Oratorical Declamation

(TAKEN FOR GRANTED)

"Christians? Christians?"

Have you heard that call? They're looking for me. That's definitely me. You're in doubt and Why? You want me to give you proofs? Oh! That's very easy.

Who told you to doubt that I am a Christian? I am a Christian! How? I went to church. I pray. I have my religion. I read the Bible. I love kids and I am giving them what they want. I sing gospel songs. Can't you see? I am the true definition of a Christian.

You want to ask me more?!… I'll think about it. Hmmmm… Ok! I'm sure I'll be able to answer all your questions fluently. Go! Try me! You're asking me if I go to church every Sunday?! I told you…

I-GO-TO-CHURCH… b-bu-but not every Sunday.

Why?! I-I-I have a project every other Sunday. Yes r-r-right, I have a project. The Lord understands that.

I'm not a liar. I'm telling you the truth in fact I went to church last three Sundays straight and Oh my Gosh Cris is Cute especially when he's playing guitar. Ooops ….

K fine. I went to church three times straight without absent b-because of Cris. He's cute, he's talented. but of course I'm still there for the Lord. At least I go to Church. Right? Right?

Ssssshhhhh. Don't shout! I'm not a fake Christian I read the Bible. I open it… Every time the Pastor is telling me to do so.

Ok stop. Why do we need to argue? I guess I really don't know what Christianity is?

You want to know the truth? Ok! I go to church not because of Christ but because of Chris! I'm sleeping and sometimes texting every time there is a sermon. I don't read my Bible because I guess that's boring. I sing… "Here I am to worship; here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God" with matching raising my hands plus closing my eyes but the truth I'm not sincere with that. I give gifts, I share my blessings to the poor, I have my religion. Because I thought it will be credited in his name.

Right, Ephesians 2: 8-9 was right. "It is not by works that I will be saved because Jesus is the only way". And I am so wrong I don't even mind his sacrifices on the cross. I am supposed to be there because those are my sins. I forgot my purpose here on earth; you know what, he's been good to me. But I always take him for granted. I'm doing things not for his glory but for my own. I'm so ashamed. Despite of it, He still forgave and loves me.

Now I'm talking and standing in front of you and I don't care if you are going to laugh at me. I care to tell you things that I believe I must tell you. He won everything in me and guess what? He's been waiting for you too… If you believe you have him, you may now shout what Carman once wrote "Jesus is the Champion".

The Two Standards

by Horacio de la Costa, S.J.

Life is a Warfare: a warfare between two standards: the Standard of Christ and the Standard of Satan. It is a warfare older than the world, for it began with the revolt of the angels. It is a warfare wide as the world; it rages in every nation, every city, in the heart of every man. Satan desires all men to come under his Standard, and to this end lures them with riches, honors, power, all that ministers to the lust and pride of man. Christ on the contrary, invites all to fight under His Standard. But He offers no worldly allurement; only Himself. Only Jesus; only the Son of Man; born an outcast, raised in poverty, rejected as a teacher, betrayed by His friend, crucified as a criminal. And therefore His followers shall not be confounded forever; they are certain of ultimate victory; against them, the gates of Hell cannot prevail. The powers of darkness shall splinter before their splendid battalions. Battle-scarred but resplendent, they shall enter into glory with Christ, their king. Two armies, two Standards, two generals… and to every man there comes the imperious cry of command: Choose! Christ or Satan? Choose! Sanctity or Sin? Choose! Heaven or Hell? And in the choice he makes, is summed up the life of every man.

hope u like it^^

MAGDALENE

Do you know who i am? are you not attracted to my beauty? Many lover shave come and gone through my life. but a lot of people hate me. They say i am an adulterous woman. They say i have seven demons in my body. I hate this kind of life, you know. Nobody really loves me, and the burden of my sin is heavy upon me. I am Mary of Magdala. Just call me Mary Magdalene. I am in search of true love and acceptance. But who will ever love a sinner such as I? Jesus...I heard that a certain Jesus has come to our town. He was healing the sick ones, and calling the sinners repentance. Who is this man that He would even proclaim forgiveness for the sins of many? I must see Jesus! He must have answers to my questions! One day, a Pharisee named Simon hosted a feast and Jesus was one of the invited guests. Iwill not miss the chance to meet Jesus. I will prepare myself for the feast. With this alabaster flask of perfume, I will anoint Jesus' feet. Oh! Thereis a big crowd in Simon's house. How could I possibly get inside? Oh, I'll wait until Jesus enters. By then, the crowd at the gate wil be ushered in. There is Jesus sitting near the host Simon. I tried to inch my way through the crowd until I finally knelt down at His feet. I wasted no time to pour the ointment on His feet and I wipe His feet with my hair. Then with a gentle voice he said to me, "Woman, your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you, go in peace." My heart rejoiced as I went away. The burden of my sins rolled away. Now I'm free to obey Him. The next time I saw Jesus, He was hanging on the cross, crucified between two thieves. My heart was crushed with grief. Who has done this crime?Who killed my Jesus? Can anybody tell me? Who killed Jesus? Was it the Hebrew children? A while ago, they were shouting: "Crucify Hiim, crucify Him,crucify Him!" Was it Pontius Pilate? he was the Governor who gave permission for His crucifixion. Was it the Roman soldiers? Torture of criminals is part of their profession. But Jesus wasn't a criminal! He was a sinless man. Who killed Jesus? Now it's plain to see. It was really me! My sins! He died

PARRICIDE

"Your honor, as I do not wish to go to an insane asylum, and as I even prefer death to that, I will tell everything."I killed this man and this woman because they were my parents."Now, listen, and judge me.

"A woman, having given birth to a boy, sent him out, somewhere, to a nurse. Did she even know where her accomplice carried this innocent little being, condemned to eternal misery, to the shame of an illegitimate birth; to more than that--to death, since he was abandoned and the nurse, no longer receiving the monthly pension, might, as they often do, let him die of hunger and neglect!

"The woman who nursed me was honest, better, more noble, more of a mother than my own mother. She brought me up. She did wrong in doing her duty. It is more humane to let them die, these little wretches who are cast away in suburban villages just as garbage is thrown away.

"I grew up with the indistinct impression that I was carrying some burden of shame. One day the other children called me a 'b-----'. They did not know the meaning of this word, which one of them had heard at home. I was also ignorant of its meaning, but I felt the sting all the same.

"I was, I may say, one of the cleverest boys in the school. I would have been a good man, your honor, perhaps a man of superior intellect, if my parents had not committed the crime of abandoning me.

"This crime was committed against me. I was the victim, they were the guilty ones. I was defenseless, they were pitiless. Their duty was to love me, they rejected me.

"I owed them life--but is life a boon? To me, at any rate, it was a misfortune. After their shameful desertion, I owed them only vengeance. They committed against me the most inhuman, the most infamous, the most monstrous crime which can be committed against a human creature.

"A man who has been insulted, strikes; a man who has been robbed, takes back his own by force. A man who has been deceived, played upon, tortured, kills; a man who has been slapped, kills; a man who has been dishonored, kills. I have been robbed, deceived, tortured, morally slapped, dishonored, all this to a greater degree than those whose anger you excuse.

"I revenged myself, I killed. It was my legitimate right. I took their happy life in exchange for the terrible one which they had forced on me.

"You will call me parricide! Were these people my parents, for whom I was an abominable burden, a terror, an infamous shame; for whom my birth was a calamity and my life a threat of disgrace? They sought a selfish pleasure; they got an unexpected child. They suppressed the child. My turn came to do the same for them.

"And yet, up to quite recently, I was ready to love them.

"As I have said, this man, my father, came to me for the first time two years ago. I suspected nothing. He ordered two pieces of furniture. I found out, later on, that, under the seal of secrecy, naturally, he had sought information from the priest.

"He returned often. He gave me a lot of work and paid me well. Sometimes he would even talk to me of one thing or another. I felt a growing affection for him.

"At the beginning of this year he brought with him his wife, my mother. When she entered she was trembling so that I thought her to be suffering from some nervous disease. Then she asked for a seat and a glass of water. She said nothing; she looked around abstractedly at my work and only answered 'yes' and 'no,' at random, to all the questions which he asked her. When she had left I thought her a little unbalanced.

"The following month they returned. She was calm, self-controlled. That day they chattered for a long time, and they left me a rather large order. I saw her three more times, without suspecting anything. But one day she began to talk to me of my life, of my childhood, of my parents. I answered: 'Madame, my parents were wretches who deserted me.' Then she clutched at her heart and fell, unconscious. I immediately thought: 'She is my mother!' but I took care not to let her notice anything. I wished to observe her.

"I, in turn, sought out information about them. I learned that they had been married since last July, my mother having been a widow for only three years. There had been rumors that they had loved each other during the lifetime of the first husband, but there was no proof of it. I was the proof--the proof which they had at first hidden and then hoped to destroy.

"I waited. She returned one evening, escorted as usual by my father. That day she seemed deeply moved, I don't know why. Then, as she was leaving, she said to me: 'I wish you success, because you seem to me to be honest and a hard worker; some day you will undoubtedly think of getting married. I have come to help you to choose freely the woman who may suit you. I was married against my inclination once and I know what suffering it causes. Now I am rich, childless, free, mistress of my fortune. Here is your dowry.'

"She held out to me a large, sealed envelope.

"I looked her straight in the eyes and then said: 'Are you my mother?'

"She drew back a few steps and hid her face in her hands so as not to see me. He, the man, my father, supported her in his arms and cried out to me: 'You must be crazy!'

"I answered: 'Not in the least. I know that you are my parents. I cannot be thus deceived. Admit it and I will keep the secret; I will bear you no ill will; I will remain what I am, a carpenter.'

"He retreated towards the door, still supporting his wife who was beginning to sob. Quickly I locked the door, put the key in my pocket and continued: 'Look at her and dare to deny that she is my mother.'

"Then he flew into a passion, very pale, terrified at the thought that the scandal, which had so far been avoided, might suddenly break out; that their position, their good name, their honor might all at once be lost. He stammered out: 'You are a rascal, you wish to get money from us! That's the thanks we get for trying to help such common people!'

"My mother, bewildered, kept repeating: 'Let's get out of here, let's get out!'

"Then, when he found the door locked, he exclaimed : 'If you do not open this door immediately, I will have you thrown into prison for blackmail and assault!'

"I had remained calm; I opened the door and saw them disappear in the darkness.

"Then I seemed to have been suddenly orphaned, deserted, pushed to the wall. I was seized with an overwhelming sadness, mingled with anger, hatred, disgust; my whole being seemed to rise up in revolt against the injustice, the meanness, the dishonor, the rejected love. I began to run, in order to overtake them along the Seine, which they had to follow in order to reach the station of Chaton.

"I soon caught up with them. It was now pitch dark. I was creeping up behind them softly, that they might not hear me. My mother was still crying. My father was saying: 'It's all your own fault. Why did you wish to see him? It was absurd in our position. We could have helped him from afar, without showing ourselves. Of what use are these dangerous visits, since we can't recognize him?'

"Then I rushed up to them, beseeching. I cried:

'You see! You are my parents. You have already rejected me once; would you repulse me again?' "Then, your honor, he struck me. I swear it on my honor, before the law and my country. He struck me, and as I seized him by the collar, he drew from his pocket a revolver.

"The blood rushed to my head, I no longer knew what I was doing, I had my compass in my pocket; I struck him with it as often as I could.

"Then she began to cry: 'Help! murder!' and to pull my me. It seems that I killed her also. How do I know what I did then?

"Then, when I saw them both lying on the ground, without thinking, I threw them into the Seine."That's all. Now sentence me."