5 Years in Consecrated Life

I almost forgot an important event in my life. It was May 15, 2012 when I, along with 10 companions, had our habit-taking and consecration to Mary. I don’t have a copy of my prayer when I consecrated myself to Mary. All I ask our Good Mother is to journey with me by “holding my hand”. I have to search my archived photos just to see what happened that day. I was offline for more than a year that year except the final Sunday of the month where we were given a chance to use the computer and internet for an hour. If you look at my blog post archives, I think I wrote about that too. Anyway, when I had the chance to log in to my Facebook, I changed my profile picture with me wearing my new soutane only to be received with shocked or/and amused friends with me wearing eyeglasses and smiling broadly. Yeah, that was the year when I started wearing spectacles.

2012 was such a memorable year to me and I think I need to write more about that time when I spent two years in the novitiate.

I am thinking of buying a basic phone to spend less time with my smartphone with battery problems. Besides, my Notebook PC is a basic laptop. This is for me to write more, read more, and spend more time in silence.

I am just happy I made it this far in my religious life. I almost quit that year. I’ve been thinking lately about that decision when I hesitated to start religious life.

Maybe people had prayed for me and my vocation. I am thankful for them.

And maybe Mama Mary is still holding my hand. And I still pray for her to hold my hand and let her lead me to her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

How to read Catholic books in three months?

I bought all these books (no, most of them) in a span of 10 months and I haven’t even finished one of them.

You’ll notice that all of them (except the two text books on the bottom) are Catholic books.

None of them are novels; some are collection of essays, reference materials, or devotional books. I cannot just read them on one or two sittings. I want to finish reading them all before the end of March. 

I don’t know if I can achieve my goal. But I’ll update and see if I can even write reviews of each of them. So please pray for me and I implore too the intercession of our Doctor Saints, especially St. Thomas Aquinas. 

Let’s do this!

The Best Catholic Podcasts of 2016

I posted a very dense movie review/self-reflection last night. I numbered and arranged them into 40 paragraphs. I’m inspired of writing another review on another topic. As I am typing this, I am listening to History of the Bible podcast via iTunes wherein the host, Garry Stevens, invited a guest from History of Papacy, Steve Guerra. They were talking about the Book of Revelation.  I have to admit I disagree with most of what they are saying like the anonymity of the gospel writers or the use of the term “Son of Man”. Though that’s the case, I have to admire their interest on the Bible. I don’t really know who they are but by listening to them, I can tell that they know a lot. Probably they are biblical scholars or just plain blokes who happen to read books and studies on biblical criticism.

I am mostly spending now my nights listening to podcasts as an alternate to the radio and music in Spotify. I started this habit last April when I was assigned in Bukidnon for the summer. I had not access to television and computers so armed with an Android phone and a stable internet connection, I downloaded Podcast Addict on Google Play. I haven’t tried Stitcher yet but I heard it’s a good app for non-Apple users like me.

I would like to share some my favorite podcasts last 2016.

1. Bishop Robert Barron’s Sermons: I knew about Bishop Barron from the documentary Catholicism by Word On Fire, a media ministry initially based in Chicago now in Los Angeles when he became the auxiliary bishop. Here he shares sermons on the Sunday Readings. Delivered passionately, he engages the listener to reflect on the Readings and connects them to the daily lives of the faithful. He’s a doctor in its literal sense: a teacher.
2. Busted Halo Show: Though I haven’t seen Fr. Dave Dwyer yet, upon listening to this podcast for some time, he sure is a jolly priest. He lives up to the tagline, “Faith Shared Joyfully”. He even invites the listeners to ask him questions during the show and there you constantly hear him laugh out loud.
3. Catholic Inspiration: This is part of the ministry of Fr. Andrew Ricci, rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King in Superior, Wisconsin. A soft spoken priest, I remember listening to him deliver a homily with kids talking with him on the background. That episode was so cool.
4. Divine Intimacy: This show is the first ever podcast I subscribed to. With Dan Burke of EWTN and co-host Melissa Elson, we hear then talk about Catholic teachings, interior life, contemplation, meditation, spiritual direction, prayer, and path to holiness. If those terms are too technical or just new to you, don’t worry ’cause they explain them in their past episodes.
5. Pints With Aquinas: Done by Matt Fradd of Restored Integrity, he invites us to sit and drink some pints of beer with the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, and talk about medieval philosophy and Summa Theologia. Thank you Matt for introducing me to your sister Emma’s music and her band, Heaps Good Friends.
6. The Word On Fire Show: With the host and content director Brandon Vogt, we again encounter Bishop Barron talk more on a conversational tone about faith and culture. You may even submit your questions to him through a audio recording via AskBishopBarron.com.

If you’re curious to try them out, feel free to click the links I embedded on them. Some of them directs to the podcast and others to their websites. Don’t worry, they are virus-free.

And if you happen to know other Catholic evangelizers hosting podcast, feel free to comment them.