I attended a retreat this afternoon about Death and Fullness of Life. The priest started the talk with the gospel regarding Mary and Martha, the two sisters who welcomed Jesus. Martha was busy preparing for food and Mary was there listening to Jesus. He compared the retreatants as Mary (we have chosen the best part). Martha on the other hand is not to blame for what she did because she has served Jesus in her own way. Are you lost? The question hit me, I can deny the fact that I am always at a lost. When we are lost, we don't realize it immediately, we pretend that everything will be fine, but the more we pretend to be on the right path, the more we get lost.
There are certain things that lead to our lost. One is success when want success by all means and all costs. How do we measure success, we are misled by the world because we measure success by the wealth we acquired, by the power, who we are and what we have become. We take pride of our achievements. Second one is LOVE it so nice to fall in love but it has to be with the right person at the right time. We are often misled by this word, just like the song "What I did for Love" in the name of love. It is such a beautiful thing and yet it lead us to sin and temptation. Another word is Fame or Power. If you want to slay a dragon you become a dragon yourself in the process. Sometimes we try to do everything or anything just to hang on to dear power just like the politicians do. Another one is money, they say that money is everything, but they're wrong money can't buy everything. When we are focused on those things we become at a lost. When we are at a lost we have this devil's beatitudes
Blessed are those who are too tired, too busy, and too distracted to have time for God
Blessed are those who wait to be asked, expect to be thanked
Blessed are those who are touchy with a bit of luck they may stop going to church
Blessed are the troublemakers
Blessed are the complainers I'm all ears to them
Blessed are they who are bored with the minister's mannerism and mistakes
Blessed are they who expects to be invited to his own church
Blessed are they who are easily offended
Blessed are those who do not give their offering to carry on God's work
Blessed are those who refuse to forgive
Blessed are those who always sees the fault of others not his own
You had a good life
Why did this happen?
How did this happen?
Temptation is convincing and easy it is deceiving us. We have to listen to our "inner voice" which is our conscience. It serves as our reminder that what we are doing is either bad or good. As Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Walk that way, believe in Him, and the truth will set us free and will give us a happy life. Relationship is always the source of strength and inspiration but it can also be a great source of pain, if we have wrong relationships especially for married people having affairs. Same is true with our relationship with our brothers and sisters, parents, friends etc. Perhaps if a relationship will lead you to be good then take care of that relationship but if it will lead you to evil or break other relationships then avoid it. Our relationship are with God, with our self, with others and with life situation. We find joy in our relationships so we treasure this relationships that we have although there are relationships also that brings us pain so that we will become stronger like gold tested in fire.

I met this friend four years ago. How can i forget during her first day in office. on my mind i asked she is an applicant and yet she is with her mother. we didn't click it at first but she knows the way to my heart.
even if she always teases me and talk about mean things on me, i still love her as a friend. sometimes i get hurt but i forget and forgive her and we end up as very good friends. we love to talk, and gossip about our officemates, frustrations, triumphs and victories, blessings and sometimes even artistas. we like laughing out loud on the phone , or even when we are at the office talking. lately we are not seeing each other because i transferred into a new location. we still communicate, i love this person very much, i was worried when i heard that she has a CA . i know that there are many people praying for her and she has already finished her chemotherapy and she is now healed. she is back to work now. welcome back my dear friend JOY. you are really a joy to us.

My Trip to Laoag

Arrived at the NAIA terminal 3 early. Waited three hours for the airplane. I read the book The Alchemist, I was like that young man in the story, a traveller discovering many things and experiences. I was bound for Laoag to attend a seminar. The long hours of waiting finally came to an end when I was on board the plane. I was the first passenger to enter the plane, and I told the flight steward that "Do I have a prize for being the first one to go on board" I just got a smile for an answer. A foreign guy is seated next to me. Wanted to talk to him but didn't have the guts to do it. The travel was smooth, but I feel uncomfortable I'm not used to travelling by air anymore. The plane finally landed at Laoag Airport after an hour. I was expecting a nice and clean airport but it didn't come up with my expectation. There were no cabs. I rode on a tricycle on my way to the hotel which is a 20 minutes drive. Thanks God I arrived at the hotel safe and sound. The only consolation that I have that night was the accomodation. I like the big nice room, although I'm alone I manage to sleep due to tiredness. On my first night I wanted to take pictures but no one will take my pictures, I decided to order food from the nearby restaurant and there I got a photographer.I realize that being along has its advantage and disadvantage . The session started already in the afternoon.

what is a friend?
a friend is someone you can count on when life is tough and full of trials
someone who tells the truth even if it hurts
someone who listens to you even if you tell the same stories over and over again
someone whom you can trust your secrets
someone who is patient with your not so good days
someone whom you can chat with
someone who doesn't judge even if you are at fault
someone who loves without condition
someone who is there when you need him
someone who knows how to care
someone who is real
someone who is honest
someone who is sincere
someone who knows how to encourage
someone who does not leave you in the dark
someone's presence is just enough
someone who is far and yet so near close to your heart
someone who is sent by God to remind you
that how great His love can be.

Lonely at the Top
Yesterday had attended a mass in honor of the birthday of the chairman and owner of the company I worked for. It was a touching moment, knowing that the company is facing a crisis at the moment with all the bad publicities circulating. I wonder what is he feeling at the moment. I can see in his eyes sadness, and mark of sleepless nights. Is it really lonely at the top? The ordinary person will like to fit in your shoes someday but i've got a long way to go. No more time to reach that goal. Life is short, there are other better priorities that makes life worthwhile.
I know you have helped many people and as long as your conscience is clear there is nothing to worry about. As you have said in our speech Goodness will triumph against evil. It is my fervent prayer that God will be with us with this challenges. God is bigger than those challenges we are facing, we just have to put our trust in Him and claim that we will be victorious.