True Colors

Ave Maria :-)

2013 soon officially HISTORY... believe me  as one grows older you're tempted to ask THE TIMEKEEPER...hey , don't go so fast with passage of time..what's the hurry...? But you and I know dear friend that we can't bully the TimeKeeper..He has a rhythm all His own...He has a gameplan (take that in a most positive way), He singles out and assigns His players.. He knows everything and will make sure that in the End everything was played and timed out to perfection... 

Meanwhile we would probably at first wrestle with this rhythm:either we complain..."Too fast...." or sniff and whine..."sooooooooooo sloww,ano ba?" hahaha there is no pleasing this pesky human race. Tayo na nga ang pinagkalooban ng buhay with matching abundant blessings tayo pa ang nag re reklamo...Angels in heaven if they had their way would say:"The nerve!" hahaha.

Well that is man. that is you and me...

As we bid good-bye to 2013..go on come out with as many colorful descriptions as you can..bring out the book of adjectives ..was it exciting ?triumphant? nerve-wracking...heartbreaking..hilarious... destructive...healing..perhaps and you'd wish :errr--- romantic?...uy..a good many will venture:"Ay naku ha para sakin(for me twas) traumatic, depleting, depressing, misery par excellence... ayoko na... pls fast forward to a better year. Good-bye!"

Phew... ganon kalupit..thaaat baad, brother?

The beauty of our Christian faith is that no matter what adjectives you put in there... 3 words will always knit it together , make sense out of possible nonsense, even produce gold out of the rubbish we might have produced ...and sana you're dying to know the 3 words... sana naman.................

BLOW THOSE TRUMPETS for the 3 Magnificent Words

GOD LOVES US.

put another way... JESUS SAVES US.

and then pahabol translation...hehe...

HOLY SPIRIT PRESENT.

 

It means my dear friend... no matter what shade or hue our life turned out to be the past year..Someone Almighty so very closely watched over us...making sure,even if we'd have to suffer some bad falls ..and have our own peculiar and very unique version of Typhoon Yolanda--that we'd still come out Truly Alive, whether on earth or in heaven, amenOur Heavenly Father, the TimeKeeper perfects us in his divine love.

So we cannot and must not wish that the adjectives we come up with to describe 2013 will be limited to these:rosy, marvelous, glorious---- that The Year Was Utterly PINK. 

 If life was just PINK all the way..we'd end up being Dumbos or real-life Barbie Dolls. We need those colors.

Have we not noticed how each passing year teaches us so many new things... how if we trusted God more and rebeled less that unlikely as it sounds we actually grow in faith wisdom hope and love..? how God can make saints out of us... it'll take time and mostly the Blood Sweat and Tears of our Saviour but yes it can happen.

Hooray for us !

And we hate this mantra but yes  Practice makes perfect.

That is..practising and applying God's love and forgiveness in our life.

Hey don't look nor ask me... nangangapa pa rin ako in that area... but one learns..one learns indeed.

My 2013 had the following : answered prayers tho' not necessarily the way I expected it to be, broken relationships ( yes even these we must suffer the better to test what exactly is the foundation of our love and friendships )... unexpected healing - yes, physical but the more exciting was spiritual healing happening within the family ... pruning with a Capital P ---well let's just say God gets more specific and intense, hahaha --- the ouches are inevitable but in the end you realize the Lord did you a favor... God removes a lot of useless stuff in our life so we can move better and obey his flow without these heavy sinful anchors. A constant re-emptying -- you can't imagine how much filth we allow inside of us --how it kills us and makes us ugly inside -out--- that is why we must constantly thank the Lord when He pulls us out of the quagmires -- trust the Lord to save us when we don't even know we need major, major saving..hehe... Really we can't enter 2014 without taking time to reflect on the year we leave behind, oui?  

at a  2013 family reunion dueting with 1st cousin Rafael Besas these are golden moments when we can experience lotsa healing

In the end the colors don't matter... it is how we have been affected... the slow but sure beautiful transformation that happens to us that counts and is more important. 

If we come out wiser, kinder... richer in love and compassion..then it will be well worth it.

We are still a work in progress but one sweet day the TimeKeeper will say to us:Your time is up child...you are moving to a place where you won't be needing New Years and you won't fret over past years either.

before we know it..we are welcomed by a host of angels and saints and the Savior Himself who says to us :

" WELL DONE.... WELL DONE...child, come live with Me forever."

May our 2014 be filed with golden possibilities for spiritual growth, deliverance from all evil that oppress us and block the flow of God's grace, healing and reconciliation first with God thru Christ and may it overflow to a reconciliation with our brothers and sisters - may we experience the divine love of God who provides for us generously everything good and essential ....

we keep you all in our family prayers as we pray you remember us in yours... Happy New Year..as a good priest taught us  just recently , perhaps the best greeting is A Holy New Year to all. God bless you....te mye

No Black-Out

Hi friends...would have loved to share with you on the Solemnity of our Blessed Mother's Immaculate Conception..  but guess this is the "appointed time". It's a blessing to know there's free time to sit down and share - a treat for me - and sana for you too:-)

So how is your Advent? It'll be the 3rd Sunday this week-end, Gaudete Sunday - and on the Advent Wreathe the pink candle will be lighted.

Our Advent at home is a bit adventurous -- haha - I don't know what got into Dilbert's mind - but he agreed to light  the 1st candle -1st Sunday of Advent , he also agreed to lead the prayer -- well , he read it ( I printed the prayer in advance) - that we actually got to do the lighting  was a major miracle in itself - our very tiny family present: there was  husband, son Joshua , Lola Lina ever faithful  yaya thru the decades ...and Ging our 'adopted'  also home for a week-end visit.

Josh had no choice but to follow because father was "into it" .... you'll  probably think lighting of candles on a wreathe decked with plants and ornaments would be similar to rituals being practised by people of all faiths and all beliefs. 

But for us Christians...and especially at a time like Advent ...lighting a candle together as a family sends a signal to the world and the highest heavens that we remember the coming of the True Light of the world who is Jesus Christ --- first come on Christmas Day...2000 years ago .... and whom we expect to return on his Second Coming - this time to judge the world. 

We have a tiny baby Jesus laid on a simple wooden crib -- found some purple (violet being the color of Advent a symbol for repentance and welcoming royalty -for Jesus is True King of both heaven and earth) cartolina as a back drop for the paper mache --- old newspapers really crushed and formed with the help of good ole gawgaw - a local paste that is just perfect for making hills and mountains and cliffs when you can't buy the expensive replicas There is a huge lighted star on the wall , on top of the Baby Jesus resting on his wooden throne. 

We have a Christmas tree that is screaming that it's due for retirement hahaha -- but it'll do... and then as a treat --- being into THE LIGHT MODE... I did spend a little extra to put light sa garage -- I don't normally put lights outside the house --- but this 2013 has been a breakthrough year not just on a personal or family note.. but even for our charismatic community... our parish at Mt. Carmel ..and hey even for our country. 

While the world threatens to encompass us with events/ situations that seem to spell DARKNESS  from any angle you look at --- yet GOD has mercifully and faithfully shed us His Bright Guiding Light thru His Son Jesus --- giving us the specific blessing, graces we need ( AT THE PRECISE TIME WE NEED IT- not too early nor too late--sakto lang gyud) to combat all of satan's oppressions...evil attacks ..and all challenges.

By now we should be able to smell and sense the different ways the enemy tries to steal our peace:

1) Look ...you are afflicted and sick... you are too weak ...and you have become useless

2) There is a lack of money... or for others.... there is egads -- absolutely no money -- it's a crisis!

3) Everyone you love or tried to love has deserted or failed you -- you have nothing to live for, you have 

    no one to share your life with... you're a loser or didn't you know that?

4) You can try all you want but you will never change .. you are weak and vulnerable ... and you cannot honestly believe you're cut out to do grand things... or did you say holy things ? Boy you must be sick or sumthin' ..take a pill 

5) Calamities(think yolanda).... Terrorism...crimes on the rise... oopps even the Light rates ...Meralco will be charging higher rates starting January.... oh no.... we'll cut back on energy consumption --- that means madilim na talaga.

Well if we believe and fall for every trick the devil throws at us (1-5 above are just samplers of the possible ways we'll be tried and tempted) )... we won't need  a Black-out around us ... because the Black -out will start inside of us. And that'll be the end of us.

The Light who is Jesus first grew in the womb of Mother Mary.... and our Saviour again waits for the slightest openning in our heart so that He can make His entry this time in our poor heart, and so that His Light fills us.

Put a candle , a lighted lamp in the midst of darkness and right away it Changes everything. Hope is born. And when the light happens to be the Son of God who entered our time and our space... what do you think would that do to the whole of creation? We will not ever fathom how God the Father loved us this much...nor fathom how Jesus even bothered to agree to such a plan of salvation for us. 

At the Solemnity of Mary's Immaculate Conception I cried tears of joy -- so overcome with gratitude and truly in awe of this woman who simply believed. Just stare, be quiet before an image of our Lady and she will calm you ..she helps her children understand more.

Let us pray to our Blessed Mother for she is is our mother too -- that thru her intercession God removes the cobwebs in our heads and extricates the filth in our hearts -- so that like Mary  we can recieve the Light fully and completely -- Christ our Lord.

No more Black -out  for sure........... let's keep praying for each other that God grants us the love to do  our fair share in spreading the Good News who is Jesus Christ. Amen.

Oh here's a vid of a group called Psalm of David http://youtu.be/P6mWs_8knN8

--- caught them singing at a Chinese resto -- was just touched by their music ..here's something about their group :The Psalm of David Harmonic Orchestra, Inc. is a non-stock, non-government organization that reaches out to thousands of young people to promote the “Music Against Drugs”campaign.

For more than a decade now, we have successfully helped talented teenagers especially the out-of-school youths in adding new meaning, confidence, and hope in their lives through music.  Of course, with the help of our selfless and dedicated volunteers,  we have established music centers all over the country giving free voice lessons and music workshops on violin, piano, drums, trumpet, and guitar. Through this program, we believe that these young lives will be influenced with great music and values instead of  having a life wasted and tagged by worldly perils like drug and alcohol addiction, gambling, prostitution, theft and other crimes so prevalent among our youth today.