The Mute Speaks

Being mute is a privation of speech; the person cannot speak with sounding words. They communicate by signs. As privation; they can, therefore, speak if they have been given the gift of speech. It was not their choice to be mute, but they are deprived of their ability to speak, to say words, to speak as we can speak. There are passages in the Bible about our Lord healing mute persons: in Mark 9: 14 – 29, a youth was possessed by a mute spirit; in consequence too, he was unable speak aside from other things that he was suff ering from; in Matthew 9: 32- 33, a possessed man who also was mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, then, he spoke. The crowed awed by the miracle said, “nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” Integrally part of Jesus’ mission of salvation is the healing of the mute, see Mt. 15: 30-31; “… they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see, and they glorifi ed the god of Israel.” Being mute bodily can be an image as well of being morally or spiritually mute. Dear reader, in what way you are mute about? What deprives you of speaking the truth or just to talk about?

In many ways in our time, you and I can be mute. Some external forces, others internal to us, prohibit us to speak, they make us mute. In the passages mentioned above, the demon possessing the person makes him mute; the devil does not want us to speak. If we use our power to speak in the way of goodness and truth, speaking can be our ally against the evil one; and thus, it does not want us to speak. Not speaking can hide the truth, and the devil being a deceiver, it does not want the truth to be told. Whenever we hide the truth, especially in situations that require us to speak of it; then, we are being mute by the evil one. When we lie; then, the enemy is our inner-me, that we ourselves have decided to tell the lie rather than the truth. By faith, we are commissioned to be bearers of Christ’s teachings, and so we can teach others by our actions and by our words. Failing to speak when the situation demands that we speak is being mute.

Whenever we do not pray, when we do not give praise, adoration, and worship God as we should; then, we choose to be mute. In prayer, we can pray silently. But there are oral prayers too that we should do; therefore, use our mouth. In the Holy Mass, we us e our mouth to sing, to give responses, we join others in prayer. If we prefer to be silent; then, we have chosen to be mute before God, and that would not be an act of honor to Him but an honor to oursel ves by deciding to be silent when we should rather use our speech. Moreover, when we cannot say good words to others, we choose to criticize rather than affi rm; then, we are mute also. When we decide to use bad words rather than uplifting words, this also is a form of being mute, for such action cripples the goodness of relationship by the use of our mouth. The world we live in is fi lled with trash talks and trash talkers, why not rather prefer all of us together to fi ll the world with good talks, and good and truthful talkers? Let us proclaim the goodness of the Lord; yes, we do so by our behavior, but let us not forget as well that it can be done by speaking out, by proclaiming that the Lord is good indeed always. When we fail to do so, we are mute, and we let the world drown in the many voices and noise that are ungodly.

Let us ask the Lord Jesus to heal our moral muteness and spiritual dumbness; that we may have the courage always to speak the truth and to say good and uplifting words. We may never hesitate to sing praises and oral prayers to the Lord God. Our mouth with its vocal faculty is a gift, such a gift must be used as God intended it for His glory. When we attend Holy Mass, participate actively, sing when there is singing, respond to prayer responses, pray with the community. The God-given mouth and voice are not for one’s own purposes only, it is especially also to be used for the service and love of God. Let us never be mute but able to speak whatever will give highest honor and glory to God. Amen.

Recipe of the Week

Pinoy Roast Pork, Tocino Style

Pinoy Roast Pork, Tocino Style is the New Year special, it is another innovative dish that is uniquely Pinoy. Roast Pork is commonly serve in special occasions including the Christmas Season .i

To prepare the skinned pork roast, slit cut the fats in diagonal patterns about half an inch diamonds. Then rub with a mixture of salt, sugar, garlic powder and paprika powder and let marinate for at least a day or longer the better.

Baking it the usual temperature and timing, except that the pork roast has to be placed in the baking dish upside down and including the marinade during the first half of roasting. It is then flip over and continue to roast with occasional basting using the drips from the roasting pork. During the final stage of roasting the dripping is collected then thickened by boiling out the excess liquid. The reduced sauce is then use as glazing for the roast and used as sauce for the final product. Do not worry about internal temperature, Pinoys want their meat properly cooked so stick to the roasting times. The roast pork has to be set aside covered with aluminium foil to rest, this is to ensure that the roast pork is well cooked inside out.

To conclude the slits on the fat outer covering was essential for the marinade to penetrate the meat. It would have been better if the pork was left to marinate for a couple of days to reach to the center, but the reserve sauce dip will compensate it. Alternately during the last roasting stage the pork roast is sliced then individually applied with the glaze and continue to roast till done.

Ingredients:

1 kilo Pork Loin Roast, about 4 ribs rack

1 cup white sugar

1 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. garlic powder

1-2 tbsp. paprika powder

To serve: garlic fried rice sunny side up fried eggs

Cooking procedure:

Remove the skin of the pork roast leaving most of the fat. Make diagonal crisscross slit cuts on the outer fat covering the size of 1/2 inch diamonds and deep enough to penetrate the meat and keep aside. In bowl mix the salt, sugar, garlic powder and paprika powder. Rub and coat the pork roast with the sugar mixture. Place the coated pork roast in a thermo glass loaf baking dish including the remaining sugar mixture, cover and place in the refrigerator and let marinate for at least 1day, occasionally turning over the pork roast for even marination.

Pre-heat oven to 300ᵒF to 325ᵒF, take the pork roast out in the refrigerator and let stand outside till the temperature has increased to outside temperature. Ensure that the pork roast in the baking dish is positioned upside down and the fat and meat are facing the bottom of the baking dish, submerged with the marinade. Cover and seal the baking dish with aluminium foil and place in the rack at the middle of the oven and let bake for about 1 hour at 300ᵒF to 325ᵒF. Now remove the roasting pork from the oven and transfer in a larger baking dish, reserve the drippings, this time place the pork roast with the fats and meats facing up and the ribs facing the bottom of the baking dish. Return to the oven and roast for about 20 to 30 minutes at 350ᵒF to 375ᵒF monitoring the temperature, decrease the temperature as necessary. In the meantime using a small saucepan reduce the reserved drippings to a syrupy consistency. Using the syrup baste the roasting pork about halfway then again on the last 2 to 3 minutes of roasting increasing the temperature to about 400ᵒF, this will result a glazed and seared effect on the fats. When done remove from the oven and cover with aluminium foil and let stand for about 10 minutes to rest. To serve slice individual ribs, arrange in a platter with garlic fried rice and fried egg. And pour over a couple of tablespoon of the syrup.

Sagada reopens natural caves for tourists

SAGADA, Mt. Province – “Revenge tourists” or travelers whose trips have been held back by lockdowns due to the pandemic can finally marvel anew at the splendor of Sagada’s famous natural caves after the town swung open its doors.

Municipal tourism officer Maria Teresa Abad urged tourists to register online via https://umali-kayo. sagada.gov.ph/views/pages/tourist/ accommodations.php to generate a quick response (QR) code, which will be required at the border checkpoint upon entering the Sagada-Dantay Road from the national highway.

“We are now open. We have allowed two bus lines to transport tourists and locals from Baguio City,” she said in a PNA report.

Abad said women who are in charge of the border checkpoint will also require tourists to be fully vaccinated and must show their vaccination cards, before being allowed to enter the place.

GL Trans and Coda Lines, which have scheduled daily trips, can ac- commodate fully vaccinated tourists. Abad, however, clarified that for now, only the Sumaguing Cave, Lumiang Cave, and the Balangagan Cave have been opened to tourists for trekking.

She said the other destinations, meanwhile, are undergoing rehabilitation and thus are still closed to the public.

Abad, however, clarified that for now, only the Sumaguing Cave, Lumiang Cave, and the Balangagan Cave have been opened to tourists for trekking.

She said the other destinations, meanwhile, are undergoing rehabilitation and thus are still closed to the public.

Abad said the local government made sure all establishments and tour guides were ready to take in tourists again before the decision to reopen the town was made.

Sagada, which continues to maintain its serene environment, has become a popular tourist destination, especially among foreigners.