Ready or Not, Here He Comes!

Journal Entry for 30 November 2014
#LatePost

Happy New Year! :)

Today marks the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the liturgical calendar for 2015. As we bid farewell to the Year of the Laity, we welcome the Year of the Poor, which is consistent with the theme of the Papal Visit this January, Mercy and Compassion.

In today's Gospel, the Lord tells us to be watchful, stay awake, and be alert, because we do not know when the time will come.

I attended the mass at Monte Carlo this afternoon and the priest, Fr. Freddie Penoliar shared a beautiful reflection on the Gospel and the Advent Season in general.

He began by telling a story. A bishop and a newly-ordained priest went to Vatican. They stayed in the same room, on separate beds. Before they went to sleep, they both said their prayers. The bishop told the Lord, "Dear God, I am a bishop and the person I am with now is a newly-ordained priest. I will pray longer than he does so that he would know that I truly am a prayerful man." On the other side of the room was the newly-ordained priest telling the Lord, "Dear God, I am a newly-ordained priest and my companion is a bishop. I will pray much longer than he does so that he would know that I truly am a prayerful man."

An hour passed and the two religious were still praying. After another hour, they're still on their knees. After two and a half hours, they both fell asleep.

The moral of the story: Do the right thing for the right reason, and for the right purpose.

Advent originated from the Latin word "adventus" which means, "coming." And because someone comes, we prepare. Notice how we prepare for the arrival of Pope Francis in January. We don't just repair the roads he would be taking, nor secure the places he would go to, we also ready our hearts to receive him and the message he would bring, having the firm belief that he is the representative of Christ Himself. We have been praying the "National Prayer for the Papal Visit" in every mass since August. We do all these things that we may be ready when the Pope comes. GMA News even has an "I AM POPE READY" portal. Come January, we could truly be "Pope-ready" but the greater challenge is for us to be "Christ-ready."

There are three comings of Jesus Christ:

1. His coming in History

2. His coming in the present

3. His coming at the Last Day

We can no longer change how He came in history nor we can tell when's the Last Day, but what we have is the present, our everyday encounters with Him through the people we meet, through our prayer and devotion, and through the tiniest details and realities of our lives.

Fr. Freddie gave these three practical tips on how to prepare for the coming of the Lord:

1. Put God always at the center of your life.
A familiar Gospel acclamation is this: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." Proverbs 3:6 says, "Put God first and He will crown all your efforts with success." Give God the first priority in your life, because He alone suffices. As St. Teresa of Avila realized in her journey, "Solo Dios Basta." (God alone suffices! | God is enough!)

2. Grow always in love. Huwag mapagod magmahal. Because the measure by which we will all be judged is the measure of our love. And the measure of love is to love without measure. Love is our very identity as followers of the Lord. We remain His disciples as long as we love. ("By this they will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35)

3. Let go of everything and let God come into your life. Detach yourself from the things of this world because we do not belong here ("Our citizenship is in heaven." Philippians 3:20). Truth is, what we refuse to let go in this world, we will lose after.

To sum up, we can truly prepare for the coming of the Lord by being these three M's:
1. Madasalin (prayerful: God first)
2. Mahabagin (compassionate: Growing in love)
3. Mapagtiwala (trusting: that God loves us and will take care of us if we allow Him to)

**********************

We're now on the second week of Advent and as we continue with our journey towards holiness, we ask for the graces from the Lord, that we may truly become prayerful, compassionate, and trusting, so that when He finally comes (on the last day), He would find us awake and ready. :)

Photo Credit: St. James Greenfield

Comments

Understanding Lupang Hinirang

Every Filipino knows Lupang Hinirang (though some know it better as " Bayang Magiliw "). How can you not know it when it is the national anthem of the Philippines? But do we really mean the lyrics that we sing? Do we understand it in the first place? Photo Credit: http://diazi.ism-online.org This video has gone viral weeks ago. This afternoon, I shared it to my teammates, and one commented, "Yun pala yun . Ngayon ko lang naintindihan." He immediately downloaded it and converted to MP3. So for those who have not seen it, once again, here is Joey Ayala's version of Lupang Hinirang. And I agree, you would never want to sing it in another way. (But that's just me. :D) This rendition is simply beautiful. Truly Filipino. :) Of course that doesn't mean we need to revise our national anthem but maybe we can consider about correcting the way we sing it (read: proper pronunciation). Read more about the Philippine National Anthem here . ...

Jesus Week 2015: A Time To HEAL ♥

I had the best, most meaningful HOLY WEEK ever, so far (the best is yet to come!). :) Thanks to Joy who shared the Jesus Week poster on Facebook. It was God's personal invitation, and I couldn't thank Him enough for the grace that He also gave me to respond. Everything is grace. It was not just my personal decision to join. It was God's grace that allowed me to. So how did it go? Well, as what I have told my friends, it was amazingly beautiful! The experience was priceless! On Holy Monday, I posted Fr. Jerry Orbos' acronym for HOLY WEEK . I experienced all of that and more! :) I won't be able to share everything as there is just a lot of personal, intimate encounters with the Lord. But if I were to summarize, it was a time for me to HEAL. :) H alt . Indeed, I was able to stop and just rest in the Lord. Before leaving Manila, I have already told myself that this retreat will be all about Jesus ( Jesus Week nga e :D ). No emails, no texts, no calls. I...

Thank You, Lord! :)

It has been a long and stressful day (the past three days have been lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng and stressssssssssssssssssssssssssssssful), but You are just so amazing, Lord that I couldn't sleep without telling You how grateful I am. :) Thank You, Lord for the miracle that You did yesterday. Break even and more. :) Thank You, Lord for the laughter and stories shared during the post-mission meeting with Team Thailand. :) Team Thailand - Princesses from SFC Metro Manila :) Thank You, Lord for Lawrence. He is just the (almost) perfect man. He has his flaws, but they are acceptable; he makes mistakes, but they are all forgivable. There are a lot of men but there can never be anyone else. He's really the one. And You know it very well. :) ♥ Nemo. Love. ♥ Thank You, Lord for giving me strength and endurance each day. :) Thank You, Lord for the short but restful sleeps. :) Thank You, Lord for every waking moment and every opportunity that You give ...

The Holy Spirit*

*Cluster 4 Household Topic Reflections from John 15:26-16:4 True friendship is strengthened in adversity. Jesus offers His disciples the best and truest of friends. Who is this promised friend? Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our Counselor and Advocate (also translated Paraclete or Helper). Counselor is a legal term for the one who will defend someone against an adversary and who guides that person during the ordeal of trial. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate and Helper who brings us safely through the challenges and adversities we must face in this life. As Jesus approaches the hour that He was to be glorified - through His death on the cross and His resurrection - He revealed more fully to His disciples the person and the role of the Holy Spirit. What does Jesus tell us about the Holy Spirit? First, the Holy Spirit is inseparably one with the Father and the Son. It is the Holy Spirit who gives life - the very life of God - and who kindles faith in hearts r...

Interesting Facts Courtesy of Celebrity Bluff :)

I was writing a different post, but Celebrity Bluff is just so fun and informative, I had to stop from blogging to list down the fun facts that I learn from each round. :) Thought it would be nice to share them here as well. For future reference. :D Q: In 2012, what kind of animal was named after Beyonce? A: Horse Fly Q: What rare job in China will pay you US$50,000 a year? A: Fart Smeller Q: What alcoholic drink literally means "water of life"? A: Whisky Q: In which part of the body can you find the tragus? A: Ear Q: According to Merriam-Webster, what is the female equivalent of dude? A: Dudine Q: What is longer in the male turtles than in the females? A: Nails And the final question is... Q: According to Box Office Mojo what are the top four (4) movies of 2013 according to global profit? A: (1) Iron Man 3, (2) Despicable Me 2, (3) Fast and the Furious 6 (4) The Hunger Games: Cat...

These Little Wonders

Search This Blog