Novena To St Jude

Be proactive

MANILA, Philippines — The feast of St. John the Baptist which falls on June 24 is traditionally associated with water dousing in the streets but on his feast day last week, look what came? An unstoppable torrential typhoon Falcon reminiscent of Ondoy!

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Although “Falcon” was rainy, ironically a powerful cyclone (buhawi) struck New Manila, Quezon City, with the Holy Spirit Convent, mother house of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), hardest hit.

The nuns were having lunch when THE powerful whirlwind lashed against their buildings, peeling off galvanized sheets from the roof, toppling down trees in the compound and electric posts. An uprooted mango tree fell and crashed on the nuns’ new van which serves as utility vehicle and ambulance.

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What added gloom to the sisters’ predicament was an elderly nun, Sr. Florencia, SSpS, from Tayum, Abra, ,had passed away at 101years and her remains were lying in state at the main hall.

When the rain stopped on Sunday morning, I visited my aunt Sr. Carolyn Llanes and saw a contingent from Meralco working double-time to restore electric power in the area.

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Early preparations.  Much of the damage caused by PAST typhoons and floods could have been averted if only preparations were made earlier. For instance, Marikina River which keeps overflowing during a strong rain could have been dredged and desilted during summer time to enable volumes of water to flow instead of inundating the surrounding area. This applies to many other rivers and canals in flood-prone areas.

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Or take the case of those tons of water hyacinths, surrounding area, popularly called water lilies, that clog the rivers in Cotabato. Why wasn’t the declogging done long before the rainy season set in?

The trouble with the people in charge is they are reactive instead of PROACTIVE. They act only when the calamity has come and gone. Someone once said there are three kinds of people in the world: Those who MAKE things happen, those who LET things happen, and those who say, “Wha’ happened?” Many of those in the government belong to the last two.

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Playboy jilted. Hugh Hefner, 85-years-old founder of the Playboy empire, was dumped by his 25-year-old fiancée Crystal Harris. This would have been his third marriage. Reminds me of an old widower who got married to a woman half his age. At honeymoon, the pious widower told his young wife they should first pray for strength and guidance. The young wife replied: “Better pray for strength and I will do the guidance.

Novena to St. Jude: Sermon: Find Time To Pray

In the writings of St. Paul today, we hear of a man who offers himself completely as a slave to all for the sake of the gospel; a man who's driven to work constantly for the coming for the kingdom. His work has purpose. His work has a foundation in Christ. So, even though his work is tiring, Paul feels the reward. His need to preach, his obligation to share the word of God, is a burning desire inside of him that he can't silence. It comes from the realization that God has loved him, and has become man for Paul's salvation. And in feeling that love from God, which is totally selfless and totally giving, Paul needs to return that love. Paul feels the need to love in a way that's totally giving. So, he tries to become "all things to all, to save at least some." He tries to imitate the love he's found in God. This is what motivates his work, and sustains him so that life is not just a drudgery. This centering on the reality of God's love for us helps us to understand what life is all about. It reminds us that God has loved us first, so that we can know what love truly is and respond in love to God. Remember that God is love: a deep, personal love of each one of us; a love that comes to us without merit, unearned, when we're still in our mother's womb still unable to recognize and appreciate that love; a love that remains with us even when we've proven our lack of merit by turning away from God through selfishness, through sinfulness; a love that always offers forgiveness; a love that risks itself by standing by us even in our sinful condition and following us into death. When Jesus had finished His prayer, He said, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." To share that love with others. Because loving our neighbor, is the way that we return that love that God's showered on us. And yes, Jesus had a very busy day and become tired from His work. And yes, St. Paul was constantly at work and suffered hardships. But they weren't slaves to the drudgery of life, waiting for their wages. Their work came from a burning desire within them to share the love that is God.

Saints For Dummies

Saints For Dummies

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