Going Technical: My first CSMS experience!!!

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

the conviction of things not seen."

-Hebrews 11:1

Last weekend, I participated in the 3rd Catholic Social Media Summit held at Lingayen, Pangasinan, Philippines.

Conference selfie with Kuya Shok and Ate Ilsa.

Thankfully, many people from Ablaze communications and Singles for Christ volunteered to join the Program Team and invited me to be a part of them. 

Volunteers from CFC, SFC, PYM of Antipolo, and CBCP.

In all honesty, I have never joined the Program Team of any event, so my confidence level for this was near zero. The nearest I came to showing presentations was clicking powerpoint slides way back in college.

He doesn't call the equipped but equips the called.

I have heard this quote being said over and over in Catholic conferences, specifically in Singles for Christ and Youth for Christ conferences. I believe this as true and I felt it 100% during my service in Lingayen.

My husband the VO.

Like I said, I don't know the workings in the technical booth but I said 'Yes' to serve God and He placed me there. 

The great thing about my emptiness and inexperience is God was the one who filled and equipped me to serve.

Faith! He will take care of you.

When I arrived earlier in Day 1, I was already having problems because I did not have a laptop that was compatible to the projector. Then come Alvin and Dea who had the perfect laptop and the perfect adaptors!

The Tech booth.

When speaker 1, Michael Lobrin, came in. I was also having difficulties starting up his presentation. Thankfully his personal assistant came in to help me. I wasn't able to get her name but I praise God she came in to aid us.

At lunch time, I remember Tricia and Jeff teaching me shortcuts for easier managing of the videos and presentations. We didn't have a "switcher" so we were organizing all presentations in one laptop and the transitions weren't presented as clean as we wanted. Nevertheless, they taught me techniques to make the presentations transition as smoothly as possible.

Top L-R: Shane, Shok, Dana, Jacq, Eric, Dea, Alvin, Jeff
Bottom L-R: Chrixy, Sky, Tricia

In timing presentations, calming me when I'm panicking, and being my sub during breaks, Dana and Dea, our Director and Assistant Director respectively, aided me through all that. They were also my support system during the technically tedious presentation of Bernard Canaberal.

Praise God for these people!

All in all I praise God for the opportunity of serving Him in the CSMS and for allowing me to encounter His angels, the program team, as my guide. This experience was a baptism of fire for me but He nevertheless equipped me to fulfill my duties. I just had to jump in and say 'Yes' even if I was anxious.

Sneak: Program team "After Day 1" Party Dance. We praise and thank You for the joy of service! 

Post by Dea Ubaldo.

And for that, may God be praised!

Love,

The Catholic Chic

Being Christian in America (A Guest Blogger's Story)

God's morning readers!

This day calls for a celebration as I have my first guest blogger, Rachel, write about her personal experience on how it is to be a Christian, specifically a Catholic, in the United States. I hope this post gives you a sneak peak on the life of a Catholic in the US and I hope you could also share your personal insights or experiences on how it is to be a Catholic in your country.

God bless you!

The Catholic Chic

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Being Christian in America

by Rachel 

I was born and raised in the Midwest, in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest to be more exact.  I was also born and raised Christian, Catholic to be more specific.  I went to Catholic school from preschool through high school.  Then I went to a public community college for two years and then a Nazarene University for one year.  I am now going to a Catholic University in less than a month to study film.  So that's a little bit of my background.  Now, let’s go into being Christian in America.

We all know that modern society is godless, especially America.  From Hollywood to politics, no one wants to mention religion or Christianity in public.  There have been several people suing because a restaurant gave people a discount for praying before their meal.  People wanted the cross at the 9/11 memorial taken down.  Thank God that it wasn’t.  Then there is Obamacare forcing Christian companies to go against their religion and pay for abortions.

What does this mean to me?  Not a lot right now.  I am currently in college and have been in a Christian school, besides my community college for two years, for most of my life.  I have been surrounded by an environment which encouraged talking about religion. 

I have, however, been met with anti-Catholicism.  Both in my blog and in the Nazarene University.  Not saying anything against Nazarenes, the school itself is great. 

We aren’t persecuted like people overseas are.  We aren’t killed for being Christian.  But people have lost their jobs for believing in the Christian viewpoints on gay marriage and abortion.  Namely, the two brothers on HGTV and the CEO of Firefox.  This, paired with the Obamacare has isolated Christians in America.  Making them feel like they are being persecuted for believing in Christianity.

This is what it is like to be Christian in America.  It’s a taboo subject that you don’t usually talk about.  People expect you to go to Church on Sundays but forget about what you have learned there.  And God forbid you act on your Christian principles.

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About the Author:  

Rachel was born and raised in the Midwest. Currently, she is a college junior pursuing film studies. She hopes to one day produce, write, and maybe act in sitcoms and movies. Follow her twitter account at twitter.com/fashionfaith2.

The Journey that Lies Ahead

"Choose me and I'll bring you to places you've never been before."

I am currently on a bus heading to the northern area of the Philippines. In a few days, we will be starting the Catholic Social Media Summit and I am very very excited!

It is my first time to become a part of the program team of a huge Catholic event in my country so this is something new, nerve-wracking, and exhilarating for me! 

I'm currently seated with my program teammates Dana (head), Shane, Eric, Jovy, and Chrixy. And surprisingly, our emcee for the event, Ate Ilsa Reyes, also hopped in the bus same as ours! A memorable serendipitous moment indeed.

This is going to be an exciting event, I just know it. Please pray for us as 1,500 Catholic Filipino youth will spend the entire weekend knowing more about how to have meaningful and God-centered encounters both in online and offline environments. 

God bless you!

A Trip Down Memory Lane: St. Ignatius Cathedral, Camp Aguinaldo

My husband and I visited Camp Aguinaldo last week and while we were there, we grabbed the opportunity to attend the Eucharistic celebration at 12 o'clock in the St. Ignatius Cathedral - a cathedral very dear to my heart. 

I am a military brat by the way so this cathedral was where I grew up in as a little Catholic. This was also where my parents got married, back when it was still a chapel.

The St. Ignatius Cathedral in Camp Aguinaldo

Walking down the aisle.

The dome of the Cathedral.

The patron saint of this Cathedral is St. Ignatius of Loyola, who is the patron saint of soldiers. St. Ignatius, I believe, was also a soldier or a knight who was brought into conversion while recuperating from battle. After his conversion, he left his military life and became part of the clergy. Later, he founded the Society of Jesus also known as the Jesuits.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Patron Saint of Soldiers.

Upon entering the Cathedral, many flashbacks came to mind like our children's choir days, doing parish involvement for school, and celebrating mass with my family. We did our best to attend Sunday mass together as a complete bunch. It was very rare that one was absent. If there was anyone absent, it would probably be my dad when he was assigned in far-flung areas as a soldier. One of my vivid memories of going to Mass with my dad, a memory that I share with one of my siblings, is that dad always wanted the aisle seat. 

This is where our family used to sit during mass.

The cathedral has evolved in many ways from starting off as a little chapel. Now it is bigger, the designs are more beautiful, and there is air-conditioning. But what I love most about it are the beautiful stained glass windows which surround the cathedral. My favorite is that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus since it reminds me of His unending mercy and desire to forgive us if we just approach Him.

Stained glass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus image.

Another new inspiration I found in the cathedral is the image of St. Therese of Lisieux. She is one my patron saints because of two things, her value for the little and humble things/ actions and her full offering of herself to God.

 

I love these two quotes from her:

"Do Small Things with Great Love."

and

"You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all."

 

I wish you could come visit this cathedral. The entrance of the camp is at Gate 6 in Boni Serrano street, Quezon city. You may ask the soldiers at the entrance how to get to the cathedral. Also, here is the schedule poster of the Holy Eucharist, Sacraments, and Devotions held at the cathedral:

God bless you! :)

The Catholic Chic

Antipolo Road Trip: Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

"Turn left"

My GPS beeps as we slow down along J.P. Rizal street to turn to Daang Bakal Road, Hinulugang Taktak.

It was my first time to bring my husband to this place and I am nothing short of excited. I have been brought along this path by my parents on a road trip before. And once I've seen where we were headed, I knew I had to bring him here someday with me.

We stopped along a sign that said Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We've reached our destination.

We parked our car on a vast lot at the far right of the compound and we walked towards one of my favorite modern churches in the country.

What sets this church apart from other structures is that it's mostly made of steel and glass. 

Based from my observations, it is one of the most green churches ever built. It utilizes natural sunlight in the daytime and has a cool atmosphere due to the open slots in between glass panels. It uses very minimal electricity because of its design.

Walking down the aisle

Beside the parish is a lengthy man-made prayer pathway which serves as a venue for meditation and praying of the rosary. 

Each joyful, sorrowful, glorious, and light rosary mysteries has its respective stations. A total of 20 stations of the rosary.  

My husband and I walked the path together and it truly was a peaceful and calm place of refuge. 

The path is lined with various flowers and vegetation. There are also benches for those who get tired of walking or standing.

When we visited the area, it was just struck a few days earlier by typhoon Rammasun (Glenda). Some of the parishoners decided to volunteer their time to maintain the place. I salute you dear volunteers!  

The typhoon has damaged the bamboo vegetation lining the pathway.

After this trip, I realized that the Philippines has so many awesome church structures! This is just but one of them and there are so many more. If you want me to write about a specific church you love, by all means please leave a comment.

If you want to visit this parish and you're coming from Ortigas, Metro Manila, here is the path we used: 

From Ortigas Avenue Extension, turn left to P. Oliveros street, then turn left to J.P. Rizal street, and finally turn left to Daang Bakal Road, Hinulugang Taktak. Keep right on this highway and later on, you will find the parish on your left.  

I hope you enjoy your future visit to the Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Cheers to more awesome road trips! Have a safe drive and God bless you! 

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Want more places to go to? Check out this awesome shrine at San Miguel, Bulacan from my sister blog JacqWritesWorld.