Ice Age Interpretation... (reflection for April 23, 2006)

In that movie, there is this squirrel (i don't know if it's a squirrel, but it looks like one) who wishes to get hold of the nut. He went through alot of burdens and sacrifices just to get hold of that nut. It also came to a point that the squirrel is risking his own life just to get hold of that nut. Let's focus more on the squirrel rather than the movie itself...

For some, the squirrel may be hilarious and very funny, but when I saw that squirrel doing everything he can just for that nut, made me reflect.

I come to think that in reality, God is like the squirrel in the movie and we are the nut who keeps running away and avoiding Him. And God sacrifices everything just to save us from what makes us fall from sin. Similar to the nut and the squirrel, sometimes when we are in His arms, we suddenly slip off and He chases us again. And again He will sacrifice everything just to save us.

God has already did that, He sacrificed His only son, battered by the people and nailed to the cross and died for us just to save us from sin. Jesus suffered enough!!! Don't you think it's about time to repent and believe?

We can be like Thomas, a hard to believe type of guy who wishes to see first before he could believe. We sometimes demand for miracles to believe and because of these demands, we fail to see the small miracles that are happening in front of us. Very few believe even if there is no great miracle happening.

Destroyed!!!

Just an observation... People have destroyed some of the Christian Virtues..

Charity is now a sweepstakes...
Hope is a cigarrete...
Grace is a night club...
Heaven is a motel...
Trust is a condom...

Our generation has indeed destroyed these Virtues. It will be very difficult for one to fix this problem all by himself. And if you do try to solve these problems, it will also be hard to have a company to help you fix it. I'm just a 14 year old kid, adults won't listen to me if ever I cited these to them. It's only here in my blog where i can express it. But who would care anyway?

I pray so that these could change. I just put it all in prayer and hoping that someday it could be answered...

Jesus walks with me

While the 2 disciples are on their way to Emmaus, Jesus comes and walks with them. The disciples did not recognized Jesus on their journey. It's only at the table they do.

This experience reminds us that we must accompany others, those who wonder and wander, stragglers and strugglers. to help them see Christ in their midst.

On our jouney called life, we must always remember that Jesus walks with you. He never leaves you. Let me share a story written by Mary Stevenson...

Footprints in the sand

One night a man had a dream. He dreamedhe was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path ofhis life there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the verylowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way.But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,I love you and I would never leave you.During your times of trial and suffering,when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

The story above inspired me. It reminded me that the Lord loves you and will never leave you. May the story and the Gospel today remind us that the Lord is always with us.

To the Risen Lord...

We are called to commit ourselves to the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. He who has been brought back to life and lives in us. Not a dead Jesus or someone always looking for suffering.

We are invited to action...
We are invited to heal wounds and division...
We are invited to bring hope and transformation...

Like Christ, we are invited to rise up...

Christus Anesti!!! Christ is risen!!!! (reflection for April 16, 2006)

Mary Magdala went to the tomb of Jesus only to see the big stone removed. So she went to Peter and told him about it. So Peter and an another disciple went to the tomb. It was then they understood and believed.

In our lives, Jesus leads us out of what entombs us, what makes us life, what makes us dark and what makes us unmoving. God will not give us any cross that we cannot carry. We can sometimes think that we are too weak to carry our crosses, but we must have faith and not give up. Like Jesus, there is always someone ready to help carry our cross when we can't take it anymore. There are always people who will not leave you, such as friends, families, workmates and all those who love and care for you. So we must not lose hope...

Like Jesus did, let us try to roll our own stone that blocks our way...

Just imgine

Imagine the image above is really true.

Iraq and America, mortal enemies, becomes best buddies... Just Imagine...

George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, arch rivals, became partners... Just imagine...

Guns and missiles turned to candles and insense... Just imagine...

I just watched CNN a while ago only to see people throwing rocks and hitting with huge bats at a dead body of an American Pilot whose helicopter crashed in the battle field. None of these could have happen. Even as a child I could feel the conflict between them. Sometimes I ask, where is God? Nasaan ang Diyos? - What is He doing? Ano ginagawa nya? - As the famous hip hop band, the black eyes peas said, "where is the love?" .... I understand that God gave us freedom, but don't you think that we overused that freedom?

In reality, the image above is not actually true, its obvious. But the question is, can the fiction be made fact?

For whome are we really concerned?

Judas Reacted on the actions of Mary when he saw her anointing the feet of Jesus with an expensive perfum. According to Judas, it could have been sold and the money spent for the poor. If ever the perfume were sold, will the money be really spent on the poor?

Sometimes we can be quick to criticize and judge. We tend to see others with suspicion and dismiss the good that they do.

People today likes to see the mistakes that other people commit. Rather than seeing the good things that they do.

We give more attention to the negative things than to give credit to the positive ones. Like the Gospel today, people have been like Judas, Judging without knowing.

Let us reflect and ask ourselves, where is our attention? in the positive side? or in the negative?

A true soldier who serves his master (another inspiration)

In Paco, Manila - Philippines stands a statue of a samurai and daimyo, Takayama Ukon. He was baptized at the age of 12. He refused to give up his Christian faith, his noble status was stripped and he was exiled with 300 others from Nagasaki in 1614. He died a saintly and holy death in Manila with almost a thousand attending his funeral.

Aside from that, he is a true soldier who served his master. We too must be loyal to our Master like Takayama did. We'll never know if the reward is great or not... :)

Remembering calvary (reflection for April 9,2006)

Today is Palm Sunday, wherein we enter the paschal mystery. Palm sunday is also called passion sunday, wherein we remember calvary, Jesus suffering, freely accpeted, and faithfully undertaken

We recall the time when the people of Nazareth gave Jesus a warm welcome by shaking palms above them. The people are happy because Jesus has arrived. But when Pilate presented Jesus to the people, they were shouting, "crucify Him!". The same people who welcomed Jesus as he arrive in Nazareth is the same people who were shouting, "crucify Him!". In Filipino terms, "plastic". They were the same people who pushed Him around, the same people who spits to His face, the same people who threw Him rocks, the same people who shouted at Him, and especially, the same people who betrayed Him. All of them are "plastic"

By offering the life of Jesus, we are saved. Through death, we gain life. For each station of the crros, I realize something, I saw God's great passion, His one deep desire, "to love and save us". Because of love, he sent His only son to make it happen. If we watch the movie of Mel Gibson, "the passion", we see the grave sufferings of Jesus in calvary. We became witnesses not only to spiritual sufferings, but also to the the physical sufferings of Jesus. Historians say that what Mel Gibson have shown in the movie, was still not enough. They say that what happend to Jesus was even more fatal, more grave, and more evil.

How's your fasting and abstinence going?

How have you been with your fasting and abstinence? The spirit behind these actions calls us to reflect, and the wuestion is, "what do you need to fast and abstain from? Costly habits? unnecessary expences? idle? or bad talk?

What efforts can be an offering? What can we do to change these bad habits of ours?

Do the opposite! :)

Be extra caring!
Be extra helpful!
Give support!
Donate to the poor!

Its a few days before palm sunday, few days before the holy week. It's a really great time to change. Let us try not to miss this opprtunity. Repent and believe in the Gospel.

Being Distracted

What happens when we feel dryness in prayer? or after spending an hour in prayer, we realize that we have been too distracted by too many personal concerns? we come to think that because of the many distractions that is happening around us, we forgot to pray...

Just a while ago, i decided to read the bible. And to read whatever page my hand brings me. It Brought me to Romans 8... Some of the words there caught my attention, because its related to this post..

"the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we don't know how to pray as we ought, but the spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words" - Romans 8:26

Another Ispiration

Venerable Solanus Casey, a Fransiscan Priest was judged by his superiors to be weak and slow for the job, being a humble person he is, he was made a Simplex priest, a type of priest who couldn't do confessions or preach homilies because his grades was poor when he was still taking classes during his seminary days.

He thus served as a sacristan. He also helped the sick. At his death, many witnessed to the healings of the saintly priest.

He believed that in humbling oneself, the victory will be won! Let us also believe what Venerable Solanus believed....