Spiritual Bouquets are prayers or devotional acts that someone (the giver) has or will offer for someone else (the recipient). It can be given from an individual or group to an individual or group to express joy, sorrow or best wishes, often in commemoration of a special occasion. The recipient is given a card or something similar indicating who the giver is and what the spiritual bouquet consists of. This can be the number of Masses attended, Holy Communions offered, rosaries and/or other prayers said, or good deeds performed. It should include the sender’s name and the number of times each offering was or will be done.

Now as Catholics we are taught, hopefully since childhood, that the Holy Mass is NOT a “prayer service” as in Protestant churches. The Holy Mass is a Holy Sacrifice. Imagine the Israelites heading toward Jerusalem as pilgrims for the annual feast of Passover. No one come empty-handed. They always bring something with them for the sacrifice. It’s the law. Everyone knows this. Children are taught this law; that is, you go to the temple to offer sacrifice, you must bring something to offer as a sacrifice. Many Catholics nowadays are no longer taught this tradition. We come to Church with a Protestant mentality. Many come to Church to “get something” out of it, but never put “anything in it.” Even when we put a dollar inside the basket, we demand “some kind of service” back. It is like going to a theatre to see a show or a movie. However, the mentality of “giving” or to be exact, “contributing” to the Church is NOT the true spirit of a pilgrim or of the people of God. The Israelites come to Jerusalem at Passover to pay back for their sins. They come to offer sacrifices, so they could be washed away from their sins. It was not a “contribution” to God or the temple, but rather a “paying back.” Also, when they are blessed with good harvest they come to the Temple to offer the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving. Now apply this “sacrificial attitude” to Catholics. In the US, how many Catholics attend the Holy Mass with this attitude. Do Catholics come to Church to offer sacrifice for the atonement of their sins? Do Catholics bring any sacrifice? What are the sacrifices that we offer at the Holy Mass? Some would say that “by being present” at Mass is “already” a sacrifice! But that is not good enough. Comparing ourselves to the Israelites, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists, Christians in the US are far behind regarding to being reverential. The evidence is UNDENIABLE with the 17 Consecrate Hosts being “desecrated” for years at our own church. When we no longer see the Holy Eucharist as a Holy Sacrifice, but only a “piece of bread,” the result is what we have now. A sacrifice demands repentance. It is unthinkable for an Israelite, a Hindu, a Buddhist or a Muslim to come to their temple without bringing any offering of sacrifice. It is just prayer intention or good will or “stipends” for the priest. No. It is your true sacrifice offering, just like that widow in the temple. Jesus observed her and saw what she did. She gave two coins. That was NOT a stipend. That was a SACRIFICE OFFERING. What did Jesus say? “Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (Mark 12:41-44). Even though the widow was poor, she still gave. She would not shame God or herself or the temple without offering a true sacrifice. Her sacrifice offering was all that she had How many Catholics think that way? A question for you to ponder. When you come to Mass, what kind of attitude do you bring with you?

1. Open Viber. Click on "More" 2. Settings will open. Scroll a little down until you see "Settings" 3. Click on "Calls and Messages" 4. Click on "Email Message History" 5. Type your Email, and click on "Send" 6. Close Viber 7. Check your email. The files will be in a zipped attachment.

1. Open Viber. Click on "More": 2. Settings will open. Scroll a little down until you see "Settings" 3. Click on "Notifications" 4. The Notifications Screen will open 5. Disable the following settings 6. Click on "Notifications Sounds" 7. Click on "None" 8. Close Viber.

Hell in essence is self-hatred. We as a civilization have been endorsing and encouraging the culture of death. Our system of education whether in school or on social media or entertainment industry bombards our children with the thrill of doing violence to others and oneself. We indoctrinate our children to feel apathetic to seeing and doing violence. How can a country that allows “the killing millions of the unborn” not escape from teenagers killing teenagers? It all starts with the “Contraceptive Mentality” which means avoid pain at all cost, get pleasure at any time and any way you want. That’s the root of this culture of death. Once you can do violence to yourself, it’s not so hard to do it to others. Self-hatred is the fire of hell. Let us pray for the Love of God and accept that Divine Love abundantly, share it unsparingly and sow it unceasingly—to anyone and everyone we encounter. Remember the PAPA LEGACY: PUT THE SMILE OF JESUS INTO THE LIFE OF ANYONE.

Please go to the top right of the website click the three bars. It will take you to a menu. Click on Saint of the Day Quote. It will take you to today’s quote. Scroll down and you will see the others. Press read more if you don’t see the quote you are looking for on that page. If it just takes you back to the latest Quote, just go back and try tapping on some numbers underneath “Read more”, which also shows some arrows to the right or to the left. This process should allow you to navigate through the various Quotes which has been archived.

There is no question about the analogy of who’s the Bridegroom. But of course, Jesus the Christ. But when it comes to the analogy for who is the Bride? Catechized Catholic would answer the Church. But we run into the problem with the “ordained” or the “ministerial priest.” Now, the ministerial priest according to St. John Paul II in his Pastores Dabo Vobis is the one who acts “in Persona Christi Capitis—in the Person of Christ the Head.” Now once we acknowledge that the “ministerial priest” stands for “the Person of Christ, the Head” can we still call the priest, the Bride? Here the analogy of the Church as a Bride becomes limited. The analogies of the Church as the Bride and the Priest as acting in the Person of Christ, the Head, cause confusion. This will take us more to time to reflect and pray for clarity and understanding.

The Apostle’s Creed is never a “Prayer.” The Vietnamese people call it a prayer—“Kinh,” but they have taught it wrong. It is never a prayer, but a “Public Declaration of the Faith.” The verb “to profess” comes the Latin: Pro = before or for + Fateri = to declare or avow. It is a “Public Declaration.” Thus, the Apostles’ Creed is never addressed to God, but rather to the whole humankind: I BELIEVE... not “we.” All those Catholics who “believe” you know and understand your Catholic faith, please learn to explain your faith in a clear, simple and reasonable manner. As I have mentioned before in the homily on January 01, 2018, “Doing without knowing is called fanatic; knowing (the good) without doing it is called hypocrite.” The point: know and understand your Catholic faith. You may quote or cut and paste other people’s answers to the questions, but then that is NOT your own discovery of the Catholic Faith. Faith is not like fast-food. No one can “google” the sound answer to the question and suddenly, he or she will have faith. Faith must be worked on, prayed for and reflected thoroughly. Listen to 1 Peter 3:15-16: “Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame.”

We are MISSIONARIES. Let’s BE who we are called to be: EVANGELISTS. Let’s take the “in-house” response to the world. Let’s react on the blog—to my blog and anyone else’s blog. Let’s be the challenge and the challengers to the world. Remember the PAPA PRINCIPLE and PHILOSOPHY: we work personally and pray globally, vice versa.

Since the Religious and Priests are visible witnesses of the Kingdom of Heaven in this world, we must observe their life and encourage them to live out their consecration to Jesus. It is a choice we religious made at our Religious Profession. It never means that we are better than anyone; au contraire, we made a conscious choice to give up our will to submit it to that of the Superior—whether the order coming from him makes any sense or not. The greatest benefit is that it kills your ego—or the sense of “self-importance.”

After the Our Father and the Hail Mary, the Jesus’ Prayer is the third most prayed and popular Christian prayer of all time. The Western Catholic tradition does not promote it as much as the Eastern-Byzantine tradition. It took me 30 years of intensive study and practice to develop what you have in the OK Technology. When you read the articles on the internet, remember to question every assumption without mercy, including yours and especially mine. Remember, the Jesus Prayer has been with us as long as the Gospel. There is a diversity of traditions when it comes to Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer is not for the superficial, but for those who are willing to engage in the practice of virtues. This is the reason that I taught those who came pray with me before the Divine Offices the 7 hellish animals and the 7 heavenly virtues. Most importantly, the Jesus Prayer must be place in the ascetical, moral and liturgical tradition of the Catholic church. It cannot be taught or understood without the ecclesial and liturgical community. It means that it cannot be taught and prayer outside of the Catholic tradition of the Church. That is must be understood from the very beginning. Thus, for those who practice the OK Technology with me practice the Jesus Prayer in between the Morning Office and the Holy Mass. The Jesus Prayer is a means of evangelization. It leads to the liturgy and the liturgy nurtures it. Once you practice it, it will bring you to liturgical worship.

It must be sent via email in the form of a blog. A blog should be within 150 words answering the three WHAT’s question: (1) What is it? (2) So what? (3) Now what? Try to live the SAINTLY QUOTE first and then reflect on it. The SAINTLY QUOTE should be practical, not too ideological or spiritualistic. We are practical people. Now understand St. John of the Cross is a mystic. You must have some understanding of what Mystical Theology is before reacting to what St. John said. Otherwise you will get into deep water and you will drown. As an example, when St. John of the Cross says: “Faith is darkness” or “GOD is DARKNESS,” some who do not understand where he is coming from would call the saint a heretic. So please be extra careful and studious when it comes to the Mystics. The assumption that St. John of the Cross is NOT “touchy feely” is the total opposite of what he is. There is NO Saint in the Catholic Church who is more “touchy feely” than him. But ask yourself who is John of the Cross. Why is he the HOLY DOCTOR of the Church? What title of HOLY DOCTOR does he receive? Let us be true Catholics and question ourselves and our assumptions without mercy. Here’s a quote from Pope Francis on the Family: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING GOD MADE: THE FAMILY “Before creating the world, God loved, because God is love. But there was so much love that He had within Himself, this love between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, it was so great, so overflowing that — I don’t know if this is very theological, but you’ll understand what I mean — it was so great that He couldn’t be egotistical. He had to come out of Himself so as to have that which He could love outside of Himself. But the most beautiful thing that God made, the Bible says, was the family. He created man and woman, and He gave them everything. He gave them the world! Grow, multiply, cultivate the earth, make it produce, make it grow. He presented to a family all of the love that He made in this marvelous creation… All of the love that God has in Himself, all of the beauty that God has in Himself, all of the truth that God has in Himself, He gives to the family. And a family is truly a family when it is able to open its arms and receive all of this love.”

“Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise”” (Luke 23:43). Read James 5:20.

Today is the 7th of January in Australia, we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ. What holy gift or sacrifice are you bringing and presenting to the Lord for this year? What is your gold, frankincense, myrrh?

Now the Baby is PAPA. To adopt and adopt a Baby, one cannot do it by remote control, meaning one cannot “pay” others to raise the child. You must do it yourself. It takes guts and grits. It takes commitment. It takes risks. It is war. It takes perpetual love. It means: Never give up. Never surrender. You either do or die. One should not be praised and accept any praise for not raising the Baby oneself with one’s own hands and heart. PAPA is in need of tending and nurturing. How committed are you to PAPA?

One day before Christmas or Christ-Mass, today the Catholic Church celebrates John the Baptist’s birthday. Now for the secular people, Christmas means nothing, except for shopping, eating, drinking, partying and having a hang-over afterward. For Christians, we are supposed to promote the Christ in Christmas. Have you done that lately? How many times do speak the sweet Name of Jesus in a day? The secular would not hesitate to use the Name of Jesus as a curse, but do we Christian frequently use the Sweet Sacred Name of Jesus as a blessing? Food for thought. Finally, for Catholics or as PAPA members we call ourselves “Eucharistic Christians,”—for us Catholics, we are supposed to promote the MASS of CHRIST among ourselves. That’s how we Eucharistic Christians celebrate Christmas. We do not only talk about Christ at on Christmas, but we literally celebrate the MASS of CHRIST on His Birthday. According to Liturgical law, we should have at least three Masses on Christmas day: Midnight, Morning and Day. How many Masses are you celebrating Christ on His Birthday? It is reverential to say out loud the word “CHRIST” “MASS” and write it “CHRIST”-“MASS.” When we decide to abbreviate “CHRISTMAS” and write it “X-Mass,” the non-Christians will read it as “EX”-MAS which means “nothing.” It is us Catholics who are undoing “Christ” in the word “Christmas.” No ONE else. It is our irreverential attitude. We must pay reverence to the Most Holy Name: Christ Jesus, our Savior. Please let us “render to God” what belongs to Him—Christ, and NOT reduce “Christ” into an “Ex.” Please DO NOT FALL into the temptation and attraction of this millennial culture which demands us to abbreviate everything into a letter or a word. Now do y’all realize that for Catholics, we celebrate CHRISTMAS everyday?

Come to think about it, “is it true that “no news is good news?” How about the Gospel of Jesus Christ? How about the Gospel of Christmas? Is Christmas, not a Good News? Are we not celebrating the Gospel of Christmas now? Here is what we can do: The good news is that every morning we have the choice; not to be controlled by circumstances nor our past but by purposely designing our day, hence our lives better. Not to react to life but to respond with love.

The Blessed Virgin Mother, the Immaculate Conception, is the Patron of all Priests and QUEEN OF THE CLERGY. The Christmas Retreat at the Monastery on this upcoming Saturday, should never be called a “mini” Retreat. Nor any Retreat should be described with the term “mini.” The connotation of the term “mini” evokes a sense of “unimportance” undermining the power and value of a Retreat. In conclusion, I suggest we, the PAPA members, eliminate that word “mini” from our vocabulary when we speak about God and all that relate to Him, such as a Retreat, a Mission, and most importantly, the Mass. Please let us take time and think.

In the United States of America and Canada, we have a law called “Intellectual Theft or Piracy.” It simply means “stealing.” If you quote someone else’s idea, please put the name of the author on that quote or saying or the prayer. Please do not take another person’s idea, thought, saying or prayer, change a word here and there, and say that it is yours. No. That is called “plagiarism.” It’s an intellectual crime. It is serious. For those who do not grow up in North America, you would not be used to this. Nonetheless, now I take this opportunity to inform all of us, that is, to ALL PAPA MEMBERS. We could be prosecuted for this. So, I BEG ALL OF YOU. When you quote something from someone, put the name of the AUTHOR on it. Let us practice the virtue of honesty and humility. This will keep our conscience clear—before God and the law. Thank you for your attention.

Allow me to speak in the capacity of a Spiritual Director and a theologian for PAPA. Here is the message: Please be extremely prudent in copying information from various websites and posting it on VIBER or on our own website. Why? There are terminologies, ideologies and doctrines that are alien to the Catholic Faith. Take St. Apollonia as an example. 1) She is not on the Canon of the Catholic liturgical calendar; but that of the Orthodox Church. 2) The term “deaconness” is confusing and misleading. It may lead to error of faith and doctrine. In the Byzantine tradition, the term “deaconness” is used for the wives of deacons or the widows. The word is derived from the Greek “deakono”—i.e., “servant” as you all know. It takes that meaning rather than that of an DIVINE OFFICE of the Ordained minister (notice: the term “minister” derived from the Latin “ministero” also means “a servant.” Now why the term “Deaconness” is misleading and leading to confusion. Without its proper context, the word implies that St. Apollonia is an “ordained minister” in the SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDER in the Deaconate; consequently that will lead to the Ordination to the Priesthood for women—which is in contradiction to the teaching of the Catholic Church. It also implies that St. Apollonia has the authority to witness at a wedding and preach during Holy Mass. Once again that constitutes a heresy. My point is this. The Church is in no way putting down women at all. Women have their important role in the Church. Pope Francis even called the Nun are true “Deaconnesses”—true servants of the Church, but not the Ordained minister. In all, please be prudent and contextualize your posting. Be careful with the Christian’s, but non-Catholic websites.