the Security Blanket

Ave Maria:-)

Among the many treasured greetings I read was one that  a priest sent, he is formator of a Pauline Missionary Congregation 

and I thank him for these words...because it helps me reflect on my life,our family, our community... the lives of others, and mankind .

 For many Christmas must always be silver bells and Rudolph jingling... carols sweetly sung filling the air... gifts...gifts.. and more gifts... , Santa Claus with children lining up to ask the present they want this year... it is the golden opportunity to be with family --with friends..and even bonding with complete strangers -hearts made one by the season... it is a ceasefire in warzones - gee I hope this is still practised ... it is making endless long distance phone calls ... OFW's sending remittances , never mind if they suffer for as long as the family back home gets to celebrate Noche Buena - the Christmas feast.... and buy presents... 

It will be  priests doing the rounds of Simbang Gabi ... in the Philippines, some parishes have 2 dawn masses.. and also anticipated evening mass for those who still want to complete the Novena of Masses but can't attend dawn mass.  

The series of masses help the faithful listen to the Scripture passages with  priest, explaining , teaching, exhorting the people to yet again make a re commitment to God..to be reconciled to Him thru His Son Jesus Christ.

Many times we've heard... "Ay.. di naman bago suot ko... I don't have new clothes..and it's Christmas.." 

Oh may it be that any outward newness has a connection to our inner transformation.... removing ... doing away with the old sinful way of life... and make room in our heart for the King... Newness of heart then can be expressed  .. yes with a new dress and sparkling appearance, that's alright ..and more deeply... with new actions to interpret the peace, love, truth and forgiveness we recieve from the Lord.    

the recent calamity in Mindanao has changed the manner in which Christmas is celebrated...

How wonderful because many offices have toned done their parties... or saved the money for the exchange gifts and instead send whatever amount was gathered to the victims of the calamity.Wonderful.

But many will will find it hard to dwell on Christmas and its percieved joys ... if there is a financial crisis... if the family is divided .. deeply scarred by conflicts and age-old bitter issues.. how do we proclaim inner and outward peace to the world -- surely if one has sleepless nites there is no actual peace, is there?.. it is hard to accept Christmas if one is on his sick-bed.. or a loved one has 3 times a week dialysis or chemo treatments , and we must watch them suffer.... 

And How does one smile from the heart..when someone has pained you and will not , possibly not in this lifetime ever, ever ask forgiveness  -- ahhh yes ...we insist on our  terms for reconciliation : If he/she does not ask forgiveness first, I won't forgive  --- I will not be reconciled  to him/her.

a dear friend has suffered such brokenness thru the years ( as tho' she has recieved a package deal of troubles and sufferings)

her greatest challenge has always been not to check and see what happens at other's fences.... to check would mean having to see postcard-pretty families... a luxurious lifestyle... successful careers and  good health , and yes, they even have a beautiful  relationship with the Lord...and my friend would be tempted :"Dear God..must they have it all???"

  

Yet ..the years of walking with the Lord... studying , reflecting on Christ's teachings have made her understand that this very life of crosses is a precious, priceless gift... for when it helps us cling to Jesus... when it obtains for us such a sweet surrender to His Will , when our understanding of our faith is deepened.... we recieve treasures only heaven can give... a peace, a joy the world can neve take away... and that is not dependent on having all worldly and temporal security blankets ( fame, riches, loved ones, good health) -- for the Security Blanket becomes God Himself.  My friend slowly but surely becomes a woman of faith.. even a rock to those around her.. who cannot fathom how she can stand it all..yet retain graciousness..even true joy ---there is a calmness and hope that can only grow in the thick of suffering -- suffering united to our Lord and Saviour.

 Anuman ang pinagda daanan natin... naririyan si Hesus.. kusang bunaba  at nag katawang tao ang Panginoong Hesus.... by His Life, Death and Resurrection we are set free from all sin and death...and our inheritance as God's children is fully restored. 

Here then is a Christmas gift from our family to yours...Fr. Mark Grima's prayer... You be the one to see how the prayer can touch your life.

May you be blessed by a Christmas made possible, wherever you are in life and whatever life is for you today.

Christ is born today.

He brings HOPE in our misery.

He brings down power thru HUMILITY.

He is Love made possible.

Maligayang Pasko .........from Dilbert Maye and Joshua Puno

The Wildest Card

Ave Maria:-)

May peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through.

It is our nth Christmas dear brother and sister.. it is also a Christmas that has its unique flavor..unique set of of circumstances , environment, particular setting...status quo -- indeed every Christmas is different in the sense that we are older , haha... we may be with family or away from our homes, loved ones..hundreds of miles away from country and kin - perhaps in a place where people don't even know nor care about Christmas... situations , even our spirtual and physical  health varies... thank God, the  meaning and impact  Christmas  goes beyond all these things. 

Even if we be placed in the middle of a warzone.. be caught in the bitterest of conflicts and misunderstandings...still..Christmas remains Christmas because it is all about God's love for man..how He had thrown the Wildest card , the most Unimaginable , Unthinkable thing to do.,, the most Improbable solution for all of man's miseries ...God decides He will save us and clean up the mess we've made and which we are continuing to make each time we loosen our hold on the Lord.

Our capacity to sin and the depth of our brokenness has reached a scale where many would be ashamed to call himself a human being or a child of God. Individually, as a family..community, or as the whole human race we've unwittingly made a covenant with the devil -- it happens whenever we choose his principles over and above those that Christ  has preached to us. We settle for a compromise ... thinking the bargain we enter saves us from distress -- only to realize often when it's too late... it's the enemy laughing all the way to hell with our souls chained to him...And we lose everything of eternal value.

Here is a portion of today's gospel: Zechariah's (John the Baptist's  father)prayer : 

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace."

May Jesus The Word made flesh ease us out of the darkness and evil shadows that hound our lives. May we not be afraid to humbly acknowledge our sins.. to bare our inner wounds.. to confess our brokenness , our failure to love and to forgive... and to trust again. 

As we dwell on the image of our Lord... a babe in swaddling clothes carried by his young mother... with Joseph protecting them.. may this scene make us believe..it will be alright.... no matter what the gravity of life's troubles ... it will be alright ..God will see us thru safely becoz He has come for us through Jesus Christ . Any God who agrees to be born like his creatures..and who decides to offer His life in exchange for ours..is the truest, greatest Only God worth believing and dying for. 

      

Maligayang Pasko sa inyong lahat................................................... Dilbert, Maye, Josh Puno

Luke1 :67-79

Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying:

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Stripped

Ave Maria :-)

Tis the season to be merry fa, la, la.... la..la..la! Merry because  without the tinsel, the shopping, the endless feasts, parties..merry-making --- we rejoice simply because we remember the coming of our Saviour.

A young relative was downtrodden..sad really and vowed..." it'll Christmas..kelangan magka pera...para sumaya." (I must have money so that I'll be happy this season)

I felt so sorry for this young adult --- the heart was still anchored on what he thought was the essence of Christmas -- that without the sufficient budget to buy gifts, to buy new things whether for one's self or for others... to probably gorge on the hams and lechons and yummies of endless gatherings - to enjoy the nightlife,mall and shop till we drop spend Christmas at cool Tagaytay or Baguio City for a change --- to do anything and everything one would deem joyous -- but to Not Do the Essential Thing -To recieve The Christ -child in our hearts.      

Beloved brothers and sisters..here's a gentle reminder of what starts this joyous Sunday Dec. 2, 2012

In the Catholic Church, Advent is a period of preparation, extending over four Sundays, before Christmas. 

 The word Advent comes from the Latinadvenio, "to come to," and refers to the coming of Christ. 

This refers, 

1) to our celebration of Christ's birth at Christmas; 

2) to the coming of Christ in our lives through grace and the Sacrament of Holy Communion;

 and finally 3), to His Second Coming at the end of time.

Our preparations, therefore, should have all three comings in mind. We need to prepare our souls to receive Christ worthily.

As we gear up... agreeing in spirit to be totally committed and immersed in the Spirit of Advent  , let's not forget how our dear Jesus, Mary and Joseph  themselves prepared. I can't go lengthily in reflection as will need to catch up with noon mass but may God help us out with this short reflection.

Whether it was Mary , Joseph, the apostles or any of the saints, including you beloved reader -- countless times over-- thru the years, we realize that in order to recieve Christ , His Kingdom , His forgivenss and love --His very fullness Itself - we must be stripped of every single thing, every idea , every entity that proposes itself as demi-god , a security blanket or false saviour or ultimate resource for us . ... stripped ...stripped of it all and more especially..stripped of our sins.

Come look back... take a long hard honest look at the different ways our Lord has molded you...sometimes in a happy painless way.. but more often in grueling,arrrrghhh circumstances. To have too much  of the world... of support systems.. to have easy access to material wealth.. to always be physically and emotionally strong and invincible..sitting on Top of the world... absorbed in our success ..can be a trap for our heart to not hunger for the Lord..to not seek Him..to not listen to His Word... to not Favor Him over everything else..because we foolishly think the All Else Counts more..tastes better... is painless and just soooo satisfying. How false these worldly attachments are..how decieving!

Joseph  had to give up his idea of fathering a child biologically, swallow his manly pride and pledge to care for a woman pregnant with SomeOne else's child.

Mary had to give up her youthfulness, all freedom from cares and instead embrace such an Unknown Future  -- if Mary were born in this century,she'd have to cope with nagging temptations of the embryo growing in her womb quite possibly an alien..yet she chose to take the angel at his word..... "You will be the mother of GOD." and that was that as far as she was concerned.

Apostles left their livelihood, their families..... once fishermen, Matthew - a tax collector ...... there was too a persecutor of Christians, this was Saul -who became the greatest apostle. He had to be blinded physically so that HE could SEE THE CHRiST.

Hence whether we experience physical blindness, affliction, financial crisis... broken relationships, loss of job, even loss of  our good standing in society... all these..all these will be well worth it--- if in exchange we recieve knowledge and faith in God Most High thru His SON JESUS CHRiST..for when we recieve Christ..we will have it all...His grace is sufficient..Amen all glory and honor to Him our Messiah..

Wishing all a lovely entry into Advent as we keep praying for one another...Come Lord Jesus ..come and reign in our hearts! Come oh Emmanuel and be with us...forever~

....................................................................................................................te mye

Wishing all a lovely entry into Advent as we keep praying for one another...Come Lord Jesus ..come and reign in our hearts! Come oh Emmanuel and be with us...forever~

....................................................................................................................te mye

Jesus said to his disciples:
"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your headsbecause your redemption is at hand.

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man."