The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Matthew 13: 31-32

       "A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches."

Reflection:

     We can never tell how an ordinary person could change the world. Anyone can make miracles according to his faith and perseverance. Experiences can either make or break a person. If you are the kind of person who take all the opportunities at hand probably there will be a bright future for you, on the other hand, a person who sow laziness, anger and envy to others could really lead to a dark path.

    There were many stories of persons who become successful in life because of hardwork and commitment. A life from rugs to riches. A life full of energy. A life established in the light of the Holy Spirit. Who could be wrong in that way? We just have to believe....everyday!

The Parable of the Weeds

Matthew13: 24-30

       A man sowed good seed in his field. One night when everyone was asleep,an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up. The man's servants came to him and said, "Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from? "It was some enemy who did this,' he answered, "Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?' they asked him, "No," he answered, 'because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. Let the wheat along with them. Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put in my barn."

Reflection:

        Evil works results to evil fruits. A certain punishment awaits those who have planted evilness all through their lives.Success may be in their hands right now, but time will let them experience the same things.Revenge will come in due time, especially  those who have experienced deceit and sufferings. On the other side, good people awaits rewards without recognition. A true and noble person can really experienced a different kind of lightness in their hearts as they live in accordance to God's purpose and will.

The Parable of the Sower

Mathew 13:1-9

       "Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep. But when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants. But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: Some had one hundred grains, others sixty and others thirty."

My own Reflection:

        Our home, the place we grow, the person we mingled with play a lot of roles in our personality. We become what we are now. If you are the kind of person who plans each task, who played honestly and who knows how to respect others, then there is nothing to worry about .Honing the full potentials of our personality would surely make us an effective and productive person.When we learn to share what we have gain for ourselves,when we learn to love others despite their oddities, that probably would point to a conclusion that we had been nurtured from a good soil.

MORNING HAS BROKEN

       We're happy to wake up early this morning and decided to walk around the community. The air is so cool, that I almost forgot  we're in the Philippines. It's really an awesome feeling to be unusual sometimes.To plan some exciting things as early as you can. The cloudy skies above us did not hinder  from continuing our journey. We have to recharge and prepare ourselves for new challenges hangin' around the corner.

I remember the line from Ralph Waldo Emerson regarding thankfulness:

For each morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night

For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends. 
We human beings are sometimes vulnerable in life, we hurt easily. Despite it all, we have to continue loving ourselves, understand the way of living and get inspired with little things that surrounds us.The way of life may sometimes robbed us with the moment of happiness, but this should not despair us.

As we move on, we were amazed of these flowers . The leaves seem to be tiny and a very ordinary shrubs but its flowers speak it all. I have a great feeling of relaxation.
I remember the lines I have recited when I was ten:

Each little flowers that open,

Each little birds that sing,

He made their tiny colors,

He made their tiny wings!
If given a chance to talk to God, I would thank Him for this wonderful creation that truly inspires me each days of my life.

 On our way home we find this: a resting butterfly. I waited for sometimes for it to open its wings, but perhaps its is also trying to protect itself from the coldness  outside.
   According to Nathaniel Hawthorne:
Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
Just true. Happiness is just around the corner waiting for us to unveil the secret. Happy morning!
 

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
       Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.
       He sets the time for birth and the time for death.
       the time for planting and the time for pulling up,
       the time for killing and the time for healing,
       the time for tearing down and the time for building.
       He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy.
       the time for mourning and the time for dancing,
       the time for making love and the time for not making love,
       the time for kissing and the time for not kissing,
       He sets the time for finding and the time for throwing away,
       the time for tearing and the time for mending,
       the time for silence and the time for talk.
       He sets the time for love and the time for hate,
       the time for war and the time for peace.

      Too much work really can make a person weak, I just cannot figure out why I seem not to finish all the works in school at the time expected of me. This year I had been transferred to a sixth grader class and I handle everything, I mean all the subjects. Teaching is not a problem with me. I'm happy with children, but what makes me weary are the reports and everything that hindrances the  time of contacts with them. They do not receive the quality of teaching that is due to them. Problems can really be determined by us teachers who really spend more time with school children not the administrators, I suppose. I knew I have not achieved anything if I had not explained a certain topic and for instance you'll just wake up one morning that it's their examination period. How sad.

         There are really hidden problems that should be discovered once and for all. No matter how small or big the population is, the number of employed teachers in a particular school should depend on the subjects of the curriculum. I know that teachers are not jack of all trades. Some may be good in English but not in mathematics. Some may be interested in Music but not in History. Because we have different experiences and interests in life and for that matter it has to be consider. I am just imagining of how things would be if additional teachers and classroom will be designated and built in our school.Three subjects per teacher would be great! I do not know when will this be.

          But for the meantime, I just enjoy and do what can be done each day. We cannot have everything to transpire in just a few moments. I know that some spare time for the moment should be cut off and spend working to meet the demands of time and work. Despite it all, life has to spent thankfully each day for God blesses those who struggles for good.One last thing that I just could say is: c'est la vie!!

            Thanks God it's Thursday early morning.I have seen again the morning star up there, no matter how turbulent the weather sometimes. We really should standstill through the tests of time and be an inspiration to all the children of the world.

            

FOR A WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

        O God, I thank you that you have given us another year of life together..
        I thank you for the love which grows more precious and for the bonds which grow more close
        each day.
        I thank you for the happiness we have known together; for the sorrow we have faced together;
        for all the experience of sunshine and of shadow through which we have come to today.
        I ask your forgiveness for any disloyalty on my part; for any times when I was difficult to live  
        with; 
        for any selfishness and inconsiderateness; for any lack of sympathyand understanding; for        
        anything which spoiled even for a moment the perfect relatonship which marriage should be.
       Spare us to teach other to go on walking the way of life together, and grant that for us it 
       may be true that the best is yet to be: through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
I got this prayer from my old collections of prayer . Now that I am married I would say that I love to be married and experience a different and exciting kind of life with the person I have chosen. I am glad that God has work on us after all these years. Three years of being married is already a blessing. A  moment to be thankful. A moment to treasure. I remember the line from Mignon Mclaughlin " A successful marriage requires falling in love many times always with the same person."I want to share also this video which I created 2 0r 3 years ago:

January 24, 2009( Saturday)

9 DAY NOVENA

        We know that death is a fact that we cannot get away with. It is a natural phenomena. We Christians are aware that soon we will reach our last breath, there's nothing to worry about. We just have to go on and wait for our timely death. In our barangay, we had experienced consecutive loss of loved ones. I have counted seven of them  during the last quarter of 2011. As a tradition, people here believe that we have to sacrifice and pray harder that God would forgive our sins and prolong the lives of our kababarrios( constituents). Through the leadership of our Bgy. Capt. and the support of religious group, a nine day novena started and ended successfully. The procession started from the Chapel all throughout the 4 Zones of our barangay. Families are preparing altars that people who goes along the procession has to stop, kneel down and pray for God's mercy.(Col. 1: 4-5)For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God's people. When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard about the hope it offers. So your faith and love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven.

       We strongly believe that God has heard our utmost prayer, though we have sinned, we still hoped for more days to repent and share the Good News. 

Me, my husband , our son and some nephews and neice

The first altar created

Residents of the community who participated during the procession

2nd altar

3rd altar

Fourth altar

Add caption

Bgry. Captain Dennis Glen Sta. Rosa

This is the 5th and last altar that my husband has created.

The Fifth  Altar

last day for Novena

Due to heavy rains, some days were consumed inside the Chapel reciting the novena .

TRUE HAPPINESS

PSALM 1:1-12
Happy are those who reject the advices of evil people,
Who do not follow the example of sinners
or join those who have no use for God
Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord,
And they study it day and night.


They are like trees that grow beside a stream,
that bear fruit at the right time,
and whose leaves do not dry up,
They succeed in everything they do.


But evil people are not like this at all;
they are like straw that the wind blows away.
Sinners will be condemned by God and kept apart from God's own people.
The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord,
but the evil are on the way to their doom.

"The good life , as I conceived it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good, you will be happy; I mean that if you are happy you will be good." - Bertrand Russell

"We can travel a long way and do many things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. It is born from letting go of what is  unnecessary and knowing ourselves to be always at home."- Sharon Salzberg

THE SILENT WITNESS

Just another Monday morning when you're out and just wanted to look around you, look around the business of life, but then there are things that remain silent.. They had been witnessed of our happiness and worries. They stand still through the tests of time. I am referring to the acacia tree in front of our house. I somehow afraid that it might stumbled when strong typhoon visit our place.

a 20 year old acacia tree

a silent witness

I remember the poem of Joyce Kilmer about a Tree:

         I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree;

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day

And lift her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robin in her hair;

Upon whose bosoms snow has lain

Who intimately lives with rain

Poems were made by foolf like me

But only God can make a tree.

FOLLOWING HIM

Mk 1:14- 20
      After John had been put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee and preached the Good News from God. "The right time has come," he said " and the Kingdom of God is near!Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News!"
      As Jesus walked along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw two fishermen, Simon and his brother Andrew, catching fish with a net. Jesus said, "Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people." At once they left their nets and went with him.
     He went a little farther on and saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat getting their nets ready. As soon as Jesus saw them, he called them; they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went with Jesus.
      We went to church despite the odd feeling that the next few days would be hard. I know that money should not be a hindrance nor a problem , but then somehow, it could cause you stress. On the other side, we should have a positive perspective about life, about having just enough money for everyday needs.Other things should be cut off, those which we consider  luxuries.
      When you compare yourself to others materially, you really will be sadden by the thought that you are at the bottom.That there are people out there who spend money as if they are just being pick from the garden.The idea should not dwell in our minds longer or else you will find yourself disturbed.
For sure money can buy many things:

• beautiful house
• nice car
• fancy dresses
• expensive shoes
• position or even promotions
• real properties
• jewelries
• soft beds
• expensive foods
• books
• medicine

All the comforts in this world can be ours because of money. Have you thought of what money cannot buy?
Here's some:

• health
• happiness
• respect
• sleep and
• the way to heaven.

Those things that can be felt cannot be achieved by money alone, we have to work had for it. Life is a matter of attitude. Things will be yours according to god's will not our own will. The best message that the Gospel wants to relate to us is for us to follow Him and leave everything behind and that includes our desires for wealth and other earthly possessions.

Making a Difference

Last week was the Feast of Sto. Nino. It may have been not so timely to write this one, but I feel I wanted to.I want to share the Gospel Last Jan. 15, 2012:
Mk 10:13- 16
       Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples scolded the people. When Jesus noticed this, he was angry and said to his disciples, " Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." Then He took the children in his arms, placed his hands on each of them, and blessed them.
       The Gospel merely teaches us the importance of being a child , of being childlike in Spirit. God doesn't intervene in our plans to achieve greatness, but then He wants more of this. He wants us to be great just like a child , who never bear grudges to anyone and who are willing to be corrected anytime. People of today have develop wrongfully. We invest on power, possession and other earthly matters. Everyone wants comfort and security and they believe that they cannot have true happiness if they don't posses wealth in this world.
      How then can we enter the Kingdom of God that we are all so used up, we are all so consumed with our lives. The priest said that we have to make a difference in this world. It's not enough that we are baptized and be proud that we are Christians. We have to live by our faith. We have to abide rules for us to be a true  Christians. That's what should we struggle for. To live a different life...a life that is control by God and a life that desires goodness and happiness like a child does.
      As I walk by, I was attracted by these apples, so I decided to take a shot and see that same species can really make a difference. It may not be a child, but somehow I am thinking that it may be better to be an apple, it may have a short-lived life, but we do not count our importance by the length of days rather by the moment well-spent and  consumed on earth, have we been effective? Have we played our roles? Have we consumed our lights to others or have we just been a nuisance?

Our Father

Our Father in Heaven
Holy be Your Name
Your Kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven

Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our sins;
As we forgive those who sins against us,
Do not bring us to the test,
But deliver us from evil, amen.

I've really wanted to post it here in my blog. Every time I go to work, I utter this prayer. It gives me strength.It is only in prayer that we can find peace in our hearts. May the Lord guide me more each day as I go with my journey of life.

My Prayers This Year

I pray for the following to achieve this year:

• Peace for my family and at work
• Good health
• Love among us
• House renovation
• Immediate process for my change of name 
• Be approved in blogger's adsense this year
• Be prayerful everyday
• Fast approval of my promotion

May God help me to accomplish all of these. May He help me to focus more on my goal this year and become a more effective and fruitful individual. I wish I could be kinder and stronger this time.That my faith be stable for I know that I live to please and praise God and not anyone else without any hesitation.