How halloween came to be...

It's five days to Halloween and everybody is freakingly preparing for this night of crazy fun and enjoyment. Everybody is excitedly getting ready with their weirdest, scariest, freakingly awesome halloween costumes. But before we get carried away by its magic and splendor, let me tell you a story of how it came to be...

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days.

Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the Celts. The Celts worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god as their favorite. It was "he" who commanded their work and their rest times, and who made the earth beautiful and the crops grow.

The Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated every year with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness and cold."

On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). The Druids would light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin.


When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their fires to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits.


The November 1st festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en"). The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would become the first Halloween.

During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. They brought with them many of their festivals and customs. One of these was the festival know as Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits and gardens. It was also celebrated around the 1st of November. After hundreds of years of Roman rule the customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day mixed becoming 1 major fall holiday.

The next influence came with the spread of the new Christian religion throughout Europe and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church would make November 1st a church holiday to honor all the saints. This day was called All Saint's Day, or Hallowmas, or All Hallows. Years later the Church would make November 2nd a holy day. It was called All Souls Day and was to honor the dead. It was celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up as saints, angels and devils.

But the spread of Christianity did not make people forget their early customs. On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31, people continued to celebrate the festivals of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years the customs from all these holidays mixed. October 31st became known as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallow's Eve, Hallowe'en, and then - Halloween.

The Halloween we celebrate today includes all of these influences, Pomona Day's apples, nuts, and harvest, the Festival of Samhain's black cats, magic, evil spirits and death, and the ghosts, skeletons and skulls from All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day.

...a Gift, Not a Reward.

Just about everyone who ends up listening to the Mass celebrant's homily today has almost certainly been baptized in spirit and made some kind of commitment to walking in the Lord's footsteps from now on.

Ideally speaking, that would mean to say that all the parts of our lives should be well integrated and in full alignment with one another.

For example, our conduct in the parish parking lot after Mass should match the way of living we prayed about just minutes earlier.

Furthermore, the conduct in our household, the business practices, and the private lives that we have for the day should be well aligned and matched with our faith commitment and the example of Jesus.

To make it short, our deeds and actions for the day should match the words of faith that we have kept to ourselves.

But the way i look at it, that's not the way it works with us in reality.

Because whether we admit it to ourselves and to others, there are locked rooms in everyone of us; sometimes they are full of secrets; sometimes their contents maybe even well known to all, but still locked in any case, and cut off from the rest of the "house"- that is our very own life.

Our goal therefore, as we strive and struggle to grow more holy and more whole is to open those rooms, face what's inside, and re-align what's in there to match what's best in us.

It may even take a lifelong process, one that in fact will not be finished even the day when we face our death.

Thus, as we face the Lord after we've taken our last breath after a lifetime of labor, we should not to say, "Lord, I've come to claim my reward." Rather, we must say, "Lord, I've come to receive your gift."

We should know better now that more than anything else in Heaven's sake, the eternal life we have always hoped for, remains a gift that our Father wants to give us, not because we've earned it but because He gives it to us as His gift but not His reward.


Happy Friday to all .....

super hero

Today is the feast day of St Luke and as the day's event went on, it came to pass that i will be the one to cook for the day's festivity.

The whole morning was spent at the kitchen preparing for the 1:20Pm Main meal. I have been used to the routine in the kitchen as i have been doing it for almost seven years now. work in the kitchen is physically demanding as the one assigned to cook and prepare for the main meal must prepare six kinds of foods to be served at table. Newcomers find the work taxing, burdensome and problematic, but for Seniors like me, working as cook entails no big deal...

The main meal went on as scheduled. After the main meal, monks assigned to do other kitchen works like dishwashing, stove cleaning, and refectory clean-ups did their job. During this time, monks are allowed to talk and make conversations while the work is being performed. It lasts until 2:10Pm, then afterwards, silence is imposed and everybody should stop from whatever interesting topics or stories they may have engaged into, in order to resume the silent mode of the community.

After the main meal and during their washing-of-dishes and refectory-works, I received comments of approval and commendations from the monks about the foods served at table. The monks, especially the Whites and Mexicans, are usually vocal in what they feel about the food they eat at table.

And from the words and phrases I received from them, one struck me. And in some point, it moved me and gave an emotional impact upon me.

He said: "brother Lawrence, the chicken was very delicious. You are my super hero who saved me from my hungry palate and my aching-starving stomach"...

The phrase was said in a jolly mood as the monk showed a striking smile in his face as he went away and went back to his work at the dishwashing area.

The incident made me think that in a community like mine, every one is a gift to every one...to be used for the good of the community and mankind!

And I think that to function well and answer to the expectations of the community , one has to be patient. One has to be forbearing.

Cooking for a big number of persons per se is not an easy job, and one must give himself to be able to do what is right and pleasing to everybody.

to end up my reflections for today, let me quote what someone has said: "Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them,cheer them, scream their names. And years later, they'll tell how they stood in the rain for hours---just to get a glimpse of the one...who taught them to hold on a second longer."

I believe there's a hero in all of us that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble and finally allows us to give ourselves selflessly for the welfare of others.

sign of progress?

Let me just show you what they did to the wilderness that i used to visit and spend my spare time during my monastic walks on free days and on holidays at the monastery!!!!!!....a sign of progress? maybe!

Salve Mater..A special devotion to Mother Mary

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but, in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

Some thoughts to ponder about our Blessed Mother....

Mary is the Mother of God and our Mother. This is the foundation of our firm confidence in her. Our Blessed Mother always listens to us.

Full of love for her children, our Blessed Mother watches over us and listens to us. Is there any better way to go to Jesus?

Mary was conceived without stain of sin. She remained most pure throughout her life. Now that her feast is approaching, we speak to her about holy purity. This is a virtue we should constantly learn to live, and teach others to live, following the example of Jesus and Mary.

The Virgin Mary attracts the hearts of Christians and keeps them close to Christ. As we try to draw others close to God, let us place this concern in the hands of our Blessed Mother. She will help us to turn our desires into apostolic deeds.

We do apostolate in and through our ordinary life. Our Lord gives us the necessary grace to show others the great value of our daily tasks. God waits for us in our ordinary work. He uses our ordinary life so that we may love Him more and so that we may bring others to love Him, too. In this we imitate Mary, our Mother.

Let us value the deep human dimension of apostolate. In our dealings with others, let us spread cheerfulness and human affection. This is especially important for those who have never heard a kind word nor received sincere Christian help.

Our miseries are great but the protection of our beloved Blessed Mother is even greater. God’s grace shines forth and triumphs in Mary. On our part, we use all the means so that divine grace enters our soul without any resistance or obstacle.