Hello, friends!

Look who's visiting...

Alaine - wow, you're almost out of high school! Hope you're having fun at all your senior festivities! We'll definitely have to schedule another hangout date before you leave for Merced. yay!

Burr (BiL #1) - Congratulations on your graduation! I really wish I could have been at the ceremony...but dinner was GREAT! You and my sister are so cute. I like watching you guys dance...hehe. By now you should be in Vegas knocked out on the floor, but I'm sure in a few hours you'll all be grubbing at some yummy buffet. =)

isda - Always a fun time with you, hijo. Sorry about the chicken head...I didn't know it would give you a heart attack...hahaha =p The photographer thought you looked pretty amusing last night clinking your two wine glasses...she kept taking pictures of you. Yes, it's all about Lisa Lisa! Shell said you're such a bundle of energy. Good thing you didn't have another apparition on your back! =)

Em - Yay for everything! I'm so glad you're in my life. So much has happened with you and with me over the last year, and it's such a beautiful thing to be able to watch each other grow and arrive at a place where we can smile no matter what happens. Thank you for your support and for always being there to talk to. I've learned so much from you...and I just have to say that in no way have I "passed you up" in faith because you still continue to inspire me with all God chooses to say through you. I LOVE YOU!

jme - There's so much to God that we could go on for hours and hours and never run out of things to talk about. I love how He blessed me with you so that I can be encouraged along the straight and narrow path. Whenever I'm with you, you remind me of who He made me to be. You give my soul that certain "I am so at home" feeling, and I have to thank you for that. How wonderful it is to be able to rest and be fed in that way...

Leo -You are missed as well, friend! Your prayers have helped so much. It's great to have that constant backup because with us, there's always a need. I've been praying for you, too. God's will to be revealed to you, God's love to be poured on to you, God's grace to give you strength in all you do.

Noreen - hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!! (with a big smile) Being at my best friend's wedding yesterday just got me more excited for yours! Four more months! I will lift you and Michael up and ask our Lord to continue to guide you in preparation for such a blessed life together. How amazing it us that He blesses us the way that He does...

mikedooks (BiL #2) - You know why I think you're so cool? Cuz you're all about keeping life simple. I'm really glad things are falling into place for you and that you and Lyn-lyn are happy. It's great how God dropped you into her life and you just seemed to fit. I'm very, very grateful for you! =)

Jay - Seeing your tag was like finding out that Jesus resurrected from the dead! Well, not really, but you know what I mean...haha. Reading your words brought back the lessons we had learned way back, and it made me appreciate the journey God had taken us on, even if it was a difficult one. Thanks for being my cheerleader behind the scenes, my friend, and for returning back to the blog world just to root me on. It means a lot...

Caroline - Well, hello there! Yes, praise God for opportunities to serve Him! Your faithfulness and your fire are evidence of where you are storing up your treasures, and it will be quite the experience to see the reward that Heaven will be for your "Yes" to Him. I find it so uplifting to know that there are laborers in the field like you who commit themselves to building God's kingdom in a world where so few see the benefits of the life of sacrificial love. Blessings to you!

Maurice - Hi, cousin! Without fail, here you are offering your positive pep talk like you always do. Some things happen totally outside of our control, but prayer gives us the chance to hand the situations back over to God. That I've been able to do this past week, so thank you for your prayers. My heart is not as heavy as I expected it to be. =)

Gary - I just have to say that I am having such a great time with you. From the depths of my heart, I meant it when I said that you make the love of God real to me in a way that I have never experienced before. So, no, this isn't "loving again"...for me, it's being shown for the first time what sacrifice in the life of another looks like...what it means to receive without question...seeing the goodness of another far beyond a wounded past. The feelings may come and go, as they say, but I pray the gratitude will remain forever. Thank you for entering into my story and wanting to be a part of it...the part that makes people who read it smile, and sometimes even cry. So we'll just keep writing until we can't write anymore, but like you said, "Love is stronger than death" so I guess that means there won't be an end. It'll just be a happy eternity. I love you. =)

The search for happiness

Some people will be searching their whole lives for happiness while making everyone around them completely miserable. I don't understand it. Just got some pretty disturbing news and I just don't get how they can't just let things go. Years and years of bitterness and jealousy over things that they will never find complete security in.

You can't get your way all the time. Life doesn't work that way. You just have to accept what you have and be grateful for it instead of jeopardizing the only relationships that might ever amount to any worth in your life.

Everyone gets hurt. Everyone gets offended. More often than not, the "guilty party" was someone who did not intend to cause so much pain. But hearts that do not know how to forgive will eventually grow hard and cold...and even evil.

No, it didn't have to come to this. How many more casualities are we going to suffer because of someone's inability to settle these issues peacefully? God forbid that anything tragic will happen. We don't need to see that again.

It's true...sometimes you just have to stay away from people who bring you more harm than good, even if they're supposed to be good friends or even family members. You have to stand your ground and defend yourself from their negativity and selfishness. I really hate to put it that way, but even those you thought would love you enough to understand can distort and misinterpret your actions, making you look like the bad guy when all you're doing is acting in everyone's best interests.

It's not fair.

But injustice is always subject to God's mercy.

We need to forgive, even if they don't forgive us for not even doing anything wrong. In so many different situations have I had to come back to this, and that's the attitude I have to take on once again.

Silence.

Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord.

There's so much I could say in anger...but I won't.

It's not worth it.

It really isn't worth it.

Lessons

Set your own pace.
When someone is pushing you,
it's ok to tell them they're pushing.
Take nothing for granted........
watch water flow, the corn grow, the leaves blow, your neighbors mow.
Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive.
Rest isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.
Listen to the wind blow.
It carries a message of yesterday and tomorrow...
And now.........Now counts.

Rest on your laurels.
They bring comfort whatever their size, age or condition.
Talk slower. Talk less. Don't talk.
Communication isn't measured by words.
Give yourself permission to be late sometimes.
Life is for living, not scheduling.
Listen to the song of a bird...the complete song.
Music and nature are gifts,
but only if you are willing to receive them.

Slow down. God is still in heaven.
You are not responsible for doing it all...yourself... right now.
Remember a happy, peaceful time in your past.
Rest there.
Each moment has a richness that takes a lifetime to savor.
Quit planning how you're going to use what you know, learn or possess.
God's gifts just are.
Be grateful and their purpose will be clear.

When you walk with someone, don't think about what you'll say next.
Thoughts will spring up naturally if you let them.
Talk and play with children,
It will bring out the unhurried little person inside you.
Create a place in your home...at your work....in your heart...where you can go for quiet and recollection.
You deserve it.
Take time to think.

Action is good and necessary, but it's fruitful only if we muse, ponder and mull.
Make time for play...the things you like to do.
Whatever your age, your inner child needs re-creation.
Watch and listen to the night sky.It speaks.
Listen to the words you speak... especially in prayer.

Learn to stand back and let others take their turn as leaders.
There will always be new opportunities for you to step out in front again.
Divide big jobs into little jobs.
If God took six days to create the universe, can you do any better?
Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed and efficiency.
The best musician is one who plays with expression and meaning,
not the one who finishes first.

Take a day off alone...... make a retreat.
You can learn from monks and hermits without becoming one.
Pet a furry friend.
You will give and get the gift of now.
Work with your hands....It frees the mind.
Take time to wonder....without wonder, life is merely an existence.
Sit in the dark...It will treat you to see and hear, taste and smell.
Once in awhile, turn down the lights, the throttle, the invitations.
Less really can be more.
Let go.

Nothing is usually the hardest thing to do...but often it is the best.
Taste your food. God gave it to delight as well as nourish.
Notice the sun and the moon as they rise and set.
They are remarkable for their steady pattern of movement, not their speed.
And as you ramble on through life my dearest friend........
Keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole.
AND SLOWLY COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS ONE AT A TIME.

I never would've thought...

Dear Graduates...

I will tell you honestly that I was quite surprised to get a phone call from Monica asking me to speak at Pinoy Grad. Being only five years removed from the place where you are all at right now, I consider myself a "nobody" in the Pilipino-American community. At past graduation ceremonies, we have been graced with the likes of university professors and community action leaders...Pilipino-American men and women who have had a wealth of experience to glean from.

And me? Hmm...I'm just like you. A little older, yes, but with much in common as far as having hopes inspiring me for the future and fears that sometimes haunt me. I can attempt to show you a world that I have lived in through the lenses I have worn since I graduated, but today I think it may be more helpful to you that I focus on something that we all share...and that, my brothers and sisters, is called a story.

A story. Everybody has one. They have many of the same elements - birth, death, success, failure, love, rejection, joy, sorrow. We have all experienced glorious triumphs and suffered the woundedness in a broken heart. There are characters in our stories who have supported us along our journey and others who have consciously or unconsciously undermined our worth. Some were minor characters that walked with us for only a little while, and there are those who were given major roles to play in our growth as individuals.

I want you to take a moment and think of your own story. In your mind's eye, picture the settings in which the development of your story took place and continue to provide the environment for you to be both nurtured and challenged. Recall the people who reached out to you...who taught you how to love, how to serve, how to believe, how to forgive. Draw from within your heart the conflicts that strengthened you and the resolutions that your greatest life lessons came from. Be thankful for it all because every aspect has brought you to this place.

And in this moment, take the time to appreciate the fact that you also are a part of the stories of those you encounter everyday. Reflect on how you are teaching others as you learn...how you are touching the lives of your family and friends by just sitting here in your cap and gown, being an inspiration to those who see something in you that they deeply admire. Most importantly, know that you are so very loved, and through the light that shines within your soul, love pours out of you.

Now just as every story has a conclusion, so will yours as well. People's stories have ended in a number of different ways - some victorious, some tragic, some peaceful, some chaotic - but each had a moral in his or her story. There is always an opportunity for insight - a lesson to be learned from the life of a person. As you go on to write the rest of your story, what kind of a legacy will you leave behind? Will people want to pass these lessons on? What about your life can encourage those who walk a similar path and face the same obstacles you have?

I mentioned when I first got up here that I'm not much different from all of you, at least in the sense that there is still much in my own life that I need to figure out. At times I'm almost afraid to make choices because I'm afraid that I'll make a mistake and be fully responsible for what I chose for myself. But last night my sister threw a quote at me that I had underlined in a book of mine called "The Purpose Driven Life", and it goes like this: "You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts in your life, but you don't get to choose your purpose."

Your life's purpose - my life's purpose - is something that we DISCOVER. We meet people and it is they who often tell us through their gratitude and positive feedback that there is a reason why we were placed in their lives...a reason why we are where we are. And this is why it is so valuable to me to, in a sense, "reread" my story...to go back and to see how it has unfolded over the years and led me to this point...to this second as I'm standing here before you on the campus where I spent some of the best and most difficult years of my life. I look at your faces and see the ones who have been written into the pages of my book...the ones who add color and meaning to my experiences. I stand here and I am grateful for you who I do not know but are working so hard to carry on dreams that I had ten years ago when I began my early years as a college student in PAC and Kappa Psi Epsilon. Thanks to you, this journey has been - and continues to be - absolutely amazing.

As you start a new chapter in your lives, I'd like to leave you with a passage that I believe sums up the essence of our stories. I saw this taped to the wall in my brother's room soon after my dad passed away under a picture of the two of them. I was immediately moved by it because it showed how my father had unknowingly played such an important role in Albert's growth as a person despite the often strained relationship they had before he died.

"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again."

As an author sometimes never sees the fruit of his work as it is borne in the hearts of his readers, you may never in this lifetime witness the influence that your story has on the people who are touched by it. So I ask you to be patient with yourself as you live it out - this story of yours - because there is a time and a season for everything. And move forward with the knowledge that you only have one draft to submit that is being read as you write it, so for the sake of all who could someday be changed by it, either positively or negatively, make it a good one.

Why Women Cry

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?"
"Because I'm a woman," she told him.
"I don't understand," he said.
His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will."

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?"
"All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said: "When I made the woman she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly. I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart. I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly. And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed."

"You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides."

Where is God?

EVERYWHERE.

And if God is love, that means that love is everywhere. Reading through Emeline's entry on love, that's such a comfort to know. We often focus too much on what's going wrong in our lives that we lose sight of what's going right. We are LOVED! Every day, every minute...not a millisecond goes by that we are not loved. Whether we feel it or not, that love is there...otherwise we would be saying that God is absent...which is never true...unless we ourselves push Him away...then we would be rejecting love.

Dear little heart,

Sometimes you feel like you're going to burst because you have so much love you want to give. Other times in your past, you wanted to keep the doors shut and not allow the love to flow because you were afraid that it would break you. But you are being held together by the hands of God, so there is never a reason to fear.

Have you noticed that you no longer feel the same pain you have carried from your childhood? Gone is the heartache that caused you to close yourself to the world. If you are to live as you were created then you must continue on with a renewed purity...as a child so innocently trusts. Years have graced you with understanding and experience has taught you wisdom...but don't ever lose that openness to love.

Temptations to despair will haunt you and questions about your self-worth will pierce you, but always come back to the Lord who made you and let Him tell you again and again who you are to Him.

There is much in you that is beautiful because you are the mystical tabernacle of God.

"Those who fear the Lord keep their hearts ready and humble themselves in His presence saying, 'Let us fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men, for great as His power is His mercy.' " (Sir 2:17-18)

It feels so familiar

...but still something new about it.

Life.

It changes but stays the same.

Work is different...new...evolving. Prayer request from Jay...felt as though I was pulling graces from prayers years ago, if that's possible. Caught up with Fr. Scott re: life and Gary...a movement forward. Passed by the Teacher Supplies store on Beach Blvd...familiar. I was asked if I was a teacher by a random teenage customer. She asked where I teach...no, not St. Paul anymore...but it brought back memories. Picked up some things from Stater Bros. Remembered going there with my dad after Mass when I was younger. Call from Danny...new "dad". SPV Mass at 5:15 w/Fr. Grace...saw Jason...flashbacks of the "Hope" days. Getting ready for Junior Retreat...things that come so naturally...giving God every moment of preparation...like LSS anticipation. Got home early, which is rare for me...cleaned out my trunk...did laundry...read the latest edition of Orange County Catholic...folded Jenn's wedding programs. I haven't had a day like this in a long time. Actually, I haven't had a day like this ever. So different but so "the same".

Like right now...I remember so much but yet my days continue into a tomorrow that holds so many blessings. Aware of the crosses I carry but experiencing the beauty that comes with them.
Lyn-lyn asked me about lifting up suffering. I told her to focus on one person and devote every pain to his or her conversion. She mentioned a friend's name, and then this past weekend I saw her heart reaching out to that soul in her own little way.

I think it was after communion that I heard a word whispered clearly in my heart. RECONCILIATION. I thought of the story I told Jaymee about Leilani putting a sticker on my shirt after I apologized to her for getting upset a while back. That's going to be my meditation this week...praying that I will learn something about healing from that blessed moment. If only it were as simple as giving out stickers to show that everything's okay...

I just have to say that I love what God has been giving me lately...great conversations with Jaymee...Emeline's inspiring blog entries...messages from my St. Paul kids...Sheree's fire...the desire to go back to Daily Mass...renewed openness with my mom...quality family time (Ate Lisa's baby shower was so FUN!).

And I'm thankful for Gary's prayers that I can somehow feel from the other side of the world. Four more days until I see that smile again. =)

This, I know, has everything to do with You, Jesus. You're drawing me back into Your Heart...

AMDG + JMJ

And the Holy Spirit came down upon them...

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Provided by St. Peter Chanel Catholic Church

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who before ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finsh Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your love.

Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal; the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth; the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven; the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation; the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints; the Spirit of Piety that i may find the service of God sweet and amiable; and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples, and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.

It's FRIDAY!

...but I have to come back at 7:30 tomorrow morning to chaperone our Christian service project at LA Food Bank. First time there - it should be fun! Then I'll be off to Ate Lisa's baby shower...and I'll see you folks on Sunday at the Pentecost Picnic!!!

I was subbing for Br. Rich's 6th period class (the juniors were good to me...haha), and I found this as I was flipping through the Senior religion book. I thought it was pretty cool.

Love squared = gold
Love + one = family
Love - one = mourning
Love halved = heartache
Love divided by one = commitment
Love divided by many = friendship
Love times zero = loneliness
Love times infinity = God

The peace has returned...thank you, Lord. Have a great weekend, everybody!

TO DO (I need to clear my head...continuing from Monday's AFF session in laying all our things-to-do before God):

• call Br. Robert
• get supplies for Junior Retreat
• buy snacks for Junior Retreat
• finalize agenda + map and send to chaperones
• make Aldo's Book of Revelation packet
• send cap measurement to Dr. Maram
• lesson plans for next week
• sub plan for Wednesday
• grade Gospel of Matthew tests
• write out Pinoy Grad speech
• make copies of CDs for Sharon
• request check for KAIROS deposit
• call Carla on Thursday for music (Memorial Day liturgy and Baccalaureate Mass)
• get readings from Fr. John
• get seniors to fill in Mass roles (Bacc.)
• write up for Student Handbook on Jesuit and SVD traditions
• write Cristo Rey spiritual reflection for the Network
• ask about flight and car arrangements for St. Louis trip

I'm seriously praying through my work right now...that and Jenn's wedding...I have a to-do list for that, too. Now I'm getting the importance of inviting God into everything I do instead of waiting to call on Him only when I'm in church. But let me tell you, the Eucharist is doing so much to keep me going...weak or strong...I'm still here.

Aloha!

It was Free Dress Hawaiian Day at work...we told the guys the whole faculty and staff at Verbum Dei is going to Hawaii as soon as school gets out...oh how I wish, I wish, I wish...

Will someone please get me on a plane to the islands?

It was the peacock a couple of weeks ago that started this whole thing...then seeing everyone in their Aloha shirts and leis...not to mention the pina coladas in the Faculty Lounge after school (hey, I only had one).

"I wanna go back to my little grass shack in old Hawaii..."

I picked up our bridesmaids dresses for Jenn's wedding today...they're so cute! Mine is different from everyone else's...same color...longer...yay =) I can't believe it's only two weeks away. It's been great hanging out with the Monks more often. My mom just found out today that we call ourselves "Monks" and why...haha...after all these years... We'll all see each other tomorrow again to finalize the shoe deal (hopefully). It's nice that this wedding has brought us back together. I love those girls.

And I miss my boyfriend. Like you said, Gary, it's hard but this is how it is. Thinking about you lots, though...especially after all of our great talks and quality time before you left. Soon enough we'll have the summer to hit our movie list and places-to-go list. How fun that's gonna be...but then no matter what we do (or don't do), it's always a great time. And someday we'll actually get around to reading through the Bible. Wow, progress, huh? Emails, once-in-a-blue-moon phone calls, random hangouts, Monday Masses, nightly prayer, God-given moments that seem to leave us speechless. Not having you here to just say hi or call me at night has been weird, but it is helping me appreciate this a whole lot more. Lyn-Lyn asked me today if you were back yet and it made me a little sad, but I'll be okay. =)

So I've been spending a lot of time with Jesus...definitely a good thing. Work, rest, Mass, Chastity Retreat, sleep. Monday ended early with our AFF session about how tired we are by this time of the year...it was a good "release" w/everyone. On Tuesday, Jana and I went to meet with the Director of Liturgy at the OLA Cathedral to discuss graduation next month. The place is way huge for a class of 41, but for one reason or another, we got it there...first one ever in the archdiocese, too. Please pray that the boys behave. =) Lector meeting with Danny that night (which really helped me reflect better for tonight's Mass) and grabbed something to eat afterwards w/Ray since we were both hungry. Good convo...helped me remind myself of what's expected of me...that God always has to come first and everything else will fall into place when you're faithful to what He wants for you. Emotionally speaking, it's been quite a roller coaster (that was my Wednesday), but praise God for coworkers who understand and share in the common heartache. It only hurts when you really love. I guess I realized how much I do...

Okay, time to get ready for Mass.

Jesus is WONDERFUL. I love every moment I spend with Him. And that desperate dependence on Him I was talking about that I thought I needed to feel...well, yeah, He let me feel it. That's what brought me back. Lots of good coming out nowadays in my own life and those around me. We just have to look for it, that's all.

Really...I'm going now...

Today is a new day

I'm okay. Thank you, Gary, for calling me from Australia even if I didn't get to talk to you and you probably won't read this until you get back next Friday. I really needed to hear your voice.

God is hearing my prayers. He really is.

They really don't know

Lord,

I didn't know how much it would hurt, but it feels like they thrust a dagger into my heart. They have no idea what their words did to me...how attacked I felt...how fragile I really am. I have to forgive them. They didn't know. How could they?

No one would understand. No one...except for You and me...so I can't expect anyone to be extra-careful with me. People are people, and they'll say whatever they feel or think...not realizing how much damage they can do in a minute's time.

It feels like I'm holding in a fountain of tears. How much longer can I keep myself from breaking?

DAY 3

Daily Mass is GREAT. Yes, I'm trying to get back into the routine again because I know what I can give to God. I need it, I really do...

Veronica, Jacinta, Christina, Paul, Nathan, Dave...just some kids I've met at SPC who make me smile. I also saw Sydney, one of my students at the Chastity Retreat last night and she told me how much she loved Emeline's poem. I gave each of the girls a copy of it along with a white shell rose as a gift for Confirmation...which was awesome, by the way. =) Great things are always happening in the lives of the people at that parish, and it's so exciting to be able to share it with others.

I was talking to my coworker Jana yesterday on our way back from the Cathedral and we were saying that sometimes we just want to be able to see what is in store for us 5 or 10 years down the road. The thought, I'm sure, would surprise Gary because I don't normally think ahead all that much, but I do feel a certain excited anticipation for new experiences and paths that God plans for me to take.

Hopeful...that's the word he uses to describe us...and I'm feeling that now in regards to everything in my future. Staying humble and close to God will help me remain faithful and less afraid. I think being around the kids has made me see how personal our individual walks with Christ continue to be, yet how connected we are as one Body.

As Mrs. Perez said to me last night, if we give Jesus even a little, He'll pour so much more into our hearts to the point where we feel like we don't even deserve it all.

Right now, I just feel extremely loved.

Praise God for my sister

God always makes roses grow out of thorns.

I have to trust Him more. If my sister can do it, so can I. She reminded me tonight of His love and His great mercy. If I can just remember how close He always is, maybe I wouldn't be so hesitant about life.

After all, I have such a beautiful reason to smile...

Better to be kind

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. ~Author Unknown

Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. ~Og Mandino

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. ~John E. Southard

I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. ~William Penn

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own. ~Benjamin Disraeli

******************************

FOR YOU ALONE, LORD JESUS...

Why would anyone become a victim soul of the Holy Eucharist? I will answer this one after you pause to answer: Why does Jesus will to come down to us in such humble forms of Bread and wine? Why does He allow Himself to be placed in our Tabernacles? Why does He stay when there is no one to visit Him..He remains there night and day..why?

One who offers himself/herself as a victim soul does not do it for any other reason but to bring consolation and joy to the Eucharistic Jesus who Himself desires souls who will bring comfort to His Loving Heart..He longs for souls who will offer every moment of their lives as gratitude towards Him for coming to us in such a Humble State as the Most Holy Eucharist..Souls who will make reparation for the countless souls who though present before the Holy of Holies, never even stop to whisper a greeting of "hello" or gratitude..

Victim souls are not any different than anyone else save in their largeness of heart and generosity..Consiously upon waking they make a simple act to the Eucharistic Jesus of their day, promising to try to exemplify in their lives all those virtues which the Eucharistic Jesus manifests to them in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist: humility, simplicity, obedience, hiddenness, purity, and patience.

Whenever occasion arises, with all humility and meekness, they strive to teach others to love and reverence the Holy Eucharist..Not pompously or pridefully but in a humble ..unasuming way..so to lead others to understand the greatness of the gift we have in Eucharist..Jesus, Himself..

No set formula or words are necessary for the soul who desires to offer himself/herself as eucharist victim souls..but only is necessary the desire to bring to the Heart of Jesus .. a soul loving and willing to offer every moment of one's life for the promotion of greater reverance and love for the Eucharistic Jesus.