eastwindjournals14eastwindjournals are the personal journalistic writings of Bernie Lopez, and are not part of the healing ministry. Any views or comments are his own and does not reflect those of the ministry.
_____________________________________ THE WAR AGAINST THE SUPREME COURT
The war is not really against the Supreme Court per se but against some justices, specifically Chief Justice Corona and the eight other GMA appointees who are being accused of trying to get GMA off the hook. But the danger is that the war may undermine the Supreme Court itself and trigger a constitutional crisis.
Eight big worms started creeping out of the box as soon as it was opened by a congressional impeach-Corona decision. Things that had been hidden for so long, or ignored, or shelved have suddenly emerged. All of a sudden, the highest most prestigious court in the land, for the first time in history, is under the gun as never before. The Lower House wanted the ‘crown’ removed, the institution decapitated.
Here is an inventory of eight major accusations (there may be more) against Corona and the Supreme Court that have come out of the press right after the Lower House impeached Corona by an overwhelming 188 signatures, when only 94 or one third were needed.
First is “betraying the public trust because of a track record of bias and partiality in cases involving former President Arroyo”. Second is “culpable violation of the Constitution when he failed to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth”. Third is violation of the Charter “in allowing the Supreme Court to act on mere letters filed by a counsel (thereby) creating an excessive entanglement with Mrs. Arroyo through her appointment of his wife to office; and in discussing with litigants regarding cases pendind before the Supreme Court”.
Fourth is “manifesting partiality in the grant of a temporary restraining order ‘in favor’ of Mrs. Arroyo and her husband ‘to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to frustrate the ends of justice”. The accusation of ‘frustrating justice’ against a Justice is a very serious matter and has deep implications on the situation of our present jurisprudence.
Fifth is a graft and corruption charge of “failing and refusing to account for the Judiciary Development Fund and Special Allowance for the Judiciary colletions, (using) public funds for his own personal purposes”. Sixth is the SC order “issued against the House when the latter was in the process of impeaching Gutierrez”. Seventh is reversal of “decisions on the conversion of 16 towns into cities, and Dinagat Island into a province”. Eighth is the SC “paving the way for the creation of the second district of Camarines Sur to accommodate Mrs. Arroyou’s son Dato”. (Source – Philippine Star).
Corona has several options. Option 1 is to fight it out in the Senate and in the Supreme Court itself. But if the judges are being judged, if the Justices are being accused of injustice, the Supreme Court is no longer a court but a ‘defendant’. The result of Option 1 may be more worms coming out, bigger and uglier than ever. Option 1 is actually a damage control move on the part of Corona etal, that may boomerang. In the hope of saving his name and that of the Supreme Court, Corona may lose it more.
This may force Corona to seek Option 2, which is what Guttierez took. Rather than face the snake pit of an angry Senate, Gutierrez chose to resign. It was a good move. The war was over and forgotten. Guttierez retreated, licking her wounds, but it was better than getting more wounds. Guttierez buckled down. Corona may begin counting the pros and antis in the Senate before he makes a move, but at this stage, it is better he does not. There are unpredictable things that may happen against his favor. If he takes Option 1, we may be headed for a Constitutional crisis. If Corona takes Option 2, the war is over, or oops, half over. Resignation is a cultural thing. Filipinos will fight it out to the last breath. If Corona were Japanese, he perhaps may have resigned long time ago.
The other half is the credibility of the Supreme Court itself to make future decisions. With Corona out, the other eight GMA appointees are necessarily next in line. This is an all or nothing war. No stone shall be left unturned. Those Judges who participated in decisions which are being questioned in the impeachment, if applicable to them, are culpable. It is also better they take Option 2 and resign.
It depends however, who voted for what in every accusation. It is possible that a GMA appointee did not agree with the questionable decisions of the other Judges. There has to be a meticulous investigation of questionable decisions the Supreme Court have made.
At the core of the controversy is a weakness in our jurisprudence. The executive branch must never appoint people in the judicial branch because they become beholden to the demands of the former. Even if it is more complex, the legislative branch is the better ‘appointer’ as this is a bloc rather than a person. It is harder to be beholden to a bloc than to a person. It so happened many Justices retired during GMA’s time. So there were 8 GMA appointees in the judicial branch, a very dangerous situation which has lead to the present war, which may escalate into a crisis of government, if Corona etal insist in fighting it out.
The retort of the accused and their supporters of the impeachment being a ‘destabilization’ move is being pooh-poohed by the general public which is getting angrier and angrier everyday. Lagman’s “mother of all blackmails” is empty rhetoric of a statesman if you put it side by side with the serious legal tone of accusations, for which solons say the have a ton of evidence.
The solons supporting Corona met but suddenly fizzled out. Is this because they realize they are running into a blank wall, with all the serious accusations on hand? Or are they scared of opposing public sentiments as they may dramatically lose constituents? When the chips are down, it seems Corona will be in the losing end, even if he is not impeached by the Senate. The stigma will forever be there, not only for him but for the rest of the other Justices who participated in his decisions.
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article 9ANTI-MARIAN ATTACKS ON FATIMA THIRD SECRETEmail deceptions and misinformationMarian interventions against disastersCan prayers avert World War III?Email Deceptions and Misinformation
It is strange how the Third Secret of Fatima is today surrounded by deceptions and attacks from anti-Marians who undermine its true message. For example, a History Channel documentary claimed that part of the Third Secret is still secret, that only 25 of the 62 lines of the original manuscript was revealed. This is not true. If you look at the official Vatican website, you will see all 62 lines. Click the link below and see for yourself.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html
Continued
The anti-Marians say that praying to Our Lady is a form of idolatry, an ‘abomination’. The reply of Marian devotees is simple – we pray to Our Lady not as a God, but as a human bridge to God.
An email letter, which has been circulating many times over for years, says only blessed candles can be lit during the three days of darkness. Neither blessed candles nor the three days of darkness are mentioned in the original Fatima messages. The apparent intent was to distract us and make us focus on external rituals so that we forget the essence of the message, namely, a return to the Lord, which will save us from calamity, not the lighting of candles.
The misleading email is littered with a complex set of quotes and sub-quotes until you can no longer distinguish what Our Lady is saying and what the anonymous author is adding. It is an ingenious subtle form of deception. It speaks of ”a great earthquake ten minutes before midnight going for eight hours and will tilt the earth’s axis 23 degrees”. There are no such exact scientific data in the Third Secret.
The email says, “once (God’s punishment) has started, you should not look outside under any circumstance!!!!”. The intent is to instill the wrong kind of fear, fear of penalty for transgressing a meaningless rule. True fear of the Lord involves prayer and good deed.
The original Third Secret transcript does not speak so much of hellfire and brimstone, as many think. The most doomsay text that visionary Sister Lucia wrote goes, “We saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’.” This passage explains that Marian intervention can save the world from disasters, but ony through constant penance.
Marian Interventions against disasters
According to Vatican Fatima scholars in the Vatican, there have been three such Marian interventions on potential disasters. The first was the Cuban crisis in 1961, the closest mankind had to a nuclear confrontation. The second was the two averted attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II, circa 1981. The Third Secret referred to a “bishop in white”, whom Sister Lucia later would say was Pope John Paul II, who would be saved from assassination. Archbishop Emeritus of Vercelli Tarcisio Bertone, SDB, later reported that the Pope was saved by ”a Mother’s hand that guided the bullet’s path”. The Pope later gave the bullet to the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima who placed it in the crown of Our Lady of Fatima. Anti-Marians argue that there were no such Marian interventions. Events simply happened. The belief in Marian interventions is a matter of faith. No one is obliged to believe.
About half a dozen Popes since 1917 refused to reveal the Third Secret for more than 8 decades. Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian Pope for centuries, known as the ‘Fatima Pope’, finally revealed it in 2002. It seemed that the many Popes kept the message secret not in fear of sowing panic but because of the “bishop dressed in white”, a Pope who would be slain.
In 1981, Pope John Paul II consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which was Our Lady’s request in one of her earlier Fatima messages as a precondition for world peace. After that, for the first time, a Russian leader, Gorbachev, visited the papacy, where he was touched by his dialogue with Pope John Paul II.
Three important events ensued. First, Gorbachev instituted détente as a unilateral policy towards establishing peace with the West. This led to the eventual break up of the Russian empire, and the end of the cold war. Second, Gorbachev opened up the churches in Russia and ended decades of suppression of the Church. Third, the break up of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signaled the last of many events easing tensions between the US and Russia. All these were considered by Fatima scholars as a Marian intervention against wars.
Can Prayers Avert World War III?
In the theology of sin and punishment, prophecies have an big ‘if’. They are premised on the fact that Man fails to return to the Lord. If he returns to the Lord, then grim prophecies can be reversed or deferred. For example, the Lord told the prophet Jonah to tell that the people of Nineveh that the city would be destroyed, if they would not repent. The affluent trade city of Nineveh was the New York City of biblical times. Nineveh returned to the Lord and was spared. This was the opposite in Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord said, if there was but one holy person remaining, he would spare the twin cities. There was none. He destroyed them in fulfillment of the prophecy.
The Fatima First Secret describes a vision of hell to scare us to the urgency for prayer and conversion, according to Sister Lucia. Our Lady says, “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end (World War I); but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one (World War II) will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI.” It seems there were no Marian interventions in the two world wars, perhaps because there was no return of Man to the Lord.
Is God ready to strike as in Sodom and Gomorrah or ready to forgive as in Nineveh? In my personal experience, as I prayed with Sister Eva at the home of a visionary of Our Lady of Grace and Peace in San Francisco del Monte, she went into a sudden trance and convulsion. Instantly, her voice changed to a deeper tone, and said “I can no longer hold off the hand of my Son. Pray, pray, pray.”
The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters lately tend to point to the God of wrath overwhelming the God of mercy – Katrina, Irene, mega-tsunamis in Japan and Jakarta, mega-earthquakes in Peru and China, floods and forest fires everywhere, powerful weather disturbances due to climate change, and so on.
One such disaster was 9-11. God can actually permit evil to reign because we ignore Him. The similarity of the twin towers of New York to the twin towers of Babylon is awesome. They are both twin towers. They both represent the sin of pride, the arrogance of man believing he does not need God. 9-11 is more than just a crime by terrorist enemies. It is a message for us to return to God.
Today, Iran-Syria-Israel or Pakistan-India are easily the core of a new powderkeg that may evolve into a possible World War III. All that is needed is a small short fuse, when all of us are asleep. Can we still avert disasters? Can we still invoke Marian intervention through prayers and penance? Can Our Lady still hold off the Angel of Fire and the hand of her Son? Or are we hopelessly now in the era of the ‘end times’? It is up to all of us. Only Mankind’s actions can change the big ‘if’.
“Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting weeping and mourning. Rend your hearts not your garments. Return to me your Lord your God. For gracious and merciful am I, slow to anger, rich in kindness, relenting in punishment.” (Joel 2:12-13).
********************************************************************** APPENDIX – HEALING MINISTRY’S COMPLETE LIBRARY********************************************************************** Browse thru the ministry’s extensive archivesof inspirational materials – Powerpoints, Youtubes,prayer poems, meditation posters, anecdotes.Save this link for future readings.http://www.sisterraquel.com/2010/04/archive00-entire-ministry-library/The Lord Heals in Cyberspaceamdg
foodforthesoul anecdotesanecdote 23 – LISTEN TO YOUR HEARTin the “game” of life, no one wins or loses
listen to your heartnot to your mindthe heart whispersthe mind screamsbut you hear your heart morefor the heart has wisdomthe mind is often blind to
Jeremy and Jack were the best of friends and the best of writers at school. They were the tops in their journalism classes. They were the best writers in the entire College of Journalism. One day, Richard Hersch, the College Dean, summoned them to his office.
RICHARD
We got a small problem here, guys. It seems the two of you are the best, but we don’t know who is better.
JEREMY
Do we have to determine that?
JACK
I think so. I, for one, am very interested to know.
JEREMY
What good will that do?
JACK
We were taught that competition breeds quality. You know that.
JEREMY
Sure, when it comes to business. But for personal rivalry, it’s just plain ego trip.
RICHARD
Quiet down guys. I tend to agree with Jack. The school has to know who is the Valedictorian and the Salutatorian. There is no such thing as two Valedictorians. Not in this school. We have to break the tie.
JACK
Great, sir. How do we do it.
RICHARD
You tell me. Jeremy, any ideas?
JEREMY
We can solve the problem right now, sir. Just make Jack the Valedictorian. It doesn’t matter to me.
JACK
Can’t do that,
RICHARD
Right, Jeremy, can’t do that. It has to be based on merits. It can’t be arbitrary. The dilemma is, school is done, and we’re getting ready for graduation. I can’t give you a one-on-one competition this late.
JACK
I got an idea, sir.
RICHARD
Shoot, Jack.
JACK
Why don’t we have a post-graduate competition. We tell the graduates the Valedictorian is pending a future event all three of us have agreed on.
RICHARD
Agree on what?
JACK
Well, sir. Very simple. The first to get a best-seller wins.
JEREMY
This is weird. That could be a decade from now. That could be never, if neither of us gets one. Forget it.
RICHARD
Good idea, Jack. I give you ten years. If there is a stalemate after ten years, we ask a panel to judge your first three books. How’s that?
JACK
Wow, fantastic.
JEREMY
Weird. Forget it. I told you, just give him the medal.
JACK
I don’t want a medal I didn’t earn.
RICHARD
Right you are, Jack. Well, that settles it. You have to agree, Jeremy, otherwise, you graduate without honors for defying an order.
A long silent pause. Jack peers into Jeremy’s face for a response. Without a word, reluctantly, Jeremy shakes the hands of Jack and Richard.
JACK
Sorry, Jeremy, we really have to do this. I have long sleepless nights asking who is really better.
JEREMY
That’s your problem. Me, I know I’m better.
The three laugh, knowing it was a joke.
RICHARD
Then prove it, Jeremy.
JEREMY
I have nothing to prove. We have too much preoccupation over comparing people? It really does not matter who is better.
RICHARD
Get out of here, guys. I’m busy. So you two prepare a Valedictory address, ten minutes each, that’s all. I will make the announcement that there is no Valedictorian YET. I won’t tell them how it will be resolved. The best seller thing is a secret among the three of us. Deal?
JACK
Deal.
Jeremy shakes his head in resignation.
And so the days moved fast. Jack became a copywriter in a prestigious Advertising Agency. In no time, he was the Vice President for the Creative Department. Jeremy preferred to teach. He was so happy just seeing young people learn. He was offered to be the Dean but he refused, saying being Dean was no longer teaching, even though one earned double the money. He hated administration work. His students became reknowned journalists. Two even sold best-sellers before he or Jack could have one.
Jack wrote his first book, “Squeezing Your Creative Juices”, a primer on creative advertising. It was a big hit and sold a lot of copies, but did not become a best seller. Seeing how he earned a lot of money from the first book, and seeing the niche in the reader market, he started to churn out books on creativity, hoping one day one would become a best seller. He wrote five books, all on the topic of creative advertising. They were all sold out and reprinted. Jack became a celebrated author and was making a lot of money. Still, he never got a bestseller. It was the genre which was the culprit perhaps. Only schools, professionals and career advertisers read his books.
Jeremy never even attempted to write a book. He was busy teaching future best-seller authors. He found it more exciting than writing his own book. Then, suddenly, he contracted cancer. He stopped teaching right away, and traveled extensively, wandering aimlessly for five years– India, Nepal, Tibet, China, the Philippines, Korea, Japan. He was fascinated by Asian cultures, absorbing them rapidly. He never wrote a diary. He never had a notebook.
Returning back home, he sat down one quiet evening and composed his first book. They call it ‘stream of consciousness’, the ability to write astounding details from memory. Jeremy wrote his first book within two weeks almost non-stop, sleeping only for two hours occassionaly. The 700-page book was entitled ‘The Wisdom and Grandeur of the East’. It was never edited. Jeremy was shocked that it became a best seller. He did not mean it to be a bestseller. He just wrote the closest thing to his heart. It was the best bestseller of the decade. The book catapulted Jeremy to heights unknown. He was called ‘The Modern Hemingway’.
And so the three witches met again over the boiling pot – Richard, Jack, Jeremy. Richard was in his eighties, his hair as white as snow.
JACK
I guess I lose, hands down. I hand you the medal, Jeremy.
JEREMY
No one wins or loses. It was a senseless contest. I don’t need any medal, not from you, Richard.
RICHARD
Maybe you’re right, Jeremy. I must apologize. How could I have been so puerile. You’re right. No one is better than anybody else. I should not have pressured you to play my game.
JEREMY
Why do universities invent such absurd games as awards, rewards, whatever? Even grades are unimportant.
RICHARD
Well, you have to have a measure of the abilities of students.
JEREMY
Sure, but do we have to be have a ‘best’ student? You make me valedictorian. And then what? I don’t want the prestige.
JACK
Shut up guys. This game is over. Let’s go back and live our lives. Thanks, Jeremy, for making me feel better. At least, now I know I did not lose.
JEREMY
And I did not win.
Jack finally made his best seller a year after, but it was not about creative advertising. His book was entitled ‘My Best Friend Jeremy’. He did not mind that the fame of Jeremy rubbed off on him. His book was besides Jeremy’s at the book stores, even though it was a mere 120 pages.
END
there are times whenyou must think not in terms of winning or losingbut simply living and givingbernie eastwindredgate77@gmail.com
********************************************************************** APPENDIX – HEALING MINISTRY’S COMPLETE LIBRARY********************************************************************** Browse thru the ministry’s extensive archivesof inspirational materials – Powerpoints, Youtubes,prayer poems, meditation posters, anecdotes.Save this link for future readings.http://www.sisterraquel.com/2010/04/archive00-entire-ministry-library/The Lord Heals in Cyberspaceamdg
