Viewing Challenges as Blessings

Here's a beautiful quote from St. Pio of Pietrelcina:

"Blessed is the crisis that made you grow, 

the fall that made you gaze up to Heaven,

the problem that you made you look for God."

In fact if you have the habit of reflecting about life, you'll realize that all the hurdles that happened in the past (no matter how bad they seem to be), all happened for a good reason. :)

The Purest Kind of Love

This video was first shared in 2018 by UCatholic, but just recently saw it.

In a Good Friday procession in Mexico, a special child named Juan Pablo protects and comforts the actor playing Jesus Christ. 

Very moving.  It's the purest kind of love! Thank you for inspiring and teaching us, Juan Pablo.

How to Prepare for Death

Don't judge this blogpost - it isn't morbid even if the title sounds so. 😅 But warning - it's really hard-hitting! 

For some context, I like to read books about death and mortality, and have written about this topic several times throughout the years.  Thinking about our own mortality makes us appreciate life more and gives us mental clarity about our priorities in life.  And I've always thought I have achieved some level of clarity already - until I randomly stumbled upon a book called "Preparation for Death: Prayers and Consolation for the Final Journey (Excerpts from St. Alphonsus Liguori)".

How I discovered this book was accidental.  One lunch break, I went to a Catholic bookstore looking for communion bread as someone asked me to buy some.  Unfortunately, communion bread was out of stock, but since I was in the bookstore already, I quickly scanned books on display and picked some to buy just on the basis of the titles.   The book "Preparation for Death" was one of the many books I bought. 

Days after, I have this 90+-year old neighbor who asked me for suggestions on what else to put in his bucket list. Thinking that he was probably bored, I asked him if he wanted to read some books so I could lend him, and he said yes.   At first I was thinking - should I include the book "Preparation for Death"? - as he or his wife might get offended why I am lending such book! 😅  In the end, I decided to include it but I had to deliver the books personally so I have a chance to explain why I have that kind of book, and again, it's because I am fascinated by the topic of death/mortality. 

Guess what? My 90+-year old neighbor read it right away, finished it so fast, and he liked it so much that he messaged me he is going to the bookstore to buy 10 copies to give away to friends! Wow...  

Finally, I got the chance to read the book this week and I wanted to share some key points, excerpts and realizations.  I hope these snippets would also allow you to reflect about your life and priorities:

Our most important duty on earth is to make sure we save our soul so we go to heaven and be with God when we die.  But we often overlook this especially when we're young as we think we'll live long enough. We get busy with life goals, career goals, financial goals, health goals...  Yes, some of us do have spiritual goals, but shamefully, it's just one of the areas in life.  And we typically do bare minimum on our spiritual goals (e.g. going to Mass every Sunday and holy days of obligation), thinking we could intensify our efforts in serving God when we retire and have more time.  The thing is, we could die anytime.   

If we're able to excel in doing projects or giving stellar performance in our day jobs, why shouldn't we exert focus and effort to save our souls more often?  If we're able to do comprehensive performance appraisals every year or undergo annual health check ups, why aren't we doing a regular assessment on how we are doing in the eyes of God? If we are able to set higher targets or higher standards every year, why do we keep on backsliding when it comes to sinning?  Why aren't we regularly setting higher standards for our soul?

When we lose something like money on an investment, we get restless, lose sleep and exhaust efforts to figure out how to recover what we lost.  When we offend or hurt someone, we get bothered and anxious, and won't have peace of mind until our apology is accepted.   But when we sin and offend God, how come we are able to sleep normally even if it takes months and years before we confess? And we're able to even joke about it or laugh about it?  Insane, right?  What have we become??? 😢  We got everything so wrong. 😩  If we lose our soul, we lose everything. "For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? (Mt 16:26).  We need to keep on repeating this verse in our heads so we are reminded that our only duty on earth is to save our soul and be with God for eternity.

Oftentimes, we take time for granted.  When asked how are we spending our spare time, some reply "by killing time". That's time lost which could have been used for something worthwhile and good.  When you know you're dying, won't you beg God for another year, another month, or even another day or hour of extension?  Except that our death can come as a surprise - thus, we might not even get a chance to negotiate with God.  Any time not spent in some way for God is lost time.

When we sin or offend God for the sake of our own pleasure, we make pleasure our god.   It's a sign that we put more value to our pleasure over how much we value God. 😭

On the day we die, we shall lose all our earthly possessions - honors, riches, pleasures. What we can take with us to eternity are our acts of virtue and the good things which we have done during our lifetime.  To see the true value of earthly goods, we need to look at them from the perspective of our deathbed.  We won't be able to bring any of our material possessions in the afterlife.  Another great reminder from Jesus:  "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Mt 6:20)

We need to pray in order to preserve our soul. When we are tempted to sin or when we are in a state of sin, we shouldn't stop praying, in fact, we need to pray even harder - to ask God's help so we don't get lost.  Jesus said: "Pray without ceasing." (1Thes 5:17). Because if we die with a mortal sin/state of sin, we don't have any excuse if God asks us - if you didn't have the strength to resist the temptation, why didn't you ask for My help?  If you fell into sin, why didn't you ask for My forgiveness? 😭  We have 24/7 access to God - there is no excuse not to talk to Him and ask Him for His help especially if we find ourselves in constant temptation or constant exposure to occasions of sin.

When we pray, we need to pray with (1) humility, (2) with confidence and trust in God, and (3) with perseverance. "So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mk 11:24)  Sadly though, we oftentimes pray only for temporal favors like money, health and earthly goods. 😞  We should pray more to ask for spiritual graces like pardon and divine love.   

Reflect on the commandments of God and examine yourself on how you have lived according to the commandments.  Examine your motives to see if you are too attached to worldly things, to any particular person, to any special honor,  to your home, to your money...  Recall as fully as possible the sins you may have committed and go to confession in full sorrow.  Banish from your heart all sinful affections, all feelings of anger and hatred for others.

What we can do to keep ourselves in God's grace?  Pray often, go to Mass frequently and receive Holy Communion often, read the Bible and meditate on teachings, go to confession, make visits to the Blessed Sacrament, have a devotion to our Lady (ask for her help to pray for us!), examine our conscience daily and read spiritual books, among others.

When we come to serve God, prepare for more testing as enemies will intensify efforts - they will try harder to make us fail.  Saint Paul says that "our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)

We need to avoid occasions of sin - people, places, things - that cause us to sin.  The devil is scheming when it comes to tempting good people - he doesn't use a chain to bind a person right away. He will use first a thread, a single hair, then a cord, then finally a chain to drag a person to sin (especially in committing sins against purity). Thus, we need to be more conscious in avoiding all occasions to sin (even the smallest ones that appear to be harmless on the surface).

Look more often and look long at the Crucifix.  When saints pondered the death of Christ, they had little difficulty in giving up everything they owned, their pleasures, their families, and even their lives.

In summary - we were not put on earth to enjoy, pursue self-gratification, make money, grow rich, accumulate assets, become powerful, reward ourselves... We are here to become the best souls that we can be (and help other souls too!) so many souls will be with God in heaven after this transitory stage on earth.  So why are we more concerned about earthly goals and things, instead of our final destiny?  Why are we prioritizing and spending more time crossing off worldly goals, leaving little or no time for our spiritual life?  We carve out time for work to earn, spend time with our families and friends, and pursue goals and accomplishments, but guess what?  At the hour of our death, no amount of wealth or accomplishments or power can save our souls, and no amount of prayers by our family and friends can help deliver us from hell if our soul is condemned. 😭  Yes, God is all merciful, but again - what if we won't have the chance to ask for His forgiveness when death unexpectedly arrives?  It's all up to us now.  The great news is - we still have the chance to correct our ways while we're still alive.  Help us to be good souls, God. 🙏 🙏

What does God want?

I recently read this book entitled "What does God want?" by Michael Heiser, a known Biblical scholar. 

Here are my key takeaways and realizations:

1. I've always thought that to be God-fearing is good, but after reading the book which cited a lot of historical events in the Bible when Man greatly sinned, what God wants is for us to be close to Him. And so, if our fear of God results to being distant from him, that's not what God wants. Because even if we keep on committing sins, God never ceases to love us.  God sent Christ  - long before we were born - to save us from sin.  

Romans 5:8

God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What I think we need to fear though is Hell. We were given intellect and free will - we will be held accountable for our sins.   Thus, we should avoid sinning. But in times when we fail and still sin, we should be quick and sincere to ask forgiveness from God.  God wants us to keep returning to Him (instead of fearing Him) - even if we fail multiple times. 

2.  We sometimes joke that when we do good, we earn points in heaven.  But that's not how it works.  Here are some excerpts from the book:

 “Living a godly life isn’t about earning a place in heaven.  It’s not about putting God in our debt because of the spirituality points we’ve racked up.“ 

"Salvation - membership in God's family - cannot be earned.  It can only be received by faith (belief)." 

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

 

Did that sink in to you?  Salvation is never earned (no brownie points required). It is given by the grace of God - as long as we believe in Him. By virtue of our faith in God, we can receive salvation. Wow.   

3. God knows all our thoughts - even before we pray - so why do we even have to pray?  Praying is a way we show God that we rely on Him alone.  We believe He knows best.  And He is Wise - God’s answers may not always be what we want and He sometimes answers in unexpected ways, but if you truly reflect by connecting the dots and looking in hindsight, His ways are always for a good reason.  Important reminder - even when Christ prayed to God, He also didn't get the easiest solution (e.g. dying on the Cross) as He completely deferred to God's Will and completely put His trust in God - Thy will be done.

4. Our prayers need not always be self-focused. In the Bible, even in ancient times, a lot of prayers are aimed at blessing others or asking God’s mercy upon others. 

5. Fasting means to abstain from something - it doesn’t have to be necessarily fasting from food.  Fasting can be from anything or any activity that distracts us from praying or being with God e.g. phone, leisure activity.   Fasting is a spiritual practice designed to help us focus on prayer.  For example, if we’re fasting from food for spiritual reasons (not health reasons), when we’re hungry, we should be reminded to pray.  

However, if fasting from food is practiced for health purposes (not spiritual reasons), we can fast from other pre-identified distractions.  Fasting will force us to detach ourselves from worldly things, think about what really matters in life,  carve out time for God and bring our minds back to God and pray. 

6. Finally, what's the answer to the question -  What does God want?  

In the Bible, Man has turned away from God so many times - starting from Adam & Eve when they disobeyed God, the wickedness during Noah’s time, Tower of Babel … but every time, God never gave up on Man.    What does God want?  He wants us.  He wants us to live like Christ, to imitate Him.  

1 Peter 2:20-23
For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?  But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps.  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.

The thing is - the culture promoted in modern times is to live life to gratify our own happiness. Live for the "now".  It's all about pleasure and self-gratification... and chasing after worldly life goals.  We need to go back to God and what really matters.  

 1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 

What really matters?  A life wherein we practice Christ's teachings.  And hopefully by living Christ's teachings, we are able to inspire/influence people to also live good lives so we can bring more people closer to God.  

This is very tough mission given all our sins and imperfections, but we have to remember too that we were created in the image of God and God is in us.  It doesn't matter if we oftentimes fail and backslide because if we do, it doesn't surprise God as He knows all our weaknesses and shortcomings.  What He wants is for us to keep on returning to Him when we sin. 

And even if we find ourselves succumbing to the same sin (so guilty of this that my confession is like a template! 😭), we have to continue praying to Him and asking for His help.  We should not allow fear or shame take over us or let the feeling of being unworthy to creep in - that's the work of the evil one.  Even when we are in a state of sin, we should not stop praying to God - it is in fact when we need God the most.  There are a lot of stories in the Bible where God forgave mercifully (whom by human standards may seem unforgivable) - among many, think about the Parable of the Prodigal Son, The Lost Sheep and in the Old Testament, the story of King David. King David committed adultery, arranged a murder, and was a lawbreaker, but he never wavered his belief in God nor worshipped any other one, and so God was merciful to him.  There is no such thing as unforgivable in the eyes of God.

The most important thing is we should continue praying to God - at all times, no matter what - because God wants us. He wants us to be part of His Family. There is no excuse why we should be away from Him. God is ready to accept us and forgive us any time and every time.

Lenten Prayer for Spiritual Renewal

Source

Beyond fasting and abstinence, Lent is about repentance and renewing our faith in preparation for Easter.  Sharing with you a beautiful Lenten prayer I found online. 🙏 

Lenten Prayer for Spiritual Renewal

God, heavenly Father, look upon me and hear my prayer during this holy Season of Lent.

By the good works You inspire, help me to discipline my body and to be renewed in spirit.  Without You, I can do nothing. 

By Your Spirit, help me to know what is right and to be eager in doing Your will.  Teach me to find new life through penance. Keep me from sin, and help me live by Your commandment of love. 

God of love, bring me back to You. Send Your Spirit to make me strong in faith and active in good  works. May my acts of penance bring me Your forgiveness, open my heart to Your love, and prepare me for the coming feast of the Resurrection of Jesus. 

Lord, during this Lenten Season, nourish me with Your Word of life and make me one with You in love and prayer.  Fill my heart with Your love and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ.   Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness. Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.

Father, our source of life, I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand; let me walk more readily in Your ways.  Guide me in Your gentle mercy, for left to myself I cannot do Your Will.

Father of love, source of all blessings, help me to pass from my old life of sin to the new life of grace. Prepare me for the glory of Your Kingdom. 

I ask this through our Lord JesusChrist, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.

Amen.

How to pray: ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving & Supplication)

Source

When I'm too tired to pray at night, my prayer is always a short-cut version.  It starts with thank you, then sorry, then a short prayer for the poor souls, and ends with prayer petitions - mostly for other people coz my personal petitions are not really urgent in the grand scheme of things.

It's too short and disorganized that I'm not even able to follow the correct prayer sequence we were taught in grade school which should start with worship, then asking for forgiveness, then giving thanks and lastly, praying for our and/or other people's needs.  🙈🙈🙈

Anyway, so I don't forget the proper prayer sequence moving forward, the acronym to remember is ACTS which stands for -
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

I am sure this acronym was taught in school but it's so embarrassing that I can't recall ever having memorized the acronym ACTS. 🙈 I think my brain capacity when I was in gradeschool could only accommodate one acronym and that slot was taken by ROYGBIV.  😂😂😂

But I do clearly remember that we were taught the proper prayer sequence (minus the useful acronym) and that the best prayer that reflects this is "The Lord's Prayer".  So in case I am at loss for words when I pray, or if ever I forget what ACTS stands for when my brain is half-asleep already,  all I need to remember and do is pray "The Lord's Prayer". 🙏

A friend's answered prayer + Prayer to Sleeping St. Joseph

The first time I heard about Sleeping St Joseph was during Pope Francis' visit to Manila in 2015.  In one of his speeches, he shared that he has a devotion to St Joseph because he is a man of silence and strength.  Pope Francis said that someone gave him this statue of a Sleeping St Joseph and whenever he has any problems or petitions, he would put notes under the statue so that St Joseph would dream about them on his sleep.

Sleeping St Joseph

Over the holidays, a friend was visiting from the US and we caught up.  She told me of this amazing story of how St. Joseph interceded for them.  Her husband was looking for a job coz his current employer is streamlining.  He was specifically eyeing job posts in 3 companies (all tech companies I adore.😍).  The first company's offer was below their target.  In as much as the husband liked the job and company, they had kids to raise and a mortgage to pay.  The opportunity in the second company didn't materialize.  So it was down to the last company - it had to be it and hopefully, it meets their target.  

My friend asked her husband what is the figure that the family needed.  She wrote the figure down on a piece of paper and put it under their Sleeping St. Joseph statue and prayed the prayer to the Sleeping St. Joseph.🙏

The day arrived when the husband was called in by the company to present the offer sheet.  Guess what? The figure in the offer sheet was exactly the same figure which my friend put under the Sleeping St Joseph - yes, down to the last dollar!!!😮 Amazing, right!? 

I have a Sleeping St Joseph statue since 2015 but I've never put any note under it yet coz St. Joseph might end up having a bed as high as the bed in The Princess and the Pea. Haha... 😂

Anyway, if you don't have a statue yet, no worries, it's the prayer that counts. Here you go:

Prayer to Sleeping St. Joseph

O Saint Joseph, you are a man greatly favored by the Most High. The angel of the Lord appeared to you in dreams, while you slept, to warn you and guide you as you cared for the Holy Family. You were both silent and strong, a loyal and courageous protector.

Dear Saint Joseph, as you rest in the Lord, confident of His absolute power and goodness, look upon me. Please take my need into your heart, dream of it, and present it to your Son.

(Mention your request.)

Help me then, good Saint Joseph, to hear the voice of God, to arise, and act with love. I praise and thank God with joy.

Saint Joseph, I love you. Amen.

Little Miracles on the Road

I like to pray but most of my prayers are short.  I wish though I could pray longer and pray more - except that my mind wanders far and away when I pray alone.

When I drive, my bare minimum is praying "Angel of God" or "Memorare".  I told you, my prayers are super short. 😄    But even if my prayers are short,  I've experienced a lot of little miracles on the road (though I attribute these miracles more to my mom who's very prayerful.  I wonder what happened to me? 😂).   

What kind of miracles on the road?  For example, in all the instances when I've experienced a flat tire or a dead engine, it's always at home, in a gas station, near a gas station, or in a safe place where there are people who could help me.  And in the few times when I've caught myself almost dozing off while driving, for whatever reason,  my body involuntarily jerks or my foot involuntary puts pressure on the brake pedal - and that just saves me from hitting the vehicle in front of me.   I was talking to an uber driver one time and this was his exact description of his experiences too. Amazing.

Anyway, the other weekend, at noon, traffic was slow moving and my car was on stop.  We were all hungry and so looking forward to reach home for lunch.   Suddenly, there was a loud thud and we realized the rear of my car has been hit.  My initial thought bubble was - "Oh no, my hungry tummy has to wait longer!!!" 😂

Then I looked into the rearview mirror and saw a big red pick-up.  My second thought bubble was - "Uh-oh, the damage must be big!" 😓😢   

I went out afraid to look at the rear and approached the driver who was embarrassed and apologetic.   When I finally looked at the rear - I couldn't find any dent or scrape!  I told the driver everything's ok and just reminded him to drive more carefully.  I didn't even get his name, plate number or contact details.   

When I got home, I scanned my car's rear again and just spotted these tiny dot-sized scratches on my bumper (if you can even spot them on the photo below). 

Amazing, right?   I'm not the type of person who gets emotionally affected when my car gets scratches so it's all good.  What's important to me is no one got hurt and ... lunch wasn't delayed. Wahaha.... 😂

Anyway, this bumper miracle reminded me of another miracle from years ago.  One time, an aunt asked me to drive for her and shortly after I dropped her off, a vehicle bumped my rear and there was a big, long dent on the bumper! It was my first time to be alone in a car accident and I didn't know what to do.  Since there was no policeman nearby, we were advised to go to the city hall to file a police report.  

When we reached the police headquarters, the police officers asked us what was the matter so I relayed to them the story of how the other car bumped me and described to them the big damage on my bumper.  When we all looked at my bumper, there was no longer a dent! The bumper bounced back to its original shape. Haha.... 😂    The police officers were scratching their heads - they probably thought I was crazy! Haha...  The other driver couldn't also believe how the dent disappeared.  

So what's the key takeaway?  Don't forget to pray - no matter how short the prayer is and no matter how short the ride is.  :)  

Singapore Diaries: Food trip, Reunion & Crossing off an item from my Bucket List

Last week, my friend and I were in Singapore to attend some meetings for our personal business.  Ok,  the trip was 50% personal business, 50% leisure.  Haha...

We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel - super nice hotel, great location and the buffet breakfast is so good! I was so scared to weigh myself after 4 days of buffet breakfast. Haha...

The view from our room is the Chijmes and Raffles Hotel.  The best view though is from the Executive Lounge at night where you can see the beautiful Singapore skyline - 

At the hotel lobby and in one of the hotel exits, there are beautiful artworks on display.   Check these out - 

I wasn't able to capture all of the sculptures' stories except for one - the little girl in green dress.  Entitled "Dear Children - I See", it's by a Chinese artist named Xing Jing.  

So this cute kid has a look of wonder in her bean eyes.  She has lots of questions and is looking for answers.  But she will eventually realize that there isn't always an answer so the best that she can do is to love this world with a kind heart.  It's entitled "I See" to differentiate it from "I know" or "I get it" as "I see" signifies an act of comprehension from the heart.  Such beautiful message! :)

******

Last Sunday, we were able to hear mass at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd across Chijmes.  The church is fund-raising and they were selling these beautifully-crafted statues of the Good Shepherd made from Tiger Wood and sculpted by people from the village of Banteay Prieb, a vocational center for people with disabilities in Cambodia.

The statue has a unique and nice concept - it's a hold and pray statue. The statue is detachable from the base so when you pray, you can actually hold the statue with your hands. 

Incidentally, volunteers were distributing some handouts at the church exit and one of them had a very beautiful prayer (the prayer isn't related to the statue though).

Sharing it below (with minor edits):

I Pray
Gracious God,
You have done so much for us.
You ask for willingness
and we are often stubborn.
You ask for humility
and we are often proud.
You ask for open listening hearts
and we are often deaf.
You ask for service
and we are often busy.
You ask for our love
and we are often self-centered.
Grant us mercy that we may be compassionate;
that we may give life to others.
Grant that we, like Mary, may be your willing servants.
Amen.

*****

We also had time to meet up with ex-colleagues from Singapore. The first dinner, they took us for chili crabs, salted egg crabs (yes, crabs with salted egg sauce!), cereal prawns, clams on bamboo, etc.  The second dinner was Chinese at Ban Heng.   Out of excitement to exchange stories and eat, I forgot to take photos except for these. Haha...

It was so much fun to see our ex-colleagues after so many years - more than 10 years!!!  I think the last time when we were all together was during a regional event in Brisbane, Australia.  Since I'm not active on FB, I was totally out of touch with them.  But it's amazing that even if we come from different cultures, we share the same sense of humor.  It was non-stop chatter and laughter.   :)

****

Where else did eat?

Soup Restaurant.  We had Samsui Ginger Chicken and I super love it! Yum!

We also ate at Tim Ho Wan.  Just like in Manila, there's always a long queue during lunch and dinner time so the best time to dine is during odd hours.

One night at 11pm, we got hungry and went to Lau Pa Sat.   Yummy sate and baby squid!

I'm trying to avoid cold dessert since I've become prone to colds lately but how can you say no to shaved ice?!  We had yoghurt bingsoo at Ice Lab. 

If you're crazy about Salted Egg Chips, the most popular brand in Singapore is Irvin's.  They quickly run out of stocks so they've implemented a cap on purchases - they only allow a maximum purchase of 5 small and 5 big packs for every buyer.  But between the salted egg fish skin and salted egg potato chips, I highly recommend the fish skin. True to its tagline, it's dangerously addictive. :)  

********

Our last agenda in Singapore was to do some Christmas shopping.  But nope, we weren't able to tick off everything on our list since our luggage allowance was maxed out already and we didn't want to pay for extra weight. Haha... 

Finally, while in Singapore, I was able to tick off an item from my bucket list!  To watch a movie alone. Haha... 

My friend had a meeting for her other business and I didn't want to tag along.  Instead, I took it as an opportunity to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  I missed watching it with friends the first week since I was in Bangalore.  I can't afford to miss it on the big screen since I'm a big Harry Potter fan. :) 

Watching alone isn't as awkward as I thought.  I've always admired those who can do it and I finally did it!  And I think I can do it again.   Haha... :)

How to forgive + amazing stories of forgiveness

For some Holy Week reflection, I read the "Seven Last Words" by Fr. James Martin, SJ.    It's a very quick read - only 126 pages - but very impactful.  The content is based on Fr Martin's homilies at the St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on Good Friday 2015.

What struck me most is the reflection on forgiveness ("Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.")

Usually, when people hurt us, what nudges us to forgive are the following:

• if the person apologizes/says sorry 
• if he/she seems sincere and remorseful

And the period of granting forgiveness usually depends on the degree of the offense - the more serious it is, the harder and longer one is able to forgive.

In Fr. Martin's book, he cited two amazing and mind-blowing stories of forgiveness.  

One is that of a father whose 16-year old son was killed in a car accident because his son's friend, Kenny, was driving the car while he was drunk.   During Kenny's trial, this father pleaded to the judge to give Kenny the minimum sentence possible because he said that Kenny never wanted to kill his son. Wow.

When the father was asked why he did what he did, he said "I just did what I thought was right".  He also said that he saw Kenny as more than just that one terrible act.

To top it off, both the father and Kenny kept in touch since then, writing to each other for the last 20 years.  Imagine, the father didn't just forgive but was able to develop a special friendship with the person who had caused his son's death!  Wow.

The second story is about a lawyer named Jeanne whose sister, her sister's husband and their unborn child were killed by someone who was remorseless and never admitted his guilt.   Compared to the first story, the death of the victims in this second story was not accidental, but intentional.  And to make it worse, there was no remorse from the killer.  How can one possibly forgive, right?  

Anyway, Jeanne was in mass one day and was so moved when Lamb of God was said, specifically by the words - "You take away the sins of the world".  She thought that these words surely don't mean that if someone wrongs us, we should freeze that sin that no matter what the person does, whether he/she repents or not, we should punish the person for the sin forever.  So on that day, Jeanne decided to forgive the killer of her sister and family.   (Fr Martin also shares what Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, the author of Dead Man Walking, often says about inmates on death row - "People are more than the worst thing they've ever done in their lives.")

Years later, Jeanne realized that she had never told the killer yet that she had forgiven him so she decided to write him a letter.   In response, the killer wrote her a letter too.  You know what he said?  He wrote back - "You're right, I am guilty of killing your sister ... and her husband ... I also want to take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences and apologize to you."

That story gave me goosebumps!

Forgiveness had freed him to be honest and remorseful, Fr Martin points out.

Fr Martin said that forgiveness can free both parties.   For the forgiver, it frees him/her from the prison of resentment and from seeing the other as less than human. And for the offending party,  he said that we may not know how exactly forgiveness will free him/her and it may be in a way that we will never see, but it will free the other person in some way (like how it has freed Jeanne's killer).

Beautiful stories of extraordinary forgiving capabilities over acts most of us would consider as unforgiveable.

Of course the greatest act of unfathomable forgiveness is that of Jesus on the cross.   As Fr Martin points out, if there is anyone who had the right not to forgive, to lash out in anger and feel unjustly persecuted, it was Jesus. Yet, even if the Roman soldiers didn't express remorse in front of Him and continued to mock him,  He forgave and prayed for them with His words - "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing."

Most of us would probably have thought bubbles like beautiful stories but I'm not a superhuman like Jeanne or the father of Kenny's friend (let's not even go to the level of Jesus' forgiveness! Haha...).

So for starters, I was thinking at the least, what we can try to do is when someone offends us, we don't have to wait for the person to say sorry and show remorse before we forgive.

Fr Martin said that wanting is a good start.  He also said that one of the teachings of St. Ignitius of Loyola is even if you don't have the desire to forgive, but have a desire for the desire, God can work with that. Whew!  And hopefully, we progress from there.  :)

Throwback: Pilgrimage Tour to Israel, Jordan and Egypt

One of my long overdue backlogs at home is to sift through my old travel journals and see what I can already discard.  Last week, I opened one that contained my notes on our 12-day pilgrimage tour to Jordan, Israel and Egypt back in 2006. Since it’s Holy Week, I thought it would be timely to do a throwback.

Going on a pilgrimage tour to HolyLand and seeing the pyramids of Egypt were in the first bucket list draft I ever made in 1998.  With the trip in 2006, I was able to cross out 2 items from my bucket list.

Below are some snippets from my journal - I was actually amazed at how detailed my notes were!   Reading them made the memories so fresh as if the trip were only last year.  How come I regressed after?!  Haha...

BTW, though the trip was a pilgrimage tour, we also visited some non-religious points of interest.  In terms of timing, we went in May so the weather was hot during the day (about 25˚C - 30˚C), then it drops to about 15˚C at night.  I was with my mom, an aunt and a college friend, together with 30+ other Filipino pilgrims including 2 priests.

Day 1 

We left Manila via Qatar Airways and landed in Amman, Jordan.

Day 2
We visited Petra, also known as the Rose City, because of the color of the stone where structures are carved in. The city is believed to have been established around 312 BC (take note, it’s BC!) and it is where the ancient Arab tribe of Nabataeans settled.  

Nabataeans were involved in the caravanning business of Arabian frankincense and myrrh, Indian spices and African ivory. When trade routes shifted and there was less demand for frankincense as Christianity replaced pagan religions, Petra was abandoned. It was only rediscovered in 1812 by a Swiss traveler.

Make sure to wear comfortable shoes because from the gate, you have to walk approximately 3 kms (just 1-way! so total of 6 kms for 2-way). At a leisure pace, it’ll take you about 2 hours to reach the hidden city but you can also opt to ride donkeys or camels.

But I recommend that you walk so you can stop whenever you see something interesting.  Also, our companions who rode donkeys and camels said their butt hurt after the ride.  Haha...

The most interesting part of the walk is passing through the Siq. This is a gorge - where water used to flow. 

At the end of the Siq is the breathtaking site of The Treasury. I was just blown away when I saw it. It’s purely carved out of stone! So beautiful! Our tour guide said that based on estimates, it must have taken 13 years to carve The Treasury.

The Treasury

If The Treasury looks familiar, it's either because you saw it in a scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade or in photos when Petra made it to the New 7 wonders of the World last 07/07/07.

Here's what else you can find at Petra - all beautifully carved in rocks.

Day 3

We want back to Amman and went to Mt. Nebo - this is where Moses viewed Promised Land and also passed away.  

   

The big cross on the cliff symbolizes Moses' staff.

Here's a photo I took from the cliff - maybe it's the same view Moses saw. :)

There's also a beautiful church at the top of Mt Nebo.

While in Amman, Jordan, we also had time to visit the Madaba Center where we watched artists make beautiful mosaics. 

From Amman, we crossed the Israel border (via bus) and headed towards Jericho.

We stopped by the sycamore fig tree where Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus. 

Then we stopped over the Temptation Mountain where Jesus fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan.  A monastery called Quarantal Monastery (quarantal means forty) was built at the top of the mountain.

From there, we went to the Jordan River where St. John the Baptist baptized Jesus.  While there, we renewed our baptismal vows.

Jordan River

We proceeded then to the Sea of Galilee (which I learned from out tour guide that it is technically a lake, not sea). 

It was in the Sea of Galilee where Jesus called Simon and Andrew to become apostles, and where Jesus calmed a storm, and where he walked on the surface of the water!

We also rode a replica of what is believed to be what the boats looked liked during the time of Jesus

By the time we finished our short boat ride around the Sea of Galilee, it was already sunset.

BTW, while in Galilee, we had St. Peter's fish for lunch aka tilapia. One tilapia meal costs P800! It's the most expensive tilapia I ever ate! Haha...

Day 4  

We went to the place where the Sermon on the Mount was held.  A church stands there now called the Church of Beatitudes.  This church was built in 1936 and guess who sponsored it?  According to our tour guide, it was Italian dictator Mussolini who commissioned Italian designer Antonio Barluzzi. (Wow, my notes were really so detailed then!  What happened to me now?!  Haha...)  

Then we headed to the Primacy of St. Peter (located along the Sea of Galilee).   It was in this spot where Jesus appeared to the disciples following His resurrection and where He restored Peter to his place of authority in the church (after Peter denied Jesus 3 times).   

  

Inside the chapel is a flat rock called "Mensa Christi" (Christ's table) - it marks the site where they ate that day.  

Next stop was the Church of the First Feeding of the Multitude of Tabgha or where Jesus multiplied 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes to feed 5,000 men!

Then we proceeded to Capernaum.  What is Capernaum's significance?  When John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus chose to live in Capernaum and made it as His headquarters for His ministry.   While there, he lived at St. Peter's House.  The archeological site of St. Peter's house had been preserved.  Check this out -

It was also in Capernaum where Jesus healed the sick, taught in synanogues and raised Jairius' daughter back to life.

Here are the ruins of a synanogue in Capernaum.   Imagine, Jesus used to preach in this synanogue.

Next stop was the Franciscan Church of Cana in Galilee - yep, Cana - where Jesus performed His first public miracle, that of turning water into wine. One of the 6 stone water jars had been preserved - it's so huge that it can hold up to 20-30 gallons of water.

Married couples from our tour group renewed their marriage vows and I became an instant wedding photographer!  Haha...

Then we visited the Church of the Anunciation.   This houses the place where Angel Gabriel appeared to Mama Mary.  

See the tunnel opening on the right behind the altar on the photo below? That is the entrance to the cave where Mama Mary was staying when Angel Gabriel appeared to her.

Day 5

We headed to Mt Tabor in the Church of the Transfiguration. This is where Peter and James witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus and saw Him with Moses and Elijah.

Then we proceeded to the Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery and Church in Mt Carmel - this is the place where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal and succeeded in proving that the God of Israel is the true God.  

Next stop was Ceasaria.  This was built by Herod the Great in honor of the Roman Emperor Augustus.   It houses  a temple, amphitheatre, a hippodrome, market, homes and public buildings.

Here's a photo of the hippodrome in Ceasaria - imagine, once upon a time, this is where charriot races were held. 

It was also in Caesaria where Peter baptized Cornelius - a Roman centurion who became the first Gentile  convert.

We then proceeded to St. Peter's Church in Old Jaffa which overlooks Tel Aviv.    Jaffa is where Peter resuscitated a woman who had died, and where Peter had a vision to preach to Cornelius.   It is also where the harbor from which Jonah departed on his ill-fated journey when he was swallowed by a big fish.  

Next stop was Mama Mary's well in Nazareth.   It may have been the only source of water in Nazareth during the early times and it's likely that Mama Mary, St. Joseph and Jesus came there to draw water or drink. 

Then we proceeded to the Church of the Visitation in Ein Kerem where Mama Mary visited St. Elizabeth on her sixth month of pregnancy.   Ein Kerem is also the birth place of St. John the Baptist. 

This is the village well where Mama Mary met St. Elizabeth during The Visitation. 

Day 6

We went to Church of Pater Noster in Mt Olives.   The Church was built by Roman Emperor Constantine and his mother, St Helena.   What is the significance of Mt Olives?  It is the place where Jesus ascended to heaven.

 Inside the church, you'll find the Lord's prayer in various languages and dialects.  Yes, not just Filipino but Pampanggo, Ilonggo and Cebuano.  Here's the Pampanggo version I spotted inside the church -

Next stop was the Dominus Flevit Church.  Dominus Flevit means "the Lord wept".  It marks where Jesus wept over Jerusalem.    

Outside the church, you'll find "Corpus Christi" (Christ's thorns) plants - the same thorns which the Roman soldiers used to make the crown of thorns of Jesus.  The thorns are long - approximately 3 inches long - and they are soft when they are still green, but when turn brown, the thorns are super hard and sharp!

Dominus Flevit overlooks the ancient city of Jerusalem - so when Jesus wept, He really had a good view of Jerusalem.  Here's how the walled city of Jerusalem looks today.  

See the golden dome?  That's the Mosque of El Aksa, the golden dome of the Rock, where Isaac was bound for sacrifice.

Then we proceeded to the Basilica of Gethsemane.   The basilica was built to house the rock of agony where Jesus prayed.

Outside the church is what remains of the garden of Gethsemane.  It's so beautiful and serene.  The oldest olive tree alive in the garden is believed to date back to Jesus' time.

Next stop was Mt Zion where the upper room is located - this is the place where Jesus celebrated the last Supper with the disciples and where He also appeared to them after the resurrection, and where the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles.

After that, we headed to the Dormition Abbey - dormitio means eternal sleep.  This is the place where Mama Mary fell into eternal sleep.

Then we visited Bethesda.  It was in the pool in Bethesda where Jesus healed a paralytic whom he ordered to stand up, pick up his mat and walk - and he did!  The ruins of the pools are still there and just near the pool, there's the church of St. Anne, in honor of Mama Mary's mom.

Next, we entered the walled city of Jerusalem.  Inside are different quarters for Christians, Armenians, Moslems and Jews.    

While inside, we did the Stations of the Cross (Via Dolorosa) carrying a real wooden cross (though we took turns carrying it and of course, it's way, way lighter than what Jesus carried).   

We passed by the same route as Jesus did and stopped by to pray where each of the stations happened (there are markers around the walled city).

At the end of the Way of the Cross, the final destination was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Calvary (in Latin), or also called as Golgotha (in Armaic).  

By the entrance of the Church you'll find the Annointment Stone - where Joseph of Arimathea laid down Jesus' body before the burial.  

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built to house the exact site where the wooden cross of Jesus was mounted.

And it also houses the tomb cave where Jesus' body was buried.

This Church also amazed me because it houses several chapels for various religious sects  - Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Copts, etc.  You could see that various kinds of services for each group are simultaneously happening and everyone respects each other. 

Day 7

We went to the House of Caiaphas where Jesus was questioned.  See these ancient steps leading to the House Caiaphas?  Imagine, Jesus once walked on these same steps. Wow.

Next stop was the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu (gallicantu means crowing of the cock).  The Church houses the courtyard where Peter denied Jesus. It also houses a prison where Peter and some of the apostles were believed to be tortured, and a sacred pit believed to be where Jesus and other martyrs may have been thrown and left in isolation.   Here's the sacred pit.

On the walls, you'll see several Byzantine crosses markings believed to have been made by the prisoner martyrs. 

Near the parking lot of the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, there's a viewing deck where you could see a monastery - but during Jesus' time, it was in this area where Judas Iscariot hanged himself.  

Next stop was the Shepherd's Fields in Bethlehem - where the angel appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus.  A chapel has been built to commemorate the place.

Then we proceeded to the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.  It houses the Star of Bethlehem - the spot where Jesus was born.  

And a couple of meters away from the star is the spot of the Holy Manger - where Jesus was laid down.

The Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, according to our tour guide, is the first church built in the 4th century AD by Roman Emperor Constantine and his mother, St Helena.  Here's how the Church of Nativity looks like -

See the door of the church?  It's only about 4 ft high!  You know why?  It was really built that way to prevent horses of invaders from coming inside the church and destroying it.  So when Persians invaded Holyland in the 7th century, this church was the only one spared - but not because of the small door but for another interesting reason.  The Persians saw a mosaic depicting the Nativity scene outside the church and thought the kings in the mosaic were Persians. Whew!  This makes the Church of Nativity the oldest church that is still in use today.

Day 8

We went back to the walled city of Jerusalem, this time to visit the Western Wall or Wailing Wall.  There is a tradition among Jews to pray to God and insert your letters of petitions in between the cracks of the wall - I did and there's barely any space left to insert letters.  According to Wikipedia, over 1 million letters are inserted every year; letters are collected every 2 years and are buried in the Mount of Olives.

After praying and inserting your letter, you're not supposed to turn around and walk away.  The right way is while still facing the wall, you have to walk backwards.

Look at the Wailing Wall more closely.  The first 8 rows of bricks are original - they are more than 2,000 years old. Wow!

From there, we proceeded to the Dead Sea.  Did you know that the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the face of the earth?  It's 400m or 1,290 feet below sea level! It's called Dead Sea because there's almost no vegetation or life because of its high mineral content.

If you're visiting Dead Sea, you've to take a dip and experience how to float effortlessly.  You will easily float that it's so hard to stand up. Haha...  And while in the water, you have to try the ultimate beauty mud pack! Apply mud all over your face ad body.  Haha... The mud is so smooth (powdery smooth) and it's surely gonna leave your skin smooth and moisturized for hours.  

One last important tip - please make sure salt water doesn't get into your eyes - it's painful and it stings that you can barely open your eyes.  

While in the area, we also visited Qumran to see the Dead Sea scrolls.

At the southern point of Dead Sea is Sodom and we passed by the pillar of salt believed to be Lot's wife.

From Israel, we crossed the Egyptian border and stayed overnight in a place called St Catherine's Chalets.

St Catherine's Chalets is in the middle of the desert at the foot of Mt Sinai.  I tried taking photos at night and all of them showed images like these -

Day 9

First order of the day was supposed to be a trek to Mt Sinai to witness the sunrise.  But my friend and I decided to skip it because we got checked in to our chalet close to midnight the previous night and it was almost 1am when we slept.  The call time was 3am and since we've heard that the trek was by the cliff, we were afraid that we might fall asleep during the trek and just fall off the cliff. Haha...

Here's the view of Mt Sinai from our chalet.  Mt. Sinai is where God gave the 10 commandments to Moses.

Since we arrived at St. Catherine Chalets late at night, we didn't realize how beautiful the place was. Check these out -

And here's our chalet - 

After checking out from St. Catherine's Chalets, we went to St Catherine's Monastery.

St Catherine's Monastery houses the burning bush - 

We also passed by Aaron's tomb (the brother of Moses) and Elim (where Moses stopped over during his journey).  The wells of Elim are still there.  

We then headed to Cairo, the third most populated city in the world after Tokyo and Mexico City.  And guess what? 1/3 of Egypt's population is in Cairo and there are 6M cars that cross Cairo and Giza every single day. Wow. 

Then, we went on a dinner cruise at the Nile River.  

We had buffet dinner and entertainment included performances of belly dancing -

and swirling dervishes - 

Swirling dervishes do a swirling dance as a form of worship & meditation and they can swirl for as long as 30 mins and never get dizzy! Amazing, huh?:)

Day 10 

We went to the Pyramids of Giza.  

The pyramid of Cheops is the biggest of the 3.

The blocks that make up the pyramids are so huge!  The biggest block could weigh up to 6 tons!  And the smallest could weigh up to 1 ton.  How could have these been possibly built 4,000 years ago by just manual labor?!

The pyramid with the hole is the Pyramid of Nicoramus.

And the pyramid with the Sphinx is called the Pyramid of Chephren. 

We went inside the Pyramid of Chephren. But if you're claustrophobic or have back problems, I don't recommend that you go inside because the passageway is narrow and low, and there is a part when you have to crawl.  What is there to see inside? Sarcophagus because after all, the pyramids are burial places.  

My friend and I experimented on trick shots while waiting for our companions to board the bus.  Haha...

From the Pyramids, we headed to the Egyptian Museum which houses some of the treasures of Tutankhamen.   Photography isn't allowed inside the museum.

Who is Tutankhamen?  He lived in the 4th century and became king at age 9.  He died at around age 18 or 19 but he became very popular because he is the only Egyptian king whose tomb was found intact.

At the museum, we also learned about mummification.  Here's mummification 101 - remove the internal organs except for the heart and kidneys, soak the body in salt for 4 days to dehydrate it, soak the body in 7 sacred oils for 30 days, wrap in cloth and put it inside in anthropoid coffins (usually 3 layers), then lay it down on a sarcophagus.  (I can't believe those are in my journal!  I was really attentive in fairness to me! Haha...)

From the museum, we went to the Luxor Papyrus Institute where we learned how papyrus is processed.

Then we passed by a perfumery and ended the day at the El Khalil Bazaar - the oldest market in the world.  

Day 11
We visited the Pharaonic Village to see how Egyptians lived during the olden times.

The Pharaonic Village also houses replicas of Tutankhamen's treasures like his golden mask.

Then we headed to the Coptic Church - this is believed to be the place where the Holy Family stayed after they fled from Israel following Jesus' birth.

And that capped our pilgrimage tour.

Day 12   

Arrival in Manila and back to reality. Haha...

Anyway, I hope these pictures and some snippets from our journey may inspire you to someday go on a pilgrimage tour too. And please don't wait until retirement age to do this (like most people do).    Go there while you're still young and energetic.  :)