Author: Roger

Doctor in Development Education ( Dev. Ed. D.), an all time educator as School Head and HEI Instructor.

MATTHEW 6: 7-15 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (JUNE 18, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread; forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us. Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from evil one.

If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

In this Bible reading, Jesus taught us how to pray. Though it is okay to recite the “Lord’s Prayer” Jesus had taught us some two thousand years ago  would be better if we would go a little further by visualizing it beyond the literal lines.

When we say “Our Father in heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as in heaven” the whole thing tells us to recognize how powerful God is, and worthy of our love and praises. Saying “Give us today, our daily bread” means that God is quick to answer for our needs of survival not for our wants and luxuries. Saying” Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us” means asking forgiveness of our trespasses to God with the promise of forgiving others in away like a child does keeping no memories of hatred of the past. It is in fact letting go of those who have severely offended us day by day. Saying “Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from evil one” means, we also need to pray for God’s deliverance on hard trials and evil one of this life.

In totality, the prayer Jesus taught us how, highlighted what we need to prioritize of this life which includes: knowing and loving God in a way of adoration, asking Him enough only for this life, asking for His pardon with the promise of doing the same to others, freeing us from the test of life, and deliverance from the evil one. Thus, Christian believer adopted this prayer format alliterated as ACTS which means Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.

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MICRO-SCHOOL HEAD VS. MACRO-SCHOOL HEAD

by Roger, posted in Leadership

One of the very important persons in a learning institution is the school head. The school head is not only a leader but also a manager. As leader, he/she needs to inspire people to follow his/her lead towards the vision of the school. As manager, he/she needs to be a good implementer and organizer according to the plan laid out in the School’s Improvement Plan in a couple of three years. Along this professional journey to achieve excellence, school heads could not help but little by little may become a micro-school head or a macro-school head depending on the way he/she responded to the challenging moments attach to the duties and responsibilities over time.

A school head may become micro-school head when it manifest the following: failed to delegate school task among teachers, focus much on doing details rather than the big picture, taking lightly to no consideration on the suggestions of others for selfish authority, box creativity of teachers seeing only better ideas of himself, does not obtain feedback and advice, more of telling others on how to do their work and demand dependence among his/her teachers.

On the other hand, a school head may become a macro-school head when he/she manifest the following: ultimate direction is the goal, empowers the teachers to hone their creativity for a better result, motivate teachers to achieve more for professional growth and development, get into the task of the teacher to provide support and rescue in difficult situation, articulates expectations among teachers to be performed and provide necessary materials and other support system for the teachers success.

In general, micro-school heads are school heads who are more likely to become a manager rather than a leader. They are seen as high task and low relationship for teachers are force to do the task without their motivation of doing it. Their performance and product outputs are not fashioned with love but merely a result of compliance in so much pressure and disgust. As a result, they will do only what is required of them.

Macro-school head are school heads who are more likely to become a leader rather than a manager. They are seen as high task and high relationship for teachers are motivated to do the assigned task more than what is required from them because they are given the freedom to show their creative expressions to produce the required outputs. As a result, their performance and product outputs would be fashioned with love and so much dedication with the joy of doing it.

Finally, being a micro-school head or a macro-school head is not a choice but rather a gradual result of unconscious leadership and managerial drift  over a period of time with the bombardment of some leadership and managerial issues and concerns along the way.

 

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MATTHEW 6: 1-6, 16-18 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (JUNE 17, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

Be careful not to make a show of your good deeds before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be noticed in the synagogues and in the streets,  in order to be praised by people. I assure you, they have their reward. If you give something to the poor, do not let your left know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father, who sees what is kept secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not be like those who want to be noticed. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners,  in order to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have their reward. When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is with you in secret; and your Father who sees what is kept secret will reward you.

When you fast do not put on a miserable face, as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face so that people can see they are fasting. I tell you this: they have been paid in full already. When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father, who sees beyond appearances; And your Father, who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

Doing well to our fellow men is doing any good to the Father in heaven. Those deeds that are left unrewarded here on earth would be rewarded by the Father in heaven. But why happen in this way?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is a loving God and could not endure watching the sacrifices and heartbreaks of men without Him being involve. Remember God promise not to ever leave us alone. Hence, God always take more than half of our struggles, undertaking and frustration of this life. Seeing someone and having a heart to those who are  in so much pain and difficulty is like seeing God’s presence in them. Helping a person in suffering is simply helping God of His suffering for God shares that suffering with him. And if the human counterpart of that sufferer cannot offer a reward to compensate that goodness, then the Father will prepare a reward for you in heaven.

Jesus said “If you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted, instead do it in a way like your left hand without knowing what your right hand is doing.” Meaning it’s better doing good in the joy of the Lord rather than doing something to be recognized in public. Tell you, blessings abound to those who are considered joyful giver.

Remember, whether we like it or not much of ourselves belong to this world that we are now living. Doing self denials like: giving support to the poor, doing fasting, doing penance and other acts of reparation out of our sins are like trading off our worldly lures, desires and belongings  in exchange to the heavenly merit that God had prepared for us in Heaven.

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MATTHEW 5: 43-48 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you:  love your enemies; and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good; and he gives rain to both the just and the unjust. If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

Human are bounded of their own earthly limitation. They relate among others by a cup of equality not just in a matter of act but even more to emotional upkeep. We were taught by Jesus how important to have a good relationship to God by way of having a perfect loving relationship with the people around us. But wait; can we imagine ourselves within the forefront of our enemy? This is going to be very difficult. On this, God reminded us that if we hate our enemy we are no different to the tax collectors and the pagans. Of course, we do not want to be like them. We wanted to free ourselves from sins and live with Jesus in heaven.

My dear brothers and sisters, God told us in this Bible reading to love our enemies and pray for them and have faith in His promise to become children in heaven. This is the real justice and righteousness that God wants us to do to the rest of our lives. God really wanted us to exemplify His great love on us. Thus, this Bible reading speaks about justice and righteousness of God to man which is none other than the greatness of His love.

Views: 46

MATTHEW 5: 43-48 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (June 16, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you:  love your enemies; and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good; and he gives rain to both the just and the unjust. If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

Human are bounded to their own earthly limitation. They relate among others by a cup of equality not just in a matter of act but even more to emotional upkeep. We were taught by Jesus how important to have a good relationship to God by way of having a perfect loving relationship with the people around us. But wait; can we imagine ourselves within the forefront of our enemy? This is going to be very difficult. God reminded us that if we hate our enemy we are no different from the tax collectors and the pagans. Of course, we do not want to be like them. We wanted to free ourselves from sins and live with Jesus in heaven.

My dear brothers and sisters, God told us in this Bible reading to love our enemies and pray for them and have faith in His promise to become children in heaven. This is the real justice and righteousness that God wants us to do to the rest of our lives. God really wanted us to exemplify His great love on us. Thus, this Bible reading speaks about justice and righteousness of God to man which is none other than the greatness of His love.

Views: 78

MATTHEW 5: 38-42 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION

by Roger, posted in Education Updates

You have heard, that it was said: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you this: Do not oppose evil with evil; if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn and offer the other. If someone sues you in court for your shirt, give him your coat as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give when asked, and do no turn your back on anyone who wants to borrow from you.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

This particular gospel reading serves as the fundamental basis of civil law to promote peace and order by way of putting an end to the cycle of vengeance when someone committed a violation to their fellow men. It is highlighted in the gospel that evil should not be opposed with evil, like in the case of vengeance. Instead, justice must be served to compensate the nature of offense being committed by the offender. An expression of  ” an eye for an eye” and ” a tooth for a tooth” means equal compensation should be afforded to the victim facilitated by the enforcer not by the victim perse unto the offender.

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JOHN 6:51-58 GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

JOHN 6: 51-58 GIFT OF BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

I am the living bread from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.”
The Jew were arguing among themselves, ” How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

So Jesus replied, ” Truly, I say ti you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats my flesh and drink my blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. My flesh is really food, and my blood is truly drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me, and I in them. Just as the Father who is life, sent me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats me will have life from me. This is the bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors. Who eat and later died. Those who eats this bread will live forever.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

There is a saying that goes ” We become what we eat and drink.” The gospel of the day is about the gift of the body and blood of Christ to us. Brothers and sisters this is the gift of the Holy sacrament where in, symbolically, we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ during the Holy Communion.

This is not only about the ceremonial practice that we usually do during attendance of masses but more of how we become Christ like in our daily chores and activities.

When we say “Eating the flesh of the Son” , we mean to offer or dedicate our temporal body in the same way Jesus had done while He was with us some two thousand years ago. And “Drinking the blood of the Son” means living a life not just in the comfort of this world but in the discomfort of this world to win the kingdom of God in heaven.

When Jesus said ” those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me and I in them”, He mean that by embracing  the procedural growth in the Christian community would lead us to him and he would be with us till eternity. It is true that we all need substantial food and drink to satisfy this temporal body but more we need the food and drink of the spirit’s presence to nourish our soul unto the Father.

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LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE

by Roger, posted in Leadership

In the context of humanity, all are born leader and follower. One could be a leader in his own court and a follower in the other court. In other words leadership is purely relative to life circumstances which could be area specific, event specific, role specific and skills specific.

Regardless of leadership specificity, many agree that there are born leaders and there are made leaders. Born leaders are men who upon birth have already followers and have leadership favor, preferences and respect inherited from their ancestors. Though the grace of birth by some degree labeled individual as leader, does not support the idea that a  person has already the package of leadership traits, experiences and training needed in the exercise of his duties and responsibilities.

Inside the box leadership privileges by birth may not respond exactly to the demands and expectations of the community. He needs to acquire the necessary traits, experiences and training in preparation for the responsibilities that awaits him upon assuming the new position in rank.

 

Made leaders are those who conquer the world of popularity by showing exemplary work performances that push them up in the upper echelon of  leadership ladder. These leaders have great stories to tell and their lives are worth learning for. These are the leaders who rose from nothing to complete abundance out of their labor and hard works.  Their leadership formative years were crucial for their traits were productive options carefully chosen and enliven out of their personal vision and mission. They also have real time rich experiences out from the teaching of life as they come to win over difficult situations. Along the way, they also choose the kind of training to attend to according to their self assessment readiness.

Born leaders do not grow in adversities. They are not forced to learn new traits instead acquired it through modeling of their elders. Their experiences are second hand from the very start and learned it by way of simulation. Their training is structured according to the duties and responsibilities they are to assume.

Both born leaders and made leaders are shape  as to their traits, experiences and training. But they differ in the process of acquiring it. Regardless of the type of leader one may hail from, there are  necessary characteristics and personality traits  that a leader must possess.

CHARACTERISTICS AND PERSONAL TRAITS  OF A LEADER

  1. VISIONARY

A leader must have a very clear mental image of success doable in  the  span of time. This will allow him to profile his current situation, quantify the gaps,  prepare strategic plan, pick the right kind of personalities to work with  to reach the vision.

  1. EXCELLENT IN LANGUAGE SKILLS

Success is not a one man role. A group of people will make it possible. Nobody would commit to be with you until such  time your vision becomes their vision. The way to do it depends on one’s communication skills. Successfully doing this, creates your inner circle of success.

  1. PREPAREDNESS OF THE MISSION

After doing the current status profiling,  the gap would be clear. And in order to realize the vision, the gap must  be closed  according to the success timeline chart. Every move-in points of the gap is a mission to hurdle. Every mission episode must be accomplish regardless of the challenges that may comes along the way. Be an able  team leader of the mission presented in project form.

  1. UNSELFISH INTEREST TO OTHERS

While the team is kicking off into the mission,  the needs of the  team members must not be taken for granted. It is therefore the leader’s responsibility to respond to the needs of the team mates while on the action of accomplishing the mission.

  1. HIGHER INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT (IQ)

Before kicking off for a mission or project careful planning is required.  Remember failing to plan is the same as planning to fail. Sure failure would be  along the way if the plan goes out of the context.

During implementation, parts of the plan may not be working practically, quick decision making would be demanded to leverage non- conformity with the laid out plan. Wisdom is needed in a quite brand new situation.

  1. HIGHER EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT (EQ)

Mission or project pressure could not be  avoided. The worse thing that could happen is the crushing of the spirit among team members. As leader you need to be good in addressing emotional turmoil arising from the challenging  moments of the situation. Speaking of “challenging moments” these are happenings that would normally last for short period  of time. To handle it carefully on its height is important for the success of the mission or project. Likewise it will ruin the the whole thing for the mission.

 

6.OPTIMISTIC ON THE  OUTLOOK

As a leader, spirit of optimism must be the hymn  of the team. The topic of every minute discussion must be towards  the trophy of success. Always turn deft ear to the negative opinion for it will give another conditioning of the team members. Beliefs of success must be an all out story to tell  to encourage new ways of thinking out of a problematic situation.

  1. POSSESSING MOTIVATIONAL SKILLS

In the conduct of the mission or project implementation,  personal modes of each team members may vary from time to time responding the different levels of task modalities and difficulties. As a leader you must be quick to respond this needs before their performance  gets low. Enliven their spirit by taking out their mode on the hook of despair.  This could be in  a form of seminar sessions or a company team building enrich with the package of motivational activities.

     8.RECOGNIZE AND CELEBRATE SUCCESS

On the way to the realization of the vision, components of successes are happening every now and then. Prepare a provision to celebrate each component success and give rewards to everyone doing well as a team. Remember personalize award is not encourage. Success is not a work or a responsibility of one person but of the team. Competition is discouraged but rather promotes cooperation.

  1. KEEPING ALWAYS A SENSE OF GRATITUDE

Perhaps the most important personalize reward is  the leader’s unlimited expressions of gratitude and simple group blow-out reward in an inexpensive eat together session within  the ground of the business venue.

  1. STRATEGIC THINKER

A leader should be rich in innovative ideas always ready to provide solutions when a pin is on the way of the team. He should be calm even in the alarming situation not to be contaminated by the trouble of the team. A strategic approach much be ready to rescue the team’s dilemma.

Leadership task is not easy. Leadership traits must be acquired. Real time experiences must be abound.  Appropriate training must be internalized  for application. Regardless of how one emerges to become a leader either by way of crisis or circumstantial event,  by personality lead or by personal choice the mentioned leadership characteristics and personality trait will work  at play towards success.

Continue reading “LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE” →

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MATTHEW 5:33-37: GOSPEL READING AND REFLECTION (June 13, 2020)

by Roger, posted in Gospel Reading

You have also heard that the people were told in the past: Do not break your oath; an oath sworn to the Lord must be kept. But I tell you this: do not take oaths.  Do not swear by the heavens, for they are God’s throne; nor by the earth, because it is his foot stool; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king. Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything else you say comes from the evil one.

POINTS OF REFLECTION

Often times, we appreciate those who are good in their choice of words to play around our thoughts. The reason why many were fooled or put into dilemma because of flowery words purposefully used to deceive fishy reality. The gospel we have, reminded us  to express ourselves in  a plain language of clarity and understanding.

The truth resides in simplicity for adorned expression might not be able to facilitate understanding. Remember, God in itself  mysterious and undefined. Faith is the key virtuous needed to be able to know God in the context of humanity. Gone  are the days in which  God kept His  words but now revealed in the open to make way towards the offer of salvation. 

In which case, life is a two way traffic towards  heaven or towards hell. We need to pick out destination in this journey of life. Think about this: It is hard to get lost in a journey of no direction. Life after all is a “yes” or “no” option in responding to the call of the Lord. Say “yes” to God and restart your journey now carefully charted with the Holy Spirit as the compass needle. In this way, life’s going is meaningful, productive, happy and secured to the ends of time. 

In conclusion, life security after death is just a “yes” or a “no” response. Saying yes to the Father really  matters but saying no to the father means nothingness. Try to reflect on this line brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

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