Beautiful Reasons for praying the rosary

Here's a nice email I got from a friend a few months ago.

Father Gabriel Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican
writes:

One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism, "Every Hail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end."

The secret that makes this prayer so effective is that the Rosary is both prayer and meditation. It is addressed to the Father, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Holy Trinity, and is a meditation centered on Christ. I write in addition to the above: Please enunciate each word of the Rosary clearly and distinctly. Do not trample on the heels of the words of anyone with your words.

Do not speak over the leader if you are following or the respondent if you are leading the Rosary.
Remember that they also are having a conversation with Mary Our Mother and it is not polite to speak when someone else is speaking.

In the case of the public Rosary there are only two people speaking: the Leader and the respondents. Each is speaking to the Blessed Mother and listening carefully to her response within their hearts as they meditate on the scene before them in their consideration of the mystery being spoken of and interpreted and translated into their lives.

Spread this powerful prayer of exorcism, the Rosary, which contains the Our Father, the Perfect Prayer, prayed five times in the recitation of each set of the Rosary's Mysteries, backed up by the powerful prayers of Our Mother who prays with us as we pray 53 Hail Mary's.

The Eternal Father described to a group of us, through a Visionary Friend of mine, what happens
when we pray the Rosary, saying, "When you pray Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now..., the Blessed Mother comes instantly to your side to pray with you. And she does not come alone. She brings angels with her. And not just one or two for she is the Queen of Angels, so choirs of angels come with her. And she and Jesus are joined at the heart and cannot be separated so she brings Jesus with her. And Jesus cannot be separated from the Trinity so He brings the Father and the Holy Spirit with Him. And where the Holy Trinity is, all of creation is, and you are surrounded by such beauty and light as you cannot imagine in this life.

Your Mother comes as Our Lady of Grace with her hands outstretched. Rays of light emit from her hands piercing your body, healing you and filling you with graces.. This is your inheritance which was poured out from the heart of Jesus on the Cross, when the centurion pierced His Heart with the spear, into the only pure vessel ready to receive such graces at that time, Your Mother. Now as you pray the Rosary, or even just recite one Hail Mary, you receive your portion of these graces. He also said at this time, "Anyone who goes to Mary and prays the Rosary cannot be touched by Satan." Is it any wonder that anyone who prays the Rosary from the heart is so blessed and protected and powerful in their prayers for others?

Dominus Franciscus "Per ferreus opus adveho remuneror of maiestas"

"May the LORD KEEP and BLESS YOU!!!"

Keep on praying the rosary and see what God has in store for you.

The Legend of the Banana Que

Minsan nagtalo-talo ang mga saging kung sino sa kanila ang pinakamasarap. Ang sabi ni Latundan, small but sweet siya. Hirit naman ni Lakatan, big but sweeter siya.

Sa gitna ng kanilang pagtatalo, nalungkot si Saba kasi hindi siya sweet at kailangan pa niyang mailuto, atpb. kaya nag-walk out siya.

Nakasalubong niya si Brown Sugar at kinuwento niya ang nangyari. Tumawa si Brown Sugar at sinabi, "It doesn't matter how sweet you are. What matters is how you make others special because of you. And you made me special."

Friends, never feel that you are not important. Each one of us has its place under the sun and each of us has its own mission in this world. Each of us is created in a unique way in order to bless the world and place its mark on it.

God placed you where you are because of a reason. God created you that way because of a reason. The question is: Have you discovered that reason?

When my parents bought me a new cellphone, I thought that it was Nokia. It was then that I found out that it was Asus. I asked myself, "How do I use this?" It was then that I referred and studied the Instruction Manual for a week.

So it is with our life, especially in knowing our purpose in life.

How do we know what our purpose is in this world?

Look up, read and study the Holy Bible. Or you may have a good, intimate and intense relationship with God because He is the one who created you.

I pray that you discover your unique purpose here on earth. In that way, we may together praise God uniquely in our way.

Talk to your beloved regularly

Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg!!!!!!!!!

Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg!!!!!!!!!

Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg!!!!!!!!!

It was really early morning and I woke up from a very good sleep.

Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg!!!!!!!!!

Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg!!!!!!!!!

Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg!!!!!!!!!

I searched in my bed where my cell phone was, and when I found it, I answered it like someone who came out from a very good experience.

“Hello?” I said.

“Good morning baby ko! Mwuah!!!”

“Hi there bossing! Mwuah!!!”

This is happens every morning, and it really energizes my soul and my body to hear my beloved over the phone. I would tell her how my sleep was, talk to her about my plans for the day about my job, talk to her about some of my experiences that I haven’t shared to her last night. And she does the same way too.

We would talk for around 10 to 20 minutes every morning, sometimes while I am on my way to work. This does not stop just in the morning because we also talk in the evening when we arrive home and there we would talk for about an hour or more. Thank God that I bought a Sun Cellular phone so that we can talk for this long.

I always look forward to this time where we can discuss anything that we want: our plans, our obligations, about us, about our funny moments. I always look forward to this because every day I learn a lot more about her. And we do this with a commitment that we must not miss any single moment without talking about these things.

This goes the same with our prayer time. We need to talk to our beloved God regularly. It may be in the morning, evening, or at noontime.

I remember one speaker during our Christian Life Program where he shared about one story in The Little Prince.

A little boy saw a fox and he became attracted to him that he wanted to befriend him. The fox was happy with the boy’s intention and said, “Ok! I will be your friend only with one condition. You must come to this place every day at this time. I will be ahead of you always and I will always look forward to seeing and talking with you every day.”

Just like the fox, God is inviting you to talk to him every day at a certain time in a day. It may be just for 5 minutes or more. But what is important is that you are able to share to Him your life and He in you. Through that you are able to grow in Him much more than you ever imagined.

El Papa Y La Virgen: A Reflection

Here's an article which was sent to me by my dad.

We don’t know why John Paul II wanted to hide this picture for years. The Vatican published this picture recently, for first time. This picture was taken by one of his security guards just when the Pope was attacked and was falling down in his Papalmobil. You can see the pain in his face.

Joaquin Navarro Valls, who is the one spokesman from The Vatican, said that they made a lot of studies for years of this incredible picture and of course about the quality of the developing of the picture because when it was developed nobody could see very well because the image was not clear. Finally, and after so many controls and being looking and checking by all the experts in photography (around the world), they decided that there were no tricks in it and today they give us this beautiful gift from our Mother of God.

You can see the Mother of God holding John Paul II in her arms. Beautiful right?

How many times have we thought that God had left us during our trying times?

How many times have we thought that God was never there during the times when we needed Him? During the times when we never felt God's presence in our lives?

I felt the same way too... many, many times.

But through this picture, it reminded me of how He never forget His promise when He left us:

"And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matthew 28: 20)

Becoming like Saint Matthias

Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles. (Acts 1: 26)

Do you really know who St. Matthias is? There was no record of him ever during the ministry of Jesus here on earth, nor was there any time that he was mentioned in the four gospels. He was only (and I would like to put emphasis on that) mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles where they were searching among the other followers of Jesus as the replacement for Judas. And that was it.

I would also like to emphasize another thing, and at one point assume one thing.

I believe that St. Matthias was really there with Jesus through thick and thin. Wherever He goes, he goes. He listens to His voice, and does it whole heartily. He never assumed anything and never wanted anything.

All that he wanted was to be with the Lord and follow His ways till the very end.

And when he was given the opportunity to step up and be counted among the apostles, he was humble and continued on what he is doing behind the scenes.

For me, he is a model disciple and follower of Christ.

Honestly, there were times that I was the opposite of St. Matthias.

I assumed positions because I felt that I was much qualified than the rest.

I always wanted to be recognized and be part of the group, to feel that I'm here and there always.

Thus, it came to a point that I was completely humbled when, in my assumption that I would be chosen, I was not and felt completely devastated. Thus, it forced me to say to myself these words (some of you might know and have read them):

I will not serve in the Christian Life Program for one year.

I will just attend my household regularly and the conferences whenever possible.

I will just be part of the service team when needed.

I thought that that will happen, until He surprised me.

Until I was called to be a facilitator again to my surprise (I was just a photographer).

Until our chapter head tapped me and told me that I "may be" chosen to become a household head.

Until God surprised me with many things.

And until then, I was completely humbled from my selfishness and my pride.

Forgive me for everything Lord.

Here I am Lord, I come to do Your will.

Cradle God's Word and Promise in Your Heart

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." (Luke 2: 25-32)
Were there times in your life where someone promised you something that you always wanted? How did you react on them?
As a child, I would always hold on tight the promises my parents told me. Any kid would do that too. Even as I grew up, I still hold on to the promises which they give me. I also hold on to the promises which my friends and my loved ones would say to me. I hold them tightly in my heart that I will really look forward to it that one day, I'll receive them.
However, it is not the same as how God would do. Yes, He gave me promises in two related occasions (one is during MMC last year and one was last August 3, 2007). When He revealed it to me, I took hold of them tightly and said to myself, "I'll have this in time. I'll focus everything as if I have it already."
But then I found out that as I was holding it tightly in my hands, I was wounding myself in the process. The promises that God gave me was like a very beautiful yet fragile glass figure that was starting to crack that's why I am getting wounded. I never felt the pain because I was so holding on to it tightly...
That until someone told me that the gift which God gave to me is starting to crack and my hands are all red because of blood. There I felt the pain and the agony of it. I look at my hands and I see the wounds so deep and blood gushing forth. I saw the gift and it is tarnished with blood and cracks. The gift which He gave me was full of blood because of what I did. I just felt sorry for myself for not realizing it.
In His mercy, He went through the heart of that person and told me that I should just carried and hold God's promise lightly in my heart just like a baby in the arms of a father. Then I recalled how Simeon carried the baby Jesus in his arms as he saw the fulfillment of God's promise to mankind.
Since then, I prayed that I may handle it lightly and just let God work on it. I pray that I would follow how Simeon did in carrying the baby Jesus in his heart.

The Fifth Gospel: Our Lives in Christ

This is my first blog. To start with, I would like to share to you my reflections which I wrote down last March 1, 2007.

Enjoy!!
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Two or three years ago, when Dan Brown published his book The Da Vinci’s Code, it shocked the entire world, including the Catholic Faith. Many Catholics, upon reading the novel were shocked, confused, and even changed their religion because of the arguments presented in his book, including the issue about the divinity of Jesus. According to some experts and to the author, most of his sources came from the Gnostic gospels which were not included in the present-day bible. In addition, some would argue that these issues had long been dead as they were just brought up to confuse people.

I honestly read the book, but I didn’t finish it. Maybe because I wasn’t ready yet to open myself to the understanding or to their arguments regarding that issue, or that I would end up like those people who were in deep trouble after reading the novel. However, these gospels taught me something which I discovered lately.

Earlier, I had a chat with my former household head Dave who will be joining the missions with Couples for Christ in Peru this March 1. He had been a huge influence in my life as his help was my stepping stone toward my healing. During our household meetings, I learned a lot from him, especially how his life gave hope to me as he too was undergoing the same therapy sessions as I am.

As we talked, I told him the many things which I am thankful. I told him that through his sharing of his life to us, including his suffering and weaknesses, I saw how he shared his gospel in a manner that he sees Christ in him. He continually affirms us that He is always there for both thick and thin.

Friends, our lives are living gospels of faith. According to Dave, there are five gospels: the four gospels in the Bible, and our life. As I saw the emergence of these Gnostic gospels, I found out that the authors Mary Magdalene, St. Peter, St. Thomas and the other Gnostics (although they did not write those), wrote about their lives in a way that they saw Christ in their lives.

Now, let us take away the issue of Christ’s divinity in this topic. What I am driving at here is that we should never take away Christ in our lives and in our sharing of our lives. Why? Because it is through Him that our lives have meaning, that there is hope in it, that we are motivated to share more of ourselves.

I realized that this was the reason why it took me weeks, or even months before I could write another blog (well, maybe because I'm using my girlfriend's laptop). The erason behind this is because I'm too concerned that people will not appreciate that things that I write here because of the following reasons: Too religios, too impractical, too boring. Right now, I'm hearing someone saying, "It will be very impossible for me to apply it."

But I never realized that adding Jesus in the recipe would make things practical and easy. No wonder that Bo Sanchez, the author of the books and How to Find Your One True Love and Your Past Does Not Define Your Future found it easy to share his life to others and write his story and history with ease.

It was a painful realization, but it was bound to happen for me to realize the things that I know and the things that I needed to change.

Never be ashamed for telling your story, even though you have a dark past. Because God designed it the way it is and with your story, many will see hope in it.