Veni Sancte Spiritus

Moving...and other stuff...

2011-09-28T20:12:00.006-10:00

First off, let me apologize (AGAIN) for disappearing off the face of the earth. This is what summer does to me. But I think summer is a good enough excuse...sort of... When you're homeschooled, Summer can do dangerous things to you...

And secondly, I'm not moving literally (thank goodness. Not planning to move anytime soon...). I've decided to 'move' to a different blog, for a number of reasons. I'll give you the url in a bit - it only has like, one post so far. I'll miss this dear blog that I've started four years ago in '07, with all its weird and childish or childlike compositions and ramblings. But I think it's time to grow up a little bit. And there have been a lot of other changes in life too, so I thought, 'oh, might as well'. (as if I couldn't handle one blog enough XD)
In my new blog I will try to post more meditations and the like (I never knew how much improvement it did to my writing skills), as well as music videos and maybe some book reviews. But I'm afraid I don't have time to post my old "saints' stuff" like I did when I was...er, younger. That was fun, though. And even though I stopped that a long time ago, I'll miss that as well...

Another big change is that I have changed my username to 'Akalei'. That is my name in Hawaiian, and Charity Therese is/was only my pen name. I go by Akalei in a lot of other things and places, and it's also my artist name. So it should be easier to recognize me...sort of. I'll miss being called 'CT' though!

So...if there are any readers left out there, thank you for your patience! This will be one of my last posts here. All your sweet comments (if there are any left, lol) and sharings and such have been much appreciated. Thank you for taking your time to read this neglected blog. :)

What love really means...

2011-08-01T16:48:00.001-10:00

A sweet song I came across. ^^ Took me forever to find what it was! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :)

Fruitful Baskets!

2011-07-10T21:24:00.010-10:00

Just kidding. So, for this post I thought I'd do something a little different.

Lately, I've been reading this manga series that my friends recommended. Fruits Basket by Natsuki Tayaka. Please don't panic and leave this webpage yet! To be honest, I'm not much of an otaku (aka a manga fan...an obsessive manga/anime fan...). Although I DO really enjoy reading and drawing in the manga/anime style, I don't usually read manga or watch anime on a regular basis. But this story has a lot of good points, like any regular book might have. I'd recommend it for any interested kids aged 14 or 15 and up. (or maybe younger, as long as you stop around volume 14-ish)There are a few questionable details here and there, but the overall story is excellent and provides a lot of extra reflection.

Anyway.
This story is about a teenage optimistic and sweet, innocent orphan girl who lives with another troubled family. A family with a curse. Whenever a family member is hugged by someone of the opposite gender, they turn into an animal of the Zodiac (tiger, ox, rat, dog, etc). Now it doesn't sound so bad, but that's what causes a lot of problems. Because of this curse, they are weighed down by their own problems; blame and rejection from their parents and family, loss of loved ones, and utter fear of the world coldheartedness.
Tohru Honda (the orphan girl) simply encourages the family members to get along, and often looks on the bright side to inspire them. Even though she has her own problems too, like the death of her parents and such, she always puts this family in front of own things, and makes sure they're doing their best to be happy. That's basically it, but Tohru is a truly inspiration character and model. I can't say much more about it, otherwise I'd be giving the story away.
But some of the other characters/family members have some pretty good qualities too. You can see throughout the story that they do learn, accept, and then let go. Be warned though, the story can be a little depressing, for there can't actually be a satisfying answer to every problem for everyone. In order for a happy ending, there is a lot of self-sacrificing the characters make, and lots of change of heart. It's something that is much needed in this world today, and that's why I like this series so much. Quite sweet and touching. The story got me teary-eyed too...another good reason to read it... At the end of the series, I was thinking that maybe if we'd just follow the wonderful qualities the characters possess, then maybe we could provide basketful of fruits for God?

But it really doesn't look it though, doesn't it?
Usually when you see manga or anime, it's kind of 'eeh...' :P But this one is mostly good. If you're old enough and right in the head, it's quite enjoyable. (I hear it's usually the first manga anyone reads) Kind of funny too. :) Again, there are a few questionable details. Like the whole Zodiac thing? But what about the whole Harry Potter thing? It's not like we're gonna run around waving wands in everyone's faces and battle nose-less guys.

When I grow up...I'm going to be a little kid.

2011-06-27T15:52:00.002-10:00

"Life was so much simpler when our definition of drama was someone stealing our crayons, and our biggest fears were catching cooties or missing nap time."

A friend of mine said that, on a recent status on Facebook. I responded with a "Ah yes, such sweet memories."
Nowadays, (and I'm sure nowadays will stretch for the rest of my years) I've been kind of missing those kinds of things. I mean, now we can't find anything simple. Can't even define normal OR simple anymore. It wasn't like that when we were little, when we could fall as many times as we wanted, and it wouldn't hurt as much as it does now. Such a superpower, huh?

Unfortunately, it's an impossible wish to be completely back in the good old days, where everything was simple and carefree. And fun. And when Mr. Rogers never seemed to age. And when everyone thought Magenta from Blues Clues was a girl. And when you thought swings couldn't swing high enough...
I could go on forever, but you get the point. My friend was saying that he wished that things could be simple again, carefree, etc...
I responded so: "I think you still could though, in a way...like when we were little, falling didn't hurt as much, probably because we always knew and trusted that someone would always be there to pick us up. I think now that we're older, and feel pain a lot differently, that kind of trust fades off...and we kind of forget that there's Someone else who can always pick us up, in any of our worst kinds of fallings. 'Cause there's always something better out there, better than having the most epic color pencils and light-up shoes that God has in store for us."

We'll always be a little kid at heart, but we know that doesn't completely erase our problems. Sometimes we wish we could be content with the simplest things, like what I mentioned above. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. God didn't create us to live for color pencils, playgrounds, giant slides (but if you somehow ended up with that kind of vocation, I have to say that I am EXTREMELY jealous.), He has something better. And, sticking those pictures of sweet childhood memories to our fridges, we can get there with that childlike heart. We're just gonna have to trust God a little more to do more than just pick us up. :) He can lift us up and make us soar.

I'm still alive...

2011-06-20T14:53:00.002-10:00

I totally apologize for the disappearance (AGAIN). You have no idea how many times I tried to get into my blogger account! I even tried commenting on my previous post to let my readers know that I couldn't access my account, but then realized that I had 'locked' my comment box so that I could only publish it once I was logged in as blog administer. (Yep, epic fail.)
So there I was furiously typing in my password again and again and again and again to absolutely no avail, when I FINALLY saw those three little words and a question mark.

Forgot your password?

Thank God for people who have pity on airheads like me.

Anyway, I will get back to posting soon. Thank you for your amazing patience, and I apologize again for the inconvenience!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T23:38:00.003-10:00

I was so excited after Easter Vigil, that I almost said 'Merry Christmas' after Mass. :) Wishing you all a blessed and joyful Easter season!

Palm Sunday

2011-04-17T12:19:00.003-10:00

Wishing all my dear friends and readers a blessed Holy Week. :) Here's an amazing short film I found last night - thought I'd share it! (and yes, it's worth watching.)

'Til Easter, everyone! Almost there!

Halfway there...

2011-04-06T19:36:00.002-10:00

Are we all 'ohmigosh, that was fast' or, '...not fast enough...'? ;)
Lent is a good time to clean out all the lint in our 'dryers' before we come out all fresh and clean. :)

Anyways, I don't have much to write about right now, but here's a nice song that I wanted to share.
Sometimes (well, not sometimes, all the time!) God just longs to be our everything. And He is. How big, or what's the definition of our 'everything'? What or who is our everything now?

Rest assured...

2011-03-13T17:25:00.009-10:00

...I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth, thank God. I've just slipped. ;)

I know, where in the world has this writer gone to, especially before Lent? Doesn't she owe you a post? Yes, I do owe you a post. In fact, I'll give you this one long post!

I'll spare you on the details, but things in life have been changing. A lot. Besides the annoying teenager hormones and my siblings who are almost ALL taller than me (except for one...) and the war with acne finally subsiding, of course.

It's mostly about growing up, that's been 'up' lately. I know, all of the above were about growing up...but...ok, read at little bit more and you'll find out.

First of all, it just hit me that I AM a teenager. girl. With a face and some sort of aura God created me to have, and that eventually, a boy or two...or five...will notice. Scary thought, ya? I totally agree. I say I need a frying pan or two to keep those buggies away.
Okay, I didn't mean that seriously (well...maybe a little... :P ;) ), I DO have some really nice friends who are guys. Yes, they all ARE scary, immature, and childish at times, but it took me a while to realize they're just little boys...with big hearts.
And NO, I know what you're thinking, but no. Miss CT is not planning on dating anytime soon, noooo sireee... Like I said, rest assured. I believe that those kind of relationships should first and foremost be built upon Christ's holy and pure love, as we build our friendship as true brothers and sisters - whether we feel any 'feelings' or not, or whether things would work out the way we think they will or not. That goes for every kind of relationship. You just need to make sure it's firm and strongly built, not on sand, but on a nice sturdy Rock. But I'm not going further there, (unless you want me to) so please bear with me as I hop onto the next paragraph.
So there you have it. I'm being chased around by boys - a position I have never thought of being pulled into... I know that's very un-girly of me, but I assure you that I am not even close to an average Catholic teenage girl. (Weird, huh? It's like I see romance as the worst thing that could ever happen to me! lol. But no, it's definitely not worst thing that could happen to me, it just may not be for me yet.) The situation used to bother me a lot. Not much these days. It's not the fact that I am being chased around that bothers me the most, it's the horrid fact that when I give them a 'no', they break...and so do I.
The first time happened a couple of years ago - a total bolt from the blue. He was a friend from Church, and I didn't know him that well. When I realized of the drama he was asking of me, I was totally dazed. Just by the thought of that 'boyfriend/girlfriend' relationship, I felt sick and ruined. I never wanted anyone to like me in that way. ...So obviously, nothing ever came out of it. It hurt my friend for a while, but he's alright now. But that was the first time. Now it's like I have every guy I know under suspicion of 'chasing me'.

So let me fast-forward to last month. I had been completely devastated over this fact that bore the question: How far am I supposed to go to love people??
I don't want to boys to keep falling for me, only for them to go away with a broken heart. Of course, I guard my heart pretty well - I'm definitely not an easy fish to catch, as they have learned very well. I asked myself, did/am I doing something wrong?? I put up more 'walls'. But they follow me anyway. I was disgusted with myself. Felt like the only person who hated me, was me. And if you haven't guessed yet, I DO care for my guy friends, whether they want to chase me or not. It's just that the matter is so fragile and complicated...I don't want to be the one to cause the pain. I know and knew what St. Paul was saying 'Love is patient, Love is kind...' And I do want to potray that perfect love with all my heart to everyone, (as everbody should desire that! I hope.) but... How far should I go before somebody's heart breaks? If not theirs, what about mine? Can't I be a better friend and spare everybody of wasted pain?

I decided to pray on this at an Adoration night...
And I got my answer.

"Love until it hurts."
Me: Whaaaat? That doesn't help at all. Love 'til it hurts - how do you do that???
Then I raise my eyes from the Eucharist and freeze at it rests on my Lover hanging on the Cross.
I was all, "Ohh." (*buries face in arms*)
'Love until it hurts'... I had missed one important part of St. Paul's definition of love: Love endures all things.

...I'll end that part of this post there. But before I go on...
Um, honestly? Right now, I'm still wrapping my mind around that. I feel more assured and confident about matter, but not 100%. Really, if we were 100% ok about everything - sure things would be a lot easier - but life would be so boring, don't you agree?! It's testing that faith, hope, and love that bring out the beautiful things in life.

Anyway. I do suppose I owe you a post on Lent.
Now, I've said a lot about Lent before in the past, so I don't want to repeat myself here... But here's something that I've gotten out of Lent so far.
One of my resolutions was to give up my extra computer time. Yes, facebook too. But I didn't say I was giving up facebook entirely.
Why? Not just because some of my friends aren't giving up facebook. I had decided on using facebook to reach out to my friends in need, in whatever distress or problems they were going through. One of my friends lost his job. Another one of my friends needed encouragement and someone to talk to. So far, it's gone pretty alright, except for the fact that facebook has some pretty nasty glitches that make me miss messages... :P
Anyways. Besides that, I realized that without all that extra time to play around on facebook, 'stalk' my lovable friends and read all their posts, play with the flair apps and bejeweled games...the days suddenly got longer. I'm not kidding! I find my afternoon hours so long and empty. Especially 3-6pm. Then it hit me: What in the world do I do for 2-3 hours on facebook?? There's a lot I could do in three hours without facebook. Cook, clean, draw some saint pics, write a song, watch some VeggieTales stuff with my siblings...and well, blog.
It made me think, if we gave up something that consumes so much of our time, then what could we do to fit in those hours that would make our days so much longer and fulfilling? I find that if time feels slow, it means you do a lot in your day and get a lot out of it.

Next week we'll be halfway finished through Lent. Has time been seemingly slow for you or not? :)

pic source

It's quiet here...

2011-01-23T19:59:00.004-10:00

Yeah, sorry about that... I've been getting over this horrible stomach flu. I'm still recovering. But I can manage to sneak in a post. ^_^

First off, it's my first post of 2011! :D Yay! Happy New Year friends!

So, do I have lots of check marks on my old "New Years Resolutions for 2010" list?
Yes...and no...noooo......but it turned out to be so much better. :)
I got to develop my writing and art skills quite well. So that's a check. But no, I did not join the Honolulu Marathon, and I barely ran all year... :P And, as you can obviously tell, I did not give an amount of two posts per month. I posted more than I expected I wouuld, but not as much as I'd like myself to...
But I learned a lot. A lot more than what I had expected. And that's got to be the biggest check on my resolutions list of 2010 than any of them.
I guess that's another funny thing...We can make our goals, but God takes them and makes them awesomer beyond our imagination. He takes what we have, and replaces it with something MORE.

I won't lie, it's been a difficult year, despite all the joys and accomplishments. My family and I had to move again, and that hurt just to know that after four years, we STILL haven't found the right home/house for us. I know God does indeed have that home prepared for us, but sometimes the waiting just tears me apart...
Anyways. Concerning school, 2010 didn't kill me. I think it decided to give 2011 the honor...
Emotionally...and in personal issues... There were quite few of those things that were difficult. Those stuff never bothered me before. I've always just avoided them. 2010 showered me with lots of things to think about - I'm a growing teenger. I'll spare you the drastic boring details, and well, the whole story, but I stepped into the great teenager world (if you're homeschooled, your launch happens late =D). But no worries, I've got a frying pan at my side to whack the weirdos who decide to stalk me. ;)
I basically did say a lot more in my other posts, so I'll go on. :P

I thought last year was going to be different...no, this year would probably have the most changes.
My sister is going to college. College! Noo, I didn't think we'd still be alive by then!!
I'm supposed to be a senior in highschool this year. I was thinking about enrolling in a homeschool program called Seton, so I could fly to Virginia in 2012 to receive my diploma. It'd be fun. But if you know Seton, then you know that I probably won't get there alive...lol. ;) But, we'll see...I still have to do a PSAT and then an SAT. Please keep me in prayers on that school stuff... Oh right. And I'm going to start driving this year. =] Yeah, you might want to pray for me on that too.

Anyways, that's enough for now. To close this little update, here's a favorite song of mine. :) It's helped me so much. I hope it touches you as it did to me. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2010-12-24T23:00:00.002-10:00

Wishing you all a merry, blessed, and exciting Christmas and New Years!! :) Tell Jesus how much you love Him and thank Him for everything and every amazing thing that has happened this year. :) Stay warm, and don't forget to thank all the Santas!!

Random thought for today

2010-11-06T15:17:00.004-10:00

Okay, so here's what happened (a couple of months ago) after the 12noon Mass. :) I was talking to my friends - little kids, really sweet, crazy, imaginative, creative, and just, well, wow. :)
And so, the second youngest little girl from this other close family friends of ours, comes up to me and gives me a present for my birthday (It wasn't my birthday yesterday).
So, she goes, "Here you go, for your birthday."
Me, "Oh, that's so sweet of you! Do you want me to open it?"
Little Girl: "Umm, if you want to." But you can tell, though, that every part of her is basically screaming 'Ohh my GOSH! Just OPEN IT ALREADY!!'
And so I open it. And I find a beautiful angel pin inside the tightly folded and taped white paper, with laces and a few beads and some sort of golden thread material. And there's a sparkly blue plastic flower in the middle.
Me: "Ohhh, it's SO pretty!! I love it!" *hugs little girl*
And so the little girl beams, so proud of herself as she then says, "I found it on the floor."
I'm a little dumbfounded when she says this. This is a little girl who has five (did I mention crazy?) brothers, and only one baby sister. But she was SO proud of herself!

I mean, seriously, why is it that only little kids see the beautiful awesomeness in the littlest of things? The simplicity?
'Kay, so I have two little siblings - when they see something beautiful lying around on the floor, they keep it. In their treasure chest, jewelry box, or whatever.
I think that's what God does to us sometimes. He sees us on the floor, lost and alone, and is quick to save the beautiful thing from being trampled...And keeps it in a treasure box, His Heart. :)

pic source

You’re happy, I’m happy. You’re sad, I’m sad. You jump off a cliff…

2010-10-28T10:49:00.006-10:00

With a friend like me, why would you want to jump off a cliff??
There’s something heartwarming about friendship. That sweet camaraderie among those whom you’ve known the longest, the ones who’ve you can count on anytime of the day, and yes, those ones whom we just love to hang around with, no matter what age. We know that love is what binds friendship together, and that God is Love itself. We’ve seen many scenarios that teach us valuable facets of it, for example, in the media that so often effects us today, good ways, and pretty awful ways. But do we really know that it’s also a facet of a vocation to holiness?

In Toy Story 3, the toys are being called to a special kind of calling; the vocation of being present. They know at times, that even though they may never be played with again; just being there for their owner in good times and bad, strengthen their friendship more than ever. Lord of the Rings, I think, is all about loyalty and responsibility. As a friend, we are entitled to a responsibility and loyalty that goes beyond measure, but it acts on both our parts – Frodo and Sam are the best examples. In those desperate situations, many friends are promoted to family, and our responsibility and loyalty rises to that of a sibling. The Soloist teaches yet another valuable lesson that is often concealed. We can provide happiness, beauty, and everything they have ever dreamed of, but we cannot do everything. We may able to change their heart, with God’s grace, but we cannot change who they are. In the movie, Nathaniel suffers from schizophrenia; his friend Steve does everything he can to help him, but blames himself that he cannot solve the real problem. We can’t fix them into the way we want. Only God can do that. And those are the precious moments that God calls us to be in – just to be there for a friend is the best you can do – and let God do the rest.

There are way too many examples I can give that show the beauty of friendship. I chose these three, mainly because they have taught me a valuable lesson that gave an impact on my life. It may be a little strange to focus on that area, but if you know me pretty well (I tend to be a little too nice sometimes :P), it’d make sense. And maybe you’re like that, too. I don’t think of myself as a reliable and responsible teenager that everyone can count on. And not in the way you might think! Yes, I strive to clean up my room, make my bed, cook lots of desserts for my family, and stay constant in my faith, but when it comes to reaching out to someone, a friend or sibling, maybe, I find myself wavering over the decision to help or not a little too long. No, I’m not cold-hearted like that, it’s just that it takes a while for me to trust in God and remember that I should just be an instrument of his Love, not the one playing it. But that’s responsibility. Being there and reaching out to those in need – because in Christ’s eyes, we are all brothers and sisters. How could stand by and wait for them to come sobbing at our laps?

It’s that leap of faith, and that moment when friends get promoted to family, and you find/see yourself a little more clearly, too. If you don’t, it’s gonna be pretty lonely, for your friend, and for yourself, too. I know, it's scary. But don't forget that God is our Friend too, and He won't let us down!

We also must remember we are JUST God’s instrument. We don’t take charge, just take hope and know that God’s taking care of it, through you. I had a hard time accepting that. Not too long ago, I was driving myself nuts over a friend who was feeling broken – I felt really awful that I couldn’t heal whatever was wrong. I blamed myself for failing; it made myself miserable and made me want to give up. But God didn’t give up on either of us. Through the movie ‘The Soloist’ (and some reflection after seeing the film), I was able to understand a little bit more, and remember that I’m human. Duh! I can’t do everything – I can do everything I CAN, but I can’t do the impossible. Only God can. It was those moments when I was there for my friend, that God used to heal whatever was broken. Just being there may be the best thing you can do, like those toys, or the way Frodo and Sam portrayed it. I was only holding my friend’s heart together, while, not I, but God was healing it. And that experience taught me a lot that still deserves some more thinking.

So yes, true friendship is a facet of vocation to holiness. It’s through them that we feel God, and allow God to work through us. And you can never ever ever have too many friends; it’s like food. (No, no, don’t eat your friends!!) You need to eat, and you’ve got your favorites, but you can’t ignore the healthy stuff. And of course, there’s no harm in trying new food. Who knows? Might just end up as one of your favorites, too.
Love, responsibility, and loyalty. Three voices that combine to make one glorious hymn. Can you guess which one sings the melody?

“Friendship isn’t about whom you’ve known the longest. It’s about who came, and didn’t leave your side.”

So, if you’re happy, I’m happy. If you’re sad, I’m sad. You jump off a cliff…

And you can be sure that I’ll be at the bottom to catch you! :)

pic source

"When you're fighting to believe in a love that you can't see, just know there is a purpose..." ♫

2010-10-05T21:01:00.006-10:00

Waiting isn't much fun, huh? :(
Many times, a lot of times, we find ourselves waiting for something. A hope, a promise, anything really... Something that would spark our spirits to love God in that amazing way we have before, but somehow...we just don't feel it. Then you wonder what would it take for you to fall in love with Him again.

This has been one of my favorite songs for a while. It was the first song that came to mind when I heard the first Reading on Sunday (oh yes, I was paying attention!!). Sometimes we can't feel God and how He, at those moments, is wrapping His loving arms around us. He didn't love us any less. Did it ever occur that maybe we have...?
Yet, in the midst of all the brokeness, His promise - or whatever He has spoken to your heart - still stands firm. If it hasn't come, you can be assured that it's on its way, without fail, and has never stopped from coming. It's kind of like Christmas or Easter. It's not going to stop from coming, even though the days seem miserably long and hard. Even when it finally seems like everything has fallen apart (like in the vid when the girl's violin was smashed to pieces), God is still there to take us through. If He can't take us out of this dark night, then He'll at least take us through. :)
Pain, brokeness, sorrow...they're all a part of life, and necessary, too. "The pressure makes us stronger, the struggle makes us hunger... The hard lessons make the difference, and the difference makes it worth it." A lot of times we forget that God's time isn't always our time.

A mom of one of our close family friends gave me this to think about when I was going through some tough times:

Humility --do what you can and let Him do the rest.
Confidence--faithfully believe He will take care if things.
Abandonment -- His will be done.
Love- do what love requires and love yourself right where you are, He'll do the rest.

These were the four virtues that St. Therese taught - and this mom is a very close friend of hers. :) I figured it'd be a good time to post it - especially that I've missed posting a bit of St. Therese for her feastday, so...
I like that she mentioned "He'll do the rest," at least twice. I think we tend to forget about that... I do, for sure. :P

In the meantime, while we wait, we can be that hope for someone else. Share His love, even if we don't feel it, and let them know that they're not the only ones who feel broken inside, and struggles to hide it. It's hard, but yes, ultimately worth it.

P.S, I know this is super off-topic, but could you please vote on the poll that's on the sidebar? And let me know - 'cause I changed my backgrounda while ago, forget to mention - if the text is harder to read and if I should change the color...

Okay, who threw their watch out the window...?

2010-10-01T09:08:00.008-10:00

I blame you for making time fly by!!!!

Can you believe it's October already? *doesn't raise hand* I still remember Christmas Caroling down in Waikiki with some of my bestest friends...and that only feels like five months ago.
For me, October is always that moment when you think somewhere along the lines of: "Darn. It'll be Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Years one after another. And before you know it, it'll be Valentines day, and then Lent AGAIN!"

Don't you hate it when life throws itself at you like that? Life should be treated like chocolate; savored slowly and with each little bite, you feel that satisfying sensation. Chocolates shouldn't be gobbled up. Where's the fun in that?

I've had a lot of grown-up moments this year. Several times I had to assume the title of 'big sister' when my older sister wasn't around. I'm pretty bad at it, but at least I've got a brother who looks centuries older than me. We don't even look alike...(on the sidenote, my younger sister just told me that if we weren't related, and she saw me walking around Waikiki, she'd definitely think I was a tourist).
Besides being stressed out about moving, which I never really had before, there was the teenage drama going on with my friends, and that whole friendship thing, when you talk to someone about why you're hurting and God's miraculous intervention. This was the first time I've talked about stuff like that to a friend. Okay, it wasn't a real-life conversation, nor a phone conversation. ...It wasn't email either. It was uh, Facebook messaging... (you can laugh now) But that still counts, right??
I can remember the many times I've rolled my eyes whenever my mom talks about stuff like that with her friends. I was like, 8-ish, and seeing my mom cry about emotional stuff that has happened was amusing(my mom has this really loud & jiggily laughter that you can hear a mile away). But now that I've experienced it, I can really understand why talking about it brings you to tears. Wow. Just amazing. Weird, but amazing.

Another grown-up moment was when I was camping this weekend. I snuck away with my older sister to go stargazing on the beach. Lying there on the cool and fine sand, I wondered about a lot of things that had happened lately. I realized that there was a very big difference between two times of the homeschool group I have been in. The one that seemed like decades ago, and the one now. Why do I think of them as almost two seperate groups? Because the one decades ago - almost all of the members had either moved away to the mainland(military), or decided to non-homeschool their kids. They were all replaced with new friends and families. Anyway, the old group had lots of kids around 8-12yrs. There was a teenager or two, but that was it. Now? I can count up to almost twenty teenagers, most of them around my age. And not a lot of them are military. I realized that these would be those friends that you'd grow up with - throughout the rest of highschool year, graduation, and possibly college. Years ago, those things would never come to mind. Years ago, growing up never existed. And years ago, it felt like God was holding the future in His Hands, and there was nothing to worry about.

That's another thing that I've been wondering about. Why is it that the older we get, we worry more? God HAS been holding the future in His Hands, before we were all born. It's not like the future is like one of those annoying toy thingies - you know that plastic tube/thingy with sparkley liquid in it that you can't squeeze? Something like that.

This school year I'm doing my best to be a Junior. Already, you may ask? Homeschooling can be confusing, yet extremely organized. The good news is that I've caught up with some school work and have gotten ahead in those areas. The bad news is that I'm still behind in some areas. The plan so far that I've tried to sketch in my head goes somewhere along the lines of getting enrolled in Seton Home Study School for my Senior year, so that I can fly to Virginia in 2012 for graduation.
I have a lot of friends graduating that year, and are also flying to Virginia. That gives me a year to catch up with my not-so-good areas. It's not impossible; it's just that I have those moments where motivation is very much lacking in me. So do keep me in your prayers. :) And if you have any helpful advice, please, do share!

What goes beyond that, I am not entirely sure. I do know though, that I'd like to do something with art (art history is so AWESOME!!...that, and I love to do artwork). I'm self-taught, and very sad that I can't afford art lessons. I suppose my top area is manga/anime art. I'm not much of a fanatic, and haven't had much time lately to do anything, but I'm pretty surprised that in a period of about a year, I've gotten farther than I've expected to. (to close friends: I can email you a couple of pics I've done before). But an ultra-awesome thing is that I've drawn several saints in this style. I don't think they look as awesome as they deserve, but it's still pretty cool. So I suppose this brings me to an idea of learning to do animation? That would be really neat. John Paul the Great University provides classes on animation. Other than that, I do want to learn other art styles. But who knows what will happen? Only God does. :)

Another thing is writing. As you can probably guess by this super-long blog post, I do love it (Yes. I know. I'm weird.). I admit that I have had many attempts at writing a book, fantasy/fiction, and maybe a short story or two that's connected to another story, but that's it. It's either lack of motivation, or another idea springs up and I want to go with that one that stops me. Believe me, I have plenty of ideas, stories, and fun stuff in my head that I want to write, but those ideas outweigh my writing skills. In other words, I can't write it all out very well. I'm still trying to find out my writing style. But now that I'm getting older, and running out of time before Senior year, I really want to finish up at least a draft of a story. That sense of accomplishment would be really great. On another area, essays don't prove to be too hard unless there is absolutely no inspiration. Do pray for me regarding that...

One last thing is music. I'm no prodigy - all I can do is play the piano and a bit of the violin. But I've also done a little experimenting here and there, and actually has gotten into song writing. Song writing? Really? Yep. It's a lot more fun than I thought!

So...any college hope for me? I've taken a look at lists of degrees and majors and whatnots, and looked at the list of "These are more necessary if you want to get a nice and well-paying job." Is it just me, or is that kind of scary?

Oh, and another grown-up moment: I lost my keys. (No, not my car keys!!! I don't wanna drive yet!! ...That comes next summer.) Now I know how annoying that feels...

P.S.~I hope this post made up for the absence. The picture is a sunrise at the campsite I was at.

Broken hearts?

2010-08-22T21:36:00.006-10:00

...just one of those moments when you're feeling kind of down, and then in the middle of Mass, your mind kind of clings on to a word or phrase the priest says, and then, well, a chain of thoughts begin to collide.

Anyway, this is going to be somewhat of a blog update as well...along with yet another mini-reflection. :)

First of all, there have been a lot of changes going on with me and my family. Some I love, and some...well, I'd rather not be best friends with. :P I can't exactly say what they are, but I'll continue on anyway. Let's just say that my sibs and I are growing up, my parents are working harder to support the family, and the world is giving me this weird stare that says, "Hi there. You're a teenager! Welcome to the world!" Right now I'm giving the world a sour look. I'm really relieved that I'm homeschooled, but I know now that being homeschooled doesn't change the fact that we're going to grow up, live according to what morals and important stuff we've learned, and yes, work in the world. Being homeschooled definitely, I would say, changes the color of my life to a different shade that defines me, and not who the world defines me as. (did that make sense?) I get that feeling that I've been watching the world with wide eyes in a binoculars, and then the world kind of jumped at me and kind of made the binoculars hit the areas around my eyes, and now there are marks and now it's laughing at me.
Okay, I'll leave that there otherwise my mind might wander off aimlessly. ;) :)

Okay...um, right, broken hearts. Lately, I've been dealing with 'brokenness of heart'. Teenage drama. Something that I never thought I'd get my face into. :P Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about broken hearts. Not much fun at all (the topic, not the conversation...). We were both feeling down for a number of reasons, but somehow, we managed to get by with the grace of God. Thinking about it made me come to some sort of conclusion: 'it takes more than one to repair a broken heart.'
Which is true sometimes, when you think about it. Brokeness comes in many forms. It can come in disappointment in yourself or others, loss of someone you care about...or just plain brokeness when the world seems to tell you that God has left you alone.

It's painful to pick up the broken pieces and walk alone, fearing that if you put it back together, it'll just break again. But that's what good friends are for. Friends and family are there to hold the pieces of your heart together so that God can heal it. They can help pick up the pieces and remind you what your heart is made out of, and Who made it. "Big hearts fall hard" I like to think of it that way. :) If your heart shattered hard, then you must've had a pretty big heart.
Some days ago, I stumbled upon this quote, "Friendship isn't about whom you've known the longest - it's about who came and didn't leave your side." Many friends will join you arm in arm when your road is filled with flowers, rainbows, and sunshine. Few others will accompany you through the dark woods and stony steep paths. I'm sad to admit that I've been there - as one of those friends who would only join if the road looks promising. Those friends whom I've left alone had the unfortunate experience of being pushed away when they were trying to a true friend to me, and were rewarded by walking their steep paths alone. And now they've learned not to ask for help when feeling down.
We've all had our ups and downs in life. Thankfully, I was able to resolve the most part of the matter and now I'm back to being a true friend (at least trying to :) ) to another who experienced a broken heart for a while. (He's okay now :) )
But yeah...don't be afraid to ask God to help. That's beautiful humility right there, asking for help like a child who needs his/her mother or father.

Another thing I wanted to add...Everyone has felt a little bit of brokeness in their lives. Even Jesus.
During Mass, when the priest said the word 'broken' at the altar, it made me think...Our hearts break for something very special. They break because of something that ties in with love. Jesus' Heart broke and bled for us all over and over again. Can that sort of love make our hearts break for Him? If you imagined yourself at the crucifixion of Our Lord...would your heart break at the sight? HIS heart breaks everytime we go or do something wrong. Or if we can't somehow feel or see Him. Or if we're going through tough times and crying. Just know that He holds you in His arms everytime that happens.

I'm still coping with these changes - growing up is tough, I admit it - I'm not superhuman or anything. No one is. Everyone feels pain and confusion. Everyone thinks a lot and wear smiley masks. And not everybody loves changes.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept changes...the courage to change the things I can...and the wisdom to know the difference." ~Anonymous

That's a part of one of my favorite quotes ever. :) It's helped me a lot during these times. I pray that it helps anyone out there who's dealing with changes, too. :) Sometimes it's something we have to learn...the experience I suppose, can be quite worth it. Just remember that you don't have to go through brokeness alone. God's always there, and He's more than willing to send you an angel to help you get by your pain! :)

(btw...I know, totally off-topic here, but I set up a poll on my sidebar...and I'd really appreciate it if you could please vote! :) )

Smile!

2010-07-31T20:51:00.008-10:00

Hmm......Well, I noticed it was getting a little quiet here, so I've decided to write up a little thought/reflection thingy. I was looking through a bunch of quotes about smiles that made me think...

"Smile! It's the 2nd best thing you can do with your lips." -by Whoo Noes(? really, I don't know...) :P :)
Ever heard of that saying before? ...You know, I've always wondered what the first best thing was... :P Well, I'm not going to talk about that, so let's just move on, shall we?

‎"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." ~Mother Teresa
I have to say that I absolutely love this quote. Her way of life basically is a smile! She's so sweet to say something like this, even going through a 'night of darkness' - and that's not much fun at all.

"Wear a smile - one size fits all!" -Anonymous
Yes, everyone can smile. It's not that hard. We don't have to feel it all that happiness to smile. It's healthy for you. And healthy for everyone around you. Who knows, maybe it will impact someone's life. So smile, or else.

I like to think of smiles as little flowers or colors. Especially when it comes from the heart. They can brighten up your life and mood, and even make the world seem like a better place. But a lot of times (and I mean A LOT), we take them for granted, and don't see them as something wonderful. And then forget about them. And that forgetfulness is sad.
I have a few friends who are one of those 'happy - not happy - happy-and-then-not-happy' people...and well, I think we all do (I think we can even be some of them...well, you know what I mean). :) It's amazing how a smile can re-ignite the flame of hope in people's hearts. It's like a silver-lining, a hug, a pat on the back, but all of that in just one simple smile.

Also...a smile is like grace. It's contagious, passing from person to person - like grace, if you pray for one person, they may be led to pray for another person, or like that commercial (State Farm, I think it was?) when one person helps another, and a witness is moved to help someone else. It's like that.

It's also like a painting too. I'm one of those people who really appreciate art and would stare at European paintings (especially religious paintings) for a long time and try to find the story behind it. What I really enjoy seeing though, is the effort that people put into it. A lot of painters get paid to paint something - and some of them can be kinda weird - but when they paint from the heart, it's just beautiful beyond words. Even if it's just a kid drawing. They put effort into it to show that they care. Smiling shows that people care and put their effort in to show it.
I also love to imagine some of those scenes in the Gospel (try to figure out the one I've thought of ;) ) where I see Jesus smiling as he says something really bizarre and confusing to the people (well, it must've been 'out of the blue' back then), as if Jesus knew what was going to happen in the future and could just see inside people's hearts. Then there's another time when I imagine he must've been smiling at the old suffering woman who touched his cloak to be healed - he must've knew how she felt. That's another 'facet' of smiling. We smile because we know and care. When you can't think of the words to say how much you care, just smile. Next time you drop by the Chapel or Blessed Sacrament at your parish, give Jesus a smile when you can't think of any words to say.

Okay, well, that's my little thought for the day. There's a lot that I could add, but that's all there is on my mind right now. :) I bet a person could fill up a whole book about smiles... But anyway thanks for putting up with my random thoughts! :)

Quick post...

2010-07-03T18:25:00.002-10:00

And yes, I mean a really quick post. (I am a bit exhausted as I type this...) Here's a pic of the Daughters of St. Paul Motherhouse in Boston, where my 'sis and I spent an entire week. ^_^ ♫ ♥ ♫ I haven't uploaded a lot of them in my computer yet, so...I promise I will get to post more about it in the future (however near that may be...) :) But I hope you all have been having an awesome summer so far!! =D I know I have.

...

2010-06-14T17:40:00.003-10:00

Gosh, it's almost been two months since my last post. Time flies by so fast!

Anyway, to reward you for actually visiting this blog, here's a pic I managed to take of the relic of St. Damien of Molokai. Yes, they actually opened the box on his feastday! His feastday is now an actual recognized 'day' by the state of Hawaii. Apparently they're working on having it as a state holiday...that would be sooo cool even though I won't have a day off from school. :)

Anyway, believe it or not, homeschooling life is really busy-like. But we've got daily Mass, so everything's all good. :)

There's been a lot of changes in life lately, and lots of stuff planned for the rest of the year.
One of them is that...My older 'sis and I are going to Boston for the St. Paul Summer Program again! Hurray!! ^_^ We leave around next week, so please (pretty please with whipped cream and powdered sugar and a cherry on top!) keep us in your prayers! We'll also be staying a week in CA to visit our aunts. I shall post pics when I come back!! (that is, if we do come back...lol, I'm just kidding. :)

And ouch, well, I'm still getting over the fact that the year is just about half over. I sincerely hope it has been going slower for you. :)
Thanks for putting up with me readers! (If there are any of you left...)

"Your Love is a Song"

2010-04-27T15:17:00.003-10:00

Here's a nice song that I've been listening to lately...entitled: Your Love is a Song, by the Christian band Switchfoot. (They also did a song for Chronicles of Narnia!)
We can't receive God's love to the fullest unless we open our minds, eyes, and hearts to Him. And when we do, His Love will carry us away like the most beautiful of melodies. ^_^ ♫

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! :)

Happy Easter!!!!

2010-04-04T00:05:00.003-10:00

Haaaaappy Easter dear readers!!!!! Yaaayyyy!!!! Hope you are feeling Christ's amazing love for you in a very special way!!!!

Here comes Holy Week....

2010-03-26T11:27:00.005-10:00

What do you do? Panic because you're not ready? Or rejoice because of the fact that Lent is almost over?
You're ALMOST there!!! :D Whoo hoo, I'm praying for you!
Did you actually count 40 days from Ash Wednesday? Sundays are not included in the 40 days, so your finger (if you're actually counting right now) should stop somewhere around Holy Week. Yep! Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are not a part of Lent. *gasp!* But it definitely doesn't mean that you can eat whatever you want and start rejoicing. Remember, Lent is a PREPARATION for His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
So what do we do for Holy Week? Do we hold our breaths? Count silently until Easter comes around with wide eyes? We're not supposed to really think about Easter yet - look forward to it yes, but not celebrate it yet. Doesn't mean that you need to stay up on Saturday night and wait until 12:00am to start boiling eggs, going on raids to the grocery store to stack up on candies & goodies and plastic eggs and such.
I think the best thing to do for Lent, especially if you live a truly hectic life (like me :P ) is to keep silent. In honor of Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection. You can refrain from babbling on the phone, ranting with your friends, or something like that. But during Holy Week (that is, if you didn't do this during the entire Lent), offer up your silence for the distracting noises and misuse of music, audio, and conversation. Think about how silent JESUS was when he carried the cross. Remember He asked why people were against him even when he already told them a gazillion times that he was from God? He didn't ask why those very same people were persecuting him now. Instead of telling someone to stop annoying you with their bickering (like a fly that just won't get out of the house), listen to them, and pray for them. It's not easy. I remember reading something about this guy asking Padre Pio if the Wounds of Christ on his hands hurt. Well, of course they hurt! He said that they were holes in his hands.

But it's admitting that your pain hurts, admitting that it's not easy, and admitting that you can't do this without God - that's true humility. Humility (and I like to think it this way) is like asking a hug from Jesus.

Well, until Easter! Keep your eyes on Jesus - the finish line! ^_^

ultra awesome pic source

Happy Feastday of St. Joseph!

2010-03-18T19:49:00.003-10:00

I posted this last year...I think. Anyway, here's something special for St. Joseph's Feastday :) Pics source from patron saints index

P.S. I put up a new (well, not really new, it's been there and I realized I never mentioned it) poll on the sidebar. If you could, it'd help me a lot if you could vote (pretty please? ^_^ ). Thanks!

"So....How are we holding up??" :D Lenten Reflection

2010-03-07T05:10:00.001-10:00

The title says it all.
We're just about halfway! Yay! That means we can eat our seconds and all the goodies we want soon!! :P
Actually, Lent has been going waaay too fast for me. It's always been like that for us. You must be thinking 'yeesh, good for you' but that's not what's exactly in my head right now. How am I 'enjoying' Lent? I wouldn't put it that way, but Lent comes by every year, and you're bound to get used to it. What?? Used to it?! You're not supposed to get used to Lent! Well, not the 'used' that I'm thinking of.

Think of Lent this way: You know how a special visitor/relative comes to visit you, and you make sure to set aside most of your time to spend with that person? Sacrifice a ton of things to be with that person? Even eating other kinds of food when? Lent is a LOT like that. It's time for that 'extra' time with Jesus.

Though I must say this though...Why oh why does the food cooked in the house have to be soooo good, during LENT of all times???? For example, my older sister made salmon cooked in butter with chives and lemon. It was mouth-watering. Seriously. And then for Friday, Dad cooked tilapia (fish) in vinegar with tomatoes and onions on the side, then last Friday he made one of my absolute favorites: SHRIMP SCAMPI. You know, it was kind of hard not to fast....but there you go, another thing to 'offer up!' :)

Btw, this blog was mainly written for the youth/young adults section, but I'm glad that regular adults are reading this too. :) Anyway, forgive me for getting off-topic for a bit, but here's a part for the young ones....about fasting. I have a 12-year-old brother, who's feet are as long as a foot (that's 12 in. btw, and he uses size 13-14 shoes), and he's almost 6 ft. Tell me about it. And I'm not even 5 ft...so...imagine. People always get the impression that I'm 13 years old.
Anyway, he's one of those kids who get seriously inspired after watching saint movies and try to copy their every move after watching them. (*sigh*...if only we could all do that 24/7 :) And, he also likes acting like a teenager, which he's not so good at. Okay, forgive me for hopping around here, but let's go on to a different topic for now. :)
As you (should) know, the Baltimore Catechism (or whatever you're reading) says that once you're 15, you are obliged to abstain from eating meat on Fridays and days of abstinence. For fasting, the ages are 18-59. Why 18, you may ask? Well, the Church would definitely not like to starve you to death and deprive you of your nutrition when you are still growing. For my brother for example, he's tall, but he's still growing. No fasting for him. And I mean healthy meals, not candy and whatnot. Kids can give up all the candy and sweets they want - you're not gonna die without them - but food? Please don't starve yourself to death. I beg of you. Especially if you're having your growth spurt, are very into sports etc...It's not very plesant to faint during activities, I can tell you that.
I fainted twice before - both in not very good situations. :( But yes, I fainted because I skipped breakfast (this was because I was reaaally little back then) and fainted during Mass at a park I felt queasy during the Our Father, then dropped down. All I wanted to do was sleeeep. Food was not very interesting.
Another time was when I skipped lunch because I had an hour gymnastic class at 12pm. I was the only student (thank goodness) at that class, so I was spared embarrassment from my fellow classmates. I fainted after the first 15 minutes of warm up. And YES. This was during Lent. My mom had to dash out of the gym and into the food court nearby, buy a chocolate bar and a full bottle of water, and come back. She gave me the water, which I accepted gratefully, but the chocolate bar...? I was like, 'No thanks, Mom. I gave up sweets for Lent - you know that.' But she gave me this look that screamed "EAT IT." So I ate it. It was disgustingly sweet. I'm not even sure if they sell those things anymore - this chocolate crunch bar with caramel inside. I ate half of it and was ready to go back to sleep. My teacher must've been totally weirded out that I didn't want to eat the chocolate. :P Oh well. Thankfully, I've survived the next 30 min. of gymnastic lessons. So far, I'm the only kid in the family who's ever fainted before, let alone twice. :P Not very proud of that fact...I still need to make sure I eat something sweet if I'm feeling queasy again.
I really hope you've gotten the point of this story. I think the reason you see and read the saints (when they were little, I mean) is because they don't exactly have video games to give up. Haha, I mean, it's their effort that we have to learn from, right? :P I'm pretty sure the Church was thinking of the little ones and their growth when they made sure that the age for fasting wasn't until 18. (Now now, it doesn't mean you can eat all you want! :P )I don't think I need to explain why aged 60+ people don't need to fast.
OK...moving on.

If you're unable to fast, there's plenty of other things you can do. Give up extra food, like chips, candy, sweets, and whatnot. If you're aching for a snack, eat a banana, nuts, or even banana nut bread :D hehe...you get the message. Something healthier. And offer it up! It's not like you have to be completely full after a snack or a meal.

Here's another point I'd like to stress, if you don't mind. If you're utterly deprive of just about everything, (like me and my sibs) :P And I mean video games, fiction books, extra computer time (computer writing/research for school and homework are OK. nice try! :P ;) Try to walk an 'extra mile.' Be nice to someone who's not very nice to you. And if you think that might cause something worse (like this person might get the wrong idea) do it in secret. Do a deed for that person, or if it's entire impossible because s/he lives far away, pray for that person. In big families, this isn't much of a problem. Wash the dishes for your mom or dad, or if you split chores with your brother/sister, do your siblings' half. "A little progress each day," a friend in Heaven once said (I forget his name though). Not sure if cleaning up your siblings' rooms would be a good idea though. They might get the wrong idea in thinking you're snooping around...:P :) If you're the only kid around, do something for your parents. :)

Another point I'd like to stress. Adoration, or simply sitting/kneeling in Church would be awesome during Lent. Take some time off of prayer for a moment, like offering up a rosary or intentions and all that, and just take the time to listen. It's not very nice to say to your parents 'I need this, I want that, this person needs your help so please help him/her, oh and btw, thanks for this and that' and then just cut off the conversation. Don't get me wrong, Jesus is a very good listener! But how can a servant do his or her duty without knowing what the Master wants? Empty your mind, close your eyes (this is hard, but I find that it really helps) and open your heart and ears to whatever message he might have in store for you. A saint said something like, 'Let me hear You with the ears of my heart' or something like that. You may or may not hear a loud voice speaking to you, but it's like sweet music. You'll find the meaning in your heart, not your mind. A bible verse or two might pop up as well. Maybe Jesus wants you to think about what he's said before. Kind of like a reminder from parents :)

Another thing for kids: If you've got an iPod, that'd be the perfect thing to give up. Offer it for the many people in the world who trash music and do not use their gifts and talents to spread goodness and hope. If you can't survive without music (like me - it keeps the gears in my brain turning ^_^ ) then at least make a playlist with all the Christian/Catholic music, and listen to that for Lent. Actually, it's not a bad sacrifice at all. I know some pretty good artists, if you like rock, there's Skillet, Red, Fireflight... And if you do not happen to have an iPod, then by all means, listen to some meditation music to go along with your reflections, while praying, reading a book about a saint, while writing in your journal and all those kids of stuff. Life would be sooo much cooler with background music, right? :) Or, if you're a musician nerd, practice some Christian/Praise 'n worship songs on the piano, guitar, violin, etc. If you somehow cannot do that because of certain reasons (eg, your piano teacher wants you to play a non-religious related song), then practice whatever it is you must play, but on Fridays, play religious music. Unless you've got lessons on Fridays....offer your playing to Jesus! He'd like that alot. :)

For Holy week, try to refrain yourself from using the computer or ranting on the phone. It's just one week. No big deal. You've got Jesus to help you with that, so I don't think it'd be too hard. After all, this is kind of like the wrapping paper on the present you give to Jesus, yeah?

Of course, it is ENTIRELY up to you what you are giving up/doing for Lent. These are just a few suggestions that I thought of. No one's going to force you to do these things. :) Keep it to yourself or tell whatever it is you're doing to the whole world - just remember that it should come from your heart not your mind or the admiration of the other people. It's Jesus everyone should be focused on. Anyway, scroll down to my Advent post for more stuff to read - Lent is a lot like Advent, I can tell you that.

So...I hope you have a VERY blessed and fruitful Lent! :) Keep up the good work - we're JUST ABOUT halfway there!!!! :D I'll be keeping you in my prayers!!

pic source

Preparing for Lent

2010-02-08T20:17:00.004-10:00

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted...busy, busy, busy :) Okay, enough of that...

So, preparing for Lent...
That's what I said; Lent. I know...'Lent already?!! I thought it was still Christmas...' Then the dreaded feeling comes over you...right?
I won't lie; I kinda feel the same too. Kinda sad...that time goes by waaay too fast. Then you'd have to think of your Lenten Resolutions. You're either excited, or not so excited.
Now, don't go thinking that when you fast, you're aiming to lose weight. Think, are you thinking of the benefit of your body, or your soul? Hmm...
Okay, moving on. We're thinking about preparing for Lent. Just as we are to be prepared for Holy Week, Easter, Christmas, and all that, I think it's a good idea to prepare for Lent as well. Lent can be the hardest. Advent is different. Advent seems 'happy-ish' and exciting. Even people outside of Church are preparing and celebrating Christmas along with you. ...What about Lent? Nu-uh. Is there a not-so exciting feeling...? Well...you'd probably really really want to lose that, and face Lent with a prayerful attitude.
Try to get past that feeling. Just as you try to get past that feeling of stress during the Advent time when you're thinking about your route of shopping stores to use your coupons.

Anyway, here's what I would suggest to prepare yourself for Lent.
-Go to confession. Yes, I know. You will already eventually go to confession before holy week, but not before Lent. Try it. Try going before Lent, just to prepare yourself. You know that feeling after receiving the Sacrament of Penance, you can finally breathe again? Why not?
-Adoration. At a nearby Church or Chapel, ask Jesus to be with you during this upcoming Lenten Season. Ask him to be with you during tough times. Jesus has been with you through joy and sorrow, why won't you be with HIM from the joyful celebration to the celebration of his death? You've got to follow Him through it all!! :D And even if the visit is just for five minutes...Jesus cherishes every moment with you.
-Plan to attend Daily Mass. Now, my family and I have attended daily Mass for almost 6 years straight. You know how that started? Lent. One day, Mom came to us and suggested Daily Mass as to be part of our Lenten Schedule. At first, we were all, 'eeehh...okay...' And somehow, even after Lent, we kept going because we all fell in love with the Eucharist. Okay, even if you can't get past the hour on Sunday (Homily is too long and I almost fell asleep, terrible parking XP) don't forget that the Eucharist is food for the SOUL. There's a banquet, or a party everyday at Jesus' house. You're always invited, but who likes an invited visitor who just dwadles around in the house as if they were forced to attend?
-Bring a missal/Magnificat to Mass. Now THAT always helps if your mind always wanders off during the Readings. I think most of us have a tendency to immediately forget the 1st Reading. And then during the 2nd, we think random thoughts like, 'Boy, St. Paul can really think of long sentences.' To prevent that, look up on EWTN or another Catholic website that provide the Readings for every Mass. Read and reflect on those readings, so that the next day at Mass (no I'm not going to say you're free to wander off) you are fully prepared.
-Pray the Rosary and/or Divine Chaplet. Or any other prayers you'd like to say. Rosary is on top of the list. :) While praying, try playing a soft and gentle meditation hymn (no words, just music) so that your mind isn't somewhere else and your lips are just opening and closing... Imagine the scenes in your head too. Imagine that you are there when Jesus was in the Temple preaching and his parents rush forward to take him home, or pretend you are one of the Diciples of Jesus and you are listening to his Word, or pretend you are one of the onlookers as Jesus passes by with the Cross in his arms.
-Pray a novena to a favorite saint.

That's all I have for today, (no, you're supposed to do that during Lent too, not just before :P) but if you have any more suggestions, feel free to comment.

ultra awesome image source ^_^

National Vocation Awareness week

2010-01-13T18:37:00.003-10:00

I cannot believe I forgot. (I knew I was forgetting something!) :( Unfortunately it might be a bit too late to post something special for this week... But don't forget that it doesn't have to be 'National Vocation Awareness week' to find your vocation! It's a life long process, which means it doesn't end when you find out what God wants of you. It could be any day (or night, thinking about Samuel's calling) when God might ask something of you. And when He does, don't forget that Mary and all the saints were pretty freaked out too, but instead of bailing out said yes to all the blessings God was so eager to give them. You'll find yourself the happiest person on earth when you're where God wants you to be!!
Well, there's my little 'mini reflection' for today, but here's a few videos of an AWESOME place I got to go to during the summer. I love the Chapel! My sister and I actually got to meet this young woman in Boston (unfortunately I was half awake at the moment - Boston is 6 hours ahead of HI). I was there for the St. Paul Summer Program, a retreat/camp/summer-program for highschool girls at the Daughters of St. Paul Motherhouse in Boston. When I went, there were about 7 girls all in all from all over USA. I loved it, and I really really look forward to this year's, if I am able to go (which I'm pretty sure I would). I actually know quite a few of the Sisters that are in the video...

Well, anyway...enjoy! :)

Desperate Students' Prayer

2010-01-04T18:10:00.000-10:00

Dear St. Elizabeth Ann Seton,

Us students who go back to school this week are desperately asking for your prayers as we battle against the endless exams and armed algebra equations.
Keep us from the thought of retreat of battle or becoming wounded by the dreaded exponents and variables.
Keep us from the temptation of doodling in our math notebooks when all seems lost.
Save us from wandering off into the sky when we are studying about clouds. (ohh, that looks like a cookie!)
Help us not to grow weary of ancient history texts when we'd rather be on the internet. (FB!!)
Help us to remember that run-off sentences are really really bad otherwise we'll keep going on and on with it and there's no end and we just keep going and going...
And help us to not think 'pie' instead of pi. :(
Through your intercession, may our pencils and minds stay sharp when we face the cold war of school. Amen.

:D :P

Happy New Year!!!

2009-12-31T14:32:00.009-10:00

Happy New year, dear Blogger friends!!! Don't forget, it's still Christmas, so we still get to celebrate Jesus' birthday!!!! :D

You all will be in my prayers!! May 2010 bring you more blessings, and may you feel Jesus' love for you in a special special way!!! Hope you're looking forward to 2010! (I know I am :) Right now is a perfect time to ponder and reflect on the numerous blessings we have received this past year! :)

'See' ya all next year!! ;)

Merry Christmas everyone!

2009-12-24T20:56:00.002-10:00

Merry Christmas, dear blogger friends!

I pray that you will feel Christ's special love for you this wonderful day!!! :) ♫

And a BIG happy birthday to Jesus!

I hope that everyone in the world will know whose birthday it is today!

Late Advent reflection...

2009-12-15T16:48:00.008-10:00

...I know I said the 'St. Damien of Molokai part 2' was coming up, but I'm still in the process of writing it, and I haven't even said anything about Advent and soon it'll be Christmas, and who knows when it'll posted with all the 'hecticness' comes around...

:P OK, I'm aware that that sounded like a "Dear Santa, I can explain!" thing.
But you get the point. I've given up writing excuses because it's a total waste of time since Jesus already knows who's been good or not (He's got the best seat, no? :)

Now, onto Advent...

This is going to be a quick post, ok?
What is Advent? (I'm not going to answer this question, btw)
To a kid, it probably means 'time to prepare for Christmas! time for Mom and Dad to go out and pick out our presents!! Yaayyy...' and on and on. And what about in the Church? 'Everything's purple.' Yep.
I used to think that Advent was kinda like a time when Mom or Dad closes your eyes, or puts on a blindfold, and leads you through the house for a surprise. Your heart's beating fast, and you're super excited to see what clothes Mom picked out for you (well, not for me), and what super cool toy Dad has in store for you now. You already know that you won't be disappointed...or not? I think it depends on how you receive the gift. That's why Advent is so important. It kind of reflects and influences how you feel when Christmas comes. It prepares you for that feeling - that wonderful feeling of peace that floods your soul when everyone comes together, family, friends, and most IMPORTANTLY, HIM. (No! Not Santa! ...ok, maybe a little.)
But sometimes, some kids may think that, 'Christmas is every year. How come we have to celebrate it again and again?"

Battle that first question with this, "Well, you're already born - why do we have to celebrate your birthday?"
Or the other kids may say this, "Who cares?! Christmas is AWESOME!!!" And they have no idea what the purpose of Christmas is, and have no idea what they are talking about.

Why not celebrate Christmas all over again and over again? For us Catholics, we get to celebrate it for 12 days. ...and that boring feeling that we have to spend and 'we did that last year...i'm tired' thing? Stop that. If you received life, shouldn't you be thankful for that? Especially being born into the true light and life. Advent season is the time to be thankful for everything of the year, especially the presence of Jesus.

But it doesn't end there. Advent is a lot like Lent. (Yes! I did just say that!) In what way, you may ask? 'A time of reflection and preparation.' Sounds familiar? And we're supposed to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation before Easter and Christmas. And we're not supposed to mention 'Alleluia' during Lent, and for Christmas...you know the similarities.
There's a lot more to Lent and Advent than just simply waiting. It's a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of Our Lord. And just not our hearts, our souls too. We do many sacrifices during Lent to show how much we love God, but doesn't that go for the entire year? We love God, of course, but it doesn't mean we have to prove it by doing sacrifices one time a year. Advent & Lent = obviously very important if it's about three-five weeks of preparation for Easter/Christmas.

Remember that other reflection that I did for Lent? It was a 'video game analogy' for my young readers :)
K, you know how hard it is to defeat the 'boss' in a video game? All that preparing, leveling up, and stocking up on supplies and upgrading your weapons? Lent & Advent is kinda like that. Sure it's sweet when you're already powerful enough to defeat the boss head on straight, but sometimes that feeling of accomplishment isn't as satisfying if you didn't work hard to get the victory. But that's only half the battle :) You're not comepletely finished yet. After you defeat this 'badguy or whatever,' you get new equipment, tons of experience points, and that awesome sense of accomplishment, you're off to the next challenge, and at the same time you're excited to use whatever you gained because of all that hard work? Again, Lent/Advent is a lot like that.
...and if you didn't work hard, it's a game over :( Total disappointment. Don't let your Easter/Christmas be like that. Nobody likes a sour Christmas.

concerning presents: It's the thought that counts, but I really wish that kids my age (especially my age :P ) would understand this real feeling of peace and true joy. I often see kids my age with cellphones (I don't particularily like cellphones. I think they're totally bothersome somtimes.), expensive uh, thingies...whatever it is they buy, makeup (I think Jesus doesn't want you to think that he created you wrong :( The true beauty is inside of you :), and really really awful/weird/gross/did-I-mention-awful clothes (I'll have to post something about that sometime). How many kids in the world know that the best gift of Christmas is not something that only lasts for two years?? ...And they don't even acknowledge their parents sometimes. Sad. :( That's also what Advent is for. Not just preparing your own heart for Christmas, but everyone else.

Also, isn't this time also called the 'Season of Giving...? That's actually a nice title. We remember during this season that Jesus gave us Himself, all of him, his love, and everything. We try to imitate him by acting super super good this year, and the next, (and the next and the next and the next............) But not for Christmas presents. But I'm sure, if you've been good this year, you'd be able to feel that peace, that joy, and the true meaning of Christmas in your heart - best present of all. One of the priests that says Mass at our parish gave us this very interesting saying, "God is always up to something good." (Jesus wouldn't give you something bad...depending on how you look at it yourself) Who knows? Maybe Jesus has something great in store for you. Keep your eyes peeled, and your heart open!

And if I don't somehow am able to say this on the actual day...

MELE KALIKIMAKA!!! (that's Hawaiian for: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!) :)

You all will be in my prayers during this special time. God bless you all with much joy, blessings, and true peace!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T17:22:00.002-10:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Hope it has been awesome! ^_^

Btw, I'm really sorry about that part 2 Damien post, but I should have it up soon. :) (yeah right)

My previous laptop committed suicide, so I have been not able to spend very much time blogging. I just got a new one, so that means I can write to my heart's content!! (Yes, I love to write - even if it's not a schooday!) lol

here's a Hawaiian sunset I took - another great thing to be thankful for!

Damien Relic Mass, Procession, & Evening prayer

2009-11-17T19:52:00.026-10:00

Yes, it was such a long, but beautiful day!!

So...we arrived around 10:30...Mass wasn't until 12:00pm. So we waited outside, and saw that everything was prepared for the event. 1,200+ people were expected to come for the Mass (about 1500 came, all in all, for the procession and event at Iolani Palace), so chairs were set outside with four 50in. TV screens for them to watch what was going on inside the Cathedral. The Cathedral can only hold about 600 people at the most, so... :)

Here's the canoe on which the relic in its reliquary, in a koa box, will be carried during the procession.

Some things on the side...

Here's a close-up of the design on the top. It's Moloka'i!

Uh, nothing in particular... I mean, I thought it was sooo beautiful that day! Blue skies! I thought it was a pretty cool picture of our Cathedral.

Here's a tapestry that was hung inside the Kamiano Center (or parish hall - the Hawaiians called Damien 'Kamiano') If you look closely, it shows St. Damien's life.

We were so blessed to see the relic arrive first! There it is!! Before going over to the Cathedral for the 12noon Mass, we had a bit of prayer time and veneration time.

Here's a special banner we had for the Year of Priests...

Bishop's homily. :) It had to be extra short, because there was nooo way that we could fit a very special Mass in just one hour. It ended up being a little more than an hour in the end...

Here we go! Procession time! So we processed after the Mass, straight to Iolani palace, about three blocks away. It took an hour because there were so many people, and it was really, really, sunny. (Blue skies...remember? Not a cloud in the sky) Whew, but praise God for ice water!

Almost there. Here's Cardinal Godfried Danneels, and some of the bishops who came (there were 13 all in all, btw)

Iolani palace all dressed up for the very special event!!

There were LOTS of people waiting at Iolani palace. Of course, no one really went inside (we're not allowed :P ) but before certain people went (including the relic), there were several talks/speeches and a couple of hula dances in honor of St. Damien. Even a Hawaiian princess was there!

Our Lt. Duke Aiona. His speech was really nice. Did you know that his son is in the seminary? :)

Okay, back to the Cathedral! Here's the place where the relic will be held permanently!

After the procession back to the Cathedral (this time it was much easier - we were in the shade this time, and it only took 30min. to get back!) we made it just in time for the Evening Prayer. By this time, it was already 5:00pm. I think a lot of the bishops were too tired to go on, that's why I didn't see them there... :) But the Cardinal was still there! Poor guy, he must've been extremely tired!

Evening Prayers.... and then the Bishop went ahead and blessed the shrine where the relic would be held.

And here's the relic!

Now...hopefully I will have that part 2 St. Damien post soon!

absence

2009-11-13T16:26:00.002-10:00

*gasp* It's Friday the 13th!!!!

Ok, now that we've got that out of the way let's get back to what I was going to say about my absence...

:(

Yes...I haven't posted anything for a while. I've been sick with this cold that hasn't gone away yet :P
I still have to post the 2nd part of St. Damien that I promised, and all about the relic procession that took place on Nov 1st. I'm still sick, and my laptop isn't functioning properly (I've been borrowing either my mom's or older sister's) but hopefully I'll have those up by next week...
Hope everyone's having a blessed Fall and month of November!
Mahalo everyone who wished me a happy birthday :)

Relic of St. Damien!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-02T10:19:00.003-10:00

I hope to post more about the event...but for now, I am unable to.

...........But here's the pic I promised!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Mass, procession, and evening prayers were very beautiful. I got to be in the front of the procession itself (yes, the front front FRONT :P ), pass by the relic several times, and sit by another 'secret relic' :) It was the best birthday gift from God & St. Damien...

St. Damien of Molokai, pray for us!!!!!!!!!

St. Damien relic...

2009-10-31T10:12:00.002-10:00

...or soon to be here anyway! :)

Yes! So this is where the relic of St. Damien will be placed on Sunday!! (Nov 1st!) I'm sooo excited, but super nervous at the same time... I heard that there will be at least 1200 people coming to the celebration! There will be 13 Bishops, plus a cardinal concelebrating at the 12noon Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace tomorrow. After Mass, there will be a procession of the relic of St. Damien (which is, btw, the heel...) to Iolani palace, then back to the Cathedral, where it will be placed in that box permanently. ^_^
I've always been sort of 'envious' of other historical churches that have relics, but now that my parish is has one, I'm sooo sooo happy and excited!! (yeah, I'm a great fan of the heroes of God XD )

The Cathedral has been having construction working lately... so there's been some (I mean a lot) of changes; the lights been changed, almost everything was repainted, and the screen and carpet of the Sanctuary was replaced. It's awesome to see the beautiful work done.

I will be helping out during the Mass, so I don't think I'll be able to take pictures, unfortunately... but I promise I will try :) I'll take a pic of the relic (which will probably be in an box too) and post it here. I think I will be participating in the procession as well, so... I'll do my best! Hopefully I'll be able to post aaalll about it the day after! :D

St. Damien of Molokai - Saint of Hawaii!! ^_^ (part1)

2009-10-21T15:25:00.014-10:00

Yahoo!!!!

"I find myself to be the happiest missionary in the world..." -St. Damien of Molokai

Okay, so obviously he's on the list of my favorite saints (which, btw, is pretty long...;) ) So...I'm warning you now, this is one loooonnng post!! So I've decided to do 2 parts for this post.

Alright... I know some of my readers would be thinking something like: "Huh? Who's that guy again...?" and "How in the world could he feel like he's the happiest missionary in the world when he's like that?!..."
Weelll, he's not exactly one of those saints who was humble for a second, and some people immediately started adoring him for that, and there's all the fireworks going off after he went to heaven and stuff like that... Uh no, he wasn't like that at all. In a way, maybe.

If you've never been to Hawaii before, and never know what it's like, then you can read the next few paragraphs that might just help. :)
The rest of you, (if you know what exactly Hawaii is like and/or if you live here you can skip it :P :) )

First of all, even if there was fireworks and all that, I doubt anyone would be able to see it explode when it's in Hawaii. If you look on the map, Hawaii is just a bunch of little dots in a um, roundish line (kinda like those candy dot thingys :P :) )... IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Seriously! Have you ever tried to google earth it? It's smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!
(I remember always thinking that the island I live on is big, but on the plane ride to Boston, the words 'It's a small island after all' was just singing in my mind :P )
And no, it's not a deserted island where there's only two grocery stores and everywhere there's palm trees :) We actually have...4? I think? Costcos here.
Anyway, let's get back on track to when BEFORE Costco ever came. The thing is, I live on the island where the most population is and near the capital. So you get the idea and the image of all the tourists. :)
And of course, if you've looked up Hawaii on the map, there isn't just one island. Uh.. there's.....................ok, I admit it! I forget how many there are so I'm looking it up right now on Wikipedia :P During this intermission (lol) I thought it would be interesting to know that if you ever use Wikipedia, the word 'wiki' is actually a Hawaiian word meaning 'quick'.
Ok, got it! There's eight 'main islands'. You have the mainland, and we have the main islands. :P Here are their names (from left to right, if you have the map): Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi. Don't bother trying to say them all at once if you can't (it's quite a tongue twister if you don't know how! :) ). Yep, if you noticed Hawai'i is called Hawai'i which is a apart of Hawaii itself, then yeah... It's confusing, but we islanders just call it the Big Island. As you have guessed, it's the biggest island. That's where the active volcano is. The rest of the HI islands don't have active volcanos. Ni'ihau isn't exactly a 'public' island either...which means it's not someplace where anyone can just vacation to (ever watched that episode of 'Lilo & Stitch where they say that Ni'ihau is a cursed island or something? ;) )

...OK, moving on.
Now, Molokai is the one you should imagine as deserted. Not COMPLETELY deserted, but deserted enough. Back then in St. Damien's day (19th century) whoever had leprosy in Hawaii, was banished to the island of Molokai. It served as a prison to those who were unfortunately struck with the worse illness of all. I'm pretty sure you know about leprosy, so I'm not going to explain it... just that it's a pretty old disease that it was even in the Bible days as well. It was pretty bad. Everyone who was suspected of having the slightest bit of leprosy or did have it, was torn away from their beloved family, friends, and homes. Everyone, as in EVERYONE. You name it; men, young women, and even children. Some families in Hawaii would hide any loved one who had leprosy, and guard the place with a gun, threatening to shoot anyone who would dare to arrest him/her to take to the horrible prison of Molokai. Being arrested and sent there was practically the worst death sentence you could ever think of. In fact, they'd rather have death itself than to be sent there.
Now, don't go thinking 'wow, ok, so they practically had the island all to themselves...so no big deal, right? Just stay in the corner and pretend to be a hermit or something.' ...Sorry, no. :( It was worse than that. They didn't have the entire island to themselves, not even half or 1/4.
Here's a map of the island to get a better picture of it.

Okay, you see that little bump on the top of the island? That's where the leper colony was. Just that teeny-tiny piece of land. It's only three miles across, if I'm not mistaken. I don't have a better picture of it with me, but the lower part of it is cliffs. You can't really get out. The high mountains and cliffs serve as prison walls, and the only other place you can go to is the ocean. Rumors told that if you climb to the top of the steep cliffs you'd get shot. The lepers would rather face death then suffering. And there were more than just dozens of lepers there. Not all of them were well enough to walk around or play around either. Some of them just lay on mats on the ground, or in shacks made from the trees, or just by the ocean, just wanting to die already from everything they're suffering from. Others who were well enough to walk...were not so in a good place either. Yes, they were suffering, but think, any man, woman, or child who had leprosy was there. Some guys ran around hurting children and woman since there was nothing to do. Why shouldn't do these things anyway? Nobody cared about them. There was a motto of the leper colony: "Aole kanawai me keia wahi." Meaning, "In this place there is no law." Anyone could do anything. No one would stop them; the police can't do anything. The gun wasn't the worst fear, it was the disease. They'd gladly die than go through the effects of the disease. ...And the terrible thing was, the people could only see a priest once a year.
Once a year is clearly not enough to have Mass, confession, funerals, and all that, so that's where St. Damien comes in.

Think... Fr. Damien (Joseph de Veuster), was born and raised in Belgium (and if you look that up, it's practically on the other side of the world from Hawaii). He spoke Dutch (or was it Flemish?). Half of his sibings responded to God's calling (priesthood & religious life), and when it was his turn, there was the usual problem of him supposed to be inheriting the farm and his dad's job, and things like that. But after some time, he did enter the seminary (Sacred Hearts).
Hmm... yes, he did go off in the middle of the woods and pretend to be a hermit/saint, give his food to the bullies (& willingly, too), love hearing saint stories, and did his best to work at home, but... he wasn't exactly the top student at the seminary. If it wasn't for his older brother who helped him with his schoowork, then... And he wasn't very famous in Belgium either. He was 'just another seminarian trying to get through his studies'... He had a temper, but good thing God gave that to him otherwise I'm not sure how he could've survived in Moloka'i! He struggled with Latin, but with the grace of God, he was able to get through, barely.

Anyway, so the Sacred Hearts community hears about this news about the islands which is on the other side of the world. No, the superiors didn't pick young seminarian Joseph, but rather, his older brother. The future Fr. Damien wasn't ordained a priest at that time. ...Well, the thing is, his brother got sick with this terrible plague that was going through the area. Too weak to go, he was beginning to worry about his missionary trip to Hawaii. With a voluntary spirit, young seminarian Joseph asked to go take his place. There was a "...What?!" from his superiors. Joseph wasn't ordained yet. In fact, he was struggling with his Latin! They give a straight NO. But Joseph didn't give up. On fire with the holy zeal to work for Christ, he kept asking for this opportunity to go and live out this missionary life.

I always like to think about it in this way...lol, I'm not sure if this really was the case, but still... It's like Fr. Damien was avoiding his homework that he wanted to go halfway around the world to escape it's clutches or something :P

Anyway, of course in the end Joseph de Veuster got his way. ....Now, you can imagine the shock he got from his parents...Will they ever see their beloved son again...? But Joseph would carry his parents in his heart. He would bring their love with him to this, and share the fatherly love to the people of Hawaii...in whoever he would meet.
Off he went to an unknown place, leaving his beloved mother, father, sibs, and home behind...
Now, if it were me, I'd be sick in the stomach at this decision. I wonder how he got the courage to volunteer himself and say, "I wanna go!!" to an unknown place and situation where he may never see his family again. Sometimes it goes that way too...we can't just sit around and wait for that call we imagine (the angels start blowin' their trumpets and you hear God's voice loud and clear... stuff like that) We need to jump and say "Take me! Take me!" Fr. Damien had that voluntary spirit, an excelent example for today's world. Hm...:) Because of Fr. Damien's example, if God's ever calling me to do something like that, I'd still probably be sick in the stomach... but instead of trembling with fear & worry, I'd be trembling with excitement 'cause God comes along with me!

So there he goes... taking not days, but weeks to get here to Hawaii. Storms came and went as the boat remained focused on gettin' to these islands in the middle of nowhere... I wonder if they got super seasick or anything...

But yes, with God's might protection, they got to Hawaii safely, after a tiring journey. They arrived at the island of Hawaii of O'ahu, in Honolulu. Here's a map so you don't have to check again...unless you have a better one.

Yes...as you might've guessed the one with the most population is O'ahu, and 'south-ish' red part is Honolulu. That's where the Cathedral where Fr. Damien was ordained. But it obviously wasn't this populated around his time.

Ever so joyfully, he was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, which is just a few blocks away from the sea. He was ordained in a strange place, a place where none of his family was, yet he was completely satisfied and delighted because there and everywhere he went to was where God was.

Now... you might think 'and here comes the part where he aids the lepers' ...right? No...he actually spent about 6 years in a parish in the Big island (the big island on the right). There, he prepared for the greatest challenge that God had planned for him... Moloka'i.

Like I said earlier, being sent to Molokai was the worst death sentence - worst than death itself. The Bishop took notice of the terrible circumstances there, so he decided to do something about it. Back in Honolulu, the Bishop and another priest gathered Fr. Damien and his Sacred Hearts community and talked to them about what was going on in Moloka'i. Now, the original plan was to pick five (or three?) priests to send to Moloka'i to take turns to aid the people for three (or five) months. And yes, again, Fr. Damien, with that volutary spirit of his, offered to go. Fr. Damien was the one chosen to establish a parish among the lepers.
Before leaving, the Bishop gave direct orders to Fr. Damien..."DON'T TOUCH THE LEPERS." They knew that if they did, they would surely catch the disease and be just as miserable as the rest of them. :(

So off Fr. Damien went, from Honolulu to Moloka'i by boat. He was shocked by how the people needed help... people where dying everywhere... A little girl came up to him one time and said she was so afraid of the wild pigs eating her body after she died. There was so much work to do. The church wasn't exactly all set up for him.
I love this part in the movie about him... when a young boy asks if he could be his altarserver, and Fr. Damien decides to shake the boy's hand. The boy gives him a '...What??' look but smiles as they shake hands.

...And so begins his mission :)
I'll post up a part 2 sometime... this time about what he did, and where Joseph Dutton & Mother Marianne comes in... ;)

PS~ On Nov 1st, All Saints' day, there will be a relic procession of St. Damien after the 12noon Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu. I am sooo excited about this! :D Hawaii will finally have a saint and an actual relic... Parts of the Cathedral have already been renovated, but I can't wait to see the result! I PROMISE I will post a pic of it as soon as possible!! (whenever possible comes... :P :)

St. Damien of Molokai canonization!!!!

2009-10-11T13:49:00.004-10:00

...No. I didn't go to Rome :(

But whooo-hooooo!!!!!!! He's finally canonized as a saint!

I'm really really sorry I haven't updated as much as I planned to (I actually wanted to post something before the canonization date!). And this is going to be a short post, so...

How many of you out there stayed up (for us in HI we stayed up until 1:-- something in the morning) for the event?? I spent the night in a convent watching the whole thing... and it was awesome!!! Isn't Rome so beautiful! I'd like to go there sometime!

So I promise to post something about him and this month soon... don't know when, but I definitely will :)

Aloha!

First few days of October...

2009-10-04T14:34:00.005-10:00

I know, can you believe it's October already?!!? Time goes by way too fast!

Sorry I missed posting about St. Therese, the Guardian angels, and St. Francis!! I didn't even get to start a novena this year... I was too busy preparing the music for the Masses at my parish, since the choir director isn't here...
Ack, anyway...

St. Therese...Guardian angels...then St. Francis. Seems like those three days are to celebrate and/or think about being childlike. I mean, doesn't it sound like the Guardian Angel prayer is being said by a kid? And St. Therese, wow, she's like the patroness of how to become a saint in your daily life. Little sacrifices each day + lots of love in it x 2 = St. Therese's little way of getting to heaven as a child.
Remember, it's childlike, not childish (that would be just ridiculous :P )
Then the awesome & famous St. Francis... wait, famous?! I thought his goal was to be humble and childlike...?! Um, well, there's this weird joke I made up about St. Francis being the patron saint of our little brothers and sisters... because they can be animals and belong in a zoo. :P Though I suppose only the kids who are the oldest in the family would get it :)
You know how sometimes there's something so necessary in life that we don't realize it until we're lost without it? Like water, or faith, for example. Virtues, of course. And humility... the 'super power' to being childlike in our faith. We all need that ability. St. Francis was a pro at it amoung several who were 'not-so-good' at it, so... look at the results. He's like, one of the first saints that come to our mind when someone says the word 'saint'. But do we really follow his example in everything?
Back to St. Therese... We all know about her little way (mostly, anyway). Do you know someone who's 'humorous' in their own way that they even laugh at their own jokes, and only someone close to that person could get it? I defeintely know a person. She laughs at her own jokes all the time, and me & my sibs are left with this expression on our faces: O_o
I think she is that sort of person. Not exactly someone who laughs at his or her own jokes, but such a childlike person in Christ that they see the joy in all things. She saw the joy in making sacrifices. Her love and joy was twice as great than her sacrifices. Kinda like those "<" signs in math. Sacrifices (<) Love & joy for Christ
I think her love for Christ, shown in her sacrifices, was more important to Jesus than her actual sacrifice. If we do sacrifices with no meaning & offering it to Jesus at all, then that would be pretty lame, because that would be totally pointless. We might ask, "Why in the world did St. Therese do it that way??" She might answer, "Well, I saw that the way to heaven was like climbing a gigantic mountain, so big that I felt like a grain of sand... So I decided to take a little steps at the time." And sure enough, she got there.
Ever heard that little kid song, "Big steps, little feet?" Maybe not... but here's the lyrics:

I've got big steps, little feet
I've got big steps, little feet
I may be small, but HE live in me
I've got big steps little feet!

Yeah. We're all kids. Looking at the top of the pillars where the saints stand, it seems like it's totally impossible to get there too. (No, there's no elevator! :P ) (I like to think of it this way) But there is a way. St. Therese found the back stairwell. :P :) But here's the catch... it's one of those filled up jumpy-castle-little-kid-thingies where you've got crouch down, jump, run, and not look down. Our love for Jesus is the air in the jumpy-castle thing. Without the air, it gets harder, and so much enjoyable :( And Mary is like the mommmy who tells you where, what to do, and how to do it, so that you could go home already! You'd better pay attention to her!! :)

Anyway,You've got to crouch down - bring your pride dowwwnn. Jump, to reach out because God's up there, and we're obviously not tall enough - we know that! & run, just like St. Paul says (I just love that part of his letters! :) ). It's like a marathon, but you're still on the bouncy part of it. Yeah, who cares about who gets there first?! Just finish the thing!! :D Then not look down. Jesus said something similar about that too, in the Gospel a few days ago. "Whoever puts a hand on the plow and looks back, is not fitting for the Kingdom of Heaven."
You all know what happens we look down if we climb a ladder or something... scarryyy... 0_0 Yep! So that's what Jesus said. Don't look back. You might crash into something or fall down! All the kids know that.
...So yeah. That's my imaginitive version of St. Therese's little way. :)

Oh, and by the way... you need to wear socks on the 'jumpy castle' (little way to heaven). (Guardian angels :) ) They really help a lot, even though you may not realize it!

Gospel Readings for Sunday...

2009-09-27T14:25:00.012-10:00

I hope you were paying attention to the Gospel this Sunday (as of 9/27/09). Because I'm not going to post exactly what it was... :P :) Try to take a moment to remember. I'm not sure about everyone, but this might be one of those Readings that are kind of unforgettable. This also might be one of those Scripture passages that are hardest to talk about, define, and understand... (I've never really understood it either :P )

........................

Did you remember? Or did you look it up... (Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48)

Actually, in a way, I can understand what John was feeling. Try to think of this: You're in a group (let's say, Bible Study group or something) that only consists of your friends and yourself. Then your little brother (or little sister) just has to tag along and listen too. Then (I bet you know how this feels) your friends start commenting how 'cute' he or she is to tag along and join in the meeting. He (or she) doesn't say much of anything, but it kind of bothers you that you had to bring him/her along to your own time with your friends. Then when it's your chance to say something, your little sib says it first, and immediately starts helping/contributing more to the group. Kind of annoying...? But what's so wrong about that? (ok, I think that was a ridiculous analogy :P )

Alright, moving forward....
Then Jesus comes along and says, after giving the answer that John and the others probably weren't expecting,
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into hte sea..."
Whaat?? It's as if Jesus meant to say that right after that question he was asked by John. Maybe something was going through the minds of them...? Maybe someone was thinking about some idea to make that guy (who was driving out demons) make a mistake in his work. Who knows. But (isn't Jesus just absolutely brilliant? :) ) he made sure he said those words.
And then the scary/harsh/creepy/not-to-mention-scary part. Jesus is telling us how really really bad and ugly it is to sin. He's serious. But I don't think absolutely literally about what he said:
"...If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off... And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off... And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out...."
...Actually I imagine the people listening to those words had these faces on: 0_0 ?!?? "Huh?? Where'd that come from?!" was probably what was running through their heads.
Well, that's why Jesus added that other part when he said those words:
"...It is better for you to enter into life mained than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire... It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna... Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."
If the "cut off your hand if it causes you to sin or die" part was the only part that they seemed to hear and think about, than they're missing the entire point. Maybe I should've made "What in the world is Jesus saying this Sunday?" the title of this post. But he's saying what he's saying. Maybe he's talking about our hearts and to our hearts...

I can across this very interesting quote recently:
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me...'" (-Erma Bombeck)
Try to think of it in that way. Imagine this: when we get to heaven, I hope we'll be able to say - ...maybe in a exhausted voice because we worked so hard not to sin... weak from treading long and hard on that narrow road... because our shoulders and arms are sore and wounded from carrying our crosses... tears welling up in our eyes because of everything we gave up, what we're feeling, and everything we've faced in our journey with God... and our voices hoarse and our hands and feet worn out because we worked so hard to spread his Holy Word... even endured painful persecutions. We collapse at that glorious finish line St. Paul talked about, and Jesus is there to catch us and wipe our tears away, cradling us in His gentle arms - we can say, "I gave it everything I got. I did my best for you...just as you did for me."

Let's give Jesus all we've got, all to avoid going downhill and follow Him wherever he takes us... just as HE gave everything he got for us: HIS life and all HIS love.

Hope that made sense...

P.S. ...Could you do me a favor? Please go over to my older sister's blog and wish her a happy birthday in the comments box. Actually it was yesterday, but I could tell that this was one of the best birthdays she has ever had. :) She's reached an oollld age, just so you know... :P ;) jk

St. Clare of Assisi (feast of the finding of her body)

2009-09-23T00:00:00.003-10:00

(picture) A fresco of 'Saint Clare and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary', Simone Martini, 1317, Cappella di San Martino, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi, Italy

"Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me." - Saint Clare of Assisi

St. Clare is the patron saint of television... We might wonder why, um, because television didn't exactly exist back then (1194-1253). Maybe theater and plays did, but well, you get the point. There's a story that towards the end of her life she became so ill that she was not able to attend Mass. I don't know about you, but I know what kind of feeling that is. I really don't like missing Mass if I'm sick. Jesus doesn't care if you show up at his house sick - he looks into your heart, not whatever awful disease you have. St. Clare knew that. So after some prayer an image of the Mass would appear on the wall of her cell. Imagine that! I like to think it must've been beyond the HD effects and such. :) But thinking about in today's world... look how much is shown on actual television. Not all of it is the awesome 'better than HD' Mass that St. Clare saw on God's television for her. I wonder what St. Clare would say about television, which she is the patroness of. (I bet she'd love EWTN like my grandma does! She watches it aalll night) It's interesting to think that some of us are looking forward to weird things that show on TV, while St. Clare was looking SO much forward to Mass, like it was the only thing that mattered to her. I don't think she would care much for those other stuff...
So what about us? What are we seeing on television? Maybe we should look up to St. Clare, who only wanted to see Jesus, while we might be seeing things that are not of Jesus. She didn't care about the awful illness that got in the way of going to Mass, (she didn't exactly lie down in bed and do nothing about not going to Mass) all she wanted was Jesus (This time Jesus came to her :) ) Let's put aside our ill desires and seek only Jesus, like St. Clare did.

pic source

2009-09-04T17:00:00.000-10:00

Yikes! I know I said I was going to post up some Catholic stuff more frequently, but...:P
Anyway, here's something I thought I'd share...
I'm not sure if you noticed, but earlier this year the Daughters of St. Paul website wasn't working - it was under construction. And, before it was finished, I was at Boston for the St. Paul Summer Program. I even got to meet one of the Sisters who was making the website! It's actually finished (kinda still under construction too, so..)

http://dsp.pauline.org/

It's really cool. Please pay a visit - even scroll down for links to a videos of one of their Jubilee celebrations!

Sts. Monica and Augustine

2009-08-27T14:30:00.005-10:00

"Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled." - Saint Monica, about the conversion of Augustine

"What do you possess if you possess not God?" - Saint Augustine

Prayer to Saint Monica
Exemplary Mother of the great Augustine, you perseveringly pursued your wayward son not with wild threats but with prayerful cries to heaven. Intercede for all mothers in our day so that they may learn to draw their children to God. Teach them how to remain close to their children, even the prodigal sons and daughters who have sadly gone astray. Amen.

"O eternal truth, true love and beloved eternity. You are my God. To you do I sigh day and night. When I first came to know you, you drew me to yourself so that I might see that there were things for me to see, but that I myself was not yet ready to see them. Meanwhile you overcame the weakness of my vision, sending forth most strongly the beams of your light, and I trembled at once with love and dread. I sought a way to gain the strength which I needed to enjoy you. But I did not find it until I embraced “the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is above all, God blessed for ever.” He was calling me and saying: “I am the way of truth, I am the life.” Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed you fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace." - from the Confessions of Saint Augustine

I would recommend reading "Restless Flame" By Louis de Wohl to read about St. Augustine if you haven't read his Confessions yet. (it also makes a good preparation :) )

source

St. Adrian of Nicomedia

2009-08-26T00:00:00.000-10:00

Not very well-known, but was martyred in year 304. Long time ago... Anyway, he was a pagan officer and body guard at the imperial court in Nicomedia. So you can imagine what he witnessed there. He was so impressed by the faith of the persecuted Christians, that he declared himself a Christian, even though he was not baptized at the moment. Immediately, he was arrested and tortured. In prison, he was tended by his wife (St. Natalia), who (not too sure about this) arranged for his intruction in the faith, until they were finally executed.

Maybe if we actually concentrated during Mass, we'll be able to experience the same inspiration St. Adrian did when he stood around in the courts, seeing that the Christians were more than willing to die for their belief in Jesus. Aren't we impressed by devotion of the people who serve at Mass? What about the priest? By their devotion and faith in Christ, don't they seem to be ready to die for their faith?

image & info source

Blogging update...again

2009-08-14T15:55:00.008-10:00

Okay... I'm going to try to make a few changes again. You've might've noticed that I've added a blog motto "Not your average Catholic teenager." That's because I'm planning to post more things... Though here's a quick question to my readers: Do you have a hard time reading this because of the colors of this template? (I'm thinking of changing the template colors to lighter ones)

Let me know what you think of the new Blogger Header, by the way! :) I've been working on it, (yes, I designed it with my own mechanical pencil - don't have photoshop on this computer :P ) but unfortunately, the last 's' of Spritus got cut off while I was scanning the picture. (nooo)

Here's a few things that I've been into lately: (pic)

As well as two other styles of drawings and helping with Mom's book (more on that later...), and of course, highschool. We're slowly getting back to our 'regular school schedule' but Cy and I have been spending a lot more time on the computer lately to help mom with her book. Being homeschooled is sweet, but it can be confusing. I'm also preparing for a SAT test...:(

Again, I'm really hoping to do more blogging... I miss writing about the Saints, but I don't think I can really get back to doing that - instead, I hope I'll be able to write a bit about the life of the Saint for the day, and a bit of reflections (at least, that's what I'm hoping to do :) ).

Also, you've might've noticed that I put up the 'comment moderation' fence in the comment box. I thought it might be better (not to mention safer) to do it that way. You can still comment - I do appreciate your imput and what you think!

One more thing... I've added another poll to the sidebar. Hope you don't mind, but could you please vote? I'd like to know who's reading this blog, even if you don't comment, that's alright. Thanks :D

St. Paul Summer Program essay - "Impelled by Love"

2009-08-11T14:30:00.005-10:00

I have a very bad habit of disappearing. :P One of these days I'll come up with a much more convincing excuse than the one I can only think of right now: busy.

Anyway, shortly after coming back from Boston one of the Sisters from the Pauline Bookcenter asked me to do a report on the trip! Although, it's more like an essay now...(it got up to ten pages on MS!) I had so much fun doing this and sort of got carried away :) I know the title probably doesn't make any sense, but there's kind of a story behind it: One of the Sisters mispelled "Impels" because "The Love of Christ Impels us" was the theme of the week. So after she made it "Impells", we were all saying that it kind of like 'impelllls' :) Like His love was really drawing us closer to him!! :D And, you don't have to read this if you don't want to. So, if you think this is boring by the first few paragraphs already, I don't blame you because I'm not much of a good writer :P I can only think up stories, but not how to write them as well. I also had a deadline, so this was kind of rushed so...... This is basically what we did that week at the Daughters of St. Paul Motherhouse in Boston, (not counting Saturday because that wasn't exactly part of the program) just a little more detailed than what I've wrote on the previous posts of our trip. No pics, but you can always scroll down. Again, I was half awake when I wrote the first part of our trip, so this probably makes more sense.

St. Paul Summer Program essay - "Impelled by Love"

Looking back, and even if was just a few weeks ago, the week still brings a smile and a laugh. Even if it did seem like a dream, and if it was, it’s the best dream I’ve ever had. I traveled from Hawaii, home, to Boston MA for the St. Paul Summer Program. I’d only heard about and seen pictures of the place, the Daughters of St. Paul Motherhouse, and only heard stories about the St. Paul Summer Program from another participant. So I was so excited when I found out that I would be going in July. It all happened so fast – too good to be true!
It would be the farthest I’ve traveled from home, but somehow I felt certain that God would be leading the way, so what had I to worry about? …I worried anyway. It was more like a nervous/excited sort of feeling. What were we (Cy and I) going to experience at the St. Paul Summer Program? What’s the place like? What’s going to happen?? What if we don’t make it there ok? During the flight and the travel to Boston these questions and many more bounced in my mind. But I had a good feeling that everything was going to be ok. God wouldn’t lead us to a dead end after those two months of waiting. Duh.
Of course, in the end we made it safely to Boston. We actually arrived almost thirty minutes early! My breath was nearly taken away as I finally beheld the sight of the Motherhouse. It was a relief, I have to admit, to finally be rid of the airport and reach our destination. We made it safely to Boston! Praise God! Again, I’ve only seen pictures of this place, so excitement and great elation seized me. Since Cy and I were half asleep when meeting with the other Sisters when we got there, we spent most of that day resting in the end. Even if I did feel a little ill the first day we got there, the following day – the day the program would start – I tried my best to stay awake.
Monday would be the day all the girls would arrive. Cy, another girl, and I went to help Sr. Maria Grace proof-read a story in the morning. That was a very fun and interesting experience. We also made a banner of our theme for the week. Later in the day we met with the other girls who arrived (there were 8 all in all), and started the program with a Visit with Jesus! What better way to start it with a holy hour of Adoration to him? Then we met several Sisters – including the postulants – and took a walk around the Motherhouse!

I couldn’t wait for the program to start – and finally it did! I looked forward to each day, but at the same time I wanted each to last as long as possible. Waking up early seemed like a challenge for us, since it would be 12:00 am HI time when we would get up from bed. It was worth it, of course. Despite being half awake in the morning we would always be just in time for Morning Prayer and Mass. After breakfast we would help out in the kitchen. I never thought drying dishes could be so fun, especially with the good company! After that, we would gather at the assembly hall for morning stretches (kind of like exercising) led by one of the participants and one morning by Sr. Carmen Christi. We would always have an hour of adoration each day of the week, and even though I almost fell asleep on one occasion, I still loved it.
At each meal it felt like a party! All the Sisters are so friendly and welcoming. At each table there was a different conversation and so much laughter could be heard! Everyone knew each other, and if some of them didn’t, they would get to know each other and treat each other like sister Sisters. ‘It’s like a family,’ I thought with a smile, ‘But a different kind of family…’ I really liked that. It made me feel really comfortable with them, and it’s probably one of the main reasons I didn’t feel homesick.
We ended each day with Lectio Divina, kind of like praying with the scriptures for the next day, to prepare us for tomorrow’s Mass. I liked that, especially because I would be only half-awake for the morning prayers and Mass.

The first class – an introduction to the Pauline religious life – was amazing! What really was my favorite part (or the part that struck me the most – I liked the whole thing!) is how they explained the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. I never really thought about it the way they did. (it wasn’t exactly said like this, but similar) Poverty is ‘I love you Jesus above all things,’ chastity is ‘I love you Jesus above all peoples,’ and obedience is ‘I love you Jesus above everything, even above my own will.’ The way Sr. Margaret Michael said it, it felt like… I don’t know how to put it in words, but I loved it.
Sr. Diane Leonard, one of the Sisters who picked me and Cy up from the airport, gave a brief history lesson in the ‘historic room’ where there were several of the old items which the first Sisters brought from Italy to America. She talked about how it all began; the Pauline Mission in the USA. Then Sr. Jennifer gave us an amazing tour of the Publishing House, as well as the recording studio in the basement where they make their CDs! The tour was wonderful. It was really nice to hear what kind of work the Sisters did, and how.
Before we would have our class about Mother Thecla, Sr. Margaret Michael said, ‘You’re going to see Mother Thecla come alive, really!’ At first I thought, ‘Oh, we’re going to see that movie about her again?’ But it wasn’t. ‘Whenever Sr. teaches the class about Mother Thecla, she always comes out so alive to me!’ Sr. Margaret Michael continued. I didn’t understand, but then she ended with a ‘You’ll see.’ Sr. Carmen Christi taught the class, and then I saw what Sr. Margaret Michael meant. The way Sr. Carmen Christi taught the class about Mother Thecla – the way she described her as ‘in tune with the Spirit’ – she really did seem to come alive! She seemed like a really real person. ‘She was like a mother who really really cared for her daughters!’ I thought with elation. I’ve read the book, Thecla Merlo Messenger of the Good News before, and now, after that class it feels like everything she did and what the book says about her comes to real life. I can play the historical events in my head so clearly!
Some time after that, we did ‘praying with the news’. We watched a few things on the news; mostly about Michael Jackson’s death and funeral, and several other accidents and incidents that took place. Then we prayed for those people. It felt nice to pray for those people, and somehow after watching those terrible things happening on television it seemed like everything was going to be okay once we prayed for them.
After supper we had recreation. Some of us played a game called ‘pit’ and some of us played pictionary! It was really fun, and we had lots of laughs. It was a nice way to end the day, before Lectio Divina.
(Wednesday) After our usual activities we started on our Writing Track which Sr. Maria Grace led. It was almost like a writing class, except to me it was a lot more enjoyable than previous classes I’ve had. She talked about how important grammar was in a fun way, challenged us to think up a character using the ‘character maker sheets’, and let us write little bits and pieces of stories that depicted scenes and pictures. She encouraged us to write our stories based on the characters we thought up. So each of us are writing our stories now!
That day I had the ‘walk and talk’ with Sr. Margaret Michael. It was nice to both walk and talk at the same time, because the outdoors was so nice. I heard that it was rainy before we arrived, so we took advantage of the nice weather and walked around the Motherhouse. Usually I would be speechless when talking with another person whom I didn’t really know, but for some reason, I felt really comfortable… a lot more comfortable than I would usually be, anyway. At the thought of the walk and talk I was kind of scared, but I got through with a happy feeling in the end. In fact, I wished it had been longer!
Our writing track continued and the day ended with a movie. We took our dinner to the assembly hall and we all watched Little Women. I was surprised that I really liked it. Most of the girls had read the book by Louise May Alcott, and I never had, so it motivated me to read the book once I got home (and yes, I’m still reading it up to now). Our writing track would officially end on Friday, the day we were to visit the Orchard House, the house of the author of Little Women. It was hard to believe that it was already Wednesday night. We all were very sad that the program was already half finished!
Thursday was the Art Track day led by Sr. Tracey. We studied a painting of the Annunciation. Mary was sitting on her bed, her hands folded, quietly contemplating and listening to the angel, who was nothing but a beam of light. We answered some questions and told Sr. Tracey what we thought about the person and objects in the picture; of her expression, the room, the objects in the room, and the colors. After learning much in the art track I don’t think I could ever see a painting in the same way as before.
Then we had Confession, then lunch. Right after that we left for the Art Museum (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum). There, Sr. Tracey gave us sheets with questions to fill out about a painting we would find there that struck us the most. I didn’t find one that I really liked, though I would have chosen Remembrandt’s painting of the scene where Jesus would calm the storm on the sea, if it weren’t stolen. Instead, I was awestruck by the architecture and the designs on the walls and pillars. So in the end, I didn’t choose a painting. But I was happy with my choice. To me, it felt like walking through something like Cair Paravel from Narnia!
After arriving back at the Motherhouse, Sr. Tracey let us all think of ourselves as a vessel, just as Mary was…. Then we had to sculpt our image of a vessel for Jesus. Some of us made pots, vases, a candle holder, and even a box. I was aiming for a vase or something, but I ended up making a basket. Sr. Tracey said that our vessels could hold the Word of God in it, so I quickly sculpted a small scroll or piece of paper that said ‘I am the Way, Truth, Life,’ and stuck it inside the basket with a few roses.
While our vessels were baking, we shared all about the paintings that we chose. Cy pulled out a postcard of the painting of Remembrandt and gave it to me once I mentioned that missing painting. That would’ve been my choice, so I shared a little about it.
Then, after some playing on the piano and music, we continued on our sculpture projects, which were now baked. We painted and varnished them, something that was a lot harder than we thought it was, but we were able to do it.
Right after supper, Sr. Christina led the Media Night. She taught about how media can really be used to evangelize, and how it is already teaching other false information. She also said how much the media affects our lives and other people’s lives. Sr. Christina also showed an alphabet that consisted of the letters of the logos and names of other products (eg: Oreos, Lysol, Reeses…), and we all recognized most of them. She even gave an analogy about the media, how some things can be false, and some times it can be right. Like in the Wizard of Oz, the wizard was told to be a powerful one and looked like one, but when the curtains were drawn, all they saw was a little man moving the controls. She also showed us a clip of the movie Spiderman 2, when Peter was going to abandon his responsibilities and his powers so that he could live his own life. Sr. Christine said and encouraged us to use our talents to help spread the Gospel through the media. It was a very fun (and some parts funny) night!
Friday was the last day of the program. The other girls and I were really sad that it was going to end soon, but the Sisters would always say that the last day was always the best day. We didn’t understand how the last day could be the best day until later on… After the usual Morning Prayer, Mass, breakfast and helping out in the kitchen, we went back to the Assembly hall and finished up our projects (sculpture of our vessels). One of the participants played the guitar while Cy and two girls sang praises to God. A little while later I played a bittersweet song on the piano, a song that now always reminds me of that grand time we spent at the Motherhouse.
Then our mini-retreat began. We observed silence for about three hours, and walked outside a bit on our little ‘date with Jesus.’ It wasn’t as hard as we’d thought; some of us thought we could go on for more than three hours! It was so peaceful and quiet outside, and I found a little spot to sit on the stair steps leading to the chapel, and also next to some flowers. Then I took out my journal and wrote away.
What aspect of creation was I attracted to? What was I noticing about it that day? I loved the sound and sight of the trees swaying in the gentle wind, and the distant chirping of the birds. It was a lot like home (save the rotten mango smell :P ) except… different now. To me it was amazing how one could be so busy with God’s work, but then once she stepped outside, she could hear the sweet silence and see the magnificent works of God. I thought about the whole world, and I hadn’t realized it was this gigantic (I live in Hawaii; I never knew! :-P ). I traveled across the whole US plus across the Pacific Ocean. Still, God is truly there, and here, and everywhere! I remembered the time in the airport when I was asking myself so many questions and being so nervous. Why was I being nervous? God is here! …What was God’s presence like? Like the still small voice in the readings. If only I could pause and be silent for a moment, I’ll be able to hear him with the ears of my heart. But if I keep myself busy with something else, something that would block out the noise of God’s voice in my life, well then…:-P …I guess a part of Psalm 23 could sum up what happened while I was in prayer; “In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me; you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name. Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side…”
After that time outside, we were called back to gather in the small chapel on the 2nd floor. We prayed and shared what we experienced, and also answered briefly to the questions we were given (What aspect of creation was I attracted to? What was God’s presence like?...). That was our hour of adoration, too. Then we were off to lunch, then our outing!
Our writing track officially ended with the outing at the Orchard House, Louise May Alcott’s house. We got to learn about her family more, and we could tell a lot from her life that it was similar to the book/movie. Her little sister, May (Amy in the book and movie) was quite an artist. She even drew and painted on the walls; her father gave her permission to, as long as her skills improved and drew nicely. So it was almost like a continuation of the art track as well! After touring the whole house, we shopped a bit at the gift shop. The place was amazing! Then, after everyone gathered, we took a group photo, and then we were off to get some icecream!
I forget what the place was called, but I think it was ‘Bedford something icecream.’ We ate our icecreams and had lots of fun! Perfect for a summer day. The sizes were so huge it was hard to believe that it was just a kiddie cone size! After that, we hurried off to the Pauline Books and Media Center in Dedham. On the ways we talked story and had many good laughs with each other. We spend a little more than thirty minutes at the Bookcenter. Since several of the girls didn’t live close by them, they took advantage of this time. Cy and I spent our time wandering around, and we noticed that this Bookcenter almost had a different variety than the one we live close by to. So we looked around and then snuck in the small chapel to thank Jesus for the wonderful day we’d had, and the entire week.
We made it back to the convent in time to catch a bit of the Evening Prayer time. Then we had our supper, and invited some of the Sisters to join us in the assembly hall for one last recreational night, and our final group gathering. We also got to see the Junior Professed Sisters that night, and they joined us in our gathering. While Sr. Margaret Michael left to go ‘do something’ Sr. Tracey led us in a game called “Pterodactyl.” We all sat in a circle and we all had to say “pterodactyl” without showing our teeth. To change directions one of us would squawk loudly, still without showing our teeth. It was very hard to do that, and some of us started laughing so hard that tears came out of our eyes! I’m glad though, that I was one of the first people to be out; I got to record a nice and funny video of the group playing the game! We all had such a fun time! :D
Then Sr. Margaret Michael came back and we all got to see a slideshow of our entire week from a projector. It was so nice! It made me really really wish that the week was longer…or we could go back in time and start all over again because it was so much fun! Then came the ‘solemn moment’… Sr. Margaret Michael and Sr. Maria Grace called out our names and gave us St. Paul Summer Program Awards! There was the ‘Big Sister Award’, the ‘Gentle Surprise Award’, the ‘Brown Bread Roll Award’ (there are a lot of stories behind these names…) ‘Quiet Humor Award’, ‘Joyful Boot Award’, ‘Dedicated Writer Award’, ‘Meticulous Artist Award’ (Cy) and the ‘Musical Accompanist Award’, which I got for playing that bittersweet song on the piano all over again and over again. We also received a book called, “Life for the World” written by one of the Sisters, and a small image of St. Paul .
Afterwards, we shared a bit about our vessels that we made, now finished (mine was a basket, simple yet helpful, I guess, with the words “I AM THE WAY, TRUTH, LIFE,” inside of it, with some roses. I guess you could call them symbols of love for God’s Word.). Then we explained why we got such funny names for our awards we received. Then, while Sr. Margaret Michael ran up to get something, the participants and the Sisters asked me to play that bittersweet song on the piano again. I did so, but I nearly cried, knowing that this would probably be the last time I would play this song for these wonderful people. I held my tears back of course, reminding myself that this wasn’t the last day (we were leaving on Sunday). Everytime I play that piece I feel like reminiscing about that beautiful time we had together that whole week, especially that day. Then Sr. Margaret Michael came back with her ‘rapping shoes’, and gave us a little rap! It was so nice! I was able to record the first part of it, but unfortunately that’s when the memory got full. I was wondering when it would get full since I was taking so many pictures… I guess I got my answer.
Right before the final group photo (all eight of us participants, including the graduates of the St. Paul Summer Program), I was able to delete a few unnecessary pictures on the camera real quick. One of the Sisters asked me if I needed help and took the camera after I was finished with it to take pictures. Then we all had a group hug! Some of the participants felt like crying, and some of us even said our good-byes to the Sisters. I got the camera back, but I still didn’t know what to do since the memory was full. Then another one of the Sisters said she could take the memory card and put the pictures into CDs! The Sisters are sooo sweet! They are like a family! :D After several of the Sisters left, all eight of us and Sr. Margaret Michael and Sr. Tracey helped us compose a thank you letter to the Sisters. Most of us said thanks for the prayers, and I even added “Mahalo nui loa!” (that’s kind of like ‘thank you very much’ in Hawaiian). Sr. Margaret Michael then announced that we could sleep a little later, and then sleep in a bit the next day since everything was half an hour later for Saturday. We were all very thankful and happy that night, and we agreed that the last day was like the grand finale to the week.
The next day we were able to sleep in a bit. We made it just in time for the Morning Prayer and Mass. One of the participants had to leave right after Mass to catch the train with her aunt, so we said our good-byes real fast. During breakfast time we went up to the microphone and said a general goodbye to the Sisters present at that time. Then after help in the kitchen, we all did a cleanup on the third floor! It was tiring, but fun. During the rest of the day we said goodbye to all the girls except another one who would leave on Monday. It was sad for us, but we were able to exchange email addresses so that we could keep in touch with each other. Later in the day Cy and I went with Sr. Margaret Timothy around downtown Boston! That was so cool! :D After getting back to the convent just in time for supper (and had awesome cupcakes made by one of the participants and her sister!), we went over to the dinette on the first floor and watched Sense and Sensibility with a few of the Sisters and another postulant. It was a nice movie, but I almost fell asleep (not because it was boring, just because I was tired). It was sad for Cy and I that this was the very last day. So we packed up a bit for tomorrow…Sunday.
We had already attended Saturday afternoon Mass so that we could make it in time for our flight. Right before we went over to the dining room, Cy and I stopped by the Chapel for a last and quick Visit. Once more, We both thanked God for the wonderful time we had spent here. I almost burst into tears right there, but I didn’t want to cry, so I held it in. We both wished the week was longer. We then had our breakfast at 8:00, and we were able to take a photo with three of the Sisters who came to Hawaii. Then we said our goodbyes and thank you’s to Sr. Margaret Michael and Sr. Tracey, and to the other Sisters as well. Sr. Margaret Michael said, “Come back next year!” I responded, “Of course!” I really hope that we can go next year. I had such a fun time. This summer was the most memorable ever.
I felt like crying again as we said goodbye, so biting my lip, I decided not to say anything so that they wouldn’t find that my voice was breaking. I thought I was doing ok until… we got to the gate at the airport. Then the tears came pouring down… A flood of emotions seemed to wash over me as I recalled the fun and beautiful times of the entire week. I laughed at the same time, remembering the hilarious events that happened (like the Pterodactyl game, and the weird jokes!). Even after we boarded the plane we were still crying a bit. This was a little weird at first… why were we crying when we were going home?? I never felt homesick during the entire week. The Sisters felt like…well, older sisters to Cy and I too. It wasn’t until we landed in LA when we finally calmed down. Cy and I talked about our amazing experience, and how we loved it. We spent hours doing that! We both really missed the place, even if it was only a week we spent there.
Overall? I really enjoyed the trip!!!! It was the awesomest summer ever, and the most memorable summer as well. Why? Because…well…besides the fact we traveled all the way across the US … we spent a week at a convent, and we loved it. (yes, that sounds weird, but that’s ok, because I think I’m weird too). This experience took on a whole different perspective of religious life. (When the Sisters pray, they really pray, and when they play, they really play!) It was interesting to see so many Sisters at one time, since I’ve only seen a few at the Pauline Bookcenter. Their life, mission and spirituality… I’ve never thought about it that way! It was a super amazing experience – something that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
Our theme for the week was, “The Love of Christ Impells Us!” During the St. Paul Summer Program we really did feel His love draw us closer to him… and not only that, but also made us fall in love with Him all the more.

Ok, the end. :P

Summer Adventure part 2!

2009-07-26T13:28:00.025-10:00

Yikes! Sorry I kind of disappeared for about three weeks, but here you go! I was sick for about a week, so...

Anyway, Saturday (July 11th) was the last day, and all the other girls (except Cy, and another girl and I) were scheduled to depart. It was a sad moment for us because we had sooo much fun and enjoyed the week so much we didn't want it to end. :-) We were able to exchange email addresses real quick, so now we keep in touch we each other. So we all said a general good-bye to all the Sisters Saturday morning, since almost everyone was leaving that day. After breakfast, we, as always, helped a bit in the kitchen, then helped with clean-up on the third floor (where our rooms were)! Since I can't dust, I was in charge of sweeping the living room, then helped Sr. Jerome (one of the Sisters that was assigned to Hawaii earlier this year) with making the beds, and then she taught us the 'Pauline Method of mopping'! It was tiring, but still fun, of course. Then Sr. Jerome, another girl and I went downstairs to get a quick drink of water before working in the St. Joseph Assembly Hall where we had most of our meetings and classes. While getting some water Sr. Jerome talked about the Mary Queen of Apostles statue that we've been seeing in the convent. I don't have a picture of the statue that's in the chapel (which is really pretty, btw), but I have a pic of the one that's in the... um, I forget. It's either upstairs somewhere, or in the assembly hall....

Too bad I don't have a picture of the one in the Chapel though. That one is my absolute favorite statue of Mary! Sr. Jerome told us a bit about it, like that it's the only image of Mary where she is holding Christ out, since her mission is to give Christ to the world, and she was the first apostle of Christ (something like that). That other participant and I really liked it, and we decided then that Mary Queen of Apostles was our favorite Marian title. So after that we were off to clean the assembly hall until we had lunch... and then we all said goodbye to the remaining girls (except one other one)

Cy and I had free time after 2:00 (Boston time), so another Sister (Sr. Margaret Timothy, who was also assigned to Hawaii!) gave us a tour around downtown Boston! Here we go!

...And we passed by the State House!! That's gold on the top! (I wonder...it must be pretty heavy) There are pictures with Cy and I in it, but unfortunately I won't be posting anyone's faces, so... :-P

And it's Paul Revere!! I must've read about him a million times in my schoolbooks, so it was really neat to see the places where he was! (and we saw his house too!) There is a church in the background, but the sky was so bright, it wasn't able to show on the camera... oh well. We also walked along part of the Freedom Trail, that leads to the historic places in Boston. It's really neat! kind of reminds me of "follow the red brick road" or something... :-)

And I'm pretty sure this is the St. Stephen Church. I could be wrong.... Anyway, when we went inside there was music playing, and guess what? It was the Daughters of St. Paul music!! That was interesting... Sister was like, "That's our music!" "I thought it sounded kind of familiar..." I said. It was from an older CD of theirs, but still, that was pretty funny...

And the Boston Public Library!!!! It's gigantic!! We didn't go in, but we could easily see from the outside that it was big. There's another connecting building too!

Borders!! It's huge! (we don't have that big stores in Hawaii...well, maybe we do, but that would probably be in the tourist area...)

Seeing all these colonial-style and victorian houses/apartments were really neat. I've noticed that just about all the houses I saw were really nice and big!! There was another difference I saw between the houses here in HI than the ones over there, but I forget what it was...

We took a walk through the Boston Public Gardens! It's so pretty! They had all kinds of different flowers - some I've never seen before. And...and we saw a squirrel!!

Okay, you're probably all wondering why I'm excited about a squirrel, but there aren't any in Hawaii! That was my first time seeing a squirrel (I know, sad, isn't it?), and I've only read about wildlife, but never really actually seen much of them. And I saw a deer and a hawk for the first time in real life too. Well, in Hawaii you see sea turtles aaallll the time and occasionally some whales jumping around in the water, and maybe if you're lucky some dolphins too. Oh, and octopus, nene, and sometimes sharks, monk seals, and definitely some mongoose.... :-P

And we saw a swan at the park too! There's another 'pond' that I don't really have a picture of, but it has a couple of fountains there, where kids play around the area like it's a water park. During the Winter, Sister told us, the water's frozen and it's used as an iceskating park.

Being around really tall buildings was interesting too... Even if I do live near the downtown area of HI, it's still really different and neat - It's not as big as Boston!

Okay, I think I'm running out of pics to show... after that, we kind of got stuck in traffic 'cause there was going to be a game at Fenway park that day. Fortunately, we managed to get back to the convent in time for dinner! We were a little late, but we were able to catch some of our friends and some of the Sisters we knew. After dinner (and dessert - some awesome cupcakes made by one of the remaining participants and her sister, who's a Daughter of St. Paul preparing for her final vows!) Then a little later we all gathered upstairs in the dinette and watched Sense and Sensibility (the one with Emma Thompson in it)! I almost fell asleep though (not that the movie was that boring, it was good!), it was a long day, but a fun day. But I'm glad I didn't go to sleep early - I wanted that day to last. Then we all said good night to each other, then everyone went to bed. The first thing I did was take my contacts off - I think I went over my limit of hours to wear them. Oh well.

Next day we woke up at 7:00, packed up our stuff, stripped the beds, then replaced them with fresh sheets. Kind of hard to believe that it was the day to leave... :-( We took our things downstairs then made a quick visit to the Chapel. I'm almost burst out in tears right there, but I bit my tongue and tried to hide it. On the way going out, one of the senior Sisters, Sr. Rita, hugged us and told to come back soon. I hope so. It was sooo much fun being with them!!!

Next we gathered in the breakfast room, where all the sisters we knew were waiting for us. We had a small breakfast together, and then with talked with each other on our remaining time there. We got to catch up with two junior professed Sisters there, Sr. Maria Kim and Sr. Emi Magnificat (who were also assigned to Hawaii some years back). It was nice to see them again! Then we took a group picture and said our last goodbyes. It was sad. :-( Hard to believe it was exactly a week ago, when we just arrived! Sr. Margaret Michael then said, "Come back next year!" (I hope so too!!!)

Then the airport....again. :-P Ugh... the flight going back to LA was kind of dreary, with all the clouds and nothing much to see. But towards the end it was actually nice. I still really missed Boston though. I spent most of the time listening to classical music and staring out the window, reminiscing already. When we got to LA we waited and ate a snack during our scheduled 2hr layover. Cy and I just kept on talking with each other our awesome experiences with them! We also (because sometimes we didn't sit at the same table) told each other stories that the Sisters shared with us, like their vocations stories. They were all so cool! We were informed of a delay, something about the flight attendants getting the plane ready and cleaned up. Anyway, we kept talking even after we boarded the plane, until we realized something wasn't right... the plane didn't take off. We were informed that there was something wrong with the cockpit, and that the warning lights were on. So back we went, to the gate and terminal. There was a person who was sitting beside us, worried that he might miss his connecting flight to Kona, and he couldn't speak English very well so... poor guy. So we helped him a bit and he was able to reschedule his flight. In the end, everyone with connecting flights to Kona or Maui missed their flights. The AA people made up for it and even gave everyone a free meal coupon. So I bought dinner and shared it with Cy. And yes... in the end our layover did end up being 7 hrs... again. :-P But once again it didn't seem like 7hrs. Cy and I just kept talking with each other, and we also kept in contact with our parents and two of our aunts. One of them, our aunt that lived in CA told us 'why not just ask the AA people if you can stay with me for a week?' then she went on about it... That would've been a really nice idea but right when she was talking about it, it was time to board the plane. There were groans of 'finally!' and one guy even said on the plane 'Oh good, we're only 5hrs late!' That resulted in a laugh around the area.

I was dead tired so I fell right asleep. It seemed like a never ending night, going from LA to HI in the dark. We arrived in HI safely (thank God!) around 11:45 pm.

Our week was filled with loads and tons of fun!! I loved the Visit with Jesus everyday (hour of adoration), and Mass too! Their life, mission, and spirituality is just totally amazing!!!! I really hope Cy and I can attend the program next year!! :D

To close friends 'n family: If you like, I can try to send you an album with several of our pictures of our trip. Just email me or my mom (and she can forward your email to me), so that I can send you the link.

(P.S. We saw the following Sister bloggers!!!)

postulants Emily & Sylwia, and we met the novices too

Sr. Anne Joan I didn't get to actually meet her, but I saw her.

Sr. Bridget Ellis Forgot to mention that we even got to see the recording studio!!

Sr. Margaret Charles btw, she also came to Hawaii and we had shave ice together with some of my siblings!

...And I think that's it... But just in case I missed anyone I'll be sure to include them here, too. Hope the rest of you guys have a great summer!!

Summer Adventure - St. Paul Summer Program!

2009-07-13T15:36:00.025-10:00

Really! It really was an adventure for Cy and I. ^_^ Mahalo nui loa (Thank you very much) for all your prayers!!!

We traveled across the United States, from the Pacific Ocean to the next! It was the farthest we've been from home, but not once I felt homesick. (well, I did feel sick when we got there, but not homesick) Yep! So from Hawaii, aaall the way to Boston to the Daughters of St. Paul Motherhouse!

Oh gosh, I don't even know where to start! I have to say that it was the best and most memorable Summer Vacation ever. =D I think I took almost 500 something pictures last week - July 4th to July 12 actually. And I took some videos.

Hm, I guess the beginning would be the best place to start, huh? :-P :-)

So we woke up extremely early on July 4th to catch our 7:15 flight to LA where we would have our 7hr layover. We didn't really miss out on the fireworks - some locals in Hawaii do fireworks even if it's not fourth of July... So yeah. 7 hours of waiting... It wasn't that bad, it was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. I brought several card games and books to read but I didn't even use the cards or finish reading the books. So we hung out there for a while, and ate dinner and stuff... What was really nice is that the American Airline people allowed Cy and I to board the plane before the other groups (except first class of course) so that they made sure that they wouldn't leave us behind. So we were on our way to Boston! =D

I tried sleeping on the plane... and only managed three hours in the end or so. I was too excited and nervous to sleep anymore so we stayed away until we landed. Poor Cy didn't sleep...

We ended up arriving some several minutes earlier than schedule. That was nice too. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long before a couple of the Sisters picked us up! (hurray!) That was so sweet of them! :-)

Hm, well at first I was sure that I wasn't sleepy. But the time we arrived there (Boston time) was 7: something.... which meant it was 1 or 2 something in Hawaii time. So after arriving, eating a quick breakfast and seeing some familiar Sisters (who were in Hawaii some time ago) we kind of just collapsed in our beds.... and slept until 12 that day (still Boston time).

Then the two Sisters who picked us up earlier that day gave us a little tour of the Motherhouse. It was huge!!!! I'm thinking it must be twice or three times as big as a regular Costco store. We probably only saw 1/3 or even 1/4 of it. There were so many hallways that lead this way and that! To me it was like a really cool maze! I must've gotten lost like...3 times I think. :-) But it was sooo fun!!! We got to see the main parts of the house, and where we would have our meetings and where we needed to go - the Chapel (which is really beautiful!), the dining area, the assembly hall where we would have our classes, and our rooms of course.

I have to fastforward some parts otherwise this would probably be such a long post that you'd probably get bored with....:-P

Anyway... The next day (Monday afternoon when all participants arrived) we got started. What better way to start the program than in the Chapel with an hour of adoration? :-) That was really nice.

During the week...

The program was lead by Sr. Margaret Michael (the vocations director) and Sr. Tracey. They both did such an awesome job! I really enjoyed hearing both of their vocations stories. Everyday we had Mass in the morning, an hour of adoration (aka Visit with Jesus :-) ), and Lectio Divina every night before bed. After breakfast we all helped out in the kitchen! We had a couple of game nights where we would play card/board games and other games! There was Confessions on Thursday too. We also had really fun morning stretches almost everyday, but I think we all had a nice workout climbing up and down the stairs (our rooms were on the third floor). I have to admit that it was pretty fun going up and down the stairs. Looking down the stairway didn't feel that great though....

One of participants of the program said that another Sister said that when she was younger she used to drop things down there to watch it fall...

We had really great classes which were fun and sometimes funny! Sr. Margaret Michael gave an introduction to Pauline Religious Life.

Then Sr. Diane gave a little tour in the historical room (I forget what's it's really called) and told us how the Pauline Mission began in the USA. Then another Sister gave a tour of the Publishing House (which was really amazing!) And Sr. Carmen Christi gave a class on Mother Thecla, the Co-Foundress of the Daughters of St. Paul. I liked how she described her as 'in tune' with the Spirit. :-) We also had an awesome writing track led by Sr. Maria Grace. That was the best writing class I've ever had! 0_0 =D Part of our writing track was to watch 'Little Women' and we went to the house where the author grew up (she had a little sister who was an artist who drew on the walls of the house (no seriously, she did) , so it was kind of a combination of writing and art). We also had an Art track which I was looking forward to. ^_^ That was really fun. We went to an Art Museum too! We studied a painting of the Annunciation, and our assignment was to picture ourselves as a vessel for God like Mary... then sculpt it. =D I was aiming for a pot or bowl or something, but it ended up being a basket in the end.

Then we had a Media Night led by Sr. Christina! That was fun. (Yeah, I know I keep saying 'that was fun', but it really was!!! The entire program was my favorite!!!!)

On Friday, we had a little silent retreat. I really liked that. It felt good to be around silence and have time to be on our 'date with Jesus' :-) And it wasn't that difficult either. It was actually refreshing. (I've been on a silent retreat before too) It was only half a day too.

Later on after lunch we had our little outing as a group. That was the same day we went to the Alcott Museum (the author of Little Women s house)!

(The school that was on the side....)

(And the house!)

Unfortunately, like the Art Museum, taking pictures inside was not allowed. Oh well... It was really cool, but I don't think I can post all about it here...

After that we went to Bedham (at least, that's what I think it's called) for icecream! A kiddie cone is huge!!

Then we visited the Pauline Bookcenter in Dedham! I forgot my camera in the car so I didn't get to take any pictures inside... so you'll have to visit the Pauline Bookcenter where you are to see what it looks like! :-)

Then we had our last gathering night together. The junior professed Sisters arrived the day before so they were able to join us! We even got to meet the postulants! It was really really really fun!!!!! Everyone laughed soo hard that their faces turned red and started crying! We had awards too - some really hilarious ones (because there were so many jokes made along program) and some really nice ones. (Pencil sharpeners are extremely dangerous!!!! lol ) And the Sisters made a nice slide show of the entire week. Some of us cried because for most of them that night was the last night they would spend together. Then we all shared about the sculpture of our vessels and I played a song on the piano. ^_^ Now every time I play that song I'll think of that fantastic and memorable week! Then we had a final group picture taking and we all had a group hug!!

Most of the participants left the next day (Saturday). It was really sad to say goodbye, but at least we gave each other our email addresses so that we could keep in touch. (there were 8 girls all in all)

And last pic... Sr. Tracey did the lettering for the banner! Isn't her art amazing?! =D Oh yes, and we wanted to emphasize the impells part.

We all (the participants) had such a great time and learned so much! (Besides the important facts on 'rolls being brownies, and brownies being rolls', and to never ever bring along a metal pencil sharpener on the airplane... :-P ;-) ....) We all had such a memorable summer and a lot of us wished it wouldn't end! The Sisters were really like family to us.... We were had so much fun seeing what their life was like, and learning more about their amazing mission of spreading the Word of God through the media, and we were able to experience a little bit of it! :-D

Ugh... my brain's not working properly so I'm going to have to leave it at that right now...

P.S. We also had a tour of the downtown Boston area on Saturday since Cy and I left on Sunday. If I ever get the time and if I'm feeling up to it I'll try to post some pictures of that too, and more.... It's probably not a good idea to post something when you've arrived home 12 midnight...

Anyway, hoped you guys enjoyed this post. It's night time in Boston right now so I'm getting kind of sleepy.....

I know it's a little late but.....

2009-07-01T19:06:00.007-10:00

... Can anyone go for me?

Cy and I went to the one last year and I thought that was really cool. Several of my friends from church are going so...:-P

Fr. Jon Cabico (who was just ordained last Monday...I took lots of pictures and a couple of videos, but for some reason the sd card won't work so I can't post it :-( ) said the homily on the last year's discernment day (back then he was Deacon Jon Cabico). One of the really awesome reasons he makes such a great priest is that I heard Bishop say just minutes before the Mass, "You're doing the homily, right?"

Then (Fr.) Jon Cabico said, "Oh, I am?" And he made an awesome homily!!

I thought that was pretty cool. He used the phrase "Dynamites come in small packages" (though I never heard that phrase before :-P ). And I think the Gospel for that day was the one about Zachaus and Jesus telling him to come down from the tree. Sometimes God can use the smallest, most unexpected people, and ordinary people to do the extraordinary that he wants us to do. (I'm kind of short for my age, so I liked that) And I'll leave the rest of the thinking to you...

Btw, could you keep my sister Cy and I in your prayers? We're traveling to Boston early this Saturday for the St. Paul Summer Program. (which is why I won't be going to that other retreat) This'll be the farthest we've been from home and the first time on the east coast for us and we're not used to traveling. :) But we're both excited. ^_^ TY! I'll try to post pictures and maybe a video of the trip when we get back!

Corpus Christi Sunday

2009-06-14T06:00:00.000-10:00

Btw, did you know that Corpus Christi Sunday was St. Therese's favorite feastday? :-)

Memorial Day/Father's Day video...

2009-06-04T19:27:00.002-10:00

This is one of my old favorites ^_^ Hope you enjoy it. Sorry I'm so late...again.

2009-05-27T18:22:00.001-10:00

Here's some really neat gadgets to help promote Pope2you ...

More pictures of Bl. Damien's items...

2009-05-23T20:11:00.004-10:00

More pictures of Bl. Damien's items can be found here...

All these were taken at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace gallery. (I went camera crazy :-P ^_^ ) There's a mirror in behind some of the items in glass cases, so in one of the pictures you can see me holding a camera and taking the picture.

2009-05-23T11:26:00.000-10:00

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2009-05-10T16:40:00.005-10:00

Happy Mother's Day to all those awesome Moms out there!!! Thanks for choosing life!!! ♥

Sorry I'm so late :-P...I'm recuperating from a bad cold.... :-)

2009-05-10T12:00:00.002-10:00

Wow. Well, I do admit that I like to draw. :-) If only I could share some of my artwork with some of you guys!

You Are the Artist

You are unique and inspired. You aren't happy unless you are making art of some sort.

Almost anything can be a catalyst for your creativity. You find the whole world stimulating.

You have beautiful visions, and you're good at expressing them. You like people to see what you see.

You also have an inventor's spirit. You're always thinking up new ideas and concepts.

What's Your Life's Mission?

Star Wars Day! :-P

2009-05-04T18:40:00.004-10:00

Warning: This post is very short, and has nothing to do with...what I've been doing in this blog. :-P ;-)

A friend called us and told mom and she told us, it's Star Wars day! And now we can say, "May the Fourth be with you!"

P.S. Um, could you all say a prayer for my mom who isn't feeling well? Thanks. :-)

P.S.S. So happy to be celebrating my 3rd blogoversary! (May 1) ^_^

Happy Birthday to my mom! ♥ ♫

2009-04-22T08:19:00.011-10:00

Well, I thought that a b-day post for my mom (Easter) would be nice... Actually, all five of us, (my sibilngs and I) are making this post possible.

The birthday cake we overdid for mom!! =D My older sister Cy and I made it. And yes, we used our Easter candies (why not? ;-) )

Since we have plans for today, we kind of celebrated her birthday with our relatives here last night...

What she really wanted for her birthday present was a coffee mug/cup that she (and only her) would use so that we (my siblings and I) won't keep breaking whatever mugs there are left. 0_0 But nooo... we had other plans (mwahaha!!) *sounds of my brother's and dad's evil laughter*

So we went over to the new Target yesterday and got her (the next day, which is today, actually...her birthday).... (drumroll please!)

Before.....

And yes, it's big. We (my four other siblings and I) all bought it using our own allowance. And the flowers are from our garden!!

And after.
Ta-da!!! Just in case your can't read it, it's actually an empty waffle maker box. And then, of course, we came in with the breakfast. And here are the before and after pics!

Before...

Yep! Belgiam waffles (made using the b-day gift we gave to mom) with syrup(and chocolate syrup, but I forgot to add that in the picture), chocolate chips, whipped cream, with pinapples on the side, bacon, and a crunchy cheesy omelette!!
My Dad and Cy are the ones who woke up early (6:00(!) ) to open the box, read the instructions, and cook the belgian waffles, along with the bacon and omelettes. I woke up late. :-P My brothers were the ones to guard mom's bedroom door to make sure she didn't leave her room. (my brother's a lot taller than me, so...)

And after. (she only ate half!)

So after we presented that to mom, we all went into the kitchen and ate our own breakfast. (yeah...so she kinda just ate in her room by herself.)

Before...

And after.

Note the hordes of bacon. (I don't eat bacon that much. O_0 ) I think we had even more food than what we gave to mom....

Happy Birthday Mom!! =D Hope you enjoy the rest of your joyful day!!!

P.S. Mom, I told you so that I was gonna post this :-P ;-)

By your side

2009-04-21T19:49:00.001-10:00

^_^ It's one of my favorite songs...Enjoy!

Where's CT?

2009-04-16T08:00:00.002-10:00

^_^ ok, I'm sure you know about 'where's waldo' or 'I spy' or something... Anyway, here's something a little fun (and inspiring while you watch the real meaning of this video) after all your hard work during Lent. And this is also to make up for the time I have not blogged in a while. -_-
So try (of course, while listening to what the people in the video are saying!!) spot me in the video. (sorry...only those who know what I look like can play... but, um, you can try guessing! :-P :-D ) Here's your clue, I appear at least 3 times in the video. The third one is the most obvious. -_- (Somebody did that! Who did that?? :-P ) Oh right, and in the main page my 'older brother' is in the slide show. :-)

Anyway...the video is about the campaign for our Diocesan Road map for Pastoral, Program and Facility need. To learn more about it...well, watch the video and find out. ;-)
Here's the link to the video:

http://www.withgratefulhearts.org/campaign.htm

Please be sure to at least pray for our Diocesan Roadmap!!!! :-D Bishop Larry Silva and many others would be really happy with your contribution of prayers and sacrifices!!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

2009-04-12T06:00:00.001-10:00

No, not my mom...(she's having a good day already, and yes she is happy. Easter Sunday is like another birthday to/for her. :-P :-) )

Hope all you guys have a wonderful Easter day celebrating Jesus' Resurrection!!!!!!!!!!! =D

Easter (the holyday) is such a great and important day that it can't be celebrated all in 24hrs! It lasts more than a week!!!! Yaayy! No school!! =D

Possibly the last post until Easter....

2009-03-29T19:14:00.004-10:00

:-) Here's something that I got from an email. I also heard it during a homily once...

An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services, when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled: 'Stop! Acts 2:38!' (Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven.) The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done. As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar: 'Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yelling a scripture to you.' 'Scripture?' replied the burglar. 'She said she had an Ax and Two 38s!'

ASAP
Always Say A Prayer

Hopefully that's a good enough Lenten Reflection for now.... until then.... :-)

25 Things meme

2009-03-28T19:59:00.006-10:00

25 things about me...? Ouch. That's a lot.

25 things meme~

1. I’m only 4’10. >_< I even thought I was 4’11. I always forget that inches are 1-12, and so I accidentally told someone that I was 4’8. And it was for deciding where I was going to sit at the Chrism Mass at the choir. (nooo I’m gonna be in front!! :-P ) oh well…:-P
2. I look like a ten-year-old, according to one of my friend’s little brother. :-P
3. I wanted a sketchbook for Christmas, and I got four more 0_0 (it was partly my fault for showing my artwork to my aunty from the mainland.)
4. I don’t like bubble drinks too much. I mean, I do like them, but they give me a headache, and/or I don’t feel too well after I drink one.
5. I saw Jurassic Park more than two years ago, and I still think it’s scary. :-P (well, it is!!)
6. I drive two of my siblings nuts when I play a soundtrack from a movie aaalll over and over again. (B-but it’s my favorite!!)
7. I like soundtracks. I like them just as much as I like regular music….it fills up half of my ipod space and I want to put more but there’s no more room. :-P
8. I don’t like playing certain types of jazz on the piano. Even if I do like the music (sometimes, it depends…), I will not likely play it.
9. I never get the time to email a long message to anyone. It takes me forever….:-P But I’ll gladly read the ones that are sent to me.
10. On my twitter page odd people were/are following me. And I didn’t even know that some familiar people have one!! (does anyone out there have one too??)
11. I do better when performing than practicing for violin, but for piano, I do better at recitals, private practicing, than actually doing it in front of my piano teacher.
12. I’m thinking that 25 things about me is a bit too much. (It’ll be one looong post!)
13. I'm thinking what else I could write/type about myself...
14. I know! I talk more on forums, yahoo chats, and blogs than in real life. :-P Maybe it’s easier because I have more time to think about what I’m going to say…than just staring at the wall and mumbling something…So if you want to talk to me, give me an email, comment, or something. :-) Depending on how well I know the person, I possibly would take the time to talk and joke/play around with someone in real life. :-P
15. Some people might think I have a quiet imagination, but I don’t. I just like keep my stories and ideas to myself. ^_^
16. I have a bad habit of cleaning up after someone else’s mess. :-P
17. I think highschool is hard (who doesn’t? :-P ) and merciless. -_-
18. I’m part Chinese, Filipino, Portuguese, Spanish, and something else…and possibly Japanese, but not likely.
19. When I was little I looked very Chinese. In fact, more Chinese than Filipino. Visiting relatives used to say that I looked like Mulan (they don’t call me that anymore). I don’t know what happened to me now…
20. My hair changes color. And I don’t dye it. It used to be the same color it is now when I was about four, then it turned lighter, then to auburn and really really light brown. And now it’s just brown.
21. My four other siblings and I don’t look alike unless you see us all together with our parents.
22. If I hum a song all over and over again, that means I really really like it, even if I don’t say that I do.
23. I play the violin but I don’t have a real one. :-P It’s hard to explain… but I know I’ll get another one in the future! :-D
24. I have sooo many blog awards but I never like to put them on my side bar except for one, which was the first one that I ever got…I think. (I’m not gonna tell you which one; you’re gonna have to scroll down there for yourself! :-P :-) )
25. I’ve acquired the nicknames (so far, from family and friends :-P ) : ‘Little sister’ (from my older brother who is a lot taller than me…) ‘Aunty’ (don’t ask me why…okay fine, I’ll tell you why. My brother made up this game…n-nevermind. -_-) ‘Statue’ (we were rehearsing for something, trying to give an example to someone else or something…? Anyway, a Sister just grabbed me and told me that I was to pretend to be the ‘statue’ and then from that moment, whoever was present at that time called me ‘statue’ O_o , ‘Dot, dot, dot’ (why? Because … :-P Don’t ask me to explain that…) ‘Da artist’ (another one my brother dubbed me -_- …it’s the one I don’t like to be called.) ‘Aurelia’ (it’s a long story…:-)) and CT (I’ll have you guess why! :-P ) Yep. I’ve got a lot of nicknames! ^_^

k…I tag:
Pueo! (haha! Again! :-D you’re officially my tagging buddy! :-P :-) )
And who ever wants to do this!

Laughing with the Saints

2009-03-22T16:49:00.005-10:00

Fr. James Martin has got to be one of my favorite saint authors!! :-D

Part one:

Part two:

Part three:

^_^ Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!!

Ipod Survey meme

2009-03-19T17:00:00.005-10:00

Well, I found this over at Trina's blog, so I thought I'd give it a try :-)

Ipod Survey
1. Put your iPod on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY?" YOU SAY? Porcelain heart (By BarlowGirl) Okay…
2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? What Child is This? (VeggieChristmas) What? Christmas?
3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? I Will be Here (Renee Bondi) …
4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? This is Home (Switchfoot) Well, I am at home at the moment…
5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? Unto us a Son is Given (Michael Card) Another Christmas song??
6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? Any Way (By Point of Grace) …
7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Million pieces Kissn' Your Cares Good-bye (Newsboys) o...kay… ?
8. WHAT DO THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? Go! Go! Go! (A soundtrack from an old game :-P )

9. WHAT IS 2+2? Angels We Have Heard on High (Sung by the Daughters of St. Paul) More Christmas Songs!! At least I avoided the math problem…
10. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? On My Own (BarlowGirl) Don’t get it.
11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? All About Love (Steven Curtis Chapman) O_o
12. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? History (Matthew West) O…kay.
13. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Made to Worship (Christ Tomlin) Wow!
14. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Do it again (Point of Grace) Don’t get it. Could you repeat the question?
15. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? Mirror (BarlowGirl) …
16. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? Fight (Point of Grace) Yikes…I guess not…
17. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? How Beautiful is the Body of Christ (Twila Paris?) Aww…that’s such a pretty song!
18. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? Keep the Candle Burning (Point of Grace) I don’t collect candles. Unless it's talking about b-day candles, well...
19. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? We (Joy Williams) Wow. It’s like I totally avoided the question.
20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? Heart-Shaped Tears (yet another soundtrack) Huh?
21. WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN? Burg (another soundtrack) it’s yet another happy one…so… :-/
22. HOW WILL YOU DIE? Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble (Sonicflood) Yikes...0_0
23. WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET? Keep Quiet (BarlowGirl) :-P -_- :-( Not!
24. WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH? Happy (Ayiesha Woods) Yaaayy!! It made sense! :-D
25. WHAT MAKES YOU CRY? Meribia (another soundtrack) It’s a happy one…again
26. WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED? Still Calls me Son (John Waller) ?
27. WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST? Fire (Krystal Meyers) Well, it’s not my worst fear, but yes, I can get scared of it sometimes.
28. DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU? Nocturne for piano No. 2 in E flat major (Chopin) …
29. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT? Fatalize (soundtrack…) No Comment!!
30. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TODAY? Lift up your hands (Sts. Peter and Paul choir) Yes, I’ll probably do that when my brothers ambush my room. :-P
31. ARE YOU A GOOD DRIVER? Here I am (Michael W. Smith) I…have no idea.
32. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO? Sing your praise to the Lord (Rich Mullins) Cool!
33. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF FOREVER? Harder than the first time (BarlowGirl) I don’t get it.
34. ARE YOU AN OPEN PERSON? The Prayer (Josh Groban) I don’t get that one either.
35. WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? God is Good All the Time (Various Artists unknown) Yay ♫ ♥
36. HOW ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW? Say the Words (Various Artists unknown)…
37. HUGS OR KISSES? Miraz Crowned (soundtrack from Narnia Prince Caspian) Yikes…
38. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? Sweet Revenge (BarlowGirl) That is not my favorite color
39. Will YOU GO FAR IN LIFE? Porcelain Heart Acoustic Version (BarlowGirl) …
40. WILL YOU EVER HAVE CHILDREN? White Mask Mystere's theme (soundtrack…) I'm avoiding that question too… :-P
41. WHAT WAS/IS HIGH SCHOOL LIKE? Down (Point of Grace) Haha -_-
42. WHAT IS SOME GOOD ADVICE? He Will Carry Me (Mark Schultz) Yay! HE will carry me!
43.WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU WILL SAY BEFORE YOU DIE? Trust in the Lord (Jaci Velasquez) WOW.
44. WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU WILL DO BEFORE YOU DIE? Love Song for A Savior (Jars of Clay) ^_^

I tag Pueo (you can just use your computer instead of an ipod) and all the other teens who haven't done this!!

Sidebar update

2009-03-18T15:58:00.006-10:00

Okay, I just finished updating the 'Great blogs 2 visit' gadget! (took me sooo long to finish that...) I also added a poll, so please be sure to vote! If someone I know is out there and has a blog, and commented here before, and I haven't added your link, please let me know so I can add you to the 'great blogs to visit' links. Or, if you're going down to the sidebar to check the blog links, please also check the blogs I'm following because I'm terrible at remembering these things... :-P

Also, I might change the image behind the blog title. It's not because my sister said it looked 'dark and creepy and could scare readers off' (Gee, thanks 'Francisca Clare' :-P it was early morning when I took that picture in the church...) but also because of the reason that I like to change things around once in a while (if I ever get around to it and if I ever ever remember :-P )
Anyway... thanks so much to those who said that this template looked nice! Like I said, I really liked it, particularily because it was blue (or dark blue...) :-P so I think I'll keep it this way for a while. :-) I'm also adding on another quote gadget, this time for books. It'll be mostly from fiction books, because most of the quotes on the sidebar will be saint ones.

Strange settings...

2009-03-15T21:38:00.004-10:00

I'm going to experiment with new templates, updates, and change things around (my sidebar, quotes, and links all need a good update :-P ). Some of the sidebar elements will be taken out, and changed by other quotes, images, and stuff... Your opinion is welcome on which template looks/matches best :-)

Lenten Reflection?

2009-03-13T21:29:00.012-10:00

Okay...this is my first Lenten post ever! (I think)... Anyway, I can't say too much about it that you probably don't know... So please forgive me if you don't understand a word I'm saying! :-P
I'm pretty sure everyone gave up/putting up with something/doing something extra for this Lent. What was yours? Mine, among other things were: No naps (I never get to sleep anyway, with three monkeys bouncing in the house), no sweets (a really common resolution), no video games (a new one my siblings and I decided to do this year) and extra homework :-P. Of course, extra homework is probably/currently the hardest. Anyway....there could be a lot of things that I could offer up or give up something else and add that to my list. I could say that I'm giving up TV. But I never and hardly ever watch TV. Um...okay, let's think of a more simpler one...I know! I could say that I'm giving up coffee! But I don't drink coffee. Maybe my mom would let me have a sip, but that is rare. Now that wouldn't be very nice! Or I could say that I'm putting up with the heat down here in Hawaii(if there ever was right now...it's cold! :-P). But I'm used to it, so it wouldn't really matter for me. But we might want to be careful with resolutions like that. (eg: Giving up pastries for breakfast because you hardly eat them anyway) That probably wouldn't exactly be a resolution.
Updated: Yikes, I totally forgot to write about my whole point of this subject!! Anyway, what I'm really saying is, that the number of resolutions we make is not the point of the whole Lenten Resolution thing. Like if someone ever made up some resolution that's too easy for him or her to make, just to get competitive with someone else's number of resolutions, or even boast about it, then their first resolution may very well be humility! (ha, try boasting about that :-P ) Making Lenten Resolutions isn't a game to see who can give up the most and tell the whole world about how hard you've been working. What are resolutinos for, then? Well...I'll have you think about it.

And, we might want to be careful with other people's resolutions. (It's not ours, so don't keep telling them that they're breaking their Lenten resolutions!) Did you ever hear that story about a kid who kept on saying that he was giving up chocolate for Lent, but in the end he couldn't stop eating it, and his sister kept on scolding him for breaking it? It's something like that.

Of course, Lent is only forty days. But during the season, it may seem more than just that. Well, there's forty days of Easter! You can try, after both seasons are over, think over which season was easier/seemed shorter to you. Probably Easter :-P. But think of it! Weren't you soooo happy when Easter finally came around? Did you feel like you were set free or something? :-P Lent would be over, and you probably would drop your Lenten resolutions, but it's not exactly over yet.

I can relate it to the hard time I had in the marathon (yes, I felt very tired too). Around the first few miles I felt okay. But when we got halfway I was aching all over, from head to toe. I really really wanted to start begging Sr. Jerome (who was really kind and amazingly patient enough to drag and take care of two kids who has never walked 8+ miles in their lives as fast as she was walking) to at least sslllowww down or something! But what she said at the start of the marathon was painfully true. Stick to a certain pace; don't slow down or stop, or it would really get painful and much harder for you. I didn't really get it at first, but it's actually true. If we ever slow down (like break a resolution so many times) during Lent it's gonna be harder and harder to get back on track.
And after we were finished, we were soooo happy! Of course, in my mind (and my brother's), we imagined that after all those miles we conquered, we would finally be able to rest. Unfortunately for us, it was not. We had to walk around the whole Stadium to get our bus back to Downtown (unless we wanted to walk back...Nooo!!! :-P). One of the priests noticed my brother's panting and sighing, and said that after 8 miles walk, this was nothing. My brother, of course, did not seem happier.
What does this have to do with Lent? Well, after Lent we can't just simply 'drop' what we've learned and come to understand. We continue the path with more love, fervor and zeal in our hearts, and even more better.
Kind of like in our video games when we defeat a hard boss, get a lot lot of cool stuff, especially experience, and are so excited to continue to use all what we got for further use. And then, of course, after that happens, we don't want the story to end, and keep on going. It's like that.

Sorry all the topics are totally mixed up... :-P Hope that made sense to some reader...

Six Things Meme

2009-03-13T21:12:00.005-10:00

Rules:
1.) Link to the person who tagged you.
2.) Post the rules on your blog.
3.) Write six random things about yourself and things that make you happy.
4.) Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5.) Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6.) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Okay...I think Cy tagged me, I posted the rules, wrote six random (okay, maybe not really random) things, um...I followed half of the rules!!

1. Baking! I love to bake, especially if it’s for someone else. ^_^ Cookies, pancakes (okay, maybe that’s not baking, but still…), cakes, brownies, and muffins. I’ll bring my baking goods (only if I have time to bake them first) to any meeting, outdoor activity, potluck, celebration, or any occasion for just having a good time. My parents even said that I should do a bake sale, but I just don’t have the heart to sell my cookies…They can have it for free! If it makes them happy, I’m happy too. ^_^

2. Little kids. I really don’t know why little kids like me too. They seem to all crowd around me and tell me all about random things like their video games, sports, and stuffed animals, and what they want to do in the future (like one of them said that he wanted a big graduation party where everyone would dance to disco music until they passed out). …It’s really interesting and fun to hear. One of them even said and thought that I was 10 years old…Maybe it’s because I look like one for the 4th time. :-P …and maybe I act like one too.

3. Jogging time…Every week my aunty and uncle take my brother and I to the beach park, where we jog about 5+ miles each time. I really enjoy it because it’s like the only time I get to daydream by myself and get away from the noise of the house, besides bedtime of course, but that doesn’t count.

4. Drawing. It’s also another time I get to be in my own world, and day dream or listen to music (such as soundtracks) while I do so. Charcoal, pencil, and prefer to use mechanical pencils for another kind of style. I’m still a beginner, so I really hope to improve my skills. ^_^

5. Soundtracks! I really really like listening to them. Especially if it’s a movie (or video game) I have already seen. Not necessarily one that I didn’t like, only if I liked the music I’ll listen to them. I’ll even try to find the notes on the piano and add chords if I don’t find the sheet music or score. I don’t know why, but if the soundtrack song is stuck in my head, and I keep humming it all over and over again(and drive my siblings crazy), that means I like it, even if I don’t say that I do. ^_^

6. When I’m in the mood to play the piano…okay, that was really random, but really! I accomplished my first original piano piece (by Beethoven) when I was in that ‘musical mood’. And only in a single week. Again, I’ll only do that to music that I really like, especially if they’re soundtracks. I have to slow down though, when I figure a piece out on my own in that mood. ‘Cause sometimes my piano teacher takes advantage of that, and assigns me to an extra hard piece, and challenges me to compose my own music…-_- *sigh* I don’t think I can do that…

Aww…why can’t there be a 7? I’d put ‘cameras and taking pictures’ if there was…^_^

I tag:

Agnes (only if you want to :-) )

Pueo,

...And whoever hasn't done this meme yet!

Aloha Run!!!!!!

2009-02-16T18:16:00.004-10:00

....actually, I walked. Fast. Anways....I finished it!!!! :-D 8.15 miles in 2hrs & 40 mins!!!!!!! My brother and I (I ended up dragging him once the Stadium was in sight) went with a group to do the Run/walk for vocations. I have to say that for a first marathon, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! (could've been worse...:-/) Of course, we ended up really sore,(I'm putting ice on my knee right now) but we finished! I will post pictures later!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;-D In the meantime, you can look here!!!!!!!!!! (Family&Friends in Hawaii: See if you can spot my younger brother & I ;-) )

blogging...

2009-02-16T17:59:00.002-10:00

I can explain!!!! I'm really sorry I haven't been exactly blogging like I said I would, but it's just that things have been really quite busy lately. For example, I started highschool just some months back, and I find it a lot different (especially learning a new language, algebra, science and stuff like that) than my past subjects. I also went to a marathon, attended a women's silent retreat, and took a religion test @ the Cathedral. I haven't gotten the time to really read any saint books, mostly the book report ones required by Seton in my grade, and amazingly did not find extra time on the computer... I know these are really bad excuses, :-P but I'll try make it up to my readers (if there are still any) by thinking up some plan to post something... And also, I'm not exactly sure I'll be continuing posting about saints, but I will write what I can about a day's saint. In the meantime, you can access the older posts about the saints I've already written down there on the sidebar in the archives.

Candlemas

2009-02-02T17:45:00.002-10:00

Forty days after Christmas! Now it's Candlemas and...n-nevermind...(it's still a schoolday for us...)

The Four Candles -

Something from Love To Be Catholic...

2009-01-24T20:31:00.003-10:00

The pro-life march was last Thursday (and it went really well!) so....

last day of the week...

2009-01-17T06:00:00.001-10:00

"Perhaps you and I will find ourselves soldiers of the same regiment, travelers on the same road, bound for the same destination. May His holy will, not ours, be done! Leave your future in His hands, in the heart of Jesus made man. Remember that he too was once a young man, for Jesus Christ is the God-child, the God-youth, the God-man, the God of all ages." ~St. Theophane Venard. His feastday is...February 2nd...I think. :-P

Prayer to Mary Mother of Vocations

O Mary, receive me among those whom you love, nourish, sanctify, and guide. It was you who accompanied Jesus throughout his life. Be with me now as I seek to know God's will. Help me to listen intently to his words of eternal life. Help me to say yes to all that he asks of me. Mary, you have always guided me with love, I now entrust myself entirely to you.

Hope you all had a great week... pictures from Patron Saint Index, the first half of the week's prayers from here, and the rest from a lot of holy cards I was given by the Daughters of St. Paul...

PS~ I didn't post this, or any of the other posts at 6:00 AM for real...:-P ;-)

2009-01-16T06:00:00.000-10:00

"Just as every sort of gem when cast in honey becomes brighter and more sparkling, so each person becomes more acceptable and fitting in his own vocation when he sets that vocation in the context of devotion. Through devotion family cares become more peaceful, mutual love between husband and wife becomes more sincere, the service we owe the prince becomes more faithful, and our work, no matter what it is, becomes more pleasant and agreeable." ~St. Francis de Sales. His feast day is January 24...(I think)

Prayer for My Life's Dream
Your dream, O Master, is to lay hold of me, to change me with your divine life.
Your dream is to purify me, to free me from my selfishness and my faults.
Your dream is to re-create me, to make me a new person in your image.
Your dream is to fill me with your charity, to make me love hte Father and all my brothers and sisters just as you do.
Your dream is to bind me to you with the closest bonds, to bind our hearts together as one.
Your dream is to make me strong, to impart to me your divine power, so that I can overcome evil and be constant in doing good.
Your dream is to enflame me with an untiring zeal to spread your kingdom in this world.
Your dream is to possess me in this life and in the life to come.
O Master, may your dream come true.
May I be able to give all that you ask of me.

2009-01-15T06:00:00.001-10:00

"He need have no fear of error in believing that God is calling him to contemplation, regardless of what sort of person he is now or has been in the past. It is not what you are nor what you have been that God sees with his all-merciful eyes, but what you desire to be." ~Anonymous

Prayer to St. Paul the Apostle

St. Paul, you traveled the world, never quite knowing where the Spirit would lead you next. You journeyed in faith and accept beatings, imprisonment, shipwreck, and ultimately execution because of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Help me to accept the great adventure of leading a life faithful to the words of Jesus my Master, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. May I ask myself, "Where does God want me to go today?" On the journey, may I love in the way you taught the Corinthian (1Cor.13), and be willing to endure all things for the sake of the Gospel.

Pray with me, that I may heed the voice of the One who called you on the road to Damascus, and set you on the path that leads to life. Amen

2009-01-14T06:00:00.000-10:00

"It is not so easy as you may think to take the habit against your parents' wishes, for though you may be resolved to do so now, I doubt whether you are so holy as not to feel unhappy afterwards at being in disgrace with your father. The best way is to pray about the matter to our Lord and leave it to Him. He can change hearts and find means to bring it about." ~St. Teresa of Avila
Her feastday is October 15.

Prayer for My Vocation
Dear Heavenly Father, I believe that you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. You alone love me for who I truly am and for what I am able to become. Though I make repeated mistakes, you continually offer me new opportunities to grow every moment of the day.

Your Son lived the Way that I must choose is I'm to be transformed and to fully develop my potential. His Way is the only path that leads to true personhood.

Attuned to your Truth, Father, I am capable of leading a wholesome and worthwhile life. The depth of my service to others is dependent on my grasp of your Truth.

May your Spirit overflow into my life that I may have your Life to the full. Give me the strength and the courage to be all that I can be and not to settle for less.

Realizing that my life is a precious gift from you, may I integrate Your Way, Your Truth and Your Life, and make it my own. Amen.

2009-01-13T06:00:00.000-10:00

"I opened the gospels at random, and the words my eyes fell on were these: 'Then he went up on to the mountainside and called to him those whom it pleased to call; so these came to him.' There it all was, the history of my life, of my whole vocation; above all of hte special claims Jesus makes on my soul. He doesn't call the people who are worthy of it; no, just the people it pleases him to call."

~Therese de Lisieux

Her feastday is October 1.

Prayer to Saint Joseph to Know One's Vocation
O Great Saint Joseph, you were completely obedient to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Obtain for me the grace to know the state of life that God in his providence has chosen for me. Since my happiness on earth, and perhaps even my final happiness in heaven, depends on this choice, let me not be deceived in making it. Obtain for me the light to know God's Will, to carry it out faithfully, and to choose the vocation which will lead me to a happy eternity.

St. Alphonsus Liguori- patron of vocations

2009-01-12T15:52:00.003-10:00

God says to each of us: "Give me your heart, that is, your will." We, in turn, cannot offer anything more precious than to say: "Lord, take possession of us; we give our whole will to you; make us understand what it is that you desire of us, and we will perform it."

If we would give full satisfaction to the heart of God, we must bring our own will in everything into conformity with his; and not only into conformity, but into uniformity also, as regards all that God ordains. Confirmity signifies the joining of our own will to the will of God; but uniformity signifies, further, our mkaing of the divine and our own will one will only, so that we desire nothing but what God desires, and his will becomes ours. This is the sum and substance of that perfection to which we ought to be ever aspiring; this is what must be the aim of all we do, and of all our desires, meditations and prayers. For this we must invoke the assistance of all our patron saints and our guardian angels, and, above all, of our divine mother Mary, who was the most perfect saint, because she embraced most perfectly the divine will.

- Saint Alphonsus Liguori, from The Redeeming Love of Christ

His feastday is August 1.

Prayer to Know One's Vocation
Lord Jesus, up until now you have been quietly preparing me to be your disciple. Now the time of preparation is ending. I seem to hear you say to me as once to Peter: Will you also go away?" You were saddened then by friends who failed you. But Peter did not fail. "Lord", he said, "to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

I stand with Peter. Through prayer and counsel, show me, Lord, where it is in your vineyard that you want me to serve. Then give me strength to be faithful.

Mary, Mother and Model, help me to respond in generous love to the call of your divine Son.

Vocation Awareness Week

2009-01-10T18:24:00.008-10:00

...second post of the year! :-P
This year I'll try to post more often... This week I'll also try featuring a quote or prayer each day by a saint about vocations (kinda). Anyway, for this special week, here's a handful of helpful websites if you or anyone else you know is considering a vocation, or even thinking of discerning a possible vocation to the priesthood or religious life... if you know any other ones, please leave a comment!

Holy Vocations Blog: A group blog consisting of people discerning a vocation. I would really recommend the introductions... plus the articles about the religious communities, and the reflections, oh! And the updates, and.... There's a loooong list of vocation links on the sidebar as well.

Vocation.com: Besides all the really awesome information it has, I especially enjoyed the testimonies, and a few other videos as well. There's also a Personal Guidance part where you can ask your own questions about vocations and have them answered by a priest.

Do I Have a Vocation?: Excellent articles about vocations... I'm still looking forward to reading some more... An earlier article was really helpful to me because I usually bake a plateful of cookies for the Daughters of St. Paul as gifts...

Vocation-Station: A blog consisting of many inspiring vocation videos, usually about a specific community. Really fun to watch, but my computer sometimes has a hard time loading up...

First post of the year...

2009-01-01T18:03:00.004-10:00

...a video!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!

2008-12-31T10:49:00.002-10:00

Nativity Scene at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace

Early Christmas present...

2008-12-23T17:47:00.004-10:00

...because I'm not sure if I'll be able to post on Christmas day. Actually, it's a re-posting of a video that I did for Mother's day, I think. Anyway, just cross out the 'mother's day part'...

2008-12-06T19:41:00.004-10:00

Tagged by Cy!

Pass this on to 5 blogging friends. Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

"...What is more, he knew where he came from."
"But how did he find that out?" asked Frodo.
"Well, as for the name, Bilbo very foolishly told Gollum himself; and after that it would not be difficult to discover his country, once Gollum came out."

~The Fellowship of Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

I tag anyone who hasn't done this yet!! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

2008-11-27T14:44:00.003-10:00

Thank you Jesus for everything,
For every person, creature, and blessing,
Without You and them, my life would be so hollow,
And that’s why I’m saying mahalo.

Mahalo for my parents,
Who try to make my life straight not bent,
Mahalo for my siblings,
Without them, life would be so boring. :-P

Mahalo for my friends,
Whose friendship would never end,
Mahalo for my pets,
Who are so cute and colorful I bet.

Mahalo for the birds that sweetly sing,
And the comfort that cats and dogs bring,
Mahalo for every creature great and small,
From the tiniest ant to the giraffe so tall.

Mahalo for the flowers from roses to daises,
From colorful carnations to little white lilies,
Mahalo for plant life, whose names can be a disguise,
Especially for Hawaii ’s favorite, the bird of paradise.

Mahalo for the ocean so blue,
That fish swim in like there are always things to do,
Mahalo for the beach where it’s so fun to play,
Otherwise there would be no such thing beach day. :-(

Mahalo for the beautiful sky above,
Which is a sign of Your wonderful love,
Mahalo for the moon and the stars at night,
And the sun that gives us much light.

Mahalo for delicious food,
Which cheers us up when we’re in the mood,
From lumpia to grilled steak,
And from chocolate to pineapple cake.

But most of all, I thank you for you,
For your birth, death, resurrection too,
Mahalo for being my best Friend,
Whose love for me would never end.

Thank you Jesus for everything,
For every person, creature, and blessing,
Without You and them, my life would be so hollow,
And that’s why I’m saying mahalo.

Apostle for our times

2008-11-26T06:00:00.003-10:00

Sorry, couldn't find a picture of him when he was young...

"The apostle is a temple of the most holy Trinity, within whom God is supremely active. The apostle exudes God from every pore: with words, works, prayers, actions, and attitudes, in public and in private, with one's entire being. Live God! Give God!" ~Blessed James Alberione

Childhood:

James Alberione (1884-1971) was born in a peasant family with four other brothers. Um...unfortunately I can't say too much about his childhood because I have two books that mostly tell about his later works in life. Anyway, with poor health, his mother always took care of him. She'd teach him about God and take him to church, often sitting in the back just in case he felt sick.
When he was six years old, his teacher, Rosina Cardona (Kind of like one of those sweet Sunday School teachers I imagine :-), asked her eighty students what they wanted to do in the future. James paused for a moment before saying, "I am going to be a priest." His teacher then saw great potential in him, and did her best to teach him well.
Even with poor health, thin and weak, he advanced well in his school years. Once, when he was nine years old, he was running fast to tell his mother that he had passed ahead of his class. But he didn't dare to tell her that he had promised to light a candle to the Madonna of Flowers, whom his mother had a great devotion to. She guessed, and scolded him saying not to just like a little candle. Then she gave him a coin that was enough for a larger one.
As a student he loved to read. He'd play sometimes, but it wasn't his aptitude, due to his poor health. He'd rather watch, or study with another student.
Most students, especially farmers, would usually finish after third grade (sniff...why can't we?), but James Alberione was the first in his family to have gone through the first year of junior high.
When farming (or something, I can't remember) he would be in charge of holding the lantern for light. Tired and sleepy, it was hard for him to lift it high. So that his father wouldn't scold him, his mother would call out to him, "James, give them light!"

Part two about entering the seminary coming next year :-P ;-)

Not giving up fighting for life!

2008-11-05T16:50:00.012-10:00

I think the following song really fits the election for those who were voting for life... in my opinion anyway. It was composed by a group of three girls (siblings, and homeschooled!!!) who always base their songs on real meanings, not just weird ones that don't make any sense. It's kind of why they're one of my favorite singers. :-)

One More Round
by BarlowGirl

Round 1 wasn't how I thought it'd be
Round 2, I'm struggling to breathe,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7 times I wonder why I
stepped inside this ring.

I may be knocked down and so bruised
but I'm here to tell you
I may be knocked down, but not for the count...

So take me one more round
I'll just keep fighting
One more round
You're messing me up but I'm still here
One more round
I'll come out swinging
One more round
I'm telling you now I'm not going to lose it here.

It's so hard to get up off the floor again
But I know that victory is near,
I'm pushing through the pain that tries to feed me lies
that I won't reach the end.

I may be bloodied and so bruised
but I'm here to tell you
I may be knocked down but not for the count...

I am not defeated,
though you cannot see it,
I have never won a battle on my own.
I find strength in weakness
and find hope believing,
God is for me who can bring me down?

Even though I'm beaten up and hurt, you can't take me down, because God is at my side. You can knock me down, but I'll come back springing up. My body may be so tired... but not my will. I'm not giving up fighting for life! Don't let anyone knock you down, come back! Don't let them count your fall as a point! God is with us, who can take us down?

"The one who does things makes mistakes (sometimes). But the one who does nothing lives a continuous mistake." ~Bl. James Alberione

Happy All Saints Day, and please vote prolife!!

2008-11-01T06:00:00.007-10:00

...and some part of my saying of pro-life. Anyway, here's a another vid I made. Thanks to Ms. Micki at http://thewindowshowsitall.blogspot.com/index.html for several of the featured holy cards.

Lyrics~

I’ve been hearing voices
Telling me that I could
Never be what I wanna be.
They’re binding me with lies,
Haunting me at night,
And saying there’s nothing to believe.
Somewhere in the quietness,
When I’m overcome with loneliness,
I hear You call my name.
And like a father You are near
And as I listen I can hear You say

You are a child of Mine
Born of My own design
And you bear the heart of life.
No matter where you go,
Oh, you will always know
You have been made free in Christ.
You are a child of Mine

And so I listen as You tell me who I am
And who it is I’m gonna be.
And I hang on every word,
Knowing I have heard
I am Yours and I am free
But when I am alone at night
That is when I hear the lie
You’ll never be enough
And though I’m giving into fear
If I listen I can hear You say

I am calling…I am calling…I am calling…

The saints heard the call of Jesus to be His children, and we are called too! As his children it is our duty to listen and obey like good children. But listening wouldn't be called listening if it wasn't followed by obeying... We're God's children, isn't that amazing?! He gave us the ultimate gift of life. But if we're God's children, then who are we to destroy it? We don't stand a chance against the Creator and Author of Life.
Imagine God's gift of life and abortion like this: You've been planting a flower for a special person. When you finally see that it's starting to grow, and you're so excited, that special person you've been growing this plant for, comes, pulls it out, roots and all, saying it's a weed. And they don't want a weed. But the flower hasn't even grown so much or bloomed out yet, how could you say it's a weed?
Those pre-born haven't done anything wrong. Not yet anyway. Not like they've killed someone. Not like they have done something so horrid that it death for more than one person. In fact, they haven't gotten a chance to do anything. What part of "Thou shalt not kill" do the abortionists not understand? God created life for us to live, not to destroy other's!
Even if I'm only a child, and cannot vote yet, doesn't mean I'm not old enough to help speak the truth out. I'm not afraid of being pro-life, neither should those pro-lifers be. Jesus mentioned more than one time to not be afraid. And he's also saying it today. You're alive. I think that should be more than enough to be thankful for. If you're alive, then I think you should stand up.
Life is life. Death is death. Killing is murder. Abortion is not just bad, it's 100% wrong. No one can change that. Not 75%, not even 99% wrong. St. Paul says let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no, all the way. It's that simple, like black and white. If black and white were the only colors that existed, then you can't have grey. There.
Let's fight the good fight of our faith, for life!

Please Vote for Life!!

Listen to our Hearts

2008-10-29T10:27:00.003-10:00

One of my favorite songs....:-)

"Let us tell Jesus that we want to talk, think, and live as he would, to die with him and not to have any other ideal besides that of being his living image." ~Blessed James Alberione

St. Gaetano Errico

2008-10-29T10:12:00.003-10:00

"Let us kindle the love of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the hearts of all people..." -St. Gaetano Errico

This is his first feastday as a saint!! He was recently canonized by our German Shepherd on October 12. :-)

"God alone sufficeth..."

2008-10-15T06:00:00.001-10:00

"There is no such thing as bad weather. All weather is good because it is God's." Saint Teresa of Avila

Since I've already posted several of the saints' stories, I've decided for this year (until next May) to write about their childhood and vocation story (before becoming ordained or entering convent). Part 2, which will be about...well, the next part, I will write next year. :-) If I haven't done a saint's childhood this year, I'll have to do it next time. (Like St. Faustina's feastday I missed:-( )

Childhood~

Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada (wow long name...) grew up in a family of ten. Six brothers and only one sister. :-S Not to mention several other servants... But her 'favorite' sibling was her older brother who was closest to her, Rodrigo. They would often hide away in the garden and have their own religious discussions. Most would be about becoming martyrs. They probably based their attraction of martyrdom on the fact that the finest church in Avila had the relics of three child martyrs of Rome: Vincent, Cristeta, and Sabina. When Teresa was seven, they even attempted to run away to North Africa were they were sure that the Moslems would kill them. After they were sadly taken away by their uncle home, Rodrigo, whose feet were already sore, blamed it all on little Teresa, "It was la nina (little girl) who dragged me into it." Both were soundly punished. :-(

Besides the great desire to be martyred, she also wanted to become a nun. She built her own cloister with stones from the garden. Unfortunately, it collapsed, leaving Teresa planning something else. Cloth began to disappear from the house as Teresa then decided to make her own habit. Her impatient desire for instant sanctity only resulted as more trouble.

After a while she got tired of it. By the time she was fifteen, she was considered as one of the most beautiful ladies in Avila. Her sweet 'piousness' turned into sour frivolous. Like many other vocation stories, this was the part right before setting out for Damascus. Her father, fed up with her flirtations, sent her off to a convent at the age of sixteen for an education and discipline. Teresa wasn't too happy about that. Once there, she managed to keep in contact with her worldly friends, feeling cooped or locked up.

But after some time, and ever so slowly, she began to realize what she had been doing. Teresa began to worry, "Should I be a nun, or a wife?" Nervous strains and exhaustions made her feel rather ill as she thought up reasons not to enter the convent. She couldn't take it anymore. She came back home, and while keeping the house for her family, thought and discerned what God wanted of her. But it began to be just too obvious. God was calling her, and who was she to stand against His Holy Will? Teresa stopped worrying and at the age of twenty, against her father's wishes, she ran off to the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation.

To be continued... ;-)

O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in "wedding garments." Amen.

~Saint Teresa of Avila

Pic, prayer, and quote source & info from the book: Catholic World Culture, and yes, my history schoolbook.

Picture meme

2008-10-14T20:55:00.000-10:00

Mahalo to Pueo for tagging me! :-D

Here's the deal - go to your pictures, go to the 6th file, go to the 6th picture and then post it. For bonus points [yeah, sure, there's points] see if you can remember even taking the picture.

Well....I've got a problem too. :-P ...actually, really two. Since Cy and I use the same computer, I'll probably end up with the same picture (unless I miscount :-P) ;-). But (currently) I'm using the laptop on which my profile doesn't have a sixth folder. (yeah, that's how small it is...) For me, there's only three folders: the sample pics, the bulging folder of JMJ holy cards, and yes, the gigantic one with the saint cards. The rest of the pictures that I have are lying around in the My Pictures ...I don't usually blog with this computer, but anyway...

Oh right, I forgot... I didn't take any pictures that are in my folders. :-(

Here's the sixth picture:

NOTE: I did not take this picture!! (but that'd be so awesome if I did ;-) ) That was a long time ago. No, Sr. Kim, or Sr. Maria Kim as she is called now, sent this one to me (by email) some time before she was professed. She said she and her other fellow novices were at a... I can't remember. It was a book something... I've forgotten what she called it. I had to delete the message because of this advertisement that I thought that was real saying that I was over limit on my email space. I never did delete emails before... so then... :-P Anyways, I'm happy to say that (or type) that (I'm pretty sure) that all those novices in the photo all had their first profession now! :-D

I tag Kaila,

and anyone who hasn't done this one yet! :-)

How well do you know St. Paul?

2008-10-14T20:02:00.005-10:00

...Okay I guess. :-P

H/T to Nunblog

St. Paul Interactive Game

I got three swords around the second journey... (no fair! the computer was so slow.... :-P ;-)
Hopefully you can get much better than that! :-D

"Always preserve a healthy optimism.

History is the teacher of life, and our past experiences school us for the future.

All things work together for the good."

~Bl. James Alberione

Martyrs of Turon

2008-10-09T17:47:00.004-10:00

St. Anicet Adolfo
St. Augusto Andres
St. Benito de Jesus
St. Benjamin Julian
St. Cirilo Bertra'N
St. Inocencio de la Immaculada
St. Julian Alfredo
St. Marciano Jose
St. Victoriano Pio

Brothers of the Christian Schools martyred in 1934 in the persecutions of the Spanish Civil War.

source

PS~Sorry this was posted so late again. :-P

St. Therese feastday!! :-D

2008-10-01T17:40:00.007-10:00

(video taken from Cy's blog last year)

Sorry this was posted soooo late. I would've made a video myself, but I haven't had the time lately. :-)
I remember the first time (I mean, second time :-P) I saw this movie... It was with some of my friends at the movie theater when it first came out. It was supposed to be just with friends, but the mothers insisted that they would go. We all went in with that 'okay... I wonder what this movie is kinda about' feeling, and came out with tears. (or, at least the moms did)
I have to say that my favorite parts were when St. Therese and her sisters really treated each other like good siblings. ;-) Like the many times when Celine cheered her up (in school) and gave up entering the convent sooner so that Therese wouldn't have to stay to take care of her father... and when Pauline helped her in (home)schooling her(!!). And when they all prayed for her when she was sick and the time when they all performed the play about St. Joan of Arc!
I really love the soundtrack of this movie! It really fits her. It was nice to know that it was composed by another nun named after St. Therese. Another interesting fact to know is that the actress (who played St. Therese...and I can't remember her name) became converted and took the name Faustina Therese. :-) Has anyone else out there seen it? :-)

The three Archangels

2008-09-29T06:00:00.001-10:00

St. Gabriel St. Raphael St. Michael

"...You should be aware that the word "angel" denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.

And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.... So too Gabriel, who is called God's strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God's strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle.

Raphael means...God's remedy, for when he touched Tobit's eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly caused God's remedy.

Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power..."

- from a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great

source

Novenas to St. Therese

2008-09-23T16:58:00.005-10:00

"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." - Saint Therese of Lisieux

I won't be posting the novena prayers everyday for nine days this time... :-) You could find them down there on the side bar (under novenas) or here.

pic from here

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

2008-09-14T14:30:00.009-10:00

I know it's kind of late, but here's a little something I made... The timing is a bit off... only because I made it in one day...

Anyway... Enjoy!

Blessed Charles Spinola

2008-09-11T19:21:00.003-10:00

Sorry for such a late post...

"Meanwhile, by night and day, we confirm our souls by exercises of piety, we chastise our bodies by scourging, haircloths, and other like mortifications; and what constitutes our greatest consolation, we minister at the altar daily. And it has surely been by a special providence of God, that vestments and other requisites for the holy sacrifices were introduced unseen by the guards, after we had been at first for several months deprived of them and unable to refresh ourselves with that heavenly bread of angels.

For my own part I am overjoyed at this special benefit of God, accomplishing the desire which chiefly brought me hither, and I esteem it above the splendor of all fleeting dignities. And justly, for Saint Paul, after being once imprisoned triumphed more in the glory of his chains and bonds, than in his very apostleship, calling himself `Bound in the Lord.' I blush for shame when I think how by no merit of mine, I have obtained this great grace; how God, having before so many holy persons who have cultivated this vineyard with such admirable zeal, has cast his eyes on me, the last of all in the gifts of nature and merit.

I, who can aver that I now begin to be a disciple of Christ amid the greatest pain and confinement of prison, even when my strength seemed failing from hunger alone, I was always refreshed by such delights of consolation, that I deemed all my sufferings undergone in the divine service richly rewarded. Were I still to pass several years in this dungeon, the time would seem to me short in my intense desire of suffering for His love, who so lavishly rewards the labors of this life and makes even torture itself sweet and desirable. Yet God is to be served chiefly for himself alone, for He is the fountain of all goodness, and merits all our devotion without any hope of reward."

-Blessed Charles

source

Old meme

2008-09-04T15:15:00.005-10:00

Got tagged by Cy and Mom! Thanks! :-D

What picture would I use for my holy card, should I make it to sainthood, and of what cause(s) would I want to be patron(ess) of?

Sorry that I wasn't able to post this earlier... I couldn't find the right picture. :-P (usually I'm the one behind the camera) Haha... actually I was going to post one holding up a camera trying to take a picture of the one who was taking a picture of me, but it turned out that she took the picture first... :-) Then there were a couple of ones of me holding up plates with smiley faces in front of my face... ;-) Anyway, I found a really old one after we moved...

Mom said it was okay because I said that I don't think look like that anymore... (do I?) :-D I picked this one because all holy card pics are old and look old, right? jk :-P :-) I think this one was taken when I was about five or six years old...

Should I make it to sainthood? Um, should I? ;-) I dunno, I was kind of looking forward to writing someone else's saint story who I know! :-) Wouldn't that be fun to do? I'd rather write someone else's story...

Patroness... photographers! The people who are behind the cameras! :-D And maybe young people... Oh! and young vocations too! I found out that there are only about two who are patrons of it! ...But that's not up to me. :-) (updated) But if I could possibly choose, I'd really like to be the patroness of "unknown saints". It's kind of odd, but I've read a lot of saint stories who have stories just good as all those other famous saints. But not just those unknown saints too! I think it would include all those other people living in the present world who are kind of like "unknown saints" helping little by little in little ways to others in secret... Who knows? :-) Maybe there's an unknown saint in your life too! :-D I know plenty of them! Or... (would be my other choice) How about those who are trying to imitate the saints? :-)

I tag whoever would like to play along! :-)

St. Augustine

2008-08-28T06:00:00.005-10:00

"O eternal truth, true love and beloved eternity. You are my God. To you do I sigh day and night. When I first came to know you, you drew me to yourself so that I might see that there were things for me to see, but that I myself was not yet ready to see them. Meanwhile you overcame the weakness of my vision, sending forth most strongly the beams of your light, and I trembled at once with love and dread.

I sought a way to gain the strength which I needed to enjoy you. But I did not find it until I embraced "the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is above all, God blessed for ever." He was calling me and saying: "I am the way of truth, I am the life."

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed you fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace."

-from the Confessions of Saint Augustine

Most people (and I'm pretty sure you do too!) probably already know about he outline of St. Augustine's life (his mom stormed heaven with her prayers for him, then he became converted then became a bishop sometime later...)... so I'm not going to post that part about him. :-) But if you'd like to, you can read about him here. (and that's also the quote and pic source)

For those of you who just can't read the Confessions by St. Augustine, the book, The Restless Flame by Louis de Wohl is a good one about him to start with. It's about his story before he became converted, and some several years after he did. In that book the title, "the restless flame" really does suit him :-D. "Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you." In one of his writings, it could be summed up like that.

Act of Hope prayer by St. Augustine
For your mercies' sake, O Lord my God, tell me what you are to me. Say to my soul: "I am your salvation." So speak that I may hear, O Lord; my heart is listening; open it that it may hear you, and say to my soul: "I am your salvation." After hearing this word, may I come in haste to take hold of you. Hide not your face from me. Let me see your face even if I die, lest I die with longing to see it. The house of my soul is too small to receive you; let it be enlarged by uou. It is all in ruins; do you repair it. There are thing in it - I confess and I know - that must offend your sight. But who shall cleanse it? Or to what others besides you shall I cry out? From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord, and from those of others spare your servant. Amen.

Saint Augustine of Hippo