I challenged myself today, following the inspiring post of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. I walked even while drizzling, savoring the freedom we enjoy and are very much grateful for. Thank you, Lord, Mama Mary, Virgin de Guadalupe, Holy Spirit, President Joe Biden, and your reasonable, sane and wise leadership.
#princess2015la said, “Grandma, I am hungry.” I made her a toast of my homemade banana bread, then scrambled eggs, strawberries, and mango nectar with lychees and strawberries.
I told her that I looked at her old photos, and she ate her food by gobbling them up. She responded: “Grandma, if you consider my whole plate, I am still eating a lot, and I am just eating neatly.”
Oh, you are still smart, beautiful, kind, and loving, I told her.
She then said,” Grandma, you are kind and generous. My logo is silly, goofy, and crazy.”
My morning with #princess2015la and her ‘chicken feet.’
She read and approved it.
It was a beautiful homily. It started with a context of how Virgin Mary travelled to visit Elizabeth, formerly barren but now six months pregnant in her old age. Imagine this – Mama Mary traveled 145 km or 90 miles according to another homilist, Fr. Dave Concepcion. Imagine that distance on foot or donkey through the cold desert to give caring attention to her cousin, Elizabeth.
He tested the parishioners – how many Anunciations were there? Quiet. He answered his own question – three. First, the angel pacified St. Joseph who was about to divorce Mary. Second – the angel appeared to Zacariah about his wife’s pregnancy and that a son will be born named John. Third is Mama Mary who was chosen to bear a Messiah named Emmanuel.
He then laid the foundational love of God for us, that in the bible – ‘Have no Fear’ is mentioned 365 times, symbolic of how God reassures us daily, 365 days of the year.
With that, he preached that there are four lessons to take away from Simbang Gabi
First – Count your blessings, focus on what God gives us each day. He exhorted us to live in a space of joyful blessedness, to remember we are too blessed to be stresed.
Second – Live simply and humbly just like Mama Mary’s lifestyle and he reminded us of how Jesus was born – inside a barn, with the smell of animals, their dung and haystacks.
Imagine that time of the year, which I am adding, cold winter month, no heat, no insulation on walls and no comforters.
Third – Be people of joy – My soul proclaims the spirit of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God. Mary is happy because Jesus is in her as the child moved as she greeted Elizabeth during her visit. Imagine Elizabeth feeling ashamed as she got pregnant in her advanced years and isolated herself from the community. With Mary’s visit, Elizabeth felt joy with the baby’s movements inside her womb. Mind you, the pregnant Mama Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months to help her.
He then described his gratitude to Fr. Rodel G. Balagtas as his teacher in homiletics. He was sent to the Philippines to immerse in serving the Catholic Church and learned some phrases in Tagalog.
He described that despite poverty, Filipinos remain joyful as they know they are beloved children of God. Their song is the Magnificat.
Notice the candles we light, he said. When you mix red and white colors, you get pink. But when you mix white (symbolic of hope, peace and joy) with purple (symbolic of pain and sorrow), you get a rose. This means life is a mixture of both challenges and happiness and joy. Choose to be happy and joyful. Joy is not the absence of suffering and struggles, but joyful despite the challenges because we have a love of God.
Joy = love of God. Even with challenges, “kapit lang,” hold onto God!
Fr. Paolo Garcia is the current Director of Seminary at St. John’s Seminary, who was a former student of Fr. Rodel G.Balagtas. Approach him if you are interested and called to become a priest.
My gratitude for a very beautiful mass at 7pm yesterday with well- harmonized and on pitch adult choir singing joyfully at Incarnation Church in Glendale.
I once made a critique of why are there dissonant voices allowed in the choir? A church member reacted and said, “Okay kang iyan. It is for God anyway.”
I responded, “All the more we should offer our best singing voices to Him as He embodies excellence, fidelity, loyalty and the ultimate expression of love, dying for humanity.
Now, going back to making some meals for the family. May they embody the joy in my being! All for the greater glory of God – when we pray that before an endeavor, all fall into place.
Merry Christmas to you all! I posted a photo of a pregnant Mama Mary taken inside Santa Prisca de Taxco, in Mexico.
“Oh, I am so spoiled here!” What a best way of recognizing she’s loved and beloved at our place. Then, she set the table and said: “Grandma, take a picture of our brunch.”
#princess2015la shared how she got a letter from Santa Claus and that she will get her Christmas gift wish from him.
She also got an outstanding certificate from Santa Claus and a letter recognizing her as an outstanding student who helps out with feeding her dog and more.
You should have seen her broad smiles and sparkling eyes! Merry Christmas to you all!!
The migration of monarch butterflies from Canada in October to now in Pismo Beach, CA.
So exciting to see the clusters of colorful Monarch butterflies
Another adventure with my adventurous husband. To see nature’s transformation embodied by these monarch butterflies.
The following day at noon, the monarch butterflies were flying more vigorously and were clustering. Do you see the orange colors on the eucalyptus tree branches – they are the butterflies holding a summit, a clustering phenomenon?
Captivating landscapes to ocean views to sunsets to oceanfront view, more like the view at the cove.
Thank you my dear Enrique de la Cruz who has a love for adventure, discovery and travel. The best trip thus far for the serenity, calm and meditative retreat and reflection.
As I prayed the rosary and remember the beautiful homilies of Fr. Rodel G.Balagtas, Fr. Ernesto Roxas Cordero Fr. Raymond Bareng Decipeda Fr.Thomas Asia, Fr. Michael Montoya, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, I am most grateful for how they impart the passion of their love of God, Jesus Christ, Mama Mary, St. Joseph and all the saints, martyrs, angels.
I am sitting by the cold waters of the cove of Pismo Beach, warmed up by the burning flames of their hearts of love for Jesus, their parishioners, their communities, their families and their countries of residence.
2023 will be a year of important milestones for me, the figure 8 is prominent, as 100.
44 years of marriage = 4 plus 4 equals 8
71 years old for me = 7 plus 1 = 8
8 years old for my #princess2015la
80 years old for hubby
100 years old for my dad’s heavenly birthday
8, 8, 8, 80, 100 = 204
When asked how did we last 44 years – I answer forgiveness, love, pilgrimage travels, celebration of each year anniversary, and soulful friends who remind us of our strengths, not weaknesses.
