Fr. Shay’s Articles
Happiness, the Measure of a Good Life
April 27, 2011 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
Happiness, for one nation at least, is the measure by which they want to judge themselves to be well governed, developed and successful. The measuring stick of the people of Bhutan, a small impoverished kingdom in the Himalayas is Gross National Happiness (or GNH) rather than Gross Domestic Product (or GDP). Simply put, spiritual well-being [...]
Read More...Heroic Valentines
February 2, 2011 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
It was a cruel and vicious Roman Emperor Claudius II, as legend has it, who jailed and executed saint and martyr Valentine in 269 AD. He was a young priest who stood for his belief in Christian marriage and performed secret weddings against the orders of the emperor who wanted many more unmarried men in [...]
Read More...The Suffering of Children
January 26, 2011 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
Saving and protecting children from abusers, pimps, pedophiles, and traffickers, be they parents or corrupt business people, is the work that goes on everyday here at the Preda Children’s Home. New cases, seemingly one worse than the other, arrive every few days. The child care team and the legal team help them cope up with [...]
Read More...The Trafficking of Children
January 19, 2011 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
The great challenge that the Aquino government has inherited and is trying to confront is the proliferation of sexual violence against children and the shocking trade in human persons in the Philippines. Most of the trafficking is internal to the Philippines. Thousands of women and children are taken from the remote impoverished rural regions. The [...]
Read More...The Values We Live For
January 12, 2011 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
While you might believe that the world is mired in a hopeless, all powerful culture of greed and selfish pleasure, take heart and inspiration from the thousands of people who risk their lives daily in the unselfish and heroic service of the oppressed and endangered people of the developing world. Last week Columban Missionaries Father [...]
Read More...The Nature of Love
January 5, 2011 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
One of the biggest problems that is facing some poor developing nations is over population. It is brought about by poverty stemming from social inequality, injustice, the capture and concentration of the national resources and wealth in the hands and pockets of a few super rich elite. Rich countries on the other hand have shared [...]
Read More...Racial Discrimination on the Supermarket Shelf
November 17, 2010 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
Shirley, 16, hid in her bedroom lying on her face and crying. She refused to go to school. Her mother, Maria, with gentle persuasion, got her to sit up and take her hands away from covering her face. Maria gasped, her child’s face was a blotch of angry red blotches. “What happened, what caused this?”, [...]
Read More...The Good News We Were Waiting For
November 12, 2010 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
Last week, there was good news when the Philippine Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) from Angeles city linked up with their Olongapo counterpart and raided a cyber-sex den in a private house just five minutes away from the City Hall. There they found five children, 14 years-old to 16, working as “show girls”. The [...]
Read More...Children are hurt Most by Lack of Justice
November 4, 2010 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
The report a while ago about the Philippines being one of the lowest ranking countries on the index of Transparency International and tagged as “highly corrupt” should be no great surprise. Outspoken Bishop Joel Baylon of Legazpi and the diocesan clergy said in a strongly worded Pastoral Letter that “there has been an erosion of [...]
Read More...The Struggle against Corruption
October 29, 2010 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
No wonder that the new Philippine “Aquino administration” made anti-corruption its main drive against poverty. “If there is no corruption, there will be no poverty”, says President Noynoy Aquino. This was the slogan that won him the election. It’s so true and yet the solutions are still so hard to find and reform is seemingly [...]
Read More...Those Who Choose to Go on Mission
October 20, 2010 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
In October, Mission Sunday is a day to remember the thousands of courageous dedicated people who have chosen to do something to help others, less fortunate than them. They are people who appreciate all they have in life and go out beyond their insular lives and family, to share with others and to give back [...]
Read More...Child Protection is Still a Low Priority
October 15, 2010 · By Fr. Shay Cullen
Trafficking of street children for sexual exploitation is a heinous crime in most countries but flourishes nevertheless and it is difficult to get accurate figures since most of it is done in secret. However, estimates say that over 2 million are trafficked in Asia every year. Police and social services are inadequately trained, have low [...]
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