Thirsty Holy Thursday: Semana Santa

Oraciones: ♥Alabar♥ • ☼Gracias☼ • †Contrición† • ✌Petición✌

Vuélvanse a Díos porque el reino de Díos está cerca. ~ San Mateo 4, 17

Recuerdo la cruz y la sangre esta semana santa y siempre🙏🏽✌🏽️🕊

Prayers: Glory & Praise • Thanks • Contrition • Petition

Vuélvanse a Díos porque el reino de Díos está cerca. ~ San Mateo 4, 17

Remembering the cross & most precious blood this Holy Week and always⛪️💒💐

Must-See: Tyler Perry‘s The †Passion† Live: New Orleans on FOX this past Palm ☼Sunday☼

• My positive takeaways: familiar talent and soundtrack (which I added to my ♪iTunes♫ immediately) in relatable portrayal to modern-day life
• Added bonuses: Jencarlos♥ from Telenovela as JESUS and Prince Royce as Peter plus God’s Not Dead star Shane Harper

Speaking of which, God’s Not Dead II will be release soon!!!

• My favorite cast members who I grew up enjoying: Melissa Joan Hart (Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All, ABC Family’s Melissa & Joey) as teacher and Jesse Metcalfe♥ (NBC’s Passions, TNT’s Dallas, Hallmark Channel’s Country Wedding) as attorney plus Robin Givens and the Fresh Off  the Boat neighbor

♥These gifted gentlemen are on my celeb love list!

Happy Birthday to my BiG ♥Love♥ ♥ASIA♥ TODAY!!!

Motivational Monday: †Jesus Christ†

What better role model on Heaven and on Earth do we have out there than †JESUS CHRIST† Himself?

My R.E. students went through the Stations of the †Cross† to have an idea of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice

The man died for our sins and sits at the right hand of GOD. So much for American Idol and wherever else ~ we have our Ultimate Universe Idol!

Ms. Easygoing Evie made the perfect palm †cross† at our Passion ☼Sunday☼ Vigil

During Lent, I read Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard.

Killing †Jesus†: History (O’Reilly & Dugard, 2013) — NY: Holt.

• It made more sense out of scripture, as well as provided vivid descriptions based on the authors’ own first-hand observations of the Holy Land sites and their extensive research

• It humbled me to the point that I contemplated and appreciated the crucifixion even more (I actually teared up when I sang ♪Were You There♫ as cantor at Palm ☼Sunday☼ Mass)

Examples to Follow

• Jesus Christ ~ for being a nonconformist against status quo for the sake of promising ♥love♥, ☼hope☼ and †faith†  
• Mary, Mother of Jesus ~ for accepting GOD’s will by remaining pro-life and supporting her son
• Joseph the Worker ~ for providing for his family and teaching his son about their beliefs and hard work
• Mary Magdalene ~ for redeeming her past sins and remaining a loyal lifelong friend even after death

Must-See TV

• Finding Jesus on CNN
• Killing Jesus on FOX News
• A.D. The Bible Continues on NBC

Thirsty Thursday: Lessons of the Cross

Happy Easter Thursday!!!

Throwback Thursday: Celtic Cross w/Crown of Thorns & HOLY SPIRIT Dove (Philippians 4:13) ~ Fresh Ink as seen on Formal post

On Good Friday, I posted the Way of the Cross, so if you followed along, I invite you to consider how we can apply JESUS CHRIST‘s Passion to our own lives in the form of compassion for Him and His people.

[Stations in bold. Lessons in italics. (Some lessons are the same in different stations — if  you’ve learned other lessons, please care to share!]

1. JESUS is condemned to death. Accept criticism ~ We all have our own cross to bear.
2. JESUS is laden with the Cross. Accept accountability ~ We all can help solve problems. 
3. JESUS falls for the first time. PERSEVERE ~ DON’T give up, even in struggle. 
4. JESUS meets His mother. Seek comfort from others ~ We are not alone. 
5. JESUS is helped by Simon of Cyrene to carry the Cross. Render aid to those in need ~ We all can help. 
6. Veronica wipes the face of JESUS. Render aid to those in need ~ We all can help.
7. JESUS falls for the second time. PERSEVERE ~ DON’T give up, even in struggle. 
8. JESUS consoles the women of Jerusalem. Render aid to those in need ~ We all can help. 
9. JESUS falls for the third time. PERSEVERE ~ DON’T give up, even in struggle. 
10. JESUS is stripped of His garments. RESPECT ~ We all entered this world in purity. 
11. JESUS is nailed to the Cross. GOD is the only Judge ~ We need NOT bully or hate. 
12. JESUS dies on the Cross. Remember the LORD’s LOVE ~ He sacrificed for ALL of us. ♥ 
13. JESUS is taken down from the Cross. Consider others while they are still alive ~ We will all leave this Earth sometime.
14. JESUS is laid in the Holy Tomb. Sharing is caring ~ We all can spread the wealth of health, joy, peace & blessings, for as we were born with nothing but GOD’s LOVE, we will take nothing more than GOD’s LOVE when we depart. 

GOD Bless Y’all!!!

GOoD Friday

♪†JESUS, remember me, when you come into your Kingdom…♫

That message stays with me as I reflect on Christ on the cross. On this Good Friday, I encourage you to read along with me the Passion of the Lord, according to John ~ from the Book of John, Chapters 18-19 (John 18:1-19:42) and open up your mind, heart and soul. If tears stream down your face, like I’ve experienced, it shows your overflowing cup of faith in Him, that you too yearn to be His humble servant, and to know Him is to love Him. ♥

Here are the Stations of the Cross that I provided for my family last year. I included pictures that I took at Our Lady of San Juan del Valle and Holy Spirit Catholic Church in McAllen, Texas, my first home in the Rio Grande Valley.

Walk with JESUS

Way of the Cross

Happy Easter☼

Thirsty HOLY Thursday

According to my parish priest, Father Bush, #PTL stands for:

• Praise the LORD 
• Pretty Tough Lady 
• Please Talk Less 
• Push through LENT 

The first and the fourth of these are just what we’ve practiced since Ash Wednesday. When we encounter a problem, we ought to revisit the Passion of CHRIST and realize that JESUS had the heaviest cross that anyone ever has had to bear. Let His experience speak to us, so we too can reach humility.

Here are my Easter greetings this year. My family and friends to whom I sent these cards also received a Palm Sunday cross that I hope that they will keep as a reminder to PTL.

Now that we’ve reached these holiest of days until Easter Sunday, I’ve completed Rediscovering Catholicism, so here are my revelations and remaining realizations:

Holy Spirit Light Insights

While I have #loved & #lost, I’ll never #lose #GOD & His #love ~ so I shall always have #faith, #hope & love for Him. [my #main #insight through this #spiritual #journey — #loss doesn’t mean the #end of the #world because His #kingdom is to come]

This #HolyWeek, I’m #fasting from #complaining. While I do my best to be #positive, this is 1 way to stay that way, so I #challenge you to join me in this #fast! Imagine how much less #stress we’ll have if we look @ the #bright side & our #opportunities as long as we follow the #light of the #HolySpirit 🙂 ✌️☝️👏🙏😻😍😎🌞

• The task is simple: make NO #complaints until #EasterSunday 🌞 If you go that long then your #reward is this: you’re closer to #GOD for #basking in His #blessings rather than #bashing them as #burdens ❤ 🏆☝️🙏
• I’d like to think that I can #sustain & DON’T #complain past #Easter but we @ least can get through this during the week of the #Passion. #GODblessYou =D #MissYourFace ♡ ♡ ♡ #PraiseTheLORD #PushThroughLENT 👏✌️

Rediscovering Catholicism Conclusions

Chapter 16 on #Fasting reminds me that #happiness & #health come from #discipline + enlightens me of how #spirit must #reign over #body, meaning that to #fast, our #soul has a #feast w/ #GOD! 🙏👆

“#Reading is to the #mind what #exercise is to the #body and #prayer is to the #soul.” ~ from Chapter 17: #SpiritualReading 📖💡👣💃🙏💖

“A #mother has a #unique #perspective. Nobody sees the #life of a #child the way the child’s mother does — not even his #father.” ~ Chapter 18: The #Rosary • Although I greatly #admire my #dad yet seldom ever see eye-to-eye w/Nanay, I #resolve to #appreciate my #mom more. Both this #reading & my new #job have opened my #eyes to this piece of #wisdom! 👪🙏🌹

A few years ago, I expressed to Bishop Mike my interest in establishing a #CatholicSchool in #AbileneTX. Upon reading Chapter 19: #TimeForAChange, I feel more compelled that this may be #GOD’s #calling to me as an #educator… So if I #inspire anymore #advocates, we can #MakeItHappen in His time! 🙏💒🏤⏰🎓 & if anyone has doubt, anything is #possible if we #believe! ☝️✌️👏

As a #scholar pursuing my #PhD in #LeadershipStudies, Chapter 20 on #Leadership is consistent w/the #theories I did #study @ #OurLadyOfTheLakeUniversity: #genuine #AuthenticLeadership • #bold #bravery #courage #purpose #virtue • #ServantLeadership w/ #model #service #sacrifice to #inspire ~ so all of these indeed can be practiced @ #Church w/ our #vision to #MakeADifference! 🎓💒

This last Chapter 21, #Return to #Virtue points out that we don’t just eliminate #vices but so #live by these #moral #virtues to #lead a #good #life: #SupernaturalVirtues • #FAITH • #HOPE • #LOVE | #CardinalVirtues / #HumanVirtues • PRUDENCE • #JUSTICE • #TEMPERANCE • #FORTITUDE … So I #pledge to be more #humble & less #proud (my main tendency) ~ for #pride is the #ultimate #vice & my ultimate #goal is to be closer to #GOD!