TASTE YOUR LENT....

I’m sure the ash mark of the cross on your forehead last Ash Wednesday is now erased…

As the priest said, even if this is so, what can not be erased is the change and transformation that happens in your heart. 

I pray, may this year’s 40 day Lent be more meaningful to us than last year that when it ends, we become more a child of God than when we started… 

ISAIAH 48:6-7 “The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives…”

Lent is a perfect time to take the hand of Jesus and journey to your interior self where He can grant you deep healing, then you can resurrect with Jesus on Easter…

Don’t let this chance just pass by…

Namnamin natin ang bawat araw (Let us tastefully live each day)…for God…for our greater love for Him…       

Have a Sweet Lenten Journey!

- luisadelacruz

Site to visit:   www.iamacatholicbyheart.blogspot.com

THE PRESENCE WITHIN....

“The whole outside world…seemed to me to love and thank God: people, trees, plants and animals. I saw them all as my kinsfolk; I found on all of them the magic of the Name of Jesus. When I prayed, everything around me seemed delightful and marvelous. The trees, the grass, the birds, the earth, the air, the light…all things prayed to God and sang His praise.”

– THE RUSSIAN PILGRIM

The earth, the physical cosmos, is part of the body of God, shot through and through with divine Presence and hence worthy of our praise, our wonderment and our care. To honor and love God’s creation is to honor and love God.

When a person clings to the Lord and the Lord has pity and loves him, coming and clinging to Him, and he has the intention thereafter to remain constantly in the grace of the Lord, they become one spirit and one temperament and one mind – the person and the Lord.

- KERRY WALTERS

AN INTIMATE PRAYER:       Dearest Jesus, please always fire up my desire to continuously cling to You and be aware of Your Loving Presence…as if I will die, if it stops…

 - luisadelacruz

WHY DO PEOPLE QUARREL AND FIGHT?

Where do all fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. You want things, but cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. 

You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures…

So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. Come near to God, and He will come near to you…

Purify your hearts…

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up…  

- James 4:1-3, 7-8, 10 GNT          

Truth is never absent in the Word of God…    

Have a Radiant Soul!

- luisadelacruz

THE CHILD IN THE WHEELCHAIR

Yesterday in the church, there was a little girl in a wheelchair, 9-11 year old, seemed paraplegic with cerebral palsy. She was so thin and her body didn’t function well…I was so close to tears as I watched her. When the song “Power of Love” was sang, she quietly sang it. I believe God was so delighted of her…

I thanked God at that moment because in spite of my handicap, I could still do things and go places. Then I thought, “There are people like her or worst. At times, others think they are worthless, unproductive, and a burden. So what is their worth if they cannot do anything and need to be taken care of?” 

An insight came…

They make people holier and be in touch with the heart of God. How? 

By their mere presence, they bring out, not just mercy, but also compassion and gratefulness to in the hearts. Their family and others are moved to love and serve them.

Each of us has a purpose in this world. Why else did God choose to create us? 

The funny side of it is: for us to find our purpose, we have to first forget ourselves…our selfish selves and selfish motives to see our divine role in this world…

Discover your purpose..         

Have a Thankful Heart!

- luisadelacruz

FORGET WHAT?!!!?

Inspiration:   Mark 8:34-9:1

In today’s world of modern technology, fast pace life, and big dreams, who would want to forget oneself and carry crosses? 

Well, following Jesus, that’s still “in” as long as it’s fun; as long as “I” do it and get something out of it that satisfies “me” and make “me” feel good; as long as “I” would change only to the point “I” wanted to, beyond that? No, thanks! “I” can only offer this…

Thank God, in this modern world of technologies there still springs the likes of Mother Theresa of Calcutta and Pope John Paul II, who remind us of the virtues Jesus wants to cultivate within us…

If we want to come with Jesus, we have to forget ourselves, forget our sinful ways, our worldly desires, our selfish dreams…we have to carry our cross and endure the transformation process where we will be in the fire of purification…and follow  Jesus, His desires, His virtues, His deeds…and we gain undisguised joy and happiness as we truly find Jesus in our hearts…

Put Jesus above everything…

Jesus first! All others, just second and third and so on….    

Have a Winning Life!

- luisadelacruz

CLOTHES IN THE CLOSET

Last December, I surveyed my closet. I took out clothes that I hadn’t used for years. Some of them were small already. Some of them were given to me but I didn’t usually wear those kind. Some, I just didn’t like to wear anymore…

I folded them and gave away to calamity victims. They would be of more use to them than being in my closet. Clothes are meant to be worn not made to get old inside the closet, otherwise, they become useless…

When we hear God’s Word in homilies, seminars, retreats, gatherings, radio and TV programs, personal Scripture/prayer times, reading books and materials…we can’t just write and listen and listen and listen and listen…We have to put them into practice (James 1:22-25) otherwise they will be worthless, just like the unused clothes in the closet…

God’s Word are meant to be planted in our hearts, grow roots, and be practiced in our daily lives. 

As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.” As we listen, let’s also put into practice what God teaches us through His Word…

Then one day, it shall be perfect in us and in our lives through God’s grace.            

Easy Living!

- luisadelacruz

MIRACLES WAITING TO BE SEEN....

Isn’t it amazing how we breath air and how it helps us to live? 

Isn’t it also amazing how our heart, liver, intestines, veins, internal organs, and body parts function to make us alive physically? 

Isn’t it awesome how our fingers can move, hold things, touch, write…How in the world can our fingers do those!?! 

Isn’t it wonderful, too, how plants, gigantic trees even, grow from a very tiny see? How beautiful flowers bloom from stems? 

Isn’t it amazing how animals like eagles or cats take care of their young without anybody teaching them?...

How come with all these,…we still search and ask God for miracles? Isn’t it there are enough miracles to behold, right before our very eyes?...

But come to think of it...true faith doesn’t need miracles anymore, because the heart knows that even without miracles…God will always be there embracing and seeing His child through every challenges that comes…    

Have a Vigorous Heart!

- luisadelacruz

LET'S HIBERNATE...

Hibernation is a protective mechanism whereby certain animals reduce their bodies’ activity and sleep through winter. They prepare by storing extra fat several weeks before the onset of hibernation. When temperatures drop, the animals’ pulse rate and breathing drop to a minimum…To hibernate is to pass the winter in a resting state…(Webster’s Dictionary) 

Do these animals stop growing?

No!...In fact, when they wake up they are bigger and more mature than before…

Jesus, after being presented in the temple, went back to His hometown, grew and became strong, full of wisdom (Luke 2:22-40). No account of His activities until He was all grown and started His public ministry. Look at what He did…

Like the animals, most especially like Jesus, we also need to hibernate from time to time…not to inactively rest, but to grow in wisdom and maturity while listening to God and resting in His arms…       

Have a Teachable Heart!

- luisadelacruz

THE FANS...

When we watch entertainment shows on TV or concerts of artists, we often see people so alive, shouting, raising banners of their idols, they cry and laugh with them. There are those who even buy memorabilia, follow their idol’s every concert, watch every movie. Wherever they may be, these people will be there.

They are the fans, the dictionary says they are the enthusiastic supporters…But there are some fans who will fight for their idols even hurting others, they are the fanatics…Why do fans persevere? 
Because they see something in their idols that they like and they look up to them. They feel good and happy seeing them…

In Mark 6:53-56, many people were fans of Jesus, they follow Him wherever He went. Why? Not to listen to God’s Word but to be freed from sickness, to get healed…

Jesus doesn’t want fans who only want entertainment, He wants followers who will seek God to be transformed, leaving their old ways and living His teachings...

At this moment, let’s pause and reflect on this: Am I just a fan or a passionate follower of Jesus?  

Shining Heart for you!

- luisadelacruz

A MOMENT OF PAUSE

Ever dearest Father,

by Your grace I am alive

but if right at this moment

You stop breathing Your breath in me,

I humbly ask,

please send Jesus to fetch me…

Ever dearest Jesus,

my Beloved,

before I close my eyes

and leave my body behind,

please help me forgive those I cannot,

and forgive me, too, for all my sins.

Wash away in me with Your Most Precious Blood

what is in me that is not pleasing to the Father…

Ever dearest Spirit of Love,

please pour Your joy and peace

upon my love ones.

May love heal their pain

that they mourn

in just a little while in my absence,

but more so rejoice

that I will be with You in eternal life…

Ever dearest God,

if I only make it in purgatory,

please inspire my love ones

to pray for me that I may soon

be with You in heaven.

Death may bring me pain

but if it is the only doorway for me

to finally see You face to face

and spend eternal life with You,

then I shall welcome it,

 for what I desire most in my heart

is to eternally rest in Your bosom…

 Dearest Mama Mary,

please pray for me

at the brink of the moment of my life

as I stop breathing…

Amen.

- luisadelacruz

WHERE TO SEARCH FOR GOD....

We search....and search....and search for God because we have this deep desire to be united  with Him….We travel far and near, high and low just to find Him….

But there is one place we forget to search Him…our heart…

Ironic, isn’t it? Yes, like the people in His hometown who rejected Jesus (Mark 6:1-6), we, too, reject Him by not being aware of His Presence in the very core of our self….

Let’s journey into our very own heart where Jesus awaits us….

            PRAYER ON SILENCE

            (From The Complete Book on Prayer)

In silence

To be there before You Lord, that’s all.

To shut the eyes of my body,

To shut the eyes of my soul,

And to be still and silent,

To expose myself to You

Who are there, exposed to me.

To be there before You, the Eternal Presence.

I am willing to feel nothing, Lord,

To see nothing,

To hear nothing,

Empty of all ideas,

Of all images,

In the darkness.

Here I am, simply

To meet You without obstacles,

In the silence of faith,

Before You, Lord.

A Dazzling Heart for you!

- luisadelacruz