Come Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me

          This is a universal invitation for us all. All our life, we are in a journey, and on this journey, we need to make sacrifices along the way. As human as we are, it is but inevitable that we encounter several “crosses” everyday in this life. However it is through these trials also that we can grow to be strong and mature hence we will be more ready to go on with our journey.

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          As we recall back all our life’s events, we can vividly recognize those events wherein we stumbled and fell down. We failed in many ways and we felt as if life has been so unfair to us. However if at some point in time as well, we will come into a realization that “after each rain, the sun will shine” then every load that we carry will become lighter.

          Thus we need to understand that life has to move on in spite of all our pains and joys. What is needed from us is to be constantly positive in such a trip. After all, it is through the example of Jesus Christ that we also our encouraged to take up our cross and follow His examples.

My Little Boy

           I have another lovely opportunity to videochat with our little boy today. This is then the wonder brought along by this new technology nowadays. The distance between us and our little boy, Kurt, does not become a hindrance for us to continue communicating with each other. While there is that absence of a physical interaction between us yet the chance for us to see each other gives us great joy to learn more updates about our beloved little boy.

                                               

          Being in constant contact with each other is a much needed activity so that the relationship between loved ones can be further developed. Moreover we need to prioritize our  loved ones since they are the source of our great joy and strength. In spite of all this life’s odds, the inspiration brought along by our beloved help us overcome them.

          Thus, I thank you Most loving Father  for the presence of my loved ones in my life. May you always shower us and all other families with the blessings we need as we continue with our journey in life.

Blessings....Blessings.....Blessings....

           It’s Friday once again…..another week is almost over and this week’s blessings were so abundant that I could always exclaim to the whole world the greatness of God’s love for me. I know how loving this God is and I am so sorry if at times, I tend to forget such goodness. The multiple blessings that I unceasingly received from Him like my family, my other significant others in life, my work, my workmates who have been so supportive and welcoming on me in spite of all my shortcomings, my place of rest which is surrounded by lovely people of multicultural backgrounds- all of them remind me of God’s goodness. I could still name so many other blessings and with them, my awe and love for God is forever growing.

          On the other hand, if we can only appreciate all the good things that are happening in our life and focus our energy on them then we can always wake up each day in such a lovely and positive disposition. We are always challenged to give back what we have received from God. The trials that come our way should never become a hindrance for us to develop further our love and appreciation for our God. 

          May each day be a living example for us to realize how lucky we are to continue enjoying God’s greatness through all this world’s wonderful creation. Share this positive energy with others known or unknown to us.

Be An Instrument for Healing of Others

So inspiring…..that’s how I will describe the words I received from our priest this day. He made mention that one way or the other, we should allow ourselves to become agents of healing for others. We all know that there are so many wounded souls nowadays. Even our own selves we can say that we have been wounded once in our lifetime. Others may have been carrying this woundedness all along and it takes someone to show to him/her that after all, in spite of this baggage, there is still a shining light that endows a positive glow to this somewhat darkened path. And this light will bring us hope and consolation. Consequently when we are able to overcome and own this woundedness, we can also be wounded healers to others.

          Furthermore, one of the things  that is solicited from us is our willingness to spend time to those who are in need of listening and presence. We could at times be overwhelmed by our busy schedules, hanging out with friends,  and other self centered activities that we tend to forget those who are in need of our helping hand.

          Although it is constantly a matter of how we priorities things and activities in our daily life but somehow, may we have time to share our gifts to others. By nature, we are all human as well as social beings and as such, we can’t just ignore our present reality especially those people around us. Nevertheless, we also have that social and moral responsibility to help those brothers and sisters who are in dire need of assistance. Deprivation of our essential needs such as love, affection, sympathy and others is one of the primary reasons why there are people who are depressed, unwanted, worthless, so broken and unloved.Thus we need to open our eyes and see what exactly is happening to our surroundings. We need to expand our horizons and reach out to those helpless individual.

          Finally, by making ourselves available for others, we are creating extra miles for them so that they will feel being accompanied in their journey towards self realization.

 

 

To You Oh Lord I Lift Up My Gratitude

           I offer to you Most Loving Father all that has been this week. Just like the words of the famous Psalm 25:1: Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. I submit to you everything that I encountered and experienced this week.

The gift of my family: my wife and my little boy -these two precious gifts who are the main source of my daily inspirations;

The people whom I met who allowed me to appreciate the more your Love and Patience in my own limitations;

The food I received this week that nurtured my body so that I can proceed with all my responsibilities in my work and in my other activities;

The air that I breathed that allowed me to continue living and enjoying such a wonderful creation from You;

The challenges I met that enabled me to surrender everything to you believing that without you, I can do nothing;

The wonderful world of creation that unceasingly manifests to me your Divine Presence and your unconditional LOVE for me and that of the whole mankind;

And I offer my prayers for all those have experienced not so good during the course of the week.

AMEN.

Life is a Blessing

          I thank God for everything that He showered to me during the whole duration last week. I have received so many blessings from Him above. From the successes that I accomplished in work the whole week, up to the numerous personal encounter and meeting of new friends, and the moments I spent with my loved ones most specifically with my wife and with our little boy

          Indeed, life is such a wonderful gift. My own journey reflects most of it. Yes there were countless hardships and trials along the way yet the most of it, it was so wonderful. The events in our life really become our way to continue our self enhancement. However we may take note that this borrowed life is not solely for our own satisfaction. May we always remember that there are many people out there who are deprived of such happiness due to their limitations.

                       

          On the outset, our multiple and very complex daily experiences are reflections and mirrors of what this world has to offer for us. In the business of life, we need to step back so as to have a clearer view of this world’s events and that of our own. We need to have a deep understanding on the relationship of things in our midst and in our surrounding. We need to be active participants in this world thus we can’t just be  stoic to all this world’s happenings day by day.

          Life is such a blessing. We are as well invited to share this gift with our neighbors near and far. May we always remember that one of the precious things in life is by extending our hands to others. Let us altogether make his world a wonderful place to be.

 

The Joy of a Successful Marriage

           As both me and my wife attended the celebration of the Holy Eucharist today, a couple took time to talk to the congregation before it ended. They were inviting the faithful to participate in their coming Marriage Enrichment Conference. While listening to their testimony, I heard that it was not at all romance and laughters in their marriage. They have been married for 22 years and they said that those years were not at all in cloud nine.

          They assured those who will be interested to participate in their conference of gaining wonderful learnings from competent speakers. Such topics as knowing the positive ingredients to a successful marriage, how to weather storms in a marriage, the secret of living a successful relationship and more powerful tools in marriage will be discussed.

          Reflecting on this invitation, I could say that In my own marriage of 9 years, I could positively attest to what they mentioned that after all, my own marriage is not all smooth and joy along the way. There were several trying moments in the past yet as a couple, me and my wife significantly tried to settle any disagreement first before going to bed. Recalling back those years, I just notice that one negative aspect of any relationship especially that of marriage is pride. When pride abounds in the relationship, it creates a distance and a gap between the couple and the longer that it is left unanswered,  the farther this distance has become. After a while, tempers will flare up even with just trivial matters, the feeling of being misjudged will occur and other stressful situations will happen. Consequently a mark of uncertainty will stump the relationship. And as days pass by, if there is no initiation either from the husband or the wife, tensions will become insurmountable and a possibility of losing everything will happen.

          Thus, among the many spices in marriage, I would single out humility as one of the most primary foundations to it. And when true love exists inside the hearts of the couple, humility and trust will also evolve. Each party should learn to forget oneself and reflect on a deeper way the situation of the other. When both husband and wife truly love each other, it is then easy for humility to be concretely expressed to each other.