Elmer’s Fire

DANCE FOR LIFE: A Charity Party

Dance For Life is a charity party organized to raise funds to help in the purchase of a pacemaker for my father, who needs one for his weakening heart. It will be on September 18, 2010, a Saturday starting at 7PM.

The benefit party is at Saint Aedan’s gym in Jersey City at 41 Tuers Avenue or 800 Bergen Avenue.

Sharing is Caring. For Tickets or Donations, call (201)433-9380 or email: dance4life9182010@gmail.com

Me and my family can never say thank you enough for all your support. God bless you for your goodness and generosity.

Matthew 6:21

The title above has always been a major part of me for a long time now. It is a verse that has always reminded me of the miracle that I experienced back in 1995. I was a newscaster then for a local television station getting ready to face the camera and do the daily five o’clock news program. At that time, I was inside the newsroom going through the news report a few minutes before going on the air when suddenly I felt an strong urge to read the Bible verse for that day on a national newspaper.

I was so desperate at that point in my life as I was going through a family separation which I thought then was the most painful thing that happened to me. At that point, I was already questioning the Lord about His plans for me and on when He intended them to happen. I was sweating despite the very cold air-conditioned newsroom as I started reading the said bible verse which title caught my attention immediately: “God is never in a hurry, but He is always on time.”

Right there and then, I just wept so hard and begged our Almighty Father for forgiveness. As I surrendered everything to Him during that very moment, I asked Him to take over my life from then on. He did! Not too long thereafter, I woke up one day and started smiling again and went on with my life with my Savior by my side. Today, I look back at that moment in my past and strongly believe it is a wonderful blessing in disguise or should I say, a miracle in disguise because due to that incident I met the Lord in a personal way which is the greatest thing that could ever happen to anybody.

Our God Almighty’s use of His perfect time and way on everything can be found all over the Bible. It took Him eighty years until His plan for Moses came to pass. When God completes His work on a fully grown oak tree, it takes Him a hundred years to do so but He only needs overnight to create a mushroom. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says it best: “Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.”

A soul is strengthened in every tribulation and persecution he or she overcomes. Be ready to endure these moments. James 1:4 states “Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Always keep in mind the trials you have survived, not just how many others you still have to overcome. Remember that our Lord has yet to bring into completion what He has planned for you. You may not be at your destination just yet but rest assured, you have gone a long way from where you began.

As 2 Timothy 4:7-8 says “I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. And now there is waiting for me the prize of victory awarded for a righteous life, the prize which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day – and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for Him to appear.”

God’s wonderful work on us may not yet be complete, therefore we need to go on keeping the faith and continue to pursue the prize He has in store for us. Even the snail, by its perseverance, got on board Noah’s ark on time.

“Just be part of it.” This is what our parish priest urged us to do during his homily a few Sundays before Pope Benedict XVI’s historical visit in the United States. Thus, be a part of it I did!

I didn’t just watch Him on TV or read about him in the newspaper or internet, I went to where He was and saw Him (a few feet from me anyway). As I did so, I brought along my sons, AJ & DJ, and their best friend Ron. One of my best friends, Marty, wanted to join us but changed his mind at the last minute claiming he didn’t have clean socks to wear. What a lame excuse! LOL! Despite us offering to give him new socks, he still didn’t go. Obviously, the lazy bum had other reasons. Just kidding Mr. McFly!

Seeing the Pope is something that does not happen everyday, not even every year. Except of course, if you live in Vatican City. I have been blessed to see the Pope twice in my life. I saw Pope John Paul II when I was still in high school as He visited the Philippines back in the early 80’s. Then, on April 19, 2008, it’s Pope Benedict XVI outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, New York.

I told the boys to appreciate every single minute of the brief but blessed moment and be grateful for it as it may well be their first and last to have this close encounter with the successor of St. Peter. Their perseverance and patience to wait for those “special few seconds” for almost five hours under the blistering heat of the New York City sun speak a lot about how they really valued the experience. For us, all the sacrifice was all worth it.

Yes, security was tight at that time but not too tight. Protesters were booed, cheers were heard, flags were waved, B16 shirts sold like hotcakes, and digital cameras clicked away like crazy. No, there was not a person on every square foot of that part of the Big Apple but undoubtedly a sea of humanity made its presence felt during that time. Indeed millions of people from all over the world and all walks of life gathered along 5th Avenue that day not to shop but to get something priceless…a glimpse of the Holy Father.