Adventum Domini

Until this year, I was a full-time OFW the past thirteen years.

Blessed with a generous employer and a short-distance flight travel from my work-site, my family has the privileged to visit Philippines at least once a year. It was always an occasion we looked forward to – a long break from my everyday work, my wife catching up with friends and relatives, my children being able to enjoy their play-time with cousins and friends who finally spoke the same mother tongue. And did I forget to say about Pinoy foods, and more mouth-watering Pinoy foods, and more mouth-watering tempting Pinoy foods, all  to our tummy’s delight? Admittedly, diet and weight gain are non-existing vocabularies during those 3-week stay-cations.

In all those years, a simple welcome tradition was started by my parents. Whether it be a simple pentel-marked A4 paper, or a hurriedly pen-scribbled message on a brown Manila paper or in a large cartolina with our nephews and nieces writing their greetings, they would always write their “Welcome Home” greetings for us. They would hang it, make it stand, paste it or tie around any post just to make sure it would be the first thing we would see when we arrive the house. Anybody could easily dismiss the haphazard outlook of those welcome greetings but the truth is, the heart-warming message always leave a love-mark in us.

We are entering the Advent season wherein the Lord is coming again on Christmas day. So how are you and I so far in the preparation stages for His arrival? Hopefully, the top-most in our to-do-list will not be about early discount shopping for gifts, or extravagant decoration-motifs of the humongous and glittering Christmas trees we have, or the sumptuous Noche Buena feast we are planning to serve to our loved ones. Neither the beautiful clothes nor the latest shiny pair of shoes during the Simbang gabi series or Sunday mass count as well. Don’t get me wrong. These stuffs are OK in making good outwardly preparations. However, we must focus on and prioritize what is really essential.

When our Lord celebrant arrives, what He would certainly like to see, is the simple yet humble, happy and hopeful welcome message we will put in front of us, in the open doorsteps of our hearts.

“Welcome Home and Stay In Us, Lord.”

Mas warm yan kesa sa mga kumukutikutitap.

Kaya tara na po para ihanda ang ating mga puso.

Padating na siya.

God bless po.

Behind The Tragedies

In the Lego DVD movie “The Adventures of Clutch Powers”, the main hero Clutch Powers was given a new team composed of Brick, a weapons and demolition expert, Peg, a biologist, and Bernie, an engineer. Their initial mission led them to a lot of challenges culminating in their face-off with the evil wizard Mallock.

So how did they solve all the obstacles they encountered to win over their enemies? They “build on each other” (an fitting Lego liner that sums up its world-wide known product).

It took another subsequent and devastating natural calamities – the Bohol earthquake and the Yolanda supertyphoon, to bring to focus the capacity for vast outpouring of kindness and love of one fellowman to another. Filipinos from all walks of life and in all regions of the world, regardless of religious, political or social affiliations, have banded together to pray for, to donate or to volunteer in their heartwarming intention to ease the hopelessness and helplessness that the victims after losing their loved ones and their lifetime belongings. And the international community was equally pro-active and quick-responding in providing technical and medical expertise to alleviate the dire situations especially in those hard-hit yet hard-to-reach areas. Stories how young children donate their piggy-bank savings, how the “poorest among the poor” even donates his very meager daily earnings to buy relief goods or how a looted grocery owner even ask one lady looter who thanked her because it was her child’s birthday that day and they have nothing to eat if she will not join the mad scramble to steal from other people can simply bring one’s misty eyes to tears. 

If there is anything good that can come out from these recent tragedies, then it is only that we learn to give and love again in the most unconditional way.

It will only be a matter of time, but the Visayan people will be back on its feet and rise again to restore their lives back to normalcy.

Until then, they know that their kababayans and the rest of the world are behind them all they way. 

God bless the Filipino spirit.

God bless the loving world we can be.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.   

Giving with Joy

We have a small Shenzhen-based community in China which we aptly called Brgy. China. This open yet closely-knit family-oriented community has been our family away from home since we were invited by them in the year 2003. Families join and leave China but the friendships keeps growing nevertheless.

Through the years, we have cultivated deeper relationships with one another through regular get-togethers and rich inter-personal relationships. In the past few years, the core members have actively participated as choir members, lay ministers, catechists and event organizers during Sunday mass services at the Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Shenzhen. And they just completed the Couples for Christ seminar-modules.

Simultaneous with our religious endeavors, we also started to cooperate closely with the Philippine consulate and other Filipino communities in bringing fraternal and legal assistance to Filipinos in need and in distress. We are hosting and organizing outreach programs to provide basic consulate services like passport renewals, absentee voting, OEC issuance and other relevant concerns. Surely, our small group has gone beyond our “comfort zones” in making a small difference in the lives of the fellow OFWs.

But what makes me deeply proud to be a member of Brgy. China is that we finally expanded our giving to finally benefit the poor and needy kababayans back in the Philippines. Annually, we support two philanthropic outreach programs and we have emergency donation pooling in times of urgent relief for calamities. The trust and generosity of our community friends is humbling.

Each member of Brgy.China has his/her own family concerns and financial struggles, but when one member spearheads a lend-a-hand call for our time, talent and treasures, rest assure that cheerful reaching-out-hands are closely nearby.

So what happens when we give “things that hurts” and keep on giving “despite the hurts”?

We start to give with joy. 

God bless po.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

The Day Our Lives Changed Forever

Five years ago, My wife and I both felt that we have a picture-perfect life for our family. Career-wise, I was then employed in a China-based foreign company whose owner is kind enough to be a second father to me. I have good working relationship with everyone in the office. I was actively participating in the small virtual group of Kerygmafamily expressing and exchanging faith ideas and experiences with other fellow-believers. I was also contributing articles to the e-ministry of Bro. Jun Asis’ Mabuting Balita. And above all, my family of four was always together, a special situation that a lot of OFWs around the world continue to wish and hope for. At the end of each day, my wife, as a full-time homemaker, never ran out of stories about the fun stuffs to tell of how her day went with our two active and bubbly kids. Each moment was pleasant, memorable and fulfilling to us being young parents.

Little did we know that we were actually threading through the eye of the storm and the whiplash of wind gusts would hit us when we least expected it.     

A few weeks after moving to our new flat, the very intense heart-piercing tragedy struck us – within few overnight-hours of contracting fever, our 22-month old daughter passed away in our arms at the break of dawn. It happened so fast that by the time I brought her to the hospital, the expressions on the faces of the doctor and nurse confirmed that it was already too late to save her. 

We were devastated to our very inner core and were totally lost in pain.

We desperately searched for answer and despaired when no answer seemed to come from anywhere.

When a child loses a parent, he/she becomes an orphan. When a spouse loses his/her partner, he becomes a widower or she becomes a widow. But when a mother loses her child, there is no known societal status for her to be known or called. It is as if she died also with her child. As a husband, my greatest fear then was if and how my wife would be able to recover considering that she already went through a lot of tough times during her growing years.

In Rick Warren’s recent e-article “You Need God’s Presence, not His Explanation” he wrote, “When God is silent in your life, you’re going through a test. When you don’t hear God and he feels like a million miles away, that is a test! The teacher is always silent when the students take a test. When God is silent in your life, your faith is being tested. Will you let go of control, or will you grab on more tightly? Will you learn to be content?

Slowly, it dawned on us that God was actually talking to us through the support and comforting words of family members, relatives and friends. He was not only talking to us, but He was embracing us to make sure our faith that He put to the test would not falter. We were not able to and most probably will never understand in our lifetime why it really had to happen to us but by His constant presence and grace, we learned to accept His will. We let go and let God. 

When you’re going through pain this next week or next month or this year, you don’t really need God’s explanation. You need God’s presence” - RW

We love and miss you a lot, Maia.

We will see you again in God’s appointed time so for now we will let bittersweet memories remain to remember you by. And we will keep refuge with the knowledge that you are now an angel in heaven and that God is always in loving control of our lives.

Giving Despite the Hurts

I heard a priest’s story about their small community that contemplated to give free sandwiches to the poor street people in their area. They went ahead with their plan, buying loaf breads and sandwich spreads with their available fund. They organized and coordinated their outreach with the local authorities. They free-up their personal schedules to make sure that all hands are on the deck for a smooth and effective feeding program. On the day of outreach itself and while the poor people where all lining up, the first two persons on the line asked one community leader, "Ano po ang palaman ng sandwich?".Upon knowing the type of sandwich spreads used, they moved away from the line, remarking,"Ayy, ayoko ng palaman, di bale na lang."

Lowly 10%.

After curing ten lepers only one Samaritan man came back to give thanks to Jesus. It inevitably saddened Him that those who recovered from the physical and social stigma of leprosy of those times failed to give thanks. Not that He needed acknowledgment or praise from them, but that it meant to reflect the deep and personal faith-change of those who were cured.

Nevertheless, Jesus, instead of castigating the ungrateful nine, took that opportunity to preach about the virtue of gratitude.

And then what?

Jesus continued His preaching and His healing. He knows His mission is not to be dictated by the good or bad reactions, by the praise or persecution, by the faith or lack thereof of whom He blesses. His obedience to His Father’s mandate took precedence over these distractions..

We live in a time where disaster and calamities abound in which a lot of people need our assistance. We answer their call but at times lost that desire once negative situations surfaced – government mishandling of calamity funds, selective distributions, politicking, abuses or malpractices resulting to spoilage or misuse of relief goods, proliferation of bogus foundations, and upfront ungratefulness of some recipients are to name a few. We use these unfortunate events to make sweeping justification that nothing good can come out from our small good deeds.

But the truth is, we must not be disheartened when these things happen and when people do not appreciate or even acknowledge our kind assistance. God who sees our deepest heart’s desire to extend help is truly happy with our good deeds, with our generosity. He knows how we are trying our best to fulfill His commandment to do these things to the least of our brethren.

So the challenge remains – do we keep giving despite the hurts or do we distance ourselves eventually? Hopefully, we keep choosing the former.

By all means we should choose our medium of generosity in order for evil not to take advantage of our kindness.

But we must all be spontaneous givers, not calculating.

We must be naturally generous.

We must keep on giving.

God bless po.

Galatians 6:9 Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up.

Giving That Hurts

I read this story somewhere - One time a school teacher asked her pupils to bring personal things to their class which will be donated to those who were badly affected by a recent typhoon. The next day, everyone brought their donations. One student named Jack, beaming with pride, showed off his huge bags of old clothes and toys that he collected last night. A lot of his classmates passed heaps of praises and admiration for his big donation. Another student Jill, sitting quietly in the corner, was holding a small plastic bag of her own donations. When it was time for all students to put all their stuffs inside the donation box, the teacher noticed that Jill's gifts appeared all relatively new. Curiously, she asked Jill if she still had to buy her donations because of their new outlook. Jill simply answered that her clothes and toys for donations are her favorite ones and so she was certain that these will be enjoyed by the affected children as well.

Clearly, when it comes to giving, quality giving is better than quantity giving. It is hardly a sacrificial love if our giving does not even leave a small I-want- it-back feeling after it left our hands.

 In the biblical story of the poor widow whom Jesus saw putting a few cents into the church’s treasury, we all know that her few cents represented her all. In all likelihood, she went away with worries how her next meal will come by. And this mattered way more to Jesus’ observant eyes than those who put much larger sums that represents only the proverbial crumbs on their tables.

It’s never too late for you and me to try it one small action at a given time.

When the next typhoon donation call comes, look and choose to give our new or favorite shirt rather than the old worn out one. Or when the next hungry beggar come near us, let us give the hamburger that we are about to take a bite and settle for a biscuit or a candy stuck inside our bag.

  

Indeed, our “best” in giving will always be better than the rest (or our so-called left-over and excesses).

God bless.

Atrophy

It is inspiring to personally witness how my wife’s uncle has literally moved mountains trying to recuperate from his debilitating stroke a few years ago. His miraculous recovery from his over-sea emergency cranial operation and his steel-determined disposition to keep-up with his physical and mental therapies has shown promising progress for him and his family. On the other hand, my wife also has a distant relative who experienced the same head ailment and who has been bedridden for years leading to his legs shrinking in mass and strength due to muscular atrophy.      

I myself have been into writing hibernation the past nine months and two well meaning friends already asked me why. Well, I could always bring out the writer’s block card but the reality is that it has a lot more to do with this year’s major turn in my family and career direction.

It has been nine months since I officially became a part-time OFW, a part-time entrepreneur and a struggling and cramming home-school co-parent/teacher to our Zek, a fourth-grader at CFA. I must admit that I am just barely managing my time ever since. Don’t get me wrong. I do like these challenges and I do love spending more time with my family. On the other hand, the time allotment I have for each planned tasks seemed to have shrunk from a marathon run pre-resignation to a 100-meter dash the last few weeks. And unfortunately, my writing time was one of those that have given way.

I do not wish to suffer writing atrophy so I try harder to manage my time and write again.

By God’s grace, I intend to get back on using this God’s gift for His glory.

As 1 Peter 4:10 says that “as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace”.

"Invite Everyone"

August 22 Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14

After three days of incessant rains, our countrymen can finally start to assess their losses, start their recovery and restore their sense of normalcy which the recent (on-going) floods have taken away from them. With the collective efforts of kind-hearted Filipinos who donates and volunteers to provide relief goods, the flood victims will once again (and as always) survive this natural calamity.

In today’s gospel, Jesus likened the kingdom og Heaven to a king who gave a feast for for his son’s wedding. Everyone were invited, the bad and good alike, but some ignored and went with their own plans. The invitation was extended to “strangers” on the roads and “the wedding hall was filled with guests”.

One of the proverbial silver linings of every natural calamity that visits the Philippines yearly is that “barriers” are torn down in the name of greater good and love for mankind. Religious, ethnic or political affiliations are swept aside and genuine love for one’s neighbors surfaces.

The invitation to love is out.

Please accept and come.

God bless.          

Below are some websites to guide you in your intention to donate or volunteer.

1.    http://www.reliefph.com/

2.    http://gk1world.com/give

God's Gift

388,800.

Please bear with me as I request you to simply stop what you are doing, to sit down and to close your eyes for one minute. Don’t move. Relax and just enjoy the peaceful silence around. 

OK. Stop.

Did you know that what you just did amounts to the same one minute of time you have spent inside your mother’s womb. So to cover the full nine months of natural conception, we have to spend 388,800 minutes of silent darkness where we can relax and feel completely safe. Yes, that is 388,800 minutes of absolute serenity.

But outside our protected comfort zone, a slew of challenging events were happening to our respective mothers. Morning sickness, lost of appetite, mood-swings due to hormonal imbalances for starters. Then, her body pains starts as the womb starts to grow. Insecurity and anxieties are likely part of her daily thoughts. Does she stop working? No way. If she is employed, she will still wake up early to prepare everything including for her husband and other children. She will still walk a few distance to where the jeepney or tricycle stops for passengers. Through all the bumps and humps, potholes and detours, she steadily hold onto something with one hand while covering his mouth by the other to avoid inhaling dusts and smoke. If she stays at home, she still cleans the house, wash and iron clothes, prepares the next meal. She does this day in and day out.

At the moment of birth, whose warm body comforted us as we cried? Hers.

Whose milk pacified us from crying with hunger? Hers.

Whose embraces and kisses kept us warm? Hers.

Whose voice did we first hear whispering the words “My baby!”, “You are so beautiful!” and “I love you!”? Hers.

Whose lullabies and hums put us to sleep every night? Hers.

As our sights began to open up, whose smiling face did we see first and oftentimes? Hers.

Whose distorted and funny facial expressions brought out our first giggles and laughter? Hers.

As we learn to move parts of our body, whose hands were always there to guide us? Hers.

 When we started to walk, whose cheers encouraged us to keep rising every time we fell? Hers.

As we started experiencing hurts and pains, whose comforting presence came to our rescue? Hers.

 As an inquisitive child wondering about everything around us, whose answer do we often seek then? Hers.

When we started to learn how to pray, whose patient tutorials led us to memorize these? Hers.

As years passed by, we did grow up, from bubbly toothless children to pimple-conscious teenagers to idealist young adults graduating from studies to a promising professional looking up the corporate ladder of success. And whether we found our future-spouse or pursued other vocations, there is always one invisible but guiding presence in our lives. It’s hers.

Yes, our mother has always been there for us from conception to birth, from birth to adulthood and whatever in-between events that we went through or are presently undergoing now.

It is of little wonder why God used the comparison of a mother’s love to His because it is the closest unconditional love we can personally experience in our earthly lives. Jesus, during His ascension, has assured us that He will always be with us until the end of time. Theologically speaking, we believe this gift to be the Holy Spirit. But in the eyes of a child, this gift from God is personified and personalized through the love and care that only a mother can give.

To our Mommy Tonette on her 70^th birthday, we profoundly thank you for all your years of selfless giving and endless loving to us your children and (now) to your grand-children. We pray and wish for you to have more healthy years as you continue to be there for all of us.

We love you.

 

Proverbs 23:22, 25

“…..When your mother is old, show her your appreciation….let your father and mother be proud of you; give your mother that happiness.”