Cebu Inspirations

  I, John, saw another angel rising where the sun rises, carrying the seal of the living God; he called in a powerful voice to the four angels whose duty was to devastate land and sea, ‘Wait before you do any damage on land or at sea or to the trees, until we have put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.’ Then I heard how many were sealed: a hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel.

  After that I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted aloud, ‘Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels who were standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the elders and the four animals, prostrated themselves before the throne, and touched the ground with their foreheads, worshipping God with these words, ‘Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.’

  One of the elders then spoke, and asked me, ‘Do you know who these people are, dressed in white robes, and where they have come from?’ I answered him, ‘You can tell me, my lord.’ Then he said, ‘These are the people who have been through the great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.’

( Apocalypse 7:2-4,9-14 )

R.         Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.   

    The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

  the world and all its peoples.

It is he who set it on the seas;

  on the waters he made it firm.

R.        Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord. 

       Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

  Who shall stand in his holy place?

The man with clean hands and pure heart,

  who desires not worthless things.

R.        Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord. 

 He shall receive blessings from the Lord

  and reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the men who seek him,

  seek the face of the God of Jacob.

R.        Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.

(   Psalm 23(24):1-6  )

  Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,

  by letting us be called God’s children;

  and that is what we are.

Because the world refused to acknowledge him,

  therefore it does not acknowledge us.

My dear people, we are already the children of God

  but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;

all we know is, that when it is revealed

  we shall be like him

  because we shall see him as he really is.

Surely everyone who entertains this hope

  must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.

(    1 John 3:1-3   )

  Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

‘How happy are the poor in spirit;

  theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy the gentle:

  they shall have the earth for their heritage.

Happy those who mourn:

  they shall be comforted.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right:

  they shall be satisfied.

Happy the merciful:

  they shall have mercy shown them.

Happy the pure in heart:

  they shall see God.

Happy the peacemakers:

  they shall be called sons of God.

Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right:

  theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.’ 

(     Matthew 5:1-12a   )

     After Jesus was taken up into heaven the apostles went back from the Mount of Olives, as it is called, to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a sabbath walk; and when they reached the city they went to the upper room where they were staying; there were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude son of James. All these joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 

(         Acts 1:12-14       )

R.       

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.   

      My soul glorifies the Lord,

  my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.

R.       

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

     He looks on his servant in her nothingness;

  henceforth all ages will call me blessed.

The Almighty works marvels for me.

  Holy his name!

R.       

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father. 

     His mercy is from age to age,

  on those who fear him.

He puts forth his arm in strength

  and scatters the proud-hearted.

R.      

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

 He casts the mighty from their thrones

  and raises the lowly.

He fills the starving with good things,

  sends the rich away empty.

R.      

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He protects Israel, his servant,

  remembering his mercy,

the mercy promised to our fathers,

  to Abraham and his sons for ever.

R.      

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

(        Luke 1:46-55      )

     The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her. 

(         Luke 1:26-38        )

      On the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, Mary’s attitude teaches us today to trust in her intercession through the recitation of the Holy Rosary. What appears to be humanly impossible through our own human efforts can be achieved through the grace Mary can obtain for all of life’s battles, whether they be interior or exterior. 

 The trust we show by praying the Holy Rosary is a sign through which we recognize that God works through us and around us and, through Mary’s intercession, we can cultivate a “higher objective in life”. To believe is actually to give credit to the One who can do all things, to accept His help, to recognize that we cannot do everything on our own, to entrust ourselves to Him even when His plans do not correspond to ours, to the point of offering ourselves with trust: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word”. 

 A lesson we can draw from this Gospel text is to learn from Mary and with Mary how to trust God’s time. This time consists even of silence, waiting, patience. We live in the era of the “here and now”. This is chronos – human time, measured in hours, by what we accomplish each day. It is time that is consumed voraciously, superficially, hurriedly, almost like a disposable good. Then there is chairos – the “proper or perfect moment”, the opportune time, capable of qualifying any moment. It is the time that savors time, that seeks to go the bottom of things so they bear fruit at the appointed time. It is seeking to live with quality every encounter, every experience because it is the time of love, of listening, of paying attention to others. It is the time in which each person doesn’t let life pass him or her by, but in which choices are made, opportunities for growth are seized, knowing how to create and be recreated since this is what gives meaning to existence. This is the time in which to live and to dwell in love. Mary teaches us how to live in this type of time. She teaches us to allow ourselves to stop the frenetic rhythm of life to discover how to savor the things of God. 

(  click here for full write-up on above. )

     The sanctuary of God in heaven opened and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it.

  Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign appeared in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it as soon as it was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had made a place of safety ready.

  Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ.’
  

(      Apocalypse 11:19,12:1-6,10        )

R.           (10bc) The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
    

      (10) The  queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir. 

 R.         The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
     

      (11) Hear , O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father’s house. 

 R.         The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
  

   (12) So  shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord. 

R.         The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

  (16) They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king. 

R.         The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

 (       Psalm 44(45):10-12,16     ) 

Ref: https://catholicreadings.org/1508202-6/

   Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet.  

(         1 Corinthians 15:20-26         )    

    Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

  And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

and my spirit exults in God my saviour;

because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,

for the Almighty has done great things for me.

Holy is his name,

and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of his arm,

he has routed the proud of heart.

He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy

– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –

of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

(           Luke 1:39-56        )    

(Click here for music video)     

  [Verse 1]
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
And my spirit exalts in God my Savior
For He has looked with mercy on my lowliness
And my name will be forever exalted
For the mighty God has done great things for me
And His mercy will reach from age to age

[Chorus]
And holy, holy, holy is His name

[Verse 2]
He has mercy in every generation
He has revealed His power and His glory
He has cast down the mighty in their arrogance
And has lifted up the meek and the lowly
He has come to help His servant Israel
He remembered His promise to our fathers

[Chorus]
And holy, holy, holy is His name
Holy, holy, holy is His name 

      This report was produced by Team B of the RedNuns Cebu Web. It discusses the sense of the Holy Spirit and the way of living the mystery of redemption by the Redemptoristine Nuns. In Pentecost, God speaks and sends; In the Redemptoristine vocation, the heart listens and accepts. The Holy Spirit forms hearts in love for the Redeemer and for the salvation of the world. For the Redemptoristines, the Spirit dwells within, and the love is inward and sustains the mission of the Church. Click here to read the report.

      Lyrics:  

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiæ, 

vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve 

Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevæ 

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes 

in hac lacrimarum valle.  

Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte; 

Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, 

nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. 

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.  

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, 

Hail our life, our sweetness and our hope. 

To thee do we cry, Poor banished children of Eve; 

To thee do we send up our sighs, Mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.  

Turn then, most gracious advocate, Thine eyes of mercy toward us; 

And after this our exile, 

Show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. 

 Song Title: Salve Regina Artist(s): Anonymous Publisher: Public Domain  

     My Peace I Give Unto You 

It’s A Peace That The World Cannot Give

It’s A Peace That The World Cannot Understand 

Peace To Know Peace To Live

My Peace I give unto you.

My Joy I Give Unto You 

It’s A Joy That The World Cannot Give

It’s A Joy That The World Cannot Understand 

Joy To Know Joy To Live

My Joy I give unto you.

My Love I Give Unto You 

It’s A Love That The World Cannot Give

It’s A Love That The World Cannot Understand 

Love To Know Love To Live

My Love I give unto you.

Composer:  Keith Routledge

      How to pray the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy: 

1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, and The Apostles Creed. 

2. Then on the Our Father Beads say the following: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and the Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. 

3. On the 10 Hail Mary Beads say the following: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (Repeat step 2 and 3 for all five decades). 

4. Conclude with (three times): Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.  Optional Closing Prayer: Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. 

 Jesus' Words to Sister Faustina, as recorded in The Diary of St. Faustina: "Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Anyone who says it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as the last hope. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this Chaplet even once, will receive grace from My Infinite Mercy. I want the whole world to know My Infinite Mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My Mercy...." 

(Click here for Chaplet video: <https://youtu.be/HKlOLyYs3Os>)