Musing in Valyermo
WHILE enjoying a quiet dinner with the monks of St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California during my day-off last Thursday, Fr. Francis, the former abbot, was on the microphone reading…
Category: Life & Style
Covering the week’s most noteworthy life & style news stories impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
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A Mother’s Day retrospective: Vignettes, anecdotes & canticles for ‘Inang’
THERE is something strange about the gravitational and magnetic forces that attract a child towards his mother than how intensely it is with the father. The reason could obviously be…
Now showing: Life in 4 minutes at PNR
Funny how life happens in a fast-forward pace – so fast that we cannot see and hear it anymore. Even funnier is the irony that we can best observe life…
Inside the death chamber
IT was my first police beat assignment. We felt that we had no right to do what we were doing. The killing of a fellow human being was repulsive and…
FACLA makes everyone matter
THE sun was blasting down ferociously on the pavement in this hottest April day, brimming with heat. Historic Filipinotown was melting, heaving and breathing like a tired beast. Here on…
A reflection on training of future priests
YES, it ‘s official. Archbishop Jose H. Gomez has appointed me as a Member of St. John’s Seminary Faculty beginning the 1st of July this year. As I pray and…
Concert review: Sounds of Manila sings Cecile Azarcon
THE Sounds of Manila (SoM), a US-based all-Filipino show band aptly tagged as “Ambassadors of Philippine Music,” finally raised the bar of their decade-long musical supremacy this side of the…
Of second chances
Popoy and Basha – do they ring a bell? “Ako na lang. Ako na lang ulit.” Not yet? Shocking! A Filipino who had been in love, and eventually broken-hearted, had…
Grandmothering
“IF you want to civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.” – Victor Hugo One moment you’re a mother. Then, when your children are finally all grown up, you relax…
Is the human splendor of medicine gone?
The practice of medicine is an arduous and complex human profession. One doesn’t need training in medicine, in order to make cogent and crucial experience about what it’s like to…
The Eucharist, the priesthood and Christ’s Divine Mercy and love
WE commemorated three principal mysteries in our liturgy last Holy Week during Holy Thursday Mass: the institution of the Eucharist, the institution of the priesthood; and Christ’s commandment of fraternal…
The doctor is in: Meet Leo A. De La Cruz, MD
THE chaotic, vexing, and perplexed world has relied principally on medicine for betterment and considered medical practitioners instruments for healing. But according to the Jewish physician-philosopher Malmonides, the physicians shouldn’t…
Summer Festivals: More fun in the Philippines
Summer (in the Philippines) is here and everyone is already excited to plan those much-anticipated vacations. Other than visiting the country’s breathtaking tropical islands, joining festivals is also one the…
The real world of boxers (and the chorus around them)
Every fight evokes memories, and usually a story. After so many fights and so many stories, after all the fame and fortune that boxers have incurred and all the belts…
One Saturday night in Las Vegas
In a square jungle that is the boxing arena, good stories are good stories, regardless of who tells them. Whatever your story conveys, you know what it feels to have…
Linda M. Mayo’s zest for life at 70
With the many significant events that occurred on April 12, 1944 (a Wednesday), the NYC premiere showing of the American feature film based on Lilian Hellman’s play at the Fulton…
The glory of the Cross: An Easter message
I ALWAYS remember what my spiritual mentor, Nim Gonzales, once said: “At times, the unpleasant things that we reject in our lives, such as our struggles, our pains or our…
The Shoemakers: End-results of genetic dominance
The capacity to be skilled in the many facets of parenting remains to this day a gargantuan challenge for Singer-supermom Maureen Javier-Varco. Now that her kids are in the adolescent…
The unheard, unwept and unsung heroes of Bataan
There is always a legend of a hero — one who fights and dies in the name of freedom. The word freedom does not seem to have a synonym, only…
Halo-Halo: Philippines’ ultimate summer quencher
Now that it’s summer in the Philippines, everybody’s looking for a way to beat the heat. And apart from the exciting getaways and road trips, there’s this one treat everybody…
The enjoyment of reading
It is the art of entertaining oneself with the brains of other men. I dedicate a considerable portion of my time with other people — reading their thoughts and their…
A period waiting: A test of faith and hope
“ May we never lose patience and hope in any painful period of waiting. May God strengthen us in every dark moment of life!” IT’S been five weeks since Malaysia Airlines…
Of sashes and tiaras: Binibining Pilipinas 2014 winners
During the question and answer portion of Binibining Pilipinas 2014, Miss Universe 2013 Gabriela Isler asked candidate #25 Mary Jean “MJ” Lastimosa: For you, what is the greatest advantage of…
The ultimate interview: Questions I will ask Jesus Christ
Can anyone imagine how it would be like to interact with the Lord, who knows your every thought and word, even before you speak? How do I attempt to clear…
God bless the queen(s)!
Red-faced and feeling contrite, I erred last Sunday. I rant against mediocrity and plead so ardently for an intelligent performance about real people, who say coherent things to each other….
The God who touches and heals
THE Pope broke another protocol. Usually, he confesses to a priest in private, but two weeks ago, he surprised everyone at St. Peter’s Basilica. He bowed down before the congregation…
Int’l Women’s History Month celebration culminates in PACCAl’s Sunday event
Last Sunday, March 30, 2014 at the newly renovated and meticulously refurbished Ramada Plaza Hotel along 160 Frontage Road in Newark, New Jersey, the Pan American Concerned Citizens Action League….
Bar code for humans?
Bar codes for commercial products and services are today a standard armamentarium of the business world. Its use has transformed daily transactions, inventory, record-keeping, accounting, auditing, budgeting, projections, etc. into…
Exploring Palawan’s natural wonder
Gliding across the sea and passing by the picturesque St. Paul Mountain Range, its rolling terrain of lush forest and beautiful karst formations seem like a teaser to a movie…