UPPER Classroom by Agnes Lira Jundos

26/08/2024

A THIEF WENT TO CONFESSION
(An anecdote)

There was a story of a thief who decided to go to Confession to a priest. He was a pickpocket and he wanted to confess his sins.
He went to confess his sins to the priest face to face. In the course of the Confession, he stole the watch of the priest. He was really an expert pickpocket.
At the end of the Confession, when the priest said, “Is there anything else?” he said, “Oh yes, Father, I forgot. I stole a watch.”
The priest said, “Well, you have to give it back.”
The thief said, “Father, that will be a little bit difficult. But I tell you what, I will give it to you.”
The priest said, “I don't want it—you've got to give it back to the owner.”
The thief said, “The owner doesn't want it.”
The priest said, “In that case, you may keep it.” The thief ended up with the watch of the priest.

(Anecdote shared in a spiritual retreat and lesson drawn out of the story was given by a priest.)

One thing you could say about that interchange was that that guy was not very sincere. He really didn't want to change his life.
We can't be sorry for our sins if we're not willing to change our lives. The purpose of amendment has to be present in our Confession.

(Retreat meditation by Fr. Conor Donnely "Aim High" via Spotify. Image by Unsplash)

25/08/2024

VIRTUAL LIFE:
Catching up with study,
Catching up with sleep

We take the same appreciation of young students
who courageously take on a job while in school.
Nowadays, the most common of these part-time occupations
is that of being a VA (virtual assistant).

The end-result: a teacher will have to live with two
distinct things that come along with a student's virtual life.
Either catch-up with sleep or catch-up with study.

With a good number of students I have engaged with in recent years, most of them could have gone farther and beyond than
what they normally can do if they were full time students.

Virtual jobs are a necessity for most of the students under my care.
It has always been a wishful thinking for me as a teacher
that, if only things are ideal as they should be,
these young people could be earnestly
catching up with studies than catching up with sleep.

(Photo by Shutterstock)

01/08/2024

27/07/2024

HITCHED-RIDE

24/07/2024

FROM A MILLION PIECES...BACK TO THE CENTER

Read through below a post by a songwriter/artist/performer who started it off from the streets.
His higher ideals in composing songs: to remind us of the things we might have forgotten, they bring us back to our center, they are ladders to our souls.

(Post by Andy Grammer Keep Your Heads Up Album/About the Artist/Spotify/July 24, 2024)

My name is Andy.
I try to write songs to remind us about things that
we might have forgotten.
Through these songs I want to remind myself and you
to listen to that sometimes "quiet inner voice that can be
drowned out by negative thoughts."

At their best, I like to think of songs as
"invisible spiritual chiropractors",
they bring us back to our center.
They give us little reminders when we least expect it.
A lot of my philosophy and inspiration comes from my Mom.

She taught me that music is the ladder to our souls.

She died when I was 25.
Her death broke me into a million pieces.
I learned a lot by putting myself back together.
After her death, I spent most of my time street performing,
often with no one listening.

"No one wants happy songs from someone who hasn't truly
been sad."
I've been sad.

This past year (the global pandemic) without any shows
has been especially hard on me.
I think, like many others, it forced me to reevaluate where
I get my self-worth from.
These new songs provide a front row seat into my attempt
to vulnerably examine and explain "my ongoing journey to love myself".

I hope these songs help us climb higher together.

ANDY GRAMMER

(Keep your Head Up/Album Version/Downloaded from Spotify/
July 24, 2024. Lyric video on comments below)

20/07/2024

SANDALS and FOOTWEAR
The olden significance of Moses removing
his sandals before he could move closer
to the Burning Bush.

Still as it was before.
Some Adoration Chapels that house the
Blessed Sacrament would require the same.

It is an act of reverence, humility and respect.

(Entrance to the Molo Church Adoration Chapel/Iloilo City) July 8, 2024

18/07/2024

Sanctuario

(Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, Jaro, Iloilo City. Photo by Mel Jundos/July 8, 2024)

15/07/2024

30/06/2024

THE RENTED APARTMENT


For some, cohabitation (living in) is comparable to a rented apartment.
It is always a common "trigger" between an occupant and the owner. Poor upkeep of the rented space.

And why is that so?
Has there ever been a temporary occupant of a rented apartment who would spend his millions to something he/she does not own?

Compared to a married couple who decided to spend the rest of their lives together and settle in a home of their own.
Lowly or plushy it may be, a family would dish up all resources to make the space worth dwelling in.

(Image Apartment for Rent via Unsplash)

26/06/2024

Comedic with the Pope...

He rehearsed lines prior to meeting the Pope,
but somehow "he lost it" while on his way to the Vatican.
Thus, comedian Jimmy Fallon ended up saying:

"I was an altar boy growing up and I was the best.
If you ever need someone to ring the bells, call me."

(Image of American comedian Jimmy Fallon up close with the Pope/AFP Photo-Vatican Media)

22/06/2024

MAY BE BLENDED TO TASTE....

Like family, too heavy for the palate...
but when blended well...
could just be the right mix for everyone's taste.

22/06/2024

Never fear if you realized that indissolubility of marriage
applies to everyone, all cultures of all times...
all generations.

Never be afraid of people reacting against it.
Says Paul.

21/06/2024

The THURSDAY MAN

Assigned to take care of the Holy Altar on Thursdays of every week...trying his very best not to miss one.
Acain Prudencio, an elderly, has served the Parish Church of San Nicolas Tolentino in Talisay City as a well-rounded lay servant.

He happily shared that he has done this for more than 10 years.
And very gladly.

In omnibus amare et servire Domino.
(In everything love and serve the Lord.)
This is a fitting song for Tatay Acain.

17/06/2024

THE PHILIPPINE SEAS:
WORTH SAVING FOR....WORTH DIVING FOR

(Image repost from the wall of SAVE PHILIPPINE SEAS: Because our seas save us. Posted June 12, 2024. Downloaded for re-post June 16, 2024 11:49 am)

17/06/2024

AIM HIGH

The hand that hoists you to go higher most of the time belongs to a father.

A personal thought relatable to a spectacular art by Filipino sculptor-artist Herminio Tan.

(Image of a recent commissioned work by Herminio Tan, posted on his wall June 16, 2024. Downloaded and reposted June 16, 2024 11:23 am. With artist permission.)

09/06/2024

CONTRADICTING MESSAGE

It is always worthwhile to delve down deeper into messages streamed to us before absorbing them entirely.

For instance, the election of Mexico's first woman president.
Something worthwhile celebrating, even for non-Mexicans like us.
Claudia Sheinbaum.

Just a few self-evident contradicting messages.

To elect into office the first female president of a country is truly something to celebrate about.
But women-and-gender leanings of this country cannot celebrate just yet.

A presidency of the majority but drawing a prognosis of the poll results is something a nation finds too wanting.

About 98 million Mexicans registered to vote.
Likewise the most violent election with more than 30 politicians killed.
Not to mention a high level of violence in the country as official data shows between 2018 and 2023
that there were more than 171,000 homicides,
of which nearly 5,000 were femicides (the killings of women by men in acts of gendered violence),
around 227,000 Mexicans had lost their lives due to the drug war, more than 50,000 Mexicans went missing within the aforementioned period
-- which is about one person per hour.

Claudia Sheinbaum Sheinbaum is a member of the Morena party, which promotes abortion, same-sex marriage,
and gender ideology, among other things
at odds with the Catholic Church.

As of 2020, about 78% of Mexico's total population is Catholic.
PEW Research Center released a list of top Catholic countries
in the world (in decreasing order) that includes Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, US and Italy.

Make your own prognosis.

( Victory photo Claudia Sheinbaum June 2, 2024/Eyepix | NurPhoto | NurPhoto via AFP)

14/05/2024

Little rain and thriving

12/05/2024

“ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND WISDOM OF THE HEART:
For a Fully Human Communication
The theme for the 58th World Communication Day 2024
May 12, 2024

“The evolution of artificial intelligence systems
makes it ever more natural to communicate
through and with machines,
so that it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish computation from thought,
and the language produced by a machine from that generated by human beings.”

(Vatican News image and context)

04/05/2024

That's what Easter is for.

03/05/2024

"In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances. As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression."
Mauricio Weibel
Chair of the International Jury of media professionals

"Each year, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Prize pays tribute to the courage of journalists facing difficult and dangerous circumstances. Once again this year, the Prize reminds us of the importance of collective action to ensure that journalists around the world can continue to carry out their essential work to inform and investigate."
Audrey Azoulay
UNESCO Director-General