The Ilocos Times

B y Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo The term powerful here means authoritative and forceful. Holy Scripture contains many powerful statements and one of them is from the Gospel of St. Matthew that says, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet lose their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Matthew 16:26) No human being past, present or future could utter those words. No wise man, such as Confucius or Buddha could ever think of making those statements because it is not an earthly statement. It is not earthly wisdom but heavenly wisdom. An out of this world statement. It is not earthly because it talks about the soul not the body. And because it is an out of this world Person that talks about it. The gospel passage basically means that you might gain all the things that this world would cherish such as wealth, honor, pleasure, and power in great abundance and yet that’s nothing compared to losing one’s soul.   The losing of one’s soul does no...

UNLESS our human laws can capture the logic behind that divine commandment to love one another as Christ has loved us and continues to love us, even to the extent of loving our enemies, we can only say that indeed our human laws, despite all the good things they can accomplish, can only do so much for us. Our human laws can only struggle to capture the divine wisdom of loving our enemies because they are designed more to maintain order, human justice and protection within a society, whereas the commandment to love our enemies is a moral and spiritual teaching that certainly goes beyond the scope of legal codes. Our human laws can mandate behaviors like not harming others, but they cannot legislate things that are mainly on the spiritual and supernatural levels which actually are the ultimate dimensions that shape our life not only as persons but also as children of God, created in God’s image and likeness. While we obviously need to be governed by the rule of law, we should also ...

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo In Genesis Chapter 22 of the Old Testament, God put Abraham to test by asking Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a human sacrifice only to be held on when Abraham was about to kill Isaac. Many atheists would point out to this Scripture story as another proof of the absurdity of a God who asked a father to kill his son but stops him when His creature was almost done obeying Him. Atheists would claim that this Christian God is playing games with His creatures. Therefore, according to them, it’s another proof that He does not really exist. What the atheists don’t understand was the purpose of the test. It was all about fulfilling the virtue of Charity. God wanted to see if Abraham loves God above all, even more than his son. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the Theological Virtue of Charity as the virtue by which “We love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.”   (CCC 1822) Theologians would s...

A NUMBER of times, Christ complained about the lack of faith of the people of his time. “This generation is a wicked generation: it asks for a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet ,” he once said. ( Lk 11,29-32 ) We need to see to it that our faith is strong, deep, and abiding so we can go on with our daily activities with a profound sense of commitment and not just go through them with the attitude of simply complying with what is expected of us. To do things and to live with a sense of commitment means that we should be driven by some core belief which in none other than a belief in God. We would always be aware of doing things with and for our Lord and because of that, we would do things in the best way we can, despite our limitations and the various conditionings that we are subject to. When we have a good sense of commitment, we would show determination in fulfilling it, a determination that can only spring from love. We make a promise...

THAT gospel episode, where some resurrection-deniers among the Jews tested Christ with a tricky question about the resurrection, gave Christ the chance to talk precisely about this truth of our Christian faith. (cfr. Mk 12,18-27) They approached him and posed the question about whose wife a woman who married seven brothers, one after another, would be among the brothers at what they regarded as the so-called resurrection. And so, Christ told them that at the resurrection, everyone would have gone beyond our earthly condition to enter into our spiritualized and supernatural condition. Yes, we will still retain our body. But that body will be fully subjected to its spiritual and supernatural condition where marriage, whose main purpose is procreation, would already be irrelevant. As Christ said, in the resurrection, we would be like angels, but angels with a body. We will not be pure spirits. And then he proceeded to explain about the resurrection by citing some passages in the Bo...

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo The title above does not say, “Why did God create evil ?” because God does not directly create evil. All that God created is good. We men are the ones who have spoiled creation and created evil. God only allows evil to happen but always for a good purpose. Life is full of good things. Some of them are very good. But life is also full of bad things:   sin, suffering, disease, death, disappointments, fears, follies, and failures. A religion that does not take into account the “dark side” of life is unrealistic and incomplete. The Catholic Church , like God Himself, has always taken evil seriously, in real life as well as in thought. First, let’s discuss evil and its nature. Evil is the most serious problem in the world for three reasons:   one, it is the only anti-God thing in the world. Second, evil is the strongest argument against the existence of God, the only reason for atheism :   if God is good why does He allow evil? There are many ...

AT one time , Christ told this parable about how to behave when invited to some special event. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.” (Lk 14,8-9) He is obviously telling us that we should avoid feeling entitled and privileged because of some position or status we enjoy in life. We should rather try to pass unnoticed, always concerned with doing a lot of good and with the eagerness to serve anyone and everyone. This way we would be imitating Christ who is the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. And with him, we would already have everything we truly need. We would have no more need for any earthly consolation or compensation. It is with him that we have our tr...

CHRIST clearly said, nay, commanded us to do so. (cfr. Lk 6,27) We, of course, could not help but be incredulous by these words of Christ. Why oh why should we love our enemies when our very basic common sense would tell us the opposite? We truly need to pause a little to find why Christ, who is supposed to be the embodiment of love, the very essence of God, would say so. And the only answer we can find is that precisely God, who is full of love, cannot hate anyone or anything. And Christ showed it to us by offering his life for all our sins. He even offered forgiveness to those who crucified him. Whenever we have to deal with our enemies in whatever form they can come to us—whether in the form of persons or contradictions, difficulties, trials, failures, etc.—we should be quick to acknowledge that we are actually given a chance, an invitation to grow in love, to conform our love to the real love that Christ has shown us. Let’s also remember that Christ himself commanded us to lo...

THAT gospel episode about Christ’s disciples experiencing a terrible tempest at sea while Christ was simply sleeping in one corner of the boat (cfr. Mt 8,23-27) should remind us that while we cannot help but be filled with fear and worries when all kinds of life’s troubles would assail us, we should never lose the hope that Christ will always come to our aid one way or another. We should try to recover our hope and serenity so that we can be in a better condition to tackle the many challenges of our life. We have to train ourselves to have this kind of reaction, knowing that trials and all kinds of difficulties are unavoidable in our life. Let’s never forget what Christ once said: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33) In all our affairs and situations in life, we should always go to God to ask for his help and guidance, and to trust his ways and his providence, even if the outcome of our prayers and petitions appears unanswere...

By Noralyn Dudt FAITH and science collide, often the saying goes. But developments in biochemistry and cell biology are proving otherwise. A biochemist peers into a tiny cell and   he stands in awe by the intricacies of the molecular machines that reside there which science has been uncovering over the last decade. There are elegant machines that translate RNA into protein, others that help move the cell around and others that transmit signals from the cell surface to the nucleus, traveling along a cascading pathway of multiple components. And   It is not only   the cell that provokes a sense of astonishment -- entire organs that are made up of billions or trillions of cells are constructed in a way that can only inspire awe. Consider, for instance, the human eye, a complex camera-like organ whose anatomy and physiology continue to impress even the most sophisticated student of optics. Dr. Francis Collins, a renowned geneticist and former director of the National Ins...

BEGGING your pardon for that rather naughty title of this piece, what I would like to bring out is that if we truly have the Christian spirit, that spirit should animate not only our spiritual soul but also our body all the way to our sexuality as represented by our genitalia where the crudest and strongest forms of our animality are found. That’s because our Christianity should not only be a spiritual affair. It has to impact the whole man, body and soul. Let’s remember that man is always a unity of body and soul. He is not just pure body nor pure spiritual soul. And as our Catechism teaches us, the body, properly animated by the spiritual soul, shares in the dignity of the “image of God.” (cfr. CCC 364) We can say that once our sexuality is animated by the Christian spirit, we truly can consider ourselves as authentic and consistent Christian. That’s because our sexuality can be regarded as the last frontier where the Christian spirit has to conquer. And it’s not an easy frontier...

By   Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo Fraternal correction is an act of charity of pointing out to others their fault which could harm themselves and others.   The Catechism of the Catholic Church specifically includes fraternal correction as one of the proofs of our love for others.   “The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction.” (CCC 1829) We live in a very imperfect world inhabited by very imperfect people.   It’s unavoidable that we would offend others or at the receiving end of an offense whether intentional or not, thus we need to correct one another.      Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us how to correct one another in the following passage of St. Matthew’s Gospel.   “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.   If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.   But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you,...

By Carlos V. Cornejo God pays attention to small things.   We should too.   When Christ did a miracle of multiplying the loaves and fishes to feed five thousand people, he instructed his disciples to gather the left-over food.   “When they all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’   So, they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”   (John 6:12-13) In fact, God rewards generously those who take care of the little things, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much: enter into the joy of your master.”   (Matthew 25:23) Many people are not moving with God today simply because they were not willing to take the small steps He placed before them.    Let’s look at the number of young people who have finished college in the Philippines for example. ...

THIS should be no surprise to us. With the way things are now—new technologies offering more temptations than real advantages, and people spiritually and morally impoverished—what can we expect? That’s why requests for exorcism and deliverance have dramatically increased these days, not to mention the increasing cases of mental illness, psychological disorders, suicide, etc. We should never take the devils for granted. They are always around, ever scheming and plotting against us in many, many ways, and often in a manner that is so subtle that we may not even notice them. As St. Peter would put in his first letter: “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” (5,8) We should never consider the devils as a myth, or as some kind of literary device only to highlight a point in the drama of our life. They are as real as you and me. Our problem is that we think lightly or, worse, falsely of them. And so, we become completely unprepared to de...

The procession of Christ the King 2024  Photos by John Lei Medrano By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Nueva Era , Ilocos Norte—Thousands of Catholic devotees from the entire province of Ilocos Norte joined and participated in this year’s Diocesan Christ The King 2024 held at Mary Mother of the Church Mission Station in Brgy.  Uguis, in this town on Nov. 24, 2024 with the theme: “Iti Daytoy a Tawen Iti Kararag, Kibinen Natayo Ni Maria, Ina Iti Simbaan A Mangnamnama Iti Kaasi Ni Kristo Rey Nga Ari”. “Napalaos iti pinagyaman mi kadakayo amin nga immay nagatendar iti daytoy nainsantoan a Kristo Rey ditoy a nanumo nga ili mi kangrunaan na ditoy nain-gasatan a Brgy. Uguis, Nueva Era numan pay adayo a kuna tayo ken kangrunaan na man ti Apo tayo a Namarsua ta inikkan natayo iti gundaway a nangsangaili kaniyana ditoy lugar tayo ket aglaplapunusan ti ayat ken ragsak iti marikrikna mi ita gapu iti kaadu yo nga immay nagatendar ken iti kumpleto a parokya ken padi iti probinsiy...