The Feast of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, 2015

Novena Masses

       Attending the Novena Masses of the Feast of Nuestra Padre Jesus Nazareno (NJPN) is in itself a celebration. With different Priests and Bishops celebrating the Holy Mass, listening to their homilies is so interesting and enlightening about our faith and how to do about the ills of society.

       I remember Fr. Erik Adoviso talks about the new definition of squatter and poor people and social injustices. He also said that we have compassion but we do not do anything about our compassion to the poor. We are numb when we see poor people with no descent shelters or no shelters at all.  We are numb when we see kids asking for alms and food when they approach us in e the streets and in the church specially in Quiapo Church.  Yes, we have compassion for them but we do not do anything to help them. To give them dignity and treat them as human being.

     Also he talks about the ordinary workers who have been working very hard but remains contractual even if they work for a very long time in the same company.  Where is social justice there.  Where is compassion there?

     Pera Pera na lang!

               The feast of NPJN is also an opportunity for many people to do business.  Again Fr Erik reiterated that there are people who are using the poor to gain financially. Take for example some scrupulous politicians that gets  a huge amount of money from the government and using the poor people of their ghost projects.

     What I like about the novena masses is that there are different themes in each novena mass.  There is one particular theme about Jesus as our Healer.  Jesus cures as it is written in the bible many times. but the Chaplain of the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan talks about his 10 years of stay in the hospital.  What is true in society is that all of us are sick. All of us need not cure but healing. He differentiate Cure and Healing.  Cure is more of temporarily easing the pain in the body but Healing is more of a total cure of oneself. Healing is curing the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual diseases of the body.  "Si Hesus ay hindi lang mangagamot kundi isang Manlulusog din".

Holy Rosary: A meditation prayer for forgiveness

I remember when I was a kid my mother would gather all of us, meaning all of us kids, were 3 boys by the way and I'm the youngest, at exactly 6 o'clock in the evening in front of the altar where you could see the image of Our Lady of perpetual Help and there a lighted candle and we all started praying the holy rosary.
At first it was really exciting learning a prayer memorizing all the mysteries, but as time passed by it was boring. It was not exciting anymore specially when we have to watch a new cartoon or animation series and you missed one episode and you know how you wish that the routine is too much of an obligation for us.

But as we grew up and have gone to college it's like our mother just set us free of the obligation.Suddenly i thought that there is something lacking in my prayer life if I will not pray the holy rosary.And now, I heard the talk of Bro. Bo Sanchez how he described beautifully the ancient prayer The holy Rosary.  He said that Holy Rosary is a meditation of the life of Jesus Christ.  It is a prayer that summarizes the bible.  Born again christians and some christian sects will not believe this, but as a catholic I"m priviledge to learn and pray the Holy Rosary.

It's very often these days that I really pray the rosary except when we go to someone's wake where I and my ministry, say a holy rosary to pray for the repose of the soul of the dead. We usually sing songs in between mysteries.  Then I saw in the youtube how St Ignatius do his meditation.  St Ignatius meditate by putting himself in a situation in the bible reading.  Say for example, when there is a storm and jesus with his disciple were in the boat, and Jesus was pretty cool about it while his disciple worry too much because of the high waves pounding their boats. Now St Ignatius in his meditation would actually smell the air with saltiness, feel the rocking of the boat, see Jesus in a very relax way. feel the cold water and the air. You getting my point?...

So this night, I was having colds, sore throat, dry cough hard to breath and i really could not sleep. So I decided to pray the holy rosary and try to meditate the mysteries the way St. Ignatius of Loyola did.  I was hesitant at first because its a sorrowful mystery today and I will try to imagine that I'm in that situation. But still I prayed and meditate.  First mystery, Agony in the garden. So what is happening in the agony in the garden? According to my memory of the bible, Jesus together with some of his disciple go to gethsemani. after praying he saw his desciples asleep probably snorring too, how would you feel if you are Jesus. In my case how would I feel if I'm on the apostle asleep and snorring..Gosh I feel ashame..so I continued praying..now In all honesty when I got to the fifth mystery, tears comes down from my eyes, I could not control it, because I imagine myself seeing Jesus Christ died on the cross...I felt very ashame of myself, \I remember all oy my many and repeated sins. And this sins is killing Jesus in the cross..I asked for forgiveness...I suddenly realized I am not even worthy of saying this ancient prayer..But also i realized the beauty of the holy rosary..

Some people maybe religeous in praying the holy rosary but that doesn't make them holy in the eyes of God. Asking for forgiveness, admitting we are not worthy and forgiving people who have wronged us makes us holy.  Repenting sincerely of our sins and not doing our favorite sins daily draws us closer to Jesus Christ. Try to imagine if you sinned, Your'e killing Jesus in the cross and you know who's seeing you do that, Mama Mary...but still the Holy Rosary is a constant reminder that Our Mother cares for us.  She wants us to be drawn closer to God specially in his Son  Jesus..

So if you try to pray the Holy Rosary Again, meditate and imagine the life of Jesus and put ourselves in the situation...Praying the Holy Rosary will never be the same again...

By the way, after I prayed the holy rosary I felt better got my strength back and even able to write my experience.

MIRACLES DO HAPPEN WHEN YOU PRAY THE HOLY ROSARY!!!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of wisdom you bestowed on us so that we may learn, experience, and pray the beautiful prayer "The Holy Rosary".  Dearest mother I thank you for continuially guiding us and protecting us from evil.  Thank you for the gift of "The Holy Rosary" that I was able to pray and appreciate how God Loved me.  Lead me the way Dearest mother to draw me closer to your Son Jesus Christ.  Let me not commit my favorite sins anymore and that I may be able to share the beauty of praying the Holy Rosary.In the name of Jesus I asked all of these, AMEN.

Pang  Pangilinan

A life of simplicity: St Francis of Asisi

"Do not be afraid of living in simplicity, no matter how much pressure is upon you"

St Francis of Assisi

In the culture of today, people are define of what clothes you wear, what restaurant you have eaten with, what house you are living in, what car you are driving with, what position you are taking, how much money you are earning, and a lot more of whatever extravagant lifestyle you can think of.  But have we realized that God dwells in utmost simplicity, humility and poverty.  Just like what the story of St. Francis is telling us, you can encounter God through its simplest creations. He encountered Christ in birds, in wild animals, in trees (St Francis is a tree huger) , in sun, in moon, My God how I wish to see St Francis love all those stuffs.  How I wish to see him very happy with all smiles and telling stories and preaching to the birds.  But sad to say only few people specially the young do little to appreciate and be happy of what surrounds them.  The spirit of ownership, domination, and commercialism is the recent state of mind of most people.  How I wish and pray that  the destruction of man to his nature stopped.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, the creator of all things, the creator of small things and big things, may your people appreciate them and feel blessed that you created them.  May all of us learned the value of worshiping you through living the life of simplicity and humility.  May St Francis inspire us to be like your son Jesus Christ. May we always think and remember what St Francis did when he was transformed by you. May learn and able to love the birds, the dogs that are in the streets, the cats that are our rooftops, the grass that grows in the streets, the trees, the air, the sunlight, the rain, all of these are your creation Lord. So that as we may learn to appreciate and love this creations may it also draw us to love one another, In Jesus name I pray

Amen.

Prayer of the Day 20 Oct 2014

Lord I praise you! I Glorify you today! Today I lift up your name Lord Jesus!

Lord I Thank you for granting me a good rest last night. Lord I thank you for giving me a Good Morning. Lord I thank you for the food that you have given me this morning may it give me the energy to spread Your Good News to the people that I will be encountering today. Lord Thank you for giving me a Healthy Body Today. Thank you for let me seeing the beauty of nature. Thank you for making me realize that you are really worthy to be praised that even the leaves of the plants and trees praises you. hank you for the music that I am listening that it will always be meant to praise and glorify you Jesus. Thank you for giving my family all the Blesseing may you always protect them in all of their activities.

Lord I know that you know all of my needs but I would like to ask you these:

Lord grant me financial freedom. Continue to Bless my business and my customers my suppliers. Lord grant me the wisdom and give me a compassionate heart in dealing with my difficulties. Pour out your grace Lord in bounty so that I may be able to give more to people who needs it. Lord teach me to understand the meaning of true love. Give me the feeling of love and good intentions in inspiring the woman of my life. As I continue to search for that woman May it be a journey of finding true joy and happiness and that I may live because of love. Lord I ask you to continue to pour out your enormous blessings to my ministry. Guide all of our members and leaders for this day that they may become more closer to you Lord Jesus. Lord I asked to grant our PARISH PRIEST Fr JOJO the wisdom, the strength, the encouragement, the compassionate heart in dealing with the issues of our Parish right now. May he lead us and draw us more closer to you.

With a trusting heart, I asked all of these in the name of Jesus, with the intercession of our Mother Mary Most Holy. AMEN!

A Reflection , Eucharist : the real presence of the Lord and the completeness of our faith

Caution : This will change the way you will think and act when in celebrating The Holy Eucharist

          Having been baptized in the Roman Catholic and is continuing  to serve the Lord and the Church,
It daunted in my mind how Jesus is truly present in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist or the Holy Mass.

           I thirst for worship and I hunger for his words, knowledge and wisdom.  That is the very reason that I started attending the FEAST in PICC.   So Today in the homily of Father Bob, he  explains the parts of the Holy Eucharist and how Jesus is truly present in it.

              The Procession, The  cross always leads the way.

                      We are in a continuing journey.  This world is not our permanent home but a temporary                                 shelter  Jesus is the way, the Truth and the life and in the procession we are reminded to                               follow him   everyday wherever we may be.

             The Accolides follows bringing the candles.

                   Lighted Candles symbolizes light of Jesus. As we go our way in our countinuing journey in this                      world Jesus lights our paths.

             The priest kisses the table in the altar.

                  A kiss is a symbol of affection of  the love of  God.  Also, we are not the only one present                             when we celebrate the Holy Eucharist but we are accompanied by ALL THE ANGELS AND                     SAINTS.  Imagine St Pope John Paul II, St Peter, St Paul, St Pedro Calungsod, St Lorenzo                         Ruiz, St Francis of Asisi, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Anthony, St Michael the Arc Angel, St                             Raphael, St Gabriel. Wow! all of them are present.  They are there with you.Kind to think that if                   the  Saints  are there in their Holiness   we too are becoming holy .  We will share one body of                       Christ when   we   will receive Jesus in the Holy Communion


              The Liturgy of the Word

                   A constant reminder of how we will be able to become more like Jesus Christ.

              The Liturgy of the Eucharist

                    Offering of the Gifts

                           As we are blessed with our temporal needs it is an opportunity to us to give back what we                            have. Encouraged is 10% of our earnings.

                            We also offer our prayer of petitions. Our needs to live in this world.  Our brokeness. Our                             shortcomings.  Our Failures.

                    Receiving of the Holy Communion

                              How do you receive the God of Host? Is it by hand or by using your toungue?
                           
                             There is an interesting history about this.

                              Which do you think is the traditional way of  receiving the body of Christ?

                              If your answer is by tounge ooops! sorry your wrong.  Receiving the Holy Body of                                      Christ in traditional time is by hand.  The problem during that period is that the people are                               bring  the God of  Host in their homes and community and begin using the God of  Host                                 in their  benediction of their own homes. That is why after 1000 years of doing that, the                                 church think of a way to stop it and  a smart bishop or priest  suggested that the Holy                                   Host will  be received using the toungue.  As the church matures, the Vatican Council II                                 permits the  use either of the toungue and of the hand making no both action lesser or                                     more on the  effect of receiving the body of Christ.  It said that the purity of the heart and                               the openess of oneself is the most important thing to do in receiving the Holy                                                 Communion.

                             For the real presence of  Jesus is to be present within us, as we partake in receiving the                                 holy communion,  then and only then that real presence of the Lord Jesus Christ                                             becomes  present with in us.  And since that the Holy Communion is also received by                                   other people gathered in our community we are in communion with them also.  We                                       become one with the Body of Christ.



             

Life is a CHAIN

I Corinthians 12


For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many

        

Today , it is a Blessed Sunday because God Answered my prayer. I always asked the Lord that he give my members the whole hearted commitment and a strong conviction in their service to the Lord. Many attended the practice last night and I am glad that we practice our songs very well. I praise God.


Not to exult the work i have been doing in the past week because it is truly concentrated on how to make my service to them better. In a very time short it had reached my expectation to the group. I praise and thank the Lord. I tell to myself that if would only be better then the persons I am mentoring would be better. It is like a chain that every link must be strong so that it can hold more weight and not break off easily.


I want to be strong in facing the storm that the group will encounter, so that they will also be strong and always connected to the chain. Our hardwork and sacrifices is connected to the one giving us the strength in our daily journeys in life and that is Jesus Christ. He will calm all the storm that will come in our way, all we have to do is to follow his calling and that we may sin no more.


The grace will overflow because he will bless us in our singing and he will also bless our worship to him.





Prayer


Lord I thank you for all the blessings you have given me this day. Thank you for the blessing of our singing in honoring and worshiping you. Truly present in the Eucharist continue to be with us in everything that we do where ever we may be. Make us more like you in every hour and in everyday of our activity. Make us remain humble servants of our community and of the church.

In still in our hearts the strongest conviction of our service to you and make us remain truly committed responsible christian of faith. I pray all these with a trusting heart in Jesus name,

Amen!



      

Answered Prayer

"Have no anxiety at all, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God". 
Philippians 4:6

           It's a blessful Sunday of worship for me.  I thank the Lord for making me work this day  in able to glorify him.At the morning I attended the mass and prayer meeting in "The Feast" held in PICC. Truly God is Good becauseof the blessing I received throughout the entire morning.

          Then in the afternoon, we have the regular Sunday Service at 6:15 pm where we are tasked to lead the congregation in singing in the Holy Mass.  Thank God we are almost at full attendance and really God is working with us ang guiding our singing througout the whole mass.  I praise and thank GOD and again God proved to me that he will never abandon me in every activity that I am doing specially when I am in trouble.

          Just as when I feel down these past two days because most of our members were not present in the practices for no valid or no reason at all.I feel bad because preview to our practices I researched the songs that we are going to sing. I prepared for it and I really work hard for it. Just as I expected that they will come to the practice,  only three came.  Butwe still continue the practice.  I praise these three person that came because even if it is raining so hard during that time, they still came.That is commitment.

          I remember that last Friday when I attend the mass and make a devotion to the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, I pray that the Black nazarene of Quiapo  touch their heart that they  may have a strong commitment and conviction in serving him.  Also  the way God change my heart and is still working in changing my heart for good, and  in being active again in this apostolate that it may  be the same with them.  

           And God answered my prayer and I really  thank him. Truly God is faithful to his children speciallyto those who are lost and in need. That is why the power and beauty of prayer is the most important part of my daily activity.  It is very rewarding to see the  change in their heart for the better because I pray for them. it is  the grace and compassion of the LORD that did this.

           And since God answered my prayer quickly, I will continue to pray for each and everyone of our

member that they will not turn back to the commitment they offer this Sunday in serving the Lord through proper singing.

Prayer

Lord, I thank you for blessing this remarkable day. Thank 

you for making me do the work you have given me this day 

for I believethat you Lord Jesus is my reward. Continue to make me thirst and hunger for your love for it is the only way to sustain andremain in you.  Lord grant me the willing heart to serve my community even though it is not perfect or even worth it serving at times. Let not this negative actions cause me to stumble in serving you with all my heart.  I pray that you give me a compassionate heart in dealing with other people. I pray all these with a trusting heart, in Jesus name, Amen.