Investing in Miracles
Investing in Miracles

Author: Katharine L. Wiegele

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2004-09-30

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0824845757

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Since the early 1980s, approximately ten million people have turned to charismatic businessman-turned-preacher "Brother Mike" and his Catholic "prosperity" movement, El Shaddai DWXI Prayer Partners Foundation International, Inc. Investing in Miracles offers an in-depth look at this unique indigenous movement, characterized by its effective use of mass media and its huge, emotion-filled outdoor rallies. The book investigates the sociocultural, political, and economic contexts of El Shaddai's popularity among the Filipino urban poor and aspiring middle classes and explores its significance for its followers, which reaches well beyond promises of appliances, salary raises, jobs abroad, and healing. Katharine Wiegele argues that Shaddai's theology directly engages and affirms desires for the material signs of modernity in ways that the mainstream Philippine Roman Catholic Church and Filipino leftist movements do not. At stake for its many adherents are their place and identity within the broader society; the meaning of their experiences of poverty, suffering, and oppression; and the relevance of their very notions of God, Christian community, and Christian life. Wiegele evocatively captures the religious and everyday experiences of her informants' lives in poor squatter neighborhoods of Manila. She is particularly sensitive to El Shaddai's delicate and often contorted relationship with the Catholic Church, which accepts the movement reluctantly, fearful of losing the loyalty of millions of faithful Catholics. While anchored in the local realities of the Philippines, Investing in Miracles will be of great interest to readers elsewhere for its exploration of religious seduction and interpretation, the interface between religion and politics, and the relevance of religion for the urban disenfranchised.

The MacArthur Highway and Other Relics of American Empire in the Philippines
The MacArthur Highway and Other Relics of American Empire in the Philippines

Author: Joseph P. McCallus

Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 453

ISBN-13: 1597976040

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It has been more than a century since the American conquest and subsequent annexation of the Philippines. Although the nation was given its independence in 1946, American cultural authority remains. In order to locate and lend significance to the relics of American empire, Joseph McCallus retraces the route Gen. Douglas MacArthur took during his liberation of the country from the Japanese in 1944 and 1945. While following MacArthur's footsteps, he provides a historical and geographical account of this iconic soldier's military career, accompanied by a description of the contemporary Philippine landscape. McCallus uses the past and the present to explore how America influenced the country's political and educational systems and language, as well as the ramifications of the continued U.S. military presence and the effects of globalization on traditional Filipino society. He examines the American influence on its architecture and introduces to the reader the American expatriate business community--people who have lived in the Philippines for decades and continue to help shape the nation. The MacArthur Highway and Other Relics of American Empire in the Philippines is an absorbing look at how American military intervention and colonial rule have indelibly shaped a nation decades after the fact.

A Time for Confessing
A Time for Confessing

Author: Robert W. Bertram

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2017-01-01

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1506427081

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This book is about faithful witnesses -- from the Reformation to South African apartheid to Bonhoeffer -- to the promise of Jesus Christ. Even in the midst of trials, these faithful followers have testified that the gospel is authority enough for the church's life and unity. Significantly, this is the first book in print by the late Robert Bertram, described by Edward Schroeder as “perhaps the most unpublished major Lutheran theologian of the twentieth century.”

When Turtles Come Home
When Turtles Come Home

Author: Victoria Hoffarth

Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

Published: 2019-05-07

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1789018684

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When Victoria Hoffarth was at graduate school in the U.S., her lecturer, the anthropologist Margaret Mead, once told her class, “There are so many varied places in the world. It is incumbent upon us to search for one where we most fit.” Thus, despite having been born and brought up in the Philippines, Victoria never felt at home there. And so, she became a cultural refugee, searching for where she most fitted. Her engaging and intimate narrative remembers back to the early 50s, when her little town was still recovering from the destruction caused by World War II, through thirty years of discontented wanderings to America and back, then onwards to the UK, Germany, and Canada. Victoria delves into Philippine culture, what is unique to their society and what can be learned by the wider world. Likewise, she suggests what Filipinos can learn from the wider world. She further questions what it is to be Filipino, and if she can call herself that? Are you no more than where you are born and raised? A liberal globalist, two other issues uppermost to her are her being a woman in a setting where feminism is frowned upon, and her beliefs as an “a-la-carte” Roman Catholic, given the mindset of a deeply conservative and traditional society. Much more than a memoir, this is the story of finding yourself and learning to look beyond what you know to find home - even if that is where you first began.

The Family That Prays Together Stays Together
The Family That Prays Together Stays Together

Author: Fr. Patrick Peyton CSC

Publisher: Ave Maria Press

Published: 2024-02-02

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 164680256X

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There has been no greater promoter of the family Rosary than Venerable Patrick Peyton. The “Rosary priest” dedicated his life to the Blessed Mother and the devotion most commonly prayed for her intercession. In The Family that Prays Together Stays Together, you and your loved ones will pray the Rosary along with Peyton, immersing yourselves into the rhythms and themes of this prayer, deepening your relationship with Mary, and intensifying your bond with her Son, Jesus Christ. “The family that prays together stays together.” Peyton shared this motto with millions worldwide through radio, television, and his famous Rosary rallies as he spread devotion to pray the Rosary together as a family. This book carries on Peyton’s legacy and will help you and your loved ones work through each of the four sets of mysteries by reciting one decade a day for a month. Each weekday includes a prompt to start with the Our Father, just as each decade of the Rosary begins; a quote from scripture that illuminates the life of Jesus or Mary according to that mystery; a brief reflection drawing upon the words and life of Fr. Peyton; a prompt to recite the Hail Mary ten times, followed by the Glory Be; and a concluding prayer that sends you into the rest of your day with a clear point of focus. Each week you will encounter a new mystery of the Rosary—Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, or Glorious. From Monday through Friday, you will pray one decade a day; on Saturday, you will pray the entire Mystery together; and on Sunday, you will record in the book your insights, joys, concerns, or intentions from the week to take to Mass. Whether you are new to the Rosary or have been praying it your whole life, this book will help you approach this ancient prayer with the enthusiasm and love of one of its greatest advocates. With your prayer guided by Peyton, you will discover strength and peace in a renewed connection with God through Mary, our Mother of Grace.

Song of Negros
Song of Negros

Author: Victoria Hoffarth

Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

Published: 2022-06-07

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 180313903X

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Well written and interesting stories about myths in the Philippines and how they compare to myths elsewhere. For the curious as to why such fantastical tales and what they mean, it gives explanations about their symbolic values as well as their underpinnings given the history and collectivistic culture of the Philippines.

Beyond the Classroom
Beyond the Classroom

Author: Asuncion David Maramba

Publisher: Anvil Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2017-09-22

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 9712729109

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A collection of essays as testament to a teacher’s many-sided engagement with the world. Every page is filled with wisdom and awe for the things we take for granted.