DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU

In honor of the Blessed Mother on her birthday (September 8), I am sharing with you some thoughts and insights on John 2:5 ("Do whatever He tells you."); the very special role of Mary in the life of Christians especially the Filipinos. I hope it would make your heart smile.

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“GAWIN NINYO ANG ANUMANG SABIHIN NIYA SA INYO” (JOHN 2:5)

Sa panahong ito ng modernong buhay at sa gitna ng makabagong teknolohiya na nagsisilbing tulay at gabay patungo sa mataas na antas ng pamumuhay, marami pa ring nagkakamali at naliligaw ng landas.

Para sa ibang tao, lubhang nakakainis kapag sinasabihan sila kung ano ang dapat nilang gawin. Karamihan sa mga empleyado ay mas marami, mas mabilis at mas maganda ang natatapos na Gawain kapag hinahayaan sila ng kanilang boss na dumiskarte at gumamit ng sariling paraan kaysa sa mga manggagawa na hindi nilulubayan ng kanilang amo sa pagsasabi ng dapat nilang gawin.

Sa kabilang dako, mayroon namang ibang tao na hindi makakilos kung hindi ituturo isa-isa kung ano ang dapat gawin. Karaniwan nilang tanong ay, “Ano, saan, kalian, bakit at paano?” Hindi sila makakagawa ng kahit na anong bagay kung walang kasama na magtuturo ng bawat hakbang kung paano ito gagawin. Ang ganitong klase ng mga tao ay maaaring magkamali ng diskarte at maligaw ng landas kung walang kasama na gagabay sa kanila sa lahat ng sandali; bagay na mahirap dahil hindi sa lahat ng panahon ay magkasama sila at hindi naman sa lahat ng pagkakataon ay siya lamang ang aasikasuhin ng inaasahan niyang gabay sapagkat ang lahat ng tao ay may kanya-kanyang buhay.

Mayroong mga tao na matiyagang magturo ng dapat gawin subalit mayroon din namang walang tiyaga at maikli ang pasensya sa mga taong masyadong matanong. Sa mga nabanggit na sitwasyon at pagkakataon, saan nga ba tayo dapat lumugar? Ano nga ba ang dapat nating posisyon bilang anak ng Diyos?

Sinabi ni Jesus, “Ako ang Daan, ang Katotohanan, at ang Buhay.” Kung papayagan at tatanggapin natin si Jesus bilang ating nag-iisang Panginoon at Tagapagligtas, hindi tayo maliligaw ng landas, hindi tayo magkakamali ng desisyon at diskarte sa buhay, at higit sa lahat, magiging payapa at masaya ang ating buhay kahit na ito ay simple lamang.

Isang taong kagalang-galang, isang taong malinis at hindi kailanman nabulag sa katotohanan, isang taong nabuhay sa tunay at wagas na pag-ibig… si Maria, ang Mahal na Ina ng ating Panginoon at ina rin nating lahat… Siya ang gabay na tunay na nagmamalasakit at nagmamahal sa ating lahat. Pakinggan at sundin natin ang kanyang huling habilin na nasa JOHN 2:5 ng Bibliya, “GAWIN NINYO ANG ANUMANG SABIHIN NIYA (JESUS) SA INYO.”

Just a Little Smile

I am sharing with you one of my Gospel reflections (John 6:16-21) which was published in Didache, a widely-read Catholic Daily Bible Reflection Guide. May we be inspired to stand up for the truth ALL THE TIME... whatever it may cost us.

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In our parish community, I have a friend and prayer partner who is like a mother to me. She is a committed Christian who is very much in love with the Lord. She is a God-first-others-second-and-myself-last kind of person. The Lord takes precedence over her priorities in life.

She often tells me to put God first in everything and the blessings will just continue to flow like a river that never runs dry. She always reminds me to consult and obey the Lord in all things, even if it means going the opposite direction of the world. “Let them hate you as long as you are telling the truth. It is better to lose them rather than destroy a good relationship with the Lord.”

My friend is right. The world will hate me if I continue to strive to obey the Lord in everything. Trusting in God’s faithful love, I would not care if I lose the world’s friendship as long as I could get just a little smile from Him.

REFLECTION:

Do you constantly strive for the approval of others? Seek God’s smile instead.

“Lord, in everything I do, grant me the grace to seek Your smile… if not Your laughter.”

"Jesus Broke the Rules, Too!"

Reflecting on the Gospel yesterday (healing on a Sabbath), I remembered a quite intriguing article I wrote some years back. I am sharing it with you. I hope you would find it nteresting and amusing.

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In our journey through life we often ask ourselves, at one point or another, “Shall I follow or break the rules?” Upon the answer depends our personal happiness or even the happiness of other people. We cannot and will not graduate from the school of life without having to wrestle with laws, rules, guidelines, regulations, commandments, or what have you. In these times when Constitutional Amendments, economic reforms, election-related violence, abduction of even Church people and missionaries, hit the front page of leading newspapers in the country, I cannot help but wonder: what are laws for if they can be broken anyway? Now it brings me to thinking: are all these rules important? Do the elected lawmakers have the true welfare of the people in their heart and mind when they draft these laws? What does God say about our laws?

During His time on earth Jesus violated sacred Jewish laws. Jesus broke the rules so many times that the government and even the church wanted Him dead. He disregarded a number of rules not just once or twice or thrice that He even had to say, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.”1

Jesus broke the law when He talked to a Samaritan woman.2 The woman was so surprised when Jesus came up to her that she said, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”3 Jesus violated two laws here – 1) Jews are forbidden to talk to a woman in public and 2) Jews are not to associate with any Samaritans for they are regarded unclean because of inter-marriage with other races. Jesus considered these rules unimportant. He considers everybody special. He talked to the Samaritan woman confirming that the Messiah they had been waiting for has come. Jesus broke down the barriers. It is His sincere affection and concern for a person regardless of his race that makes Jesus’ love so unique. That woman, the one considered unclean, received the gift of faith.

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, He is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’”4 Jesus broke the rules again when He dined with the outcasts of the Jewish society, the tax collectors and sinners. We see clearly from here that Jesus has a soft heart for us, sinners. Today, the ministers of God, priests, lay preachers, and even the social workers of the government find it easier to help hurting people if they work closely with them, making friends with them, dining and having fellowship with them, thus making these people trust them enough to open their heart to them. Experience teaches us that we cannot help a person just by looking at him and praying for him from a distance. We have to go out of our way to reach out and touch people who need us the most.

Jesus broke the Sabbath rules when He cured some people. The result of such violation was healing of the following:

1. a man with a withered hand5
2. a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years6
3. a man who had been ill for 38 years7

On another occasion, Jesus allowed His disciples to break a rule: they picked grain… on a Sabbath.8 It is unlawful to pick grain on a Sabbath. Jesus, when asked by the Pharisees why He and His disciples violated these sacred laws, replied, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”9 The statement of our Lord clearly indicated that the rules are made for man, for his general welfare. When a man suffers from obeying the law to the letter, then the law no longer serves its purpose hence, the excuse to break or even to abolish it.

Jesus defied the law of gravity when He came towards the disciples walking on the unstable sea.10 It showed Jesus’ power over the waters, Jesus’ mighty power over every other creature in the universe and even over death!

Jesus defeated the principle of death when He, out of compassion, raised Lazarus11, a widow’s son12, and a little girl13 back to dear life and of course, when He Himself rose again from the dead on the third day.14

Today Jesus still breaks the rules… when He forgives us our sins even when they are way over seventy times seven. Being the Son of the Living God, Jesus has supreme authority over the law, thus, He has THE RIGHT to break the rules, man-made rules. Laws, no matter how beautifully written, would mean nothing if there is no love in it. Laws mean nothing if not properly directed towards love. Jesus considers it much more important to perform works of mercy such as healing the sick and satisfying human needs such as hunger and thirst compared to observing even the most sacred Jewish law. Our Lord detests people who blatantly disregard God’s commandment in favor of human tradition. Righteousness is not obeying each and every law to the letter. Righteousness, to Jesus, means doing the will of the Heavenly Father.15 It is not keeping the law but rather finding direction and meaning in the law in the light of love that makes us holy. It is the expression of God’s love through the fulfillment of the law that makes us more like Jesus.

Jesus breaks some laws but each time, each time He does, it is always because of love and compassion… always. It is in this regard that legislators should beware of self-serving interests. Our beloved and hardworking lawmakers, before drafting a bill, must make sure that it will not go against the greatest rule – LOVE of God and neighbor – because if it does, even if the bill becomes a law, I (with due respect) solemnly assure you, Somebody will definitely break it.

Yes, like us, Jesus broke the rules, too but the BIG difference is: WE SINNED; JESUS NEVER DID.

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1 Matthew 5:17

2 John 4:4-42
3 John 4:9

4 Matthew 11:19

5 Luke 6:6-11

6 Luke 13:10-17
7 John 5:1-18
8 Luke 6:1-5

9 Luke 6:5

10 Mark 6:45-52

11 John 11:1-44

12 Luke 7:11-17

13 Matthew 9:18-26

14 Luke 24:1-12

15 Matthew 7:21

MY MOST REFRESHING SHOWER

Just got back from an overnight retreat of the Praise and Worship Group of Emmanuel Catholic Charismatic Community of Greenbelt, Makati at OCDS (Order of Carmelites Discalced Secular) House of Prayer at #4 5th St., New Manila, Quezon City. It is located at the back of Mt. Carmel Church near Broadway Centrum in Aurora Blvd.

Our retreat master asked us to draw a picture of ourselves using our less dominant hand before going to bed. Oh no! Since I am left-handed, I was forced to draw using my right hand. The problem is, I am very poor in art work. I’d rather give an hour-long talk than make a drawing of myself! To my surprise, I was able to draw. Hahaha! I can draw after all! The question is, what does it look like? Well, in fairness, it looks like a sexy girl with short hair. Hehehe. The retreat master also asked us to put dots on the parts of our body where we usually feel pain of some sort.

Since we are close to 40 and we didn’t have so much time, the retreat master wasn’t able to interpret our drawings. He just gave us a general guide for interpreting our own illustrations placing more emphasis on the “pain points”. I was fortunate enough to have my drawing interpreted. According to the priest, my back pains (due to scoliosis and dysmenorrhea) tell about issues in the past. (Yes, there are issues in the past!) The pain on my neck (when the weather is hot) and throat (due to tonsillitis at times) tell something about issues that I kept to myself rather than confronting them; times when I preferred to remain silent rather than talk about it. “Issues of the heart and mind manifest as neck pain and other throat problems” according to the priest. Pain on my head (tension headache according to my doctor) tells about problems and concerns (especially individual concerns of family members and other loved ones) that I must not worry so much about. What will I do? I can’t help it. When people close to your heart have some problems, you tend to be bothered also, right?

Wow, that certainly is a revelation! Everything the retreat master said about me is right… as if he knows me! I guess I know now how to get rid of those body pains. Related to the drawing is another exercise that sure helped me feel better and lighter--the “empty chair therapy and shower time”! We were asked to remember those people who have hurt us, people who brought pain in our heart, people who have angered us. Then we had to imagine them (one by one) seated before us; we talk to them and forgive them to set ourselves free from hatred, resentments and hardened hearts. Forgiveness is also for ourselves, that we may be free from negative emotions that may have imprisoned us and caused pain/sickness in our body for a very long time. After the empty chair exercise, we must take a shower, enjoying every minute of it, talking and apologizing to the parts of our body which usually are in pain, telling our body, “From now on I will be good to you. I will take good care of you.” It was the most refreshing shower I ever had!

The RE-CREATION retreat is a liberating and refreshing experience! I recommend it to hurting people who are too busy to “love themselves”. Have a break. Take a “refreshing shower”. By the way, we were served good food, too!

ARE YOU ON THE RIGHT TRACK?

Ever wondered whether you are in the right career (or college course)? Have you ever asked yourself, “Is this the right job (or maybe ministry or business) for me?”

According to the book, The Purpose Driven Life, “you will be most effective when you use your spiritual gifts and abilities in the area of your heart’s desire, and in a way that best expresses your personality and experiences.” Listening for inner promptings can point to the career (or ministry or business) God intends for you to have.

Author Rick Warren said, “To discover God’s will for your life, you should seriously examine what you are good at doing and what you’re not good at.” Come to think of it: Do you think God will ask you to dedicate your life to a task you have no talent for? I believe that the abilities I have are strong indications; they are clues to knowing God’s will for my life. Thus, when we work (or minister or do business) in a manner consistent with our personality, we experience fulfillment, satisfaction and fruitfulness.

Why don’t you try making a list of what you’re good at and what you’re not good at? You can ask the people who know you best, your close friends and family members, for their candid opinion. Spiritual gifts and natural abilities are always confirmed by others.

Do you have a gift of teaching? Then why don’t you bless the world by becoming a good teacher or speaker? Do you love to write? Then be a blessing by reaching out to others through your writings. We can earn money from our gifts.

God is good! He showered us with gifts and abilities not just to earn money but to bless the world as well. Considering fulfillment, satisfaction and fruitfulness, are you on the right track?

Watch out for Your Chic Girl

Today, as the typhoon in the Philippines progresses, past storms in my life come to mind. After having a special encounter with the Lord through my regular 3PM prayer, I just thought of (probably was inspired) creating a blog... perhaps to share my thoughts, insights, learnings, even my heart and my dreams to the world.

Finds joy and takes pride in serving the Lord through the Spiritual Formation (Teaching) Ministry and Worship Ministry yet enjoys "crazy" moments with family and friends, bloggers, watch out for... Your Chic Girl!