The language of God is silence

And in the silence you hear God’s laughter every time you praise and thank Him!

 

Reconciliation conjures many images: two persons making their peace; the sacrament of confession; or, discovering another route to encounter God—the prayer of silence. Centering Prayer brings you to all these and more.

The inability to quiet the mind offers a challenge to one practicing Centering Prayer. Yet, because of this, the prayer bears fruit and opens up the possibility of creating other channels to reach God.

None is more loving and uplifting than the prayer of gratitude. Initiated by the spirit, and in the quiet of the prayer, you find countless ways to say, “Thank you, Lord.”

The annoying tingling sound of the ice cream man all the way down the street makes you cringe and hope it goes away. Then suddenly your heart says, “Thank you!” Why? Because at least you can hear atop, on a 45th floor condo, and with windows sealed. You hear! The sound then becomes friendly.

Lamenting the galloping of years when the heart is left weary and is graying like the rest of you, you start to praise God that you can still walk, climb, dance, paint, travel, and suddenly, everything about you becomes bright.

You whisper, “Thank you, God, I am alive and able, although slightly limited! But alive and loving life!”

Fearing the loss of a beloved can be crippling, and useless, because the person is still around and well, anyway. How liberating it is to enjoy the moment over dinner, a scrumptious ice cream, a stroll in the mall, and a movie. Simply say, “Thank you, we still have each other.”

It is endless because there is just so much to be grateful for. If the only prayer that springs from your heart is “Thank you, Lord,” you will need no more.
Centering Prayer brings you there. The language of God is silence, and in the silence you hear God’s laughter every time you praise and thank Him!

You feel peace, a comforting feeling because you are reconciled with God. Your eyes moisten and vision blurs and you find yourself saying, “Thank you, God, for the gift of tears,” and the silence embraces you.

Visit www.cophil.org

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

What the Pope can do

 

In the Philippines, Pope Francis will have the mother of all pulpits.

 

He will surely use it to convey words of comfort for the afflicted. But will he also have a message that will shake up the comfortable, even a gentle prick of the conscience that will recognize the deep social injustices afflicting the only Catholic nation in Asia?

 

Most of the world already knows better than to expect only soothing sentiments from this pontiff. Of course, few here expect the Christmas scolding he gave Vatican officials for "arrogance" and "hypocrisy," among other choice weaknesses. 

 

But he must know that he faces a rare opportunity to make a lasting impact on a country with structural inequities comparable to the worst in his native Latin America.

 

If he saw images from the latest Nazareno procession, he will be acutely aware that a lack of religious fervor is not one of our problems. What is glaringly obvious is that our society does not practice what has been preached by many generations of priests on our shores.

 

It's interesting that he chose to combine Sri Lanka and the Philippines in a single trip: the former has a Catholic minority and will treat him not much differently from any popular head of state. Then he flies to the Philippines, where he will have a sense of what the Second Coming could be like.

 

The first Jesuit Pope will not be content with bringing inspiration. He wants to get stuff done. There are indications that climate change and poverty will be his major themes, especially when he visits Leyte and survivors of Typhoon Yolanda.

 

What many papal observers await is how he will frame his message. He has denounced the worst effects of capitalism, evident in what is happening to the planet and the world's poor. But will the Philippines be merely a showcase of the fate of others if they do not heed his call to address these twin ills?

 

Or will he inspire Filipinos to do more than seek his blessings and to solve worldy problems in our backyard?

 

Nearly everyone I've spoken with about the papal visit has a wish list for what can be done during this historic event. Some of my favorites;

 

1. Denounce torture by the state, which the Pope's own country Argentina has had to struggle to overcome. The Philippine police, the same force that the Pope will see protecting him in large numbers, is notorious for its abuse of ordinary citizens, with torture a common occurrence and occasionally a form of entertainment, as an Amnesty International report asserted late last year. No police officer has yet been convicted of torture.

 

2. Admonish erring priests, apologize on their behalf and call for their punishment. It could very well be that our culture of impunity is rooted in the socially influential, such as men of the cloth, being above the law. 

 

3. "Be more scientific." In addition to trusting in God, the Pope can urge Filipinos to trust in education and our own drive to deal with our problems. It's pointless to blame God for disasters; He gave us the will and mind to adapt and mitigate. As the Pope himself has said, "God is not a magician with a magic wand." A believer in evolution and the Big Bang theory, Pope Francis is a model for how to be a man of science and a man of faith at the same time. 

 

4. "Clean as you go." As he prepares a major encyclical this year on the environment, the "green pontiff" can demonstrate his moral power before the multitudes in Luneta. The papal crowd need not be like the Nazareno crowd or any other large public gathering in the Philippines. It can refrain from leaving garbage, now and forever. 

source: gmanetwork.com

Pope, on Christmas Eve, urges world to be open to God

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis ushered the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics into Christmas on Wednesday, urging them to allow God to enter their lives to help combat darkness and corruption.

The 78-year-old Argentine pope led a solemn Christmas Eve Mass for thousands of people in St. Peter's Basilica. It is the second Christmas season for the pope, who was elected last year as the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years.

He has brought an air of simplicity to the Vatican, refusing many of the trappings of office, and has made plain his determination to reform the Vatican and bring the Church's hierarchy closer to rank-and-file Catholics.

In his homily, Francis, wearing white vestments, said Christmas is a time to remember that God's message of peace "is stronger than darkness and corruption"

"The question put to us simply by the infant's presence is, 'Do I allow God to love me?'" he said. "Do we have the courage to welcome with tenderness the difficulties and problems of those who are near to us ...?"

"How much the world needs tenderness today!" he said.

On Thursday morning, the pope will deliver his traditional Christmas Day "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Square to tens of thousands of people.

The pope has a busy year ahead of him. He has a number of international trips planned, including to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January. He is also due to visit Africa, the United States and Latin America.

Next month Pope Francis is due to announce the names of a new batch of cardinals, the elite princes of the Church who are eligible to enter a secret conclave to elect a new pope after his death or resignation.

Another key project due to take shape in 2015 is the reform of the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.

In Christmas greetings on Monday to the Vatican's top administrators, Pope Francis delivered a stinging critique of Vatican bureaucracy and outlined 15 illnesses plaguing the Curia, including "spiritual Alzheimer's". — Reuters

Our Lenten Observance

The yearly Lenten celebration begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday).  Like the season of Advent that prepares the faithful for Christmas (the birth of the Lord Jesus), the whole season of Lent is a preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery (the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord) that we specially commemorate on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

There are three traditional practices that accompany the celebration of Lent. These are Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. But these practices are not done to impress others or to show people how ‘holy’ we are.  We observe them to remind us in a very special way what it means to be Christians.  Prayer invites us to be in dialogue with God and deepen in us God’s presence (Prayer). Fasting is an ascetic practice that reminds us that we are more than food, power, and wealth. It calls us to become more aware of ‘who’ and ‘what’ we truly are. And Almsgiving is a platform for us to share our gifts and resources to people in need. In the Alay Kapwa Lenten program, the sharing can be expressed in three ways: sharing our Talents, our Time and our Treasure.

This year 2014, being in a house of formation (OMI Postulancy), I made special effort to celebrate the beginning of Lent. I decided to abstain from the use of the Internet from 6 pm Tuesday (1st Vesper of Ash Wednesday) to 6 pm of the actual Ash Wednesday. Actually I planned also to refrain to use my cell phone in order to devote the time in prayer, spiritual reading and simply to be still! Wow! I did manage to do them! For spiritual readings, I took the booklet of Sr. Mary Niere, OCD (Zamboanga City Carmelite) entitled: The Gospel of Contemplation. It is a very down to earth presentation of St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross based on her years of struggle as a Carmelite nun.  It is comparable to the presentation of great thinkers and authors for dummies… so it is Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross combined for Dummies.

The other booklet I took for the day is the work of Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP - former master General of the Dominicans. The title of the booklet is ‘Seven Last Words’.  Again, Fr. Timothy presents this yearly ritual of Siete Palabras in simple encounters with ordinary people. I recommend both books for their reading during the season of Lent. The first is available in any St. Paul Publication outlet, while the latter is a Claretian Publication that was originally published by Novalis.

There is also another way of celebrating the season of Lent. In my FB account, I have posted what I shall endeavor to do during this season. The ways are really taken from Isaiah chapter 58 verses 1-9. This is also based on my spiritual conference to the OMI Postulants last Friday. 

‘This is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own’ (Isaiah 58: 6-7)

Almsgiving and charity are GOOD. They alleviate the sufferings of the poor. But Isaiah goes for the jugular… He goes to the VALUES of the Kingdom of God - Justice and Peace.  He speaks of doing justice to those who have been wronged; releasing them from whatever bondage and untying any yoke of oppression. These acts are coupled with actions on behalf of the poor by way of sharing our bread, our shelter and our clothes to anyone in need. 

I said to myself at the beginning of Lent… I will make all attempts to contribute to the realization of these Kingdom values of Justice and Peace both in small and big ways.

This theme fits well the message of the Gospel reading for the 1st Sunday of Lent (A) - the three temptations of Jesus.  Three times the devil tried to trick Jesus and three times Jesus rejected them.  The narrative is not simply about the Jesus and the devil, but it is about us and our own struggle in life to SEE what is real and what is false. Jesus invites us to shed off the illusion or the devil’s trick - bread without toil, the blinding brilliance of the wealth of the earth and the corrupting decay of power. 

We are dazzled by these same tricks… and we succumb to them in our dreams and ambitions… Yet Jesus is telling us now that person is MORE important than bread, wealth or power. Often these lead to death and NOT to life. The season of Lent is a special occasion and prayer that we may see again… It opens our eyes in order that we may see the truth before us.

source: gmanetwork.com