1.The Sacrament of Baptism

Baptism is the gateway to the other Sacraments, we first have to be baptised before we receive the other sacraments. During Baptism we are freed from the doctrine of Original Sin and we officially become a member of the Church.

All the Old Covenant prophecies has its fulfilment in Christ Jesus. He begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan. (Matthew 3:13).
After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles which is represented now by Deacons, Priests & Bishops. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20).

Anyone who has not received the sacrament of Baptism is eligible to have it provided that the parents are willing to satisfy all the requirements of the church. The same rules applies for an adult who wants to be Baptised.

What I have presented here is a short essay of the Sacrament of Baptism. The responsibility to discover more is within us.

The Seven Sacraments of The Roman Catholic Church

There are Seven (7) Sacraments inside the Catholic church, The first is the sacrament of Baptism, second is the sacrament of Communion third is the sacrament of confirmation fourth is the sacrament of the Holy Orders the fifth is the sacrament of Holy Matrimony (Marriage) the sixth is the sacrament of Confession and the seventh is the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

What is the relevance of these sacraments in our life's journey? The sacraments are there to accompany us as we travel in this world, remember that the first sacrament is Baptism and the last sacrament is the anointing of the sick. Baptism is the start of our christian life and the Anointing of the Sick is the end. Majority of those who are being anointed are old and are near to the next life. But strictly speaking the Anointing of the sick is not only given when somebody is old and dying. anybody regardless of age who is gravely sick or set to undergo a major operation is eligible to this sacrament.

In my forthcoming blogs I will be discussing each sacraments and its relevant Biblical verses. I will start with Baptism. I am doing this with the hope of educating those Catholics who are not deeply immersed in their faith so as to avoid their migration to other christian faiths.

Visiting the Sick.

Last Saturday (Aug. 4) We visited my sick auntie (Gilda) in Las Piñas. I left Carmona around 6:30 am and I arrived there 8:00, she was not in there house because she went out with my sister (Grace) to see her Doctor for her check-up.

After 30 mins. they arrived, upon seeing her I immediate went to her to bless her hand and I said "How are you auntie?" she replied, I am OK, but closely looking at her it's undeniable that she has a serious health problem. I was told before that her problem was her liver, it's not working very well that's why she's losing weight and her stomach was unusually bigger. I can't help but pause and admire her courage and strong determination to live and fight her oppressive illness.

We may ask, why is she suffering big time? Is this her punishment from God? This is my opinion based on what I know as an Extra Ordinary Minister of the Holy Communion. She is undergoing these trials for her and for us also, to know that there's a supreme being that governs us all and that is God, in spite of the modern medical technology, in spite of material wealth, there's God who's way above all of these temporal things. Her predicament is not a punishment from God, rather it's God's way of saying come to me, rely on nobody but me and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

After staying with her for more than two hours, We said our goodbyes I kissed her on her cheek and I said take good care of your health always and we will be seeing you again next month and she replied you always Pray for me... then she said, "I always Pray for all of you."

Why do we visit her often? Why do we allocate a portion our precious time with her? To my mind we visit her often because she has helped us become what we are today, in a special way she has also showed her love for us specially during the time when she took care of us. This is actually our special way of saying to her that we remember those days and we are still very grateful for the things that she has done for us all.

Finally, we visit her often because of these Bible verses on Matthew 25:35-40. 

Marino J. Dasmarinas: Recollection and Retreat Facilitator

I conduct and facilitate Recollections and Retreats for Government and Private organization.

My emails adds: mjdasma@yahoo.com /  mjdasma@gmail.com 

The Reunion/Originally Posted on April 30, 2007

April 29, was a day to remember. We went to Moonwalk Las Piñas to attend the get together sponsored by Auntie Elsa. We went there for no other reason but to renew acquaintance with our relatives.

Upon arrival we were immediately ushered to the dining table and there we got our food. Then with our plates full, we joined our relatives in the veranda and slowly we eat and conversed with them as well. As the night was maturing the Karaoke music was also being kept busy by my relatives, all kinds of songs were being played and it was music to my ears to listen to them, although some of them were mangling the lyrics.

On our table I was busy eating pulutan, and I had a few shots of Red wine while at the same time silently listening to the friendly arguments of my relatives. The topics of the debates was varied: from the current slump of Miami Heat, an NBA team with superstar players like Shaq Oneil and Dwayne Wade being overpowered by the relatively young team of the Chicago bulls to the current political situation of our beloved province in Motiong Samar.

After a long while it was time to go home, we were given our presents directly brought in from the USA by Auntie Elsa...

As we were cruising home I was on a reflective mode... once in a while it's good to have this Reunion because it always reminds us of our older relatives who has made a difference in our lives...

Anointing of the Sick/Originally posted May 7, 2007

It was May 2 around 9:00 pm, a fellow Minister of the Holy communion called me, I was quite annoyed because it was time to relax and eventually retire for the day. I have not yet uttered a single word when he said, bong can we call Father Nards? (Our Parish Priest) I asked him? for what reason? And he told me that there is a gravely ill woman and she might go anytime. I thought about it for quite sometime because it was late in the night already and I don't want to disturb our Priest.

However, we went to the her house upon knocking on their gate we were meet by her son and we introduced ourselves as Extra Ordinary Ministers of the Communion . Then I asked him "Can we see your sick mother?" he said yes, we went inside and saw a very thin old woman lying on her bed. She can't talk anymore because she has cancer on her throat but she can still recognize. I looked closely at her, there was a sudden gush of emotion on me because I knew her face. I always see her attending Mass or Bible service and whenever she in the church she always caught my attention because she was always alone on the farthest pew, she was alone but she was constantly following the ceremony whether it was Mass or Bible service.

So we went home and I decided to text our Priest and told him that there is a gravely ill woman sick with cancer, she's near death, I further told him if it is possible for him to gave the last sacrament that night or early morning. after a few minutes I got a reply and he said. I am ready now, so I texted him back and said Father I will fetch you now. I hailed a tricycle and went to the church when we arrived Father was already prepared and we went to the house of the sick lady. Immediately Father put his stole and said: I am the Priest I will gave you the Anointing of the Sick .

It was so touching seeing the Priest laying his hand on the sick and praying at the same time. After Father was through we accompanied him back and said thank you very much Father.When I was going back home I said to myself thank you dear God for calling us and making us an instrument of your grace...