Luke 9:22-25
22 Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” 23 Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”

THE COMMANDMENTS – A YES TO VALUES

When we hear the word “commandment” we easily shy away. There are too many “don’ts” in a time when we want to be free and think real freedom means we can do what we want. But old Moses is wise and has calmed down. He doesn’t thunder anymore like before. He puts a simple reality before the Israelites and before us: There are two ways. You have the choice because God has given you freedom.

One way is to see the commandments of God for what they are — loving signposts along the road of life that we might go in the right direction — and obey so that we may be blessed by God and reach our goal. The other choice is: disobey and face the consequences.
Pope Benedict XVI, in a homily he delivered on September 8, 2007 in Austria, gave an interesting twist to the many “don’ts” and makes us aware that the commandments of God are all a “Yes” to a great value. I quote the Pope:

“To gaze upon Christ! If we do this, we realize that Christianity is more than and different from a moral code, from a series of requirements and laws… it is the gift of friendship. For this reason it also contains within itself great moral strength, which is so urgently needed today on account of the challenges of our time…. The Ten Commandments are first and foremost a ‘yes’ to God, to a God who loves us and leads us, who carries us and yet allows us our freedom: indeed, it is He who makes our freedom real (the first three commandments). It is a ‘yes’ to the family (fourth commandment), a ‘yes’ to life (fifth commandment), a ‘yes’ to responsible love (sixth commandment), a ‘yes’ to solidarity, to social responsibility and to justice (seventh commandment), a ‘yes’ to truth (eighth commandment) and a ‘yes’ to respect for other people and for what is theirs (ninth and tenth commandments). By the strength of our friendship with the living God we live this manifold ‘yes’ and at the same time we carry it as a signpost into this world of ours today.

”Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

From Kerygma Family

Yey! Finally, meron na din akong LP entry for the year!

Sa unang tingin, para syang mantsa sa sidewalk, pero sa pangalawang tingin, sya pala ay isang simpleng art.

Kuha ito sa HK Disneyland October 2009 gamit ang aking Nokia phone.

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life and without You I am without fervor.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much and always be in Your company.

Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes. Death, judgment and eternity approach. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for Divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but the gift of your presence. Oh yes, I ask this of you!

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.

http://saintpiocenter.com/Praying_with_St._Pio/Entries/2009/6/15_Stay_with_me,_Lord.html

January 8, 2010

Jonas and Emma Grace (both geologists) are so much fun to work with. From the moment I met them, I knew their wedding will be special. From our initial meeting, we talked about the invitation being old world and what best way to show that by printing the invitation on an old MAP. it tooks months to come up with the invitation - I presented them with different artwork and fonts, Jonas had to burn the edges (all three of those inserts!) and I had to write all the names by hand. But it worked. And it was worthwhile.

Meanwhile, Emma Grace and I talked about flowers and how I’ve envisioned white over brown, and hers a stand-out red bouquet over others. I’m glad for her trust and how it worked out.

The wedding has been more than a month old already, but the friendship we made definitely is for keeps.

Congrats Jonas and Emma Grace!

(Photos from Friends of the couple and Smart Shots)

Reading a new book to me is like tasting a new dish! Smelling the pages of a new book is so exciting and exhilarating, it’s like Christmas all over again. I’ve forgotten my love affair of reading when I pushed myself into a career a few years back and forgot balancing nourishing my spiritual soul. This year, I’m glad I was able to rekindle my love for reading.

I started this year with an easy fiction book, re-read Sophie Kinsella’s An Undomestic Goddess, then I moved on to the Twilight Saga and now I’ve read “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari”. I love books which are easy to read but makes quite a lot of sense. There are times, too that I just love reading fiction books because you get lost in the drama and I guess, in a way, an escape to all the worries in the world.

Some of my favorite books:
- Come Be My Light - The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta
- Tuesdays with Morrie
- The Alchemist
- Who Moved my Cheese
- Pride and Prejudice
- Bo Sanchez’s “Thank God He’s Boss” and “How to Turn Thoughts Into Things”
- Emily Dickinson’s Poems (a gift from one of my best friends)
- Johanna Lindsey’s Malory Novels
- The Bible, especially the Psalms
- Anne of Green Gables
- Sophie Kinsella’s “Can you Keep a Secret?”
- Chick lits like Shopaholic series and The Devil Wears Prada
- Robyn Sisman’s “Just Friends”

And next on my reading list:
- Mitch Albom’s books
- Dan Brown’s ‘The Lost Symbol’
- Winning by Jack Welch

Any other suggestions?

It’s all in the details! And I love how Mimi was able to pull off her shabby chic wedding

Some very fine Shabby Chic details:
- The locket with Mimi and Mimi’d dad picture in it, attached to the bouquet
- the rose print on the ribbon handles
- the cone which had a shabby chic print
- the invitation itself

I also love the gowns!!! Mimi’s is Pina with such feminine ruffles! It suits her to a T! And the entourage gowns was very very chic and well made!!! (All the gowns by Sasha Clothing - owned by Mimi!)

Congrats Mimi and Jobert!!!

Photos from Erron Ocampo