Let Us Clean Up Our Act

Today, Palm Sunday, marks the beginning of the commemoration of the Lord's passion and death.

Mom and I attended a retreat yesterday. Truly, it is healthy to spend time to cleanse our soul. A recollection is a tool to help in cleaning up our lives. As Father Illh mentioned yesterday, just like when we clean our home, we should also regularly clean our lives and try to keep it clean and orderly and smelling good for the Lord. But some of us fail to clean regularly and so the house gets messy and smelling foul. When a visitor comes, we try to quickly clean the surroundings but this becomes a superficial cleaning only. We hide the dirty laundry in the cabinet, we sweep up the floor and remove all unsightly things but dump everything in the backroom or backyard hoping that the visitor will not go inside the messy rooms and prevent them from wandering into the backyard. Because other people will definitely talk behind our back if they discover how messy and dirty our home is. However, Jesus the visitor does not behave like others do. When He comes into our home, He will help us clean up. He comes not for the healthy and the rich and the privileged. He came to the world for the sick, the hungry, the helpless, the poor, the sinner.

Father Illh asked all the participants to use the concept of the Johari window in reflecting over our lives. And then there was sharing and a mini-group discussion afterwards.

I remember a passage I read before from one of my fave author, Max Lucado.

"God is a God of perfect grace.

Grace forgets.

Period.

He who is perfect cannot hold grudges.

So do yourself a favor.

Purge your cellar.

Exorcise your basement.

Take the Roman nails of Calvary and board up the door.

Remember... He forgot."

What better time to start cleaning up our act than now? let me end by sharing this song with you all.

Life's Miracles

i am so blessed to have a lot of me-time these days. have been trying out recipes, downloading my fave songs, watching my fave dramas over and over again, reflecting on God's words regularly, and writing again.

i must admit that at the back of my mind i have that fear about my future nagging at me. but still, i am grateful for a lot of different reasons. and i have learned to appreciate so many facets of life this way.

just this evening, when i opened my facebook page, i read the sharing of a high school batchmate about her struggle to beat breast cancer. she learned about it last year when she was 34 weeks pregnant with her second child. and it has been such a struggle (emotionally, physically, psychologically, spiritually). it is such a blessing that she has a very supportive and loving husband and there was an outpouring of support from family and friends. she underwent mastectomy 2 days after her scheduled induced delivery. she cried a lot when she realized that she could only breastfeed her second daughter for 2 weeks from her right breast while she breastfed her first for about a year. given the fact that she was 38 years old (considered young), her doctors advised aggresive treatment against the big C.

when her hair started falling off 2 weeks after she started chemotherapy, that night her husband shaved her hair. she cried when she looked at herself in the mirror, thinking: "how can anybody say bald is beautiful?" asking her husband if she looked okay, her husband said she's beautiful and hugged her. she wore a wig since and a beanie which was perfect during the winter season. she joined a support group of cancer patients and survivors and that has been a big help.

after 8 rounds of chemotherapy she is now on remission. thanks be to God! it is truly amazing how miracles happen in our lives. i can just imagine how happy she and her family must be. to be able to stay with your family and loved ones longer is such a blessing. what's more important is that she became even closer to God during this journey. naoms, stay strong and firmly rooted in the Lord.

in this journey, "forward, always forward", we go! tomorrow will certainly bring more miracles.

3rd Sunday of Lent

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." - 1 Corinthians 1:25

heard this song again during today's mass. felt God's love once again. a blessed Lent to everyone...

Post-Holy Week Post

got lucky my off days fell on maundy thursday and holy friday. can stay home and take my much needed rest. meantime, here's a re-post of an article i got from the mail. something to ponder about in this season of introspection. a blessed lenten season to one and all...

Happiness Is

Happiness Is a Product of Realization - Clinical psychologists believe that happiness is a product of realization. One must allow oneself to go through a process to feel happiness. They explain the following phase:

Ø Accept the Pains.

You must get in touch with your situation. Sometimes people deny their hardship, thinking that if they don't face them, they will be happier. But it's the other way around. Allow yourself to go through the pains.

Ø Choose Not to Stay in Pain .

They say this is "self-empowerment." You can either be bitter about the pains and feel very powerless. Or you can do something and feel powerful enough to handle them. It's a choice to live with or without p ain.

Ø Forgive Yourself, Other People.

But before forgiveness comes in, think about how other people hurt. Then realize that you can see yourself for what you actually are and not how they want you to be. So finding happiness is no longer rooted outside, but it's inside you?what you see, how you view things, what you want. Then it leads to your choice: to live your life with yourself.

Ø Take Responsibility for Your Life .

We sometimes allow ourselves to let other people, circumstances, or pains in the past to rule our lives. So we become very unhappy and very bitter because we live blaming others for who we are, where we're at, or how we
should be.It's an exhausting process because you'll forever be blaming other people. Don't be bothered by what others think who you are or the standards they set. Take responsibility for your life.

Ø Learn to Let Go and Trust Yourself .

To be happy mean s learning to let go of expectations from yourself or from other people. You can't always have your way. At work, you can't always be sure your strategies will work or your plans will happen. But before you let go, have a deeper trust in yourself.

Ø Learn to Receive Blessings.

Think of the little things that make you happy or the people that give you assurance where you're good at. This is called receiving. Most of us have reasons to be happy, only that we don't see them or we take them for granted. We need to have little eyes and little hearts too, and realize that all things that make us happy have been there all along.

Ø Have Somebody to Turn To .

Even if you're in turmoil, there are people who will support you. But often we stick with people who make us very unhappy. If you're unhappy, seek people who will nurture you or look for a partner who will serve as well-spring of inspiration.

Ø Be Hopeful.

Hoping is better than being optimistic since it's whole and real. Because sometimes, one's optimism can be denial of hardship. It's easy to be optimistic about things, but inside you, you're anxious about them. Hoping is deeper; it's something you look forward to even when you recognize the difficulties and pains. The more hopeful a person is, the more he recognizes how bad the situation is, and lets himself to bear it. In the end, he knows it will bear good results. You don't deny difficulties. You're touching ground instead.

Ø Keep the Faith Alive.

There'll be points in your life when you can't handle problems alone. Think about someone who's more powerful, and who loves you dearly to take care of you. Having faith in God will give you hope.

Ø You Can Actually Give Intangible Gifts Even Without Your Conscious Effort.

People will tell you later that you've helped them, and gradually, y ou will feel you're making difference in their lives. That's a deeper gift. When you help others, they affirm you by saying, "You're good." Then you realize that you're a good person and your goodness is not merely based on meeting deadlines or getting a raise. It's more of proving your self-worth based on being loved for who you really are and not simply for the result you can deliver or the money you can contribute to the company. This strengthens your positive attitude towards difficulties in life.


Ø Be Grateful.

You have to develop in yourself the sense of gratitude. You should be
thankful for what you have. But you should recognize that there are things
you can do to improve your life.

Ø It's All in the Mind.

We are unhappy because we think we are. Unhappy people are attached to
their unhappiness. They refuse to change. When one thinks negatively, then he
attracts negative thoughts. If you thi nk that a tragedy will fall on you,
somehow you fulfill it. Unconsciously, you make it happen.

Ø Money Isn't Everything.

People accumulate more and more money but the amount of happiness they can "buy" gets smaller and smaller. Although more money may bring greater
feeling of empowerment, studies show that personal relationships,
spirituality and feelings about oneself most directly influence well-being.

Ø Discover the Best Friend in You.

We can all change for the better. You can be happy even with yourself by
discovering the best friend in you. Get real. Don't be hard on yourself
with those high, unattainable goals. It's time you don't look for happiness
outside you.


"You are the part of the puzzle of someone else's life. You may never know
where you fit, but others will fill the holes in their lives with pieces of
you."

Lent 2008

the lenten season is here. and i've nothing to do... had planned on making a trek to mount pinatubo but cancelled it due to unavailability of the gang.

i remembered i spent last year's lenten holiday with av and family, and watching dvd (specifically Jumong) at the staffhouse. this year, headed off to tagaytay to join kuya and chi's family for lenten recollection.