CatchFire 2012

Are you happy?   sad?   afraid?   lost?   in search of something?   wanting change?

Then come and join CatchFire Rally 2012.

No matter what state you're in, here's a big energy boost and an Experience for you & me.

Be energized, be inspired.... in a gathering of families, friends and peers.

CatchFire 2012

November 25, 2012 (Sunday)

1:00 PM to 6:00 PM

PhilSports Arena (ULTRA)

Last year's first-ever CatchFire Rally pooled in and inspired more than 8,000 persons.

More will come this year.

   

CatchFire Rally Homepage

CatchFire in Facebook

A piece of 2011 history:

Last November 20, 2011, Christ the King Sunday, more than 8,000 people trooped to the Philsports Arena (ULTRA) for the first-ever CATCHFIRE, an inspirational rally, which was spearheaded by the Pathways Ministries of Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon Community (LNP).

With the theme,“One King. One People. One Mission.”, CATCHFIRE served as a major gathering in recent years of various religious groups, which included, aside from LNP, other trans-parochial communities like Couples for Christ (CFC), Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP), FAMILIA, Tahanan ng Panginoon, and singles/youth communities like Christ’s Youth in Action (CYA), Ang Lingkod ng Panginoon and Singles for Christ (SFC), among many others.

CATCHFIRE kicked-off with a grand motorcade that started from three (3) different points in Metro Manila – the Ligaya Center in Taguig City, the Servants of the Word House in Quezon City, and the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Ateneo campus, Quezon City.

CATCHFIRE opened with a Eucharistic Celebration presided by Fr. Herb Schneider, S.J., who is the spiritual director of various Catholic renewal communities, Fr. Dave Concepcion of the Holy Apostles Senior Seminary, and Fr. Gio Santos of the Salesian Order.

According to Fr. Dave Concepcion, “With CATCHFIRE, we hope to rally our people to catch the fire, hold on to it, and pass it on to others!”

The Mass was followed by an exciting afternoon of loud cheers, songs and dances in honor of Christ the King, life-giving personal sharings from chosen members of certain communities, and an inspirational talk entitled, “FIRE for the World!” from CATCHFIRE spokesperson and lay-preacher, Bro. Bobby Quitain. His talk rallied the people to proclaiming and spreading the Good News of salvation in and through Jesus Christ in their own personal mission fields.

At the end of CATCHFIRE, the rallyists prayed for the renewal of one another, for guidance and protection of the leaders of participating religious groups, for inspiration and courage of specific government officials who are members of the communities present, and hope for the entire country. Present during the event were DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, PCSO Chairperson Margarita Juico, and her husband, former PSC Chairman and DAR Secretary Philip Juico.

With more than 8,000 people in attendance, CATCHFIRE hopes to have renewed and enlivened the faith of Filipinos living in Metro Manila. In the future, it hopes to spread the “fire” across the entire nation.   (via)

Exploring Sagada

Sagada is a cool, quiet and serene Philippine mountain region that travelers in Luzon can experience for a few days. Its elevation is twice as high as Tagaytay and roughly the same as that of Baguio at one and a half kilometers above sea level more or less. My wife and her friends went there a few years back and here's what they did.

The night before Labor Day, they started the 6-hour commute from Manila to Baguio and another 6-hour commute to Sagada. Even though they took a non-aircon bus from Baguio to Sagada, the cool fresh air was enough to keep them comfy.

Upon arrival, they checked in to Sagada Guest House (reserved a week in advance), rested for a while, took a nice bath and ate lunch happily at the first restaurant they found. What can be more closer that the cafeteria right inside Sagada Guest House.

Day one, May 1, was planned to be a light day of strolling around the town center of Sagada. The long commute drained a lot of energy and a light first day can help recharge the mind and body for the bigger and more challenging day two.

The Episcopal Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.

The most photographed church bell of Sagada stamped A.D. 1921.

This wheel was placed on Sagada on October 11, 2001 as a centennial marker for 100 years of mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines. The wheel was previously part of a sawmill brought by the United States to Sagada. When the mill stopped operating, the wheel was discarded and left lying on the ground for almost a century. It found its second life in showbiz as a famous Sagada landmark as pictured above.

A few minutes walk from the church is Sagada cemetery. Panag-Apoy ritual takes place in this cemetery every 1st of November where instead of lighting candles near the graves, they burn pinewood previously blessed in the church.

Gazing out to the hanging coffins on Sagada

What to do in Echo Valley. Take a good guess.

Day one ended with a dinner in Yoghurt House.

The second day started early. By 8:00 AM they already had breakfast, asked the front desk for help finding a jeep to rent for the whole day, took the private jeepney ride and got off the starting point of their morning trek downhill.

 

The trek down took almost one and a half hours.

With views like this. A beautiful but unknown waterfalls to me.

Let me call it wiwi falls.

Crossing make-shift bridges...

... and clearing away gigantic boulders along the way...

... to get to Bomod-Ok falls (a.k.a. Big Falls of Sagada)...

... to have an hour dip in its cool waters.

The trek back up took a bit longer with gravity holding them back.

But it's time well spent for the healthy heart and enormous eye-candy such as this.

Their visit to Sagada was in good timing as it coincided with the celebration of Barangay Poblacion's first ever Fiesta (May 2, 2008). The celebration started with a parade then a thanksgiving mass in the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.

Two pieces of etag hanging between native hand-woven backpacks. Etag is a native delicacy of smoked or dried pork meat.

After lunch, they drove to Sumaguing Cave.

It's a dark, wet place illuminated only by lanterns and camera flash as you take photos.

It's cold and mist such as this get's captured easily in pictures.

A Kodak moment.
By the way, Kodak already filed for bankruptcy. But their tag line remains.

It took three full wet hours for them to go down the cave and back up. Tiring but a really memorable experience with what my wife commented she did once this time but most likely never again  :)

Dinner took them back to the same place...

... Yoghurt House.

After dinner, past 9:00 PM, the first ever fiesta celebration still continued with the night shift dancers taking the place of the day shift dancers. My wife can't sleep because even at 3:00 AM they were not finished. Understandable though as this is their first fiesta.

The next day was time to go home. A parting shot of not the typical rice terraces, but of vegetable terraces.