Note to God

Truth & Life RSV-CE 5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ; 6 not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servantsof Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and forbear threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Ephesians 6:5-9 RSV-CE

Somebody asked Aldo Gucci once what was the secret of the success of his cosmetic empire. He said, ‘Every morning when I go to my store in Rome, there's a doorman there. He has white gloves with which to open the door for all the ladies that come into my store. The first thing I do is I check the whiteness of the gloves of the doorman.’ He was more or less saying that ‘the success of my whole cosmetic empire depends on the whiteness of those gloves of the doorman. That's what I check.’ Really what he was saying is: In the attention to detail, in the small things, that's where the perfection is, that's where the success is.

- Speak about anything that matters about relationship with God - if anything has been very distracting, e.g. watching ESPN or football match, can't focus. - not caring much of plan of life as much as we care about next travel plan - mention struggles and sins even though it's not a confession  - family matters - professional matters  - apostolic zeal The chat is one of the most important instrument for our salvation.

1. corporal mortification - of the body - shouldnt be damaging to body - small things - not detrimental to human relationships  - laughing too hard 2. Interior mortification  - offering humiliation, change of plan - punctuality - not interiorly complaining - not wasting time - meekness , offering temper Active vs passive mortification  Mortification world can understand  - eating more veggie - sit upright Mortification world cannot understand - not crossing legs - eating veggie u like less - delay drinking water > no need to tell or convince others.. throw pearls to the dogs > We want to unite to the cross of Christ  Offer things to God with some intentions, with some prayer

Spirituality for laypeople vs lay spirituality The former is a developing a spirituality e.g. Dominican, Franciscan, for lay people.  Lay spirituality is a layman vocation, what you do, your occupation. Only you are in that profession in that particular time.  

Starts with Serviam - a renewal of the morning serviam  A prayer for the cooperators  A prayer of the Father - as preces is a family prayer, and we pray those alive and died.

Family is the only circle that is given to you, not someone you chose. And when you dont choose, you dont select someone you prefer as family, this is so that the power of God can be manifested - that you bind together as family because of his grace - even though you may not get along.  The domestic church is also a training ground for the bigger church where you don't get to choose community members, and in the larger society. To work whom u dont prefer. 

Sometimes we tend to get grouchy giving and serving. And the root cause is we don't care for ourselves. So care for yourself so that we may give cheerfully 

Simple and complicated distractions take us away from the people we love. When this occurs, the result is both subtle and toxic. We start to settle for proximity rather than presence with each other. Know what I mean? You will know this is happening to you if you only listen for the highlights in your loved one’s conversations without taking note of the emotions and body language that are also present in the room. These distractions are masked in familiar disguises like career, appointments, and promotions. They invade our homes and come dressed as extracurricular activities, sports, and electronic screens. They look like business calls and video games and Zoom conferences and television shows and committees and meetings and sometimes even churches.

Simple and complicated distractions take us away from the people we love. When this occurs, the result is both subtle and toxic. We start to settle for proximity rather than presence with each other. Know what I mean? You will know this is happening to you if you only listen for the highlights in your loved one’s conversations without taking note of the emotions and body language that are also present in the room. These distractions are masked in familiar disguises like career, appointments, and promotions. They invade our homes and come dressed as extracurricular activities, sports, and electronic screens. They look like business calls and video games and Zoom conferences and television shows and committees and meetings and sometimes even churches.