Peace Be With You

Act 35:

“It’s never too late… To Visit Church

It doesn’t matter which one. You don’t have to be religious. Enjoy the peace and tranquility. Shut out the world for a while. Take the time to explore your spirituality. Think of your loved ones, your life. Meditate. Pray. You’ll be surprised.” – Patrick Lindsay

Quote in book: “I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays

I think it’s very fitting that today is Sunday and today’s act is to go visit church. It amazes me how aligned the Acts are to my life. Friday’s blog about Patience... this one. I started this on a random day. There was a 1/7 chance that this would end up on a Sunday and it did. SO awesome. If I haven’t mentioned it before, I’m Catholic. It’s not too hard to guess, considering I’m Filipino. If I was a nurse, I would’ve hit the trifecta of the stereo type, but alas, I’m a geeky engineer. And Yes.. if you’re wondering… these are the stereotypes I do fit into: I’m fairly short, play billiards, and I can karaoke w/ the best of them. Haha.

So, it is unfortunate, that I couldn’t actually go to church today to fulfill this Act. I got on a place at 8am this morning and I didn’t get to DC until 7pm. There was no way to go to church today. I could’ve gone last night, but I didn’t think about that until this morning. However, I promise to go next weekend.

Going to church has been an on again off again love affair in my life. As a kid, I went to church every Sat (yes, sat not sun). We went to the “children’s mass” at St Dennis. My whole family went. My parents, brother, aunt/uncle, cousins, grandparents. It was a whole event and then we went to dinner afterwards as a family. I have such fond memories of going out every Sat night. My family never ordered take out (once in a while we’d get pizza), but every other night we always had home cooked food. Except Sats. Those were our time to go out to eat. Those after church dinners is where I learn how NOT to eat steak. We would frequent Sizzler and always copying my grandma I what she ordered. The Steak dinner with soup and a baked potato with sour cream and chives. I would order my steak like she did. “Well done”. I didn’t really like it that much, but I thought it was because I just really liked chicken or pork better. I still remember the Pink tab that said “Well Done” on it that signified this was a “well done” piece of steak. In college I got my first taste of a GOOD steak, properly cooked. Mmm. Now, I can barely stand eating something that’s cooked “medium”. I prefer “Medium rare” and/or “Rare” (if I make it at home for myself). Anyway, I digress.

I went to church every Sat night for 18 years of my life. When I got to college, I stopped going, because I got introduced to the LGBT community and it boggled my mind that the faith I believed in would turn their backs on such amazing people. How could the GOD that I believed in be so discriminatory? How could the church and faith that have helped me through so much be such bigots? Didn’t Jesus preach about acceptance and tolerance of ALL people? So I stepped away from the church. It seemed hypocrital to go. I only went to church when I went home to visit my parents and/or xmas and easter. I became one of those “Xmas/Easter” Catholics. The ones who only go during those masses, which make going to mass for those of us that went every week unbearable Cause They Would Sit In Our Seats ANd THEn WE’D HAVE TO STAND!!... (I’m not bitter or anything). But ya, I became one of those Catholics.

So for like 5 or 6 years, stopped going to church. Then I met someone that went to church every weekend and she renewed my faith… in my faith. She taught me that the “church” and “the Pope” are not always right (ex. Pope Alexander VI) This was the first time I had ever heard of him. She reminded me what my father taught me. GOD doesn’t judge. People DO… in GOD’s name. And they’re always wrong for doing so. She and my dad (at different times) told me that if Jesus was down on earth today, he would be fighting for and w/ the LGBT community. In his time, the lepers, the poor, the Samaritans, the cripples were the persecuted people of that time and he spent a lot of his time with those people. So I went back to church. I go pretty regularly, but not every weekend. I’m usually NEVER one to quote scripture, but this in particular is what brought me back to my Catholic roots. It doesn’t matter what the church says… believe in GOD, believe in his message. I know in my heart there is a place in heaven for EVERYONE.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5: 10-12

If you’re Catholic or are familiar with going to mass, then you NEED to go see the Musical Altar Boyz, if it comes your way. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack while writing this entry. I guarantee you will love it! It is in my Top 5 of Musicals I’ve seen (remember I’ve seen about 100). It closed from broadway in 2010, but I looked it up and it’s playing in Austin during from now until Aug, so if you’re in the area… GO SEE IT! You will have an amazing time.

I gotta give a shout out to CZ. PBWU. Every once in awhile we’ll send that txt back and forth meaning Peace Be With You. It always makes me smile. Cause I know she or I just went to church and we were thinking of each other. She has a customized Ringtone on my phone from Altar Boyz. It’s from the song called “Epiphany”.

I am a Catholic
Yes I am!
Long live the Vatican
God doesn't make mistakes and he made me
Ohhh
Let out what you've trapped inside
Come on and show your Catholic pride

Here’s one of the best songs from Altar Boyz. It’s their plea to get y’all to come back to church, by teaching you the church rules. So don’t be scared, follow the Altar Boyz’ rules! Haha It has a much better impact if you see it on stage, but its still pretty awesome.

Church Rulz by The Altar Boyz

People
don’t go to church no more
They’re scared
of acting like fools
They don’t
know what to do at mass
Listen! The Altar Boyz are gonna lay down the rules

Stand up and sing a hymn to heaven
Stand up and watch the organist play
Stand up and sing a hymn to heaven
Stand up, stand up, stand up today

Kneel and say a prayer to Jesus
Kneel and wash your sins away
Kneel and say a prayer to Jesus
Kneel, kneel, kneel today

Sit down, and listen to the homily
Sit down, and hear what the priest has to say
Sit down, and listen to the homily
Sit down, sit down, sit down today!

Then the collection plate gets passed at any minute.
And when it gets to you, you put some money in it.
And at the end of mass, a moment you can savor.
You get to look around and shake the hand of your neighbor.

Peace be with you, peace be with you, peace be with you, peace be with you.

Stand up,Kneel, Sit down and sing a hymn to heaven,
and say a prayer to Jesus, and listen to the homily

Stand up, Kneel, Sit down and watch the organist play,
and wash your sins away, and hear what the priest has to say.

Stand up,Kneel, Sit down and sing a hymn to heaven,
and say a prayer to Jesus, and listen to the homily

Stand up, Kneel, Sit down, Stand up, Kneel, Sit down,
Stand up, Kneel, Sit down, Today!

Stand up, kneel, sit down, stand up, kneel, sit down, stand up,
kneel, sit down, stand up, kneel, sit down, Stand up, Kneel,
Sit down...
Genuflect today!

The Mass is ended, go in peace!

Go to church. Any church. It doesn’t have to be a Catholic one. Or how about this. Take the time (one hour) to just reflect on life. Take one hour a week to just be one w/ God or whatever you believe in (if it’s yourself, nature, other gods, whatever). Everyone has a certain amount of spirituality and faith in them. Tap into for one hour. It’s amazing how centered and connected you can feel after just one hour. =) Go In Peace. Peace Be With You. Amen!