Due to both internet, schedule and post problems, everydaygrace is experiencing a backlog. All back posts will be posted tomorrow, together with the resumption of everydaygrace. Thanks for understanding.

29 January 2010
SAINT FRIDAYS - St. Thomas Aquinas

(just got home. so, for the late post…)

Tonight’s prayer is a remembrance of St. Thomas Aquinas, a saint known not just for his holiness but also, for his brilliance in the field of philosophy and theology. He has contributed a lot to the Roman Catholic Church, especially in the form of doctrine and other teachings. I choose to remember him because it was his feast the other day, January 28.

We ask the intercession of St. Thomas Aquinas to pray for all the students that we may heed to the invitation of using our God-given talents for the service of God and others. Also, we ask him to pray for our universities that they may continue to help in honing these talents to the right direction.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

28 January 2010
VIDEO THURSDAYS - The Lost Generation

Today’s video is not really about prayer or about God. It is about who we are as people — our generation. The poem is a surprise in itself and you must see how the art of poetry is used to deliver a very strong message. While watching, let’s ask ourselves, “Are we really a lost generation? How come?” Let our answer for these questions serve as a point of our conversation with God.

27 January 2010
PRAYER WEDNESDAYS - Patient Trust (by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.)

Our prayer for Prayer Wednesday is attributed to a French Jesuit scientist — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. From the way it is written, you will not get a sense that it is a formula prayer. However, being exposed to Ignatian prayers and ways of praying, I find this prayer/reflection/consideration as something to really ponder on and use as a springboard for prayer. A question to ask ourselves is: “When do we patiently trust in God? When are the times we find it hard to patiently trust in God?”

—-

Patient Trust (by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.)

Above all, trust in the slow work of God

We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end withour delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of progress
that it is made by passing through
some states of instability —-
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually —- let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and cirsumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

26 January 2010
MUSIC TUESDAYS - Shifting Sands by Caedmon’s Call

Music Tuesday this week will focus on faith. It is something that we all question and yet, we hold on to it so dearly. The song describes how our faith in God is like — like shifting sands changed by every wave. However, because we know we could not carry ourselves alone, we still hold on to faith and “stand on grace.” As reflection, we ask ourselves, “when were the times that our faith became strong? when were the times it became weak?” Let’s listen to the song as we reflect.

—-

Shifting Sands (by Caedmon’s Call)

Sometimes I believe all the lies
So I can do the things I should despise
And every day I am swayed
By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith
So I’m feeling precarious
The only problem I have with these mysteries
Is they’re so mysterious

And like a consumer I’ve been thinking
If I could just get a bit more
More than my fifteen minutes of faith,
Then I’d be secure

(Chorus)
My faith is like shifting sand
Changed by every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace

I’ve begged you for some proof
For my Thomas eyes to see
A slithering staff, a leprous hand
And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory
And this soaked altar going ablaze
But you know I’ve seen so much
I explained it away

(Chorus)

Waters rose as my doubts reigned
My sand-castle faith, it slipped away
Found myself standing on your grace
It’d been there all the time

(Repeat Chorus)

25 January 2010
REFLECTION MONDAYS - Miracles by Anthony de Mello, S.J.

Today is my brother’s birthday. Lord, please continue to bless him.

Another Monday, another reflection. Let me share a short story by Fr. Anthony de Mello, S.J. He shares the reality of miracles. We have been raised to think that miracles are almost close to impossible when in fact, we are capable of doing or being a miracle. As we read the story, let us reflect on our view on miracles. Have we been a source of miracles?

—-

MIRACLES (Anthony de Mello, S.J.)

A man traversed land and sea to check for himself the Master’s extraordinary fame. “What miracles has your Master worked”? he said to a disciple.

“Well, there are miracles and miracles. In your land it is regarded as a miracle if God does someone’s will. In our country it is regarded as a miracle if someone does the will of God”.

MORSEL:

The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it. — John Ruskin

BONUS

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done”, and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way”. — C.S. Lewis

—-

Lord God, help us to believe in miracles and teach us how to be a miracle to others. Amen.

(Picture taken from Deviantart.)

24 January 2010
GOSPEL SUNDAYS - 3RD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

This is another late post. But, anyway, a good reflection of last Sunday’s Gospel. The particular passage that struck me is what Jesus read from Scripture and afterwards, exclaiming that all these have been fulfilled in Him. This passage reveals what Christ’s mission is. A question we can reflect on is, “What is our own purpose or mission? When can we really say that all these are fulfilled?” Here is the passage:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

—-

A reflection from the Mary the Queen Parish website:

My dear friends, in today’s gospel reading, we see Jesus in a synagogue in Nazareth, according to his custom. But this time he went there for a very specific purpose, namely to make the inaugural address for his ministry. He stood up and read from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” The words “liberty to captives” express the hopes and aspirations of Israel. For at the core of the whole Old Testament is God’s liberation of his people from the oppression and slavery in Egypt. And throughout the history of salvation, God has continued his work of liberation. Jesus now says that the Holy Spirit has anointed him to proclaim liberty to captives. And this will happen now, “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

In this, his first sermon, Jesus defines his life’s mission. Henceforth, he would place himself entirely in the service of those who are not free. Henceforth, he would reveal, by his words and by his life, the liberation that God wants to bring about for people. This is the context with which we are to understand what Jesus intends to do after he has appropriated to himself the words of Isaiah. “Bring glad tidings to the poor.” Jesus wants to make the poor the first ones to participate in his mission as they are the ones most inclined to accept his message of salvation in view of their condition and simple lifestyles.

By this, it does not mean that Jesus only wants to bring the Good News to the materially poor. He also brings it to those who think themselves rich but are really poor, those who rely only on themselves and their possessions, and therefore have no place for God in their hearts. Moreover, whether rich or poor, we all live in and are part of a broken world. We only have to scan the headlines in the newspapers and the news on TV and radio to discover the harm that man has done and continues to do to his fellow human beings. He lives in a “dog-eat dog” world, where the rich become richer, and the poor, poorer and without voice.

“Proclaim liberty to captives”. People who are not free are not only those found in jails. There are those who are prisoners of their selfishness, greed and hunger for wealth, fame and power. Finally, there are those who are enslaved by their vices and addictions, to lust, gambling, alcohol drugs, etc. “Recovery of sight to the blind”. We are blind if we see only our own needs and not the needs of our neighbor. We are blind if we cannot distinguish between good and evil, between a just and an unjust act. We are blind if we say that we work for our children’s future but we do not take measures to lessen pollution so that our children can breathe cleaner air, drink cleaner water and eat healthier food. We are blind, if during elections, we vote for popular rather than competent and caring candidates, those who will work for the common good without any selfish motives.

“Freedom to the oppressed”. We see all kinds of oppression around us. Workers who are underpaid but cannot stand up for their rights for fear of losing their jobs. Squatters not getting out of their slums because what they earn is barely enough to feed their families. People who are so hard up and thus forced to borrow from usurers who lend at high interest rates. People who are discouraged and depressed, who believe that no one cares for them. Jesus had made these and more his life-mission. To carry out this mission, he went around feeding the hungry, curing the sick, giving sight to the blind, etc. In short, he went around doing good. Jesus also preached. And at the core of his preaching was love for God and love for one another.

He preached a love that was universal that left no one out. He did this, since he knew that if people learned to love and acted out of love, then, care, respect for others, understanding and reconciliation would follow. Then people would be liberated from what enslaved them. More, they themselves would set out to work for “liberty to captives” as Jesus did.

Jesus’ one final act of love was his obedience to his Father, even unto death. With his death, Jesus’ and his Father’s love was liberated in the person of the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit is now present and works in us and in our midst. He asks us to effect changes within ourselves as well as for our commitment to carry on with what Jesus set out to do at his inaugural address. Finally, he tells us not be overwhelmed by the difficulties and trials that come our way because he will always be with us.

The marvellous dramatic flourish that Jesus gives when he says, “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen”, situates salvation in the present moment. And this is vital—salvation is not something over the horizon. No, salvation occurs in the present moment, right now! We do not and cannot wait for it. We need it right now. But there is an interesting distinction to be made between what we need and what we are prepared to do. Yes, it is easy for us to say to God: “Come Lord, right now and bring me salvation.”

But it is not so easy for us to make the changes that would be required if this prayer of ours was answered. We know that if we opened ourselves up to the fullness of God’s love, we could not go on living the way that we are doing right now. We know that big changes would be required and it is not so easy for us to start making those changes. We want to put them off until tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow. “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.” Jesus is not simply referring to the day on which he uttered those words.

My dear friends, this text is being fulfilled in your life and mine right now. We poor hear the good news. We captives are given liberty from our sins. We, spiritually blind now can see that Jesus is truly the Light of our Lives. And this year and every year that follows is a year of the Lord’s favour.

God bless you.

(Picture taken from a wordpress blog.)

23 January 2010
MEDITATION SATURDAYS - Prayer for Generosity

Saturdays are used for points in meditating. I will suggest points that you can use to meditate and then, converse with God. Today, I will share a prayer that I use as a mantra everytime I don’t get what I want (the what I want here does not refer to material things). Let me share St. Ignatius of Loyola’s, Prayer for Generosity. Try it out as mantra for 20 times, you’ll feel relaxed and generous.

——-

PRAYER FOR GENEROSITY (Ignatius of Loyola)

Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous; 
teach me to serve you as you deserve, 
to give and not to count the cost, 
to fight and not to heed the wounds, 
to toil and not to seek for rest, 
to labor and not to seek reward, 
except that of knowing that I do your will.

Amen.

22 January 2010
SAINT FRIDAYS - St. Agnes of Rome

(Pardon the delay in posting. Internet and schedule problems. Here are the back issues.)

For Fridays, I think it would be nice to feature holy people or saints as a point of prayer. By looking at the lives of these role models, we can then ask ourselves, “How can we imitate these holy men and women?” Answering this question can lead us to a good conversation with God in our prayer.

Today’s saint is ST. AGNES OF ROME. She just had her feast last Thursday. Her life teaches us of devotion and self-offering to God, even to the point of giving up her own life for it. She is described as a virgin-martyr. At age 13, she refused to be married to the son of a nobility. She exclaimed that she only wants to offer herself to Jesus Christ and no one else. Her entire self-offering to God led to her own demise. Nevertheless, she was admired because of this.

We ask St. Agnes to pray for us to God that He may give us the faith that St. Agnes had in offering ourselves to Him, the source of true happiness.

ST. AGNES, pray for us.

(picture above is Francisco de Zurbaran’s painting, Santa Ines taken from Wikipedia.org.)

21 January 2010
VIDEO THURSDAYS - The God Pie

Today’s video moved me when I first watched it. You’ve got to see for yourself and use the message as a point of reflection. It struck me that yes, most of the time, we allot most of ourselves for things that are temporary and to God, not even a portion. Let’s ask ourselves as we watch, HOW MUCH PORTION OF OUR PIE DO WE GIVE TO GOD? DO WE GIVE AT ALL?

Let our answer for these questions serve as a point of our conversation with God. How do you feel about the portion of your pie which you give to God? Let’s end our prayer by expressing our desire to give God a portion of this pie.