When I got D/N/A, David/Nelson/Agreement in the mail, I was excited. Even more than excitement is joy reading @cathysegalgarcia freely write about her love for her fellow colleagues. It is so freeing and liberating to read Mon described by her as her idea of royalty, elegant and with a broad vision, of one who respects himself and others…read on as her two sparkling words stood out: royalty and delicious soul.
Or Josh Nelson’ s whose senses are all alive when he plays the piano. Cathy, your words dance in print. You too have an elegant graceful soul!
Two persons I know were referred to as having delicious souls: NVM Gonzalez- an internationally-acclaimed, multilingual translated novelist and a National Artist of the Philippines and Mon David – an internationally acclaimed musician, a beloved revered artist of Pampanga and a popular jazz musician of Manila, Japan, Los Angeles, Temecula, Bay Area and many more countries.
Disclosure: I got no fees and voluntarily did this post and bought cds to support these delicious soulful artists. It was my hubby who brought up the idea of purchasing music CDs to support them.
Duc in Altum: Magdala, Walk Where Jesus Taught. “Put out into the Deep.” Yesterday’s homily by Fr. John Cordero at Holy Family Artesia occupied my mind for a long time: “Greek tragedies make us weep. Tears of Good Friday are meant to wash away burdens if we spend time focusing on things that burden us. Instead, allow ourselves to see, provided our hearts and minds are open to God’s grace and presence. We are hopeful that the night will move to day. The rain cloud does not remain. Clouds will roll by. Darkness will fade. Quarantine will end. Pandemics will cease. We are not like Mary Magdalene who is blind to the obvious beauty before her, the resurrected Jesus Christ.”
The last line bothered me – was Mary Magdalene blind or was she blinded by her grief due to her deep love for Jesus? To Fr. John’s credit, he speculated that Mary Magdalene might have been that, blinded by grief and love for Jesus. Though he speculated, he also negatively referred to her as blind, since Jesus advised her not to cling to Him as he has not ascended to His Father yet.
It made me wonder – why is she not revered for her deep love for Jesus? That she was a “transmitter of faith, the first to inform the disciples, the herald of good news of Resurrection, a pillar of humanizing values with her feminine dignity.”
Why was she referred to in this homily as blind, a condition of not seeing permanently, when she was temporarily blinded by her grief in seeing the sufferings and death of Jesus on the cross?
Of course, there is also the past of Mary Magdalene, “whom Jesus delivered from seven demons. She is one of several women who provided support for Jesus and the disciples. She was also present at his crucifixion, and testified to His Resurrection.” (John 20:1)
Today’s #earthangel is dear friend Carl Andrada who sent three masks, including one for my 5yo granddaughter. Thank you for your love and kindness – may God’s grace be bestowed on you!
I am on the verge of tears receiving this gift, on the 37th day of social distancing, of loving kindness from a dear friend, whom I miss, @carmeloandradajr. He is a fashion and costume designer who applies his skills to now, saving lives, by sewing these face masks. I offered to pay but he would not hear of it. I am so moved by the humanity and community-mindedness of my dear friend.
Maraming Maraming Salamat! I hope to reciprocate your kindness! Carl Andrada you are one of my #earthangels– God bless your good heart.
Rep. Clyburn accelerated @joebiden2020‘s primary win. @petebuttigieg opened the pathway and planted rainbow of support from Presidential candidates. @BernieSanders crowned him with a progressive legacy of putting people over profits and energizing the youth base.
We are changed forever by #CoronaVirus to make our hearts contagious to love, care, empathy, truth, science, and grace. Never again will lies prevail to elect a con man to the highest office in US bec of hatred, anger and false religiosity.
Our essential workers are more significant in our eyes now: nannies, cleaning ladies, babysitters, truck drivers, delivery workers, restaurant owners, growers and harvesters, bakers, chefs and garbage collectors. Without these folks running the economy we are not alive to live another day.
We also know now the value of guardians of truth, brave journalists who are credible sources of information amongst our legislators – the likes of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Governor Gavin Newsom, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Assemblyperson Rob Bonta; ethical and right minded enterprises like LA Times, New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, and we now know the value of transparency, truth and science. That includes Asian Journal who’s harvesting stories of heartfelt generosity while featuring credible pillars of our community like Nurse and CEO Vicky Rollins.
We also know the critical importance of God Almighty, the moral and clear leadership of Pope Francis and the holy stewards of God’s good news: our holy priests for me: Fr. James Martin, Fr. Dan Leary, Fr. John Cordero, Fr. Joachim Ablanida, Fr. Rodel G.Balagtas, and Fr. Rolly Clarin. There are more but these priests are what I found credible during this pandemic.
Last but not least, the value of being surrounded by my great, loving family led by my favorite, beautiful daughter who knew that #loveandkindnesshasmultipliereffect, my hubby and son and granddaughter and son in law who are my earth angels.
#findyourearthangels– they are just a house or two away, just like my octogenarian neighbor, Larry.
The view from my window which got me up this morningHubby takes good care of our calamansi tree, which I love to harvest from.
Today is our spiritual mentor’s birthday. Who is he? Fr. Rodel Balagtas, pastor of Incarnation Church, Glendale. I recall his kindness in welcoming me at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in 2007. Thirteen years later, we are still very good friends. He influenced me to focus on #loveforMamaMary and in locating the subjects for my assignment in writing feature stories. Through his help, I have written on 51 Filipino, Irish, Mexican, Japanese Catholic priests and 2 bishops, all published in Asian Journal. He helped strengthen my marriage bonds, now on its 41 years. I am grateful that God chose him to be a good friend, as my faith in God deepens as we exchange stories, and what Pope Francis describes as “priestly closeness.” Happy Easter Monday Birthday po!!
It is my 36th day of #socialdistancing. I have been attending mass daily at Holy Family Artesia and Fr. Joachim Ablanida spoke of lawless guards who compromised their honor and position, slept on duty, and a chief priest who used deception, lies and money to satisfy their greed and evil plans. They concealed the truth. While Mary of Magdala, Mary and other women were overjoyed that what Jesus foretold became true. These women accepted the words of Jesus and they remind us to be faithful and to stand up for the truth.
I could not help the contrast between deceitful, greedy guards and loving, faithful women, much like Mama Mary and her love for Jesus and her cousin, Elizabeth.
I am finding my creative energies again to cook breakfast, bake banana muffins for #princess2015la and thank @charinavergara for my delivered orders from @titasofmanilaus. May God shield you with His Grace as you feed families all over Southern California and I pray your business grow exponentially!!!
I attended the liturgical and theological reflections of Fr. Joachim at Holy Family Artesia centering on “Confidently approach the throne of Grace.” He said, “When we are forgiven by God, we in turn forgive our neighbors Jesus used language of commerce to speak of relations with God. Our sins have been fully forgiven. It is finished. As it is. Paid in full! We have to believe it applies to us personally-our debt has been paid fully. Thank you Jesus and learn gratitude all your life, receive 5he Eucharist as an eternal Thanksgiving. Also, I must see to it that I don’t accumulate more sins. Let our life be an unbroken life of Thanksgiving.” All throughout, it has been a morning of flowing river of tears.
Fr. Rodel G.Balagtas posted, “Do you consider the pandemic a curse or a blessing?” To me, it is a blessing, it has become a journey of being closer to God, my hubby, my adult children, and my neighbors.
It also has become a solidifying process of saying more I love yous to my very good friends and showing more generosity to wonderful Holy priests. I managed to give to 6 priests who deepened my understanding about God’s wisdom and infinite love and graciousness. I also braved through my fears and walked to my neighbors, including my daughter’s family to deliver my home cooked meals. I now understand how Charina, Lem, Antonio feel when they dropped off stuff to me.
It is a privilege to attend livestreamed masses with Vatican’s Pope Francis whose spiritual depth moves me to tears.
