Tribute to our New Mo. Provincial

The Augustinian Sisters Servants of Jesus and Mary in the Philippines are very much grateful to God for giving them SR. CARMEN, a servant leader who for fifteen years have given her life in the service of the Church and in the Community here in the Philippines as a local Superior, formator, Executive Director and Delegate Superior.  She is popularly called as SR. CARMEN by the Filipino sisters, MAMA CARMEN by the kids and CARMEN by some of her friends; and now being the newly elected Mo. Provincial of the Maltese Province in our congregation, she will be called "MO. CARMEN".  

For fifteen years of being with us in the Philippines, Sr. Carmen has been an example of being a true servant, a mother, a teacher, a sister and a friend who inspired people of different facets of life-young and adult alike.  Her welcoming attitude and spirit of friendliness have crossed the barriers of cultural differences and educational backgrounds.  Her leadership role enables us to maintain and preserve our unity and love in the community where we live by heart the words of our Mo. Foundress in her last testament: "I leave you charity.  This house has prospered through charity.  If charity disappears, this house will disappear too". 

It's Show Time!

The Wonders of God has fascinated me so much that all I do was to drop my jaw, stare at Him and say nothing - I AM in AWE!  Until a friend of mine bumbed my head, squeezed my hand and said, " Are you ok?  By hearing this, I came to realize that I was already dreaming from a long time of sleeping.

It has been a long time that I ever used my pen.  For so many times that I was just sleeping and resting.  Sleeping in my own comfort zones and resting in my own conveniences. The desire to be just what I AM; relaxed and taking life easy.  Oooops!!! Hello!  It's show time!  Time is up.  Stop dreaming sister!  It's time for you to go on and use your pen again.

For You

I made this poem two years ago as my reflection when I attended a retreat after experiencing turmoil and tribulations in my spiritual journey.  God shows his abundant love and mercy in everything even in creation.  This is the reason why I also wanted to share them with you.

Everytime I look up the sky

All I can see are the stars shining so high

It reminds me of that eyes where

I can see light that shows the loveliness 

of the heart.





   Then I turned my gaze to a lovely flower

  All I can see are the pretty butterfly

  Savoring the sweetness and the smell of the petals

   That reminds me of the milk that my mother 

     nourished  when I was a baby!

Again, as I look up the birds in the air

All I see are their wings that fly so freely

They make the sound of music that healeth

the soul, mind and body of a broken creation.

                                       
        Seeing all these I bow my head in the muddy soil
         One creature struck my sight

       A very small and pale termite sucking on the soil

        This lowly termite eats in order for him 

           and his inheritance to survive.

Oh what's all these my Lord?

Why are you giving these things for me to see?

But the Lord answered; " My daughter, do you love me?

These things I've shown to you FOR YOU to know how much I LOVE and CARE for you.

If you could only see and understand the wonders and beauty of my love for you,

then; you will not ask me why?"

                              Yes my Lord, I understand,

                              but what did you see in me that you love me?

                              Tell me now so I can see....

My Child, If I let you know how much I love you,

then be with me and stay with me.

It is only then that you can see the love and beauty if you REMAIN in ME.

                                                      

Disturb me, please!

In this moment of time, I felt sad in the sense that all I wanted is not to hear the message from the speaker nor from God.  All I wanted is just to rest and sleep.  So funny yet so bad but this is how I felt.  It is as if I am still floating in the air, no directions, no intentions and no motivations at all.  All I wanted is just to go to my bedroom and sleep.

Depression?  Oh No!  I think it is not.  Tired maybe but it is a product of self-disorientation from home.  I'm tired of thinking for everything.  I'm tired of doing nothing.  I am already lifeless..Fortunately, I remember one of my classmate before when I had a retreat workshop in Cebu and I quote "It's normal for a person to feel such as long as he/she is aware of what's going on inside him/her".  The most important thing is the desire.  

Yes, speaking of desire "All I need is actually God!  All I need is to let God disturb me right now!  I want God to intervene my own comfort, that He will slap my face so I can wake up from my sleepiness and come to focus myself only to Him. Ohh...Lord! Please disturb me in Your Presence!

Facebook Addiction Disorder

As I sneaked out in  the computer this morning, I read a topic "Facebook Addiction Disorder.  I was so curious to read what was it all about.  I discovered that people nowadays are getting addicted with facebook.  There are plenty of things you can do in this social networking.  Chatt with friends, share photos, videos and messages. What was most exciting is you can indulge into its online games, stories and many more.  Indeed, facebook offers a lot of online programs, activities and leisures that gives pleasures to the person using it.  Yes, it is helpful so as to know and keep updated to your love ones' whereabouts.  However, there is a bad news! Excessive use of time on facebook is no longer healthy.  It makes you become slave.  It is because as I have said, anything that gives you pleasure, leads you to become an addict. You might not be aware of this but this kind of addiction kills your time little by little until yo become hooked by it. Little by little, your most valuable time will be wasted. Unknowingly, the disease of addiction becomes your own disease and your day will never be complete without it.  You tend to become irritable everytime you lose your time and skip for a day without checking your facebook account.  Little by little your social functioning will be affected.  You even hurt yourself by sleeping too late at night because of facebook.  You spend more of your time on it than your family, friends and loved ones.  In short, your life will never be complete without it.
        Yes, this is the new trend of the world today.  "Kailangang maging sabay sa uso"  You fool!  The world is dictating you to be enslaved by the things which does not give us everlasting pleasures and happiness.  And if you say, what's wrong with facebook?  Absolutely, I say nothing is wrong.  That is if you know how to use it moderately.  I am not excluding myself for this thing because I too has a facebook account.  It is just a matter of responsibility and maturity of our limitations as a person.  As individual and of course as religious, we have the great tendency to waste our time.  Sad to say, there are plenty of them who become addicted to it. Seminarians, religious sisters, priests and brothers spend so much time on internet and on facebook.  They spend their leisures in games, chatting and a lot more.  Instead of helping our co-sisters and brothers who are in need, we tend to close our doors and comfortably sit in an ergonomic chair inside the air condition room playing and chatting on the internet.  Where is chastity and poverty there.  Common, people of God! Hear you who have ears, listen!  For who and for what you are?  Why are you there when many people outside needs you? I know of some seminarians and sisters who woke up early in the morning just to open the computer and continue playing the unfinished game in the night because it was already very late.  Then when meditation and eucharistic celebration comes, they are there sleeping. When given a task or a responsibility to be assign somewhere or sometime of a day, obedience became a question.  Why is that so?  No energy!  No life!  Burned out?  Yan kasi ubos na ubos na ang lakas sa gabi sa kapupuyat sa internet, lol!(It's because you spend so much of your time on internet). Better not to comment, though I have commented a lot already.  Anong pakialam ko sa buhay ng iba?  Sa akin man lang, we are gifted with a religious vocation to give life and be a life to others.  Not to waste our time and spend so much on things which are not necessary.  We are supposed to integrate ourselves with others and share our lives to them and be ready to be with them in times of need. 
         Our life as a christian is supposedly given like Christ who died for our salvation. Not for our own selfish desires and pleasures but for the kingdom of God.  Religious people dare to be different.  A life of selfless giving up to the point of making it empty because it was poured out to satisfy the thirst and hunger of the person whom you love and serve.  Instead of putting all energies and time on those things, it could be better if we put ourselves habitually on things which could please God.  Dying from our own will is living in the light of holiness.  This is what God wants us to be.  That is why we wanted to become like Him...to put on the armour of light and cast the darkness away.  In this regard, we become conscientious and aware of our own limitations and strength.  Thus,  we say that being a religious sister or brother is worth dying for.
         What is then my point of letting you know the significance of using our time wisely and living a life with transparency and credibility as a religious?  Just one thing for sure, that we will not be misplaced and carried away by the standard of the world.  The world now demands us to be popular, more secularized and highly technical but I hope we will not forget that we too as Christians ought to be a living sample of being simple like Jesus who is true, meek and humble.  Jesus who has the strong willpower to say NO to sin.  That like Him, we as religious may become more aware that the more we wanted to be like Him, the more we become available to people who are in need like Jesus who is ways available for us if we need Him.  Our relationship with other people may not only contain within the four square and corners of our computers and waste our time there, but for us to go out from our comfort zone to cross the frontiers in reaching  out our brothers and sisters who are in need.