The gift of true friendship
Posted in

Reflection:John 12:1-11

Imagine the scene depicted in today's Gospel story. It takes place exactly one week before the crucifixion of Jesus. He knows what's going to happen; he knows his time is short. And how does he spend this day?  Fretting and worrying and fearing the pain that he'll soon suffer? Is he
depressed perhaps? No, he's enjoying a party!

Jesus chose to spend his last peaceful day with his dearest and closest friends. He can relax around them. He knows they're not going to pick a fight with him. If he wants to rest, they will minister to his needs  and desires.

What a great example of friendship!

Look at how they dined. It was no simple meal of pita bread and dates,  but a banquet! Jesus taught by his own example that we should live in humble simplicity, and yet he also enjoyed a fancy meal with lots of trimmings and gourmet dishes. And he certainly appreciated the luxury of the perfume that his friend Mary lavished on him. He did not say: "Oh, you shouldn't have!" He was very gracious in accepting without question
the gifts that his friends gave to him.

This is a wonderful example of genuine friendship. It didn't matter if  the gift was expensive or frugal; what mattered was the depth of  friendship from which it came. In true friendship, we give service and gifts to each other simply because we love each other. There's no equality to it, no thought of "If you pay the bill at the restaurant this time, next time it's my turn" or "If you invite me to your $100-a-plate wedding reception, then I have to arrive bearing a gift of equal value."

Mary didn't anoint Jesus as payment for all the good he had done for  her, but as a gift of her own goodness simply because she loved him. She was accused of being wasteful, the gift too extravagant, but she didn't  choose the perfume based on its price tag; she opted to give a gift of extravagant fragrance -- she was generous in the enthusiasm of her  love.

Is your friendship with Jesus like this? How we treat our friends is  how we treat Jesus. Our friendship with Jesus is only as strong as the relationships we have with the people he's provided as friends.

Jesus gives us his love through holy friendships. In the fellowship of  true friends, Jesus ministers to us, heals us, teaches us, dies for us  and resurrects us. In those friendships, we meet Jesus and kiss his  feet and anoint him with the perfume of our adoration.

Walk don't ride
Posted in

By Fr. Jerry Orbos

It is Holy Week. This week is the most important week for us Christians. In fact, it is more important than Christmas because if Christ did not suffer, die and rise again (Paschal Mystery) there would have been no salvation. The events of this week, starting with Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the Way of the Cross, the Crucifixion and Death, the Easter Vigil, and Easter itself have only one clear message:

You and I are so much loved personally by God that He gave His only Son to die on the Cross. Think about it: Is there anyone, anyone at all in your life, who is willing to die for you? (Maybe your husband is with you right now. Ask him, if he is willing to die for you!)

As the events of the Holy Week unfold, let us not just be by standers or onlookers. Let us be a part of it all. Walk, don't ride. How high you fly at Easter depend on how you walked the Holy Week. Sorry, there are no short cuts, no free rides in the business of saving one's soul. Here are some suggestions to make Holy Week holy. They are all doable, all valuable.

RELAX: Many of us are over worked and overstressed. We need to rest our bodies and our minds so that we can "fine tune" with ourselves, with other people and with God. Take a break. Take a walk. Commune with nature. See the sunset. Enjoy the moon. Close your cellular phone and your beeper and just allow yourself to be open to the divine. Let go. Let things be. God is in charge. Experience the restoring power of sleep and rest. Smile at the sky. Walk the earth. Whistle a happy tune, or hum a favorite melody. Just thank God you are still alive.

REFLECT: Find time to relax so you can reflect. Don't end up just relaxing. Don't end up tired and empty because you were too busy to relax and thus found no time to slow down and reflect.

How long has it been now since you have been in this world? What have you done? You have work, but do you have a life? What is really important for you? What do you still want to do or accomplish? How is your family and your relationships? And how are you relating with your God? Is there an area in your life that needs to be healed? Is there excess luggage in your heart? How would you like to be remembered after you are gone? Allow yourself to be questioned by life itself.

REPENT: We all fall. We all have mistakes and weaknesses. Accept your limitations. Welcome to humanity! Be humble. Visit the "red light" district in the church and make a good confession. It's the Jubilee Year. Make that general confession. Find time to say sorry to people you may have hurt or just taken for granted. Make time to visit, to write, to call, to text anyone you need to say sorry to. Is there one bad habit you need to give up?

Is there one good habit you need to take up? This is the time for soul-searching. Promise yourself not to go back to the pit of selfishness and sin. If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

RENEW: Take time to recharge and just be filled up. Renew your contact with God. Don't just sit in the comforts of your home and watch the services of the Holy Week. Make the sacrifice of participating in church. Show your gratitude to the Lord. Make that Bisita Iglesia, that Via Crucis, that Easter Vigil and do it all with gratitude and love.

Renew ties with your immediate family. Make yourself available and vulnerable to them. Tell them in so many ways that you really care. The world is not just you and your family. Reach out. Give and share. The time to give is always now and it is never too late, never too much. Make a generous donation. Go and visit a hospital, an orphanage, an old folks' home or a sick person. It would be more wonderful if you can do all these with your family.

Renew your contact with yourself. Go over old pictures, old letters and files and remember who you were and what you wanted to be. Clean your room and clean your heart of all the could-have-beens and should-have-beens and accept yourself. Embrace yourself for what you are and what you still can be.

RESIGN: That's right, resign. Resign from places and people who do not bring the best in you. Resign from vices and sins that are slowly but surely eating you up. Resign from falsehood and pretenses. Be true. Have substance. No more japorms. No more papogi. Just give your very best and God will take care of the rest. Resign to God's will and God's plan for you and you will have peace-that peace of Easter, that peace, which the world cannot give or take away. 
 

Good luck, and all the best as you walk the Holy Week. The road that leads to true life is never easy, but the assurance is there: It is a road that leads to life, and He himself is on the road with you, every step along the way.

Declaration of Independence:
Posted in

Me, Myself & I

by: Beyonce Knowles

All the ladies if you feel me, help me sing it out...

I can't believe i believed
Everything we had would last
So young and naive for me to think
She was from your past
Silly of me to dream of
One day having your kids
Love is so blind
It feels right when it's wrong

I can't believe i fell for your schemes
I'm smarter than that
So young and naive to believe that with me
You're a changed man
Foolish of me to compete
When you cheat with loose women
It took me some time but now i moved on

Cuz i realized i got
Me myself and i
That's all i got in the end
That's what i found out
And it ain't no need to cry
I took a vow that from now on
I'm gonna be my own best friend

Me myself and i
That's all i got in the end
That's what i found out
And it ain't no need to cry
I took a vow that from now on
I'm gonna be my own best friend

So controlling , you said that you love me
But you don't
Your family told me one day
I would see it on my own
Next thing i know i'm dealing
With your three kids in my home
Love is so blind
It feels right when it's wrong

Now that it's over
Stop calling me
Come pick up your clothes
Ain't no need to front like you're still with me
All your homies know
Even your very best friend
Tried to warn me on the low
It took me some time
But now i am strong

Because i realized i got
Me myself and i
That's all i got in the end
That's what i found out
And it ain't no need to cry
I took a vow that from now on
I'm gonna be my own best friend

Me myself and i
That's all i got in the end
That's what i found out
And it ain't no need to cry
I took a vow that from now on
I'm gonna be my own best friend

Me myself and i
I know that i will never disappoint myself
I must have cried a thousand times
All the ladies if you feel me
Help me sing it now
I can't regret all the times spent with you
Ya, you hurt me
But i learned a lot along the way
After all the rain
You'll see the sun come out again
I know that i will never disappoint myself

***

There are some things not worth starting over, no matter how much you would like to believe in second chances. I realized that today. Hmm.Where have I been? Just resting and listening to that small voice inside me that says I am so much better off without the beautiful distraction I've grown to accustomed to needing.

Kay Tom Welling na lang ako. =) Happy easter everyone!

Easter Egg Green...
Posted in

That's the new dominant color in my apartment. My landlady decided to have the doors and shelves repainted, and well, the color is straight out of a kindergarten playground.  But really, it lent a different character to the room. Its a lot livelier and cheerful than when everything was white and pale yellow...and littered with everything in shades of black and red.

Of course, it needs new curtains to go with it. And once that is in place, the few square feet of space I live in will have changed into a more pleasant and tranquil place. Greens and yellows with splashes of pink and a few light blues. I can almost picture a pack of M&Ms. Haha.

Just about time for the change in perspective, I guess. I remember the somber atmosphere (replete with incense and scented candles in the evenings) took form as I was trying to center myself last year. Took me awhile to find myself and carve a definite path I wished to chart. But now that everything's more or less settled, and I am quite sure of who I am and what I want out of my life and the relationships I have, I think my nights are ripe for more bossa novas and more company.

The tomb is empty! And rightly so...my room has just rejoined the world of the living, and so have I.  Happy Easter people!

   

Angel's LSS: A thousand beautiful things by Annie Lenox
Silverscreen Pick: Smallville Season 3

Some Guys Have all the Luck!
Posted in

Global sex survey shows men get more satisfaction

CHICAGO - Around the world, middle-aged and elderly men tend to be more satisfied with their sex lives than women in the same age group, a survey released on Wednesday said.

Substantial majorities of people who are married or who have a partner remain sexually active throughout the second half of their lives, according to a survey of 27,500 people aged 40 to 80 in 29 countries.

"There was very little effect of age on sexual well-being," though other factors such as health problems or depression had a substantial impact, said lead researcher Edward Laumann of the University of Chicago in a telephone interview.

The survey published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior looked at how they viewed their sex lives, their health, and their happiness.

It found that a greater proportion of people in Europe, North America, and Australia, where men and women have more or less equal relations, enjoyed sex physically and emotionally, Laumann said. A smaller percentage of people reported satisfying sex lives in male-dominated cultures in poorer countries, the research showed.

But the gender gap persisted around the world.

"There's a systematic disparity between men and women, where men are on the average substantially -- or about 10 points -- higher in their levels of satisfaction as women in that country," he said.

Most of those surveyed at random were married, though there was an obvious bias toward participants who were willing to talk about sex, and toward urban populations in less-developed nations.

"Pleasure is not part of the story" in sexually conservative cultures in the Far East -- China, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand, Laumann said. "Procreation is the rationale for sex. Many women ... characterize sex as dirty, as a duty, something they endure" -- and often stop having it after age 50.

But roughly two-thirds of adults in Western nations reported their sex lives were very to extremely satisfying -- though some countries appeared happier than others.

Roughly four out of five middle-aged to older Austrians, for instance, rated their sex lives highly, while considerably fewer adults in France and Sweden shared that sentiment. In the United States, about three-quarters of men and two-thirds of women reported they were very satisfied with the physical and emotional aspects of their sex lives.

In Japan, by contrast, just 18 percent of the men and 10 percent of the women answered positively about their sex lives. And in Taiwan, only 7 percent of the women said sex was very important in their lives.

Satisfying sex is not the same as a satisfying sexual relationship, Laumann said the survey showed.

"People who are dating have higher levels of sexual satisfaction than (married) couples ... but when they think the relationship is temporary, they're not going to feel as positive about sex," he said.--Reuters

**It's almost uncanny that when I stumbled upon this article, I had just spent half the day dissecting and arguing with a friend over conjugal sex life. I don't know if he'll admit to being one of the lucky ones who formed part of the statistics quoted above, but I'm pretty sure a lot of Filipino men would. Just don't make the mistake of validating the answer with their wives!

Apparently, sex isn't a problem for couples in the first few years of marriage...it slowly declines over time, and once children arrive it becomes a privilege, or a limited-edition special offer. By the time the first signs of menopause sets in, don't count on the husband getting any. The moodswings, compounded by the Asian woman's view that the human body wasn't designed for sex past child-bearing years, translates to this neon sign on the wall: We're CLOSED--for good.

This leaves the poor man bewildered at how his wife, the former hot chick he dated and warm-blooded woman he spent decades of wedded sexual bliss with (maybe not as often as he would like, but at least it's still there!), suddenly rejects his advances and pushes him away after so much as a hug or a kiss in the neck.

Men are supposed to understand the difficulties of menopause, true...But I think gals, we also need to put a lot of thought in the reality that these boys,whether they're 17 or 57, are as horny ever.

I promise to continue this entry tomorrow...meantime, comments and violent protests will be entertained. Go, write! 

Angel's LSS: Gregorian Chants
Silverscreen Pick: Smallville--Season 3 Episode 4

I'm a meteor freak!
Posted in



I’m in love with Superman!

This pronouncement comes in a full decade too late. I am no longer the gushing 17-year-old reduced to fits of hysteria by the sight of Christopher Reeves’ forget-me-not blue eyes or Tom Welling’s to-die-for abs. But yes, I am in love with Superman, and I couldn’t care less if the world thinks me insane.

I embraced you, like a full circle around the red Krypton sun...

April must truly be the cruelest month, or so T.S. Eliot says. While summer heat sizzles and scorches, so smolders my obsession. It began a couple of months ago with animated text messages on the TV series Smallville, I must admit my curiosity was piqued. I began to watch Smallville a few episodes at a time, admiring the characters…enjoying the music.

Waiting for your fire to burn out mine …until I become nothing but particles floating aimlessly in the cosmos …living on the memory of having been loved…

You even forwarded mp3s and posted song lyrics.  We had  trivia exchanges until the late hours of the evening…I went as far as buying DVD copies of the whole five seasons of Smallville and searched for copies of the original movies for research purposes…with you acting as voice over announcer and living sub-titles.

,,once, too many or too few a time, by a phantasm; a man whose secret identity I know and keep deep within me.
 

I didn’t even notice the days and evenings passing by. I was too happy watching Clark and Lana Lang in love to take note of how much time you were spending with me…

his voice resonating with every mortal heartbeat I make…Surely he hears, surely he must know...

Now it’s too late…I can’t shake him off my system…… and neither can I, you. 

that I am now beyond redemption and I'd rather not be rescued...

So you see, Superman… I have undeniably fallen, and I’d much rather have him think it was with you…

Angel's LSS: Can You Read My Mind
24/7 Reading List: SMS Message ni Superman
Silverscreen Pick: Smallville Season 3 episode 5
Differential Diagnosis: *wala lang*

La Vie en Rose
Posted in

 

 Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn in SABRINA

La Vie en Rose

Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me, Heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak
Angels sing from above
Every day words
Seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose
I thought that love was just a word
They sang about in songs I heard
It took your kisses to reveal
That I was wrong, and love is real
Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me, Heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak
Angels sing from above
Every day words
Seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose

I’ve always been a sucker for love stories, be it in novels or in film.  Last night, for some strange reason, I felt the urge to watch SABRINA. I had the Audrey Hepburn original, the Julia Ormond-Harrison Ford remake was okay, but what I was hankering for was a mega dose of classic silver screen romance.

Sabrina Fairchild’s viewing life through rose colored glasses bit made me smile. And I swear, I’ve never envisioned anything as romantic as dancing cheek-to-cheek. **humming La Vie en Rose** Audrey Hepburn sang this in French, but rather than get lost in translation, I opted to post the lyrics in English.

Eh sa masaya ako, bakit ba? Hahaha!!! 

Ode to Superman
Posted in

  

Ode to Superman

I embraced you
full circle around Krypton’s sun,
certain your fire will consume me
until I am nothing but particles
perpetually dancing in space,
feeding on the energy
of being loved by a phantasm
whose identity I hold
in the quiet of my mortal heartbeats.

I’ve long given up trying
to solve the riddles of this universe:
of wanting to mend the tatter in time 
that caused meteors to pelt the earth too early
but brought me to you too late.

Immutable laws of the cosmos
breached with each kiss
the great divide forgotten in a fortress of solitude—
no windows, no doors to shut behind us
we etched doubt in mirrors of fragile peace.

This is my beat under the heavens
yours lie beyond dismantled suns
past extinguished stars, spent comets
and silenced human hearts
that taught you to yield and let go.

Love alone cannot eclipse the truth:
you’ll always be a god amongst men,
but you weren’t destined to save me.

~Anne Stephanie Cruz~