Birthday Blessings

“He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a reward from God his savior.” – Psalm 24:5

The table at the far end beckoned me to sit and peruse the letters tucked beneath its glass top. The low armchair cuddled me in its comfortable embrace. This spot seemed to have been reserved especially for me.

Café Mary Grace ATC with its rustic ambiance was the perfect place for my solo birthday lunch. I ordered Caesar Salad, Wild Raspberry iced tea and Mango Bene for dessert. The selection matched my persona – a trying hard health buff with a sweet tooth.

This was my birthday blessing from the Lord. A crack in time in the frenetic hours spent on community service. It’s Kerygma Conference time and I was in the thick of preparations for our stream aside from my usual Saturday Feast Alabang and Media Ministry duties.

I actually had to force myself to eat leisurely. No need for the customary rush. I had an hour before The Spa opened. There’s time enough to savor the food and go window shopping. 

As I licked the cream off my fork, I thanked the Lord for my solo celebration. It was not lonely as one may think. It was actually my choice and already Day 3 of my birthday bash. The past two days were spent with people I love and who cared for me. 

On Day 1, I was kidnapped by my FAMMily (Feast Alabang Media Ministy) for a surprise celebration. It was a simple pizza, Krispy Kreme chillers and cake affair highlighted by laughter and singing. It was so much fun that we only left the place because the guard was threatening to turn off the lights.

On Day 2, my family and I gorged (and I say that literally) on Japanese-Korean food in the newly opened Sambo Kojin in Southmall. We had to gingerly walk out of the restaurant afraid that any sudden move will dislodge the strategic position the sushi, the yakiniku, the tempura and their gang mates have taken in our overstuffed bellies.

So on Day 3, which was my actual birthday, I planned for a “Me day”. I heard mass with my parents (a concession because I wanted to thank the Lord for the life they gave me) and then headed for the gym to Zumba away the extra calories from the night before.

And then there I was just hanging out with myself at lunch time, looking forward to the indulgence and pampering I would soon experience – a dip in the Jacuzzi and a 90-minute massage at The Spa which was my son’s gift.  There’s also the Tous Le Jours birthday cake I had wished for and unexpectedly got. Candle blowing at dinner time. 

I’d like to think that these birthday blessings are God’s rewards for my service. Thank you, Lord.

From Glory to Glory to Glory (Day 2)

The tenor’s fluid rendition of the song gave me goose bumps. “Hosanna, in the highest. Let our King be lifted up. Hosanna.” A hush fell over the audience as Arun Gogna, the last speaker for the Kerygma Conference 2011 Faith Stream, announced the arrival of our special guest.

He was ushered in by 4 young men bearing banners that proclaimed His greatness – “King of Kings”, “Messiah”, “Alpha & Omega”, “Lamb of God.” Our special guest was Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist.

As Fr. Steve Tynan bore the monstrance down the aisle, the crowd instinctively fell on their knees in adoration. It was a stirring sight enhanced by dancers solemnly marching in with raised flags.

Many faces were bathed in tears, mine included. Unlike the audience, I knew what was going to happen but I was still awed by His presence in the unfolding event.

It was a fitting finale to a day spent deepening our knowledge about the Catholic faith. It also capped months of preparation by the Faith Stream team; the last few days steeped in stress. With Jesus before me, I could now serenely look back to what was…

The job description for Production Manager only said: 1) assemble production team and coordinate communication; 2) coordinate with secretariat; 3) provide scripts/schedules; 4) provide t-shirt sizes of the team; and 5) coordinate with PAs of speakers.

Sounds manageable. I can do that. I agreed to serve especially since the whole team is from Feast Alabang. But my duties morphed into something resembling the mythical Hydra. When I ticked a task off my list, more popped up.

So there I was at the Faith Stream dealing with a string of unrelated tasks and bloopers. “Where are the table cloths for the book tables?” Huh? “Where will we put the signage for the parking lot?” Duh. “There are attendees who bought food stubs for the other venue and they’re mad the concessionaire is not here.” Uh-oh.

“Sis, even the front row seats were numbered, where will the speakers sit?” I cringed as I imagined asking our first speaker, the Archbishop-elect of Manila no less, to vacate his place when the ticket-holder for that seat comes.

And there’s my personal blooper. I turned my cellphone to silent mode in obedience to the house rules. I therefore missed several calls to alert me that Bro Bo Sanchez had arrived. I flubbed my primary role of being the key coordinator.

But I was not alone in the welcome bloopers. When Myrna, our hardworking Program Director, asked Bo to sit beside the Archbishop who had arrived earlier, he mentioned that her beloved hubby was still at the entrance waiting for our esteemed guest.

By God’s grace, the problems were addressed and the bloopers became memories we could laugh about over dinner.

God rewarded the teams’ efforts by helping each one survive many challenges. The stage with its stained glass cathedral windows design came out majestic. The singers and the band heightened worship with world class music. The dancers were gracefully in sync. The technical team managed a glitch-free event.

We were also blessed with high powered speakers(Archbishop Chito Tagle, Bro Marwil Llasos, Fr. Domie Guzman and Arun Gogna), host (J Yogawin), worship leaders (Rissa Singson-Kawpeng and our track head, Carl Fontanilla) and capable Central Support teams.

As I knelt before the Holy Eucharist during the recessional, I thanked God for revealing His glory at the KCon.

Special thanks to IC de Guzman for this precious photo with Archbishop Chito Tagle who is touted to be the next Pope. (I hope, I hope, I hope.)

From Glory to Glory to Glory (Day 1)

Top Ten

I was tired and harassed. The difficulties were piling up as I wasn’t just singing with the Grand Feast choir, I was also Production Manager for the Faith Stream.

But I was also excited! As I wrote in my last blog, I know without a doubt that the trials of serving at the Kerygma Conference will eventually bring a shower of blessings. The Lord cannot be out-given.

Little did I expect that God will send His blessings via express delivery.

The day before KCon, I was drowning in preparations for the Faith Stream: meeting, distributing t-shirts and IDs, printing car passes and signage, lists, tasks, etc., etc., etc. In the midst of all these, my elder son called and said, “Mom, guess what I’m a teacher!” I said, “Of course you are, sweetie.” He works as a pre-school teacher.

He said, “No Mom, I’m a real teacher.” Then I got it. On September 25, 2011, he took the Licensure Examination for Teachers. He passed! We had been praying about this and here was our answered prayer.

Then I asked, “Are you in the top ten?” He said he was the first to finish when he took the exam thus my hope that he will land in that magic circle. He didn’t think so. He didn’t notice his name.

I was fine with it. It was a big blessing already as only 22.68% who took the exam for elementary teachers made it.

But last Friday after the Leadership Stream, I saw 2 missed calls from him. When I returned his call, he said a friend had congratulated him on Facebook. It was only then he found out he placed seventh! Or, as my father pointed out, just 1.6 points less than the topnotcher.

Even before I got into the thick of service for KCon, God already sent a delightful surprise. It was more than what we prayed for.

Serving God in itself is glorious. It becomes even more so when He beats you to the draw.

Third Row Season

‘Tis the season for Kerygma Conference again. For the third time I’m joining the KCon choir for the Grand Feast. And for the third time I am relegated to the nether world of choirdom. You know that spot on the third row where without risers, you cannot be seen just heard?

During rehearsals we were told to “find your height” for blocking purposes. This must be the most difficult directive to follow. There’s that first part where smaller people are supposed to be in front of us. And then there’s that part where taller people are supposed to be behind us.

So difficult and confusing in fact that I found myself on the third row peeping through the shoulders of taller members. But the marvelous thing about this experience is that it teaches you serenity and humility.

This time around I wasn’t bothered about it. Why? Because for the past two years I have seen God’s hand in this arrangement.

My experience in 2009 when only a fourth of my face was seen in the official photos gave birth to a Didache reflection used in this year’s edition. Not only that, an amazing coincidence related to that reflection happened just last month. This, I believe, was used by God to also bless Feast Alabang attendees.

In KCon 2010, it wasn’t just about this blocking confusion but about the venue assignment. Since all the attendees could not be accommodated in one venue for the Grand Feast, the choir had to be divided into two. Group A was to go to PICC Plenary Hall and Group B to the hot and noisy Forum tent outside.

Whoops of delight greeted Group A assignments. Several of us from the Feast Alabang choir somberly listened as our names were called for Group B.

Friends in Group A egged us to appeal for transfer. But I felt we needed to be obedient to God’s will. The others in Group B felt the same way. And so we stayed.

You know how God rewarded our obedience? Right before the event, we were told that the Forum tent venue was scrapped. Group B will instead sing at the Reception Hall. So there we were in the same air-conditioned, chandeliered grandeur as Group A.

But as we waited for our cues to sing, Group A sat on the stairs of the Plenary Hall while we lounged on comfortable chairs in the spacious Reception Hall. We even had access to the luxurious dressing room nearby. Group A, on the other hand, had to make do with the public rest rooms (as I love to tease my friends in that group).

So this year, instead of fretting about my third row perch I am actually quite excited. I’m excited to see how God will surprise and delight and bless me in that spot He has picked out especially for me.

Thank you to my son, Buddy, for the cartoon :)

Minda’s Joie de Vivre

I will never forget the attire that won for her the Best Costume award at the 2009 Light of Jesus Servants’ Christmas party. She came as a Christmas tree. So did I and a couple of others, but hers was more outrageous. While I only had a small metal tree that I used as a head piece and Christmas ball earrings, she was decked out as the whole tree. She had poinsettias and glittery balls pinned on her shirt, a pointy hat with a big star on top, small wreaths for earrings and a scarf of fairy lights. Come judging time for the finalists, she had her lights plugged into the socket. She blew away the competition.

She was that game. She was lovably kooky. She had such a joy for life. It was fun to be with her during our Music Ministry practices, during our service for the Feast and in the Kerygma Conference. But she also had her serious side. There were times when she shared nuggets of wisdom with us as we waited for performances to start.

Minda Obatay will be dearly remembered as a helpful person. Her Caring Group mates shared that she always helped set up or clean up wherever their meetings were held like it was her own home. She was the same in our practices – making sure we all have something to eat during break times and raiding the kitchen when the food is short.

She helped even if she was not a member of the ministry tasked to do something. When we used to set-up the stage as part of our duties for the Creatives Ministry, she’d be setting up the backdrop even before the members arrived. She didn’t even belong to Creatives but helped out anyway just because she was there.

Last night, we said good-bye to this wonderful person at a community mass. All that time she was serving with us she had cancer. But you wouldn’t have noticed because of the energy she exerted in the things she did.

Cancer may have stricken her body but left her generous heart untouched. To the very end her thoughts were of giving. One of her last instructions to her husband was to find the tithes she had prepared before she was hospitalized and to give it to the community.

At the honoring, one of her sons said she was a good mother who never spanked them. At the back of the room, two of my community sisters and I wondered what our children would say about us. We can only hope they would have glowing praises as Minda’s son had for her.

Minda unabashedly praised the Lord. During worship her voice would ring out above the rest to honor and exalt Him. She must have delighted Jesus so much He wanted her in heaven already so she can sing Him praises before His throne.

Sadly, I only knew Minda for a short time, maybe two or three years. And I only served closely with her in the last year. But the little that I know of her has blessed me and infected me with joy. At a time when I am experiencing service fatigue, her life is a timely reminder for me to serve the Lord with gladness.

A Personal Worship

It was casually mentioned on our way home from the Kerygma Conference last Sunday that Belle, Josie and I were going to lead the worship for our Feast Alabang Servants’ Christmas party. I thought it was a big joke. “Hmmm,” I said to myself, “Cercado Sisters* minus 1, tander version. "Tander as in matanda, get it? Better yet, translate that to the more politically correct term – “mature”.

Although being a worship leader has been flitting around the fringes of my dreams, it was not something that really called me with a passion. Unlike Niko, our youngest worship leader, who clearly heard God’s promise that he will lead worship in the Feast, there was not even a whisper to me.

Besides, I was afraid I wouldn’t be porous enough for the Spirit to fill me. I have observed the really good worship leaders to be so soaked in the Holy Spirit that it just radiates from them to the whole congregation. As for me, I can be hard-hearted and hard-headed at times.

Then I remembered the prayer I say before I write anything – for my blog or for Didache or for Halo-Halong Hālo: “Lord, let me be a straw through which your blessings or message will flow to the people who need it today.” A straw is not porous. It just needs an entry and an exit point. My entry point is my mind which God enlightens and fills with wisdom. My exit points are my hands that write. All I do is open myself up for the Holy Spirit to use me as a channel – hard head and hard heart pushed to the sides to clear the flow.

That worship leader thing was just the joke that I thought it was after all. An idea miscommunicated along the way. But God woke me up at 5:00 a.m. that following Monday (it’s a holiday, Lord!!!) prodding me to write my worship. So here’s a writer’s personal worship – written not spoken, read not heard:

To end this year, I want to praise and thank God for the many blessings He has given me, my family and my Feast Alabang family.

When I started serving at the South Feast, my life was going nowhere. You know that saying, “When God closes a door, He opens a window”? I could not relate. My prayers were unanswered for so many years. I felt that after all the doors closed there was very little light coming in – only slivers of light from under a closed door or a glow at the very far end of a tunnel.

But I kept serving through harassments and financially lean times. When I was asked to join the igive.club, I jokingly said to Becky, “Pwede ba recibo na lang ng gastos ko sa Feast ang ilagay sa envelop?” (“Can I put receipts for expenses I incurred for the Feast inside the envelop instead?")

But God is a God who cannot be out-given. This year He has thrown open many doors and windows all at the same time:

This year my elder son graduated from college and got a job.

This year my younger son’s thesis won multiple awards (yup, he just won another award for his category in Animahenasyon, the Philippine Animation Festival, and was even in contention for the grand prize).

This year my father survived a medical emergency. This year both my parents celebrated their 80th birthdays.

This year my calling as a writer began to bear fruit: I now have a blog, My B.A.G. of Miracles. I was named feature editor of the magazine I write for, I became a Didache writer. And just last month, I was also asked to write for Kerygma Magazine. As a matter of fact, the January 2011 issue features an article I wrote.

This year the Feast Alabang Center was built blessing around 1,400 people each week. We have our own place. A place we call home.

This year the number of servants grew from the twenty-four that started South Feast to almost two hundred. We now know more people to love and to be loved by.

I, personally, and we as the Feast Alabang family have many, many things to thank God for. No one deserves all our praises more than You, Jesus. Lord, receive the honor that You’re due. Receive my offering of worship.

The sun cannot compare

To the glory of Your love

There is no shadow in Your presence

No mortal man would dare

To stand before Your throne

Before the Holy One of heaven

It's only by Your blood

And it's only through Your mercy

Lord I come

I bring an offering of worship to my King

No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing

Jesus may You receive the honor that You're due

O Lord I bring an offering to You

O Lord I bring an offering to You

– Offering , Paul Baloche

To my fellow servants, I exhort you to pursue your dreams. But keep serving the Lord and see the surprises He has in store for you because He is a loving, wonderful God. He is magnificent and glorious.

Who compares to You?

Who set the stars in their place?

You who calmed the raging seas

That came crashing over me

Who compares to You?

You who bring the morning light

The hope of all the earth

Is rest assured in Your great love

When the evening fades

You call forth songs of joy

As the morning wakes

We Your children give You praise

You are magnificent, eternally

Wonderful, glorious, Jesus

No one ever will compare to You Jesus

– Magnificent, Hillsong

You O Lord are truly wonderful and glorious and you deserve all the praises because You are our king, You are our savior, You are Emmanuel, You are God who is with us. And we praise you and we glorify you.

Here I am, I've come to thank You

Here I am, a life You've changed

Because You gave Your life for me, You were crucified for me

How can I do anything but praise, I praise

You, You are God, You are Lord

You are all I'm living for

You are King of everything

I want my life to praise You

You are God, You are Lord

You are all I'm living for

You are King of everything

I want my life to praise You

– You, You are God

Thank you for this year Lord and thank you for the avalanche of blessings that are coming next year. I worship you my God.

*The Cercado Sisters are talented young women who won 16 gold medals in the 10th World Championship of Performing Arts in 2006. The sisters shared their touching story and talent at the recently concluded Kerygma Conference. If I’m not mistaken they serve with the Feast Quezon City.

A Happy Servant’s Heart

Last week was hectic with a capital H, no make that all caps. Tuesday the Media Ministry had a photo shoot for the Caring Groups launch AVP (audio-visual presentation). Wednesday we had Admin/Finance meeting. Thursday was our first choir practice for Kerygma Conference (KCon) 2010. On Friday, Belle and I spent almost 4 hours on the road to get to the KCon coordinators’ meeting in the distant land of Cubao. Saturday was the Caring Group Heads Workshop. Of course, Sunday is Feast Alabang day. Inserted into my week were the regulars – the bulletin and the website. Thank God that before all that, I had Monday, my rest day. I was able to store up mental and physical energy to weather the week.

As the whole week was highlighted by service to my community, the workshop on Saturday was a fitting recap. I did not volunteer as CG head (the litany above should give you an idea why not). So what was I doing there? Ministry heads were also asked to attend. After all, I also handle a group which becomes a quasi-CG. So attend, I did. And I came away with many lessons on how to lead with love and care – “love strategies” they were called.

But it was at the anointing at the end of the workshop that my servant’s heart got a thorough work out. We were told that there will be washing of the feet. It even has the added feature of kissing the feet. Like Peter, I cringed at the thought. Horrors, my last foot spa was months ago! Did I even scrub off the dead skin on my toesies when I bathed this morning?

At the back of the center, Naty, Josie and I plotted on how we can get out of it. But just to make sure, Josie sprayed our feet with her cologne. I wanted to slather mine with the yummy smelling Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer my god-daughter, Angeli, gave me. But I left my bag in the office and had no time to get it. So I sought refuge in the Music Ministry. I thought we were safe. There were only four of us in the choir and Melanie, our Training Ministry head, had given up trying to make us sit with the participants. Even Bro Hermie, head of all South Feasts, seemed to accept that we couldn’t join the activity and anointed us as we sang. While singing I was conflicted, torn between the call to obey and vanity. I made a deal with the Lord that I will just sing my heart out in service.

But, no deal. Our well-laid plans collapsed when the other Music Ministers who had their feet washed already joined the choir. Bro Hermie signaled the four hold-outs (the original plotters plus Belle) to sit and get our feet washed. Since we had learned earlier that one of the characteristics of a servant-leader is obedience, we followed meek as lambs.

After my foot got washed and kissed (while fervently hoping Josie’s cologne still lingered on that particular appendage), I knelt for the anointing. I thought I was the last and that Ed was just kidding when he said I have to wash his feet so I hopped up to re-join the choir. But Bro Hermie called me back to wash his feet. (Picture me like a cartoon character stopping in mid-stride.) Down on my knees I went, recited the prayer, washed his foot and dried it with a wad of tissue as he instructed and bent for the obligatory kiss. When I got up, I saw Cora snickering. She had gotten wind of our escape plans earlier and was so amused that we failed. She said later that touched by the ritual, she was on the verge of tears. But when she saw me collared by our top leader no less, her tears made a detour and she dissolved into fits of laughter instead.

So who ever said that it is only in solemnity that a heart is moved to servanthood? The laughter, the humor, the joy fuels the passion to serve. It’s funny moments like these that keep my servant’s heart humming. After all, “joyful” is another characteristic of a servant-leader.

Voiceless Worship and A Healing Miracle

COUNTDOWN TO FEAST ALABANG CENTER OPENING

Friday, July 30, 2010 (9 days to go)

Music Ministry practice. Sharp pain in my throat as I tried to reach a high note. Uh-oh. Not good.

Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010 (7 days to go)

Last day of the South Feast in Cinema 10. Excitement in the whole theater – we’re finally moving after a week’s delay. But my excitement mixed with worry. I hope I can sing at the opening. That spike-haired bug was still frolicking in my throat at worship.

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010 (5 days to go)

Off to Divisoria with the other committee members to buy Music Ministry outfits. A hot, tiring day of walking, searching and haggling (a.k.a. harassing store owners to death.) After a quick shower, it was off to the South Feast Council meeting. My cough was having a field day – firecrackers in August.

Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010 (3 days to go)

Spent the whole day looking for South Feast servants’ pictures for the bulletin. I got a headache and was feverish. I missed Music Ministry practice.

Friday, Aug. 6, 2010 (2 days to go)

Second choir practice. I attended even if the infection had turned my voice from Alto 1 to Bass 2. I didn’t want to be clueless about the mechanics on opening day. So I lip synched it.

Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010 (1 day to go)

Jericho march at the center. Dust, dust and more dust greeted us. We must have been a sight. Bro Arun onstage with his guitar and about a hundred servants marching and singing – all wearing masks.

On to Music Ministry practice. Thank God it was just for program flow and blocking.

On to stage décor set-up. Thank God for the help. My Creatives Ministry angels: Jacq, Khaki, Charisse and Ernst who made the stage as dreamy as a wedding gown; Krisanne and Maan with their parents who made the festive balloons for the entrance. And of course, there were our ever-helpful brothers of the Facilities Ministry.

Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010 (D Day!!!)

All I could croak out that morning was a monotone. For the life of me, I couldn’t manage a string of notes that remotely resembled a tune. But I wanted so much to be with the choir in worshipping God on this historic day. So tune or no tune, voice or no voice, I decided to sing praises to my God. It was a worship of the heart.

Already positioned onstage, we witnessed the ribbon-cutting from afar. What a sight to see all our loyal attendees there dressed in their Sunday’s best for the occasion. This is our family celebrating the opening of our new home.

The enthronement of the Bible, the Crucifix and the Blessed Mother was so touching. It moved many people to tears. They were enthroned not just in the altar but in our proudly Catholic hearts.

Bro Arun’s talk was brilliant, hilarious and inspiring, as usual. His talk is the key that keeps people coming back for more. So we were secretly watching the city councilor who pinch-hit for the mayor at the ribbon cutting. Obviously not a charismatic member, she was stick-stiff even when the whole house was already jumping to the great worship. We wanted to see her reaction to the talk. It thawed her out. By the time Bro Arun asked us to sing after his talk, there she was with her hands up in the air like the rest of us.

And the worship! As I said, it was great in the morning session. But the worship in the afternoon was awesome. And that is an understatement. The Holy Spirit was an almost visible presence. He must have decided to sit and stay when Bishop Jesse Mercado blessed the center.

The excitement was as thick as the artificial haze we used for effects. Our beloved leader, Bro Bo Sanchez, was in the house with his family. With the Kerygma 5 Preachers. With our Light of Jesus elders. With the other Feast Builders.

So the spirit-led worship leaders (even those from the morning session joined in) and the whole Music Ministry were inspired to literally rock the stage. And the attendees rocked the rest of the center with singing and dancing. Someone remarked it felt like a KCon high (to the unfamiliar that’s the Kerygma Conference – our annual community gathering). A community elder complained with a big smile we made his knees hurt from dancing.

A POSTCRIPT, A MIRACLE

The following week, fatigue and inhaling more dust in the center during our Tuesday night Council meeting brought on a relapse. By Wednesday I was running a fever. I prayed that it will be gone by Saturday so I can attend to my duties at the Feast on Sunday. But by 10:00 Saturday night, I had a 37.6 temperature. I texted Bro Joey & Sis Myrna, my heads in Events, that I was still sick. I heard the text alert on my phone. Before reading the message, I decided to clear my nose. Pardon the grossness. It seemed all the infection clogged up in my head flowed out. I was surprised because I had spent a week almost bursting my eardrums trying to expel the blockage with no results. This time I breathed freely.

When I read the reply from Bro Joey, I got goose bumps. His text message read: “May the most precious blood of Jesus wash away the cause of your fever. May God heal you right now. In Jesus’ name we pray.” At that moment, I realized the cause of my fever had been washed out. I claimed healing and made a deal with God. If I wake up the next morning without a fever and my chest congestion cleared, I was attending the Feast.

Early Sunday morning after a restful sleep, I checked my temperature. To my disappointment the thermometer read 37.6. But wait, that was my temperature last night! I forgot to shake down the thermometer. I took it again – it was 36.7 this time.

I joyfully proclaimed God’s healing at the Feast. After that, every time, I took my temperature, I would naughtily remind God that I had boasted about His miracle. “Pag nabinat ako, mapapahiya tayo, Lord.” (If I get a relapse, we will be shame-faced, Lord.) I can see Him smiling indulgently as He keeps my temperature below 37.

God is so good. He is worthy of our worship – even if it's a voiceless one.