Hi there! It’s another weekend. First things first. The CKC Jose Gomez Orchestra goes in Concert at 6:30 pm tonight. The event will be held at the Frs. Leopold and David Auditorium at the CKC Campus. Said performance will be preceded by a matinee at 3:00 pm.
Tickets are priced at 100 pesos. 500-peso sponsor tickets are also available. Proceeds of the concert will form part of the fund being raised for the renovation of the auditorium which will serve as the official home of the orchestra.
You may purchase your tickets at the CKC Bookstore; or at the gate during the concert.
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It’s in the news, state employees will be ten thousand-peso richer this month. As to the LGU employees, we are still keeping our fingers crossed.
So, Manny is back. As expected, he was the news. And news had it that he will be conferred the title as Ambassador of Peace. It’s not that I don’t like the idea, it’s just that something in me asks the big why, considering that boxing is one hell of a bloody sport. Okey, maybe it’s the unifying factor in him. You know how our officials stop bickering each time he enters the ring (oops, the DENR Secretary got some Senators’ flak for being in Vegas); and yes, not to mention the absence of heavy traffic and the zero crime rate.
The Senate is setting Joc-joc free. Unless they have changed the rules, the investigations conducted by the Senate are in aid of legislation. I’m still waiting what legislation they have in mind after the Bolante issue.
And from Jay Leno. President Bush recently announced that he has purchased a property to serve as his retirement home when he finishes his term in January 2009. At last, for the first time in his presidency, Dubya has got an exit strategy. (Smile, it’s a weekend)
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From the City Health Office. It’s not only the big-name pharmacies that are doing good in Calbayog City. We also have the Calbayog OFWs’ Botika ng Barangay which was among the programs cited / or presented to PGMA the last time she was in Calbayog.
Then there is the Health Plus Outlets (HPOs) in Calbayog. The Health Plus Botika “gaan sa bulsa, epektibo pa” is now on its sixth month of operation in seven locations in Calbayog namely, the Main Health Centers in Migara, Capoocan and Tinambacan; and the Barangay Health Stations in Nijaga, Carayman, Peña and Mag-ubay.
Health Plus is a social franchising in the Philippine Pharmaceutical Sector owned by the National Pharmaceutical Foundation. It aims to provide sustainable supply of good quality and affordable generic medicines especially for the poor.
The opening of the 7 HPOs in Calbayog was made possible through a May 15, 2008 MOA which the LGU through Mayor Mel Sarmiento signed with its local NGO operator, the Civic Action Group of Barangay Health Workers, Inc. (CAGBAHWI) headed by Flaviana Yu.
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The Regional Development Council (RDC-8) will meet today in Calbayog City. I am not privy as to what’s in the agenda. The City Arts and Culture Office has prepared a program for the visitors for tonight’s dinner dubbed as Pagtigman which I am going host at the Nijaga Park.
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Last Monday, I mentioned something about one of the most loved (or otherwise) songs of Christmas. Let me give you something which I got from http://www.littlechicagoreview.com/. It’s an article written by Diana Mackinen. Here’s part of that article:
“…some of us love it and some of us don’t. However there is a hidden meaning in the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” and it is very interesting. In England from 1558 to 1829, Catholics were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. In fact it was illegal to be Catholic until 1829 when the English Parliament finally emancipated the religion. Those practicing the Catholic faith and caught would be imprisoned or executed. The song was written in England as one of the “catechism songs” to help young children learn the basics of their faith. It was a coded-message, a memory aid. The song, itself, sounded like rhyming nonsense and the young children of the Catholic faith could sing the song. The powers that be did not know the real meaning of the song.
“The 12 Days of Christmas” is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something significant to the teachings of the faith. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help children learn their faith and better understand the Bible. The song goes, “On the first day of Christmas my true love game to me…. “True love” is referring to God Himself and the “me” who receives the present refers to every baptized person, i.e. the Church.
Day 1 The partridge in a pear tree is Christ Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them. The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus Christ on the tree of the cross.
Day 2 The “two turtle doves” refers to the Old and New Testaments.
Day 3 The “three French hens” stands for faith, hope and love – the three gifts of the Spirit that abided (1 Corinthians 13).
Day 4 The “four calling birds” refers to the four evangelists who wrote the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Day 5 The “five golden rings” represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish torah; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Day 6 The “six geese a-laying” is the six days of creation.
Day 7 The “seven swans a-swimming” refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
Day 8 The “eight maids a milking” reminded children of the eight beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.
Day 9 The "nine ladies dancing” were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Day 10 The “ten lords a-leaping” represents the Ten Commandments.
Day 11 The “eleven pipers piping” refers to the eleven faithful apostles.
Day 12 The “twelve drummers drumming’’ were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles’ Creed belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and rose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting.
The song is only sung at Christmas time now, but its hidden meaning saved the lives and religious faith of many during the 271 years the Catholic faith was outlawed in England. The next time you hear this song, consider how this otherwise non-religious and to some annoying, song had its origins in keeping alive the teaching of the Catholic faith. By-the-way, if you were to purchase all of the gifts in the song, it would cost you over $87,000.
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This is it for now. Have a nice weekend everyone! Ciao!
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