My Daily Nourishment

the yellow dahlia flowers in our garden. taken last August 2010. now they are gone! hope they’ll come back next year.

Good evening everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We had a great sunny weather last weekend. That is the reason why we had a long walk yesterday afternoon while the sun was shining. It was simply a lovely day!

About my main topic, gaining and losing- you can use these two words in many ways. You can probably say, “I am losing weight”. That would be best thing that a woman always wanted. I can also say, I am gaining more pounds. Yes, I am and I truly felt bad about it! I thought immediately of dietary supplements for weight loss. I read a lot online who are successful after taking it. I believed there are also other alternatives to lose weight. I just approached a friend if I can go with her to take Zumba lesson. Have you heard about it? If I am not mistaken, it is a form of a dance or exercise to help lose weight and keep the body fit and flexible. I might go with my friend when schedules are getting better.

So, what do you want now? To gain or to lose? I guess it depends.

The Kingdom of God, its nature and truth must permeate every aspect of our lives. It is not enough for us to say that we are living in it; we must actually be living and breathing the values and truths of God’s Kingdom every moment of our lives. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus; we are never on holiday from our faith. Jesus calls us to give everything to the service and proclamation of the Gospel.

Luke 13:18-21
18 Jesus said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and ‘the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.’ ” 20 Again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”

my reflections
think: We must live and breathe the values and truth of God’s Kingdom every moment of our lives.

Good morning folks! Another day is here again. It is thirteen minutes past midnight. I hope that you are having a lovely weekend too. Yesterday, I told hubby to go to the attic and bring down our Christmas decors. Some more weeks and Christmas will be around the corner. I am also thinking of gift ideas for xmas 2010 especially for my family and friends. Yesterday, I should go to one shop but the stuffs that I wanted to buy were already out. It is actually on sale and I believed other people also think of it as nice presents for Christmas. I can’t mention it here right now because I also bought the same the other month and I want to surprise some friends of my Christmas gifts. It is time for me to slowly sign-off. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

It is important that we interpret what the author of the Letter to the Ephesians has to say about the marital relationship through the first line, “be subject to one another”. Marriage is a relationship between two adults and it is up to them to work out how their relationship will work best, namely who does what and exercise this or that authority within the relationship.

Ephesians 5:21-33

21 Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. 24 As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her 26 to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, 27 that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church. 33 In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband.

Another weekend is coming again! We are almost in the middle of November which also means that Christmas is coming soon. How about talking about some sort of investment this time. I believed some people are not educated enough on how and where to invest their money. I remember a friend whom I met last week telling me that if you are earning a monthly salary, you have to divide it by three. One need to go for investment or savings, the other part for vacation money and the third part is for shopping or any thing that you want. I also believed one can also buy a cheap life insurance as a form of investment. A good example of this is investing to a kind of term life insurance wherein in a certain period of time, you can get back the money that you contributed. Thanks to hubby for buying one for me.

Law Must Lead To Love

When I was a seminarian, our rector would post a note one week before the final exams week advising us to study hard and to take care of our health. At the end of the note he would write, “During final exam week, nobody is allowed to get sick!” Of course we knew it was written tongue-in-cheek. But getting sick is hard to control. All we can do is avoid it as best as we can.
In the Gospel today, it seems that the leader of the synagogue, in his desire to implement the Sabbath, was serious in legislating when to heal the sick. Because Jesus cured on a Sabbath, he said to the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on Sabbath Day.” But Jesus would have nothing of it. For Him, the sick should be attended to immediately. For Him, Sabbath was made for man and not man for Sabbath. He showed the leader the real spirit behind the law on Sabbath. Yes, there must be a day dedicated to worshiping God, but the law of love prevails. Jesus called the synagogue leaders hypocrites because they, too, broke the Sabbath — not for a neighbor, but for an ox or an ass. For them, caring for their animals was more important than the curing of a woman bound by Satan for 18 years.
Laws are important. Even God gave us the Ten Commandments as guide to our journey to His Kingdom. Laws help us obtain discipline, and constant adherence to the law imbibes in us the spirit of the law. Once we obtain the discipline, our lives become free of the law. The law now becomes our way of life. It is similar to using a map to find our way in an unfamiliar place. The more we frequent a place, the more it gets familiar to us. Eventually, we will no longer need a map.
Christian life includes following some laws. Going to Sunday Mass regularly should hopefully lead us to appreciating its value in our life. Every part of the Mass should slowly lead us to a deeper understanding of it. Every Sunday that we encounter Jesus in His Word, in His Body, in His priest, and in our neighbors, we gain a closer and meaningful relationship with God. When we no longer see Sunday Masses as a burden but a celebration, then the law has now been replaced with love. Fr. Benny Tuazon

Reflection Question:

Do you see laws as absolute standards in life? Do you follow laws, especially the laws of God, blindly? Can you transcend the law out of love?

Your laws of love are above every law that man has ever made. Fill my heart with Your love, Lord, that I may be always a good abider.

St. Daria, pray for us.

Special thanks to Fr. Benny Tuazon for sharing this wonderful and inspiring words.

How are you folks? I hope all is fine with all of you. Another cold gray day we are having right now. I want to go walking this afternoon but since I am still not fully fit and healthy, still having a bit cough and cold, I decided to stay home.

Back to my main topic about bathroom ideas. Actually there are a lot at betterbathrooms.com. They have just a lot of stuffs to choose from. Me and hubby went to a hardware store last Saturday to buy a new boiler. The shop also sells bathroom sets and other home accessories and gadgets. Some of their bathroom ideas are cool but I found very better and nice ones at Better Bathrooms. Their bathroom suite deals are quite affordable compared to the ones we saw at the hardware.

I guess me and hubby must start to decide now because we will be completely repairing our old bathroom next year. Thanks to Better Bathrooms for the wonderful products and ideas! Any one looking for bathroom ideas out their? I guess you know now where to go. Have a nice day!

G O S P E L

There are a number of similar instances where Jesus heals on the Sabbath in the Gospels. It must have been quite an issue during His ministry for so many similar stories to have survived. Perhaps this indicates a tendency for us to look for an easy way out of a difficult situation rather than confronting the issue head on. Let us learn that it is the truth that ultimately represents the path of freedom. Let us live for the truth of love and never forget the example of Jesus.

Luke 14:1-6
1 On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. 2 In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. 5 Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6 But they were unable to answer his question.

my reflections
t h in k : Let us live for the truth of love and never forget the example of Jesus.

WITH LOVE, YOU CAN NEVER GO WRONG

This was another healing of the Lord Jesus on the Sabbath. Jesus, a Jew, could not stop Himself from curing the man with dropsy. He was moved by the suffering of the man. Also, He took the opportunity to show to the people, especially the scholars of the law and the Pharisees, the Spirit of the law as received by Moses. It is interesting to note that since Moses received the laws from God, the elders created so many additional related laws in order to fulfill the commandments. However, in the process, too much stress was made on the letter of the law than on its essence. Jesus was aware of that development that is why He was very courageous even to earn the ire of the leaders in order to show the real intent of the laws given by God.

There is only one law and that is the law of love. With love, one can never go wrong. We refer to love here as a decision to intend the goodness of the other, that is, to lead the other to salvation. That is the ultimate goal of our relationship with one another and with God. Anything we do or say must lead to a union with God. The Ten Commandments were given in order for us to have a way to express our love for one another. They were supposed to be the norms for loving, which is its Spirit. Salvation, though, is not restricted to following those laws. Is fulfilling the laws the ultimate goal? Laws are limited. They do not totally capture the Spirit. To believe that salvation is achieved by merely following the commandments is a mistake. Through these laws, may we learn to love. Through these laws, may we see the Truth. Through these laws, may we find the Way! In other words, the ultimate goal is God!

The question of Jesus to the scholars and the Pharisees was very revealing. His message to them was clear. That was why “they were unable to answer.” Surely, they would seek the care of their endangered loved ones even on Sabbath.

Its relevance in our lives is clear. The Commandments are guides. What is important is our attitude towards others and God. Let us use the laws, not the other way around. Always seek to love. Love is greater than the laws. Love will see us through. Love will get us to heaven. Fr. Benny Tuazon

Reflection Question:
How do you live your life? Do you live a life of love? Do you extend kindness and compassion to people in need even if it would inconvenience you?

To be kind, to be compassionate, to be loving to every person I encounter is my prayer, O Lord.

St. Bond, pray for us.

www.kerygmafamily.com

Good evening everyone! I am sharing again another post especially to all Mothers out there. I believed giving birth to a child and be a mother is the greatest achievement a woman can have in her life. I am not yet a mother and I am still hoping to be one in the future. I believed it is still not too late. I remember some friends, whom after giving birth are looking immediately for cures for stretch marks. I believed that is not a problem at this modern times we have now. You can always seek advice from the experts about it.

To all Mothers out there, I salute all of you and always remember, discipline for your children always starts at home. Lastly, you are always the role model for your children. Congratulations for being a mother. Special thanks to my mother who brought me in this world. She is always the greatest!