Saturday, May 31, 2025

The Apple of God’s Eye

“And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Luke 1:43




Elizabeth, filled with the Spirit of God, marveled. Her cousin Mary had come from far away to visit her all the way into the hill country of Judah. Who was she, that the mother of our Lord would deign to find out how she was and spend some time with her? Was she that special, that significant?


Like Elizabeth, we should marvel at the truth that we are the apple of God’s eye. “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” (Psalm 17:8) We usually take for granted that God’s eye is upon us always. Without His attention, without His breath of life within us, we are just dust and ashes. Each one of us is special and significant. Each one of us has the imprint of God as we are created in His image and likeness. 


It is heartbreaking that In 2020, estimates suggest 1.26 million abortions were induced by Filipino women according to the Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network (Is there any safe abortion for a baby?). The World Health Organization assesses that around 73 million induced abortions takes place worldwide each year. No value is given to the lives of these children. But the truth is each one of them is as precious as we are to God and should be as precious to us as well. 


St. Lawrence as the archdeacon in the reign of Emperor Valerian, was ordered to turn over the treasures of the Church in three days. He quickly sold the Church’ property and distributed it to the poor, the widows and the sick. After three days, Lawrence led a crowd of poor, blind, crippled, suffering people to the door of the palace. “These are the true treasures of the Church,” he boldly proclaimed. In fury, the Emperor ordered that he be grilled on the rack that same day. 


Let us pray that we will not catch the world’s attitude of cavalierly treating the powerless and the voiceless. Sometimes animals have more rights than babies in the womb, homeless and disabled people. We should always see each person through God’s eyes. 

Friday, May 30, 2025

Our Troubles Will Turn to Joy

“You will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” John 16:20




When I was pregnant, I was filled with anxiety. I was 38 years old, it was my first time (and only time) to be pregnant. I had spotting, pre-eclampsia, and pains in my pelvic region. And the baby would have spasms of what would turn out to be bouts of hiccups.


Because of my fears, I would nag God, and “pray without ceasing". Then I felt God say to me, “Patsy, when you hold your baby in your arms, you will know how much I love you." True enough, my delivery was quick, almost painless. And when I held my baby, I was just surrounded with God’s love. 


When Joshua arrived, he had a big nose and even bigger ears. My mom was so dismayed that she pestered God to make Joshua cute. It so happens that God answers even silly prayers like that and Josh was the cutest baby ever!


There are many times in our life that give us anxiety, fear, grief, or pain. We go through many challenges. But if we HOPE in God, 'pray without ceasing', and trust that God always wants the best for us, ALL our troubles will turn into JOY!


"When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.” John 16:21

Thursday, May 29, 2025

In a Little While

Jesus said to His disciples, “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me." John 16:16




Jesus and His disciples certainly had some strange conversations! But after He died and appeared to them, some of those conversations became clearer.


I miss my mom, my dad and my brother Robert very much, but that is tempered by knowing I will see them again. Recently, my aunt who would have been 96 years old next month, passed away too. It happened so fast that I keep thinking of her as well. We already had special plans on how to celebrate her birthday. How terribly desolate I would be if I did not have this reassurance that we will all be together again one day! 


But we do not have to wait to be with Jesus! We can be with Him all the time! He left us the Spirit to be with us always! “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20


We just need to spend time with Him and not be so enamored of the things this world has to offer! We can't "see and hear" Him if we don't turn off the noise, the clamoring of this world, the urgent call of the long list of things to do!

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

God’s Greatest Miracle

“What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you, the God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of Heaven and Earth...He fixed the ordered seasons...so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for Him and find Him, though indeed He is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:23-27




Paul said these words in Athens where he noticed so many temples dedicated to idols. One altar caught his eye, however, an altar TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Paul wanted to introduce this unknown God to the Athenians. And he chose the Areopagus, a prominent rock outcropping in Acropolis, Greece, in which to do it. We may not be an eloquent speaker like Paul, we may not be a missionary going to far reaches of the world, but we do have access to a modern day Areopagus where we can share about the goodness and greatness of God. Aside from our work places, schools, and neighborhoods, the internet is where we can make our voices heard above the fake news, the confusion, the troubles and headaches of this world. 


Creation is God's first missionary. All of creation shouts out about God's majesty and power! “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Romans 1:20


 “Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.”

St. Augustine


We, our human body, our minds, our soul, are God's greatest miracles! Let us find Him and help others find Him for He is as near to us as a whispered prayer! 

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

The Power of Praise

“About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God...” Acts 16:25




There is power in praising God. Many times when I feel bad I sing songs to God, sometimes in my own words. It never fails to lift up my spirits. Here in Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas land in jail after freeing a slave girl from evil spirits. She was a fortune teller and brought much money to her masters which angered them because they lost their source of income. They dragged the disciples to the chief magistrates who ordered them beaten and thrown into jail. They were put in the innermost cell with their feet fastened to a stake. 


Did they mope and feel sorry for themselves? Did they cry out to God in desperation? Did they get angry at God thinking we are doing all this for You and this is our reward? No. They prayed and sang hymns of praise to God. The prisoners were all listening and the praise was so powerful there came a great earthquake which shook the foundations of the jailhouse!!! 


When we are more desperate than desperate, when all hope is gone, what should we do? Shake heaven with our praise! This is the message of a little 96-page book entitled “Prison to Praise” by Merlin Carothers. He had a very tough start in life, ending up in jail for a while, where he learned the powerful practise of praising God in all circumstances, especially the difficult ones. More than 10 million copies of this book has been printed and many who followed his example have had their lives transformed. 


Jean Underfel-Babalis said, “When I first got sober 32 years ago I found this book, it revolutionized my thinking, my life, and became the basis for my recovery. I’m convinced that this book was one of the primary sources that is responsible for my being clean and sober for the past 32 years. I learned the power of praise.” 


Kelly Davis shared, “I was in a cult when I first read this book 21 years ago. I was unhappy and felt very oppressed, victimized and never "good enough". I figured I had nothing to lose so I tried it first on a nasty day when I had to stand out on a corner collecting money with a sore ankle. My praise was pretty sarcastic at first but as the day went on, I started noticing many subtle changes happening within me. I persisted and by the end of the day I felt a "joy unspeakable" I had never experienced before...I did it in faith and obedience to His Word. When I persisted in this, something broke apart deep within me and a stronghold Satan had on me for years started crumbling.”


Praise God for another secret! The power of praise! 

Sunday, May 25, 2025

The Advocate

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” John 14:25-26




Jesus spoke these words to his disciples the night before he died. Six days ago this was also the reading, almost as if the Church wants to emphasize this message, especially as we will celebrate Pentecost Sunday in two weeks. The Feast of Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church because this is when the apostles started spreading Jesus’ gospel message. 


We witnessed a powerful example of Jesus’ promise to His disciples when the cardinals convened to gather in the conclave last May 7 and 8. Cardinal Ambo David revealed there were many messages like this circulating during the pre-Conclave sessions: “We believe the Holy Spirit has already chosen the next pope. He is here among us, but we have yet to identify him. Dear brother, whoever you are, should the lot fall upon you when we cast our votes, please accept it. We assure you of our allegiance and fidelity." 


On the fourth ballot, a majority of more than two thirds of the 133 eligible cardinal electors discerned that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was God’s anointed. 


A lot of the cardinals when interviewed said they did not know him. Before the Conclave, priests and experts offered the opinion that it was unlikely that an American would be chosen as pope. But on the second day of the conclave, this relatively “unknown” American was put on St. Peter’s seat and took the name of Leo XIV. 


When I read about him, and listened to what his brothers and teachers had to say about him, I felt that God had chosen him from when he was young, maybe even before he was born. He was unlike other boys as he aspired to the priesthood from a young age and would even play at being a priest using the ironing board as the altar. He was chosen, anointed for such a time as this. 


I appreciate what the Hon. Justice Aggrey, a judge in Kenya who is not Catholic, has to say: “…today, the Catholic Church has reminded us of something we have forgotten. That the kingdom of God is not noise but order. Not display but discipline. Not popularity but purity. It has reminded us that when God is allowed to speak, He will often choose the one no one expected. He will raise the man who is hidden. He will lift the one who has been in the secret place.” Pope Leo XIV is our David for this time when there are many Goliaths that need dealing with. Let us pray for him.


Read Cardinal Ambo’s sharing about the Holy Spirit and the Conclave: 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0MtpNwNprBoxJH7LuiumEqAv5xog7AdCFG23JgJyvnU3SMT4WXFL59HvbMAmv1sA2l&id=1144910906

Saturday, May 24, 2025

God Saves Us

“If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:20




If we were to pick sides, we would rather be on the side of victory, true victory. On one hand, there are all these people attacking the Church, persecuting the Church, insulting the Church, throughout history, in different corners of the world.  There was Nero who invented all sorts of barbaric torture for the early Christians, making them human torches even. The persecution continues today, and there are many unknown martyrs in different parts of the world. Torture is severe in North Korea, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran, Nigeria. Christians face harassment in 145 countries! 


Christian churches are being burned to the ground, homes destroyed, people beheaded for their beliefs. I read a lot of blogs. Sometimes blogs are taken down because people attack the blogger for what they believe in. One lady just said that she wanted to dress modestly because she wanted to follow what it says in the Bible. She got so many acidic comments! I've also seen horrible insults under YouTube videos of pastors preaching the word of God. So much hatred! 


But just as Nero’s systematic oppression of the followers of Christ made them stronger and more fervent, so today where there is persecution, there is also more growth in the number of Bible believing Christians. It is well known that Iran has one of the fastest growing Christian churches in the world! And in Easter this year there has been a record number of converts to the Catholic faith! 


On the winning side, we have Jesus Christ, who allowed Himself to be crucified so His followers would have not only fullness of life but eternal life. Before He died, He prophesied that He would rise up on the third day (Matthew 27:62-64). It may surprise some to know that there is solid historical evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. The proof is so strong that serious historians of all stripes, even atheists, concede the empty tomb, and the appearance of Jesus after his death. This is a primary reason the Christian church was established and grew in spite of the persecution. 


The following story is based on historical events but the conversation is fictional: A shrewd Jewish businessman got baptized a Catholic after staying with a Borgia Pope in the Vatican and doing business with the Vatican bank . He was asked why he was becoming a Catholic after witnessing all the scandals and corruption. “I'm a businessman,” he answered, “and I know one thing for sure: no earthly business that stupid or corrupt could possibly last fourteen weeks;  yours has lasted fourteen centuries.  It's a miracle;  I'm convinced!"


Our Church and our faith, and even God is attacked today. But as Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle urges, let us stay calm. “Be fools for Christ. God is the Savior. We do not need to save God. It is God who will save us."

Friday, May 23, 2025

Bear Fruit and Soar With Eagles’ Wings

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go forth and bear fruit that will remain.” John 15:16




We are all chosen by God to be a part of His body, and just as the body has many parts, we too have different responsibilities and vocations. We may think that what happens to us is coincidence or an accident, but I believe that God has a Master plan for each one of us. He does not usually show us what that is, just as a weaver does not reveal to the rug or tapestry what the final outcome is. The shuttle quickly flies back and forth, and the design is revealed slowly. 


The way eaglets learn to fly is very fascinating. When the mother eagle builds her nest she first finds thorns, branches, and other ragged and sharp materials for the first layer. And then she proceeds to cover it with a padding of wool, feathers, or straw to make a soft bed for her eggs. She provides everything her babies need while they are growing, but when it is time to teach them to fly, she starts “stirring the nest”. She removes the soft layer to make it uncomfortable for her little ones. In this way, the mother eagle prompts her babies to mature and desire to fly. 


When we feel despondent that God is allowing discomfort and trials in our life, let us remember the baby birds. God our Father loves us, and has chosen us to bear fruit, to soar with eagles’ wings.

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Remain in My Love

“Remain in my love.” John 15:9



This is what Saint Paul prayed for the people of Philippi: “That your love may increase, grow, abound more and more in knowledge, depth of insight, discernment, judgement, and every kind of perception so that you may be able to approve that which is excellent, that which is best, pure and blameless, what is of value..." (Phil. 1:9-10)

We are indeed blessed if we witness real love in action. It is very seldom that we see it on TV or in the movies. It is sad that many people are governed by the counterfeit love that seeks happiness for themselves, and not the kind of love that brings joy. Saint Paul was able to write about joy a lot, even while he was in prison!

In St. Paul's prayer, it is apparent that when our love for God and others increases, so does our wisdom and discernment. We will be able to sense “what is vital and prize what is excellent and of real value" (Amplified Bible). Wisdom is seeing things through the eyes of the giver of wisdom, God Himself. To see life, people, situations from God's perspective. To see others as they truly are- God's children, God's beloved. To have a depth of insight into God's heart.

Seems impossible? If we want to know how a person thinks, whom he cares about, what should we do? SPEND TIME with them. That is the only way we can know what is important to God.

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.” (John 15:9-11)

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

I am the Vine

"I am the vine, you are the branches." John 15:5



These words of Jesus, part of His farewell message to His disciples, are very powerful. If we can only understand the true meaning of this short phrase, we would be different persons. After Hudson Taylor contemplated these words, he considered his life "an exchanged life". 

Hudson Taylor wrote: “The Spirit of God revealed to me the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before....I saw not only that Jesus will never leave me, but I am a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine is not the root merely, but all- root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit. And Jesus is not that alone- He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for and needed. Oh the joy of seeing this truth!"

Why was it so exhilarating for Taylor to realize this? Hudson Taylor had been a mighty missionary of the faith in China for several years but he had been exhausted and depending much on his own strength and resources. He had been striving for faith! 

He wrote in a letter about this discernment, “…It is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ! Think what it involves! Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can your right hand be rich and your left poor? Or your head be well fed while your body starves? No more can your prayers or mine be discredited if offered in the name of Jesus!"

Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission and went through much suffering and challenges in doing so. His first wife, his second wife, and I don't know how many children died before him. His family was almost killed in a riot in China! His house burned down to the ground, nothing left! He had to depend on God for providing not only for himself and his family, but also the mission. But God did provide! 

"The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No, it rests in union and communion with the vine; and in the right way, is the right fruit found on it. Let us abide in the Lord Jesus."

When Hudson Taylor died, his second son, Howard Frederick said of him, “Christ was the reason for his peace, His power for calm."

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

My Peace I Give To You

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27




Philippians 4:6-7 is one of my favorite Bible verses. We read, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." 


I like to pair it with the following passage from St. Augustine's Confessions: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee."


I remember when I had no peace at all, little things made me cry, and it seemed as if everything I had done in my life was worthless. I would argue with everyone and fought with my poor mother who could not understand what was happening. It was in such a contrast to my usual state of mind where I was content, thankful for everything, and rarely in contention with anyone. My mother called it my MIDNIGHT CRISIS, and so it was! 


I found out eventually there was something wrong with my thyroids which caused all the havoc with my emotions and mental well being. 


Through it all, and it lasted for more than a year, I held on to Philippians 4:6-7. I would confess it, pray it, claim it, repeat it, and I knew that one day, 'this too shall pass'. And thank God, it did!


Peace is not the absence of problems, conflict, storms, anger...It is the surety we belong to Someone who loves us and wants the best for us. It is the confidence that everything will turn out right, even in spite of ourselves. 


Thank You Lord that even in a world full of tension and strife, You are the gatekeeper,  and we can enter into Your peace!

I Will Send You the Advocate

“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” John 14:25-26



In these days of confusion and unclarity, I often think of my parents and wonder what they would have done to solve the many challenges of this amazing time. My father passed away in 2019. He was a very innovative man, with lots of ideas. My mom, who died in 2014, was enterprising, so industrious, and persevering. I miss them both so much. But they did not leave us empty handed. They left us a thriving business with a lot of potential and great promise.

I suppose when Jesus left His disciples, they were confused and did not know what to do at first. But just as our parents left us a gift, Jesus did not forsake His disciples without leaving them a lot of wise words and the most precious of all, the largesse of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus said in John 16:7, “It is better for you that I go.” What can be better than Jesus beside them 24/7? What can be more preferable to Jesus walking preaching, healing people, loving them? Believe it or not, Jesus not being on the earth! That’s what He said in the 16th chapter of John. “It is much better for you that I go, (it is profitable, expedient, it is for your good, it is for your advantage that I leave you),” Jesus said to the disciples because they were filled with grief. “Unless I go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you, (will not have close fellowship with you, will not be able to partner with you). But if I go, I will send Him to you.”

I can see that if Jesus were still walking the earth, I would have to go where He was to speak to Him, to ask Him about what to do about this or that. Can you imagine the crowds around Him, clamoring for His attention? 

Instead I can be in my nightclothes, and just ask Him from wherever I am. I can read the Bible and the Spirit can illuminate certain passages for me. I can pray in the Spirit for people I don’t even know because the Spirit knows them and their problems. And the Holy Spirit can speak to a trillion people all at the same time. The Spirit is more omnipresent than the internet or TV or radio because the Spirit can go where those are forbidden or censored. 

Yes Jesus is present in a more powerful way today. He is IN us! And because He is IN us, we can be more powerful if we work together, pray together, plan together!

Let us not waste this precious gift of the Spirit by belittling it, or not being aware that we have Him in us. Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “I have given you authority…to overcome all the power of the enemy.”

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Love One Another

“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35




Jesus continues, “And here is how to measure it- the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.” After Jesus taught His disciples about love, and prayed, they crossed to the Kidron Valley where He was betrayed. 


Usually when I think about this self-sacrificing kind of love, the kind of love that Jesus had, I think of the larger than life saints like Maximillian Kolbe, who volunteered to die in place of another prisoner in Auschwitz. Kolbe was a hero many times over before he sacrificed his life for another in that Nazi concentration camp. And there are many other saints who sacrificed their lives in love for others. 


But there are ordinary people who live extraordinary lives as well. Ronnie Smith was a 33 yr. old chemistry teacher in Austin, Texas, when he and his wife discovered that Chemistry teachers were much needed in Libya. Ronnie decided to go in spite of the many warnings he received. “They’ll see you as an enemy! They’ll kill you!” 


“I don’t care,” he said, “My life is in Jesus’ hands, my after life is in Jesus’ hands. Even if they do kill me, I’m still going.”


After 18 months of teaching in the International School of Benghazi, four unidentified gunmen in a black Jeep shot him down in December 5, 2013. Two weeks later his widow Anita wrote an open letter that was spread all over the news. When she and her husband had traveled to Libya, they saw the suffering of the Libyan people, “but we also saw your hope, and we wanted to partner with you to build a better future.” To the attackers, she wrote: "I love you and I forgive you." 


She came out on CNN, and told Anderson Cooper, “I just envision the black Jeep driving up to him and I don't know their faces. I just want them to know that God loves them and can forgive them for this. I just really want them to know that I do love them and I forgive them, and Ronnie would want this, and I hope and pray that our son, Hosea, would believe this," she said. “Yeah, they took away my husband. I loved my husband. But it's got to be God's spirit that's pushing me to show them that this is what God wants them to see.” 


In today’s climate of division, hatred, bullying, where truth is attacked by a barrage of lies, we too can practice the radical love Jesus espouses. 


How do we love as Jesus loves? How do we forgive as Jesus forgives? Only by His grace and Spirit within us!

Saturday, May 17, 2025

Show Us the Father

“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” John 14:8




My sister and her husband went on a pilgrimage through the Camino de Santiago twice! The Way of St. James, as it is known in English, is a huge network of pilgrims' ways that leads to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. Tradition has it that the remains of Saint James the Great are buried there.


The scallop shell, found on the shores of Galicia, came to symbolize the way, and can be found in hundreds of posts and signs along the Camino as one walks or bikes along the trails. The pilgrims look for the shell printed in yellow on a blue background to know for certain they have not lost their way.


We may not know it, but we are each on a pilgrimage. We may be comfortable where we are but we do not belong here. We are all taking our own route to our forever home. So we should also look for signs along the way, to make sure we are not lost. Just as Philip asked Jesus, “Master, show us the Father,” we too should be looking for our Father along the way. Jesus answered Philip, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”


Along the Camino de Santiago, the scallop shell, or the Vieira, is the sign the pilgrims look for. In our pilgrim journey, we should always look to Jesus. Those who walk the Camino also carry the shell along with them on their journey. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)


I am reminded of Steve Green’s beautiful song which goes: 


“We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road

And those who've gone before us line the way

Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary

Their lives a stirring testament to 

God's sustaining grace


Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses

Let us run the race not only for the prize

But as those who've gone before us

Let us leave to those behind us

The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives”


The only way we will leave a heritage of faithfulness, is by looking to Jesus and following Him.