Tag: 2014

Why I like attending Mass

Tina 1 Comment

Today was my fifth day in my new role (more about this on a later post, probably), and also the longest day I’ve had in the office in a long time. I was so busy today and I had to put off some of the other things I wanted to do just to finish some work but there was one thing I was silently praying that I would get to do: attend Mass. Thankfully, my 5pm freed up, so I was able to head to the nearby chapel and attend Mass with my parents. Interestingly, the Gospel and the homily said something about God’s presence and how He never lets go of our hand, and that’s why I decided to get this post out of the drafts and post it now.

The first time I said I would go to Mass everyday was back in 2008, after I had submitted my requirements for the Australian visa application because I wanted to attend WYD 2008 in Sydney. I told myself that I would go to Mass everyday to pray for my visa and WYD. I did it, and people asked me about it and I told them why I was doing it and they didn’t say anything else. It was a struggle, really, because back then, there was only one mass schedule in Eastwood. It was lunch time, and our team usually ate lunch together, so I had to miss out on that. And then some times, I just got lazy, but I dragged my feet to church, because I really, really, really wanted to go to Sydney.

Well, I didn’t get to go to Sydney that year, and so I stopped going to Mass everyday, too. I went back to the usual Sundays, as well as the first Wednesdays and Fridays of the month, and all the other holy days of obligation when I needed to attend.

Some time around April in 2013, I decided to take a break and attend Mass because I felt unsettled. It was one of those many days back then when I didn’t know what to do with myself, and my thoughts just kept running and running and running and running, so I went to church in hopes of my thoughts stopping and my heart to go still.

And it did.

Ever since then, I started attending mass everyday.

It was an hour (or perhaps about 45 minutes, because it’s a weekday mass) of peace. Inside the church, as the Holy Mass happens, my heart quiets down and somehow all the noise of the world is left by the church’s doors. Oh, sometimes thoughts make their way in, and I get distracted. Sometimes I even get so sleepy that I actually nod off during some parts. Of course that happens. There were days when I didn’t really pick up anything from the readings or the homily, and some days it made me feel a little distant when that happens. But there were days when something just hits — and when it does, it usually hits hard — and sometimes I find myself crying because it was just exactly what I needed to hear. It was exactly what my heart needed.

The more I go to Mass, the more I craved for the peace being there gives me. And I suppose it’s just logical, since the Holy Mass is the highest form of worship, and if needed any help to get closer to God, then going to mass is the first answer. I mean, I get to receive Jesus in communion here, and I get to celebrate His life, death, and resurrection with fellow believers. I don’t know how I can’t not find God in this celebration.

I remember one time, on the last mass after the vigil at the World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, where I stood in wonder as we attended a Mass in a different language with millions of Catholic youths all over the world. I could not understand half of the mass because it was in Spanish, but I didn’t feel confused because it was exactly the mass I grew up with. Later in that trip, my friends and I attended mass at Basilique du Sacré-CÅ“ur in Paris, and I didn’t understand a word of it because it was in French, but I didn’t mind. And just recently, when my SFC friends and I were in Cagayan de Oro, we attended a Mass that was in Bisaya, and again, I hardly understood anything but it didn’t feel any different. It was still the same Mass that I know.

That’s the beauty of this celebration, and the Roman Catholic Church. Anywhere you go, you can attend Mass and it’s exactly the same. Sure, the homily may be different because of the priest, and there may be small differences like how long you hold hands after the Lord’s Prayer (if people actually hold hands) or how the communion is given…but at its very core, it is still the same Mass anywhere. The same readings, the same responses (albeit different languages), the same opening and closing. And there’s something just nice and comforting about that. :)

The Holy Mass reminds me that no matter how chaotic my life is, no matter how confused or broken or sad or excited or happy I may be, God is still the same. It reminds me of God’s faithfulness. It’s a reminder of God’s permanence, of how He is really the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It’s Jesus reminding me where I could find Him, where I could find peace amidst all the troubles of life. How He is always waiting to celebrate with me in church, and how He always offers himself through the consecration and the communion, in the changing of the bread and wine into His body and blood, and even in the people who attend the Mass with me as we exchange greetings and wish each other peace. In every response, in every action, in every reading, I am reminded that God is holding my hand and He will never let go, and that I never go through this life alone. :)

* Photo credit: Lifeteen.com

#100happydays

Tina 4 Comments

I heard about the 100 Happy Days project from a friend on Facebook.

Let me tell you: I’m a sucker for these things. To be more specific, I’m a sucker for anything that has to do with something that I “owned” for myself. Case in point, last year, Arriane of Wanderrgirl had a blog challenge with a theme of courage, my word of the year. Of course I had to participate!

So when I heard about 100 Happy Days, I knew it was something I had to do, because of my 2014 word. Like I said, I’m a sucker for these things. I decided to start it on February 1, 2014, and as of May 11, 2014 (yesterday), I have reached my 100th happy day.

*confetti*

I know a lot of people who participated in this challenge, and I also know a lot of people who scoffed at it, made fun of it, and even really hated the entire idea. What’s the big deal, right? Why are you bragging about your happiness on social media? Are you even truly happy?

But I don’t have answers or rebuttals to that. Different strokes for different folks, as I say. (Also, walang basagan ng trip. :P) What I have, instead, are the things I learned while doing this challenge:

  1. You are not going to be happy everyday for 100 days. That is a fact. I don’t mean to be a downer. That’s just reality. There are good days and there are bad days, and on those bad days, you will not want to post anything at all because it’s hard to see or find something that made you happy. I had several days like that – especially early into the challenge – and I had no idea what to post.
  2. Honesty is really the best policy. Cliche, but I’m finding there’s so much truth in this thing. When your day didn’t go swimmingly, then admit it! No one is happy 100% of the time (see #1). But…
  3. Sometimes you have  to seek happiness on purpose. Happy things don’t just happen all the time. Sometimes, there are days when there’s really absolutely nothing remarkable that happened. Or, like I said in #2, there are days when you feel furthest away from happy. But this project taught me to really look for something – even the littlest thing – that made my day brighter.  A small treat, a song, some time with a friend – the little things really do count. Happiness will not just fall on your lap; most of the time, you have to choose it.
  4. Sometimes, the way to be happy is to make someone else happy. Not a secret, really, but it’s something we forget in our “quest for happiness.” Happiness happens when we share it, and I guarantee that the best way to cheer yourself up is to make someone else smile. :)
  5. And finally, sometimes, you just forget to take a photo. Well that happened to me many times. ^^; And you just take a photo, any photo to just to remember what happened. :D

#100happydays taught me to be mindful and grateful.

You won’t have stellar days all the time, but these not-so-stellar days always has something in it that will make you smile. And that’s what we search for – not perfect days, but small things, events, and people that make the not-so-perfect days feel all right, if not perfect in its imperfection. The trick, I think, is not to force yourself to be happy when you’re not. It’s looking at both the pluses and the minuses, and then choosing to make the former matter, but not entirely discounting the lessons that the latter wants to give.

So yeah, I did not have 100 completely happy days, but now that the challenge is over, I realize that there was so much joy in the past 100 days, and I am glad that I was somehow able to capture them. :)

And I had fun. :)

On a sidenote: on their website, they said that: People successfully completing the challenge claimed to…Fall in love during the challenge. Did I fall in love? HAHA! But yes, I fell in love with God and this life He gave me and all that. :) It’s not the romantic kind of love, but I am so not complaining. Life is good because God is good. :)

I honestly have no idea what happens next. A friend told me in his birthday message that he hopes my 100 happy days won’t end at 100. I think I will abandon the #100happydays hash tag because it has used its purpose, but I will still keep my eyes open for the happy things. There’s so much beauty and joy in everyday that it’s a shame not to take delight in it. :)

And here are some of my favorite photos in my #100happydays project! (Warning: photo dump!) :)

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The Writer Tag

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The Writer Tag

It is obviously way past Writing Week, but I was busy in those weeks, so I wasn’t able to answer this. But now I am not too busy (still am, but not too much), I figured I can make time for this. I was tagged by Isa, and this Writer Tag is created by Bea of The Dalaga Project.  And I will stop it with further blabbering and get on to the questions:

1. What type of writing do you do?

Fiction (here, and hopefully somewhere else, like a book), non-fiction. By non-fiction, it’s mostly blog posts (here, in this blog), book reviews (here), book lists (here, and here). I used to write reflections for Didache, from 2006-2010, too.

2. What genres and/or topics do you write about?

For the non-fiction stuff that isn’t about books, it’s mostly drama. I kid…or maybe not. Perhaps it’s just drama from my POV. But I try to write what I know, and the things I learn as I navigate through life. Last year, I wrote a lot about stillness and courage, this year it seems like a lot of it is forgiveness and joy. And God, but that’s because there’s so much to write about Him. :)

As for fiction, I write contemporary romance/chick lit, because it’s so fun to write. I want to write a YA novel some time, and then maybe finally tackle that fantasy novel I always wanted to write.

3. How long have you been writing?

I wrote my first story about the weather in Grade 3, the same year I said I wanted to be like Elizabeth Wakefield the writer. The first story with actual people was in Grade 4, I think, entitled The Two Slumber Parties – a mash-up of Sweet Valley and Sailormoon. :P So counting my age now, I’ve been writing for 18 years. On/off, of course, because there were years when I didn’t write any piece of fiction or even a journal entry, save for some whiny blog posts.

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