Tag: Christians

True Meaning & Spirit of Brotherhood

Blogs Philippines

I found this article tucked away underneath the headlines of some brutality and corruption. It was such a shame that it wasn’t given a more prominent place in the news.

This article to me is what Christmas is all about.

It gladden one’s heart to read how people of different faiths were prepared to work together for a common goal.

To our Muslim brothers and sisters in the Philippines, our sincere gratitude for your friendliness and help.

Salaam Alaikum!

JPJhermes
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True Meaning & Spirit of Brotherhood

 

Muslims help rebuild Catholic church in Zamboanga

By Julie S. Alipala
Inquirer Mindanao
6:47 pm | Saturday, December 14th, 2013

Christ the King Chapel in Zamboanga. Photo from http://asiafoundation.org

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Christian residents of this city’s Santa Catalina district found nothing unusual about Muslims bearing carpenters’ tools — until they realized the Muslims had volunteered to help rebuild a Catholic chapel.

“We thought they were just looking for damaged mosques to rebuild,” said Jimmy Villaflores, Santa Catalina barangay (village) head.

But to the surprise of the mostly Christian residents, the Muslims, a number of them residents Zamboanga City who returned home from abroad recently, announced they had come to Santa Catalina to rebuild the Christ the King chapel.

Built in the early 1980′s, the chapel on Martha Drive was razed by one of many fires t6hat broke out during a three-week battle between government forces and a band of Moro National Liberation Front guerrillas loyal to MNLF founder Nur Misuari last September.

When the fighting ended, only the chapel’s back wall and altar were left. The 100-year-old wooden image of the Christ the King, which was regularly used in major religious processions here, did not survive the flames.

“We have not heard of any Muslim helping build a chapel before,” Villaflores said.

But before the Christians could say anything to the Muslims, they went to work, sawing lumber, driving in nails and doing other things to rebuild the chapel.

“We are very happy about it. Santa Catalina residents are deeply touched by their efforts. We really appreciate how our Muslim brothers and sisters are helping us,” Villaflores said.

He said that the help extended by Zamboanga’s Muslim residents, who suffered equally during the three-week siege, hastgened the rebuilding of the chapel.

“Barely a month since the work began our chapel is about 90 percent completed already,” he said.

Father Michael Ufana of the Saint Joseph parish said he was overwhelmed by what the Muslims had shown.

Ufana said these efforts did not only result in the speedy rebuilding of the chapel but also strengthened the harmonious relationship between Muslims and the Christians.

Ufana, along with his father, Isidro, sister Madelyn and other relatives were among those taken hostage when MNLF gunmen occupied Santa Catalina and other adjacent parts of Zamboanga City last September 9.

He admitted that like other Christians here, he felt some animosity toward Muslims in the past. But all of that has changed, he said.

“The way other Muslims painstakingly reached somehow eased this,” he said.

Retired police Chief Superintendent Sukarno Ikbala said he was listening to a live-streaming radio broadcast in the United States one day when he heard a  fellow retiree, Senior Supt. Julmunier Jubail, rallying Muslims to help in the rebuilding and relief efforts in the city.

Ikbala said he immediately came home, met with Jubail, retired Senior Supt. Bensali Jabarani and several other Muslim professionals and formed a group they called “Esperanza” (Hope).

“Esperanza stands for Environmental, Socio-Psychological, Economic, and Religious Advancement of Neo-Zamboangaenos’ Aspirations,” he said.

Ikbala said from that meeting, they raised P120,000 from the Asia Foundation and from fellow Muslim Abdurahman Nuno. The money is now being used in rebuilding of the Christ the King chapel.

“We are also using our own resources. We give whatever we have in our pockets, and in due time we can complete the roofing of the chapel,” he proudly announced.

Jubail said what prompted him to call for action was the thought of how the Christian population viewed the Muslims after the siege.

“I did not want the general Christian community to look down on us as bad people because we were all victims,” he said. “We do hope that in our own small ways of reaching out, something beautiful will come out.”

It has.

“Not all Muslims are bad and not all Christians are good. The rebuilding of our chapel by the Muslims is indication enough that they were not bad and they want to lift our spirits and our hope [for peace],” said Rey Zaragosa, a 67-year-old resident of Santa Catalina.

Zaragosa said he was looking forward to the completion of the chapel so he could celebrate and attend Misa de Gallo there.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/546373/muslims-help-rebuild-catholic-church-in-zamboanga#ixzz2neESmIEh
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Good Friday 2013

Easter/Lent

Flower on the cross @ Fort Santiago
by PH Morton

Today is Good Friday, a very solemn day for Christians around the world.

Good Friday 2013

Good Friday is a commemoration of Jesus’ crucifixion at Mount Calvary.

Jesus died on the cross for our own salvation and who those who believe in Him will have an everlasting life.

A Blessed and Solemn Good Friday to all

From GlobalGranary.org

 

Archbishop Justin Welby and Pope Francis Similarities

Christianity

Interesting that as the new Pope is inaugurated at the Vatican, the Church of England is also installing the Primate of all England.  What a synchronicity!!!

I hope both these men will be able to reach all the people in the world, especially all Christians, and remind us the TRUE teaching and message of our Lord Jesus Christ.
JXXX

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As the religious world comes to terms with the two men at the top of the Church, Yahoo! takes a look at their contrasting styles and backgrounds.
By Chris Parsons | Yahoo! News – 18 hours ago

New roles: Pope Francis (left), and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (right)

PA – New roles: Pope Francis (left), and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (right)

Archbishop Justin Welby and Pope Francis Similarities

As the fanfare continued this week for the inauguration of Pope Francis, on these shores another key Church figure is starting a high-profile new role.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, went on his own pilgrimage around five English cities this month before his enthronement as leader of the Church of England.

The Archbishop, who chose a visit to West Sussex yesterday in favour of the Vatican for Pope Francis’s inauguration, will lead 80 million Christians in more than 160 countries.

As the religious world comes to terms with the two men at the top of the Church, Yahoo! takes a look at their contrasting styles and backgrounds.

Background:

Justin Welby famously turned his back on a successful oil industry career to train as an Anglican priest.

The Cambridge-educated former oil executive spent 11 years in the industry, and was earning a six-figure salary as group treasurer for Enterprise Oil Inc before the dramatic career change in the late 1980s.

He studied theology at Durham before working at Coventry Cathedral and later working his way to become Bishop of Durham, one of the most senior church roles in England.

By contrast, Pope Francis, aged 76, has had a longer career in the Church, having studied in Argentina, Chile and Germany before being ordained for the Jesuits in 1969.

According to his official Vatican biography, he was Provincial for Argentina from 1973 to 1979, then later rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel.

After becoming Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1997, more high-profile positions saw him eventually named President of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina in 2005.

It was at this time that he was seen was seen as a contender for the papacy, but he lost out to Pope Benedict XVI in the 2005 conclave.

Pope Francis meets crowds outside the Vatican this week (PA)

Views: 

Both the Archbishop and Pope Francis have faced challenges to their long-held forthright views on controversial subjects.

Justin Welby has rigorously defended the Church’s right to oppose gay marriage, but has also insisted he is keen to accommodate opposing views.

Argentinian Pope Francis, who also opposes gay marriage, faced challenges when his home country became the first Latin American country to legalise same-sex marriage.

He responded by saying: “This isn’t a simple political fight, it’s an attempt to destroy God’s plan.”

Pope Francis is described as being ‘as uncompromising as Pope John Paul II, in terms of the principles of the Church – everything it has defended regarding euthanasia, the death penalty, abortion, the right to life, human rights, celibacy of priests’.

The new Archbishop has vowed to speak up on views he feels strongly about, and has spoken about how he plans to address declining congregation numbers in the Church.

In a similar vein, Pope Francis has acknowledged that the Church is ‘wrapped up in its own world’.

He has stated that he plans to go out, meet Catholics and evangelise, adding: “If I had to choose between a wounded church that goes out on to the streets and a sick, withdrawn church, I would definitely choose the first one.”

Bishop Welby has been described as ‘hands-on and energetic’ (PA)

Style: 

Seen as a ‘Pope of the People’ by some, Pope Francis surprised onlookers this week with his informal, simple approach during his inauguration.

The new pontiff met the crowds in St Peter’s Square in an open-top ‘Popemobile’ Jeep, kissed sick men
and young children, and was generally seen to have a hands-on, friendlier approach.

He is known for having a scaled-down security presence, often flies economy class when travelling to Rome, and in Argentina he lived in a simple Buenos Aires flat in the building of the Archdiocese.

Bishop Welby, meanwhile, is seen as having the key conflict resolution skills needed to deal with the various warring factions of the Church.

Former colleagues of the Archbishop recall a man who was an ‘enthusiastic, hands-on vicar’, who was ‘great fun and very energetic’.

His communication skills from his time in the oil industry are seen as key to his new role.

Rev John Armstrong, who took over when Dr Welby left one of his earliest church posts in Southam, Warks, told Yahoo!: He is good at communicating with people and getting them to communicate with each other, and that will work in his favour in his new role.

“He certainly did a good job here and was instrumental in bringing this Church a lot more alive than it was before.”