A BLESSED 2009 CHRISTMAS TO ALL !!!

THE OLD LADY AND HER THREE DOGS

"Can I have this leftover food?"  our  household help asked me.  "Of course you can!" I told her. Then she said "Yesterday while I was on my way home. I saw this old lady with her three  dogs on the sidewalk.  She has with her plastic bags , pillow and a cardboard for her bed."  According to her, she always sees this old lady but she never knew that this is where she lived ...one the side of the street.  The old lady approached her yesterday and asked her if she can asked for leftover foods.  "You know I pity my dogs so much for I can only provide them with small portions of what I have for the day.  It is not enough for the three of them .  Sometimes if  I do not have something to eat , they will also have none.  I do not want to see them starving."  Our  household help wondered and asked her if they are her pets.  "No! they are street dogs who keep on tagging along wherever I go.  They do not have a place to live.  I feed them and now they don't want to leave.  They are now my extended family." What an amazing deed!  More often we are bothered by our own needs without realizing that others  also have needs. Our prayers centered on what we want that we almost always take for granted the need of a brother, a sister or a neighbor.  Yes, they also have their needs, their trials and tribulations that we also have to pray for them.  The old lady can prioritize to ask for her food and then later think of her extended family of three dogs.  But she set aside her own need and asked food intended for the three dogs instead.  And I salute my household help too...because in her own little way , instead of throwing the leftover foods , she gathered them and exerted effort in bringing them to the old lady. A small act of kindness can really go a long way. The compassion of the old lady made our household help rekindle the softness of her heart and motivate her to also do a GODLY deed !!!

HEAVY LOADS

Photo courtesy of http://www.journeyswiththemessiah.org

"Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give  you rest.  Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest.  For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light," (Mathew 11:28-30) 
Each and everyone attending the mass can relate to this more so when the Priest told the whole parishioner that he himself is sometimes having this feeling of tiredness and boredom of his day to day concerns. I felt this voice inside me that I can also surrender my concerns to HIM...to our GRACIOUS FATHER.  I wanted to cry out loud...I can imagine myself sitting beside HIM...crying on HIS lap like a confused and frightened child...I wanted to pour out this heaviness in my heart...I wanted to just cry and feel HIS presence...HIS loving embrace...HIS infinite LOVE...What a feeling!!!  This is what I appreciate most in going to church...although there are hundreds of you there sitting and hearing the mass...you have this feeling that the GRACIOUS  FATHER is talking personally to you...you feel you are communing with HIM...its awesome , indescribable ...you have this overwhelming feeling of joy and contentment that HE is there in your heart, within you and that you are ready to face everything without fear because you are armed and braced with HIS words and HIS INFINITE LOVE!!!  " The mass has ended ,let us go in peace...in the name of THE FATHER, THE SON,THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN."  My daughter held my hand and together we walked out of the church. I am still with tears...the heavy loads are gone. What I have now are tears of joy...yes the problems and other concerns were still there but I believe I can face all of them because OUR GRACIOUS FATHER will never leave me !!! GOD LOVES ME !!!

THE GOOD SAMARITAN

I am on my way to the office.  I am at a gasoline station in Francis market, Malabon waiting for a cab.  This is already my third attempt..."san po kayo ?"  every time I said Makati, the taxi driver says "NO" At last the fourth cab courteously said "yes ma'am"  On our way to Makati I told  him a story told by my husband after the typhoon Ondoy... when hubby is on his way home coming from E, Rodriguez Quezon City on the day typhoon Ondoy caused havoc to Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon,  A taxi driver told him a story I will forever share to all taxi drivers. All roads were flooded then, this taxi driver saw this middle aged man near Red Cross  getting a taxi but all they did is ignore  him.  No wonder the man was turned down because all roads were flooded.  But this taxi driver, let us call him The Good Samaritan,  stopped and asked the man his destination.  Now the Good Samaritan is also having a second thought.  The man is going to a hospital in Binan, Laguna.  He has with him a bag of blood for his daughter who is in need of a blood transfusion because of  Dengue.So this is an emergency situation.  The man will not really ride a cab but all roads are flooded so there are no more trips in and out of Metro Manila.    And this is the biggest test...he only got five hundred pesos on his pocket to pay the Good Samaritan. When the Good Samaritan said " yes, I will take you there" the man was so happy that he almost saw a halo above the head of the Good Samaritan "you 're an angel " he said.  It is true that the man really need to bring the bag of blood to the hospital and he has to do it quick.  How often have you seen a man crying ?  Because according to the Good Samaritan the scene of the crying man made his hard heart a soft one.  He also needs money to buy food for his family but here he is nodding and taking the man to Laguna for five hundred pesos only.  When they reached the hospital, the man can't stop thanking him and saying sorry for the amount he gave.  And all he can do is smile and said its okay. As he made a U turn (still in Binan)  a couple waved to him...then Lo and behold...they want him to take them to NAIA.  "GOD are you here,  ganon KA ba kabilis rumisponde sa taong katulad ko?"  "ako na ngayon ang naiiyak sa tuwa" So on they went to NAIA.  When they reached NAIA and the couple alighted...the GOOD SAMARITAN received the biggest surprise of that day...the couple handed him Php1,500.00 and told him "thank you" "salamat po, salamat po " he also said.  When he left NAIA...pakiramdam niya hindi sumasayad and taxi niya sa lupa...pakiramdam niya nasa langit siya and he is the happiest person that time.  Why ?  because he has Php1,500.00 enough for his family's needs and this great and joyful feeling that OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN loves him. HE has all the richness in heaven which are also available to each one of us. Natutuwa SIYA pag gumagawa tayo ng mabuti sa kapwa natin...When have u been a GOOD SAMARITAN ?

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

I woke up at 3am today and i heard somebody whisper to my ear "footprints in the sand". Why footprints in the sand ? i asked. "because i always carry you" i felt this overwhelming embrace as if i am a small child sitting on the lap of the FATHER...and what a feeling !!! i cried, tears of joy,tears of assurance telling me i am not alone. this warm feeling starting from my heart and then rushing down to every part of my body reaching the inner recesses of my being...i knew that's our FATHER IN HEAVEN.

How comforting it is to know that HE is always with us...because HE loves us...and HE cares for us...but most of the time we ignore HIM because we do not know. We do not recognize HIS voice. We are too busy with our everyday existence that we hardly remember why do we exist. GOD loves us and that HE created each one of us as a unique individual . HE is in each one of us. Sometimes i wonder...if HE is in each one of us, how come we treat each other indifferently. How come we hated people who do not conformed to what we stand for. How come we hurt each other. How come we don't care . How come we are selective with our choice of friends. How come we are only good and concern to those who are good to us. If our FATHER IN HEAVEN will only be in each of us...although its really a great effort to be good...then what a wonderful world this will be!!!

So i am committing myself each day today... and asking our FATHER IN HEAVEN to guide me in whatever ways HE wants...then making you a partner , people from all walks of life , to travel this journey with this in mind - that FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND is HE carrying us in the darkest day of our life.