I am now in Hawaii for an unplanned but much desired break. It has been wonderful to just do whatever I want to do with no thought for work or my quotidian responsibilities. To focus on my wants and needs and fulfil them accordingly. A dose of hedonism is always good for the soul.
The best part of my trip thus far, having arrived just last Thursday, has been the ability to devote more time to prayer: to go for daily mass and say the rosary daily, May being the Marian month. This has enabled me to enter the season of Easter even more fully, with joy and gratitude. I am grateful for the blessings each day brings and I am able to receive the gifts I am given with much pleasure.
From watching the excellent in-flight movie, The Book Thief, to participating in the Huli Kauwela outside the Waikiki Aquarium (every May 2 except leap years when it's on May 1). From meeting up with old friends, to island music and spam overload (ate spam musubi and spam loco moco) at the Spam Jam yesterday.
I look forward to the unfolding days with eagerness. Will mosey over to the Hawaii Book and Music Festival later this afternoon and catch the Merrie Monarch winners doing their thang.
These past weeks of Easter have brought into focus what it means to be witness. Plus, the recent canonizations of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II last Sunday have inspired me to think more about how I wish to live the rest of my life.
I wish to witness by living more joyously, enriched by and enriching others in the interweaving of relationships and my faith, gifts and talents. To be broken as bread and shared out as food to many, just as Jesus was, and is, every single day in the Eucharist.
To live joyously is to live out my passions, my beliefs with every breath I take. In everything I do, to give the best of myself and my time, and I am not just talking about work or what I like to do here. Excellence, discipline, perseverance and sincerity are hallmarks of passion. Of course, on my own strengths I will fail for I have a tendency to give up and give in to pessimism easily. The good news is I do not have to do all this on my own.
The other key to living joyously is to forgive, not just real but imagined hurts as well (I have so many of these born of my neuroses). One of the upsides of growing older is less energy to hold onto anger. To let the small stuff slide off my back. But there are some big daddys that lurk within and those I attack with the help of the Almighty.
Finally to live joyously, as can be seen in the Acts of the Apostles, is to spread the Good News far and wide. To help the poor, imprisoned, sick, lame and blind. To honour the dignity of the marginalized and suppressed; to fight for justice in a world greedy for power and money. To set wrongs right by living out the Spirit of love in wholesomeness and integrity.
I thank Jesus for the gift of Easter and I rely on Him to help me be a better witness every day. For apart from Him, I am nothing and I can do nothing.
The best part of my trip thus far, having arrived just last Thursday, has been the ability to devote more time to prayer: to go for daily mass and say the rosary daily, May being the Marian month. This has enabled me to enter the season of Easter even more fully, with joy and gratitude. I am grateful for the blessings each day brings and I am able to receive the gifts I am given with much pleasure.
From watching the excellent in-flight movie, The Book Thief, to participating in the Huli Kauwela outside the Waikiki Aquarium (every May 2 except leap years when it's on May 1). From meeting up with old friends, to island music and spam overload (ate spam musubi and spam loco moco) at the Spam Jam yesterday.
I look forward to the unfolding days with eagerness. Will mosey over to the Hawaii Book and Music Festival later this afternoon and catch the Merrie Monarch winners doing their thang.
These past weeks of Easter have brought into focus what it means to be witness. Plus, the recent canonizations of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II last Sunday have inspired me to think more about how I wish to live the rest of my life.
I wish to witness by living more joyously, enriched by and enriching others in the interweaving of relationships and my faith, gifts and talents. To be broken as bread and shared out as food to many, just as Jesus was, and is, every single day in the Eucharist.
To live joyously is to live out my passions, my beliefs with every breath I take. In everything I do, to give the best of myself and my time, and I am not just talking about work or what I like to do here. Excellence, discipline, perseverance and sincerity are hallmarks of passion. Of course, on my own strengths I will fail for I have a tendency to give up and give in to pessimism easily. The good news is I do not have to do all this on my own.
The other key to living joyously is to forgive, not just real but imagined hurts as well (I have so many of these born of my neuroses). One of the upsides of growing older is less energy to hold onto anger. To let the small stuff slide off my back. But there are some big daddys that lurk within and those I attack with the help of the Almighty.
Finally to live joyously, as can be seen in the Acts of the Apostles, is to spread the Good News far and wide. To help the poor, imprisoned, sick, lame and blind. To honour the dignity of the marginalized and suppressed; to fight for justice in a world greedy for power and money. To set wrongs right by living out the Spirit of love in wholesomeness and integrity.
I thank Jesus for the gift of Easter and I rely on Him to help me be a better witness every day. For apart from Him, I am nothing and I can do nothing.
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