my experience with healing priest, fr. suarez

yesterday, as part of the Development Bank of the Phil’s 60th anniversary, they held a special healing mass with the gifted filipino priest, fr. fernando suarez.  rivers of the living waters catholic community (ROLWCC), our  community went there to assist. i was assigned as a marshal on the 9th fl while hubby was assigned as a catcher during the healing itself.

we have attended fr. suarez’s healings a couple of times. he always starts with a mass, with a general healing after the homily. after the mass comes the individual healing. he touches each and everyone present for the healing. he is so blessed with the gift of healing that almost everyone he touches “rests in the spirit”.  my first experience with him was last year, in the megatrade hall of megamall. we arrived there at around 4pm for the 6pm mass but the line was already looooong! we were one of the lucky ones who were able to hear mass inside the hall, thousands stayed outside while still waiting in line, a line that snaked from mega b to mega a, and back again, a couple of times. we brought bea along so that her feeding problem may be healed. fr was able to heal us at around 1130pm! while we were waiting, i was praying really hard. i really want to experience how it is to rest in the spirit.  he healed hubby, who was carrying bea, first.  hubby was crying, and i was watching intently as fr suarez touched bea, and kissed her on her head, then touched hubby on the chest and then hubby fell. all of a sudden it was my turn. i wasn’t ready. i just closed my eyes and felt him touch my tummy(digestive problems?), then i suddenly felt a force pulling me from the back, a force so strong that i did fall! now no one pulled me ok, and believe me i’m really cynical about these things, but it’s real!  it was an overwhelming feeling! no lightning and thunderclaps. just a calming force, and as i lay there on the floor, i felt so peaceful.

after a couple of months, we attended again,this time in the mall of asia. hubby and i were holding hands as father pulled our heads together into a huddle and touched us (me, again on the tummy) and we both fell at the same time! the Lord’s power is amazing!

the third time was at our class chairman’s home at dasma mkti, we brought bea along again because this was only after a few days after she was discharged from the hospital. i whispered to father “she suffered from a subdural hematoma” to which he whispered back to me “ano yon?!” hehehe…how simple and human… i told him what it was and he touched bea’s head and mine, then we fell. we immediately claimed her healing that night, true enough, when we went to the neurosurgeon, he gave us the ok sign! praise God! =)

back to friday’s activity: hubby joined me in the 9th floor during the mass. i felt weird hearing mass by just listening over the PA system after the mass, hubby went back up to the penthouse where the healing was being held. as the healing started, the testimonials of instant healing also begun. one of the persons wo testified was prominent man greggy araneta. he said that he sufferred from an illness in his brain and the first effect on him was that he lost his sense of smell, that was ten years ago, but when fr suarez touched him, he testified that for the first time in 10 years, he is able to smell again!  grabe ang galing talga ni Lord!

Bea still has her feeding problems, but the fact that she is well and alive today (though underweight) is a miracle in itself. a baby who hasn’ t been drinking milk, her only source of nutrition, for more than a year has a very slim chance of surviving and thriving… and yet here she is… happily babbling and walking away even as i’m blogging! a miracle indeed! coping with bea’s condition  is definitely not easy, as i’ve blogged before, but with God’s grace, we are surviving…

here are some pics from that night:

 

 

  

     

 

joy vs. happiness

We have been taught in the past that joy can be used as a synonym of happiness. No argument here. But as I attended modules for my charismatic community, we were told that joy and happiness are two entirely different words having a world of difference. Sure, anyone can be happy. Seeing your crush on the way to school can make you happy. Having the latest cell phone can make you happy. Driving the fastest car can make you happy. But what happens when you see your crush courting someone else? What if your cell phone is stolen? What if you just parked your brand new car and suddenly a big hollow block from the roof of a 22-floor building falls right on your hood? Would you still be happy then? Hmmm… makes you think…

What makes an old beggar give alms to the church and walk away smiling? What makes a man, who has lost his wife to cancer and his kids to drugs still go to church every Sunday, thanking God for his blessings? What makes a wife, beaten and cheated on for years, still accept her husband every night, feed him, take care of his needs, and still pray for him before she goes to sleep?  What makes a person, who has failed every endeavor in his life, still get up each morning, glorifying and thanking the good Lord for the opportunities he is sure God will send his way today? Simply joy.  Joy of being in God’s embrace. Joy in knowing that God will never let anything he can’t handle happen to him. Joy in knowing that everything happens according to His divine plan. Joy in living in trust and abandon in God’s Words.

Happiness, depends on something, and when that something is taken away, bye bye happiness. Joy is deeply rooted. Joy is a feeling of gratitude and assuredness, even when faced with adversity. Joy is feeling the calm of Jesus’ love in the middle of the everyday storms we experience. Joy is being happy, even when the world says that we have nothing left to be happy about. 

That makes the world of difference.

Lord, grant that I may find joy in my heart everyday as I wake, so that I may serve You and Your people with a smile in my face and a spring in my step.

Thank You father!

 

God can’t be outdone in generosity!!!

in our catholic charismatic community, we are reminded time and again that our God is a generous God. give 10 and you be given 100, give 100 and you will be given 1,000….just have faith. often times, when it is time to give our love offering, we are encouraged to give until it hurts, and that we shouldn’t worry about having left so little for ourselves for our God will provide. at first we didn’t really comply with this.. hehehe, being the stingy people that we are, and truth be told, our faith wasn’t that strong either. money is really hard to come by for us (with our unstable finances and bea’s expenses). what if bea gets sick again, what if our van conks out, what about our daily expenses? but our God is a good and patient God, He waited  until we were ready and He gently prodded us to be more generous.  as the prayer leader asks us to bring our love offering forward, our God softly whispers in our hearts: Go ahead, give more, give a lot…  free yourself from being bound by material worries…I will take care of you… so we give, with trust in our hearts.

and now here i am, testifying, my God is taking care of me and my family. we are not rich still, in fact the complete opposite, but God supports us. God uses angels from everywhere to help us. there was a time when bea was due for an immunization and we had no money, out of nowhere, hubby received a call from his brother, bea’s ninong, saying that he sent a little something for bea… almost the exact amount we needed for bea’s shots plus meds!  there was a time when hubby was sick and he needed a complete blood work up for his hypertension, his doc requested this a few days before our loan from work was approved. my family has been so big hearted with us, that they let us stay in their home without obligating us financially. when bea had an accident last march, and she had to be confined and  ct scanned, she was admitted on the day our cba signing bonus was given… a bonus given only every three years! our God is a good God with great timing!

just last week, we were starting to worry again because bea’s check up with a therapist is due, but we were told that sessions can get expensive, plus she also has shots scheduled for the month. my two weeks of no absences agreement with my boss is now over, so hubby and i were planning on having bea checked this week.  then guess what, hubby receives a call from his mom saying that they (mama, ninong oliver and ninong gb) are concerned with bea’s condition and they are sending some money to help with bea’s meds. grabe! so unxpected… but very welcome aid for bea! ang galing talaga ni Lord!

our family is a living testimony, God provides. it’s true, give with trust and hope in  you heart and God will give you so much more!

3 days straight!

just wanna share, bea’s been doing fine for the last 3 days! we’re trying to reintroduce solids to her system… she’s been eating gerber and cerelac. well, only a couple spoonfuls but that’s great improvement for her! she didn’t vomit for 3 straight days! answered prayers indeed!

i know that it is not some weird coincidence that bea is now improving since we decided to just trust in God and let Him do the worrying for us. right now, that is what we’re trying to do, just lift bea’s condition to God and let Him perform his miracles on bea, in His time.

Thanks Lord for the answered prayers. please just keep on taking care of our little angel. please keep her well and healthy. we trust You! =)

here’s bea with her fave stuffed monkey… laging nakaembrace yan!

this is our life… =)

life with little bea can get a bit complicated…

but definitely worth it…

thank you Lord… always keep her safe and healthy…

a fever turned out to be more than just a fever

i just want to share the experience of my cousin Aleli with her daughter, my pamangkin, apple. their ordeal started with fever (pretty common for kids huh?) then rashes started to come out. they thought she had the measles or some kind of pox, they brought her to a walk-in clinic only to be told that it was just probably eczema (she had a history). by this time her temp was reaching 40 already! (by ear thermometer). they were given meds and sent home. the following days were spent just observing little apple but she is not getting better. she still has fever and polka dots all over her body. good thing they decided to bring her to a bigger children’s hospital in Vancouver. nilagyan sya agad ng IV and meds( antibi0tics and electrolytes) tapos blood tests. it turned out she had acquired a deadly bacteria in her blood. “Invasive Streptococus”. it could’ve been fatal but good thing she was diagnosed on time and was given proper medication. the docs said most of the patients in the hospital with this ailment are admitted to the ICU, it is that serious!

 

good thing apple’s guardian angel was looking after her.  =) she is now at home recovering =)

learn more about the disease: http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/streptococcal/group_a/fact_sheet.htm

 

just when i thought nothing will go wrong… everything did.

last saturday we had our 3rd post mss at the rivers center. in the past, we would always be late in these activities so we really tried to leave early this time. traffic in marikina was heavier than usual, there were sectional blocking going on in our streets, we were delayed there for a couple of minutes. when we got to libis, i was still hopeful we’d get to st. paul’s  in makati on time. traffic was a bit heavy at ortigas, but the real problem was when we reached the edsa ortigas intersection. while waiting for the traffic light to turn green, an mmda traffic enforcer approached us, you see the ending number of our plate number was 5 so we were supposed to be registered by may 31, but due to financial and procedural constraints, hubby was able to take care of this only in the afternoon of  last june 1, a friday. needless to say the registration was not finished since the whole process was still not done by 5pm. hubby had to explain to the officer our situation, showed him the necessary papers and proofs that we were in good faith. while all this was happening, we were both praying… please Lord, let this man understand our situation so that we can go to our post mss. we’re late enough as it is. the Good Lord granted our prayer and  the mmda let us go with only a warning. so, we were happily on our way. we arrived at st paul’s at about 3:30… we got out of the van, locked the doors, was about to go in when hubby realized that he left the keys inside! i had a spare but i also left it inside. one thing came into mind, the devil is definitely trying to do everything to keep us from attending our post mss!  another 30 minutes later, we were able to open the door and get the keys (with the help of a good samaritan who gave us a piece of wire to pry open our window). we were able to register at 4pm. the one in charge of the registration had already crossed out our names, assuming we were not coming. when we got in the room, as always we were so embarrassed… late again. but my God is still good, despite the problems we encountered, we were still able to come and listen to sister Yna’s talk about the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  no tempers flared, no arguments occurred. thank you Lord. there’s always the 4th post mss, maybe we won’t be late then =)