When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar....... and the beer. -- Simeon Silverio, Our Life and Times

Sharing with the poor is just one part of our religious duty. Another is responsible eating and drinking. The First World is a wasteful society. Just look around how much unfinished food and drinks are wasted every time we dine at all-you-can eat restaurants and buffets. Those who have more than enough to eat and drink should realize that true happiness rests not on the acquisition and hoarding of more and more provisions, but in faithful relationship with God who loves and feeds us abundantly. -- Msgr. Gutierrez, Lower Your Nets

At home, the children are taught Filipino values. They are expected to follow these values as well as be socially and culturally accepted in the American culture. The parents for the most part will speak to the children in their native tongue and sprinkle their sentences with English for emphasis. However, no effort is made to help them learn to speak the native language. -- Riz Oades, PhD, Voices and Images

An inner voice, deep inside of me, whispered: “This too shall pass.” The pain did pass! My love for my son and the memory of his passing is still in my heart! I prayed for another son, and God gave me three more: Narrison, Jack and Kris. A famous Chinese philosopher once wrote: “In each loss there is a gain. As in every gain there is a loss. And with each ending comes a new beginning.” -- Zena Sultana-Babao, Light and Shadows

We may have good plans for our future but sometimes out of the blue, bad things or ugly events can happen. Some people believe it is their fate or their destiny, while some think it is because of what they have done in the past. No matter what we believe, we take some risks everyday of our lives. We just have to be ready, prepared or at least have some kind of a back–up plan. -- Bill Labestre, Bill's Corner