Spices of life: CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT JESUS - THE LOVE OF GOD, THE SALVATION OF YOU AND ME AND OF ALL CREATION

I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament an hour ago and I experienced something. I felt deep sadness in my heart and I started to cry. I wondered what is all about........then I came to understand that I have shared a bit the sadness in God's heart because so many of us mess up Christmas.

During Advent, we are supposed to be preparing our hearts to seek and long for the Messiah like the three wise men. But what do we do? We are busy preparing our list and shopping for gifts and decorations. It’s not bad at all but the sad thing is that we neglect to prepare our hearts which is the most important.

Then we attend Christmas parties here and there, but most of the time the birthday celebrant is not invited. Most of the time we are inviting Santa Clause instead of Jesus. For us Filipinos we attend Simbang Gabi but do we really know what we are attending and the significant of it? Or it’s just like the other routine that we do every year?

I am calling our attention (including myself)…lets make this Christmas different from the past Christmas….lets look back at the Nativity and ask the Holy Spirit to give our mind and heart the understanding of the real beauty and significance of Christmas so that when the day comes we can truly REJOICE because we are thankful and hopeful!!!

Our Call

Each one of us is called for a mission….in different fields. Some in the medical field, in education, science, etc, and some to the field of evangelization - to spread the Good News of salvation through Christ. We see that our world today is in its spiritual crisis. Men are seeking happiness in the wrong places and worshipping different gods, turning their back to the One True God who can truly bring them to life.

"The sense of sin is lost because we have lost the sense of God".

For this, we who believe are all called to prepare the way of the Lord for His second coming in the way that God has called us. To help others find the meaning of their life in God.

FOLLOWING A CALL

I’m Joy Cea from Philippines. I've heard my call for mission since I was young.Though I graduated as a physical therapist, I decided to follow my heart’s desire to do mission work. In year 2000, I attended a three months School of Mission run by ICPE, a lay missionary community. Since then, I have served in the mission until May 15,2009.

Being in a missionary community for nine years, I've grown a lot in my relationship with the Lord, in knowing Him,others and my self. I thank God for the gift of faith and the gift of Himself to all humanity.

My deepest desire is to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom in the ways that the Lord will call me and my family. One way I pray and hope is to sing songs for the Lord.May God be glorified in my life and in my family.

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

I’m Raymond Tedjaindra from Indonesia. I am an ex drug addict for five years and I have experienced how to be in the state of “dead life”. Life for me before was meaningless and no direction. My emotions were numb, I can’t feel sadness nor happiness. Everything is flat. I even did not know how to receive love from my family.

All I wanted is drugs….drugs…it was the only thing that was important to me. My relationships were in a mess, my life was in a mess…I attempted suicide for few times but the Lord has saved me. I thought I can never escape from this state until I came to experience the loving touch of the Lord in year 2001.Since then I decided to seek more of Him although with a lots of hesitations and struggles. I went for the school of evangelization in India and there I received a lot of God’s healing in my life.

I managed to stop taking drugs (with a lot of struggle) and continued to be in ICPE Mission till May 15,2009. I’m still in the process of healing and growing in my relationship with the Lord and I would like to share to others this healing and love that I have experienced and most of all the meaningful life that I’ve found in Jesus.

PREGNANCY, A WAY TO HOLINESS

I (Joy Tedjaindra) think I understand a bit why many women in our modern world does not want to get pregnant. It is because it needs sacrifice and sacrifice is not much welcomed in our generation today. Since I came to know that I’m pregnant I have to give up some food that I like, some activities that I used to do.

My husband has to stretch his patience because my emotion easily goes up and he has to do more household chores that I used to do myself. My body starts changing, stretch marks became evident as my tummy starts growing. My sleeping routine changed and as the month proceeds, even breathing becomes difficult.

For the meantime, I have to slow down in my public ministry which I enjoy so much and have to postpone some plans and dreams if not to be totally given up knowing that the coming of our babies means giving them most of my time as they become now my first ministry.

I say that it is a way to holiness because I experienced more the dying to my self so that these two precious lives may live. Something that is not easy but by God’s grace, my heart was able to understand that pregnancy is an opportunity to become more like Jesus. Aside of course from the fact that I am cooperating with the creating power of God for these two lives that He entrusted to us.

Spices of life

CHRISTMAS

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About Us

Our Call

FOLLOWING A CALL

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

PREGNANCY, A WAY TO HOLINESS

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