Sally jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: "How is my little boy? Is he going to be all right?

When can I see him?"

The surgeon said, "I'm sorry. We did all we could, but your boy didn't make it."

Sally said, "Why do little children get cancer? Doesn't God care anymore? Where were you, God, when my son needed you?"

The surgeon asked, "Would you like some time alone with your son? One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes, before he's transported to the University."

Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said goodbye to her son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair.

"Would you like a lock of his hair?" the nurse asked. Sally nodded yes.  The nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally.

The mother said, "It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body to the University for Study. He said it might help somebody else. "I said no at first, but Jimmy said, "Mom, I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom." She went on, "My Jimmy had a heart of gold. Always thinking of someone else.  Always wanting to help others if he could."

Sally walked out of Children's mercy Hospital for the last time, after spending most of the last six months there. She put the bag with Jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car. The drive home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house.

She carried Jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his hair to her son's room. She started placing the model cars and other personal things, back in his room exactly where he had always kept them.

She laid down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to sleep.

It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Lying beside her on the bed was a folded letter.. The letter said: Dear Mom, I know you're going to miss me; but don't think that I will ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause I'm not around to say I LOVE YOU.

I will always love you, Mom, even more with each day. Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me. He can have my room, and old stuff to play with. But, if you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do. You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, y'know.

Don't be sad thinking about me. This really is a neat place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything. The angels are so cool. I love to watch them fly. And, you know what? Jesus doesn't look like any of his pictures. Yet, when I saw Him, I knew it was Him.

Jesus himself took me to see GOD! And guess what, Mom? I got to sit on God's knee and talk to Him, like I was somebody important.  That's when I told Him that I wanted to write you a letter, to tell you goodbye and everything. But I already knew that wasn't allowed.

Well, y'know what Mom? God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter. I think Gabriel is the name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions 'Where was He when I  needed him?'

God said, He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as He always is with all His children.

Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written except you.  To everyone else this is just a blank piece of paper. Isn't that cool?

I have to give God His pen back now. He needs it to write some more names in the Book of Life.

Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. I'm sure the food will be great. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I don't hurt anymore. The cancer is all gone. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore ... and God couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either.  That's when He sent The Angel of Mercy to come get me. The Angel said I was Special Delivery! How about that?

Signed with Love from:

God, Jesus & Me

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.

"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!

"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.

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.

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.

“Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere. Worry and everything seems worthless. Pray and everything will be worth it.”

It's something I live with and remind myself and those people dear to me about. And I know it helps to be reminded. Somehow makes a difference.

I wonder where the thought goes whenever I feel the unwelcomed-tandem (worry+fear). I wonder how it pops in and in again in my mind. It's bothering.

 I have a lot of things in my mind. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I feel this way. I have special moments when I am able to clear them up and I have worse moments when they pile up one after the other. 

I was running through the thoughts in my mind when I realized that I fear of the things I do not want to happen in the future. That I think about tomorrow too much, think about the day after tomorrow too much. Scared of what tomorrow may bring. Even scared if tomorrow has something to bring. I am scared that the things I do not want to happen may visit me and stay for good. Scared that I might lose something or someone along the way of building myself.

I am scared to take a larger leap. Does it mean then that I have lesser faith?

Maybe. Cos' I have the fear to take the larger leap of my life story.

Somehow, we get so used to what we have, where we stand and everything that is part of our "good" lives. We think that we are satisfied. We do not need anything more. But sometimes, we know we do need more, something much better. We are just scared to take another step towards the better because we are scared of losing the "good" in the process.

Many of us are also blinded that there can be something more. I know I am, sometimes.

The Bible gives us 365 verses that tells us not to fear. 365 days, 365 promises by God. It will be more than enough for us to get through. Jesus said:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God. Have faith also in me."  (John 14:1)

I pray now that the Lord may grant me the wisdom to know His will for me, courage to face it and the humility to accept it will all my heart. He washed my sins. He, too, shall wash away my worries and fears.

A friend texted me about a song. Let me share it too you.



I know it's not just me who worries, who fears. But with all the worries and fear I have in me, I want to convert them into something that could be of use to the others who have more worries and fears than me. I wanna be a part of somebody else's story. Maybe the story could be yours.

1. God speaks in the silence of our hearts. Once we learn to deafen our ears from the world, then, we shall hear His voice.
2. God does not ask us to offer our 24/7 to Him. He knows we have a life to take care of. What He is asking us is to offer even a few moments of our 24/7 to tell Him things, to thank Him, to talk to Him. He may know all the things we do, but like us, He also wants things to be shared to Him personally.
3. God gives us a challenge to be His disciples in this new age. He does not specifically tell us to be priests and nuns. But He wants us to share our experience of knowing Him to our friends so that they, too, may know Him and experience the joy we have in knowing Him.