Strengthen the home front

Title

Creator

Tolentino, Rufino G.

Language

English

Source

The Cabletow Volume III (New Series No. 4) April 1961

Year

1961

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Strengthen the Home Front \VB RUFINO G. TOLENTINO, P.M. Pintotig Balo Lodge No. 51 The practical object of Masonry, according to a great Masonicwriter, is the physical and moral amelioration, and the intellectual and spiritual improvement, of in dividuals and society. As neither objective can be effected except by the dissemination of truth, we ma sons spread truth and light fighting lies and falsehoods for that purpose. It is falsehood in doctrines and fal lacies in principles to which most of the miseries of humanity and mis fortunes of nations tire owing. Side by side with the dissemination of it uth, masons practice charily in all its forms, helping the needy and the distressed within their capacitiy, and bringing joy and happiness to those who are sick and low in spirit. It is common knowledge that the ma sonic Iraternity as a public service is maintaining a Hospital for Crippled Children, where children of masons and non-masons who tire suffering from deformities are treated free of charge. We try to make these un fortunate beings useful again in so ciety instead of being a burden. Masons contribute to the home of the aged, to the Children’s Garden in Taytay where children without parents or relatives are looked after, taken care of and given education. Masons take part in civic move ments, assist in the formulation of legislatin calculated to be benelicial to our people or to our country and do a lot of other good things not generally known by many because we do not advertise our good deeds, preferring to remain anonymous. In spite of all the good things Masons have clone and arc doing, there arc certain elements in our country who fight Masonry and try their best to discredit us Ma.bn-, even resorting to lies and falsehoods to attain their .ends. They secretly tell people going to their churches and students attending their schools that Masons are Godless and are fol lowers of the devil, that they tram ple upon the crucifix or whip the image of Jesus Christ. Nothing can be farther from the truth. \Vc be lieve in God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the source and origin ol all that is; and we offer prayers to Him. How can they say we are god less and servants of the devil? Those of you who have attended a funeral or necrological service must have seen the crucifix used as a sacred symbol in the ceremonies. We cer tainly will not trample it. And we can not treat with disrespect any image of Jesus (Juist because He; was a member of the fraternity. The Holy Bible you will recall gives an account of His life from birth to the twelfth year, and from the time 120 THE CABLE TOW April, 1961 He was baptized in the liver Jordan by Saint John the Baptist when. He had already attained full manhood up to the end of His ministry on earth and ascension to heaven. Dur ing the interval, of which nothing is mentioned in the Holy Bible about Him, He attended school at .Mount Carmel in Palestine after which He traveled abroad, visiting the dillercnt centers of learning in India. Tibet, Assyria, Persia, Greece and Egypt. It was timing His so journ in Egypt that He joined the fraternity.. It is recorded that the ceremonies took place in the high est chamber inside the Great Pyra mid which was reached after passing through several lower chambers, and that dining the conferring of the Master’s degree, while Joseph (that was the name He used at the time) knelt before the altar, when the pe riod of silence and meditation was coming to a close, a great light filled the chamber which was otherwise lighted only by candles and three torches. A white dove descended in the light and rested on the head of Joseph while the Hierophant rose and various bells in the chambers beneath began pealing the great an nouncement to the world. A slight ligtire rising behind the Hierophant like an angelic being, commanded Joseph to rise while the voice of this being proclaimed "this is Jesus, the Christ, arise! and all within the chamber united in saying "Amen!” It is known that no such happening during a ceremony had ever occured before or after the event, in the his tory of the fraternity. Brethren, as I was saying there are certain elements that fight the Ma sons, and they carry the fight most ly through our women. You have heard of the sad case of a daughter of a brother mason who refused to eat on the same table with her fath er's guest simply because the guest happened to be a mason. There is no doubt that the mind of that daughter had been poisoned by her teachers who told her evil things against masons. That poor girl with out knowing anything about mason ry or about masons blindly believed what she was told. We could ima gine the embarrassment, and per haps the shame, of the father of the house whose guest had been insulted in his own home and by his own daughter. There is another case where an active brother mason who died was not given a masonic funeral service because the widow refused to per mit it. We could sec nothing ob jectionable in a masonic luncral ser vice. I think it is more solemn and more impressive than a church ser vice. Then there is the case ol a form er high government official, a Past (hand Master of our (hand Lodge, who during his last illness was vi sited by a priest. And this priest tried to induce the family of the sick brother to make the latter ab jure masonry and renounce his ma sonic connections. Luckily for us, neither the brother nor his family acceded to the request. Brethren, the cases I have cited clearly show that the enemies of Ma sonry are invading the homes of ma sons. It is high time for us to strengthen the Home Front. Let us make our women who appear to be 121 Jn Metnoriam WB CLAYTON W. ROBERTS Strengthen... On February 3, 1961, at Sukiran, Okinawa, Worshipful Brother Clay ton W. Roberts, P. M., Secretary of Okinawa Lodge No. 118 suffered a heart attack and died suddenly. Once again, our Lodge has been host to that ‘‘Unwelcome Guest” that stilled the breath of a beloved Brother and left us saddened and pensive. We are human and we grieve despite the teachings of our Faith, and our profound belief in the repeated promises of our Saviour that a better life awaits us when we “shed our mortal shell.” Even God among us was not exempt from this very hu man trait, for we have recorded in the Scriptures that Christ wept at the passing of his beloved friend Lazarus (John 11:35) even though He knew that Lazarus’ death, from which he would be raised, was but a means by which a miracle of God would be performed, that the Disciples and witnesses might more truly believe. Perhaps Jesus was not so much sor rowed at the mere fact of Lazarus' death, for certainly Jesus knew that Lazarus wotdd be restored to the liv ing. Rather, Fie was moved out of compassion for the grief and suffer ing of those he loved who did not understand fully the Divine signifi cance of the situation. We should not confine ourselves to thinking that Jesus was there at that time, performed his wonderful act, lelt the soitow he did, and that it ended that day—or at the Cross. We should cling to the firm belief that He is still with the most common objectives if ene my attacks take more interest in mat ters masonic.. Let us convince our wives, sons and daughters, our mothers and sisters, and the widows of masons, to become members of organizations related to Masonry like the Order of Rainbow for Girls, the Order ol Jobs Daughters, the Order of De Molay for boys, the Or der of the Eastern Star, the Order of the Amaranth. These orders for women and young boys teach love of God and country, love of parents, and love of our fellowmen. They practice charity by helping the poor and the needy. Our women will find in these organizations many things that will interest them and will cause them to take more active part in civic work. Our boys will find in the Order of De Molay useful outlet for their excess energy which will train them in good citizenship and leadership. Brethren, I repeal, let us strength en our Home Front, those of us who mourn, and is moved by the same Divine compassion as he was that day at Lazarus' grave. Martha, the sister of Lazarus, was comforted by a resounding message from Jesus before her brother emerg ed from death to life. Our comfort is in this same message as Jesus tells us also, "I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” Leo A. Hatten 122 THE CABLE TOW April, 1961

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