I don’t know about this but Sucker Punch is one of the most negatively criticized movie I have ever laid my eyes in to. Though it was played by the most beautiful and alluring stars in Hollywood (including Vanessa Hudgens), still it didn’t reach the expectations of the many.

But I am not here to add damage, I am here to try and make you believe a huge lesson I learned after I have watched the film. In fact the title says everything. I may raise your curiosity but at the same time I may not because of the nature of the movie but as I remember every scene, every dialogue, the phrase always comes out. In fact as I am writing this post (with my coffee), I keep on remembering the last line Baby Doll said before everything ended for her, “it was not my story all along”.

They were imprisoned in a mental institution slash entertainment theater slash illegal hub to entertain criminals and mobs including the mayor. Baby Doll had one special gift; she can put a person into a trance whenever she dances. She used that particular gift to gather things they needed for escape. Sadly their plans were busted by their Boss named Blue. They were 5, one was stabbed and two were shot. Yes including Vanessa.

Sigh.

Only two remained, Baby Doll and Sweet Pea. They continued as planned and at the end, only one had the chance to escape. At the very start of the movie, everything was about Baby Doll, her story, her life, her skills, her talent. Almost everything was about her. But here we are at the end of the movie and she’s telling Sweet Pea that it was not her story after all.

Sweet Pea escaped and embraced freedom while Baby Doll remained and was forever locked in the imaginary world she was always into. How sad. But that’s life for all of us. We think our daily struggles and daily fight against the negative things are for us to get better. Every day we wage war against life that’s being unfair thinking we will end up being the hero.

The reality is, it’s not about us. It’s about other people, people whom we care about; people we want to live and experience freedom. Sacrifice, it’s what it is all about. The real satisfaction is when we give way for the benefit and happiness of the persons we love the most. Suker Punch may be a criticized movie but it showed me one of the pieces of life I have always been looking for.

We have watched him grow from being an 11-year-old kid who was treated like nobody even in his own household. We have seen him fight dangerous enemies which ultimately lead us to this final epic battle and the closing of what believed to be the most successful franchise in the movie world. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is that last title of the movie, it’s the last part of the film that was made and awed fans and viewers for about a decade.



But why does this movie, the characters and it’s nature being criticized? The church itself is one of the primary critics of Harry Potter. Is it because of the word witchcraft and wizardry? Is it about the dark tone of the movie? Well, we can’t answer that as each of us has his own point of view of these things. However, since this is my blog, let me just share to you my thoughts about such things.

I am an active church man and a devout catholic. At least, that’s what you should remember before you raise an eyebrow to me. True I am obliged to follow the teachings of the church but I still have my own mind to reflect about things. This, I believe is God’s vessel in which He can transmit His message for me to realize and for you the reader to enjoy and know some things too.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is no more than just a movie. That’s it, that’s all there is to it, nothing more, nothing less. Aside from the fact that the characters are fictional, their language and their “spells” doesn’t make sense at all. But what I am struck the most is not how Harry Potter will end the movie, but I am more interested on how Harry survived the attack of the main villain, Lord Voldemort.

I’ll make this straight to the point, it’s about love. The very reason why the story began, the very reason why Harry had to suffer was all because of love. It was love that made him safe all throughout the years he lived his life. This is how I looked at the movie, I don’t see Satanism, witchcraft and all those bad stuff, I see God. I see His doings even to the darkest portion of a man’s life. His love will always reign supreme and it will never be beaten by any other methods of the enemy.

I hope you will look at life the same way too. No matter how bad the situation is, remember that God always puts everything in their rightful place even though we think that it’s not good for us. We only have to open our hearts and minds to His presence. And one more thing, when you watch a movie, always seek for a character that resemble God’s love. It’s what you call the God factor. In the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore is my God factor.

I love this statement from the Vatican, it really shows the real nature of a Christian, and that’s filling the world with love. Love that’s not only given to those who are good at us, it’s loving the most cunning and the most cruel persons. That’s how and what Christianity should be…

Jesus said "love your enemies." If only he had said how we should react when they die at our own hands.

After President Obama announced that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been shot dead in Pakistan, ebullient crowds gathered outside the White House and at Ground Zero to cheer the demise of the world's most wanted terrorist, smoking cigars and breaking into chest-thumping chants of "USA! USA!"
Watching from her home in suburban Virginia, Christian ethicist Diana Butler Bass felt a growing sense of unease.
"What if we responded in reverent prayer and quiet introspection instead of patriotic frenzy?" she posted on Facebook. "That would be truly American exceptionalism."

At the Vatican, too, where church leaders had just wrapped up joyous celebrations elevating the late Pope John Paul II to one step below sainthood, officials urged caution. "A Christian never rejoices" in the death of any man, no matter how evil, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said, but instead "reflects on the serious responsibility of each and every one of us has before God and before man." For many Americans, bin Laden's death was quite literally an answer to prayer.
Muslims who saw bin Laden as an apostate breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Ethicists and pastors searched for the appropriate space between vindication and vengeance. U.S. special forces did what they had to do. How everyone else is supposed to feel about it is a little less clear.

"As Christians, we believe that there can be no celebrating, no dancing in the streets, no joy, in relation to the death of Osama bin Laden," Christian ethicist David Gushee said. "In obedience to Scripture, there can be no rejoicing when our enemies fall." Indeed, the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel warned that our enemies are not necessarily God's, who takes "no pleasure in the death of wicked people," preferring only that they "turn from their wicked ways so they can live."
The questions around bin Laden's demise tended to break into two different camps: Were we right to kill him? And is his death something to cheer? For many, what set bin Laden apart was his defiance, unrepentant violence and coldly calculating designs to rain destruction upon Americans, innocent civilians and even fellow Muslims.

"While vengeance is not a responsibility of us mortals, the pursuit of justice is," said a statement from Agudath Israel, an Orthodox umbrella group.
"As believing Jews, we see in bin Laden's demise the clear hand of God." In a larger sense, removing the singular threat of bin Laden can also lessen the violent threat of radical extremism and terrorism. Put another way, taking one life can save countless others.

"It is a sad truth that one man's death can represent a step forward in the progress of human relations," said Zainab Al-Suwaij, president of the Washington-based American Islamic Congress. For many people, bin Laden's guilt or innocence never needed to be adjudicated in a court of law, and an American bullet to his head was judgment enough. Scholars cautioned, however, that there's a difference between judging a man's actions and judging his soul. The Rev. John Langan, a Jesuit professor of Christian ethics at Georgetown University, said killing bin Laden to prevent future attacks is morally valid, but cautioned that vengeance is ultimately a divine, not human, right.

"I knew people who died in 9/11," Langan said.
"I feel deeply the evil of that action. But I am part of a religious tradition that says that we don't make final, independent judgments about the souls of other men. That rests with God." Which all leads back to Americans' response to the death of a madman.

"You have to have compassion, even for your enemies," said A. Rashied Omar, a research scholar at the University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. "The Quran teaches that you never should allow enmity to swerve you away from compassion, because without compassion, the pursuit of justice risks becoming a cycle of revenge." Others said there is a difference between rejoicing in bin Laden's death and finding a certain degree of satisfaction — a "subtle but important difference," said the Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson, an Episcopal priest who teaches at the Pacific School of Religion.
"I'm not sorry Bin Laden is dead," Johnson posted on Twitter. "That's not the same thing as celebrating his death."

Source:
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/mind-soul/spirituality/story/2011/05/Is-it-OK-to-cheer-Osama-bin-Ladens-death/46759110/1

Let me just share this blog post I have read which talks about a student whom the writer claimed to be Albert Einstein. Regardless if it’s true or not, just focus on the story and really reflect on it. May it open your eyes into something more important than reason, and that is God’s love.

Does evil exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything? The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"


"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."



To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name — Albert Einstein.

I have read a tweet from EWTN news talking about a missionary priest who noticed a change in the spirituality of the people of Japan after the huge catastrophe that happened to their land. It’s sad to know that we have to experience one huge blow before we can feel God’s presence but nevertheless it’s a huge blessing for us too. Let’s just face it with love and humility.

Father Olmes Milani, a missionary priest living in Tokyo, says he has noticed new signs of faith in a largely non-religious society, one month after the deadly March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan.

“The catastrophe which struck the country has awoken consciences and spiritual needs and values,” said Fr. Milani, a priest of the Scalabrinian missionary congregation. He told Fides news that he had seen “an evident return to prayer and spiritual values, in a society which would normally be considered materialistic and focused on production and profit.”

Research indicates that only around 15 percent of Japanese citizens formally adhere to any faith. But in the wake of the natural disasters, now known to have killed at least 13,400 people, Fr. Milani has observed a change. Besides those “stopping to pray in Shinto and Buddhists temples,” he has also noticed that “in our Catholic churches, there is an influx of non-Catholics that stop to pray.”

Fr. Milani said the people's prayers were primarily for emergency workers and disaster victims in need of relief. However, beyond these immediate needs, he also sees the potential for a deeper change in Japanese society.

Read more: http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/World.php?id=3011#ixzz1JdgWYgYj

Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-9), when palm branches were placed in His path, before His arrest on Holy Thursday and His Crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent, and the week in which Christians celebrate the mystery of their salvation through Christ's Death and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Beginning in the fourth century in Jerusalem, Palm Sunday was marked by a procession of the faithful carrying palm branches, representing the Jews who celebrated Christ's entrance into Jerusalem. In the early centuries, the procession began on the Mount of the Ascension and proceeded to the Church of the Holy Cross.

As the practice spread throughout the Christian world by the ninth century, the procession would begin in each church with the blessing of palms, proceed outside the church, and then return to the church for the reading of the Passion according to the Gospel of Matthew. The faithful would continue to hold the palms during the reading of the Passion. In this way, they would recall that many of the same people who greeted Christ with shouts of joy on Palm Sunday would call for His Death on Good Friday-a powerful reminder of our own weakness and the sinfulness that causes us to reject Christ.

In different parts of the Christian world, particularly where palms were historically hard to obtain, branches of other bushes and trees were used, including olive, box elder, spruce, and various willows. Perhaps best known is the Slavic custom of using pussy willows, which are among the earliest of plants to bud out in the spring.

The faithful have traditionally decorated their houses with the palms from Palm Sunday, and, in many countries, a custom developed of weaving the palms into crosses that were placed on home altars or other places of prayer. Since the palms have been blessed, they should not simply be discarded; rather, the faithful return them to their local parish in the weeks before Lent, to be burned and used as the ashes for Ash Wednesday.

Source: http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/Palm_Sunday.htm

Hachiko is not a person. He is a dog (a male one). And what’s special about this dog is the loyalty he gave to his master. Originally happened in the 1920’s the story of this amazing creature has reached the 21st century and still touched the lives of many people, including mine.

Last Friday, I watched the American version starred by Richard Gere. I watched it twice and twice I cried. Well I am not gonna write the entire details of the story (I want you to watch it). But for a little background, it’s about a dog, an Akita breed that in one way or another developed a certain bond with his master.

Hachiko always goes with his master on the town’s train station before he goes to work and in the afternoon he would wait for the arrival of his master on the same spot near the station. He would always do that for a long period of time. Until one day a tragedy happened.

While Hachiko’s master was still at work (he was a professor), he had a cardiac arrest and eventually died. Hachiko did not know what happened (or perhaps he did, he’s a dog and we don’t know what’s on their minds). So, he continued to wait for his master on the same spot and on the same time for the next 9 or so years, until he was found dead.

I don’t know what to call that but for me it’s definitely love. It’s a love that transcends beyond the physical aspects of every creature. No matter who and what we are, when true love plays its part, there will be no boundaries, regardless of the race, the nation and even religion. I hope we will all learn from the story of Hachiko.

Let love transcend beyond where we are right now. When all men in this world do the same thing, that will become the word I invented, the Hachiko effect.