Praise in the Dugout

Orel Herschiser pitched an unbelievable 1988 season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Following a complete game shutout in August, he pitched multiple shutout innings and hurled five more complete games through the end of the regular season. He did not allow his opponents to score and earned run in 59 consecutive innings. When the Dodgers faced the New York Mets in the National League play-offs, Orel continued to dominant hitters, leading the Dodgers to victory by pitching more than 24 innings, crowned by a complete game shutout in the final game! In the World Series his complete gave victory over the Oakland A’s in game five clinched the series for the Dodgers. No wonder Orel was awarded the Cy Young award and two MVP awards, one for the National League play-offs and the other for the World Series.

During the play-offs the TV cameras zoomed in on this legend in the making. They caught Orel in the dugout between innings singing softly to himself. Unable to make out the tune, the announcers merely commented that Orel’s record certainly gave him something to sing about. Johnny Carson replayed that tape on the “Tonight Show” a few days later when Orel appeared. Johnny asked him what song he had been singing during the game and if Orel would sing it again right then and there. the audience roared its approval over Orel’s embarrassed reluctance. So on national TV, Orel softly sang the tune TV crews had barely caught on tape:

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host,
Praised Father, son and Holy Ghost. Amen.”

Orel Herschiser was simply doing what Christians do – praising God for everything that he’s achieved. Paul urges the Colossians, “Whatever you do… do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (3:17). Not only at church, but in the in-between moments, thank God for your gifts, talents and every blessing you have – he gave them to you. - Beacon

The Secret of Living

Good morning everyone. Ones again I’m greeting everyone a very Happy New Year. Start of the year 2010. I wish we should all start the year with a positive views in life. J. Carie Sexton gave his thoughts about the secret of living. Let me share you one article I read. This is good one.

The Secret of Living

To appreciate beauty and the gifts nature brings,
To discover the pleasure of life’s simplest things,
To remember the blessings we received every day,
To explore new horizons as we travel our way—
This is the Secret of Living

To find hope in each rainbow that appears in the sky,
To give comfort to strangers who may be passing by,
To keep smiling whenever there’s a task to be done,
To be gracious in losing and give thanks when we’ve won—
This is the Secret of Living.

To build meaningful values in this life that we live,
To be full of compassion and be willing to give,
To regards as a treasure every friendship we’ve made
And to find peace and love even time cannot fade—
This is the Secret of Living.

When bad things happen to good people

Good morning everyone. I want to let you all know that I’m not a Catholic, I’m a Protestant (Methodist). But it’s not a problem to me as long as we worship God Almighty. Even if I’m Catholic, I glad if I read something about God. Like this article which was presented by Bob Garon, it was a nice words he used and that’s why I want to share it with you out there.

“God is good, all the time,” says a popular worship song. In good times, that is easy to believe. Blessings pour down on us and we can almost see the smile on the face of God. So too can we feel His love. All’s well between God and us.

When, however, the times turn against us and things no longer go our way, it is sometimes difficult for us to keep smiling at God. Somehow, we find it hard to feel Him and the smile on His face seems to us to blur a bit. We might even start to wonder if He might be displeased with us.

And there are those among us who are convinced that God sends us His blessings only when they are in line with our expectations. Like little kids who think that if they are good, their parents will agree to bring them to Mc Donald’s, we believe that if we behave well, God will grant us our wishes.

It does not work that way. There are two plans, God’s plans and our plans, and ours don’t matter much. God does not give us what we want, He gives us what we need. And when we don’t get what we want, some of us react like those little kids whose parents won’t bring them to Mc Donald’s.

We react and stomp our spiritual feet and start thinking that He does not longer loves us. We might be adults, but spiritual children. Matured in the ways of the world, but immature in the ways of God. If we expect to get our way with God, we could be in for a big surprise. God has His ways, His plan and it might not be anything like what we want and expect.

Some of our greatest blessings come wrapped in pain. They are the blessings that hurt for a while, but in the end, give us the most joy. We mourn the breakup of a cherished relationship only to find one more satisfying later on. Now the breakup is seen as a distinct blessing.

As we mature spiritually, we learn to take things as they come and not keep questioning the wisdom of the Creator. We learn to trust Him more and question less. As our faith increases, our doubts are less and our willingness to bow to His will is greater.

Choosing our destiny

Many people want to know if they have a good life ahead of them, that’s why they felt that they need to see for a fortune-teller.And, the better the future looks, the happier we feel. But, there’s no need to fall victim to fortune-tellers who will just tear us off or feed us the wrong information. Great sages have a lot to teach us about our future. According to them, the future is predictable, and our destiny is in our own hands:

1. The material world is full of suffering, and we’re destined to suffer—from diseases, old age and death. There’s no escape from the miseries of material existence.

2. There’s no guarantee for security in the material dimension. You work to get the things you want, then you lose them. When we die, all material things are taken away from us. You’re driven out of your body, and you can’t bring anyone or anything with you.

3. Knowing the true nature of the world, great sages don’t focus on the temporary material realm and instead strive for what’s permanent. The great scriptures guarantee that the person who focuses on the transcendental is capable of attaining permanent satisfaction and peace in his or her lifetime and thereafter.

4. Those who strive for spiritual goals are assured of attaining imperishable wealth and good fortune, by taking shelter in the Supreme Being’s abiding affection. They’re blessed with spiritual love, kindness, wisdom, humility, truthfulness and generosity. As a result, they’re able to share their blessings with those who need them. And, as they give, their wealth increases even more.

Everyone will go through suffering. But, unlike the materialists, who are overcome with lust, loneliness, anger, frustration and anxiety, spiritualists can rely on a higher form of happiness to see them through the material realities of diseases, old age and death. They also face problems, but they have real solutions for them.

It’s up to us to choose the kind of future we wish to have. We’re encouraged to follow the peaceful and happy lives of saints and reject the miserable, empty lives of demons. Let’s follow the wise men’s advice: “Choose the better future and become truly happy!”

Reference: R. VALENCIA S. BISMARK

Choosing our destiny - 2

3. Knowing the true nature of the world, great sages don’t focus on the temporary material realm and instead strive for what’s permanent. The great scriptures guarantee that the person who focuses on the transcendental is capable of attaining permanent satisfaction and peace in his or her lifetime and thereafter.

4. Those who strive for spiritual goals are assured of attaining imperishable wealth and good fortune, by taking shelter in our God’s long-lasting affection. They’re blessed with spiritual love, kindness, wisdom, humility, truthfulness and generosity. They’re able to share their blessings with those who need them.

Everyone will go through suffering. But, unlike the materialists, who are overcome with lust, loneliness, anger, frustration and anxiety, spiritualists can rely on a higher form of happiness to see them through the material realities of diseases, old age and death. They also face problems, but they have real solutions for them.

It’s up to us to choose the kind of future we wish to have. We’re encouraged to follow the peaceful and happy lives of saints and reject the miserable, empty lives of demons. Let’s follow the wise men’s advice: “Choose the better future and become truly happy!”

ref: R. Valencia S. Bismark

Feast of Black Nazarene - 1

ALL roads lead to Quiapo Church today.
Tens of thousands of devotees will jam the streets around Quiapo district as the yearly rites and procession of the Black Nazarene will take place.
* * *
Although women in the Philippines are generally more demonstrative of their piety than the men, the feast of the Black Nazarene is clearly a male bastion.
* * *
The great majority, clad in the traditional maroon t-shirt emblazoned with the image of a pathetic, suffering Christ, will walk barefooted; the men will jostle for position to pull the lengthy rope of the "carro."
* * *
Why does the feast continue to attract huge crowds every year?
Most devotees I talked to claimed they have a "panata" (vow) to join the procession annually. To break the vow is believed to bring misfortune or miss God’s blessings for themselves and their families.
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Others believe that by touching a part of the highly-revered image, they are either blessed or obtain healing or their sins are forgiven. Those who cannot touch the image of the Señor Nazareno throw towelettes to those manning the carro to be wiped to the image, then thrown back.
* * *

ref: manilabulletin

People praying