April 4, 2007  HAVE A BLESSED PASCHAL TRIDUUM

Finally we are approaching the most important day of our Christian faith: Easter day, the day Jesus rose from the dead.  But in order to rejoice with the Lord, we have to experience his Passion with him.   Through His open wounds, let’s follow Abbot John’s words in his homily given on Passion Sunday to face the Lord of love and mercy.

St. Francis at the foot of the Cross, modeled from St. Francesco Crucifix in Arezzo, is a commission I am working on for The Capuchin Hermitage of Saint Joseph of Leonissa in Wheeling, West Virginia. I am grateful to the dear Lord for this commission.  St. Francis sure is walking to Calvary with me as the Lord allows me to follow his cross closely the last few weeks.  Spiritual journey is what I am speaking of.  This week it is getting more intense!  On one level, it is pretty real and tough on the soul, but on another level, I feel great peace as I humbly perceive what it is to have sympathy with the Jews who were “fickle” (the word Abbot John emphasized as he confessed our human weakness before the Lord), and interestingly with both Judas and St. Peter.

Oh dear Lord, I thank you for the grace you give me to see my true-self better so that I can see why I must love you more; love you with my whole heart, mind and strength. In one of the hymns we sang this week, it said we can’t ever repay for all that you have done.  All we can do is to love you in return...  Amen.

February 12, 2007 Ash Wednesday. 

Be merciful O Lord, for we have sinned!

"I do realize that I was quick to criticize about the ways my scientist friend does and thinks at times.  The Lord finally gave me some insights so that I will not be tempted judge her so readily.  No matter who we are and whether we recognize his love and gifts for us, through us, he bestows the gifts for the world.  When he thinks she is ready to acknowledge him, I am sure he will do miracles to bring her home to him as he did with me.

As I continue to reflect and ponder on these insights, I could see that I was quite proud. While I think I am holier and better than her, the truth is I often feel I am a lazy, lax and lukewarm Catholic.  And she, who perhaps feels left out because she is not yet a Christian, allows God to accomplish great things for his people through her diligent and dedicated toil as a scientist."

January 30, 2007 Winter weather has finally caught up to our expectation. We had a few bitter cold and icy days last week which crippled many activities. Though for some who made an effort to get out and went on with their daily activities sure appreciated God's marvelous power at work, not to mention the natural beauty of nature. At one point, I felt like walking in some kind of a paradise surrounded by diamond trees. The beautiful morning sunbeams sure helped magnified the ice-coated crystallized branches.

Our spiritual group sent in our end-of-the-year comments and reflections. Praise the Lord! We made it through our first year and are growing despite of the fact that three out of seven original members withdrew from the group. As sad and discouraged as it might sound, Rev. Father reassured us that having more than 50% of us persevered and made progress in our spiritual life is not a bad thing! Quantity is a plus but without quality, we will not last! Everything seems to be better and go smoother but not without the members' extra effort and facing challenges. Even so, we believe we carry the right cross with the sisterly support and fatherly guidance of the group members and the spiritual advisor. Those who stay sure have proved to have the spirit and the character which are suited for our particular spiritual group. If you are interested, you can check us out.

I thank God for the many graces he bestowed on this group of friends and also for his loving mercy to help us overcome and learn from the difficult trials. Only through these experiences we will learn to know ourselves and others better as individuals and as a small Christian community as much as to practice virtues through humility, trust, perseverance and charity.

Dear Blessed Mother, please continue to intercede for us. Amen.

January 1, 2007 HAPPY GREAT FEAST OF THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!
It was a beautiful, meaningful and special day for me also. I again renewed my vow to the Lord. Why not a permanent one since I have done this yearly for the last 7 years, even though in my heart I know there is no other way for me? It is due to my weaknesses and imperfection, especially in trying to live the life of virtues that I have the grace to accept humbly to be patient in waiting for a permanent one. Trying to live both the active and the contemplative life without much support from a community is not so easy. However, God always seems to console and give me the grace to know that he has always been and will forever be faithful and loving no matter how hard I try and fail.

As always, I set out a goal to do better this year. That means I have to be more detached from the many temptations I have grown accustomed to from last year. Also, I too must narrow down my active path. It is always a challenge for anyone who would like to live the contemplative way in the world. In a recent homily Fr. Stephen of Genesee Abbey reminded me that. We always seem to have the temptation to think that if I do not do it, it is not going to get done!!! J I get so worked up and busy that instead of being calm, prayerful and mindful of God's presence and his working through me, I take over the burden and run the show on my own... we all know how that is!!!

I finally finished another movie called The Annunciation. The four pictures you see here and in the December 25th news are taken from the movie. I have so many beautiful friends and relatives who were so eager to help me out. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in mind and our Lady too, when they think I am ready for the next step.

If you are truly inspired and desire:
1. to love God;
2. to love our Lady;
3. to help bring people to Jesus through the love and guidance of his Blessed Mother;
4. to help our young generation embracing the faith Tradition given to you;
5. to be patient, faithful; persevere, detached and be selfless,

you may be interested in either supporting or joining the Marian Children ministry through which, imitating our Lady's saying "Yes" to God with complete trust and blind faith, we try to make a difference to help our Church.
Please visit the Annunciation Project at ourladyofnewhelfta/childrenofmary/Annunciation.php (It is being built) for further information.

O Holy Mother of God, please intercede for us.
May His holy will be done! Amen.

December 25, 2006
Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord!

May God's love for this world through his beloved Son continue to grace you and yours with all the peace, joy and strength in all body, soul, spirit and mind as you continue to seek to love him and to do his will. Amen.

December 5, 2006 Advent greetings!  
Have you heard or seen the Nativity Story movie? As an artist, I find it quite beautiful and breathtaking.  I did not expect it to be so sad but it is the reality of what happened. It sure wakes me up from my being complacent at times.
 
While we all expect to see the Blessed Mother in the spot light, St. Joseph was the one who stole my heart. The actor who portrayed St. Joseph did a great job!  I now have greater love, admiration and appreciation for him. It is so strong and real enough that I feel I can do an icon depicting the Holy Family. I thank the Lord for this special grace.
 
The actress who portrayed the Blessed Mother is beautiful but was not very convincing in trying to reveal our Lady's greatest, most blessedness and humility, but then who would be? The Blessed Mother whom I know in faith will always be much more lovable, personal and virtuous than anyone who ever tries to portray her. 

The character of the Blessed Mother shown in the movie is strong enough and does have the humility. Anyhow, what most disappointing was the Annunciation scene.  It was quite "flat".  I was expecting something greater as was described in one of St. Bernard's beautiful sermons of Advent! But then I am very picky about who could portray the most powerful woman of the human race who is most loved by Catholics and whose identity is hidden by God who keeps her sacred and mysterious to himself as He is.

Have a blessed and grace-filled feast of Immaculate Conception and a wonderful Advent!

November 27, 2006 Talking to a friend last night for about an hour discussing intensively about our imperfections, stubbornness, temperaments, passions and feelings, I learned that without faith, I do not know where I would be now and how I survived and have gone on living the life I live. I thank the Lord for giving me the faith. Faith definitely does not depend on how we feel. It is the unchangeable truth. It is one of God most precious gifts. It is given freely with love, but unless we are humbled to be open to receive it with trust, it is so difficult to understand. Jesus said if we have faith as the size of a muster seed, we can achieve great things, and isn't our Christian religion based on faith? But then, what it boils down to is: love. I am talking about the selfless and true love as Christ loves his people, his Church. Only when we love ardently, we trust wholeheartedly, and therefore surrender our will to him completely. Christ's suffering because of love. Let's seek to love him first then whatever we need to do to be sustained and strengthened in our quest to find him will be provided.

With the intercession of the Blessed Mother, may the merciful Lord who dwells in our heart grant us the grace to grow in faith through our love for him. Amen.

November 1&2, 2006 HAPPY FEAST OF ALL SAINTS AND ALL SOULS

It has been a busy month trying to catch graces which are more visible like the falling leaves. It is wonderful, but at the same time I realize that on my part I still have a lot to learn and grow because the closer the dear Lord deigns to be closer to me, the brighter his glorious light shine on my imperfect and weak self so makes it appear more prominent. Only when I see and accept them and be open to change for the better and to be transformed, I will never be happy knowing I have no other choice but following that narrow path. All the saints and the holy ones have gone through that, and they have entered the narrow gate where they are forever happy gazing at the glorious light of God face to face for eternity. May their intercession on our behalf help us be open to God's grace to deepen our understanding and knowledge of God who so desires to reveal himself to our yearning for eternal happiness, love and truth in Him forever and ever. Amen.

I am working on a few projects including painting an icon for our newly congregation of St. Luke of the Evangelist.

I am also sewing some costumes, like that of the Lord's time. They will be modeled by friends and volunteers. Through the poses according to Sacred Scriptures, I will be able to paint religious icons and paintings in a more original way but still be rooted from Tradition. Some of the themes I am inspired are related to the Marian Children ministry. And as I am working on this, the Spirit also promptss me to produce a short movie which will be used to promote this ministry. This is a lot of work, and I seem to have receive the grace to allow Him working through me. I thank you Lord.

Please pray that, like all of us who seek to do God's will, I may stay faithful and always be open to the Spirit's inspiration in addition to working hard to follow through all that are asked of me by God.

O Blessed Mother, please make sure that in all that I do, I always seek to live to please the Lord. Amen.

COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME!

September 30, 2006 Autumn has arrived, and we are ready for a refresh season of graces. Racking leaves always reminds me of God's abundant and generous graces as I watch the leaves fall. How many of us enjoy gathering and collecting leaves? Perhaps, with faith we see them as graces, we will have a better attitude toward it. It certainly works for me. There are so many things to be thankful for which we always seem to take them for granted. Gratefully, if we focus on what we have and count our blessings throughout our life, we will be more content and happy with who we are and what we are given.

Love is wonderful but it is tough to accept and to give back. I mean the way true and unconditional love really is. God sure is quite demanding when it comes to love. Though, if it is so easy then what else would we be looking forward to in eternity!

For those of us who desire to imitate God's transcendent love (an ambitious but worthwhile task) and are struggling to do it in dealing with all kinds of people, I would like to share some words of wisdom given to me:

LOVE IS NOT IN THE FEELINGS. One could profit by reflecting that (while God expects us to be charitable, kind and generous to all according to our ability) God does not expect us to FEEL love to all, and certainly not to have closer and more intimate FEELINGS to all. That is usually possible only with a few. Trying hard to be equally close to most people one deals with is to expect too much.

September 12 2006 It has been quite challenging throughout the last few weeks. When I say "challenging", I don't mean all were bad, but a mixture of both bad and good. But as I think about it, what I really mean bad are not that bad. I guess it is just because when dealing with those unwanted and unpredicted moments or situations, I was required to trust more, to try harder, to be more humble, to be more generous and forgiving, etc. In other words, I had to work hard to grow in spirit, to learn how to purify my heart and to experience what God's unconditional love is about which is over my head! These are real work with total trust in God. With God's grace and mercy, only when we are open and try to cooperate, we will never realize and believe that there is at least a lesson to learn and an opportunity for growth in all that we encounter throughout the day. You know! As I think about this, if we have the grace to think like God, we will be so free and happy by being preoccupied with catching graces ALL THE TIME; therefore we will never have time to go astray!

As much as I feel such a looser and a sinner, God's unconditional love and mercy give me the grace to hear his voice in the sage wisdom of my spiritual father and confessor's constant reminder. It is something like this: The more we grow, if we are truly seeking God with a humble and contrite heart, the more we perceive clearly what failure and sinners we are, and the more we understand how infinitely God's love is for us. Then instead of being so worry and scrupulous and focusing on ourselves and our weaknesses which are uncountable, we will focus more on God who knows our human frailty and is so ready to forgive as we repent. Only then, we will hear his voice who calling us home; and therefore we will allow ourselves to be transformed to be like him who is LOVE.

LET US PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO BE OPEN TO LEARN TO THINK LIKE CHRIST AND TO ACT LIKE HIM AS ALL THE SAINTS DID IN ALL SITUATIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES WE ENCOUNTER AND ENDURE.

LORD, HAVE MERCY! CHRIST, HAVE MERCY! LORD, HAVE MERCY! O BLESSED MOTHER, PLEASE INTERCEDE FOR US! WE THANK YOU.

August 11, 2006 HAPPY FEAST OF THE BELOVED ST. CLARE OF ASSISI!

"... however undeserving we might know ourselves to be, we are so loved by God that, far from rejecting us, he wills to join us to himself by the most intimate and ardent bonds of love. St. Claire had never proved unfaithful; she realized that it was God's special love that had protected her. However, it was not her innocence that gave her the confidence needed to sustain her in the years of testing in poverty, but her strong faith in the tender love of God...

'I will espouse you to myself forever.
I will espouse you to myself in justice and with judgment,
in loving kindness and tender love,

In fidelity, I will espouse you to me,
and you will know the Lord" -- Hosea 2: 21-22

says the Lord.... " (Rev. Father John Eudes' homily on St. Clare's feast of August 11, 2001)

Dear my beloved patron saint, please pray for us. I thank you.

June 9, 2006 HAPPY 50^TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRIESTHOOD DEAR REV. FATHER!

Thank you for your generous response to God's special grace; for your fidelity and faithfulness in loving him and serving his Church the last 50 years. May he continue to bestow abundant fresh graces upon you for many and many more years to come with much peace and joy as you go on to love him and serve his Church. AMEN.

May 15, 2006 Happy Feast of Our Lady of Fatima May 13, 2006

Thank you Lord and Blessed Mother for the unique and grace-filled experiences I was given while glorifying you with my brothers and sisters in Christ. And many thanks to all who have prayed for us, especially during the last two weekends. Personally I felt so blessed, loved and cared for due to your holy prayers. These trips were more challenged than the previous ones. However, I have learned more what it means to depend on God alone and trust in his loving mercy. Your sincere and ardent prayers for me have helped make a big difference in my confidence and faith in God who gave me the courage and the strength to accomplish his will. I apologize but I am a little behind so I will try to build the two pages from St. Kathryn's Church, NH and the Church of the Holy Spirit, NY as soon as I get the chance. Here are the two pictures I would like to share with you. To me they mean a lot and my reflection of the experiences will reveal that. Again, thank you for your support in spirit.