Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are aware of the tragedy that had happened in the Philippines,
Let's include in our daily prayers, those people who are greatly affected by the typhoon.
May the almighty God protect them with His blue mantel of protection
and envelope them with His love and care.
Chastine Rodriguez
CFC Europe Information Center
Geneva, Switzerland
Dear brothers and sisters,
We thank and praise God for the wonderful 27th anniversary that He allowed us to celebrate. In the midst of a powerful typhoon, our anniversary activities went on and we saw how His power and majesty gave us the window within which to hold our anniversary unhampered by the strong winds that would later lash the very venue we were in. That was indeed a very wondrous manifestation of His grace and blessing.
But that same storm has affected hundreds of thousands of our countrymen. We have a CFC brother, Giovi Giangan of Cebu, who is among the missing in the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars off Sibuyan Island. Please say a special prayer for him. Many of our people are now in evacuation centers, their homes submerged under water and their belongings gone.
We ask for prayers for all of those who were affected, particularly those in Iloilo and Samar, the hardest hit provinces. But more than prayers, we ask each and every CFC member to come forward and do his share in helping those in need. Let our resolve to go on with our mission of helping the poor and the needy, which resounded powerfully across the vast expanse of the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta last Saturday, translate into action.
Please give whatever you can -- clothes, canned goods, rice, infant milk, candles, blankets, banigs, etc -- and coordinate with your cluster and sector heads and your provincial leaders. You may also coordinate with your GK coordinators and GK project directors. The leaders are tasked with coordinating with the Home Office, particularly with Chito Nepomuceno, re the distribution of the goods.
Let us walk our talk, dear brothers and sisters. As we praise and thank God for 27 years of a blessed community life, let us glorify Him further by helping those dear to His heart -- the poor, the needy, the dispossessed.
May God bless us all.
THE CFC INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL
Two philosophical underpinnings of love exist in the Chinese tradition, one from Confucianism which emphasized actions and duty while the other came from Mohism which championed a universal love. A core concept to Confucianism is Ren jewelry box ("benevolent love", ?), which focuses on duty, action and attitude in a relationship rather than love itself. In Confucianism, one displays benevolent love by performing actions such as filial piety from children, kindness from parent, loyalty to the king and so forth.
The concept of Ai (?) was developed by the pearl Chinese philosopher Mozi in the 4th century BC in reaction to Confucianism's benevolent love. Mozi tried to replace what he considered to be the long-entrenched Chinese over-attachment to family and clan structures with the concept of "universal love" (ji?n'ài, ??). In this, he argued directly against Confucians who believed that it was natural and correct for people to care about different people in different degrees. Mozi, by contrast, believed people in principle should care for all people equally. Mohism stressed that rather than adopting different attitudes towards different people, love should be unconditional and offered to everyone without regard to reciprocation, not just to friends, family and other Confucian relations.
Later in Chinese Buddhism, the term Ai (?) was adopted to refer to a passionate caring love and was considered a fundamental desire. In Buddhism, Ai was seen as capable or being either selfish or selfless, the latter being a key element towards enlightenment.
In contemporary Chinese, Ai (?) is often used as the equivalent of the Western concept of love. Ai is used as both a verb (e.g. wo ai ni ???, or "I love you") and a noun (such as aiqing ??, or "romantic love"). However, due to the influence of Confucian Ren, the phrase ‘Wo ai ni’ (I love you) carries with it a very specific sense of responsibility, commitment and loyalty. Instead of frequently saying "I love you" as in some Western societies,moissanite jewelry the Chinese are more likely to express feelings of affection in a more casual way. Consequently, "I like you" (Wo xihuan ni, ????) is a more common way of expressing affection in Chinese; it is more playful and less serious.[15] This is also true in Japanese (suki da, ???). The Chinese are also more likely to say "I love you" in English or other foreign languages than they would in their mother tongue.