"Mama Mary" by katha8 on FanStory.com

"Mama Mary" by katha8 on FanStory.com

Sharing with you my Faith through this poem. My Catholic Faith was made strong through my parents and relative's help. When I was studying at Rafael Palma Elementary, at Vito Cruz, San Andres, Manila, my parents would send me to our town, at Hermosa, Bataan for the summer vacation. It was the town where I was raised up to 5 years old before we moved to Manila when my grandfather lost in the election. My father served the province as my grandfather's municipal secretary while my mother augmented the income by sewing dresses for customers within our home. Sometimes, she would have extra seamstresses to help her.

When ever my parents would sent me to the province for my summer vacation, the family of Lolo Andres, Lola Puring would welcome me in their house and would feed me with the best of food to the point of denying their children. They would also let me sleep in their finest beds. Their daughter Ofelia or Pe, would accompany me in the room and was my playmate and would accompany me to the church, especially in offering flowers to the image of the Virgin Mary, that emanates silver rays from her hands. Every afternoon of May, we would collect flowers from the plants of the neighbors and would line up in the altar offering our gifts to the virgin. We were guided by adult devotees to the faith especially the nieces of Lola Puring. At the end of May, children and grown-ups are given the opportunity to relive the passion of Jesus and search for His Cross by Constantine The Great and Santa Helena through the Santacruzan I was given an opportunity to participate as a sagala as Veronica carrying her cloth, or veil that showed the image of the face of Jesus Christ, after wiping the face of the suffering Christ, carrying the cross on His way to Calvary. I was wearing a red gown provided for me by the organizers for that occasion.The blood that covered the face of Christ was imprinted on her veil that she used to ease His suffering. It is still kept as a relic to witness the authenticity of the history of the Bible, which I am just understanding now through the help of the Claretians, especially Father Bernardo Blanco, a Spanish priest, and as revealed through meditations and hearing the sermons after the gospel readings in the daily mass at the Santa Raphaela House of Spirituality of the ACI Sisters.

When I was 28 years old, my parents and my in-laws especially my groom, made it possible for us to get married at our hometown in Hermosa, Bataan, in the Parish of San Pedro Martyr, where I was baptized and confirmed. And you know what, in my heart, I was marrying Jesus. My ninang or sponsor in my baptism Tia Lourdes, was around, and some of our guests was able to sleep in the house of my ninang in confirmation, Mrs. Rivera. After 25 years, we celebrated the silver anniversary of our wedding at Nativity church in Cubao, Quezon City, and in my heart I was marrying God the Father. The Holy Spirit descends on me every time I attend Holy Mass usually at the Santa Rafaela Maria chapel, at their house of spirituality, that makes me able to accept the teachings of Christ by accepting his body in the form of the host, to my physical self to make it clean as a temple of the Holy Spirit and live under God's protection and love. Truly I am in the hands of God according to his Plan, and am trying to spread Christ's teachings of caring, salvation, and love, through the help of the Virgin Mary.

State Of Happiness

Happiness, as I see it, is the state of the mind of one person, where he or she comes to the realization of being a creation of God, one who loves him or her. This happiness is just a temporary state that man experience within a certain phase of time in his earthly journey. This journey is made, in his hope for eternal happiness when he comes face to face with the Heavenly Father and be united with Him.

I was first introduced to happiness as being a state of consciousness in my elementary years, I believe, in the year before 1958, if my memory serves me right. I was very lucky to have been a student of a Filipino teacher that was teaching English in my school. She inculcated in her students love of books. I got access to the books she recommended from the school library. One of the books she recommended was about the character Pollyiana. I cannot remember the exact spelling but I failed to find in the internet the original version of the book. It was about a "looking-glass", which her grandfather gave to her. It made her possible to have a colorful and cheerful view of things around.

This reminds me of the term "euphoria" that I encountered in my later studies. The internet refers to it as a term taught by New Latin Greek describing "a feeling of great happiness or well-being." Modern medicine, and technology has it's own definition and attainment of happiness.

The word "Limbo" was taught before in books of Catholic Cathecism which I was able to acquire from a local bookstore during the late 1980's. Limbo is a place, in the borderline of heaven and hell, according to the book. It taught of a place or "the abode of the unbaptized but innocent or righteous souls as those of infants or virtuous souls who lived before the coming of Christ. Those souls in Limbo are in a state of happiness but they don't see God.

But Pope Benedict XVI declared at the onset of his reign as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church that there is no such place as Limbo. I believe in the infallibility of the Pope. This I believe he declared to embrace ecunemism, which through the agreement of different creeds was agreed on centuries ago. This coming of all nations together, respecting each other's belief without preempting anyone from the promise of God and the happiness and peace that it offers.
Limbo I think is within ourselves, a prison in our mind, through unbelief of possible happiness and salvation for others, especially sinners, including ourselves. We will only be released from this prison, to come face to face with the Father, and be able to look into His eyes if we heed the call of resurrection from the grave of our sin. Then we will be able to live the fullness of life through his light.

Mass In Different Contexts

The term mass as I first encountered it in my early childhood under my parent's care, is a gathering of people headed by a priest. Now, as I understand it in my adult life, the catholic mass is a celebration, as an offering to the Father,of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to suffer, and be crucified, and die on the cross. This same sacrifice, made more than two thousand years ago, is re-lived by the priest among the people without being bloody as had happened before, during the masses of the universal Catholic church, celebrated around the world. This is also practiced by some Protestants.This is made possible through the power of the Holy Spirit that comes down to the bread, in the form of a host and wine, that represents the body and blood of Christ. The host is transformed to the body of Christ to His actual flesh that was sacrificed on the wooden cross. This is made possible by Transubstantiation during the consecration part of the mass. The host becomes flesh yet still appears to have the properties of bread. This same bread is partaken by the mass participants during communion, to take into their own body, the body of Christ and be part of the sacrifice that Jesus made for the salvation of mankind, and be resurrected with Him, from the grave of our own sin, to be able to live in peace in the fullness of life. For the believer, this is a call to welcome and accept His heavenly kingdom on earth and hope for a union with Him in the Afterlife.

Mass also is the term coined for the major part of the citizens of a country. For some nations, they consist the majority of its residents, which for some countries consist of the marginalized, the economically disadvantaged or what we call the poor and those in the happy middle-ground or what we call the average income group.

From a scientific point of view, mass as defined in a google search is "a quantity of matter forming a body of indefinite shape and mass." Within the gravitational relative domain of earth, this mass is what we commonly know as weight with the international standard being measured in kilograms. Within the universe, depending on the relative location of the matter, within a heavenly body, it will have a different measure. Modern Physics now begins to harness the energy, that Einstein quantified in the formula E=MC(squared), during his time. This means that the energy that a mass can generate is equal to its relative weight multiplied by the measurement of the speed of light raised to the second power. In other words, energy is equal to the mass multiplied by the speed of light that is multiplied by itself.

REINCARNATION FROM MY CHRISTIAN VIEW

Reincarnation, as believed by other religions, is the death of one's physical body and the soul leaving the dead body and being reborn again into a higher or lower form, depending on the sins committed. The form, maybe , plants, animals, humans, and gods. That is what I remember from my Eastern Thoughts subject on philosophy, from college back in the old days.

Now, as a renewed Christian, of Catholic Faith, I have come to understand it as Jesus has taught and continue to teach through the church. I believe that we have only one life to live here on Earth. But our body takes on a "virtual form" here, like a an object, fly, dog, horse, or gods, and finally as a human form. These virtual forms are created by sin, caused by our environment or from within ourselves, if we don't control our thoughts. People around us, who, to widen their scope of authority, or people users, create that illusion and force us to submit to it. Some peacemakers, being children of God, believing in Jesus as servant/master go along with it, without totally submitting to the conquerors beliefs.

Now with the advent of new technology, man takes on a "virtual form" of non-living objects like a car, a cellular phone, a computer, an I-phone or an I-Pad. These modern inventions are necessary, I think, to take the beating by an inanimate object for man's sin. Also, I think, they are necessary to bring the world closer together. But anything that man does, has to be within the grace of God before it materializes.

But of course, man, being created in the image of God, inherited the dominion over other creations on Earth, God's or man's creation. Of course this dominion, has to be practiced with prudence, dignity and conscience, or he will be answerable to the Father in Heaven during judgment day.

These are my thoughts, as I have observed, learned and meditated on the things happening around in the country and the globe.

Wedding of Katrina, our niece

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the wedding of my niece through my husband Arturo or Art. It is a big day ahead. We are attending the Catholic church wedding, together with my son Archie and one of his friends. We will also be present in the reception at a membership club.

It was planned way ahead of time with the blessings of her parents, and the parents of her groom Paolo. It will be a blessed and joyous day ahead.

We have met Paolo on several occasions at family gatherings. He is a very decent and well-bred man. Katrina's life with him, I believe, will be happy.

Dine With Me At My Table

Dine with me at my table

In this house so humble

Come inside rich or poor

All will be welcome for sure

God's bounty has plenty to give
Jesus loves you, do not grieve
Share joyfully in this gathering
Accept faithfully His offering

Are you feeling happy or sad
Have you been good or bad
Let God soothe you from pain
Cast your sorrows, joys regain

A Life Without Love

What would I do with a life without love?
Will I beg for some from people I see?
Or will I wait for a blessing from above
Until I come to a sweet term with thee

What would I do with a life without love?
Tomorrow will be bleak without you
Shall I wait for a kiss from a dove?
To find quiet peace where it is due

What would I do with a life without love?
Endless promises without meaning
How many sleepless nights should I have?
Before this poor heart can truly sing