WHILE I STILL CAN....

My loving Aunt as I remembered her before

I have an Aunt who was always kind and loving. She would always welcome us in their home and cook immediately for us to eat. She wouldn't allow us to leave their house without making sure our tummies were full. She was the wife of my Papa's brother and she became my Mama's best friend, too.

She always had so many stories to tell with her loud voice. She was also fond of making different kinds and sizes of beautiful flowers out of crepe papers and straws, very artistic indeed. She was very good at this. It always made her happy to give us a little something. She was very friendly and likable that whenever it was the feast day of Sto. Nino in their place, their house was always full of friends and relatives.

Last Thursday morning, my two sisters, my niece and I visited their house to see her and bring our Christmas gifts for them. I noticed something different with my Aunt. Her face was more wrinkled than months ago when I last saw her. Her hairs were whiter. She looked thinner. She was weaker than before. She could not cook anymore. She was noticeably quiet and answered our questions briefly with a soft voice. She answered us like a shy little girl. She said with sadness that she couldn't make the crepe paper flowers for us anymore. Her memory was not good anymore. She even had a hard time recognizing us, at times even exchanging our names.

As I sat in front of her, I took a close look at her. I remembered how she was before and it pinched my heart a bit to see her like that. I couldn't see the light I saw before in her eyes, no laughter just smiles from time to time. She was not really herself anymore.

Oh, how time flew and yes she is older now, in her 70's in fact. And then I thought, "Someday....one day, I will be like her. I will get old. I will be weaker and I can only do less. But before that happens, Lord, use me while I still have my strength. Change me and make me more loving to You, to my family and to others while I still have a chance. With the time I still have, may I give glory to Your name and by Your grace, build a home for You in the hearts of people and bring You home to them....while I still can..."

In a few days, we will be welcoming another new year in our lives. May we put more meaning, more love, more joy, more peace and more God in each of the 365 days we will have.

As the clock turns to midnight on December 31 to welcome the 1st day of 2013, may the desire in our hearts to have God's Presence in our lives be inflamed enough that we can not deny it so we can strive to have more of Him in the whole year coming our way...and in the next years beyond it, if God will allow us still to breathe His breath...Let's live a fruitful life worthy of God.

May the peace and joy of Jesus be in your homes. A wonderful New Year for you and your families! God bless your homes! 

-luisadelacruz

 

REACH UP TO GOD...NO MATTER WHAT...

Years ago, I was amazed with an Indian mango tree in Mindoro. It was toppled down by a strong wind, its big trunk lying on the ground. Through the years, its trunk grew further, not too high, but standing erect. It bore fruits and I could reach them from where I’m standing. 

Last year, I observed a plant bent by a cat when it jumped over it. As days went by, it stood erect again. 

 Last Friday, August 3, I transferred a plant with small red flowers in a pot. It had a 90 degree bent stem. I couldn’t do anything about it because if I forced it straight up, it might break. I thought, “Oh, it will reach up to heaven eventually.” Two days after, it did. As I watched it from my window, I was truly awed in the desire of plants to reach up to their Creator…

There are so many things God teaches me from plants. What did I learn from this? Well, no matter how struggling a plant maybe, whether it was caused by outside factors or not, it will always try its best to stand to reach up to God, and maybe…just maybe, if it can only speak, I will hear it praise and thank God in spite of the circumstance it had gone through.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (GNT)

 Be joyful always,

pray at all times,

be thankful in all circumstances.

This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.

-luisadelacruz

WE MISS THE POINT...

In Matthew 7:7-12, this caught my attention: 

“Ask, and you will receive; 

seek, and you will find; 

knock, and the door will be opened to you…” 

Often we miss a point here. 

We are fond of doing just the asking and receiving. We don’t want to take much effort to seek opportunities and knock at their doors…We like things to happen in a snap and we expect them to just fall in front of us from heaven…the easy way….

Why else would lotto or game shows where thousands and millions of prizes click even if they offer slim chances of winning? They are the easy ways to material wealth…

We miss the point....

Jesus mentioned 3 things:       Ask…Seek…Knock…

We speak…We act…We take courage…

If we do all these, not just one…but all, together with faith that God is a loving Father who listens when we speak, sees our effort and good intention when we seek, and acknowledges our courage to knock at the door…imagine what will happen to your life…

Pagsasabi sa Diyos + Pagkilos + Pagsisikap + Pagtitiwala sa Diyos = Bukas, magkakabunga yan ng hitik na hitik….           

(Asking God + Action + Perseverance + Faith in God = Bountiful fruits to harvest tomorrow)

Fervent Heart!   

- 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

THE PRISONER AND MY SOUL

When a person is brought to the court and proven guilty, even if he shows genuine remorse, he still is sentenced to imprisonment as punishment to his crime. If he has good behavior, then his sentence will be lessened even paroled… 

In one confession before, my penance was to pray and do good deeds. That’s easy, I can do that… 

As I remember that today, I now understand what was meant by my penance. 

Like the prisoner, as I show repentance, I was forgiven, but the eternal punishment to my soul is still there. That’s the consequence of my sin, the justice of God…

But if I do good deeds, by God’s mercy, my soul’s suffering when I die will be lessened or better yet I will be paroled by God and I shall enter heaven. 

In the 2 Samuel 16:5-13, King David knew this, but he also believes in God’s love and mercy… 

Let’s take care of our soul, no matter how many times we fall into sin, let’s sincerely strive to stand up each time by God’s grace…

Have a Twinkling Soul!

- luisadelacruz

THE FLOWER

This morning God surprised me!

He gave me a bright red pretty flower, blooming right before my eyes.
Haaay, si God talaga! So sweet!

Months ago, this five fingers plant was less than 6 inches, now she’s 3 feet. A few days ago, I noticed a big green bud. Wow! I was so excited, I thought yesterday, still 2-3 days will pass before she blooms!

But this morn, woooow! There she is, the petals are visible and she started to yawn, now she is a 4-inch diameter red flower with yellow pollen on the center.

These last 3 months, God said to me, “Be still, study and learn.” That’s what I do now. God is helping me to be patient. Waiting for His timing for me to grow my buds and bloom them into beautiful flowers.

Like St. Paul (Colossians 1:24-2:23), he made his own sacrifices to see his flowers bloom in the Church he served….

At times, we may not understand what's happening, but God’s timing is not man’s timing….God’s purpose is beyond ours….But God is the only One whom we can entrust our life. He knows when and how to make it beautiful like the flower, just trust Him! Promising Future!

-luisadelacruz

THE DEVIL....THE SIN....AND US....

Lucifer (Light-bearer) is one of the most gifted of all angels. Under his leadership, the sin of pride turned many of the angels away from God, and there rang through heaven the awful cry, "We shall not serve!"

And thus hell began. Because hell is, essentially, the eternal separation of a spirit from Almighty God. There was no second chance for the sinning angels. Because of the perfect clarity of their angelic minds and unhampered freedom of their angelic wills, even the infinite mercy of God could find no excuse for the sin of the angels. They understood what the full consequence of their sin would be. With them there was no "temptation," in the sense in which we ordinarily understand the word. Theirs was what we call a cold-blooded sin.....For them there was no turning back; they did not want to turn back. Their choice was made for eternity. There burns in them an everlasting hatred for God and all His works.

“Satan” is a Hebrew word which means “adversary” or the enemy of mankind. The devils possess a keenness of intellect and a power over nature such as is unknown to mere man. A devil is 100% evil, 100% hatred without even the faintest pinpoint of good anywhere in his being. 

But THE DEVIL CAN NEVER FORCE US TO COMMIT SIN. He cannot get inside the human soul and manipulate it to suit himself. He cannot destroy our freedom of choice. He cannot, so to speak, make us say "yes" when we really want to say "no."

There is no power on earth or in hell that can make us sin. We still have our free will. It is our choice – and no one can force that choice upon us. 

It is by conquering temptation that we acquire merit before God. It is through temptation, met and defeated, that we grow in holiness.

We shall not, of course, win our battles by ourselves. We must have God's help to reinforce our weakened wills....Frequent confession, frequent Holy Communion and prayer (particularly in time of temptation) will make us strong against any temptation - provided we do our part.  

- Excerpts from The Faith Explained 3rd edition 

by Leo J. Trese, a well-known Catholic apologist and spiritual writer 

(see also Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 391-395, 1849-1851)

Site to visit:   www.iamacatholicbyheart.blogspot.com

WALA LANG . . . .

There was a time in 2005, it had been very tiring, mind draining weeks for me. My mind was so preoccupied by the singles medical mission. I had been constantly praying for guidance on the steps that should be taken for it. Honestly speaking, I had never attended one in my entire life. One of my best friends had been inviting me to join before but I was always too busy with my work, so I ended up just donating.

Months after joining the community, I joined the service team because the Lord wanted me to. I never really liked the idea because I know it will make me give up my comfort zone, but obeying, serving and loving the Lord are the desires of my heart. I don't want to offend Him. I don't want to hurt Him. I have to trust Him on this. He has a purpose in everything He asked of me.

Along the way, I was right, I had to give up things I want to do for me to follow His will. At first my resistance was there, but later I began to cheerfully do my tasks. Although it was tiring, God made me see something. Before, I get so tired with my work, with my career. My body and brain yearn for rest most of the time. Now I feel the same tiredness but there is more fulfillment and satisfaction and there is joy in my heart because what I do is for the Lord. And He never fails to give me rest, assurances, joy, gratitude, and blessings even if He doesn't have to because He had already given so much. For me, it's about time that I should be the one giving Him.

Anyway, now I ended up one of the point persons of the medical mission. Irony isn't it? Well not really. For in here, the works of the hands of our Dear Lord will be seen. I am inexperienced and not equipped for this task. In everything I do I ask Him and He teaches me. He equips me. Anything that comes out as a result of my efforts to help the others in this mission is because of the Lord. I depend on Him. The week before that, I was having apprehensions and fear in my heart, but He assured me through many ways. The one that hit me most was the homily of the priest saturday night. The Gospel was MATTHEW 11:25-30. It was about having rest in the Lord and His yoke that He will give is easy. The priest said that in Jesus time a yoke is put on two cows to plow the field. They are yokemates. He further said that today in our present lives, whatever Jesus asks us to do, it is His yoke and He is just inviting us to be His yokemate. He puts the heavy burden upon His shoulders and we are just there to help Him. He extends His hand toward us as an invitation it is up to us to take that hand and help Him or turn our back away.

It is a privilege to serve the Lord . . . . to be chosen by Him to do a certain task, whether big or small, whether as part of a team or as an individual. Before we were born, the Lord has set the purpose of our existence in His Master Plan, but the decision still lies upon us if we will do our part or not.

More than five times, I heard people say to me in different occasions to slow down a bit. I might get burned out, and like other people, have a backslide. Every time this happens, I look deep in my heart to check myself for I dont want this to happen to me . . . . I also venture into the thought that it might be the Lord is telling me to slow down. But every time, what I found there is love for the Lord. I have to give what I can for the Lord each day. If I slow down, if I tell myself I can do this or that for Him the next day and yet I still have the capacity to do it, there will be regret in me if the next day He holds my hand and bring me to the Father to live in His home eternally. I could have done something more that I can for Him and His people, I could have obeyed Him at that moment, if I chose to, before I leave this world.

Spiritual dryness or burning out can happen to anyone. It can be seen as a bad sign, but it can also be seen as a good sign. I prefer to see it as the latter. It is a sign, that one is giving his best for whatever he is working on, and if it is for the Lord it is definitely worth it. But the question here is what do we do about it if we experience it. Will we allow it to throw away the special relationship we have with the Lord? Or will we focus on the Lord and deepen more our relationship with Him and come out a victor over it? We can always have a break. We can always have a rest. We can have a vacation, spend time with the family, friends, a retreat . . . . do something different, go out of town, read a book, have a silent and restful moment with the Lord . . . . whichever way that fits us that will renew our burning desire in our heart.

But there is one thing that will stand out on this. How deep is our relationship with the Lord? The deeper we become in love with the Lord the more we will hold on to Him. Irregardless of whatever difficulties we experience, irregardless of how many burn outs we encounter, we will continue to serve Him because we are anchored on Him. If we deeply love the Lord, if we know Him in a personal way, if we look at the Father as our real Dear FATHER who cherishes us and treasures us, who longs for our embraces and enjoys loving us so much, if we look at Jesus as our real Dear Brother, who gave up His life for us, who offers His love and friendship to us, if we see our Dear Holy Spirit as our Counselor, One who makes us recognize who the Lord really is . . . . if we open up ourselves to all these, and experience them, and believe in them . . . . we will never abandon the Lord no matter what. If our Dear Lord is the center of our life, we will never turn our back from Him because our world will crumble. Our life will have no direction. We will have nowhere to go . . . . because God is our everything. If we have deep love for Him in our hearts, it is better to die than take away God from us.

WHHEEWW! That turned out to be too serious. WALA LANG (just nothing). I just had this urge in me to write this . . . . WALA LANG . . .

-luisadelacruz

WISDOM SEARCH

I wake up . . . uhhuurrmm . . .It is still dark, still very early, haaayyy . . . I’m sleepy, but then, I can’t sleep. I sit down, pray, open my light and get my Sabbath, a daily reflection reference, and my Bible. I read:

WISDOM 6:12-19 Wisdom shines bright and never grows dim; those who love her and look for her can easily find her. She is quick to make herself known to anyone who desires her. Get up early in the morning to find her, and you will have no problem; you will find her sitting at your door To fasten your attention to Wisdom is to gain perfect understanding.

If you look for her, you will soon find peace of mind, because she will be looking for those who are worthy of her, and she will find you wherever you are. She is kind and will be with you in your every thought.

Wisdom begins when you sincerely want to learn. To desire Wisdom is to love her; to love her is to keep her laws; to keep her laws is to be certain of immortality; immortality will bring you close to God.

Wow! Excitement slowly runs from my heart to my veins. It was pounding with enthusiasm. Wow! Wisdom, she’s such a great treasure to be found. The desire in me to find her suddenly got increased. I got so awake.

I read on and as I reach the prayer of Solomon for Wisdom (Wisdom 9), I sort of borrow it from him, and I so sincerely pray it, as if they are my very own words, then I read on again up to chapter 11, on one seating.

. . . This happened one morning at dawn, early of 2005, a few months after I entered our community. Considering I only read my Bible no more than 15 times until August of 2004 when I got across Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” . . . within 40 days I had read verses from my Bible more than 700 times.

But that morning, it was very different, an experience I would never forget. Since then I prayed to God for Wisdom, because I knew she could guide me towards Him. She could tell me what pleases Him and not. She could tell me whether to turn right or left, trace back or go straight ahead in my life’s journey. But the most wonderful of all, she could bring me close to God. That’s the best above all. J

Later, I was also led to read the Books of Proverbs and Sirach. I love the Book of Sirach, so full of Wisdom.

As of now, my search for Wisdom is not over yet . . . well, it will only come to an end when God will take away His breath from me.

As long as we live, it is a continuous search for Wisdom. I am thankful that God is not selfish. He shares His Wisdom with us . . . not only through The Bible. Every creation He made, every experience we all have, everything we see or hear . . .speaks of God’s Wisdom.

Awesome! God really reaches out to us and wants to make sure we don’t take the wrong turns in our life. Well, we still make mistakes and have failures, as we turn deaf or blind on Him . . . but still He makes them into victory as He gives us Wisdom through them. Right, my friend? J

Wisdom had helped me a lot in my decision makings. She helped me see things beneath the surface of situations and people. She helped me take the right steps towards my purpose in life. She helped in my continuous transformation . . . but above all, true to her promise, she brings me closer and closer to Dearest God. J

Search for Wisdom! Sincerely desire her! . . . She’s one friend you can’t do without in your daily journey in life.

WISDOM 8:20 Still, I realized that I would never receive Wisdom unless God gave her to me – and knowing that only God could give her to me was itself a sign of understanding. So I prayed, begging the Lord with all my heart.

Oh, by the way, I discovered, as I pray for Wisdom, I have to pray for discernment, too. I have to choose from what I learned from her which one I can apply at the right time, at the right situation . . . “Teach me, Lord, for I know not . . .”

-luisadelacruz

WHEN ANGELS CAME DOWN!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009, I was told that those who will be manning the table on Sunday Feast, May 17, in Valle Verde would be wearing a costume of angels. Whaaaaat!?! I was shocked. I was told to read my email, the request was there.

When I got home, I immediately read that email. Voila! It was there. Oh no, I honestly didn’t like that. Wearing costumes, never in my life had I done that. But I couldn’t back out my name or find somebody to replace me just because of this reason. Well, I am the head of our ministry, if this was my only reason not to serve, I had to do it.

The next day, I had to think of how to encourage my three other sisters in the ministry, Nell, Erlie, and Joy, who will also man the table. So, I text them to wear all white and for once in our lives we would be angels here in this world, even for just now as we wear angel costumes. They liked the idea, they said that they had never did that but it was an exciting thought. There, problem solved . . . ummm but you know what? With our text exchanges, I was also encouraged myself and if we were going to do it, why not with the best we could . . . ;-D

Friday night . . . ahhh, we were so sleepy and tired already. It was around 10:00 p.m. Nell, spent the night in our house. We were making angel halos and wings. We started since 6:00 p.m.

We had used a thick wire for the outside skeleton and a very thin one for the support inside the wings. I shaped 2 sets of wings, Nell wrapped them with white cartolinas, then pasted cut out white crepe paper for feather effect.

My fingers were aching and my arms were tired because of the pressure I had to use in bending the thick wire. Its ends sometimes even pinched my fingers. After the skeleton, I made the halos with the wire then wrapped them with white ribbons. Wow! They looked so nice. Nell and I smiled. When she finished one wing, and one side of the other three wings, we were so happy and excited. ;-D

But we didn’t finish them that night. As I took a glimpse on Nell, she looked so tired and sleepy. I was feeling the same and the next day we had to wake up early.

Come Saturday, from a seminar in Makati, we went to our CG meeting in Meralco Ave. When we arrived home between 10:00 – 10:30 p.m. we rested awhile, then started doing again our angel wings.

We finish by 1:00 a.m., We were plastered, but excited. On Sunday, when we met Erlie and Joy, we put on them the wings and the halos. Wooooow! They looked beautiful. Picture! Picture! . . . souvenir . . . ;-D

Of course, during our turn, our pictures were also taken. It was an enjoyable day of service. For once in our lives, we became angels on earth . . . hahahaha! Wearing those costumes was not bad after all.

You know what? Friday night, when we were so tired and my fingers were hurting because of the thick wire, a wonderful thought came in my mind. That very moment, I questioned myself, “Why are we doing this? We were told that it was okay even if we did just the halos.”

But then again, since we knew how to make wings and halos, and we could make time to do them why not. In our little way, this was the help we could contribute in the ambience we were creating in the Feast.

Then I told Nell, “Making this wings and halos are not easy. It’s really hard to be an angel. It’s hard to be holy in real life. As we live our life, we get hurt. We encounter problems, difficult people and situations. There are times we want to give up or ask ourselves, why we are doing this or that. Why do we give more when this amount is just enough?

When God asks us to do something, at times we don’t want to do them. We have to sacrifice something. There are times, we get really tired and want to give up. When temptations come, whew, some are really irresistable. Haaaay! It’s real hard to stay holy . . . but it’s worth it. Heaven is worth it. Being with God in eternity is worth it. Loving God is worth it.”

Yes, at the end of everything there is joy and peace in the heart. Knowing that you’ve done something in the works for God, in all humility and obedience, even in just the simplest way, all your efforts are worth it . . .

What keep us going? . . . Love . . . It is also what can keep us holy no matter what . . . It can make our life enjoyable in spite of challenges with angel smiles . . . ;-D


COLLOSSIANS 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people . . . For Christ is the real Master you serve.

PSALMS 112:1 Praise the Lord! Happy is the person who honors the Lord, who takes pleasure in obeying His commands.

-luisadelacruz