Welcome To My World!

Heartprints

Whatever our hands touch -
We leave fingerprints!
On walls, on furniture
On doorknobs, dishes, books.
There's no escape.
As we touch we leave our identity.

Wherever I go today
Help me leave heartprints!
Heartprints of compassion
Of understanding and love.

Heartprints of kindness
And genuine concern.
May my heart touch a lonely neighbor
Or a runaway daughter
Or an anxious mother
Or perhaps an aged grandfather.

Send me out today
To leave heartprints.
And if someone should say,
'I felt your touch,'
May they also feel the love
That is deep inside my heart.

Live Free!

Imagine for a moment how you would live your life today if you had nothing to hold you back. In your mind, drop all the fears, insecurities, regrets, anxieties, limitations, worries and concerns.
Think of the things you would be free to accomplish. Think of the real and lasting value you would be able to create.

Consider all the positive experiences you could craft for yourself and for those around you. Imagine all the steps you could take to make your world a more positive, fulfilling place.

Then stop imagining and start doing. For once you're able to banish the restrictions and limitations from your thoughts, you have greatly reduced their power in your life.

The moment you can visualize being free from the things that hold you back, you have indeed begun to set yourself free. When you sincerely think you are free to act, to move forward, to accomplish, you are.

Travel in your mind to a place where you can live free of past limitations. And know that you are already well on your way there.

You're One Of A Kind!

Move away from the need to compare yourself to others. And you will move rapidly toward higher and higher levels of effectiveness and fulfillment.
Many of the things you see as limitations and deficiencies in your own life are not really limitations at all. They're created in your imagination when you compare yourself to others.

Don't waste your time focusing on what others have that you don't have. Instead, put your time and energy into making the most of the unique and valuable knowledge, skills and resources that you do have available to you.

Don't allow your energy to be drained away by worrying about what others will think. Simply be your authentic best, and keep in mind that what anyone else thinks about you is not your concern.

It's great when you can learn from others, find joy in being with others, and cooperate with others to achieve mutually beneficial results. Just don't allow your life to become bogged down by constantly comparing its details with the lives of those around you.

You are one of a kind. The more completely you celebrate and fulfill that reality, the more satisfying and rewarding life will be.

Just Be!

There is much you can know through silence. There is much you can learn by quieting your thoughts for a while.
There's no need to attempt to stop those thoughts from coming. Simply choose not to hold on to them, and soon they will recede from you on their own.

Make the choice to disconnect yourself for a time from your judgments and analyses. Allow yourself to simply be.

Take in the beauty of life without feeling the need to do anything about it. Know fully the extraordinary experience of being alive, aware, and accepting of all the goodness that is there to fill you.

Put a little distance between yourself and the confusion. dilemmas and anxieties that so often insist on grabbing your attention. Give yourself the opportunity to remember who you truly are.

Spend some time enjoying the quiet and profound beauty of being alive. It will fill you with a powerful energy that can add value to all you do.

DECEPTION

The Master set out on a journey with one of his disciples. At the outskirts of the village they ran into the governor, who, mistakenly thinking they had come to welcome him to the village, said, "You really didn't have to go to all this trouble to welcome me".

"You are mistaken, your highness", said the disciple. "We're on a journey, but had we known you were coming we would have gone to even greater pains to welcome you".

The Master did not say a word. Toward evening he said, "Did you have to tell him that we had not come to welcome him? Did you see how foolish he felt"?

"But had we not told him the truth, would we not have been guilty of deceiving him"?

"We would not have deceived him at all", said the Master. "He would have deceived himself".

MORSEL:
Our minds are like crows. They pick up everything that glitters, no matter how uncomfortable our nests get with all that metal in them. -- Thomas Merton

  

SILENCE

The governor on his travels stepped in to pay homage to the Master. "Affairs of state leave me no time for lengthy dissertations", he said. "Could you put the essence of religion into a paragraph or two for a busy man like me"?

"I shall put it into a single word for the benefit of your highness".

"Incredible! What is this most unusual word"?
"Silence".
"And what is the way to silence"?
"Meditation".
"And what, may I ask, is meditation"?
"Silence".

MORSEL:
Silence is the great revelation. -- Lao Tzu

  

Product of Enlightenment

"What kind of a person does Enlightenment produce"?
The Master said:
"To be public-spirited and belong to no party,
to move without being bound to any given course,
to take things as they come,
have no remorse for the past,
no anxiety for the future,
to move when pushed,
to come when dragged,
to be like a mighty gale,
like a feather in the wind,
like weeds floating on a river,
like a mill stone meekly grinding,
to love all creation equally
as heaven and earth are equal to all
- such is the product of Enlightenment".

On hearing these words, one of the younger disciples cried, "This sort of teaching is not for the living but for the dead", and walked away, never to return.

MORSEL:
All Spiritual being is in man. A wise old proverb says, "God comes to see us without bell", that is, as there is no screen or ceiling between our heads and the infinite heavens, so is there no bar or wall in the soul where man, the effect, ceases, and God, the cause, begins. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays "The Over-Soul".

RECKLESSNESS

The Master always insisted that we must learn by ourselves - teach ourselves - rather than depend on other people's authority. This had its limits, of course, as when a bright young fellow was convinced he ought to try drugs as a means to mysticism - and "take the risk, for one can only learn by trial and error".

That moved the Master to tell the old story of the nail and the screw: "Here is one way to find out whether what you need in a plank is a nail or a screw: Drive the nail in. If it splits the plank, you know you needed the screw".

MORSEL:
Mistakes live in the neighborhood of truth and therefore delude us.
-- Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Poet (1861-1941)

Lanao Del Norte - Land Of Beauty And Bounty

Brief Description
The Provincial Government of Lanao del Norte, “Land of Beauty and Bounty,” has been exerting its best effort to uplift the quality of life of the people in the rural and urban areas in the province through the promotion of Integrated Agriculture and Economics Tourism Development Programs. The primary goal of the development plans is to create conditions that will facilitate and accelerate economic word of the province. One of the conditions identified is to promote the tourism industry that would act as a catalyst for the development of trade and other economic interactions between outlying municipalities in the province and its neighboring provinces as well.

Geography
The province of Lanao del Norte is located in the Northern Mindanao Area along the North western Coast. Three known fishing grounds bound ten of its 22 Municipalities, namely: Iligan Bay, Panguil Bay, and Illana Bay. The province is bounded on the North by Iligan Bay and the province of Misamis Occidental on the East, on the South is the province of Lanao del Sur. Panguil Bay borders at the west and the boundary of Zamboanga del Sur, further south, the tip of the Province as administratively under Region XII. The total land area of the province is 355,636 hectares.

Political Subdivisions
The province is comprised of 22 municipalities, namely: Bacolod, Balo-i, Baroy, Kapatagan, Kauswagan, Lala, Linamon, Magsaysay, Maigo, Matungao, Munai, Nunungan, Pantao Ragat, Pantar, Poona Piagapo, Salvador, Sapad, Sultan Naga Dimaporo (Karomatan), Tagoloan, Tangkal, and Tubod. It has 462 barangays. The municipality of Tubod is the capital town of the province. It has 2 Districts, (1st) Iligan City to the Municipality of Baroy and (2nd ) from Municipality of Balo-I to Sapad.

Population
Has a population of 387,324 with a population density of 109.00 per square kilometers.

Language / Dialect
The Christian-Muslim ratio is 60:40 in favor of the Christians. Cebuano, English & Filipino are widely spoken among Christians, and Maranao for Muslim.

Climate
Lanao del Norte is outside the typhoon belt and has a non-seasonal climate with an average yearly rainfall of 60 inches. The average temperature is 80 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale.

Industries
Rice, corn, coconut, marine products (crabs, shrimps, sea shells, sea woods), and wood products.

Misamis Oriental - Mindanao's Nature Front

Description
Nature tripping is a never-ending possibility in Misamis Oriental, one of the five provinces of Northern Mindanao. From watersports and fine beaches to cave exploration and ethnic settlements, the list of nature-communing endeavors to be experienced in the province is longer than enough to fill a lifetime’s itinerary.

Seas and beaches offer a limitless aqua adventure. Go scuba diving at Duka Bay and Mantangale, also a primary dolphin and whale shark watching destination. Find glorious hideaways in the white sand beaches of Midway Beach, Maputi White Beach, and Opol Beach Fronts. Go white water rafting and tubing in the rapids of Cagayan de Oro River, one of the longest rivers in Mindanao. Or simply get picture-happy at the San Isidro/Sagpolon, Palalan, and Tiklas waterfalls as well as Sapong Spring and the Cold Spring at Lagonglong.

A multitude of choices await the nature lover or adventurer. The Gardens of Malasag Eco-Tourism Village in Cagayan de Oro, a cultural village in a botanical setting, is home to Region 10’s tribal communities and endemic plants and trees. Also in Cagayan de Oro is Macahambus Cave, a historical site dating back to the 1900s. Initao Cave is home to the split-nose bat and the Initao National Park is a forest reserve with a natural limestone formation and marine life.

Shift into a more relaxed pace at the Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club, situated along Lumbia Road in Cagayan de Oro. Or explore this city’s museums, from the Xavier University Museum showcasing Muslim-Bukidnon culture to the La Castilla Museum featuring household heirlooms.

Geography
Misamis Oriental is one of the five provinces of Northern Mindanao. Falling between 8°28'38"516 Latitude and 142°38'35"235 Longitude, the province is located along the northern coast of the island of Mindanao. It is bounded on the north by Macajalar Bay, on the west by Iligan Bay, on the south and southwest by the provinces of Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte, and on the east by Agusan del Norte.

Political Subdivisions
Misamis Oriental is one of the 22 provinces of Mindanao and one of the 4 provinces of the new Region 10. It has two cities, Cagayan de Oro, the capital, and Gingoog City, a component city, and 24 municipalities with 349 barangays.

Population
Total population is 664,338 as of 2000.

LANGUAGE/DIALECT
Cebuano, Tagalog, Maranao, Hiligayon, Ilonggo, Waray, and English.

CLIMATE
Two types of climates in the province are based on rainfall distribution. The first type, which occurs in the eastern municipalities of Kinoguitan to Magsaysay, has a very pronounced maximum rainfall from November to January and generally wet the whole year. The second type, which occurs in the central and western part of the province, is relatively dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year. It covers the municipalities of Sugbongcogon in the east and down to Lugait in the west. The climate is usually pleasant with warmer days and cooler nights.

INDUSTRIES
DEL MONTE PINEAPPLE CANNERY. Production area in Bugo, Cagayan de Oro City; processes juices and cocktails, among others.

MINDANAO PRODUCT SHOWROOM. Display area of all handicrafts in Region 10; managed by the Department of Trade and Industry in cooperation with the Cagayan Oro Chamber of Commerce.

OSTRICH AND CROCODILE FARM (Opol, Misamis Oriental). Owned by local Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs and supplying the local markets and Manila.

MINDANAO SILK MULBERRY FARM (Claveria, Misamis Oriental). Houses the Philippine Textile Research Institute Mindanao Office.

PHIVIDEC INDUSTRIAL ESTATE (Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental). Home to several multinational corporations and big industries.

CERAMIC MAKING (Bulua, Cagayan de Oro). Items include jars, plates, and ornamental/gift items, among others.

APTPCO (Gingoog City). Produces plywood.

INDO PHIL. OIL MILL (Medina, Misamis Oriental). Produces coconut oil.

Misamis Occidental - Christmas Capital Of Mindanao

Description
Bounded on three directions by bodies of water, Misamis Occidental is known to its neighbors for beautiful waters and bountiful fish and seafood for export. In fact, Layawan River in Oroquieta City is a constant awardee of the national environmental recognition, Gawad Pangulo sa Kapaligiran, as Cleanest Inland Body of Water. But there is one other place that is drawing tourists into this coastal yet rugged province – the city of Tangub, which comes alive especially at Christmas.

The yuletide season is equated with a one-of-a-kind celebration in Tangub, which has been tagged as the “Christmas Symbols Capital of Mindanao.” Come December, the cityfolk get busy creating unique interpretations and presentations of the different known Christmas symbols. Indigenous, low-cost, and often enormous, these Christmas showcase pieces are then lavishly displayed at the city plaza and highway barangays for competition, and collectively, as a truly breathtaking sight to behold.

Tourist-friendly Tangub City also mounts the Dalit Festival every 29th of September, which is the feast of day of its patron, Saint Michael, the Archangel. The festival is the city’s simple way of saying “Mabuhay and Welcome to Tangub.” Dalit, which means “offering,” presents the unique way of fostering friendship, unity, and love of all Tangubanons to their visitors. Among the varied activities and presentations are rituals and dances that depict the Filipino way of life.

Geography
Misamis Occidental is located near the narrow strip of land linking northwestern Mindanao to the north central part of the island. It is bounded on the northeast by the Mindanao Sea, east by the Iligan Bay, southeast by the Panguil Bay, and west by Zamboanga del Norte and del Sur. The fact that three of its boundaries are bodies of water makes fishing as one of its main industries. Except along the coastal area, hilly and rolling lands characterize the provincial terrain. Towards the western border, the terrain is particularly rugged. The province falls between 6 and 9 degrees east longitude.

Political Subdivisions
The province has a total land area of 2,024.18 square kilometers representing

65 percent of the total land area of the Philippines. Tudela has the biggest land area equivalent to 13.8 percent of the total province area. The municipality of Panaon shares the smallest area of only 46.80 square kilometers.

Population
Misamis Occidental has a total population of 488,665 (1999 projection) with the bulk from the cities of Ozamiz at 108,541, Oroquieta at 59,637, and Tangub with a total population of 49, 981. The Municipality of Concepcion comprises the lowest population among the 15 municipalities of the province at 5,342 occupying a land area of 61.60 sq.km.

Language/Dialect
Subanon, pronounced "Subanen," is the dialect of the province, used mostly by the members of the Subanon Tribe. However, most residents are Cebuano-speaking and can speak tagalog and English as well.

Climate
The climate belongs to the Fourth type where rainfall is more or less fairly distributed throughout the year. The average rainfall in the past twenty years was recorded at 182.5 millimeters. The rainiest months are November and December; the driest are February, March, and April. The entire province is outside the typhoon belt but it is sometimes affected by freak storms.

Industries
Pitati mat weaving; ceramic vases and potteries; Philippine Compak Boards, which produces particle boards; and Naomi's Botanical Garden for cutflowers, ornamental plants, and fruit seedlings.

Camiguin - An Ancestral Homecoming

BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Old Spanish documents indicate that the great explorers Ferdinand Magellan and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi landed in Camiguin in 1521 and 1565, respectively, but it was not until 1598 when the Spanish settlement was established in what was later to be known as Guinsiliban (now one of the municipalities).

The first major settlement of Camiguin during the Spanish era was Catarman in 1679. This settlement grew and prospered to what is now known as Bonbon. The 1871 eruption of Mt. Vulcan Daan destroyed those towns, the remains of which are the ancient Spanish church and convent in the present town center of Catarman.

Sagay was formally established as a town in 1848; Mambajao in 1885 and Mahinog in 1860.

The name “Camiguin “ is derived from the word “Kamagong,” the name of a tree in the ebony family. Original inhabitants of the island were the Manobos from Surigao.

GEOGRAPHY
Camiguin is a pear-shaped volcanic island lying in the Bohol Sea some 54 km. north of Misamis Oriental.

Camiguin is about 300 sq. km. or 29,000 hectares; its length measures 33 km.; widest point is 14 km., with circumferential road of 64 km.

POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS
Politically, Camiguin used to be a part of Misamis Oriental Province. It became a separate province in 1968.

The province consists of 5 municipalities: Mambajao (Capital Town), Mahinog, Catarman, Sagay, and Guinsiliban.

POPULATION
The island has an estimated population of 70,000.

LANGUAGE / DIALECTS
Dialects spoken in the island are Cebuano and Hiligaynon, but a few people in the municipalities of Sagay and Guinsiliban still speak the old Manobo tribe dialect, Kinamiguing.

CLIMATE
Cool climate is attributed to vegetation and natural springs, daytime temperature averages at 26.9° C, coldest months are December, January, and February. Maximum rainfall had been recorded on the months of June to December; dry season starts in April and sometimes lasts for one to three months.

Major Industries
The main occupation of the people is fishing. Plantations include coconut, abaca, lanzones fruit trees, and rice.

JULY 5
ST. ANTHONY MARY ZACCARIA

Anthony was born in Italy in 1502. While he was still young, his father died. His mother encouraged Anthony in the special love he felt for the sufferings of poor people. Mrs. Zaccaria sent her son to the University of Padua so that he could become a doctor. He was only twenty-two when he graduated.

The young doctor was very successful. Yet he did not feel satisfied. He realized that he wanted to become a priest. Anthony began to study theology. He also continued to care for the sick, to comfort and inspire the dying. He started to use all his spare moments to read and meditate on the letters of St. Paul in the Bible. He had read the life of the great apostle Paul many times, and had given much thought to his virtues. Now Anthony was burning with a strong desire to become a saint and to bring everyone to Jesus.

After he was ordained a priest, St. Anthony Mary moved to the great city of Milan. There he would be able to help many more people. He also started an order of priests. They are the Clerks Regular of St. Paul. People call them "Barnabites" after their headquarters at the Church of St. Barnabas in Milan. In imitation of the apostle Paul, St. Anthony and his priests preached everywhere. They repeated the words and sentences of Paul. They explained Paul's message with words that were easy to understand. The people loved and appreciated this. St. Anthony also had a great love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, he started the practice of the Forty Hours Devotion.

St. Anthony Mary was only thirty-seven when he died on July 5, 1539. Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him a saint in 1897.

Daily Reading & Meditation

Wednesday (7/5): "All came out to meet Jesus"

Scripture: Matthew 8:28-34

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine." 32 And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.

Meditation: Do you ever feel driven by forces beyond your strength? Two men driven mad by the force of many evil spirits found refuge in the one person who could set them free. Mark’s and Luke’s gospel accounts describe this force as a legion (Mark 5:9 and Luke 8:30). A legion is no small force— but an army 6,000 strong! For the people of Palestine, hemmed in by occupied forces, a legion, whether spiritual or human, struck terror! Legions at their wildest committed unmentionable atrocities. Our age has also witnessed untold crimes and mass destruction at the hands of possessed rulers and their armies. What is more remarkable -- the destructive force of these driven and possessed men, or the bended knee at Jesus' feet imploring mercy and release? God's word reminds us that no destructive force can keep anyone from the peace and safety which God offers to those who seek his help. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. ..Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your habitation (Psalm 91:7,9). Jesus took pity on these men who were overtaken by a legion of evil spirits. The destructive force of these demons is evident for all who can see as they flee and destroy a herd of swine. After Jesus freed the demoniacs the whole city came out to meet him. No one had demonstrated such power and authority against the forces of Satan as Jesus did. They feared Jesus as a result and begged him to leave them. Why would they not want Jesus to stay? Perhaps the price for such liberation from the power of evil and sin was more than they wanted to pay. Jesus is ready and willing to free us from anything that binds us and that keeps us from the love of God. Are you willing to part with anything that might keep you from his love and saving grace?

"Lord, unbind me that I may love you wholly and walk in the freedom of your way of love and holiness. May there be nothing which keeps me from the joy of living in your presence."