My Reflections on the first reading for January 25, Sunday Acts 22:3-16 (The Feast of Conversion of Saint Paul)

My Reflections:
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. What has Saint Paul done to merit this great favor from God? To think that he was the number one persecutor of Christians during his time. He even took an active part in the killing of Saint Stephen, the first Deacon and the first martyr of the church.

This is a puzzler to all of us, why was he chosen by God to spread the gospel among the gentiles?

While on his way to Damascus he was blinded by a light then he heard a voice saying: “'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” then Saul asked: “Who are you sir?” and Jesus said: “I am Jesus the Nazarean whom you are persecuting.”

Upon reaching a certain point on his journey God used a man named Ananias to heal the blindness of Saul. Thereafter, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and began his mission of evangelization to the pagan nations.

The conversion of Saul was not his doing it was God who converted him to be His disciple. However Saul did his part also on his story of conversion for he was a changed man when he regained his sight.

Like Saul’s conversion, we too have heard a lot of stories of transformation from bad to good, from an atheist to an ardent believer, from a hardened sinner to a Saint. Perhaps we can relate to their stories of conversion because once upon a time we were sinners too. And we heard God’s call for us to follow Him. We were swept off our feet by God and we were never the same again for we have converted for the better.

Let us therefore be an instrument of conversion for those who have not yet heard about the good news that is Jesus.

The Four Ends of the Sacrifice of the Mass

Please click on the link:

http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/01/quick-liturgical-catechetics-four-ends.html

My Reflections will be back again not later than December 31, I hope you'll visit me again...

One Simple Carpenter.

To all:

You may want to see this video One simple carpenter.

Diaconate

Frequently Asked Questions About Deacons.

Deacons.

Sacrifice of the Mass

All Souls' Day.

Dark nights of faith in our lives. by: Fr.Ron Rolheiser, O.M.I.

When the memoirs of Mother Theresa were published they revealed that for the last 50 years of her life she had struggled painfully to feel God's presence in her life. Her critics felt a certain glee: Underneath it all, they now believed, she was an agnostic, doubting the existence of God. Her devotees were confused: How could this happen to her? How could a woman of such exceptional generosity and seeming faith not be secure in her sense of God's existence and providence?

What underlies both reactions is a failure to understand an experience as old as faith itself, that of being inside a dark night of the soul. Looking at Mother Theresa through the eyes of Christian mysticism the better question might be: How could she not experience what she experienced? She was an extraordinary woman, a spiritual athlete, someone who had given her entire freedom over to God; might we not expect this to happen to her? Wouldn't you expect her to experience a dark night of the soul?

What is a dark night of the soul? A dark night of the soul is an experience where our felt-sense of God dries up and disappears. At the level of feeling, thought, and imagination, we are unable to conjure up any sense of security or warm feelings about the presence of God in our lives. We feel agnostic, even atheistic, because we can no longer imagine the existence of God. God seems non-existence, absent, dead, a fantasy of wishful thinking.

But notice that this takes place at the level of the imagination and feelings. God doesn't disappear or cease to exist. What disappears are our former feelings about God and our capacity to imagine God's existence.

God exists, independent of our feelings. Sometimes our heads and hearts are in tune with that and we feel its reality with fervor. Other times our heads and hearts cannot attune themselves to the think, imagine, and feel the existence of a God who ineffable, unimaginable, and Other (by definition) and we experience precisely a certain absence, depression, or void when we try to imagine God's existence and love.

We should expect this in our lives; Jesus experienced dark nights of the soul. Just before he died on the cross, he cried out in anguish, expressing feelings of being abandoned by God. But inside this seeming agnosticism something beyond his feelings and imagination held him steady and enabled him to give himself over in trust to Someone whom he could no longer imagine as existing. This wasn't doubt, it was real faith. Faith begins exactly where atheism assumes it ends.

If this happened to Jesus, should we be surprised that it happened to Mother Theresa. Henri Nouwen tells how shocked and surprised he was at the deathbed of his mother, a woman of extraordinary, when she began to express anguish and feelings of abandonment by God: "How can this be happening to my mother?" Later, upon reflection, it made sense. His mother had prayed every day of her adult life to die like Jesus. God simply took her prayer and her offer seriously.

Understood correctly a dark night is not a failure in faith but a failure in our imagination: Imagine sitting down to pray one day and having the sure sense that God is real, more real in fact than anything else. At that moment, your faith feels secure both in your head and in your heart. Then imagine a different scene: You are lying in bed, in the dark, one night and, with every ounce of sincerity, intelligence, and will-power, you try to imagine and feel God's existence and come up empty and dry. You are haunted by the fear: "I don't believe! Deep down I'm an atheist!" Does this mean that in the one instance you had strong faith and in the next you had weak faith?

Not necessarily. In the first instance you had a strong imagination and in the second you had a weak one. In one instance, you were able to imagine the existence of God and the other you weren't. Neither determines whether God exists or not. Dark nights of faith have to do with feelings and the imagination and not with God's reality or presence to us.

Why are dark nights of faith given to us? Why does God seemingly sometimes withdraw his presence? Always to make us let go of something that, while it may have been good for awhile, an icon, is now causing some kind of idolatry in our lives.

Whenever we cry out to in faith and ask God why he isn't more deeply present to our sincerity, God's answer is always the same one he gives in Scripture, time and time again: You will find me again when you search for me with your whole heart, your whole mind, and your whole soul, that is, when you let go of all the things that, right now, in your mind and heart you have mistaken for God!

I provide tailor made Spiritual Recollections and Retreats: Marino J. Dasmarinas

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My Reflections on being sick

I’ve been sick for the past three days. I am coughing heavily, I have a migraine and my joints are aching. I did not see the need to go to a doctor because I know what to do when I have this sickness. I just bought an antibiotic (Ampicillin) and a pain reliever. So far I’m doing ok; my coughing is not that heavy anymore, my migraine has lessened considerably and my joints are not that painful anymore.

Since I have a valve defect in my heart I distinctively remember what the cardiologist had told me way back during the early nineties: “If you have a cough or sore throat immediately take an antibiotic so that you will not have any infection in your heart’s valve.” I’ve taken the advice seriously and I’ve been doing it since then, so far so good.

To be sick is a part of our life’s cycle no matter how careful we are we will still get sick. It is also a reminder of our mortality. At an appointed time our mortal body will gave way to sickness and we die. As Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.”

Tomorrow I’m scheduled to serve at our 6:00 am Mass. I pray to Jesus that I’ll be well tomorrow so that I can serve at His banquet.

I also need your prayers, thank you in advance!

Meaning of Pharisees

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11789b.htm

My Gospel Reflections for Saturday: September 27, Luke 9:43-45

My Reflections:
In a subtle way, Jesus was already telling the disciples what will happen to Him: His passion and death on the cross. He choose to tell it to them in veiled language so that they will not argue with Him. Otherwise if He told them directly what He will go through. They will naturally protest and say: “We will not allow it to happen to you.” Simply because of the many miracles that He does for them.

Sometimes, our love for Jesus is anchored based on His miracles and not on His Divinity.

My Reflections for Monday: September 15, Luke 2:33-35

Luke 2:33-35
Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
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Reflection:
Mary must have been deeply bothered when she was told by Simeon: “This child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

From His humble birth in a manger until to His death on the cross Mary was there her heart was being pierced in agony as she witness the persecution of Jesus. Through it all she remained silent and accepted everything with prayer, humble trust and confidence in God.

A number of parents especially mothers are going through a lot of heart wrenching pains not because their son/daughter has gone thru the same route of Jesus. But for the reason of failed expectations and deceit.

Like the Blessed Mother, may you all humbly trust God and may you all find comfort in prayer.

Explanation on Holy Water

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07432a.htm

Canon Laws and Catechism about Sunday Mass obligation and other Holidays of obligation.

Canon 1247
On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass; they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.

Canon 1248
1. The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.

2. If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is specially recommended that the faithful take part in the liturgy of the word if it is celebrated in the parish church or in another sacred place according to the prescriptions of the diocesan bishop, or engage in prayer for an appropriate amount of time personally or in a family or, as occasion offers, in groups of families.

It is a serious or mortal sin to deliberately omit Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation, as the Church has taught. Reasons such as the necessity to work to support one's family, child care, personal sickness or the care of the sick etc. would excuse a person on particular occasions.

If a priest is not available in an area and only a Liturgy of the Word or a Communion Service is offered the Mass obligation does not "transfer" to such services. As canon 1248 notes, participation is recommended for the spiritual value, especially if Communion is distributed.

Catechism of the Catholic Church Regarding Participation on Sunday Mass and other Holidays of Obligation

2182 Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church. The faithful give witness by this to their communion in faith and charity. Together they testify to God's holiness and their hope of salvation. They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2183 "If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is specially recommended that the faithful take part in the Liturgy of the Word if it is celebrated in the parish church or in another sacred place according to the prescriptions of the diocesan bishop, or engage in prayer for an appropriate amount of time personally or in a family or, as occasion offers, in groups of families." A day of grace and rest from work

2184 Just as God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done," human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord's Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives.

2185 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body. Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health. The charity of truth seeks holy leisure- the necessity of charity accepts just work.

2186 Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery. Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week. Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life.

2187 Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's Day. Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure. With temperance and charity the faithful will see to it that they avoid the excesses and violence sometimes associated with popular leisure activities. In spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees.

2188 In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church's holy days.

In memory of the LOVING TRUMPET MAN: JAIME E. LETIM, (April 26, 1936 - August 18, 2008)

I first had my awareness of Uncle Jaime in the early 90’s when I was courting my wife Maris who happens to be his nephew.

There were instances whenever I visit her that he was also in their house. He was often carrying a small leather rectangle black box. I was wondering what was inside of that box so I asked Maris: What’s inside of that rectangle box that your uncle often carries with him? She told me it’s a Trumpet, Maris further told me that he’s often in their house to visit her father whose been sick and bedridden and he plays the trumpet for him (Odon Letim +). I immediately had this impression that he is a caring and loving man.

Some of my succeeding visits to my wife would be timed when uncle Jaime whom I fondly called then as: The loving trumpet man was also there visiting his sick brother and playing the trumpet for him. I would often hear my father in-law requesting songs for his brother to play. Subsequently, I would hear the trumpet being played by the loving trumpet man.

Eventually, Maris introduced me to him, we shook hands, he gently smiled at me and softly said: How are you? or kumusta ka? Right there, I got an up close and personal impression of him. His gentle smile, his soft yet hoarse voice and his calm demeanor. It simply told me that he is a loving father and husband. 

I lost contact with him when my father in-law died because we relocated to a place that was very far from theirs. Until last August 18 when we received the sad information that he went to the great beyond already.

Last Friday (August 22), we went to his house in Moowalk Las Piñas and stayed there to visit his mortal remains. I went to his coffin and silently said my prayers for him then I quietly whispered to him: “I will never forget your gentle smile, your soft and hoarse voice and your calm demeanor for it already had created a lasting imprint in my life.”

Farewell to you Uncle JAIME the LOVING TRUMPET MAN.

Things happen for a Reason. (author unknown)

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied. It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering.

Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground----it Just may be a smoke signal that summons grace of God. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it.

Video about Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa: How to Love God