Amos Video

Shalom Class!

Presenting the compressed Amos Video from H1E.

Hosea Video

Shalom Class!

Here's another exciting must watch in our Prophets Report Series, this time from H1G. Thanks to Brian Lim for his trademark witty, well-crafted lines and to the actors for their truly impassioned delivery.

Regarding the Reports

We are one in spirit with the Christian Churches here in the Philippines in celebrating National Bible Week. Fittingly enough, the two group reports we had today in H1A and H1E, especially the Creative Summaries, have been truly excellent so far!

Daniel Quiaoit, Martin See and Martin Ongchuan of H1A presented the world premiere of Quiaoit's very own "Fall of the Sanctuary"--rendered with heartfelt emotion. (We are waiting for the web debut of that song which we will have once they give me the recording.)

Markyn Kho, Michael Tobias and Michael Gotamco of H1E recorded a trailer and a video that both presented, in a very interesting way, the life, times and message of Amos. Unfortunately, the movie itself exceeds the upload llimit of YouTube. The trailer is featured below.



Some other things that you can still do are:

1. Role play
2. Live or Recorded Newscast (especially to give a brief historical background of the prophet's times)
3. Talk Show (Interview the prophet)

You are free to explore other possibilities in presenting your group report, as long as you are able to present the essential parts clearly and completely. You can always consult me if you have any doubts or questions.

I am looking forward to more great reports and excellent Creative Summaries that we can feature here. God bless.

Powerpoint Slides

Shalom Class!

Here are the powerpoint slides for Prophets as well as my Christmas Presentation. God bless.

Prophets
Called to Proclaim God's Word of Judgment and Salvation

The House in Bethlehem
A Promise Fulfilled

Some Important Announcements about the Reporting

Shalom Class!

Just some important announcements about your reporting:

A copy of our main reference: Lawrence Boadt's "Introduction to the Old Testament" is now available in the High School LRC together with other supplementary materials. You may also refer to the Old Testament timeline posted near the ITKiosk. I request that you handle these materials with care. I also highlighted the pages covering the first four topics to offset the advantage of the other groups having more time to prepare than others. After the first four reports, the rest of the groups should already have a feel of how to report and which points to emphasize so you can do research on your own.

The written report and materials is due at least two WEEKDAYS (except for the first two/three groups) before the report or else, I will not allow your group to report and you will get zero for this component. I will be checking the written reports to assure that you are able to cover all the important points that you need to tackle. However, do not try to submit a really rough draft to avoid having to do a terrible amount last minute research. I will not be giving away important details that easily because it will defeat the purpose of having a group report if I just let you mouth my own "report". However, in real cases of difficulty about your research work, you can always consult me personally or through email.

The reporting will begin first meeting next week with one group reporting each meeting. Deadline of written reports for the groups reporting on Monday-Wednesday will be on Friday.

For H1A: We have chosen the group leaders in class. You may now form your own groups subject to my revision, if I find that necessary.

God bless all of you.

Xavier-ICA Interaction

Shalom Class!

Here are the slideshows of the pictures I took of your Batch Interaction with your ICAn counterparts last Saturday. Unfortunately, the first part could not be uploaded because the file is too big. I'll make another video over the weekend.

I should tell you that I was generally impressed by your gentlemanly conduct, as well as your candor and friendliness, that I was able to observe during the activity. Even those who were shy and quite reserved in class bonded well with the ICAns. Your notable talents in music as well as in modeling also shone during the fashion show.

For picture requests, I will just transfer all the files on a DVD which you can just borrow from me beginning next week since it will take too much time to upload them. God bless.

Prophets Not of Doom

Shalom Class!

As you prepare your reports about your specific prophet, you may find it helpful to read this short article that I have prepared to give you a general background about the life and mission of the prophets.

Prophets Not of Doom
Leo R. Ocampo

After the Division, Israel and Judah began to live separate lives. Although they remained connected by their common Patriarchal origins and Covenant with Yahweh, they were now ruled by separate, sometimes warring monarchies. Unfortunately, another thing that remained common to them was the kind of kings they continued to have. Those who followed David, both in Israel and in Judah, were mostly unlike him (except for three: Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah) and were more like Solomon and his son Rehoboam—leading the people not in fidelity to God and the Covenant but in immorality, corruption, and idolatry that worsened with the passing of years.

It was in these difficult moments in the life of God's chosen people that the prophets were raised and sent. They themselves experienced the negative effects of this widespread moral degeneration and infidelity to the Covenant. With righteous and untarnished eyes, they also saw that it will lead to their society’s eventual downfall. But many of them remained reluctant and unwilling to accept their mission because the message they had to preach was not easy to sell but counter-cultural, provocative and largely unwelcome.

As prophets, they were sent with judgment to challenge popular but false values and exhort the people and their leaders to abandon their accustomed but evil ways. They had to preach of hard repentance, calling people to make difficult choices in favor of the Covenant-relationship to be able to return to God, while at the same time warning them of the imminent destruction that loomed closely, if they chose not to listen and act.

The words they were given were bittersweet to preach: strongly-worded judgment and very stern warnings that, although intended to save the people, were often too hard to swallow and almost always fell on deaf ears. Yet nevertheless, these messengers of God were never “prophets of doom” and “prophets of despair” as some would like to call them. Instead, these brave men continued to prophecy despite rejection and persecution because they continued to believe that Israel had hope if they repented and changed their evil ways. Despite the fact that majority of the message they proclaimed was often comprised of severe condemnations and gory images of punishment, no authentic prophecy ever ends without some promise of salvation, no matter how short and bleak, trusting in God’s enduring love and fidelity.

However, despite the efforts of the prophets, the people and their leaders did not listen. The Northern Kingdom of Israel would eventually fall to the Assyrians while the Southern Kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians soon after. But even in this time of terrible suffering and hopelessness, the prophets continued to call the people to repent and return, and to arouse their hope even when it seemed, to eyes that saw only the present and not the future, they had nothing more to return to.

Thus, the prophets had to preach the Word entrusted to them at the cost of great sacrifice, sometimes even of their own lives, in their struggle to get an unwelcome message across and even more difficultly, the struggle to keep hope alive against their own despair. Yet even though the prophets may have ultimately failed to convert the people and so change the fate of the nation, their message continues to be a source of wisdom and inspiration for us even now. Like ancient grains of pollen, they remain valid, potent and ready to sprout in any welcoming soil because although they may have been harsh and often violent, they are indestructibly true.

Prophets are unpopular, then and even now. And I guess that is the way things will continue to be for those who choose to see, accept and proclaim the difficult truth with its even more difficult challenges. But what is even more difficult to see, accept and proclaim is the small but thriving core of the prophetic vision: that although the present may seem stubborn and hard to change and the future, dark and without any promise, hope survives even as a scanty remnant. God's faithful love, even when unnoticed, slowly flowers from the stump, capable of raising dead bones to life with new Spirit, always rising again from the despair of death.

Prophets of Old

Shalom Class!

The first part of your Creative Synthesis for this quarter will be a group report on an assigned Old Testament prophet that you will have to research on and present to the class. Although we will not be able to cover all the prophetic books of the Old Testament, this shortened canon will hopefully provide you a good overview of the prophetic tradition spanning all the important periods in this part of Israel's history.

Your main reference for this reporting will be Lawrence Boadt's Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1984). Although you don't need to buy a copy, copies are available for Php250 at all Saint Paul's bookstores in case you would like to have one. I am making my own copy available for your use at the LRC, together with other books that I've selected from our school's collection that you can also refer to. Just inquire from the school librarian about the books I reserved for you. You may also use other references besides the ones I recommended, but make sure you have consulted and understood Boadt first, before going to other references, especially the Internet, where we cannot be too sure about the information provided.

The following is the order of reporting.

Prophets of the Eight Century BC
1. Amos
2. Hosea
3. Micah
4. Isaiah of Jerusalem (Isaiah Chapters 1-39)

Prophets in the Last Days of Judah
5. Zephaniah and Habakkuk
6. Jeremiah

Prophets during the Exile
7. Second Isaiah (Isaiah Chapters 40-55)
8. Ezekiel

Prophets During the Period of Restoration
9. Third Isaiah (Isaiah Chapters 56-66)
10. Zechariah

You may consult me personally or through email (leoruizocampo@yahoo.com). Remember to submit to me your written report and other materials you'll be using at least two days before your assigned reporting day. God bless you.

Major Requirements

Shalom Class!

Our fourth and final quarter is in and, as many teachers have probably told you already, these last few days are going to fly away very fast.

Though your grades for the third quarter are generally high, let this not be an excuse for you to slacken because as you well know, the fourth quarter grade will be very crucial.

Hence, we are now assigning your CLE major requirements very early in the quarter to allow you adequate time to prepare for them.

Fourth Reflection Paper
My Hopes and Fears in Xavier High School
Deadline: January 30, 2007

Creative Synthesis Part I:
Prophets of Old
Deadline: Report and Materials to be submitted at least 2 days before assigned reporting date

Creative Synthesis Part II:
Prophets of the Present
Deadline: Last Meeting in February

As you receive this To-DO list, bear in mind the words of the prophet Isaiah as pictured in the cartoon above. Remember that as you do all these, you are not only toiling or suffering, or even just learning and growing, but also giving honor and glory to our loving and ever-faithful God.

Benedicamus Domino! Deo gratias!