Author: Apple Lacbay

Fearless Hearts: Seek What Moves You Towards Freedom
by Sister Mary Gabriel (SEEK 2015)

      A lot of the hidden struggles women face stem from forgetting who we are: our unshakable identity as daughters of God. The truth of who we are sets us free from ungodly fear and shame and reveals our purpose and destiny, unleashing transforming love into our hearts and the world.

15:53|
“Our God has a human heart and He reveals His heart.…This is the image of the Divine Mercy. Between the years 1931 and 1938, Jesus appeared to a nun in Poland who we now call Saint Faustina. He appeared to Saint Faustina and He revealed what was in His heart
– an inexhaustible living fount of Mercy.

And he said His heart is always perpetually open to us
– He excludes no one.

 In this image, Jesus is not just pointing to His heart…He is actually showing us what is in His heart…He is pulling back…He is showing us His heart. He is revealing what is in His heart and He is saying,
“Come to me. Come to me.”

 Jesus knows it’s only by letting what’s in His heart be seen, that He can be known and loved by us. He is always teaching us something.”

                                                                                  – Sister Mary Gabriel

You expired, Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls
and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fountain of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy,
envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

O Blood and Water,
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus
as a fountain of mercy for us,
I trust in You.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy on us and on the whole world. 
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy on us and on the whole world. 
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy on us and on the whole world. 

JESUS, King of mercy, I trust in You!

Amen

Psalm 148

¹ Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights above.
² Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
³ Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars.
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens
    and you waters above the skies.

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for at his command they were created,
⁶ and he established them for ever and ever—
    he issued a decree that will never pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding,
⁹ you mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars,
¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds,
¹¹ kings of the earth and all nations,
    you princes and all rulers on earth,
¹² young men and women,
    old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
¹⁴ And he has raised up for his people a horn,
    the praise of all his faithful servants,
    of Israel, the people close to his heart.

PSALM 150

Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy sanctuary;
give praise in the mighty dome of heaven.

Give praise for his mighty deeds,
praise him for his great majesty.

Give praise with blasts upon the horn,
praise him with harp and lyre.

Give praise with tambourines and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes.

Give praise with crashing cymbals,
praise him with sounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath
give praise to the LORD!
Hallelujah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt5ibMqAL6k

“at the end of the day, Praise the Lord”
a beautiful sharing from a beautiful sister in Christ  🙂

Have a wonderful day my beautiful sisters and brothers 🙂
A blessed and joyful Advent 🙂
God bless us always 🙂

Peace and Love,
Apple
🙂

“Comfort, give comfort to my people” – Isaiah 40:1

This week I saw hope, I experienced humanity, I saw goodness, I felt love.
The heart breaking news that we are hearing and seeing the past fews days of what our brothers and sisters are experiencing in the Philippines is truly disheartening.
At work this week, a student came by to submit requisition papers for their club and then he asked me of my ethnicity, as he thought I was Filipino, and when he found out that I am, he immediately asked “Is your family okay in the Philippines?” Here’s a stranger asking if my family’s okay. My heart felt so much hope. Our family in the Philippines lives in an area quite far from the main areas that got affected and completely safe. This brief conversation with this brother, I truly felt God’s reminder of great hope in Him. My immediate family may not have been affected but the ones who got affected are still my  brothers and sisters in Christ. Then he continued saying, “Filipinos are good people. I know some Filipinos. Some of my teachers before were Filipinos. They are nice people.” We shared about the efforts being given to the Philippines, about the countries all over the world coming together to help another fellow country be restored, as he put it, “humanity is restored”.

The Lord speaks to us in many different ways each and every day. He can speak to us through nature, our families, our friends, everywhere, His messages are all around us.

“God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.” Genesis 1:31
The world that God created is a good place and we are reminded to be good stewards of mother earth. Some question the natural change with the climate and the lengthy debates about environmental issues and climate change but the reality is we have already abused the earth’s resources and that is a fact. There are things that we cannot reverse but there are some things that we can still prevent, so let us start loving mother earth more and thanking the Lord for this beautiful world He has granted us to live in.
We are called to be stewards of His beautiful creation.
Let us love the environment because this is God’s beautiful creation,
a gift of life through nature.

“God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.” Genesis 1:31
God’s people are good people. The help we are seeing happening all over the world gives us a glimpse of great hope. But what it also reminds us is the goodness of people. Everyone who God created is good. We need to remind each other that we are good people and of the goodness that we can do. Our very nature is good. There is this natural character in people’s heart to help and extend a hand and sometimes we just need to remind each other that we are capable of helping another and be good to one another.
Let us be good reminders to each other of the goodness in us,
with this let us be good to one another.
My brothers and sisters, you are so beautiful.
You are good.
never forget this
🙂

Let us continue to pray together and instill hope within one another.
There is hope.
Love is real.
Our God is with us.
Our Almighty Father loves us so much
🙂

My sisters and brothers
“Let your light shine” (Matthew 5:16).
Let us let HIS light shine.
God bless us always

and today, we pray the Luminous Mysteries.

 Oratio Imperata
Almighty Father, we raise our hearts to You
in gratitude for the wonders of creation of which we are part,
for Your providence in sustaining us in our needs,
and for Your wisdom that guides the course of the universe.
“We acknowledge our sins against You and the rest of creation.
We have not been good stewards of Nature.
We have confused Your command to subdue the earth.
The environment is made to suffer our wrongdoing,
and now we reap the harvest of our abuse and indifference.
“Typhoons, heavy rains and floods occur in increasing number and intensity.
“We turn to You, our loving Father, and beg forgiveness for our sins.
We ask that we, our loved ones and our hard earned possessions
be spared from the threat of calamities, natural and man-made.
“We beseech You to inspire us all to grow
into responsible stewards of Your creation,
and generous neighbors to those in need.
Amen.

HOUSEHOLD LOVE

A couple of weeks ago, I was blessed to be invited to attend one of the sisters’ household in the East Chapter here in our lovely Area of Montréal 🙂
As I made my way to household, it felt so refreshing and simply, I was moved.
I was moved as I took every step to household.
In my head I thought, “the other sisters are also on their way…these sisters are letting God take care of their lives and lead their lives… He is leading our lives. I’m so excited!!!” 🙂
That Friday evening, we had a date with God 🙂

As we prayed the Rosary together to start the household, I started to be a little teary, I held my tears, took a deep breath, and my heart felt joy, a simple joy yet felt so true.
I felt love in the presence of my sisters…I felt HIS LOVE.
This is what it is all about.

As our date with our God continued, we shared some great laughs, some tears, good food (of course :P), personal stories, reflections, God’s victories in our lives, His love, our journey.
We shared 🙂
This is what it is all about.

Then it was my turn to share. I cried. I was humbled. What I had were tears of joy because I was simply moved by the sharings of my sisters in Christ. Through our community, we have been helped multiple times and transformed each time. Through this community, we have been led to be closer to Him. But ultimately, it is truly our Lord God who wonderfully transforms us. These wonderful sisters have reminded me of what our community is all about.
A community of God’s people. A community of love. A community of God.
This is what it is all about.

The sharings of these truly wonderful sisters have greatly moved me. Their sharings about their lives being transformed, their very being being moved by the Lord, the joy that they feel and the hope that they enthuse…they have truly inspired me.
It reminded me of the simple calling of our community, to love.
In our ministry, Being and bringing Christ where ever we are,
and they brought Christ to the household.
They bring Christ in their schools, to their families, to their friends, to their homes, everywhere. They reminded me of the greatness of the Lord and His wonderful mercy.
This is what it is all about.

To Dhanyqa, Grace, Lica, Janine, Dana and Tita Karla. Thank you so much for allowing to be part of your household. Thank you for the food, the smiles, the laughs, the sharings, the prayers, the hugs, the sisterhood, the love. Thank you for sharing your stories and God’s love. My beautiful sisters, you continue to inspire me. I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful household. I love you so much and I continue to pray for each and everyone of you.
Keep smiling 🙂

May our Great and Awesome Father continue to bless each and everyone of us.
Have a wonderful day brothers and sisters 🙂

Peace and Love,
Apple
🙂

BLESSED: having a sacred nature : connected with God
: very welcome, pleasant, or appreciated
: of or enjoying happiness; specifically : enjoying the bliss of heaven
[Definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary]

We are blessed.
We are so blessed.
We are so so blessed.
We are so so so blessed.
We are sooooooooo blessed.
🙂

My sisters and brothers, this is a very simple message, a reminder that I know I need to hear everyday, to remain grounded in the Lord. And I am grateful the He reminds me of
this beautiful message everyday. There might be times that I ignore or even try not hear this message but our Beautiful God unceasingly reminds me of how blessed I am.
For this, I am blessed.

                                                                   We are blessed.

We are blessed because of our Heavenly Father.
We are blessed because we come from HIM.
Our very being as a child of God makes us blessed.
We are of the Lord. We are loved by the Lord.
We are blessed because we are HIS.

Father God, may we always remember that we are Yours. Thank you for always reminding us that the life that we have is truly beautiful. Thank you for reminding us on how blessed we are. May we always see all the blessings that you never cease to grace our lives. Thank you for loving us.
Thank you for blessing us always.

My dear brothers and sisters, may we continue to see how blessed we are and remind each other about the blessed lives that we all have. With this, we also become a blessing
to one another.

We are blessed.

May our Heavenly Father continue to bless us always and Forever.
Have a wonderful day!

Peace and Love,
Apple
🙂