ABC STARS Inspires

Naga! City of my birth! Dearest town in all the earth! Citizen or governor, There is much to thank you for! Naga, where twin rivers meet, The region's ecclesiastical seat. Once called the "Plaza Miranda of Bikol" By the Dictator and his people. Home of a people gentle and brave Upholding freedoms the Creator gave! Cradle of bikol culture and learning With singular Marian devotion burning! Naga City, the Philippines A David among the Philistines Heir to a rich, inspiring saga Of Unconquerable Faith! Mabuhay Naga! *Oragon, Dec., 1991

Image courtesy of artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net We have been so tired and weary We have walked for many a mile All the world's so dull and dreary And we long to rest a while. But we hear our Shepherd calling All of us who've gone astray We must act and stop our stalling He's the Truth, the Life, the Way.         Cursillistas one and all         Yes, the "die is cast"         We will follow but His call         We have shorn our past! We renounce the devil's pleasures And we let our voices ring That we seek above all treasures But the love of Christ the King. He is rest for all the weary He is drink for all who thirst All the world's no longer dreary For all those who seek Him first! (The Rainbow, Oct., 1966) _______________________ "Human life is sacred, from its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God." --Pope John XXIII

"Death is not extinguishing a light "But putting out a lamp for dawn has come!" A light kept burning all throughout the night For dawn comes, soon or not so soon for some. All thru the twilight, Papa was by your side Until the moment that your soul ascended. For fifty-one years you were his beloved bride; "Goodbye my love!" he sighed, when the vigil ended. 'Twas the feast of our Lady's apparition To Bernadette at Lourdes, 'Twas dawn! For you! Ah morn of life unending! Unprismed vision Of God in Love's eternal rendezvous!         Remember us who bear the pilgrim's pain!         O Mama, pray for us still we meet again! February, 1982 photo credit: Pink Dawn via photopin (license) License: (license)

My home is an old-fashioned home Where portraits hanging on the walls Are of the little ones who roam And play at will within its halls; And where a greater King than I, Enthroned, is first to catch the eye. Where she, my queen, is still the core Of life and warmth the whole day through To whom my children can outpour Their aches and longings, old and new Learn life from mother no one less Not from a maid or governess. Where little feet still run to meet Their father coming home from work With cries that lift up one's conceit Be he a king or common clerk; No longer will they watch the street The family is again complete And where, as if we have just started To live again, we're all together Boisterous and single-hearted All in orbit around mother In the kitchen, yard or other places Her brood of dear, demanding faces. Perhaps our ways seem silly and strange In this jet, atomic, beatnik age But, what do we get i...

Photo by cc I gazed at what had caught my eye--- The early sun perched on the hill As red and ominously still As an egg yolk painted in the sky. Enrapt in its beauty I stared At this portentious whitening or Until my eyes could not absorb Its burning brilliance shining unspared Long had I sought the reason why My mind could never comprehend The mysteries that know no end That reason fails to satisfy. Yet, if the naked eye goes blind At the glory of this finite sun How can I, O Infinite One, Contain Thee in my finite mind! 19-4-60         

Image courtesy of chrisroll at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Today is special --- the day you turn eighteen. You've grown so well, in age and wisdom and grace. I still remember, perhaps you wouldn't have been If not for Mommy's faith, her heroic ways. Long ago, when Thirteen was eight months old, Mommy had a stroke, was paralyzed. "No further pregnancies" so she was told, "Or else your life would be jeopardized!" She didn't agree. She said, "That cannot be! "There's got to be a buddy for James the Less "So James the Great, Fourteen, is coming, you'll see!" She talked with God that's why. He answered, "Yes!" Great was our joy that December morn! Mommy was well! You were naturally born! 9 Dec 94

Image courtesy of digidreamgrafix  at FreeDigitalPhotos.net There's something holy in a family Woven into God's unfathomable Plan. The Redeemer could so easily Have come, like Adam, fully grown as man. Yet He, the Truth, the Life, the Way, was born Of Mary in a manger on a hill When that starry midnight turned to morn While peace was on the land and all was still. In a family, He grew in grace and age, Like any other being on this Earth. The Lord of Creation! earning a carpenter's wage! 'Twas He himself, who chose a humble birth! Could it be, for the mighty and the lowly, The family is blessed! To keep us, holy? Christmas, 1992