Thursday, March 28, 2024

Jesus said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed. - Luke 22:40 - 41 Prayer is the most essential practice of our faith. It is the act foremost to connect with the Almighty God. Anyone professing his belief in God but does not pray betrays the faith. Prayer is an act of the will. It is not a matter of finding the time to pray but whether do you want to pray. To find ourselves too busy to pray stems from our limited notion that prayer has to take too much time and effort. We may find ourselves in quandary thinking about the seemingly sophisticated ways of praying taught to us by the church. Yet we miss the whole idea that God hears even the simplest prayer, prayed in earnest. Thus, time is not the essence of prayer, it is faith. The true and lasting investments are those invested in times of prayer and contemplation. And the real wealth is in our faith. The times of prayer are treasures of opportunity to experience the unique and rich relationship that anyone shares with God. Prayer brings in enlightenment in times of confusion and wisdom that carries us through the most difficult moments. When we do our obligation to pray, we do so out of faith and love for God. It is when we feel uninspired; when we find it too tiring or when we are loosing faith that we should pray even more. These are the perfect time to tell God what’s in our heart. Oftentimes, we don’t even need to voice out our prayers especially when we are lost for words. It is in these time when we let our spirit soar to meet the Divine and express the yearnings of our heart. There is nothing complicated about prayer only if we acknowledge that it is the most natural thing to do; an act necessary to our temporal existence and essential to our passage to eternal life. Hence, even in the midst of our busy life, anytime should be prayer time. It has to be integrated in our lifestyle. God gave us time, we should offer it back to Him. Dan Quetulio Brizuela Maundy Thursday 2024

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” 

– Matthew 7: 1 - 3


Each life is a story,

every person his own role to play.

There's a reason why they're the way they are,

very distinct character yearning to be understood

Think about these…

before judging anyone.

Never judge by your own standards.

Every journey leads to different paths,

yet everyone is making their way home…

in the way they know best.

Pray then for one another…

to find the right way,

possess the truth,

and someday earn the life of everlasting bliss,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. 


Dan Quetulio Brizuela

Holy Week 2024


 "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” 

- Colossians 3:23


The common concept of work is in terms of pay, salary or monetary profit. It is often in terms of temporal gains. Of course, work is the primary means by man earns his keep. Yet, there is much more in it than earning a living. There is something in work which makes man like God. There must be something in it which is more than mere grind or sweat. 

There is nothing as absurd in the meaningless toil, haphazard & random labor. While we are ordained to work in providing subsistence, moreso to sustain our aspiration for individual progress & the quest for the noblest purpose in life.

Work has been taken as too much of a burden since the fall of mankind from Divine grace when God, the Almighty Creator, destined man to work;  “By the sweat of your face,” God said to Adam, “shall you get bread to eat until you return to the ground from which you are made.” (Genesis 3:19)

Indeed, work without the creating & liberating element is unpleasant, drab & perhaps depersonalizing. None of us will remain human if we are either treated no more than an element of production or the extension of the machine we uses. And no human being would appreciate & enjoy work if his attitude towards it is reduced to what he gets from it.

From the beginning, work was supposed to be liberating, creative activity through which man found joy in being God's co-creator, until sin disrupted this order. Man afterall was appointed by God to have authority of all creation, having the capacity to subdue the earth & exercise “dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on earth.” (Genesis 1:26 – 28)

It is our fervent prayer, for the time to come when each of us would no longer be driven by greed and lust for possessions when we do work. Perhaps we would come to realize to see our respective jobs or business, as not just a manner of earning money, to be rich or amass wordly power, but as an affirmation of our dignity as stewards of the earth, to serve one another as Jesus Christ, Who labored the hardest to gain for us eternal salvation.


Dan Quetulio Brizuela 

Holy Week 2024

Sunday, March 24, 2024


In our Holy Week observance, we particularly focus on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, His Gospel and the redemptive power He offers us. In this verse from the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 53, gives credence  to salvation history, that God in His infinite mercy has given His own Son, Jesus Christ as a ransom for our transgressions. 

This is the great message of Holy Week, as the Creator established the universe in 7 days, so does the Christ renewed the world in a week, to restore grace to mankind. 

Let us pray then for one another, to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and humbly ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us, keep us faithful, to encourage us in hope and for love to constantly abide in our hearts. 


Dan Quetulio Brizuela 

Holy Week 2024

 


"Out of the lips of babies and infants you have built up praise because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the rebel" - Psalm 8:2

As we go through reflective silence in the observance of Holy Week, please kindly meditate on the scriptures as it is the supreme universal force that sustains life. Its transformative power form our souls towards salvation. St. Francis de Sales warned us, "Never forget that souls are poisoned through the ear as much as bodies through the mouth".

Let us then guard our senses and mind by reading, hearing and sharing the Word of God. Moreso, live by it through the grace of the Holy Spirit. In our pursuance of righteousness we will gain eternal life earned for us by the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for whom this holy season we celebrate and proclaim. 

May our Lenten reflection on silence, enriched everyone of you to begin experiencing new heart and spirit in things of God and humanity.


Dan Quetulio Brizuela 

Holy Week 2024

Sunday, December 25, 2022


It is imperative to understand the annual Christian celebration of Christmas is more than a commemoration of the birth of the Savior named Jesus over two millenials ago. It is moreso an anticipation to His second coming as a fulfillment of what was promised from His first coming. It is a foreshadow of the greater event, that is the establishment of the Kingdom and reign of the Almighty as prophesied throughout the ages. In this premise hence gives credence to our faith in Christ born on Christmas day. 

- Dan Quetulio Brizuela

#ChristmasReflection2022

Saturday, December 25, 2021


 Its the time again when we reflect at the year almost gone by, and to contemplate what's ahead in the next year. The recollection of experiences could take us on a critical discourse as we mark the passing of the seasons. 

The passed two years were truly unprecedented due the covid-19 pandemic. No other time in our generation have made us more aware of our vulnerabilities and to face our own mortality. Among us confronted the harsh realities that treathend life and livelihood. 

Amidst the setbacks and grief by the series of passing in our family, we remain optimistic. Hope afterall is the message of Christmas. We are sustained by the promises fortold in the birth of Christ which we celebrate today. While a chapter ends, a new one begins. Amazing how life continous to unfold! Life consistently renews! 

A meaningful Christmas to all! 

📷With my newborn nephew, Neo Xavier, who arrived just in time as a symbol of hope and renewal for our family. 💗

- Dan Quetulio Brizuela

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