Happiness Is Like A Kiss…

Happiness is like a kiss. You must share it to enjoy it.

- Bernard Meltzer

The Most Beautiful Thing We Can Experience

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

- Albert Einstein

Honesty

I always wanted to be honest with myself and to those who have had faith in me.

- Rafael Nadal

Relatives of Haiti Victims Pray

MIAMI — Martine Jeudi held photos of her aunt and other relatives in her hand at a Miami church Jan. 13 as she prayed for victims of the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12 and devastated areas of Port-au-Prince, the capital.

“My aunt was killed,” said Jeudi, 36, who came from Hollywood to attend a memorial prayer service at Notre Dame D’Haiti Church. “My other relatives are missing. The building (where they lived) was destroyed.”

She was one of hundreds of Haitian-Americans whose relatives were killed or missing in Haiti.

Fr. Reginald Jean-Mary, pastor, called the earthquake the darkest moment in that country’s history.

“Nobody foresaw this,” he said in impassioned remarks at the service. “God and nature surprised us. God reminded us that something must be done. Haiti needs more than food and water. We need substantial change in Haiti.”

Jean-Mary told the congregation to make a commitment to what is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

“I don’t want you to come to church and cry,” he said. “I want you to make a commitment so that Haiti can stand on its feet. Today, many of you are wondering where your loved ones are in Haiti. But, how many times did you contact them? You know how hard life is in Haiti.”

Jean-Mary said that the death of their fellow brothers and sisters was not a defeat.

“The light of God will continue to shine on Haiti,” he said. “We are here to show our solidarity and our commitment to Haiti. We are here to be a light in the darkness.”

The emotional aftershocks of the quake were being felt by south Florida’s large community of Haitian immigrants, who anxiously waited to hear about the fate of loved ones.

Marie Claire Kernizan was talking to her husband in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit.

“He told me, ‘Oh, oh, oh, oh,’ and after that, no communication,” said the secretary at St. Mary Cathedral School in Miami.

Seven hours later, she managed to speak with him for about three minutes on his cell phone, before communications were cut off again.

“It’s a miracle,” said Kernizan, who unlike many others in south Florida, knew her husband was all right even though their house was “a little bit damaged.”

But “I haven’t heard from my mother and my brother who live in Petionville,” Kernizan added. Petionville is a suburb built on the hills above the Haitian capital.

At St. Mary Cathedral School, most of the 380 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade are of Haitian descent. They gathered for Mass Jan. 13 to pray for strength, to pray for their loved ones, and to pray for those who will be helping with rescue and relief efforts.

“Almost every child has relatives over there,” said Sister Jane Stoecker, a Sister of St. Joseph and the school’s principal. “It’s been very sad. They can’t reach them.”

“People are very scared. That’s very natural,” said Msgr. Terence Hogan, rector of the cathedral.

Using language they could understand, he told the schoolchildren that “nature sometimes brings earthquakes” and if the earthquake is really big “the walls cannot stand up” and people are hurt or killed.

“Many of your relatives, many of your friends are going to suffer greatly,” Hogan said. But he reminded the children that no matter what happens here on earth, “Jesus is right here in our midst. He is our hope and he is our salvation.”

He urged them to do two things: Pray for the victims and their rescuers, and “be very generous” when donations are called for. “Whatever it is you have to give, whether it’s a little bit of money or a jacket, be ready to do that.”

Speaking after Mass, Hogan told the Florida Catholic, Miami’s archdiocesan newspaper, that he had no doubt Miami’s Haitian community would come together to help the earthquake victims.

“They’re very willing to help one another. That’s one of the beautiful things about the Haitian community,” he said.

He added that he could see, in the faces of the older children, “that they were concerned. They’re wondering about their relatives. They don’t know what’s happening.”

- Source: ncronline.org

Note:

Let us keep the victims of the earthquake in Haiti in our thoughts and prayers. Also, let us do what we can to help them.

Paradise

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.

- Jorge Luis Borges

Mirror Image

.. and we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord are being changed into His likeness.

- 2 Corinthians 3:18

Something fascinated me when I was a teenager. I would look at my Mom. Then at my Dad. Can it be that they look alike? I don’t mean it like they are identical twins. But, to me, they looked similar. After further investigation amongst relatives who were happily married. My theory was confirmed. Could it be that if one gets married, you end up looking like the other? Could it be osmosis?

Some people tell us that Matthew and I look alike. If you know us and have seen us, that statement is a laugh! Why? Because Matthew is tall and I’m short. Matthew has a good physique and I’m very plump. In fact, physically, we are opposites. But, I guess, through the years of constant company we could have acquired some of each other’s qualities. Matthew’s formal personality has become more relaxed. I, on the other hand, have developed interests in diverse fields like music, arts, religion, sports, computers, books that I used to ignore in the past. All of which are Matthew’s influence on me.

If living with my husband makes us alike, could it be the same with God? If I gaze at the Lord and behold His glory, I pray that in the end, I will reflect Him, and that His image will appear in my life.

- Jojang

2009 Christmas Letter

Matt and Jojang

Dear Family and Friends,

I would like to think that this year is an encouraging one for us.

True, we started the year with our continuous struggle with Matthew’s asthma since he had to be brought numerous times to the emergency again. And one time, he had to be confined. However during the latter part of the year, Matthew’s health was gaining ground. In fact, just a few weeks ago, it was exhilarating for us when Matthew was able to walk around SM, a mall here at Baguio City. Something he has never done in years. Slowly but surely his health is taking great strides. I know that sooner than we think, Matthew’s full recovery is on its way.

What seems to be a source of great excitement for both of us this year, is our blog. We never realized that in a span of a little over a year, we were going to get more than 18,000 hits! We both thought of coming out with one, as a sort of “therapy” for Matthew’s illness. We also wanted to have a venue where we could share inspirational quotes, excerpts, stories, and our writings. The blog was quite helpful for Matthew ‘coz even if he spends most of his time at home, he is able to be positively busy. However, little did we know that we were going to touch so many lives as well.

We look forward to the year ahead with so much promise. And we can hardly wait for life’s events to unfold.

Here’s wishing you all reading this blog, A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.

May the good Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face shine on you and give you peace!

- Jojang

Mystery Couple Starts “Magical” Chain Reaction

For five hours, strangers bought each other meals at a Philly diner

It played like a scene from a holiday movie — a mystery couple, who didn’t leave their names or numbers, walked into a restaurant, finished their meal and then set-off a chain reaction of generosity that lasted for hours.

That’s just what employees at the Aramingo Diner in Port Richmond said a man and a woman did during their breakfast shift last Saturday morning.

“It was magical. I had tears in my eyes because it never happened before. I’ve been here for 10 years and I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Lynn Willard, a waitress.

Willard and other waitresses told NBC Philadelphia that the couple started the chain reaction by paying double: for their own meal and for the tab of another table of diners at the restaurant. There’s no evidence that one group of diners knew the others.

“I could not believe it … and it continued and continued, it was very nice,” said Willard. “They asked us not to say anything until they left, but we said ‘Merry Christmas, that person picked up your tab.’”

For the next five hours, dozens of patrons got into that same holiday spirit and paid the favor forward.

The diner’s manager said not one person was concerned about price of the check — which averaged between $12-$30.

“It was a surprise to all of us, the girls were even taken aback,” said Linda. “Those who took the check also tipped the waitress. So nobody had to do anything other than pass it on and that’s what they did. They just passed it forward.”

It’s a true holiday story that proves how a small gesture of kindness can create some magic.

- Source: nbcphiladelphia.com

The Beginning Of Love

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

- Thomas Merton

You Do Not Need Many Things

My house is buried in the deepest recess of the forest
Every year, ivy vines grow longer than the year before.
Undisturbed by the affairs of the world I live at ease,
Woodmen’s singing rarely reaching me through the trees.
While the sun stays in the sky, I mend my torn clothes
And facing the moon, I read holy texts aloud to myself.
Let me drop a word of advice for believers of my faith.
To enjoy life’s immensity, you do not need many things.

- Ryokan