Nourishment

Today, a friend from the Feast treated us out to a yummy lunch at Kenny Roger's. Eating with friends who accept you for who you are and with whom you can share your struggles without fear of judgment fills up not only the tummy but the heart as well. 

It is also heart-warming to receive totally unexpected ube bread from OSJ seminarians.

Thank you, Lord, for free food, whether it is from remote givers who share from a distance or friends long-missed with whom we can share good food and candid conversation. 

But most of all, thank you for being the living bread from whom we get our strength. You know our weaknesses and our struggles sometimes get the best of us. Please help us through the coming week. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Kahit ano pa...

Matthew 6:25, 31-33

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ... Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

As I live on a very modest income as a part-time library assistant, every purchase outside of food and transportation is thought over many times. This weekend I was telling myself that I really, really needed to get new underwear--even if it meant dipping into savings yet again. The most practical plan was to buy at the mall where I would normally catch the bus on the way to the second phase of our bible study (Jeff Cavin's Matthew). 

Before I could implement my plan, however, my mother comes up to me and says, "I wonder if you would like this..." and hands me a box of new undies. 

Wow! Guardian angel coordination strikes again!

Thank you, Lord, for providing for all my needs--kahit ano pa siya. All I can say is wow! Superthanks!!!!

Christmas basket in September

An unexpected bag of groceries awaited me upon my return to Tagaytay this week. As part of the SVD family feast celebrations, the seminarian-organizers decided to pool each group's resources and give each co-missionary (i.e., the workers) an early Christmas basket. I feel so blessed!

Thank you, Lord, for generous hearts that put practical ideas into action. Please bless our future priests that they may continue to be a blessing to those around them. Return to them a hundred-fold what they have given. Watch over them always and keep them safe. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Close calls

As I was washing the breakfast dishes this morning, I miscalculated and accidentally hit the dish rack with a just-washed glass, which then shattered into so many little pieces. 

While I swept up the little shards of glass, I wondered whether God was trying to tell me something. Was it a punishment because I was weakening in a specific struggle? Or maybe it was a warning?

But then I realized how blessed I was that none of the shards got into my eye. I had closed them just in time--some shards had hit my face and the glittery dust was left as evidence on my black shirt, but I was okay.

Later in the day, my mother and I were having lunch and she shared that she almost hit a car as she was backing out of the grocery parking lot that same morning. She could no longer recall what got her attention but she stopped backing up just in time to avoid a mishap. 

Thank you, Lord, for protecting us, whether we are aware of it (though mostly not). Please continue to keep us and our loved ones under the shadow of your wings. You are our refuge, our sanctuary.