Happy Pentecost Sunday

Today is Pentecost Sunday, it’s the birthday of our Church. I actually attended two morning masses. Early this morning I caught Fr. Fernando Suarez on his 6am mass on television. I always love listening to him every chance I get because I love how he shares his reflections in his wonderful homilies.  He emphasized that spiritual healing is more important than a physical one.  When you are spiritually healed, you find peace.  I also attended the 7:30 am mass at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, a five-minute tricycle ride from our place.

I borrowed our profile picture from our apostolate page, Apostles Filipino Catholic Community where I am one of the admins.  It’s a public  page where we post reflections, Catholic news, daily gospel readings and inspirational quotes every day.  Updating it really makes my stay at FB worthwhile. And here’s my short spiritual reflection for the day:

God is love. God is joy. God is peace. Let love, joy and peace reign in our hearts forever.

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Kamay Ni Jesus (Lucban, Quezon)

I haven’t gone on road trips for  more than a year now. The last time I did, we visited  the 71-foot statue of Mama Mary in Tanay which I shared here in a blog. I love visiting religious sites where one could savor the peace and quiet and get in touch with  one’s inner self and strengthen one’s faith.  I dreamed of visiting  Kamay ni Jesus in Lucban, Quezon but my ever adventurous son beat me to it. They spent the weekend in Lucban and visited the Shrine. Kamay ni Jesus is a  50-foot statue of resurrected Christ  on top of a hill. And just like Regina RICA in Tanay, you have to climb more than three hundred steps to get to the top. I borrowed some pictures from his cellphone. Hopefully, one of these days, I will be able to visit the place too.

One thing more that makes me long to see Lucban, Quezon is I want to get in touch with relatives there.  My paternal grandfather hailed from that place but our generation never got to know our close relatives there except for  his cousin and his family whom we used to visit in Quezon City when I was in high school.  The surname Abuel is pretty common in Lucban. How I wish that one day I could discover our family tree and get to visit the place. All I remember is the name of my paternal great-grandfather  that my late Dad told me before he died.

May 15, 2013 is another big celebration in Lucban. San Isidro de Pahiyas Festival is another event that I want to witness in Lucban. I wonder what kiping tastes like. It is inconvenient for me to travel solo so I’ll save the best for last – going on a trip to Batanes and attending the Pahiyas Festival.

By the way, son brought home Lucban longganisa, a roll of yummy Yema cake and a big pack  of meringue. The latter I think is one of their famous products.

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A Blessed Holy Thursday To All

I love these quiet  moments when not even a sound of barking dogs could be heard outside – time to reflect, time to give thanks, time to just  appreciate everything.  God’s graces are overflowing!

 

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A Blessed Holy Week To All

With Christ, the heart never grows old! – Pope Francis

Have a blessed and meaningful Holy Week!

(I don’t own this pic, it was just culled from the net).

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Life (My Own Quotes)

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Sede Vacante

I am sad, I would surely miss the smiling face of Pope Benedict XVI. He will no longer be seen in public starting today. Last night, I watched the live feature of the final  public Papal Audience on television and his message made me cry but it inspired me so much.

“I commend all of you, with great affection, to his loving care, asking him to strengthen you in the hope which opens our hearts to the fullness of life that he alone can give. To you and your families, I impart my blessing. Thank you!”

I am praying that he would be in good health and will continue to pray for the whole Catholic Church and the world. I also pray that the College of Cardinals who will be choosing the next Pope  will be guided by the Holy Spirit and that the conclave will be a success. News say that our very own Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is a strong contender. He is the second youngest cardinal among the  117 cardinals who are qualified to choose a new Pope.

Even his Pontifex at Twitter will no longer be updated unless the new elected Pope would continue posting inspirational messages and prayers.

Here is a stunning picture  of St.Peter’s Square shared by Vatican Radio -English Version taken last night by AP,  with less than 24 hours left in the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. And I thought, the moon shines in splendor just as much as in Rome, giving an uncanny feeling that I am closer to the place.

I am also sharing some of his  inspiring  messages on Twitter.

We can be certain that a believer is never alone. God is the solid rock upon which we build our lives and his love is always faithful.

Offer everything you do to the Lord, ask his help in all the circumstances of daily life and remember that he is always beside you.

Everyone’s life of faith has times of light, but also times of darkness. If you want to walk in the light, let the word of God be your guide.

We do not possess the truth, the truth possesses us. Christ, who is the truth, takes us by the hand.

In this Year of Faith, may every Christian rediscover the beauty of being reborn in the love of God and living as his true children.

If we have love for our neighbor, we will find the face of Christ in the poor, the weak, the sick and the suffering.

I like this best,  he said that he is “not stepping down to travel or go to receptions. I will continue to be dedicated to the Lord.”  We will miss you Pope Benedict!

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Beyond

We stand here encompassed by winter; the barren trees with their fallen leaves, the silent riverbed. Nothing is more certain in life or nature than death. We accept it as the way of things. Perhaps we are able because we have faith in spring. Yet somehow it seems different to us when death comes early. Much as we might bemoan an early winter, we feel robbed of something due. We feel cheated. Sometimes we rage. And sometimes we blame. And in doing so, we say to God, “My will be done, not Thine,” and we forget about the promise of spring. In the cold of our soul’s winter, we bury our hearts. And when we wonder why it is dark and why we feel alone. and we risk spending so much of our lives occupied with our loss and what we have not, that we forget the beauty of what is and what we still have. And this is sometimes, the greater loss. – richard paul evans

A week ago, I cried at the loss of an online friend who has been a part of my life for the past five years or so. We have known each other exchanging comments and views at our Multiply sites  learning life’s angst and lovely dreams of tomorrow.  Bella was so supportive of me when I underwent chemotherapy around the time we were so active at Multiply. We formed a close group, some of whom I eventually met personally.  Even then, she always said that she had a delicate health, she came home from a teaching job in Thailand  and enjoyed gardening and writing about her thoughts on family life, gardening, love of music and anything that we could touch under the sun. You might wonder, is an online friendship possible?  YES, it is. My only regret is that, I only talked to her once, over the phone, a surprise call which she appreciated very much.  Reading the outpouring of grief and offer of prayers on her wall at Facebook, I realized that when you are not afraid to reach out to people, those same friends would remember you with fondness and love.

Life is short. We always say  that and it is more felt when we lose someone dear to us, the feeling of loneliness is so acute that you recall your own pain and you cry silent tears of goodbye.  Then you begin to see at some inspired moment that you are lucky you’re still alive, well and kicking as they say. You begin to see that life is a life of second chances. You begin to appreciate the things that you somehow take for granted because they are always there at an easy reach.

What makes one happy?  Friends give us that feeling of being special,  more so when they appreciate what we do and what we share. And no matter what mundane things we do, there is always that feeling of joy because our friends accept us as we are and  give us words of encouragement to go on. Happiness depends on our outlook in life. We could choose to be in misery or always to be happy, because in the end, happiness is a choice.

Life is short, value it. Happiness is sometimes fleeting, grab it. Trite as it may sound, the blue sky is just behind the clouds.

 

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Catching Up On The Beauty Of Words

Short of saying I haven’t read in quite a while, I am happy that since the start of January, I was able to catch up on my reading. It’s now a feat for me to read five books in a span of  almost two months because for a while there, reading has taken a backseat although I have accumulated  and bought more books that would last me the whole year, I think.

I am a fan of Richard Paul Evans. Since I found him more than a decade ago, I enjoyed sourcing bookstores to look for more of his books. Luckily though, even some of my friends joined in the search and sent me hardbound copies of his books from abroad. And as if that is not enough, Richard is an online friend at FB so I am always updated on what is new and what I’ve missed. Last night, I finished reading one of his earlier published books, The Looking Glass. It’s a re-read actually but like the first time that I encountered it, it never fails to give me that smile. One becomes reflective when you read about life and all its angst. One becomes a mirror that reflects how life is, at the moment, in a heartbeat, for a lifetime. No, this is not a book summary, I’ll just want to recall all the beautiful quotes I marked with pencil while reading it. You might have noticed that I regularly post quotes here from his timeline (with his permission, of course).  And I love those diary entries every start of each chapter of all his books.

-The dreams still haunt me, leaving me in the dawn wet with tears. It is true, there are moments in one’s life more memorable than entire years. But these moments are those usually wished forgotten.

-I do not wonder at the cruelty of this world, as it seems the nature of it. I find myself more perplexed as why there is good at all.

-I have learned a great truth of life. We do not succeed in spite of our challenges and difficulties, but rather, precisely because of them.

-Oftentimes  it takes the darkness of another grief to shed light on our own.

-The truth of ourselves is too often blurred  by the capricious image  of our self-perception. I believe it is among greatest  quests of life, not just to see life as it really is, but to see his part in it.

-Until you see yourself  worthy of love, you will forever be chained.

-Not all pain was equal. That there could in fact, be delicious sorrow.

-The greatest shackles we bear in this life are those forged by our own fears.

-The measure of a person’s heart, the barometer of good or evil, was nothing more than the extent to choose life over death. That the path of God was simply the path of life, abundant and eternal.

-Though one does not forget the wounds of the past, scars can bring gratitude if we will consider the healer.

-Nowhere does man err more greatly than when he looks to see the reality of what he is.

I have just started on another Anita Shreve book, A Change of Altitude.  I hope it will be just as good as her other books.

 

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Message of His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle On Pope Benedict XVI’s Resignation

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Pope Benedict XVI’s renunciation of the ministry as Bishop of Rome on February 11, 2013 came as a surprise. The announcement also brought sadness to us. We felt like children clinging to a father who bids them farewell. But sadness gives way to admiration for the Holy Father’s humility, honesty, courage and sincerity. His paramount desire is to promote the greater good of the Church. We know that the Papal ministry is not an easy task. So we thank Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected Pope at the rather advanced age of 78, for selflessly guiding the Church these past eight years with his teaching, simplicity and gentleness.
I am inviting all of you to pray for Pope Benedict XVI especially as he devotes the coming years at the service of the Church through a life of prayer. Let us also pray for the Cardinal Fathers who will elect a new Pope in the coming conclave. In this Year of Faith, let us fix our eyes on Jesus the Good Shepherd. With Him and the Life-giving Spirit, we will journey towards the Father and the Kingdom of God with much hope and love.

+Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle
Archbishop of Manila

I’ve been blogging about Archbishop Luis  Antonio Cardinal Tagle since he was appointed as Archbishop of Manila.

 

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Don’t Give Up

Life is beautiful, why would you let yourself think otherwise? Never give up. There are more things to appreciate in life than to complain about.

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