Welcome To My World!

Sports Heroes (Part 2)

  

Mansueto Velasco

- won the silver medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the men's light flyweight division

Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski

- the accomplished equestrienne who bagged the gold medal for the Individual Show Jumping competition in the 2002 Asian Games

Paeng Nepomuceno

- the all-time greatest international bowler with six world championships to his credit

Robert Jaworski

- one of Philippine Basketball Association’s 25 greatest players of all time. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest professional basketball player in the world

Toni Leviste

- 2000 Sydney Olympics participant and part of the Philippine team which won the silver medal in the 2002 Asian Games showjumping competition

Akiko Thomson

- 1992 Barcelona Olympics swimming competition participant

Alvin Patrimonio

- four-time Philippine Basketball Association Most Valuable Player, two of which were won back-to-back in 1993 and 1994

Bong Coo

- made her mark in the bowling world when she delivered nine consecutive strikes in 1979. She has continued to reap honors for the country since then.

Dorothy Delasin

- the Filipina who has become the youngest Ladies’ Professional Golf Association Champion in the last 25 years

REALITY

While the Master seemed to relish life and live it to the full, he was also known to take great risks, as when he condemned the tyranny of the government, thereby courting arrest and death; and when he led a group of his disciples to serve a plague-stricken village. "The wise have no fear of death", he would say.

"Why would a man risk his life so easily"? he was once asked.

"Why would a person care so little about a candle being extinguished when day has dawned"?

MORSEL:
He who knows Self as the enjoyer of
The honey from the flowers of the senses,
Ever present within, ruler of time,
Goes beyond fear. For this Self is Supreme!
-- Upanishads (c. B.C. 800)

  

PRAGMATISM

The disciple was planning her wedding banquet and declared that out of love for the poor she had gotten her family to go against convention by seating the poor guests at the head of the table and the rich guests at the door. She looked into the Master's eyes, expecting his approval. The Master stopped to think, then said,

"That would be most unfortunate, my dear. No one would enjoy the wedding. Your family would be embarrassed, your rich guests insulted and your poor guests hungry, for they would be too self-conscious at the head of the table to eat their fill".

MORSEL:
There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his. -- Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)

  

OPPOSITION

To a pioneering spirit who was discouraged by frequent criticism the Master said, "Listen to the words of the critic. He reveals what your friends hide from you".

But he also said, "Do not be weighed down by what the critic says. No statue was ever erected to honor a critic. Statues are for the criticized".

MORSEL:
Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them. -- Leo Tolstoy

  

NON-VIOLENCE

A snake in the village had bitten so many people that few dared go into the fields. Such was the Master's holiness that he was said to have tamed the snake and persuaded it to practice the discipline of nonviolence. It did not take long for the villager to discover that the snake had become harmless. They took to hurling stones at it and dragging it about by its tail. The badly battered snake crawled into the Master's house one night to complain. Said the Master, "Friend, you have stopped frightening people - that's bad"!

"But it was you who taught me to practice the discipline of nonviolence"!

"I told you to stop hurting - not to stop hissing"!

MORSEL:
When the solution is simple, God is answering.
-- Albert Einstein

  

JUNE 15
ST. GERMAINE OF PIBRAC

Pibrac is the little village in France where Germaine was born around 1579. She spent her life there. She was always a sickly girl and not pretty. In fact, her right hand was deformed and helpless. Her father paid little attention to her. Her stepmother did not want her around her own healthy children. So Germaine slept with the sheep in the barn, even in cold weather. She dressed in rags and was laughed at by other children. She spent all day tending the sheep out in the fields. When she came home at night, her stepmother often screamed at her and beat her.

Yet this poor girl learned to talk with God and to remember that he was with her all the time. She always managed to get to daily Mass. She left her sheep in care of her guardian angel. Never once did one wander away from her shepherd's staff she planted in the ground.

Germaine often gathered young children around her to teach them about the faith. She wanted their hearts to be full of God's love. She tried her best to help the poor, too. She shared with beggars the little bit of food she was given to eat. One winter day, her stepmother accused her of stealing bread. The woman chased her with a stick. But what fell from Germaine's apron was not bread. It was summer flowers.

By now people no longer made fun of Germaine. In fact, they loved and admired her. She could have begun to live in her father's house, but she chose to keep on sleeping in the barn. Then, one morning in 1601, when she was twenty-two, she was found dead on her straw mattress. Her life of great suffering was over. God worked miracles to show that she was a saint.

Daily Reading & Meditation

Thursday (6/15): “ Every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment”

Scripture: Matthew 5:20-26 [Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ: Mark 14:12-16,22-26]

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 21 "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, `You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; 26 truly,
I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

Meditation: Are you driven by anger or rage? The first person to hate his brother was Cain. God warned Cain: ‘Why are you angry? ..Sin in couching at the door; it’s desire is for you, but you must master it (Genesis 4:6-7). Sin doesn’t just happen; it first grows as a seed in one’s heart. Unless it is mastered, by God’s grace, it grows like a weed and chokes the fruitful vine. Jesus addressed the issue of keeping the commandments with his disciples. The scribes and Pharisees equated righteousness with satisfying the demands of the law. Jesus showed them how short they had come. Jesus points to the heart as the seat of desire and choice. Unless forbidden and evil desires are eradicated, the heart will be corrupted. Jesus points to forbidden anger with one's brother. This is a selfish anger that broods and is long-lived, that nurses a grudge and keeps wrath warm, and that refuses to die. Anger in the heart as well as anger in speech or action are equally forbidden. What is the antidote to anger and rage? Mercy, kindness, and forbearance spring from a heart full of love and forgiveness. God has forgiven us and he calls us to extend mercy and forgiveness towards those who cause us harm and grief. In the cross of Jesus
we see the supreme example of love and the power for overcoming evil. Only God’s love and grace can set our hearts and minds free from the tyranny of wounded pride and spiteful revenge. Do you harbor any anger towards another person? And are you quick to be reconciled when a rupture has been caused in your relationships? Ask God to set you free and to fill your heart and mind with his love and truth.

“May I be no man’s enemy, and may I be the friend of that which is eternal and abides. May I never quarrel with those nearest me: and if I do, may I be reconciled quickly. May I love, seek, and attain only that which is good. May I wish for all men’s happiness and envy none. May I never rejoice in the ill-fortune of one who has wronged me. When I have done or said what is wrong, may I never wait for the rebuke of others, but always rebuke myself until I make amends. May I win no victory that harms either me or my opponent. May I reconcile friends who are angry with one another. May I never fail a friend who is in danger. When visiting those in grief may I be able by gentle and healing words to soften their pain. May I respect myself. May I always keep tame that which rages within me. May I accustom myself to be gentle, and never be angry with people because of circumstances. May I never discuss who is wicked and what wicked things he has done, but know good men and follow in their footsteps.” (Prayer of Eusebius, 3rd century)