February 25, Saturday After Ash Wednesday [Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Luke 5:27–32] Levi must have seen ‘something’ in Jesus that made him follow the Lord considering that he had a good life. He made good money and had steady employment as a tax collector. But in an instant, he gave that all up to follow Jesus, and his life immediately changed for the good. In one way or another, I can relate to Levi when I heard the call of Jesus. I, too, with no second thoughts, I left my promising and stable work to follow my call. When I officially entered religious life, I realized that following Christ is not just leaving my work, my family and friends. Following Christ is actually a daily challenge in and through community life. It is never easy to live in the community but what keeps me going on is my conviction that it is Jesus who called me to follow him.

February 24, Friday after Ash Wednesday [“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matthew 9:14-15] Appetites and fleshly desires can easily cloud our thinking and keep us from desiring God and His will. Therefore, in order to curb one’s disordered appetites, it is useful to mortify them by acts of self-denial, such as fasting… What will be my fasting for this season of lent?

February 23, Thursday after Ash Wednesday [Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. Luke 9:22-25] It’s the second day of Lent and Jesus is inviting me to deny myself and to carry my cross daily as I follow Him. To deny myself is to restrain myself from my inordinate attachments and to regulate my passions. It is a call for a deeper fasting so that I can focus more in strengthening my relationship with my God…

February 22, Ash Wednesday [But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. Matthew 6:1-6,16-18] Many times I caught myself questioning the power of my prayers especially when it feels like the waiting for an answer is too long. I couldn’t help but wonder; does my prayer really work? Without me realizing, I am making my God as a ginnie (making my wishes come true), what a shame on my part. Prayer, of course, is much more than asking, or saying any prayers. Prayer is ultimately my personal encounter, my personal relationship with God. It is an opening of my being to God’s life… As I begin my journey of this Lenten Season, I pray to you O Lord for the grace of prayer. Draw me near to You, so that I may come to know You more. May I always be aware of Your divine presence, dwelling deep within me, calling me to Yourself. Amen.

February 22 – (Chair of Peter) Let us stand firm in the faith, in the bark of Peter, the one who moves away is lost, he is lost like a soldier, who in the battlefield moves away from his fellow soldiers. (Predication aux Servantes du Saint-Sacrement 67,4)

February 21, Tuesday, 7th Week in the Ordinary Time [“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Mark 9:30-37] Jesus teaches what it means to serve. What motivates me in giving service to others? Do I seek honor and glory for myself, or do I seek to serve? What is something I can do this week to serve others?

February 20, Monday, 7th Week in the Ordinary Time [‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out… Mark 9:14-20] I love this scene; a father who brought his possessed son to be healed by Jesus Christ. I can imagine how the father must have felt pain to see his son tormented by an evil for such a long time, thus when opportunity came, he approached Jesus for his son’s healing. I pray for the many parents who really work hard to provide for their children. May their efforts to raise their children as christian parents will be blessed by the Lord. Amen.

February 20, Monday, 7th Week in the Ordinary Time [‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out… Mark 9:14-20] I love this scene; a father who brought his possessed son to be healed by Jesus Christ. I can imagine how the father must have felt pain to see his son tormented by an evil for such a long time, thus when opportunity came, he approached Jesus for his son’s healing. I pray for the many parents who really work hard to provide for their children. May their efforts to raise their children as christian parents will be blessed by the Lord. Amen.

February 19, Love is not an act of zeal, an isolated act of virtue; love is a life – just as it was the human and divine life of Jesus Christ. (GRR, March 25, On the Love of God in the Incarnation, pp. 267-268 )

February 18 - “…the deeper the roots, the stronger the tree. Here I am Lord; burn, cut, strip, humiliate; give me but your love and your grace for today. Your Cross with poverty for tomorrow, provided You let me be the footstool of the most Scared Host.” (GRR, March 21, 1st Meditation)

February 17 – (Seven Holy Founder of the Servites Order) The first founders have to be saints, it is one where the first seven have been canonized. (Predication aux Servantes du Saint-Sacrement 49,1)

February 16, Thursday, 6th Week in Ordinary Time [Then he (Jesus) began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me Satan! You are thinking not as God does but as people do. Mark 8:27-33) Human as I am, I also cringe at any forms of suffering. Lord grant me the grace of loving endurance to the ‘sufferings’ that come my way in following your footsteps. Amen

February 15, Wednesday, 6th Week in the Ordinary Time [Jesus took the blind man’s hand and led him outside the village… Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Mark 8:22-26] Lord, I also want to see You in the ordinary days of my life. Help me to depend on your guidance as You did on the blind man of Bethsaida, Amen.

February 14, Tuesday, 6th Week in Ordinary Time [Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Mark 8:14-21] Lord, grant me the grace to understand and receive your message in my daily life. Help me to be able to respond generously to your invitation. Amen.

February 13, Monday, 6th Week in Ordinary Time [The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” Mark 8:11–13] There are times Lord, when I also act like the Pharisees, looking for something extraordinary to proclaim your presence when in fact, your Presence is all around me, (in the Blessed Sacrament exposed I adore daily, in the sisters whom I live with everyday, in the many people that I encounter, in the nature that surrounds me and many more--- and yet I still look for sign! Lord, open my eyes and heart that I may always see Your Presence in the ordinariness of my daily life. Amen.

February 11, Saturday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time [In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, "I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way - and some of them have come from a great distance." Mark 8:1-10] Jesus, the face of the compassionate God. From the Gospel, Jesus is full of compassion to those who have left their homes – followed him into the desert – and remained with him for days: he is very conscious and aware of their tiredness and pangs of hunger and so He made a miracle, feeding them out of 5 loaves and 2 fish! ‘I have compassion on the crowd’ – is this true for me? What is my attitude whenever there is a stranger knocking on our door, asking for alms (food, clothes, money)? Do I care that many people are tired, anxious, unsure of the future, uncertain about what life is meant to be about? My heart is moved to pity, and sorrow whenever I hear or read the news about the many sufferings happening around the country especially at this trying time of pandemic. Many times I caught myself getting angry at what is happening and tend to blame the corruption and ‘bulok-sistema’ in the government. It is beyond words how I actually feel right now. But the Gospel gives me hope that God is with us in our suffering. He will definitely feed our hungry heart for he is full of mercy and compassion.

February 10, Friday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time [Jesus took him off by himself, cried out “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” Mk 7:31-37] Lord Jesus, open my ears to hear all that You wish to say to me and loosen my tongue so that I will be able to bring your Words to others. Amen

February 9, Thursday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time [Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. Mark 7:24–30] A parent’s love is powerful. And the woman in this story clearly loves her daughter. It is that love that drives this mother to seek out Jesus in the hope that He will free her daughter from the demon who possessed her. Take note, this woman was not of the Jewish faith. She was a gentile, a foreigner, but her faith was very real and very deep. This story reminds me of my mother. There was a time in our family when my younger brother (in his teens to college years) became very problematic that we, his siblings (older sisters) made a decision not to send him to school anymore to give him a lesson. But it was my mother who interceded for my brother. To cut the story short, my mother appealed to us to give our brother a second chance and of course we gave in to our mother’s request… (past forward) At the present time, my younger brother now is the most responsible brother I’ve ever known. Not only did he have a flourishing career, but most of all, I heard that he has been a great help for my mother and my siblings especially in times of financial difficulties. He has been providing for the family from time to time. Indeed, it was my mothers’s love that saved my brother! If mothers’ love saves children, how much more of God!

February 8, Wednesday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time [Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” Mark 7:14–23] What is within me? What is in my heart? When I make an examination of conscience, I can find a lot of evil tendencies within me. If I am to be honest with myself and my God, I am prone to self-righteousness (pride), thinking that I am better than the others. And when I fall into these thoughts, I look down on other people. I can be sarcastic, giving negative side comments etc, etc. Merciful Lord, help me to realize my sins and grant me the graces I need to reject it and to turn to You with all my heart so that I can become a new creation in Your grace and mercy. Amen.

January 28, Saturday, 3rd week in Ordinary Time. [He (Jesus) woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Mark 4:35-41] The Storm. Going through the storm of life is draining and frightening but what keeps me going is the thought that every storm is passing by and God is merciful, He never abandons his children… Lord, calm my heart from fears, panic, and anxieties. Fill me with faith, hope and courage so that I can go through with the storms of life. Amen.

January 27, Friday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time [ "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." Mark 4:26-34] In religious life, I also go through growing. The formation process, especially my initial formation has helped me discover and identify the aspect of myself that needs to grow. But how should I know if I am growing maturely? Some practical questions that I should honestly answer… Can I hold my words when I get angry at people around me? Can I be quiet, be silenced when I am bothered by something/ someone so I can reflect what is going on inside me? Can I listen and be in touch with my negative feelings and thoughts? Can I acknowledge and be at peace with them? If I can answer all these questions with resounding ‘YES’ (to some degree), then I am on my way to growing maturely. So help me God.

January 26, Thursday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time [“To those who have, more will be given.” Mark 4:21-25] Almighty God, help me to see how much you give me. Open my eyes to see you as a lavish God who never holds back anything when giving me your grace. Help me to be as generous as you are so that I can serve you with all my heart, and to go beyond my moments of laziness and discouragement. Amen.

January 25, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul [‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-18] Conversion of the heart is ‘two-way-process’; God’s grace coupled with personal cooperation and willingness to change. Lord, grant me the grace to answer your call for a greater cause. Amen. St. Paul, pray for us!

January 24, Tuesday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time. “Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.” [Mk 3:35] What makes it difficult to follow God’s will? Over-certitude, self-doubt, fears, stubbornness of heart, and many more you can add to the list. From my personal experience, it takes a lot of discernment to be able to know God’s will in my life. The discernment itself requires humility and courage to bend my will to His and be open to His promptings. Thus, I continuously pray to the Lord to have a discerning heart and the grace of courage to do His will in my daily life. Amen.

January 23, Monday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time ["Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" - for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." Mark 3:22-30] Lord, I pray for the grace of openness to God’s Spirit. Help me distinguish the promptings of the good Spirit from the voices of evil. Amen.