Traditions, practices

By Batas Mauricio

MANY Filipinos grew up under many traditions and practices that, unfortunately, do not have any basis at all. Often, Filipinos do things unquestioningly just because their parents and their other ancestors did the same thing when they were still alive.

One of them is the way All Saints’ Day is commemorated. The day is spent more on rowdy merry-making, insane revelry, aimless festivities with much drinking and eating, and on other activities that do not have any relation at all to the importance of remembering the dead.

This is grossly unfortunate, for if we are Christians who read the Bible, we will not fail to realise that thinking of our dead relatives actually have a purpose that would reverberate in eternity–which is to make sure that they are fed with the Word of God as often as possible.

The reason for this is clear from the Bible itself: we have to preach the Word and read the Bible to the dead, because that was an example which Jesus, our God and Saviour who is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, left for all of us to follow. We are told that after His resurrection, He went to a place where the spirits of dead men are imprisoned, and taught them there.

The Bible, His Word, tells also that we must preach to the dead and read the Bible to them to snatch them away from the fires and the worms of hell so that even if they died as sinners, they would be cleansed by the Word of God that would be read and preached to them, so they could still live in Paradise at the appointed time.

If you are a Christian, and you believe that the Bible is the power of God for the salvation of all believers, understand that it contains verses that require the reading of the Word of God to the dead, so that even if they died as sinners, they will be able to live in the presence of God in Paradise at the appointed time.

One particular verse that should be read and preached to the dead is John 3:16 of the Bible. For those who are interested, here is John 3:16, as found in “The Only Way Bible” of the AND KNK Church (or the Church of the Children of God Blood Kin of the Christ, a Christian church established by God in the Philippines):

“For God so loved the world He Himself came down to earth from heaven, in the form of man with flesh and blood, to accept, as He indeed accepted in His holy flesh, holy blood, and Holy Spirit the penalty for man’s sinfulness, so that any sinner who will accept Him, receive Him, believe and have faith in Him as God and Savior and as God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will not perish but will have eternal life, and will be given the right to become children of God…”

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As night descended on Oct. 23, 2019, we received the very good news that our daughter, lawyer Maria Luisa Dominique Domingo Mauricio of the Office of the Solicitor General in Makati City, got formally accepted as a lawyer who could practice her legal profession and handle legal cases in New York and in 32 other states of the United States of America.

According to the letter sent to her by the New York State Board of Law Examiners, Luisa managed to successfully hurdle, thank God in His Name of Jesus, the three qualifying examinations she took in New York City, and in Albany, New York, USA, middle of 2019, garnering a score of 275 points from these examinations.

A review of the website of the New York State Board of Law Examiners (www.ncbex.org) will show that the score of 275 points which enabled our daughter to practice law in New York and in various states of the US,  was only five points shy of 280 points, or the highest passing score that previous examinees obtained so far.

But, truth to tell, it is no longer mattered to us whether Luisa was able to get grades in the New York State Bar examinations that equaled or even surpassed the highest passing scores in the past. What we consider more important now is that, because of the grace and generosity shown to her by our God and Savior whose Name is Jesus (and who is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), the sacrifices she had to undergo for the last two years or so yielded blessings beyond her wildest dreams.

Indeed, from 2018 to 2019, Luisa studied for her master of laws degree in international arbitration at Columbia Law School of the Columbia University in New York City, New York, even while she continued her work as an Associate Solicitor at the Office of the Solicitor General under SolGen Jose Calida.

It was really hard work—countless hours have been devoted by her to serious reading, analyzing, and researching, while she had to forego sleep, cook her meals, wash her clothes, and clean the apartment where she was staying, all by her lonesome. Thank God in His Name of Jesus, for after the hard work, the blessings followed.

Well, yes, thank God in His Name of Jesus. Truth to tell, God is faithful and true to His promises found in the Bible. In the life of our daughter, one of the traits that was fully imbedded in her consciousness is a deep and abiding fear and love of God at all times, premised on the unyielding reality that no blessings of whatever kind or nature can ever be received by man if God is not going to allow those blessings.

Luisa learned, early on, that those who listen to the voice of God and who obey His commands would be set by God high among all the nations, and would unerringly receive all the blessings that are listed in the Bible’s Book of Blessings. One of these is the blessing of success and triumph on whatever one puts his or hand into.

Too, my wife, former Judge Angelina Domingo Mauricio, and I cannot say “thank God” enough for allowing us to pray together every time—in a prayer where each one of us hears what the others are praying for. We started this nightly prayers together when she was barely two years old, and this praying together has persisted up to now, confident as we are that a family who prays together stays together. Even when she was in America (and even when she was physically away from us), this beautiful practice did not stop. Thank God in His Name of Jesus.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com, mmauriciojr111@gmail.com