THE US ASIAN POST Wednesday - Tuesday, January 30 - February 5, 2013
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UTREACH Missionary Hearts St Kateri and St Pedro’s Love for God in a Musical at the Pantages Theater on Feb.10 :
BY FR. JOEL HENSON
Love is in the air. No sooner did the fireworks fall silent after ringing in the New Year did stores and other retail outlets – in malls and online – begin setting up for the next big reason to shop: Valentine’s Day! Hearts of all sizes, materials, and shades of red grace many a website as well as window displays, inviting everyone to fall in love, or fall in love all over again. You are invited to share in the love stories of two young people who, though worlds apart were one in their love of God. Fides Ecclesiae (“Faith of the Church”), a musical stage presentation of the stories of recently canonized Saints Kateri Tekakwitha and Pedro Calungsod, will be playing at the Pantages Theatre on Sunday, February 10, at 7:00 p.m. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, a young Native American woman, found God speaking to her in the deep recesses of her heart. Orphaned at a young age, she nevertheless remembered the faith shared with her by her mother before the latter’s death. Stories, songs, and images confirmed for her that the one love she knew as a child – her mother’s love – is but one and the same as that which God has for her in Christ Jesus. Her young heart knew only one response: All yours, Jesus, I’m all yours. St. Kateri gave witness to her faith by forsaking all that her world expected of her and declaring that life is worth giving all to the Lord, inspiring many around her to live lives in service of God and others as witnesses to the values of the gospel of Christ. St. Pedro Calungsod, a Filipino teenager, knew love in the selflessness of his parents. Encouraged to grow in knowledge and love of God, he found an opportunity to show his brand of love by volunteering to serve as catechist with a missionary expedition to the Marianas Islands (now Guam). While the prospect of travel to distant lands, so attractive to many missionaries, may have been an initial nudge, St. Pedro soon realized that it takes more than a good feeling to live in love with someone with Whom and for Whom one wishes to live one’s life. His faith tested by skeptical and hostile natives who would soon threaten his life, he perseveres knowing that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for the Lord. In both of their love stories, Saints Pedro Calungsod and Kateri Tekakwitha found God through the ministry of missionaries, themselves seeking only to love God by loving those to whom they were sent. To be on a mission is to move beyond oneself – whether one’s physical place or one’s current circumstances – to make a difference in someone else’s life. In this is the call to a different kind of love. The red hearts of Valentine’s Day invite us to the wonderful feeling of knowing that someone thinks the world of us. The missionary heart challenges us to the satisfaction of knowing that, in the example of Jesus, we give of ourselves that others might live and their world might be made new. The missionaries that brought the faith to St. Kateri and St. Pedro inspired both to love with missionary hearts: Pedro by leaving homeland to spread the faith and Kateri by leaving the life she knew to embrace another in devotion to God. In the ordinary circumstances of our daily lives, we too are called to love with missionary hearts, to move beyond ourselves for the sake of others. Is it taking time out of our schedule to spend with someone who is alone? Is it some knowledge or skill that we have with which we might help someone in need? Is it some form of blessing that we have received that we can share with others? Let Fides Ecclesiae inspire you to fall in love with a missionary heart.
St. Pedro Calungsod with the missionaries en route to the Marianas Islands or Guam.
Obama huddles with police chiefs on gun campaign WASHINGTON, Jan 28, 2013 (AFP) – US President Barack Obama on Monday surrounded himself with top police chiefs and sheriffs to crank up pressure on Congress to back his drive for measures to cut down on gun violence. “I’m looking forward to a robust conversation. I know it’s not a shy group, mainly because they deal with a life and death situation every single day,” Obama said at the meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. “No group is more important to listen to than our law enforcement communities. They are where the rubber hits the road.” Obama made measures to stem murderous firearms violence a centerpiece of his second term agenda, after America was traumatized by the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in December. Monday’s meeting included sheriffs and police chiefs from cities including Salt Lake City, Chicago
and Aurora, Colorado, the site of a gun massacre at a movie theater last year. Also at the meeting was Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe. Obama this month took 23 executive actions and challenged Congress to pass new laws, including renewing a ban on assault weapons, and closing loopholes that permit 40 percent of gun sales to take place without background checks. Vice President Joe Biden, who drew up the administration’s new gun control policy last week, was at Monday’s meeting after last week taking the campaign into gun country in Virginia, to engage lawmakers and local leaders. Virginia, adjacent to Washington, illustrates the heavy political winds Obama, Biden and top gun control advocates in Congress are facing. The driving force in the gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, is headquartered in the state, and firearms can legally be carried openly.
Hacker group Anonymous downs US government site WASHINGTON, Jan 26, 2013 (AFP) – Hacker group Anonymous said it disabled the US Sentencing Commission’s website Saturday in revenge for the death of Internet freedom advocate Aaron Swartz, and vowed to release government data. The website of the commission, an independent agency of the US Justice Department involved in sentencing, was apparently hacked into early Saturday. Anonymous threatened to make public the encryption keys to files that could potentially embarrass judges and other federal employees, saying it acted in protest at the Justice Department’s alleged mishandling of Swartz’s case. Swartz was facing 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine for breaking into a closet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to plug into the computer network. He downloaded millions of academic journal articles he had allegedly planned to distribute for free. Friends and relatives have accused overzealous prosecutors of contributing to the 26-year-old’s suicide. He was found hanged in his New York apartment earlier this month.
St. Kateri singing the Canticle at the Woods, when the Nature Comes Alive with her song of praise.
US pending homes sales dip amid tight inventory WASHINGTON, Jan 28, 2013 (AFP) – US pending home sales dipped in December as inventory remained tight, but the upward trend in the housing market continued, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. The NAR’s pending home sales index, an indicator of future sales, fell 4.3 percent to 101.7 in December, down from a 106.3 reading in November. The decline, after three months of gains, surprised analysts who had estimated no change in pending home sales during the year-end holiday month. December pending home sales still were up 6.9 percent from a year ago, the 20th consecutive month on the rise, NAR said. “The supply limitation appears to be the main factor
holding back contract signings in the past month,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, adding: “Buyer interest remains solid.” NAR said that even with some sellers remaining reluctant to put their homes up for sale more than six years after prices collapsed, pent-up demand and mortgage interest rates hovering at record lows point to continued improvement ahead. Yun forecast existing-home sales to increase another 9 percent in 2013, following a 9 percent rise in 2012. Barclays analyst Michael Gapen agreed the latest pending home sales numbers were a welcome sign. “The broad trend in pending home sales mirrors that of the broader housing market,” he said. “The recovery in US housing has sustained momentum.”
Ready for Romance: Valentine’s Day 2013 Raffle Contest Valentines Day has, throughout the years, been one of our society’s most anticipated holidays. It is a day filled with a nuanced combination of passion, interest, intrigue, excitement, nervousness and new horizons. For many, it is a start to their New Year with their significant other, or maybe it is their first date with someone new in their life. Regardless of your unique situation, we at Balita Media, O-Skin Care, Colina Salon and Café Sierra would like to do what we can to make sure your 2013 Valentine’s Day is truly one to remember. As result, we will be hosting a raffle contest from January 26 to February 10, 2013. Individuals that apply will be entered for a chance to win several pairs of prizes for both themselves and
of course, in true Valentine’s Day fashion, their date. The winner of the raffle competition will receive several services including: two free facial appointments from O Skin Care, two free hairstyling sessions courtesy of Marlou Colina Salon and lastly, a dinner for two at Café Sierra, located at the Hilton of Universal city, which is redeemable before, during, or after Valentine’s Day. Applicants may enter the contest through a variety of mediums: entry forms will be available online at www.WeekendBalita. com, www.Balita.com and www. USAsianPost.com. Individuals may also fill-out the entry forms found in Weekend Balita or US Asian Post, and send them to: Balita Media, Inc., 520 E. Wilson Ave. Ste. 210, Glendale, CA
91206. Remember, should you decide to apply via mail, the mail must arrive prior to the February 10th deadline; online submissions will be processed and entered immediately. Applicants will be required to submit their name, age, phone number, and e-mail address. It should be noted that all questions must be answered to qualify. The raffle draw will be held on February 11, 2013. The winner will be contacted by phone and e-mail immediately after the conclusion of the drawing. Balita Media, O Skin Care, Marlou Colina Salon and Café Sierra would like to sincerely thank you for your continued support and would like to wish you the best of luck in our raffle contest. We hope you have a fantastic Valentine’s Day.