Today’s 1215 livestreamed mass Holy Family Artesia had 259 plus folks plugged in, allow an average of 2 to 3 per device. Mine had me only. Homily of Fr. Joachim described Nicodemus, the Pharisee, who highly respected Jesus, and one who was well-versed in law, had meticulous observance of rituals and truly desired an understanding of his faith.
Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit, a higher realm of life guided by the Holy Spirit – what is inside of us, transformed. It is like being born from above, recognizing how the Spirit moves in our lives, a form of thriving on crisis as Fr. John Cordero described yesterday. Fr. Joachim related a story of an angel who took a woman to the church. There, she saw the choir sang, moved their lips, yet heard no sounds. Same with prayers, she saw the lector’s mouth opened but heard no words. May our prayers have sounds, he said, may the Holy Spirit work in our lives. That’s how I see the recovery cases from #CoronaVirus, much like the nurse in London, senior nurse Alice Borja, whom Linda R., my classmate advocated for all our high school classmates to pray for. We prayed for her fervently and when she left the hospital, the hospital serenaded her with live piano music and a hallway full of colleagues standing to salute her, as she was wheeled out.
Imagine if we rang the bell each time we observe God’s hand in our lives? What would our lives sound like? Would it be a symphony of ascending notes, with enough movements and spaces from the low notes? Would it sound like Bartok’s discordant sounds?
I am observing the post of a friend who is a music conductor, a church choir director. Since the churches have shut their doors, not all are primed for livestreaming. He has resorted to painting and 3 commissioned paintings have been bought. Another relative is an entrepreneur who designed a fashionable mask with refillable filters for 4 months and within hours of launching in Manila, they sold out. When folks use their creative spirits to meet the needs of others, their lives soar, or what others refer to, their wings are spread wide and out to fly up to the heavens.
