blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

The old Roman Church calendar had January 1 as the Feast of the Circumcision ("tuli" in Filipino) of Christ. Why there is a circumcision is told in Genesis 17 as a reminder of YHWH's covenant with Abraham. Verse 12 has it as " And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of thy seed." In the covenant, Abraham was promised that he will have many descendants by his wife Sarah. Abraham's son with Sarah' Isaac was circumcised 8 days after he was born, his eldest son with Sarahs servant Hagar, Ishmael, at 13 years and Abraham himself at 90 years. Christian Tradition holds that the real start of Jesus's shedding of blood for our salvation started on his circumcision. This was also the time when Jesus was named as Jesus. Another name of the feast is "The Naming of Jesus" The new Roman Calendar promulgated by Pa...

In the old Christian calendar January 6 is the feast of the Epiphany when the wise men followed the star to Bethlehem and found the baby Jesus with his father and mother. In Spanish Philippines January 6 is when kids got their presents. When my grandparents were alive, I got my presents on January 6. When American practices supplanted that of the Hispano-Filipino, kids shifted to Christmas day when presents are opened. The wise men brought gifts of gold,frankincense, and myrrh. Some presents to give to a baby! But tradition says that these gifts were not for the child but for the divine in Him. Tradition also holds that the gifts were prophetic,with gold (kingship), frankincense (priesthood) and myrrh (sacrifice). To this day a monarch is expected to reign, lead the realm to God and if need be die for the realm. But who were the wise men or magi? Medieval tradition has turned them into kings but it is likely that they were zoroastrian astrologers from Persia. They were the scientists...

Let the good times roll! I just came from New Orleans with the LSU biochem lab to watch the climax of Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday. In medieval Europe especially in France, fasting began on Ash Wednesday. The day before is the last time people could feast, eat meat especially pork and hence the day is known as Fat Tuesday or in French "Mardi Gras". In England and the Commonwealth, the day is known Shrove Tuesday. In Pre-Reformation England, the English used to "shrive" or go to confession on that day and eat pancakes. Another name for this day is Pancake Tuesday. In the Philippines, we don't have a celebration on this day. Our Mardi Gras are really celebrated for the feast of the Holy Child, so we have Sinulog, Dinagyang and their variants. Iberian Catholicism frowned on excess and emphasized penance unlike its Gallic counterpart. But according to historian Ambeth Ocampo, Manila had a carnival on Mardi Gras and this was controversial at times since some of the activi...