Prologue Class

1 December 2012

The Prologue class was ordained.
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of six new shepherds.
May they be true prophets of dialogue
who speak your Word
even when it is unpopular.
May their ears be open to their sheep.
May their conversation bring all closer to you.

This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Living thing or non-living thing?

When I was a kid, our teacher taught us the difference between living and non-living things... do you remember too? 

Just for fun, write whether the following are living or non-living things...

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Answer key: orchid - living thing; lamp - non-living thing; bamboo shark egg -   living thing; shark - living thing; dinosaur skeleton - non-living thing;  candies - non-living thing; spider - living thing.

So how did you answer number 8? Is sperm alive or dead? Is an egg alive or dead? 

Can dead sperm fertilize a living egg? Or can living sperm fertilize a dead egg? 

If living sperm is needed to fertilize a living egg, would it be logical to say life begins at the moment of conception?

Think about it.  

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. - Deut 30:15

A Deadly Pill

After taking contraceptive pills for one month, a 19-year-old show jumper suffers seven heart attacks. This story is perhaps an extreme case but it's good to know all the risks before mandating something as essential medicines for a nation, right?

Fight for life! No to RH Bill!

I would like for all women to be respected and not treated as a sex object made accessible via pills and condoms.

I would like to make a stand for the unborn and say once an egg is fertilized, that's a living cell that will grow into a baby. That cell already has a right to life. It is human from the beginning. It has human rights. 

The value of a human being does not depend on his/her usefulness. Kaya nga human being, hindi human doing. A zygote has as much value as a person in a coma and as much value as a highly accomplished individual. One is not greater than another. There is no such thing as a "potential" human being you can eliminate. Leave a fertilized cell alone and it will become a baby.  

This is not just a stand against legislation. This is a stand for life. I am standing against the culture of death. I invite my fellow women to make this stand with me. Sign the petition!

Patis in the time of Jesus

Did you know that Herod used patis? Romans called their fish sauces garum, muria, liquamen, and allec but by any other name patis still served as a condiment and seasoning. How do scholars know that Herod used patis? By the fishy smell—er, I mean, by the amphoras (a type of jar) and fish bones discovered around his palaces at Masada, Jericho, Herodium, and Jerusalem, which, according to Jodi Magness's Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit, indicate that Herod “imported high quality garum and allec from Spain.”¹

But for the stricter Jews, the Qumran sect in particular, patis was forbidden. Fermenting the fish together with its intestines, gills, and salt might have been okay but including the fish blood in the mix rendered the patis unclean.

1  Cotton, Hannah M., Omri Lernau, and Yuval Goren, “Fish Sauces from Herodian Masada,” JRA 9 (1996) 223-38. Quoted in Jodi Magness, Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2011).

Foot spa Gospel style!

Would where you sit determine what you sip? Why some people might whine about the wine at Cana*

Unless you've been a hermit all your life, you've probably attended at least one wedding. Sometimes the enjoyment of such an event depends on who you're seated with so it would not be a surprising thing if a bride and groom gave careful thought to their seating arrangements in the hopes of keeping the occasion as wonderful as possible for everyone. 

No wedding reception to my knowledge, however, can claim to have superior wine made from water except the wedding banquet in Cana, Galilee in the gospel of John.  


Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. When the steward tasted the wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior one after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.                                  – John 2: 6 – 10 (NRSV)


Such a rich pericope invites many interpretations but let's take a look at whether the seating arrangements at such a wedding banquet would matter. 

The reason for my curiosity: an article by David H. Sick, “The Architriklinos at Cana,” in the Journal of Biblical Literature, 130 (2011): 513 – 526 [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2543151911.html]. The architriklinos (“αρχιτρίκλιυος”) in John 2:8 and 9 is the steward in our pericope. What tickled my imagination was the last part of Sick's article where he suggests that Jesus not only saved newly weds from social humiliation by remedying the shortage of wine but he also possibly nullified the social order of the day.

Let's backtrack a bit and take a look at what the Jewish Encyclopedia has to say. In describing the different types of banquets a student of the law would be required to attend (wedding feast included), the Jewish Encyclopedia states that “the various rules regarding the invitation and the seating of the guests, the mixing of the wine and the serving of the dishes, to be observed by the master of the banquet, called in Greek 'αρχιτρίκλιυος,' by the cook, and the servant of the house ('shamash'), were no less strictly observed by the Jews than by the Greeks and Romans as may be learned from Ber. Vii.; Tosef., Ber. iv.-vii.; Derek 'Erez Rabba and Zutta.”1

Though the study was made for the gospel of Luke, useful information can be gleaned from Willi Braun's discussion of Mediterranean dining practices in the first century (See Feasting and Social Rhetoric in Luke 14, Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 85). Braun describes the “cycle of reciprocity”2 which characterized Greco-Roman hospitality. Offers of hospitality had to be carefully considered because there were implied costs and obligations—one had to invite the host back for an equivalent feast in the future. In a highly stratified social set up, the guest list was a crucial factor in deciding to accept or decline an invitation since being with the right sort of people mattered tremendously. The dinner party was not only a social event but a political means to assert one's pride and honor “in patterns of balanced reciprocity,” as well as “an essential forum for furthering ambitions and expanding one's sphere of influence...”3 

Braun's study suggests “the values of honour and shame as the controlling and motivating forces in virtually every domain of social interaction” and points to “a social system marked by enforced boundaries between rich and poor, noble and ignoble, the elite and the lowly classes” in the context of the elite Greco-Roman symposia and dinner-party scene.4

Jodi Magness's Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus  is also a very interesting read. Magness examined archaeological and literary evidence to paint a picture of life at the time of Jesus. Evidence of hellenization—specifically Greco-Roman influence on dining customs—includes the imported potteries discovered at Jericho and Jerusalem during the time of Herod, which indicates “the close ties between Herod and his family, on the one hand, and Augustus and members of the imperial family... on the other hand.” These close ties translated to Herod adopting Roman fashions and customs, which in turn were “imitated (on a more limited scale) by the Judean elite.”5  The fragments of imported pottery and “the appearance of Italian pans in the houses of the upper class Jewish inhabitants in Jerusalem” is taken to mean that “Jews were open to Roman culinary influences and prepared to try and taste new food.”6

Is the Greco-Roman influence more pervasive among the elite—similar to the character of Doña Victorina in Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere? Magness notes how the absence of a certain type of pottery, in contrast to its pervasive presence in the courts of Herod, might possibly signify resistance of the Jewish people to the Romans (though the alternative explanation of purity laws is not ruled out). 

In Galilee, Jewish villagers generally dined while sitting on the ground. Rabbinic literature refers to both the dining seats and couches:
“What is the order for reclining [when several eat together]? When there are two couches (mţwt), the greatest [in importance] among them reclines at the head of the first, the second [in importance] to him reclines below him. (t. Ber. 5:6)”7

In the gospel itself, the beloved disciple is reclining next to Jesus (Jn 13:23). 

Social order is also explicitly demonstrated in Luke 14: 8 – 10, which specifically recommends choosing the lowest place in a banquet as a lesson on humility.

It seems that both Roman and Jewish dining customs reflect social strata. “Seating arrangements at a Roman banquet were governed by rules that reflected each diner's rank and status in society.”8 The spacious triclinia of the Hasmonean and Herodian palaces—used for formal dinners, banquets and receptions—indicate that the Jewish ruling class structured itself according to these social norms. 

Going back to Sick, he writes: “... both inscriptions from Stratonicea imply that wine is to be distributed by social rank. The inscription of Marcus Aurelisu Errianos states that he gave wine for those of 'each age group, fortune, and the resident aliens in assembly.' Such a social hierarchy for the distribution of wine is a recurrent feature of banquets across the Mediterranean in the first century, the famous wedding feast at Cana included. Both Pliny and Martial complain of dinners where the host served higher quality food and wine to those of higher status.”9

To add to his argument, Sick provides his own translation of Pliny's complaint in a letter to Junius Avitus to demonstrate how the quality of wine acted as a social marker:

“He had also divided the wine into three sorts by small flagons, not for the sake of freedom of choice but to prohibit a right of refusal. There was one kind for myself and the host, another for his lesser friends (for he has friends in rank), and another for his and our freedmen. (Ep. 2.6.2)”10

What are the implications therefore on the story of Jesus turning water into wine? Yes, Jesus provides wine and seemingly averts a social disaster—i.e., the humiliation of the host—since running out of wine at a wedding was considered a serious problem (Jn 2:3) as “one who urged a neighbor to attend his wedding without showing proper hospitality is listed among thieves (t. B. Qam. 7:8).”11

But Jesus also “uses the hierarchy of wine... to invert the social if not religious order. By turning a superabundant quantity of water into wine of heavenly quality and reserving it until the end of the banquet, Jesus undermines the system.”12

In a nutshell, Roman-Greco political and cultural power in Palestine during the time of Jesus may have influenced the gospel of John. Both in hellenist and Judaic culture, ranking is part of the dining customs, though the delineation among the social strata in the Roman-Greco context seems more defined—which is evidenced even in the quality of wine served, i.e., better quality wine for the important guests and inferior quality for the less-important guests.

Taking these possibilities, that there is a highly stratified social structure in place at the Cana wedding and the quality of wine is a mark of such position, it would have been a major upset to those concerned with their place in society to have heavenly wine served to everyone equally, in non-recognition of social status. Superior wine served in abundance for anyone who wishes, for however long the feast will continue, effectively abrogates the existing social structures. Perhaps this can even be extended—would the carefully observed balance of reciprocity present a pressure of obligation to guests to provide a similar banquet even if it might be impossible? Or would the impossibility of providing a similar quality and quantity of wine be another indication of the messianic quality of the banquet, and therefore an indication of the messiah? 

John 2: 6 – 10 may not normally lend itself to interpretation from a liberation perspective but taken in a particular context, the water-into-wine miracle could also be read as a critique of oppressive social structures, perhaps of the Roman powers-that-be, or the religious and political Jewish leaders who wished to preserve the status quo. If read as a foreshadowing of the messianic banquet, it could be interpreted as one that does away with worldly social structures that determine a person's value based on power, influence, riches, or fame. Instead, the wedding banquet of Christ and the Church would be marked by the free-flowing wine of salvation, abundant and excellent, not given based on a person's “worthiness” but only on the generosity—the love—of the bridegroom. 


Reflection questions:


Does my social status in my community matter so much to me that it is a hindrance in my becoming a follower of Christ?


How do I treat the people around me, especially those I consider lower in social rank? 


Do I accept the heavenly wine as a gift or do I keep trying to earn it? Am I trying to climb up the ranks in community through high-profile service?

1 The Jewish Encyclopedia: Vol II Apocrypha – Benash (New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1902),  s.v. “Banquets”.

2 Willi Braun, Feasting and Social Rhetoric in Luke 14, Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 85 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 102.

3 Ibid., p. 104 - 105.

4 Ibid., p. 5.

5 Jodi Magness, Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2011), p. 56.

6 Rosenthal-Heginbottom, “Hellenestic and Early Roman Fine Ware,” 217. Quoted in Jodi Magness, Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2011).

7 Jodi Magness, Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2011), p. 82.

8 Ibid., p. 77.

9 David H. Sick, “The Architriklinos at Cana,” JBL, 130 (2011), p. 519.

10 Ibid.

11 Dictionary of the New Testament Background (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2000), s.v. “Marriage”.

12 David H. Sick, “The Architriklinos at Cana,” JBL, 130 (2011), p. 519.

* Based on a term paper submitted to Sr. Nicet Vargas, OSA (March 2012).

Jesus in the Desert (Part 3)

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”

At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: 'The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.'”

Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

                                                                                            Matt 4:8 – 11

Since I was interested in the paranormal, I became drawn to a fellow dormer whose third eye was “open”. I was in her room one time when I felt a presence was with us. I was scared and I clung to her for protection. She seemed to drive it away somehow and I felt safe again. I did not realize I was committing idolatry—I was turning to a human person for protection against what I perceived was a paranormal threat. I did not turn to God.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.                                                                                Joel 2:12 – 13

A life-changing book for me was Unmasking the New Age by Douglas R. Groothius. I realized that I was trying to gain paranormal knowledge, a metaphorical fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so I could be more like God—not in a loving way, but in a powerful way.

After reading the book and realizing my sins, I threw away my Silva Mind Control paraphernalia, including the certificate (which allowed you to get a free review of the seminar anytime anywhere). I encountered familiar parts of the seminar reincarnated in the form of PSI's Basic Leadership Seminar, and later into OCCI. Thankfully, this time, I knew where to stand.

- - - - - -

Still my understanding was sorely lacking. I still did not appreciate the mass. I had reached a point where I thought the prayer meeting could be a substitute for the mass. My new community after college was very creative and excellent in their worship—way more exciting than the mass.

Eventually, the group died out. I felt lost. Without a community, where do I go to find God?

I read a book called The Dark Side of Catholicism by Armando Ang and I was now questioning the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I was in a crisis of faith. But what helped me out was another book, Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic by David B. Currie. It was the story of a person who converted to the Catholic faith. For me, it was unusual. I knew of friends who converted to fundamentalist Christian groups but not the other way around. 

My sister was now involved in a community in Alabang which had a lively appreciation for the Catholic faith. As she shared what she was learning, I was growing to love the faith I was born in. We read Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn, another convert to Catholicism. I was now seeking information on the Catholic faith. I was becoming a regular mass goer. I was watching EWTN.

While I was employed in a global outsourcing firm (let's call it company B), my prayer life strengthened. After the graveyard shift, I would catch the mass at Greenbelt Chapel as often as possible. I would sometimes offer up a fast from food before going to mass. For Lent, I offered up what to me was most important at the time... I was infatuated with a young chef who had opened a deli near our office. We were becoming friends but for Lent I had decided I would not visit or go near the shop for the duration of Lent. It might sound funny now but at the time it was a real sacrifice for me.

Friends from my new community, the Light of Jesus Family, invited me to go visit churches, which was the first time I ever experienced it.

My memories have blurred together as to the exact chronological sequence of events but it was during my work at Company B that I tried to do a Bisita Iglesia on my own, visiting seven churches on foot in the Makati area. This was the first time I venerated the cross, witnessed the foot washing, and participated in Church activities live instead of watching them on TV.

I learned to make little sacrifices hoping they were made with much love. After the sacrifice of the chef, the next year, I gave up one Facebook game for Lent, which I have not played since. I had a habit of repeating songs over and over on my i-pod if I liked a song. So as a sacrifice, I offered up NOT repeating any song I liked and letting the random play continue on. One Lent, I offered up my favorite dark chocolate. I regularly offered my work. I confessed frequently, at one time even going thrice in one week in trying to overcome a habitual sin, which by the grace of God is no longer habitual today.

About a week before I gave this sharing, it seemed my weakness for a certain sin was particularly persistent. But with a little sacrifice of food, the temptation grew less makulit.

From a wounded and hungry sinner who disliked the rosary, I converted to become a passionate Charismatic who dabbled in the new age, did not appreciate the mass, and almost stopped believing in the Eucharist. The conversion is ongoing so that today, I am a passionate Catholic who wants to go to mass often, wishes to be more consistent in praying the rosary, and is studying at the Divine Word School of Theology to deepen my understanding of the faith I have recently come to appreciate. The conversion continues. Thanks be to God.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.                                       Phil 1:6

---------------------

Reflection questions:

Do I have any idols in my life which hinder me from giving my all to God?

What little sacrifices can I offer up this Lenten season?

I am saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved—because of your grace! You are my hope, Lord. Grant me the grace to work out my salvation in fear and trembling, to persevere until the end, to finish the race and win the crown of life.

Jesus in the Desert (Part 2)

“Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:

'He will command his angels concerning you' and 'with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'”

Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'”

Matt 4: 5 – 7

As I grew up, so did my self-loathing. I felt dirty, unworthy of love, and ashamed. I was not receiving communion. We went to the occasional mass... Christmas, New Year, Easter, mandatory religious activities at school. I went to confession only during school retreats and recollections.

During summer vacations, our mother would usually enroll us in a workshop.

The summer before I entered college, it was the Silva Mind Control seminar. It taught positive thinking. It seemed to fill my need for words of affirmation because we were supposed to say them to ourselves, i.e., “Every day, in every way, I am getting better, better and better.” If a negative thought entered your mind, you would just say “Cancel, cancel,” like a magic eraser.

We were taught to visualize the results we wanted to get. For example, if I wanted a high score in algebra, I would relax, count from 10 to 1, then imagine myself getting my examination paper with the score that I wanted.

We practiced visualizing a person in our mind to sense which part of their body hurt to send healing energy.

We practiced “mind reading” (i.e., the instructor would hold a mental picture of something in her mind, while we would try to draw/describe what we saw. I remember seeing a small circle within a big circle; it turned out she was imagining a car and I saw the wheels). We had spoon bending, heating one hand, cooling the other.

During the seminar, we constructed a mental laboratory where we could go to solve problems. We visualized guides, one male and one female, to consult in our mental laboratory.

This was also the time I was interested in auras, crystals, the third eye...

So you see, from the desert, I had wandered into a garden with good fruit to nourish the heart and mind.

 But let's take a deeper look. Does this remind you of something?

“But the serpent said to the woman: 'You certainly will not die! 

 No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it, your eyes will be opened...

 

and you will be like gods... 

who know what is good and what is bad.”

                                                                                            Gen 3: 4 – 5 

Ever wonder if those techniques really work, where is the power coming from???

Our Father

who art in heaven

holy be your name

your kingdom come

your will be done...  

Underneath the beautiful veneer of positive thinking and self-empowerment, there was a striving to be like God apart from God. Jesus, the Son of God, did not care to prove his power and his identity by throwing himself down from the temple parapet, but I, one of God's mere creatures, was trying desperately for power apart from my maker. This was my formal introduction into the New Age movement.

I wonder where I would be today if I had pursued that path... but God did not abandon me but instead led me ever so patiently (and leads me until today) onto the right path.

I was now a freshman in college. My parents found a dorm run by nuns for me to stay in. It was beside a parish whose patron saint was St. Therese of the Child Jesus. And I found myself drawn by the music of the choir. So despite my lack of musical talent, I auditioned. They did not reject anyone so I was in. By the grace of God and patient teachers, I eventually learned to sing.

But the most significant change was in the spiritual arena. The choir was not a glee club where people honed musical talent. It was a religious organization and we had activities related to formation. We had a “spiritual hour” after the Wednesday mass where we sang. And we had a Life in the Spirit Seminar or an LSS. This for me was a crucial turning point. I encountered God in a personal way. He was suddenly real. And he was not at all who I thought he was. During the baptism of the holy Spirit, I encountered him as a gentle embrace. I felt loved. It was a shock to the system. I heard about his love before but this was the first time I knew it was real.

So began my personal relationship with God.

We were given a Basic Bible Seminar. I got my first Bible with a nihil obstat and imprimatur. Before that, what I had was a King James Bible without the deuterocanonicals. I did not understand that there was such a thing as a Protestant canon and a Catholic canon. I thought all bibles were the same.

We also underwent a healing of memories. With the help of our adviser, I was able to forgive people who hurt me.

However, it was not an instant transformation. Yes, I stopped saying bad words with impunity. Where before I used to say curse words at every given moment, now I realized it was this tongue I used to worship God so the habit was broken. I no longer verbally insulted those I considered friends. The despair and self-loathing that used to weigh so heavily in my heart had eased.

But I still engaged in the visualization exercises taught by the Silva Mind Control. In fact, I combined them with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I did not realize that the battle for my soul was still going on. I thought God had won even though I was still not a regular Sunday mass goer, and did not receive communion except for the short time after confession when I was “sin-free”. I looked at my fellow choir members and wondered how they managed to receive communion regularly while I struggled with sin. (To be continued)

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Reflection questions:

What motivates me in seeking to be like God? Do I want to love like him? Or to be powerful like him?

Am I seeking instant transformation? Do I get frustrated and impatient with the habitual imperfections and weaknesses of my character?

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am a sinner.

I receive your mercy with abject innocence. You are my redeemer. My sins might be terrible, but your mercy is infinitely bigger. Forgive me for my offenses... I choose to forgive those who have hurt me. I also forgive myself. Please take my mistakes and make the most good out of it as only you can.

Jesus in the Desert (Part 1)

I was privileged to give a Lenten sharing last February 3 and since the gospel talks about Jesus in the desert, I thought it might be appropriate to blog about it today, although the passages I used as a guide are from Matthew 4:1-11 instead of Mark 1: 12-15.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”

He said in reply, “It is written:

'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'”

Matt 4: 1 – 4

Jesus was hungry after his forty days in the desert. I experienced hunger too as a child:

• Moderate physical hunger not because of lack of food but lack of appetite. It may have been eco-friendly to serve the same dish again and again until it was gone or spoiled beyond eating but it was not really satisfying; eventually I would shovel a few spoonfuls just to keep the stomach's grumbling to a minimum.
• A hunger of the heart for friendship and freedom. We were not allowed out of the house except for school. I grew up watching other kids play on the street while we stayed inside. I felt like a prisoner.
• A hunger for words of affirmation. “Stupid” was a word I heard many times as the designated kitchen helper. Even today, if I can avoid being in the kitchen, I will avoid it. It's my discomfort zone.
• Hunger for the word of God. There was a time when my family would go to hear mass on Sundays but then it became irregular, infrequent, until such a time we did not go to mass at all. I was also forced to say the rosary every night by an elder who I perceived as verbally abusive and emotionally manipulative. Needless to say, that was not exactly a spiritually filling experience.

So Lent for a lay person like me who lived a very sheltered life meant the whole family stayed home watching religious shows all day on Friday, and no TV after 3 pm until Black Saturday. Easter Sunday we would go to mass. That was it. I had no idea what activities were done by the community. I thought all families were like us. (to be continued...)

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Reflection questions: Are my words nourishing? How can I be God's mouthpiece during Lent?

Am I physically hungry? Emotionally hungry? Spiritually hungry? In my search to fill up this hunger, am I going farther from or closer to God?

Lord, we surrender to your our physical, emotional and spiritual hungers to you. Fill our love tanks to overflowing so that we may be a channel of your nourishment for those who hunger for you.