A little of everything and something: 2012

Lessons from Pablo

12/22/2012 03:18:00 PM

Disclaimer: This is quite a delayed post due to super busy schedule. You know. News about Typhoon Pablo was all over the 3rd day of December. It was those days that I have been busy as well so I have not really heard thorough details about what had happened. All I knew was that the storm was so bad and a lot were...

dreams

Life as we know it

11/30/2012 05:37:00 PM

Sometimes I wonder why people are the way they are. That thought includes me, of course. People want certain specific things. People want to get them. Yet why is it when we have a slight bite of it, all we could ever want is to have more than what we have now or what we had so far. I often sit and think...

family

Remembering Papa Rey

11/07/2012 07:50:00 PM

“I am happy because I am home. All I want is to be surrounded by things that are beautiful because they are meaningful to me. They bring me comfort. They keep me safe, they safeguard my memories. There, my old chair. My warm blanket. Flowers in a vase. Mouthwatering delights wafting from the kitchen. Sunlight pouring in through the window. Familiar faces, familiar...

choices

Things happen

10/13/2012 09:33:00 AM

Things happen. A lot of things happen, actually. And in most occasion, we just wake up and ask ourselves, "How did this happen?" or "How did I get here?". Yes, it's a funny scene when your face looks so surprised and you kept wondering. Now, I start to wonder. One day, it was fine. Next thing I found out, it isn't anymore and...

differences

Scripture Reflection 10 "Anyone who is not against us is with us." - Mark 9:40

9/30/2012 02:51:00 PM

Individual differences. I believe we are all familiar of this word. Different people, different culture, different up-bringing, different beliefs, a lot of differences. Individual differences.

We make friends with people we have things in common with. We join in a club with people of the same interests as we have. We stay in these groups because we feel that certain feeling of belongingness that we all wanted to feel. But have you ever thought of joining a group of people that is very different from what you are? Join a club that does not really suit your interest? I guess not one of us would want to do that.

In the first reading, Joshua was upset because the other two (Eldad and Medad), who was not with Moses in the gathering, prophesied. Maybe he was thinking that they were possessed by other spirits since they were not in the same place where Moses is and where prophecies has been made. Yet Moses told him, "Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirits on them all!"

In the same way, John, in the gospel, felt the same way when he saw another person who is not with them, trying to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. He asked Jesus to stop the man. Yet like Moses, Jesus did not stop that man. Instead, this is what he told John, "Do not try to stop him. No man who performs a miracle using my name can at once speak ill of me. Anyone who is not against us in with us."

What Jesus is trying to tell us it that, we should also be open to other people that they too, might be living witnesses of God's love and power.

In a class, when we understood the lesson first, we feel proud of ourselves. We feel so awesome and intelligent. Sometimes, the thought even came to our minds hoping that our other classmates might not immediately understand what we have understood. This happens especially when we are given enough recognition by our teacher saying, "O tingnan niyo si ___. Mabuti pa siya, nakuha niya agad yung lesson." Who would deny the good feeling we all feel whenever we are praised like this in class? Nevertheless, we should also take into consideration that the Lord gave us the knowledge to be able to suffice whatever the lesson is also in order for us to help our neighbors to be able to do the same. Let's not live in our selfish ways.

The second reading tells us that all our earthly efforts and treasures will mean nothing in the next life. Jesus said in Matthew 19:23, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." If we continue to work for our own selfish cause, what reward is there for us? Is it enough that we are lavished with the wealth and comfort we all aspire to have? The Lord, then, tells us to get out of our comfort zones and serve our neighbors.

Yes, we always hear that. "Serve your neighbors." But do we really know what it really takes to serve our neighbors and place their needs before ours? It's not an easy task to do. And it remains a great challenge for each one of us to be able to do so. Just like what Jesus did.

Love moves in mysterious ways. Such cliché. Yet, we believe in it. Love moves in mysterious ways. "God is love." (1 John 4:8) Therefore, it is God that really moves in mysterious ways. It does not really matter if He moves in us or someone who is with us. What matters most is that He is moving. And He will keep on moving regardless of what we do and what we think. He gives us a daily reminder that He is always there, one way or another. We must not keep ourselves enclosed inside a box where only those who are close to our hearts are able to hear Jesus and be moved with His words of life. We must learn to share how Jesus moves in our lives.

"Anyone who is not against us is with us." Let us, then, strive to not turn our backs on each other. I believe that it doesn't really matter if we differ in our religious preferences. What is important is that we believe that there is a God that is omnipotent and omnipresent. Also, that He exists for our sake because He loves us and believes that we are and will always be worthy of that love.

acceptance

Letting it be

9/28/2012 05:22:00 PM

Each of us wants something in our lives to change. Maybe a part of how we look, our lifestyle, the people around us, the situations we are in and more to mention individually. And with everything we have in mind, sometimes it helps that we just pause for a while and stop thinking because sometimes, thinking doesn't really help a lot. Instead, let...

child

Scripture Reflection 9 "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me." - Mark 9:37

9/23/2012 12:05:00 AM

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Romans 8:18)

Suffering is a normal part of our human journey. When we were born in this world, we are bound to experience challenges that are supposed to mold us to be the persons we are destined to be. But how can we able to deal with our pains and sufferings? What if it's too much? How long are we supposed to hold on?

A movie line once said, "Without suffering, there will be no compassion." Some people actually misunderstood the concept of this line. It is does not mean that if you do not suffer, you will not be able to show compassion. A good example of this is Jesus' suffering. He suffered and died to show his compassion on humankind. Why does he need to suffer and die? Why can't he just be with the people, do miracle works and help everyone? It is because in his suffering, humanity has been redeemed. He did the greatest sacrifice no man could ever do. One could show compassion in any way, in any simple way possible. But the Lord Jesus suffered to show his compassion. We could ask ourselves, are we willing to suffer in order to be compassionate? Not all is willing to do so. If we could have it the easy way, then we would. It's human nature. Why go for the long way, when there's a short cut. You know, not all people are willing to step down and endure hardship for other people's sake. It takes more than courage to do so. It takes a willing heart and soul to do so. There are evil around us. Without evil, there will be no one to stand up for another in order to save him from the evil.

Human as we are, sometimes we are selfish or most of the time selfish. Don't say you never thought about your needs before someone's needs? Once or more than twice, we come to think of what is good for us more that what is good for others. I don't think being selfish is always bad either. There are instances when we need to focus on ourselves. Not because we are selfish but because we have needs like everyone else too. But God wants us to understand that we must also be able to see the need of offering a hand to others.

In the gospel, Jesus was talking about how he is bound to suffer, die and rise again. His disciples did not really understand what he truly means yet remained silent about it and scared to ask. Eventually, the disciples were arguing about "who was the most important". The thought of them thinking about this makes me feel how dense they were trying to be when Jesus was talking about dying and there they were, arguing and competing against each other about who was more important. They literally ignored Jesus' words saying what is bound to happen to him. And so Jesus told them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35) What he simply means is that we must not hunger for the recognition of this world. We can do different things but if what we do is just to please the world, then it will all be nothing. We must be able to put in mind that the greatness he is inviting us possess is through service.

What service then does the Lord teaches us? Remember, Jesus took a child in his midst while telling his disciples, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me." (Mark 9:37) It is in receiving him that we are able to receive the Father as well. The child represents the kind of service that Jesus is telling us. A child cannot do more with only himself. Therefore he needs someone to assist him in different things. Yet when someone finally helped him, the child cannot give anything in return in order to pay for the help given to him. Therefore, we must be able to give service and not ask nor wait for anything in return. In this way, the service we are able to offer is something that is of pure intentions. Totally not for self-gratification nor for self-righteousness but simply for pure service.

In the second reading, James is telling us that conflicts are often self-inflicted. For example, the Lord tells us to love our enemies but we know it is really hard to do so. And so, consciously or unconsciously, we are able to create a conflict within ourselves regarding what we have to do and what is easier for us to do (which is most likely what we want to do anyway). Yet Jesus again reminds us that we live for the glory of God and not for the glory of man nor for our own glory. And to be able to be great in the eyes of the Lord, we must be able to serve others with love in our hearts even if it will cause us pain and suffering.

It is not a simple task. But it remains a great challenge to every one. In simple context, we can put it this way. Whenever the youth ministry has an activity, we always have a choice. One can always attend and one can always ditch it over another more fun activity. We know that attending the activities can help us grow spiritually and eventually lead other people into seeing God's light in their lives through evangelization. But sometimes, we think that going to the activities will lead our other friends to turn their back on us because we chose to be in some other place than where they are. That's our simple point of suffering. We get to be rejected and judged by other people. But we must also know that on the other side of the story, we were all able to strengthen our relationship with God and can be his instrument in other people's lives (service).

In the Bible, Peter said, "But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." (1Peter 5:9-10) Let this verse be one of your strong hold that the Lord will be there in every suffering you will encounter in proclaiming His glory. He alone shall be your strength and this strength will be more that enough.

Jesus loves us so much. Despite our sins, he does not love us any lesser. May we also have the grace to love as Jesus loves us that we may be able to transform our selfish hearts to giving, generous hearts.

To live is to suffer. To survive it is to find meaning in the suffering. The world is full of suffering but in every suffering, there comes overcoming. Let Jesus be our meaning and strength in our overcoming. And see how everything will just fall into place. :)

God bless!

cross

Scripture Reflection 8 "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." - Mark 8:34

9/16/2012 03:00:00 PM

"Follow Jesus." We hear this always and we say this in and out of our heads too. We know it's what we are supposed to do and we know how hard we are trying in order for us to do so. Yet it is never easy.

Jesus told his disciples long ago that, "You will be hated by all nations because of my name." (Matthew 24:9) Or "If they persecute me, they will also persecute you." (John 15:20)

The road to following the steps of Jesus is full of difficulties. We are all aware of that. I mean, we are all aware of what is in right now and being a so-called "Jesus-freak" is not in the top of the list or is not even in the list of "cool" stuffs. Maybe for the people who makes the lists and are blinded by their listing. Not for me.

Here's what I think:

Jesus, while he was still living, does not really care what people might think about him. For him, he just have to do what he has to. You know what that important mission is? It is to save you and I from our sins. A sort of mission impossible thing to be doing. But hey, he's the Messiah. And for man it is impossible, but for God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

Jesus walked on earth and faced a lot of persecutors. For our time now, it's our gossiping so-called friends, our enemies that are just waiting for us to make a wrong move, the cool people we know that thinks we are freaks for being a member of a community of believers who has regular worship activities apart from going to mass every Sunday. You see, not all people think it's cool. But then again, who cares?

The Lord has saved me. That I know for sure. I know he does not ask for anything in return but don't you think we owe him our lives and our redemption? Is putting our faith in His Holy Name too much to ask? I hope not.

In the first reading, Isaiah said "See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong?" Indeed, i attest to these words. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Many the frightening things and people around us may be, the Lord God is always a step ahead of everything that may come before us.

I believe in God's every promise. But is believing enough?

In the second reading, James said that faith without works is dead. If we claim to have strong faith but never act upon them, then what makes us any different from hypocrites? Not much, we can all be quite the same. We profess our faith every time we attend Sunday mass. "We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen......." We mouth every word but do we really mean any word that comes out?

It's hard to tell whether a person has a genuine faith. It's a quite personal matter that only you can assess for yourself. You can ask yourself, "Do I really have faith that Jesus is my God and saviour?" Some are scared of what the answer may be but I guess we should never be scared if we really have someone to hold on to. And for my case, that's my God.

In the gospel for today, Jesus was curious about what the people thinks about Him. It does not say that he really cares that much and is so conscious of what they think of Him but he asked, "Who do people say I am?" And his disciples tried to give him answers. All that is not him, obviously. But then Peter ~~(it is just me or is it always really Peter who gets so involved? Haha. He must be so participative that time.)~~, told him "You are the Christ." And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about it.

Do you ever wonder why Jesus does not want anyone to know about it? He could be a celebrity is people might know who he is. But then again, it is not what Jesus came for. He knows that what he is about to do will make him suffer even to death. Yet he will rise again. And through his death, humanity shall be saved.

Jesus wants us to think about him not just as the man who does miracles (heals the sick, casts out demons, turns water to wine, feed a thousand). He wants us to see beyond that. He wants us to see him as our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Messiah. Not because he wants more titles for himself but because it is what he really us. And unless we accept wholeheartedly that Jesus is God, we cannot really feel him complete presence in our lives.

God has been working over our lives since the day we are conceived. But it makes a very big difference if we, with open arms and hearts, call upon him and offer him full control over our very own lives.

I have learned a new word from today's homily. It's "kenosis". According to the priest (I wish I caught his name but was not really expecting to be quoting something from his homily. Remind me to take notes next time I go to mass on a Sunday. Easier for me if I attended the Jesuit mass. I could name every priest there is.), kenosis is Jesus emptying of himself. It's like total surrender. He could be that superstar at that time but he chose to be nothing apart from being that man who shall be persecuted, put to death through crucifixion and be resurrected after three days. But what he chose to be is not as simple as counting 1 to 3. It means giving up everything. For what? For us.

We all have things to think about. Every day, we think about different aspects in our lives. It makes me wonder. Did Jesus ever thought about his own, personal life even once? For even a second or so? I cannot answer that with facts but as what I feel, he never did. But he never regretted not to do so either. Know why? Because He loves us that much.

Jesus then leaves us with a challenge and reality check at the same time. "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 and that of the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:35)

A cross is not just a piece of wood. It's the symbol of Jesus' sacrifice and our redemption. We all have our own crosses in life. But may we always be reminded, when we take a look at the cross or even with just remembering it, that Jesus carried the cross in his shoulders which was the whole world. It's too much of a burden. And it's not equivalent to the burden and crosses we have in our lives. Not even a quarter of what we have.

Jesus asks us to follow him. It's not an order. It's an invitation. It's an open invitation. You can take it now or set it aside and take it later or ignore it forever. The choice is yours. The Lord is not imposing anything on us. Just know that whatever choice we make, He is and will always be there for us. Whether we like it or now. He will never leave us. :)

Have a blessed Sunday!

fairness

Scripture Reflection 7 "Be opened!" - Mark 7:34

9/09/2012 07:00:00 AM

Friends are those people we confide on. These are special people we trust with our deepest and darkest secrets and even with our very own lives. It's nice to have friends.

What friends do with each other is share things about oneself to the other and allow the other to be interactive about it. When we have problems, we seek for advice from a friend. When we had a moment with our crush, we can't wait to tell a friend about it. A lot of things we share with a friend and these things mean a lot to each one of us.

In the Gospel, the Lord tells the deaf man: "Ephphatha!" which means "Be opened!". And immediately, the man's ears opened and his speech impediment was gone. One of the many miracles of healing that our Lord has done through out His walk on earth.

Jesus tells the man to be opened. It is the same as Jesus telling us to open ourselves to Him. Every one of us has his/her own deafness. Somehow, a part of us is hearing only our own voice which is telling us what we want and the voice that is not from God which is telling us to do wrong. Human as we are, we get confused. I mean, how can we even determine which is which? And who does even know what the voice of God sounds like? It's difficult to figure these things out.

Better yet, we must allow ourselves to be willing to accept the Lord in our lives because it is only through our total acceptance that He is our saviour that He may be able to draw closer to us. We must then be able to hear His word, and not just merely hearing it through our ears but also allow the thoughts to drown in the depth of our hearts.

Everyday the Lord tries to extend His hands to us. At times, we even try to reach Him too but there are many distractions around us. We have many things to do and we stick to the goal of fulfilling each task we have. And so the distance increases.

Jesus invites us to be His friend. He wants us to share to Him our birthday celebrations, our wishes and dreams, our frustrating Math problems, our heart breaking stories, our depressing grades, our happy kilig moments, our fun family day, and every thing else. He's like our personal-never-running-out-of-pages diary. Reaching Him does not even require you to get a piece of paper and pen, have a land line or a cell phone (wala pang load minsan). All He asks of us is to be in a quiet place and talk to Him in prayer. No expenses, no effort. You can even lie down while giving Him an update about your life. Although we all know that even if we do not tell Him about it, He already knows. It's amazing how He does it. Still amazes me how. Amazes me how great our God is. Amen?

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah tells us to be strong and fear not. Easy to say and read, actually hard to apply. We all have our own set of fears. According to researchers, there is an infinite list of phobias. One can discover a fear of something now and can eventually develop a name and tada! It's on the long list already. Who knows? Maybe even the prophet Isaiah has his own fears.

Still, with all the fear we have within us, the Lord tells us that "Hey, why are you scared? I'm here." Our Lord is more than any other superheroes. Therefore, He can and will save us from our fears no matter what happens. He never forsakes us (Deut 31:6). This is the reason why Isaiah is telling us not to fear. The world may come against us, which is expected if we continue to follow Jesus. But the Lord will be our shield, our fortress. With Him, we are safe. Cradled in sleep and carried in walk.

In the second reading, James teaches us to set aside our impartiality. Our God made each one of us from His own image and likeness. He did not choose one over the other. We are all fair in the eyes of God. More so, it is also the same way that the Lord wants us to do -- that we look at every one else around us without any form of bias.

Jesus sends us different kind of messages every single day. Today, I got this message:

"Dearest one, be not afraid to open yourself to me because no matter what is within you, no matter how much you have sinned, my love for you remains the same. My everlasting and unfailing love stays with you. Always and forever, Jesus"

You see, the Lord makes a way. But to make a relationship work, the effort must go both ways. The Lord tries to reach out and so now, it's time for us to do our part.

Remember: What is hearing when we don't hear God's word? What is seeing when we don't see what is good? What is feeling when we don't feel God's love? Mostly, what more is there for us to have when we don't have God? He is worthy to be our everything.

advantages of mobile phones

Call me maybe - an informative post about mobile phones

9/05/2012 08:47:00 PM

The first mobile phone is known to be the one discovered by the engineers from Bell Labs in the year 1946. The first hand-held mobile phone for use on a cellular network was manufactured by Motorola. It has been 66 years since the beginning of the invention. It was long before I was born and long before I had my eyes on a...

birdy

Skinny love

8/31/2012 09:36:00 PM

Birdy? Bon Iver? Ed Sheeran? Whoever. They each have a good version. I first heard this song on the radio. I have no idea what the title is at first and the voice of the artist is not familiar too. What I did was noted the lyrics I was able to catch and tried to google it when I got home. And tada!...

complexity

Complexity of my human emotions

8/29/2012 08:42:00 PM

Lately, I have been exercising the limbic system of my precious brain. I have learned how to control the emotions I have and somehow figured out how to determine the should-have emotions from the must-suppress emotions. It's a bit tricky and confusing. But I know that it doesn't really matter much whatever you choose to feel. Someone I know once told me: "Feelings are neither...

fear

Worry plus fear

8/27/2012 10:56:00 PM

People say that you should picture the future -- what you want to be, where you want to be, who you want to be with, etc. It's something normal people usually do. We dream and there's nothing wrong about it. It is normal that we aspire or wish for something to be or have. I have a lot of plans for my life....

CSSDO

Reality in the streets (street children situation in Davao)

8/22/2012 12:30:00 PM

The society has a lot on hand today. So many issues we have been facing and still on to looking for the appropriate resolutions. There are realities that flash before our eyes before we could ever wonder why it occurs and make a move to settle it. “The youth are the hope of the nation”, a...

Lessons from Pablo

Life as we know it

Remembering Papa Rey

Things happen

Scripture Reflection 10 "Anyone who is not against us is with us." - Mark 9:40

Letting it be

Scripture Reflection 9 "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me." - Mark 9:37

Scripture Reflection 8 "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." - Mark 8:34

Scripture Reflection 7 "Be opened!" - Mark 7:34

Call me maybe - an informative post about mobile phones

Skinny love

Complexity of my human emotions

Worry plus fear

Reality in the streets (street children situation in Davao)

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