Thoughts About Loyalty to God

I remember back in high school, I made a personal vow of loyalty to God and the church that He built. Whenever an atheist or a doubter tells me that God is not real or say the Catholic Church is wrong, I would just laugh at them and say "When you die, you'd understand.", then leave it like that. But through time and with God's grace I realized that what I had was an immature loyalty; it was soft. How did I know it was soft? Because whenever my cross gets heavy, I'd throw it away and tell the Lord it's too heavy but I love thee. And that happened a lot; No resolution whatsoever and I was going nowhere.

I think loyalty to God must have a purpose. If it's not to know God more and to be closer to Him, then what is one's loyalty worth? To reject a teaching that contradicts the Church is not the same as to accept Christ and learn more about Him--One leads you to a dead end; The latter one moves you forward and advances you to a stronger faith. It is not enough that we reject a false teaching. We should be able to answer why it is false, and be able to show the truth. Genuine loyalty to God is loyalty with a backbone of a serious desire to know and accept Him and His bride (The Church).

When doubters pour an ocean of questions and you are able to command the waters to clear the way for the answers to pass--yes--is evidence (fruit) of true loyalty, but not being able to answer doubters doesn't necessarily mean that one is not loyal. It means we have more to learn, and we must desire to learn. That desire to learn instead of yielding, is a reflection of loyalty.

Does one have to test one's loyalty? Well, I think we don't need to test how loyal we are. Constantly we are already being tested with trials not because God needs proof of our loyalty, but rather to prove to ourselves how strong we've become.

Excuses for Kamanyakan

     Beware, it's everywhere! It's in school, at the park, in the office, on the internet, in magazines, on TV, in the news, in newspapers, in books, in commercials-- kamanyakan has become a plague! If you're not yet aware of it, be on guard against those liberal minds behind lousy manyakis excuses justifying their kamanyakan.

     The number one excuse of all time, I believe, is the human nature excuse. While it's true that if most, if not all, of adults have sexual desires, self-control is also part of human nature. For example, a man with hyperglycemia can decide whether to satisfy his cravings for sweets or to help treat his condition by controlling his cravings. Obviously, choosing the former would worsen his health condition. Controlling one's sexual desires is natural, too. We are not like wild animals incapable of "taming" our urges.

      Another common excuse is health. They say that "doing it yourself" (DIY?) or doing "this and that" (details not necessary) can make you slimmer (slimmer doesn't necessarily mean healthier!) and smarter.  Some even claim it can boost your immune system and prevent cancer! Oh boy... First of all, some of these are NOT even medical facts. You want facts? If you really want to be smarter--study. If you want to be slimmer--manage your diet and exercise. If you want to boost your immune system--eat healthy food and take vitamins. If you want to prevent cancer--uuhmmmm.. go ask a doctor.  Come on man, this manyakis health excuse is really lame.

     This is probably the most cunning and deceptive excuse: LOVE. "Baby I love you. Let's do it even if I've done it with some other woman just a week ago."  Any form of sexual pleasure outside of marriage is not true love. Giving pleasure to one another outside the sacrament of marriage is treating each other like objects; It is without dignity. Dignity requires awareness that we are, in fact, made in the image and likeness of God. True love requires sacrifice--YES, sacrifice. Being chaste, resisting temptation, rejecting pleasure--these are some forms of sacrifice that reflect true love. You shouldn't say, "I love you 'cause you complete me," because God is the only one who can complete us.  He is Love and the only source of true love-- the only kind of love that can fill our emptiness. When we come to Him and we are filled with love, that's true love and that's the kind of love worth sharing.

      Kamanyakan excuses come in many forms. I mentioned only three. But really, no amount, size, or shape of excuse can justify kamanyakan.

Superstition

      It's bad luck to cut your nails at night. You won't get married if someone takes away their plate away from the table while you're still eating. Say "tabi-tabi po" if you walk across an ant mound so that dwarves won't harm you. Knock on wood if you say something that you don't want to happen so it won't happen. Turn your shirt inside out when you think you are lost so that you would find your way out. If you see a black cat crossing the road, you should get past it before it reaches the other side so you won't get jinxed. Well, these are called superstitions.

       When I was younger, I too believed in superstition. To defend it, I'd say things like "There's nothing wrong about it.", "What if it's true?", "It won't hurt if I follow. I'm just playing safe here.". But really, to believe in superstition means to surrender to a power--which you believe either consciously or subliminally--will punish you if you don't comply with its rules/rituals, no matter how ridiculous they may be. Think about it: if that power is a force that causes harm, where do you think does that power come from? It's surely not from a source of love and peace.

       Submitting to a power that's not from The Divine is offering one's self to the other side; I'm sure it makes "them" happy. I could compare it to offering food to duwendes (duwendes/dwarves are actually demons guised as small supernatural people. Some pretend to be nice.). In superstition you offer obedience instead. Even saying "tabi-tabi po" is an act of submission to duwendes. Look at it this way: "Po" is a unique Filipino word that we use, to show respect to an elderly or a superior. Would you consider a demon as your superior? If not, then why would you say a word that is meant for giving respect, to these creatures? You shouldn't be communicating with them in the first place.

       The first commandment of God tells us that we should have no other gods before Him. We should love Him above all. One cannot love God and yield to superstition at the same time. Jesus Christ taught us that we cannot have two masters. You can only devote yourself to one, and I pray that we all choose Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Meow!

Homosexuality: A Deadly Fruit

Homosexuality -- a deadly fruit of the sexual revolution -- cannot bear God-loving children; It sprouts physical illness (besides spiritual harm); like the spreading of AIDS, evident in places where it is prevalent. Sometimes the truth hurts, but we have to accept it and never tolerate; tolerance is not a christian virtue nor something that could help stop this deadly fruit from propagating.

Homosexuals are called to be chaste; it is the only strategy that would work to prevent it from causing more damage. To achieve chastity (for homosexuals), it is crucial for them to understand that a homosexual lifestyle is harmful to both body and soul -- not just to one's self, but to society. It is also important to know that homosexuality leads to:

Shorter lifespan (more dangerous than smoking)

"The consistency of reduced lifespan for those engaging in homosexuality is significant," said Dr. Cameron. "The same pattern of early death turned up whether we looked at obituaries in the U.S. or deaths in marriage. Given the greatly reduced lifespan for homosexuals, school children should be strongly and consistently warned about the dangers of homosexuality even more so than smoking. Those school districts which are introducing pro-gay curricula need  to rethink their priorities."

Significantly higher rate of child molestation

"In research with 942 nonclinical adult participants, gay men and lesbian women reported a significantly higher rate of childhood molestation than did heterosexual men and women."


Spread of HIV

"According to the new estimates, there were 48,600 new HIV infections in the United States in 2006, 56,000 in 2007, 47,800 in 2008 and 48,100 in 2009.  The multi-year incidence estimates allow for a reliable examination of trends over time.  They reveal no statistically significant change in HIV incidence overall from 2006 to 2009, with an average of 50,000 for the four-year period.  In 2009, the largest number of new infections was among white MSM (11,400), followed closely by black MSM (10,800).  Hispanic MSM (6,000) and black women (5,400) were also heavily affected. ".


Emotional and Psychological Health Problems

"73% of the psychiatrists in the American Psychiatric Association who responded to a survey by Harold I. Lief said that they thought that homosexual men are less happy than others. 70% percent said they believed that the homosexuals' problems were due more to personal conflicts than to social stigmatization."

"In a national health care survey 75% of the nearly 2000 lesbian respondents reported they had pursued psychological counselling of some kind, many for treatment of long-term depression or sadness. "


If the negative effects listed above is not convincing enough for you to take this deadly fruit seriously, imagine there's no resistance. Everyone would think it's okay -- everyone would think that it's normal -- they would start blaming other things that don't trace down to the roots of this problem -- or worse, they won't care even if everybody's suffering from all these negative effects -- Oh wait -- aren't these happening now?

"Aanhin pa ang prutas kung kapahamakan lamang pala ang idudulot nito? Mag keso ka nalang." - Mr. Keso

The Mad Spirit

The spirit of the world has gone mad – pornography, prostitution, relativism, new age teachings, abortion, contraceptive mentality, freemasonry, atheism, media control, same sex "marriage", secularism. How can the youth grow up to stand against this mad spirit that's been prowling and destroying souls? "Modern" eyes cannot see evil because it is unequipped with faith; it became too dependent on science – not capable of understanding the spirit world.

We Filipinos are very religious; the majority are Catholics. Sadly, many "practicing" Catholics have been corrupted by the spirit that's been pulling people away from the truth – combining totally incompatible foreign beliefs like astrology, with Christ's teachings – like a Frankenstine religion.

In bookstores you'll see new age books promoting this idea they call "the law of attraction" – it teaches a belief that one's thoughts can give you the energy you need to attract/get/reach your desires. Instead of praying to God for His blessings, new age believers focus their minds on a mysterious/unknown source of energy; it's putting one's faith in something other than The Divine. Guess what? If it's not from God, it's from the other side (yeah, I wont mention its name).

Evil spirits can plant thoughts into your mind, making you think it's okay to invoke or draw power from it – and it can even make itself seem too unreal, as if it does not really exist. It will do whatever is needed to turn you away from Jesus Christ, because it knows even if it's already defeated, it can hurt Him by taking away something so dear to Him. The mad spirit will sometimes give you what you want – but of course, not without having something in return – your soul.

Let us call to arms against evil! Weapons like the rosary have been forged to defeat it. Stay close, listen, and defend the pillar and foundation of the Truth; the Catholic Church – the Church Christ Himself built.

Apoy ng Pagmamahal

"Baka kaya ako nangingitim... dahil sa apoy ng iyong pagmamahal <3" - DK

Emo

"Ang malinis na puso ay hindi nakakakita ng pangit. Pero ang pangit, nakakakita ng malinis na puso..." - DK

(Sa totoo lang hindi ko alam kung totoo ito. Gwapo ako e.)