verified.
“Well, yes,” he nodded. “It sounds like a cozy thing, right?"

“You can say that again, honey!” she agreed.
“Mom? Do you have a comfort-zone?” he asked again.
“Well, ah…hmmm, yeees…I have…and so does daddy, your sister and brothers, and…”
“So what’s your comfort-zone, mom?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Well, teacher Nicky said that it’s not good to have one,” he shrugged his shoulders.
“In what way, honey?”
“She said it’s like selfish, coz you’re hiding from others just to do your own stuff,” he looked at her for some affirmation.
“Well, she’s quite right there, John,” his mom agreed.
“So why do you have one?”
“I guess there’s also a good side to having one?”
“Really?” John was quite surprised.
“It’s when you share that zone of comfort with others, and you don’t restrict others from entering it,” she explained.
“So teacher Nicky was wrong?”
“I didn’t say that,” she clarified. “She may have been just trying to already warn you that it’s easier to have a zone only for yourself. ‘Sides, today, many people just get locked into it and find it hard to even get out. That’s when we help them to realize that they can’t keep themselves inside forever.”
“Locked inside?” John asked.
“Yes, dear. For example, there are people who spend most of their time over FaceBook, video games, watching T.V. or listening to music the whole day.”
“Like Shawn?” he said.
“I didn’t say that,” she pinched John’s nose. “In the first place, we shouldn’t judge others regarding their CZs. We can remind them about their other duties, but it’s really up to each one to see that escaping inside keeps them from being more generous by thinking of the others more.”
“Did Jesus have a comfort zone, mom?”
“Now that you ask, I really wouldn’t call it a comfort zone. But Jesus did find himself ‘at home’ within certain spaces.”
“Like what?”
“Well, he liked being with his disciples, the poor, the children, and we could say that He made sure to make them part of the zone of His love. He taught them to pray, to embrace sacrifice, to live virtue and to become fishers of men. I guess, Jesus’ comfort zone was doing what His Father wanted Him to do in the first place.”
“Wow!”
“How about you, honey, what’s your comfort zone?”
“I dunnuh,” he scratched his head. “But after that you said about Jesus, I think my prayer and heart can be His comfort zones anytime.”
“That’s really nice, son,” she smiled. “Keep it up, and always make your prayer and heart pure and joyful.”
“Mom?”
“Yes, dear?”
“So what’s your comfort zone?”
“Hit the shower, young Neanderthal!” (Fr. Francis Ongkingco)

Twisted values


WHEN people give more importance to the means rather than to the end or goal, we might call that twisted thinking or a form of twisted values. When legislators make laws to exterminate human life (by way of contraceptives and abortion), it’s also a form of twisted thinking. Why? Because human life is the very first right of man, to which all other rights are subordinated.
bpaloThis is why the RH Bill is creating so much reaction in society because it tends to pressure towards actions that are contrary to a well-formed conscience, specifically one that respects man’s first right: life. You cannot force people to act against their conscience, especially in relation to moral good or evil. We might just simply remind people what God’s infallible truth reminds us of—“So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets” (Mt. 7:12; Prov. 3:27). Laws that run contrary to divine truth won’t oblige us since they are not conducive to the ultimate good of man.
Since we must endeavor to avoid being enslaved to money lest it become our cruel master, we can quote here a word of one business analyst, Robert Townsend, whose book ‘Up the Organization’ came out once in the bestseller list. “Money, like prestige, if sought directly, is almost never gained. It must come as a byproduct of some worthwhile objective or result which is sought and achieved for its own sake.”
Let’s look at the nation today. When the leaders try to make a name for themselves by picking on others’ faults and defects to build up their own ego prestige, or making money promoting pornographic education or birth control devices, that’s not a positive way of service to society nor even a successful venture but one tending towards downfall and self-destruction. In all our policies of love and service to God and country let’s always take the positive side in line of the Gospel: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgments you give are the judgments you will get, and the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How dare you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye” (Mt. 7:1). Jesus says it clear in the gospel: “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their life and deeds as you know a tree by its fruits” (Mt. 7:15). (Bishop Pat Alo)

Bishop: Observe Lent ‘seriously’


THE glitz and bliss of Christmas season—mostly due to gift shopping, party hopping, corporate incentives and fireworks—charm the Catholic faithful, especially the young, not as Lent does. But a bishop reminded the faithful that Lent—with its association to fasting, abstinence, alms-giving and sacrifice—is the most important season of the Church.
www.ulclv.orgLegazpi Bishop Joel Baylon made the reminder as the commercialization of Christmas has swayed the faithful from observing Christmas more faithfully than they do during Lent.
“Lent is the most important season of the Catholic Church more than Christmas because it is Lent that leads to Easter, when we are reminded that Jesus sacrificed his life for our sins,” he said.
Baylon, who chairs the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth, said it is necessary to mend the faithful’s improper perspective about Lent vis-à-vis Christmas, especially among the youth.
The prelate urged the youth to see deeper values of life than caprice, leisure and comfort.
“Lent is an opportunity to know Jesus who was sent by the Father to be our savior. Fasting, alms giving and abstaining this Lent remind us of the great sacrifice that Christ did for human salvation,” he added.
Baylon advise the youth to allot time for prayer, self reflection and recollection.
“Give time for prayers, especially with the Scriptures. Read the Gospel or read the last part of the Gospel books as these describe the passion, death and resurrection of Christ,” he said.
“Also find time to be alone for self reflection or with a group in a quiet recollection. Assess where your lives are headed and the meaning behind it. Use Lent as an opportunity to see that there is more to life than earthly things,” he added. (YouthPinoy)

Bishop to students: Keep out of frats


A CATHOLIC bishop advised students not to join fraternities and sororities especially those with dangerous initiations.
www.static.ddmcdn.comBishop Deogracias Iñiguez of Caloocan said the recent death of San Beda law student Marvin Reglos from an alleged hazing incident showed risks in joining fraternities.
He acknowledged that maybe not all initiations are dangerous, but stressed that enough have already been publicized to let the public know many are not safe.
“If an organization has things like hazing, (students) should avoid it,” Iñiguez told Manila archdiocese-run Radyo Veritas.
“We are also appealing to the youth to carefully examine organizations that they want to be with,” added the head of the Committee on Public Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippine.
Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz believes that all fraternities can have the potential to be great and can affect community positively with the right leaders.
“Having a fraternity is not bad because it’s a brotherhood but let it not come to the extent that someone is hurt or killed,” Cruz said.
Investigations are ongoing into the death of Reglos, 25, who succumbed from multiple wounds and bruises obtained from an alleged hazing rites of Lambda Rho fraternity.
Another Church official, meanwhile, called on the government to regulate fraternities and sororities in schools.
“It is sad that this incidence was committed by young men with brilliant minds but with brutal hearts,” said Fr. Conegundo Garganta of the CBCP’s Commission on Youth.
“Thus, I believe, the government must by all means exact the law that will regulate fraternities and sororities to secure safety of students,” he said. (CBCPNews)

Instead of vacationing, go on spiritual retreat, bishop urges graduates

While graduation is near and summer is almost at the doorstep, a Church official reminded students to allot time to attend recollection and undergo spiritual retreat as it is also the season of Lent.

www.wayshower.typepad.comLegazpi Bishop Joel Baylon said there is nothing wrong with going on a vacation to celebrate the end of another school year, but he reminded the youth that “life is not all about celebrations.”

“Lent is giving us the opportunity not only to assess our sinfulness but also time to reflect on our lives: what we have been and where we are going,” he said.

Baylon, who chairs the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth, urged students to see the Lenten season as an appropriate time to find the deeper values of life, beyond its external luster of caprice, leisure and luxury. 

“There are more to life than temporary things. If you want to be really happy, don’t settle for shallow source of happiness. Try to see beyond the external meaning of life,” he added.

The prelate also invited the young faithful to gather their friends and attend together summer camps and leadership conferences being organized by the parishes near them and youth organizations in their community to make their summer vacation more meaningful.

“While it is great to be with friends on vacation, it is also fulfilling to be with them in attending summer camps, youth conferences or Bible study classes, which are alternative activities this summer where they can even learn a lot from,” he added. (YouthPinoy)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Faithful told to abstain from comfort, leisure and luxury this Lent


Sacrifice this season of Lent should not only connote fasting from meat, especially every Fridays. It should also mean abstaining from non-meat food that one loves to eat, vices that only affect one’s health, and the leisure and luxury that one indulge to pamper oneself.
www.catholichomeandgarden.comApart from meat, one’s favorite fast food, junk food, sweets, and softdrinks are what the Catholic faithful are urged to forego this season of Lent to make one’s sacrifice a heart-felt one.
According to Legazpi Bishop Joel Baylon, abstinence is not just about foregoing eating meat. He said it is also fasting from one’s favorite food and drinks or lessening the proportion of one’s normal intake to find more meaning in the sacrifice.
“If health-conscious people undergo a diet and refuse a lot of food to get slim and fit to maintain external beauty, why can’t we impose the same discipline to make ourselves beautiful inside too?” he said.
Baylon, who chairs the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth, also said cutting down one’s excessive texting, internet surfing, smoking, drinking alcohol or even going on vacation this summer are other ways to make sincere sacrifice this Lent.
“The point of abstinence is depriving ourselves of the things that give us comfort and luxury. It is imposing discipline on our body so that we may free up our souls,” he added.
The very ashes that are imposed on one’s forehead during Ash Wednesday, the prelate said, reminds the Catholic faithful to care for their souls, not only about their earthly bodies.
“As we are reminded that we will return to ashes when we die, let us also be aware that there is one aspect of our life that will stay: our soul. We should not get preoccupied mainly on what we do on earth during our lifetime, but also what these deeds may usher us into the afterlife,” he added. (YouthPinoy)

Friday, February 17, 2012

Filipino Catholic Youth ends year 2011 with an spiritual camping in Kuwait.


83 Filipino Catholic Youth in Kuwait gathered for an spiritual camping in Kabd, Jarah Kuwait last December 29-30, 2011 dealing with the theme: “Meeting Christ: leaving the world behind”.
There were some other service team members and guardians who participated and all in all numbering more than a hundred participants who attended in the camping. This took place to end the previous year reflecting that still Christ is the center of the Filipino Youth and other youth all over will be inspired to take Jesus as companion and friend of every youth in their pilgrimage in life. The Filipino “Pinoy” Youth can still leave behind their own ‘world’ for the sake of Jesus!
On-going programs will take place quarterly i.e., in March 2012 where everyone shall meet again and inviting others even those youth who did not make it to attend during the first gathering. The service team will gather regularly and planning to re-echo the same experience of God along with others.
There will be a lot of youth programs in the future to be launched in view of youth formation in the gulf region especially where mostly of the youth sector are young professionals with different ‘worldly interests’ needing a guide to meet again Christ in their current life and future.
The said event started by Fr. Alfredo Micua, OFM CAP, the parish priest of Our Lady of Arabia with the celebration of the light and Word of God. One of the topics discussed was on different vocations in life which tackled and shared by Fr. Micua and some other persons invited. Vocation discernment is so important in the life of the future of the church and of the society—the youth.
Some topics under the light of the Word of God discussed during that event were explained by Fr. Ben Barrameda—an incardinated priest of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia comprising Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Topics as follows:
Part 1: LEAVING THE ‘WORLD’ for the Sake and LOVE of Christ. Part 2: Leaving the ‘world is renouncing SINS in us and embracing life of conversion. Part 3: LEAVING THE ‘WORLD’ leaving our addictions in life. Part 4: Leaving the ‘world’ is MEETING CHRIST. Part 5: Leaving the ‘world’ is a SACRIFICE.
Fr. Barrameda together with some 20 parish youth members and guardians initiated and realized the said youthful activity which termed in Tagalog language “Tagpuang Disyembre 2011″ means December Gathering. A gathering of the Filipino Youth in Kuwait believing that other countries will do the same. We need to set good examples like this event to show the world that we care and love the youth of today for their future life.
Youth is really the future of the Church and of the society and we need to form them to be able to become persons with good values and attitudes. We need tot guide them in their lives and to help them discern their God-given vocation in life.
With all these things, our individual primary vocation is the vocation to holiness following the Lord Jesus in His holiness!
The organizer wishing you all a blessed new year! Always be guided by the Holy Spirit to be enlightened at all times towards God’s kingdom.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Lovers, youth reminded to maintain chastity in relationship on V Day


It’s that time of the year again when flowers, chocolates, and even motels and condoms are highly marketable among those who are “in a relationship,” which is why a ranking Church official reminded lovebirds, especially the young, to remain pure and chaste in love amid the commercialization of Valentine’s Day.
Fr. Conegundo Garganta, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY), warned unmarried lovers against giving into their curiosity and drive for adventure to indulge on what only married couples are entitled to engage in: sex.
“Valentine’s Day is branded as a day that we show love for someone dear to us. This is not a day to take advantage of them,” he said.
The priest from the Diocese of Antipolo said it’s about time for people to veer away from the commercialization of Valentine’s Day. He said showing love and giving importance to one’s special someone can be expressed in various ways than how society dictates.
Garganta instead urged lovers to use the opportunity of the season to deepen their love for each other.
“This day should not be an occasion where lovers will give into curiosity and adventure disregarding the commitment and responsibility that it entails. Instead, this should be an opportunity for unmarried couples to deepen their love for each other and achieve an equal understanding of their relationship,” he said.
And to those who are “single” or “on their own” when most are spending Valentine’s Day with their special someone, Garganta has this to say to them: “Do not be sad.”
He said single men and women that are not yet committed in a romantic relationship should still celebrate Valentine’s Day.
“Being single should not make one feel that their lives are incomplete or that Valentine’s Day should be a day to mourn than to be celebrated. Besides, not being in a relationship doesn’t mean you are less capable of loving or being loved,” he said.
“Instead, celebrate Valentine’s day in a different perspective. Consider it a new day with a challenge to maintain good relationship with family and friends and to reach out to those who are less cared for, those who are loved less,” he added. (YouthPinoy)

Biography of Blessed Pedro Calungsod


Biography of Blessed Pedro Calungsod


 
PEDRO CALUNGSOD was young native of the Visayas Region in the Philippines. Little is known about his life. Based on accounts, Pedro was taught as a lay catechist in a Jesuit minor seminary in Loboc, Bohol. For young recruits like him, the training consisted of learning the Catechism, Spanish, and Latin. They would be later sent with the priests to the countryside to perform daily religious functions as altar boys or catechists. Some of them were even sent to mission centers overseas to accompany the Jesuits in their arduous task of proclaiming the Good News and establishing the Catholic faith in foreign lands. And that was the case of Pedro Calungsod.

On June 18, 1668, the zealous Jesuit superior Padre Diego Luís de San Vitores, answering a "special call," began a new mission composed of 17 young laymen and priests to the Ladrones islands. Pedro was one of the boy catechists who went with them in the Western Pacific to evangelize the native chamorros.


From Hospitality to Hostility

Life in the Ladrones was hard. The provisions for the mission like food and other needs did not arrive regularly; the jungles were too thick to cross; the cliffs were very stiff to climb; and the islands were frequently visited by devastating typhoons. Despite all these, the missionaries persevered, and the mission was blessed with many conversions. The missionaries reached out to the backward poblaciones (towns) and baptized over 13,000 natives.Capillas (chapels) began to rise at various sites as Catholic instruction became extensive. A school and church were even built and dedicated to St. Ignatius of Loyola in the city of Agadna in the northeast. Subsequently, the islands were renamed “Marianas” by the missionaries in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Queen-Regent of Spain, María Ana, who was the benefactress of that mission.

The hospitality of the natives however soon turned to hostility as the missionaries started to change the traditional practices of the chamorros, which were incompatible with Christianity. The missionaries objected their ancestral worship. The chamorros dug up the skulls of their dead relatives and kept them as miraculous talismans. These were enshrined in special houses guarded by native shamans called macanjas. The chamorros prayed to their ancestral spirits and asked them for good luck, good harvest and victory in battle.

They also objected to the practice of young men called urritaos of consorting with young unmarried women in public houses without the benefit of the sacrament of matrimony because they considered this as a form of institutionalized prostitution.

They also displeased the upper caste chamorros called matuas who demanded that the blessings of Christianity be limited to members of this group. The inferior castes should not be given the privilege of becoming Christians.

 

Poisoned Water?

An influential Chinese named Choco who earlier came from a sunken wreck became envious of the prestige that the missionaries were gaining among the chamorros. He started to spread the talk that the baptismal water of the missionaries was poisonous. And since some sickly chamorro infants who were baptized died by coincidence, many believed the calumniator and eventually apostatized. The evil campaign of Choco was readily supported by thematuasmacanjas and the urritaos who, along with the apostates, began persecuting the missionaries.


The Martyrdom of Pedro Calungsod

The most unforgettable assault happened on 2 April 1672, the Saturday just before the Passion Sunday of that year. At around seven o’clock in the morning, Pedro—by then, about 17 years old—and the superior of the mission, Padre Diego, came to the village of Tomhom, in the Island of Guam. There, they were told that a baby girl was recently born in the village, so they went to ask the child’s father, named Matapang, to bring out the infant for baptism.Matapang was a Christian and a friend of the missionaries, but having apostatized, he angrily refused to have his baby baptized.

To give Matapang some time to cool down, Padre Diego and Pedro gathered the children and some adults of the village at the nearby shore and started chanting with them the truths of the Catholic Faith. They invited Matapang to join them, but the apostate shouted back that he was angry with God and was already fed up with Christian teachings.

Determined to kill the missionaries, Matapang went away and tried to enlist in his cause another villager, namedHirao, who was not a Christian. At first, Hirao refused, mindful of the kindness of the missionaries towards the natives; but when Matapang branded him a coward, he got insulted and so, he consented. Meanwhile, during that brief absence of Matapang from his hut, Padre Diego and Pedro took the chance of baptizing the infant, with the consent of the Christian mother.

When Matapang learned of the baptism, he became even more furious. He violently hurled spears first at Pedro. The lad skirted the darting spears with remarkable dexterity. The witnesses said that Pedro had all the chances to escape because he was very agile, but he did not want to leave Padre Diego alone. Those who knew Pedro personally believed that he would have defeated his fierce aggressors and would have freed both himself and Padre Diego if only he had some weapons because he was a very valiant boy; but Padre Diego never allowed his companions to carry arms. Finally, Pedro got hit by a spear at the chest and he fell to the ground. Hirao immediately charged towards him and finished him off with a blow of a cutlass on the head. Padre Diego gave Pedro the sacramental absolution. After that, the assassins also killed Padre Diego.

 

Matapang took the crucifix of Padre Diego and pounded it with a stone while blaspheming God. Then, both assassins denuded the bodies of Pedro and Padre Diego, dragged them to the edge of the shore, tied large stones to their feet, brought them to sea and threw them into the deep. The remains of the martyrs were never to be found.

When the companion missionaries of Pedro learned of his death, they exclaimed, “Fortunate youth! How well rewarded his four years of persevering service to God in the difficult mission are: he has become the precursor of our superior, Padre Diego, in Heaven!” They remembered Pedro to be a boy with very good disposition, a virtuous catechist, a faithful assistant, and a good Catholic whose perseverance in the faith even to the point of martyrdom proved him to be a good soldier of Christ (cf. 2 Tim 2:3).


The Beatification

 
Padre Diego Luís de San Vitores was beatified in 1985. It was his beatification that brought the memory of Pedro Calungsod to our day. On 5 March 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified Pedro Calungsod at Saint Peter's Square in Rome. Here’s an excerpt from the homily of Blessed Pope John Paul II during the Beatification Rites of Blessed Pedro Calungsod and 43 others:

"If anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven" (Mt 10: 32). From his childhood, Pedro Calungsod declared himself unwaveringly for Christ and responded generously to his call. Young people today can draw encouragement and strength from the example of Pedro, whose love of Jesus inspired him to devote his teenage years to teaching the faith as a lay catechist. 

Leaving family and friends behind, Pedro willingly accepted the challenge put to him by Fr Diego de San Vitores to join him on the mission to the chamorros. In a spirit of faith, marked by strong Eucharistic and Marian devotion, Pedro undertook the demanding work asked of him and bravely faced the many obstacles and difficulties he met. In the face of imminent danger, Pedro would not forsake Fr. Diego, but as a "good soldier of Christ" preferred to die at the missionary's side. Today Bl. Pedro Calungsod intercedes for the young, in particular those of his native Philippines, and he challenges them. Young friends, do not hesitate to follow the example of Pedro, who "pleased God and was loved by him" (Wis 4: 10) and who, having come to perfection in so short a time, lived a full life (cf. ibid., v. 13). 


The Canonization

In 2008, Most Rev. Ricardo Cardinal Vidal expressed hope that Blessed Pedro Calungsod would soon be canonized. A beatified person can be proclaimed a saint only after miracles attributed to him (or her) are authenticated. Several people have sought his intercession and attested to the miracles that he manifested: the cure of a young man who was inflicted with bone cancer and the salvation of a kidnap victim among others. All of these happened through Blessed Pedro Calungsod's intercession.

On March 24, 2011, the Vatican consultor physicians declared that a supernatural healing has occurred. On July 2, the Vatican consultor theologians authenticated that the supernatural healing was due to the intercession of Calungsod. Then, on October 11, the Vatican consultor cardinals, archbishops and bishops unanimously affirmed what the physicians and theologians declared could point to an authentic major miracle and that it is opportune to declare Calungsod a saint.

On Dec. 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI received in audience Angelo Cardinal Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the Decree concerning a miracle of Calungsod. The Pope has finally approved the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod and six others for sainthood. This act fulfills the requirements for canonization. By the time this article is written, the Vatican is yet to schedule the date for the canonization.


Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod

 
O God, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, graciously grant the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, if it be for the greater glory of your Name and for the good our souls. AMEN.

Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory be.

o-o-O-o-o