CHRISTMAS SONGS GALORE

Hello again, everyone! We were given new songs to be studied for the coming Christmas season this year by our Parochial Vicar after the General assembly we had just this afternoon. And I need your full support on this so we can be able to finish studying the songs ahead of time.

The songs are arranged in unison. And I have no plans of making it SATB. We'll just settle for plainly the melody for now. We don't have the luxury of time to study in different sections, as in SATB because the song pieces were given at such short notice. Im sure everyone would agree with me on this one.

MY PERSONAL MIRACLE

I attended the Feast in Valenzuela last Thursday. As always, I was part of the music ministry of the gathering .

The day after, I got a lost friend back. God gave me the courage to go and try to reconnect. And I did! And now, I'm free!

The Feast in Valenzuela is so awesome! Miracles do happen! Attend the Feast, my friends. Recieve the shower of abundant blessings! Who knows... the next one to get a miracle might be YOU!

PRIM AND PROPER

This photo was taken during Meanne's Wedding at the Manila Cathedral last May of 2009. Ate Josie and daughter Angie were still here in the Philippines then...

I wonder how MSC manages to pull off such an act when we get invited to sing at other "famous" churches... How can we manage to present ourselves in a very "presentable" way when we are not at our own local church?...

HOW???

Today, together with the other choirs of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish, we had our very first General Assembly under our Parochial Vicar, Fr. Nap. My apologies for not being resourceful enough to get his family name.

The meeting was long and very blunt. Blunt, for there were a lot of corrections, criticisms and improvements to be done especially regarding the individual choir's behaviors. That there were even pictures of the choirs behaving badly in church. The issues of Latecomers, chatters and cellphone users during the Holy Mass are of high priority in the discussion! Yes, I felt a bit guilty in those departments for I know very well how my choir behaves compared to the other choirs. I somehow tolerated it over the years and failed to do anything about it when I had all the chance being their present musical adviser.

The choir being part of the LITURGY (which means public service) and in every aspect of it not just confined to singing during the Mass. The whole aspect of the mass must be observed by each and every choir member. For public service should be taken seriously for the common good of everybody and not being treated as a joke. How can we be able to convince the congregation to sing with us when all they see from our "service" rendered is POOR service? Service that encompasses the relationship between choirs and choir mates and the attitude that we display when we are on that wooden Loft inside the church in front of the all these people. I'm talking solely of the behavior and not the quality of singing, my dear choir mates, as far as MSC is concerned, that is! (hehe!)

Well, being an advocate of progress, I am NOW willing to abide by these new rules that will be imposed immediately, according to our Vicar. I am also asking for support from my choir mates so that MSC will set a good example for the other choirs to emulate since we always claim to be the OLDEST CHOIR ever founded in this Parish. It's time to get a bit serious, folks! No more fooling around this time. I pray that through our efforts, God will be delighted. For we go to church not to please the authorities but only God.

God bless us all!

(special thanks for the photo, Meanne)

PAPURI FEAST RECLAIMS ITS FORMER VENUE

Okay. Let's go a few days backwards...

On October 29, at the Valenzuela Centre for the Arts (A.K.A. Valenzuela Auditorium) the Kerygma feast was held after being rescheduled due to... you guessed it, TYPHOON ONDOY. The activity transpired on a Thursday. Because that was the only time the Auditorium was available.

The topic was about FAITH.

Where do you place faith in the middle of a typhoon, I wonder? Then I remembered the passage about the "walking on the water". Peter, Jesus' apostle, bold as he is, as always, he wanted to go near where Jesus stood in the water amidst gigantic waves during a storm. As he was so eager to walk on the water, he failed to grab the most important ingredient to make him float alongside Jesus. AND THAT IS FAITH!

But then, Peter made a grand comeback when he realized that Jesus was just beside him, ready to rescue him from drowning. Now that's what I call a comeback. It doesn't really matter how many times we fail in our lives. What matters is how much God is willing to pick us up where we stumbled.

I was privileged to sing with the people I have been singing with for this spiritual activity for years now. Of course there were new faces, too. But at the back of my mind, I still think of the moments I spent singing with Ate Josie (alto) and Angie (soprano) with me during the feast...

JUST ANOTHER FUN DAY WITH MSC

MSC welcomes back Glady Mendiola (soprano), a resident of Bahayang Pag-asa Subdivision. This was her first time to attend the Mass and rehearsals after almost three years (I think!). May your comeback be as fruitful as ever!

MSC FUND

This topic has long been overdue... But I'll still post it nonetheless:

Because Christmas is just around the corner, the elders of MSC have decided for the group to have a weekly collection of twenty bucks from each member who have been with us for a certain period of time.

Members who will come late during the Mass and rehearsals shall pay an additional 20 bucks as penalty. Even the members who fails to attend the mass and the rehearsals will definitely not be spared. This aims to teach the members of punctuality and reliability to the group. There were no complains nor violent reactions from the members so the plan materialized on September, 2009!

All the proceeds would automatically be spent during most of our special activities like Christmas Party and Summer Excursions. Our newest "tax collectors" are sinister sisters, Ode and Ikang... Be good and pay up, everyone!

ALL SAINTS DAY-ALL SOULS DAY 2009

We, Filipinos have always been sentimental people. We show how much we care for other people, relatives and friends even if they are not with us anymore. It is very much exemplified by the fact how much we spend time at the cemetery during All Souls' and All Saints' days. MSC is not an exemption.

Our current president, Cocoy was spotted spending time with her family and close relatives at a certain cemetery on Nov. 1. Perhaps many other members were doing the same thing too during this time...

Happy Long Weekend, everyone!

A ROARING BIRTHDAY GREETING TO LEO!

This was a photo taken when Leo (Ibayan), Bass (wearing red shirt) and wife Gigie came home to the Philippines to celebrate Christmas.

HAPPY ALL SOULS DAY... err, we mean...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, LEO!!!

May you be successful in all your endeavours! We miss and love you! God bless you always! =)

WORK BEYOND MY BED TIME

I went to Ortigas three days after Typhoon Ondoy/Ketsana pummeled the Metro after having been invited to help pack relief goods for the victims of the said typhoon. At Zoe Broadcasting Network where I was escorted by my sisters, I came upon a room filled with happy people with smiles that seemed to be stamped on their faces. Some even buried by piles of canned meat and sacks of rice that are being divided into smaller portions, but laughter and smiles still exude their aura.

Boxes of canned meat and fish filled the room. Plastic pails, sacks of rice, noodles, biscuits and towels and other toiletries seemed to go in, in a seemingly unending fashion. I was overwhelmed! I asked myself, "What have I gotten myself into, this time?".

After a little chit-chat with the organizers of this relief operation, work commenced...

With the limited space allotted for each volunteer, I thought that I had to go out of the room to find a place where I could fold the towels properly before they could be put inside plastic bags that are due to be distributed the following morning. In the middle of the process, I felt bored. My back ached from carrying the towels outside the room and bringing them back in after I have folded them. And like I said, it was like an unrelenting flow of tasks! And when I bring the towels back inside, I still see the people, my fellow volunteers seemingly enjoying their work. I even heard occasional loud chortles and chuckles! I was confused! Why would they laugh when they have been working long hours even before I got there? Why would they laugh when all these had to be packed before sunrise?

And during that time, while I was alone, working by myself, I realized how blessed I am to be volunteering rather than being one of the victims.

I thought of the word "relief"... In the dictionary, it means "lightening of something oppressive"... Then, I thought of the people who had no choice but to wait for relief goods to arrive in the midst of the floods and chaos brought about by the onslaught of Ondoy. When all we had to give was something to "lighten" their current dire situation.

What if no one came to offer relief?

What if we run out of relief to give?

I fought hard to concentrate on my tasks so I could finish my work as quick as possible and then move on to another post in our cramped assembly line knowing that I would always find a warm, dry bed to sleep on after my volunteering shift is over, as my consolation.

No wonder my fellow volunteers smiled and laughed together a lot. Even in long hours of hard labor. Carrying loads and loads of goods is a very serious matter. But they worked without any complains whatsoever in the still of the night to the wee hours of the morning. We ALL have every reason to rejoice! For we are still alive and safe in the protection provided by the Lord above.

Makes me want to break into song...

"When the oceans rise and thunders roar,
I will soar with you above the storm!
Father, you are King over the flood,
I will be still for you are God!"

I am very sure that some other MSC members may have been heroes in their own rights during these times but there wasn't any chance to share it with us in this blogsite. I just know it! My volunteering work at Zoe may just be a speck compared to the others who have reached out to help the typhoon victims. But I hope and pray that my work would be pleasing to the eyes of my God!