Divine Mercy Canonisation

Pope John Paul II was the second longest serving pope in history (from 16 October 1978 to 02 April 2005) and therefore the pope during most of my life so far.  I was in tears when I heard that he passed away.  I was in the middle of a personal crisis at the time and prayed he would watch over me.  I knew he was special and holy even if there were no talks of beatification nor canonisation at the time. 

(video from 2011)

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday.  There are many special graces associated with this day as the outpouring of Christ's love and mercy is especially abundant as revealed in St. Faustina's diary.

“I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain the complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet.” (Diary 699) 

It was Karol Wojtyla, then Archbishop of Krakow, who after St. Faustina's death (25 August 1905-05 October 1938) was the first to consider bringing her name before the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for consideration as a figure worthy of being put forward for beatification.  Then on Mercy Sunday, 18 April 1993, Pope John Paul II beatified St. Faustina.    

On 30 April 2000, Pope John Paul II canonised St. Faustina Kowalska and officially designated the Sunday after after Easter as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy.  It was Mercy Sunday on that day, too. 

What better day for Karol Wojtyla to be canonised himself but on this special day? 

The Holy Father Pope Francis will also be canonising Pope John XXIII so it will be a double celebration!

Saints in heaven, pray for us.

Tree Pose

The Tree Pose is the favourite yoga  pose of my officemate's girlfriend Sam.  Last year, Sam started offering yoga classes at our local community centre.  So now she is a Registered Nurse by day and a yoga instructor by night. 

I attended my first class the other Thursday so that I could get a feel of real yoga and get honest-to- goodness stretching and exercise.  I have been feeling some aches and pains plus I don't feel as strong and flexible as I used to be.  The short distance dashes to catch my bus in the morning have left me huffing and puffing (that was before my iron shot but that is another story) so I had been scared to resume my morning jogging (not that I had been jogging regularly but once upon a time I was actually able to jog without fear of running out of breath).  Although I still do a lot of walking, I haven't had much exercise.  I figured it would be best to try more rigorous exercise under the supervision of someone who could potentially save my life if something went awry.  What better opportunity than with a yoga instructor that is a Registered Nurse, right?

Not only did I get to exercise that evening but I also got a chance to 'meet the family.'   

Sam's mom always attends yoga classes.  She was the one who had introduced Sam to yoga at an early age and encouraged her (and my officemate) to practice yoga and become vegetarians.   She usually brings a friend over to class to join her and is better at yoga than most of the students half her age.   I also met my officemate's mom, who had come in with a couple of my officemate's cousins and uncle who had just arrived from Manila.   So essentially the class was like a mini-reunion for my friend.

I enjoyed the class a lot but I can't see myself going to regular classes because it would be like getting a membership to a gym if I wanted to do it regularly.  I think I have to content myself with the Wii at home if I want to do yoga although Wii Yoga is a far cry from the real thing.   

I will miss Sam and her instructions, particularly during the relaxation period where Sam reminds everyone feel the calmness and the peace of the moment, and that one can feel that sense of peace every moment of every day.

Namaste.

The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. Nama means bow, as means I, and te means you. Therefore, namaste literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you."  - Aadil Palkhivala

Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

Yes, I screamed.  I really did.

I picked up this small brown ball from the floor this morning.  Thinking it was a ball bearing that belonged to one of our equipment, I placed it on corner of the kitchen counter for MacGyver to return to its proper place when he woke up.  

When MyGirl came downstairs, I moved to prepare breakfast and glanced towards the kitchen counter.

I screamed because instead of the small brown ball, I saw about a dozen legs moving about.   (I washed my hands promptly after I had finished screaming.)

MyGirl explained it was a slater and calmly got two envelopes to scoop the frightened (not as much as I was, I think) thing out of the house.

(Ohhh!  The thought still makes my hair stand on end.)

Happy Easter!

Young Ones and Young Once

Check out my young ones.  

 

We have MyGirl in the up and at 'em stance and the boys catching extra z's.  The boys have their own PC-based activities and hardly play the Wii.  However, when they do get to play, GI fills the snowball fight scoreboard and RD tries out his creative tennis serves much to his opponent's consternation. 

On the brighter side, check out my supposed Wii age.

I managed to keep my balance for 30 seconds and hit the numbers within a given time for the body test that Wii had given that day to calculate my Wii Age.  I was tickled pink and had to take a screenshot.   

Wii says my body is still in great condition but I know better.  It needs a lot of work. I can't fit into my clothes anymore and I think it needs more activity than pressing Wii buttons (and grabbing cookies). 

Just so you know, I do not trust the Wii to determine what shape I'm in.  The other day, when the random body test I got was the one that required me to take twenty steps to see if I walked in a balanced manner and the other test was one with instructions I did not quite understand, I ended up with a Wii age of sixty!   (Needless to say I took the test again and did not stop until I was happy with the calculated age.  After which, I celebrated with another cookie.) 

Taronga Wild! Rhinos

They say it started last February, the rhino stampede in the city.  A herd of about 125 wildly coloured rhino sculptures were placed on the streets, parks and other public spaces around Sydney to help raise awareness of the critical plight facing rhinos through poaching and habitat loss. 

This is a Taronga Zoo fund raising activities as they will auction off the rhinos by the end of April.   Read more about it in this link --> Taronga Wild!  Rhinos.

Well, I must not have been going around much because I only spotted a couple the other day.   I chanced upon these first two when I took a different route going home one day.  These were right outside the Westfield mall.

Then on my way back to the office from church, instead of taking the shortest route back, I decided to go through the park.  I figured there must be a rhino somewhere in Hyde Park.  True enough, this one was by the fountain.

I spotted another one by the bus stop along Wynyard Station.

If I had more time to roam around the city, I'm sure I would have spotted more of these.  

I wonder who would buy these art monstrosities.  No offence meant, but these are HUGE rhinos!   One would have to give up a tthree-seater couch or a dining table to get this baby in the house.

He Saw It Too

I was in a rush when I wrote my previous post but I had wanted to write that I wish I had the time that morning to find the spot where I could see the whole rainbow and take a picture of it.

Lo and behold, I find this in MacGyver's FB page this morning.  

I thought he'd sighted another rainbow but apparently these were of the same rainbow I'd seen yesterday.  He'd taken these shots after he'd dropped RD off at school. He had parked the car after dropping RD off and took these shots from across the kids' school. 

We had left the house right after each other.  MacGyver and RD turned right to head for school while I turned left towards the bus stop.  At the time, the rainbow was very clear across the sky that it was nearly impossible to miss.

I love it that MacGyver had the exact same idea of taking a picture of the rainbow. (It makes me feel that we are in sync.) 

I love it that it was practically a whole rainbow we had seen that morning. (I don't recall seeing too many complete rainbows in my life.)

I love it that we had left the house at the right time with enough time to enjoy the beauty of the rainbow. (If we'd left the house ten or fifteen minutes later, we probably would have missed the rainbow altogether.)

Yes, the simple joys in life.

Rainbow Sighting

Red and yellow and pink and green 

Purple and orange and blue 

I can sing a rainbow, 

sing a rainbow, 

sing a rainbow too. 

It was drizzling when I stepped out of the house this morning.  I don't mind a little rain and sun especially when it comes with a rainbow.   

We are Family

We are a family.  

Father, mother, sister, brother and oldest brother. 

And with our recent Gumtree acquisition, now Wii Our Family.

We got the second hand Wii so that we can get some exercise.  

I have to say that MacGyver and MyGirl are the ones that are able to use the Wii the most.  Can you tell who is the least Wii fit?

Check out MyGirl's Mii character in  signature purple.

(The date stamps mark when the user logs into this Wii place.)

I wanted to get a shot of MyGirl while she was in her purple singlet.  

I got this one of her trying to help me get a decent picture of Mii and MyGirl.

It Was Different

Fridays of Lent pose a challenge in terms of meals.  We try to observe the prescribed abstinence from meat so we have to be creative in terms of what we serve.

If we served oatmeal, muesli or cereals for breakfast, we might have a mutiny in our hands or very hungry children at the end of a schoolday.  So crabsticks replaced hotdogs / sausage in Chinese fried rice for breakfast one morning.   Tuna or egg sandwiches are acceptable lunch for the two young ones who normally bring burger or chicken sandwiches to school.  Dinner would likely be a toss up between fish fingers and tuna bake.

MacGyver had just arrived from the night shift last Friday making me in charge of the food for the kids.  Mushroom and cheese omelet found its way to the breakfast table even if there was some homemade breakfast sausage or skinless longganisa in the fridge.   For lunch, I asked what kind of sandwich they wanted -- tuna or egg.  Normally RD just brings a single sandwich to school but he was gearing up for a long day so he replied 'Both.' MyGirl replied with an enthusiastic, "Egg for me."  (I almost forgot, she LOVES egg sandwiches.)

RD went up to change his clothes while MyGirl finished her breakfast.  I pulled out the pre-mixed tuna with mayonnaise ready for sandwiches from the fridge as well as two boiled eggs.  I finished packing RD's tuna sandwich and started on the egg sandwiches.  After I had made one of the egg sandwiches, I had a bright idea -- add smoked paprika to the egg sandwich.  (Genius!)

"Do you want paprika on your egg sandwich, MyGirl?"  

"No, Mom.  Just put cheese."

"Should we put some on the one for RD?  Do you think he'll notice?"

She thought about it for a while then replied, "He'll notice that it's different, Mom.  Please don't put too much." (The loving sister speaks.)

I sprinkled some paprika on the second sandwich just as RD was coming down the stairs. If RD had been looking my way, he would have seen the mischief in my eyes.

As I cleared the dishes, I tasted the egg bits from the bowl.   My thoughts?  Oh dear, I might have added too much salt in that brew. 

That evening, I asked MyGirl if her egg sandwich was too salty.  She replied that it was fine.  So I moved on to RD, concerned over salt AND paprika.

"RD, how was your egg sandwich?"

He took a while to reply then finally said, "Ummm ... it was different."

MyGirl and I burst into laughter.

"What it different OK or different not OK, RD?"

"It tasted good, Mom, but it was just different."

I confessed that I had done a test on his sandwich and had added smoked paprika.  

Although he was happy with the egg sandwich, he was not pleased with the fact that I had experimented  on a day that he needed two sandwiches.  

"MOM!  Please don't experiment with my sandwiches on a Friday."

In hind sight, Fridays are the best day to experiment with his sandwiches because at least he could still fall back on the other sandwich in case my experiment was a failure.  

Don't you agree, RD?

P.S.  I love you.