Bless the Children

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Spirit Moments

We live in the greatest age the world has ever known. The Age of Information. The Age of Science and Technology. New and even more amazing marvels are created and launched everyday: smart phones, smart homes, cars and planes that operate without human drivers or pilots, virtual reality gadgets that seem more real than reality, conveniences of every sort. And yet, we live during the saddest times in the history of men.

There is no sadder indictment for our times than the way we treat children. Iraqi children, who do not even comprehend what is happening around them, are beheaded because of the religion of their fathers. Palestinian children , huddled in dark corners, waiting for the next bomb to fall that could send them into kingdom come. Afghan children, with their mouths still reeking of their mothers’ breast milk, are taught hatred and how to use guns to kill. Latino children, seeking liberation from oppressive environments, walk for miles to what they hope is a better place only to  herded at the borders into detention centers. Tender Asian children, with the beauty of their innocence still resplendent in their faces, are sold into slavery or prostitution by unconscionable relatives. African children, often born out of desperation, dying like flies from hunger and malnutrition. And everywhere, defenseless babies lie helpless before the instruments of abortions even while in their mothers’ wombs.

Oh, what have these children done to earn such hatred and maltreatment! We have become so selfish and so self-seeking that we see every other life, even coming from ourselves, as threat to our well-being. What evil generation have we become that we eat our own children to feed our pride, our pleasure-seeking ways, our fears and our hatreds. We have lost our sense of the sacred and the divine. What or who is there to remind us that our future is what these children mean to us?

To come to the Kingdom of God is to become children again: innocent, trusting, awe-struck and wonderment-filled. Every day is a bright new promise of joys and laughter, singing in the sun, dancing in the rain, playing in the moonlight. To be a child – to love without ifs or buts or whys, to give without any accounting, to receive like everything is gift. That is God’s promise and somehow, in this greatest age the world has ever known, we have forgotten.

How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Psalm 119

The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”
Matthew 18:1–5

Posted in Evil, Human Rights, Life | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Bless the Children

The Rhthym of Life

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Spirit Moments

Life has a certain rhythm.
One time we are at the peak of joy.
The next we are in the depths of sorrow.
This beat goes on as life unfolds.
Soon, from the beat and the rhythm, comes a melody –
the song that becomes the soundtrack of our life.
For as certain as the joys will come,
the sorrows will appear to form life’s perfect alloy.

Life has a certain rhythm that comes in cycles.
First the laughter, then those tears.
for what comes around goes around.
Thus, life goes ever soaring upward
in a certain upward spiral of cycles and circles
until we reach the apex of life’s fullness.

Sorrows are but dips on the road of life
to lift us up onto the next higher step.
Tears are but the cleansing waters
to get us fresh and clean for the journey.
Just as our natural state is life and death is but a portal;
so are joy and happiness our natural destiny
and sorrows and pain are but steps to take us higher.
Laughter and jubilation are what we have been created to do forever.
Tears and sadness are but respites
to make the next round of joy and laughter even livelier.

Heaven and earth are filled with your glory O Lord.
Psalm 148

As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
And they were overwhelmed with grief.
Matthew 17:22–23

Posted in Life, Spirituality | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Rhthym of Life

“Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Spirit Moments

P1080477Lord, save us for we are tossed upon stormy seas.

As the earth quakes from the rumbling of tanks and the blasts of bombs,
many of our Christians brethren are fearful of their lives
before the onslaught of those who would rather see them dead.
Lord, reach out to those going through persecutions for their faith in Iraq
and let them hear your comforting words,
“Take courage and do not be afraid.”

As the night sky is lighted up by the exchange and explosion of rockets,
innocents are huddled in fear
with many of them ending up as heart-rending casualties in a senseless war of attrition.
Lord, calm the storms of war over Gaza
and bind and heal the wounds of your people there.
Let them hear your comforting words,
“Take courage and do not be afraid.”

As dark clouds of fear, hatred and anger form over the land,
children are kidnapped in Nigeria
or they are detained in borders of the Unites States.
Lord, dissipate these clouds that becloud the good in us
and instead may we stretch out a hand of love and caring
to these innocent children
that they may hear your comforting words,
“Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Lord, your people have great sorrow and constant anguish in our hearts.
We are buffeted by the strong and heavy winds of war in many places.
There seems to be an earthquake as tanks and war machines rumble across the land.
Many places are burning with the fire of anger, hatred, greed and selfishness.
Where are you Lord?

Lord, You are in the whispered prayer of those being persecuted.
You are in the mournful sighs of the innocents dying.
You are in the bated cry of children separated from their families.
Let us see Your kindness so that we can reach out in love and compassion
to Your suffering people everywhere.
Grant us Your salvation so that we can truly hear your comforting words,
“Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Psalm 85

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to him in reply,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.”
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 14:26–33

Posted in Evil, Faith, Photography, Presence, Sin | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

My Night Prayer

Posted on August 9, 2014 by Spirit Moments

Faith, like life and love, is a gift often given gratuitously and spontaneously. I did not ask to be born but I have received life gratuitously. A mother asks nothing in return for giving birth to a child, she just gives her love spontaneously. I was searching for God but I did not find Him until He revealed Himself to me in the events, people and places in my life. My seeking was in vain until He gave me the gift of Faith – gratuitously and spontaneously.

Faith, like life and love, is also a struggle, a striving, a battle. Life is a mixture of joys and sorrows. Even though there may be more joys, still I struggle from valleys to peaks and then from peaks to valleys and then again from valleys to peaks. Love is a give and take, a win and lose; it is up and down. I strive to always choose to love, to give more than what I take, to let the other win even if I may seem to lose, to always raise up the bar to my loving and to bring down my pride that is self-seeking. My faith journey has been a constant passage between darkness and light, between doubts and certainties, between mystery and revelations. It is a constant battle seeking God in my emptiness and thanking Him in my fullness.

Anabelle has always envied me for the ease with which I can fall asleep. My practice is that instead of counting sheep, I talk to the Shepherd. As I lay me down to sleep, I replay the whole day in my mind, moment by moment. I gather all the shadows and the slips. I ask for forgiveness for all my mistakes and shortcomings; I pray for courage to change what needs to be changed in me; I pray for healing for the hurts I might have caused others or the hurts I might have experienced myself. But I dwell mostly on the goodness and the light that came my way during the day in gratitude. That way, should I die and there is no heaven afterwards, I shall spend the rest of eternity in an everlasting sleep carrying with me nothing but the happy thoughts and joyful moments of my last day on earth. And if the Shepherd should be waiting for me on the other side, then we can just go on with our conversation and I follow Him as He leads me to the place He said He is preparing for all of us.

That is my nightly prayer.

You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
Psalm 9

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:14-20

Posted in Discipleship, Encounter, Faith, Spirituality | Tagged , , | Comments Off on My Night Prayer

Life Is Beautiful

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Spirit Moments

Life is beautiful. It is precious and it is great to be alive. In most lives, there are more times of joy and happiness rather than of tears and sorrow. And in the few lives where sadness seems to reign without surcease, there are still moments of laughter and gladness. And the wonder of it all is that there is no compelling reason why I should be here – alive. The universe can very well exist and be without me. Why then am I here, instead of not being here?

I cannot believe that I am here entirely by chance. And that would be sad and truly tragic. I was conceived at the height of an orgasmic ecstasy. In that supreme moment of love-making, my parents willed me into existence. I was their intended. That is why I am here. Still, there is more to life than the fulfillment of my parents’ rapture. Am I not part of yet a bigger picture? There are stirrings in me that point to something more and better as my life unfolds. Even in my advanced years, there is that consuming inner feeling that the best is yet to come.

There is this poem “Summer” by Mary Oliver. I particularly love her last line: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I mull over her poem this morning as my prayer for today –
          Who made the world?
          Who made the swan, and the black bear?
          Who made the grasshopper?
          This grasshopper, I mean-
           the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
           the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
           who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
           who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
           Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
           Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
           I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
           I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
           into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
           how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
           which is what I have been doing all day.
           Tell me, what else should I have done?
           Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
           Tell me, what is it you plan to do
           with your one wild and precious life?

It is I who deal death and give life.

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?”
Matthew 16:24–26

Posted in Faith, Life, Nature | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Life Is Beautiful

Sleep as a Numinous Experience

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Spirit Moments

Awed by the grandeur of the universe, the ancients experienced the world as numinous and as a mystery. Filled with wonder, they could only surmise at the ultimate cause of all the beauty and goodness they saw around them. As science advanced and men learned more about the world around them, they marveled even more at the ingenuity of the design and structure of the universe. But now equipped with the belief that everything is knowable, men have lost the sense of the numinous and of the mysterious.

Today, when people want a quick answer to any and all questions, they go to Google. But there are deeper questions for which Google has no answers. And the fact remains that there are still a lot of things we do not know. In fact, the more we know, the more we realize how much more we do not know. We have searched the skies searching for stars and galaxies, only to be stumped by dark matter and dark energy. We have plumbed the depths of the sea, yet we know more about the moon’s surface than we do about the what lies below our oceans and beneath the earth.

Then there are the questions and longings in the hearts of men for which science and modern-day knowledge have not been able to give answers to. There are ordinary and everyday experiences we still struggle to understand.

Sleep is such ordinary and everyday experience that has me fascinated. Do I really just sleep? I close my eyes, my body rests and I feel recharged in the morning. Is that all there is to sleep? More and more, I believe there is more than just that happening in my sleep. My conscious self in sleeping, yes. But my unconscious self and my subconscious self, the bigger portion of my person, remain awake. This is the world of dreams. This is the real world of the numinous in me. This is the time I am most myself and I encounter God in that sacred space. But I just do not remember everything that happens to me during that time for these remain buried in my unconscious and subconscious. I remember snippets of this time as my dreams. But is there any way I can remember these when I awake and my conscious self takes over again?

Life is mysterious. It is a numinous experience that points to an Infinite cause. There is so much more to life than my finite mind can fully embrace and comprehend. In my sleep, I pray that I surrender myself totally to the Infinite and let Him work His wonders in me.

Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Psalm 51

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Matthew 16:21–23

Posted in Encounter, Mystery, Science | Tagged | Comments Off on Sleep as a Numinous Experience

Tranformations

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Spirit Moments

It is still summer vacation for kids
And their school is still out.
Jane is happy and thrilled with her dance classes.
Jonathan is excited with his summer camp at the Tech.
We spend the days just being with them and seeing them grow.
We are witnessing in real time their transformation
from child-chrysalises to butterfly-persons.
Bit by bit, inch by inch, from knowledge into wisdom.
“Lord, it is good that we are here.”

Life unfolds and it keeps on changing.
Even in old age, we keep on learning new things.
People yet to meet, places yet to see, things yet to do.
Last week, we did a San Francisco day tour,
Riding the trains and the bus and walking the streets.
It was a great feeling that we could do these without our car.
A great feeling of freedom not to be tied down.
A greater feeling that we can do it without the car.
The experience of such detachment is truly liberating.
A small realization perhaps but a subtle change in mind-set.
Do we see the greatest transformations in ourselves in old-age?
“Lord, it is good that we are here.

Last Christmas season, we saw our youngest son finally get married.
It was a whirlwind of preparations and activities, leading up to the big day.
In a few weeks, we saw out youngest grow
from the baby we always saw him as
to a fine young man ready to take his bride
down the altar into their life together.
It was a transformation that took long in coming.
Macky and Lani had great plans
and they carefully worked on these together:
from high school through college to medical school.
And we were ringside spectators to their great transformation.
“Lord, it is good that we are here.

Life is all about changes and changing.
It has its highs and lows, its peaks and valleys.
The lows are the shadows and dark days in our lives.
They are the struggles we go through
To see and reach our peaks.
The peaks are moments of glory and achievement.
They are the high moments when the struggle up the slopes
Make sense and worth the effort.
These are moments we learn and say in gratitude:
“Lord, it is good that we are here.

The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 97

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Matthew 17:1–4

Posted in Character, Life, Presence | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Tranformations

Prayer as a Guard Against Prejudice

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Spirit Moments

The Internet is a great source of news and information, not to mention knowledge. But I often notice myself going only to sites that affirm what I already know or believe in. I often read only those sites or writers I can agree with. When I chance upon a material that disturbs me or I don’t agree with, I often do not finish reading up the whole thing.

I am a creature of habits. I suppose most people are too. All too often I slip into a comfort zone, whether it be a physical place or a mental state or a psychological predisposition, from which it is very hard to get out of. Once my bias is formed or my opinion shaped, I tend to stay with it until proven otherwise. And unless there is a compelling reason, I do not try to prove it otherwise.

Moments of prayer and reflection provide me with the opportunity to go over my beliefs and commitments, as well as my biases and prejudices. I can get out of my comfort zone leisurely and in a non-threatening situation. Any other time, I would just tend to dig into my prejudices and preconceived notions. In prayer, I can affirm or challenge what I hold dear, what I believe in, what I aspire for and what I want to become.

The nations shall revere your name, O LORD, and all the kings of the earth your glory.
Psalm 102

Jesus summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand.
It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man;
but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.”
Then his disciples approached and said to him,
“Do you know that the Pharisees took offense
when they heard what you said?”
He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted
will be uprooted.
Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.
If a blind man leads a blind man,
both will fall into a pit.”
Matthew 15:10-14

Posted in Character | Tagged , | Comments Off on Prayer as a Guard Against Prejudice

My Parish Community

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Spirit Moments

I love our faith community at St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish. It is a welcoming, vibrant, praying and serving community. And we have been blessed with pastors who have been molded after the heart of the patron saint of parish priests – St. John Vianney, whose memorial we celebrate today. The Church did not choose a great theologian, like Thomas Aquinas, nor an eloquent preacher, like John Chrisostom, nor a miracle worker, like Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, to be the patron saint of parish priests. Instead, we have in St. John Vianney a very simple priest, a devoted pastor, a dedicated minister of the sacraments, specially the sacrament of reconciliation.

Fr. Andy, Fr. Thuc and Fr. Ernesto have truly been instruments of the Lord in creating, molding and caring for our faith community. People come to St. Lawrence to pray, either as a community, in small groups or alone before the Blessed Sacrament. We seek and give support to one another specially in times of troubles. In each others presence, we hear the words of the Lord, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

In good times and moments of happiness, we come together in joy and thanksgiving, breaking out into songs and clapping. It is a good place to nurture and strengthen one’s faith.

Lord, teach me your statutes. Psalm 119

Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side of the sea,
while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them, walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Matthew 14:22–27

Posted in Faith | Tagged , | Comments Off on My Parish Community

The Miracle of the Multiplication of the Bread

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Spirit Moments

P1090055The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves has always been used to portray God’s boundless love and abundant care. But a bigger miracle may lie hidden in the story. After hearing Jesus speak, the people probably felt more generous and more loving, willing to share whatever it is they had. And sharing whatever they had, there was enough food for everyone, with twelve wicker baskets to spare.

This is the miracle that the world is looking for today. There is enough food on the planet to feed everyone so that no one should go hungry. But why would some people eat in one meal more than enough to feed a whole family for a week elsewhere? Why would some countries rather store or even destroy their harvest, just because the prices for such commodities in the world market are low? Why should some people be denied access to food because of the color of their skin or their sexual orientation or their racial or cultural origins? It will truly be a miracle when love and brotherhood will overcome greed and selfishness so that hunger will forever be banished.

The earth produces enough material resources to provide clothing and shelter for everyone. There is no reason why anyone should be homeless or naked. But why would some people live in such ostentatious opulence when billions live in hovels and shanties? Why would some people splurge money on one dress that could keep hundreds comfortably clothed for a year? Why would thousands be kept in modern-day slavery to build the palaces and mansions of the rich? It will truly be a miracle when people shall have learned to share the earth’s bountiful resources not through the law of supply and demand but through the law of love and compassion.

How can such extravagant affluence exist side by side with shameful destitution? What kind of a system is it that would allow, tolerate and even extol someone with billions of dollars to his name when billions of people live on barely a dollar a day? It would indeed the greatest of miracles when men shall have overcome greed, selfishness and hatred to be able to live together in loving care, sharing the fruits of the earth with everyone.

This is what we are all deeply longing for:
          Thus says the LORD:
          All you who are thirsty,
          come to the water!
          You who have no money,
          come, receive grain and eat;
          Come, without paying and without cost,
          drink wine and milk!
          Why spend your money for what is not bread;
          your wages for what fails to satisfy?
          Heed me, and you shall eat well,
          you shall delight in rich fare.
          Come to me heedfully,
          listen, that you may have life. (Isaiah 55:1-3)

Might this be the real meaning of the miracle of the multiplication of the bread?

The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs. Psalm 145

Then he said, “Bring them here to me, ”
and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over—
twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men,
not counting women and children.
Matthew 14:18-21

Posted in Life, Love, Nature, Photography, The Good News | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment