Immanuel!



Immanuel!
"God is with us."

I kneel before you with head bowed
In gratitude, love and awe
Over your gift of self so generously
Shared on that Christmas night long ago.
 
You chose to become one with us
In all our human frailty
Feeling the full range of our human emotions
Through childhood and into adulthood.

You showed us the many ways we can 
Offer up ourselves to the Father
In a surrender of love and faith
That enables us to touch your divinity.

"Be not afraid, I go before you always.."
"Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me.."
"Love one another as I have loved you.."
"Go instead after the lost sheep.."

"That where I am, you may also be.."
"I am in my Father, and you in me and I in you.."
"He will give you another paraclete to be with you always.."
"I am with you always, until the end of the world.."

Immanuel!
Oh God, You are truly with, for and in us.
Thank you for your birth!



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Advent Prayer

You sent your beloved son to be born among us

Even if You knew that He would one day

Suffer and die a harsh death on the cross

You chose that He be born in a poor stable

Even if His mission was to establish

A heavenly Kingdom here on earth

You gave Him a mind that could be tempted
A heart that could feel anguish and frustration
A body that was not immune to pain 

Even dear Mama Mary was not spared
Her heart most pure and immaculate
Pierced with sorrow at the foot of the cross 
  
Why, Lord God, did you choose to love us this much?
Why gift us more than we could ever deserve?
Why this Christmas mystery?

Guiding Star, Shining Light of our hope
This Advent season I pray, lend me Your eyes that I may see
Through the heart of your Christmas mystery

Amen


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Christmas Giving

If Jesus were to physically appear on the scene today, I suspect He would be quite uncomfortable with the way the malls or some businesses position themselves at Christmas and make it their main objective to let people open their wallets and purchase more items than they can afford at the moment, all under the name of Christmas giving. Perhaps Jesus might avoid the cities and decide to hie away instead to the farthest, poorest provinces

and opt instead to bring simple offerings of food or clothing if at all, or more importantly just His very presence, knocking on people's doors, asking to go into their homes to find out how their families are doing with regards to their growth as persons within their family, work and community. 

Then He would probably come back to the city, refreshed in the conviction that the Christmas spirit is still alive and well, and then decide to also visit people here - only to find out that here in the city we are just too busy - multi-tasking left and right, wading through crowded calendars with all sorts of high tech gadgets.. stressed out by traffic, tensely running after the year-end business targets, last minute shopping or party arrangements. 

He would probably knock at the gates of our homes, wait patiently, then leave a note for us to just call Him when we have time so He can chat with us about how we are  growing as persons in our family, work and community.  He would probably also invite us to join Him in His other visits, but telling us to bring only ourselves - our listening ear, our open mind and caring heart - so that the same light of Christmas that shone brightly during His Nativity long ago may also shine  through us and on to those whom we visit together with Him. 

Then, like the vibrant colors of the poinsettias now abloom, our gifts of presence and time may bring to others the sense of love, peace, hope and joy which He longs to gift all of us at Christmas.

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Legacy

Yesterday was the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila, as well as the golden jubilee of entrance to Carmel of our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace in Lipa of one of the nuns there. There was a simple but solemn and beautiful thanksgiving mass, held at the famous apparition site. Imagine sitting there inside their cloistered area, contemplating the site, as well as the lives of both this nun (still so bubbly after 50 years of a life centered on Jesus), and  St. Teresa of Avila whose own life and writings was nothing less than precious legacy to so many.

In addition, the day was also special for my good friend who shared that exactly 16 years ago, she too had said goodbye to the rest of the world in pursuit of the call to join this same convent in Lipa. Like her fellow nun, she too now lives a life centered on Jesus, and yet she too is as bubbly and full of life as one can imagine.

I was so grateful to witness such beautiful legacy, and together with the others present, felt my heart stir with emotion listening to the soloist's voice fill the air with the song of St. Teresa below:

AWIT NI STA. TERESA

Huwag bayaang ligaligin ng anuman

At bayaang takutin ng alinman

Lumilipas ang lahat ng mga bagay

Tanging Diyos ang walang hangganan.

Ang lahat ng bagay ay naaangkin ng katatagan.

Ang nasa Diyos ay walang pagkukulang.

Sapagkat ang Diyos lamang lahat ang kasiyahan.

Huwag bayaang ligalin ng anuman

At bayaang takutin ng alinman

Lumilipas ang lahat ng mga bagay

Tanging Diyos ang walang hangganan.

Lumilipas ang lahat ng mga bagay

Tanging Diyos ang walang hangganan.

It was indeed a special day of grace. The Saint. The apparition site. The vocation and witnessing of the two cloistered nuns. The quiet comfort of Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. Their legacy:

Lumilipas ang lahat ng mga bagay

Tanging Diyos ang walang hangganan.

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Photo Speak

Every October 1, aside from it being the Feast of St. Therese, is also for me a special  day

for remembering and celebrating another spiritual year.

Sometimes photos, more than words, can better capture our gratitude and love for all that has been, is, and will be, in Him, our Good Shepherd  :=)

 

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Motherhood Blessings

 

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Traveling Light

"Travel light.. and go where the wind blows you..."

I first heard the line above in a mass homily, and it has stayed with me since. I am drawn to the feeling of freedom it alludes to.

Traveling light, without the usual years-worn baggages, with mind and heart fully focused on the road ahead... and with the gentle wind of His Spirit blowing behind my back and moving me forward towards new territories yet unexplored... towards new ways of living more free and easy and light.

Midlifing?  :=)


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Solitude

It's hard to capture in words the beauty of silence and solitude, as this is something best experienced than talked about. 

 

A walk along narrow pathways surrounded by greens,

sounds of crickets and birds as if singing in unison,

alternating light and shadows playing on the ground,

 

the smell of burning leaves intermingled with scented bushes, while wind whispers through the trees and blows on one's cheeks and arms..

 

Sitting still, with mind empty

 

but heart open..

as silence becomes prayer,

and prayer becomes rest

in His cradle of unhurried time and quiet space.

 

 

The HR Vocation

Within HR, there is a lot of opportunity to contribute to the growth and development of the human person. We guide the line managers in deciding what profiles they need and whom to bring into the organization. We orient new hires and guide their adjustment to a new culture and environment. We equip supervisors with tools and skills needed to shape behavior and provide useful performance feedback. We remind supervisors to listen to their staff's career aspirations, and teach them how to identify and address their development needs. We help ensure that a healthy leadership succession pipeline is in place, and that the leaders learn how to lead with a balanced combination of IQ & EQ. Aside from focusing on high potential talents, we also assist supervisors in turning around the behavior of staff who need more support for their lagging performance or lapses in character or work ethic.

When employees have personal problems that affect their ability to work effectively, many come to HR to seek help. Numerous trust relationships are built, and many a confidential word are brought out and shared within the privacy of the consultation rooms. Staff know that a good HR professional will be able to sensitively balance the actions needed to address their needs with the needs of the business.

Looking back on many years of being with HR colleagues, I have witnessed a lot of the group's genuine generosity in offering so much time, attention and focus in the service of others. Practically 90% of what is done is about serving others. In fact, oftentimes, HR folks end up putting everyone else's needs before their own. Now this may not really be the best thing to do, because one also has to be filled herself or himself, to be able to sustain work which is very others-centered.

If there are unsung heroes within the org, I think our HR colleagues can qualify to be called such - heroes and true carers for people, and for the organization.

If the CCO/CEO is like the father and head of the family, then HR is like the mother, the heart, looking after her children, our employees, making sure that their stay in the company is not just about going after profit goals, but is also very much about growing up and maturing into the persons they were all meant to be.

Yes, being in HR can be a genuine and meaningful way to live out a vocation of service to others. This is "the pearl of great price" that people in HR have discovered :=)

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Wise Nature's Way

Everyday several of us at home eagerly check the state of the plants and flowers around our simple garden. Each and every plant is lovingly inspected. And each and every flower bud that starts to bloom is looked at with high anticipation and excitement. I make it a point to take their "ID picture". Macro lens and ISO setting so that even the fine, little lines of their petals, and the shifts and variations in color, shade and lighting are captured. There is only a short window of time to take the photos while the bud flowers into its fullness, before it reverses and starts to dry up and shrivel, eventually making way for the next bud to appear.

Nature is very wise. It shows us something for our own life. When checking out the garden each day, I often get reminded about how each person possesses a beauty of his or her own, which when given the right care, can flower into fullness. When we pause to capture the essence of another's life and soul, the fine lines and colors in their life that can be captured like an "ID picture" make themselves known to us. Some whom we come to know stay with us for quite a time, while others are with us only briefly, before moving on in separate ways, making room for others to come in and out of our life.

When I take a photo of the flower, its beauty is captured and is here for me to keep. Just like with people in our life, once we have come to experience who they really are, they continue to remain a part of us even as we move along on separate journeys.

Wise nature's way.

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Lenten Love

Last Saturday at mass, it dawned on me how apt it was for Valentines Day and Ash Wednesday to fall on the same week this year. And that what both occassions have in common is LOVE. Valentines is a day of remembering people we love, and Ash Wednesday is the start of the church season where we commemorate the most beautiful act of love that has ever been done for us by God: His act of allowing His Beloved Son to suffer and die on the cross for our sake.



It seems odd - love? Lent? And yet it seems so right. Yes, how He loved us! Just like the song goes: "We remember how You loved us to your death, and still we celebrate, for You are with us here..." And, "What greater love is there than for a man to lay down his life for another..."

Next year, Valentines and Ash Wednesday will most likely fall on different weeks. So this year, I choose to consider the closeness of these two dates as special. I will think of it as a special signal for us to keep in mind the wonderful-ness of His great love, even as we reflect on the weight of His cross during the coming forty days.

Dakilang pag-ibig!