New American Bible Revised

  I previously posted on this blog, my only copy of a Roman Catholic Bible which is the Christian Community Bible. I posted it in our Catholic Apologetics group online, and I did not get a positive comment. Someone said that the commentaries are too liberal. Also, that the translation is not that good. A lot commented about the New American Bible. So I planned to get one. My bf's Bible is NAB, it was a gift from his dad. It was a good choice because the NAB, is the version used in the lectionary. I remember, it was also recommended to me before by the staff of St. Paul Bookstore.

I recently purchased mine just this week from my ever reliable Roman Catholic bookstore which is the St. Paul Bookstore. Even if it's a quarantine period they accept deliveries. I ordered this together with my mother's day gift for the mom of my bf.

The one that I got was the Millenials edition. The colors of the Bible's jacket is not the usual we always see so maybe that's the reason why it was named like that. The available colors are Turquoise green, Burnt Sienna, Blue and Purple. I chose the Purple one. It is a personal size. A bit thick, it has Bible tabs included. I am glad that this Bible has 2 ribbon markers, so you can go back to where you stopped reading, and mark that important page or section.

The Roman Catholic Bible has 73 books. Compared to the Protestant Bible. Because the Protestants removed the Deuterocanonical they call it Apocryphal which means forbidden or secret because the author of these writings are unknown or the origin is doubtful.

Let me share this story that I read online. In 393 A.D. St. Jerome was given a task by the Pope to translate all the Bible books in Latin. St. Jerome then asked the helped of rabbis, to help him translate Hebrew to Latin. The rabbis think that the Deuterocanical books were uninspired because they said they don't have them in Hebrew only in Greek. The Pope still ordered St. Jerome to translate because the church has traditions wayback, and these books were read in churches, therefore they are inspired writings. So, St. Jerome translated them anyway. Fast forward to later times, in 1947 a young boy looking for a lost goat in a cave near the Dead Sea found an amazing archeological find, and that is the 7 Deuterocanonical books all written in Hebrew!

So that's the story why us Roman Catholics have more books in the Bible than the Protestants. As you can see from the photo posted here. I also put the original Divine Mercy image in front of my new NAB revised Bible. Isn't the story amazing?! No wonder even until now, Jesus is always telling us to trust in Him! Because He will always be a wonderworker.

Love and Mercy Discussion - Marians of the Immaculate Conception

    Today was a very meaningful day for me, even if I'm just staying at home, I was able to hear mass, and the message of God's word is to love one another as the way God loves His only son Jesus, and just as how Jesus loves us. I also rented the LOVE AND MERCY, movie about the Divine Mercy, and St. Faustina. It has been a week when I saw the movie but it has left a lasting impression on me. I also shared it again to others.

 I also joined one of the Association of Marian Helpers, FRIENDS OF MERCY. Even if I am not from the U.S or Canada, I was able to join. One mission of a "friend of mercy," is sharing the message of our Lord Jesus, His love and mercy for us. Also, to pray the Chaplet of Mercy, and of course helping the Marian Fathers, and the Divine Mercy organization in the U.S through donations. You get a monthly FRIENDS OF MERCY newsletter. Mine is electronic newsletter. If you are interested just visit their website.

Just click here ->   Divine Mercy Website

I really learned a lot from this discussion by Rev.Fr. Kaz and Fr.Chris Alar. I really don't mind spending a little because I'm thinking of the great blessing of the Divine Mercy that is shared to others. One interesting information that I learned is that the Diary of St. Faustina was banned for a time, due to the error in translations. It was Pope Paul VI who lifted the ban and not Pope John Paul II.

Many are suffering now because of the virus, Covid19. We can look up at St. Faustina, because she also suffered a lot.

The message of the Divine Mercy, through St. Faustina, also known as the Secretary of the Divine Mercy was given 5 channels of grace in which we could have hope and trust. Here is a good acronym mentioned by Fr. Chris Alar. Like a little bird.

F east of the Divine Mercy
I mage of the Divine Mercy
N ovena of the Divine Mercy
C haplet of the Divine Mercy
H our of Mercy (3 o'clock)

According to Fr. Kaz, the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy prayer. It is asking the Father through the atoning death of His Son to have mercy upon us, and upon the whole world. We are begging God the Father through the death of His Son to have mercy on us because we know we are in great need. The chaplet, we know from the life of St. Faustina, is a prayer from every occasion, in preparation for death, to overcome natural disasters, the effectiveness and efficaciousness of this prayer, and also praying for those who have passed away. This is the extension of the Eucharist because we offer, we surrender Jesus to the Father. A powerful prayer, and the movie talks about the image.

In addition Fr. Chris Alar said that the promises that Jesus gives to those who venerate this image. The facial feature of our Lord matches the actual shroud. So this image is a living icon. When the Lord appeared to Faustina, it is the actual feast of the holy icon. We know the Easter tradition is a window to eternity, in it we see the face of the Father's mercy. With it came many promises. Blessed Fr. Michael Sopocko had written down the word of St. Faustina, that when chastisment for sins come upon your nation and the whole world   and it seems there is utter degragation there is hope and protection in this image. Those who hold this image of mercy, in reverence. Jesus said He will shield and He will protect, and He will give graces to the homes and the family that have this image. As I was saying its not a magic wand, its not a rabbit's foot but we have hope in what it represents, and that is Jesus the Divine Mercy. I recently bought the Chaplet of Mercy which includes the Chaplet Rosary. Even before I was a devotee of the Divine Mercy. I use to say the Chaplet of Mercy and the novena. I even have a double cassette tape of the Holy Rosary and the Divine Mercy set to music by Jim Cowan which was given to me by my late aunt.

Fr. Kaz tells us this account from St. Faustina's diary. There is a nun who asked Faustina did God forgive me my sins? (She was afraid that she was not forgiven.) Faustina then asked the Lord, and he answered. "Her lack of trust, wounds me more deeply than her sins." We also have to be merciful to ourselves, not only to others.

Dr. Scott Hahn said, mercy is actually greater than forgiveness. Mercy is divine because mercy is beyond letting go. Mercy is reconciling.

The message that we have from St. Faustina, death is not the end, the cross is not the final word. The resurrection of Christ is the final word.

There are a lot of wisdom and wonderful messages you can pick up in the discussion video. So if you have not seen it you can still rent at fanforcetv.com

Remembering my Late Aunt Rosario

  I want to dedicate this post of mine to my late aunt Rosario, we fondly call her Auntie Charito, or Chato for short. She would use that nickname when we would play scrabble. I love playing scrabble with her because we would bet on real money, even if I rarely win. She passed away a decade ago. Our life in Manila when aunt was living used to appear in my dreams back then. I still miss her, and grandma (her mom).

I just remember her again when I posted something on my social networking page. It is about the works of Msgr. Josemaria Escriva, now a saint, and founder of Opus Dei. Yes, Opus Dei is not some kind of mysterious evil organization, or a secret society as depicted in the movie "Da Vinci Code." My aunt has a lot of religious books. Among them is my favorite novel, entitled "Bernadette and Lourdes," by Michael de Saint Pierre, "Prayer of the Warrior," a book about St. Michael the Archangel by Michael Brown, and "The Way," quotes and sayings by Msgr. Josemaria Escriva.

My aunt spurred my interest in Catholic books, and our first picture bible was, "My Bible Friends," by Etta B. Degering. She bought us books regularly and even subscribed  to Reader's Digest. My first book of Saints came from her, "Lives of Saints." I also like to read the movie like magazine from St. Paul's bookstore because of her. I used to own, The Life of St. Rita of Cascia. I also grew up attending mass with her, most often if my mom didn't join us or my other aunt. The two of us would always hear the anticipated mass at Our Lady of Lourdes chapel officiated by SVD priests, that's where I met my late nun friend Sr. Cyrilda Ferriols. Before that hospital was partly run by religious, but now that hospital was privatized already. If we are very early she would treat me to the hospital canteen. I would always order noodles soup, paired with fried lumpiang tongue (bean sprouts). Other times we would hear children's anticipated mass at Our Lady of Fatima, and after that I will rent a movie at VHS shop near the church, or she would buy me ice cream, or macaroni, spaghetti sauce, and sausage. That would be my food for Sunday. She also enrolled in an Bible correspondence school which she finished. I think I got my love of reading from her.

I learned many things from her, like my OC behavior attitude when it comes to cleanliness. She was also good cook. I loved her adobong pata, beefsteak, chicken with mushroom afritada, sinigang sa miso, and many more. She even taught me a no bake dessert. Even if she's also strict, and a bit conservative to us, especially to me. She has shown me, and let me feel that she loves me as if I were her own daughter. She didn't marry, by the way. Those whom I knew say, too bad my aunt didn't marry, it was a waste because she's pretty!

I hope and pray she's in a better place right now. I'm thankful to God that she, "Auntie Charito," became my aunt. For I learned a lot about life from her.

Happy Mother's Day!

  Today we are celebrating Mother's day.
I just posted a greeting for my mom on my Facebook wall. We didn't celebrate, and we didn't order food today because my aunt doesn't want any food delivery, she thinks it is still not safe. The whole day we ate nothing but fish, sardines and milkfish. Still thankful because we have enough to eat during this quarantine/lockdown due to the virus, Covid19. I pray that God would continue to protect us all His children, for us to get through this crisis. That this will be over soon.

Every Mother's day, and especially during this month of May, we Roman Catholics honor, and remember our Blessed Mother Mary. After every Mass during the month of May we offer flowers to her. It has been a tradition.

 I admit that before, I was afraid that I might have displeased our Lord Jesus for honoring her mother. But as St. Maximilian Kolbe said, no one can greatly love Mary, than her Son, our Lord Jesus. So I, we should not be afraid of showing how much we love her. We can't simply put the Blessed Virgin Mary aside, because she is the Mother of our Lord Jesus. I remember before, I told our dear Blessed Mother, that she would be my mother, and I would be her adoptive daughter. I long for a loving mother like her, wise, humble, kind, and pious. I told our Lord Jesus, about that memory of mine in the past. I remember praying the Rosary with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe medal before, that has kept me comfort during the time I was sick because of Dengue, I was confined in the hospital. That was more than a decade ago. Praying the Rosary for others meant

I want to share this post of mine to be a testament, of how dear the mother of Our Lord Jesus was to me, and I also believe for all of us. One popular priest here in my country always say to his listeners, "Jesus, loves you. Mama Mary, loves you!" I'd like to end this post of mine by sharing a beautiful song, by Himig Heswita sung by Fr. RB Hizon. This song best describes our love for our mother, and for our Blessed Mother Mary. Shalom!

Love and Mercy: Faustina Movie

  I rented a movie for the first time online. I really wanted to watch St. Faustina's movie. I first saw the trailer in YouTube. It was good, so I really wanted to watch it. I cannot find a website that has uploaded it. I just chanced upon an ad on Facebook, a website named fanforcetv was streaming the movie. I rented it for around $4.99. The movie is available only up to 48 hours. I shared it to the love of my life, so that he can also share and watch it with his family.

The movie was not entirely a "movie". It was part movie, and part documentary. The actress who portrayed St. Faustina was good. Anyway, all who helped out in making this movie, I give my salute to all of them. It was a fantastic movie. The movie is about how St. Faustina her life and mission as an apostle too the Divine Mercy. It also tells of how she entered a religious congregation, her visions of our Lord Jesus, how she met Fr. Sopocko her spiritual director. He is now known as Blessed Michael Sopocko. He helped a great deal in making the devotion to the Divine Mercy spread after St. Faustina was gone.

There are many revelations in the movie that I didn't know of. I have read St. Faustina's diary before, and I think I have missed out on some parts. The resemblance of the image in the Holy Shroud, and the painting of the Divine Mercy image!

All the hard work of Blessed Fr. Sopocko finally has paid off. All the visions that St. Faustina saw came true. I won't spoil the movie for you dear readers, that is why I am telling you can rent the movie at fanforcetv.com. I am telling you, this was a very good movie!

May you enlightened, and blessed as you realized the great love and mercy of God for all of us that He gave His only Son to save us. Remember, our Lord Jesus wants us to always trust in Him.

Story of A Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux

  St. Therese of Lisieux's (a French Saint) diary was the first ever autobiography of a saint that I have owned. When I first saw the book at Holy Redeemer Catholic church, I knew I got to have it. On the front cover is the real photo of St. Therese.

As I have said before. St. Therese of Lisieux, she's also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, was influential to me. Partly, the reason why I wanted to become a nun was due to her. I really admire her for her courageous heart, and great love for our Lord Jesus. She entered the Carmelite convent at such a young age. She was an exception. If you read her story, she was able to talk with the Holy Father then, and request for her admission in the convent. Speaking with the Holy Father is also forbidden, but she bravely did because of her strong will to enter the religious life. Later on she succeeded, she joined her sisters Pauline, and Celine who were also Carmelite Nuns. They were strictly cloistered, and live a contemplative life.

There were no extraordinary events, or heavenly visions that St. Therese encountered in her life. But what sets her differently is her great love for our Lord Jesus. I remember one particular event in her life, while walking with her father one night, when she looked up at the sky she saw the stars form the first letter of her name, and she exclaimed her name was written in heaven. There were no miracles when she was alive, but true to what she has said. She will do good in heaven. True enough, many religious vocations happened because they were inspired by her story. She died at such a young age, due to tuberculosis which at that time still has no cure. What lessons can we learn for St. Therese, do all things with love for our Lord.

The church grants indulgence just by reading her book, as told to me by our late parish priest in Manila, Msgr. Severino G. Casas, H.P.

May you be inspired and be blessed as you read her writing... And also may you find your true calling in life.

The Bible From Scratch

  This is one of my treasured books even if it's not an original copy. I just photocopied the book from my university library. This book is already more than a decade with me.

When I was still in studying, my favorite part in the library was the Religion section. I love to read about the Religious orders, Lives of Saints, and anything about religion and spirituality. I have also read the Bible when I was young, I have a picture Bible before but it's not in my possession anymore. I also like to look at the stick figures drawn by Annie Vallotton, from The Good News Bible when I was a little girl. The Bible at first seems intimidating for me. I have Protestant Study Bible but they're not that helpful at all since their interpretation is different from us Catholics.

Anyway, back to this book. This is a really helpful book. I just posted something about it on Facebook, and my fiancé, helped me out in editing the sentence. It goes something like this.

"The Bible From Scratch" (that I have kept for more than a decade now) is strongly recommended  for those who want to expand their Bible literacy and understanding in a deeper way—those who find Bible reading such a complex and incomprehensible activity! That is why I especially liked and commend this comics-style approach, for it gives me a totally new Bible-reading experience that keeps me riveted and motivated (with the Bible) like never before! Hope you find it useful too and make it count."

So if you haven't got a copy I suggest you get one, after this quarantine/lockdown is over. This is really a great gift also for your loved ones.

Quoting from St. Jerome,"Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ!" 

Books from my Past

  While I was rummaging through my collection of books. I have seen a few of my Roman Catholic books and magazines. I am emphasizing the Roman word here because to those who do not know. Catholicism has other kinds or branches. We have the Oriental Orthodox, and the Greek Orthodox.

Anyway, back to these books of mine. Actually the red book, which is a hardbound book was the book of my late aunt Marina, it is the Student's Catholic Doctrine by Rev. Charles Hart, one of the textbook used before in the oldest Roman Catholic University in Asia, which is University of Santo Tomas. What I like about this book is that the doctrines are easily explained, it can be easily understood by everyone who have studied the English language. This book has a Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur. This book is 1959 edition. This book is broken down into 4 parts. Faith (Divinity of our Lord Jesus explained, The Creed etc.), Hope (meaning of Grace, The Lord's Prayer, Veneration of the Saints, Devotion to Our Blessed Lady), and Charity/Love. It also includes the commandments of God, the church, sacraments, virtues and vices. So this is a must-read for new converts, those who wants to know more about our faith. The code of Canon Law, and the Catechism of the Catholic church is freely available online.

The next oldies but goodies that I have see was the Catholic Digest, this is the counterpart of the Readers Digest. This copy of mine more than a decade. This was published by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. They are also the publisher of a local youth magazine called BARKADA. Because of that magazine, I became a member of the Companion of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart wayback.

Last but not the least, I included here the coloring book of Saints. I bought this when I was a teenager. I still enjoy coloring even if I'm all grown-up! Such fond memories over these old books. What about you? What are your favorite books to read when you were growing up. Feel free to comment.

Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis

  Aside from the Bible, and Catechism of the Catholic church, this is another book that is indispensable. The first copy that I have got, was colored blue, and fits just right into your pocket. The book that I was referring to was translated by Msgr. Ronald Knox. Sadly, it is not in my possession anymore.

The next Imitation of Christ that I have got was from a Catholic publisher. This one has a leather bound jacket, and it has illustrations inside. It is also a bit expensive. Around $24. Anyway, if it's a good book, and another nourishment for our soul, there's nothing wrong in purchasing one. It is very much worth it!

I'll never forget reading this. My favorite chapter is Chapter 20 which talks about "On the Love of Solitude and Silence." It says there, quoting from the book of Isaiah, "Commune with your own heart, and in your chamber, and be still." This part is very timely, especially now, where we are all in quarantine, and just staying indoors. Learn to love the solitude. I remember the homily of a priest from Bulacan, quoting from his sermon before, that it is in silence that God speaks in our hearts.

Let us pray that in all the things that we do, be it a menial task or not, may we glorify our Lord God, and our Lord Jesus always.