Facts about China of today:
1. It is now the world’s third biggest economy next to USA and Japan only. Analysts predict it will top the world economy by 2045 at the rate it is booming.
2. It’s annual GDP has averaged 9.5% the past 2 decades.
3. It’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) last year was $ 69.5 billion and among the word’s top.
4. It is now widely regarded as the factory capital of the world.
Before the 1980’s, China was deeply entrenched in its quagmire of social unrest and political uncertainty brought about by the Cultural Revolution that lasted for about 10 years. It took Deng Xiaoping, China’s enigmatic leader, to challenge the hard-stance communist thinking and infused a controlled capitalism into their country. Received with skepticism, the country started to realize their potential to achieve what any other previous communist countries have not tried. And the results were staggering and mind blowing.
Deng Xiaoping’s heralded quote was – “We can open our door and windows to let the fresh air in while keeping the insects outside.”
What has this got to do with our walk in faith?
We live in crucial and trying times where there are still many people suffering from “spiritual” communism.
Some people are stymied to have another relationship because of devastating past relationships.
Some people are hindered by fears of rejection or failure so they would prefer to just keep their distance.
Some people are caught-up in their traumatic hurts and reject any idea of forgiveness.
Some people are delaying or rejecting conversion, thinking that God can wait, or worse, that God does not care or is just a figment of other people’s imagination.
Some people remains in their comfort zones, undisturbed and unperturbed.
Some people are strongly chained in the bondage of habitual sins.
Some people are holding back their faith growth because of anger and hatred, of pride and prejudice, of self-righteous and selfish living.
Some people have given up on life altogether.
Today is the start of a new year – a symbolic fresh start that we can choose to make the difference in our lives.
We need a “spiritual self-revolution” to start dealing with all the fears, complacencies and indifferences in our hearts.
We need to internalize a radical change of mind-set in order for us to discover our true sense of destiny – our very own purpose in this life.
For some, the light at the end of the tunnel is at hand while others are still groping in the dark, moving slowly in the direction towards the light
Wherever we are now, my suggested battle-cry for us this year is – “I can open myself to love (and possible hurt) again, while keeping safety net based on God’s love.”
Love God with all our mind, strength, heart and spirit.
Love other as we love ourselves.
Below are our doubts and God’s replies:
You say: "It's impossible"
God says: All things are possible
(Luke 18:27)
You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest
(Matthew 11:28-30)
You say: "Nobody really loves me"
God says: I love you
(John 3:1 6 & John 3:34 )
You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient
(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)
You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps
(Proverbs 3:5- 6)
You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things
(Philippians 4:13)
You say: "I'm not able"
God says: I am able
(II Corinthians 9:8)
You say: "It's not worth it"
God says: It will be worth it
(Roman 8:28 )
You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I Forgive you
(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)
You say: "I can't manage"
God says: I will supply all your needs
(Philippians 4:19)
You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear
(II Timothy 1:7)
You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME
(I Peter 5:7)
You say: "I'm not smart enough"
God says: I give you wisdom
(I Corinthians 1:30)
You say: "I feel all alone"
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you
(Hebrews 13:5)
2007/12/27
The Lord of our Rings
A few days ago, a small diamond stone embedded in the middle of the heart shape figure on our wedding ring was lost. Clueless as to where it have fallen off and certain that finding it will be like looking for the proverbial needle in a mountain-high hay stack, my wife and I can only feel sad about losing that valuable piece of gem we exchanged during our 1999 wedding vows. Add the fact that it was the special wedding gift from my wife’s parent-guardian made our mood a bit gloomy.However, looking beyond the sentimental loss, we started to lighten up as we realize about the trivial riddance of that tangible insignia of our marriage of nearly nine years. It was not that important after all. What it symbolizes, on the other hand, is of outmost significance for us.…our marriage.
Our marriage, by the Lord’s graces, has been blessing us with heart-warming, life-changing, and loving memories.
We still have each other and continue to grow and mature in our relationship.
We support each other, lift each other up and laugh with each other.
We share in each other’s sadness and happiness.
We have weathered the initial marital kinks that inadvertently glued and solidified our resolve to stay together.
We still experience some discords but it has never been near the vicinity of something-to-be-worried-about situations.
We bring out the better person in each of us.
We are both healthy.
We have financial blessings.
We have good families and friends that encourage and support our marriage to work.
And to top it all, the Lord has blessed us so far with two invaluable jewels in Zek and Maia.
Nothing simply can compare to their intrinsic values by any world mint standard.
Priceless.
One diamond commercial TV ads I saw gloats that a diamond is forever.
Well, I do not necessarily subscribe to that point of view.
I recently lost one but the sad feeling hardly lasted a few minutes.
My family, on the other hand, is here to stay with me for my lifetime.
And I have no way to doubt that our Lord will let all His heavenly-ordained moments and memories to simply fade away after my earthly life.
Thank you Lord because my marriage is one of my eternal treasures.
Parental Guidance
Proverbs 22:6 Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life
The art of rearing a child is this:
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.
- taken from Servant of All (Kids)
Being relatively new to the vocation of parenthood, my wife and I are still facing lots of challenges and trials on how to bring up our child Zek who is now a toddler and has a deep-well source of energy and curiosity in himself. So it has helped us a lot to hear stories and sharings of our parents, relatives and friends who are in advance stage in their parental experience. We also bought 2 books - "Discipline without Shouting or Spanking" and "TV-free 365 Activities for Toddlers" as our handy-dandy references if we want to try out fresh ideas. But the greatest challenge by far is how we are going to raise him to become a God-loving Catholic person we all want our children to be.And so looking back at what we have done and what we are still doing, here are some of our own baby-step tips on how we are raising our 3-year old son.
Teach
Even when he was still in her mother's womb, we have been reading Jesus stories to him before we all sleep at night. And this we continue to do so during his first year. It was only after he learned to have fun turning ( I actually mean "tearing") the pages did we stop and keep the book again. But this year, we will try to revive this activity with her new baby sister so both will hear and learn about Jesus at their early age. We just hope he will already outgrow his page-tearing activity by now. We bring him along during the twice a month Sunday masses. We try our best to have our morning and evening prayers. By now, iIt is simply heartwarming to see Zek making the sign of the cross by himself or to hear him instinctively repeating after the Our Father, reciting the last part of Hail Mary and mumbling the Glory Be prayers. We also let him listen to Christian meditation songs during his nap time. Basic virtues we also tackle as situations comes - respectfulness, politeness, helpfulness, sharing and obedience are favorite topics at his present age.
Time
Being an OFW, it is an exceptionally wonderful blessing that my family can stay with me. This precious privilege I appreciate by making sure I spend quality time with them. When I'm in the office, then I earnestly do my job so that at the end of the day, I absolutely have no need to do work at home and just be a 95% father to our son (Yes, 100% is my target but I must admit that I am still struggling to give up 1 to 2 hours weekly when my favorite TV shows are in season). Zek and I have our routine after dinner - playing or "goofing" time, washing time and finally, sleeping time. He knows it by heart and the sparkle in his eyes says how much he loves doing them with me. I sincerely do also. It is the highlight of my everyday.
Tag-Team
My wife and I share the tasks in taking care of Zek because we believe that our child needs us both to guide him. If one of us reprimands his misbehavior, the other one explains to him later so he understands the effects of his wrong behavior and receives assurance that we love him despite his misbehavior.In taking care of him, my wife takes the whole day and the graveyard shift while the mornings will be my turn to clean and wash all the used bottles and to prepare our breakfast so she can sleep a little longer. During weekends, it will be our exclusive father and son bonding time the whole day. We play, watch his favorite DVD shows, go outside for a walk or to the nearby supermarket and do anything we can think of at the spur of the moment.
Trust
And for whatever we are lacking, overlooking or failing to do, we pray and lift them up to the Lord and entrust our Zek and baby Maia to His unfailing care, guidance and protection.
New ideas and approaches are inevitable as Zek and baby Maia grows and their strengths and interests becomes evident but we honestly believe these 4 points will be our main guiding points. And yes, we have already sent inquiry feelers to CFA so Zek can be enrolled by next school year. Excitement abounds.
Our family journey is just beginning and we have a lot to learn and to look forward to. Still, sometimes, we do wonder if we are on the right track in raising our children properly.Curiously, whenever this silly thought occurs, all we have to do is catch a glimpse of Zek or Maia smiling or serenely in their sleep and all anxieties simply go away.
We'll be fine.
Our Lord God will make sure about that.
Our trust is in Him.
The art of rearing a child is this:
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.
- taken from Servant of All (Kids)
Being relatively new to the vocation of parenthood, my wife and I are still facing lots of challenges and trials on how to bring up our child Zek who is now a toddler and has a deep-well source of energy and curiosity in himself. So it has helped us a lot to hear stories and sharings of our parents, relatives and friends who are in advance stage in their parental experience. We also bought 2 books - "Discipline without Shouting or Spanking" and "TV-free 365 Activities for Toddlers" as our handy-dandy references if we want to try out fresh ideas. But the greatest challenge by far is how we are going to raise him to become a God-loving Catholic person we all want our children to be.And so looking back at what we have done and what we are still doing, here are some of our own baby-step tips on how we are raising our 3-year old son.
Teach
Even when he was still in her mother's womb, we have been reading Jesus stories to him before we all sleep at night. And this we continue to do so during his first year. It was only after he learned to have fun turning ( I actually mean "tearing") the pages did we stop and keep the book again. But this year, we will try to revive this activity with her new baby sister so both will hear and learn about Jesus at their early age. We just hope he will already outgrow his page-tearing activity by now. We bring him along during the twice a month Sunday masses. We try our best to have our morning and evening prayers. By now, iIt is simply heartwarming to see Zek making the sign of the cross by himself or to hear him instinctively repeating after the Our Father, reciting the last part of Hail Mary and mumbling the Glory Be prayers. We also let him listen to Christian meditation songs during his nap time. Basic virtues we also tackle as situations comes - respectfulness, politeness, helpfulness, sharing and obedience are favorite topics at his present age.
Time
Being an OFW, it is an exceptionally wonderful blessing that my family can stay with me. This precious privilege I appreciate by making sure I spend quality time with them. When I'm in the office, then I earnestly do my job so that at the end of the day, I absolutely have no need to do work at home and just be a 95% father to our son (Yes, 100% is my target but I must admit that I am still struggling to give up 1 to 2 hours weekly when my favorite TV shows are in season). Zek and I have our routine after dinner - playing or "goofing" time, washing time and finally, sleeping time. He knows it by heart and the sparkle in his eyes says how much he loves doing them with me. I sincerely do also. It is the highlight of my everyday.
Tag-Team
My wife and I share the tasks in taking care of Zek because we believe that our child needs us both to guide him. If one of us reprimands his misbehavior, the other one explains to him later so he understands the effects of his wrong behavior and receives assurance that we love him despite his misbehavior.In taking care of him, my wife takes the whole day and the graveyard shift while the mornings will be my turn to clean and wash all the used bottles and to prepare our breakfast so she can sleep a little longer. During weekends, it will be our exclusive father and son bonding time the whole day. We play, watch his favorite DVD shows, go outside for a walk or to the nearby supermarket and do anything we can think of at the spur of the moment.
Trust
And for whatever we are lacking, overlooking or failing to do, we pray and lift them up to the Lord and entrust our Zek and baby Maia to His unfailing care, guidance and protection.
New ideas and approaches are inevitable as Zek and baby Maia grows and their strengths and interests becomes evident but we honestly believe these 4 points will be our main guiding points. And yes, we have already sent inquiry feelers to CFA so Zek can be enrolled by next school year. Excitement abounds.
Our family journey is just beginning and we have a lot to learn and to look forward to. Still, sometimes, we do wonder if we are on the right track in raising our children properly.Curiously, whenever this silly thought occurs, all we have to do is catch a glimpse of Zek or Maia smiling or serenely in their sleep and all anxieties simply go away.
We'll be fine.
Our Lord God will make sure about that.
Our trust is in Him.
When science threatens our faith
A teacher and student discussion in the not so distant future.
”You are a very bright student but your bad attitude is not going to get you anywhere. Why can’t you behave for some minutes.”
”Cmon, mam. Don’t look at me. It was my parents’ idea all along,” handing out his “genetic ID card” to the teacher. “They should have chosen that trait when they were programming me.”
Startled?
You shouldn’t be.
Leaps and bounds in genetic advancements have scientists giggly excited at the thought of tinkering with what we have always known to be natural all in the name of scientific glory. Just recently, science claim that we can not only find out early if a child is to be born with birth defects to induce early termination but we can, in the very near future, even choose in advance the genetic composition that we want for our children.
Excellence in Mathematics, Physics, Economics and the like will be for the picking of the would-be parents who will get all the credits for their children’s success ergo side by side with the blames for every failures. You can virtually choose your own child’s destiny and consequently sees less need for God’s intervention and guidance. Your child can exactly be what you want - not what he/she wants and definitely not what God wants.
Even our beloved Pope has expressed his deep concern towards the wrongful use of advance technology and its effect on our Christian faith.A Zenit article stated:
“the Holy Father said, "This increasing 'advance' of science, and especially its capacity to master nature through technology, has at times been linked to a corresponding 'retreat' of philosophy, of religion, and even of the Christian faith."Indeed, some have seen in the progress of modern science and technology one of the main causes of secularization and materialism: Why invoke God's control over these phenomena when science has shown itself capable of doing the same thing?"
Programmed kids they will be.
Children of science, not ours, not God’s.
Scary thoughts aren’t they?
”You are a very bright student but your bad attitude is not going to get you anywhere. Why can’t you behave for some minutes.”
”Cmon, mam. Don’t look at me. It was my parents’ idea all along,” handing out his “genetic ID card” to the teacher. “They should have chosen that trait when they were programming me.”
Startled?
You shouldn’t be.
Leaps and bounds in genetic advancements have scientists giggly excited at the thought of tinkering with what we have always known to be natural all in the name of scientific glory. Just recently, science claim that we can not only find out early if a child is to be born with birth defects to induce early termination but we can, in the very near future, even choose in advance the genetic composition that we want for our children.
Excellence in Mathematics, Physics, Economics and the like will be for the picking of the would-be parents who will get all the credits for their children’s success ergo side by side with the blames for every failures. You can virtually choose your own child’s destiny and consequently sees less need for God’s intervention and guidance. Your child can exactly be what you want - not what he/she wants and definitely not what God wants.
Even our beloved Pope has expressed his deep concern towards the wrongful use of advance technology and its effect on our Christian faith.A Zenit article stated:
“the Holy Father said, "This increasing 'advance' of science, and especially its capacity to master nature through technology, has at times been linked to a corresponding 'retreat' of philosophy, of religion, and even of the Christian faith."Indeed, some have seen in the progress of modern science and technology one of the main causes of secularization and materialism: Why invoke God's control over these phenomena when science has shown itself capable of doing the same thing?"
Programmed kids they will be.
Children of science, not ours, not God’s.
Scary thoughts aren’t they?
E.R. in real life
Last night I watched the TV drama series “ER” with 2 cases of unwanted pregnancies and the overwhelming opinions of some doctors that abortion is a rightful option of any mother-to-be. It emphasized the medical field’s general belief that a fetus below 3 months has no life yet. It is nothing but a “lump of blood and meat” that can be discarded to give way to the “right” of the mother.
One character portraying a male Christian doctor even used a Genesis passage that God breathe life to Adam as a man and not as a fetus to convince the 15-year old Christian girl that it is OK and to make her feel comfortably blameless in terminating her 7 week fetus. What is worse is that the same doctor gave the girl an abortion method that will appear to be a miscarriage in order that her parents (devout Christians who made known their intention to keep the baby) will never know about the abortion.
The other mother-to-be was another female doctor from the same hospital who got pregnant by (guess who?) the same male doctor. Of course, (and you bet he would!) he supports the idea of abortion even on his very own child in the womb. All for the sake of their convenience and professional careers.(note: sorry for telling you the whole story because, anyway, these TV shows are hard to find in rentable DVDs if there are any at all )
In the end however, the female doctor, while being overcome by her mother’s love and conscience, decided to keep her baby.
The question for us is this: Is this just a fictional story or real life stories trying to pass themselves on as scripts?
For me, they are very real.
Abortion is really an abomination and it happens everyday in hundreds and thousands of cases around the world. The mother and child are both victims here perpetuated by those people who have total disrespect for God and the sanctity of human life.
Twice in the past, I have been given the chance to stand up for a child to be aborted and twice I have failed. The first time was a very passive and almost indifferent reaction from me. And the second one was a slow non-engaging response to convince the father-to-be not to go ahead with their planned abortion. Both situations ended in innocent souls being deprived of their lives even before they were even born.
These experiences continue to haunt me these days especially when reading, hearing or watching abortion cases like last night.Now I can only pray for these 2 mothers and fathers who went ahead with the abortions, the doctor and the “hilot” who facilitated the murders and the coward people like me who did not give these children enough voices to fight for their inalienable and divine right to live.
Please offer a prayer of forgiveness and total healing for us in this regard.
And may God have mercy on our souls.
One character portraying a male Christian doctor even used a Genesis passage that God breathe life to Adam as a man and not as a fetus to convince the 15-year old Christian girl that it is OK and to make her feel comfortably blameless in terminating her 7 week fetus. What is worse is that the same doctor gave the girl an abortion method that will appear to be a miscarriage in order that her parents (devout Christians who made known their intention to keep the baby) will never know about the abortion.
The other mother-to-be was another female doctor from the same hospital who got pregnant by (guess who?) the same male doctor. Of course, (and you bet he would!) he supports the idea of abortion even on his very own child in the womb. All for the sake of their convenience and professional careers.(note: sorry for telling you the whole story because, anyway, these TV shows are hard to find in rentable DVDs if there are any at all )
In the end however, the female doctor, while being overcome by her mother’s love and conscience, decided to keep her baby.
The question for us is this: Is this just a fictional story or real life stories trying to pass themselves on as scripts?
For me, they are very real.
Abortion is really an abomination and it happens everyday in hundreds and thousands of cases around the world. The mother and child are both victims here perpetuated by those people who have total disrespect for God and the sanctity of human life.
Twice in the past, I have been given the chance to stand up for a child to be aborted and twice I have failed. The first time was a very passive and almost indifferent reaction from me. And the second one was a slow non-engaging response to convince the father-to-be not to go ahead with their planned abortion. Both situations ended in innocent souls being deprived of their lives even before they were even born.
These experiences continue to haunt me these days especially when reading, hearing or watching abortion cases like last night.Now I can only pray for these 2 mothers and fathers who went ahead with the abortions, the doctor and the “hilot” who facilitated the murders and the coward people like me who did not give these children enough voices to fight for their inalienable and divine right to live.
Please offer a prayer of forgiveness and total healing for us in this regard.
And may God have mercy on our souls.
Autumn Leaves
Have you ever wondered why autumn leaves fall?
Is it gravity?
Is it the wind?
Is it the withering stage of the leaves?
I never know also until I watched a feature on one US news program.As a true wonder of nature, the secret lies within the tree itself. While autumn nears, the trees sends signals to its branches and twigs to start a certain “separation line” between them and each leaf attached to them. The line is so thin that it is not visible to the naked eyes.
A simple test can prove this. The reporter broke a twig during the summer and let it dry. Amazingly, the dry leaves does not easily fall off the twigs even when being subjected to a relatively strong wind. Why? Because the separation line was not yet activated during the summer.
The tree knows when to discard itself even of its most vital parts when necessary – that is to prepare for the winter.Snows that will be deposited on its branches are heavy enough and the additional weight of leaves with snow can ultimately break the branches and cause the tree to die.
May we learn from the autumn tree – to be able to separate ourselves from the good things in our life, from our comfort zones once the call of God arrives. It is not going to be easy but it is what Jesus tells us to do if we want to follow Him.
“Take up your cross”.
Winter will be cold and heavy but, like the tree, we can always look forward to spring time when God’s blessing will pour out in sheer abundance.
The tree will grow new leaves, flowers and, for some, even fruits.
The morning dew will trickle down its leaves once again.
The gentle breeze will whistle though the rustling leaves once more.
The birds and animals will rest on its wide shade.
The tree will get back its splendor and glory.
Is it gravity?
Is it the wind?
Is it the withering stage of the leaves?
I never know also until I watched a feature on one US news program.As a true wonder of nature, the secret lies within the tree itself. While autumn nears, the trees sends signals to its branches and twigs to start a certain “separation line” between them and each leaf attached to them. The line is so thin that it is not visible to the naked eyes.
A simple test can prove this. The reporter broke a twig during the summer and let it dry. Amazingly, the dry leaves does not easily fall off the twigs even when being subjected to a relatively strong wind. Why? Because the separation line was not yet activated during the summer.
The tree knows when to discard itself even of its most vital parts when necessary – that is to prepare for the winter.Snows that will be deposited on its branches are heavy enough and the additional weight of leaves with snow can ultimately break the branches and cause the tree to die.
May we learn from the autumn tree – to be able to separate ourselves from the good things in our life, from our comfort zones once the call of God arrives. It is not going to be easy but it is what Jesus tells us to do if we want to follow Him.
“Take up your cross”.
Winter will be cold and heavy but, like the tree, we can always look forward to spring time when God’s blessing will pour out in sheer abundance.
The tree will grow new leaves, flowers and, for some, even fruits.
The morning dew will trickle down its leaves once again.
The gentle breeze will whistle though the rustling leaves once more.
The birds and animals will rest on its wide shade.
The tree will get back its splendor and glory.
Truth or Consequence
I remember playing this game during grade school only if one of my childhood “crushes” are playing with the group. The game rules are simple – either you are vowed to tell the truth, among other things, who is your crush or you will opt to do other funny or embarrassing consequences. It was quite a fun game at that.
What I haven’t learned from that game was how not telling the truth can also have serious consequences in my life and other people’s lives.
Looking back at my growing years, I can recall some first-hand experiences of how my dishonesty had deeply harmed others.Still back in grade-school, I spent many afternoon in our neighbor’s soiled backyard playing all common boy games – at times it involves only physical activity like the then-famous “tumbang-preso”, “harangang-taga”, or “moro-moro” but mostly it involves also some money like “tanching” (placing some coins inside a square line on the ground and trying to take them outside using another coin) or the “text” games (playing for small cards you can buy on the store). In order to sustain this playing habit, I normally put aside some of my daily school allowances or as a last resort, take a few coins from my father’s hanging pants and informed him later. Everyday was the same routine for me until one afternoon before New Year’s day. Because of the holiday vacation, I did not have any baon to spare and spend that time. My playmates were eagerly calling and waiting for me. Our father has not arrived home yet. The next thing I know, my hand was reaching down, instead, into my mother’s hand bag and got hold of a P10 bill. Nobody saw me and our mother would not notice it, in my thinking.
Or so I thought.
That same night, our mother did found out about it and all of us 4 brothers were made to stand side-by-side outdoor. One by one, our father and mother asked each one of us. My brothers denied and I lied. Our parents were angry when it was evident that no one is admitting the misdeed, so they made us stayed standing outside until the New Year festivities started. My 3 brothers were very upset since they were innocent and I ruined our New Year celebration that night because of my lie.
You think I would have learned after that.
Nope.
One time, I also lost a new wristwatch that my parents gave me but I was scared to admit that I lost it. So when my parents noticed that I am not wearing their gift, I pretended to look into my cabinet and appeared perplexed that it was not there anymore. In the end, my parents have mistakenly confronted my uncle who was temporarily staying with us that time. My uncle downheartedly left our house because of the false accusation, because of my lie.
These are just 2 vivid recollections of how my lies have hurt other people back then.
How I wish I can turn back the clock and rectify my sins but the harm was forever done.
I am grateful to our Lord for helping me to outgrow my childhood dishonesty. There was no flash-of-lightning or burning-bush incident when I started practicing honesty but only through step-by-step and moment-by-moment awareness of doing it. I am not perfectly honest until now. Sometimes, I still do fail, particularly with white lies that I assume wont hurt anyone (again).
But our God is patient with me so I will continue to improve myself.
In His time and by His grace, I know I will be.
What I haven’t learned from that game was how not telling the truth can also have serious consequences in my life and other people’s lives.
Looking back at my growing years, I can recall some first-hand experiences of how my dishonesty had deeply harmed others.Still back in grade-school, I spent many afternoon in our neighbor’s soiled backyard playing all common boy games – at times it involves only physical activity like the then-famous “tumbang-preso”, “harangang-taga”, or “moro-moro” but mostly it involves also some money like “tanching” (placing some coins inside a square line on the ground and trying to take them outside using another coin) or the “text” games (playing for small cards you can buy on the store). In order to sustain this playing habit, I normally put aside some of my daily school allowances or as a last resort, take a few coins from my father’s hanging pants and informed him later. Everyday was the same routine for me until one afternoon before New Year’s day. Because of the holiday vacation, I did not have any baon to spare and spend that time. My playmates were eagerly calling and waiting for me. Our father has not arrived home yet. The next thing I know, my hand was reaching down, instead, into my mother’s hand bag and got hold of a P10 bill. Nobody saw me and our mother would not notice it, in my thinking.
Or so I thought.
That same night, our mother did found out about it and all of us 4 brothers were made to stand side-by-side outdoor. One by one, our father and mother asked each one of us. My brothers denied and I lied. Our parents were angry when it was evident that no one is admitting the misdeed, so they made us stayed standing outside until the New Year festivities started. My 3 brothers were very upset since they were innocent and I ruined our New Year celebration that night because of my lie.
You think I would have learned after that.
Nope.
One time, I also lost a new wristwatch that my parents gave me but I was scared to admit that I lost it. So when my parents noticed that I am not wearing their gift, I pretended to look into my cabinet and appeared perplexed that it was not there anymore. In the end, my parents have mistakenly confronted my uncle who was temporarily staying with us that time. My uncle downheartedly left our house because of the false accusation, because of my lie.
These are just 2 vivid recollections of how my lies have hurt other people back then.
How I wish I can turn back the clock and rectify my sins but the harm was forever done.
I am grateful to our Lord for helping me to outgrow my childhood dishonesty. There was no flash-of-lightning or burning-bush incident when I started practicing honesty but only through step-by-step and moment-by-moment awareness of doing it. I am not perfectly honest until now. Sometimes, I still do fail, particularly with white lies that I assume wont hurt anyone (again).
But our God is patient with me so I will continue to improve myself.
In His time and by His grace, I know I will be.
Ezekiel: The Power of Prayer
My wife and I love kids.
I remember our old times, when we would gamely talk about how many children we would like to raise, highlighting the pros and cons that goes with each number, until reaching our solemn number 3.
Year 1999 and as mutually agreed, our first year of marriage was spent in knowing each other more and enthusiastically involving ourselves with the activities of the CFC ministry. Financially, we were starting also to make some savings for our future baby. During our second year, I grabbed a work opportunity abroad so we have to be separated for a few months. But we have earnestly planned to have our baby that year so my wife resigned from her job to be with me. Unfortunately, my stressful work required frequent traveling which means we were still often away from each other. Stress and space, simply put, has hindered us to achieve our goal that year. Throughout, we have the usual supportive advices and prayer intentions from family members and friends but we did not bother to dwell on it too much.
The following year, things were meant to be more awry. Our Swiss employer has negated to pay our 5-month backwages and over-time arrears. A few months later, the company filed for bankruptcy without a single-cent collected by us. Anxiety crept. We have land mortgages to fulfill and our savings are dwindling. Nevertheless, our longing for our first baby was stronger than ever and we continue to pray for His guidance. Our decision to stay in that foreign land despite the absence of a veritable source of income turned out to be the proverbial blessing-in-disguise. One of our former German client who grew fondness with the Filipino work attitude and efficiency has offered me a job in his firm. Less basics and benefits but nonetheless timely, my wife and I deduced. Less-traveling also gave us more time to concentrate on having our first baby. But it was not meant to be not this year again.
With a growing concern, we decided to seek medical help. A specialist in Hongkong found some curable polyps as the likely cause so my wife underwent 6 months of medication to fully-recover. Notwithstanding the medical expenses, we were in high-spirits waiting for the medication to be over. Hope and excitement abounds.
By the start of 2002, with all medical check-ups finally clearing both of us of any physical infirmity and with my job stable as ever, we expected nothing less than a Santos baby this year. But days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and there was no baby conception to announce to our families and friends. We kept our faith and hope, with the back-thoughts that, maybe, we were meant to be without a child of our own after all. We comfort ourselves with the thought that adoption is another option.
We had another vacation to the Philippines before the year ended. That time my wife?s cousin doctor introduced us to his ob-gyne friend, Dra. Perez who is far different from all the doctors we have met. After her check-ups resulted in re-confirming that we were both fit and healthy now, she did prescribe neither further tests nor health enhancement medications. Her plain advice was to pray. “We have been doing that”, I silently re-affirmed to myself. What she added, however, struck us. “The prayer”, she calmly stressed, “is not just for any given time of the day but specifically before sharing the intimate moments with each other, believing in your hearts that God will bless your union with His child”.
On May 2003, my wife tearfully told me the news and I almost hit the ceiling jumping with joy. She was 2 months into motherhood. We knelt and expressed our deepest gratitude to our Lord above for He has answered our prayers.
On January 24, 2004, Matt Ezekiel was born.
Matt is the short name for Matthew, one of the four gospels of the New Testament.
Ezekiel was an Old Testament prophet called to foretell God’s faithfulness in the midst of trials, as well as in the fulfilment of His promises.
Only this time, our Zek, is the fulfillment of God’s promise to us.
I remember our old times, when we would gamely talk about how many children we would like to raise, highlighting the pros and cons that goes with each number, until reaching our solemn number 3.
Year 1999 and as mutually agreed, our first year of marriage was spent in knowing each other more and enthusiastically involving ourselves with the activities of the CFC ministry. Financially, we were starting also to make some savings for our future baby. During our second year, I grabbed a work opportunity abroad so we have to be separated for a few months. But we have earnestly planned to have our baby that year so my wife resigned from her job to be with me. Unfortunately, my stressful work required frequent traveling which means we were still often away from each other. Stress and space, simply put, has hindered us to achieve our goal that year. Throughout, we have the usual supportive advices and prayer intentions from family members and friends but we did not bother to dwell on it too much.
The following year, things were meant to be more awry. Our Swiss employer has negated to pay our 5-month backwages and over-time arrears. A few months later, the company filed for bankruptcy without a single-cent collected by us. Anxiety crept. We have land mortgages to fulfill and our savings are dwindling. Nevertheless, our longing for our first baby was stronger than ever and we continue to pray for His guidance. Our decision to stay in that foreign land despite the absence of a veritable source of income turned out to be the proverbial blessing-in-disguise. One of our former German client who grew fondness with the Filipino work attitude and efficiency has offered me a job in his firm. Less basics and benefits but nonetheless timely, my wife and I deduced. Less-traveling also gave us more time to concentrate on having our first baby. But it was not meant to be not this year again.
With a growing concern, we decided to seek medical help. A specialist in Hongkong found some curable polyps as the likely cause so my wife underwent 6 months of medication to fully-recover. Notwithstanding the medical expenses, we were in high-spirits waiting for the medication to be over. Hope and excitement abounds.
By the start of 2002, with all medical check-ups finally clearing both of us of any physical infirmity and with my job stable as ever, we expected nothing less than a Santos baby this year. But days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and there was no baby conception to announce to our families and friends. We kept our faith and hope, with the back-thoughts that, maybe, we were meant to be without a child of our own after all. We comfort ourselves with the thought that adoption is another option.
We had another vacation to the Philippines before the year ended. That time my wife?s cousin doctor introduced us to his ob-gyne friend, Dra. Perez who is far different from all the doctors we have met. After her check-ups resulted in re-confirming that we were both fit and healthy now, she did prescribe neither further tests nor health enhancement medications. Her plain advice was to pray. “We have been doing that”, I silently re-affirmed to myself. What she added, however, struck us. “The prayer”, she calmly stressed, “is not just for any given time of the day but specifically before sharing the intimate moments with each other, believing in your hearts that God will bless your union with His child”.
On May 2003, my wife tearfully told me the news and I almost hit the ceiling jumping with joy. She was 2 months into motherhood. We knelt and expressed our deepest gratitude to our Lord above for He has answered our prayers.
On January 24, 2004, Matt Ezekiel was born.
Matt is the short name for Matthew, one of the four gospels of the New Testament.
Ezekiel was an Old Testament prophet called to foretell God’s faithfulness in the midst of trials, as well as in the fulfilment of His promises.
Only this time, our Zek, is the fulfillment of God’s promise to us.
Gabay at Pasasalamat
”Ang mga anak kong ito ang gagabay sa aming pagtanda”.
Thus says my Dad to his brothers while brushing his fingers through my thin brown hair. They were having one of their rare San-Mig session that week-end afternoon. It never made any sense to me though. I was about 7 years old then and all I care about was sitting with them, not to drink, but to eat the delicious pulutan our Mom cooked for them.
Now I am 34 years old, married and with a 2 year old son. Our Dad is 60 years old and our Mom is 2 years older than he is. We were a brood of 4 boys and undoubtedly were a handful during our growing years. It was never easy for our dad and mom during those trying times.
Early on in their marriage, they retired from their low salaried teaching jobs to try the business world.They tried making bags for local distribution for a while until the market was saturated.They tried the wooden furniture assembly and selling them until the sales became low.They managed to save and buy a store in the town market where they started their school supplies biz and it was good for a while.After some time, they included some children clothes and groceries on their retail to be more competitive.My father, realizing that the income was not stable enough, decided to go back to employment.Dad worked under the government’s Human Settlement ministry and NABCOR and worked his way up on the corporate ladder.He was already the procurement manager at the time his boss made a juicy once-in-a-lifetime offer to him to sign a dubious contract in exchange for VP promotion and monetary commissions.
He filed for his resignation instead.
He went back to his business ventures. He was into home-delivery of fresh fishes at one time until most customers have outstanding credits that the daily net was not enough for the next procurement.Then both Dad and Mom jumped into the real estate boom, which was short-lived.The catering and canteen business looked promising so they actively pursued it. This was by far the most financially rewarding one but was taking the toll on their not-getting-any-younger bodies. The 16-hour demand was too much but they know that they cannot let go of this business. My brothers and I were well into our respective colleges that time.
Needless to say, their diversified business ventures were never an excuse for them to forestall their services to our Lord. From the birth of renewal movements in the early 80?s and until now, they are actively involved in many church activities and organizations. Add the fact that our parents were always present in all our school programs and meetings. So I cannot help but wonder how they were able to squeeze more free time for our family outings, get-togethers and homework huddle.
All of their hard-work and perseverance paid off after all these years.We did not become rich but we were never in need. And all 4 of us were able to finish our college studies and pursue our own individual careers. All my brothers and I each have our own families.
Our Dad is now 60 years old and our Mom is 62 years old.They both have high blood pressure and are both diabetic but they still tend to their small sari-sari store in front of our house. They are doing this to keep themselves active, albeit not to earn money anymore.
I am now 34 years old and my Dad’s words years ago have not really sunk into me yet. I know it will come and I pray to God that all of us their children can be as loving and persevering to them during their sunset years as they were to us during our growing years.
”Salamat po, Dad and Mom, sa pag-gabay po ninyo sa aming paglaki”.
”Salamat po, Panginoon, sa magulang na inyong ipinagkaloob po sa amin”.
Thus says my Dad to his brothers while brushing his fingers through my thin brown hair. They were having one of their rare San-Mig session that week-end afternoon. It never made any sense to me though. I was about 7 years old then and all I care about was sitting with them, not to drink, but to eat the delicious pulutan our Mom cooked for them.
Now I am 34 years old, married and with a 2 year old son. Our Dad is 60 years old and our Mom is 2 years older than he is. We were a brood of 4 boys and undoubtedly were a handful during our growing years. It was never easy for our dad and mom during those trying times.
Early on in their marriage, they retired from their low salaried teaching jobs to try the business world.They tried making bags for local distribution for a while until the market was saturated.They tried the wooden furniture assembly and selling them until the sales became low.They managed to save and buy a store in the town market where they started their school supplies biz and it was good for a while.After some time, they included some children clothes and groceries on their retail to be more competitive.My father, realizing that the income was not stable enough, decided to go back to employment.Dad worked under the government’s Human Settlement ministry and NABCOR and worked his way up on the corporate ladder.He was already the procurement manager at the time his boss made a juicy once-in-a-lifetime offer to him to sign a dubious contract in exchange for VP promotion and monetary commissions.
He filed for his resignation instead.
He went back to his business ventures. He was into home-delivery of fresh fishes at one time until most customers have outstanding credits that the daily net was not enough for the next procurement.Then both Dad and Mom jumped into the real estate boom, which was short-lived.The catering and canteen business looked promising so they actively pursued it. This was by far the most financially rewarding one but was taking the toll on their not-getting-any-younger bodies. The 16-hour demand was too much but they know that they cannot let go of this business. My brothers and I were well into our respective colleges that time.
Needless to say, their diversified business ventures were never an excuse for them to forestall their services to our Lord. From the birth of renewal movements in the early 80?s and until now, they are actively involved in many church activities and organizations. Add the fact that our parents were always present in all our school programs and meetings. So I cannot help but wonder how they were able to squeeze more free time for our family outings, get-togethers and homework huddle.
All of their hard-work and perseverance paid off after all these years.We did not become rich but we were never in need. And all 4 of us were able to finish our college studies and pursue our own individual careers. All my brothers and I each have our own families.
Our Dad is now 60 years old and our Mom is 62 years old.They both have high blood pressure and are both diabetic but they still tend to their small sari-sari store in front of our house. They are doing this to keep themselves active, albeit not to earn money anymore.
I am now 34 years old and my Dad’s words years ago have not really sunk into me yet. I know it will come and I pray to God that all of us their children can be as loving and persevering to them during their sunset years as they were to us during our growing years.
”Salamat po, Dad and Mom, sa pag-gabay po ninyo sa aming paglaki”.
”Salamat po, Panginoon, sa magulang na inyong ipinagkaloob po sa amin”.
2007/11/25
The Lord is Coming!
Matthew 24:42- Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
My jaw dropped wide open to hear my name called during the campus flag raising ceremony. It was a simple grade school boy’s dream to become part of that 4-person representing our entire grade level in the annual General Information Quiz Bee. After the excitement have sunk in, I immediately buckled down to work and started collecting my reviewers – current events, headline news, government ministries (it was still Marcos era during that time) and other what-must-be-knowns. I tapped my ever-reliable Dad to check and organize my review papers. Thursday came and our teacher coach also inspected and checked my papers. I was visibly pleased to see her approving nod, an assurance about the great length of my data collection. Now, I have another full week to really start my actual review.
However on the next day and after the flag raising ceremony again, the participant’s name were one by one called again to my bewilderment. This time, we were asked to go up the stage and take our assigned seats.
“What is this? Is it a dry run?” I murmured to myself.
But as the emcee started detailing the mechanics of the quiz bee, it finally dawned on me that the Friday schedule our teacher coach was telling us about was that particular fateful day already and not the next week’s Friday that I mistakenly assumed. All the hard work and preparations went for naught because I totally overlooked the day and time when I exactly needed those information up inside my brain and not neatly written on papers. I can only keep my head bow, writing with jitters and shame for that untold blooper I made.
Expectedly, I ended the quiz bee in Cinderella-fashion, albeit not from the top, but from the bottom.
It was a very humbling experience.
This coming December 2 is the start of the Season of Advent in preparation for Christmas, the day of incarnation of the Lord. “Adventus” is a Latin word to mean “arrival or coming”. Our Lord and God, in fulfilling His divine plan to save mankind, became man and was born from a woman in fulfillment of the ancient prophecies.
With Advent the ecclesiastical year begins in the Western Churches. During this time the faithful are admonished
1. To prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
2. Thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
3. Thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world. (source: newadvent.org)
Advent is our church’s timely reminder for us about the inevitable fact of Christ’s 2nd coming which can happen in 2 ways. First is the end of the world which no one can ascertain to happen within our lifetime. Second is our own death which, without a single iota of doubt, will happen at the end of our earthly life. Our own death is worth reflecting during this season as well. This may variably be one of the reason why Advent comes after the feast of the Solemnity of Saints and Souls. It is not just a church calendar coincidence. There is nothing like preparing our life after foreseeing the end of it during our cemetery visits.
So now we focus on our personal Advent activities. Like any upcoming activities, we plot and make plans. For some, they even make a list.
I will go to confession.
I will devote more time for prayer.
I will participate in out-reach activities to help the needy people.
I will make thrifty holiday spending and divert the savings to donating to charitable institutions.
I will attend each of the nine Simbang-gabi preludes to Christmas.
I will visit or call my loved ones and friends in far places.
I will condition my body for the food-festivities and merry-makings of Christmas season.
I will start buying gifts early to avoid rush hour shopping.
I will learn to cook the best meal for my family.
I will attend reunions, and so on and so forth.
These are all good and pious plans but the tricky part will still be the timing of implementation. Let us not kid ourselves by procrastinating until a few more days or a few more weeks before improving ourselves.
Time is of the essence.
In giving birth, it is called the “baby-out” moment.
In children’s milestone, it is called walking, speaking and the like.
In school, it is called the final exams.
In sports, it’s called game-time.
In movies, it is called the climax of the story.
In books, it is called the main topic.
In work, it is called the project completion.
In quiz bees, it is called the quiz bee day (a special lament for my case)
Because, in the end, planning is good but loving now is what God expects from us. Go to confession now. Devote more prayer time now. Support and participate in God spreading activities now. Participate in all masses now. Visit a friend now. Call a loved one now. Take care of our body now. Do our best for our families and friends now. Respect other people now.
Pastor Jon Walker of Purpose-Driven Life Daily Devotional wrote, “And we are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts” (Hebrews6:11 LB). There is urgency in learning to love now because today could be our last day on earth. This life is fleeting, and eternity is coming. The opportunities for us to express love come and go quickly; we cannot take them for granted. One day our earth-bound lessons will end, and we’ll love for eternity in heaven
Advent is being prepared when the Lord will come to take us back to His kingdom. And like a thief in the night we will never know when will that day come. Planning will not count. Only how much actual love we gave away will matter.
Loving now nullifies any planning.
Because there is no need to prepare for the Lord’s coming if He is already residing in our hearts.
God bless.
2007/11/22
A Childlike Faith
“Dadi, hold Zek.”
Thus our eldest son would often says every time we reminded him that we are about to cross the street. As part of our practical safety training to him, we always prompt him to immediately stop and step aside whenever he sees a car is coming his way, to always look ahead where he is going and to hold our hands before crossing any street. Normally he would oblige unless his toddler excitement and enthusiasm to get somewhere that is of extreme interest for him catches his attention like his favorite convenience store with car toys or a watering hole he can stump his little feet into or the garden playground with kiddie slides and see-saws. He would run with aimless gusto unmindful of the hazards along the way. This is when my wife or I have to run after him to insists on the basics and prevail upon his innocent objections. He must let us hold onto him and not him holding unto us.
The key to our faith is the same childlike attitude.
Whether we are basking in the glory and grandeur of personal triumphs or have gotten engrossed with the worries and concerns of our lives, we should pause oftentimes and look up to our Father who looks after our welfare with genuine and unconditional love. The realization must be that we have no independent control over our fate, that His gentle hands are always reaching out inviting us to trust in His ways and that He mean everything for good in our lives.
Do not hold unto Him because a really serious and abrupt event in our lives can dislodge our grip and exposed ourselves to danger or get lost along the way.
Let Him hold us because He leads us to safety. He will not let us either fall or go astray.
Let this be our personal prayer.
Dear God, hold me.
Thus our eldest son would often says every time we reminded him that we are about to cross the street. As part of our practical safety training to him, we always prompt him to immediately stop and step aside whenever he sees a car is coming his way, to always look ahead where he is going and to hold our hands before crossing any street. Normally he would oblige unless his toddler excitement and enthusiasm to get somewhere that is of extreme interest for him catches his attention like his favorite convenience store with car toys or a watering hole he can stump his little feet into or the garden playground with kiddie slides and see-saws. He would run with aimless gusto unmindful of the hazards along the way. This is when my wife or I have to run after him to insists on the basics and prevail upon his innocent objections. He must let us hold onto him and not him holding unto us.
The key to our faith is the same childlike attitude.
Whether we are basking in the glory and grandeur of personal triumphs or have gotten engrossed with the worries and concerns of our lives, we should pause oftentimes and look up to our Father who looks after our welfare with genuine and unconditional love. The realization must be that we have no independent control over our fate, that His gentle hands are always reaching out inviting us to trust in His ways and that He mean everything for good in our lives.
Do not hold unto Him because a really serious and abrupt event in our lives can dislodge our grip and exposed ourselves to danger or get lost along the way.
Let Him hold us because He leads us to safety. He will not let us either fall or go astray.
Let this be our personal prayer.
Dear God, hold me.
2007/11/20
There is a God and I am not Him
“Something is wrong!”
This was what’s on my mind as I entered the hospital’s emergency room and told the nurse I wanted to be admitted. Of course, physically something is really wrong with me. I can’t breathe well. I wish they’d put an oxygen in my nose. But the nebulizer was already a great relief. My fever subsided after I took paracetamol, just long enough for me to travel two hours back here in my home town. I live alone and work in the neighboring town. It took four days of fever until I decided to go home and finally do this.
That ‘something wrong ‘ is what would I realize on my stay in the hospital. I remember the second night I still had fever and run out of medicine. It took me a hundred times to think before I decided to text a friend to buy me one. I was thinking I can do it myself. He might be resting already or have an overtime and I don’t want to disturb him. As much as possible I don’t like to ask help from others. I am used to doing things myself. I guess being a bread winner for a time after landing a job made me behave like this. I am self sufficient. I can fend for myself. I am strong and healthy.
A chord was attached to my right hand where the steroids were injected directly to my veins. I had a great difficulty brushing my teeth. I find it very irritating that I couldn’t clean my teeth so well and I started to feel impatient. But then I thought, since I can’t do anything about it, why not reflect on it and find out what God is telling me in this situation. So I asked Him. As I was using my right hand to guide my left hand in brushing my teeth, God was telling me I don’t live alone for life. I need someone to help me and guide me in order to do things right. Yes. Doing things RIGHT. I am where I am right now because I thought what I did with my body was right. I need to learn to ask help from others. I realize that there are people who would just be happy to reciprocate the kindness I extended to them and I deprived them of the chance to do so. Just like the friend who bought my medicine. They are one of God’s blessings and I don’t make use of them. Wasn’t I daily pray that I may use His blessings well so I would be a blessing to others and give Him glory?
In the middle of the night I found myself having a contrite contrition. I thought of the kind of medicine and the dosage that was given me. I realized how delicate was my situation. I thought it was alright that the symptoms were tolerable. I didn’t realize that I am getting older and those symptoms are no longer alright even though I experienced some of it before. I made the weather an excuse to miss regular exercise. I asked sorry for the things I did wrong. I had a lot of worries and I forgot to let Him join me. I thought I could handle them and it’s going to be alright. Yes, maybe to my mind, but to my body it wasn’t alright. I realize my accountability with my life, particularly with my body. I remember I thanked Him before for this second life. ( I couldn’t remember how and when did my first life ended….Hmmm..) I promised this time I would better take care of myself. This life is just borrowed and I have to return it just as good if not better as it was lent me. God showed me how meticulous He is with His property and He is reminded me that I am not taking care of it as He wanted me to.
God cares for us more than we care for ourselves. He takes care of a lot of things for us that we never even realize. This is the big thing I learned during my one week vacation at the hospital. I say vacation because during that time, I felt the presence of God more concretely. I felt pampered like a baby. I felt I have His ears alone for myself. That what ever I say, He is like staring at me and listening intently. It was really like having a honeymoon with God after having my first Life in the Spirit Seminar.
Just like one of the great preacher said. When something needs to be done or taken care of in our life, we should not put it in OUR list. Rather put it in God’s to-do-list. He can’t help us unless we ask and surrender them all to Him. Although He has already a lot of things to do, but still, why wouldn’t we? After all, He is a God…….. and sometimes we forget that we are not Him.
Again, Bea… there is a God and you are not Him!
Bea Leones is a friend-writer from Capiz whom I met through the Kerygma Frappr site. Thanks Bea for this inspiring reflection!
This was what’s on my mind as I entered the hospital’s emergency room and told the nurse I wanted to be admitted. Of course, physically something is really wrong with me. I can’t breathe well. I wish they’d put an oxygen in my nose. But the nebulizer was already a great relief. My fever subsided after I took paracetamol, just long enough for me to travel two hours back here in my home town. I live alone and work in the neighboring town. It took four days of fever until I decided to go home and finally do this.
That ‘something wrong ‘ is what would I realize on my stay in the hospital. I remember the second night I still had fever and run out of medicine. It took me a hundred times to think before I decided to text a friend to buy me one. I was thinking I can do it myself. He might be resting already or have an overtime and I don’t want to disturb him. As much as possible I don’t like to ask help from others. I am used to doing things myself. I guess being a bread winner for a time after landing a job made me behave like this. I am self sufficient. I can fend for myself. I am strong and healthy.
A chord was attached to my right hand where the steroids were injected directly to my veins. I had a great difficulty brushing my teeth. I find it very irritating that I couldn’t clean my teeth so well and I started to feel impatient. But then I thought, since I can’t do anything about it, why not reflect on it and find out what God is telling me in this situation. So I asked Him. As I was using my right hand to guide my left hand in brushing my teeth, God was telling me I don’t live alone for life. I need someone to help me and guide me in order to do things right. Yes. Doing things RIGHT. I am where I am right now because I thought what I did with my body was right. I need to learn to ask help from others. I realize that there are people who would just be happy to reciprocate the kindness I extended to them and I deprived them of the chance to do so. Just like the friend who bought my medicine. They are one of God’s blessings and I don’t make use of them. Wasn’t I daily pray that I may use His blessings well so I would be a blessing to others and give Him glory?
In the middle of the night I found myself having a contrite contrition. I thought of the kind of medicine and the dosage that was given me. I realized how delicate was my situation. I thought it was alright that the symptoms were tolerable. I didn’t realize that I am getting older and those symptoms are no longer alright even though I experienced some of it before. I made the weather an excuse to miss regular exercise. I asked sorry for the things I did wrong. I had a lot of worries and I forgot to let Him join me. I thought I could handle them and it’s going to be alright. Yes, maybe to my mind, but to my body it wasn’t alright. I realize my accountability with my life, particularly with my body. I remember I thanked Him before for this second life. ( I couldn’t remember how and when did my first life ended….Hmmm..) I promised this time I would better take care of myself. This life is just borrowed and I have to return it just as good if not better as it was lent me. God showed me how meticulous He is with His property and He is reminded me that I am not taking care of it as He wanted me to.
God cares for us more than we care for ourselves. He takes care of a lot of things for us that we never even realize. This is the big thing I learned during my one week vacation at the hospital. I say vacation because during that time, I felt the presence of God more concretely. I felt pampered like a baby. I felt I have His ears alone for myself. That what ever I say, He is like staring at me and listening intently. It was really like having a honeymoon with God after having my first Life in the Spirit Seminar.
Just like one of the great preacher said. When something needs to be done or taken care of in our life, we should not put it in OUR list. Rather put it in God’s to-do-list. He can’t help us unless we ask and surrender them all to Him. Although He has already a lot of things to do, but still, why wouldn’t we? After all, He is a God…….. and sometimes we forget that we are not Him.
Again, Bea… there is a God and you are not Him!
Bea Leones is a friend-writer from Capiz whom I met through the Kerygma Frappr site. Thanks Bea for this inspiring reflection!
2007/10/22
Remembering Tina
Tomorrow, October 23, 2007, is the 40th day since my beloved cousin Tina passed away.
She succumbed to Hi-Grade Burkitt's lymphoma Stage IV cancer nearly a year after it was first detected.
The first few months of her treatment has shown promising, almost miraculous recovery.
But after her 6th chemo-therapy session last June, her cancer made a very strong comeback and simply devoured whatever was left of her physical strength.
And so last September 13 and after weeks of untold agony and pain, she lovingly embraced God’s call for her to return home.
Our Tina is in heaven now.
Below is the heartfelt eulogy of her elder sister, Ate Angel, during the mass before her internment.
Chemo therapy……….. P 120,000 / session
Fentanyl patch…….…. P 1,181.75 / each
UST hospital room….. P 1,030 / night
Oncologist fee……….. P 25,000.00
My sister Tina……….. Priceless
Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat.
Ako po si Ela Santos, panganay na anak ni Mila and Tony Santos.
Ate ni Tina.
Tina – November 6, 1972 HYPEN September 13, 2007
Hindi po ako nagkamali ng pagbasa. Ulitin ko po.
Tina – November 6, 1972 HYPEN September 13, 2007
May nabasa po ako na yong petsa na kapanganakan at kamatayan ay hindi importante. Ang importante ay yong HYPEN. O yong guhit sa gitna ng mga petsang ito. What have you done from the time you were born and the time you die.
So Tina would seem to be an ordinary person who lived an ordinary life.
Born 34 years and 10 months ago to a simple family. Pangalawa sa magkakapatid na apat. Dalawang babae. Dalawang lalake. Tatay ay nagtratrabaho sa ibang bansa. Kung umuwi isang buwan sa isang taon – kaming lahat pinanganak ng April except for Tina who was born in November. Ang kwento po dyan, si tatay naiba ng buwan ng pag-uwi noong panahon na yon kaya naiba ang birthday nya sa amin.
Tina’s childhood is colourful to the point na ulit-ulit pinagkwentuhan. It has become a part of a collection of family anecdotes. Noong maliit sya pag may tantrums sya, she will take her clothes off and hid under the bed to get her way. Very strong willed child.
Minsan din natinik sya ng kumakain ng isda. Yong 2 tita ko na nag-aalaga sa kanya ay tarantang-taranta. Naroong humuli ng pusa at ipahilot ang leeg ni Tina. Iyak ng iyak si Tina at sabi nya, MAMATAY NA AKO, BILI NYO AKO NG ROYAL TRUE ORANGE!
Minsan dumalaw kami sa mga kamag-anak namin sa Bicol. Binigyan sya ng alagaing manok ng tyahin ni Nanay. Tuwang-tuwa sya sa manok na yon. Umuwi kami pabalik ng Malolos. Noong mga panahon na yon di pa uso ang Jollibee so may baon kami na luto na nakabalot sa dahon ng saging. Noong tanghalian na, binuksan ni nanay yong baon naming. Aba fried chicken. Di tuwa namin. Kain si Tina. Tapos naalala nya yong manok nya. Sabi nya, nay saan manok ko? Nay said something like, ayan pinirito ko na. So habang kumakain ng manok, Bakit mo niluto manok ko nay?
My memory of Tina is many. I am one of the few who have known her the longest here. My two aunties who came home with me witness her birth. Nay had a c-section kasi suhi sya. And now these two aunties have a come to a full circle. Kasama rin sila namin to say goodbye to Tina today.
Noong maliit pa po kami, we use to receive 2 pesos each for baon at pamasahe. Hindi po naming yon ginagasta for pamasahe, binibili naming ng halo-halo. Then we walked home. We take a shortcut sa taniman ng mga dayap. And I can smell the dayap. The dayap trees were up to our heads most of the time. Hawak kamay po kami na naglalakad. Di ko na maalala yong pinag-uusapan naming. Basta naaalala ko, malamig ang hangin and I have my sister for company those lazy afternoons after school. She was my sister, but she was my friend too.
We never thought cancer would happen to us. Nangyayari sa telenovela, sa ibang tao pero hindi sa amin.
But hindi pala kami exempted. We are among the privileged ones.
The stories have been shared during the wake. The amount of help we have received, hindi naming mabilang. On behalf of my parents and my brothers, maraming, maraming salamat. Hindi na po naming sasabihin kung sino-sino kayo. You are the recipient of the fruits of the grace of cancer.
I would like to honor my parents. Tatay and nanay, isinasabuhay nyo po ang pinangako nyo noong ikasal kayo. Sa hirap at ginhawa. Nairaos natin si Tina dahil pader naming kayong sinasandalan. We are lucky to have you. Sa ngalan ni Tina, salamat sa inyong dalawa. Sa aking mga kapatid na lalake, apat pa rin tayo. She loved you more than you two would know.
Lives have been touched and changed by one brave ordinary soul who lived an ordinary life.
Sabi po ng kaibigan ko who lost both parents to cancer … “Cancer is a win – win situation. Kapag gumaling ka, God has granted you a miracle. If you die, you go to heaven.
We got the last gift of cancer.
Cancer has made an angel out of Tina.
Remember by Christina Rossetti
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
2007/10/11
Flying Kites
It was one Saturday lazy afternoon when my wife and I decided to bring the kids out for a stroll in the nearby park famous for its vast land area and one-stop recreational and leisure spot hosting a lot of kiddie rides, walk pathways, outdoor-steel basic exercise equipments, performance stages and a kite-flying quadrangle with trimmed green grasses that dual as picnic ground.
As my son Zek holds and marvels at our kite that flies steadily around 50m above us, two adult men caught my attention as they each attempt to fly their kites in stark and contrasting ways. The former was running in every direction and pulling his kite with all his might to no avail because the kite always falls back to the ground at some point. The latter was standing still and as soon as he felt the strong gust of wind he immediately changed his position in opposite direction of the wind. One swift push up of his kite and it was flying in no time.
Two lessons came to my mind.
Firstly, ignorance or inexperience is a hindrance but a self-righteous pride can spell disaster in our lives. The first man was eager-beaver to make the kite rise and exerted much effort without really even asking other nearby kite-flyers or, at the very least, looking around on how to do it properly. He ran, and ran, and ran until he was totally exhausted and needless to say, humiliated in front of the many amused people who witnessed his futile efforts. The second man knew how to do it because he learned it earlier from somebody else either by asking or, at the very least, by mere observation of how to do it. Oftentimes, we would rather fall flat on our face later than to humble ourselves in the beginning.
Children have parents.
Students have teachers.
Workers have supervisors.
Apprentices have mentors.
Trainees have coaches.
Married couples have each other.
Parishioners have priest.
The list goes on.
May we have the humility to ask from those whom we trust and the open-mind to see the wisdom in other peoples’ counsel.
Secondly, kites fly and rise higher against wind. Adversity makes us stronger. Trials refine our spirits. Tribulations make us better persons. Suffering makes us stronger. Make calculations aimed at avoiding problems but never treat failure as end-of-the-line situations rather as stepping stones to improve ourselves.
There is one earthly goal for most of us – to grow in faith, hope and love.
The right attitude for learning and responding to challenges can very well determine how high our life can reach and fly.
As my son Zek holds and marvels at our kite that flies steadily around 50m above us, two adult men caught my attention as they each attempt to fly their kites in stark and contrasting ways. The former was running in every direction and pulling his kite with all his might to no avail because the kite always falls back to the ground at some point. The latter was standing still and as soon as he felt the strong gust of wind he immediately changed his position in opposite direction of the wind. One swift push up of his kite and it was flying in no time.
Two lessons came to my mind.
Firstly, ignorance or inexperience is a hindrance but a self-righteous pride can spell disaster in our lives. The first man was eager-beaver to make the kite rise and exerted much effort without really even asking other nearby kite-flyers or, at the very least, looking around on how to do it properly. He ran, and ran, and ran until he was totally exhausted and needless to say, humiliated in front of the many amused people who witnessed his futile efforts. The second man knew how to do it because he learned it earlier from somebody else either by asking or, at the very least, by mere observation of how to do it. Oftentimes, we would rather fall flat on our face later than to humble ourselves in the beginning.
Children have parents.
Students have teachers.
Workers have supervisors.
Apprentices have mentors.
Trainees have coaches.
Married couples have each other.
Parishioners have priest.
The list goes on.
May we have the humility to ask from those whom we trust and the open-mind to see the wisdom in other peoples’ counsel.
Secondly, kites fly and rise higher against wind. Adversity makes us stronger. Trials refine our spirits. Tribulations make us better persons. Suffering makes us stronger. Make calculations aimed at avoiding problems but never treat failure as end-of-the-line situations rather as stepping stones to improve ourselves.
There is one earthly goal for most of us – to grow in faith, hope and love.
The right attitude for learning and responding to challenges can very well determine how high our life can reach and fly.
2007/09/19
Lolo Indo
I never learned how to swim.
So it would seemed a given that I never rode any boat of any size during my youth.
Not necessarily.
You see, our Lolo Indo was a skilled fisherman since he was young. He raised and supported his family of 6 riding his small un-motorized banca into the long and winding Atlag-Panasahan river leading into the vast green sea. Legend has it, or should I say, all our uncles and aunts testified to his swimming and boating expertise. I personally have no doubt about it because my father was so good a swimmer and trainer that he became the swimming team coach of his university.
So I have but little qualms everytime our Lolo Indo would invite us all his apos to ride the banca with him to have a swim in the nearby low-water level areas of the riverside. We were beaming with pride as our lolo deftly paddle left and right with relative ease yet with extreme care.
One time I remember when my kuya and I went together with him to our uncle’s house a few hundred meters far and one our way back, our banca was caught by the strong water current caused by a humongous dredging machine. We were slowly being sucked into the machines’ tunnel dredge and I started to get scared. Glancing back at our lolo, I saw nary a bit worry on his face as he muscled his paddle left and right, faster and stronger on every stroke. With a firm voice he reminded us to sit still and hold strongly on the side. His steel and undaunted presence inadvertently calmed my troubled self. And as we slowly inched our way away from the dangerous current, I know that we will be safe and sound in no time.
Lolo Indo and his banca is the only boatman and vessel that I would dare to put my life into.
Catholicism is my spiritual boat that my parents lovingly taught and up-brought me into and our beloved pope is my one and only reliable and experienced boatman whose lineage is directly rooted to the first apostles of our Lord. The rich apostolic traditions and biblical writings have been preserved and passed on from generations to generations. Only their combination can bring calm and sense of direction to my spiritual journey. I will forever remain in my conviction that other vessels are either defective boats or with unskilled boatman that can make my travel uneasy and uncertain. Hence I would never dare to try to jump off to another vessel for whatever reason. I will live and die a Catholic.
But this is in no way to pass judgment against my fellowmen traveling on those “other” boats, because in the end, we are on the same river of God’s mercy and grace that is carrying us towards Him and only those who set their sights and keeps paddling to the other side will miss His presence.
What concrete and definitive proof can I show for this personal belief?
Only one - our Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the cross.
Not for Christians only.
Not for Jews only.
Not for Muslims only.
Not for Buddhists only.
Not for a select few.
He died for ALL of us.
So it would seemed a given that I never rode any boat of any size during my youth.
Not necessarily.
You see, our Lolo Indo was a skilled fisherman since he was young. He raised and supported his family of 6 riding his small un-motorized banca into the long and winding Atlag-Panasahan river leading into the vast green sea. Legend has it, or should I say, all our uncles and aunts testified to his swimming and boating expertise. I personally have no doubt about it because my father was so good a swimmer and trainer that he became the swimming team coach of his university.
So I have but little qualms everytime our Lolo Indo would invite us all his apos to ride the banca with him to have a swim in the nearby low-water level areas of the riverside. We were beaming with pride as our lolo deftly paddle left and right with relative ease yet with extreme care.
One time I remember when my kuya and I went together with him to our uncle’s house a few hundred meters far and one our way back, our banca was caught by the strong water current caused by a humongous dredging machine. We were slowly being sucked into the machines’ tunnel dredge and I started to get scared. Glancing back at our lolo, I saw nary a bit worry on his face as he muscled his paddle left and right, faster and stronger on every stroke. With a firm voice he reminded us to sit still and hold strongly on the side. His steel and undaunted presence inadvertently calmed my troubled self. And as we slowly inched our way away from the dangerous current, I know that we will be safe and sound in no time.
Lolo Indo and his banca is the only boatman and vessel that I would dare to put my life into.
Catholicism is my spiritual boat that my parents lovingly taught and up-brought me into and our beloved pope is my one and only reliable and experienced boatman whose lineage is directly rooted to the first apostles of our Lord. The rich apostolic traditions and biblical writings have been preserved and passed on from generations to generations. Only their combination can bring calm and sense of direction to my spiritual journey. I will forever remain in my conviction that other vessels are either defective boats or with unskilled boatman that can make my travel uneasy and uncertain. Hence I would never dare to try to jump off to another vessel for whatever reason. I will live and die a Catholic.
But this is in no way to pass judgment against my fellowmen traveling on those “other” boats, because in the end, we are on the same river of God’s mercy and grace that is carrying us towards Him and only those who set their sights and keeps paddling to the other side will miss His presence.
What concrete and definitive proof can I show for this personal belief?
Only one - our Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the cross.
Not for Christians only.
Not for Jews only.
Not for Muslims only.
Not for Buddhists only.
Not for a select few.
He died for ALL of us.
2007/09/02
Another Baby Lesson
My spiritual zeal has been on the downside lately. I have weeks of unread daily bible reading subscriptions and reading any inspirational story felt like a “drag”. Even writing which is the one thing I have always loved to do is taking a back step. I felt physical exhaustion every time I come home from work that I see myself simply looking at my son play instead of me partaking in that father and son moment. I toss and turn during my sleep without any apparent reason. Thoughts easily come by and go.
Maia, our 7 month old baby, is trying to learn to stand up by herself. What a sight to delight at her skills and natural instincts. Carefully observing her made me recognize the crucial basic steps she takes for her to reach her goal – look for something to hold on, grab and pull herself up, balance herself and let go of both hands before taking steps. She would eventually fall down but would amusingly smile and simply try again.
Her innocent and intrepid actions led me to re-discover some basic truths on how I should respond to the daily grinds in my life.
Look around my immediate environment and see what kind of God-works can be done. The challenge is to look first inside myself and change any hindrances or hang-ups for me to start my daily goal. Search my inner self and discover the strengths I can use and detours I may encounter. Focus on the strengths and, thereafter, hold unto them.
Procrastination is a no-no and instead grab each opportunity as it presents itself.
Balance myself with regards to my time management, what needs my utmost and undisturbed attention, what are secondary in significance and what are clutters that can be filtered out.
Let go of things that are beyond my control and let God have His way in the end.
I will experience “slowing or falling down” moments but I can pick myself up and try again with a smile. Because just as our baby Maia has known, the secret is not primarily in my efforts, but in believing that my Father will raise me up if I find it hard to get up. He is lovingly watching over my every step no matter what pace I’m into. Nowadays, I know He waits for me because I have slowed down a bit.
I’m taking a breather to pull myself up once again.
I will learn to stand and run again.
Thank you, Lord for speaking to me through my child, through my fatherhood.
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
- Josh Groban
Maia, our 7 month old baby, is trying to learn to stand up by herself. What a sight to delight at her skills and natural instincts. Carefully observing her made me recognize the crucial basic steps she takes for her to reach her goal – look for something to hold on, grab and pull herself up, balance herself and let go of both hands before taking steps. She would eventually fall down but would amusingly smile and simply try again.
Her innocent and intrepid actions led me to re-discover some basic truths on how I should respond to the daily grinds in my life.
Look around my immediate environment and see what kind of God-works can be done. The challenge is to look first inside myself and change any hindrances or hang-ups for me to start my daily goal. Search my inner self and discover the strengths I can use and detours I may encounter. Focus on the strengths and, thereafter, hold unto them.
Procrastination is a no-no and instead grab each opportunity as it presents itself.
Balance myself with regards to my time management, what needs my utmost and undisturbed attention, what are secondary in significance and what are clutters that can be filtered out.
Let go of things that are beyond my control and let God have His way in the end.
I will experience “slowing or falling down” moments but I can pick myself up and try again with a smile. Because just as our baby Maia has known, the secret is not primarily in my efforts, but in believing that my Father will raise me up if I find it hard to get up. He is lovingly watching over my every step no matter what pace I’m into. Nowadays, I know He waits for me because I have slowed down a bit.
I’m taking a breather to pull myself up once again.
I will learn to stand and run again.
Thank you, Lord for speaking to me through my child, through my fatherhood.
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
- Josh Groban
2007/08/14
Who are we?
“Not that,” I was howling in protest while our Dad is putting the colorful bayong into the car compartment “ I would look like a probinsyano with that bayong “.
Dad chuckled, “ Well you are from Bulacan so you will always be a probinsyano no matter how long you stay in Manila to study and work.”
Ouch.
It was the first time for me to stay in Manila without Dad and my big brother to watch over me. I will be studying in college and staying in a dormitory with one of my best high-school buds so the sweet smell of freedom was everywhere. It was a small-town boy dream come true and I was quick to “wash off” from me any marks of being that small town boy. I was ready to conquer the world on my own.
Some people’s lives can be easily likened to this situation as they move up the ladder of success and personal achievements. They unconsciously learn and embrace success as if it was a trophy to hold up for everyone to see. They believe that the financial benefits are for the exclusive pampering of their own selves. They start to claim sole bragging rights over their accomplishments. They think that a garage full of top brand cars and a gold-gated mansion is all what there is to life.
They slowly forget where they came from, who they truly are and what their mission in life is.
It can happen to anyone of us. Without a deeply-rooted relationship and dependence with God we are sooner or later bound to wash ourselves away from His presence and choke the seed of love that God originally planted in our hearts. We must always remember our roots because we will know what fruits we must bear. God will not hinder us to prosper because we can bless other people with our blessings. We only must remember by heart……
We are from God, we are God’s children and we are to love one another.
I am proud to be a Bulakenyo.
I am a probinsyano.
Dad chuckled, “ Well you are from Bulacan so you will always be a probinsyano no matter how long you stay in Manila to study and work.”
Ouch.
It was the first time for me to stay in Manila without Dad and my big brother to watch over me. I will be studying in college and staying in a dormitory with one of my best high-school buds so the sweet smell of freedom was everywhere. It was a small-town boy dream come true and I was quick to “wash off” from me any marks of being that small town boy. I was ready to conquer the world on my own.
Some people’s lives can be easily likened to this situation as they move up the ladder of success and personal achievements. They unconsciously learn and embrace success as if it was a trophy to hold up for everyone to see. They believe that the financial benefits are for the exclusive pampering of their own selves. They start to claim sole bragging rights over their accomplishments. They think that a garage full of top brand cars and a gold-gated mansion is all what there is to life.
They slowly forget where they came from, who they truly are and what their mission in life is.
It can happen to anyone of us. Without a deeply-rooted relationship and dependence with God we are sooner or later bound to wash ourselves away from His presence and choke the seed of love that God originally planted in our hearts. We must always remember our roots because we will know what fruits we must bear. God will not hinder us to prosper because we can bless other people with our blessings. We only must remember by heart……
We are from God, we are God’s children and we are to love one another.
I am proud to be a Bulakenyo.
I am a probinsyano.
2007/07/29
A War to Remember
In the small city of Soest, Germany, a church that was built on the year 1150 was damaged seriously during the 1945 war. The local people, during the post-war restoration, decided to keep the bullet and mortar holes on the surface of huge post at the left side of the altar as a stern and sad reminder of the atrocities that some of their countrymen have done – the unparalleled evil that roam-free during that time. The sin of some is not the sin of all.
Open discussion or debate about the Nazi era has been banned and made illegal throughout Germany. Swastikas or any Third Reich symbol or posterity are outlawed. But while the outside world would smirk at this notion that Germans were also victims of the war they started, this is a stated historical fact. Many German males refused to join their inhuman conquest for world domination but were forced to by the military. So for others, like Joseph Ratzinger (our beloved Pope Benedict XVI), hiding in the forest or running to other countries was their only option to avoid being jailed or killed. Many families were separated from their fathers or brothers who kept hiding from their own countrymen. Some ended in tearful reunions years later but most have lost tracts of their loved ones.
And when the Allied forces have started their bombings and invasions of Germany at the later part of the war, it was the local German people who took the brunt of the military upheavals. The dam reservoir of Soest was bombed and hundreds of Germans who were living in close-proximity of armament factories drowned and died.
As our host narrated those terrible stories, I can’t help but feel sorry for all the innocent souls, whether they were Jews or Germans, that suffered at the hands of those Godless people. I can recall some harrowing scenes from the movie “Schindler’s list” and I got goose-bumps all over.
But on hindsight, it is more pitiable for those persecutors who have never found the chance to repent from their sins and in all likeliness are suffering eternal damnation for their deeds.
Yes, only the absence of God will result to a blank and cold heartedness of a person. Only a proud and arrogant heart can refuse God’s tears of mercy towards His beloved people. We, the Filipinos, have shared the same horror during the Japanese invasion. This is what happened during the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Rwanda during the 1990’s. This is what is happening in the on-going genocides of Sudan.
Let us offer a short prayer to our Lord to help mankind finally put a stop to all these mass-killings in the name of religion and other geo-political differences, and not to allow us people to be led again into this horrible path like the holocaust.
Please Lord, never again.
Selling God
“You’re baby is soooo cute. Manang-mana sa daddy at mommy nila,” audaciously remarked by a sales person in breaking the silence as my wife and I are left pondering at his offered condominium unit. We have long been reading about the revitalized and booming property market in the Philippines but were still dilly-dallying whether to jump in or not due to some cash flow concerns.
But the salesman’s side-comment sales pitch caught my attention, not just for its half-truthfulness (our son Zek looks closely like my cute wife and not me) but for being reminded of the often-heard of marketing schemes that includes upfront flattery to favorably sway a prospective client into accepting (or buying) his offer.
So what makes a good sales person?
Is it the pushy style?
Is it through employing deceptive techniques?
Is it being manipulative to the extent of being annoying?
I believe the main and primary requirement to be one is that you believe in what you are selling.
Whether it’s just a shampoo or a state-of-the-art gadgetries and gizmos, you must be convinced yourself of its benefits and effectiveness. You must be certain that it falls under the category of WANT and NEED. You must have tried it before and is personally convinced and convicted of its rewards.
As Christians, we are also called to be sales person of God to sell “God-products” and “God-ideas” to the people around us. But just like any good sales person, we must have the personal experience first before we can testify to the relevance of His many blessings. In opposite, however, "selling" God must be free since we received it first freely. The profit we know as heaven was already paid in full by Jesus in Calvary.
So let us join others, by word and most importantly by our works, who have been doing their God-pitch,
Anxious? Doubtful? There is absolutely no reason to be, because the Holy Spirit will be the one doing the convincing and conversion of our clients.
We don’t really need to make the sale or to convert someone.
We are only called to offer or to endorse.
Jon Fischer, a pastor friend and associate of Rick Warren (author of Purpose-Driven Life book) wrote in his reflection: “It’s all in knowing the difference between our business and God’s business. God reveals. God opens eyes. God blinds eyes. God turns on the light. Remember how he did it for you. You can give another person credit for accepting you, giving you worth, and introducing you to Jesus, but you can’t give another person credit for changing your mind. You made the decision and God turned on the light. We need to give others, and God, plenty of room to work.”
Everybody knows that Jesus’ very first salesperson was a sinner by the name of Peter, a less educated, ordinary fisherman folk who after proclaiming his undying loyalty to Him has denied even knowing Him thrice. And we all know how many hearts he won for the Lord. The Lord does not call those qualified. He qualifies those who answered His call.
So let us all buckle up for work and reach out to as many prospective clients – family members, new friends, old acquaintances, any people who crossed our paths. You just might be amazed that many are actually in search for Him and have been waiting for someone to offer Him into their lives.
The consumers are many but the sales person are few.
Come and be one of God’s sales person.
Or to re-phrase it more Christianly – Come and be one of God’s share person.
PS. You are right! My reflection should be aptly titled - Sharing God. It was a marketing strategy.
Empty Tomb
Our Catholic Church believes that Christ's resurrection from the dead is the single-most important event in the bible. Not only did it fulfilled the ancient prophesies about the Messiah but has also culminated the salvation of humanity. All the preachings, miracles and sacrifices leading up to His crucifixion on Calvary would have been for naught if He did not came back to life. All His downtrodden apostles and disciples would have easily dismissed Him simply as one of the greatests prophets of his era should the tomb have not been emptied after 3 days.
Nobody really understood this during His 3 year ministry no matter how basic He narrates the events that was to unfold. Mainly it was due to their different expectation of his Messianic purpose at the time, thus seeing their would-be-king dying like a normal thief was devastating to them. His seemingly-meaningless death rattled their rich experience with Him during the past years.
His resurrection was the life-changing event for His scattered followers
One by one, the unbelief in their hearts turn to belief as Jesus showed Himself to them in the succeeding days.
They grow stronger in their faith.
In our present-day, we have the privilige to have the biblical accounts recorded and narrated for us beforehand.
It is like reading through the script before the movie is even completed. So we can relax a bit after the burial and sit back to enjoy the triumph of Jesus after 3 days.
Or can we?
Most certainly not.
We may have been spared the anxious and gruelling 3-day wait for the resurrection to happen, yet we are still tasked to seek within us how our "unbelief" can be genuinely turned to "true belief". We can not claim authentic faith in our lives if we continue to immerse ourselves in the whims and vains of this world; to practice dishonesty in our workplace, to occupy our thoughts with impure images, to continue withholding our services to those in need, to sacrifice family time in liue of money and career, to misjudge other people, to think highly of ourselves than others etc. Because if this is still our way of life, then it is still Good Friday in our lives - Jesus is still hanging and suffering on the cross to this day.
We must repent, confess and change our lives so the true meaning of Easter will grow within our grasp.
Only we ourselves can stop His suffering now.
Let us lay our Lord into his resting place, so He can rise up again.
Only we ourselves can keep the tomb empty afterwards.
Let us invite our Lord to fill our hearts instead.
Nobody really understood this during His 3 year ministry no matter how basic He narrates the events that was to unfold. Mainly it was due to their different expectation of his Messianic purpose at the time, thus seeing their would-be-king dying like a normal thief was devastating to them. His seemingly-meaningless death rattled their rich experience with Him during the past years.
His resurrection was the life-changing event for His scattered followers
One by one, the unbelief in their hearts turn to belief as Jesus showed Himself to them in the succeeding days.
They grow stronger in their faith.
In our present-day, we have the privilige to have the biblical accounts recorded and narrated for us beforehand.
It is like reading through the script before the movie is even completed. So we can relax a bit after the burial and sit back to enjoy the triumph of Jesus after 3 days.
Or can we?
Most certainly not.
We may have been spared the anxious and gruelling 3-day wait for the resurrection to happen, yet we are still tasked to seek within us how our "unbelief" can be genuinely turned to "true belief". We can not claim authentic faith in our lives if we continue to immerse ourselves in the whims and vains of this world; to practice dishonesty in our workplace, to occupy our thoughts with impure images, to continue withholding our services to those in need, to sacrifice family time in liue of money and career, to misjudge other people, to think highly of ourselves than others etc. Because if this is still our way of life, then it is still Good Friday in our lives - Jesus is still hanging and suffering on the cross to this day.
We must repent, confess and change our lives so the true meaning of Easter will grow within our grasp.
Only we ourselves can stop His suffering now.
Let us lay our Lord into his resting place, so He can rise up again.
Only we ourselves can keep the tomb empty afterwards.
Let us invite our Lord to fill our hearts instead.
Forgiven
It was one of my most traumatic childhood experience.
I was about 8 years old then and was riding my bicycle that time. I was slowly navigating through the throng of kids playing on our small barrio street when suddenly this little girl streaked-out from a blind alley. I panicked and tried a full stop but my front wheel still nudged her in her left thigh. She fell down taken aback. Hurriedly, I got off my bike to apologize and help her up but she stood up fast as well and ran to her house.
I stood there for a moment and thought that the little girl must be OK since she did not cry at all while she ran away. I proceeded home. Nobody was there yet.
After some minutes, I heard a disturbance outside and saw a lady followed by a small crowd knocking heavily on our steel gate. I went out to talk to her but she pulled me on my arms and, while gripping me tightly, dragged me into their house with the group inquisitively trailing. We came to her house and she shoved me inside.
I saw the little girl again. This time she was crying. With a heart beating like drum, I caught a glance of a slight bruised on her left thigh which without a doubt came from my bike wheel.
The furious lady was her mother!
I tried to speak out but was halted.
The next thing I knew, I was being condemned in full view of our neighborhood; some persons standing inside the house, others on the doorway while others peeking through the window glasses.
The mother ranted and shouted expletives at me and all I could utter were words of apology for hurting her little girl and for not going after her to make sure she was alright.
But the mother would not believe any words I just said and continued her rage and verbal abuse of me and on several occasions, also of my family. To her and to the crowds, I am a hit-and-run criminal on the loose to harm children on the streets so I deserve her full vent of ire.
I felt like a tiny ant being stepped on, so helpless, unaided and humiliated.
After some more minutes that felt like forever, the mother seemingly have used up all her expletive vocabularies and pushed me outside their house. I slowly walked away, crying intensely and never bothering to look back. The crowd was jeering, so I started running away as fast as my small feet can.
I never told my parents about it for fear of more confrontation.
It took many months again before I decided to ride my bike again and much more to use that street way once again.
People can be cruel sometimes.
You make a single mistake and no apology can rectify it in their judgmental hearts.
I am glad that God understands our weaknesses and joyfully accepts our acts of contrition.
In Him we all can find consolation that while making mistakes is human nature, forgiveness is also for every repentant heart.
He did the absolute act of forgiveness when He died for us.
Nothing and nobody can take that away from us.
May we all be able to reflect and to immerse ourselves again in His mercy especially during this Holy Week.
God bless us all.
I was about 8 years old then and was riding my bicycle that time. I was slowly navigating through the throng of kids playing on our small barrio street when suddenly this little girl streaked-out from a blind alley. I panicked and tried a full stop but my front wheel still nudged her in her left thigh. She fell down taken aback. Hurriedly, I got off my bike to apologize and help her up but she stood up fast as well and ran to her house.
I stood there for a moment and thought that the little girl must be OK since she did not cry at all while she ran away. I proceeded home. Nobody was there yet.
After some minutes, I heard a disturbance outside and saw a lady followed by a small crowd knocking heavily on our steel gate. I went out to talk to her but she pulled me on my arms and, while gripping me tightly, dragged me into their house with the group inquisitively trailing. We came to her house and she shoved me inside.
I saw the little girl again. This time she was crying. With a heart beating like drum, I caught a glance of a slight bruised on her left thigh which without a doubt came from my bike wheel.
The furious lady was her mother!
I tried to speak out but was halted.
The next thing I knew, I was being condemned in full view of our neighborhood; some persons standing inside the house, others on the doorway while others peeking through the window glasses.
The mother ranted and shouted expletives at me and all I could utter were words of apology for hurting her little girl and for not going after her to make sure she was alright.
But the mother would not believe any words I just said and continued her rage and verbal abuse of me and on several occasions, also of my family. To her and to the crowds, I am a hit-and-run criminal on the loose to harm children on the streets so I deserve her full vent of ire.
I felt like a tiny ant being stepped on, so helpless, unaided and humiliated.
After some more minutes that felt like forever, the mother seemingly have used up all her expletive vocabularies and pushed me outside their house. I slowly walked away, crying intensely and never bothering to look back. The crowd was jeering, so I started running away as fast as my small feet can.
I never told my parents about it for fear of more confrontation.
It took many months again before I decided to ride my bike again and much more to use that street way once again.
People can be cruel sometimes.
You make a single mistake and no apology can rectify it in their judgmental hearts.
I am glad that God understands our weaknesses and joyfully accepts our acts of contrition.
In Him we all can find consolation that while making mistakes is human nature, forgiveness is also for every repentant heart.
He did the absolute act of forgiveness when He died for us.
Nothing and nobody can take that away from us.
May we all be able to reflect and to immerse ourselves again in His mercy especially during this Holy Week.
God bless us all.
Heeding God's Call
THIS IS A JOKE
A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat. "I'm the greatest hitter in the world," he announced. Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed. "Strike One!" he yelled.
Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed. "Strike Two!" he cried.
The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spit on his hands and rubbed them together.He straightened his cap and said once more, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. "Strike Three!"
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "I'm the greatest PITCHER in the world!"
THIS IS NOT A JOKE
Whatever happened or did not happen in our lives that were not according to our plans are only perceived failures. They are temporary setbacks,at worst, that are part of the building blocs of God's plan for us. This basic lesson I was able to learn and absorb only after more than 10 years of wondering and pondering what is ultimately in store for me with the "detours" God was laying in front of me.
My parents have tried moving heaven and earth to guide my life as their lifetime offering to our Lord. I can still remember the times that my father will carry me during Sunday masses so I can see over shoulders all the activities that the celebrant priest are doing. And suffice it to say, I was the greatest motivator for our mother in her unceasing prayer life with the sole intention that I be blessed with the vocation of priesthood. So it was very difficult for me to see my mother cry an ocean of tears when, after a short stint inside a seminary, I was asked to leave for "lack of vocation". And it happened during the time that I was also convince myself that I do want to be a priest someday. There was a gaping hole and an unquenchable yearning in my heart during that moment of my life.
Yet, I did not give up after that. The next year, I tried, albeit in secret, to make a comeback which subsequently yielded again the same refusal after I failed to meet the stringent monthly recollection gatherings. The only consolation was that my parents need not to feel deprived again so this time the burden of sadness was mine alone to wallow in.
My life, henceforth, moved on.
Tonight as I sit down in our bed looking at my sleeping wife who will be celebrating her birthday tomorrow, our 2 month-old Maia beside her and Zek in his deep slumber a pillow away, I can only give my utmost thanks to our Lord for His most beautiful plan for me after all.
Tonight, God reinforces once again what He has been telling me all my life.
Many are called but few are chosen.
The rests are given other vocations.
My vocation is my family.
May we continue to recognize and utilize God's graces in sustaining each of our own vocation in life.
God bless us.
A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat. "I'm the greatest hitter in the world," he announced. Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed. "Strike One!" he yelled.
Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed. "Strike Two!" he cried.
The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spit on his hands and rubbed them together.He straightened his cap and said once more, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. "Strike Three!"
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "I'm the greatest PITCHER in the world!"
THIS IS NOT A JOKE
Whatever happened or did not happen in our lives that were not according to our plans are only perceived failures. They are temporary setbacks,at worst, that are part of the building blocs of God's plan for us. This basic lesson I was able to learn and absorb only after more than 10 years of wondering and pondering what is ultimately in store for me with the "detours" God was laying in front of me.
My parents have tried moving heaven and earth to guide my life as their lifetime offering to our Lord. I can still remember the times that my father will carry me during Sunday masses so I can see over shoulders all the activities that the celebrant priest are doing. And suffice it to say, I was the greatest motivator for our mother in her unceasing prayer life with the sole intention that I be blessed with the vocation of priesthood. So it was very difficult for me to see my mother cry an ocean of tears when, after a short stint inside a seminary, I was asked to leave for "lack of vocation". And it happened during the time that I was also convince myself that I do want to be a priest someday. There was a gaping hole and an unquenchable yearning in my heart during that moment of my life.
Yet, I did not give up after that. The next year, I tried, albeit in secret, to make a comeback which subsequently yielded again the same refusal after I failed to meet the stringent monthly recollection gatherings. The only consolation was that my parents need not to feel deprived again so this time the burden of sadness was mine alone to wallow in.
My life, henceforth, moved on.
Tonight as I sit down in our bed looking at my sleeping wife who will be celebrating her birthday tomorrow, our 2 month-old Maia beside her and Zek in his deep slumber a pillow away, I can only give my utmost thanks to our Lord for His most beautiful plan for me after all.
Tonight, God reinforces once again what He has been telling me all my life.
Many are called but few are chosen.
The rests are given other vocations.
My vocation is my family.
May we continue to recognize and utilize God's graces in sustaining each of our own vocation in life.
God bless us.
Thoughts about growing old
Most people I know would like to live only as long as they are productive.
Beginning with myself, I mean, I dread to imagine myself at age 70 years old, bed-ridden and unable to even bring myself up to tend personally to my basic needs. That, in which opening my mouth or chewing my food brings total discomfort to my sagging facial muscles, is unthinkable for me. Signing-off with relative youth seems to be the best retirement plan to make.
A silly idea indeed from a silly person like me.
For how many septegenarians or octogenarians have we read or heard who have been living productive lives despite their late ages? A lot, we can say.
And then I watched Violet Hensley from Arkansas (United States) on one prime-time news. My jaw dropped with awe at seeing this 90 year old lady playing the fiddle with gusto, making her own fiddles ( and selling them as well ) in her own home and whose hobby includes......(get ready for this)....bare-back riding horses. Her life is full with vigor and enthusiasm with a picturesque smile ready to infect everyone who stikes a conversation with her.
To think that I always have a soft spot when seeing my 62 year-old father lifting mineral waters and LPG gas tanks during deliveries to his regular customers. I am always tempted to put a stop to his activity by promising to offer more financial support to him and to our mother.
But it is not all about the money, I believe, as my thinking matures through the years.It is about living their own productive lives.It is about not sitting down or not laying in bed waiting to grow older.
As I write this, my father is also practicing his bowling skills as a participant in their upcoming Knights of Columbus tournament (I bet Paeng Nepomuceno will attempt another comeback if he ever reads this). And my mother? Well, she will likely be filling his spot in our modest store (minus the deliveries, of course), frantically running around when the students at the adjacent school starts buying simultaneously.
Most of our grandparents and parents have known the secret, it is not the age that makes us old rather the "oldness" that we imaginatively feel with our age.
Do not limit ourselves with what God has not even hinder us with.
Make plans for your 65th, 70th, 75th and so on years.
Indulge in your hobbies and doctor-recommended exercises.
Try new things. Try old things you forgot to do before because of your busy life. Laugh with your granchildren (or great grandchildren at that! ). Keep serving the Lord in the littlest of things your frail body can do.
Be always young at heart and enjoy life on earth in its full term.
Just remember, no matter what your age is now, we are still "children" in God's eyes.
God bless us all.
Beginning with myself, I mean, I dread to imagine myself at age 70 years old, bed-ridden and unable to even bring myself up to tend personally to my basic needs. That, in which opening my mouth or chewing my food brings total discomfort to my sagging facial muscles, is unthinkable for me. Signing-off with relative youth seems to be the best retirement plan to make.
A silly idea indeed from a silly person like me.
For how many septegenarians or octogenarians have we read or heard who have been living productive lives despite their late ages? A lot, we can say.
And then I watched Violet Hensley from Arkansas (United States) on one prime-time news. My jaw dropped with awe at seeing this 90 year old lady playing the fiddle with gusto, making her own fiddles ( and selling them as well ) in her own home and whose hobby includes......(get ready for this)....bare-back riding horses. Her life is full with vigor and enthusiasm with a picturesque smile ready to infect everyone who stikes a conversation with her.
To think that I always have a soft spot when seeing my 62 year-old father lifting mineral waters and LPG gas tanks during deliveries to his regular customers. I am always tempted to put a stop to his activity by promising to offer more financial support to him and to our mother.
But it is not all about the money, I believe, as my thinking matures through the years.It is about living their own productive lives.It is about not sitting down or not laying in bed waiting to grow older.
As I write this, my father is also practicing his bowling skills as a participant in their upcoming Knights of Columbus tournament (I bet Paeng Nepomuceno will attempt another comeback if he ever reads this). And my mother? Well, she will likely be filling his spot in our modest store (minus the deliveries, of course), frantically running around when the students at the adjacent school starts buying simultaneously.
Most of our grandparents and parents have known the secret, it is not the age that makes us old rather the "oldness" that we imaginatively feel with our age.
Do not limit ourselves with what God has not even hinder us with.
Make plans for your 65th, 70th, 75th and so on years.
Indulge in your hobbies and doctor-recommended exercises.
Try new things. Try old things you forgot to do before because of your busy life. Laugh with your granchildren (or great grandchildren at that! ). Keep serving the Lord in the littlest of things your frail body can do.
Be always young at heart and enjoy life on earth in its full term.
Just remember, no matter what your age is now, we are still "children" in God's eyes.
God bless us all.
Ash Sunday
Four days ago was our Ash Sunday.
You see, in this part of China, our small community is not under any parish and is only visited by Fr. Adams, a volunteer priest from Hongkong, on every 1st, 3rd and 5th (if any) Sundays of each month to celebrate mass for us. So you can just imagine the adjustments in our liturgical year celebrations. We have only 2 Sundays of Advent. We have Christmas mass on the Sunday before the actual date. The same goes for our New Year mass. We will have Palm Sunday and Good Friday mass together during the Holy Week. So it is always a blessing to see Fr. Adams flexing, not only his tight schedules, but also the Sunday masses to celebrate the more relevant Catholic events that we will miss in the next 2 weeks.
So the idea of Ash Sunday simply follows this reality.
Anyway, Fr. Adams, during his homily, has added a golden spiritual nugget to the message of Ash Wednesday, the start of our 40-day Lenten season. He beautifully expounded the phrase - "From dust we came and to dust we will return", by suffixing it with - "And with our dust we will glorify God in eternity". Returning to dust is not the end for us even for our physical bodies. It simply takes another natural form while it waits for the time that it will be raised up again during the resurrection of the dead. And with this same purified and sanctified ashes our "new body" will rise up to glorify God in eternity.
Pondering at Fr. Adam's reflection made me understand more about God's plan for us to have an earthly death. It is not to make the final separation of our spirit from our weak, withered, illness-battered physical bodies but to cleanse our bodies from all the effects of years of sinfulness before our spirit can rejoin it in eternal and heavenly praise of God.
Death, as we all know, is not the end.It is the start of the consummation of God's divine plan for our salvation.And on the first day of eternity, we will see and recognize each other in heaven - body and spirit together.
......I believe in the Holy Spirit
The Holy Catholic Church
The communion of saints
The forgiveness of sins
The resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Amen.
May we all have a meaningful Lenten season.
God Bless.
You see, in this part of China, our small community is not under any parish and is only visited by Fr. Adams, a volunteer priest from Hongkong, on every 1st, 3rd and 5th (if any) Sundays of each month to celebrate mass for us. So you can just imagine the adjustments in our liturgical year celebrations. We have only 2 Sundays of Advent. We have Christmas mass on the Sunday before the actual date. The same goes for our New Year mass. We will have Palm Sunday and Good Friday mass together during the Holy Week. So it is always a blessing to see Fr. Adams flexing, not only his tight schedules, but also the Sunday masses to celebrate the more relevant Catholic events that we will miss in the next 2 weeks.
So the idea of Ash Sunday simply follows this reality.
Anyway, Fr. Adams, during his homily, has added a golden spiritual nugget to the message of Ash Wednesday, the start of our 40-day Lenten season. He beautifully expounded the phrase - "From dust we came and to dust we will return", by suffixing it with - "And with our dust we will glorify God in eternity". Returning to dust is not the end for us even for our physical bodies. It simply takes another natural form while it waits for the time that it will be raised up again during the resurrection of the dead. And with this same purified and sanctified ashes our "new body" will rise up to glorify God in eternity.
Pondering at Fr. Adam's reflection made me understand more about God's plan for us to have an earthly death. It is not to make the final separation of our spirit from our weak, withered, illness-battered physical bodies but to cleanse our bodies from all the effects of years of sinfulness before our spirit can rejoin it in eternal and heavenly praise of God.
Death, as we all know, is not the end.It is the start of the consummation of God's divine plan for our salvation.And on the first day of eternity, we will see and recognize each other in heaven - body and spirit together.
......I believe in the Holy Spirit
The Holy Catholic Church
The communion of saints
The forgiveness of sins
The resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Amen.
May we all have a meaningful Lenten season.
God Bless.
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