Walking In the Rain On A Sunday Morning (It’s The Fourth Sunday of Advent)

We are on the last week of waiting –  with much anticipation and joy (hopefully) in our hearts. It’s Sunday again, a time to reflect and a time to pray, a time to give thanks and a time to be grateful.  I attended two masses today. One was a TV mass presided by Fr. Fernando Suarez and the latter at St. Jude Thaddeus parish in a nearby subdivision.I was so glad to see Fr. Leo Luanzon of the Marian Missionaries of the Holy Cross. He is one of my favorite priests and he always has a well-prepared homily relevant to the present times and to the gospel.  I always look forward too to Fr. Suarez’ healing masses on TV and he always has the best homily ever.  He said that the joy of giving is priceless and we should not deprive ourselves of giving joy. He talked about those he prayed for and got well because of their faith.  Healing, according to him is available every time we gather together in Jesus’ name.

Thank You Jesus!  We ask through  prayers but sometimes we forget to say thank you. I remember my journey towards my healing, the times I had to be in the hospital every two weeks for laboratory tests and every three weeks for chemotherapy.  I underwent chemo for five months and you can just imagine the days in between when I was so apprehensive of the outcome  each time I was  injected with a medicine that costs the earth.  In your heart of hearts, you believed that you are healed. And nothing is really impossible with God. As Fr. Suarez puts it, “Everything is possible because God gave His Son. Thank You Jesus!

My son and I had to go to the supermarket to buy some ingredients for next week.  I bought two sticks of chorizo de Bilbao because I am planning to cook Callos aside from the traditional fare we usually have during Christmas lunch and dinner. It’s a good thing a friend gifted me with a big bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil so that was out on my list but we had to find a good old brand of hot sauce.  Callos is a Spanish stew made from ox tripe and flavored with chorizo de Bilbao. In fact, it’s the latter that gives it that special  spicy flavor.  I made my Christmas groceries as early as last month but one can’t really avoid buying last-minute items  for last-minute recipes on the Christmas menu. Our rice cooker broke down a week ago and I found it hard to cook rice the traditional way, on top of the stove. Either it was too soft or it needed more water. Anyway, my  son offered to buy one for me, a  1.8L stainless rice cooker. We also found a collapsible chair with a good backrest  and we  bought that too. We will use it as a computer chair.

Oh, I did enjoy the drizzle while walking home this morning after the mass. It was a fifteen-minute walk , long enough to think about life and possibilities, long enough to think about Christmas in a week.  We finally had Christmas lights in the garden. Nissa and Obet came over yesterday to put them up, the rope lights are functioning again.

By the way, WordPress says:

“You published your 750th post. Goal of 750 Posts Completed
100% Congratulations!”

I can’t believe it! How was your Sunday?

 

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Praying With You Iligan and Cagayan de Oro

My heart goes out to those victims of typhoon Sendong. They say that death comes like a theft in the night.  Most of the victims who died were sleeping.  Some were confident that the typhoon was not that strong despite the constant warnings made by PAGASA but it brought heavy rains that even wiped out a whole barangay, toppled down cars and left many people dead and homeless.  They said that the areas affected were not usually under typhoons’  path and they never experienced flash floods before like this. Here is the latest update  on the typhoon.

I remember our own ordeal during  typhoon Ondoy more than two years ago, the worst flood that hit Metro Manila.  Unless you experienced the same thing and knew the feeling of being so helpless and weak , it’s never enough to say, “kawawa naman sila”. They need our moral support and prayers.  If we could not give material support, praying that they will not lose hope in this tragedy would be welcome. Let’s pray for strength for those whose families were lost in the flood. Let’s also pray that they would overcome this tragedy victorious  and never lose faith in a loving God.

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