Mommy Cheng's Sharing - First Friday Pilgrim Vigil September 7-8 2012

Rafael's Sharing - First Friday Pilgrim Vigil September 7-8 2012

The Golden Box and the Black Box

 A man was given two kinds of boxes – a golden box where he could put all his blessings in, and the black box where he could stock all the problems that he would encounter in life. All throughout his life, he diligently classified the blessings and the problems to their respective boxes. 

When he finally went “home” to our Creator he found his two boxes in heaven. He tried carrying the golden box but was almost impossible to do so as it was fully loaded. He was expecting the black box to be heavier but when he carried it, he was surprised to have lifted it up using a finger. He opened the box and saw that it was startlingly empty. He wondered why and started examining the black box. He discovered that it had a hole and a pipe connected to the golden box. All the problems had been actually drained from the black box to the golden box and eventually became blessings. J (story from the talk of Bo Sanchez during the Light of Jesus Community's anniversary celebrated here in Baguio)

Blessings by Laura Story

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.
Your love is 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.
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'd 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?

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?
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 a revealing of greater thirst that a world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights;
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Calling Us to the Mountain

          Many people come up to Baguio for seminars, recollections, training, and retreats. Ever wondered why?    It is because transformation takes place in the mountains.  Remember where the 10 commandments were given?  Where the transfiguration happened?  Didn’t Jesus love to pray alone up on the mountains?  There are many significant events we find in the Bible about God manifesting His power and love through the mountains.  Even our saints had their mystical experiences with God up there.

Everyday we need to climb our own mountains no matter how hard it may be.  It is when we make a choice to meet God that we are able to gain wisdom on what to do.  The journey maybe tiring but once we are up there and acknowledge that the greatness of the mountain is nothing compared to the greatness of its Creator, we find ourselves at peace and full of realization from the experiences during the climb.  We go back down transformed – what a miracle!  J

Breviarian Big Tent Festival: brevcHacHi's letter - BBTF 9 Director's Notebook

Breviarian Big Tent Festival: brevcHacHi's letter - BBTF 9 Director's Notebook:

We have been given a special task that while we are growing in His grace, we have the responsibility of making others walk with us in this journey. This is not a burden we would have to carry; rather, a chance to express our love to Him by obeying and heeding His call of service. It is my hope that as we renew ourselves during this camp, others may join us. May all of us have the heart of worship and learn holy humility. Pray always.  more

B-U-S-Y

This is an email I received few years ago.  Worth sharing... ;-)

SATAN'S MEETING: (Read even if you're busy)    

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.
 In his opening address he said,
 "We can't keep Christians from going to church."
 "We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth."
 "We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their saviour."
 "Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.."
 "This is what I want you to do," said the devil:
 "Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.
 "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."
 "Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."
 "Keep them from spending time with their children."
 "As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."
 "Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive." To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly."
 "This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."
 "Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."
 "Invade their driving moments with billboards."
 "Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives."
 "Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."
 "Give them headaches too! "
 "If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere."
 "That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas."
 "Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."
 "Have them return from their recreation exhausted."
 "Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead."

"Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."
 "Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus."
 "Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

"It will work!"
 "It will work!"
 It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.
 Having little time for their God or their families.
 Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?

You be the judge!!!!!

Are you B-being U-under S-satan's Y-yoke (BUSY)?

September's St. Joseph Sunday Feat. Ana Gabriel

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."   -  Proverbs 3:5,6

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Pentecost Message from brev Lookie

Hi Brevs,

Today we remember how the Holy Spirit was received by Mother Mary and
the disciples.  Suddenly the disciples spoke in tongues and were
filled with wisdom. They began to have confidence to go out and tell
the world of the good news. Jesus has risen from the dead and
salvation is at hand.

We have the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is our choice to be open to
the grace of God's Spirit. The Lord has made the new covenant with His
children, by staying in the temple of our hearts. Open yourselves to
God's wisdom. It is time to listen to His voice. Let that voice come
out from your mouth and bring out God's love to all.

Share the Holy Spirit. Make that little good deed at a time.

Have a Spirit filled Sunday and always claim the dreams that God has
planted in your hearts.

Otcho!!!

Breviarianly yours,
brev LooKie

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FILLING IN THE NEED – A Higher Calling

         By declaring and claiming the identity of being a Breviarian means acquiring the duty of being soldiers of Christ.  As a Brev, we are responding to a higher calling of filling in the needs of our dear Mother Church.  This higher calling has a special vow attached to it – availability (thanks bro.A!).  It does not mean however that you are always physically present, but that availability to go the extra mile in answering to a particular call in the most creative way possible you can think of or inspired to do.  It may sound difficult, but saying "Yes" to God gives you a special anointing to carry out a task He requires of us.  We could make many excuses of turning our backs to a  call, but when God chooses you, that means there is no other person who can do the way you are capable of doing.  Question is:  Can He count on you?

     "Filling in the Need" may have become a cliché in our community but let us be reminded that this is one of the primary reasons why we existed and are still existing.  God continues to call us because the work He has for us is not done yet.  Rest is in heaven.  God has given us this special grace to recognize a unique path to sainthood – making each moment of our lives a DIVINE APPOINTMENT...a priority above all as we have to PUT HIM FIRST in everything.  [M.O.B.] – Make good Or make room But don't make excuses!

                When we took the name Brevs, it did not only mean we are to be active Catholics.  It called us to be REAL sons and daughters of the Father.  And if we have the faith that the Holy Spirit moves in our lives, then we are expected to do more than the ordinary...because we can....because He chose us.

                Maybe we do have our own wills and personal plans, but God gives us more than we can understand.  So when God calls, are we willing to obey and make His plans our own?  Can we say, "READY" like Abraham?  Can we leave our nets IMMEDIATELY like Peter?  Are we willing to follow Him in any road and to obey at any cost?  Or are we like those who were willing to follow but had to take care of some matters before being ready?  Because He was not part of our current schedule?  What is our priority? Let us be reminded that in the end, our relationship with God matters most. 

                We are indeed challenged to prove our love to God.  Is He still number one in our lives?  With all the things we do in our lives, at the end of the day, can we say we were working according to His holy will?  Or were we just relying on our own understanding and putting all human efforts to do something successfully, leaving no space for Him to work with us? Let us not forget that He is our partner; not merely a Master.  The balance in our lives can only happen if we have Him outweigh every aspect of our lives.

                The task is most of the time toilsome, yet it is full of His loving surprises.  There is no specific perfect time when to respond to God's call of love as each moment of our lives is GOD'S APPOINTED TIME.  We may feel unworthy, we may feel small, we may think we may be emotionally compromised...we may make the biggest mistakes  or even become everyone's heartaches...but never fail to trust in His mercy for He will see us through because He alone knows what each of us can do. 

                We have our motto:  Nothing but the Best for God!  Oh yes, in everything we have to prepare ourselves like real soldiers and just wait until the Lord has in need of us. That's the way DAVID prepared himself.  He was young and was just a shepherd boy, but he was anointed and had great faith in God.  When the battle was set before him, he recognized the call and responded bravely and immediately because he knew that God was on his side and while he took pleasure on His blessings, he wanted to prove God that He could also count on him.  The victory was not that he defeated Goliath.  It was more of being there when THE appointed time came for him for God's glory to manifest.

                So you see, we don't wait until the storm has passed or if we are ready, healed or perfect or "pag may time," before we start serving or loving God.  We don't wait for the others to change or to go first before we respond.  Again, it is between you and God.  Our READY YES is more than enough for His grace to overflow and use us in His own unique way.  He meets us where we are.  And for those of us who think that we have given our best and have responded to a call in the past, be reminded that while we carry the name BREVIARIANS, the call of making a difference in this world to make manifest the glory of God never ends as long as we can breathe. 
              

                You are called...you are anointed...you are chosen.  Once a Brev always a Brev.

              

                HAPPY EASTER!  Brev It On!

                               

                               

               

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TWO CROSSES

                I got this privilege of attending my first Lenten recollection this year with Bro. Arun Gogna, a Kerygma preacher, as speaker at Casiciaco Recolletos Seminary last March 18, 2011 with the theme:  Recollection, Healing, Forgiveness.  Bro. Arun Gogna spoke about the two kinds of crosses – Cross of Rejection (Hestas’ Cross) and the Cross of Reconciliation (Dimas’ Cross).  Here are some important points and personal reflections I got from it.

Cross of Rejection – Hestas’ Cross

We reject Christ when...

1.        We choose self-righteousness.  When we claim that we are all-knowing, we stop learning, thus failing to gain wisdom.  Pride resides in our hearts.  When we are very much self-righteous, we are in danger of giving judgement to others forgetting that we, too, committed mistakes in our lives.  And though we may think we have sinned less than the others, we should not be blinded by our own prejudice as we do not know the heart of the other.  Always remember that Jesus came for the sinners.  He loves sinner as much as the righteous.  It is so sad that many times, we look others with rejection as we are too focused on our own “perfection.”  Hestas was self-righteous.  While he was hanging on the cross, his pride made him insult the Savior when he doubted Jesus’ identity as the Messiah.  He challenged Jesus to save Himself.  He was not able to recognize his Savior.

2.       We choose to hate rather than wait.  Bad things may happen but the greatest miracle God is actually doing everyday is drawing good from evil.  A lot of times, our miseries make us hate life, ourselves, other people and even God. Hate takes over us and we eventually fail to see the good that is unfolding from unpleasant situations.  We forget that there is a God Who is simply there working amazingly for our own good.  When we are angry, God understands.  He patiently waits for us.  He wants to listen.  When we go near Him even with all these negative feelings that we have, He is pleased because we are honest.  He will make us understand and turn the negative to something positive...if only we go near Him. 

3.       We choose to procrastinate. Maybe it is culture.  Maybe it is just a bad habit.  But we are so full of it.  We love postponing things.  Is it laziness?  The enthusiasm we have easily wears out in us and then we delay the things we ought to do.  We need to keep in mind that time is really valuable.  It is not because we are young that we have all the time in the world.  We do not know when we will be called “home’ so whatever we need to do at the moment, we should do.  We do not want regrets in our lifetime.

4.       We always complain.  Let us not be a problem expert.  Problem experts are people who always see problems and focus too much on that.  They are negative thinkers and result to self-pity and depression.  The problem is too big that sometimes even solutions become problems.  Be a blessing expert instead.  It may be our habit to always see things on the darker side but we have to break such inclination.  We must always remind ourselves that our blessings outnumber our problems.  There are a lot of things to thank God for.  And when we focus on our blessings, more blessings are poured out for us.  There will be better days when we welcome blessings. 

Cross of Reconciliation – Dimas’ Cross

1.       When we respect God as God.  We have to understand the role of God in our lives.  Recognize that we are His children.  When we do, we should believe that sin does not suit us. 

2.       When we admit our guilt.  We have to take responsibility of our sins.  We know that there are consequences to our actions and we have to accept and face them with all humility.

3.       When we confess Christ.  Make it a habit to praise Christ.    

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A Valentine To Remember

St. Therese of the Child Jesus

 

                It was the eve of Valentine’s day of 2000.  I remember rushing to prepare for an overnight vigil at the Carmelite Monastery, Dontogan, Baguio City to venerate the Relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.  That was a night to remember...

                Many devotees flocked in the convent while the Brevs and I were outside enjoying the serenity of the place under the stars.  As we waited for our chance to get inside the chapel, we busied ourselves writing notes (a brev culture) to be given to our founder-formator, Bro. Alex Manongdo.  All the while, he thought we were writing down our petitions.  He didn’t have an inkling that he was into a loving surprise.

St. Therese and Bro. A!

                Midnight came, it was Valentine’s Day!  We gave our messages in a bottle to Bro. A! and he read them one by one overwhelmed with the love he received from his flock.  We watched him with joy and excitement as we heard every message.  Each letter inspired not only him but us as well.  We continued the night sharing stories about St. Therese and how much she loved Jesus in her simplest ways.  As we reflected on that great love between the Master and His Little Flower, we were filled with so much zeal to love the way she did.  Her examples made us want to have the love of Jesus fill our hearts that we might love like Him.  Thus, she became the Brevs’ patroness.  

                When we had the chance to enter the chapel, we could not describe the joy that filled us.  The grace to be an arm distance to St. Therese of the Child Jesus was simply incredible while others didn’t get that chance we had.  We sang until morning came.  We served during the morning mass as well.  We tried our best not to doze off.  

                After the mass, we were able to meet the Carmelites and they gave us white roses.  Personally, words are not enough to describe the joy I felt that time.  It was as if we were being embraced by the heavens.  The Brevs as usual helped fix the area before we parted ways.  It was a start of a new day...

                Though it was hard for us to separate, we had to go back home and fix ourselves to prepare for school.  Yeap!  I was still a student at that time.  Though sleepy the whole day, we were just too hyper to share our experiences during the vigil to every person we met.  We found ourselves so in love.  We decided to take the vocation St. Therese had – The Vocation to Love.  Up to this moment, I could say that was the BEST BREV VALENTINE I ever had.

                To my fellow Brevs, may you remember that night when Jesus filled our hearts with so much joy and affirmed us with His unconditional love.  We may be looking for a magic to happen or an elation to feel the day of hearts, but may we never forget that Valentine’s day is the day of God for He is Love.  So rejoice!  Embrace the day with an offering to love Him with all our hearts so He may teach us True Love...and believe that in return, true happiness will come into our lives.  May our dear St. Therese inspire us more to be firm in our Vocation – Love!

                Keep loving!

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