LITURGICAL LIVING Archives - Page 2 of 7

On #TheParentFiles: Family Traditions

September 21, 2017 by Tina

Earlier this year, my husband and I were blessed to be invited by #TheParentFiles team as guests for their third season. (Thanks to Maricel of The Parenting Emporium for recommending us, and for snapping the BTS photo above!)

In case you have never heard of it, here is the description of this unique online parenting show from Industree.TV’s website:

Welcome to the exciting journey of raising little humans. #TheParentFiles is here to help by sharing the informative opinions of parents, teachers, medical experts and respected childcare practitioners through a variety of topics. Produced by blogger, educator and mom, Cat Juan-Ledesma, there’s certainly something to learn for everyone.

We shared a bit about our family traditions in the first episode below, and I am so happy that we got to mention our “nameday” celebrations, even for just a few seconds (yay for #LiturgicalLiving)!

Each family is unique and has its own traditions, of course, and it was so nice to hear what other families do to make memories with their kids. I hope this encourages you somehow to create (or add to) your own family traditions! After all, our relationships are part and parcel of “the ‘riches’ we already have”!

What family traditions do you have? Feel free to share in the comments!

The Power of Pentecost

June 4, 2017 by Tina

Source: Wikimedia Commons

One of the things I love about being Catholic is that we get to celebrate Easter not just for a day but for 50 days! And we even get to celebrate the birthday of the Church — our birthday as a Church — together every year on Pentecost Sunday.

Pentecost is, in fact, the feast of all feasts. And it is when we recall the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We are reminded of how great Jesus’ love for us is — SO great that He did not leave us “orphans,” but gave us the Holy Spirit to be our Advocate, Guide, and Helper.

I love what is said in the Sequence every Pentecost Sunday Mass, and I pray that, as you read the words below, and maybe even watch the video below, you will discover (or rediscover!) the amazing power of Pentecost!

Veni, Sancte Spiritus

Ascribed to Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (+ 1228)

Holy Spirit, Lord of Light,
From the clear celestial height.
Thy pure beaming radiance give.

Come, Thou Father of the poor,
Come, with treasures which endure;
Come, Thou Light of all that live!

Thou, of all consolers best,
Thou, the soul’s delightful guest,
Dost refreshing peace bestow.

Thou in toil art comfort sweet;
Pleasant coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

Light immortal, Light divine,
Visit Thou these hearts of Thine,
And our inmost being fill.

If Thou take Thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour Thy dew,
Wash the stains of guilt away.

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

Thou, on us who evermore
Thee confess and Thee adore,
With Thy sevenfold gifts descend.

Give us comfort when we die;
Give us life with Thee on high;
Give us joys that never end.
Amen. Alleluia.

Happy Birthday, Church! 🙂

On Liturgical Living: Some Resources for Catholic Filipino Families

April 15, 2017 by Tina

Source:

This Lent and Holy Week was extra special for me because I was privileged to share a bit about how we practice “Liturgical Living” with a few of our former co-missionaries who are exploring homeschooling. I remember when our family was just starting our homeschool journey. I found many valuable resources online and discovered the beauty of living the Liturgy in our homes (and everywhere else!). I have to thank the many Catholic mom bloggers — mostly from the U.S. — who took the time to share their families’ individual takes on Liturgical Living.

Of course, this does not mean that I am an “expert” on Liturgical Living. I certainly am not. Our family is still “muddling along,” as I told our ex-missionary friends earlier this week. We are just doing what we can, when we can, all by God’s grace. Some seasons find us doing “more,” some seasons doing “less,” but every season we do try to do whatever we can.

Also, please do allow me to say that I think Liturgical Living is not something that is only for Catholic homeschooling families. It is something that every Catholic family can try to practice. Personally, I believe that it is not just for married people with kids but for single people too. It’s really about living out our faith. Our faith, after all, is part of what makes us “truly rich and blessed.”

So what is Liturgical Living anyway?

To answer that question, let’s look at what the word “liturgy” means, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1069 The word “liturgy” originally meant a “public work” or a “service in the name of/on behalf of the people.” In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in “the work of God.” ⁵Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.

1070 In the New Testament the word “liturgy” refers not only to the celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and to active charity. ⁶ In all of these situations it is a question of the service of God and neighbor. In a liturgical celebration the Church is servant in the image of her Lord, the one “leitourgos”; ⁷ she shares in Christ’s priesthood (worship), which is both prophetic (proclamation) and kingly (service of charity):

The liturgy then is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. It involves the presentation of man’s sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs. In it full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members. From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of his Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others. No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree. ⁸

So, in essence, to “live the liturgy” or practice Liturgical Living means we worship Jesus in our daily lives, we serve Him and others, and we proclaim Him to others, too. At least that is my personal take on it.

Liturgical Living means we also do our best to observe the different seasons of the liturgical year in our home: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Sacred Paschal or Easter Triduum, Easter, Ordinary Time.

Source: Catholic Culture

We have family traditions that are in line with each season, and strive to tailor our lifestyle according to each season too. (You can take a peek at what living the liturgy looks like for our family here or try searching for the hashtag #LiturgicalLiving on Instagram and Facebook — you’ll see many posts from Catholics from different parts of the world.)

To help you get started (or maybe “level up”, if you consider yourself a “newbie”) on Liturgical Living, allow me to share some resources that I think will be helpful particularly for Catholic Filipino families (besides the “obvious,” like the Sacraments, Bible, etc.):

1. Devotionals

We use devotionals like Didache (published by Kerygma Books) as part of our daily read-alouds with the kids. (Or at least we try to. #KeepingItReal 😉 ) Sometimes, I ask the older kids to take turns reading the Gospel passages and reflections. I believe that Liturgical Living means we should immerse ourselves in God’s Word daily, so we strive to make regular Bible reading time part of our daily lives.

2. “Faith-themed” children’s books from different bookstores

Books are wonderful teaching tools especially for children (and adults, actually!). Personally, I’ve found it much easier to live the liturgy when we have books that can be “connected” to certain seasons or feasts. For example, for Saint Nicholas Day (Dec. 6), we read The Baker’s Dozen, or for Lent/Holy Week/Easter, we read different books like The Very First Easter.

Over the years, we have collected books that help us in Liturgical Living from different bookstores, mostly secondhand ones like Booksale and The Learning Basket. I’m also a member of different Facebook groups that have been set up mostly for book-~~hoarders~~ lovers like me, and sometimes I manage to buy good books from the sellers there, too.

3. Your local parish bookstore / religious items store

Religious item stores like the ones at local parishes or “bigger” ones like St. Paul’s have been a great Liturgical Living resource for our family. We usually buy our Easter gifts for the kids at St. Paul’s (and elsewhere — see my post on Pinay Voices for more details). We also got our lovely Advent Wreath and Advent/Christmas family prayer book there, plus many other items over the years, including videos that teach kids (and adults!) about the Catholic faith.

Recently, we also got images from , like this Sleeping Saint Joseph statue:

Displaying religious items in our home and using sacramentals are beautiful ways for us to live the liturgy and make our faith more “real” to us.

4. Local Catholic entrepreneurs

I am one of those people who totally supports entrepreneurship, just like one of my “mentors” Kuya/Brother Bo Sanchez. I have a particular fondness for local Catholic business owners whose businesses are all about spreading the Catholic faith. One such entrepreneur is Weena Contreras of Everything Is Grace.

My fuzzy, sleep-deprived brain cannot recall when exactly Weena and I “met” online, but I am truly grateful to the Lord for allowing our paths to cross. Weena’s faith life, particularly their family’s adoption story, is very inspiring, and so is her business: exquisitely hand-painted wooden saint dolls!

Thank you, Weena, for these lovely dolls for our kids: Saints Timothy, Therese, Titus, and Anne! 🙂

Wooden saint dolls are great tools for hands-on play, and help encourage a love for the saints among kids. (Although I’m pretty sure many adults will like them, too!) I first came across the concept of playing with wooden saint dolls years ago, when our eldest was only 4 or 5 years old. I saw them in a Catholic homeschool mom’s blog post and I remember wishing that they were available locally here in the Philippines. Well, now they are, thanks to Weena and her family (her husband and young son also help her in the business)! 🙂

Incidentally, Weena has a special “Easter gift” for everyone this Easter Sunday. All orders made via using her special Easter discount code (Easter-17) will be 15% off! Watch the video below for more details:

I actually have my eye on the following saint dolls for our kids and one of my godchildren:

5. Catholic Filipino online resources

While I usually refer to U.S.-based websites like CatholicCulture.org, CatholicIcing.com, and CatholicAllYear.com for Liturgical Living, I also regularly check local Catholic online resources like , , and CBCP News for possible tips and tools that we can use. It’s actually my prayer that Truly Rich and Blessed will be considered a “valid” Liturgical Living resource for Catholic Filipino families. 🙂 (Please pray with me that it will be so!)

I also pray that this list of resources will help you somehow in your journey towards Liturgical Living. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that there is no one “perfect” way to live the liturgy. Just as each person and each family is unique, Liturgical Living in each home is also unique. May the Lord bless each of us then — married and single; with or without kids — as we discover the beauty of living out our faith, one step, one day at a time!

Do you practice Liturgical Living in your family? Do share in the comments!

Offer It Up: Barefoot Stations of the Cross

April 12, 2017 by Tina

Way of the Cross in Bamberg Germany (Photo from Pixabay.com)

Here is something you might want to try with your loved ones this Holy Week, especially if Saint Pio Center in Libis, Quezon City is accessible for you: Pray the Stations of the Cross barefoot.

The kids and I were able to do it yesterday, Holy Tuesday, with my parents. We decided to do it earlier in the week because we knew there would be more people during the Easter Triduum and since we still have a toddler in the family, we generally try to avoid large crowds.

Going barefoot was not something we originally planned to do. When we arrived at Saint Pio Center, we were told that people wearing inappropriate footwear like slippers were not allowed to enter the Stations of the Cross area located outside the chapel. My mom was wearing FitFlops, and the two older kids were wearing slippers (they had been staying with my parents since last week and had only brought slippers with them).

Initially, we were trying to convince the people at the entrance of the Stations of the Cross area to let us in because we did not know that there was a “dress code” for it (we knew of the strict dress code inside the chapel though). But then something beautiful happened, which reminded me of this verse:

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. (Isaiah 11:6)

My daughter said quietly, “I’ll take off my slippers.” (There is actually an option to go barefoot, for those who wish to do the Stations barefoot.*)

When she said that, I suggested that those of us who could go barefoot do so. So my mom, the two older kids and I went barefoot. (Our three-year-old daughter also took off her shoes when she saw us going barefoot but put them back on after a while — maybe because parts of the ground were hot at times). I was pleasantly surprised that none of the kids complained the whole time!

Praying the Stations of the Cross barefoot, while carrying our own crosses (except me; I wasn’t given a cross by the caretakers because I was carrying a toddler)… what a beautiful, humbling experience! It was an unplanned, God-sent opportunity to share in our Lord’s sufferings even in such a small manner, and offer up our “sufferings” for others, especially a fellow homeschool parent who is in the hospital now after suffering a traumatic brain injury (please do lift him up in prayer this Holy Week!).

Whether or not you get to do barefoot Stations of the Cross, I pray that the rest of your week be full of opportunities to experience God’s love and mercy. (The Shine Forth Holy Week Retreat is one such opportunity.) Remember, Holy Week is a time for drawing near to the Lord. He is just waiting for us to turn back to Him!

*If you do choose to go barefoot when you pray the Stations of the Cross at Saint Pio Center, please take note that there are some areas that are covered in pigeon droppings (there are many pigeons outside the chapel). We tried to avoid stepping on them but there are parts where you cannot avoid doing so. 😉 Just offer it up! Also, my daughter said she almost stepped on a piece of broken glass, so I relayed this to the caretakers of the Stations of the Cross area. They said they will look into it. God bless us all!

This Is Why You Should Attend the Shine Forth Holy Week Retreat

April 8, 2017 by Tina

Looking back to my younger years as a “nominal” Catholic growing up in a predominantly non-Christian country, I realize that I took my faith for granted for a very long time. I did not really have a personal relationship with God, and said my prayers because I was expected to; because it was our “obligation.”

It was only when I attended a youth activity at my parish — a retreat of sorts — that I began to see how God is Someone who not only created me but also loves me unconditionally and wants to be in a relationship with me. Still, it took me years to really grow in my love for the Lord, and I know I still have a long way to go in getting to know Him and deepening my faith.

Now, I don’t know how your faith walk was, has been, or is now but I do dare to say this: You and I most probably have ate least one thing in common.

We both have what you could call “dark” areas in our lives.

At one point or another on this road towards eternity, we have fallen. I still fall many, many, many times to this day. (Just ask my husband and kids!)

Fallen into sin. Fallen into dark pits of despair, hopelessness, apathy, and so on.

(It’s OK. God knows. He sees. He understands. He still loves us.)

And this is why I believe the upcoming Shine Forth! Holy Week Retreat is something you (and I!) should definitely attend.

But don’t take my word for it… Here’s an invitation from Brother/Kuya Bo Sanchez himself:

Every year, we have the Holy Week Retreat and it’s always extra special. It’s done in a very different way and people are just wowed. The way we do it, is we actually go to the level of where people are. We don’t begin with what is the revelation of God. We begin with what are the needs of the people.

What’s your need? What are you going through?

What’s your personal experience? Right now, what is your reality? And based there, we bring the revelation of God, we bring the voice of God in that situation you are in.

Are you in pain? Are you going through a need? Are you confused? Are you wandering? That’s where we’re going in. We’re allowing God to address your deepest needs.

And we’re very excited at what’s gonna happen in the Holy Week Retreat and in the Grand Easter Feast. Shining forth. That’s our theme. We’re so excited how God will make you shine forth.

At the end of the day, all of us have our own darkness,. All of us have our own confusion, All of us have chaos inside us. And yes, it is dark. But listen to this. Light dispels all darkness. And we’re gonna be praying that God’s light will come in and push out the darkness that is right now there within you.

It’s gonna be an awesome time and I want you to be there.

Kuya Bo won’t be the only speaker at the Retreat though. Expect to be inspired and encouraged by powerful Catholic preachers like Fr. Bob McConaghy, Fr. Bong Lo, Alvin Barcelona, Didoy Lubaton, John Ben Rodriguez, JC Libiran, and Audee Villaraza.

I know many, if not most, of you reading this may already have plans for this coming Holy Week but in case you don’t and are looking for a truly meaningful way to spend the holidays connecting (or reconnecting) to the Reason behind your much-deserved break from work and school, please do consider attending the Shine Forth! Holy Week Retreat on April 13-14 (and Grand Easter Feast on April 16).

As of this writing, tickets are still available but are running out quickly so hurry and get yours while you still can. You may buy them online via SMTickets.com or in person at any SM Tickets outlet. Tickets are also on sale at . Hope to see you there! 🙂

What will you be doing this coming Holy Week? Whatever you choose to do, I hope you won’t forget to take time to reflect and connect with the One behind it all; the Holy One who is the main Reason for the upcoming break!