tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1593834870029079432024-03-13T13:26:43.801-07:00Discover The GiftDennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-45514884956313601632016-08-11T18:45:00.000-07:002016-08-11T18:45:07.497-07:00Women in the Catholic Church<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The 2015 Global
Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum shows that the Philippines is the
seventh among the top ten countries in which the gap between women and men is
narrowest specifically in terms of economic opportunity, educational
attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines
ranks first, followed by New Zealand and Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Although the Philippines is one of the
better places in the world to be a woman, especially to be a college-educated and
wealthy woman, there are many poor Filipinas whose opportunities are very
limited in our predominantly Roman Catholic country. Discrimination and violence against poor
women persist, partly because of age-old cultural practices and prejudices that
institutional religions have somewhat ignored or reinforced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">According to a local proverb, “A mirror and
a woman are fragile valuables.” Another
proverb goes further, “once broken, a woman, like a mirror, can never be put
together again.” In 2008, the DaKaTeo (Catholic
Theological Society of the Philippines) organized a Conference on sexual
violence against women. That Conference
pondered on the persistence of sexual violence, and how families and
communities, Church and theology, help or hinder in the healing of survivors and
in holding accountable perpetrators like, among others, predators in clerical
clothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thru the centuries and in our times, how
has Church and theology promoted, neglected, or rejected the belief that women and
men are equally valuable and equally fragile?
How has Church and theology helped or hindered in the healing of women and
men who have been broken, if not shattered, by sexism and patriarchy? Or using words from the DaKaTeo vision
statement, have Church practices and pronouncements been fair to women and
inclusive of them, and what can be done to bridge persistent gaps between women
and men in terms of opportunities to share gifts for the good of the Church and
its mission? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For a specific example, how should we
interpret those portions in <i>Amoris
Laetitia</i>, the latest apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, in which he
speaks of the necessity of the “feminine genius” and “feminine abilities” of
the mother and the “clear and serene masculine identity” of the father in order
to create “the environment best suited to the growth of the child” (A.L.
173-175)?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While the papal document admits “a
certain flexibility of roles and responsibilities” between the mother and the
father, should we welcome the suggestion that there is some immutable essence
to gender identity in the Christian household, which is the <i>ecclesia domestica</i>, the Church in the
home, and if so, what are the implications for the mission and identity of the
laity, the majority faithful? These are
among the many questions about which pastors, theologians, and leaders among
the majority and minority faithful have to engage in sustained dialogue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-23085156535116004502016-02-29T21:08:00.000-08:002016-02-29T21:10:15.102-08:00What Prayers Are Heard and Granted?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In my prayers, what do I ask God often?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To help me become a millionaire?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To keep me healthy?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To keep my family safe?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">God understands these requests.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At the same time, Christ our Lord teaches us
how to pray better.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We ask for daily
bread especially for those who hunger now.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We ask for our daily food of God’s word.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Christ did not teach us to pray often for our monthly income or for the
sure growth of our savings or investments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Christ teaches us to pray for God’s Kingdom of
justice and peace to come home to us. We
ought to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill and empower us in order to make the
light of Christ shine brighter in our world, which still has many dark corners
of worry over what to eat, what to wear, and what one can secure for oneself
and loved ones. “Seek God’s Kingdom,”
and we will be given as well what we really need (Luke 12:31). God hears all prayers, but grants only some
of them. Sometimes God says “no” to our prayer
of petition because our Lord knows that we are asking for something needless or
even harmful in the long run.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Increase our faith” (17:5), as a humble petition to
th<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>e Lord, is one that will surely be granted. If bad parents can sometimes give good gifts
to their children, how much more will the merciful Father give the Spirit of faith
to those who ask him! (11:13) The Spirit
of faith and love is the most important gift of the merciful Father to Jesus,
his believers, and those who seek rest and relief from suffering and sin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">God’s gift of faith can be shown through an amazing
event like a healing miracle. What shows
greater or deeper faith, however, is the fulfillment of our duties to God and
neighbor day by day with humility and without fanfare so much so that, at day’s
end, we thank God for whatever good we have done, and we say, “we are unworthy
servants; we have only done our duty” (17:10).<br />
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Great faith is shown by those who pray for enemies, tormentors or persecutors:
“Father, forgive them” (23:34). It is
shown by those who actively hope in divine justice and peace despite a state of
affairs in which corruption and violence abound; “the law is paralyzed and
justice never prevails; the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is
perverted” (Habakkuk 1:3-4).<br />
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The great faith that Jesus practiced throughout his ministry and offered on the
cross is “the good deposit” entrusted to his apostles and believers down to our
times. It is our duty to “guard the good
deposit” (2 Timothy 1:14) and develop it. Thus it is better to pray daily for our faith
to increase and to be nourished by God’s word, rather than for our wealth to
increase or for our individual dreams to come true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-62116922099239446252015-09-06T22:18:00.000-07:002015-09-06T22:18:11.397-07:00Opposition to the 1973 Plebiscite<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US">Today is the 1st death anniversary of Raul M. Gonzalez (03 December 1930 - 07 September 2014). Below is an excerpt of his unpublished autobiography. He talks about his opposition to the conduct of a plebiscite, under the Martial Law regime, to ratify what became the 1973 Constitution.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“The Constitutional Convention that Pres.
Ferdinand Marcos was able to control through intimidation and bribery finished its final drafting, by November 27, 1972, of what was to become the 1973 Constitution. A couple of days later Marcos issued
Proclamation no. 73 for the holding of a plebiscite </span>on January 15, 1973 for the ratification of the Constitution .</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“I knew that there was no stopping Marcos
once the new Constitution was ratified in whatever manner. The stopping of the planned plebiscite became
imperative in my mind. I wrote a plea
for injunction to the holding of the plebiscite, and filed it at the Supreme
Court in the afternoon of December 1, 1972.
I cited the following reasons to support my plea to declare
Proclamation 73 invalid. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“First, Marcos did not have the power to
call for a plebiscite as the 1935 Constitution states that only Congress can
authorize the holding of a plebiscite. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Second, Marcos did not have the power to
appropriate funds to underwrite the holding of a plebiscite. Citing Article VI, Section 23 (2) of the 1935
Constitution, it states: <i>No money shall
be paid out of the Treasury except in the pursuance of an appropriation made by
law. </i> I asserted that since Congress still existed,
only Congress could allocate the 15 million pesos needed to hold a
plebiscite. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"> “I
hinted at the abuse in the exercise of powers made under Martial Law Proclamation 1081 when
I wrote: <i>the extraordinary powers which
should be exercised under a valid martial law proclamation should also be
limited to those acts and decrees which have a direct bearing to invasion,
insurrection, rebellion or imminent danger thereof, nothing more.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“I reasoned that the president was going
against the very precepts and principles which allowed him to exercise his
powers. In my motion for an injunction,
I wrote:<i> But the question may be raised: if
his powers as such are only co-terminus with the existence of the emergency
(Araneta vs. Dinglasan) can he still validly exercise such power – even to call
for a plebiscite if there is no more emergency as the state itself claims that
peace has been restored, that, according to the Secretary of National Defense,
‘the government has already completely dismantled the armed groups in this
country’? Besides, as long as we submit
that the Constitution is paramount, then, even the Commander-in-Chief remains
bound by it. Consequently, he may not
validly legislate, by decree, to set aside funds of the Treasury in
contravention with what the Constitution postulates.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“The third reason I stated in my prayer for
an injunction was that the exercise of the plebiscite itself would become null
because the people were under duress.
The Supreme Court laid down the precedent when in 1971 Sen. Arturo
Tolentino proposed to hold a plebiscite to amend the Constitution. The Supreme Court said that the voter must be
provided with sufficient time for an intelligent appraisal of the nature of the
amendment, and its relation to the other parts of the Constitution with which
it has to form a harmonious whole. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“I wrote in my motion that, if in 1971, the
Court held the Tolentino proposal to be an improper submission – when we had
then a free and untrammeled press, when there was unlimited use of the airwaves
in order to reach the maximum number of voters, when there was no prior censorship
over media, when people did not have to whisper their inner feelings in bated
breaths, when citizens had no fear of an ever constant threat that one
indiscreet remark might lead to an invitation to Camp Crame, how much more was
the Marcos proposal improper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“I also pointed out the high stakes
involved by asserting that the ratification of the Constitution would likely determine the future of the country for the next 50 years. I insisted that the people were not in that
state of tranquility to properly reflect on the various facets of the proposed
Constitution because of the many dangers that are poised to strike them under
the veil of martial law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“My fourth reason was that the 45 days
provided by Pres. Marcos was not enough for the public to study and to engage
in dialogues and debates on the proposed Constitution. I saw no reason for the haste with which the
government was carrying out its agenda.
Would the State be destroyed if we would not approve a new Constitution
in 45 days?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“My fifth and final reason for opposing the
holding of the plebiscite was the serious accusation that the Constitutional
Convention had been gravely compromised by Martial Law. I pointed out that, after September 23, 1972,
the deliberations of the Convention took a much faster pace, whereas before the
arrests of anti-Marcos personalities, matters like deciding on what language the Constitution would be
framed took as long as a month. I
underscored the fact that the Convention had been trimmed into a partisan body
after members of the anti-Marcos forces were jailed.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-59268126528569014092015-06-28T19:35:00.000-07:002015-06-28T19:48:04.374-07:00Gospel of the Hospitable Family<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
think it would be better to change the phrase “Gospel of the Family” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Relatio Synodi</i> [R.S.]) of the 2014
Extraordinary Synod) into “Gospel of the Hospitable Family” for the Ordinary
Synod in October 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I
think the following four realities deserve more attention in the discussion of
the social context and the challenges in family life today: (1) the
homelessness and the insecure residency of many families worldwide, (2) the
many refugee families who have fled and are fleeing from war and oppression, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">(3)
the age-old shadow of idolatry of the family, or the priority of family interest
over the common good, especially with the reality of clannishness, tribalism,
or political dynasties in many weak States, and (4) the estrangement, alienation,
or insufficient compassion that Catholics in problematic relationships or fragile
families have experienced in their contact with some church institutions and
communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the estrangement of some
Catholics in problematic or broken relationships, one reads in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Instrumentum Laboris</i> (Working Document) for
the 2014 Extraordinary Synod: “persons who are separated, divorced or single
parents sometimes feel unwelcome in some parish communities…some clergy are
uncompromising and insensitive in their behavior; and, generally speaking…the
Church, in many ways, is perceived as exclusive, and not sufficiently present
and supportive” (I.L. 75).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
Catholics feel like unwelcome strangers in the Church.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just as the Body of Christ
cannot turn its back on those who suffer from poverty and disease, it cannot be
heartless toward those who suffer from estrangement, broken relationships, and fragile
families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Vatican II affirms: “The
Church encompasses with her love all those who are afflicted by human misery
and she recognizes in those who are poor and who suffer, the image of her poor
and suffering founder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She does all in
her power to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve Christ.” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lumen Gentium</i> 8)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the plight of
refugees, the “Message” of the Extraordinary Synod says: “We think of so many
poor families, of those who cling to boats in order to reach a shore of
survival, of refugees wandering without hope in the desert, of those persecuted
because of their faith and the human and spiritual values which they hold. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are stricken by the brutality of war and
oppression.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plight of refugees
belongs to the category of “families in extreme situations.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
propose to include in the discussion of the vision and mission of Jesus as
regards the family his radical redefinition of his family: “Whoever does the
will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew12:50). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of God’s Reign or
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kindom</i>, one image of which is the
gathering of peoples, especially estranged peoples, to feast on “God’s abundance”
of gifts “for renewed community” (John Koenig). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Jesus declared, “Many will come from the
east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob at the Kindom of heaven” (8:11).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">God’s
Kindom is much more important than any treasured ties based on blood, marriage,
affinity, descent, or the decision of guardians or authority figures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, Christ has declared: “Anyone who loves
their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (10:37).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among faithful followers of Christ, (baptismal)
water is thicker than blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Water in
the Holy Spirit is weightier than ancestral blood.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus
rejects any idolatry of the family, and thus conscientious pastors,
missionaries, and theologians ought to consider the possibility that a “Gospel
of the Family” might turn into a betrayal of the true Gospel in contexts in
which clannishness or tribalism prevails to the detriment of the common
good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In reference to one of the shadows
in Philippine family life, the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines
states: “Unity is sometimes solely based on ties of flesh and blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family community itself consequently
becomes insensitive to the greater demands of the common good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When this happens, the families no longer
care to participate in the development of society or the mission of the
Church.” (PCP II, 582)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Especially
among members of the elite, the welfare, comfort, prosperity, or political
power of their families is their concern above all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The unequal access to politico-economic power
in many struggling societies contributes considerably to the pervasiveness and
persistence of poverty, which in turn contributes to the dissolution of many marriages
(R.S. 8) and to the decision of many couples to live together and delay or do
without a church wedding, which in some locales is deemed “too expensive” (R.S.
42).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Economic difficulties” constitute
one of the significant obstacles to “the responsible procreation and education
of children” (PCP II, 584).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
new family of Jesus comprises those who welcome the will of heaven, which finds
a home in their hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this light, I
hope the 2015 Ordinary Synod would include in its discussions of the family
apostolate the Christian practice of hospitality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus
valued hospitality when he sent out the Twelve two by two to preach the good
news and heal the sick in villages throughout Galilee, and he instructed them
to take no bread, bag, or money, for they were to hope for and rely on the
hospitality of households that would welcome them (Mark 6:7-13).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mission of the disciples involved the
acceptance and offering of gifts: they were travelling strangers who received
the gift of hospitality (food and shelter), and they offered their gifts of
healing and good news.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
apostle Paul benefited from and promoted “house church hospitality” (Koenig).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He urged fellow believers to cherish God’s
mercy through Christ and his Gospel by avoiding complacency and by offering
their bodies as “a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the ways in which believers can practice
the sacrificial life in a world that at times can be hostile to them is the
following: “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Practice hospitality [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">philoxenia</i>].” (12:13)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Xenos</i>, the word that means ‘stranger’ in
Greek, also means ‘guest’ and ‘host’…xenophobia [is] fear of the stranger…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">philoxenia</i> [is] a love of the guest or
stranger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Philoxenia</i> can also mean love of the whole atmosphere of
hospitality and the whole activity of guesting and hosting.” (Ana Maria Pineda)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Although
it never mentioned hospitality, the “Message” of the Extraordinary Synod, in
the first biblical text it quoted, offered the image of a Christ seeking
hospitality: “<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Behold, I stand at the
door and knock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.”
(Revelation 3:20)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few paragraphs
later, the “Message” called for a Church that would be hospitable to everybody,
as it stated: “Christ wanted his Church to be a house with doors always open to
welcome everyone.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Similarly, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Relatio
Synodi</i> does not mention hospitality, but near its conclusion it offers an
image of the Church as a hospitable people: “The Church can assume a valuable
role in supporting families, starting with Christian Initiation, by being
welcoming communities” (R.S. 61).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In the
case of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evangelii Gaudium</i>, this image
is found: “A people for everyone…</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Church must be a place
of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and
encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel” (E.G. 114).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity</i>
(1965), Vatican II mentions “active hospitality” as one of the ways in which
the family accomplishes its divine “mission of being the primary vital cell of
society,” and it lists the following “among the various works of the family
apostolate…adopting abandoned children, showing a loving welcome to strangers,
helping with the running of schools…supporting married people and families involved
in material and moral crises” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apostolicam
Actuositatem</i>, 11).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Relatio Synodi</i> mentions the adoption of children as an expression
of “openness to life,” and it says: “The adoption of children, orphans and the
abandoned and accepting them as one’s own is a specific form of the family
apostolate (cf. <i>Apostolicam Actuositatem</i>, III, 11)...Such a choice is a
powerful sign of family love, an occasion to witness to one’s faith and to
restore the dignity of a son or daughter to a person who has been deprived of
this dignity.” (R.S. 58) <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What is Christian hospitality?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is “the practice of providing space where
the stranger is taken in and known as one who bears gifts” (Pineda).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stranger is not just the foreigner, but
can be the homeless person, the orphan, the evacuee, the refugee, the outcast, the
abandoned, the forgotten, or the estranged member of the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even without possessions, every needy stranger
bears the gift of his or her joyful and sorrowful memories and stories, which
can offer real-life lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Strangers
have stories to tell which we have never heard before, stories which can
redirect our seeing and stimulate our imaginations” (Thomas Ogletree).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For the believer,
however, the ultimate gift is the mysterious presence of the Lord and the
divine word in the person of the stranger in need (Matthew 25:35).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pope Francis says: </span>“Whenever we
encounter in love another person, we learn something new about God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever our eyes are opened to acknowledge
the other, we grow in the light of faith and knowledge of God.” (E.G. 272)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Christ is welcomed
as the guest in the hearts or lives of believers, a transformation occurs in
which the guest becomes the host who makes believers feel at home in God’s
presence and who offers the gift of wisdom, light, energy, rest or relief from
suffering.</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">For example, Jesus was a
guest at dinner in Matthew’s house in which “many tax collectors came and ate
with him and his disciples,” but he became the gracious host in showing them
God’s gift of mercy and friendship (9:10-13).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In turn, Matthew the host became a guest, as he experienced the
welcoming and gracious presence of God through Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christian hospitality
“involves creating space where people can learn how to receive and give”
(Pineda) and where guests can turn into hosts, and hosts into guests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such an understanding of hospitality resembles
that of married life, as there is “mutual self-giving in the Sacrament of
Marriage” and mutual receptivity to or acceptance of the other (R.S. 21).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each spouse has made the commitment to open
one’s heart, one’s inner house or sanctuary, to the other spouse and to keep it
open for life, so that spouses regularly turn into guests and hosts of each
other’s inner house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The lack of mutuality or
mutual consent among spouses was perhaps one of the reasons for the opposition of
the historical Jesus to the practice of divorce in his patriarchal
society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The decision to divorce could
be made by the man alone through a certificate of divorce given to the woman
(Deuteronomy 24:1), and it was not rare for the woman to find herself in a worse
or dire economic condition afterwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus,
it was not rare for a divorce to be unfair to the woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus cared for women who yearned for
healing, right relationships, or relief from suffering (Matthew 9:20-22;
15:21-28) and unlike other Jewish teachers, he welcomed female disciples
(27:55-56).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">After his statements on
divorce and “eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom” (Mt 19:12), Jesus welcomed
the little children (19:13-15).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They usually
are the ones who endure the most suffering when their parents undergo divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such suffering is a form of “injustice which
very often is associated with divorce” (R.S. 47).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dissolution of a marriage and its
aftermath almost always make it more difficult for a household to be hospitable
to little children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">At the same time,
this question ought to be considered: even if he was primarily concerned about
the fate of the woman and the children after a divorce, could the wise Jesus
have wanted to give a rock-hard teaching on divorce and the indissolubility of
marriage, when he was aware that his primary interlocutors were “some Pharisees
[who] came to test (or trap) him” (19:3)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would be interesting to examine the question on how Sacred Scripture
is utilized in the R.S. and the 2015 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Instrumentum
Laboris</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Missionary activity and
pastoral care for those who suffer from homelessness, abandonment, neglect,
discrimination, exclusion, persecution, or broken relationships can be
envisioned as a venture in mutual and active hospitality in which space is
created for everybody to receive and share gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Active hospitality does not merely wait for
the homeless, the stranger, or the needy to come and beg for help or shelter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Believers go out to meet them in the streets or
to look for their huts, hovels, or holes-in-the-wall in order to invite them into
welcoming hearts and hearths and to ask them to share the gifts of their presence,
feelings, memories, and stories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Missionaries, pastors
and pastoral agents, including married couples and their families, who reach out
to fragile families and couples in problematic relationships have to do so with
sensitivity and receptivity to their real-life stories and struggles and the
day-to-day signs of how “the grace of God works also in their lives” such as
their everyday energy “to care for one another in love and to be of service to
the community in which they live and work” (R.S. 25).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another sign of God’s
grace at work in persons with problematic relationships is the deep thirst for
true love, and this is shown in the passionate interaction between two
strangers, Jesus and the Samaritan woman in social intercourse at the well
(John 4:4-26).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It would be a practice of
both wisdom and humility for missionaries and pastoral agents who want to
proclaim the Gospel of the Hospitable Family to be receptive to or to seek
first the day-to-day signs of grace, God’s self-giving, in the lives of fragile
families and wounded couples, and to acknowledge, to show appreciation for, and
to learn from these signs of self-giving, and to let themselves be surprised by
these signs of grace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">After receiving the
gifts of initial welcome and encouraging signs of grace, missionaries and pastoral
agents can offer their gifts of compassionate and patient pastoral “accompaniment”
(R.S. 45, E.G. 169) and the timely and eventual challenge to couples or family
members to proceed to the next or higher stage of growth in their relationship
with God, their interpersonal relationship, and their participation in the life,
worship, and mission of the Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“To
find the right way to gain their trust, their openness, and their readiness to
grow,” wise discernment is necessary on the part of pastoral agents who
accompany them (E.G. 172).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A “Gospel of the
Hospitable Family” is relevant in our time of ecological crisis and
anthropogenic climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Jesus once said, “foxes have holes and
birds have nests,” but humans are homeless (Matthew 8:20) usually because of
indebtedness, greed, aggression, or war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In our time, many humans are still homeless, while the foxes are losing
their holes and the birds their nests with the destruction of their habitats owing
to greed, irresponsibility, and indifference, which also sustain involuntary
and oppressive forms of poverty globally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Human activities are rapidly depriving many vulnerable people and
endangered species of hospitable places, spaces and places where they can
thrive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In discussing “the Wisdom of the Biblical Accounts” in his latest
encyclical, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laudato Si</i>, Pope Francis
includes the following text from the Torah: “‘The land must not be sold
permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners
and strangers’ (Lev 25:23)” (L.S. 67).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Creator is the ultimate owner of the earth, the “common home” of all
earthly creatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creator is the
Host, and humankind and all other species are guests, or at least strangers who
are welcome to partake of and cultivate the gifts of God’s earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Creator has chosen humankind to be a
genuine partner with a unique responsibility to help keep and make the earth
hospitable to all peoples and other creatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Such responsibility requires humankind to create great space in their
hearts, their inner houses, for other families, other peoples, other species,
and the Ultimate Other, each one of whom bears visible and invisible gifts,
benefits and challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">To conclude, (1) I propose to change the phrase “Gospel of the Family”
into “Gospel of the Hospitable Family.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2)
I propose to include in the description of the vision and mission of Jesus his
radical redefinition of his family in order to maintain the challenge of the
Gospel in contexts in which people tend toward clannishness, tribalism,
dynastic politics, or an idolatry of the family. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">(3) I propose to include in the discussion on
the vocation and mission of the family the Christian practice of active
hospitality in which the homeless, the vulnerable, the stranger, and the
estranged are sought, welcomed, befriended, and considered bearers of visible
or invisible gifts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-35443621008184855712015-01-19T22:34:00.000-08:002015-01-19T22:34:01.999-08:005 Days of Awe (5 Araw ng Pagkamangha)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />Sa dagat ng mga katawan,<br />bumabad mga Filipino at nagpaulan,<br />upang mukha't ngiti niya'y masulyapan.<br />
<br />
In a sea of bodies<br />immersed the Filipino under the rain,<br />to catch a glimpse of his smiling face.</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-32659888394568877882015-01-06T01:35:00.000-08:002015-01-06T01:38:21.035-08:00Baptism/Bautismo (with Basho)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />Katahimikan ng ilog na matanda,<br />
lundag ng dukha, tunog ng tubig,<br />
tinig ng langit, ahon ng anak ng hari.<br />
<br />
Silence of ancient river,<br />
plunge of pauper, sound of water,<br />
voice of heaven, rise and reign of son and daughter.</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-2152696501208143242014-11-28T17:41:00.001-08:002014-11-28T17:41:41.489-08:00Start of Martial Law (September 1972)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">"Before the declaration of Martial was made public in the early evening
of 23 September 1972, there were rumors of arrests of prominent anti-Marcos elements,
student and labor leaders, political oppositionists, journalists and
newspapermen, owners of media outlets, and persons known to be
anti-administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Pres.
Ferdinand Marcos came on the air in what was obviously a taped broadcast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The decree declaring martial law for the
whole country was ante-dated 21 September 1972.</span></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">"In one single stroke, Marcos cancelled the Constitution, abolished both
houses of Congress, and placed the Armed Forces and the police under his direct
command like his own toy to play around with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He usurped the powers of duly constituted authorities and installed
himself as the only authority in the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><br />
<span lang="EN-US">"I felt disgusted with this turn of events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I resigned all my positions in government and
even my teaching position in the Philippine College of Commerce, a public educational institution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From then on, I helped
human rights victims by providing legal counsel and services for free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">"</span>I still continued with my legal office, which
sustained me throughout my freelance days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Among my clients were the Yangs of Manila who were the owners of
downtown theaters Roxan, Odeon, Maxim and Miramar, among others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Yangs figured in the Carmelo-Bauermann
real estate case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bauermanns owned
the lot in C.M. Recto Avenue where Maxim and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Miramar</st1:place></st1:city> stood, under a lease contract with
the Yangs with an option-to-buy clause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Bauermanns sold the lot to another party instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Yangs went to court in which I was their counsel,
and we won the case up to the Supreme Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">"I was aware that Marcos was twisting the precepts of the law in order to
show the country and the whole world that martial law was legitimate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he closed down the legislature, he maintained
the Judiciary to make it appear that there was some form of due process still
in effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no place to go but
the Supreme Court, to lodge complaints and hope to be heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">"I petitioned the High Court to declare the Marcos decree imposing
martial law as unconstitutional and was one of the first private citizens to do
so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in my law office together with
a friend, Napoleon Dilag, who in the post-Marcos years became a judge in Cavite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I composed a petition questioning martial law
which was later given the file title: 'Dilag vs the Executive Secretary.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I filed other petitions with the Supreme
Court, one after the other, in my capacity as chapter president of the
Integrated Bar of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Philippines</st1:country-region></st1:place>. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">"I waited for results with confidence in the law of averages that soon
one of my petitions would inevitably surface and be tabled by the High
Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to put on record the
fact that several petitions were filed in opposition to martial and questioning
its legality, yet most of those petitions were unceremoniously rejected by the
High Court. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took comfort in the hope
that the Justices would realize that history would also judge them."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-72213488761405037312014-10-29T20:16:00.001-07:002014-10-29T20:18:11.311-07:00Work with Chief Executives and Legislators (1962-1972)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">"Antonio 'Yeba' Villegas, the vice mayor who
took over after Mayor Lacson’s death, asked me to stay on and continue with my
work as prosecutor of graft cases, the unofficial Manila city Ombudsman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Young, tall for a Filipino and quite talented,
he copied the gait and macho ways of the late mayor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A brilliant lawyer, Villegas indiscriminately
stepped on a lot of toes in his desire to eradicate graft and corruption in the
city government, much like Lacson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">"While
still with Mayor Villegas, I was temporarily 'lent' to Sen. Rodolfo “Roding” Ganzon
from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Iloilo</st1:city></st1:place>, as
a legal adviser. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roding and I shared a
political heritage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While my father
served as the last mayor of the town of <st1:city w:st="on">Jaro</st1:city>
before it was made a district of Iloilo City, Roding’s father served as the
first mayor of the expanded <st1:country-region w:st="on">City</st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ganzon was a man driven by his
ambitions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although his family was not
rich, he persisted in his studies and worked his way through law school, as a
laborer and a jeepney driver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Graduating
with honors, he topped the bar exams in 1953.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This made him a kind of folk hero and catapulted him to various
political positions in the city and finally as a senator of the Republic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">"Not long after that, I was again
lent to Sen. Genaro Magsaysay of Zambales for the same position and likewise taken in
as counsel of the Liberal Party while I was also doing part-time work in the
office of Senate Minority Floor Leader Gerardo Roxas of Capiz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In between these jobs, I was named executive
secretary of the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures, another part-time job
under the Office of President Diosdado Macapagal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When President Marcos succeeded Macapagal in
1965,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was appointed as an Executive
Member of the Board of Censors with voting privileges. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">"After Villegas, Atty. Ramon '<st1:city w:st="on">Bombay'</st1:city>
Bagatsing took over the mayorship of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manila</st1:place></st1:city>
with wounds still fresh as a result of the bombing of the Liberal Party’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">miting de avance</i> at the Plaza Miranda in
Quiapo in 1971.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bagatsing was from
Sagay, Negros Occidental, an Ilonggo like Lacson and me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The friendship we established was instant, as
we were both lawyers and he appreciated what I did, for he also pursued an
anti-corruption campaign during his second term as a Congressman of Manila in
1961-1965."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-66897448621002341582014-10-16T22:53:00.000-07:002014-10-16T22:53:53.771-07:00Exposure to 'Arsenic' Lacson of Manila<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
From a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">"While I was working for Iloilo Governor
Zulueta, there came an offer I could not refuse. Manila’s aggressive mayor, Arsenio ‘Arsenic’
Lacson (1912-1962), wanted me to join him, and I bid goodbye to the Iloilo
governor. Lacson was one of a kind. A fiery political figure and a straight
shooter, his grit and courage was legend.
He was a no-nonsense administrator, and called a spade a spade. His religiously chronicled tantrums were not
pretense, and he was a man of the masses.
He spoke from the heart, and had the courage to stand up for his
beliefs, principles and advocacies. Some
of his firm views soon rubbed off on me, and we had a productive
relationship. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">"Lacson’s favorite picture was the one that
showed him walking that macho Lacsonesque walk, in dark pants and printed sports
shirt with sleeves rolled up showing muscled arms and with the trademark
sunglasses to accentuate his ensemble.
This picture decorated my work table, as it did the tables of Lacson’s
favorite lieutenants at City Hall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">"In his desire to cleanse his administration
of grafters, I was hired by Mayor Lacson to be the watchdog and prosecutor of
erring Manila City Hall employees.
Lacson was a born reformer, and he worked with transparency to
demonstrate to his staff what a public servant should be as a guardian of the
people’s rights and resources. Guided by
Lacson’s directives, I ploughed through scores of graft cases and prosecuted a
good number of them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">"Lacson got as much exposure in the media as
national officials, and he toyed with the idea of a presidential excursion to
see how far he could go. One day in 1960,
Lacson and his supporters were stomping through the towns in the province of
Bulacan and Nueva Ecija when they were interrupted by a drunken Philippine Constabulary
(PC) officer in San Miguel, Bulacan. The
officer pestered the crowd that attended the caucus, and it reached a point
when it was useless to continue as the soldier was getting all the
attention. Lacson, fed up with the
antics of the drunken soldier, rose, confronted the intoxicated fellow, and
asked him to leave. They stood there,
toe to toe, Lacson with hands akimbo, the PC with his .45 caliber pistol. The soldier slowly lost his composure,
probably remembered who Lacson was, and shuffled his way out of the crowd.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">"The Arsenic was my enthusiastic
teacher. He found an eager understudy
and I gladly absorbed all his inputs.
This was an education with free tuition and an excellent professor. We prepared for the presidential elections, as
Lacson immersed himself in the fight.
But he failed to get the necessary numbers among convention delegates who would choose the party nominee, and the front-runner,
Diosdado Macapagal, asked him instead to manage the campaign against incumbent
president Carlos Garcia. Macapagal won,
and there were talks of a possible tandem in the next presidential elections.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">"I continued to work closely with Mayor Lacson in prosecuting erring
officials. I was up to my neck in investigating
anomalies and providing legal assistance to the mayor. Among those I successfully prosecuted were
three police majors who were found guilty of corrupt practices. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"The Arsenic who left behind a deep impression on me died on 15 April 1962. His death left a void in my world. I was emotionally devastated because his
death was so sudden, so permanent. The mayor who died of a stroke never had the
chance to forewarn us of his sudden departure from this world. We had many plans on the drawing board, so
many projects to launch, so much unfinished business to settle. Many of those projects and plans had to be
shelved, a pity because they were so beneficial to the poor of the city."</span></div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-18179089771349023862014-10-12T17:49:00.000-07:002014-10-12T17:49:45.206-07:00Initial Law Practice and Governor Jose Zulueta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">From a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">As a budding member of the Bar, I continued
to refine my knowledge especially about the procedures and rules of court. My time spent in the academe as a lecturer of
law subjects gave me the opportunity to hone my knowledge of the craft, the
many intricacies of Philippine jurisprudence, and the application and
interpretation of various edicts. As
much as I loved teaching, there came a time when I had much less luxury to
attend to its rudimentary demands. The
call for me to give priority to the practice of law had become clear in my
mind. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I first signed up with the law firm Syquia and Francisco, and after a few years, I had the confidence to go on my
own. My circle of friends in Manila
comprised Ilonggos who encouraged me to go solo, and I tapped their
enthusiastic support now and then. My
uncle, Feliciano Gonzalez, was chairman of the Board of Censors, a precursor of
today’s Movie and Television Ratings and Classification Board (MTRCB), and he
invited me to join him as his secretary. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I also worked with Dr. Manuel Buenafe of
the Bureau of Census who recruited me for an advisory position. It was merely an honorary post but it looked
good on my resume, a welcome break for a neophyte. It was a door that opened other doors of
opportunity, and before my Census job was finished, I received another offer,
taking me to the next level.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Gov. Jose C. Zulueta (1889-1972) of Iloilo was already
in his twilight years as a political leader.
An astute politician respected by his opponents, he was a pillar of strength
and a guiding light for the Liberal Party. During
the Pacific War, he was a member of the Executive Committee under the supervision
of the Japanese, and he was accused of collaboration with the enemy. After being cleared of the stigma, he was
elected again as Congressman of the 1<sup>st</sup> district of Iloilo, and was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1945. He had served as a member of the national legislature since 1928.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">At the invitation of President Manuel Roxas, Zulueta assumed in 1946 his former post as Secretary of the Department of the
Interior, and promptly clashed with rebel groups known as the HUKBALAHAP. Afterwards, he was elected to the Senate in 1951, and
became Senate President in 1953. After the end of his Senate term in 1957, he ran and won as governor of the province of Iloilo in 1959.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">His name resounded in the halls of power
since his youthful days not only in Iloilo but on a national level. Zulueta was a political force to reckon with,
and as governor he recruited me as his protégé. It
was a learning opportunity and a productive relationship. Zulueta used to give me valuable tips and
advice that helped me steer out of troublesome waters in the world of political
intrigues. Best of all, he drilled me in
the art of statesmanship. Our
collaboration was short but well-<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>spent, memorable and
fulfilling. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-43534396403466961302014-10-09T21:25:00.000-07:002014-10-09T21:26:50.975-07:00Teaching and Continuing Education (1955 - 1970)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">From a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">After passing the Bar in 1955, I went back to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Manila</st1:city></st1:place>, to my <i>alma mater</i>, the UST, and taught a number
of law subjects. I also taught at the
Far Eastern University (FEU), the then Philippine College of Commerce (now the <st1:placename w:st="on">Polytechnic</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>
of the Philippines), the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Assumption</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place>, the College of
the Holy Spirit, and the Philippine Normal College Graduate School.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I was in school not only to teach but also
to take post-graduate courses, and I completed seminars at the <st1:placetype w:st="on">Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Public
Administration</st1:placename> of the University of the Philippines. Those public administration seminars were sponsored
by the city government of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manila</st1:place></st1:city>
from 1960 to 1961. Still at UP, I
completed the required seminars on Constitutional and Labor Laws at the
Division of Continuing Legal Education.
I also completed a course on Credit and Collection Management through
seminars conducted by the De La Salle Graduate School of Business. Taking the other side of the podium, I also
lectured at the UP <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Law</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype></st1:place>, Division of Continuing
Legal Education. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One might think that, after years of
study, one would get tired of the sounds
and rigors of school. But my love affair
with the academe started when I realized that you could reach your goals
in life through study and more study. I
was attracted to the academe because of its youthful dynamism and its
regimented atmosphere. Studying gave me much
pleasure, discovering new ideas and concepts, and doing mental calisthenics
alone or with a group. One had to learn to
be always on your toes lest your teachers or students catch you
flatfooted. In school, you stay on a
progressive plane of self-development, and the more you learn the more you
desire to learn deeper thoughts and profound ideas. My thirst for knowledge simmered and did not
want to cool down. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In
the early ‘70s, I left teaching as my world expanded. My commitments and time no longer allowed me
the pleasure of correcting test papers and to look deep into the young minds of
my students. I find students today far different
from those I taught. I see many students
today who want to be spoon-fed, and they tend to memorize lessons instead of
internalizing them. But of course students
were fewer in the past. There is at
present a tendency for mass education, like the pace of an assembly line. As a result, students with lesser mental
talents are outpaced easily by their better classmates, and teachers often
close their eyes to or ignore those weaker ones. </span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-59496373124522264022014-10-07T03:02:00.000-07:002014-10-07T03:02:16.833-07:00Student Life (1945-1955)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span lang="EN-US">From a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez:</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">When peace time came, I s<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>pent
my days wandering in the fields of my youth, finding pleasure in the sights and
sounds of the countryside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fair
weather, I would traipse along the river banks and sometimes dive into the
waters in my clothes which caused me to lose several pairs of shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever I got hungry, I would go to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">carinderia</i> and charge it to my mother
which always surprised her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">In 1945, I took a refresher course and graduated from sixth grade and
went on to high school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I studied on my
own without the help of tutors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
transferred to Panay College in the district of La Paz where Uncle Alfredo
Gonzalez was the Academic Director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was a respected scholar and had written books of philosophical essays called
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bamboo Flower</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Call of the Heights</i> and a translation of
Jose Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios.” I finished my secondary studies there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took my pre-law studies at one of the
oldest academic institutions in the country, Iloilo City's Colegio San Agustin, which later became a University. I was a Rector’s scholar and edited the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Varsitarian</i>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> In my youth, I preferred intellectual pursuits rather than
sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I also liked some
socializing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved to dance the
current dances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned how to move
around in ballrooms and taught some of my Jalandoni cousins the intricacies of
the waltz and the swing.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">My father, Delfin, was a strong and compelling influence on my political
orientation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was active in the city’s
political intramurals since the 1950’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was at the back of my mind when I decided to become a lawyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no urging from my parents and it
was solely my choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to <st1:city w:st="on">Manila</st1:city> and enrolled at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Sto</st1:placename></st1:place>.
Tomas (UST) where I finished my law studies in 1955.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took the Bar the same year and attained a
grade of 99% in Remedial Law, and 95% in International Law.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Completing four years training as an Honor Star Medalist, I was
commissioned as 2<sup>nd</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lieutenant in the reserve forces of the Philippine Military in April
1953 and was given the serial number 0-86095 INF.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After taking the Bar exams, I topped the
Judge Advocate General’s examination in the same year, but was disqualified
because I was not yet a full-fledged lawyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I could have become a Judge Advocate if I persisted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was drawn to the military because it was the
“in” thing in campus, and also because of the machismo, the pomp and pageantry
attendant to its image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The military had
a strong appeal to young men who looked forward to the discipline and adventure
it promised.</span><br />
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-49360863865498980772014-09-26T21:04:00.000-07:002014-09-26T21:07:32.368-07:00War's End<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">From a personal account of the late Raul M. Gonzalez:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“The day came when American soldiers landed
in Iloilo. They were welcomed everywhere
while the Japanese soldiers fled to the mountains of Antique and Capiz and the
shores of Aklan. Pocket groups of
stragglers dug in and made a valiant but futile effort to thwart the advance of
the Americans. The Japanese Imperial
Army faded into the night and lingered only as a memory of a senseless
war. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Our family went back to our residential
house in Barangay Quintin Salas in Jaro and found it in ruins. The guerillas used the house as its
headquarters and Japanese soldiers targeted it, as they abandoned Iloilo
City. After the Japanese fled, the
guerillas stripped the house of whatever useable furnishings they can lay their
hands on and left the house in shambles.
In the days that followed, Sergio and I went back to the farm to see
what remains of our property. Everything
looked normal and even the pile of harvested palay called <i>tumpi</i> looked untouched, slightly leaning to one side probably
because of the wind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“We went about our business and went home
for lunch. Unknown to us, there was a
Japanese soldier hiding inside the <i>tumpi</i>
waiting for a chance to get away.
Realizing that there was no way he can slip away undetected, he decided
to end his misery, took out a match and burned the pile of palay with him in
it. The people soon realized what
happened and they stood guard around the <i>tumpi</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“It was a pitiful sight, knowing that a man
was burning inside. The smell of burning
flesh lingered in the air for hours. The
straggler likely thought that it was the best that he could do. If he got caught, who can say how the bitter
guerillas will treat an enemy? In the
town of Barotac Nuevo, the angry populace butchered all the Japanese soldiers
they could find except for the cook who was able to flee. To the Japanese, there is honor and nobility
in taking one’s life in the face of defeat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Life was coming back to the Iloilo
City. Residents returned from their
mountain lairs. It was time to pick up
the pieces of their lives. American
servicemen mingled with the natives freely and a brisk barter trade flourished
for lack of credible currency. Filipinos
snatched up American goods including cigarettes, K-rations, coffee, corned
beef, balls of cheese and, yes, chocolates.
These were the memories of liberation days. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“Warmed by the euphoria of peace, children were
like unbridled ponies, running all over the place. This was how it was when our youngest brother
Mario, at 7 years of age, was hit by </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">a military jeep driven by </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">an American soldier. We rushed him to a
hospital where doctors announced that his arm must be opened up. He died of an overdose of anesthesia. His death was so unnecessary, so meaningless,
at a time when war had finally ended.”</span></div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-69451580839550249862014-09-19T04:10:00.000-07:002014-09-19T04:10:42.171-07:00Brutality of War<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This is a personal account of the late Raul
M. Gonzalez on the brutality of members of the Japanese Imperial Army during
their occupation of Panay island in 1942-1944.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“I remember an old sea captain who was
captured during a lightning raid of Japanese Imperial Army forces on our
village. An evacuee, he was hopeful that
the soldiers would spare him because of his age. But they somehow got wind of his son who was
an ROTC cadet at the Colegio de San Agustin in Iloilo City and who was one of
the guerillas who broke the Japanese blockade in the Corregidor Strait as they
brought rice supplies to Bataan aboard the SS Regulus. The ship was later sunk by the Japanese but
they blamed the aging seaman for the involvement of his son and turned to him
for revenge.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“At 12 years of age, I witnessed with my
own eyes the indescribable abuses and atrocities of the Imperial Army which lingered
in my memory. I saw how the invaders,
young and vicious, would tie a prisoner to a post and beat him with whatever
was at hand until he died. The methods
of torture used by them were so barbaric that it defied description. Suspected guerillas were kidnapped never to
be seen gain. Women were raped and food
supplies were sequestered with force. It
was the height of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. I developed a hatred for violence and abhorred
the thought of bloody confrontation. But
if the situation presented itself, I would fight back with all the survival
instincts I had learned during those dangerous years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“In the course of the war, heavy fighting
broke out in Barangay Buntatala, the last barrio of Jaro across the river from the
town of Leganes and a village away from the place where the family
evacuated. The guerillas controlled the
bridge effectively stopping the Imperial Army from marching north towards the
towns of Leganes and Zarraga. Although
possessing much superior firepower, the invaders were stymied by the guerillas,
and fighting raged on for days. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“The deafening roars of bazookas and the
staccato sound of machine guns and rifle fire filled the air with terror, and
forced the people to flee to safer grounds.
The enemy was everywhere while their reinforcements were already
tramping the rice fields towards the battle site, killing every one they
encountered with their bayonets and samurais.
The soldiers were on a murderous rampage, angered by the resistance of
an inferior force.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“The whole family fled into the rice fields,
merging with the terrain with only the tall stalks of rice as cover. It was raining hard when suddenly I spotted a
group of soldiers coming our way. There
was no time to hide, and communicating with hand signals, we burrowed into the
mud and prayed to God to save us. We
held our breath for a long time as the soldiers, afraid to lose their footing
in the paddies, passed our group who were just a few meters away buried in the
mud like mudfish. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">"Breathless seconds
passed before we lifted our heads from the mud and gulped for air. By this time the soldiers were already
hurrying away unaware of our presence due to the noise from the rain and the
wind. Our faces were full of mud but we
were triumphant for evading the enemy yet another time. We were thankful to God for saving us for the
umpteenth time. We crawled along the
rice paddies and sl<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>ipped away to safety.”</span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-28987879081410216902014-09-14T19:58:00.000-07:002014-09-19T04:05:16.646-07:00Condolence Letter of Dr. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
September 8, 2014<br />
<br />
Dear Doctora Pacita and family,<br />
<br />
On behalf of our family and the Arroyo cabinet, Mike and I express our profound condolences and offer our fervent prayers on the passing of our esteemed Raul Gonzalez, my Secretary of Justice.<br />
<br />
His decades of public service, especially in upholding the rule of law in our land, have left a legacy of justice, stability, and development in his constituencies, the national government, and the Republic.<br />
<br />
We most admire and appreciate particularly his staunch defense and advocacy for what was just, rightful and lawful in the face of partisan and even subversive agitation as well as media attacks.<br />
<br />
His mettle was on full display during destabilization attempts and in the 2004 congressional canvassing, when he stood his ground against efforts to delay and derail the election tally and provoke a constitutional crisis.<br />
<br />
Raul was so devoted to the demands of state and politics that sometimes they stood in the way of his family life and affection. I fondly recall times when Doctora Pacita would phone him while he was at a cabinet meeting and, to the amusement of the cabinet members who observed it, Raul would whisper into the cell phone to cut short the conversation so that he could return his undivided attention to the meeting.<br />
<br />
If the phone calls from Doctora Pacita he would parry during cabinet meetings were amusing, a more alarming conflict between his devotion to duty and accommodating the concerns of his family about his health came to a head when his children visited me one day to ask me to fire him in order to save his life because they feared that if he continued his work, his serious kidney condition would kill him. That was the time when a kidney transplant was prescribed for him.<br />
<br />
Seeing how he loved his work, though, I felt that if I accepted his resignation, that would kill him, too. So the compromise I thought of was to force him to go on an extended leave of absence for surgery and recuperation. He went on leave as I urged him to do, but he returned to work much earlier than his family and I judged to be for the good of his health.<br />
<br />
Though he went back to work earlier than for his own good and our peace of mind, we surely cherish the extra years that his forced leave of absence and his transplant allowed him to serve his country some more and then give his time to his family before last night, when Mama Mary called him to join her Son for her birthday.<br />
<br />
In his own way, the man who argued and orchestrated our cases before Congress and court was most solicitous and caring toward kith and kin. I saw firsthand how he helped his sons in public service achieve success in their careers.<br />
<br />
I was literally witness to the special 45th wedding anniversary he and Doctora Pacita celebrated in Iloilo City, and I still have the beautiful blue gown they gave me to wear for that occasion. No one knew then whether Raul would reach their golden anniversary. We thank the Lord that Raul's extra years stretched until their 50th anniversary and beyond, and gave the opportunity for their whole family to travel together, including the grandchildren.<br />
<br />
May the memories of those extra years of Raul's life after surgery soften this moment of sorrow. This is our prayer as we join the Gonzalez family in sympathy. May the memory and legacy of Raul the fond father of the family and the consummate public persona lift our spirits, inspire our lives, and advance our Republic as he had always sought in his time with us.<br />
<br />
God bless Raul and the Gonzalez family.<br />
<br />
With deepest condolences,<br />
<br />
(signed) Gloria<br />
<br /></div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-77867561433805537042014-09-12T22:11:00.000-07:002014-09-12T22:11:02.856-07:00Condolence Letter of President Aquino<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Malacanan Palace<br />Manila<br />
<br />
September 9, 2014<br />
<br />
Dear Dr. (Pacita) Gonzalez,<br />
<br />
In this period of deep personal sadness for you and your family, please accept my sincerest condolences.<br />
<br />
Though your late husband and I may have had our differences, I will never forget, just as our nation will always recognize, the service he rendered during the dark days of Martial Law. In seeking justice through our legal system, at a time our Constitution was set aside to accommodate the personal whims of a dictator, your husband was one of the many who had the courage to keep the spirit of resistance alive, and by so doing, continued to champion the democratic cause. His participation, later on, in the restoration of democracy after the EDSA Revolution will always serve as a badge of honor and distinction for him and for your family.<br />
<br />
May God grant his soul eternal repose, and may His light and grace comfort you and your loved ones in this time of affliction.<br />
<br />
(signed)<br />
BENIGNO S. AQUINO III</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-45926655358918452982014-09-07T09:51:00.000-07:002014-09-07T09:51:22.710-07:00Raul M. Gonzalez (1930-2014)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">With gratitude for the gift of 83 years of the life of Raul M. Gonzalez (RMG), his family announces his departure in obedience to the ultimate call of our Creator. He was a responsible husband and father, an indulgent grandfather, a loyal friend, and a courageous public servant. Please remember him in your prayers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Raul Gonzalez has served the Filipino
people as an active opponent of dictatorship during the darkest days of Martial
Law. He was the youngest lawyer of Sen.
Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr. during his incarceration and trial under Military
Commission No. 2. He represented Ninoy’s
mother, Aurora Aquino, in an urgent plea to the Supreme Court to invalidate the
Military Commission’s death sentence and to transfer Ninoy’s case to a
civilian court.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Gonzalez supported the Cory Aquino –
Doy Laurel partnership during the 1986 special presidential and vice-presidential elections, and he
admired the sacrifice of Salvador Laurel in agreeing to be Aquino's running-mate, for RMG believed that Laurel was more
prepared for the presidency. After the
ouster of Ferdinand Marcos thru the February 1986 “People Power” event, Cory
Aquino assumed the presidency and appointed RMG as Tanodbayan (Ombudsman), a
responsibility he exercised until September 1988.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">From 1995 to 2004, RMG served as
Congressman of the Lone District of Iloilo City. He was one of the prosecutors of the House of
Representatives during the impeachment trial of Joseph Ejercito Estrada. From 2004 to 2009, he headed the Department
of Justice in the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode"; mso-fareast-language: HI; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">Raul M. Gonzalez was born in La
Carlota, Negros Occidental, on 03 December 1930. His father, Delfin Gonzalez, was the last mayor of Jaro, Iloilo, where RMG was raised. He passed away at around 10:45 in the evening of September 7 owing to multiple organ failure. He died peacefully, surrounded by his wife, Dr. Pacita Trinidad Gonzalez, and their 3 sons and 2 daughters, after they prayed the holy rosary, his favorite prayer, and recited prayers for the commendation of the dying. </span></div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-65364588526890753312014-09-06T19:54:00.000-07:002014-09-06T19:54:15.900-07:00Delfin Gonzalez in the Guerilla Movement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">From the manuscript of Ken Ishikawa:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“After the
Pacific War broke out and the Japanese Imperial Army succeeded in overrunning the
last bastion of the US-Filipino forces on the island of Corregidor on 09 April
1941, the Japanese began their expansion to the south. On April 16, the
Japanese landed on the island of Panay. They began occupying the districts of
La Paz, Molo, Jaro, and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>downtown Iloilo City, and started
turning schools, civic buildings, and large houses into their garrisons…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“In order to raise the morale of the
populace in Panay and to keep peace and order amidst enemy occupation, Tomas Confesor
established a provisional provincial government. Because of his background in
leading farms and haciendas, Delfin Gonzalez was named by Confesor as his Food
Administrator for Jaro and Leganes, referred to by the resistance forces as
Zone 9. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“It was Delfin's duty
to make sure that agricultural production continued in his territory despite
enemy occupation and that the people living in the area and the guerillas
operating in the sector would not want for food. Delfin travelled across his area through rice
paddies, carefully avoiding the dirt roads where squads of Japanese soldiers
patrolled. He would visit outlying farms
where crops were being covertly grown. When
he was not travelling, Delfin tended his own farm with crops he used to supply
the resistance. Delfin chose to give the
bulk of his harvests to the guerillas and the needy. His son, RMG, remembers that the family
subsisted mainly on lugaw or rice broth, seasoned only with either sugar
or salt, during the length of the
Japanese occupation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Delfin did not lack
for help in providing nourishment for his family; his sons, Sergio and Raul, learned how
to forage for food. They went to rice
paddies, hunched, scanning the surface of the mud for mouths of tilapia or
catfish. Their tenants taught them the
proper technique of catching catfish without getting stung by their barbs, a
skill the boys happily applied in dozens of afternoons along the ditches and
mudflats near the farms. When villagers
harvested mung bean in a field somewhere, Raul and Sergio looked for
unharvested seeds along with other children and womenfolk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“As if the routine
his job demanded of him was not dangerous enough, Delfin would, now and then,
get missives from his fellow guerillas inviting him to meetings. Couriers from Confesor stashed orders and
information meant for him in a hollow stalk of bamboo at a grove in a secret
location near his house. Once Delfin has
memorized the instructions and the meeting places, he assigned Raul to hide
these clandestine papers in the holes in the stilts of their house. Whenever he set out for these gatherings, he
would normally take someone to accompany him. One such companion was Sergio who
walked with his father to Tacas to meet guerilla leaders there.</span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Delfin knew that his role under Confesor's
resistance government doubled the dangers for his family. Aside from being responsible for his wife and
brood of five children, he also had to worry for his sister-in-law Anita, her
husband and her two children. Because of
this, Delfin was very careful not to rouse the suspicion of the Japanese. Through his vigilance and caution, he was
able to keep his guerilla and patriotic activities a secret.”</span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-49657808179341861672014-09-04T02:40:00.000-07:002014-09-04T02:41:47.602-07:00Delfin Gonzalez, Last Mayor of Jaro<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
From the manuscript of Ken Ishikawa:<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">“During the Commonwealth period, Delfin
Gonzalez, the father of RMG, became a leader of the local branch of the
Nacionalista Party. It was the largest,
political party in the country. Its
membership included Sergio Osmeña, Manuel A. Roxas and Manuel L. Quezon, an
illustrious group which had managed to negotiate with the U.S. Senate the terms
of Philippine Independence…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“The year 1940 was a divisive one for
the Iloilo Nacionalista branch, as the brothers Eugenio and Fernando Lopez
engaged in a bitter feud with Governor Tomas Confesor. Three years prior, in the election of 1937,
the Lopezes supported Confesor's governorship bid. During his term proper, however, Confesor
refused to provide the brothers concessions like the lifting of the bridge
toll, which was hurting the Lopez-owned Panay Autobus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“It was in this political atmosphere
that Delfin's bid for the vice-mayoralty of Jaro found itself. Using their political clout, the Lopezes
sought help from Manuel L. Quezon against Confesor. Quezon schemed to remove Confesor's political
support from local party mates. To this
end, he sent Manuel A. Roxas to meet with local Nacionalistas. Roxas came to Jaro and stayed over at Don
Maximiano Jalandoni's mansion. From
there, he sent for Pablo Bion and Delfin Gonzalez, who were running mates. Roxas relayed instructions from Quezon, who
was their party's national chairman, to drop Confesor and instead opt for Dr.
Timoteo Consing for the governorship of Iloilo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Delfin was faced with a difficult choice. If he did not do as Quezon ordered, he was
given the warning that they would not be able to sit as mayor and
vice-mayor. Should they support Dr.
Timoteo Consing, they would only be ensuring that Iloilo's economy would fall
to the clutches of the Lopezes. Despite
the conditions they were threatened with, Gonzalez and Bion, chose to side with
Confesor, and made good their earlier promise to support him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Riding on a populist platform, the two
charged into the campaign for Mayor and Vice-Mayor of Jaro. They raised their
hands and charged with the battlecry “Gugma kontra Kwalta” (Love vs.
Money). The common people of Jaro
believed in the changes Bion and Gonzalez promised and gave them the mandate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“A few months into their
administration, Pablo Bion left his political seat, making Delfin Gonzalez
mayor of Jaro. Quezon made true his
threat and expanded the territory of Iloilo City to cover Molo and Jaro in
1941. Jaro lost its status as a town
with Delfin Gonzalez as its last sitting mayor.
</span><span lang="EN-US">Delfin would tell RMG to shun the fate of the
reed swayed by the wind, and thus</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">a signature virtue of RMG is loyalty, which
perhaps he sometimes bears to a fault.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Delfin was promised by the incumbents
a position as a councilor in the expanded Iloilo city but that never
materialized. Although it was a major
blow to Delfin's career as a politician, he did not allow it to bring his
family down. The Gonzalezes would need
to stick together as they were going to face a bigger storm; one which brought
a rain of bullets, the thundering of artillery bombardment, and the lightning
flash of bayonets.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-33414840811819974272014-08-31T20:51:00.000-07:002014-09-07T09:32:35.447-07:00Sergio, Milagros, and Mario<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">We continue with excerpts from Ken Ishikawa's manuscript about Raul M. Gonzalez (b. 1930):</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Raul’s older brother, Sergio is known as
the joker of the f<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>amily.
He was the warmth to Ester's coolness.
Unlike his elder sister, Sergio loved to talk and to entertain
guests. His amiableness and outgoing
nature, he got from Estrella. Despite,
having contrasting qualities with some of his siblings, Sergio was not a
belligerent big brother. Like his
mother, he loved supporting his siblings in their endeavors…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“After Raul came Milagros and then
Mario. Milagros was the youngest girl of
the family and therefore the three older siblings were protective of her. For all her life, she's been called
Baby. As a little girl, Baby would often
be at the tail of his brother Raul, hoping to be included in his latest
adventure. However, Raul would leave her
behind because he often investigated the paddies and the fields for tadpoles,
catfish and tilapia. Mario, on the other
hand, was always holding the hem of their mother, as he was too young to
venture on his own…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“During the early days of the resumption of
classes [after the end of the Second World War], Sergio, Raul, Baby and Mario
were crossing the road. The siblings
were rushing to the other side because of the rains, and Mario got left behind
in the middle of the crossing. He got
hit by a US army jeep. The soldier
immediately drove him to the Mission Hospital where he was tended by American
doctors. According to their diagnosis,
Mario suffered from a dislocated shoulder because of the bump. However, the overzealous physicians, in their
desire to let the boy suffer no pain, injected him with morphine. Whatever dosage it was that they used for the 7-year old Mario would prove to be a deadly one: the boy woke up no longer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“It was a tragedy that tore the hearts of
all family members. Were they awarded
with survival from the war only to suffer this cruel joke in the end? Estrella took Mario's death most painfully. After the burial, she would hold the boy's
picture and cry for hours.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“From then on, the Gonzalezes' faith in the
science of medicine was shaken. They avoided
hospitals, developed a distrust for doctors, and reviled painkillers and
anaesthetics. Whenever one of the
children got sick, Delfin and Estrella asked a relative, Dr. Piamonte, to make
a housecall. If they were the ones who
fell ill, they took their pain in stride.
One of Estrella's fingers once got broken but she never asked for a
doctor to come to mend it. That finger
would stay crooked for the rest of her life.
Years later, Delfin would die of thrombosis. Although his was still a treatable condition,
Delfin allowed it to go worse until it killed him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode"; mso-fareast-language: HI; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">“Like his parents, Raul became suspicious of doctors and
medicine. Many years later, whenever his
own children had to be hospitalized, he admonished against the use of
anaesthesia. Mario's needless death
taught him that even experts make mistakes.
It was a physician’s lack of precision and forethought that killed his
youngest sibling.”</span></div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-69121173964765903752014-08-28T22:49:00.000-07:002014-08-28T22:50:44.109-07:00Young Ester and Raul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Today’s entry is directly taken from Ken
Ishikawa’s unpublished manuscript on the life of Raul M. Gonzalez.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Family members referred to Ester as Inday
because of her being a responsible eldest sister who looked after the four
other children. It was also obvious then
that she was blossoming into a lovely girl.
Despite these graces, she did not overreach herself, but maintained a
quiet and reserved exterior. At first
glance, people thought her to be 'suplada' – stand-offish and a little
anti-social…Calm intelligence was a quality she shared with her father. Her reserve and her intelligence combined to
produce a mien that extended relatives would come to believe as a Gonzalez
attribute…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Like Ester, the boy Raul took after their
father and his pensive aura. However,
Raul possessed an intelligence fiercer than his father's…It was this curious
mind that would push the young Raul to constantly explore the world around him
to the point that it got him into trouble with Delfin in more than one
occasion. Even when it was already time
for the Angelus, six year old Raul would still be outside playing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“One time, when Raul was seven years old,
Ester garnered the honor of being the princess of their school festival and was
therefore required to be in Iloilo city for a parade. Estrella took Ester and Sergio and left
little Raul behind in Jaro. Raul,
however, had other plans. With three centavos in his pocket, he rode a
double-decked bus heading into the city.
His plan was to look for the family car and hope that his mother and
siblings were there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“Iloilo City in 1938 was already a large
network of banks, warehouses, establishments, roads and side streets. Raul wandered around that pulsing, concrete
web until 11 in the evening, sometimes stooping and bowing his head, hoping to
find coins that some passerby might have dropped. Meanwhile in the house, Delfin and Estrella were
frantic with worry. His father was
already coordinating with the police. It
was fortunate that Raul had found a taxi which brought him home. Raul may not have found some shimmering coins
but his father gave him two shiny beet red globes attached to his buttocks
after the spanking was over.”</span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-42160396811771676942014-08-27T22:51:00.000-07:002014-08-27T22:51:18.788-07:00Delfin and Estrella Gonzalez<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The father of RMG, Delfin Gonzalez, did not
finish school owing to the poverty of RMG’s grandparents. Delfin’s mother, a Chinese mestiza from the
Kimbiong clan, wove cloth to contribute to the family income. Despite his incomplete education, Delfin was
recruited by the American colonizers to teach in one of the public schools they
were building. After a few years of
teaching, he decided to try his hand in helping manage haciendas outside
Bacolod, Negros Occidental. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">At the haciendas, Delfin would recruit
workers and toil close to them under the sun.
When he transferred to another hacienda, most of those workers would
follow him. Delfin would take breaks
from his work to return to Jaro. It was
during one of those breaks that he met Estrella Jover Maravilla.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Before she met Delfin, Estrella was busy
earning a living as a teacher and raising her five siblings, Jose, Juaning, Hector, Loleng and Anita. They were
orphaned in their youth with the death of their mother, while their father
abandoned them to be with another woman. The courtship of Delfin and Estrella was
short, and he promised that he would also take care of her siblings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Estrella was a pious woman who prayed the rosary and went to church regularly. Estrella
taught and required RMG and his siblings to pray the Angelus at noon. After supper, the family would be on their
knees to pray the rosary. Throughout the
years, praying the rosary would be a devotional practice of RMG. During the summer, the house of Delfin and Estrella became the meeting point for lay leaders to settle the details for the
Flores De Mayo which Estrella helped organize.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Estrella would share the household food
with the workers of Delfin. And when he
came home at noon for lunch and then siesta, he would lay his head on her lap
while she plucked away his white hairs. He
would thus fall into a restful sleep.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></span></div>
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-60067740273155271612014-08-25T19:29:00.000-07:002014-09-07T09:31:25.133-07:00Raul M. Gonzalez (RMG)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span lang="EN-US">Today, we begin a series on the life and thoughts
of my father, Raul Maravilla Gonzalez (RMG).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This series is partly based on the unpublished research manuscript of
Ken Ishikawa, a writer and</span> an Asian Public Intellectual grantee.<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">Raul Gonzalez has served the Filipino
people as an active opponent of dictatorship during the darkest days of Martial
Law. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>After the
ouster of Ferdinand Marcos thru the February 1986 “People Power” event, Cory
Aquino assumed the presidency and appointed RMG as Tanodbayan (Ombudsman), a
responsibility he exercised until September 1988.<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">From 1995 to 2004, RMG served as
Congressman of the Lone District of Iloilo City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From 2004 to 2009, he headed the Department
of Justice in the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">Raul M. Gonzalez was born in Hacienda Caiñaman
in La Carlota, Negros Occidental, on 03 December 1930. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His father, Delfin Gonzalez, was the
administrator of the plantation, which was Spanish-owned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Delfin was from Jaro, Iloilo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His wife, Estrella Maravilla, worked as a teacher at the Colegio de San Jose, Jaro. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Delfin and Estrella had 6 children:</span> Ester (Inday), Sergio, Herman, RMG, Milagros (Baby) and Mario.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Herman died as an infant, Mario died in
childhood, and Ester passed away in 2001.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-65432251846091041122013-11-28T22:02:00.000-08:002013-11-28T22:02:50.137-08:00New Evangelization<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">New
Evangelization is the mission to bear witness to the Gospel of Christ with
renewed fervor and to create and use new expressions and new methods in
proclaiming the Good News.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New
Evangelization sustains and does not change the salvific sufficiency of the
Gospel, as “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews
13:8).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">New
expressions and methods in evangelization are necessary owing to these signs of
the times: the globalization of information and communication and the ageing of
the clergy and their steadily diminishing numbers in the older churches of Europe
and North America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With increasing
access of masses of people to means of interactive communication, there is increasing
discontent with one-way communication and authoritarian leadership in many
parts of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Modern man is
rebelling against paternalism in every sphere of life” (Theodore Wedel).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Old
methods that involve unidirectional communication from top to bottom are giving
way to methods that are interactive and dialogical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New Evangelization is dialogical in its
approach to other cultures, religions, and realms of expertise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dialogical way implies a humble Church,
which recognizes its faults and imperfections and seeks the help of other
cultures, religions, disciplines, and experts towards a better understanding of
itself and the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As
one Vatican II document puts it: “Nowadays when things change so rapidly and
thought patterns differ so widely, the Church needs to step up this exchange
[with different cultures] by calling upon the help of people who are living in
the world, who are expert in its organizations and its forms of training, and
who understand its mentality, in the case of believers and nonbelievers alike”
(<i>Gaudium et Spes</i> 44).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">In dialogue with the natural and social sciences, the Church has
developed a better understanding of the human condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the process new expressions have been
created by discerning believers and leaders among which is “integral
evangelization.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This new expression is
a summary of a deep belief that the Gospel benefits the whole human person
(body, mind and spirit), all human practices (political, economic, ecological,
cultural, educational, and spiritual) and the whole of creation, “which waits
in eager expectation for the sons [and daughters] of God to be revealed”
(Romans 8:19).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, every field of
human activity, which affects ecological and social environments, is a field of
evangelization, which bears the Gospel as leading source of visionary
light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">With
integral evangelization, the Gospel is understood as a divine gift to the whole
body of humankind with the whole of creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the Philippines, integral evangelization requires a Church
transformed into a “Church of the Poor,” a Church that is pro-poor for the sake
of the common good and God’s Reign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
such a renewed Church, “the Church will not only evangelize the poor…the poor
in the Church will themselves become evangelizers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pastors will learn to be with, work with and
learn from the poor.” (PCP II Document, 132)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Politics is a priority area of New
Evangelization in the Philippines because, while politics can lead people to
the common good, it has dehumanized many Filipinos by entrapping them in
practices and procedures that violate or degrade human dignity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Politics should protect and not degrade human
dignity, which flows from God’s decision to create human beings, male and
female, in the divine “image” as co-creators who also serve as guardians “over
the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature
that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:27-28). <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Other
examples of new expressions that will be helpful for the New Evangelization are
“empowerment of the laity,” “empowerment of the poor,” and “inter-generational
justice.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More new expressions will
emerge as new dialogical methods will be proposed, pursued, tried and tested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">New
Evangelization carries the hope of creative fidelity to the Spirit of Christ
and the promise of an abundant harvest of holiness and joy in the Church and
justice and peace in the world.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-159383487002907943.post-41639119918878929012013-05-06T23:27:00.000-07:002013-05-13T23:43:46.357-07:00Biofuels Law<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Six years go, on 06 May 2007, the Biofuels Law (RA 9367) enacted by the 13th Congress started to take effect, as gasoline stations sold diesel with 1% coco biofuel blend. After several years, it is about time to
review the implementation of the Law, which was intended to lead to cleaner and
cheaper fuel, climate change mitigation, the development of a bioethanol industry, the generation of jobs,
and increased income for sugar farmers.<o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
The review of the implementation
of the Biofuels Law is a major task of the 16<sup>th</sup>Congress, which shall
open in July this year.<br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
One of the vocal supporters of
the Biofuels bill in the 13<sup>th</sup> Congress was the first-term Iloilo
City Congressman Raul T. Gonzalez Jr. Below are excerpts from the Journal of
the House of Representatives during deliberations on the bill:<o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
“[Rep. Gonzalez] said he has
been an advocate of the government’s search for alternative sources of fuel
since he took his oath as a new member of the 13<sup>th</sup>Congress.<o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
“Rep. Gonzalez informed the Body
that, in Brazil, which has a big industry for sugarcane and produces ethanol
for local consumption as well as for export, the average price for ethanol is
USD25/barrel. He also stressed that coco-diesel is an alternative fuel for the
country and suggested that the bill include a timeline for the use of the same.<o:p></o:p><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
“He pointed out that the country
could eventually earn foreign currency by exporting biofuels produced from its
many sugarcane plantations, to such countries as China and Japan, whose demand
for biofuels cannot be satisfied by Brazil. This will contribute to improving
our balance of trade.”<o:p></o:p></div>
Dennis T. Gonzalezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17008830262673725704noreply@blogger.com0