Does that mean I surrendered? Mark Wahlberg in Pray40 for Lent in the Halo app led a session that surrendering was the foremost thing, more important than all the efforts put in. Firstly, we should surrender to give control to God. After saying “Jesus, I surrender myself to you several times, followed by silence and prayer, he prompted to do the next step, as prayer must lead to action. If we don’t know what it is, give it our best bet.
Messages this Lenten season:
Listen to the lessons, learn Hear how I sound, slow it down Observe, respond with grace
Fr Ronald Magbanua, CICM at St Thomas Chapel, CICM Mission House Mongolia
On the 16th day of ordinary time, a little over a week after returning from Mongolia, which was on the 15th of July, and the beginning of the 15th week of ordinary time — that’s how it stays in my memory— on the Feast of St James, the first apostle martyr, the first reading 2 Cor 4:7-15 reads from verse 8:
We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too may be visible in our body.
2 Cor 4:8-10
relates to my personal encounter from the mission visit to Mongolia, and gives strength for daily living.
At the end of the last mass where we gathered at the CICM Mission House, Fr Ronald said we are all called be missionaries and spread the Gospel. He said in fact we should be called out from our comfort zone and we too can be missionaries from wherever we are. Fr Ronald mentioned how St St Therese of Lisieux, patroness of missionaries, prayed from and didn’t leave her own home. I take the message of being missionary disciples to whomever we meet, wherever we are and we go.
These are the strong spiritual movements and messages I have encountered in my heart and hold close from the journey in Mongolia. Some are revivals for me, especially of the Word!
• God will provide and take care of us, always trust in Him
• We will carry out our mission after we listen to the Word of God
• From Mass readings: do not hold grudges, persecution purifies us, and lead from God’s heart
• Spiritual sensing: strong connection to the Word, carrying that everywhere I go, humbled and touched by the sacrifice and dedication of the missionaries, and the joy seen in the smiles of the children.
Finally logged into the app and ooo lovely greeting and one of my fav scripture passages!
If we carry the yoke of love, of mercy, with Jesus and not alone, it will not be a burden, but be light.
Matthew 11:28-30 has seemed to appear pretty regularly I noticed this year! This, in relation to the first reading when God revealed who He is “I Am” (always present and faithful) to Moses for his mission.
May this strengthen our confidence and bring forth the passion and fortitude we need for our own mission.
We are consuming more protein than we need. What we don’t realise is that none of the excess protein consumed can be stored anywhere in our body, unlike excess carbohydrates which are converted into a small store of glycogen which is hardly ever depleted in the modern day life, and fat which the body is capable of storing infinite amounts of!
Protein builds structure in our body like in our hair, nails and mostly in muscles, organs, skin and skeleton.
According to the Dietary Reference Intake report for macronutrients, a sedentary adult should consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound. That means that the average sedentary man should eat about 56 grams of protein per day, and the average woman should eat about 46 grams.
But according to the podcast above, this 0.8g per kg covers about 97% of the population and if you are active at working out, only a few more grams is required!
We often consume double the recommended amount through regular food without extra effort, so protein supplements are unnecessary
Whole food that contains sufficient protein is far more nutritious than protein supplements.
What’s more, as more than required amounts of protein are consumed daily and cannot be stored by the body, the excess protein becomes converted into fat and carbohydrates!
The key is consuming sufficient calories daily and eating in variety. Plants largely contain all the amino acids but in lesser amounts than meat but if a variety of plants are consumed this would make up for it. By consuming more plants, the body also gains fibre, phytonutrients, antioxidants etc, whereas with meat you also consume a large amount of saturated fat along with hormones.
In a recent study, it was proven that vegan athletes performed equally as omnivores.
And therefore, protein supplementation is a marketing scam!
Do these:
Eat more beans, tofu, tempeh, natto
Eat a good variety of vegetables
Don’t measure your protein intake instead feed your microbiome!
Start of the day: ‘how’s your new job?’ from my neighbour, whom I had a connection with when we were both in between jobs just over a year back.
End of the day: “how are you doing?” from my former regional director whom I had the earliest affirming conversation with after deciding to take a career break, just over a year back
The chances of these 2 significant encounters are only the work of God today!
Thanks be to God. Today’s Responsorial Psalm 8:2,5-9
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
Alleluia on the Monday of Easter octave! He is risen and He is Lord! Apparently we can’t just rejoice but we must proclaim too! Read that in CWG’s reflection today haha. See excerpt below:
“To confess that Jesus is Lord means that He will from now on be the centre of our life, our devotion, all that we live for and die for. In other words, “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Rom 14:7-9) Jesus as Lord means that we will obey Him and take directions from Him because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Whatever we say or think, it will be rooted in the Lord and not from the wisdom of the world. We will from now on measure all things by Christ’s standards, not that of the world. With the psalmist, we pray, “I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight. Since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.” We will no longer fear suffering and death. Even when we walk in the valley of death, we can trust that the Lord will rescue us and preserve us as He did for the Son. With the psalmist, we pray, “Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God. O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup.’ It is you yourself who are my prize.” Finally, it means to announce to our brothers and sisters that Jesus is Lord. Jesus said to the women, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.” We are called to give hope to others and explain to them the reason for our hope. By our lives, our words, actions and testimony, we are called to witness to His resurrection. We are called to live adventurously and courageously. Be not afraid, is what the Lord told His disciples. We are called to live as freed men and women. Death has been overcome and life is certain, here and now and in the next life. We can surrender our lives and future to Him because God is faithful to us. Just as the Father showed His fidelity to His Son by raising Him from the dead, He too will be faithful to us. As the psalmist says, He will preserve us from death and rescue us from our enemies. “And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad. Even my body shall rest in safety for you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay.””
Such a blissful, joy-filled Easter this 2023 with this happy lightness feeling of peace in my heart this year!
Felt it in the last minute transformative effect during the Triduum with the yearning to keep watch in adoration, Taize and morning prayer which ended in church hopping between St Mary’s and St Ig’s!!
My heart was really for Jesus, and all he could do heal and help me to conform – helping me to reach St Ig’s for morning prayer at 7.30am on Holy Sat by MRT!
And the fact that Alvin could make it for the long Easter Vigil duty! Thank you Jesus for prompting me to make the immunity elixir of tumeric, ginger, honey, garlic and EVOO!
Alleluia! Rejoice! Rejoice in the hope of His resurrection!!
“How often does my heart cross over?”, asked Friar Derrick. Are we so comfortable on being on this side of the door, because we know the fear of the unknown on the other side, that we don’t want to consider crossing over? Today’s Gospel, rich (unnamed) and poor (named Lazarus). Can we cross the space to see the needs of someone outside the door to help, especially when we know they are there? During Lent we are invited to cross over, and our Lord is searching the heart – first reading of Jeremiah – actions come from our heart so if our heart is not able to leap over neither is our body. The door we refuse to cross over, could be forgiveness, or forgiving ourselves, or we cannot forgive God, or wanting to go discover something we feel bubbling in our souls and God is inviting us into an adventure but we are afraid to cross to the other side, so in this second week of Lent, allow ourselves and our heart to be open to God’s grace, and allow our hearts to leap and cross over to the other side where there is life, adventure with the Lord, and know that the Lord with you on this adventure so do not be afraid and just cross over.
The Lord speaks right to me today with his Word. From Jeremiah 17:5-10, where man sees no life in things of the flesh but where the blessing is from the man who puts his trust in the Lord, directly linked to my ultimate favourite Psalm 1, Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord, who avoids the company of sinners and delights in the Lord and ponders his law day and night!!
And then He speaks to me in the Gospel to cross over with my heart …in Luke 16:19-31, with the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus, where the rich man learned after he died that he did not serve those next to him in need. May this leap of faith in my heart, crossing over help bring me closer to God in serving those I have failed to, because I have failed to stay close to God during this season.
This is what I journaled on the Amen app:
Have mercy on me Lord, it has taken me this significant milestone especially during Lent to drop my net in my current career to listen and run back to you. Where Jeremiah 17:5-10 “A curse on the man who puts his trust in man and turns from the Lord” links to my ultimate favourite Psalm 1 of all time “Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord” and the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 – to speak loudly to me and yet console me close by my side. Thank you Lord
Today is the day I crossed over in a leap of faith into the unknown . I dropped the net and followed my heart. I left my job!!
Everyone and everything we have now and today is given to us, gifted by God. We came into our life without anything and we also leave without anything. Put another way, all we have now is on loan to us from God and He will take it all back from us when we leave this earth. So if we do not have God now, when we die, what will we have? Without a proper relationship now, will we recognise God as we enter eternal life? Moreover, the kingdom of God is here and now, brought onto this earth by His son. What are we doing right here, right now, other than thinking and fending for ourselves? Then let us pray. That we may know Him and live with Him alive in us seeing His glory through all created things and be His face to one another.
An amazing anti-inflammatory veggie stew made overnight in the slow cooker using whatever I had without leaving the house!
1. Rinse and soak dried lentils in a bowl for 30min
2. Chop onions and carrots into cubes and sauté in a pan with some olive oil. Peel sweet potato, slice and chop other veggies.
3. Empty into the slow cooker and add tomatoes, cabbage, sweet potato, lentils
4. Dissolve a tsp of curry paste into a bowl of water. Add dried herbs and mix. Pour over veggies in slow cooker.
5. Add a jar of stock (optional) or add another bowl of water. Turn on slow cooker overnight and ta-da: awaken tomorrow to the aroma of healing delight!
Veggies have a lot of water so will generate liquid overnight. Salt was not required and ground black pepper finished it off! Did not have celery on hand but the onions, carrot, sweet potato and cabbage made an exceptionally sweet stew. Did not have tomato paste nor passata but using freshly chopped tomatoes and the curry paste made a delicious, hearty, anti-inflammatory stew!
Documenting my first recipe that I didn’t expect to turn out well but came out amazing! Was actually just going to make a simple veggie stew with stock but without tomato paste and passata the curry paste worked so well I don’t think stock was necessary!
