Black Saturday: God of Silence
God of Silence
Music and Lyrics by Manoling Francisco, S.J.
Sung by Bukas Palad Ministry
The God of silence beckons me
To journey to my heart
Where He awaits
O Lord, I hear You calling tenderly
To You I come to gaze
At the beauty of Your face I cannot see
To rest in Your embrace I cannot feel
To dwell in Your love hurting but sweet
To be with You; to glimpse eternity
God of night, fount of all my delight.
Show Your light . . . that my heart, like Yours, burn bright.
Be still the torment of the night
Will not encumber you, if you believe
My child this darkness isn’t emptiness
For here I mold your heart
Unto My image painfully you long to see
The self you yearn to be, but fear to know
The world from which you flee in Me find home
All these I give you, if you remain in Me
COUNTERPOINT:
I am ever here
My child, you need not fear
The dark will set you free
And bring your heart to Me
I am ever here
My child, you need not fear
The dark will set you free
And bring your heart to Me
The God of silence beckons me
To journey to my heart
Where He awaits me.
Good Friday: We are the Reason
We are the Reason
Written by David Meece
Performed by Avalon
I couldn’t think of any song suited for this day. Same time last year, I posted this very song at my Friendster blog account as my Good Friday entry. And this is what I wrote:
I am not a preacher nor a catechist so I don’t feel I am fit to post an entry about Lent. I just want to share a song very close to my heart. This song has been a part of my life… of my then-religious life when I was still very active in my youth ministry. For me, it encompasses the true meaning of Lent. It reminds us the real reason of the season… why our Lord Jesus Christ chose the cross to save us from our sins.
I’d like to quote a very nice comment I came across in youtube when I was browsing this inspiring video: “It wasn’t the nails that killed Him on the cross… but His love for you and me…”
Have a very meaningful lent, my dear friends! Let us spend some solemn moments with God. May God bless us all!
As little children
We would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys
We knew we’d find
But we never realized
A baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives
We were the reason
That He gave His life
We were the reason
That He suffered and died
To a world that was lost
He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live
As the years went by
We learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves
And what that means
On a dark and cloudy day
A man hung crying in the rain
All because of love, all because of love
I’ve finally found the reason for living
It’s in giving every part of my heart to Him
In all that I do every word that I say
I’ll be giving my all just for Him, for Him
He is my reason to live
P.S. I like the original rendition of David Meece better but just couldn’t find one with that audio background. To hear him sing this wonderful song, you may click here.
Maundy Thursday: I Offer My Life
I Offer My Life
by Don Moen
I lay them down before You, oh Lord
All my regrets, all my acclaims
The joy and the pain, I’m making them Yours
Lord, I offer my life to You
Everything I’ve been through, use it for Your glory
Lord I offer my days to You
Lifting my praise to You as a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer You my life
Things in the past, things yet unseen
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my heart, all of my praise
My heart and my hands are lifted to You
Lord, I offer my life to You
Everything I’ve been through, use it for Your glory
Lord I offer my days to You
Lifting my praise to You as a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer You my life
What can we give that You have not given?
And what do we have that is not already Yours?
All we possess are these lives we’re living
That’s what we give to You, Lord
Lord, I offer my life to You
Everything I’ve been through, use it for Your glory
Lord I offer my days to You
Lifting my praise to You as a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer You my life
Lord, I offer my life to You
Everything I’ve been through, use it for Your glory
Lord I offer my days to You
Lifting my praise to You as a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer You my life
Lord I offer You my life
Holy Wednesday: Here I Am, Lord
Here I Am, Lord
by Daniel O’Donnell
I, the Lord of sea and sky
I have heard my people cry
All who dwell in dark and sin
My hand will save
I who made the stars and night
I will make the darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord
Is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go Lord
If you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart
I, the Lord of wind and flame
I will tend the poor and lame
I will set a feast for them
My hand will save:
Finest bread I will provide
Till their hearts be satisfied
I will give my life to them
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord
Is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go Lord
If You lead me
I will hold Your people in my heart
Holy Tuesday: Pastorale
Pastorale
by Manoling Francisco, S.J.
… moved by the image of a weary Christ,
Manoling put music to this haunting poem.
I am Your reed, sweet Shepherd, glad to be
Now if You will, breathe out Your joy in me
And make bright song or fill me with the soft moan of Your love
When Your delight has failed to call or move Your flock from wrong
Make children’s songs
Or any song to fill Your reed with breath of life
But at Your will
Lay down the flute and take repose
While music infinite is silence in Your heart
And laid on it
Your reed is mute
Holy Monday: Panalangin sa Pagiging Bukas Palad
I will not be posting anything about myself for the entire week. But instead, I’d like to share some songs that I have grown to love and have become a big part of my Catholic life.
Let us try to contemplate this Holy Week. May you and your family have a meaningful and blessed week with Christ.
Panalangin sa Pagiging Bukas Palad
Fr. Manoling Francisco, S.J.
Panginoon, turuan mo akong maging bukas-palad
Turuan mo akong maglingkod sa Iyo
At magbigay nang ayon sa nararapat
Na walang hinihintay mula sa Iyo
Na makibakang di inaalintana, mga hirap na dinaranas
Sa tuwina’y magsumikap na hindi humahanap ng kapalit na kaginhawaan
at di naghihintay kundi ang aking mabatid na ang loob Mo’y siyang sinusundan.
Panginoon, turuan mo akong maging bukas palad
Turuan mo akong maglingkod sa Iyo
At magbigay nang ayon sa nararapat
Na walang hinihintay mula sa Iyo
Young Entrepreneurs
Earlier today, my mom asked me to buy lunch at the nearby carenderia as we ran out of gas. Just 15 to 20 paces from our gate, I saw these kids:
Young Entreprenuers
They were selling hot cakes and sago.
I can’t help but smile. That simple scene reminded me of my childhood. When I was way younger young, I once occupied a small part in our street selling food. Just like those kids, I started my summer selling food.
My late father used to give me P50 as my start up capital. That amount of money was a bit too big for a 7-year old during my time. Or just in our community, I suppose. Mommy would normally wake up before daybreak to buy the stuff that I would sell for the day. And as soon as she returns back home, she and I would set up a small table just outside our house that served as my little store.
My P50 capital would let me start my small business selling these things:
turnips (singkamas)
indian mango
but of course, my indian mangoes were sold with bagoong
Samalamig
At the end of the day, Tatay would normally ask how my small business went. And I would always tell him that I wasn’t able to recoup my capital. When asked why, I would always say, “Tay, kinain ko po kasi yung mangga. Wala po kasing bumibili at malapit na pong masira.” Tatay would always get puzzled and end up giving me money again so I could buy stuff for my business the next day. Hmmm… am a bad business woman back then, I guess. LOL.
But as a young entrepreneur, I wasn’t satisfied eating selling food. I thought of maximizing my time and money so I explored on something else. A small portion of my capital was alloted to comic books. They were priced around P1.50 to P2.00 a piece back then. I hung them in an improvised sampayan and put my self-made signage that said “Komiks for Rent”. My same-day rentals were priced at 3 comic books for 1 peso while overnight rentals were at 50 cents a piece. And I asked for additional 25 cents/day as overdue fee. I was a strict comics rental girl. LOL. Of course, they weren’t DC and Marvel comics. I was a very poor kid so my money slash capital only allowed me to buy these:
While eating mangoes attending to my so-called store, I would also read those komiks just to pass time. Talk about multi-tasking, eh?! But there’s one comic book that I liked reading a lot. It was no other than Funny Comics.
Pinoy kids of my generation would probably know about this or have once read this thing. I was allowed to read Funny Comics then because of the idiomatic expressions listed at the last leaf of the comic book. Tatay wanted me to read those to enrich my vocabulary. But I always end up not reading that page. LOL. I got hooked buying it on a weekly basis. If memory serves me right, Funny Comics were released every Friday. And my weekends were spent reading every single page of that comic book. My fave were Planet of the Eyps (Matsustu rocked!!!), Lilit Bulilit and Niknok.
Well, that short glimpse of the young entrepreneurs outside our house took me down nostaligia lane. It reminded me how my summers were spent as a child. Those sweet times when there was nothing to think about but to enjoy the warm summer months out in the streets… and be just a simple kid.
Photo credits:
www.marketmanila.com, www.kusinerausa.babettesblog.com, www.pelikulaatbp.blogspot.com
www.komiklopedia.wordpress.com, www.pinoyexchange.com, www.gerry.alanguilan.com
April Calendar
That We May Be One
Since birth, my Indian friend,Shiran, was desprised by his own father. Despite that he loved his father. When he turned 47, Shiran had laryngeal cancer. His labored speech was punctuated by some howling sounds making him sound like being possessed bylegions of demons.
His 8-year old daughter wrote him one day: “Did you know that last Wednesday at school we saw a slimy, icky bicky snail beside a plant? Then the girl suddenly lifted it up. Then suprisingly, when she put back the snail, I found myself lifting it up too by the shell. And I felt it was a brave time for me. When was a brave time for you, Dad? You should answer me, because I told you about a brave time of mine.”
Shiran finally allowed the doctors to bore a hole on his neck and put a tube down his throat for him to breathe so he can live some more for his child.
– Joey Velasco
Search me not!
I guess it’s normal for blog owners to check their stats. Well, I do mine daily. I regularly check my daily hits. It’s my indication if I should still blog or not, LOL. I likewise check my referrors so I’d know the culprits of my (slowly) increasing readership. I also do not miss on going through those incoming links so I keep myself abreast on blogger friends’ new posts. But there’s one item in my dashboard that gives me giggle from time to time. It’s no other than my “search” section.
When I moved my blog here at WordPress, my readership somehow increased. Friends in the “Check ’em Out’ section (andun sa kanan, bandang baba kaya scroll down ka muna ng konti. whehehe!) are my regular readers slash commentors slash ‘kakulitans’. There are some other friends I know who regularly read my posts but just don’t want to comment and chose to stay as lurkers. But then again, some send their comments via SMS or YM. Bayaan na natin sila, ayaw nila ng online exposure eh! Hehehe! And of course, there are those who simply pass by or have blog walking habits. Some, I guess, do searches to know if I have posted entries on things that they are interested in. And based on my dashboard, here are the top searches on my site:
Oh well, I have written about these topics in the past, so this data did not surprise me at all. Some searches though make me smile as I get a lot of tourism-related queries. It makes me wonder if these readers think of me as a fulltime wanderlust or think that this is a travel blog. For the past months, I keep on seeing searches like “how to correct name in online booking”, “cebu pacific promo”, “disney’s opening and closing hours”, “Hong Kong MTR directions”, and some other similar queries. Here’s one of my proofs of those “travel” searches:
Di ko masyadong ma-getz kung bakit may “inaanak” at “each other” search dyan. Hehehe!
But there’s one particular search that really made me go LOL. I got this just 2 days ago:
Hmmmm… I guess the searcher had some typo-error and was trying to look for “kilikili hair” (armpit hair) on my site. Who the heck searched for that? And why in the world would I write about armpit hair???
But then again… I might! LOL!
Finally, he’s coming to see me…
I have really been waiting for this moment to come. And now, it’s confirmed… HE IS FINALLY COMING TO MANILA TO SEE ME! Yipee!!!
Here’s our story…
We met sometime last year. But there’s a great distance between us. I’m in Manila and he’s out there somewhere in the US of A. Right from the start, I knew it wasn’t just an accident. It was fate. I liked him the first time I laid eyes on his charming cute face. I think it was love at first sight. I wasn’t sure though if he felt the same for me too. *asa mode*
I wanted us to get close. I wanted to know more about him. So, I exerted all efforts to meet him on a regular basis. Thank goodness to technology, it brought me closer to him.
Days passed by. Meeting him online and seeing him on my screen became a routine for me. He brought me inspiration. He put sunshine back into my life. My Wednesday and Thursday evenings are spent with him… just with him alone. Those were my happiest days of the week. I even tried to meet him on weekends. He then became a part of me.
There’s one big problem though: WE ARE WORLDS APART. I’m just a simple Asian girl trying to make her mark in the corporate world. He’s a Western dude with one heck of a good life that awaits him. But I kept holding on. I kept hoping that we’d meet each other for real.
Late last year, he announced his plans to visit Manila in January. But he got way too busy. So he canceled.
And now, he finally decided to fly to the Philippines. It’s work related but I know we’ll get to see each other even just for a short while. He’s coming over this May. I have more than a month to prepare for that grand day.
I can’t wait for the day to come I’ll see my guy…
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A Quick Peek into Winkie's World 