There we sat, my six-year old daughter Tesa and I, almost a week before her Ate Iani’s 8th birthday. She asked me to wake her up earlier than usual and help her make a gift while her sister was still fast asleep.
With intensity, our youngest started to cut cardboard and strips of shiny sheets. I asked her what she was making and she answered “I don’t know yet.” I explained to her that she should have a plan first before cutting away. She seemed to get my point and paused to think. After a few minutes passed, I asked again, “So, have you decided yet?” She boldly proclaimed: “I will make Ate Iani a crown.”
A “Princess” crown for her royal sister. The ones that Cinderella, Snow White or Barbie would wear. This is going to be difficult.
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Tesa proceeded to cut and stick until she had a crown. It was nowhere like any of the fancy headpieces that she had in mind yet there was a certain sureness in Tesa that I didn’t understand. As an afterthought, she made a picture frame out of some computer magazine cut-outs as overlay for an irregularly shaped black illustration board.
I wanted to prepare Tesa for a possible rejection, or a stinging critique of her work. I wanted to prepare her for impending hurt, knowing how honest Iani can be. I did a double take and prayed for the best.
So we hid the crown and the picture frame until Iani’s birthday.
June 18 came and Tesa gave her surprise to her sister. I must admit that I was a little nervous as she handed the gift and prepared myself for a teachable moment and correction.
To my surprise, Iani said thank you appreciatively. There was even a coronation and the traditional photo op of the princess and her sister. They took turns wearing the crown and I took some more pictures. And then we proceeded to eat ice cream.
*Insert sigh of relief here*
That night, when we were alone, I asked Iani how she really felt about her sister’s gifts, thinking maybe she was just being polite. She said “I really liked them Daddy. To think that she was so excited and made them a week before my birthday, that makes them more special.”
*heartmelt =)*
If only adults were like children.
Tags: Family · Love and Relationship
Better Fatherhood
by Jun Asis
Almost eight years. I can’t exactly be called an expert but I will try to share what worked for me so far. My experience as a father is limited to young children but I think you can translate these tips for the older kids.
1. Show them how you love their mother.
This is the best way to show your children how you love them. If you are caring and kind and generous and loving and sweet to your spouse, they will see how they will be loved.
2. Tell Stories.
Iani and Tesa love stories. They love stories I read from books or if I show them animated stories from the internet. But I think they enjoy the stories we make up together, even if they do not have a coherent storyline nor a moral lesson. Just because it’s our own.
3. Have Fun and Play.
Swap jokes. Tickle. Loosen up and enjoy. Play board games, doll games, racing games and pretend games. I even join them with rock-paper-scissors and thumb wrestling. Daddies are not serious grouches.
4. Be present in the events they deem important.
As much as you can, be present in school activities and games. The mere fact that you are there present means so much to them already. You may brush off a Linggo ng Wika Choral Recitation as a minor event (where your child might even be standing at the back row, unseen) but to them, it’s a big deal. They might not see you but they will know how loudly you clapped.
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About time we COME HOME
Attend the Empowered Christian Living Seminar to learn and experience God’s Love.
Find out how the Holy Spirit can make a powerful difference in your life today.
Every Friday, June 26 to August 14 (7:30 to 9:30 pm) at the Lay Formation Center,
San Carlos Seminary, Guadalupe, Makati City.
Sponsored by the Ligaya ng Panginoon Community.
For inquiries, call or email Cris Hilario (09178077548, crisvhilario@gmail.com),
Noel Lugue (09209622738, nohlugue@yahoo.com), or
Yrreg Pedernal (09178121061, gapedernal@profriend.com)
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5. Listen.
Without judging or moralizing or responding, hear what they have to say. No matter how boring, repetitive, unfamiliar, or hurtful it may be. Just listen with love, openness and acceptance. For the words they say and for those unsaid. If you master this art, you would have learned 50% of the required fatherly skills.
6. Hugs and kisses.
Do not be afraid of physical contact. Many children, young an old yearn for physical touch. Hold hands. Give loving embraces. Keep them close to you. Put a protective arm on the shoulder. Give a tight hug. Give a tender one. Kiss gently. Kiss playfully. The power of touch relieves tension and stress, drives pain away and raises the happiness and self-esteem quotient. And do it often and much.
7. Pray for them. Pray with them. Pray over them. Ask them to pray for you.
Fathers should make Prayer a lifestyle, a daily and frequent occurence, at work, at play and at home. We need to be prayed for more, we need to pray more.
This is a very short list and I know you know a lot more.
To share your thoughts on how one becomes a better father. Send email to: mabuting.balita@gmail.com
Tags: Family · Love and Relationship · Prayer · Reflections
We need to work on our marriage and learn as much as we can. From books, from those who have more experience and from seminars.
Our community, Ligaya ng Panginoon, will give free seminars on various topics on marriage. You may attend one though it would be wonderful if you can attend all. This is open for married couples or those who will get married soon.
08 May 2009 - Friday 7:30 - 10:00PM
Communication in Marriage
Why do we need to communicate
What, when and how shall we communicate with our spouse
How often shall we talk
Living Together as Husband and Wife
“You complete me”
“Rejoice in the wife of your youth”
“Mahal kita, maging sino ka man”
15 May 2009 - Friday 7:30 - 10:00PM
Order in Family Life
“Ako ang haligi, ikaw ang ilaw”
“She needs to be submissive to her husband”
“Husband has to love the wife like Christ’s love for the church”
Money Matters :3,3,7
3 Reasons of Being money channel of the Lord
3 keys to open the window of Heaven to your Family
7 Scriptural Promises to every giver
22 May 2009 - Friday 7:30 - 10:00PM
Sex in Marriage
Sex is a gift
“Go and subdue the earth”
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife”
The Family
“Is my neighbor a part of my family
“Ang kapuso ba ay kapamilya rin”
Do I need a community to take care of my family
29 May 2009 - Friday 7:30 - 10:00PM
Training our Children
Parents’ primary responsibility to train their children.
Importance of exposing God’s words to your children.
Building Christian Family Life
Patterns and traditions that help build Christian Family Life
Leading your children by the Hand
Sponsored by Ligaya Ng Panginoon
Lay Formation Center
San Carlos Seminary,
Guadalupe, Makati City,
Fridays of May, 7:30 to 10:00 PM
For inquiries or reservations please call or text:
Bam Oquendo – 09178011472
Noel Lugue- 09209622738
Rene Alimbuyuguen – 0918-9281352
(or email me at mabuting.balita@gmail.com)
Tags: Events · Family · Love and Relationship
We were down by one point with less than 10 seconds to go. The opposing team got the ball and
started to make the inbound. I was looking for the cutter. Then the pass came.
I ran and stuck my hand out. An interception! But the clock was running down. After a dribble
or two, I found a teammate under the basket and bounced the ball to him. He went up for the
lay-in and made the shot, making us win by one point. What followed was shouting and clapping
and jumping and high fives all around.
We were hollering YEAH!!!!!!!!!! (*Imagine me with my arms raised in victory*)
It’s a few hours before the Easter Vigil as I write this. There is a welling excitement in me
that I think would be akin to that glorious moment of winning a basketball game. I am already
fidgety and looking forward to the Biggest Celebration of them all:
The Resurrection of Jesus.
My wife and kids are in Bicol on vacation. I am home finishing some projects, have resorted to take-out
and bread for meals and do the laundry and ironing all by lonesome myself (something I do not really
enjoy). Yet, despite these “hardships” there is a bigger plot than all of these things. Than anything.
Jesus has risen. He is alive!
Sin is conquered. Christ our Light comes. The tomb is empty.
The stone has been rolled over.
His garments have been neatly laid.
Hope! Love! He has conquered death.
No matter how dim the economy may look, our Savior is bigger than all your financial problems.
Do not fret over that difficult relationship, Christ, our Salvation is risen. Even if somebody in the
family has health problems, Jesus has already destroyed death.
He has given us new life. Rejoice and proclaim His goodness.
Celebrate and bask in the victory that He has gained for us. Keep you spirits up.
I am sure that I will go “crazy” tonight. The triumph of winning a basketball game by a hairline is not even
near the excitement in me. I will be jumping and singing and shouting and be joyful. This is more than a
win for a team. This is more than a raise or promotion. This is infinitely better than a week in Boracay or
El Nido.
This is incomparable.
My mind cannot comprehend how God willingly carried the burden of my sins and died for me,
to rise again so I can too, may share in His glory. My head does not understand, but my heart
can only shout
“THANK YOU JESUS, MY LORD AND SAVIOR!”
Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed!
Celebrate His love for you today.
Let me hear you shout “YEAH!”
“May the Glory of Christ’s resurrection bring joy to you and your family.”
- MabutingBalita.net Team and Contributors
Tags: Events · Holy Days · Reflections
Every summer, house cleaning was a ritual in my childhood home in Tarlac. Once the school days were over, all grandchildren (we lived with my grandparents) were required to clean the whole house and yard. You would not believe the dirt and cobwebs that have accumulated over the months! I don’t know where all the
trash and filth came from. I stare and wonder why I only notice that the weeds were taller than the flowering plants when we are about to pull them out.
So, at the school year’s end, when no one can say “I have a test” or “I have an assignment” we buckle down and battle all the grime and muck we can find.
When we finish, our house is spic and span once again.
During Lent, another kind of “cleaning: comes to mind: Confession. Of course you can go to confession anytime, but the season puts you in a much more reflective mood.
Confession is much like house cleaning. You look into your life and make a thorough examinination of your conscience. You ask yourself:
“How many times have I disobeyed God?
How many times have I lied?
How much has lust, greed, avarice, laziness, indifference and idolatry have I inflicted on my soul?”
Once you find all your sins, be genuinely contrite and confess them.
My personal experience with confession is probably much like what our house felt (if it had feelings) after we have cleaned it.
Clean, gleaming and beaming.
It is as though I feel renewed and recreated. I smile freely and hold my head high. My face seems to glow brighter. Things look much better. I feel I look better-er!
Also, confession is much more than being “clean”. It brings forth God’s forgiveness. Along with it, the flow of grace returns. We are united once again with the Father and the church, for sin separates us from them.
All is well between God and man.
Do a spring cleaning of your soul and celebrate Christ’s resurrection with joy and gladness in your heart.
PS:
Or, just as my Salesian friends ask me every time I visit them: When was your last confession? Do something about it too.
Tags: Holy Days · Reflections · Sacraments
Seven Days to Glory
A Public Lenten Recollection
Journey with Jesus on the last days leading to His
crucifixion
Led by Bro. Bobby Quitain
Inspirational Catholic Lay Preacher and Author
Holy Monday, April 6 (A holiday!), 8AM-12NN
Lay Formation Center
San Carlos Seminary in Guadalupe
Makati City
PHP 200 fee includes a free book
Presented by Lampstand Inspiration
in cooperation with Word of Joy Books
For reservations, call (02)4397778 or (0919)8267780
Tags: Uncategorized
Here is a compiled list of mass schedules around the Makati and Ortigas Business Districts. It may give you information in case you find your self unable to attend mass in your parish. To the bestof our knowledge, it is accurate. Just to be sure, please do check for yourself and send us a message.
MAKATI BUSINESS DISTRICT MASS SCHEDULES
Asian Institute of Management
Paseo de Roxas
Monday - Friday - 1230PM
First Friday, Saturday - 6:00PM
Sunday - 9:30AM
Ateneo Law School
Rockwell Center
Monday - Friday - 12:15PM, 6:00PM
Saturday - 5:15PM
25F Ayala Tower 1
Ayala Avenue
Monday to Friday, 11:30 AM to 12:00 NN
Bank of Commerce
Ayala Avenue
Wednesday, Friday - 12:15PM
Builder’s Centre
Ground Floor
Salcedo St., Legaspi Village
Monday - Friday - 12:00NN
88 Corporate Center
Suite 905 (subject to change)
Sedeno St. corner Valero St.
First Friday: 12:15 PM
(Ash Wednesday Mass is also normally celebrated)
Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)
Sen Gil Puyat Avenue
Monday - Friday: 12:00 NN
Eastern Telecoms Plaza Penthouse
Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue
Monday - Friday - 12:00NN
Equitable PCIBank (now Banco de Oro)
Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel
Makati Avenue
Monday - Friday - 7:45AM, 12:15PM, 5:30PM
Greenbelt Park
Monday - Friday - 7:30AM, 12:15PM 5:45PM, 7:00PM
Saturday - 12:15PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM
Sunday - 7:15AM, 9:00AM, 10:30AM, 1200NN,
3:00PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM, 730PM
Glorietta Ayala Center
Wednesday, Saturday - 5:00PM
Sunday - 10:30AM
Makati Medical Center
9th floor Chapel or Ledesma Hall
Monday - Sunday - 7:30AM, 12:00NN, 4:00PM
Metrobank Plaza
Penthouse Annex Building
Sen Gil Puyat Avenue
Monday - Friday - 7:45 AM
PhilamLife Tower
Paseo de Roxas
9th Floor
Monday - Friday 12:15PM
Prudential Bank
3F Ayala Avenue
Wednesday - 12:00NN
4F RCBC Plaza
Ayala Avenue cor. Buendia
Monday - Friday - 12:00 NN to 1:00 PM
ORTIGAS BUSINESS DISTRICT MASS SCHEDULES
Chateau Verde Condo
Lobby
Valle Verde 1
First Friday Masses - 6:00PM
Sunday - 11:00AM
EDSA Shrine
Monday - Saturday - 6:30AM, 12:15NN, 5:30PM, 7:00PM
Sunday - 8:00AM, 9:30AM, 11:00AM, 12:15NN
3:00PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM, 7:30PM
Meralco Chapel
Meralco Compound
Meralco Avenue
Monday - Friday - 7:00AM, 12:00NN
RFM Auditorium
RFM Corporate Center
Pioneer cor. Sheridan Sts., Mandaluyong City
Monday - Friday - 12:00 NN
SM Megamall
Julia Vargas Avenue
Monday - Friday - 1215, 6PM
Saturday - 5:00PM, 7:00PM
Sunday - 9, 11AM, 1230, 2PM, 330PM, 5PM, 630PM
Stella Orientis Chapel
University of Asia and the Pacific
Josemaria Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center
Monday - Friday - 7:45AM, 12:05PM
Saturday - 12:05PM
Tektite Chapel
West Tower
Emerald Avenue
Monday - Friday - 12:15PM, 5:30PM
Special thanks to the following for the information they sent: Johnny, Paul, Mae, Ele, Rowel, RMD, Arlene, Yola, Marjie, Aly, Sheila, Ayie, http://manilacatholic.blogspot.com, http://intentiontotreat.blogspot.com, http://mass-schedules.com, Frank and Thea. Please email us for any corrections or updates. We’d like to add more mass schedules from the workplace, so please keep them coming.
Tags: Events · Sacraments
It was a Sunday. But it felt worse than Monday blues.
The fridge just held water. The cupboard was bare. Payday was still a few days away and our moneybag didn’t hold enough to get us through the day. Gina and I were afraid we’d go hungry.
We weighed our options and prayed to God for help. Gina then asked if we should proceed going to mass. I said “Yes. God has never let us down. There is no reason to doubt.” It was statement and a desperate prayer in one.
Memories rushed back in my mind. You see, I’ve experienced going on without food for a day when I was in high school because there was nothing to eat. We had no money, our “credit line” with the sari-sari store and neighbors then was at its all-time low and all we had was salt and water. The circumstance above was not as desperate as this one when I was younger, but the intensity of the fear was just as great.
When we got home after the mass, we got the surprise of our live. On our doorway were baskets of vegetables and fruits. They came unexpectedly from our godfather from Bicol – more than enough to last us a week. All we had to buy was “pangsahog” (sorry the English term for it eludes me right now) if we wanted to be a little fancy. I was smiling and felt a tugging in my heart, It was a God moment for me, an assurance that He will not let me go hungry again. It re-sealed my confidence of His providence for me and my family. We will never lack.
In a prayer meeting in our community Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon, Jun Cruz talked about His God moment in the World Youth Day of 1997. He held a ticket that could take him anywhere using any mode of transportation and save him time (from long lines) and money (transport cost). It was the most precious thing one should have in that event.
Walking towards a rendezvous point, he suddenly realized that his ticket was missing. That meant he had to pay for all his fares and waste precious time queuing for his ride. Frantically, he sought God’s help, begging, praying that he finds it.
There were 1.2 million delegates for that event and he had covered a good distance walking. The likelihood of finding that precious piece of paper was close to infinity. As he dragged his feet, a nun walked alongside him and asked “Pilipino ka ba?” As he answered “yes”, the sister’s hand showed him a little piece of paper that undeniably was proof of a God moment.
Bo Sanchez once lost car keys (car and keys, both not his). He searched the car to see if it was in the ignition, the canteen, the men’s room, places he’d been. Zilch. With shame, he realized he forgot to pray. Humbly, he asked God’s help. As he prayed, he was moved to go to the guard. He walked toard the post where he saw the guard, twirling the very keys he was looking for. It only took God five seconds to find the key. That led Bo to realize that his God moment was God’s was of saying: “All you had to do was ask.”
A God moment is a time in your life when God comes into your life and changes you. He meets you and saves you. After that, your life is never the same again. And you remember and cherish it throughout your life.
What are your God moments?
Share your God Moment with us by emailing it to mabuting.balita@gmail.com. We will share your experience with the MabutingBalita.net email, community and blog to inspire other people. (PS: Please include a some details of yourself such as situation, location, profession and/or affiliation that we will include with your God Moments.)
If you wish to receive regular emails like this, just send an email to mabuting.balita@gmail.com and we will include you in our mailing list.
Tags: Reflections
As I was browsing through the pages of a Chinese reviewer for my upcoming written examination for a
driver’s license, it struck me that despite having a little over than 20 years of driving experience, a lot of
traffic signs are still too foreign for me to understand or even guess their meaning.
Every driver would agree that traffic signs always play a vital role in ensuring a safe and fast way to reach one’s destination. Ignorance or even an honest mis-interpretation can only end either in getting lost and prolonging one’s journey or getting a violation ticket from a law enforcer. Total disregard can inadvertently lead to accidents that may lead to a loss of limb or even life.
There are four main categories of these traffic signs – red warning signs, yellow proceed-with-caution signs, blue directions and green destination information. Each has a distinct color for a specific objective with some slight variations, yet with the same singular aim of helping us to reach our destination.
Road travel and life-travel are basically the same.
We are all travelers, voyagers, tourists, trekkers, movers, immigrants, nomads on this life. And just like any person on the move, we are always on the look-out for signs that will lead and keep us in the right path back to our eternal home.
God, in His infinite wisdom, knows that without His guidance, without His “signs”, we will all turn out to be drifters and wanderers in this world, without the slightest hint of where we are or where we are headed.
Red Signs
These are the clearest signs of all that needs our unequivocal obedience. Do not have other gods other than Him. Do not take His name in vain. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. The demarcation line is drawn with utmost clarity. There is no “except” and “as long as” condition that follow each sign.
Yellow Signs
We have to admit that we live in a world of ambiguity that focuses on a singular person’s right over what is truthfully right. Abortion is optional. Gay marriage has a growing acceptance. Euthanasia is a form of merciful kindness, to name a few. Some people tend to blur the line between right and wrong based on a person’s “right to choose”. And for good people to keep silent, tolerant and almost indifferent when these things happen, we are definitely being called back to review and understand the red warning signs, to speak out and be heard against these veiled violations of God’s signs. We all need re-direction of our paths.
(
Rowin’s note: It is with these haziness and sometimes outright disregard during the interpretation of God’s signs that I am particularly glad to belong to the Catholic Church whose authority has been passed-on through centuries by the apostles under the headship of St. Peter. Because between my less-informed and sometimes confused conscience and these college of bishops (also known as the Magisterium) who devoted their entire lives to knowing God’s ways, I would rather listen, believe and obey the latter’s interpretation because God’s spirit undeniably works in them.)
Blue and Green Signs
As much as we need to know things to avoid, we also ought to know alternative things we must do in order to grow in spirit. We need directions of what is right and pleasing to God. Keep the Sabbath holy. Honor your parents. Pray. Give alms to the poor. Read the bible. Join and be active in a religious community. Offer your time and talent to the needy. Attend retreats and seminars. Reflect and contemplate on your purpose in the world.
We are all traveling on the same road of life, no doubt about that. But whether we are on the right track or have skirted off can only be determined by us when asking ourselves this important question – “Have I been following His signs and directions for my life?” If the answer to that question is a resounding “yes”, then we will be at peace. If it is an undeniable “no”, then we have the option to pause, stop, and trace back and correct our direction.
By ourselves alone, it may appear impossible to get back on track, but with God’s love and graces, the road to recovery, though narrow and bumpy, is very possible. Again, this road to salvation also requires following a critical sign, the one with the inverted red triangle.
I believe they call it “Yield”.
But for us who long to know our pathway to God, it simply means humility.
God bless.
—-
Jun’s Note:
We have received some mass schedules in the Makati and Ortigas Business Districts from
you. Thank you very much. But we still need more contributions from you. Please take
time to email us buildings/office mass schedules in the said areas in this format:
Location/Building: 4f RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue cor. Buendia, Maka
Schedule: Monday to Friday, 12:00 NN to 1:00 PM
We’ll email this to you as soon as we get a good number. Thank you for giving us the
chance to meet Jesus in the Eucharist while in the workplace.
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Tags: Uncategorized
We are compiling regular mass schedules in office buildings (daily masses, first Wednesdays or first Fridays) in the Makati and Ortigas areas that are open for walk in mass-goers.
Please send us first hand info to mabuting[dot]balita[at]gmail[dot]com similar to this:
Location/Building: 25th Floor, Ayala Tower 1,
Ayala Avenue, Makati
Schedule: Monday to Friday, 11:30 AM to 12:00 NN
Your help is highly appreciated. We’ll share it with you once we have a good number.
Tags: Events · Sacraments
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