Back in Action

"As every mandate of grace that is sent by a king passes through the palace gates, so does every grace that comes from Heaven to the world pass through the hands of Mary..."

PLAYING THEM SONGS: I was walking through wal mart this afternoon and they already had freaking christmas songs playing! I couldnt believe it, which means its coming sooner than we know it. Elizabeth told me she gone done 85% of her shopping done this past weekend. I wish I was 85% done myself, but despite the ugly stores and parking lots, I still like the whole rush of the christmas season. Last year was hard cuz I had only one job and was only getting paid once a month, so it was a little bit harder to budget things. On top of that we had to go to vegas for my sister's 21st birfday, so it even made it more difficult. With two jobs this year, hopefully it'll be a little easier. Christmas is coming reallllllly soon!

BUSY WEEKEND: THis past weekend was a busy one, but it was real nice. It's been a while where I went out both fri. and saturday nite, usually I juss one of the two. I like to try and make the effort to stay home at least one nite of the weekend, though sometimes it ends up being both. The nice thing bout it is that I can juss chill and when I'm tired I can juss knock out and sleep. I was off of work on friday, tha worked out perfectly slept in till about almost 11am. CHilled at home watched tv, it was weird being at home that early in the morning. Had lunch w/tonz at the cheesecake factory then came back home in time for work at church. That was a long evening...retreat planning meeting and then afterwards came home and juss crashed. SAturday went to the stuff the bulletins at work, then brooklyn's birfday party. It was nice chillin w/fam again, played musical chairs. Melissa and I had a nice convo bout her current rcia journey. At her parish cuz its so small they do rcia mentors, almost like a tutoring session. You meet w/an rcia team memember one on one, go over text readings and share. I also rode on the back of a motorcycle for the first time, thas pretty crazy stuff. Gens party up in north hollywood that evening, thas a hella far drive. By the time we got there I was already tired. Thanks to reirich for picking me up, it was nice seeing that guy again. Thank God fred was willing to drive up there...cuz dang.

FEELIN THE JAMS: I love how certain groups can do old cover song jams and it sounds so sweet. For example I couldnt stop listening to next phaze's stevie b cover 'dream about you.' Yeah, its those songs taht you can listen to over and over again. Ha I'm currently listening to some boy band group who's redoing the cover to swv's weak. What I've been really feeling is joyce's group 'the voices of mater dei' maaan their songs are juss wow! You should check out their myspace page cuz the songs really allow you to feel that presence of God. There's this one song by josh groban called, 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring.' THen I found this live version of Jason Mraz's 'Im yours.' Music is d0pe, it's one of those great gifts from God. I think without music the world would be a little dull.

SHORT WEEK: NExt week is a short week and thanksgiving is already which means two things: one, the month of november is almost over and two, christmas is almost hurr!! Inside walmart they had a sign posted with a countdown to the number of days to thanksgiving. Im excited cuz I only have to work mon. and tues. at the skool and I'll be off until the following monday. As for the rectory, Im working almost a full week but it's not that bad I know it'll be real chill. Gosh the holidays are coming up and you can juss feel it, too bad the weather isn't a little cooler in the mornings/afternoons though.

STARTED IT: Even though christmas shopping doesnt exaclty officially start until the day after thanksgiving, I had to taken advantage of the sales at macys. Macys had their 1 day sale where they had TONS of things on sale! You were able to get an extra 40% off of the already reducded price. On my way to work I stopped by the cerritos mall one and they didnt have anything good, so I went to the westminister one and dannng went crazy! I alreayd got my mom's christmas gift, which a relief cuz my parents are the most difficult people to shop for. See, whenever I go christmas shopping, I usually try to get my family out of the way first before I buy anyone else. I was hoping to find somehitng nice for my sister and my godson too, but couldnt find anything.

CONFIRMATION: This year I'm really grateful to God for the kids He's given me. THey may not be the most responsive yet, but at least they're real mellow and chill. It helps make running the class a lot smoother. However, the only thing I dislike about this year is doing the 15 min. universal praise & worship in the hall. The songs we sing are gay cuz they're very childish, 'yo ho yo ho a catholic life for me!' or how bout 'this is GOd's world after all.' I mean cmon, these kids are in jr. high and high skool not 1st and 2nd graders where they'll appreciate it more. I guess theyre in the process of changing the songs, but Id actually perfer to spend that extra 15 min. in juss contemplative prayer with them or juss praying the rosary or doing my own praise & worship in my room. On a more positive note, I had a good time with caroline last nite discussing bout things from our class at in n out. I suggsted her, felipe, and I should switch classes once a month and juss do something different. Each of us brings something different to our classes so it would be coo for hte kids to get a different flava. Lately I feel like all I've bene doing is lecturing where in the other two classes they're doing more group project intereaction...maybe cuz I work in a classroom 5 hours a day and I hate hearing all the noise.

POWERFUL STATEMENTS: Last week Fr. Johnny had a really good homily bout the poor widow giving all she had. In biblical times apparently women in general had no voice, the man did. When the husband would pass away, the widow had two opitions to either go back to her family(if they would accept her) or marry her brother in law. Most of the time they would end up becomign poor and on the street. Anyway, this widow made a powerful statement despite the fact she had no 'voice.' Check it:

STATEMENT OF GRATITUDE: The widow made a statement of gratitude to God. Acknowledging eerrthang she has been given, errthang she has is from God and will go back to God. What very little she had, she knew it came from God and therefore gave it back to Him. All and errthang comes from God, anything we share is a reflection of God's goodness to us. THe question is how often do we recgonzie the presence of God in our own daily lives? The treasures around us-family, friends, the sky, sun, clouds etc. the talents we have, the gifts God has blessed us with how do we use it?

STATEMENT OF PRIORITY: Before whenever the farmers would get their first harvest they would present it on the altar. Its a belief and understanding God has priority in their lives. Is God a priority in my life? Usually when we give, we give out of our abuduance, rather from our essence. In the midst of her poverty-the widow gave errthang even her source of future because she knew God was a priority. Give back to Godd whatever and wherever we are.

STATEMENT OF FAITH: The widow in the first reading shared with eljiah what little bread she had. In her geneorisity she made a statement of faith. IF we start sharing our jars of oils, our filter will never run dry. God will take care of us. God challenges us to be generous, look into our giving whether its our time, talent, or treasure and make a statement of gratitude, priority, and faith.

DANCING WITH: As I mentioned in a previous entry, Ive been watching dancing with teh stars off and on this year. Its really similar to 'So you think you can dance' except people are paired up with celebs. Anyway, it came down to the final two couple for tonite's grand finale and why was I pissed cuz emit smith won it?! Honestly now, that guy can't dance for crap. Mario is a waay better dancer and should've taken it. His freestyle performance was pretty d0pe, obvoiusly you can tell that he's got the rhythym to move. I dont know I was pretty dissapointed that emit smith won, I should've watched it last nite and called up to vote for mario.



Another busy weekend ahead!

"This is what it is to be loved. And to know that the promise was when everything fell we’d be held..." im done, im out God bless!