Father Fernando Suarez, don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate you, I just don’t understand you. In the midst of the global financial crisis, you and your foundation are building a church that will cost a billion pesos? I know you are going to say, again and again, that it is for the common good of the people… but how? What really bugs me is that there will a shrine in the middle of the humongous hectare of land located at the Monte Maria Mountain,  Batangas City, expected to be as tall as the Statue of Liberty and  ironically, it will be called Shrine of Our Lady of the Poor … who would even believe that she is actually for the poor? When I saw the 3D animation of the whole place, it looks more like an amusement park to me. Will you be charging visitors/pilgrims for entrance fee? I saw your TV Patrol World interview and for a second, I thought you were starting to sound like a businessman than a priest.

Which brings me …  every week nights, I never fail to watch an episode of the ABS CBN tv drama “May Bukas Pa”. It is about Santino, a little boy brought up by priests, who can talk to Jesus ( whom he fondly calls Bro). Jesus used him to heal sick people. Every time people say that Santino is an angel or that he is a miracle boy, he constantly remind them that it was Bro who did all those miracles and not him. Every end of the day, before he goes to sleep, he visits the image of Jesus and thank Him for all the event that has happened for the whole day, whether it is bad or good, he always look at things in a positive light. He never asked for anything in return, he just said thank you and carry on.

To you Fr. Suarez … I can hear Santino saying “Amen!”

Here are few questions that we never really bothered to take time out to answer, maybe because we just don’t have the brains to answer it.

1. What is the tip for?
This really bugs me big time. I eat on a restaurant, they charge me 12% for the service tax and then here is a waiter, still probably waiting for his tip. Isn’t it their obligation to give me good service? It is my right to enjoy fast service and good accommodation. Service tax should be called “tip”.

2. Is Abortion pro life?
I know a lot of you will think I am stupid for asking this but let us all remember that there are two lives at stake here … the baby and the mother-to-be. If a woman got pregnant, the man left him or maybe they are both not financially and emotionally ready to to have a family, do you think it is fair to bring that child to the world when both parents can not take care of him? If a child has the right to live, does it automatically turns off the switch on a woman’s right to choose for her own life? Abortion has always been an issue of morality, when it should have been really about life.

3. Would you eat that cake?
We usually get so squeamish over people who farts, belch and drool but why is it that we don’t feel the same icky feeling over blown candles of a birthday cake? I mean, if the celebrant have bad breath, would you still eat the cake?

4. God’s images? Really?
On the old testament, God clearly said that men should not bow down to idols and images nor serve them. Catholic church says they do not worship the Cross or images or relics instead, they use these physical objects to remind themselves of Christ and his special friends, the saints in heaven. Has anyone seen Christ or these “so-called special friends”? God has an image? Since when? And if it is true that Catholics do not worship these images, then why do we have a Black Nazarene procession and why do we cover them with beautiful flowers and even wipe them with our hankies and hope that they will save us from our miseries?

5. How can something be “new” and “improved”? If it’s new, what was it improving on?

6. Questioning a question. I sometimes hear people say the line ” your question is questionable, or your motive is suspicious. How do you actually be suspicious of other people’s thoughts and even question the content of their questions. So silly.

I would like to thank my dear friend Tonting for giving me an idea of what to post today.

image source: http://www.crazythoughts.com/

 The Catholic Church said that the safest and the righteous way to control birth is the natural way? The natural way, for those of you who doesn’t know it, is by means of rhythm method meaning you have to plan your sexual intercourse when a woman is not fertile. According to the people who practice this, a woman is ok to do it 4 days before and 4 days after her menstruation, but this is not always accurate. Like me for example, I have an abnormal menstrual cycle so if ever I plan to be a sex machine any time soon, I’d probably end up being a mother to 10 kids because I really don’t know when the hell are my “safe days”  or if I even have any. They also said that giving away condom for free in health centers and in schools invites young people to indulge in early premarital sex. Hmmm, isn’t it that Snow White was only 16 when she married Prince Charming? That is a fact. And to think that Snow White is well loved by little girls…better look in to that, Church people! 

The Church must understand that using a condom is far different from abortion. The purpose of using a condom is to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease while Abortion is terminating a pregnancy. A person who uses condom doesn’t automatically mean she is having an abortion; these are two different things that our religion must comprehend or must we educate these so-called holy ones? We must find ways to control the ever growing number of our population because there are no enough jobs and shelters for everyone. Lots of families can not afford to give their children the proper education, food, toys, and the good health that they deserve because of little salary that would not even cover the basic commodities.

For so many weeks now, the whole country is buzzing about Father Fernando Suarez, a Filipino Catholic priest based in Canada who is visiting Manila. They all said that he is a “healing priest”. Some claimed that he has healed a lot of sick people and just yesterday, there have been talks that a dead person was brought back to life during one of his healing sessions. No wonder he is on every front page of the newspaper and that even celebrities want to see him. Just now on TV, many evangelical groups are criticizing the construction of the Healing Chapel which is headed by the priest and his group. In spite of all these, there were 30,000 people who lined up at a healing session in Paranaque City since 5 this morning. Filipinos are known for being religious so I am not really surprised with the figures. It is a good sign that Fr. Suarez never forgets to mention that God still is the one who heals and that he only serves as the middle man. Does he get anything from all these? Does he received money or ask for donations? I don’t know and I don’t want to ask.  

Call me cynical but you can’t blame me for doubting his healing skills. Many have used the name of God for their selfish desires. Take the case of Judiel Nieva. Here is one article about the hoax that happened 19 years ago.

“The Blessed Mother reportedly appeared to Judiel Nieva in Agoo, La Union in 1989. It received great media attention to the extent Jaime Cardinal Sin officiated Mass in the apparition site. However, in the course of time and the test of time, the Nieva family and Judiel himself failed to resist the luster of money in the form of donations. The money supposed to go to building a Church in the apparition site was used for the family’s personal consumption. At the height of this corruption in 1993, the Blessed Virgin Mary left and began to appear to another. In 1995, the Church publicly proclaimed the Agoo Apparitions condemned. Messages dating from 1993 onwards seemed duplicates of messages from other seers. It was also reported that Judiel was seen wearing a lipstick, make –up, and a dress on his 18^th birthday. The Church was not able to observe a true change for the better in Judiel Nieva and his family. (from http://allan_rudio.tripod.com/background.html)

Judiel, who was a young boy, is now a woman and an actress. And she now goes by the name of “Angel”.  made lots of money and the irony is, in the name of God. If Fr. Suarez can really heal the sick, can make the blind see, can make the deaf hear, and the limpy walk again, trust me, my mom will be taking me there first thing in the morning. But all I heard was claim and hearsays so I guess we need more proof and not just claims and hearsays. I believe in God, and that his miracles are just everywhere, big or small, it happens every time. Let our faith in God heal us from our sickness and weakness. If God will send his messengers, I doubt He will ask him to build Healing Chapels or Grotto to pay him tribute but instead ask them to give to the poor, heal the sick and the dying … all for free. God gave us every thing we see we feel and even his Son for free, so why not give your services to the people for free?