Term Break Working Break

Tomorrow will be the 1st and last day of our term break here in school. And like any other term breaks I've had here, it means only one thing--I'll be working on the narratives and marks for my student's report cards. The good thing is I know us, the teachers here in my school (an IB School) are not overloaded with work compared to other schools.

Since yesterday I have been working encoding grades on our ManageBac and while doing so, I've had the sweet time to listen and peek into my favorite movies on Youtube.

Some of my favorites:



I saw this movie with my wife. She found it too childish I found it too good to miss.









Three out of five movies is a Julia Roberts movie, what does that say?



I am Sam movie made me cry inside the cinema, period. And of course my go-to-video to perk me up:



And it's almost time, I have to fix my stuff and go home-sweet-home.

Ash Wednesday 2016

Today, February 10, 2016, marks the beginning of the Lenten Season and almost everyone in the Christian world observes this beginning with Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting, abstinence and repentance. The Latin Catholic Church or the Roman Catholic Church follows the regular Sunday Eucharistic celebration schedule --there is a celebration of the Holy Eucharist every hour in your parish most likely.

In the early days, Christians adopted the use of ashes as a symbol of penance. The Bible makes no specific mention of Ash Wednesday, but practices observed during the day such as mourning in sackcloth and ashes are found all throughout the Old and New Testaments. According to Wikipedia we can find the significance of ash in the bible:

"Ashes were used in ancient times to express grief. When Tamar was raped by her half-brother, "she sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying" 2 Samuel 13:1. The gesture was also used to express sorrow for sins and faults. In Job 42: 3-6, Job says to God: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." The prophet Jeremiah calls for repentance by saying: "O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes" Jeremiah 6:26. The prophet Daniel recounted pleading to God: "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" Daniel 9:3.  Just prior to the New Testament period, the rebels fighting for Jewish independence, the Maccabees, prepared for battle using ashes: "That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" Maccabees 3:47 and 4:39. Examples of the practice among Jews are found in several other books of the Bible, including Numbers 19:9, Jonah 3:6, Book of Esther 4:1 and Hebrews 9:14. Jesus is quoted as speaking of the practice in Matthew 11:21 and Luke 10:13: "If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago (sitting) in sackcloth and ashes."   

It is meaningful and important that this season, members of the church are encouraged to focus on renewal of one's spirituality and that Christ died on the cross for our sins.

Here's a video from Catholic Online's YouTube Chanel to help us understand further about the season:

Learning and Earning a Certificate at Coursera

I did it!

Finally I finished a certified course at Coursera! I enrolled and successfully completed the Sports and Society verified course. It helped a lot that I was granted the verified course under their scholarship scheme.

I think this is just the beginning, there will be more topics to explore, ideas to look into and a lot of discoveries to unearth.

I love to learn and I love teaching but earning certificates online may just be one of the many steps toward success. Certificates are not an assurance of success but this may lead one to a successful path towards one's goal. This also has motivated me to finish a set goal in a specified time frame.

In the meantime, I'd like to share to you my dear readers this video of Coach John Wooden, one of basketball coaches legends:

  

From the YouTube description:

"With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father's wisdom."

Lion's Cup Developmental League 2016

Here is the schedule for the Lion's Cup Basketball Tournament:

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FEBRUARY 7, 2016 @ 7:00AM (SUNDAY)
VENUE : CAVITE SCHOOL OF ST MARK
(U12) KSBS – WC
(U12) JGSS – OLHRS
(U14) KSBS – WC
(U12) CVS – JGSS
(U14) GGCS – DLA
(U12) DLA – OLHRS
(U14) KSBS –ASJ
(U12) CVS – WC
(U12) DLA – KSBS
.
FEBRUARY 8, 2016 @ 7:00AM (MONDAY)
VENUE : JESUS GOOD SHEPHERD SCHOOL
(U14) CVS – DLA
(U14) JGSS – KSBS
(U12) OLHRS – CVS
(U12) KSBS – JGSS
(U14) ASJ – JGSS
(U14) CVS – GGCS
(U12) DLA – CVS
(U12) CSSM – KSBS
(U12) DLA – WC
.
FEBRUARY 14, 2016 @ 7:00AM (SUNDAY)
VENUE : CAVITE SCHOOL OF ST MARK
(U12) IUCS – KSBS
(U14) JOSIAH – JGSS
(U12) DLA – CSSM
(U12) IUCS – JGSS
(U12) KSBS – OLHRS
(U14) WC – JOSIAH
(U12) DLA – JGSS
(U12) CSSM – WC
.
FEBRUARY 20, 2016 @ 7:00AM (SATURDAY)
VENUE : CAVITE SCHOOL OF ST MARK
(U14) CSSM – CVS
(U14) ASJ – JOSIAH
(U12) IUCS – CVS
(U14) CSSM – DLA
(U14) JOSIAH – KSBS
(U12) CVS – KSBS
(U14) CVS – MFA
(U12) IUCS – CSSM

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FEBRUARY 21, 2016 @ 7:00AM (SUNDAY)
VENUE : CAVITE SCHOOL OF ST MARK
(U12) IUCS – OLHRS
REST 1 HOUR
(U12) IUCS – WC

FEBRUARY 25, 2016 (THURSDAY)
VENUE and TIME : TBT
(U12) DLA - IUCS
SEMIFINALS AND FINALS OF U14
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FEBRUARY 28, 2016 @ 7:00AM (THURSDAY)
VENUE : CAVITE SCHOOL OF ST MARK
SEMIFINALS AND FINALS OF U12

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Celebrating Chinese New Year 2016

It will be a long weekend, thanks to our Chinese brothers, they'll be celebrating their new year on Monday, February 8, 2016. What will you guys be doing for three days? Will you still be working at the office? Will you be travelling out of town? Will you be biking with family and friends? What will you be doing?

I will be attending to my basketball coaching and fatherhood duties this coming weekend.

University of Asia & the Pacific Men's Basketball Team will have a game on Sunday for our Summer League and will be playing against Our Lady of Fatima University at the De La Salle-Antipolo Gym. Tomorrow I'll have the whole morning to be with my HS Basketball team, training and coaching. I'll be bringing along my son M for the workouts.

Monday will be a two-game billing for my HS team....Game 2 and Game 6, it will be a killer but my boys will be up to it.

And yes, Yang Chow Restaurant called me up this week and said I won a Set Meal and I can claim it (eat it!!!) anytime. Yehey!

Going back to the topic...

For 2016, according to Chinese tradition and this website, it will be the Year of the Monkey. And better watch out, they say people born in a year of the monkey, 2016 is considered a bad year. Bad year huh? But what do they say about the monkey for the Year of the Monkey?

The Monkey is ninth of the 12 animals in the recurring 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle. Every 12 years there is a Monkey year. Monkey years are all multiples of 12 --- from 12 AD, through 1200 AS to now in 2016.

Beware: Zika Virus Infection

Everyone around me seems to be getting sick and the symptoms are almost the same: feverish to high fever usually at night, coughing and colds. These would go away for awhile and then returns when the medication expires.

I've gone through two weeks of doctor consultation and hospital visits for my children last month due to these symptoms and the doctors would tell me it's viral.

Today I received an email from our HR Manager and I'm sharing it to you here: Medical Bulletin: Zika Virus.

Be safe, be happy.

February Feast Days of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary

Today our brothers and sisters in Forli, Italy and the Catholic Church are celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Fire. Happy feast day to all of you my dear brothers and sisters!

And who is Mother Mary if you may ask?

The Blessed Virgin Mary plays a major role in the salvation history of Mankind. According to the New Advent Website page, "the Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God."

The theology and history of Mary the Mother of God follow the chronological order of their respective sources, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Early Christian and Jewish witnesses.

As part of my share in celebrating Feast day of Our Lady of Fire, I am sharing a book called The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by  Anne Catherine Emmerich.

Also, I am listing below the February Feast days of Mother Mary:

- Eve of the Purification-----February 1 
- The Purification-----February 2 
- Our Lady of Saideneida, Damascus-----3  
- Our Lady of Fire, Forli, Italy-----4 
- Dedication of the First Church of Our Lady by St. Peter, Tortosa, Italy-----5 
- Our Lady of Louvain, Belgium-----6
- Our Lady of the Bowed Head or Our Lady of Grace, Rome-----7 
- Abbey of Our Lady of the Lily, France-----8 
- Our Lady of the Bells, Cathedral of Saintes, France-----9 
- Our Lady of the Dove, Bologna, Italy-----10 
- Our Lady of Lourdes-----February 11 
- Our Lady of Argenteuil, Paris-----12 
- Our Lady of Pellevoisin, France-----13 
- Our Lady of Bournourg, Flanders-----14 
- Our Lady of Paris, France-----15 
- Our Lady of the Thorn, Chalons-sur-Marne, France-----16 
- Our Lady of Constantinople, Turkey-----17 
- Our Lady of Laon, Rheims, France-----18 
- Our Lady of Good Tidings, Lempdes, France-----19 
- Our Lady of Bolougne sur Mer, France-----20 
- Our Lady of Bon Port, France-----21 
- Our Lady of Succor, Rennes, France-----22 
- Our Lady of the Rocks, Salamanca, Spain-----23 
- Feast of the The Procession of Pope St. Gregory  
- with Painting of Our Lady by St. Luke, Rome-----24 
- Our Lady of Victory, Turkey   
- and Our Lady of Great Power, Quebec, Canada-----25 
- Our Lady of the Fields, Paris-----26 
- Our Lady of Light, Lisbon, Portugal and Palermo, Italy-----27 
- Institution of the Monastery of the Annunciation, France-----28

Our Queen of Heaven, Pray for us!

Wednesday Rosary Day

It is time to pray the Holy Rosary everyday because it is time to obey what we were told to do by the Mother of God:

Monday, Rosary Day

It's Monday today and here's the Rosary prayers for today: Joyful Mysteries.



Th Quick Guide to to Praying the Holy Rosary is simple step-by-step instructional website we all can use to share and teach the prayer.

Ever wondered how or when the prayer started?

Check this one, The History of the Rosary.

7th Season of CSSM Lion's Cup

Cavite School of St. Mark Lion's Cup opened last Saturday, featuring basketball and volleyball tournaments for boys and girls in 14 and Under -12 and Under categories. CSSM has been leading the way and providing opportunities of for sports development for students within the province of Cavite.

It's impressive to find out that this is the seventh season of Lion's Cup and that there are two conferences for it, the July-September and February-March.

The wanna-be student-athletes of Cavite will never run out of tournaments to play in.

Great job Coach Alvin and CSSM!