IN MEMORIAM: MONET ABRAGAN JR MD (1944-2016)
MANNY DE LEON III MD (1945-2009)
LYNNE AGUILAR-MARIANO MD (1946-2017)
TEOFISTA VINAS-DIAZ MD
UST E-MAGAZINE
JANUARY 6, 2017
RAMON “Monet” ABRAGAN MD (1944-2016)
Born in MISAMIS, ORIENTAL, Philippines on 11 April 1944
Passed away in PHILIPPINE HEART CENTER on 17 November 2016
Late of 0008 ISABEL VILLAGE, PALAO, ILIGAN CITY
Interment place will be in Iligan City
Monet with Botoy, Manoy Ping, Lito Durante, Troy Lynde and Myself talent at Veterans Memorial Golf Course in Quezon City.
Lynne Aguilar-Mariano MD (1946-2017)
Obituary of Erlinda Mariano MD
Mariano MD, Erlinda “Lynne” (Aguilar)
Spencerport: January 1, 2017. Lynne is survived by her husband Teodoro Mariano Jr. MD; children, Dennis (Jennifer) Mariano, Chris (Tara) Mariano, Dominic (Jessica Gustafason) Mariano, Mark (Lindsey Mason) Mariano; daughter-in-law Molly Brigham; grandchildren, Benjamin, Brendan, Kylie, Gabriel, Neila, Isabella, Natalie & Juniper Mariano; siblings, Jose (Gloria) Aguilar, Teresa (Robert) Teodosio, Marietta Munoz, Agnella Bandril, Mary Joan (Delio) Angeles, Maria Lourdes Buncayo, Miriam (Vincent) Gorre ; several nieces and nephews. For more information about Lynne please visit http://www.bartolomeo.com
Lynne’s Visitation will be Friday, 1-3 & 6-9 at the funeral home, 1411 Vintage Lane (Between 390 & Long Pond Rd.). Her Funeral Mass will be Celebrated Saturday, 11 AM at St. John the Evangelist Church, 55 Martha St., Spencerport, immediately followed by her burial in St. John’s Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis TN, 38105
Lynne was born July 1, 1946 in Manila to her parents Francisco & Fausta Aguilar.
While attending Medical School in the Philippines it was there that she met who would become the love of her life, Teodoro Mariano. After graduation from Medical School, she and Ted came to the US to complete their Residencies.
Ted and Lynne started their family in Spencerport, NY. They ended up having four loving children and 8 adoring grandchildren. Family was always the center of what mattered most to Lynne.
Lynne was a very faith filled person. She regularly attended Mass and participated in the BLD Prayer Group at church. She regularly prayed the rosary and she had a strong Faith in God and a devotion to the Blessed Mother Mary.
She was a wife, mother grandmother, sister, aunt, friend and doctor. These adjectives and titles are all a part of defining her. However, it was her actions that truly showed who she was. She was gentle, compassionate, thoughtful, organized, selfless, courageous, ambitious & generous.
Lynne’s creative side was regularly seen in her love of music and writing. In her free time she played the harp and enjoyed writing poems. It is no coincidence that she enjoyed attending concerts, dancing with friends and listening to a wide variety of music, especially religious songs.
She had a love of all animals. She especially liked cats and dogs. If there was an animal that needed a home it could very likely end up with Lynne. Her children fondly remembered, “mom would bring animals home,” it was very important that “everyone keep the secret,” as the animals would start off in the basement. Soon though, they would be brought upstairs and they became a part of the family. Her favorite pet by far was her dog Abby Girl.
Lynne always seemed to be on the go. Her role as the Chief of Medicine at the Rochester Psychiatric Center in Rochester, NY kept her dream of being in the medical field at the early age of 5 very much alive everyday. Her entrepreneurial spirit didn’t end there. She owned/operated International Gift Express, Grandview Florist and Asia-Pacific Travel Agency.
Lynne and Ted enjoyed travel. They have traveled extensively throughout Europe. Many times they would find themselves in their travels visiting religious sites. When they weren’t traveling abroad they enjoyed spending time with family and friends at their vacation home on Keuka Lake.
Lynne was well loved and she gave her love to all who knew her. She will be fondly missed!
True Friend
Sharing life’s sweet precious moments
At your side ,be it wind, rain or sunshine
Delighting in small or great achievements
Always and forever, is there, a faithful lifeline
When dark clouds come and cover
Guiding light ,steady,radiant till it’s over
When tears flow and hearts are broken
Arms embrace ,comforting words are spoken
Blessed are those who find a true friend
Who points to the rainbow in rough seasons
The silver lining beyond the clouds of gray
Who picks up the fallen to kiss the tears away
It matters not if one has no gold or silver
It matters not if one has a palace or a castle
In earthly journey , a true friend is sublime
A true friend is a treasured gift from Divine
Be a friend as He clearly showed us how
His love is deep,wide unchanged then and now
Be assured He is Friend to one and all
Laid His life ,shared glory , life eternal
By Lynne ,
March 26, 2015
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500 MILES AWAY FROM HOME
I love that song . 500 miles away from home -meaning final home or earthly home . The latter being more likely .
You are correct, Mon, about the First Friday’s devotion . It means one would be given a chance to repent
Lynne
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There are people who have what they call” third eye”
| Dr Manuel Cruz De Leon, III (1945 – 2009) |
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Look for Manny in the photo
TEOFISTA VINAS-DIAZ WRITTEN BY HER SON (abridged)
Dr. Teofista Viñas, My Mother, My Inspiration
by Patrick Diaz
My mother passed away at the age of 37. At four years old, the life that was so fatally lost was the center of my universe, which I was only beginning to grasp.
My earliest memory in life was of my mother, and it took place when I was merely a few months old, at Jersey City, New Jersey, where we were living at the time before we moved a block away to Beacon Avenue. It was in the living room of the second floor, where I was bathed naked in both water and light, and in my mother’s soothing words. In my crude state of consciousness and my inability to speak, I still knew with utmost clarity what my mother’s words meant and they all meant one thing: love.
She always spoke with tenderness and patience to my inquiries and observations; there was a soothing calmness in the movement of her words. My mother was the perfect human expression of unconditional love.. We passed through a store in Orlando, Florida with an aquarium display, of which I have a vivid memory of a diorama inside it. It was of an old time scuba diver, struggling to free himself from the tentacles of an octopus. Perhaps that image impresses itself deeply upon me because it reflected the paradox of life which I would struggle with after the death of my mother: how one can exist, but not be alive. I was irreparably heartbroken and sinking, at only four years old
At the start of every year in elementary school, we were asked by our teacher about our classmates who lost their mothers at an early age I felt, for the first time, that I wasn’t alone in my loss, that through art I would be able to channel my fear, pain, loneliness, and anger, and hopefully create something beautiful.
I began volunteering in Habitat after September 11, 2001 as a way of coping with all the destruction that took place in Manhattan just across the river. At an early age I was haunted by my crippling sense of inadequacy that perhaps I wouldn’t be able to give as much love to others since I didn’t receive much of it growing up.
In my travels volunteering for Habitat, I think about my own mother, who achieved brilliant success in a career as a doctor, and who was never in want financially, but, from what others have told me, was always exceedingly generous and giving. She studied medicine in the Philippines, and, on her first try, passed the medical exam to earn the right to practice medicine in the United States; I learned to see with immense gratitude how fortunate my mother was in her own upbringing, and how she passed down to me all the rewards of her fortune, both inherited and self-made. I express through my volunteer work that gratitude for having a wonderful and perfect mother for four years.
A relative told me my mother had a regal presence about her. My mother was very beautiful. There is an air of sophistication, style, and class about her, fully independent and free-spirited, and it is always difficult to reconcile that with the down-to-earth, modest and plain-demeanored, inscrutable and enigmatic, and an unconditionally loving image I have of her. It seems like she sacrificed all those fashionable, prominent trappings of success to take on the humble and demanding role of a parent, to become my mother. She was so young, but she seemed so ancient in her wisdom and tenderness. To me, she was simply my mother. My mother has a place in all the homes that I have helped build around the country. She will always be frozen in time at the still youthful age of 37
One of the last memories I have of my mother was when the entire Viñas family took a road trip down to Florida to go to Walt Disney World, a few months before she died. There is a massive hotel lobby through which the monorails pass on either side, framing a giant vertical mural. Two of my cousins, my mother, and I sat on a bench directly below that abstract mural waiting, for what I cannot remember. I stared up for a long time at the high ceiling, transfixed, at a Mickey Mouse balloon floating up there
—-From Charles Dunifer (See below)
My brother’s Thanksgiving dinner: (From left: Fe (his wife), Jing (my sister), Eric N, Nestor (my brother), me and Sylvia (my daughter)
James’ sister Emilie on the left in a PMANE party. My two paintings above it: “Vase of flowers” on top and “Covered bridge” below it.
Center: Mini F and Emilie Z in Philippine Medical Association meeting
Sister Jing, Daughter Sylvia, a Filipino doctor, me and Luzbella at her huge picnic.
Post CABG 19 .Inducted President of
SOPEC Medical Lions Club. July 17,2016.next day is her BDay.
Congratulations, President Nora Dalman-Holipas! ————-
Dante Ragasa became president of APPA (Association of Philippine Physicians, Inc)
Dr. Dante A Ragasa is a Pathology Specialist in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. He graduated with honors in 1970. Having more than 46 years of diverse experiences, especially in PATHOLOGY, Dr. Dante A Ragasa affiliates with no hospital, and cooperates with other doctors and specialists in medical group Professional Service Fund Of Deborah Heart And Lung Center.—————————————————————————-
SPSA (Society of Phil . Surgeons in America ) celebrated their Sapphire anniversary 2017 and elected Corazon (Bing) Panlilio Quiroz their President.—————————————–
Cheers to USTMD70 in 2016…..the year of the Presidents!
THE OUTSTANDING THOMASIAN FAMILY
Message of Gratitude
by Dr. Apolonio L. Lasala
I do not remember having had a better pleasure than this, to address this august body of Thomasian luminaries this evening, feeling humbled but at the same time, extremely honored for our family to receive this special award, The Outstanding Thomasian Family Award ! Praise God!
We cannot find the perfect words to express how we really feel about the award. But please allow me, in behalf of my wife, our children , children- in- law and grand children, to extend my sincerest thanks and gratitude to our beloved Alma Mater, the University of Santo Tomas and to the UST Alumni Association, Inc., for having bestowed upon our family, this prestigious Award.
The TOTAL Award as we understand is given by the UST and the USTAAI to a family where the head of the family, the wife and children are all Thomasians.
Along that line, We consider our family a full blooded Thomasian family, because , except for one , our sons and daughters -in- law are also Thomasians.
A brief glance at our family:
- I graduated Doctor of Medicine,’70 at UST, had my private practice at USTH, a faculty member at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Department of Surgery for 36 years , and retired Full Professor 1 in 2011.
- Eva graduated BS Nursing ,’70 and MA in Nursing at UST Graduate School; she worked at USTH from 1971 to 2003 , a total of 321/2 years ; became a faculty member of UST College of Nursing 2003- 2013 ( 10 years ) , and retired in 2013 with the rank of Asst. Professor 3.
– We got married at the (UST)Santissimo Rosario Parish Church
– We are blessed with five healthy and adorable children , all born
at USTH ( all by Cesarean section).
Had their education at UST.
(From Prep until they graduated)
– Alfred , Doctor of Medicine
– Bernard, Civil Engineer
– Carolyn, Doctor of Medicine
– Dorothy, Doctor of Medicine, and
– Apolonio, Jr. – Doctor of Medicine
We renewed our marriage vows on our 25th Wedding Anniversary on Jan. , 1996 here in UST. Celebrated our 40th Anniversary on Jan. 2006; then, our 45th Anniversary last Jan., 2016. God permits, we wish to renew our marriage vows here in UST on our 50th wedding anniversary.
For now, Eva and I feel so blessed knowing that our children are all doing good in their respective chosen careers and in their family life. We feel so confident seeing them raise a Christ-centered family… having a prayerful life, teaching their children compassion and already involving their children in missions and work with the poor at an early age. Truly, we feel so secure for our old age as we experience the love of our children with their respective spouses and children. We cannot thank God enough for this wonderful family and for His bountiful blessings.
Again, thank you very much to our beloved UST and USTAAI for the award ! And to you all here present, Salamat po !
We pray that with God’s unending grace, our family will be able to exemplify the Thomasian core values we learned and, through our ways, be able to inspire the younger generation to do as well.
As one author says, ” What we learn, we teach, What we get, we give”..
PROUD TO BE THOMASIANS! Thank you and TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
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RESPONSE IN BEHALF OF ALL TOTAL AWARDEES,2016
By Dr. Apolonio L. Lasala,M.D.
Very Rev.Fr. Napoleon Sipalay, Jr. O.P., Vice Chancelor, University of Santo Tomas,
Very Rev. Fr. Herminio V. Dagohoy,O.P., the Father Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas, Engr. Frederick Parayno, USTAAI President, Mr. Henry S. Tenedero, Chairperson, 2016 Screening Awards Committee, Atty. Jack Castaneda, VIce President, USTAAI, Mr. John Simon, Head, Program Committee,
Asst. Prof. Cherry Tanodra, Director, Office of Alumni Relations, Deans, Regents , Presidents of Alumni Association of the different Faculties and Colleges of the University of Santo Tomas, TOTAL Awardees, 2016, our Professors and Mentors, Fellow Thomasians, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening…
In behalf of the TOTAL Awardees, 2016, I wish to express our sincerest appreciation and gratitude to Rev. Fr. Rector Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P. and the UST Alumni Association, Incorporated, for the honors conferred upon us.
We are humbled but, at the same time, extremely honored to be chosen as recipients of the 2016 TOTAL Awards.
This award is truly priceless and so important to us, Awardees , because it symbolizes the recognition of our lifetime achievements.
I believe that what brought us here tonight are the qualities we gained over the years, during our formation in the different Centers of Excellence within the portals of our beloved Alma Mater, The Pontifical, Royal and Catholic University of Santo Tomas.
Yes, as we were raised in an institution with the Culture of Excellence and imbued with the Thomasian core values of Competence, Commitment and Compassion, we emerged fully geared to soar high and reach for our “Star”. Our sincere thanks to Fr. Rector for your inspired directions and charismatic leadership . Thank you deans, regents, faculty members, professors, mentors, whom we have looked up to as our role models of the 3 C’s. Our thanks also go to the administrative and technical staffs, and to the countless others who, in their own capacity, had helped us along the way. We cannot thank you enough.
To all the organizations , associations and the people we worked with, thank you.
To our respective families, our inspiration and strength, thank you for your love and support, and for being our prayer warriors.
To Mama Mary and St Joseph, thank you for unceasingly interceding for us.
And to our Almighty Father, who made everything possible,
To You Lord, be the glory!
In closing, please allow me to address my co-TOTAL Awardees, 2016.
As we step out tonight, carrying the Awards conferred upon us, let us ask ourselves, what is next? I hope that the awarding ceremony is not the end. I hope that all the TOTAL awardees, from 1993 up to the present, unite and forge a collaboration with the help of the Office of Alumni Relations and the UST Alumni Association Inc in order to foster the advocacies of the University and be the light of the coming generations of THOMASIANS. May we look forward with greater passion and continue to uphold and exemplify the legacy of our beloved UST and inspire the younger generations to do the same.
Thank you, Mabuhay Ang Tomasino!
Message of Gratitude
As recipient of TOTAL Award for Humanitarian Service,2016
Apolonio L. Lasala, M.D.
First of all, I must say my heart leaped with joy when I received the email of Engr. Frederick Parayno, President, USTAAI, with the enclosed letters of the very Rev. Fr. Rector Herminio V. Dagohoy, O.P., formally informing me that I have been chosen to be the recipient of The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni (TOTAL) Awards in Humanitarian Service for the year 2016. That joyful feeling became doubly intense when I learned that our family is also the recipient of TOTAL Awards-Family category. PRAISE GOD!
Truly, I feel humbled but extremely honored and excited to receive this TOTAL Award in Humanitarian Service . With all sincerity and grateful heart, I wish to thank The University of Santo Tomas and the UST Alumni Association, Inc. for this Award which is the “highest honor bestowed by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the UST Alumni Association, Inc. (USTAAI) upon the Thomasian Alumni, in recognition of their significant and exemplary contribution to the society and the Church.”
As I receive this award, please allow me to take this opportunity to thank, first and foremost, the UST for molding me into a full-blooded Thomasian Doctor imbued with the core values of Competence, Commitment and Compassion.
To name some of the countless people who walked with me, supported and helped me reach this stage in my life, my sincerest gratitude.
To Ms. Hazel Vera Tan, who nominated me for this TOTAL awards, ;
To the Screening Committee headed by Mr. Henry S. Tenedero, to the Board of Trustees of USTAAI, headed by Engr. Frederick Parayno and
To the Office of Fr, Rector Magnificus Herminio V. Dagohoy,O.P., for approval, Thank you for having chosen me to be the recipient of the TOTAL Award for Humanitarian Services.
My thanks to the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery , Department of Surgery, to the late Dr. Domingo Antonio ,Jr and the late Dr. William Barlett, who appointed me as Faculty member in the Department of Surgery; to my former mentors , who may not be here now but am sure they are all happy for my achievements.
To my other mentors, Dr. Fernando Parreno, Dr. Cresencio Abes , Dr. Angel Agbulos, Dr. Willie Lagdameo, Dr. Florentino C. Doble , and to all my colleagues and co-workers who continue to inspire me up to this time.
Thank you.
My gratitude goes to all the organizations , its officers, team leaders, Fr. Regents, and members of all the mission teams I had worked with in the service to our countrymen, especially the poor and the marginalized :
UST Medical Missions
USTMedical Alumni Association
Manila Medical Association,
Philippine Medical Association
Philippine College of Surgeons
International College of Surgeons
Philippine -American Group of Educators and Surgeons (PAGES)
ICSA-Philippine Section
Catanduanes International Association
Couples for Christ
Gawad Kalinga
CFC-ANCOP
At this point, I want to give tribute and thanks to my late mother, Juanita Lasala , who worked hard to give me good life and good education and, likewise, to my dear father, Alfredo Lasala. Am sure they are both very happy and proud watching me hold up this award for my achievements. Salamat po Inay at Tatay!
To my best friend and lovely wife, Eva, and dearest children, Alfred,Bernard, Ma. Carolyn, Dorothy Marie and Apolonio, Jr., you all deserve my deepest gratitude for giving me your unconditional love, understanding and support in all my undertakings.
My thanks to the patients who bravely entrusted themselves to us. Yes, they are the reason for whom Medical Missions and other outreach programs are done. Salamat po!
Above all, my deepest gratitude to our Almighty Father and Eternal God for giving me the grace to spend the best years of my life serving people, especially the poor and the marginalized. He is, in fact, the author of this all, so I offer this award to Him. To God be the glory!
In closing, I pray that God give us all many more years to uphold the legacy of our beloved University and that we, TOTAL AWARDEES, be an inspiration to the young generations coming after us.
Salamat po ! Mabuhay Ang Tomasino!
Carnival ride and candy floss
Stop the world, I want to get off
One red king and one blue queen
And two white pawns for a sweet sixteen
Throw your money, hedge your bet
Is election season over yet?
SPIRITUAL NOTES by FRED N
Jan. 30, 2008
Good spiritual thoughts seem to arise spontaneously from nowhere. Actually, they are whispers from God. They can come even if you seem troubled or active. You do not have to be in a quiet, peaceful state for them to come, although it will be easier to notice them and respond properly if one were in a quiet, peaceful frame of mind. They can come unexpectedly, “soto voce;” in which case one must cultivate a receptiveness to God’s promptings in order not to miss these many times unexpected, split second, and subtle signs These most precious nudges from God are like tender touches that lovers frequently exchange with one another because they enjoy each other’s company and closeness. They are rewards for frequently trying to live in God’s presence. Then it turns out that “constantly thinking of God and being aware of His continuous care and love no longer seems a difficult, if not impossible, way of living.” This state of bliss (of consolation) I find, oftentimes alternates with states of spiritual desolation; so much so, that I have come to anticipate this alternation. I have learned that feeling close to God is no sign that I am good and holy; rather that it is a free gift from God. And so also are times when I do not feel God’s closeness but feel miserable or very attracted to unholy matters. I remind myself that such states of feeling are also valuable gifts from God, and so I many times manage to be grateful to Him for them too. Then I remember Jesus in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed to His Father to spare Him from the coming suffering, but soon embraced it all with His words “not My will but Thine be done.” I, too, pray and try to do the same. I think of these things when I hear that others manage to be happy even when their lives appear to be filled with suffering and misery. But then, of course I eventually realize that Jesus taught us by His life that the way to true and eternal happiness is through suffering and love. Suffering and happiness are two sides of the same coin, but suffering must come first. I must receive the strength to suffer from God, so I pray for it. Because of Original Sin, we all must suffer. I pray and struggle that I may transcend the suffering part and attain the happiness part.
Sept. 13, 2008
In His life on earth, what did Jesus mean by being “glorified?” He is glorified as He follows the Will of His Father. He shows He is “One with the Father” in His obedience (love) to the Father.
“The hour has come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit.
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause I came unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. A voice therefore came from heaven. I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
Oct. 24, 2008
From the above excerpts from the New Testament learn more of (and deeper) the meaning of “glory.”
Consider the whole meaning of my “acts.” Since I am both spirit and material, there are both spiritual and material aspects to my acts. Logically speaking. first there is the spiritual movement, which involves my realizing a need for my action, for a spiritual decision. Then there comes the material action that follows or accompanies the spiritual component (motivation). Maybe these considerations help me understand and correctly appreciate the spiritual value of The Little Flower’s little (and many times, invisible) acts of charity. That spiritual motivation can be vastly more significant that the material action. “Little” things can thereby be very great things in God’s sight. Hence, to live a life as full as possible of God’s love, it helps a lot to live as quiet a life as possible consistent with one’s obligations. The “quietness” makes it easier to pay attention to the “motivation”.
Nov. 19, 2008
Here are some ideas that may help me gain a greater understanding of My Lord God. Maybe, for His intellectual creatures, as part of the process by which they come to enjoy His Presence, He tests them all. The Tradition, the Bible, writings of His Holy Ones, all these things mean that they were tested. It makes sense too. If we understand that suffering is one means of testing us, this insight will help somewhat explain the mystery of suffering. Many of us wonder why even innocent people suffer. Maybe suffering is not meant to be the end of the story.
Dec. 8, 2008
Discuss concepts of beings, like God, material beings, spiritual beings, fields of force in physics, ideas, order in different kinds of beings, mathematical beings, thoughts. All these can manifest their existence by having effects on other beings, or the recognition of our ability to distinguish one kind from another, etc. Go through what other thinkers have written about them.
Dec. 10, 2008
As I started walking toward the toilet door after using the toilet at about 11:00 AM, I felt a surge of joy, peace, ineffable happiness because I felt so deeply grateful for the goodness of God, for the grace of feeling being in His Presence. My joy kept increasing as I walked out of the toilet-It actually overwhelmed me so that I felt I could not stand the pleasure as it kept growing, it felt well beyond my control, I could not contain it, and wondered whether I would die because of it. The joy was the result of feeling that God allowed me to experience His close Presence. I was crying for joy and happiness, (much more intensely than what I sometimes experience at Mass) and felt somewhat out of this world, but not entirely, since I was somewhat aware of where I was as I walked out of the toilet toward the foyer. In the foyer I slowly fell on my knees in adoration and thanksgiving to God while I was feeling these things. Towards the end, I did not care whether Mini was around and saw me. At the peak of the experience, I was not aware of boundaries of space and time. I felt I was in the happy, somewhat luminous world of heavenly spirits in the company of God. I thought that this was happening to me not because I deserved it, but rather, despite my sinfulness, it was entirely because of the infinite graciousness of God towards me, and this increased appreciation of God’s goodness fed my love, joy and gratitude.
After several minutes I gradually returned to my usual awareness of the world, but remained shaken, somewhat in disbelief that I really underwent such an experience, but filled with gratitude, I kept thanking God, felt very humbled and prayed for all the people and causes I usually pray for. I applied some of the insights I gained from St. Ignatius’ “discernment of spirits,” and I therefore thought the experience was probably from the Spirit of God.
This was just the second time something “half-out-of-this-world” experience happened to me. The first time was when I was meditating in the company of my fellow Jesuit novices during the first year of my two-year novitiate at Novaliches, Philippines. I told my novice-master, Fr. McCann, about the event. However, this second time was much more intense than the first. Since spiritual consolations and desolations usually alternate, I braced myself for the soon to come desolations for which this remarkable consolation was given to strengthen me to fight and endure them. I prayed for help.
Jan. 20, 2009
God loves me. I can probably correctly infer that He has, analogously, affection for me. Incredible! Maybe I am beginning to understand His revelation of His love symbolized by His Sacred Heart ablaze with love.
Feb. 23, 2009
What did Jesus man by: “The light will be among you a little longer. Continue on your way while you have the light, so that the darkness will not come upon you; for the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Believe in the light, then, while you have it, so that you will be the people of the light. After Jesus said this, he went off and hid himself from them. Even though he had performed all these miracles in their presence, they did not believe in him, so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true: “Lord, who believed the message we told? To whom did the Lord reveal His power?” And so they were not able to believe, because Isaiah also said, “God has blinded their eyes and closed their minds, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not understand, and they would not turn to me, says God, for me to heal them.”
Words and sights can have multiple meanings, and their meanings applicable to a given situation may remain obscure, or may glow with brilliance and clarity, depending on how they are illuminated by God’s grace. Be spiritually disposed, humble, to be receptive to God’s grace, and pray for mercy to become more like him.
taboc 