April 5, 2026 Day of the Resurrection: “Gaze at life in Me the second time”

  “Gaze at life in Me the second time”           Easter Blessing from "Apo Resurreccion" 

Dr Abe V Rotor

We humbly ask in prayer the blessings of our Apo Resurreccion to all our visitors to the Living with Nature Center (San Vicente, Ilocos Sur), blog members, followers and viewers (avrotor.blogspot.com), radio listeners , and to all whose lives they touch in turn, and to the management of Google (Blog), TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University 87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, USAPANG BAYAN podcast radio program and the former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) 735AM Radyo ng Bayan. 

 Apo Resurreccion has been with us, Rotor Family, in our ancestral home for five generations now. Life size to a typical Filipino, the icon is enclosed in a three-side glass housing for better viewing of visitors and pilgrims.

Nothing has changed in the Apo except his linen and some signs of getting old, so to speak. The icon is made of one-piece wood carved faithfully from head to foot. No one can tell in my generation and that of my dad's who the model was. No explanation can be offered on how the holy icon transformed beyond the limits of any mortal model.

San Vicente is traditionally famous for furniture and icon saints. It is the Paete of the north, as often compared; it is a local seat of Renaissance art. The town takes pride with a distinction of producing professionals, leading farmers, artisans, and leaders, notwithstanding, in practically all fields of human endeavor. The ratio of professionals per one thousand population is one of the highest in the country, and in fact, in the world. ~

 “The joyful news that He is Risen does not change the contemporary world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline and make the sacrifice.”- Henry Knox Sherrill

Prayer is a universal element of Human Nature. It comes in many ways irrespective of creed and culture. It is ingrained in the rationality of the human being, emanating from a deep source which we cannot fully grasp. It is by believing in something beyond our comprehension that undermines our ignorance, arguably but true, as a unifying factor of humanity.

 

"Gaze at life in Me the second time,

     whatever the past had been;

a new beginning is what matters now,

     most beautiful you’ve never seen."- avr

"Touch Me now that I am risen,

       with your mind, heart and soul,

       for you have chosen the path

       of life with Heaven its goal."- avr

"Redeemer of our postmodern world,

      we come to You, our Recourse

   to find peace and accord

      on life’s rugged course."- avr

 “Few people seem to realize that the resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone to a worldview that provides the perspective to all of life.” - Josh McDowell

 

 

 “Every parting gives a foretaste of death; every coming together again a foretaste of the resurrection.”- Arthur Schopenhauer

“The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.” 

- Robert Flatt.

“The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake.” - Basil C. Hume

Author's Note: Apo Resurreccion (Ilk) is a wooden icon of the resurrected Christ which has withstood the ravages of typhoons, earthquakes and the atrocities of the Second World War at the author's family residence. Prayers are offered by quests who visit the place, Living with Nature Center cum family museum and library, art gallery and ecosanctuary in San Vicente Ilocos Sur. Articles linked with the features of the Center may be sourced on avrotor.blogspot.com Living with Nature