Easter 2016 Message

Jesus's death on the cross was a spectacle that made people leave Calvary beating their breasts (Luke 23:48). The act of beating one's breast signifies sorrow or contrition, the way we strike our breasts during the "I confess" part in the Mass particularly at the words "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault."

Through the various acts of piety and mercy we have done in Lent, we have expressed sorrow for our sins. Through these various acts we have, figuratively speaking, beat our breasts.

And yet, the story does not end with Jesus' horrible dying. Three days later, He rose again from the dead as He has spoken.  Just when people thought that Jesus was a false Messiah, a hoax, a complete failure, lo and behold Him appearing to His followers saying "Peace be with you" (John 20:21). God is indeed a God of surprises. 

As Jesus killed sin and death by His self-sacrifice on the cross, His resurrection has given us new life, a life united with Him!  How great is God's mercy indeed!

And what should be our response to such great mercy?  It is summed up in a short, but meaningful prayer: Jesus, I trust in You!

As we celebrate our Lord's Resurrection let us strive to be more trustful of His mercy. Less beating of breasts, more beating of heart for Him and for others especially those who are still left in the dark, those who have rejected or doubted God's mercy, and those who have not yet known Jesus.

I would like to take this opportunity too to thank you for your continued support especially in our annual Holy Week special, The Seven Last Words. My special thanks go to Berwyn Bautista, Fr Judy Banez, Beth Dantes, Ana Payod-Balla, Carlo Malaluan, and Judith Castro-Songlingco for sharing their reflections in this year's devotion. 

Thanks too to Allan Dabu for designing our poster, Mike Flores for designing our layout, Grace Madrinan for posting the reflections in our Facebook page, and Vlad Reyes for liaising with Arzobispado de Manila and for writing the Epilogue.  Last but not least, thank you to His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle for writing the Prologue. I hope that this devotion has enhanced your spiritual journey towards Easter.

In behalf of the web’s Editorial Board and staff, I wish you all a blessed Easter!

May the Risen Jesus, the Face of the Father's Mercy, bless you all!

Ang inyong manong,

Pietro S. Albano

Editor-in-Chief

Thank God it's Holy Week!

Hello everyone!

Please allow me to start this message by inviting you all to walk with us as we take that spiritually satisfying journey with Christ this Holy week and Easter. The spiritual journey includes meaningful reflections from our several invited guest priests through our special feature, The Seven Last Words; personal reflections from our writers in God-speak and other readings and videos related to Holy Week. May you encounter Christ and grow in Him as we go through this journey together, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Week might be the busiest time for the Church with the most meaningful events as we relive Jesus sufferings and victory over death. I remember how we in Anluwage, way back in the 1990s, are working double time to lead and participate in the different Holy Week activities while trying to renew and recharge our faith with the Lord. We have held street Senakulo, done visita iglesia on foot, participated in "Pabasa", Stations of the Cross, "Salubong", and many more. Indeed, Holy Week is filled with soul saving activities. It is the time fully dedicated to our Lord, to purify our souls and to strengthen our faith. It offers a lot of opportunities for us to reunite with the Lord, to repent and be renewed, to further strengthen our connection with Him and to savor the so many blessings we have received and are continuously receiving from Him.

Let us grab that chance to walk with Jesus this Holy Week and with Him, celebrate Easter, His victory, which won us the eternal life in heaven! And as we honor the gifts of Easter, may Jesus resurrect and reign in our hearts forever!

Mabuhay si Jesus!


Anabelle Payod-Balla
Faith Section Editor

Couples in Christ

I’m often touched to see couples having the same interest, profession, and the like, particularly serving the People of God. This only shows that both of them see things together and put their actions together. The Virgin Mary and St Joseph is a pair we could think of. Perhaps you could also recall your own parents or grandparents or any other relatives who have been together in worshipping and serving the Lord.

The web is truly blessed to have Benj and Fely Santiago as part of the God-speak Team. Benj, as you know, was our writer for last month. This month, it’s his better half’s turn to share with us her insights and experiences in the Sunday Mass readings. The Santiagos have been active in the Magis Deo Marriage Encounter Community as well as the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals. They have been blessed with four children: Reuben James, Chai, Rocky, and Chiara.

We thank both Benj and Fely for being part of our evangelization and look forward to a fruitful relationship with them. May they inspire other couples out there to always remain in the Lord’s love and to stay focused in bringing His message of hope to a world that is continuously being dragged to despair.

As Lent goes into full swing, we would like to invite all of you especially married and would-be married couples to do something different this season. Why not join us in our apostolate, for a change? Whatever talent you have would be most welcome.

Let me also take this opportunity to ask for your prayers for the success of our forthcoming ‘The Seven Last Words’ which will come ‘live’ on 28th March, Palm Sunday. This year, being the Year of Priests, we have invited 7 priests to share their reflection on the words of Jesus.

In March we also celebrate the feast of St Joseph (19th). We continue to thank the Lord for the blessings received through St Joseph’s intercession. In preparation for his feast, please join us in praying ‘The Seven Sorrows and Joys of St Joseph’.

May God bless us all!



Pietro S Albano

Editor-in-Chief

Five Years Na!

Five years ago, Tanghalang Anluwage, Inc brought forth a new, innovative, and challenging ministry into the World Wide Web. It was an opportune time – the organization was then in a healing process following its disbandment in 2003.


One of the first features of our website was the reflection on the Sunday Mass Readings. This was previously known as ‘Before Sundays’. As the name suggests, reflections are made available to web surfers days before the Sunday when the particular readings would be proclaimed at Mass. Apart from ‘Before Sundays’ were opinion columns like ‘Tanggero’ penned by Mike Flores and ‘Bits and Bobs’ by yours truly. We never lose time in having our devotional specials too that year: ‘The Seven Last Words’ in Holy Week, while ‘The Nine Gifts’ in Advent. These and many more became our main stays in the web since then. In 2008, we streamlined our web contents and classified them under their respective sections.

By 2007, we started to recruit more hands to write the reflections for ‘Before Sundays’ which was renamed ‘God-speak’ to emphasize that what is being ‘spoken about’ is God and His message as contained in the Mass readings. We had our ‘Tres Marias’ taking turns in sharing their reflection to our readers: Anabelle Payod-Balla, Elizabeth Eguia, and Nicola Albano.

In 2008/09, ‘God-speak’ was able to attract more ‘God-speakers’ each sharing their experience on God’s Word which has been a source of inspiration and hope for our readers. We welcomed Grace Madriñan in 2008; the following year we opened our doors to Fidji Rivera-Sarmiento, Gharri Tulabut, Mayzelle Atienza, and Nette Andres. Anabelle is currently leading the Faith Section where ‘God-speak’ belongs. Incidentally, Grace has recently been tasked to head ‘Pahina 3’, another promising sub-section in the web.

This year, I am happy to announce that we will be having 12 writers in ‘God-speak’. Gharri, who is on his second year stint with us, ushered our readers in January. We thank Gharri for his lively and personal writings and look forward to his contribution in the future not only in ‘God-speak’ but elsewhere.

We welcome now Engr Benjamin ‘Benj’ Santiago, our February God-speaker. A family man whose apostolate is to keep families together and help them gain financial independence, Sir Benj was one of our writers in ‘The Nine Gifts’ last year. Rest assured, Sir Benj, of our prayers and support as you guides us in reflecting God’s Word this month.

More faces will be introduced as go through the year. Of course, there's still more spaces for everyone who would like to hone their skills in the web. We would need additional news writers and researchers as well as layout artists. Whatever talent you could contribute, you're more than welcome in this ministry! So feel free to contact us.

In the mean time, let’s continue to remember each other in our prayers and keep that light of Christ burning and shining for all to see, for all to follow, for all to abide with.

Thanks you once again for your unrelenting support. May the good Lord bless us all.

Happy 5th Birthday, www.anluwage.com !

Regards,

Piet