The Annunciation

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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Men know the horrors of wars and the violence attendant to them.

And yet much of human history has been written in blood with conquering armies:
the conquests of Alexander, the legions of Caesar, the elephant-mounted warriors of Hannibal, the thundering hordes of Attila the Hun, the imperial cohorts of Napoleon, the panzers of Hitler, the shock and awe of Desert Storm. Even now, war drums are beating in many places, specially those where terrorism is rampant.

When God worked to change human history, he came to a frail young girl and told her that cosmic salvation would happen through her. One can imagine how totally perplexed that young girls was. Her response was just as world-changing in its simplicity and humility: “Be it done unto me according to thy word.”

Indeed God chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. And that young girl is now a lady who has not stopped doing God’s work even to this day: Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal, Guadalupe in Mexico, La Vang in Vietnam, Lipa in the Philippines.

 

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My Need for Repentance

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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Even at an early age, I remember collecting and memorizing Gospel verses that would inspire me no end. I often wondered whether I would have been one of his followers if I had lived during the time of Jesus. Many then considered his followers as lunatic fringe groupies. Jesus hung out and mixed with the outcasts and rejects of society: the poor, prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, outcasts of society. He was called a blasphemer by the authorities, the worst possible crime you could be accused of as a Jew. It was dangerous to be seen in his company. He did not pay any salary nor wages to those who followed him but instead challenged them to give up everything. But all things considered, I would probably have spent some time, some days or even weeks with him. But to totally surrender my life to him? I am still struggling with that question to this very day. I have tried to be a good follower but . . . .

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Heroes in Everyday Life

Posted on March 24, 2019 by Spirit Moments

A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, great bravery, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.

To get up every morning, before everyone else
To prepare the day for her family even before her own
To see to it that everything is in order even as her looks are not
Courage is not only facing danger, it’s also daring the daily striving
A mother’s courage and determination makes her a hero to her loved ones.

To live each day in danger, fighting for what is right
To care for all the others and not minding one’s own life
To speak the truth when no one else will or be honest when no else is
To care for the oppressed, the abused and the weak
To serve the least and find the lost and always have time for the last ones.
My Bishop’s bravery makes him the hero of the least, the lost and the last.

To teach the young ones even on a measly remuneration
To spend long hours tutoring young, impressionable minds
To witness the good and beautiful  in the face of all the bad and ugly things
To make young ones believe in a bright future in spite of everything
The youth are the hope of the fatherland but dedicated teachers are the guarantors
The youth’s heroes are their teacher for these outstanding achievements

To heal and to cure, without expecting any rewards
To spend sleepless night keeping vigil over a life
To give comfort and solace to those in pain and suffering
To be of service day in and day out
To be available in season and out
A doctor’s noble mission is hardly ever done
Until his battle against diseases is heroically won.

Heroes are ordinary people doing extraordinary things
What others would have given up, they keep on striving
Heroism is not always written with blood or tears.
It is more like sweat that comes from never giving in.

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The Heroic in the Ordinary

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Spirit Moments

 

P1550622Everybody wants to be a hero. I know I do.
Everyone wants to make a difference and to leave behind a mark, a legacy.
But not everyone becomes a hero.
So, we turn to great men and women who are.
In my life, I have been often inspired and influenced by great speakers and writers. There are instances I have even followed and worked with some of these people.
There are two things I pray for:
that in the end all of these ideas and words they inspire me with
would come together in the One Source of all goodness and inspiration;
and that I will be blessed with the strength, courage and perseverance
to brings these words into fruition through my deeds and action.

I want my everyday to be different, unique and significant.
Yet there are times when it is just another ordinary day:
routine, uneventful, nothing much happening.
I guess I need such days to give me time and space to be free
and reflect on where I have come from and where I am still going,
what I have done and what I still need to do,
discovering the why in my days.
In a way, there are also opportunities for heroism in the ordinary.
To do the ordinary things in an extraordinary manner
is also to be a hero of the mundane and routine.
For, it is these people who actually make things happen in our ordinary lives.

 

 

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Shades of Gray?

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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It is so easy to get bored.
But it is also quite easy to get engaged.
All it takes is a decision.
It is so easy to lapse into the routine and nestle in a comfort zone;
but life keeps on dealing us with surprises and the unexpected.
All it takes is a decision to accept what comes our way.
We wish that life were easier, free from pain and suffering.
But if it were so, there would be no joy
because we would have not tasted the bitterness of tears;
there would be no thrill because we would not have known what it is to triumph;
and there would be no scaling the heights because we have not negotiated the shadows.

It is easy to be enraged and indignant over big crimes and wrongdoings:
great injustices, extreme cruelty, massive frauds and corruption.
But it is easy to overlook small and petty bad behavior.
I sometimes catch myself feeling envy over the good fortune of others,
or feeling schadenfreude over their misery,
or nurturing hurts and refusing to forgive others.
These tend to fester and weaken my spirit in the long run.
I am as much in need of grace and salvation
as those I would condemn for their big wrongdoings or horrendous crimes.

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Gratitude and Eternal Life

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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Today is the first day of Spring.
Nature is sprouting new and fresh life, as traces of winter fade away.
So much to be thankful for.
So many thing to be joyful about.
It is time for counting blessings.

I am blessed twice whenever I count my blessings:
first, when I actually receive the blessing;
and then second, when I recall and remember it in gratitude.
Often, I forget the blessings and graces I have received in life.
And even more often, I forget the source of all these blessings.
In prayer, I acknowledge all the graces and blessings
I have received in humble gratitude,
like emptying my cup to make it ready
to receive yet more blessings.

My greatest blessing and my biggest gift is my life.
It totally overwhelms me that I was created to live forever.
I sometimes struggle with belief in eternal life:
how can we live forever when everything eventually dies and rots.
But, I find some affirmation even in science.
Scientists know or, also believe?) that matter is indestructible.
Ice melts and disappears but the matter of which it is made of (H2O) becomes water. Water disappears but H20 persists and is transformed into steam or vapor or clouds.
The primal big bang was entirely made of hydrogen atoms.
Matter changes its form but it is never destroyed.
Indeed, once I begin to exist, I shall never cease to be.

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On Being a Father

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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Today is the feast of St. Joseph.
One of the names by which Jesus was known is “the son of the carpenter”.
There many things about being a father I learned from Joseph.
And thinking of him now, I remember my own father.

He was a man of few words.
And so was Tatang. Today, I would love to hear his voice and his stories.
He was often reticent to talk about himself.
There were times he would start talking about himself;
but I guess I was too busy playing to really listen to him.
I can be very talkative and noisy but there are many times
I have had to hold back my tongue as a father.
Like Joseph, I am guided by dreams, of which I have a lot.
I have dreams for my family,
dreams for each of my sons,
and now dreams for my apos.
Dreams and fathers. These are what start out a family.

Joseph must have been bewildered many times
about the things happening in their family,
often not comprehending these things.
Tatang was a simple man but something in him must have bewildered him
and he went out to find the answer.
He alone among his siblings left his home and his town
to seek the answers he was looking for.
And so am I.
I am often baflled, and in my bafflement I set out to seek answers.
I left home early and have not hesitated to pull up my stakes to seek answers.
Joseph stayed on strong in his faith,
a source of support and strength for Jesus and Mary,
always compassionate and caring.
And so I pray that I too will be like him
and in praying, also thank Tatang for the lessons he has subtly and quietly
taught and left me.

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Light Sings

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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Nothing speaks better of the freshness and newness of life, of hope and renewal
than the streaks of first light at the break of dawn.

Nothing seems sadder or more melancholic
than the fading light of a sunset at the end of the day.

Light is the energy that suffuses our entire world and keeps everything alive.
I imagine grace to be the divine light that sustains us and enable us
to be, to achieve and to become.

For thus is the law of life.
Life begets life and it will never be denied.
So it is the law of love.
Love is paid back with love and it will always win over hatred.
We forgive and we are forgiven.
We give and we receive i the same measure.

“Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

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Being Transfigured

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Spirit Moments

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In the beginning, just before theBig Bang, there was just a singularity of a particle,
And all particles have an energy inside them waiting to burst forth.
Energy that is equal to its weight multiplied by the speed of light.
Indeed, everything that exists carries almost infinite possibilities.
A tiny seed contains a life aching to be expressed.
And every human person has within him the seeds of eternal light.

Anywhere there is matter, there will be energy.
Anywhere there is energy, there will be light,
Anywhere there is light, there will be life.
And anywhere there is life, there was love before.

Because the universe in here, existence is stronger than non-being.
Because energy is here, light is stronger than darkness.
Because life is here, we have been loved into existence.
And because we can love, we have been loved priorly.

There is in every person what it takes to live in eternity.   IMG_20190202_153056-ANIMATION
There is in everyone of us that same light and energy
that sparked the universe into existence.
Thus, at the end of life, we do not walk towards the light.
Instead, the light within us will break out and burst forth
to actualize and release our true being and potential.

 

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In the Gathering Darkness

Posted on March 16, 2019 by Spirit Moments

P1050911These days, I am often overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems we face.
Then I would feel utterly helpless at the puniness of what I can do.
I have to remind myself of the strength and beauty there is in smallness.
In the vastness of the universe, we are but stardust;
but what we have built on earth is simply amazing.
Just a small fraction (about 1%) differentiates us from apes;
and yet there is a world of difference between us.
Micro-nutrients, infinitesimal in quantities, are vital to life.
A pinch of salt adds infinite flavor to a dish.
A whiff of a favorite scent is enough to bring back a flood of memories.
And we get to live life one day at a time.
Things will get done in due time.
And ‘in due time’ is God’s time.

In spite of all the pain and suffering,
all the tears and misery,
despite all the bickering, violence and wars,
despite all the hate, the greed, the pride and selfishness;
the universe is being transformed bit by bit.
Today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today.
God’s plan and design will not be frustrated,
watching the passing of the seasons tells me so.
Spring will soon be here.
Nature is never in a hurry;
and yet everything gets done in due time.

In the face of all the evil and imperfections in this world,
of which I am often a part of and a contributor,
my efforts to make good may indeed seem puny and even futile.
It seems Satan is gaining the upper hand in this cosmic battle between good and  evil.
‘Satan’ means ‘adversary’ and refers to all that stands against the goodness of God.
I may live under a corrupt government,
where bad legislation oppresses the innocent,
and unjust structures enrich the powerful.
Single-handed I cannot change an institution;
but I may be called by God to protest against wrong-doing.
I can also pray! Always.

 

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