Too Hot

I shared in my last entry some quotes from the book Poustinia. I am on the second part of the book by the way. The second part, the Talks to Poustinikkis, is very interesting but I wasn't able to read this morning because it's very hot.

The temperature today, according to Yahoo! Weather is 97ºF. I tell you it's very hot! My mind seemed to explode because of heat so I immediately drank lots of water!


Well at least I am experiencing what is it like to be in a desert - only sandless.

Poustinia

When I went to the Little Brothers of Jesus after the Archdiocesan celebration, I found a book that I long to read. Thank God I have a copy of Poustinia by Catherine Doherty.

The chapter "Poustinia in The Marketplace" was mentioned in the Pillars Manual of the Intercessors of the Lamb. Since then, I was looking for more information about Poustinias. You might have read in my "About Me" page that I am very interested in desert spirituality and I thank God that the Little Brothers allowed me to borrow the book. Now I am spending my time reading it. I finished the first two chapters today and I am taking my time "digesting" the words of Catherine Doherty.

"Silence is always the act of listening," says the Servant of God. I have never thought of this before! Now I understand why it's wrong for us Catholics to go to Buddhists' meditation practices, or the occult things which is very popular in the Philippines unfortunately. For Catholics, mental prayer is not just staying still to achieve a certain state of soul, but staying still and knowing the Lord (Ps 46:10)! Prayer is a dialogue, not a monologue, or worse, without-a-logue.

The words "To go into the poustinia means to listen to God" really hit me right into the heart. There's a great difference between spending silence for God and for others and spending silence just for oneself. The latter is out of greed and sloth while the first one is made of love.

Now a story comes to my mind. It's comparing the souls of the saints and of  the damned. The souls have no joints at their elbows. This became a great problem at hell because they can't place their spoons into their mouth. Imagine the food being thrown all over the lake of fire! Now in heaven, since they, too, cannot put the spoons into their mouth, they feed each other. Of course this is just a little "story" but I am sure that in heaven we won't be needing foods to satisfy our bodies. I think this story (I wonder if I should call this a story) seems to make a connection with the preceding paragraph. It's all about reaching to your neighbors through prayer and solitude.

Another special quote from the book: "A silent heart is a loving heart, and a loving heart is a hospice to the world."

I pray that the world would leave all its unnecessary noise, and turn to God. Amen.

Twine Rosary

I learned about the Rosary Army through my brother last week and today, I tried to make one twine rosary.

After going to the dentist this afternoon, I went to a hardware and bought a nylon rope (not the suggested #36). I cannot find a #36 and so I took an "unnumbered" rope instead. Anyway, I'm just only giving it a try.

So after three hours, I produced this rosary:

I got a large rosary (almost one yard) since the rope is thick.  Since I enjoyed making this twine rosary (to the point of addiction!) I'm going again to the hardware tomorrow and this time, I will be buying a #36 rope.I am considering the color green, or darker colors like red or blue. But green is a must. Green is not too bright nor too dull.

If you want to create twine rosaries, please visit www.rosaryarmy.com .

After creating lots of rosaries, give them away! Or donate them to the Rosary Army and let them distribute the rosaries for you. It is a form of evangelization. In fact, a very beautiful evangelization!

So I am inviting you to make at least one twine rosary and give it to someone whom do you think needs to learn praying the rosary. Or to someone depressed. God may give him consolations through the rosary.

Your hands might ache and be blistered. But that's okay. Offer the little pains to Jesus.

Celebrating 100th Anniversary

As I have promised, here are the pictures:

Tired from the Celebration

Everything went well this morning. There were so many lay people present during the Mass that the whole Cathedral was filled! The Centennial Celebration of our Archdiocese will formally start this day.

We were among the people who remained standing while waiting for the Mass (which lasted for two hours) to start. We remained standing all throughout the Eucharistic Celebration and I am so tired now. Probably you'll understand when I post some pictures we took from the event.

There were lots of things that occurred and I know Jesus is smiling upon us.

Got to rest in the arms of the Lord. God bless you!

Off to Celebrate Tomorrow!

Interior of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian (Lipa Cathedral)

Although I do not know the "flow of the day", I'll be going to Lipa Cathedral tomorrow to meet a religious brother, and at the same time, join the celebration of 100th anniversary of the Diocese of Lipa.

The Diocese of Lipa was part of the Archdiocese of Manila until April 10, 1910. On June 20, 1972, the Diocese became an Archdiocese.

"On April 10,  the signatories, together with some 21 bishops and other invited personalities will plant the ceremonial centennial trees around the Cathedral. Later in the afternoon,  the parish priests will plant similar trees in their respective parish grounds to inaugurate the centennial celebration in their own localities.  These trees are supposed to have been blessed prior to the signing of the MOA to held at the Plaza Independencia, prior the solemn high Mass that would be held at the Cathedral" (from Father Nonie's blog. Click here for more information).

It is also interesting to know that on the same day, the Archdiocese of Zamboanga will also celebrate it's 100th anniversary as a diocese. Celebration will be on April 12.

But what I am really excited about is my meeting with a religious brother, Brother Manuel of the Little Brothers of Jesus.

Being a Catholic is very wonderful. I hope everybody would realize the beauty of our faith. But most of all, that they realize the beauty of our Creator.

Blessed Charles, pray for our Archdiocese. Pray for us.

Overpopulations is A Myth

Please watch this video:

Prayer of Abandonment