Counting the Blessings 2009

2009 Presented a lot of opportunities to learn and practice patience as it was a rather cumbersome year. I’ve learned that it’s more important to count blessings rather than dwell on regrets and tragedies of the past. So here is a rundown on all the great blessings of 2009 for me and my family. FYI, this is in no particular order.

Tahoe
In June, Izza, Zara, Junior (Izza’s brother), and I spent 5 days in Tahoe in a posh time share owned by Izza’s Aunt. It was given to us as a wedding present. It was much needed R&R. We kicked it at the lake and had a great picnic along the shore.

Zara’s Baptism
Seeing Zara initiated into the faith and celebrating her first Sacrament was such a blessing. Family and friends joined us at St. Joseph to welcome her into the church.

Zara’s First Birthday
In November, my baby girl celebrated her first birthday surrounded by a plethora of friends and family.

Hollywood Trip
In April, I was hired to keynote and play music at a Youth Day Conference in Hollywood, Ca. The good peeps at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish flew me and a couple friends down to SoCal. The gig was originally for Jesse Manibusan. He had other commitments that weekend and passed the gig on to me. I met new friends, and shared the gifts God had given me.

LA Congress
In March, I was invited to backup Jess on the main stage of LA Congress during morning liturgy/prayer. It was exciting to be singing with others in front of so many people.

Izza Singing Again
Izza rediscovered her gift this year as she sang with very talented musicians at Bernardo and Leslie’s wedding back in December. She truly hasn’t missed a step. I hung on every word with bated breath cheering her on and sending her positive prayers. She really made me proud.

Zara’s First Steps
On November 16, a day after Zara’s Bigtop birthday, Zara took her first steps. Both Izza and I were fortunate to be there to witness it.

Oakland Youth Rally
In November, I was reunited with Jess once again and we led the morning worship session. For the last song of the set, he handed me his guitar and asked me to tie it up. I then led 600+ teens in a roaring and enthusiastic version of Every Move I Make. It was awesome. I then led worship for 3 sessions of intimate Eucharistic Adoration alongside my friend Megan Gluhan.

First Confirmation Class Confirmed
In May, I saw my first Confirmation class at St. Joseph get confirmed by Fr. George Moeckel. I was proud to see 45 teens confirm their Catholic faith, amongst them were Jenika Marinas, Joseph Garcia, Allison Lucarelli, Nick Simard, Alex Agcaoili, Rachel Das, Chrystalle Navarro, Jessica Hewitt, Sonia Dassapa, Lizzie Wanschura and Brandon Sie who are now practicing their faith as Youth leaders in our program.

Faith Has Feet.

A friend of mine (who is an evangelical Christian and Ex-Catholic) wrote this on his Facebook status:

Does Membership in a church Forgive Sin? Does Doing Good works forgive Sins? Does Being Baptize forgive Sins, without having a true Relationship, knowledge, and confession of Jesus Christ? Is it something you do that gets you into heaven? Or is It having a true Loving Faith Relationship in Jesus Christ? Do we add our works to Gods work?

This was my response:

I think it needs to be clarified that while having a personal and intimate relationship with Christ is paramount to salvation, what comes after that, is just as important. I believe the statement needs to be expounded to uncover just what OUR role in this relationship with Christ looks like.

By virtue of the salvation given at the cross we are saved. Bottom line, Christ’s act on the cross is THE single sanctifying act of salvation for all who believe. But from a human perspective, it’s in how we live out that faith, that we can and should define and confirm whom we place our trust in. Our deeds and actions are a reflection of what we believe.

Did the bad thief on the cross gain salvation with his deathbed conversion? yes. But that’s God’s love, mercy, peace, and compassion at play. We are fortunate as people who have come to know Christ, that we are given a chance to revel in the glory that is his gift of salvation.

Where the rubber meets the road in terms of what we believe is when we “act” upon our relationship with Christ by “doing” that which our personal relationship prompts us to: to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23), live out the Gospel Truth, love God, love neighbor, feed the hungry, visit the sick, clothe the naked. This all sounds rather labor intensive, doesn’t it? But we manifest our love for God, in service to Him because service to God involves conformity to God’s will.

The key is having that intimate relationship with Christ. And that looks different to everybody. For some, it means membership to a church, or acts of tradition, ritual, and devotion. We each find meaning in different ways, as these are gifts from God that serve as a conduit to knowing and loving Him more. At the very root of it all, is the goal of coming closer to Christ and striving for that personal relationship.

Do people go through the “motions” of church, action, and tradition in a lackadaisical manner? Yes, I don’t think there is anybody NOT guilty of that. But we have so many opportunities daily to return to Him, to reconcile our relationship with Him.

It IS enough to know Christ and have a personal relationship with Him, but if we don’t live out that lifestyle of worship that reflects the Holy Spirit, what’s it all worth then?

Just my 2 cents. God bless.

Faith by itself, without action is dead. -James 2:17

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Thoughts?

Enough

I posted a new video of me playing and singing one of my favorite worship songs: Enough by Chris Tomlin. Truly God’s grace is sufficient for all of us. Head on over to the Video section and check it out!

Youth Rally for the Diocesan Council for Filipino Catholics

Today I’m at Our Lady of Peace parish in Santa Clara, Ca serving at a youth rally for Pilipino youth. I learned that there hasn’t been a concerted effort to rally and foster the faith of Pinoy teens in the DSJ, while the Hispanic, Vietnamese and Korean youth have events and activities. I’m proud that I can be a part of the genesis of this effort and I hope it grows stronger in attendance and faith.

Inang’s Funeral

My friends Michelle and RJ lost their Grandmother Maxima Floresca Farin after a long bout with Alzheimers amongst other things. I remember her being very nice whenever I visited the Payomo house. I am learning that she loved and served God at her parish. I am playing at the funeral today at St. Victor’s parish in San Jose. I continue to pray for Inang as she meets the Living God.

Isaiah’s Baptism

I’ll be playing at Isaiah Hernandez’ baptism at St. John Vianney San Jose. Vern and Albert (his parents) asked me to provide music. I’m very honored to help welcome their baby boy into the faith! Please pray for Isaiah as he starts off his baptized life!

Jericho

I’m singing and playing tonight at St. Joe’s in Fremont at the 6:30pm mass 08.02.09! I will be with my old choir, Jericho again. We haven’t sung as a whole for a long time. Worship with us if you can.

Summer Projects

It’s an exciting time for me. I’ve had a steady flow of opportunities these past couple months, playing in Hollywood, Tahoe,and Occidental amongst other places. I’ve even had the opportunity to sing with my wife again. We sang at the Blush gig and are doing it again this coming Thursday 07/23/09.

What I am most excited about is the recording process. This Summer I’ve been working on my demo project with my buddy Juan at Big Hit Studios. He’s a talented guy that truly believes in the power of music. I’ve laid down a few scratch tracks and it’s been going really well. It’s a slow process, and rightfully so, you can’t rush something like this.

Izza actually graces one of my tracks called Beautiful Lord. It’s great to have her there with me, in fact she’s Executive Producer of this thing! It’s been a family affair thus far, my dad sat in on my first session back in July, and Zara, my beautiful daughter, came with us to the second session. I feel really blessed to have these opportunities and I am blessed with all the prayers and well-wishes.

Here are some pics to my 2nd studio session. Check them out.

Oakland Youth Rally 2009: I Am Second

I’ll be leading worship at Oakland Diocese’s 2009 Youth Rally: I Am Second. The rally will take place on November 7th at St. Bede Parish in Hayward, Ca. The day features my good friend Jesse Manibusan and Bro. Agostino Torres. I’ll also be doing a set at the evening concert. For more info, check out the Save-The-Date flyer here.

Thank you

Thanks to all those who came out to Blush last night. A great time was had by all, and great yogurt was served. Thanks to Ian Hinkle for inviting me to play. Thank you to my beautiful wife, Izza, for singing with me and Urn Bolosan for jammin’ on the cajon. Pictures from the event can be found here. Courtesy of Jon Reyes. Enjoy!

Izza and I have been invited to come back to Blush on July23rd! More info to come!