It’s you
Your smiles, your hugs,
Your precious time, your presence
That I wish for this Christmas.

It’s peace
In your heart and mind
In your family
In the world
That I pray for this Christmas.

It’s a shift in your way of thinking
That I ask for this Christmas.
Let’s start celebrating the birth of Christ
sans glitters
sans plastics
sans styrofoams and aluminums.

Let’s start a Christmas
Just you, me, us, and Jesus
The Holy One whose birthday has been
forgotten because we’ve been busy buying
glitters,
plastics, styrofoams, and aluminums

Let’s start a Christmas
You, me, and
Mary, Joseph, and Jesus
With songs of praise
With simple meals
With clothes just enough for comfort.

Let’s start a Christmas
The way it was meant to be…
The presence of family
of prayer and tranquility
and of Simplicity.

Aristotle once said that every art, inquiry, action, and pursuit aims at some good or end. This end, he calls, the Summum Bonum or the Greatest Good defined by the digital world as ‘the life of the righteous or the life led in communion with God and according to God’s precepts.’ Other sages of history point to virtue, happiness, or peace as forms of this greatest ideal.

Every human being is innately good, and therefore desires what is good for himself. ‘What is good’ however is changed in the process. Man’s concept of ‘good’ sometimes turns into the glitter of the world – money, fame, and power that sort of bring ephemeral ‘happiness.’ There is nothing wrong with the possession of material goods, wealth, popularity, and power if these do not lead you into walking farther away from your pursuit of the righteous or a life in communion with God – the greatest good.

It might be easier said than observed to donate some of your earnings to somebody who is in dire need of help because, after all, you worked hard for it. It might not be easy to convince a person in power to allocate funds to hurricane victims who may not have voted for him the past election. It might not be easy for a beauty pageant winner to not maintain her impeccable physical appearance. To abandon ‘what is good’ in the world is not easy. But this is not ‘the greatest good’ Christ wants us to attain. He wants us to live a life of peace grounded on following His way – a life path strewn not just with glitters but also with thorns that are meant to make us grow closer to Him.

St. Aquinas posits that the highest happiness of man consists in the knowledge of the highest truth, which is God. To know God, we need to love God. To love God, we need to follow Christ, the Son God the Father sent to show us how to live a life of love. Following Christ however is not walking on a red carpet with all the glitters and reaching the stage for deafening applause. Following Christ requires a lot of inconveniences: “Take up your cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24). I am sending you out like sheep among the wolves (Matthew 10:16).”

In the small prayer group I used to participate in, the members come together on Friday evenings to learn more about Christ. Differing opinions, backgrounds, and personality however sometimes get in the way of learning and knowing about Christ. Maintaining harmonious relationships with other members of the group is sometimes the biggest challenge.

Because we come from different family orientation, we differ in the way we relate with one another. Sometimes, we become dismayed by other members’ inability to let go of the mistakes of others. At other times, we become the cause of other’s discomfort in the faith. But here are the things I learned that sometimes help me rethink and even overcome some ‘relationship problems’, so that I can continue to know more about my God.

First, I will remember that each human being is endowed with dignity. Human dignity is grounded on the biblical tenet that man is created in the image and likeness of God. The best way to give honor to the Creator is to respect his creation- foremost of which is man whom He has put in charge of the universe. I will remember that each one of us is God’s masterpiece; therefore, I will endeavor to respect my brothers and sisters in Christ as my partners in faith. Nobody is above anyone else. If we are aware of this then we will be able to treat one another with kindness and humility.

Second, I will remember that I am a part of that one body in Christ Jesus. When a part of this body is ill or not well, the whole body suffers. So, no matter how unimportant my role is in this body, I will endeavor to play it for the sake of others.

Third, I will remember that everybody has shortcomings. How many times have I committed mistakes in the past? How many times have others forgiven me of my mistakes? If I am aware of my flaws, my limitations, I am deterred from passing judgment about others. Thomas A Kempis puts it this way: “If it seems to you that you know many things and understand them well enough, know at the same time that there are many more things of which you are ignorant.”

Fourth, I will endeavor to examine my conscience as often as needed. In his book Imitation of Christ, Thomas A Kempis explains, “A person who knows himself well, is mean in his own eyes, and is not delighted with being praised by men. He is very unwise who attends to other things than what may serve to his salvation. The more and better you know, the heavier is your judgment unless your life be also more holy.” He further said, “the highest science and most profitable lesson is to truly know and despise ourselves. To have no opinion of ourselves, and to think always well and commendably of others is great wisdom and high perfection.” This is perhaps similar to a popular admonition by the philosopher Socrates to “know thyself.”  

Fifth, I will endeavor to learn the art of being calm, so I can work for peace. When I have so much worries or apprehensions, I am impeded from fully learning about Christ, the prince of peace. There were times I did not like to come to prayer because I had just gotten angry at somebody. When I am not at peace with myself, I feel unable to bring peace to others. Thomas A Kempis says, “A peaceable man does more good than one that is very learned. A passionate man turns every good to evil and easily believes evil. A good peaceable man turns all things to good. He who knows how to suffer will enjoy much peace.”

Finally, I will remember that I am a work in progress and that every day is a  
new beginning. I may have made mistakes in the past; I may have been remiss in my duties as a mother, wife, sister, or friend, but God always gives me the chance to renew my life everyday. He gives me the chance to be a better person everyday.

Our quest for the Greatest Good, the Summum Bonum, is not that easy. We need to embrace the challenges that go with it. Just as Christ carried the cross to show his love for us, so should we carry ours.

If you have been to a place where rice is grown, you would be familiar with its varied stages of growth – from planting to harvesting. Farmers transplant the seeds from the rice beds to the rice fields. They water the fields until those seedlings grow into lush, green blades that will eventually bear fruit to millions of green or golden yellow grains. Throughout the process, there is one important element farmers should never forget – water. Without water, the rice grains wither and die.

Similar to the rice grains needing water for growth and sustenance, we too need the Divine Providence to help us grow as Christians. God is love, and we need Him. But like any other relationship, we need to communicate with the other party. We need to do our part to communicate with God. We nurture our relationship with Him when we do not forget to say our prayers such as our morning and evening praise, or meal thanksgiving prayer. These are but examples of counting God in our day-to-day routine. When we repeatedly forget to include God in our daily life, we come to a point where we no longer recognize His presence. He becomes unimportant to us, and we create this gap between Him and us. This is the commencement of our ‘spiritual dryness.’

Spiritual dryness is usually understood as a ‘form of spiritual crisis experienced subjectively as a sense of separation from God.’ For me, it means the absence of that life-giving spirit – the spirit that gives us a sense of purpose and energy to attain it. Without this spirit, we become listless and unmotivated; we get bored; we do not find meaning in what we are doing. Such ‘dryness in faith’ is manifested in many ways: we have little or no desire to pray; we make excuses for not attending Sunday worship or our small group prayer meetings; we refuse to read the bible nor listen to spiritual leaders.

The one thing we should remember when we are undergoing such spiritual dryness is that we have that ‘spirit’ in us. We have God in our heart, but we just get interrupted or distracted by the day-to-day affairs of life. This interruption of our communication with God can be eliminated when we make consistent effort to do the ‘little things’ that make us closer to Him. We praise and worship or say our petitions and supplications. We continue thanking Him for the gift of life and good health, for our family and friends, our jobs, and the like. Most importantly, we remember to recognize Him in the people we meet or serve everyday.

We continue to long for Him like David who expressed his thirst for God when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

         You, God, are my God; and I long for you;

         My whole being desires you; my soul is searching for you,

         Like a dry and waterless land.

        Let me see you in the sanctuary;

       Let me see how mighty and glorious you are!

They bow and kneel before Him

And join hands to thank and praise Him

On their waking hours He is their thoughts

In the dead of night, their lives to Him they entrust

The seed in the womb they protect

In obedience to their Master’s precepts

The hands of their children they take

To the path of light majority don’t tread

Tilling the soil they do not tire

To feed their children and fill their desire

Money and possessions they let go

Admonishing one another,

“These do not secure heaven for you.”

My eyes did not escape

The smiles on their faces

The peace they seem to exhibit.

From this darkness at a distance,

I wonder how I could follow in their path

Illumined by that cross of a man they call Jesus

Bruised, tired hands I stretch them out

Let me touch the cloak of THY JESUS.

Fully aware of the effects of the government shutdown already in its 29th day, I was listening intently to one of the speakers at last Saturday’s Marian Conference in McAllen, Texas. He was also thinking about the predicament of the many unpaid government employees.  He acknowledged that there are many souls who are quietly suffering right now.  

Fr. Eduardo Ortega, a priest serving at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Mercedes, Texas shared his thoughts about The Soul. The timeliness of this topic and the common-sense manner by which it was presented made my heart nod in agreement all throughout the presentation. Although I may not be able to capture exactly the ideas Fr. Ortega shared, I want to share some of the important thoughts I have learned.

When our physical body is sick, we take in medicines such as Tylenol and Aspirin, to get better. We become careful of our diet, and we exercise to alleviate the problem. When we get really sick, we go to the doctor for treatment. These are the basic remedies we do to get better. But there is one aspect that sustains our physical health – the soul, the invisible side of our being. A healthy soul is the best guarantee to a healthy body!

The soul is the most neglected part of our being. The soul sustains the body, and if it becomes weak and sick, the body does too. There are millions of wounded and bruised souls – the cause of which is SIN infection. Sin, the transgression against divine law, causes the soul to suffer. Sin is committed when we choose to please the world. We choose the world over the divine. When we do this and commit sin after sin, the soul becomes miserably ill, but it can’t be treated by any man-made cure.

For example, we are aware that one cause of cancer is the type of food we eat. We know that red meat or sugar is not good for the body, but we can’t stop eating them. We love chocolates, cakes, soft drinks, barbecues, and the like. We become obese, and, in the end become depressed. Depression is not a physical illness. It is a manifestation of a sick soul. We might be tempted to say that the sick soul is a result of the physical abnormality of obesity, but it is a result of the soul’s neglect of what it knew in the beginning – that sugars and meats, when taken excessively, is detrimental to health.

How many parents have neglected the souls of their children? How many mothers have given their children chocolates, cakes, sodas, and all other unhealthy foods? How many parents think they are depriving their children if they do not give them party-type foods? Shouldn’t their children deserve to be happy?

In some way or another, we are all guilty of not taking care of the souls entrusted to us. Parents not properly guiding their children. Leaders not living up to what they have sworn to do or community leaders not being good role models. As a result, children no longer not listen to authorities or even their own parents. Children nowadays merely follow the hype in social media.

We are all souls wounded, bruised, and infected by that virus called sin. We have all fallen short in our roles as parents, brothers, sisters, friends, and children. We all need to be cured. But who do we call? We can’t call the government’s protective services. We can’t call the medical doctors. We can’t just go to Walgreens and buy medicines. But there is good news. There is one unique doctor we can call. His name is Jesus.

Jesus is the person who made the lepers clean, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the dead rise. He was the one who transformed water into wine at a wedding feast. He was the one who multiplied the bread and fish to feed five thousand people. He did not accept payments when he

did those treatments. He just had one requirement – to trust in Him. He wants us to trust that he loves us unconditionally and that He can heal us. He wants us to cast all doubts that He alone can heal our souls. He promises that, if we remain connected to Him, we will be as healthy and robust as that tree planted near a stream. He also wants us to realize that we cannot cure ourselves. He says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”

Where can I find this Doctor? You can find Him every time an act of kindness is done to you. You can find Him every time you think about what good you want to do for somebody. You find Him in every handshake or smile. You find Him in the byways and at end of highways. You find Him in the poor and the downtrodden. You find Him where people are cold, where children are neglected, where people are dying of hunger and violence. He is ubiquitous. You can’t escape Him.

The first step to find Him is to say, “Jesus, I want to know you. Cure me from my illness.” As you say this, cast every doubt you have about Him. Believe in Him. Trust in Him. Trust that He cares and loves you. Trust – that is the non-negotiable requirement to avail of His services.

We will therefore decide, from today on, to trust Jesus – the greatest doctor of all times.

After sharing a story about how his mother trained him to recycle stuff when he was growing up, a visiting pastor in our local church talked about the plastic patch supposedly buried in the Pacific Ocean and is becoming bigger by the second as plastics, styrofoam, aluminum and all non-biodegradable materials find their way into it.

Thinking about the truckloads of trash collected from the city everyday, I believe the pastor’s sharing is not far from the truth. I, too, am worried about the pollution we create, and despite some of us trying to recycle and reuse plastic materials, it seems we are not making a dent.

The following tips on how to care for the earth were the ones shared by the pastor. I decided to replicate it here for others to read. I’m sure the pastor, who has passed away a few years ago, would not mind me sharing them.

EARTH CARE

There are many reasons not to buy bottled water. Plastics used in bottled water take 1,000 years to decompose. Is it worth to you?

Use cloth shopping bags at the supermarket or reuse plastic ones.

Avoid the use of Styrofoam products like cups, plates, etc. Mother nature requires 50 years to digest them.

Use both sides of a sheet of paper. The savings will be immense.

Over 40% of landfill waste is paper. Work to have your church/office place a paper recycling bin on the property. It can be a fund raiser. Check out Paper Retriever.com. Every ton of recycled paper saves 400 gallons of oil.

Recycle aluminum. A can in trash takes 200 years to decompose. Recycled, it will be back in use in 60 days.

Short trip? Walk it! Plan, so that you eliminate many short trips. Take nature walks! Take litter walks! Great exercise. Car pool as often as possible.

By changing your thermostat one degree, you are saving 10% on your energy bill.

Turn lights out when no one is present. No one watching T.V.? Shut it off! Same with radios and other appliances. Unplug cell phone cord from wall when not recharging. Turn off copiers and computers overnight.

Save up to $60 by changing on light bulb with a compact fluorescent. Initially it will cost on average of four dollars for a bulb but in the long run will save you money and our environment by eliminating the burning of 500 lbs. of coal. If every household changes one bulb it is equivalent to removing one million cars from the highways. Do your business a favor. Suggest it.

On average, food travels 1,200 miles from farm to consumer. Eat healthily. Eat organic. Find a Community Supported Agriculture in your area.

Water is precious and becoming scarce. Please do not waste it while showering, rinsing dishes, washing cars, watering lawns, etc.  Wash full leads of clothes and dishes.

In most households, 40% of water is literally flushed down the toilet. Does it make sense to use several gallons of water to get rid of a cup of urine? Do we need to flush each time? In water– scarce countries, the water used daily for one person is equal to what we use in one flush. Let’s try not to waste this precious commodity.

70% of grains in U.S. are feed to animals. Eat less meat.

Increase your mileage. Check the pressure in your tires.

Before buying something, ask yourself if you really need it. Sixty percent of all purchases are not essential for living. Let us “live simply so that others can simply live.”

Refrain from buying plastic knives, spoons, cups, etc. Sacrifices will be required of us if we are to leave a healthy planet for those yet to be born.

Whatever your profession or workplace ask yourself what you can do to help save the Earth.

Repair leaky faucets and toilets immediately. You will save $$$ and this precious resource.

Old toilets use 5 to 7 gallons per flush. Save water by filling a slim bottle with water and placing it in the tank…a brick will also do the trick saving you water with each flush.

In purchasing appliances look for an “Energy Star” sticker. You will be saving 50% on energy consumption.

Keep your home safe by using environmentally friendly cleansers and detergents. Check out Ecover, Seventh Generation or Bon Ami products. Avoid phosphates.

Low flow showerheads cut water use from 6 gallons a minute to 1 to 2 gallons a minute. Retrofitting will cost you $25 but save you $1,000 over time and save water.

By taking steps to protect your environment you enhance your quality of life and also save money.

Together we can; we will.

Kindness sounds like a simple word, but it is the most important quality of a human being. It is the summation of all positive human qualities. Kindness is the manifestation of man’s gift of intellect, will, and language – things that delineate us from other members of the kingdom Animalia.

It is futile to attempt to give an abstract definition of the word. It is more beneficial to know how kindness looks and sounds, when and where it is needed, or how and why we need to practice it. It’s only when we understand kindness as a verb – something put into action will we be able to grasp the real meaning of the word.

Here are practical ways to show kindness at different stages in life.

Young Mothers

You never know what will become of your children in the future, but whatever you do with them from the moment they are conceived to that time they leave the nest, or however much time you spend with them – even just a scrap of time – can have lasting effect on them.

Read to your baby even if he is still in the womb. Read good information that uplift the spirit. Sing or play some instruments such as wind and string instruments. Walk slowly and talk to your baby constantly. If you are calm, happy, and upbeat so will your baby.

When your baby is born, continue singing lullabies to him. You want your baby to know you by your voice. Make it a practice to touch or stroke your baby’s hair or forehead as you smile, talk, or read with him. Carry him in your arms everyday while you are together. He needs to feel secure and loved. It is fine to put him on the crib or in the baby basket once in a while, but there is no substitute to the loving arms that will cradle him.

Young Parents

When your child is in the primary grade, you as parents have all the power to influence your child’s way of thinking. Seize this opportunity to teach your child right from wrong.

Take your little one to his school. Give him a kiss and a hug before he goes to his classroom. Tell him to do his best at school and be obedient to his teachers. Tell him to smile and befriend other kids. When it is time to pick him up, be there on time. Hug your kid and ask how his day went. If his day did not go well, remind him that he gets another chance of a good day tomorrow.

When your child is in middle school, motivate him to get involved in any extra-curricular activity. Let him play chess, basketball, hockey, soccer, football, dance, choir, and the like. Take him to his games. Cheer for his team. Comfort him when he or his team loses the game. It is better for a child to get preoccupied with any of the extra-curricular activities than staying idle in the house.

You do not like your child to grow up not getting involved in anything. You would want him to belong to a group. Being kind means preparing your child to manage his time and to work with a team. It also means following the rules, working hard for the win but conceding a loss graciously.

Children

Your business is to learn from anybody who has lived life longer than you did. Being kind means being obedient. Heed to your parents’ advices. Trust that your well being is foremost in your parents’ heart. Trust in their wisdom and life experiences. Learn and obey them.

If your parents are not good models to you, there are other adults in the community to look up to. Be vigilant and seize opportunities to listen to and learn from teachers, community leaders, fellow students, and other parents. Attend community affairs, volunteer in shelters, donate to food banks, care for your younger siblings if you have the time, make time to help your parents any way possible.

Do not give your parents a hard time. Do your part by doing well at school. Be in good company. Shun away from ‘friends’ who would lead you to do something illegal or unfavorable.

Depending on your age or the roles you play in society, be aware of the many ways by which you can observe kindness. Be kind by showing care and affection to others. Be kind by being a good example to others especially the young. Be kind by doing what is expected of you to do. Be kind by obeying those in authority. If you are in authority, be kind by not taking advantage of others.

Kindness can only be understood when we put it to action.  Let us endeavor to do some intentional acts of kindness everyday.