National Vocation Awareness week

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

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!!!

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!

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...

...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!!

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

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

*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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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...

...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