One of the legacies of Spanish colonization with the sword is the Cross (without the sword) that now hangs in every church all over the country. We may have declared our independence from Spain, but we should be grateful to the Spanish Dominican, Augustinian, Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries who brought the cross and the faith to us. Since then the evangelization that started with them five centuries ago goes on. We are a Christian nation. A Spanish Jesuit missionary had commented: before “mother Spain” evangelized the Filipinos, time has come for the Filipinos to evangelize “mother Spain.”

With the doctrine of the United Nations with us, we can ask; can we be truly independent? We are observing today how nations are co-dependent on one another, in the areas of education, economics, social, religious, and political development, requiring exchange of time, talents and treasures but never of bullets and nuclear bombs.

In our country today we hear new cries for independence: Independence from corruption, from self-serving politicians and leaders, from various kinds of exploitations, harassments, extra-judicial killings, and economic poverty. We may have declared independence from some nations, but the ones that now “enslave and exploit Filipinos” are their “fellow Filipinos.”

The issue now in the life of families, communities, groups and nations is not how to be independent but how to be co-dependent or interdependent on one another. Genuine independence is the fruit of genuine interdependence. We said it in the Plenary Council of the Philippines: “No one is so poor as to have nothing to give, or so rich as to have nothing to receive.”

+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO
Archbishop of Jaro
CBCP President
June 12, 2009

For a more official execution of the animation,
kindly copy the link below to your browser.
This is also a crappy video just like the previous two,
but, we are the youth,
we exploit and rejoice over what we have
and make a big production out of the little that we have!

http://cdym.multiply.com/video/item/27/Yasia_Fiesta_Animation”>Yasia Fiesta Animation

Yasia Fiesta – A New Season of Grace
(AYD ‘09 Theme Song)
Words & Music by Fr. Mimo L. Perez

From many and different roads now converged as one;
We stand as witnesses for both the old and young.
There is a world we know; a world that breathes & hopes,
but a world we wish to build still together with you…

There is a reason why we are here today.
There is a voice that’s calling us to lead the way.
Gathering around the table of the Lord;
Living in communion as we share the Word…

Refrain:
For the love that saves us, is the love that drives us.
Young Asians take this chance, to proclaim, to sing and dance…

Chorus:
YASIA FIESTA!
Come together and celebrate!
Through us God’s healing grace will renew and recreate!
YASIA FIESTA!
Come and sing songs of praise!
Through us the world will know it’s a new season of grace!

We can’t afford to be indifferent anymore.
We can’t pretend there’s nothing we can do at all;
For we can make a difference, if in His presence we believe
Generated by the Word we share and live.

For the love that saves us, is the love that drives us.
Young Asians take this chance, to proclaim, to sing and dance

YASIA FIESTA!
Come together and celebrate!
Through us God’s healing grace will renew and recreate!
YASIA FIESTA!
Come and sing songs of praise!

Through us the world will know it’s a new season of grace!
Yasia Fiesta!

Present. “The Gathering”. A venue for prayer, worship, sharing, reflection and meeting new friends. It is a one to two hour activity done every Sunday, 2pm-4pm at the back of the parish convent. It is open to all the youths’ ages 13-39 years old. This Sunday, the LPYM is already having its 5^th session of the gathering. The participants coming from a certain barangay spearhead each session. They are the one who prepare all the activities for that day. We will wholeheartedly welcome you if you want to be with us. See you young people..

Future. We still have a lot more activities to come and the LPYM do need your support younkers. Sharing with us a bit of your time and cooperation will be highly appreciated! Come and join with us. Let us all work together for a change and prove our worth. Let us hold hand in hand and pursue our journey towards the kingdom of GOD.

God bless us!

happened to our dearest Macky last

Friday (January 16, 2009), I was terribly

shocked. Mixed

emotions kept on hitting me. As I

moved out from disbelief, memories

came rushing in…

I have been thankful to the Ongoing

Program of the Parish Youth

Ministry… “The Gathering.” The very

moment we started this program last

October, that also became the very

moment we knew Macky.

Since then, he became the apple of the

group’s eyes. It was not because of his

condition. It was because of his rarity.

Rarity in the sense of service to the

Lord. We knew him much more when

we had our Youth Encounter.

And since YE He became one of our avid

talk givers (if not the best of our avid

talk givers). In spite of his fragile health

condition, he became the most

persevering member of the YE team.

Cold and hunger were never a hindrance

to him in his efforts to touch every

youth’s heart and soul in the barangays.

He was a good friend too. I am sure

of that because he was one of mine

and a lot more will justify. He was a

friend one can truly rely on in times

of needs.

I wish I have a gift of words — to better

describe Macky (Mac-Mac to many).

With few I can muster, here are some:

kind, responsible, idealistic, humble,

thoughtful, and loving are just few of

the many more adjectives that would

suit him.

But, he is gone now. He has returned

to the home he has longed for.

Behind the feeling of loneliness and

despair, there is still a part of me

that is a bit relieved because I

know that right now, he is already

with the Someone he so faithfully

loved and served. He is at home -

back home.

With us now, are Macky’s eyes, his

very good heart and loving prayers,

which will see us through our journey

and lead us to the right path towards

the Kingdom of God.

Macky, that you

for stepping in

and

becoming a part our lives.

We will never forget how much

you’ve touched and renewed us.

We will miss you terribly!