Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today, we remember how Mary said YES to God, that despite being an ordinary person, God's grace will always be gifted to those who are humble enough to accept it.

Photo taken in 2009 at the Vatican Museum in Vatican City in Italy.

As a friend priest in Japan, Fr. Resty Ogsimer puts it:

The lowly handmaid of the Lord who, like us, was a person in pilgrimage on this earth and who because of her openness to God was ever growing. Like us, her complete faith also involved the chalice of suffering and the daily trials of life. Mary's Immacute Conception shows what God's grace is: gift, not reward!

Wherever we are in the world, our faith remains. May the Immaculate Heart of Mary continue to pray for us. May we, like her, be able to say YES to God's will and not our own.

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Happy Fronleichnam!

Today is both a national and religious holiday here in Germany, and in some other European countries as they celebrate Fronleichnam or Corpus Christi. Here in Germany, it is celebrated on the Thursday after the Trinity Sunday and in some places, on the following Sunday. Corpus Christi or officially known in the Catholic Church as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ does not commemorate an event in the life of Jesus Christ but celebrates the Body of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. I guess that is the essence of this celebration.

Text translation: "Jesus, strengthen our faith."

While it is of religious origin, Germany still celebrates it to this day although I doubt that many understand the meaning of the celebration nor do they know the reason behind this day being a "holiday". One can see though the Catholic and Anglican churches having different religious activities to celebrate this day. And in some "Dorfs" or small villages especially here in Baden-Wuerttemberg, this religious tradition is still very much celebrated in a colorful procession or parade. They even have very colorful flower carpets with different religious images and messages.

Photos: Freiburg-Schwarzwald.de 

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A Parent's Prayer for Children

Here's a prayer for children which I adapted from Catholic Online, for use by the Sto. Nino group. This is a prayer of parents for their children. As parents, it is essential that we teach our children how to pray so that they may grow to have a deep faith in God.

You can also adapt this according to your preference and use your own words. Allow the Holy Spirit to move you and you have a very beautiful and powerful prayer that is coming from the heart.

Prayer for The Children

O Senor Sto. Nino, we commend our children unto thee,
those who are present here before you namely (state name of children)
and those who are in the comfort of their homes.
Grant Senor Sto. Nino, that they may grow
to serve you, love you and know you.
Protect them always from harm, evil and sickness
and watch over them as they grow.
Strengthen them to overcome the corruptions of the world,
to resist all solicitations to evil,
whether from within or without;
and deliver them from the secret snares of the enemy.
Pour Thy grace into their hearts,
and confirm and multiply in them
the gifts of Your Holy Spirit,
that they may daily grow in grace
and in the knowledge of You;
and so, faithfully serve You here,
and may they come to rejoice in Your presence hereafter.

O Senor Sto. Nino, who has given unto us these children,
and committed them to our charge to bring them up for Thee,
and to prepare them for eternal life:
help us with Thy heavenly grace, that we, as parents,
may be able to fulfill this most sacred duty and stewardship.
Teach us what to give and what to withhold;
when to reprove and when to forbear;
make us to be gentle, yet firm;
considerate and watchful;
and deliver us equally from the weakness of indulgence,
and the excess of severity;
and grant that, both by word and example,
we may be careful to lead them in the ways of wisdom
and true piety, so that at last we may, with them,
be admitted to the unspeakable joys of our true home in heaven,
in the company of the blessed Angels and Saints.

Amen.

Source: http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=71

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God of My Life

Only in love can I find you, my God.
In love the gates of my soul spring open,
allowing me to breathe a new air of freedom
and forget my own petty self.In love my whole being streams forth
out of the rigid confines of narrowness and anxious self-assertion,
which makes me a prisoner of my own poverty and emptiness.
In love all the powers of my soul flow outward to you,
wanting never more to return, but to lose themselves completely in you,
since by your love you are the inmost center of my heart,
closer to me than I am to myself.

But when I love you,when I manage to break out of the narrow cirle of self
and leave behind the restless agony of unanswered questions,
when my blinded eyes no longer look merely from afar
and from the outside upon your unapproachable brightness,
and much more when you yourself, O Incomprehensible One,
have become through love the inmost center of my life,
then I can bury myself entirely in you, O mysterious God,
and with myself all my questions.
- Karl Rahner SJ

This is a Jesuit prayer so profound and full of faith and love in God that simply explains that only in love can man find God. I really love the words in this prayer as they are very powerful and can really be felt. I hope I had Fr. Rahner's eloquent words to express my love for God yet words seem to abandon me. Perhaps it is because I have not really and totally surrendered myself to Him who is Mysterious and All-Knowing. As a Christian, I still consider myself as lacking or inadequate in faith. I admit I still have a lot to learn and the journey is still long until I can finally say that I have buried myself entirely in God. I am still seeking for answers to the many questions in life. It is said that if you entrust everything to God, then you need not ask questions but instead, completely give Him control of your life. But human as I am, I still have the tendency to reason and choose my will over God's. I know I still have a lot to learn. And I know that I have to one day break out of my narrow-mindedness and allow God to rule in my life so that I may totally feel His Most Sacred Love for me.

May God bless us always.

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In God's Good Hands

Today's Readings:
First Reading: Jeremiah 28:1-17
Psalm 119
Gospel: Matthew 14: 22-36

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

"You of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31

Today's reading reminded me of how fragile human beings can be and how weak our faith in God is. It is like we are declaring to the whole world that we believe in God but lack a faithful heart. When we are swamped with problems and can't seem to solve them, we would often wonder why we are suffering and ask, "Why me, Lord?" Little do we know that even if we face these problems, it is God who holds us up and encourages us to go on.

Way back in college, I volunteered for the Social Involvement Coordinating Office (SICO). Part of our service to the university community is to prepare various areas in the basic sector for student exposure. Most of the communities that we go to are new to us, remote and almost inaccessible. Everytime we conduct a site investigation and make an area profile, there is always that fear of the unknown. I always get nervous and have tons of what-if questions going on in my mind. Questions such as "what is they won't receive us?, what if there are rebels in the area and would suspect us for government spies?, what if the people in the area were unfriendly?, what if we got stranded on the way?, what if..." But whenever we go to these areas, we find ourselves welcomed as if we were long lost relatives. Even though we are strangers, we find these communities welcoming and trusting us. And I would be ashamed of myself for ever thinking bad thoughts and for having doubts about the community. Truly, God has protected me and my companions in all those countless area preparations and exposures.

Looking back into those days, I am reassured that I will always be safe and in good hands with God. Should there come a time in my life when fear sets in, I will never lose my faith knowing that God will constantly guide and protect me. It is our daily pray that He will continue to protect us from any harm, evil and sickness. This, and the trust and faith in the Lord, will get us through the day. There is no need to fear because with God, we are in good hands.

How about you? What are your fears that lead you to doubt God?

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Holding on to God

Today`s Readings:
First Reading: Songs 3:1-4
Psalm 85
Gospel: John 20:1-2, 11-18

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don`t know where they put him." But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Women, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don`t know where they laid him." When she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, "I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and what he told her.

"They have taken my Lord away, and I don`t know where they have put him!" John 20:13

There are moments in our lives when we feel that we have lost our hold on God. I have read and heard countless stories about epileptics, who, before their seizure attacks, have this "10-second window" to brace themselves and keep themselves from hurting in any way. When the seizures come, they get this terrible feeling of losing themselves. When they recover from their seizures, they are overwhelmed with so much emotion. Perhaps because they get this feeling that in the moments when their seizures have taken hold on them, they have lost their hold on God. It must be a very terrifying experience for them!

But I admire these people for their strength. How they must have endured such an experience amazes me. Whether they know it or not, I believe that God provides them with the strength that they need to go on living their lives despite the reality of their condition.

May God, the source of our strength, continue to lift us up so that we may be able to serve Him in the many ways that He has called us to.

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In God`s Hands

Today`s Readings:
First Reading: Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
Psalm 50
Gospel: Matthew 12:38-42

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher we wish to see a sign from you." He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here."

"Teacher we wish to see a sign from you." Matthew 12:38

Every now and then, I would go on a personal retreat to re-evaluate myself and find out where God is leading me. I find these retreats a time for me to contemplate on God`s words, discern what he wants of me, and see how I have lived my life so far. It is also during these times when I realize that I have doubted my God at points in my life when I can`t seem to get what I want or get things to work my way, times when a situation just hurts too much that I begin to wonder if he had already forsaken me.

As I comtemplate more on these doubtful moments in my life, I realize that I would never get things to work if I only wanted it to work. I must allow God to work in me and give my full trust in Him, and allow Him to take control of my life. For these doubts to go away, I must have the faith and the belief that with the Lord, I am in good hands.

How about you, when have you doubted God? What brought about these doubts?

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