The Family Heart Walk

Some family values from the Penguins, some of the most devoted parents in the world. After the females have laid their eggs when winter temperatures drop to -50 degrees, the female penguins leave their eggs to the males and return to the sea. The devoted males take on the task of looking after the eggs. The male penguin carries the egg on its feet  to protect it from the ice. Its thick feathers protect the egg from the cold. If the egg falls to the ice, it will freeze at once. They go without food for four months. They remain on their feet the whole time  never putting the egg down even for a moment. The penguins huddle together for protection from the freezing wind. All they can do during the four months of winter is to be patient. Even after winter when the eggs have hatched since the layers of fat that will keep them from the cold have not yet formed, they are still on their fathers’ feet. The chick’s first food comes from meal from its father’s crop. Even though the male penguin has eaten nothing for four months it has made another sacrifice and kept is food in its crop for its chick to eat. At just that moment the females come back on land from the sea. They have been hunting and storing food in their crops for their newly hatched chicks. As soon as the females arrive the males who have gone hungry for the last four months rush to the sea  to begin hunting. As soon as the male penguins have eaten they return to their nest and continue to feed their young together with the females. That’s the Penguins’ Heart Walk!

Let’s Do The Heart Walk!

Once the great Roman Empire was the most powerful on earth. Yet it disintegrated and sank down. Historian Edward Gibbon in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire gives 5 reasons:  1)  Rapid increase of divorce; undermining the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society; 2) Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public funds; 3) The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming more exciting but bloody and brutal; 4) The building of massive armaments, when the real enemy was within: the decadence of the people; 5) The decay of religion – fading into mere form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people.

New Year Wish List: Create a New Heart in me, O Lord

• Humble & Patient Heart– a heart more humane, more humble. Resolve: say “I am sorry, please forgive me” more often and readily; go to confessions “more often”; daily examination of conscience; a Holy–Whole heart is able to endure hardships and trials patiently.
• Eucharistic Heart – marked with Endearment, Empathy & Gratitude Resolve: be faithful to Sunday Worship, Kinder towards everyone, esp. those unkind towards us, be more listening, understanding of another’s feelings, situations & motives; more counting of blessings. Seek for spiritual “pleasures”
• Affirming Heart –  huwag maging kuripot sa pagpuna sa kabutihan, kagandahan at pagpupunyagi ng lahat; sabihin ito sa kinauukulan.
• Reparative & Responsible Heart – be more reconciliatory; on the look out for relationships that need to be repaired & serve as an agent. Use your resources responsibly for this!
• Truthful Altruistic Heart– alisin na ang mga kasinungalingan sa buhay. Be aware of so-called white lies: little holes in your bucket of truthfulness through which the Prince of Lies may enter into your life. Altruism’s very essence is all-true-ism, living in the Truth, who is also the Way & Life.

Happy Family Day! God bless your Family!