We are never alone. When you do something, Christ is always at your side. I think that he can help you with any challenge that comes your way, you just have to acknowledge and turn to him. If you do turn to Him, you receive strength to continue on. The Holy Spirit helps a lot. :)
Talking about the Holy Spirit, how do you remind yourself of your faith, especially in the secular world? Do you wear jewelry that is close to your heart? I was thinking that wearing a crucifix at work is a little too religious, and turned to a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the dove. The dove is a very beautiful symbol of purity, peace, gentleness and faith.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Eyes on God
My thoughts, eyes and heart should always be looking towards God. So often we forget and it's so easy to get distracted. If we spend every minute for him, being good stewards of our time, treasure, talents and gifts (really everything), we're much better off.
Nothing is mine. Everything is His.
Another quote from Mother Teresa:
"Every day we have to say yes. To be where he wants you to be. Total surrender: If he puts you in the street—if everything is taken from you and suddenly you find yourself in the street—to accept to be put in the street at that moment. . . . To accept whatever he gives and to give whatever he takes with a big smile. This is the surrender to God. To accept to be cut to pieces, and yet every piece to belong only to him. This is the surrender. To accept the people that come, the work that you happen to do. Today maybe you have a good meal and tomorrow maybe you have nothing. There is no water in the pump? All right. To accept, and to give whatever he takes. He takes your good name, he takes your health, yes. That’s the surrender. And you are free then.”
Nothing is mine. Everything is His.
Another quote from Mother Teresa:
"Every day we have to say yes. To be where he wants you to be. Total surrender: If he puts you in the street—if everything is taken from you and suddenly you find yourself in the street—to accept to be put in the street at that moment. . . . To accept whatever he gives and to give whatever he takes with a big smile. This is the surrender to God. To accept to be cut to pieces, and yet every piece to belong only to him. This is the surrender. To accept the people that come, the work that you happen to do. Today maybe you have a good meal and tomorrow maybe you have nothing. There is no water in the pump? All right. To accept, and to give whatever he takes. He takes your good name, he takes your health, yes. That’s the surrender. And you are free then.”
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Humility -> Openness
During today's short homily, one idea stuck in my mind: pride and arrogance result in a type of closed-ness (if there is such a word :P) on our part. We are closed to God's grace, greatness...really anything. Humility --> openness. A couple days ago, I had a big realization of a prideful moment and was immediately humbled, which is why this idea was particularly interesting. When we are humble to the Lord, we acknowledge and understand that we do not know everything. We don't try to prove our smarts by questioning.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Random Thoughts + Quotes from Mother Teresa
Things to do over time:
-Advance my Italian and learn Latin to understand Pope Benedict XVI's speeches and Church documents (all the rich history of over 2000 years, and I can't even read the original source?)
-Plan my dad's 60th in the next few years :P
-Stop being lazy and wasting time
-Love more
I see Mother Teresa as one of our modern models to live a virtuous and fully Catholic life. Some of her photos floating around the Internet beautifully capture her charity and love. Here are some of her quotes and my reflections:
-Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family. Be holy - let us pray.
(We are all called to be saints, to be holy, so let us fervently move towards this, every day.)
-Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.
-If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
(the way I think of it, you judge people based on their appearance, past history (promiscuous? criminal? if they amended their ways, who cares?), smell, gossip or whatnot, but we shouldn't be doing that! We must leave our preconceived notions of people at the door to really love them)
-Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
(if you do well with the little that is given to you, you will do well with much)
-Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person.
-Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.
(Pope Benedict also mentions how isolation is the greatest form of poverty in today's world in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate; what can we do to care for them? little things...smile at them, pray for them and those you don't know, even just seeing them sleeping on the street or carry around some granola bars with you and leave it by their head :). There was an incident a few years ago when I first moved to SF, where this seemingly crazy bag-type lady came up to me in the mall eyeing my haggen dazs ice cream cone. I just gave her the cone I was eating, but looking back, I really wish that I had bought her a new cone with her favorite flavors instead. Imagine the increased joy that might have given her. I hope it's not vain to get a total kick out of making people smile, laugh and feel good about themselves by patting myself on the back every time I succeed)
-Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.
-Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.
-Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
(I try to do this every day and with every human interaction)
-The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.
-We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.
(I adore my quiet time, especially when in nature wandering about or hiking)
-Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
(Sometimes, we give, and it may hurt because we don't get anything back (ie affection, love, praise, care, etc.), but that's because we have expectations for something more, and therefore take account/measure of what we give...however that is a love centered on ourselves, not on others and God)
-Advance my Italian and learn Latin to understand Pope Benedict XVI's speeches and Church documents (all the rich history of over 2000 years, and I can't even read the original source?)
-Plan my dad's 60th in the next few years :P
-Stop being lazy and wasting time
-Love more
I see Mother Teresa as one of our modern models to live a virtuous and fully Catholic life. Some of her photos floating around the Internet beautifully capture her charity and love. Here are some of her quotes and my reflections:
-Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family. Be holy - let us pray.
(We are all called to be saints, to be holy, so let us fervently move towards this, every day.)
-Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.
-If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
(the way I think of it, you judge people based on their appearance, past history (promiscuous? criminal? if they amended their ways, who cares?), smell, gossip or whatnot, but we shouldn't be doing that! We must leave our preconceived notions of people at the door to really love them)
-Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
(if you do well with the little that is given to you, you will do well with much)
-Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person.
-Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.
(Pope Benedict also mentions how isolation is the greatest form of poverty in today's world in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate; what can we do to care for them? little things...smile at them, pray for them and those you don't know, even just seeing them sleeping on the street or carry around some granola bars with you and leave it by their head :). There was an incident a few years ago when I first moved to SF, where this seemingly crazy bag-type lady came up to me in the mall eyeing my haggen dazs ice cream cone. I just gave her the cone I was eating, but looking back, I really wish that I had bought her a new cone with her favorite flavors instead. Imagine the increased joy that might have given her. I hope it's not vain to get a total kick out of making people smile, laugh and feel good about themselves by patting myself on the back every time I succeed)
-Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.
-Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.
-Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
(I try to do this every day and with every human interaction)
-The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.
-We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.
(I adore my quiet time, especially when in nature wandering about or hiking)
-Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
(Sometimes, we give, and it may hurt because we don't get anything back (ie affection, love, praise, care, etc.), but that's because we have expectations for something more, and therefore take account/measure of what we give...however that is a love centered on ourselves, not on others and God)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Jerry Orbach's Love Letters to his Wife
While reading some articles this morning, I stumbled across this little gem:
Jerry Orbach's Love Letters to his Wife
People express their love in so many different ways, from the things they do and say, to the things they write. Love shouldn't just be a torturous thing, it should bring people immense joy. What is true love?
Jerry Orbach's Love Letters to his Wife
People express their love in so many different ways, from the things they do and say, to the things they write. Love shouldn't just be a torturous thing, it should bring people immense joy. What is true love?
Saturday, October 24, 2009
New Job, More Thoughts
This coming Monday, I start my new job! Very nervous and excited, but I really feel like the Lord answered my prayers through the intercession of Mary. That means I gotta be good to them. :) I'm so thankful!
It's been a very spiritually formative year as I attempted to change roles. I am constantly humbled by and reminded of my sins, weaknesses. I have so many faults. And every time I do something wrong, I think, 'Doh! Why did I do that? Stupid me.', like Homer Simpson. It's hard to be vigilant of ourselves and the world all the time, but we need to be!
Lastly, I had a dream today, a serious one about a regime enslaving people, committing atrocities, but I wasn't scared or hopeless because someone in the dream kept those feelings at bay for me. The reason I mention this dream is because in general, I've had nightmares in the past that filled me with anxiety, hopelessness and fear. But this time, I had none of those feelings and was able to assess the situation more clearly! It's been a while since I've had a good dream, and this was by no means, 'good'. However, I wonder if this positive turn of events is because I've been going to daily mass.
It's been a very spiritually formative year as I attempted to change roles. I am constantly humbled by and reminded of my sins, weaknesses. I have so many faults. And every time I do something wrong, I think, 'Doh! Why did I do that? Stupid me.', like Homer Simpson. It's hard to be vigilant of ourselves and the world all the time, but we need to be!
Lastly, I had a dream today, a serious one about a regime enslaving people, committing atrocities, but I wasn't scared or hopeless because someone in the dream kept those feelings at bay for me. The reason I mention this dream is because in general, I've had nightmares in the past that filled me with anxiety, hopelessness and fear. But this time, I had none of those feelings and was able to assess the situation more clearly! It's been a while since I've had a good dream, and this was by no means, 'good'. However, I wonder if this positive turn of events is because I've been going to daily mass.
Week of Free!
This has been a wonderful week on scoring free stuff! I count my blessings and there are many.
-Free flu shot - yay to company for making sure its employees remain healthy and able to work
-Free lip balm
-Free Godiva hot chocolate
-Free tshirts
-Free stickers
Finished off the week with a small dinner party for some good friends. Free pies, fruit tart, chocolate, salad and ice cream poured into my fridge. Thanks!
-Free flu shot - yay to company for making sure its employees remain healthy and able to work
-Free lip balm
-Free Godiva hot chocolate
-Free tshirts
-Free stickers
Finished off the week with a small dinner party for some good friends. Free pies, fruit tart, chocolate, salad and ice cream poured into my fridge. Thanks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)