En Esto Creo

THE PBMA STORY By : Jose O. Macaroy

2016-01-01T08:58:00.000+08:00

THE PBMA STORY

By : Jose O. Macaroy

(From the 1976 Guidance Series Initial Issue)

Introduction

The story of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, Incorporated, established and founded at San Jose, Dinagat ,Surigao del Norte, Philippines, portrays an abstract picture showing a multi-dimensional aspect that gives a dramatic and colorful episode of a unique civilization and culture of a distinct ethnic group of people struggling for spiritual emancipation and striving to achieve a purposive and progressive goal for mankind, in their sincere desire to bridge the chasm of ignorance between man and the Divine.

Established according to the pattern and tradition of the ancient movement under the direct guidance of Master Jesus in His native Judea about two thousand years ago, the PBMA has its primordial objective: to revitalize the nucleus of universal brotherhood of all peoples in the world, without distinction and discrimination as to creed, faith, ideology, and social and intellectual limitations.

To understand the PBMA Story as punctuated by sacrifices, its contexture of local scenes and background of mysterious events may be interpreted from various angles of perception and levels of perceptions. At any rate, the story itself implicates the metaphysical, as it develops into an awe-inspiring panorama; and keeping the imagination constantly searching for grandeur and beauty, it finally enthralls the mental that ascends into the heights of the Divine.

Verily, no one perhaps would expect this story to be revealing the truth, since the facts interwoven in it are uncommon in the consciousness and experience of man. But truths are stranger than fictions, the saying goes. While truth has a multi-faceted aspect, the twine of facts and fibers of circumstances and events interrelated therein cannot be readily seen, observed or discerned, even with music, rhapsodies, suspense, climax and its theme.

For to see the truths, facts, events and occurrences concatenate in time and in the story itself ushers the reader into the realms of metaphysical reality which could not be easily understood, even with the aid of material yardsticks, weights and measurements, since the whole story is a measure of a consistent, existential reality. The story, therefore, was written not for the presentation of mysteries, enigmatic events and miracles described in riddles and cryptic terms, but a narrative based on facts, as intelligently appraised and judiciously evaluated.

Evidently, the writer’s conceptual impressions, ideas, assumptions, and conclusions may not be similar to those of the reader’s. From the standpoint of known standards and categories in truth evaluation through logic and reason, the circumstances and facts interwoven in the story itself may not yield profitable credence and clear understanding in the critical and analytical mind which fact is expected.

Since the opinions, ideas and beliefs of readers, including those of the members of the organization, are not the same, the truths and facts in this story may still remain as abstract vestiges of the Great Mysteries that began aeons ago, during the process of creation of the Kosmos by God omnipotent. The reader, therefore, may draw conclusions to his own imagination and conceptualization.

The Island of Dinagat

When a man is near the truth, he begins to doubt himself, like the disciple Peter. When the Greatest Architect –Builder created the Kosmos, no man saw Him. But since God’s manifested powers are conditioned by eternity, time and space continuum, mankind began to know Him. Today, more than a quarter of a million people, members, believers, friends and pretenders have seen the facts, the mysteries and miracles interwoven in the PBMA Story.

In the story of Master Jesus, only a few men saw the truth; the same species of humans today are the same deniers of the same truth, the original truth, as Jesus said even to inspire; “Truth shall make you free.” But who wants to be free from the chain of ignorance or from the bondage of slavery? Woe unto the educated and intelligent who cannot see the big elephant and unable to see himself and his neighbors, he could clearly see the roundness of a coin.

There are several keys and pointers with which to understand the PBMA story that doubtless began with time. The reader may now begin his inquiry and quest for truth from the small island of Dinagat, a small mound of earth surmounted with rocks and corals, with over-growing vegetations, indistinct as a part of the more than 7,000 islands that compromise the Philippine Archipelago. But Dinagat Island has many tiny islets around its borders which fact makes the story more complicated even.

When you see a big ink spot on a white paper with your unaided eye, you may find the dot-spot itself as constituting a seemingly compact dot that is easy to identify. But seeing the dot under a powerful microscope which magnifies the spot, you will see that the dot itself appears to be divided into tiny and separate specks which seem to be distinct and individual by themselves; yet upon analysis, every speck thereon is a part of the whole and entire ink-spot. Such is the case of the small island called Dinagat and the man behind the former and the later which unveil the mystery of the PBMA, either as a legend or as a legion whose organized existence is predicated on service to mankind.

Dinagat is an island in the Far East. It is mountainous terrestrial protrusion from the Eastern seas of Visayas, topographically hilly and geographically located at the Northeastern coastal waters of mainland Mindanao. The island is a part of Surigao Del Norte province whose rugged and irregular coastal line has been a fishing area of the industrious people of Surigao.

But Dinagat Island is a natural blend of earth, rock and coral terrain with luxuriant foliages, regular-sized trees, swamps and shrubberies. Since Dinagat is sparsely populated, it has no less than six municipalities today among which is the town of Dinagat, the capital, with a gradually increasing population of 60,000 people. The municipalities are Loreto, Cagyanao, Albor, Rizal and Tabahon, Dinagat being the biggest.

Yet Dinagat island consists of many groups of strewn islets comprising of sitios and barrios with sea-faring, intrepid and industrious people, consistent ever with the methods and systems of earning their living by the sea and by tilling the rocky soil for some agricultural produce, like coconuts, uplands rice, corn, cassava and some rotation crops in scattered farms, aside from their small scale poultry and swine and large cattle.

Barrio San Jose is a part of the municipality of Dinagat. The barrio is so named after a man whose honor has been cherished and venerated as the symbol of pioneering spirit. The barrio has now a permanent population estimated at 27,000, with transient and itinerant population estimated at 30,000, moving in and out of San Jose, the year round. San Jose which was formerly called Poyange is now a barrio of Dinagat town.

Why the big population and the enormous number of perambulating people, coming in and going out of San Jose about three times a year? Perhaps, this fact may introduce the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, Incorporated in whose story the life of a man has been associated and inextricably interwoven. The story of the Association, therefore, could not be understood without the man behind it. Undoubtedly, were it not for his dedicated efforts and selfless services, continuing solicitude, hardships, privations, at times humiliation, the man could not have been catapulted otherwise to greater heights of humanitarian service. Being loved, honored, venerated and even worshipped as a man in the inner sanctum of every sincere member’s heart, the man came into being; to serve mankind.

With about 80 chapters today, the Association has maintained a membership of about a quarter of a million people, throughout the Archipelago, from the northernmost tip of Luzon to Zamboanga in mainland Mindanao. All members of the Association are bound to fulfill their bounden duties: to disseminate the tenets of world brotherhood, moral and spiritual ideals and render benevolent humanitarian service by way of healing the sick when expediency and emergency require.

Missioners and members of the Association are restored to moral and spiritual health, except those who, by their own will, knowledge and choice, are antagonistic to the principles of moral regimentation and arbitration, as far as habits, mannerisms and nuances are concerned. These are the pretenders, the charlatans, the curious and the ignoramuses who are in quest for honor, fame, occult powers and even opportunities for wealth.

But the PBMA does not deny anyone from membership, since the ideal of brotherhood of all men stands as one of its policies. Even a psychophant or a moron is entitled to membership, with the hope that one day he may became normally capable to render a measure of service to mankind. People from distant places in the Archipelago have visited San Jose during annual conferences, while most people nearby, the areas within the vicinities of Surigao have not even seen the great multitude gathering about the portals of San Jose, to witness the events and to hear the words of the Supreme President and Founder of the Association from whose life the Association is tethered.

Who could be the man whose power of attracting people has surprised great political leaders in the country, Army generals, governors, educators, priests, professionals, businessmen, even foreigners? Who is the man behind the PBMA, Inc.? An Army General who spoke before a great crowd at San Jose, Dinagat, once said: This is the most disciplined organization I have ever seen and I have not found any member smoking cigarette.”

Smoking cigar and cigarette, drinking intoxicating liquor, indulging in narcotics and prohibited drugs, gambling and all other forms of vice are taboo in the Association. All members are trained in the strictest discipline, since clean life is the objective in the esoteric life which is very difficult to follow. Self-discipline is very important among the members. Imposition by law or by duress may not be as effective as the inner command from the inner self of every member. This self-command or moral imperative is true to dedicated members of the PBMA.

But while the story is veering towards its climactic compendium, the two scores and a year ago have so soon been buried in the mist of time. The years that rolled by are not as fast as the winds of oblivion, for when a babe was born with cherubic face in an islet, a part of Dinagat Island, called Cabelan, the PBMA story began. The islet belongs to the province of Surigao del Norte. But since Cabelan is found just within the periphery of Dinagat Island, the former is legitimately a part of Dinagat.

The Man in the Offing

During the span of 40 years from December 9, 1934 to December 9, 1974, a considerably long period of time has passed. But the time involved spells and unveils the story of the PBMA, Inc. a non-sectarian, non-profit organization dedicated to universal brotherhood and selfless service to mankind.

Cabelan islet is now a populated community with more people earning their livelihood. In the year 1934, Cabelan was thinly populated, perhaps inhabited only by about two families who must have committed themselves to work with pioneering spirit for progressive ends. Jose Ecleo was a family head, the husband of Justiniana Edera. The middle-aged couple who could well portray the meaning of kindness, compassion, love for brother man, happiness and good living settled and occupied a portion of Cabelan and cultivated a small lot for crops. The 9-hectare lot could have hidden the story of the PBMA, were it not for both the husband and wife who decided to develop the rocky terrain which was a truly virgin land covered by many kinds of sylvan vegetations.

Cabelan islet is of limestone rock in origin which suggests the idea that it had been submerged under sea water and reappeared as an upheaval from the ocean basin some seven million years ago to become a unit constituent of the Philippine Archipelago. There are many islets within the Dinagat waters , but Cabelan is blessed with many caves and huge boulders and laminated rock foundations. A cave has been discovered which displays beautiful and imposing stalactites and stalagmites. Spring water and seepages are found with medicinal value to the PBMA members who flock to the islet every now and then throughout the year. Perhaps, a curious visitor may find the superimposed imprint of geological eras upon the seaside rocks of Cabelan, while extinct coral rocks and fossilized conchs and petrified wood may guide the speculator to believe that the islet really came from under the sea.

Today, the people of Cabelan have schools, fishponds, poultry and swine, with incomes to pay their taxes in the municipality of Dinagat whose Mayor is an energetic, young executive rated as one of the most outstanding mayors of the Philippines for the year 1974. When Cabelan was discovered by Jose Ecleo and Justiniana Edera , the islet was quite untouched by human hands who have the aptitude to cultivate the choice area for their home, sometime perhaps a decade ago before the Japanese trampled the Philippine shores.

After many years on the ninth day of December, 1934, the couple gave birth to their sixth child, a chubby-faced boy who saw the light of the universe at the first hour of his natal day. The early dawn heralded the story of sacrifice that may sooner give credence and meaning to the birth of new hopes in a new era for a new society that can truly cherish the Chrestos tradition of humanity when the higher values had been taught somewhere in Judea and in the city of Jerusalem about 1, 980 years ago; in China, about 4,000 years ago; in Egypt, around the vicinity of 7,000 and In India as early as 12,000 years ago when the great books of wisdom were being explored by the ancient seers and Masters of Wisdom.

For the Christian teachings and ideals are not as young as they are believed to be, since they are the same as the oldest known spiritual traditions handed down by God to man, after the Creation of the Kosmos. And Cabelan islet became the springboard of a great stride towards there- awakening of mankind, particularly the Filipinos in the “Pearl of the Orient Seas.”

December 9, 1934 was just one day ahead of the dropping of Japanese war bombs, seven years thereafter on December 8, 1941 in Davao, Zamboanga, Corregidor, Pampanga, Naga and many other places in the Philippines where Army installations were found. While the PBMA story is webbed in events, textured and striated with sacrifices, the dropping of the war bombs in the Philippines in December, 1941 was transmuted to greater significance. Today, it is not the exploding of destructive bombs but the outpouring of God’s love, the sharing of our Father’s munificence from the Fountain Spring of both material and spiritual riches. For the Philippines today is the center of spiritual awakening, the focus of divine healing and the seat of a movement dedicated to universal brotherhood of humanity.

Yet Cabelan and San Jose are the places which have become the centres of the spreading tradition of the Arhats, the Avataras and the Hierophants in the remotest parts of Luzon, Mindanao and Visayas where the ideals of brotherhood and tenets of both moral and spiritual life are being disseminated by the members and missioners of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association.

Born for a Great Mission

Little boy Ruben, the wonder child of Cabelan grew in the islet with his five brothers and sisters. Espiritu, Orcencia, Nicolas, Oldarica and Moises are the members of the Ecleo family. They had opened their imaginations and unfolded their inner vision to behold the meaning of scenic beauty of the coral island whose trees and palms swayed with the northerly winds and Easterly whisper from the China Sea and the great Pacific Ocean respectively.

At the age of one, Ruben was baptized at the Aglipayan Parish in Surigao town across the sea, like his brothers and sisters. While Visayan tradition remained consistent, every member of the Ecleo family in Cabelan must swim in the sea. Small boy Ruben learned to acclimatize himself with the rudiments of swimming and working by himself. Before he reached the age of seven, one year immediately before December 8, 1941, Ruben had already become an active, industrious and obedient lad.

Boy Ruben or Obing as he was at his tender age of six must have known the saltiness of table salt and the sweetness of sugar as it were, in the truth-evaluation of facts, events and occurrences or unexplained circumstances happening in those years. As for Ruben the seeking of truth and learning it to be a part of his early wisdom is to experience and live truth itself. In learning the nature of saltiness, tasting it rather than hearing its definition and description conveys the truth and its meaning.

Before 1941, the Ecleo family moved to the seacoast on the western rim of Dinagat Island and peacefully settled at the southern stretch of Melgar and Wilson, in a sitio called Poyange so named after a huge tree with wide-spreading branches that grew luxuriantly in the area. It was not long when the Second World War broke out and the belching smoke of aggression spread all over the Philippines from Pearl Harbor.

The sitio Poyange was quite and serene. Its picturesque sunset presents an awe-inspiring celestial grandeur and beauty that overwhelms the imagination. Its seacoast to the next neighboring barrio is peopled by industrious sea-loving citizens. Among the busy fisherman and family heads who engaged in small-scale business was Jose Ecleo, the father of young Ruben who was then six years old in 1940. Tugging along with his parents from Cabelan to Poyange was such an experience for Ruben, while he greeted his new home and environment which afforded an ideal refuge for the family and a suitable harborage for people who sought fortune in the seas.

Experienced in the hard ways of sea life and the usual inconvenience of pioneering existence Ruben adapted himself easily with the new surroundings. But the young boy could not have any chance to study formally in the public school, since there was no educational institution in Poyange at the time. The years rolled by, while the population of Poyange increased and children of school age doubled their number. Since there was no school in Poyange, Ruben was taught by his mother the rudiments of reading and writing.

No sooner than Ruben was seven years old, he had already got acquainted with many children and became familiar with the immediate environs of his new playground bordering the sea. Later, he explored the vicinities of the place and gained access of the trails until he visited the innermost or farthermost places of mainland Dinagat, he disappeared one day. He must have gone to some far distances where it took him much difficulty to be home quite early during the day.

Actually, Ruben was beginning to start a mission as early as 1941, while playing with other children in Poyange. At the age of 8, he reached far places on mission. At 9 he had introduced some noble ideas and good behavior to his friends. At 10, he was in Panaon Island, Southern Leyte where he enrolled in grade Two, during the War. Whether mysteriously or otherwise, Ruben’s enrolment in Panaon, Leyte is quite mystifying, rather unexplainable in terms of physical standards, since he was 11 years old; when he was seen in Poyange in 1946, he enrolled again in Grade I in barrio Wilson school where he was accelerated to Grade III.

Back to Leyte in mystery, Ruben at the age of 11 went to the mountains where he received dictations from the Spiritual realm after which he began his full mission at 12. In the mountains of Northern Leyte, he spent days and nights, in cold, heat and hunger. He was alone at the mercy of wild animals, like pythons, deadly insects and venomous vipers and reptiles. He did listen to the voice in the silence. He did meditate and heard the voice from Devachan, the voice from the Astral, from the silence of his higher being, the voice from the egoic plane, from the Spiritual and Divine planes. In the language of occultism, Ruben attained the state of oneness with his higher or spiritual self or union with the Universal Self. In the language of Yoga science, it is Samadhi when the “experience resolves itself into the very texture of the normal consciousness of the seer, as his Shaja Avastha. To him the experience becomes spontaneous and he works on amidst the diversities that characterize the outward existence, as unaffected Sakshi (Witness)”

“In Samadhi is garnered such a tremendous reserve of power that this divine energy irresistibly seeks an outlet in service.” As a seer at the age 12, Ruben “emerges from the experience filled with an inner surge of Love and friendliness towards all creation and a sense of power to manifest this Love in deeds of goodwill and help. Samadhi unifies the entire creation through a homogenous experience. Inspired by a cosmic sympathy of life, he gives himself joyously and freely for the cause of Lokahita (public welfare).”

As a Chela Ruben was guided by the Arhats and taught by an Avatar. While in deep concentration and meditation, he received instructions in the ancient wisdom as well as the words of power or divine mantras in all levels. The dictations to him from the Spiritual Plane gave him definite orders for the implementation of his fuller mission. He was then trained in reading and writing the Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit and Aramaic languages to be able to interpret the ancient mysteries, aside from being able to read the Akashic Records for reference purposes of the past and future events in the universe.

At the age of 13, young Ruben was enrolled in Grade IV at the Surigao Central Elementary School, Surigao Del Norte. In 1949, he enrolled in the First Year High School at San Nicolas College. During nights, however, Ruben studies and learns in the Astral, mental, egoic and spiritual Planes under the tutelage of the Arhats which process of study may not be easily understood by readers. These seemingly unbelievable processes of Ruben’s esoteric or inner life are not quite understood by the uninitiate, since these are the only schemes by which Ruben’s education, both in the physical and in the spiritual could be accelerated, particularly in the Holy Scriptures and the Occult, in preparation for his great mission.

Through spiritual dictations, therefore, and visions, Ruben gradually learned what otherwise could not have been learned in so short a time. Of course, there is nothing impossible in the Spiritual, with the help of the Lord. What is puzzling to the ordinary mind or thinker is Ruben’s presence in many places, at the same time which power of omnipresence is only possible for the Masters of Wisdom, the Arhats, Avatars and Hierophants, as in the case of Master Jesus who had been in the Americas, Egypt, India and in his native Judea, simultaneously aside from being in the monastery in the Essenean School, near Mount Serbal, overlooking the Black Sea. Each of his bodies was with a different face, height, perhaps, different nationality, performing a mission which only the Almighty God, the Father knows.

In occult science, this is what we ascribe to the power of simultaneous materialization by virtue of the stupendous power of the Mantra or word of power given to the recipient, by God. Furthermore, the power of transfiguration is also manifest which means that the Master Arhat, Avatar or Hierophant can change his physical figure at will, in different places, from young personality to old, as it were. In receiving the words of power, Master Missioner Ruben can materialize anywhere at will which power is likewise clearly explained in the book “Where Theosophy and Science Meet”. Apparently, by uttering the Mantra, or word of power, the Master could almost do anything.

After intervals of days and months, Ruben goes to Poyange to visit his parents and makes himself known to be in the same place for purposes of being incognito somewhere in Leyte, Samar and in all other places he willed to visit. In 1949, records show that Ruben enrolled at the San Nicolas College, Surigao Del Norte in the First Year High School. In the same year, he was also in Leyte , since he was on full missionary work, the nature of which was to go to many places and different communities, talking to people, feeling their sentiments, sensing their emotions, learning the moral, spiritual and economic problems.

But as he knew the ills of man, he taught them how to live the happy life and guided them in the spiritual. He solved their problems and healed the sick people who flocked to him. Traveling extensively in Leyte, Samar, Mindanao, Bohol and Cebu, he was able to learn the dialects of the places fast, being a guided Missioner by the Spirit of God. This is always true to advanced souls who are not necessarily geniuses at their early age in the physical.

In 1952, an ocean-going vessel dropped anchor at Cabelan island with Caple Jurry and Dr. Hugh Tovar aboard, Missioner Ecleo joined the group to the United States and after his 8 months sojourn in Church, Virginia and in some other places abroad, on survey study and tour, he came back to the Philippines in 1953. In the United States, he made contacts with his previous colleagues and had a chance to survey the possibility of fulfilling a mission there. When he was back in the Philippines, Ruben Ecleo was still with the fervor of performing his missionary duties. Again he went up to the mountains of Leyte for instruction. This action gave an impression to the people that young Ruben was no less than a guided psychophant or a crazy charlatan, bent on working with invisible denizens from whose powers he made manifest his psychic influence.

Going back to Surigao Del Norte in 1955, Obing as he was called decided to get married, since he believed that marriage could possibly give him the best incentive to understand material life, human frailties and imperfections. Marriage was a necessary recourse. It was an exoteric objective, a moral ideal designed to keep him well-informed about mundane life or worldly passion and of possession. A woman shall become the balancer, a regulator, a pivot, a springboard a catapulter for greater and higher progressive goals, both for the material and the spiritual life of a man.

Is marriage or matrimony necessary in the life of man and woman? When God created man, was marriage decreed as an expression of love on the basis of knowledge and wisdom: Marriage between man and woman may be an act of faith in the absolute Rulership of God in whose power and wisdom we live and move and have our being.

Matrimony is in obedience to the spiritual law, and in fulfillment of the Divine Plan for man’s progression and perfection. Marriage, therefore, is necessary in Ruben’s life as a token symbol of human sacrifice and love in his physical life, in compliance with the requirement of his initiation to the Higher Life, so that he may tread the Path, to fulfill his mission. Of course, his mission cannot be ultimately understood, even by the few, since God’s Plan for humanity, although progressive, is both physically inclusive and spiritually expansive.

Glenda, the amiable daughter of Mr. Roberto Buray, of Gitagum, Cagayan de Oro City was the woman who knew Ruben Ecleo too well, since the latter has been with the Buray family for some time. The woman knew how Ruben grew to manhood, how he suffered more material frustrations, since his abject of poverty could only be explained in terms of meeting the requirements of esoteric life in which the seeker after truth or the Chela must undergo sacrifices, deprivations, humiliations and even mortification if necessary, in obedience to the law of initiation into the higher life and in accordance with God’s plan.

Very few men may understand the meaning of initiation into the higher life, since most people are attached to inert matter. But Ruben’s mission had to go on, with more inspiration, zeal and solitude. After his marriage in 1955, he went to Agusan for some time and began his major healing among the Manobos until 1957. While performing his missionary work in Agusan, he was also physically traveling somewhere in Davao, Bukidnon, Leyte and Samar, using different names, perhaps different faces, some of whom are old or young identities, losing therefore, his early childhood personality as Ruben Ecleo. With such mysterious omnipresence in several places, he could not possibly be identified as a married man, the son-in-law of Roberto Buray, or the youngest child of Jose Ecleo and Justiniana Edera who live somewhere in Poyange, Dinagat, Surigao del Norte.

With nicknames such as Ben, Obing, Fred, Freddie, Robin, Tony and Dr. Laway, the real Master Missioner in the physical body of Ruben Ecleo raised the dead and saved the dying from consequent death. The alter-egos, the doubles and all other physical manifestations of Ruben’s omnipresent personality performed the mission. All the manifested personalities cured mysterious diseases and used the healing powers of the Lord Jesus who first applied these powers in Judea. This process of healing became the precursor of what is now called Divine Healing, since the healing power comes directly from our Divine Father, by virtue of the Sacred or Divine Prayers which are called in Occultism as Mantras.

Speaking of mantras, Ruben Ecleo has painstakingly compiled a book of these powerful words or letter- combinations that produce coherent vowel sound which could be pronounced with ease and clarity. These ------

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE

(This ends here the 1976 PBMA Guidance Series Initial Issue)

God's Country by James B. Reuter | MANILA, Philstar, 5/17/08

2015-06-24T15:08:00.001+08:00

God's country

AT 3 A.M. By James B. Reuter | MANILA, Philstar, 5/17/08 -- This is a story that has been going around for a long, long time. it is pure fiction, but I think it presents a beautiful truth. Here it is.

A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the world. He started by flying to San Francisco and working east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes.

He found a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign, which read “Calls: $10,000 a minute.” Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to heaven, and if he pays the price he can talk directly to God.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Paris, France; in Cairo, Egypt; Hong Kong in China, and around the world, he found more phones, with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.

Finally, he arrived in the Philippines. Upon entering a church in Manila, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Catholic church, behold â€‘ he saw the usual golden telephone. But this time the sign read “Calls: 35 centavos.”

Fascinated, he asked to talk to the priest. “Father Ricardo, I have been in cities all across the world and in each church I have found this golden telephone, and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God. But in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only 35 centavos a call. Why?”

The priest, smiling, replied: “Son, you’re in the Philippines now. . . . You’re in God’s Country. . . . . It’s a local call.”

The Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia. No one can explain that…… Most of the jeeps that fill our streets have signs on their rear entrance steps: “God bless our trip”……Whenever a Filipino passes a church, he makes the sign of the cross.

Our people pray. In every squatters’ shack, even under our bridges and alongside every estero, you find a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a statue of the Santo Niño, and a crucifix. Many of the children in those shacks have never gone to school. They can not read or write. But they learn religion at their mother’s knee.

Strangers sometimes say that the Filipinos are not really Catholic, because we have so many faults, failures, and sins. But when was religion supposed to make a man sinless? All of scripture is filled with stories of the rise and fall of man.

Adam, the first man, created by God, ate the apple. . . .David was a man after God’s own heart, but he stole another man’s wife and then, to cover his crime, he had her husband killed….. Simon Peter, the head of the Apostles, denied his God before a serving maid.

True, the Filipino falls, often. But on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday â€‘ which are legal holidays in our country â€‘ we kneel before God, confessing our sins, and telling Him that we are sorry!

For us, this month, May, belongs to the Virgin Mary. Our children walk reverently down the aisle, in every church, in the Flores de Mayo. They kneel before her image, and offer her their flowers. And with the flowers they are offering her themselves.

In the month of June our streets are filled with processions….. In November we flock to the cemeteries, to pray for those we love…. For nine days before Christmas we answer the church bells at four in the morning to honor Our Lord, born for us as a baby…. In every home you find a Belen.

And Father Patrick Peyton said: “The Family Rosary Crusade circled the globe. But the most touching experience that I had myself, personally, was in the Philippines. There we had extraordinary cooperation from the Hierarchy, from the pastors of all the parishes, from the press, radio, motion pictures, theaters and schools.”

“The final rally was scheduled for 4:30 in the afternoon. At three o’clock a torrential downpour rained down on a million people gathered in the Luneta. They did not move. They stood there, patiently, in the driving rain, reciting the Rosary. By 4:30 the sun was shining, and a million and a half people were standing shoulder to shoulder in that vast Luneta Park.”

“I feel that the Family Rosary Crusade has reached the highest peak, that never again in any country in the world will it be duplicated…… In the years that followed I came to the conviction that the Philippines â€‘ the only Christian country in Asia â€‘ has been touched by the hand of God.”

Our people are the only ones who feel so close to the Blessed Virgin that we call her: “Mama Mary.”

This is really God’s country!

sourcehttp://asianjournalusa.com/gods-country-p4922-119.htm

THE ECLEAN DOCTRINES & PHILOSOPHY IN LIFE By JO JAC-ATOM VALMORIDA,

2013-03-09T12:02:00.000+08:00

THE ECLEAN DOCTRINES & PHILOSOPHY IN LIFE

JO JAC-ATOM VALMORIDA, AB, LLB, PMAM NPS-VIII (Former First Assistant Provincial Fiscal of Misamis Oriental; Former Professor and Dean of Cagayan de Oro College; Legal Counsel, Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, Inc.)

A mystic is not one who fits into an objective pattern. He is rather the one who adopts a particular attitude of mind. He is very much a human and a mortal, subject at all times to all the foibles and temptations of the human, with all the variations in any passing throng of people, and that mystical life has no racial roots. Like gold, the elements of mysticism are wherever you find them. (The Sanctuary of Self, by Ralph M. Lewis, F.R.C.)

Fifty years ago, on December 9, 1934, in the serene coolness of the season a mysterious child was born. He was given birth in the enchanted island of Cabilan amidst the rosary of islands toward the bountifully-enriched Dinagat island practically across the turbulent seas and often-unpredictable atmosphere of the Pacific, in the weather-prone province of Surigao del Norte.

This once remote island forms part of the chain of islands access to which is sometimes forbidden by the dangers of its furious seas, and is located in the north-eastern part if mainland Mindanao, in a country artistically formed by the Master-Architect of its creation with beads of over 7,000 islands contiguously assembled into a trinity of larger islands the political territories of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, which unite into one was to be significantly known as “The Only Christian Nation in the Far-East”, and further immemorially called “Pearl of the Orient Seas”---the Philippines.

Conceived as a crying baby while still inside the maternal womb whose solitary voice echoed along the shores of Puyangi, now the famous barangay of San Jose, under the broad daylight of November 29, barely ten days before his birth, the sixth and would-be child of Justiniana Edera and Jose Ecleo, had already shown his mysterious ways not only to neighbors and friends, but also to his parents and relatives, who were made living witnesses to such perplexing moment.

After three days of hard and painful labor, at about 3:00 o’clock dawn of December 9, in the house of Justiniana’s brother, Jovencio Edera, where she was to deliver, Jovencio’s son Pandoy Edera, became another witness to the wonder of the same crying child.

Thinking that the child was already born, Pandoy rushed inside the room only to discover that his aunt was still in the state of agonizing labor. The amazing fact, however, was that the child now named “Ruben” was born only at 7:00 o’clock of the following morning. Yet on the night before his birth, vivid accounts of witnesses point that a distinctively longtailed brilliant star that looked like a comet was seen not far across the sky. In fact, these unusual incidents remained a puzzle to many for so long.

From the eldest named Espiritu, followed by Nicolas, Uldarico, Ursincia and Moises, Ruben is the youngest child of the much-disturbed couple. “Obing” as he was fondly called from the childhood to adolescence, looked like a healthy baby boy of Caucasian descent from birth.

Just over a week thereafter, Obing’s father, Jose Ecleo, who was about to go fishing unusually felt sleepy that unable to resist the same he turned asleep on the sandy shores of Cabilan. In the deep of his captivating rest, he heard an old man said: “…the baby just born is not an ordinary child.” After which, he was immediately awakened that instead of proceeding to the sea, he decided to go back home to reveal the message to his wife.

On April 21, 1935, the child was baptized as “Robinson” by one Monsignor Juan Sales of the Philippine Independent Church at Melgar, Rizal, Surigao del Norte.

Sometime in 1940, the youthful Ruben Ecleo enrolled in the Kindergarten at Surigao City, but had later stopped schooling when the Second World War broke out. It was only sometime in 1946, that he went back to school.

At this stage again started another perplexing memories when accounts of witnesses revealed that he was shown to have enrolled simultaneously in different schools of distant places, noted by his teachers to have been present in all his classes, excelling in his grades while at thesame time working class hours and still further seen in healing mission in many places.

For indeed, Obing was known to have enrolled in at least five different schools; at Wilson, Dinagat, Surigao del Norte; together with his elder brother Moises Ecleo as his classmate; at Gomez, also at Dinagat; at Panyog, and Melgar, of Rizal; at the Surigao Central School in Surigao City; and still at Liloan, Leyte.

Equally amazing is the fact that while he was most of the time seen playing out of school with his friends during class-hours, as noted by his elder brother Moises who had always seen him absent, their teachers had all the time noted Obing’s presence in classes in all the schools he was enrolled. In fact, his now only remaining brother, popularly called “Tatay Isek” in the community recalled that his youngest brother Obing was given better grades than him who was the time present. According to their teachers, they have never seen “Obing” absent from the classes. On the top of everything, Obing had been promoted twice that he had to enroll only in Grades 1,3,5, and 6, as he was accelerated in Grades 2 and 4.

Even compounding the paradoxical situation is the observation that in all those years he was seen schooling and he was also seen on mission in Leyte, Samar, Masbate, Panay Island, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and other provinces of the Visayas; in Agusan, Misamis, Lanao, Pagadian, Zamboanga, Cotabato, Davao, Surigao, and other provinces of Mindanao as well as in different provinces of Luzon.

Furthermore while he was seen schooling in different schools and on mission in various places, at the same time he was seen working to earn a living as a shoe-shine boy, newsboy and ice drop vendor in Surigao City.

At the ager 16 in 1951, Obing was enrolled in High School with Soriano Institute in Maoyog, Bislig, Surigaodel Sur, and became a basketball varsity player thereat, while at the same time working at the Bislig Lumber Corporation.

At 17, two Caucasian-like visitors, who later turned out to be his spiritual friends(whose names should better left anonymous here) arrived at Cabilan, by their yacht, to look for “Ben Ec” or “Benny Ecleo,” remaining in the island for three days and two nights. Finding an interpreter in the person of Pandoy Edera, they were able to understand each other that they were looking for was the person whose description aptly referred to the youthful Ruben Ecleo, and who upon seeing the later, his two visitors, immediately embraced him, as if they were old-time friends.

Bringing him inside the yacht, the two visitors finally confided that their only purpose of seeing him is to bring him to America, to which his mother, when told, did not accede. Failing in their purpose the two instead advised him to just wait for their letter in about a week time, and to follow them up in Manila.

Leaving behind the young Ruben, his two friends left with parting words that they will still meet again some other time but no longer in person.

True to their promise, a letter with pictures therein arrived. However, it was handed to his lady admirer who happened to be a public school teacher from Dinagat. About to open the letter without the knowledge of Obing, she heard a voice commanding her to ‘stop’ at which time the letter she was holding was forcibly flown away. Flown away. Fearful, the lady-teacher picked the letter up and decided to personally send it to Cabilan. Finding Obing at Cabilan, she immediately handed the letter to him who, when about to open it heard a warning voice saying; “This is a top secret letter; please read it seriously,” resulting to the fainting of the lady-teacher. Still another voice was heard, telling him: “Follow the instructions we have given; we will see each other again but no longer in person.”

Pursuant to instruction, Obing lost no time in proceeding to Manila. And in 1952, he was brought to the U.S.A. by ship for an eight-month “observation.” After which Obing came back, known as “Dr. Ruben,” possesses with even greater instant healing power and getting more friendly, generous and fast becoming popular. This incident however gave rise to another perplexing situation when his elder brother, Moises Ecleo, claims that his brother had not left them, that is, his physical body was seen all the time with them, while likewise admitting that there is all the indications that he had, indeed, gone abroad. For the moment this had remained a puzzle to some, but to many, the matter had eventually gained a clearer vision and explanation of the strange phenomena that, in fact, presently formed part of the gravitating mystical realities.

The early years of his mission were characterized with supreme sacrifices and tremendous difficulties. Not only did he perform his mission with unparalleled devotion and zeal of complying with every instruction of the Spiritual Division upon him, he had to wear a clothing only enough to cover his body. Washed it in secluded river wherever he could find any, wait for his clothing to get dry under the heat of the sun, until such time it is again ready for him to wear the same. He was not allowed to receive any amount of money. He was only allowed a food enough for his meals, and in extreme occasion, just a modest clothing to cover his body.

Against all odds, however, no mountain imposing was tall enough that he was cowed to climb, no ocean, however ferocious that he did not brave to cross, no distance however far that ever blocked his way through in the pursuit of his destined mission.

“Dr. Ruben” always firmly believes that “where the heart is willing it will find a thousand ways, but where it is unwilling, it will find a thousand excuses.” To him not even a threat upon his life could serve as a justifiable excuse in the pursuit of his trying mission. For as he has always emphasized, faith in God coupled with purity of deeds could be the only shining armor capable of ensuring one’s safety and salvation.

Sometime in 1954, in furtherance of his mission, he was taken in as member of the “Rizal Association of Mercy” headed by one Rafael Mondejar at Matangad, Gitagum, Misamis Oriental. Thereat, in the course of his difficult mission he got acquainted with his loving spouse “Glenda Oliveros Buray”, daughter of Roberto Buray, Sr. and Rufina Oliveros Buray of the place. Under trying and rather unusual circumstances, the two finally got engaged, and subsequently married, first before a municipal judge in 1955, then before a Roman Catholic Priest in 1956.

Ruben Ecleo is a member of the Aglipayan Church while his wife Glenda is a devout Roman Catholic.

Sometime in 1957, he was taken in as “Chief Doctor” of the “Caballeros de Rizal Agricultural Endeavour,” now the nationally acclaimed “Knights of Rizal”, headed by his cousin, the famous Santiago Ecleo, who was popularly called by his followers and friends as “Papa Tiago” of Maguinda, Butuan City, whereat the newly-wed couple had to establish residence. Thereat, leaving behind his amiable wife whom many lovingly called “Mommy Glen,” “Dr. Ruben” continued with his mission in other places of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Bothered with another ordeal in life while still on mission, in 1958, he was only informed that his firstborn son Rico, died, which thereby brought untold sufferings and sorrows to the young couple.

Unbending to the exacting test upon his life, “Dr. Ruben” still went on to pursue his healing mission with undiminishing vigor and untainted purity of faith. As a consequence of which, widely sought as an effective and instant healer, the multiplying number of patients looking after him dictated the necessity of putting up a place whereby led to the establishment of a hospital at Cabilan, wherein hundreds of patients come and go to have themselves treated by the now returning “Dr. Ruben.”

Not long thereafter, between 1959 to 1960, another hospital was established in Puyangi, now the fascinating Barangay of San Jose, in the scenic Dinagat Island. Dinagat is some 40 nautical mile across the seas from the Northeastern tip of mainland Mindanao. As one local daily puts it, “the place though considered a typical seaside town of Surigao del Norte has the trappings of a tourist destination.” “Dinagat Island may be one of those places you hear about that dot the Pacific side of Mindanao,” and “taking off from Surigao City wharf in an oversized outrigger (powered by an engine), the one-and-a-half hours sea travel…we saw islands and islets ringed by white sand beaches. The sea from the Pacific turned from aqua to deep blue.” (After Seeing Dinagat, Now I can Live, The Northern Mindanao Chronicle, by Jun Villalaba, July 30-Aug. 5, 1086 issue)

With his three “spiritual friends” around him (whose names should be left withheld), Dr. Ruben’s healing power became widely known that his patients largely grew in number wherever.

His healing power ranges from treatment to operation by bare hands with painless and instant tooth extraction and the curing of terminal patients and those were pronounced by medical physicians as incurable diseases. In many instances, his ability to identify a person’s type of blood have been proven, and perfectly the same as that of a physician’s findings. In his case, however, he never used any instrument in administering a healing, which all, more brought inexplicable surprises to all his patients and to everyone in attendance.

Many more marvelous and wonderful works have been performed by him, both written in the pages of the scriptures, the details of which should better be unveiled here until a more appropriate time comes. In fact, this writer has been privileged to become a living witness to many of his wonders which he prefers to left unsaid here. None of his predictions has ever failed, involving major events and happenings taking place in the Philippines and in many parts of the world, ranging of elections to calamities, accidents and the like.

In fact, the greatest tragedy of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos was when he ignored advice not to push through with the Presidential snap election; otherwise it would be an end of his honeymoon with his public office as it, in fact, happened. What transpires however belongs to the inevitable. For so long before the decision of the former President to hold a snap election, Hon. Ruben E. Ecleo, Sr., had already predicted that Mr. Marcos will remain undefeated in an election, yet he will be replaced by woman who will succeed him in office. In fact, for so long, it had painted an unfathomable dilemma in the minds of all his followers who were left in the state of quandary as to how his controversial prediction could ever possibly take place. But it did take place. The occurrence of which directly brought to an end the longtime quest for explanation. It has to take place, notwithstanding countervailing events, for as it has been written, and so, it shall be done. The rest belongs to history.

Such is only one of his political predictions of major consequence. Which like the rest, emerged with accuracy and precision. Yet, despite the many more manifestations of greatness endowed to a select like him alone, which by their very nature, the naked details, scope and magnitude should be better be left unwritten here, the humility of the man exhibited in practice, to the mind of this writer, stands beyond compare. Unmistakably, he has chosen to be such, for humility itself is a badge of greatness. The contrary, which is pride, is a cardinal sign of weakness.

This has resulted however to another chapter of his exacting mission. Professional physicians and dentists vigorously fabricated charges against him, desperately fishing evidence to charge him and his followers, usually booking them for “Illegal Practice of Medicine,” “Illegal Practice of Dentistry,” and the like, none of which, however, has prospered. He was branded as a magician and called so many names, but has remained calm, unoffended and humble. Where stones were thrown upon his person, practically he threw bread in return. Accordingly, consistent with scriptural reminders, he has always warned: “Judge not that you may not be judged.”

Ironically, both the military and police who were asked to arrest him instead turned themselves as captive patients as they asked that they be cures of whatever illness they had together with the members of their family, resulting to his being invited home by his supposed apprehenders. Professionals and non-professionals alike eagerly come to him for treatment, guidance and advise.

As he has always advocated, reminding everyone of the mysteries of man’s creation that while we may have the bread and butter, while we may have the comforts of life, while we may have everything to live by in our respective places of abode, bread, rice and comfort alone are not enough for us to live a meaningful life, for far beyond the measures of material wealth man needs the treasure of spiritual invigoration to be worthy of his divine creation.

Sensing the need to expand his mission to come to the rescue of the many poor and unfortunate brethrens who simply had no means of getting them attended by professional physicians and due to the members of the profession to attend the rural areas, especially across the hinterlands, he created a group called “First 13”, composed of thirteen of his chosen followers, mainly from the Visayas and Mindanao, to help him pursue his mission.

Thus, the “First 13” was formally ordained sometime in 1963 at Panimaloy, Don Carlos, Bukidnon, with the following composition: Arsenio D. Nazareno, Pedro Montives, Sr. Francisco Enerio, TeodoroRegacion of Leyte, Cipriano Otero, Ignacio Sombrado, Sergio Saturinas vice his late father MartinianoSaturinas, Pedro Tuquib and DiosdadoSabalones from Bohol, the latter vice/Pedro Masongsong of Batangas; JovencionRatunil from Cebu; Cupertino Edera from Cabilan, Dinagat, Surigao del Norte; Leonardo Diegas from Surigao del Norte; George Edera from Melgar, Rizal, Surigao del Norte; and Rolando O. Buray of Gitagum, Misamis Oriental.

Eventually the need to establish a legally constituted organization became pressing.Thus, on October 19, 1965, the renowned Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, Inc., was founded. It was established under Registration No. 28042 of the Securities and Exchange Commission. From its foundation stemmed the legal basis and governmental imprimatur that led to its meteoric existence. It was launched under the unwavering leadership of its Supreme President and Founder, the venerable Ruben Edera Ecleo, Sr.

The incorporators that gave life to the association comprised the following; the illustrious Ruben E. Ecleo, Sr. of San Jose, Dinagat, Surigao de l Norte; Arsenio D. Nazareno of Nabang, Oquendo, District, Calbayog City; Francisco Enerio of Himampang, Initao, Misamis Oriental; Floro Caboverde of Salug, Zamboanga del Norte; Maximo Caboverde of Sinadangan, Zamboanga del Norte; Carlos Lomanta of New Misamis, Annex, Ozamis City; MaximoRavelo of Mati, Davao Oriental; Dionisio E. Cui of Babak, Davao del Norte, Pedro Y. Montives of Balakson, KAwayan, Leyte; VictorianoRafols of Kawit, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte; EusebioBandivas of Buug, Zamboanga del Sur; and Casiano Gorrea of Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte.

The illustrious leader of the Association was later overwhelmingly elected as Mayor of Dinagat, undefeated and unchallenged until date, and even with the drastic change of Philippine administration in the 4-day February, 1986 revolution, has remained and unreplaced, until having just unwittingly found himself the acknowledged “political kingpin” of his province. Even as against the adverse speculation of many, he become the uncontested President of the Mayor’s League of the province under the new Aquino administration.

His wife, the charismatic Madame Glenda B. Ecleo, the National President and Founder of the Association of Women’s League, President and Founder of the pioneering Don Jose Ecleo Memorial Education Foundation, and founder of the Professional’s League, a Master in Educational Management graduate and a PhD candidate, was one-time duly elected “Senior Panlalawigan Member” of the province.

The loving and much-envied couple blessed with eight gregarious children: Ruben, Jr., nicknamed “Bongbong” who is currently studying Law in Manila, Glorigen, Gracelyn, Benglen, Allan I, Alan II, Geraldine and Gwendolyn.

Further compounding the pressures demanded by the swelling growth of members that need to be attended and the expansion of chapter and sub-chapter offices nationwide and abroad, there was need to create another group of trusted pillars of the TV Association “Midyear Convention on July 28, 1986. A popular columnist has this to say:

“Nearing the wharf at barangay San Jose (home to the thousands of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association members headed by Supreme Spiritual leader Ruben Ecleo we saw the port teeming with local residents all wanting to extend their warm hands of welcome to their mainland visitors coming from all over Mindanao complete with leis and a blaring brass band.

“The entire scene reminded me of Hollywood Pacific movie that starred by Marlon Brando. Barangay San Jose proper is perched on a hill that gives it added beauty. The hospitality of the people compliments the beauty of the place.

“The PBMA as the primary governing body of the place has shown how to build a progressive and happy community. And this has left a deep imprint in the minds of the MINPRANS. Graft and corruption is a taboo to my mind.

“After seeing San Jose, now I can live, because the earth after all is a beautiful place to live and certainly, I have developed the zest of living.

“Leaving San Jose the next day, I promised myself, that not in the distant future, I will go back to the place and re-live the short but happy memory I have with the place.” (On Your Marks, The Northern Mindanao Chronicle, by Jun Villalaba, July 30- Aug. 5, 1986 issue)

The formation and growth of the Association is not without constitutional basis. It rests upon the constitutional protective mantle which guarantees the right of every one to form associations or societies for the purposes that are not contrary to the law. (Sec. 6, Art. IV, 1935 Constitution; Sec. 7, Art. IV, 1973 Constitution; Section I, Art. I, Freedom Constitution) consequently, to become member thereof, free from undue interference or restraint from others.

It was given birth to pursue an ardous and labyrinthian mission. As enshrined in its Articles of Incorporation, its multi-pronged objectives may be summed up into three pervading and generic missions—to serve Humanity, love of fellowmen, and the promotion of world brotherhood—under the Fatherhood of God.

It has to be such for as stated in the scriptures “…and now abideth faith, hope and charity; these three, but the greatest of these is charity.” (I Corinthians 13:13). In fact, charity is the mother of all virtues.

Such is the charitable and benevolent character of the Association. Such is the indubitable distinction of its greatness. Such is the biblical root of its unfathomable existence.

It is not a religion, because religious rivalry cannot unify the world. It is instead a corporation because incorporation signifies unity even in diversity. For while religion establishes a wall of separation, incorporation cements a bridge f cooperation and a bond of unbreakable union.

It would, therefore, be both idle and unchristian for anyone to cast aspersion upon the Association as a religion.

Against all odds and the onslaught of time as well as the fury of the charlatans and demagogues that have unleashed the forces of their evil minds to discredit the organization and its Founder, erected on the rock-bed of humility, propelled by its Founder’s unbending pursuit for perseverance, and ignited by its member’s burning faith in the Divine Providence that guides the destinies of men and nation. The Association, under the leadership of its Supreme President and Founder, has withered all phases of assaults in all of the over two decades of its phenomenal existence.

With the appearance of his friends and neighbors but also his parents and relatives, things have become unusual to the point of being misunderstood by many despite the distinctive generosity and goodness he has shown to those who would need any kind of help from him.

To him, there is nothing worth aspiring for more than to be able to lead a ready to help and show a willing heart to give; and there is nothing more consoling than to see the misguided straightened, the sinners repentant, the vicious, reformed so that from darkness they may finally see the light.

Such is the simplest interpretation of the Eclean Philosophy of Life. Such is what is known as the Eclean Doctrine of Benevolent Relation.

Such a way of life is not without scriptural foundation. For as stated in the scriptures: “What you have done to the least of your brethrens you have also done it unto me.”

For the Eclean Doctrine postulates that the unbreakable yardstick of human salvation is not measured on the basis of how much time man has devoted to his prayers which could be but an empty ceremony, not even on the basis of his claim that he loves God, which could be hypocritical and self-serving, but if he is to be judged, he is measured on the basis of how much care he has done to his fellowmen, especially the less-privileged and the unfortunate for they are the ones who are the most in need of help and comfort.

It has to be such for as pointed out in Chapter 13 of St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not charity, I am like a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal;

Though I have the gift of prophecy and of wisdom so that I can understand all mysteries and all languages and though I have all the faith so that I can move mountains but have not charity, I am nothing; and

“Though I give all my goods to feed the poor and give my body to be burnt but have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

As heretofore stated, the gift of “Divine Healing” endowed upon him propelled his labyrinthian mission which started from his early childhood.

As distinguished from “faith healing,” and other types of healing, such as “pranic or magnetic healing,” “psychic or mental healing,” and “mystical healing’ which could be classified under the category of “occult healing,” though in practice they tend to overlap each other, “Divine Healing” can only be accomplished by a highly evolved being—in fact, only a Divine Being. The greatest example of this type of healer is, of course, Jesus Christ. His healing powers are well known and are recorded in the Bible. He cast out evil spirits, cured leprosy, blindness and host of other diseases. The power of the apostles to cure comes directly from Jesus Christ. Cures made through Divine Healing are always instantaneous, unlike other forms of healing.” (BT, Jaime Licauco, 1985)

How such divinely evolved gift has come to the man so malevolently maligned and so unkindly castigated even by those who proudly claim to be Christians and men of God, only the Almighty God can give the unerring judgment. Not just any mortals, nor those whose minds are polluted with intellectual prostitution of their worldly vocation, can lay claim or exclusive righteousness and wisdom under the ages of divine justice.

Beyond the material things the men around him, friends or foe, have seen of him, transcend the spiritual marvels of his deeds, unbending to his detractors, persistent in the pursuit of his exacting mission, uncowed by the ordeals he has foresworn to traverse.

For beyond the realm of never-ending controversy rings this passage in his heart: “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

Wittingly or unwittingly, they who have earlier crushed this man have now gradually emerged to eat their ungodly words and admit their mortal errors.

Yet unmoved by the syndicate of evils clothed in disguise to destroy and despise him, unoffending and humble as ever, and aware of the role each one of them is playing in the frontiers of this world’s confusing drama, he merely treats them like the intimidating roars of the dying waves of sea, until they finally find themselves settled in the level where they languish in shameful agony struck of their own blow that boomerang to them.

Those who lay claim of monopoly of wisdom and godliness are called upon to reflect on the striking passages of a protestant priest visiting the Supreme Hero in exile, Dr. Jose Rizal, when he asked the former; “Are you not afraid to visit me amidst the envious and condemning eyes of the friars?” And the protestant priest responded in resolute confidence by saying: “Let them do what they want, but I insist to do what I feel I should, after which we shall submit ourselves to the better judgment of God on who between us has done his will better.”

No doubt, that on the basis of his unshakable stand, the magnanimous Ruben E. Ecleo, Sr. Supreme President and Founder of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, Inc. will always withstand, as he has successfully withstood, the test of time and hardships, to find himself finally recognized as the “Mysterious Superstar of the South.” (WHO Magazine, Sept 26, 1981, Vol. IV, No. 20)

Yes, he will always stand, for as stated in St. Matthew: “The winds may blow, the rains may fall, the floods may come, and all may hit the house; but if the foundation of that house is strong, it will always stand.”

On February 2, 1979, a leading national magazine had this to say:

“Somebody from this small country will emerge something new that will shock the world. Foreigners will flock to this seemingly magnificent country that will be the source of wonder for millions. Theologians, mystics and medical experts will flock to this small archipelago and this is where they will find the truth. Pray for your country and world every day. Do not do anything foolish to betray this blessed land.” (MOD Magazine, p. 19)

Yesterday was only but a prophecy. Today we find ourselves in the monumental quest to discover our place in the golden pages of destiny. Tomorrow, nations will flock in fulfillment of that prophecy.

And so, when it shall come to pass when men and nations shall flock to find the truth, they shall come not to find bread, not to enjoy comfort, not to seek the glitters of material wealth, but in search of the elusive and mystical treasures of the Spirit.

courtesy of Bro. William Ramos