It was a very long time ago that I was a ten year-old boy. Certainly it was more than 20 years back. But there are some very vivid memories, even unresolved issues and experiences I had, which have lasted with me until today.

Of my most vivid ten-year-old experiences, there is one which I wouldn't call painful or hurting; it is just one that has kept me extremely curious and therefore remained unresolved. At least until a short moment ago.

You see, I was a boyscout when I was in the primary school. I know, I know, looking at me today, you wouldn't believe that I was once a boyscout. But I was, sincerely! And on one particular day during the holidays, we were tasked to pair up among our boyscout friends who lived around our residential areas and go around doing odd jobs together. The allowances we received from those odd jobs would contribute to the funding of the boyscouts, obviously.

So there was this friend of mine, a year older than me or so, who lived in the housing area next to mine. We had made an arrangement for him to come over to my house on that particular day just after lunch, and we were supposed to begin going around doing our odd jobs together until evening. If I'm not mistaken, it was a Saturday afternoon.

He never turned up. There I was, sitting at the verandah of my house all afternoon, waiting for him to turn up. I never got an answer as to why he never turned up, and his failure to turn up kept me wondering perennially as to what had actually happened. I did not have his house telephone number, and mobile phones we not used during those days (did they even exist then?)

To make things worse, I never got a chance to meet with this friend again, as the next thing I heard about him was that he had been transferred somewhere else because of his father's job. All these years, I never got an opportunity to meet with him, let alone have an answer to what had actually happened on that day. I had been in my scout's uniform awaiting his arrival all afternoon and he never turned up. Not only was I disappointed; I was extremely puzzled.

All these years, I had absolutely no idea where this childhood friend of mine had disappeared to. There had been no news of him and no connections with any other people who might be in touch with him. But I've often still wondered, with that same old puzzled feeling, what had actually happened that afternoon when I was all dressed in my scouts uniform waiting to go around doing odd jobs. In fact, my neighbour who had offered me the first odd job for the day (i.e. washing his old white car), was also waiting. It never got done.

Tonight, I suddenly managed to get connected with this long lost friend of mine by some sheer miracle called Facebook. We've both grown much older, of course. He remembered me. Now, if I had brought this matter up to him, I'm absolutely sure he'd find this strange, since he'd most likely have no recollection of this event whatsoever.

But strangely, after the brief chat and exchange of phone numbers with him, I suddenly realise that this puzzled feeling which has remained with me for more than 20 years has disappeared. And I feel a strong sense of relief. He's safe, and he's doing very well in life. That's all that matters.

It's quite a mystery how the impact of certain events from our childhood remain with us for the rest of our lives, how we remember with fondness and nostalgia the minute details which might have absolutely no meaning to anyone else.

I've waited for this moment, not just for an afternoon, but for over 20 years. 23 years, to be exact. It was a long wait. And well worth it. I still don't have my answer, but it's all right; maybe it wasn't an answer I was looking for.

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I got sick of contemporary pop music a long time ago. Once in a while, I come across something that salvages what's left of my musical appetites, something which unexpectedly moves me.

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My heart goes out tonight to all Bishops, Priests and Deacons of the Church, all the ministers called of God to die unto themselves in ways that often cannot be recognised by others.

When a man obeys and honours God because he truly desires to do so, he is a faithful child, a beloved servant. But when a man continues in his resolution to obey God despite his no longer desiring to do so, he is a martyr.

When he can no longer find traces of God's presence in his life and experiences nothing less than darkness, when prayers are lifted up to heaven only to fall back upon him like rain, and yet he continues walking the path of faithfuless, his salvation draws near.

When you suffer for the Kingdom in ways that people cannot even identify, and when your groans and moans fall on deaf ears because people deny you the privilege of recognition as a sufferer for God, you have truly embraced the way of Jesus Christ.

When you find yourself suffering but are unable to say it to anyone except to yourself, and when even God doesn't seem to have absorbed the agony transmitted in your prayers, you are the parable of all the saints who have trodden down the same painful path of salvation before.

Most Holy Mother of God, pray for us, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

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I have no idea who this story originated from, but it's certainly a story I'll be remembering for a long time.

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

'Hello Barry, how are you today?'

'H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas. They sure look good.'

'They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?'

'Fine.. Gittin' stronger alla' time…'

'Good. Anything I can help you with?'

'No, Sir. Jus' admirin' th em peas.'

'Would you like to take some home?' asked Mr. Miller.

'No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.'

'Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'

'All I got's my prize marble here.'

'Is that right? Let me see it' said Miller.

'Here 'tis.. She's a dandy.'

'I can see that. Hmm mmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?' the store owner asked.

'Not zackley but almost.'

'Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble'. Mr. Miller told the boy.

'Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.'

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me.

With a smile she said, 'There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever.

When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.'

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles.

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them.

Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could. Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts...all very professional looking.

They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband's bartering for marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

'Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about colour or size....they came to pay their debt.'

'We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,' she confided, 'but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho ..'

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

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MADRID, Spain, JULY 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The logo for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid was presented today: The image reflects youth of the world beneath the cross, united to form the crown of Our Lady, patron of Madrid.

The upcoming World Youth Day is scheduled for Aug. 16-21, 2011.

The logo designer, José Gil-Nogués, explained that the image symbolizes "youth of the whole world united to celebrate their faith together with the Pope, at the foot of the cross, and they form the crown of Our Lady of Almudena, patron of Madrid."

The crown, Gil-Nogués added, forms the "M" of Mary and of Madrid. And the cross, symbol of Christianity, presides over the event.

The message of the logo, the designer continued, is "a catechesis, an opportunity for evangelization: The quick and sure path to reach Christ is the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of mankind. In Mary's faith, youth have the example and model for reaching Christ and fulfilling the primary goal of World Youth Day: to bring their message to the world."

"The logo has a firm and spontaneous stroke," Gil-Nogués suggested, "like youth of the 21st century. It is close, friendly, open. Joyful, carefree and positive."

"The use of a palette of warm colors -- red, orange and yellow -- transmits unmistakable warmth and friendliness, symbols of the identity of a city like Madrid, a nation like Spain. These colors also reflect the 'divine warmth' of Trinitarian Love."

The logo was selected after a competition among professional graphic designers.

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Thinkativity :

I've been working hard over the weekend trying to save my organisation five thousand buckaroos. Here are the results: check this link out.

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To be sure, this is not a writeup or a review about the movie (which I personally thought was splendid, by the way). Surely, somebody's going to write a book on that novel/movie to debunk all the myths found within it about the (Un)Holy Catholic Church. For what it's worth, I have more to talk about the Church than I have to talk about the movie itself.

After just over ten years of serving a community that calls itself "Christian", "Church", "Body of Christ", "People of God", among many other titles it gives to itself, I find the real personification of the above statue to be a most adequate caricature of the Church.

It is strange how God brings into His fold all kinds of people, from those desiring to be holy to those who are rather content with pure evil. Of the latter, psychologists may call them the emotionally damaged or the psychologically disturbed, but the fact is, they love evil. Or at least, they seem to love being evil. And yes, they're found among God's fold; some even hold prominent positions among His fold.

Someone has recently told me, just after much less than a year of serving in a ministry environment, that he was totally disillusioned by the dynamics of ministry. He had every reason to be. He had higher expectations of people serving in ministry - and rightly so. But people in ministry had failed his expectations.

For centuries, the Church has taught about itself as being at once sinful and holy, at once human and divine. Holy Mother Church has understood, through centuries of her existence, that just as not everyone who is outside of the visible Church is necessarily damned, not everyone who is visibly within the Church is necessarily saved.

St Augustine wisely remarks in his homily: "How many sheep there are without, how many wolves within!"

Homilies on John, 45, 12

This picture of the statue precisely makes the theological statement that within the Church are to be found angels and demons. But lest we be quick to judge by trying to separate the angels from the demons, intentionally damning the latter, let us remember that in the one body can be found both the faces.

As I ponder on this issue, especially in the face of people to whom I very quickly attribute evil, I've often wondered if I was an angel or a demon. I have now realised... I am both.

If you aspire towards ministry, priesthood, or the religious life, thinking that it would mark the end of your confrontations with worldly evils, you couldn't be more wrong. Very often, that of the world which you try to escape can be found in the Church tenfold in magnitude. And worst of all, it forces you to be confronted by the other side of your face - the demon.

Welcome into the Body of Christ.

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MADRID, Spain, SEPT. 3, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The cross that tours around the world leading up to World Youth Days will begin this month a pilgrimage through Spain, the host country for the 2011 youth event.

Sept. 14, feast of the triumph of the cross, will mark the beginning of the youth day icons' travels through Spain. In addition to the cross, there is an image of the Virgin Mary that goes from place to place in preparation for World Youth Day.

The next international youth event will be held in Madrid in August 2011.

The cross and icon of Mary will visit Spain's vicariates for two- to four-week intervals. It will also be taken to a jail and form part of an annual youth pilgrimage.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Dozens of Malaysian Muslims paraded Friday with the head of a cow, a sacred animal in Hinduism, in a dramatic protest against the proposed construction of a Hindu temple in their neighborhood.

The unusual protest by some 50 people in Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor state, raises new fears of racial tensions in this multiethnic Muslim-majority country where Hindus comprise about 7 percent of the 27 million population.

The demonstrators who marched from a nearby mosque after Friday prayers dumped the cow head outside the gates of the state government headquarters. Selangor adjoins Kuala Lumpur.

Protesters stomped on the head and spat on it before leaving the site, Xavier Jeyakumar, a state government official in charge of non-Muslim affairs, told The Associated Press.

"This is a sign of disrespect, insensitivity and a huge insult to the Indian community," he said.

Such an overt display of religious discord is almost unheard of in Malaysia, which has carefully nurtured racial harmony among its three main ethnic groups, Malay Muslims, Chinese and Indians, since 1969 when the country suffered its worst racial riots.

The demonstrators said their neighborhood, Section 23, has a 90 percent Muslim population and building a Hindu temple there was inappropriate.

"If there is blood you (the government) will be responsible," Malaysiakini, an independent news Web site, quoted a protest leader Ibrahim Haji Sabri as saying.

"I challenge (Selangor government leaders) to go on with the temple construction. I guarantee bloodshed and racial tension," Ibrahim said amid chants of "Allahu Akbar," or God is great, the Malaysian Insider, another news Web site, reported.

Both sites posted pictures of the protest showing a bloodied cow head.

Muslim Malays and the Chinese and Indians - who are Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim - have generally been careful about not offending each others' religions.

But racial tensions have risen in recent years amid complaints by the minorities that their rights are being eroded along with the rising influence of Islamic hard-liners.

Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam said the incident infuriated Prime Minister Najib Razak, who asked the national police chief to investigate. Witnesses said police stood by and did nothing to stop the protest.

The demonstration, which occurred days before Malaysia celebrates its independence day on Monday, comes amid a new campaign by Najib to promote national integration by emphasizing equality of all races.

"The prime minister said he was very upset over the incident and wants it to be nipped in the bud," Subramaniam said in a statement.

The protesters condemned Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim of Selangor, one of four states controlled by a three-party opposition coalition that includes an Islamic party. The demonstrators described Khalid, a Muslim, as a traitor to Islam. It was not immediately clear if they were affiliated to any political group.

The Malaysian Insider quoted a protest leader, Mohammad Zurit Bin Ramli, as saying a temple would disturb Muslim practices.

"The temple will disrupt our daily activities like prayers. We cannot concentrate with the sounds coming from the temple," he said.

(Posted in The Washington Post, Aug 28)

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