Tag: Vol. LXXXVI

CATHOLICISM has invaded the comic-book genre.

A group of devout Catholics is set to launch a comic-book series featuring an unlikely band of young heroes out to defeat the wickedness and snares of the Devil.

The message: Christian life requires catechism, prayer, and receiving the sacraments regularly, which are also the best weapons against demonic possessions and threats from evil spirits.

Patron Comics, written by pro-life advocate Anthony James Perez and published by Regina Caeli Publishing, deals with the popular theme of the occult to target young readers and thrill-seekers, but contains messages from Christ’s Gospel and the teachings of the Church.

TO BRING the study of Christian beliefs closer to the faithful, a theology crash course is now being offered at the UST Graduate School every fourth Sunday of the month.

Conducted by Fr. Jose Antonio Aureada, O.P., regent of the UST Graduate School, the theology course is considered an extension course of the Faculty of Sacred Theology. The first session was held at the Graduate School last July 26.

Topics include Synthesis of Fundamental Theology, Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization.

According to Louie Hermosa, one of the organizers, the three-unit course is open to all college graduates who wish to study theology “in a deeper sense.”

I WANTED someone to tell me that this wasn’t really happening.

I felt a brief sting in my stomach. I started to cramp. It’s becoming impatient. I can’t call it “he” or “she” yet; I’m not ready.

“Hoy, girl!” Maya waved her hand in front of my face and clutched at my arm. “Let’s go sit down first. I’m all sweaty from that jeepney ride. If only I had saved enough for that second-hand motorcycle Nestor was selling.”

I couldn’t focus on what she was saying. My eyes roamed around the room before I fixed them on the dull-looking wall. “Look at my face. It’s terrible,” she exasperatedly said, fanning herself with a frayed hand towel.

My voice was shaking. “I’m sorry for dragging you here. I didn’t want to go alone.”

THE MOTHER was haunted,

by memories of her son:

camouflaged in green,

and stained by red—

nightmares that made her break

in cold sweat,

pray to all the saints

that the heavens protect her dearest

from the enemy’s bullets.

She relived the days when her soldier was but

a little boy who always cried in school.

“Mama!” he implored,

as he marched back home,

a school bag hanging from his shoulder

alongside young men in faded polo shirts and slacks.

Soon, his shoulder bore the weight

of a mud-splattered rifle,

and he marched with men in proud salute,

who returned without him

ENVIRONMENTAL, architecture, and heritage conservation experts are defending UST after President Benigno Aquino III implied in his final State of the Nation Address (Sona) that the University was to blame for flooding in Manila.

The proposed flood “catchment area,” which the President claimed was opposed by a “big university,” would place UST’s heritage buildings in danger, and there was also no guarantee that it would work, experts told the Varsitarian.

SPECIAL term classes at the Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) and the College of Commerce and Business Administration were moved to two other buildings after the fire that broke out at St. Raymund de Peñafort Building last July 5.

Commerce held classes at the Main Building and Artlets at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, amid reconstruction and clean-up operations at St. Raymund’s are being conducted.

The Commerce Dean’s Office was moved temporarily to the second floor of the Tan Yan Kee Students’ Center, while the Artlets Dean’s Office was transferred to the General Education Office at the Main Building.

UST BOOSTED its international profile in academic year 2014-2015, strengthening its ties with universities abroad that resulted in symposia and research partnerships, among others, a report from the Office of International Relations and Programs showed.

Twenty new bilateral agreements with international universities were forged while 93 memorandums of understanding (MOU) were inked, 13 of which were for review and renewal, and six in progress.

University students and faculty members interacted with international faculty from 20 different countries from Asia, Australia and Oceania, United States, and Europe who visited the University throughout the year.

THE FACULTY of Civil Law plans to tighten its debarment rules to maintain its status as a premier law school and improve its performance in the bar exams.

Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said stricter standards would be implemented, for instance, any law student regardless of year level would be debarred if he or she did not meet the standards.

Under the proposal, third-year students will not be allowed to proceed to the fourth year unless they pass the mock bar exams, but exemptions will be given to those who will have an average grade of above 86.

PERHAPS because I am only 20, I have always convinced myself that I have no regrets. But during the annual tribute night to outgoing staffers and editors in the recent Varsitarian summer staff development, the outgoing Filipino editor remarked that we would not be able to appreciate how much we might have missed out or neglected things if our membership in the publication were forever. The limits of temporality should bring to the fore the significance of things; they make us value what we have done and regret our sins of commission and omission.

After being part of the Varsitarian for three summers and two academic years, I regret the things I failed to do in the last six months of my stay.

I BELIEVE that there will always be great endings as long as people are aware that their future is in their own hands.

Just like any other kid, I was asked a hundred times what I want to become in the future, and I always had an answer.

Back then, I told myself that I wanted to become a doctor. By the time that I graduated in grade school, I wanted to be a writer. When I graduated in high school, I decided to take up Journalism. But when I finally finished my degree, I had a bigger dream of becoming a lawyer.

My answers may have changed many times as I grew up, but my desire to become someone great in the future was always there.

Born in a simple family, I learned that if I want something, I have to work hard for it.