The fragility of our lives...

The Fragility of our lives...

by: Marino J. Dasmarinas

Last night our parish secretary informed me that I have a scheduled funeral blessing; I said OK I’ll go.

So I went there, upon finding the place I introduced myself to the relatively young wife then I said: “I will now bless him please gather all the relatives.” As I was saying the blessings and prayers I noticed that the wife was crying profusely.

After I was through, I asked her: “what was the cause of death of your husband and how old is he?” She said: “His fifthly (50) years old and his death is totally unexpected.” He just arrived from work then after a few minutes of rest in the sofa he suddenly died. ... After our short conversation I told her:  “I have to go now” and she said: “Thank you very much” I said in return: “You’re welcome and pray for his soul’s eternal repose.”

As I was walking away from their house, I can’t help but reflect on the fragility of our lives, that it can be taken away from us any time and any place. As I glance back at their house, I told myself maybe she was seriously crying because, there were loving words left unsaid, there were loving embraces left undone and there were loving moments left to pass them by. ...

As an afterthought: Express your love to your relatives and don’t hold back on doing good to everyone.

Remember the fragility of our lives…

The Dash...

THE DASH

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

at the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,

but he said what mattered most of all

was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

that she spent alive on earth

and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matter not, how much we own,

the cars...the house...the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;

are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

to consider what's true and real

and always try to understand

the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger

and show appreciation more

and love the people in our lives

like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect

and more often wear a smile...

remembering that this special dash

might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read

with your life's actions to rehash,

would you be proud of the things they say

about how you spent your dash?

My Gospel Reflections for Saturday September 24: Luke 9:43-45

My Reflections:

The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant when He said that He was to be handed over to men. I think they did not understand it because they were all used to Jesus the miracle worker and Jesus the healer. Even us if we were with the disciples at that time we will not also understand these utterance of Jesus.

But now we know what Jesus meant when He said that He was to be handed over to men.

What does this mean to you and me? It simply means that as we follow Jesus there shall be moments of seamless life, glory and triumph.  But let us not get drunk with these for there shall come a time that our discipleship shall be tested by the fire of trials and sacrifices.

Will we be able to steadfastly hold on to our discipleship when that time comes? 

The Window from which we look ... by: Anonymous

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.

The next morning while they are eating breakfast, 

The young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not very clean", she said.
"She doesn't know how to wash correctly. 
Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, 
The young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a
Nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:
"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.
I wonder who taught her this."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and
Cleaned our windows."

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others
Depends on the purity of the window through which we look!

The Brothers Karamazov (1969) (English subtitles). Part 1/3 (1/8).

mo

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The Word Exposed- Catechism ( Mary, Model of all Christians)

The Word Exposed - Catechism (Heroes of Faith)

The Word Exposed- Catechism (The Church)