The Holiday Season, A Time For Joy & Time For Preparation

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all, and welcome to the season of lights, merry-making, and cheer!  If you take a look around, a few simple hints can clue you in on what I'm talking about.  Wreaths over business doors, lights illuminating the streets outlining people's houses, and people humming (or singing) carols of bells all are signs of what's already begun.  Now is a season of joy and merrymaking.  There's no time to be gloomy, and no time to be sad.  Now is the time for all to be glad!  Enjoy having family around, and just be happy with each other.  The holidays are a time of rebirth, not only for me or for you, but for the whole world!  Not only for rebirth, but also for preparation.  People all around are scurrying trying to get shopping in.  They are also trying to get the decorations for the season up on the rooftops or filling the house.  But what also plays a major role in preparation is how everybody is preparing their hearts for the spirit of what's to come.  Whatever holiday it is you celebrate at this time, you always experience a sort of happiness that only comes around this time of year.  Enjoy it, and be prepared for what's to come, for the season has just begun!

St. Laurence Catholic Church Parish Bazaar 2013

Down in the heart of Sugar Land, Texas lies a small, but loving community.  This community, consisting of a heaping amount of Christians, is at St. Laurence Catholic Church.  Today, I went to their carnival-like event known as the "Parish Bazaar" and was amazed how much happiness and love can be exchanged while simultaneously indulging on things like games, confetti eggs, sausage on a stick, and multiple ethnic group booths.  Local organizations came out to help excite the local Church community such as the Boy Scouts of America, the Leo Club (an affiliation of the Lions Club International), the Knights of Columbus, and multiple church ministries from the parish.  I myself experienced the excitement of service when I helped supervise and operate multiple booths.  It was so lively, I could barely contain my normally calm personality that turned into one jumping for limitless joy.  This event is not just an event for manly desires, but an event for socializing with others, loving as Christ loves, serving all without a care in the world, and becoming truly a Body of Christ with happiness and love all around.  If you have time to go to this event this weekend, please go.  Even if you don't usually come down to Sugar Land, Texas too much, if you ever find yourself here in October, please stop by this parish event at St. Laurence Catholic Church.  It's something you won't regret doing, and an event of light and Christ's love that you will never forget.

Getting Caught Up & Time Passing By

Tick, tock, tick, tock.  That's a sound all of us are familiar with, a clock's second hand ticking away.  This sound marks the passing of a second, and is a constant for all of us.  It also marks the passing of precious seconds in our life hat we're meant to live to the fullest.  Throughout all of our daily routines, each of us forgets how important it is to make the most of the life we've been given, and we forget how little time each of us has on this Earth.  Of course, it is important to work at your jobs to make a living and put food on the table and a roof over your head.  Of course it's important to go to school and get your diploma and degree.  Of course it's important to tend to our individual families after this.  But in addition to all of this is the mental perspective of it all.  How many of you thank whatever force you believe in for your jobs?  How many of you just feel thankful to have a family who loves you and who you can love?  How many of you just take a moment aside each day, not even for maybe just one minute or so, just to breathe and realize the good things in life, no matter how many bad are threatening to consume us?  By doing this, we can repel the bad things at our doorstep.  A philosophy I firmly believe in is not to let fear, anger, or stress consume us when dealing with these, but rather, keeping in mind all the good things about the situation, and then taking that power from positive thoughts, and using it to vanquish the negative situation at hand.  It neutralizes all bad situations and makes it possible for us to help good blossom from bad, and light emanate from darkness.  Time passes by all of us, and of course we get caught up in its never stopping regiment.  The question now presented is, are you using that time right, and are you truly aware of all that is around you?  If so, power to you.  If not, think about ways to truly become aware of all our surroundings and appreciate the good in life.  

Traveler's Fatigue: The Inevitable & Unwanted Extra Traveling Partner

Most of us have traveled to other places other than that of your home.  Basic traveling everyday can make anybody tired, but how about to places out of city, state/province, or even country?  Whether we travel by train, car, airplane, or boat, it is an unavoidable factor of any form of travel.  There is no doubt that most of the time you travel for is worth every second of your traveling, but as they say, "You can't know success without failure," and you can't know and appreciate your vacation or objective as much if you didn't travel.  The best way that I find you can avoid the inevitability of traveler's fatigue is taking your mind off of it.  Psychology has a major impact on each of our everyday lives.  It is sometimes possible that paranoia can influence our actions if we have spent a lot of time with someone who is sick, possibly causing us to develop physical symptoms even though when checked medically, we have nothing wrong and it was all in our head.  The exact same concept applies with traveler's fatigue.  If you take your mind off of it, and socialize with family or traveling buddies, you will find yourself able to make it through all the fatigue.  Now at the end of every trip of travel, there is that period of travel that we need to set aside to take as, "a vacation from a vacation."

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow American patriots!  To those of you who don't know, the Fourth of July celebrates and commemorates our independence.  We remember our cycle going through British colonies to a group of United States on this day, July 4, 1776.  We, as citizens of the United States celebrate our 237th birthday as an independent country.  I hope all have a good day, and we'll continue the day with dance, songs, celebration, and feasting at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, as well as Macy's Fourth of July Parade starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern United States Time on the NBC Television Network.  Have a good Fourth of July everybody, and I hope you all have a good day!

                        

The Heart of Worship: St. Laurence Catholic Church

This Saturday I was notified of an all-day event at St. Laurence Catholic Parish.  This event was known as the Heart of Worship, an event started ten years ago as a way to kindle the flames within our hearts as a Catholic people to use our light to light other people's hearts on fire with God's love and grace.  I attended and was changed by the experience.  Worshiping all day and giving my heart to God through song, scripture, and conversing changed my life.  Starting in the morning with just paying an at the door fee of $20 for the whole day, I stayed all day listening to great speakers and partaking in activities often done at retreats, and in the evening before Mass, we ate a meal catered by Pappa's Bar-B-Q and were served by clubs at St. Laurence Catholic School like the Leo's Club, the National Junior Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, the National Elementary Honor Society, and etc.  One of the sayings and teachings that stuck with me was a line quoted from St. Francis de Sales, "Lord, my heart belongs to you, and to you alone."  At this retreat my heart was truly, "lit with God's love and grace," and thus the slogan for the event was fulfilled.  All of the hundreds of people attending and barely fitting in the Church were truly given, "Hearts on fire with the light of God's love."