It’s Ash Wednesday, A Lenten Reflection

I wrote the post below on an Ash Wednesday back in 2011 when I was about two years blogging at WordPress. Reposting for all its worth. This morning, I attended mass at 6am at our town’s shrine. A deacon was assigned to read the Gospel and do the homily. His voice was so soft that I didn’t understand what he said so I have to repeat listening to the Gospel readings when I went home.

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:19

We heard mass early at 6am .  We are celebrating Ash Wednesday today. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent in the Roman Catholic Church. We are encouraged to attend mass in order to begin the Lenten season with proper reflection, conversion and repentance. It is a day of fasting and abstinence. Fasting means restricting the food we eat and the number of meals and the size of it while Abstinence is abstaining from eating meat.The imposition of ashes is a reminder of our sinfulness and unworthiness, it is a renewal of our commitment to follow Jesus and acknowledging the sacrifice He had made for our salvation.

I found a beautiful Lenten Reflection (via EWTN) entitled WHAT TO GIVE UP and I am sharing it here with you.

Give up complaining – focus on gratitude

Give up pessimism – become an optimist

Give up harsh judgments – think kindly thoughts

Give up worry – trust Divine Providence

Give up discouragement – be full of hope

Give up bitterness – turn to forgiveness

Give up hatred- return good for evil

Give up negativisim – be positive

Give up anger – be more patient

Give up pettiness – become mature

Give up jealousy – pray for trust

Give up gossiping – control your tongue

Give up sin – turn to virtue

Give up giving up – hang in there.

Beautiful, isn’t it? And you might say, it is easier said than done, after all we are just human, capable of making repetitious mistakes, capable of abandoning good deeds  and choosing the easy way out, more focused on material things that makes life easier ,or so we think. But everyday of our lives we are given the chance to do something good for others if not for our selves.  I remember the time when I was in the hospital almost two years ago, it was my first time to undergo chemotherapy. I was expecting that just like the rest of the patients at the Ambulatory Care Unit, I would lose my hair but the chemotherapy nurse assured me that I won’t . I was apprehensive at first, who wouldn’t be, but  I gave up the thought of going bald and I was elated and grateful that chemo drugs for colon cancer treatments do not result to that grim scenario. That’s a small miracle  for me. God must be thinking , I don’t trust Him enough.

We are sometimes too quick to judge other people. The thing is, we must look at our own inadequacies first. Unless we know what makes them the way they are, we are not in any position to pass  harsh judgment.  Think kindly thoughts and think positively.  Trust in Divine Providence, give up worry. How often do we feel anxious  about everything in our lives?   We are endlessly worrying because we want everything to be perfect but this is not a perfect world. If it is, we won’t need friends or our neighbors or our families even,  to make us smile.  Benjamin Franklin said, “Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. keep in the sunlight.”

Give up discouragement, be full of hope. I’d like to think that’s something I got lots of. Giving up hope is like giving up life.  When you  are  confronted by  a life changing situation, hope is a precious commodity that you cling to.  No matter how painful your situation might be, you can and you will survive it as long as you don’t lose that thin thread of hope. Sometimes, trials are really just blessings in disguise. They are God’s way of telling us to trust Him, always.

It is not easy to forgive when you are full of  hatred and bitterness. Let  us not plant hatred in our hearts because in the first place, we are the ones greatly affected. Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

What better life this would be if only we can follow these simple steps. Happiness is the simple thought of trying not to give up, just hang in there.

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Sunday, Sweet Sunday

It rained last night and there is still a gentle drizzle at the moment, enough to wet the garden, my plants are happy. Before I woke up I was dreaming of taking my cup of coffee outside and hear mass online but it’s not to be.

I attempted many times to be physically present during Sunday masses but I found them too noisy to my over-sensitive ears. The sound echoes back and I could not understand a thing. So I went back to attending Sunday masses online where the sound is clear if I put my CP to full volume. Fr. Aly, a long time friend was the mass presider in our parish today at the town proper. Back in 1995, he blessed our new house. He was still two years into priesthood then. When Nissa got married in 2011, we invited him as the mass celebrant. I remember the more personalized homily about our family and about my treatment and journey as a cancer survivor.

I will hear mass on Ash Wednesday even if it’s hard to listen to it. It’s the beginning of Lent. Even if I am a senior, we still observe fasting during Fridays of the whole season of Lent and fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I am looking for some links on online recollection. I used to read that of Fr. J’s meaningful reflections but he is no longer active in his blog. He is a Jesuit and I used to read his homilies too. There is this site called sacredspace that posts nice and uplifting reflections but I haven’t visited it for a long time.

I just visited it. The link is sacredspace.ie. Here’s a simple prayer for today posted at the site. It is entitled Presence:

Dear Lord, help me to be open to you

for this time as I put aside the cares of this world

Fill my mind with Your peace, Your love.

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Sunday, Sweet Sunday

It rained last night and there is still a gentle drizzle at the moment, enough to wet the garden, my plants are happy. Before I woke up I was dreaming of taking my cup of coffee outside and hear mass online but it’s not to be.

I attempted many times to be physically present during Sunday masses but I found them too noisy to my over-sensitive ears. The sound echoes back and I could not understand a thing. So I went back to attending Sunday masses online where the sound is clear if I put my CP to full volume. Fr. Aly, a long time friend was the mass presider in our parish today at the town proper. Back in 1995, he blessed our new house. He was still two years into priesthood then. When Nissa got married in 2011, we invited him as the mass celebrant. I remember the more personalized homily about our family and about my treatment and journey as a cancer survivor.

I will hear mass on Ash Wednesday even if it’s hard to listen to it. It’s the beginning of Lent. Even if I am a senior, we still observe fasting during Fridays of the whole season of Lent and fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I am looking for some links on online recollection. I used to read that of Fr. J’s meaningful reflections but he is no longer active in his blog. He is a Jesuit and I used to read his homilies too. There is this site called sacredspace that posts nice and uplifting reflections but I haven’t visited it for a long time.

I just visited it. The link is sacredspace.ie. Here’s a simple prayer for today posted at the site. It is entitled Presence:

Dear Lord, help me to be open to you

for this time as I put aside the cares of this world

Fill my mind with Your peace, Your love.

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It’s Good Friday

We are celebrating Good Friday today. Josef has work (from home) so we were not able to do the Fourteen Stations of the Cross. I watched the Lenten Parade though in our town online. Later it will be the Seven Last Words to be broadcast by several Catholic Churches here. I always watch the reflections of several priests around 3 pm.

It isbthe best time to reflect about life. Past experiences taught us several lessons to reflect.

A blessed Good Friday to you all.

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As We Celebrate Holy Thursday

 “Do you understand what I have done? You call me your teacher and Lord, and you should, because that is who I am. And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. I have set the example, and you should do for each other exactly what I have done for you..”John 13:12-15

For the past several years or so, we started our tradition of Visita Iglesia every Holy Thursday and I always look forward to it every year. It’s one way of celebrating Holy Week by visiting old churches and praying the fourteen stations of the Cross.

Holy Thursday marks the end of the forty days of Lent. Holy Thursday is the day that we Catholics commemorate the institution of three pillars of the Catholic Faith: the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the priesthood, and the Mass. During the Last Supper, Christ blessed the bread and wine with the very words that Catholic and Orthodox priests use today to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass and the Divine Liturgy. In telling His disciples to “Do this in remembrance of Me,” He instituted the Mass and made them the first priests. And it’s the beginning of the three-day celebration of Easter. We call it the Maundy Thursday. Maundy is a Latin word “mandatum” which means a commandment. It was during the Last Supper that Jesus commanded:

‘And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.‘ John 13:34

The washing of the feet represents  the service and charity of Christ, who came “not to be served, but to serve.” It reminds us of  the tradition  of spring cleaning, that we have to be clean, both in body and mind to welcome the glorious celebration of Easter.

Here’s wishing you all a Holy and Blessed Maundy Thursday!

(A repost from 2012)

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Hello March

Uneventful February. Well, except for my booster shot last February 9 and going out last week to deposit a check to the bank, I didn’t go out much. If you can call twice visit to the grocery store at the gate of the subdivision a venture outside, that’s it. All other needs were delivered online.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. For us Catholics, it is the beginning of Lent and ends on Holy Thursday. It is one of the most importang events in the liturgical calendar, the imposition of ashes. Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel. I am planning to attend the 6am mass at the Shrine of Our Lady Of Light. The family still observes abstaining from meat on all Fridays of Lent. Senior citizens like mom and I are already exempted though. Still, it is nice to keep the tradition.

I hope March would be a good month for us all.

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World Day Of The Sick

It is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes, an important event in the Catholic calendar. We also celebrate the World Day of the Sick.

According to Wikipedia, the World Day of the Sick is an awareness day or observance, in the Catholic Church intended for prayer and sharing, of offering one’s suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding everyone to see in his sick brother or sister the face of Christ. What a beautiful way to describe it.

Finally, I had my booster shot two days ago. It was still Pfizer. I had headache two nights before and the whole day yesterday but thankfully I didn’t have fever. I am feeling well now.

It saddens me that one of my close friends, a nun, is sick again. After nineteen years, her cancer has recurred. So it is really possible that even if you get well, it is still a recurrence. She had mastectomy the year 2003, this time her lungs is affected. The good thing is, it hasn’t metastasized to her other organs but she may undergo chemotherapy again. Cancer is a traitor. My brother Alden is still battling it. Asking prayers for him again. Kindly include the people who are sick at the moment.

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36.) Standing beside those who suffer on a path of charity”, message of Pope Francis for the XXX World Day of the Sick this February 11, 2022. “The ministry of consolation is a task for every baptized person, mindful of the word of Jesus: “I was sick and you visited me” (Mt 25:36)”.

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Oh Yeah!

I have these one Catholic page and two Catholic groups at Facebook of which I am an admin. Yesterday one of my co-admins featured me at Sambuhay Interaktib, a Society of St. Paul offshoot from their program every week.

Here’s what she posted at our site.

One of my grade schoool classmates who is a doctor disagreed with the word remission. According to her “remission of cancer means reduction of the signs and symptoms of cancer. Arlene is cancer free for many years now. Not on remission because cancer no longer exists within her. God is so great”.

All these years I also thought that once you have cancer and you get well, you are in remission. Now I learned another medical word with its true meaning.

I do enjoy being an admin of Sambuhay Interaktib. I get to meet SSP (Society of St. Paul) priests and brothers along the way and some members who work mostly outside the country.

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Maligayang Kaarawan Mama Mary

With eyes closed in fervent prayer, I wish you a Happy birthday MAMA MARY.

It is happening again, my stats is turning those magic numbers for so many years now every time we celebrate Mama Mary’s birthday.

Catholic churches are closed again because the group handling Covid 19 here opted to return to MECQ (Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine) after declaring three days ago that Metro Manila would be under GCQ (General Community Quarantine). No matter what they term it, even how many CQs are there, bubbles, localized lockdown, granular lockdown as long as the problem of this pandemic is not properly addressed, we will remain having those positive cases everyday. Every sacrifice is borne by the Filipino people because of the inefficient way those retired generals are handling this pandemic. The(ir) president woudn’t trust the expertise of the medical sector to address the problem.

For almost two years now, I haven’t been inside the church because of so many restrictions. I guess the Philippines is the only country with the longest lockdown. I just rely on online masses everyday.

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Relaxing Wednesday

Finally, I could relax. We were done trimming the carabao grass yesterday afternoon. Gardening is hard of course but it is a fulfilling job. So lovely to see a clean garden from weeds and unwanted growth of grass. Now I can concentrate on replanting and sowing some seeds I bought earlier.

It seems I’ll be able to finish my Goodreads’ reading challenge for this year afterall. I was not able to read when we had Covid last May. It was almost two months before I started again. I’ve said before that I committed myself to read a hundred books this year. I am on my 86th book now. I found this lovely book online entitled No Promises In The Wind by Irene Hunt.

Here’s a brief summary of the book culled from Goodreads:

It’s a tale of a brave young man’s struggle to find his own strength during the Clutch Plague. In 1932, American’s dreams were simple: a job, food to eat, a place to sleep, and shoes without holes. But for millions of people these simple needs were nothing more than dreams. When he was just fifteen years old, Josh had to make his own way through a country of angry and frightened people. This is the story of his struggle to find a life for himself during those turbulent times.

It is actually a short novel which you could probably finish in one day. I slept late last night just to finish half of it. I am beginning to discover some unknown authors whose works are equally absorbing.

Today is the Feast Day of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of Catholic priests. St. John Mary Vianney, pray for us as we continue to beg God for more priests who shine with holy and human virtues. HAPPY FEAST DAY👏🙏⛪

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