Man’s Need For Affirmation

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Spirit Moments

The centurion said in reply,
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.”
~ Matthew 8:5-11

The deepest need of man is the need for affirmation. Man needs to know and be told that he matters, that his life is precious and of great value and importance. In this need for affirmation is rooted man’s continuing quest for wealth, power and fame. And most often, all it needs to affirm another person is a simple gesture or a single word.

In my heart, I know I am unique and special. there has never been anyone like me and there never will be. And God had told me in many and different ways how much I mean to Him:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

I have called you by name; you are mine.

See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. 

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

 Lord, I am not worthy of your love. But only speak your word and I shall be made whole.
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Waiting for God

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
~ Matthew 24:37-44

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“Waiting for Godot” has always been one of my favorite plays. In my younger days, I saw several stagings of it. it was popular among schools and drama groups then. The total ambience and tone of the play is dark and lugubrious. But somehow it touches chords in my heart that resonate with its dark and somber dialogue. Yet, in the midst of all that angst and melancholy of Vladimir and Estragon, there is  joy and great expectation in their waiting. In spite of the uncertainty and ambiguity of who it is they are waiting for, they show up day after day and continue their wait, pretty certain that Godot will finally show up tomorrow.

It is exactly like life. I do not know what tomorrow may bring. But I always wake up in the morning, excited about the prospects of the new day. Many days, I do not know what to expect nor even what to wish for. But there is always that feeling that today may finally be the day. For what or why? Not sure. But hey here is another brand new day ant another precious 24 hours given to me. I may often see life and the future rather dimly, but I still like taking photos along the way.

Advent heightens this sense of waiting and expectancy. Somehow things change when there is this heightened expectation. I am more aware and sensitive. I am more alert and ready to go. I get a better focus on things. I begin to understand I do not need many of the things I have burdened myself with. I can get rid of many of these burden and be ready and light for the journey or to face whoever and whatever is waiting for me just around the bend.

I make Saint Paul’s admonition to the Romans my special thought and prayer for today:

Brothers and sisters:
You know the time;
it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light;
let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day,
not in orgies and drunkenness,
not in promiscuity and lust,
not in rivalry and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

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Be On Guard

Posted on November 26, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus said to the disciples,
“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down
with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life,
and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.”
~ Luke 21:34-36

Everyone wakes up in the morning expecting the day to be better than yesterday. Even during the worse of times, and maybe specially during such times, we hope that today is better than yesterday. And during good times, we fear the inevitable change and we get weighed down by the worries of life. But, man essentially lives in undying hope. The audacity of hope keeps us going on and moving forward. It is the drive that gets us up every morning.

And just what is it that we really hope for? This is from today’s First Reading:

John said:
An angel showed me the river of life-giving water,
sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God
and of the Lamb down the middle of the street,
On either side of the river grew the tree of life
that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month;
the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations.
Nothing accursed will be found anymore.
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it,
and his servants will worship him.
They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun,
for the Lord God shall give them light,
and they shall reign forever and ever.

Is this too much to hope for? Or is this the reality that awaits us in Christ?

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Signs of the Times

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus told his disciples a parable.
“Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.
When their buds burst open,
you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;
in the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that the Kingdom of God is near.
Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.”
~ Luke 21:29-33

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At day’s end, I see
the proud flag of my country
waving at the cross.
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What Am I Really Thankful For?

Posted on November 24, 2016 by Spirit Moments

And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
~ Luke 17:11-19

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Thanksgiving Day and it is the end of the day.

Our family had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. There were more of us this year as a wedding in the family is happening over the weekend and we have out-of-towners. There was the usual food (plenty and scrumptious), stories (varied and unending), stray gifts (birthdays and pasalubongs from the out-of-towners), photos (for FB and IG). Through it all, I was pondering, “What am I really thankful for?” Just being with family and relishing their company, I know I have a lot to be thankful for.

But, yes, what am I really thankful for?

I am thankful for the gift of life.
Because I am alive, everything else is possible.
Because I am alive, I have experienced love and happiness
with my family, my friends, my loved ones.
Because I am alive, I have also gone through difficulties
that have made me stronger and wiser;
I have suffered pain and defeat that have made the good times even better;
I have experienced the pinnacle of success as well and the depths of failure
and I came out more, better and stronger than I was before.
Today, I know I have a lot of things to be thankful for,
specially the big ones that happened in my life.
But there is greater gratitude in the small and simple things that make my life today:
a fragile flower that blooms in the little garden I tend,
the joy of picking up my grandchildren from their school in the afternoons,
to watch the sunrise creep up through my window in the morning,
to imagine the universe in a grain of sand,
to kiss eternity at the moment of the setting sun.
I am thankful that I am alive.
Because I am alive, I have received all the blessings that have defined my life.
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of life.
Thank you for the love and laughter that life has brought to me.

 

 

 

 

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Perseverance Till The End

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Spirit Moments

“You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
~ Luke 21:12-19

Being a good and upright person is no guarantee to a peaceful and happy life. In my life, some of the best and most upright people I have known have hardly known peace and have often had every reason to be miserable. But because of their goodness and uprightness, they are able to weather the wildest of storms and keep their equanimity in the face of the worst adversities. Because of their goodness and uprightness, not a hair on their head is ever destroyed and by their perseverance and fidelity, they manage always to come to a happy ending.

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The End Times?

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Spirit Moments

“When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”
~ Luke 21:5-11

The liturgical year comes to an end this weekend. The calendar year will also be soon upon us. Winter is here and it always speaks of an ending to me. I am in my twilight years. And all the the current events and latest happenings here and around the world all point to the portents of the end-times: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”

But it will not immediately be the end. And the end I am waiting for is not a cataclysm but a rapture of the veil that separates our temporal world, where events are defines in time, to the eternal, where time is the eternal now. Imagine a lump of mud. There is now way it can ever think it could live. And yet, in some timeless reality, life sprang from it. And that mud, that dust itself came from the debris of some exploding stars. And within me, some of the trillions cells in my body may have been from that very first explosion when the universe came into being.

The world evolves, ever slow slowly yet surely. From nothingness to the big bang. From the big bang to the birth of galaxies. From the galaxies to the planets. On the planet Earth, the first stirring of life. From simple cells to complex ones. From primeval organisms to sentient ones. And finally, conscious beings who are aware of what is happening around them and yet not totally seeing everything there is to see. Nor understanding everything there is to know and learn.

Yes, there are changes coming. And the trajectory of changes has always been for the better. Things become more, and better, and there is greater and greater perfection. The best is yet to come.

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Meet Lily

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Spirit Moments

He said, “I tell you truly,
this poor widow put in more than all the rest;
for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”
~ Luke 21:1-4

The other day I got a snail mail from a god-daughter by snail mail, instead of the usual email or a text or a PM on Facebook. the act is both symbolic and real. She is simplifying her life and this includes abstaining or at least minimizing her use of technology. She has also simplified her diet, her wardrobe and her lifestyle. She lives with a community of volunteers in the poorer quarters of Chicago. Their community tries to live in solidarity with the millions of people worldwide who live on two dollars a day. And in the simplicity and poverty of their chosen lifestyle, they try to serve the underserved and the fringes in their neighborhood with what ever is left with them: their time, their care, their compassion and their love.

I was blown away reading her letter. I could see in her the same idealism that burned in my soul when I was her age. But I was nowhere near her commitment to live out those ideals in actual and real life. Eventually, she wants to be a doctor. Not to get rich but to help and serve the poor and the indigents. Her generosity is simply overwhelming. She is giving out of her abundance without holding anything back. And in the resulting emptiness and gap that she has created, she is finding herself and discovering her cup has been pressed down, shaken together and filled to overflowing.

May the Lord be with you, Lily!

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The Kingdom Of God

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
~ Luke 23:35-43

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They crucified him , the ultimate punishment for the worst criminals.
They mocked him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
They jeered, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.”
And they hung him in between two thieves.

One of the thieves reviled him and said:
“Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.”
Remorseless, unrepentant, he joined the crowds in mocking Jesus.
Am I sometimes a bit like this thief too?

The other thief, penitent and contrite, rebukes his fellow thief:
“Have you no fear of God, we have been condemned justly,
but this man has done nothing criminal.”
I pray I will have the humility to also confess my sinfulness.

To the penitent and the repentant, the Lord has promised paradise.
But often pride blinds men to their wrongdoings
Instead they pass on the blame to others
And even feel justified and entitled in their insensitivity.

Today, we still crucify the innocent, the weak and the vulnerable.
And we find reasons to do so in the name of heaven.
The people of God can only pray in repentance for divine compassion.
And that the Kingdom of God comes to us soon enough, like today.

Lord, may your Kingdom come and may your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

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When guilt puts you down

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Spirit Moments

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
“It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves.”
~ Luke 19:45-48

Jesus was enraged when they made His house a den of thieves.

Many Filipinos are now in rage for they have buried a heel in the Heroes’ Cemetery and thief at that.

Meanwhile, in the quiet and simplicity of a home full of love, a young father teaches his little girl about love, what it is to forgive, and the way an upright person should live her life. There may be trouble brewing elsewhere. But it is in homes like this that humanity is shaped and formed.

Rebloging this beautiful piece from Mixed Martial Arts:

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