Ahuv Sheli

I devoured His words but have not fully understood "forgiveness" til now... I have kept the Feast of St. Mary of the Angels [2 August] in my heart and held it in high regard among the Franciscan celebrations. It is also well known as the Pardon of Assisi or the Porziuncola Indulgence .  Inside the walls, I remember role playing San Francesco... in the end, I sent the audience off with these words, " Voglio mandarvi tutti in Paradiso ." I want to send you all in Paradise! ~ but how I struggled each and everyday to bless people when I am offended...fazed...aggrieved...deceived...disgraced... All I ever wanted to do was throw away memories but the Lord kept them intact. I felt mercy's full weight when I was forgiven by a person close to my heart whom I have displeased. My confessor reprimanded me heavily but also told me to be patient and wait. After a week of silence, this person spoke to me. I felt that comp...

" You have no power over me! " ~Sarah,  quote from the movie Labyrinth  (1986)~ ----- While reflecting on the Adoration Vigil for Holy Thursday night my twin heart sent me, I was brought back to that   powerful  scene between Jesus and Satan in the garden of Gethsemane .  The Lord  accepted   everything  that the Father has laid out for Him.  How different it is for us once trials besiege us. Our eyes are immediately blinded by the 'deceiver' and we choose the easier road ~ flight... fleeting desires... comfort... security... self preservation. This season, the Lord invites us to fix our gaze on the cross and contemplate not on what He has given up but  what God has given us back ... ~  Unfathomable Love, Eternity with the Father ... Infinite   Mercy, Hope, Life given for others. ----- There was a time when social networking came next to breathin...

My niece just recently celebrated her sixth birthday… I remember coming home on the very same year she was born… All these years 'outside the walls' ... Ah, life! ~fraught with challenges one after another... but in all these,  the Lord has been faithful.... constantly guiding and taking care of me. -----0----- September passed by so quickly. I took a leave of absence at the peak of our preparation for an international event.  I was left with no choice but to endorse my work to my brother and other colleagues.  "You are important but not indispensable," my head nurse from my mission area once told me several years ago when I had a fracture. How true for most of us, who couldn't  wouldn't want to leave work behind because of insecurity... I realized that sickness, like death, could come to anyone like a “thief in the night.”  And while we were taught that "prevention is better than cure," most of us ...