Ash Wednesday

In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter (Sundays are not included in the count).
Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers.
The Wednesday after Quinquagesima Sunday, which is the first day of the Lenten fast.
The name dies cinerum (day of ashes) which it bears in the Roman Missal is found in the earliest existing copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary and probably dates from at least the eighth century. On this day all the faithful according to ancient custom are exhorted to approach the altar before the beginning of Mass, and there the priest, dipping his thumb into ashes previously blessed, marks the forehead — or in case of clerics upon the place of the tonsure — of each the sign of the cross, saying the words: "Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." The ashes used in this ceremony are made by burning the remains of the palms blessed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. In the blessing of the ashes four prayers are used, all of them ancient. The ashes are sprinkled with holy water and fumigated with incense. The celebrant himself, be he bishop or cardinal, receives, either standing or seated, the ashes from some other priest, usually the highest in dignity of those present. In earlier ages a penitential procession often followed the rite of the distribution of the ashes, but this is not now prescribed.
The ashes serve a dual purpose. First, as the above words imply, we are reminded of our mortality and humanity as we begin the Lenten Fast. Second, the ashes are a Biblical symbol of repentance, sorrow, and humility. There are many cases in the Scriptures of wearing ashes as a sign of penitence, often while wearing sackcloth. In 2 Samuel 13:19, Tamar puts on ashes and tears her clothes as a sign of sadness and repentance. In Esther 4:1-3, after learning of the king's decree to kill all Jews, Mordecai tears his garments, and puts on sackcloth and ashes. His fellow Jews do the same thing, as well as beginning to fast. The prophet Jeremiah (6:26) urges his readers to "gird on sackcloth and roll in ashes."
Fasting is a major component of Ash Wednesday, and Ash Wednesday is an official fast day of the Church, along with Good Friday. In Acts 13:1-3, it was while "worshipping the Lord and fasting" that the Holy Spirit led the Apostles to set apart Paul and Barnabas for their work. In Matthew 9:14, Jesus assumes that after he leaves the earth his followers will fast. The history of the Church is filled with stories of fasting and its spiritual value. However, Jesus warns us not to be obvious about our fasting, or only fasting to impress others. Thus, Ash Wednesday is based on the biblical concept of repentance, and the ashes and fasting that are associated with repentance.
Ash Wednesday is unknown in the Eastern Church, and developed only in the West. Orthodox Churches begin Lent on a Monday, known as "Clean Monday." Ash Wednesday as an official fast day dates to at least the 8th century, since it appears in the Gregorian Sacramentary from that period. Originally, Lent began on a Sunday. However, in order to bring the number of days of Lent to 40 (the days Jesus fasted in the wilderness), the beginning of Lent was eventually transferred to a Wednesday.
Originally, Ash Wednesday was the day when public penitents in Rome began their penance. Recall that in the early Church, penance was often public and protracted. It was only later that private confession and penance began, for pastoral reasons. When public penance gradually fell into disuse by the 8th century, Ash Wednesday became a day of penitence and fasting for all members of the Church. Today, Ash Wednesday is a universal Fast day in the Catholic Church. Many Western Protestant churches also observe Ash Wednesday, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and United Methodists.
Not all Christian churches observe Ash Wednesday or Lent. They are mostly observed by the Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Anglican denominations, and also by Roman Catholics. Eastern Orthodox churches observe Lent or Great Lent, during the 6 weeks or 40 days preceding Palm Sunday with fasting continuing during the Holy Week of Easter. Lent for Eastern Orthodox churches begins on Monday and Ash Wednesday is not observed.
The Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday or the custom of Lent, however, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21.
The earliest date Ash Wednesday can occur is 4 February (in a common year with Easter on 22 March), which happened in 1573, 1668, 1761 and 1818. The latest date is 10 March (when Easter Day falls on 25 April) which occurred in 1546, 1641, 1736, 1886 and 1943. Ash Wednesday has never occurred on Leap Year Day (29 February), and it will not occur as such until 2096. The only other years of the third millennium that will have Ash Wednesday on 29 February are 2688, 2840, and 2992. (Ash Wednesday falls on 29 February only if Easter is on 15 April in a leap year.)

chat with my beloved student :)

Kwak

hello teacher

5:34pmBhamster

yes my beloved favourite student

how are you

5:34pmKwak

fine

5:34pmBhamster

that’s great to hear

how was your history and geo exams

5:35pmKwak

75 geo 71 his

5:35pmBhamster

what

why only like that :(

5:36pmKwak

teacher what international school in philipine is good?

how much

5:36pmBhamster

well international schools in manila is better than malaysia

5:37pmKwak

how much

5:37pmBhamster

depends on the place'

why

?

which part of manila

coz when you say manila its big

and most of the international schools are not in manila but in other cities

5:38pmKwak

in term 3 iam leaving school

5:38pmBhamster

whoa

you will b e here in manila

???

5:38pmKwak

which school is better

how much

5:39pmBhamster

ohh yea first is where you ganna stay so i can recommend you

international school here in philippines is much cheaper than fairview

5:39pmKwak

can you fine some info

5:39pmBhamster

yea sure i can give you information

just tell me where you ganna stay

so that i can tell you the nearest international school

5:40pmKwak

i dun no where iam gonna stay depends on school

5:40pmBhamster

ohhh yea ok

ill give you the best schools with the cheaper fee

5:41pmKwak

do u noe subic

5:41pmBhamster

yea but its far from manila

subic is in the north of manila i think 3 hours far

5:42pmKwak

r u in philipine now

5:42pmKwak

is north safe

wat r u doing in taiwan

5:43pmBhamster

north is safe :)

dont worry the not safe place in philippines is south the muslim part

but do you really want to study here can advise you go to FEU - Cavite silang we are open for high school and pre school ill be teaching there in june

5:45pmKwak

where is this school

5:45pmBhamster

in cavite silang 1 hour from manila

most of the teachers in fairview who left will teach there

im one of them

5:46pmKwak

north or south

5:46pmBhamster

north

haha the south one is very far near malaysia

manila is all north

5:47pmKwak

brb

5:47pmBhamster

ok

5:49pmKwak

teacher can u tell me that FEU school deposit fee school fee apartment average fee(rent)and can u send it to e-mail;kwj9920@naver.com

even my father is going does he need guardian visa and student visa

5:51pmBhamster

ohhh FEU i tell you everything alot of korean here also so i think that is easy

i can tell you go to FEU-FERN College its near my house in fairview renting in Philippines is cheaper too

ok ok ill inform you ill out all details in that email

send me your email

5:52pmKwak

kwj9920@naver.com

5:52pmBhamster

if its FEU there is no deposit fee

only international school got deposit :P

FEU means Far eastern university

5:53pmKwak

then wat school is this

5:53pmBhamster

FEU is a private school dont worry everything there is english

is a school also

ill give you all details of international school and good schools in manila ok

trust me private school in manila is better than international school in malaysia

5:55pmKwak

fairview is so bad at teaching

5:55pmBhamster

dunno and most in philippines good teacher

5:55pmKwak

i miss u u teach best in geopn his

5:56pmBhamster

thank you jun lee :) i miss you too

dont worry philippines teachers are all good only Americans Filipinos and chinese :) and you will learn here better

5:59pmKwak

for question can u give me all info in philipine. house , visa , guardian visa,etc .i wish i can eat dinner wif your family and my family some day

5:59pmBhamster

yea sure thing ill give you all detail

5:59pmKwak

i'll be there in agust or september

5:59pmBhamster

when your here in manila that can be done i can even give dinner everyday

6:01pmKwak

thank u n can me all the detail in e-mail and i'll chat wif u siome day again thank u

6:01pmBhamster

do you want it in ringgit

or in peso

??

the details

6:01pmKwak

doesn't matter

6:01pmBhamster

ok sure

6:02pmKwak

bye see u ^^

6:03pmBhamster

see you bye

Friends

When we look back at the things that happened in our past having the knowledge of what we know now, we often find it funny, difficult to understand, and at times regretful of how we made the mistakes done.
This is so because we know better now based on our experiences. We know now how to handle compromising situations once we have learned how to handle it, we often times desire to be back at that moment to correct the errors made. It is like those moments when we were spanked by our parents to be disciplined, which made us either hate them or fear them for it, and wonder nowadays how they could have thought that was a good idea to instill discipline on us. Similarly, our personal pasts are full of mistakes we can’t believe we made. We did things then that we would never do now, and this is precisely because we learned how to manage those things now that we didn’t know how to handle before, or weren’t able to access to said new insights then.
From new methodologies in coping with our development to making means to treat the environment, our collective past experiences sometimes reads like a document on what not to do. In many ways, this is exactly as it should be. We learn from living and having experiences. It is from these past actions that we garnered the information that guides us to live differently now. Just so, in our personal lives, we probably had to have a few unsuccessful relationships or jobs, learning about our negative tendencies through them, in order to gain the wisdom we have now.
In order to live more peacefully with the past, it helps to remember that once we know better, we tend to do much better. Prior to knowing, we generally do our best, and while it’s true that from the perspective of the present, our best doesn’t always seem good enough, we can at least give our past selves the benefit of the doubt. We did our best with what knowledge we had. Beyond this, we serve the greater good most effectively by not dwelling on the past, instead reigning our energy and knowledge into our present actions. It is here, in this moment, that we create our reality and ourselves anew, with our current knowledge and information.
In our journey of knowing things, many of us have had the good fortune to have encountered people whom we became friends with in a level we alone can gauge them to be. Sometimes it’s hard to come straight out and tell our friends how much we love and appreciate them. We might feel awkward expressing deep feelings, even to our nearest and dearest, because it is not a common practice. We might get choked up or embarrassed in the process, or we might fear we will embarrass them. Still, we all have those moments when we realize how fortunate we are to have the friends we have, and we may long to express our gratitude. Moreover, it may be of tremendous benefit to our friends to be at the receiving end of our appreciation. At times like these, having an intimate moment with them over dinner of your cooking at your pad or hosting a coffee party one afternoon, can help us say what we want to say. Additionally, your sincerity in making an effort on this gives your friend the space to really take in your expression of love and the gift of being able to return to it time and again.
As you sit down with them, take a moment to consider the qualities you most value in your friendship. It might be the fact that you always laugh when you talk or that you feel safe enough to confess your worst problems and always leave feeling better about everything. It might be the new ideas and experiences you’ve been exposed to throughout the course of your friendship. Whatever it is, really take the time to express to your friend their unique impact on your life. You don’t have to use big words or fancy metaphors; all you need to do is say it from your heart and your friend will feel the love in the words.
Rekindling your friendship in intimate moments, are now rare. Friends help us grow a lot in knowledge, wisdom and experience. In this New Year 2010, let us rekindle our friendship with one another and learn from that friendship what we need to learn to aide us face our coming days ahead with confidence and warmth of a grateful heart.

My Beloved

By: Mr. H

(Geography, Humanities Teacher)

I start my journey in teaching

And plan for a fun learning

Geography should be enjoying

Not to think of it as boring

I teach them what I think is best

To prepare them for all test

“Down to the sea” they make some steps

And stick that notes don’t forget

This is the class I really like

Students that is really bright

Promise myself to mould them right

F, A, and R all alike

I know them well even they hide

Secrets they want to confide

Jokes, laugh and gossips I can ride

Sharing to me all their pride

Challenge in the following year

Division of class is near

That arise my heart into fear

It will lead to no more jeer

CIE wants competition

IB as opposition

Who is the best in my vision

To get me is their mission

I teach both and make me to try

Handle two schools in a time

Attitude problem who deny

IB students make me cry

With you all I never get tired

In learning change is required

My term of teaching goes expired

But I’m always in your side

Farewell my students I make pact

Make sure everything in tact

Don’t forget the lesson and facts

Don’t disappoint me I’ll be back

My naughty Class

By: Mr. Hernando (Mr.H)

(Geography, History, dance teacher)

I start to teach them dance and stuff

Make some movements for their class

Fun and music in my room

One look all behave in a zoom

Teaching them in their second year

Geography subject they all fear

And dance which they really cheer

Discipline among their peers

As I remember one will say

“Evil teacher in his way

All behave or you’ll be his prey

Be good so we all can play.”

I enter class and greet them Hi

How are you? They all reply

Dance they queue in straight one file

Geo they pass their work of pile

Lesson that they never forget

Never pass up homework late

Or for sure they will all regret

No dance/PE two weeks straight

One mistake and all are at stake

Detention they all awaits

Punishment they all really hate

Sentences they need to engrave

I moulded them the best I can

Polished their body and brain

Good values and discipline

For knowledge they are all keen

I miss them all my naughty class

And the dance room made of glass

I hope my scolding make a clash

In awakening their guts

The brats

There was a class with full of brats

Most of them are full or craps

Some of them I don’t really like

All the teachers hate their class

We had a past that break my heart

That makes me dislike the class

When IB starts to teach in class

Lucky I don’t teach that brats

The start of year I was so shocked

Bad news that ruined my life

To teach and educate them right

A challenge to straight them up

Humanities I make it tough

A lesson to learn so hard

To squeezed their brains with lots of facts

Locate countries in the map

Day by day that passes in class

They struggle that make me laugh

Give them projects and some more stuffs

Learning that is really rough

Teaching them the best that I can

Firm look that makes them listen

I start to enjoy teaching them

The brats I hope they have learned

Though I don’t like them in the start

In my teaching they are part

To my surprise I like the brats

Bad news I need to depart

I learned a lesson in my life

That my students are my pride

I will teach them to be upright

In end they are all so bright

lesson to be learned

A turtle family went on a picnic.. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outings.Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found it. For about six months theycleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements.

Then they discovered the had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home.

Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.

Three years passed-- and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years.. Then in the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich.

At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, "SEE I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt."

The Moral Is...

Some of us waste our lives waiting for people to live up to our expectations of them. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything ourselves.