MY VISION
I am a woman of GOD consecrated to LOVE.
I calmly begin my day with a bright and focused mind and a deeply prayerful heart.
I enthusiastically work with determination guided by my mission, goal and objective.
I certainly know what to accomplish today and I do it with serenity and joy.
I pause at noon with gratitude in my heart for a morning filled with grace, vibrant with life and radiant in beauty.
I create clear systems to facilitate space and time to listen and love others.
I accomplish my task with utmost satisfaction and end the day renewed and contented for having given my best.
I gladly contemplate the setting sun pregnant with hope for a new gift of dawn.
I specially love those who needed love most and wholeheartedly support the endeavors of others.
I peacefully retire in the soft breeze of the night humming the melody of life in harmony with all creation.
In the silence of my soul, my heart prays in a song:
LORD, I LOVE YOU TODAY.
I OBEYED YOUR WILL, I GAVE MY ALL, AND I DID MY BEST.
INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.
MY MISSION
Is to create, inspire and foster communion of love for all those around me.
MY GOAL
Is to build communities of love.
MY OBJECTIVE
Is to be loving and lovable today.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
A walk in the night
Last Saturday I went to Calamba to be with the Aspirants' Community. I left Manila at around 5 pm. There were so many passengers but I was lucky to get a seat. The alley of the bus were filled with passengers standing all the way to Calamba. When it was my turn to get off, the alley was already cleared.
I just walked going to Carmel Valley. I felt confident at first because it is just a short distance. But when I arrived at the Postulants' House of the Dominicans, it was very dark. I felt a little hesitant to walk all the way but I have no choice. I have already informed the sisters that I will just walk.
When I entered the dark part of the road I realized that it was not at all dark. It seemed so dark looking at it under the lamp post but once I am inside that darkness it was not at all dark. I could see the road and the outlines of the trees lining the way.
It dawned on me that I just have to brave the darkness. Once I am in there, the darkness will show me the way and even accompany me towards the light.
In life, there will always be dark sides as well as light sides. It is so easy to live in the lighter side of life and not so easy to live the darker side but that night, I have learned that when darkness comes I just have to walk through it and it will lead me to the light again.
I just walked going to Carmel Valley. I felt confident at first because it is just a short distance. But when I arrived at the Postulants' House of the Dominicans, it was very dark. I felt a little hesitant to walk all the way but I have no choice. I have already informed the sisters that I will just walk.
When I entered the dark part of the road I realized that it was not at all dark. It seemed so dark looking at it under the lamp post but once I am inside that darkness it was not at all dark. I could see the road and the outlines of the trees lining the way.
It dawned on me that I just have to brave the darkness. Once I am in there, the darkness will show me the way and even accompany me towards the light.
In life, there will always be dark sides as well as light sides. It is so easy to live in the lighter side of life and not so easy to live the darker side but that night, I have learned that when darkness comes I just have to walk through it and it will lead me to the light again.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Easter 2008 passing me by
I was out of touch of the whole activities of the Holy Week leading to the great celebration of Easter. I stayed in the hospital sitting at the bedside of my aunt, Eming. I wanted to give my time to her during my vacation. I considered it a privilege moment because I never had opportunity to served any of my old folks since I entenered the convent.
It was also an opportunity to meet other relatives who cared for my aunt. They came to visit and talked for a while because there is nothing much we can do in her situation.
It was at this time that I learned of all the good things that Tiya Eming did to them. I never knew that. She helped a lot of our relatives in their times of need.
It dawned on me that on our way to death our good works will accompany us. Their might be mistakes or blunders done but they are not the ones highlighted but the good things experienced by people. In her moment of helplessness her strengths were well remembered.
Though I miss most of the services, but Easter in the hospital has taken a different form, a real experienced of resurrection. What resurrected at that time were the good experiences in life as it faded away slowly...
It was also an opportunity to meet other relatives who cared for my aunt. They came to visit and talked for a while because there is nothing much we can do in her situation.
It was at this time that I learned of all the good things that Tiya Eming did to them. I never knew that. She helped a lot of our relatives in their times of need.
It dawned on me that on our way to death our good works will accompany us. Their might be mistakes or blunders done but they are not the ones highlighted but the good things experienced by people. In her moment of helplessness her strengths were well remembered.
Though I miss most of the services, but Easter in the hospital has taken a different form, a real experienced of resurrection. What resurrected at that time were the good experiences in life as it faded away slowly...
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Acceptance
There are so many things in life that need to be accepted, and doing so is a very healthy way of living. By accepting negative things, I can save my energy.
Instead of trying hard to win the attention of others or fighting for a place in another person’s heart, I can just relax and be contented where I am, of course trying to improve myself too but not for the sake of pleasing others but for goodness sake.
Instead of getting angry at the wrong things done to me, I can forgive and move on knowing that there will be more wrong things that are going to happen and I could commit blunders too.
Instead of criticizing the defects I see in others, I can praise the good qualities they have and remember that I too have defects that I don’t even care to overcome.
Instead of lamenting why I am like this and not like that, I can just thank God for giving me life and strive to give it back to God by serving others.
It takes a lifetime to accept everything. I better start now because I am already 47 years late. I might ran out of time accepting whatever there is in life.
Instead of trying hard to win the attention of others or fighting for a place in another person’s heart, I can just relax and be contented where I am, of course trying to improve myself too but not for the sake of pleasing others but for goodness sake.
Instead of getting angry at the wrong things done to me, I can forgive and move on knowing that there will be more wrong things that are going to happen and I could commit blunders too.
Instead of criticizing the defects I see in others, I can praise the good qualities they have and remember that I too have defects that I don’t even care to overcome.
Instead of lamenting why I am like this and not like that, I can just thank God for giving me life and strive to give it back to God by serving others.
It takes a lifetime to accept everything. I better start now because I am already 47 years late. I might ran out of time accepting whatever there is in life.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Ash Wednesday
"Sackcloth and ashes" is a familiar phrase, arising from a medieval custom of humbling oneself in public before God or the Church community to beg forgiveness. But dust or ashes go even further back as sign of mourning to the time of Moses and the Old Testament.
Within Christian churches today, the custom continues in the application of blessed ashes to the foreheads of the faithful in the sign of the cross, with the exhortation “Repent and believe in the Gospel”.
The ashes remind us of our mortality, our sinfulness and we leave them on our forehead as a sign of humility.
The Church emphasizes the penitential nature of Ash Wednesday by calling us to fast and abstain from meat. Catholics who are over the age of 18 and under the age of 60 are required to fast, which means that they can eat only one complete meal and two smaller ones during the day, with no food in between. Catholics who are over the age of 14 are required to refrain from eating any meat, or any food made with meat, on Ash Wednesday.
This fasting and abstinence is not simply a form of penance, it is also a call for us to take stock of our spiritual lives.
Let us be one with the whole Filipino Church in our desire for renewal but let us start it within ourselves and in our own small community. If its one of us will radiate a renewed life then our community will magnify the little contribution of each one to effect change. Let us start again today.
Within Christian churches today, the custom continues in the application of blessed ashes to the foreheads of the faithful in the sign of the cross, with the exhortation “Repent and believe in the Gospel”.
The ashes remind us of our mortality, our sinfulness and we leave them on our forehead as a sign of humility.
The Church emphasizes the penitential nature of Ash Wednesday by calling us to fast and abstain from meat. Catholics who are over the age of 18 and under the age of 60 are required to fast, which means that they can eat only one complete meal and two smaller ones during the day, with no food in between. Catholics who are over the age of 14 are required to refrain from eating any meat, or any food made with meat, on Ash Wednesday.
This fasting and abstinence is not simply a form of penance, it is also a call for us to take stock of our spiritual lives.
Let us be one with the whole Filipino Church in our desire for renewal but let us start it within ourselves and in our own small community. If its one of us will radiate a renewed life then our community will magnify the little contribution of each one to effect change. Let us start again today.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Journey
I heard a voice calling me home.
I want to go but I lost my way.
Groping in the dark, afraid of what I'll see
I stumble, I fall alone.
Then I felt a hand on my shoulder
Leading the way in that dark alley
Then I saw a light in the distance
I walked, I ran with him.
When I arrived it was dawn
And I realized I am alone again
But I am not afraid anymore
The silence, the stillness is my home.
I want to go but I lost my way.
Groping in the dark, afraid of what I'll see
I stumble, I fall alone.
Then I felt a hand on my shoulder
Leading the way in that dark alley
Then I saw a light in the distance
I walked, I ran with him.
When I arrived it was dawn
And I realized I am alone again
But I am not afraid anymore
The silence, the stillness is my home.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A Home for a Child
Lapasan
Cagayan de Oro City
1991
I stayed in Cagayan de Oro City for my community exposure and during this time I lived in our convent in Lapasan. I worked as Campus Minister at Cagayan Capitol College which is now Capitol University.
One afternoon, I arrived home greeted with a cry of a baby. I saw my sisters cutting a bed sheet into several pieces and sawing the edges. I asked them where the cry was coming from and what were those sheets for? They said that we have a visitor staying in one of the rooms and she has a newly born baby. I pressed for more information and I learned that she was single, a student, and got pregnant. But when the boyfriend knew about it he cut communications with her. She also does not want to go home for fear that her father will kill her. She took care of the baby in her womb but she could not take care of her needs now that she is born so she wanted the baby to be adopted and she was asking our help.
After supper that evening, we were all in the room where she stayed and my elder sisters were convincing her to go home and tell her family about it. My sisters promised to accompany and assist her financially for the trip. She said that her father will be good to her as long as we are around but as soon as we go, he will beat her to death. Her father already warned her to bring a diploma home and not a baby without a father. And that was exactly what happened, a baby without a father.
My sisters explained to her of the pain later on for the sense of loss and maybe of guilt for giving her child away. But she insisted on having her baby adopted. We started looking for a couple that would adopt her baby. We asked our friends and I was told to go to different subdivisions to see this family and that family to no avail.
We presented the problem to the parish council and they told us that maybe we can talk to one of the parishioners who was teaching in Don Mariano State College. We went to their house and my sister presented the case. Their son who was around 8 years old heard the story and was so excited to have a baby that he started jumping for joy and convincing her parents to get the baby. We did not get a positive response that time but we were told to go back the following day to give them time to talk it over.
The following day they came to our convent with clothes, diapers, toys and cans of milk and so many baby things. They went shopping for the baby and were there to get her. We introduced them to the mother and they offered her to stay in their house. They were even willing to send her to school to finish her studies. The mother was so happy for the couple who adopted her baby.
After a week, the mother came back to our convent. She was so grateful because she saw how much the couple loved her baby but she cried with pain. The wife gave up her beauty parlor to personally take care of the baby and another helper was hired to take care of the household chores. She was assigned only to cook because she was still studying. But her heart bleeds seeing her baby in the arms of another woman instead of hers. She decided to leave and stay in a boarding house. The couple consented knowing the pain in her heart. She was told to come back when the baby turns 16.
The mother’s pains and sufferings became a source of joy for that family. It was a disgrace turn to grace. Isn’t this a mystery? Isn’t this a miracle of love?
Cagayan de Oro City
1991
I stayed in Cagayan de Oro City for my community exposure and during this time I lived in our convent in Lapasan. I worked as Campus Minister at Cagayan Capitol College which is now Capitol University.
One afternoon, I arrived home greeted with a cry of a baby. I saw my sisters cutting a bed sheet into several pieces and sawing the edges. I asked them where the cry was coming from and what were those sheets for? They said that we have a visitor staying in one of the rooms and she has a newly born baby. I pressed for more information and I learned that she was single, a student, and got pregnant. But when the boyfriend knew about it he cut communications with her. She also does not want to go home for fear that her father will kill her. She took care of the baby in her womb but she could not take care of her needs now that she is born so she wanted the baby to be adopted and she was asking our help.
After supper that evening, we were all in the room where she stayed and my elder sisters were convincing her to go home and tell her family about it. My sisters promised to accompany and assist her financially for the trip. She said that her father will be good to her as long as we are around but as soon as we go, he will beat her to death. Her father already warned her to bring a diploma home and not a baby without a father. And that was exactly what happened, a baby without a father.
My sisters explained to her of the pain later on for the sense of loss and maybe of guilt for giving her child away. But she insisted on having her baby adopted. We started looking for a couple that would adopt her baby. We asked our friends and I was told to go to different subdivisions to see this family and that family to no avail.
We presented the problem to the parish council and they told us that maybe we can talk to one of the parishioners who was teaching in Don Mariano State College. We went to their house and my sister presented the case. Their son who was around 8 years old heard the story and was so excited to have a baby that he started jumping for joy and convincing her parents to get the baby. We did not get a positive response that time but we were told to go back the following day to give them time to talk it over.
The following day they came to our convent with clothes, diapers, toys and cans of milk and so many baby things. They went shopping for the baby and were there to get her. We introduced them to the mother and they offered her to stay in their house. They were even willing to send her to school to finish her studies. The mother was so happy for the couple who adopted her baby.
After a week, the mother came back to our convent. She was so grateful because she saw how much the couple loved her baby but she cried with pain. The wife gave up her beauty parlor to personally take care of the baby and another helper was hired to take care of the household chores. She was assigned only to cook because she was still studying. But her heart bleeds seeing her baby in the arms of another woman instead of hers. She decided to leave and stay in a boarding house. The couple consented knowing the pain in her heart. She was told to come back when the baby turns 16.
The mother’s pains and sufferings became a source of joy for that family. It was a disgrace turn to grace. Isn’t this a mystery? Isn’t this a miracle of love?
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