the kaleidoscope

a parish is a community of the faithful in a particular church under the care of a priest. it is where believers can gather for a Sunday Mass.

through the parish, a Christian is able to live out his faith: to gather together to worship and to celebrate, to learn about salvation in Christ, and to practice love for neighbor and good works.(Catechism of the Catholic Church,#2179)

do you know that papaya, once called the "fruit of the angels" by Christopher Columbus, is a rich source of antioxidant nutrients. they promote the health of the cardiovascular system and provide protection against colon cancer. papaya is also a goood source of fiber, which lowers high cholesterol levels. (whfoods.com)

If you wonder why you see more foreigners around, there’s an explanation: there’s really more of them in our country.

According to the Department of Tourism, “The year 2007 was a year of breakthroughs for the tourism industry in the Philippines. For the first time ever, foreign arrivals in the country breached the three-million mark in 2007.” There were 3.09 million tourists last year racking up a total expense of $4.885 billion. Koreans (653,310) were the largest group of tourists, followed by Americans (578,983), Japanese (395,012), Chinese (157,601) and Australians (112,466). These tourists came to visit the beach, play, golf, dive, spend their honeymoon, shop, have a medical procedure and even to learn English.

The Department of Tourism aims not only to attract more tourists but also higher-value visitors who would stay longer and spend more. They are targeting $5 to $8 billion in tourist spending for this year, 2008. (goodnewspilipinas.com)

Who: Joseph Cupertino Born and Died: June 17 1603, Cupertino, Naples – September 18, 1663, Osimo Notable Facts: Born in a stable, he started having ecstatic visions at eight years old. He applied in several congregations to enter religious life but was denied either because of ignorance or because of his constant ecstasies but finally became a priest and heavenly favors amid very strict disciplines. He was not allowed to attend choir, go to the common refectory, walk in procession or say Mass for 35 years because his ecstasies caused a lot of disturbance.

Tomorrow is again a day for church. Human life has a rhythm of work and rest. Through the Lord’s Day (Sunday), everyone has a chance to enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate our familial, cultural, social and religious lives.

All Christians avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder their observing Sunday rest. Traditional activities (sports, restaurants, etc.) require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure, avoiding excesses. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2184, 2187)

If you think you can’t keep up with the onslaught of information you receive every day, well, no one can blame you. Last year, the world generated digital information equal to almost three million times the info contained in all the books ever written in man history.

A study made by IDC, a technology research firm, discovered that in 2006, the world generated nearly 161 billion gigabytes of information considering that an average digital file is replicated at least three times as it is passed around, the researchers covered photos, videos, emails, web pages, instant messages, phone calls, and so on.

A similar research done in 2003 estimated that the globe produced nearly five billion gigabytes of digital information that year. But the study counted only original data and considered only all non-electronic information such as analog radio broadcasts and printed office memos.(techtree.com)

Does your relationship need some cranking up? Address it as soon as possible. Most splits are due to gradual slips in each partner’s behavior rather then a single cataclysmic event. This is a sad thing since it can be prevented. Memorize and live out these three important As to a great relationship:

1. Appreciation. Gratitude is the simplest life preserver for relationships. It makes the other person feel seen and heard – that he or she matters. Strive daily to think of something that your partner did and thank him or her for it, even on those bad days. It will help you both weather the storms of love.
2. Attention. This advice goes out to men but women can learn from this too. Don’t be too busy that you forget to give your partner attention. Husband, have you stopped bringing her flowers or giving her a note for no reason? Wife, have you become too busy with housework that you’ve forgotten to say I love you? Remember, you’re committed to a human being, not to a work machine or a house robot.
3. Appearance. This tip is for women although men are not exempted. Men are visual creatures so take good care of how you look. Make your appearance a priority. And men, if you expect your wives to look good, please do the same as well. (health.yahoo.com/experts/sexualhealing)

Don’t squirm now, office workers who are reading this. But your office desk has more germs than your toilet. And if you’re a woman, you have more bacteria on your desk than your male co-worker. This is the result of a study conducted in five states in the US for Clorox Co.

University of Arizona (UA) professor Charles Gerba, a professor of soil, water and environmental sciences, studied more than 100 offices in the UA campus and in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon and Washington DC. Gerba found out that the average office desktop has 400 times more bacteria than the average office toilet seats.

“I thought for sure men would be germier but women have more interactions with small children and keep food in their desks. The other problem is makeup,” he said.

Though women’s desks typically look cleaner according to Gerba, the knickknacks are more abundant, and cosmetics and hand lotions make prime germ-transfer agents. Makeup cases also help keep germs, along with phones, purses and desk drawers.

Gerba said that using a hand sanitizer and using a disinfectant on office surface helps. There were 25 percent fewer bacteria on surfaces that were regularly disinfected once a day.

( health.yahoo.com/news)

If you nap at lunch time, that’s good. A new research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has shown that a midday nap reduces the risk of fatal heart problems, especially among men.

Researchers monitored 23,681 healthy Greek adults for an average of six years. Those who napped for about half an hour for at least three times weekly had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart attacks or other heart problems than those who did not nap.

The study, which covered a broad range of people – ages 20 to 86 – factored in diet, exercise, smoking and other habits that affect the heart, but still showed that napping seemed to help.

Dr. Marvin Wooten, a sleep specialist at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee said that it’s possible for those who napped that they “are just people who take better care of themselves,” which could benefit the heart. But Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, the study’s senior author and a researcher at Harvard University and the University of Athens Medical School, said, “If you can (nap), do it. If you have a sofa in your office, if you can relax, do it.”

(news.yahoo.com)