PRAYERS of the HEART

God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament hath left unto us a memorial of his passion: grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit of his redemption; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

How much of ourselves do we give to the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? A priest I heard of, if he sees people leave early, stops them and reminds them that only one person left the Last Supper early!  Well, I am not going to do that, but I am tempted to do what St. Philip Neri did: He saw someone leaving church right after Communion and he sent servers with candles and bells to accompany the man.  The guy stormed back into the church and confronted the priest. "What kind of joke is this?" he demanded.  St. Philip Neri said, "It's no joke. The rules of the liturgy say the Blessed Sacrament should be treated with reverence. You left the Church immediately with no prayer of thanksgiving. You were carrying the Blessed Sacrament within you. So, I asked the boys to accompany you to honor Him."  After Communion, you and I are tabernacles - the physical presence of Jesus continues in us for a brief time. That's why we have the Commu

SCRIPTURE READING: Because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being proud. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is enough 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. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  ( 2Corinthians 12:7-10) REFLECTION: We have to face the fact that we will always have to face worry and anxiety. Yet despite these two thorns in our hearts, Jesus is telling us to set our hearts on His kingdom and on His love. Yes, each day has enough trouble of its own. Yet each day God will also give us enough grace to live a life of love and to attain peac

I grew up in a place surrounded by bamboos. There, my cousins and I spent our days playing and resting the whole day. I never recognize the usefulness of bamboos, but what I knew, they provide our place enough shades and cool breeze. As I grow in age and in wisdom, I came to understand what these bamboos can offer me. They can offer me that refreshing feeling when I am under their shades. But there is more that I can learn from them. They can convey a beautiful message as I look deeper into my life and journey.  Bend but don't break. Be flexible yet firmly rooted. One of the most impressive things about the bamboo in the forest is how they sway with even the slightest breeze. This gentle swaying movement with the wind is a symbol of humility. Their bodies are hard and firm and yet sway gently in the breeze while their trun ks stay rooted firmly in the ground below. Their foundation is solid even though they move and sway harmoniously with the wind, never fighting against it. In

Tuesday of the 15th Week - A (Matthew 11:20-24) Chorazin What sometimes disturbs me when I celebrate the Mass is to see a good number of people rushing to leave the church after communion. I instructed some of the volunteers to remind the people in their welcoming and announcement of the importance of each part of the Mass, but still, people seem to be indifferent and they just do what they want to do. Is this a sign that the word of God and the Eucharist didn't take root in the hearts of some Christians. Why they attend Mass without any intention of participating till the very end? Do they really consider that attending the Sunday Liturgy is just an obligation to fulfill? But, where is the real encounter with the Almighty? The people of Chorazin and Bethsaida, in today's gospel, were given the privilege of witnessing and experiencing marvelous gifts of healing and teachings of Jesus, but those miracles and teachings were not enough to transform the hearts of the people of

Monday of the 15th week - (Matthew 10:34-11:1) The La Salette cemetery, located in our Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Cavite, is not only a place of our dead brothers in the community. But, it is also a place of prayer and meditation. It is a place of our faithful missionaries who sacrifice their lives to tireleslly make the message of our Lady know to all the world. It is a place where we are reminded of our destiny after we are done with the vineyard of the Lord. And it is, above all, it is a place of God who lavishly shared with us His divine love. Whenever I visit the Shrine, I always stop by the cemetery to say a prayer for those lying in rest there. And what inspire me to stay and reflect in that place is the presence of our American La Salette priests and brothers. These missionaries made a solemn commitment to stay and die in the Philippines --their place of mission, after they decided to leave everything behind, their families and country, for the sake of the kingdom