Simbang Gabi 2012 - Major Takeaways (Days 7 - 9)

On this last day of Simbang Gabi 2012, I'd like to bring the curtains down on my Christmas novena journey as I share my last three major takeaways. It has really been a reflective and spiritually uplifting experience for me as the Lord has personally dealt with me through each mass.  

7th day of Simbang Gabi at EDSA Shrine - Major Takeaway - The Lord encourages to seek two things as evidenced in the Magnificat of Mama Mary:

1) To seek to have depth in our lives - to be able to know our purpose and meaning of our lives, to know what direction our lives are headed and to have the foundation of our lives solidly built on the Lord. It is not about the height (or the desire for people to hold us in high esteem according to the world's standards) nor width (or the desire to accumulate wealth and have an abundance of material resources so that people will be envious of your situation) but a desire to put depth into our lives and, therefore, come to understand the Lord's will for our lives even more.

2) To seek to have overflowing goodness and possess an overflowing spirit - to be able to well up with joy like Mama Mary in her Magnificat and to share this joy with others around us. When Mama Mary expressed her Yes to the Lord and the Lord blessed her, she was overflowing with joy and gratitude that she could not contain with in herself so she had to share it with someone like her cousin Elizabeth. In every circumstance in our lives, regardless whether it is a blessing or a difficulty, we want to be able to express gratitude to the Lord for giving us to the opportunity to experience His generosity, His mercy, His love and His faithfulness.

And so just like Mama Mary, I sing with joy:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

blueeyedennis-siempre.blogspot.com

‎8th Day of Simbang Gabi (4th Sunday of Advent) at Ortigas Park - Major Takeaway - We hear the story of the Visitation again today. This story allows us to reflect and ask ourselves the following:

1) Do we still have room in our lives for the Lord or are we too preoccupied by the cares and the busyness that characterized this world? Can we still take time to come before the Lord in communion with Him and allow Him to fill our hearts and minds or is the hustle and bustle around us getting most, if not all, of our attention? The example of Mama Mary and Elizabeth allow us to see that the Lord was able to fill their emptiness (referring to their wombs) with fullness of life in the persons of their soon to be born sons Jesus and John the Baptist. Can we also empty ourselves so that we can be filled by the encompassing and loving Presence of the Lord?

2) When we experience blessings in our lives, are we excited to share these with others around us or do we just keep them (especially material blessings) to ourselves, for our own satisfaction? A proverb highlights that a joy shared is a joy doubled or multiplied. It seems that, with tragedies recently happening like Typhoon Pablo and the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings, a lot of people aren't experiencing a lot of joy but the Lord is challenging all those who have experienced blessings or have the opportunity to reach out and share, to go beyond themselves and experience their joy and their blessings being doubled or multiplied as they allow others in need to partake of the goodness they have received.

As we eagerly await the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest gift, blessing and source of joy we could ever experience, let us allow the Lord to fill us with His loving Presence and allow the blessings that come from Him to overflow and be shared to others around us. As He gave of Himself to others, let us also give of ourselves.

blueeyedennis-siempre.blogspot.com

9th Day of Simbang Gabi at St. Therese, UPLB - Major Takeaway - Zechariah's Benedictus is a testament of faith in the Lord and communicates a desire to bless the Lord who has bestowed bountiful blessings on His people. This includes the blessing of the birth of Zechariah's son, John, who is concrete proof that the nothing is impossible with the Lord.

In response to the exceeding goodness of the Lord, Zechariah also blesses his son and conveys his understanding of how the Lord will use John to be "the voice in the wilderness" that will prepare the way of the Lord, the Messiah. We also want to be used by the Lord in the same way as John - to lead others to the Lord as we share our faith experiences and encourage and inspire others to share their own faith experiences with others.

This video challenges us to be more sensitive to others in need around us and realize that even just one small gesture of sharing, one simple act of kindness can make such a great impact on the lives of others. :-D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwAYpLVyeFU

May you experience the joy and hope of the Lord in this blessed Christmas season! 

Simbang Gabi - Major Takeaways (Days 4 - 6)

It's now time for the 2nd compilation of my major takeaways in Simbang Gabi 2012 as I share my reflections for days 4 - 6.

4th Day of Simbang Gabi at EDSA Shrine - Major Takeaway - The Lord desires for us to be like a spiritual drill; that in the changing of the seasons in our lives (Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Ordinary Time, Advent, ...), we may grow deeper in our relationship with Him and others around us. He desires that, like the wife of Manoah and Elizabeth, we may have faith in the Lord's goodness and faithfulness even in the most difficult or the hardest to understand situations in our lives. And as He bestows blessings upon us as we overcome these difficult and hard to understand situations, we are all the more grateful to the Lord who "remains faithful even if we are not for He cannot deny Himself."

‎5th day of Simbang Gabi at EDSA Shrine - Major Takeaway - The Lord is challenging and encouraging us to take on the disposition of Mama Mary when she responded "I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to Your word." She may not have fully understood what the angel Gabriel was talking about but she trusted that the Lord would grant her the grace to do His will and so she responded with her Yes.

I pray that we, too, may, trust in the Lord's goodness and faithfulness as we go through each day in our journey with Him. As the angel Gabriel assured Mary, we are also assured of the Lord's guiding Presence in our lives: "Be not afraid...for nothing is impossible with God."

howard-carter.blogspot.com

6th day of Simbang Gabi at EDSA Shrine - Major Takeaway - We are being encouraged by the Lord to be a joyful people and not just happy people. Like Father Dave Concepcion shared in his homily this morning, happiness is a disposition while joy is a gift from the Spirit. In order for us to experience joy, we need to be able to bring Mama Mary into our lives (our homes, our schools, our offices, our communities, etc.) and allow Christ to be born anew in us.

I am reminded of some of the words of a favorite Christmas song of mine, although it is not a well-known one:

I'll make my heart a Bethlehem
A place where love can dwell within
A place where hope and joy begin
This Christmas in my heart.

I'll make my heart a Bethlehem
That's open wide to welcome Him
A place where hope and joy begin
This Christmas in my heart, this Christmas in my heart.

Let us allow Christ to dwell within us that joy may emanate from us so we can recognize Him in every circumstance, listen and hear His Word and direction for our lives and act upon such direction. For this gift of love from the Lord is enough reason for us to be grateful and joyful! :-D

ibibleverses.christianpost.com

Simbang Gabi 2012 - Major Takeaways (Days 1 - 3)

It's actually the 7th day of Simbang Gabi today and the 3rd to the last day of the novena in preparation for Christmas. What I've decided to do for each of the remaining days of Simbang Gabi is to share my reflections or major takeaways from each of the masses. I have been posting these as FB status messages and I'm putting them together into three compilations of three major takeaways, thus adding up to all nine days of the novena. 

So here's the first compilation:

1st day of Simbang Gabi earlier at EDSA Shrine which happened to coincide with Gaudete Sunday (3rd Sunday of Advent). Major Takeaway - To experience joy is to recognize the loving and constant presence of the Lord in our lives. May we continue to be bearers of His love to others around us. :-D

2nd day of Simbang Gabi at St. Therese, UPLB. Major Takeaway - The Lord will use us as His instruments of love, joy, peace and hope even if we are ordinary, broken and sinful. All we have to do is open ourselves to be His vessels to reach out to those in need. Just like the Magi offered their gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh, we, too, can offer whatever we have to serve and love Him more.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, UPLB (MCMIII)

3rd Day of Simbang Gabi at EDSA Shrine - Major Takeaway - The Lord, who is called Emmanuel, God is with Us, came into the world for us to realize that we can only experience fullness of life with Him present in our lives. And, as He is present in our lives as we go through each day, He is also challenging us to be present to others around us - our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our friends, those who we encounter who are in need. Thus, we can imbibe the ministry of presence through every situation we find ourselves in. :-D

shepherds-heart.org

The Blessings of Catchfire

Catchfire 2012 last November 25, 2012 was such a blessing - filled opportunity for me and thousands of men and women from different Catholic communities and groups to give our all for the King!

I remembered one of my Facebook status messages before that day which read:

Lord, in grateful response to your exceeding goodness and faithfulness in our lives, we will live our lives desiring to be like You every day, to seek You in all our decisions and plans and to serve You and the men and women that we encounter each day in our walk with You! 

Let's pray for grace and strength to be true to these promises made to You, our Lord and King!

I continue to pray for grace and strength so I could keep these promises I made to the Lord and which I expressed anew during the Catchfire rally. I know that it won't be a walk in the park but I am reminded by the words of the banner song of Catchfire 2012 (Blessings by Laura Story - 2012 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song, the 1st ever winner for this category which was introduced just this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgxB82LgK7E) that all I need is to have faith and trust in You and Your will for me which is an expression of Your great love for me. 

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Reminiscing Catchfire 2011: One King. One People. One Mission.

As Catchfire 2012 approaches in less than a month, I decided to take a look back and reminisce on my Catchfire 2011 experience, one aspect of which was being asked to be part of the Catchfire Writers pool and getting the inspiration from the Lord to write the article that was shared on the Catchfire website last year.

This is the article which served as my personal reflection for Catchfire 2011 which hopefully was transformed into a communal reflection as people came to read and reflect on it.

CATCHFIRE 2011:

ONE KING. ONE PEOPLE. ONE MISSION.

One King

1 Chronicles 29:11 says “Lord, you are great and powerful. Glory, majesty and beauty belong to you. Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you. Lord, the kingdom belongs to you. You are honored as the One who rules over all.”

These words breathe life into what every Christian feels in the very depths of his soul – the Lord is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and He deserves our worship. The psalmist declares “Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness (Psalm 96:9). We must never lose the splendor and majesty of the Lord in our very being. We are surrounded by countless evidences of His royal presence and remain in awe of His greatness and beauty. He is worth the praise and thanksgiving that we give Him because, despite His being a King, He was the one who reached out to us by giving His one and only Son to save us from the clutches of sin and inviting us to a loving relationship with Him. Imagine a King going against all protocol that the world has put in place and inviting us to be a part of His kingdom, a part of His family.

”Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28).

Indeed, we give thanks to the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings for consuming us with His fire, a fire that envelopes our lives and moves us to choose Him over the world every day.

One People

Yet, even if this invitation to be part of His family has been extended to us in love, day in, day out, we find ourselves rejecting this invitation by living our lives our own way. Yet, even if we let him down because of the choices we make, He remains steadfast in loving us.  He remains faithful, even if we are faithless, because He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2: 13).

Thus, we learn to open ourselves to the different manifestations of His faithfulness in our lives...

He leads His flock “to paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23: 3b). This leads to our lives being filled with purpose and direction.

Because Him, we lack nothing and our cup overflows (Psalm 23: 1, 5b). We realize how generous the Lord has been in our lives despite the many times we turned our back on Him.

And even if we face trials and difficulties, we fear no evil because the Lord is always with us (Psalm 23: 4a). We become stronger and more courageous as we face trials that come our way knowing that the Lord is by our side.

“God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is. This is what it means to be created in the image of God.” (John Piper)

The chorus of the song “In Your Loving Presence” brings forth the yearning to praise and honor the One true King and the desire to abide always in His Presence.

We will praise You, Lord

For Your goodness and mercy thrive

We will exalt Your name, our God

In Your loving Presence we will abide

This desire to abide always in His Presence is what motivates us to respond daily to His invitation to be a part of His kingdom, to be as 1 Peter 2: 9 – 10 proclaims:  “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

  

One Mission

The realization that we are His chosen people, God’s special possession, inspires each one of us to strive daily to obey and do His will and to please Him in the way we live our lives.

For freely I have received blessing upon blessing

So freely I should give everything that I am

That I may live a life worthy of You, Lord

Pleasing You in every way

Bearing fruit in every good work

Giving thanks to You day after day.

Indeed, we have received so much from the Lord! And how else can we respond but by standing up in faith for Him who loved us unconditionally?

Each day the Lord blesses us with opportunities to share the goodness and faithfulness we have experienced in our lives to all others around us -- in our families, in our workplaces, in our daily circumstances, and even through our social media, like Facebook and Twitter.  As Christians, we  recognize that the Lord has called us to be “in the world but not of the world”, to be examples of people living radical lives of faith, hope and love so that others around us may be brought out of the darkness the world has enveloped them in and live freely in the light and love of the Lord, our King and God.

We pray that we, as One People, shall commit to pursuing this One Mission --  to bring to others the Good News that we are all called to a loving relationship with Christ, our One true King.