BOOK REVIEWS

• Better Marriage

  BETTER MARRIAGE

  Marriage cannot simply pertain to a piece of paper. It is not just about two gooey-eyed people getting together because they feel for each other. It does not refer to a bunch of words carelessly pronounced by two individuals clad in their most attractive attire. It is not meant to be an easy way out for those who have gotten pregnant before the trip down the aisle.

  Perhaps a lot of young people are beginning to realize this. I was told, and it saddens me, that there are many who would rather live together without getting married. They prefer to stay in a "one foot in, one foot out" situation because they are afraid that getting tied down to a particular person through marriage is something they might eventually regret. Although we, as conscientious Christians, strongly reject the practice of living in, we recognize the apprehension of those engaging in it, for marriage is not something one plunges into, nor is it an agreement both spouses can easily eject out of as if it were mechanical or digital.

  Another group of people would be the ones wishing that marriage had an expiration date. Still another cluster would be those pushing for divorce. Whether one has positive or negative views about marriage, it is clear that we all have much learning, studying, and persisting to keep doing.

  How do we address the anxieties earlier mentioned? What really is marriage? How can persons prepare for it properly? How can those in this kind of vocation live it out gracefully? How can that image of two old people, a husband and a wife happily holding hands while walking, be attained? Don't we sometimes wish there were a subject called Marriage 101 in college?

  Thank goodness we have numerous contributions to making this topic, experience, and age-old institution which is constantly under siege, better understood. This book is a welcome addition to that roster. In a special way, we express our gratitude to Fr. Jude who is on a mission of healing battered marriages, purifying embattled ones, and strengthening good relationships between spouses. Fr. Jude's book shares with us valuable lessons, insights, reflections, and testimonies, not just from a human perspective, but most essentially, from the way God, the Author of marriage, designed it to be.

  In the same effort, we congratulate Fr. Jude for bagging the 2011 Cardinal Sin Book Award for the Family Life Category for his second project on print, When Your Spouse Isn't Yours Anymore and we thank the ST PAULS Family for supporting him in it. We urge him to continue the work he has begun, and to persevere in his holy calling. Fr. Jude, ordained ministers such as yourself have much to offer to married people even though you are celibate.

  Together with our appreciation for Fr. Jude, for his passion to be God's instrument in fortifying the nuptial commitment and for his third book, Better Marriage, is our prayer that those who read it will be blessed and used in a powerful way to build up truly God-centered marriages.

  Ilsa B. Reyes
  Author of Inner Child Treasures and
  Healing through the Sacrament of Reconciliation
  Inner Healing speaker
  Co-host of Salitang Buhay, DZMM
• Healing Through the Sacrament

  HEALING THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

  Healing is one of our deepest longings. This partly accounts for the drawing power of so-called healers. What they offer satisfies a human need.

  The experience of being healed or seeing someone healed of a malady often connects us to a power that is beyond us. We feel blessed to have been visited by it. We do not produce it; it comes to us, it embraces us, it permeates us, and it makes us sense the dawning of wholeness. The word that captures what we have been describing is "grace." Healing comes as a gift from someone who can effect what I cannot do by myself. I can only be open to it, relish it, and hold on to it.

  Ms. Ilsa B. Reyes reminds us in her book that the sacrament of Reconciliation is a grace-event of healing. As we flock to different types of healers and healing sessions, we should not ignore this precious gift of the Risen Lord to the Church. Integral to Jesus' proclamation and inauguration of the Kingdom of God is his healing ministry that occurs simultaneously with forgiveness of sins. Those whose sins are forgiven by Jesus experience the advent of God's mercy, totally undeserved but undeniably real. Jesus' gift of reconciliation offers to the despised the serenity of being loved. It assures the outcast of a place at the table of fellowship. It restores the isolated to a life in community. The Holy Spirit sent by God through the Risen Lord guarantees that healing through reconciliation will remain in the Church and in the world.

  We thank Ilsa for this wonderful book. Written in clear accessible language, it gives us insights from theology, canon law, spiritual writers, testimonies, and interviews with confessors. In all the pages, Ilsa bares her heart, showing how God's forgiving love heals us who struggle with the disharmonies of human existence. Aside from the timely guides to those who want to come to the sacrament, there is much in the book to encourage those who shy away from it. More than just explaining the significance and practice of Reconciliation, this book leads the attentive reader to the beauty of God's unrelenting love that forgives and makes us whole. After reading the book, one can say with joy, "There is hope for me. There is hope for humanity and the world." We find it in the God who reconciles and heals.

  +Luis Antonio G. Tagle
  Archbishop of Manila
• Shafts of Light

  SHAFTS OF LIFE

  Fr Guido Arguelles, SJ

  As Christians, we are invited to always look to Jesus the Christ, our Lord, as redeemer, as shepherd, as friend, as model, and inspiration.

  Yet when we look to Jesus, we cannot help but be confounded at times by the contradictions he had to live. In the end, the results were somewhat mixed. Some loved him. There were those who immediately left their nets behind and followed him. There were those who stayed with him at the foot of the Cross. Others rejected him. "They went away sad." The Pharisees and Sadducees, the learned in the Law, could not accept his "words of authority" and so crucified him. "He came unto his own, and they received him not."

  This book is a compilation of the thoughts of Fr. Guido Arguelles, a Jesuit. Its purpose is simple, that through simple words of wisdom, we might all be brought face to face with this Lord who loves so deeply and, because of this, always challenges so boldly.

  For some, Fr. Guido might seem an unlikely herald of the Lord's good news. He has always been seen as a funny man and those who see only his comical side might have thought him an "unlikely" Jesuit. But look again, for there is so much more.

  Readers who will see in this compilation of Fr. Guido's words only his clever turns of phrase, only the dazzle of his wit, his paradoxical way of expressing himself, will be missing the point. These writings are not meant merely to surprise, to entertain, to please. They are reflections on the very truths that Christ preached. Indeed, they make present to the readers him who is Truth himself.

  May Fr. Guido's Shafts of Light draw us into the radical living out of the Lord's way.

  JOSE C. J. MAGADIA, SJ
  Provincial Superior
  Society of Jesus
  Philippine Province
• When Your Spouse

  WHEN YOUR SPOUSE ISN'T YOURS ANYMORE

  Who among us can really claim to be exempted from experiencing pain? From the moment we were born till we die, we do experience pain especially from letting go. People we admire, who inspire and make a difference in our lives—our heroes and saints—they all have to deal with the reality of pain. While our contemporary society offers us many and varied ways to avoid or escape from pain, Our Lord Jesus Christ has shown us, through his life and teachings, the redemptive meaning and value of pain. "The whole earthly life of Christ came to its climax in his Paschal Mystery, his suffering, Death and Resurrection (cf. CCC 571f; PCPII 55, 85, 413)… The Cross of Christ is the symbol of salvation (CFC 551)… the transformation of suffering and weakness through active, total self-giving love" (CFC 559).

  I am always drawn by that cry of Jesus on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt 27:46). In that height of intense pain and suffering when he assumed all of our pain and suffering—past, present, future—he proved his immense love for us. His "Why?" on the cross captures all of our own "Why's?" in life, so much so that every pain and suffering we encounter has now acquired a face, a name: It is not anymore just a thing to bear but it is Jesus Crucified and Forsaken to be embraced and loved! He is in fact Love made flesh… personified!

  I am happy and grateful that Fr. Jude has given name and responded to a particular "Why?" of Jesus in our times that is often ignored or taken for granted and yet is becoming widespread and is crying out even louder—the pain of married people who have fallen out of love and have separated. His book which is aptly entitled, When Your Spouse Isn't Yours Anymore: Dealing with Pain in a Marital Breakup, is valuable in many ways. It provides a cognitive framework based on Church teachings and recent findings of other sciences, supported by concrete experiences and actual cases, followed by reflection questions to aid personal application and scripture passages that can assist married couples "in crisis" and the ministers accompanying them to see their situation within a bigger picture and from a Christian Faith perspective, clarify their options, make a good discernment as to what will facilitate healing and reconciliation, and thereby help them choose a course of action that is most pleasing and would give greater glory to God as well as lasting happiness to them.

  Fr. Jude, drawing from the wealth of his pastoral ministry, research, and studies, and writing with compassion for those in pain, does exactly what Henri J. M. Nouwen wrote about in his book, The Wounded Healer: "A minister is not a doctor whose primary task is to take away pain. Rather, he deepens the pain to a level where it can be shared… Perhaps the main task of the minister is to prevent people from suffering for the wrong reasons… because of the false supposition on which they have based their lives."

  It is my hope and prayer that Fr. Jude's book will not only touch individuals or couples but will also pave the way for people in similar situations to come together and become a support group to one another, learning how to "carry one another's burden" and thus giving witness to a true Christian community which is, using again Nouwen's words, "a healing community not because wounds are cured and pains are alleviated, but because wounds and pains become openings or occasions for a new vision… Community arises where the sharing of pain takes place, not as a stifling form of self-complaint, but as a recognition of God's saving promises."

  Go ahead. Read this book. Heed its recommendations and find out for yourself the beauty and joy of being God's "Wounded Healer" as Fr. Jude did. His book is another sign that God's love is still very much alive and at work amidst our pain and suffering.

  In Christ's faithful love,

  + GERARDO A. ALMINAZA, DD
  Auxiliary Bishop of Jaro
• Witnessing for Jesus

  WITNESSING FOR JESUS

  Perusing the manuscript of this latest book by Balanga Bishop Ruperto C. Santos left me amazed at the traveling all over Europe, and beyond, and the diligent research and writing he did, while he served as rector of the Collegio Filippino in Rome, for more than a decade. Msgr. Stude, as he is more familiary called, has always been fascinated with the written word—an obvious evidence of this is his Master's Degree in Church history, and every year he has come out with books—on various prayers of and for different people, reflections on the Way of the Cross and some other Church topics.

  Witnessing for Jesus: During My Watch and Works in Europe takes us to the many interesting sites in this old continent. There is a series on the Saints and the places where they were born or worked or died. With Msgr. Stude we relive the life of a saint, in his or her environment, his or her teachings and acts of holiness. At the end of each "tour" or visit as it were, Msgr. Stude provides us a reflection on how, we, too, can strive to be holy and good.

  I congratulate Bishop Stude on his latest book. It is certain that more will come from his indefatigable spirit to write. May God's blessings be on him and all his endeavors especially as pastor of the flock of the Diocese of Balanga.

  + Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales
  Archbishop of Manila
• EXORCIST Volume II: Spiritual Battle Lines

  EXORCIST Volume II: Spiritual Battle Lines

  We cannot thank Fr. Jocis enough for this second volume of his book on an area of our spiritual and ecclesial life that he knows by heart. This simply reveals how he has continued to grow from study, ministry, and prayer. I personally congratulate Fr. Jocis as I encourage him to pursue with humility and love this special service in the Church.

  Although many people might think that the ministry of exorcism is way beyond their grasp, the truth is that the reality dealt with by exorcists is one of the most common of human experiences. All of us are in touch with the innate goodness that God our Creator has put in our heart. We hear the voice of conscience, the "original memory of the good and the true" that is part of our being human. We cannot deny the goodness that is within us as a gift of our Creator. Yet we also live daily with the assaults of the tempter. We can recall the many times we have allowed ourselves to be deceived by his false claims. The evil one is real and active. He relentlessly pursues human beings in order to destroy and kill. The more serious cases that exorcists handle are connected to the attacks from the evil one that we hardly notice.

  Fr. Jocis' experience as codified in this book is a resounding affirmation of Christian faith and hope. We confess that God is all good. In Jesus we have come to know that the evil one had failed to stain the purity of God's love. The Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts and on the Church so that the power of the name of Jesus the Risen One may vanquish our fear. In the love of God victorious in Jesus, we are more than conquerors in the face of trials, persecution, temptation, and death. This is the truth proclaimed by the ministry of exorcism. In our daily prayer for deliverance from evil and the performance of good actions to defeat evil, we share in that ministry. I pray that Fr. Jocis book may confirm us as bearers of Jesus triumph over evil.

  Most Rev. Luis Antonio G. Tagle, DD
  Archbishop of Manila
• Catholic Is My Surname

  CATHOLIC IS MY SURNAME

  Pope Benedict XVI has declared a "Year of Faith" from October 11, 2012 to November 21, 2013. He envisions this year as a graced opportunity for all Catholic Christians all over the world to renew their faith in God. He pointed out that by retracing the history of our faith, we will rediscover the beauty of our faith as well as meaningfully profess it as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, he wrote: "By faith, across the centuries, men and women of all ages, whose names are written in the Book of Life (cf Rev 7:9, 13:8), have confessed the beauty of following the Lord Jesus wherever they were called to bear witness to the fact that they were Christians: in the family, in the workplace, in public life, in the exercise of the charisms and ministries to which they were called" (Porta Fide n. 13).

  In the many years of Msgr. Antero "Teroy" Sarmiento's priestly ministry, he has lovingly dedicated his life as an ordained disciple of Jesus. Surely, in his experience of priestly service, he has also found in numerous lay faithful devoted disciples serving the Church. Realizing the need to form effective servant-leaders with a deep spirituality, Msgr. Teroy has been greatly involved in the formation of lay servant-leaders in the parishes and special ministries he was assigned.

  This book Catholic Is My Surname (Discipleship) is a fruit of the many years of his formation work shares with countless lay leaders. Definitely, it can be used as a manual for both priests, religious, and lay faithful in the formation to authentic discipleship.

  We thank Msgr. Teroy for this valuable contribution to the Philippine Church. May all those who will read and reflect on the words written in this book be renewed in their faith and service to God and his people.

  
  MOST REV. MYLO HUBERT C. VERGARA, DD, MA, SThD
  Bishop of Pasig
  December 6, 2011
  Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent
• Itanong Mo Kay Monsi

  ITANONG MO KAY MONSI

  People, young and old, have questions about their faith and religious practices. That is a good sign. It means they are curious and want to know more and understand things better. It also means that whatever they have been taught and already learned can still be deepened and further expanded, or clarified in the face of the challenges of the time. This likewise reminds us that the Church's mission to proclaim and teach the faith is for the believers a lifelong accompaniment they need and long for.

  There are answers to our questions. One may not immediately come upon the sought answer, but eventually we find it. I consider the many years of my involvement with the two youth magazines, Youth Today (since its inception in 1997) and Crossroads(also since its beginning in 2004), as basically making myself available as a teacher of the Catholic faith to all and to answer any queries young and even older people may direct my way. It is simply amazing how outright and life-related their questions about our religious beliefs and traditions are.

  Parents and schoolteachers have asked me if my contributions to the section "Itanong kay Monsi" in Youth Today and to the section "Being Catholic" in Crossroads can possibly be compiled and reedited in one volume, so that the questions covered and their answers may be for greater use and benefit. On the occasion of my 70th birthday, I thought such a volume (this book) might actually be a good gift to my many wonderful friends and co-workers, and to the larger public. I thank the editors of both magazines for their understanding.

  Let us grow in our Catholic faith! Let us, in our Filipino context, continue to ask questions and reflect on the answers, even as we respond to the call of Pope Benedict XVI who, in his Apostolic Letter for the Indiction of the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013), points out that "to rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived, and prayed, and to reflect on the act of faith, is a task that every believer must make his own, especially in the course of this Year" (PortaFidei n. 9). May this book contribute to the knowledge of our faith that opens the door into the fullness of the saving mystery revealed by God, for the salvation of our souls is the outcome of our faith (cf. 1 Pt 1:9).

  Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco, Jr.
  Kadiwa sa Pagkapari Foundation, Inc.
  Quezon City
• One Life

  ONE LIFE

  Knowing Agnes Yap-Marcon since preschool and the four decades hence that ensued, with the intertwining of our families and our school life, I am blessed to have been witness to many of the happenings in this book. I felt with her as some of these happened in real life, and again now, as they are put into words and infused with rich insights for all to share.

  One Life offers a quick glimpse into the lives of a well-respected clan from Pampanga and Tarlac. Each of Agnes' parents and siblings made and continue to make remarkable achievements in their fields of choice. Her father, "Apa" Melchor, was a former Olympian shooter and a philanthropist, much loved and respected by all who knew him; the march during his and only son Noel's funeral was among the longest ever seen in the region—and peopled by the unshod and the literally and figuratively well-heeled. Paying their respects were our aboriginal Aetas, the poorest people he helped, the richest and most illustrious names in politics and business, and regular people like you and me. Her mother, "Ama" Amelia, is a beautiful woman also loved and respected by all, who was the quiet yet steadfast pillar of their family during and after all the excitement of their spirited lives. Both served to move, not just their equally soulful and inspiring children, but all whose lives they touched.

  The author's writing, simple and pure, is a serene voice, hardly touching on—belying in fact, the details of the excitement and drama that surround the life events her stories pertain to. It is like the enviable simple life she and Manny have chosen in the farm, embracing nature and its children, away from urban madness. It is a reassuring tone and outlook arrived at through the refining process that has been her life. This voice tells us that despite the upheavals, there is play and quiet, there is love and laughter. The cosmos reckons—how everything is, IS. The choice is to value people, learning, happiness, and life. And that, with faith in God, all will be well.

  This will read like a prayer from the soul—one of calm anticipation for what more lies ahead. Much like the way she prepares her homegrown organic guava jelly (you must try this sweet piece of heaven!), we are treated to her thoughts filtered through meditation and breathed through a happy, loving spirit.

  This One Life has indeed found meaning, purpose, and true love—one life well-lived. And in so being, it gives hope and inspires. Indeed, how we all wish that each of us could make the same of our very own One Life.

  Malou Hipolito Tungol
• Reading For The Lord

  READING FOR THE LORD

  Ever since my seminary days, I have known Msgr. Antero Sarmiento as an excellent preacher whenever he delivers his homilies. It was never a dull moment once you listen to Msgr. Teroy, as he is fondly called. I would even liken him to St. John Chrysostom—the "Golden Mouth"―because of his eloquence in preaching. This clearly manifests his passionate love for Jesus, God's Word, whom he proclaims to the people entrusted to his care.

  At the twilight of Msgr. Teroy's life, he has decided to come out with this little book—READING FOR THE LORD LECTORATE—a valuable guide for laypeople who serve as lectors in the Church. This work is definitely a fruit of his many years of experience as pastor dedicatedly leading and empowering this particular lay ministry. His insights are indeed very timely, considering Pope Benedict XVI's reminder in his recent encyclical Verbum Domini: "All those entrusted with this office, even those not instituted in the ministry of Reader, should be truly suitable and carefully trained" (n 58).

  As I read through the pages of his reflections, I realized that they are also applicable to all forms of lay service in the Church. In fact, I feel that it is Msgr. Teroy's desire that his passion and love in communicating the Word of God become the passion and love, in particular, of all those serving the Ministry of Lectorate, and, in general, all servant-leaders of the Church.

  We are deeply grateful to Msgr. Teroy for sharing with us this unique work that will surely benefit priests, religious, and, most especially, lay servant-leaders called to lovingly share God's Word to others.

  
  Bishop of Pasig
  August 25, 2011
  Optional Memorial of St. Joseph of Calasanz, Priest