I heard in today’s Holy Catholic Mass as celebrated by Pope Francis that this awesome day was made by the Lord, so rejoice and be glad!
Happy Easter everyone! May your day be bountiful, blessed and beautiful!
Happy Easter!
16
Tag Archives: catholic
My Ash Wednesday 2021 Version
I am a Catholic and last year I had one of the weirdest and rarest observance of Palm Sunday. The country was already on a strict lockdown due to covid19 and I had to contend myself from hearing the Holy Mass in front of a TV. And since no one was allowed to go out then, the “palm” that I used was actually an outgrowth of a vine that I plucked from the few pots of plants in my balcony.
attended palm sunday in the comforts of my home as celebrated by the pope last april 2020
palaspas! (that is how we call palm sunday in filipino)
Today is Ash Wednesday. In the Catholic tradition Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten period. It is the season of repentance and reflection. It is also marked by a Holy Mass in which priests or church leaders will make the sign of the cross out of paste made of ash and sacramental oil on the foreheads of the congregants. Part of this tradition is that ashes are made from the palm fronds that have been burned from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.
Since I was lucky enough to have kept the fronds (dried leaves and vine) that I used in last year’s Palm Sunday and because I refuse to go to church due to the crazy scary pandemic, I decided to do my own observance of Ash Wednesday.
Part of my creating my own ash for the celebration of this special day is the symbolic burning of my sins. I decided to write down on a piece of paper my confessions and burn it at the same time with that of my last year’s Palm Sunday fronds.
With the thought in mind that “for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return”, instead of placing the formed ash on my forehead, I decided to return the ashes to earth. I alternatively add the formed ashes into the soil of my plants as a symbol new life with the hopes of a rosy spring for the rest of the year.
glad to have kept that fronds for today’s observance…
I know that my ceremonial version of this day is a total deviation on how a Catholic Ash Wednesday should be observed. But honestly, while doing what I was doing, I felt free, I felt light and I felt at peace. And I guess that is what matters on this holy day of Ash Wednesday.
Cool Carlo
Reading about good news has been so hard to come by. In the age of divisiveness, social mistreatment and neglect of the planet, human beings would seem to yearn for some good news nowadays.
Let me provide one to you then. Carlo Acutis, an Italian Roman Catholic teenager is scheduled for beatification today, October 10, 2020. This is after the Pope confirmed a miracle attributed to Carlo’s intercession – the healing of a young Brazilian boy who was afflicted with a rare congenital pancreatic disease.
This young dude who died of leukemia in 2006 at a young age of 15 did things that no ordinary teenager of his generation would do. He frequently prayed the holy rosary, attended mass and received the eucharist. He also made an online catalog of the miracles pertaining to the Holy Eucharist. As if like an old wise man, Carlo offered his pains, agonies and sufferings to the Lord and the Church. How cool is that!
Another cool thing about Carlo is that he seems to be the only Blessed in Nike shoes! Congratulations Blessed Carlo! You simply rock!
My Superhero Action Figure
Majority of the present male human specie – young and old – grew up playing with superhero action figures. Every one of these dudes can gleefully recall which among these animated crusaders was their favorite. I am part of the unfortunate, luckless and deprived minority. I never got the chance to play with a mini-Superman, Batman or the Green Lantern.
that’s me! hahaha! had a pretty twisted set of toys yet with awesome childhood
Instead, I can clearly recall that I and my siblings would play with canned goods and variety of grocery items of Nengkoy (my mother) from her pantry storage at the second floor of our house. We enjoyed rolling cans of Hunts pork & beans on the floor with the aim of hitting unopened plastic bottles of Jergens body lotions and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoos. We find excitement in stacking weighty tins of Spam luncheon meats. And we adored imagining fragrant boxes of Dove and Ivory bath soaps as mini cars.
Miniature sports figures (not the Hulk, Captain America nor other superheroes) would be so infrequent to come by because we would have to wait for the next can of Milo or Ovaltine to finish because the free promotional mini-sports figures are buried somewhere within the cans of these powdered choco drinks.
Don’t get me wrong. I actually had a balanced and awesome childhood. But unfortunately, I could not contribute or share a fun childhood experience when asked which among the superheroes did I grew up having as an action figure.
But now that I am old, people would seem to start contemplating whether they had a cool childhood as I did when I dare answer such question because my reply now would no longer be a boring “none”. It is only lately that I figured out that I actually grew up having a superhero action figure! It’s the supreme crusader in bright red imperial regalia that would beat even the chief, topnotch and paramount superhero a human animator has created. Nowadays – though I did not played with it, I actually prayed to it – my simple answer to this question is the little Santo Niño (translation: the image of The Child Jesus).
My very own Santo Niño in green imperial regalia was gifted to me by my mom more than 25 years ago when I decided to live on my own and be independent.
A Tiny Good News in the Midst of Ongoing Uncertainties
Good news has been so left behind and seem to have totally been overshadowed by bad news. Everybody would agree with me when I say that there has been a surplus of bad news this year. Situations has been so cruel in this ambiguous and uncertain times of the world. Everybody if given the opportunity would go back last year (2019) so as to reboot the year 2020!
Let me then relay a tiny good news. Because of the vague, hazy and unclear future of my personal life which I could no longer seem to control, influence and regulate due of the bad news that lurks around, I decided to flung and cast all my worries to God. Because of the ongoing impact of the pandemic and all its effects of oversupplied bad news which has directly affected me, I was left with no alternative course of action but to pray and call God, Mother Mary, the angels and the saints for support, assistance and furtherance.
my nightly weapon
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, bizarre and strange as it may seem, the tiny good news I want to relay is that I now pray every day. And prayer has been my only weapon now in these times of crises. And I am glad to say that I don’t just say a little prayer, I actually do the grander scheme of things. Since middle of March this year. I do recite and meditate on the beauty of the mysteries of the Holy Rosary every day without fail!
You may want to ask the effects of my praying the Holy Rosary. Well, let me just say that it has helped me a lot to keep my sanity. It has helped me to stay hopeful and optimistic that all this bad news will soon come to an end. And the little requests, wishes and appeals that I would sneak in between my praying of the Hail Mary-s and Glory Be-s has so far been fulfilled and realized.
Happy day to all and I hope you have a tiny good news to share.
Saying Thanks at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
I am a Catholic. Finding and visiting a Catholic church during the duration of my travel has always been like something automatic. It’s like an involuntary response of saying Thank You every time I am heftily rewarded.
And now that I am in New York, I made sure that the Catholic church that I would visit to say my sincerest gratitude to the Holy Heavens would not just be any other ordinary church. I made sure to enter and visit the largest neo-gothic cathedral in the United States, St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
saint patrick’s cathedral
awe-inspiring!
had to light up a couple of candles to complete my saying thanks…
calmness and serenity seem easy to achieve
St. Patrick’c Cathedral is as magnificent as it is massive. What is so unique with St. Patrick’s Cathedral is that it is a European-style of a church that is centrally located at America’s ode to consumerism and one of the most expensive shopping district, the 5th Avenue, no less.
It comes not as a big surprise then that St. Patrick is the patron saint of a local Catholic New Yorker. And despite its being located in the busy street of 5th Avenue, as you walk in and gaze heavenward, achieving the sense of peace and solemnity seem easy to achieve. Thus, saying a deep prayer and thanks was something uncomplicated and effortless to do inside.
And just like any other Catholic church, St. Patrick’s Cathedral definitely completed my NY adventure.
San Patrisyo, salamat…
Finally Understanding A Priest’s Homily
One opposite of living a normal life in a Catholic country like the Philippines is not having a Catholic priest as a friend. In this particular aspect, I have long considered myself as abnormal, a nonstandard and an aberration.
Yeah, I guess I am one of those self-promoting folks in Manila who lacks a saintly priest as a friend. Dealing with a Catholic priest on a regular basis is an unchartered territory for me.
Maybe one of the reasons why I don’t have a Catholic priest friend is because I am seldom impressed by their delivered Homilies during a Holy Mass. Commonly, priests in their Homilies would often talk too vague and too imprecise and they would move from one topic to another in a nonsensical fashion. Their line of thinking often times is so ambiguous and so formless I would often suspect that priest’s common mental illness is schizophrenia.
But the priest I heard last Monday during a Holy Mass in Greenbelt Chapel to commemorate the death of my boss (Sir Larry Cruz) eleven years ago was somebody who was impressively different. He was specific and was exact. He was coherent and was so cohesive in his Homily. His talk was well research. It was actually enjoyable, charming and was very inspiring.
that’s me (left) with super friend dominic… nagdadasal? thanks to mj for this blurry photo. hahaha!
i was so impressed, i took a glimpse of the greenbelt chapel’s priest
He talked about the man whom the Holy Mass was for and successfully correlate my amiable boss’s vocation and persona to his homily. He was inspiring when he said that it is not about the years in your life that counts, but it is the life in your years that matter. And what struck me most about this priest’s Homily was his wisdom about: “people will forget what you said”and “people will forget what you did”but “people will never forget what you made them feel”.
If I am to make friends with a priest that Greenbelt Chapel priest would be the first dude in line!
Hay salamat at sa wakas, naka-intindi rin ng sermon!
Seeing the Lady of Guadalupe Cloak on My Birthday
Last year on my birthday, I went to the Love Valley in Cappadocia, Turkey, and surprisingly met an angel in disguise. This year on my birthday, I went to Mexico City and saw the cloak of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.
My birthday this year was really special because I got to visit the Basilica de Santa Maria de Guadalupe! The basilica that houses the very popular cloak in which the image of our Lady of Guadalupe has been miraculously been impressed and printed so as to authenticate Virgin Mary’s apparitions in the area.
seeing this was for me a miracle already
amen!
My birthday this year fell on a Saturday yet there was a Holy Mass service held in the basilica when I arrived. This gave me the opportunity to hear a Mexican Holy Mass and say humongous thanks to the Lady of Guadalupe for the rare travel gift of experiencing the amazing city of Mexico.
The modern Basilica de Santa Maria de Guadalupe is vast and massive complex. It is the most visited Marian shrine in Mexico because it houses the cloak containing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is interesting to know that the new basilica was only completed in 1974. The old basilica (finished in 1709) on the other hand is just adjacent to it but is already sinking. Its floor has got some deep slope and its façade has evidently tilted. It looks like it will dangerously fall and crumble anytime.
notice how tilted the old church is?
selfie with the Lady!
My prayer to the Lady of Guadalupe was all about my being thankful that I got to experience Mexico. I did not asked for any miracle because my seeing and marveling over the beauty and holiness of the cloak during my birthday has been one major miracle for me already.
Santa Maria! Salamat!
Sister Isabel’s African Adventure with God
When my elder sister (Gaying) and Nengkoy recently had some pieces of their jewelries commissioned for cleaning and polishing, they were given some giveaways by the jewelry shop. Nengkoy kept the photo of Our Lady of Guadalupe while my sister handed over the giveaway book to her son, my nephew Luis. I however snatched the book from Luis telling him to let me be the one to read it first and will just hand it to him after I’m done. Luis joked that I might develop itchiness and skin rashes while reading it because the book was written by a Catholic nun. 
The book laid on my dining table for some considerable weeks already. Still, quiet and unmoved. Two reasons why it took me some time to start reading it. First, it was written by a Catholic nun and I was not ready to be preached about some Catholic dogma. Second, it was written by a Catholic nun, therefore it’s going to be so boring.
But as soon as I decided to scan and read the initial pages of Life On A Mission by Sr. Isabel Villacarlos, I no longer stopped and dropped it until I finished the very end part.
When asked how she survived all the challenges of her mission,
Sr. Isabel answered, “one must have a major in Faith,
a master’s in Hope and a doctorate in Love.”
Life on a Mission chronicles the adventures, quests and journeys of a Catholic nun in north western portions of Africa. Sister Isabel can be considered one extra ordinary nun. She learned to ride a camel, dealt with poisonous snakes, drove a truck, fell onto a bridge while driving a car, assisted in delivering babies and battled a storm are some of the highlighted adventures of Sr. Isabel in the book.
I guess being a travel addict myself made me stick to reading this book. But the beauty about the experience of Sr. Isabel in Africa was that she was able to reveal and uncover the presence, manifestations and attendance of God in her adventures, which for me is such a cool thing!
Life On A Mission may not be a bestseller, but it is one remarkable book that definitely deserves more!
Wala akong masabi sa adbentyurs ni sister!
My Christian Warrior
nengkoy & joe
I grew up in a Catholic family. My father was Catholic when he converted to being a Born Again Christian back in the late 80s. Ironically, his conversion happened in the Islamic country of Saudi Arabia where he was based as an overseas worker.
When my father retired and decided to stay for good in the Philippines with my family, he was one active member of his church. He even attempted to convert every one of us in the family.
Too bad for him, he started with me. I actually commend my father for trying. His strategy to start with me was so genius. He knew that if I will be converted, it would be very easy for the rest of the members of my family to become Born Again Christians.
Up until the last days of my father, he never stopped in convincing and converting me. I guess he knew that I am really the one who needs to be saved from the fires of hell. Hahaha! I can still remember the funny and humorous intellectual debate we had about how to be a true Christian while he was in the hospital.
It has been years and my father has gone to heaven. He may have failed to convert me, yet I am pretty sure that in spirit, he still looks after me, Nengkoy and the rest of my growing family. He has always been my Christian Warrior.
I guess my father’s failure to convert me is really not a failure after all. Because a true Christian Warrior will simply let you be the seeker of your own Truth. And that is one of the multitude of impacts and contributions of my father to me.
Happy Father’s Day Tatay! You got one proud son here…
Amishyu!
Nengkoy 