"All for greater glory of God and the greater honour of Mary, Mother of the Lord Jesus"

We the undersigned, striving to work together for the greater glory of God and the honour of Mary, Mother of the Lord Jesus, assert and declare our sincere intention and firm will of consecrating ourselves at the first opportunity to founding the pious congregation of Mary-ists.  

That is why by the present act and our signatures, in so far as we can, we irrevocably dedicate ourselves and all our goods to the Society of the blessed Virgin.

We do this not childishly or lightly or for some human motive or the hope of material benefit, but seriously, maturely, having taken advice, having weighed everything before God, solely for the greater glory of God and the honour of Mary, Mother of the Lord Jesus

We pledge ourselves to accept all sufferings, trials, inconveniences, and, if needs be, torture, because we can do all things in Christ Jesus who strengthens us and to whom we hereby promise fidelity in the bosom of our holy mother the Roman Catholic Church, cleaving with all our strength to its supreme head the Roman Pontiff and to our most reverend bishop, the ordinary, that we may be good ministers of Jesus Christ, nourished by the words of faith and by the wholesome teaching which by his grace we have received.

We trust that under the reign of our most Christian King, the friend of peace and religion, this institute will shortly come to light and we solemnly promise that we shall spend ourselves and all we have in saving souls in every way under the very august name of the Virgin Mary and with her help.  

And may the holy and immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary be praised. Amen.

The Maryknoll Missionaries have their Ministry to the Prisons here in Bangkok. They have a great work indeed! Mel Ortiz, a Filipina lay missioner, who works devotedly to the prison ministry, accompanied us to visit the prisons.

We visited the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok. There are many many Burmese detained there. A hundreds of them. Yet it seemed the Myanmar Government don't care about their people. Many of them entered Thailand illegally.

The next day, we visited to another prison in the province and we travelled by boat. There, I visited a Filipino inmate. He is the only Filipino in that prison. He has been inside for ten years. We talked for almost an hour. (We can see each other behind bars and glass but we can only communicate by phone.) He has many regrets but accepted it humbly. He said, "In here, I have to learn to be touch... I have to learn to fight."

The next week, we went to another big prison. There, I visited a young man from Nepal. He was imprisoned when he was 24 years old. And now , he is 27. He didn't receive news or even letter from his family. He had many dreams but all those dreams were lost.

That afternoon, we visited the hospital of that prison. There were three prisoners (who were under psychiatric observation): a Filipino, a Nigerian and an Indonesian. I talked to each of them. They can communicate very well. One of them wanted to kill himself and the other wanted go out the prison. They have enough. They are more problematic and more depressed.

Is there a hope for these foreigners in prison? Who will give hope for them? Their families rejected them. The society hated them. Their dreams are lost. now they live in regrets and sorrows. The visits of the missionaries show to them the glimpse of hope. The missionaries give them a light in the dark of their cell. All of the prisoners whom we visited were all grateful. I can sense that. For them, the visit of someone is like "love walks around the prison". It picks them up and lightens their way.

Thanks for those who visited and posted messages on my websites. Special thanks for the birthday greetings! Thanks for the wishes.

Last Oct. 16, my birthday, we went to Kanchanaburi with Fr. Somphong (a Thai Redemptorist) to visit the Burmese refugee camps in the border. Unfortunately, we couldn't able to get there. But we had a chance to visit the Bridge on the River Kwai, a river near the border with Myanmar. It was built by the prisoners of war (forced by the Japanese) during World War II. This bridge is called Death Railway. We also visited the War Museum and the Cemetery of the soldiers killed during those times of war.

Our visitation to this historical place marked my birthday celebration. Whatta celebration! It reminded me of one the songs of Guns n' Roses called "Civil War". It says, "Look at the young men dying... women crying..." and it screams, "I don't need your... war!"  People killing each other. Innocents became the victims. We don't need war. We need Peace. We want life. There is no life in war.

Life is worth living. It is not dull. It is a great gift from God. As I celebrated my birthday, I celebrated the goodness of God, the God who is full of life. He gave me life. And I will live this life each day to become closer to Him and to live it to the full.

Our little team (Fr. John, Fr. Joel, Ronald and myself) were invited by Fr. Michael (Mike) Bossano, a Maryknoll priest, to visit his work in the Buddhist temple that cares for full-blown AIDS patients  in Lopburi province, Thailand. Sr. Mary, a Maryknoll sister and the two Pakistanis - Nadeem and Sr. Maria were with us.

Fr. Mike is an unusual missioner. He does't have a big projects here in Thailand. He simply works as a volunteer in the AIDS hospice. But his works there is great! I saw with my very eyes how much he loves them. He takes care for them, feeds them, gives them something to drink, changes their clothes and diapers (even to the women!). He talks to them, touches them and embrace them. He really makes the happy. He is the source of joy.

He has a high respect to the Buddhist tradition... and especially to the humanity. I couldn't really imagine how he put on the clothes to the corpses. There were two patients who died on that day. Their eyes were still open, bodies were already very cold and hard to bend their arms and elbows.

I was really inspired by Fr. Mike's deeds. He works in a gentle and in a humble way. That day I really saw Love, a great love. It is a love without any reservation.

Pag-abot namo sa Bangkok, diritso mi sa Hua-Hin, sa simple nga hotel duol sa beach. Nindot kaayo nga lugar. Nindot kaayo ang pagsubang sa adlaw. Maayo kaayo mag-swimming sa dagat. Dagha'y mga foreigner nianang dapita. Nag-stay mi didto for three days.

Para sa akoa, it was an emptying moments after sa trauma nga nahitabo sa akoa sa Burma. Maayo kaayo nga nakalakaw-lakaw sa puti ug nindot kaayo nga beach. Nakahuna-huna pud ko'g balik sa mga kasinatian nga nahitabo sa akoa sulod sa duha ka bulan sa Burma. Nindot nga experience! Puno sa kinabuhi ug kalipay bisa'g lisod.

Malipayon pud ko sa akong community. Kay bisan unsa kalisod sa among mission apan intact lang gihapon. Puno pud sa support ug encouragement gikan sa wider Marist.

Malipayon ko nga naka-participate sa Marist mission, sa mga struggles ug mga kalisdanan. I still keep my commitment to the mission!

Mibiya mi gikan sa Burma kaniadtong Oct. 1. Kinahanglan daw pagawason ang mga foreigner sa nasud. Apektado ang tanang foreigner apil na ang mga NGOs. Medyo complicated ang mga nahitabo. Sa wala'y paglangan mibiya mi gikan sa Bhamo ka'y overstay na man mi. Wala na-extend ang among visa. Nag-meeting mi, tanang misyonaryo sa Myitkyina Diocese, kabahin sa among visa ug sa among kahimtang isip mga foreigners. Gusto sa gobyerno nga pahawaon ang mga Foreigners. Diha sa Yangon, ang among higala (nga naa daw connection sa Immigration) nag-try sa pag-asikaso sa among visa pero wala gyud.

Ambot... unsay nahitabo diha sa Burma! Wala'y utok ug wala'y kasing-kasing ang mga lider sa gobyerno! Kung pwede lang paulanan sila sa kilat para ma-lechon sila!

Bitaw, lisud ang sitwasyon sa mga tawo sa Burma. Wala'y hustisya. Wala'y edukasyon. Wala'y pagtubo. Maayo ang mga Pilipinas kay bisan pobre apan anaa'y freedom... apan diri sa Burma - hopeless! Ngitngit pa sa alkitran!

Diri sa Bangkok, we are hoping nga makabalik. Nag-apply mi ug business visa pa-burma. Samtang naghulat mi diri sa Bangkok. Naa mi diri sa Redemptorists nag-stay. Naa pud mi contact sa Maryknoll ug maayo kaayo nga nakahimamat pud mi sa ilang mission diri sa Thailand.

Birthday sa akong Mama, naa na mi sa Bangkok. Wala gyud ko nakatawag para mag-greet. Dili pud ko maka-connect sa phone. Ang akong huna-huna naa kang Mama. I love my Mama and I miss her!

Nangadto mi sa computer mall. Wow! Dako kaayo nga mall pero tanan computer! Gikuyogan ko ni Ood ug ni Ole sa pagpalit ug digital camera. Naa na ko'y bag-ong camera. Si Fr. Ron naghatag kanako ug budget para sa pagpalit ug camera.

Pero ang camera para sa ministry sa Burma. para sa akoa, magamit ni para sa documentation, etc. kay ang Burma murag isolated ug gusta nako magamit ang photography para mapadayag ang sitwasyon ngadto sa gawas. Picture speaks strongly that words sometimes cannot describe. Kini ang experience nako sa refugee camp: usa ka estudyante miduol kanako ug gipakita ang pictures gikan sa burma.

Sa pagkagabii, ang among grupo nangadto sa special nga restaurant sa bangkok city. Ah! Mura pud ug birthday party nga naa si mama.