Tag: wyd

We are the Easter People

Tina Leave a comment

I don’t know about you, but there’s really something about this particular Easter season that has me…well, joyful.

I suppose Easter is reason enough to be joyful, but in the past years, after Easter Sunday has come to a close, I go back to the daily grind, and well, forget that it is still Easter. I go back to work, to everyday life, and go back to my old struggles, like Easter didn’t happen at all.

But this year, I don’t know. I go to mass, and every time we pray the Regina Coeli, or recite Glory to God, I start tearing up. I love it when the priest says “Alleluia” at the end of his blessing, and I say, “Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia” back. I love it, and every time I remember the victory of Easter, I couldn’t stop smiling and singing inside because…well, it’s Easter!

I suppose it is because of knowing that I am truly forgiven and all. And I suppose it’s because this Easter is a stark contrast from last Easter, where everyday was a struggle to believe in the victory of Christ’s resurrection.

I remember reading somewhere, probably on Twitter, last year that Easter is the longest season in the church for a reason. I guess it’s because we frail and imperfect humans need a reminder that Jesus’ resurrection is really important, and it is a real cause for celebration. So we should celebrate. We should remember, and we should live it, until it gets ingrained in our hearts even after Easter is over. I mean, the resurrected Christ could have just showed up for a week, and then ascended, but He chose to stay with the people to teach them and equip them for 50 days. And what’s more, even after His ascension, He sends the Holy Spirit to prepare us even more and remind us that Hey, you are neveralone.

How amazing is that.

I guess one of the reasons why this Easter feels different is because…well, it is. It’s like I am finally waking up, like I have finally reached something and I am about to start a new journey.

It’s so incredibly exciting.

So yeah, it’s still Easter. And if you had a particularly good and blessed Holy Week and you’re wondering where it all went, remember this: IT IS STILL EASTER. There is still a lot of reasons for us to sing Hallelujah. :)

do-not-abandon-yourselves-to-despair-we-are-the-easter-people-and-hallelujah-is-our-song-pope-john-paul-ii

And today, the second Sunday of Easter, there is cause for more joy. It’s Divine Mercy Sunday (which I would write about in another blog post, but I think this one from Lifeteen has it covered :D), and the canonization of two Popes, Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II.

Truth be told, I knew nothing about Blessed John XXIII until recently, but I’m starting to read up about him and he’s pretty awesome, too. But JP2…he was the first Pope I knew in my lifetime. If you know me in real life, you know how much I love JP2, and how every time I read or watch something about him, I start crying. I didn’t get to see him when he was in Manila for World Youth Day 1995 because I was too young to appreciate it, but I knew, even in my young heart, that he was a great and good man. More than a decade later, when I started praying and preparing for WYD 2011, I asked for his intercession everyday for the pilgrimage. And I believe that it was because of his intercession that the WYD dream finally came true. :)

I love it that JP2 knew what it is to be an Easter person, to have Jesus’ resurrection in his heart and to believe in the love that redeemed us from the depths of our sin. This is a person who knew and believed in God’s mercy and grace, and lived it his whole life even in the face of death. This is someone who knows how to take delight for real, and who loves fully because he is loved.

So yeah, this Easter is definitely something. :) And we’re only just in the first week! Hallelujah, indeed.

Happy Divine Mercy and Canonization Sunday, everyone! St. John XXIII and St. John Paul the Great, pray for us! :)

Long Weekends

Tina 3 Comments

Also known as: Two long weekends deserve a post

I’ve long moved on from writing diary-type entries on my personal blog because I figure no one else really cares about it except for me. I mean, even I don’t read a lot of blogs that write their days in detail, so I figure who would bother to read that on mine, right? (Unless you’re a stalker. Or you have a crush on me. Or both. Erm.)

But anyway, since we just went throughtwo long weekends in the country, I realized I had reasons to blog about them. In an almost diary-like entry because..well, how else can I remember them? Normally long weekends just pass by like a blur. For other people, long weekends are a time to go out of town, but because I’ve never been lucky with booking cheap flights during long weekends, I never did that. I did have two full long weekends, actually, so instead of going out of town, I filled them with all sorts of activities (other than reading and sleeping). So let’s start.

Filipino ReaderCon 2012

I wrote about the event in detail in my book blog, so this will be more on my reflections on the event. I think I can sum it up in a sentence?

I loved every bit of it.

I knew taking on bigger responsibilities for the ReaderCon this year was a bit daunting, and I was kind of scared that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I was surprised at how it wasn’t that stressful at all. Sure, there were many times I was scrambling to write blog entries for the site and I feel like I wasn’t able to do all the things I should do, but overall, it was really my kind of thing for my kind of event. I loved it, and it made me realize yet again how much I love words and anything related to it. I had another one of those “I was made for this” moments while I was roaming around the venue during the event.

Don’t you love it when you get those moments?

With my fellow Filipino ReaderCon volunteers (photo c/o Danica Cervantes)

WYD 2011 Team Reunion

It’s been a year, as I posted a few weeks back, but our reunion almost didn’t push through because of so many conflicting schedules.But we had to, seeing as it was our anniversary and all. Thank goodness we pushed through, because it totally sealed my weekend.

It’s hard to describe why and how I became good friends with these people, especially since I only knew one of them when I joined them for WYD 2011. Of course, being with them for 2 straight weeks is enough to tie me to them. But I don’t know, I feel like our friendship is deeper than normal, and it’s not like I know these people that well.

WYD 2011 reunion! (Photo c/o En)

Perhaps it’s because our friendship does lie deeper, because we’re all anchored on that experience that is anchored on, well, God. I’m no stranger to friendships that were formed in church communities and while I haven’t been in touch with other old friends I met during my YFC days, I knew that the friendships I had with them were the real ones and they were the ones that made me grow in so many ways. And I guess my WYD friends count as that kind of friends, too — but I do hope I keep them for life. :)

I loved our how night ended with a prayer and how each and every one of us were prayed for. What was prayed for me, you ask? No, don’t bother asking. ;) But I really, really appreciate it, and it’s nice to know that I’ve got these people praying for that aspect of my life. :)

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¡Feliz aniversario!

Tina 1 Comment

Also known as: Seriously, I don’t need to put this line, really.

I have several posts lined up for posting/writing in this blog, but all of them would have to wait because this is more important! :)

This day one year ago, I went to Europe to join World Youth Day in Madrid.

YFC/SFC WYD 2011 Team
Our only complete group photo, with Kuya Marlon. :) Hola, YFC/SFC WYD 2011 Team! :) (Photo credit: Sol)

Sometimes I still can’t believe that I can actually say/write that. Sometimes, it still feels like a dream.

But the rest of the time, whenever I remember the 16 days I spent traipsing around Europe, seeing the Pope, participating in World Youth Day events, meeting new friends and people I will keep for life, I smile and remember this line I wrote in my blog post that summed up my Europe series:

I am loved by a God who delights in making dreams come true.

How awesomely amazing is that?

Last year, I didn’t know how much this trip would change me, how much it would teach me of the grandness of God’s love. Interestingly, remembering all of it now is helping me face the things that I am facing right now. It’s funny how the answers to some of the questions you ask are the things you’ve already known for a long time.  Let me repeat it once again (more for me, really):

I am loved by a God who
delights in making dreams come true.

If you’re my Twitter friend or my Facebook friend, please excuse me if I tweet/post about Europe memories because…well, it’s fun. And I really, really do miss Europe, and everyone I met there. And if you want to go down memory lane with me, here are the posts!

I think I understand now how some people keep on joining WYD every time it happens: it’s expensive and tiring and crazy but being there changes you. There’s really just something about it that makes it such an exciting event to save for, sacrifice for and experience. So you bet that I am starting to pray and save for WYD 2013. :) By God’s grace, see you next year Rio de Janeiro!

If you were also in Madrid for last year’s World Youth Day, then let me extend my greeting to you: ¡Feliz aniversario! :)