Remain Faithful Until Death...

Today, for my quiet reflection, just when I was feeling a little down, these short scriptural words gently spoke to me, embraced me and gave me hope – sustaining me. 

I simply pray that these Words of life will have the same power over you as Lent quietly approaches.


“I know your tribulation and poverty, but you are rich.  I know the slander of those who claim to be Jews and are not, but rather are members of the assembly of Satan.


Do not be afraid of anything that you are going to suffer.  Indeed, the devil will throw some of you into prison that you may be tested, and you will face an ordeal for ten days.  Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” 
(Revelation 2:9-10)


Sometimes, along our journey through life, just when we have the feeling that no one seems to understand us…we are gently comforted by Him…who knows all our needs and every unspoken prayer deep within our heart.


The journey that once seems so hopeless and empty…does not seem so lonely after all.  We continue to be faithful and place all our hope in Jesus.

The Forty Holy Days...

Less than a week to Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, extending over 40 days.  I share with you this short and simple reflection as we journey the final leg towards a season of holiness, preparation, repentance and renewal.

"Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return."

(Genesis 3:19, Douay-Rheims)

The priest will deliver this traditional English translation of the admonition to each and every one of us, whether young or old, male or female, rich or poor, all, sinners the same.  The priest will make the sign of the cross, of ashes on our forehead to remind us that none of us can escape death and final judgment.

"...the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel."

(Mark 1:15, Douay-Rheims)

Blogging into The Quiet Abyss…

“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children.” (Deuteronomy 4:9, NAB)

The journey towards Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, can be long and winding for many, not to mention forgetful, at times as we go about daily attending to various tasks.  My thoughts, so many of them, seem to be shifting focus from one end to the other…as I too struggle to calm myself...prepare myself for a meaningful holy season. 


One particular article caught my eye…Blogging on the decline among the younger generation, it reads.  Previously, it was the death of bookshops as reading was said to be on the decline; actually reading from a 'real' physical book!  

The new generation 'types' or 'copy & paste' more than they write and 'scrolls' or 'google' more than they visit a real library, 'saves' instead of file.



Traditional folks like me still prefer the old rustic bookshop, flipping through the pages and jotting down my thoughts in a notebook.

Being amongst the crowd of book lovers, yet feeling simply alone with the bound book in your hands...reading into the thoughts of someone...sharing in the journey of others. 


I still love reading spiritual books and writing...although in many ways, 'surfing' (on the web, that is) does enhance my love of the former two.

“To my surprise, I never lost the ability to write. In fact, writing became part of my struggle for survival. It gave me the little distance from myself that I needed to keep from drowning in my despair.”
-Henri Nouwen

Many young people have also shy away from blogging or web logging, migrating towards online expressive social networks like Facebook and Twitter; making many new instant ‘friends’ and being ‘liked’ many, many times over, instant messaging, online games and virtual world.


While technology is not exactly bad, the world we journey in today is drowned with data, chronicles of information and gadgets that supports us to keep up with everything on the super e-highway.


I hear from many youths who boast that they have hundreds and thousands of ‘friends’ or 'followers' connected to their Facebook account.  What does this mean?  Popularity?  Boost to the ego?  Growing up has never been the same in this modern day and age…

Like it or not, youths of today all ‘live’ in a world of instant gratification – fast food, instant microwave meals, YouTubes, iPhone downloads, instant ‘friends’, followers, cyber-pals, etc, etc.

Who wants to put deep old-fashioned thoughts into each and every blog post when it is not even certain that anyone ‘out there’ is listening or ‘following’; blogging into the abyss sounds quite daunting to many these days.  Blogging seem to be dying a slow and natural death as the world progresses.


Why then do people like me still choose to blog?  For one, I am long-winded with words and blogging suits me fine to express my thoughts.  I am sure everyone has their own personal reasons.

Blogging or cyber-journaling, as I would term it, pens my own simple journey towards God…at a point of my life when there’s just too many things going on around me and I am trying to stay spiritually sane.  Another more noble reason could be to leave a legacy behind for those who know me, perhaps my children.

Blogging an online spiritual journal allows me to be real with myself and to also share the hidden treasures of my heart with others.  Thus far, my journaling has been quite a self discovery for me.  I find that I enter into this quiet and calm meditative state of serenity with God, listening, revealing my thoughts to Him, although He already knows it all before it even reaches my lips, in this case, my fingers hitting the keyboard!

“O LORD, you have probed me,

you know me:

you know when I sit and stand;

you understand my thoughts from afar.

My travels and my rest you mark;

with all my ways you are familiar.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

LORD, you know it all.” (Psalm 139:1-4, NAB)

Before the blogging days, my experiences would often breeze through without me taking even a glimpse of my thoughts, reactions, insights and feelings…my soul…not bothered in remembering what God has done in my life or the blessings showered upon me and my family…more pre-occupied with the doing, chasing, reacting, achieving, directing, working…


This blog has helped me to be more aware of my own spiritual journey and disciplined me to savor simple thoughts within my heart as they quietly pass by.  It has prompt me to pay more attention to God, see with new eyes what God has been doing, touch God in the gentle breeze and see how God has blessed me in my life.

“...but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 

When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?””  (1 Kings 19: 11-13, NRSV)

Today, SimplyQuiet, a relatively young blog journal, acts like a mirror, reflecting my own life journey back to me, my weaknesses, my imperfections - providing me with a place to explore, learn more of God, a good sounding board for me to learn and deepen my own spiritual life, to sustain me in seeking God under all circumstances…more importantly, I hope, shed some light to brighten up others’ path...

Journaling on the blogosphere also allows me to be more descriptive in landscaping my own journey so that many others who walk the same path may know, may recognize…that our life’s journey have much in common and through this avenue of simple sharing…others may walk this path a little easier, less burdened, knowing that there are others who have already passed by.

Scripture discloses a God who, even when rejected and abandoned, still keeps believing in human beings, loving them to the end and doing all in His power to awaken their trust.

I pray that this humble journal, SimplyQuiet, can also play a small part where God can invite you personally to trust in His love, to place your confidence in Him and to follow Him into a communion that will have no end.Lent is a time for self discovery, discovering God within all our imperfections and sharing and journeying towards God...seeing and finding God in everything.

Under a leaf, in a snowflake

In a blade of grass, in a raindrop

All parts of nature

In your parents’ loving embrace

In the phone call from your grandparents

All family relationships

In working and sharing with others

In helping the unfortunate

All volunteering jobs

Where are you able to find God?

Lord, help me to find you in all ways and walks of life.

Amen.

The Long and Winding Road...

Just recently, as I watched the recent Top 24 of the American Idol Season 10 where Haley Reinhart, Naima Adedapo, and Jacob Lusk did their unique performance of the Beatles', “The Long and Winding Road”, I was taken back in time...bringing back memories of my journey.

Beatles' lyrics for the journey's reflection towards Lent?  Why not?  Growing up, music, as in my faithful radio, always had a deep influence on me...listening to the serene, inspirational music, pondering on the tune and reflecting on each word of the lyrics often leads me into a quiet reflective mood...alone with God...day dreaming with Him...just wasting time with Him...my whole being sing praises Him.



Anyway, this song by the Beatles has always been one of my favorite tunes…the meaningful lyrics transporting me to contemplate more of my own journey through life, its challenges, hopelessness, all my imperfections and my dependence on God, the times when I feel that He is not always there to accompany me…completely...surrendering to Him all my bitterness and pain...and tiredness...

Our human journey towards the start of Lent can similarly be like that, lack of self-discipline, indifference…where you just want to give up when the road gets seemingly long and winding, and doors seem to shut on your face.  What is the use of even persevering on this path?

“Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.” - Fulton J. Sheen

Paul McCartney always found inspiration in the calm beauty of Scotland and the ‘road’ of the song title was inspired by the “B842” (a national road which winds over 50 km over the West Coast of Scotland, through Kintyre to his High Park Farm in Campbeltown).  He goes on to share:


“It's rather a sad song. I like writing sad songs, it's a good bag to get into because you can actually acknowledge some deeper feelings of your own and put them in it.  It's a good vehicle, it saves having to go to a psychiatrist.


I was a bit flipped out and tripped out at that time.  It's a sad song because it's all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach.  This is the road that you never get to the end of” (reflecting the sorrow at the prospect of his band, The Beatles, breaking up).”


Music, for me is, and will always be, an inspirational avenue towards a deeper prayer life.  Here goes the simple but meaningful lyrics of the song recorded way back in January, 1969, a time when I was barely six, where the journey has barely begun…

The long and winding road

that leads to your door

will never disappear

I've seen that road before

It always leads me here

Lead me to you door

The wild and windy night

that the rain washed away

Has left a pool of tears

crying for the day

Why leave me standing here?

Let me know the way

Many times I've been alone

and many times I've cried

Any way you'll never know

the many ways I've tried

But still they lead me back

to the long winding road

You left me standing here

a long, long time ago

Don't leave me waiting here

lead me to your door

But still they lead me back

to the long winding road

You left me standing here

a long, long time ago

Don't keep me waiting here

lead me to your door

The seemingly long and winding road of our journey through life will never disappear and will naturally lead us back to the door of Heaven...back home to God.   We travel this long and winding road just as Jesus Christ did...through Him, with Him and in Him.

Listen to the original Beatles tune here...and I pray that you too, will always remember your journey...and grow in strength and wisdom each day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUO7N-zSMYc

God bless all and may your journey towards Lent sing and cry out praises to His Name always.

Simply Let God Bring You Home...

Today, I simply share the quote from the late Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen, a Catholic priest and writer, born in the Netherlands. 

His quiet reflection continues to be very meaningful and relevant to me...also for our pondering as we journey together towards Lent.



“For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God.

I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life—pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures—and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself.

I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.





Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me.

The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?”



The question is not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?”

And, finally, the question is not “How am I to love God?” but “How am I to let myself be loved by God?”

God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.”

- Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

Choose...Relationship With God...

“God is always waiting to be gracious to you. God comes to show you compassion.”

(Isaiah 30:18)

  As Ash Wednesday continues to creep up on us, and we begin to notice all the ‘purple’ reminders around us, we pause to ponder that love is the most profound emotion known to human beings.


For the people of the world, romantic relationships are the most meaningful element in their lives but for many of us pilgrims, the holy season of Lent also reminds us of the great love of God.  Lent would be a great time to slow down, pause and spend time with God; listening to Him, thanking Him for the specific blessings in your life, including the challenges that you have endured by His grace.


“Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
(John 15:13, Douay-Rheims)

 Is it not a fact that we all come into this world as ‘guests’, as ‘exile’ - constantly striving to find the so-called 'secret' of a successful rapport with everybody and everything we come across, trying to achieve everything with the aim of having a successful life?

In the midst of all these worldly pursuits, we often tend to forget and have no time to ask ourselves, “Do I actually have a personal relationship with my loving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?”


The words ‘Jesus is Lord’ may come glibly from our lips in prayer, but to actually live out this confession with commitment in this journey through life, is far more difficult and challenging.


“…And no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.”  (1 Corinthians 12:3, NAB)

The 'sacrifices' we make during Lent, although for God, our Creator…also affect others around us and naturally, ourselves too, in our relationship with God.  The actions we take and the choices we make in our spiritual journey through Lent has a multi-pronged effect…whether we are what we were called to be…whether we love more or less…whether we remember to be humble and mindful?

The world today seems to constantly echo with a disconcerting chorus of voices, noises, the result of frustrated and failed relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, siblings, in-laws, friends, colleagues and communities, even between nations!  As a result, individuals become disillusioned with themselves for not being able to relate successfully to their environment…the world they live in…some rebel, fight back whereas others lose hope, become depressed, abandoned, even suicidal.

Thus, the journey through Lent is a very opportune time for us, to learn to become more prayerful, cultivate more awareness of God’s presence and grow more deeply into His grace; committing, building, nurturing and strengthening our relationship with Him.

“Prayer is our relationship with God.  If we are striving to live, move and act with an awareness of God’s abiding presence at all times, we are praying.  When we are convinced that every heartbeat is a gift from God, that every hair on our head is counted, we are praying.  This awareness and conviction is prayer. …We cannot be constantly addressing our thoughts and words to God in prayer, but our attitudes and mentality can always be prayerfully God oriented.” – Msgr. David E. Rosage


Lent is, most of all, an ideal time to remember that we, in the deepest way, must learn to fully depend on God; to let God come into our lives…to remember who we are…to be vulnerable for Him…to allow God to use us as His humble instrument to reflect His light to a very much darkened world we live in.  To listen to Him daily...


“O, that today you would hear his voice: Harden not your hearts…”  (Psalm 95-7-8)

 God is faithful, He is always waiting…waiting to be gracious to each one of us.  Regardless of how often we have sinned, rejected Him, gave up on Him, God is always waiting to be gracious to each one of us…running to seek us out, to find us, embrace us, forgive us and to bring us back home. On our part, we must learn to be humble and to repent.

“Speak, Lord for your servant is listening”  (1 Samuel 3:9-10)


Our loving God and Father did not create us to be slaves to the secular world, to be bound by its set of worldly man-made rules, as if that is how we should develop a relationship with God.  Through His death on the cross, He has already freed us…saved us.



Hence, as you continue your journey towards Lent, slow down and always choose to balance everything else in your life, with Jesus at the very center…and His Word, His Church and her teachings…balancing the equilibrium.


A committed and self-disciplined journey towards Lent will purify your soul and allow you to simply experience a deeper sense of interior freedom, quiet and solitude.  Lent will then have a more significant meaning and you will surely notice the simple difference on Easter Sunday…simply living life carrying the full hope of the resurrection.

“...thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

(Matthew 16:18, Douay-Rheims)

A "Purple" Reminder...Be Awaken!...

Today, we hear of a devastating earthquake, the second in five months, killing innocent people in New Zealand's second-biggest city of Christchurch, partially destroying, amongst other premises in the Diocese, the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.  This was to be New Zealand's most deadly natural disaster for 80 years.  What sort of an Advent, Christmas, New Year and journey towards Easter will these Kiwi pilgrims experience? 


Just when you thought the revolution in Egypt has ended, deadly unrest and innocent bloodshed has begun in Libya; which is populated with around 80,000+ Catholics. 

Around the world, we observe crude oil prices soaring to a new high, European stock and other stock markets reacting to the mounting Libya worries.

Blatant political corruption schemes, murders, sex crimes, betrayals, racist sentiments, discrimination, suppressed democracy and conspired sodomy charges are being publicly promoted in a South East Asian country; whose state religion is Islam and Catholic pilgrims, a minority.  Where is justice?  Where is peace?  Why the spirit of destruction?  Where is the face of God?


“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
(Matthew 27:46, Douay-Rheims)

With such distracting ‘noises’ and depressing ‘colors’ from all over the world, how does a simple sojourner on this earth even ‘pretend’ that there is even hope for repentance, healing, renewal and transformation?  What is happening (or not happening) in the world today?  Why is everyone so pre-occupied with everything else, destructing creation and missing or even forgetting the whole point of Lent?  How do people prepare to enter Lent? 

How easily people forget about the consequences of similar human condition expressed in the Old Testament of the Holy Scriptures...

Lent is the holy season where we commit to prepare ourselves to encounter Jesus and His sacrifice by humbly endeavoring to become more Christ-like ourselves. 

This Lenten journey towards transformation is about letting ourselves be filled with God’s presence so that we can be shaped by God’s grace. 

That way, we can love God, others and most importantly, ourselves a little bit more…become better stewards of God’s creation…our planet Earth.

Lent is the period of fasting leading up to the joyful celebration of Easter; recalling Jesus' 40-days of fasting in the wilderness.  Catholic Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends right before the evening Masses of Holy Thursday, although Lenten penance continues through Holy Saturday.  This year 2011, Lent will begin on March 9.  The evening of Holy Thursday begins the Easter Triduum, which spans from Holy Thursday through Good Friday to the Evening Prayer of Easter Day.


Against the backdrop of everything else that is ‘happening’ around the world today, Lent can often be one big mystery.  For some, Lent may be a period of going on a long overdue diet regime; for others, Lent would probably be a time when their Catholic friends wear ashes on their foreheads and eat fish on Fridays.  For the rest, Lent may just come and go without even a blink of an eye!

“Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads...”
(Matthew 27:39, NIV)

Whatever the perception may be, the purpose of Lent still remains to be a season of fasting, self-denial, self discipline, Christian spiritual growth, penitence, repentance, conversion, simplicity and transformation.

Lent, which comes from the Germanic word meaning ‘springtime’, can be viewed as a spiritual ‘spring cleaning’; a time for taking spiritual inventory of ourselves and then cleaning out those 'unnecessary baggages' which hinder our community and personal relationship with Jesus Christ and ability to serve Him.  Lent is a time for us to pause and take a sincere honest look within ourselves.

We also notice the symbolic liturgical color of the season – PURPLE (to some, violet). The Lenten ‘purple’ or ‘violet’ is a more somber or solemn blue-violet, contrasting with the lighter purple of Advent, last Christmas.

“The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort.  They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him.  They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him.  They knelt before him in homage.  And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him.”

(Mark 15:16-20, NAB)

The color 'purple' evokes a mood of solemn simplicity and helps us realize our dependence on a loving and merciful God who has become bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh that saves us; His obedient willingness to die on the cross.  The color 'purple' symbolizes the royal dignity of Jesus Christ, at the same time it is also associated with sorrow, mourning, self-discipline, repentance including the pain and suffering of the crucifixion…leading to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection and sovereignty.

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly.  Once more Pilate went out and said to them, "Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him."  So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.  And he said to them, "Behold, the man!"”

(John 19:1-5, NAB)

As we continue our journey towards Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, we should allow the 'purple' color remind us that this is a time for self discipline, a time for giving up something, speaking up against injustice in society, caring for the elderly, marginalized and vulnerable, responding to domestic, national and international disasters.

The message of the color ‘purple’ of Lent is relevant to all of us.  As we embrace this solemn 'purple', we are also reminded that we are all part of one race, the human race, journeying with each other in the same world, a world created by God, that needs looking after all the time; our stewardship.

Thus, if we keep awake and continue to journey prayerfully with perseverance, simplicity and awareness of our true self, we will surely encounter Jesus…come Lent...



“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
(The Apocalypse Of Saint John 1:8, Douay-Rheims)