Are You Too Busy?

I chanced upon on old newspaper and had the chance to read Fr. Jerry Orbos' Moments column entitled "Superbusy".  I have known Fr. Orbos during my seminary days and I have grown to admire his wisdom and as read through this article I can see that his fervor in spreading the Word of God has not waned a bit.  

Fr. Orbos wrote, "God will slow us down to make us realize that our worth is not so much in becoming a somebody, but in being someone."  Many of us have become too busy chasing our dreams that we have forgotten that the ultimate goal of life is to be the best person that we can be.  Whether you were able to achieve your dream to become a store manager, a successful businessman, or a CIO, the ultimate question that God will ask us is, "What kind of person have you become in life?"  

Let us not forget that the life we live today is but a test.  What kind of life we lead today will decide if we will be worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

An Easter Message

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus after His death on the cross.

The eventual consequence of life is death. However, with Jesus' rising and ascension into heaven man's true life purpose is revealed---thrive towards entering the gates of heaven. Well, you don't need me to tell you what to do to earn the entrance ticket. do I? Just go on and DO IT then! Happy Easter!

A Holy Week Thought

I went to church today for confession with my family. The church was packed with parishioners going about their holy week rituals. Many were doing stations of the cross, some where obviously not from our parish and was on visita iglesia, but a great majority were lined up for confession.

The queue was rather long and a little disorganized. When we arrived we didn’t know where the “line” started and ended. Good thing that a layperson noticed the confusion and immediately put the line in order.

Now, since it is Holy Week, let me talk about something appropriate to the occasion---SACRIFICE. Lent calls for fasting and abstinence as part of the regular Catholic sacrifice to remember Christ own sacrifice for our sins. Christ endured the scourging, the weight of the cross, and His crucifixion. However, there are other forms of sacrifice that one can do to commemorate the season and that includes waiting in long lines. Unfortunately, not all people see it that way.

We lined up for confession with an elderly woman. She was all made up with a good layer of make-up and matching cherry red lipstick. She had her ash-grey hair combed back with what seemed to be a wet-look gel. She did look frail but her movement would say that looks could be deceiving. Well, she looked like she was under the impression that her age merited a NO LINE passes and moved her way up the head of the line! I can see her discussion her case to the young man she was trying to insert her way in. The man was explaining to her that it would be unfair to those in line (not to mention to the other elderly people patiently waiting in line). Well, she was either dumb or just plain unscrupulous to know the difference since she inserted herself anyway! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! What a waste of years! One thing I can say about this matter is---THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO HEAVEN! Amen.