Never alone

 

On this last day of 2023, I pray that we may be grateful for its joys, humble for the victories, forgiving for the missed opportunities, and trusting that we are never alone as we face the coming year. God is with us. We are in God's hands. God shows his presence in different ways. It could be through persons, events, a sudden inspiration, or just a quiet presence in our heart that enables us to live one day at a time until we slowly discover that there is something, albeit small, to be joyful about.

Joy

 

Joy is not a prize, nor a quest, nor a destination.

Joy is the spirit within us, accompanying us in our journey.

It is like a dancing and totally dynamic flicker of light that warms our heart, sustains our resolve, pushes us to move ahead, and allows us to see the good and the beauty that surrounds us.

Still missing you

I still miss you. It's almost twenty years since you've passed on, but I still remember your quiet and contagious laughter that came from your simple soul. Your laughter came not from the fact that everything was okay, but because you believed that God takes care of everything in His own time, even if that time didn't come according to our program. You were happy when we were together as a family, including the extended one, again, not because everything was perfect but because that is what a family is about.
From heaven, continue to watch over us. Pray for the world, that we may all rediscover that it is in the simple things in life, lived in authenticity that we truly find joy.
Happy birthday in heaven, nanay.

May God's face shine on you

I love the first reading on the first Mass of every year. It is taken from the book of Numbers.
It speaks of the Lord telling Moses how Aaron and his sons (the priests) are to bless the Israelites:
  The Lord bless you and keep you!
  The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
  The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!
I've read somewhere that the phrase "shine upon you" means "make you smile".
Yes, my prayerful wish is that we may turn our face to God so that His face may shine upon us. As Pope Benedict XVI said, "God doesn't take anything away from us. Rather, He gives us everything".

Jesus

If we think that Jesus takes away our joy, we haven't met the right Jesus.

An invitation to joy

How can we have joy in a world filled with violence, injustice, and poverty? We must have a bigger perspective: History is not only today; life is not only the here and now.
When we recognize that we are just a small part of a bigger reality called life, then we bow our head, not out of resignation, but in adoration of the One who was, who is, and who is to come. God holds everything in His loving hands, and His plan for us is joy and fullness of life!

Spread joy

Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth, which we remember in today's feast of the Visitation, shows a great heart that is able to see the needs of others even if one also has its own needs and concerns.
Both women are "graced" by God: Mary, a virgin with a child in her womb; Elizabeth, a woman past the prime of her life now awaiting her first child.
Both women suddenly finding themselves at unexpected and uncharted situations.
I like this picture of the Visitation because it shows the unique gift that each one shares with the other: JOY. The cause of this joy is Jesus, the one who unites these two different women into an experience of communion.
When we welcome Mary into our life, she doesn't come alone. She always brings with her Jesus, the cause of our joy.

May God smile on you and grant you peace

On this new year and for the rest of your life, may God smile on you and grant you peace.
As I grow older, I realize that I don't need a lot of things. What I really need is to have a simple and generous heart: to be happy with what I have and to desire that others find happiness, too.
Joy is always shared. It is never enjoyed in isolation.

Easter people

In a world often paralyzed by fear and despair, we Christians have reason to hope. The road is not easy; the struggle is real. But we will rise.
The Resurrection of Jesus assures us that evil doesn't have the last word.
Saint Augustine said that we are Easter people and alleluia is our song.
Joy is an act of courage. Joy is an act of faith. Joy is God's gift.

God's will

It is God's will that I be happy!
This is a truth that I believe in.
All life is a journey to believe that God is on my side, cheering me on, wanting me to be happy.
My whole view about life and about the way I live it will radically change if this fundamental truth becomes part of me.
The thing is, I need to change the way I look at what makes me happy. What will give me joy?
What will truly make me happy is not something ephemeral.
Don't get me wrong. It doesn't mean that little things cannot make me happy; for, the transitoriness of something doesn't depend on its size or cost. True happiness touches the soul. It is not for sale. I have seen it in the eyes of the most impoverished children, or in the gentle hands of a mother as she comforts her crying baby after a long day's work.
What makes me truly happy is what gives meaning to my life, something that gives me the reason to wake up every morning, to brave the routine of everyday life, to stay faithful even if it doesn't give me an emotional high.
God's will is for me to be happy, a joy that no one can take away from me. Is this possible? I think it is, and we see it every day in the most selfless acts of kindness, generosity and forgiveness. For it is when we are making others happy that happiness springs from the deepest part of our being. It is a gift. It is God that gives that kind of happiness to me.

Hope

The beginning of the year gives us hope that we can always start anew.
As I retire my old calendar and hang a new one, it is as if God is giving me the gift of a fresh start. It is not really a back-to-zero thing, because I believe that everything that happens to us, especially our most significant experiences, will always be a part of us. Just as the resurrection did not erase the marks of the Passion, our wounds will always be a part of us; but so do our joys and triumphs.
A new beginning is a call to forgive, to give thanks, to dance to life's melody.

Joy

Joy is God's gift to those whose hearts rest in Him.

Envy

 

Envy is a poison that kills our joy.
Envy makes us suspicious and judgmental. It prevents us from seeing the good in people and in events.
Envy sows discontent in our hearts. It makes us blind to the good things that we have because it rivets the eyes to look at what others have.
Envy turns us into never-ending complainers. It makes us think that the problem is outside of us and never inside.
Where there is envy, there can never be joy.

How to live

Don't let the way you live your life be dictated by your feelings. Follow the way of Jesus. It may not give you an immediate feeling of consolation, but it will slowly give you a quiet joy and an inner peace that no one can take away.

Magnificat

 

Sing to me, O Mary, your magnificat.
Sing it to me when my heart is overwhelmed and when my senses are lusting for the glitters of this world. Your magnificat is both promise and proof that no matter how much they are attractively packaged, the values of this world are not what they appear to be. They leave me craving for more. They will never appease the restlessness in my heart.

Sing with me, O Mary, your magnificat.
Sing it with me everyday as I try to choose according to the mind of Jesus. Your magnificat assures me that if I willingly accept the truth about myself, that I am a creature living by God's mercy, then I will always live in joy. God will be the source of that joy. And it will be enough for me.

Christian fasting

When Christians fast, we do not end up with sad faces. We fast because we want to leave more space in our lives for the greatest treasure of all: God. And where God is present there can only be joy.

Happiness

When we think less of ourselves, we open more space to joy. The secret of being happy is to make others happy.

Doing God's will is my prayer

To pray is to listen to God, and listening is not just lending one's ears or paying attention.
To listen means to make what you have heard a part of your life, a part of who you are.
To listen to God means to be transformed by Him, so that what He wants becomes what I want. It is not so much renouncing what I want so as to accommodate what God wants, as discovering that deep within me I want what God wants becausee what God wants is nothing else but my true happiness.
Many times it is not easy to understand this because I often begin with the premise that what God wants is contrary to what I want.
I pray that I may understand that God only wants for me true joy and fullness of life.

Home

God is not against our happiness.
But it takes a lot of time, bumps, bruises and tears before we can say this, before we realize that what we thought would make us happy are merely passing thrills that leave us either disillusioned or longing for more.
Blessed are those who wake up from this stupor, when we realize that, all along, that elusive joy isn't elusive at all; that, deep in our hearts, it is what God wants that I truly want, because God only wants for me the fullness of joy.
I am home.

The Lord is with you

"Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favour! The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28)


Mary's life shows to us what being "graced" or "blessed" or "the favoured one" means.
We run after the crumbs that we fail to appreciate that the greatest blessing is having the Lord present in our lives. The greatest gift, the greatest blessing is God Himself.
Mary delighted in this favour. And nothing, not even the most painful moment of Christ's passion, crucifixion and death, has taken away from her this deep joy.