Considering the Next Steps

Pray for me. I'm planning to give LessThanCalvary a new name and a new look.

Hmm. What to do next? I really want to revamp this blog.

Hoping that I'd get things done by Easter.

With a lot of other things that are happening.

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!

The Prodigal Shoes

My "red by mark ecko" is back! 

After four months of wandering far from me, it came home last Saturday!
I was surprised! I never expect we'd meet again. Haha.

This shoes has been with me for about three years or more. It has gone to a lot of places; it has worked to different health institutions; it has prayed with me into a lot of households (prayer meetings), it has got into a lot of cars and buses ready for missions.

This shoes has walked with me for such a long time. And that I am very happy--one of my simple joys--that it is back and that I am using it again.

But above all, never forget to walk the way Jesus wants us to walk:

"This is love: to walk according to his commandments. And this is the commandment: that you walk in love as you have learned from the beginning." (2 John 1:6, CCB)

When Life, Himself, was Announced

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, of the Annunciation of Life. When the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Our Lady with an important announcement.

Click here for Today's Readings and Gospel.

We first saw the hands-on work of the Holy Trinity "in the beginning" when God made man.

Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. (Gen. 1:26; Emphasis mine.)

Prior to the creation of man, the words of God were: "Let there be ...". But at the moment of man's creation, God said, "Let us ...".

And in the Gospel today, we see again the hands-on work of the Holy Trinity for the salvation of man, starting with cooperation of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

God the Father finding favor with Mary:

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Lk. 1:30)

God the Son being conceived by Mary (and born of her):

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. (Lk. 1:31)

God the Holy Spirit conceiving Jesus in Mary's womb:

And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. (Lk. 1:35)

Archangel Gabriel's started his announcement to our Blessed Mother with, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." (cf. Lk. 1:28). Our Lord found favor with Mary; and He is with Mary. And through Mary, our God came to be with us: Emmanuel, "God is with us" (cf. Is. 8:10, CCB).

Our Blessed Virgin Mary, with her free will, gave her "Yes" to God. She can say "no"; but she gave her "Yes", totally, freely, and selflessly. Her "Yes" was in total obedience, with total trust, and with total courage of heart for God. Her "Yes" was in the state of full and encompassing Grace from God: Rejoice, full of grace ... (cf. Lk. 1:28, CCB). Like Mary, we must always allow ourselves to be in the zone of saving, sufficient, and sanctifying GRACE. For the Grace of the Lord allows Man to say "Yes" to Him.

Out of his unfathomable Love did God choose to create man. And out of this same Love do God allows men to love him back. We love God because God loved us first. And God wants that this union of God and Man in perfect Love be a Grace from Him, with Man cooperating in full obedience of choosing God and of choosing Life. It happened to our Blessed Mother; it can happen to us. This is possible, for nothing is impossible with God, that's why he is God (cf. Lk. 1:37).

Let me get back to this: "that th[e] union of God and Man in perfect Love be a Grace from Him, with Man cooperating in full obedience of choosing God and of choosing Life". In Deut. 30:19, God asks us to choose: Life or Death; and in the same verse, God taught us to choose the best choice: Choose Life. When Life, Himself, was announced to the Virgin full of grace: Mary chose God by obeying his will. Mary chose life by allowing Life, Himself, to be conceived in her womb.

And this could be the very reason why the culture of death attacks the womb of a woman--abortion, contraception, etc.--because it is through the womb of a Woman is Jesus, the Source of Life, and Life, Himself, was born.

Therefore, for man to experience Life's fullness is for man to choose God, to choose Life.

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The Angelus
V. The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary;
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary ...

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord:
R. Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
Hail Mary ...

V. And the Word was made flesh:
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary ...

V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:
Pour forth, we beseech  Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son,
was made known by the message of an angel,
may by His passion and cross
be brought to the glory of His resurrection,
through the same Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Mother of Divine Grace, pray for us.
St. Gabriel, the Archangel, pray for us.
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C-food and C-sterhood

One of the beautiful gifts God gave me is the gift of friendship, the gift of sisterhood.

No recent pictures yet, so here goes . . .

ME and I. Haha.

I thank God for giving me such a sister. This day is just one of the many usual moments I have with her--usual yet special. "Usual" because what we did was something that we usually do. Haha. We went to Mass then we ate. We had a hard time looking for a non-meat food stall because today is Friday. (And part of the Lenten sacrifices of Catholics is to not eat meat on all Fridays of Lent (including Ash Wednesday and Good Friday), this is one of our (all Catholics) external expressions of our wanting to unite with the sacrifices of Jesus. (Wow! Four parentheses in one!)) So, my sister and I, decided to go at the "food court" area where we would have a lot of food choices. We end up eating C-food: Calamares and C-sig (Sisig) bangus. Hahaha. Seafood, I mean.

After eating, we talked. Here's the special part. We talked a lot of things. We reminisced college days, shared stories we still don't know about. From college days to what happened after it, until the present time. And the night was not enough recounting our many experiences--the highs and lows of our friendship--and how our Blessed Lord moves and writes our sisterhood story. I was near to tears because I cannot and would never comprehend the greatness of God's wisdom, all is in His perfect timing.

THANK YOU LORD!

Our other pictures . . . 

Morning of our graduation at I-forgot-where.

Watching a movie during breaks in our review sessions for the nurse board exam.

At a pro-life rally.

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Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

St. John the Apostle, patron saint of friendship, pray for us.

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What Moses (and the Others) Want

Moses can accuse us if we don't believe.

And he doesn't want that to happen.

Click here for today's Gospel and Readings (Jerusalem Bible text).

Today's Gospel teaches us that God the Father gives testimony to Jesus. The Father gives 4 different ways of witness to Jesus:

1. John's testimony to the Truth, who is Jesus, himself. (Jn 5:33-34)
Man testifying to God-made-Man. God has not seek human testimony for us to believe in Him. Yet, he allows  it to be used for others to believe and for our salvation.

2. The works the Father gave to Jesus. (Jn 5:36)
Through the works of Jesus--all the preaching, healing, miracles--God the Father says time again: "This is my Beloved Son, listen to him'.

3. The Father, who sent Jesus, his Son, testifies on Jesus' behalf. (Jn 5:37-38)
Our belief in Jesus is affirmed by the Father: "Believe in him because I sent him".

4. The Scriptures testify to Jesus. (Jn. 5:39-40)
The written word of God gives testimony to the Living Word. The Scriptures only bears testimony to who Jesus is that we may believe and come to him for life.

Now, the case for Moses. In the First Reading, we find Moses pleading to God for the people that God's wrath may be averted from the Israelites, and through Moses' intercession, the Lord relented. From that, I believe that as Moses got down from where he is, he immediately tell all of Israel what happened between God's threat of disaster and Moses intercession. And Moses telling the people to believe in God.

If we don't believe, our Blessed Lord says that it is not him who will accuse us of it, but Moses. If we don't believe, those who directed us to Jesus, will accuse us of our unbelief. For sure, Moses does not want us to only believe in him and then that's it. He wants us to believe in whom he believes: GOD. And the same goes for all the angels, saints, and to our Blessed Virgin Mary. All of them--the angels, saints, and Blessed Mary--wants us to believe in Jesus; all of them directs us and points us to Jesus.

And so do the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church.
The MASS, the highest form of worship in the Catholic Church, directs us to Jesus.
Because the Eucharist is Jesus himself: body, blood, soul, and divinity.

Believe. There is nothing to lose. Yet, so much to gain.

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The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Creator of Heaven and Earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
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Rich Man, Poor Man

The Gospel today (Lk. 16:19-31), gives us images of two extremely different persons: one rich, and the other poor. The rich man dined everyday and feasted everyday. While the poor man, named Lazarus, covered with sores, is already enough to eat the scraps falling from the rich man's table. Then they both died. As their lives end, our lessons begin.

Two points: Give and Endure.

Being rich or being poor does not guarantee us Heaven. What we do with our richness or poverty, and the grace that accompanies such states, determines it. If God has given us more, more is required from us. From the rich man, we learned the importance of being productive and of giving, which he had not done. Being able to produce and to give. The Gospel says that Lazarus was just lying at the rich man's gate; and yet, the rich man wasn't even able to give Lazarus anything. Doing nothing bad is good. As well, doing nothing good is bad. We have to work with our brothers and sisters. Not just to work for them; but to work with them. (To help and work with the poor, click here.)

The rich man is supposed to be in purple. Hehe. (cf. Lk. 16:19)

I believe that Lazarus was able to be in the presence of Abraham's bosom not because he was poor nor because of his sores, which the dogs lick, nor the scraps he eat. Rather, he was able to enjoy the comfort of Abraham for eternity, I believe, simply because he endured. He endured the pain of his sores. He endured the company, not of men, but of dogs. He endured just having scraps as meal. Lazarus endured; and he endured up to the very end.

What is important is that we give until there is nothing to give; and in becoming empty, we learn to endure. Enduring, not with the little that we have, but with the enough that we have. How do we do this? The First Reading (Jer. 17:5-10) teaches us:

" ... Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is in the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, it leaves stays green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit. ... " (Jer. 17:7-8)

In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit--produce (give) and endure--because it has trusted in the LORD.

As the Reading that we have in the Afternoon's Liturgy of the Hours (or Divine Office) from Hebrews 10:35-36 affirms us: "Continue to have confidence, since the reward is so great. You will need endurance to do God's will and gain what he has promised." (Jerusalem Bible).

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Ave Maria
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
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Generosity and Greatness

The mother of James and John could have known who Jesus is: the Son of Man, who will die and rise and reign in Glory in His Kingdom.

In the beginning and end of today's Gospel (Mt. 20: 17-28), we see the words "Son of Man". In the first part of the Gospel, Jesus, the Son of Man, predicts (for the third time) His Passion, Death, and Resurrection--He will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, condemned to death, mocked, scourged, crucified, and on the third day be raised. At the end of the Gospel, we see the words: "Be like the Son of Man who has come not to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many." (Mt. 20:28, CCB).

There is greatness in servanthood. If one wants to be great, serve. If one wants to be first, be a slave. Give yourself for the souls of many. Our only way to the Son of Man is the way He have shown: the Way of the Cross. Yes, like the prophet Jeremiah in today's first Reading (Jer. 18:18-20), others may reject and persecute and even plan to destroy and take our lives from us because of what we believe in and of what we do for God's Kingdom. We might even be put to places and situations where we may be pressed down and may ask, "Must good be repaid with evil that they should dig a pit to take my life? ... " (Jer. 18:20a)

But remember, the Way of the Cross doesn't end with death. Yes, it may be full of sufferings and sacrifices. But definitely, it will not end in death. It will end in glory, not our own, but God's glory and our salvation. The Way of the Cross teaches us that for us to have an Easter Sunday, we must first have and endure our Good Friday.

When Jesus asked James and John regarding their request (which was coursed through their mother), " ... Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" The apostles James and John said, "We can." I think that they were able to respond with "We can", simply because their eyes were fixed on the prize. Like the apostles, may we also fix our eyes on Jesus; not on what we can gain from the world, but on Jesus. Our reward is this: " But it is written: "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him, " (1 Cor. 2:9). It is more than what our eyes can handle, more than what our ears can understand, more than what our human hearts and minds can imagine.

There is greatness in servanthood. We can be great if we allow ourselves to be generous. Generous of giving our time, our talents, and our treasures (resources) for the furtherance of God's mission. Generosity of our life, no matter how difficult. Generosity of saying, "For you, O Lord, we can!"


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Prayer for Generosity
O Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for rest;
To labor and not to ask for reward;
Save that of knowing
that I am doing your holy will.
Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
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Grace

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My Life Verse is in the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 12:9

but [the LORD] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.

It is about God's sufficient, saving, sanctifying Grace.

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But even before my 2 Cor. 12:9 life verse, one of Matt Maher's songs is already my favorite, i.e., Your Grace is Enough.

Sorry. I can't find a video that I want, so I'd just give you the lyrics.

Great is your faithfulness O God of Jacob

You wrestled with the sinner's restless heart

You lead me by still waters into mercy

And nothing can keep us apart

[So] Remember Your people

Remember Your children

Remember Your promise

O God

[For] Your Grace is enough

Your Grace is enough

Your Grace is enough

Your Grace is enough

For me

Great is Your love and justice God of Jacob

You used the weak to lead the strong

You lead us in the song of Heaven's victory

And all Your people's sing along

[So] Remember Your people

Remember Your children

Remember Your promise

O God

[For] Your Grace is enough

Your Grace is enough

Your Grace is enough

Your Grace is enough

For me

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And just recently, I learned that my patron saint:

Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church

Aurelius Augustinus, or most known as St. Augustine of Hippo, is a Doctor of the Church and named DOCTOR GRATIAE (Doctor of Grace).

St. Augustine is designated as a Doctor of the Church on September 20, 1295 by Pope Boniface XIII.

Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until it rests in You. --St. Augustine

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Prayer of St. Augustine

Breathe in me O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy;

Act in me O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy;

Draw my heart O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy;

Strengthen me O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy;

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy.

Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

St. Augustine of Hippo, pray for us.

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Wow! Isn't that amazing? Isn't that an affirmation? And isn't that GRACE?

4 Gives

Here in the Philippines, when people say "2-gives", "3-gives", "4-gives", or "whatever-number-gives", it would mean something about the number of times one would pay his or her debt or anything that is unpaid. Like, if someone owed me Php 1,000.00, and planned to pay me in "2-gives", that would be giving me Php 500.00 on two different occasions; or it could be like one Php 600, then another Php 400.00, as long as it equals the to-be-paid amount and settled on two different times, depending on the agreement.

Well anyway, the Reading, the Psalms, and the Gospel today, talks about sin and mercy. Our sins: yours and mine. And the unfathomable mercy of our God.

4 GIVE'S
Not that we'd be dividing into 4 parts our reparation of our sins and our giving back to God. But that we are tackling into 4 notes the mercy God has shown to us.

1. Give Mercy
We have sinned; that's true. We rebelled against God. We did not listen to Him nor to His servants and prophets. We have not obeyed and have done evil. We are unfaithful to our covenant with Him. And our sins lead us to shamefulness (cf. Dn. 9:7). So, we prayed: "Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins" (cf. Ps. 79) and "we hope for pardon and mercy from the Lord, because we have rebelled against him" (Dn. 9:9, CCB).

Yes, our God has shown his mercy on us because He is a merciful Father. And in showing us His Mercy, God wants us to be merciful just as He is (cf. Lk. 6:36). That is why God first gave us His mercy, that we become merciful to others. How? The Gospel teaches us:

[Jesus said to his disciples:] "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you (cf. Lk. 6:37-38)

2. Give Your All
If you cannot give you cannot receive either. The measure you give is the measure you are capable of receiving [1]. But before we could ever give, we must first receive; for we could not give what we don't have, what we have not received.

[Jesus said to his disciples:] "Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." (Lk. 6:38)

We are to give our all: pressed down, full, and running over (cf. Lk. 6:38, CCB). In Filipino: "Siksik, Liglig, at Umaapaw". To receive in abundance, is to give our all until we are empty, that God may fill us to the fullest. We have received mercy over and over, so should we also be merciful. This is the reason why God allowed us to experience first the gift of His Mercy, that we may be merciful and be able to share not our own mercies, but that of the Mercy of God.


3. Give Radically
Our sins lead us to shame. But God took away that shame in us, He forgives us. Therefore, there should be no shame in us anymore. There should be no shame in sharing and giving mercy to others, that they may also experience the Mercy of God in its fullness.

We have to give mercy and forgiveness radically. Though we are nothing but dust, yet we can still live radically, if we live like Jesus: full of mercy and compassion. Give it to anyone; everyone deserves to know and experience God's Mercy.


4. For-give-n
Yes, we are FORGIVEN. This should be our very reason why we share God's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. God loved us first. God forgave us first. God showed us His mercy first. So that His very being of love, forgiveness, and mercy may (and should) urge and compel us to love and to forgive and to be merciful: sharing not our own love, forgiveness, and mercy, but God's love and forgiveness and mercy that can be found within us.

We are forgiven, and not forgotten, by God.
So, we must forgive and remember our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Our sins are our debt to God. And God wants to forgive us of our sins.
He wants us to bask in His immeasurable Divine Mercy.

JESUS, KING OF MERCY, WE TRUST IN YOU!

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The Divine Mercy Prayer (Every 3PM)
You died, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls,
and the ocean of Mercy opened up for the whole world.
O, Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy,
envelop the whole world, and empty Yourself out upon us.
O, Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus,
as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You.
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Jesus, King of Mercy, we trust in You.
St. Faustina, pray for us.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
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Click to know more about Jesus, the Divine Mercy.

[1] Bible Diary (R) 2012, Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines