Serwalt

Love your eyes

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is the high point of the liturgical year. This Sunday, we begin this great week with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Among the crowds of those waving palm branches, we find those who still doubt Jesus’ identity and the call to which God is asking of us.

It must have been an amazing sight to see all those people shouting "Hosanna!" In a few days, these would be the people who would be saying "Crucify Him." Carrying the weight of the Cross for us, Jesus kept his eyes fixed on Jerusalem.

It must have been an amazing sight to see all those people shouting "Hosanna!" In a few days, these would be the people who would be saying "Crucify Him." Carrying the weight of the Cross for us, Jesus kept his eyes fixed on Jerusalem.

During this week, Jesus was betrayed by his disciple. One of his disciples even said he did not know him. Jesus shared a meal with his disciples and even washed their feet. The sorrow-filled procession that Jesus made on Good Friday was so different from the joyful entry that he made on Palm (Passion) Sunday.

In the celebrations of Holy Week, Jesus meets us on the road to Calvary. We encounter God’s thirst for us. In the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we also discover God’s great love for us and are called to affirm our own identity with God.

Created in the image and likeness of God, we strive to live by Jesus’ words and examples. However, as human beings, we struggle with injustice, betrayal, greed, and pain. God knows the things we carry that do not bring us peace. This Holy Week and each day of our lives, we are reminded to invite Jesus into our journeys. Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Reflection taken from:
https://spiritans.org/news/reflection-for-palm-passion-sunday-april-2-2023 #:~:text=Holy%20Week%20is%20the%20high,God%20is%20asking%20of%20us.

Caiaphas is afraid that the popularity of Jesus will draw down the wrath of Rome and destroy both the temple – the holy place - and the nation. In his blindness he cannot see that the Jewish people are themselves the temple. Do I appreciate that I too am a temple of the living God? Lord, take away my blindness to that I can see myself as you see me.

Let us pray: Lord, during the coming , let us accompany you in your darkest hours. In sharing the experience of your passion, may we also share that of your resurrection.
From: https://www.sacredspace.ie/scripture/john-11-45-5
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The works of Jesus are the works of love. This is the love we know of him – love unto death. What we see in Jesus, we can see of the Father. What the Father sees in Jesus, he sees and loves in us. We pray that our hearts may be made like the heart of Jesus.
From: https://www.sacredspace.ie/scripture/john-10-31-42
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Whoever keeps God’s word won’t see death – that is will never be destroyed. His hearer’s could not take these words, but did not say that they would like more to be explained to them. They were puzzled and pointed out that even Abraham had died. They hadn’t the openness to learn. They even turned on Jesus, saying “Who do you claim to be?”

Let us pray: Lord I am praying here on the edge of what I can grasp, reaching for the eternal Now. What matters to me is that you are as much my contemporary as you were of Pilate and the stone-throwing Jews. Amen.

From: https://www.sacredspace.ie/scripture/john-851-59
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When in my life have I had an experience which made me truly see Jesus as the one sent by God?

‘If you continue in my word, you will know the truth and the truth will make you free’. Jesus links freedom to faith in him and his message. It is the Good News, that assures us that God cares for us and loves us as we are, whatever our situation. It tells us love is the royal road to a free life, a full life.
From: https://www.sacredspace.ie/scripture/john-831-42
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Charizze Bonilla Torres Arnigo live at Bebie's Barbecue and the Bar & I Cortes Beach Resort, Brgy. Ipil, Surigao City! 🎙️🎶♨️⛱️

The people who heard Jesus' message often took in just the words on the surface. His meaning was hidden from them when they failed to listen on a deeper level, to reflect on what his words might mean for them. This is the work of our prayer: to receive the word of God into our hearts, to go beyond any superficial - even important -meanings.
From: https://www.sacredspace.ie/scripture/john-821-27
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Jesus is the one who never condemns, even when we are most condemnatory of ourselves. The look of Jesus to this condemned woman saved her - the look of divine and everlasting love. In prayer we can bring all the shame and guilt of our lives to this story of forgiveness and hear words spoken to each of us - ‘I do not condemn you.'

From: https://www.sacredspace.ie/scripture/john-8111

It is significant that the story of Lazarus, unique to the Gospel of John, is the Gospel reading for the last Sunday in Lent,

The raising of Lazarus is the last of Jesus’ “signs” in the Gospel of John. Chapter 12 functions as a bridge chapter before the narrative halts in time for Jesus’ last meal and words to his disciples (chapters 13-17). The actual raising of Lazarus is narrated in only two verses (11:43-44). The events, discussion, and details prior to the main event receive the bulk of the narrative space. Previously in the Gospel, Jesus performs a sign, which is typically followed by dialogue and a discourse by Jesus that interprets the sign (5:1-47; 9:1-10:21). Why does Jesus comment on the sign before actually raising Lazarus from the dead? On one level, it seems that what precedes the miracle is just as important. In other words, Jesus’ interpretation of the meaning of the sign is perhaps as, or more, critical than the sign itself. Why is the structure changed for this last sign and what does it suggest for the preaching on the raising of Lazarus? How do these details in the story leading up to Lazarus finally walking out of the tomb contribute to our understanding of the meaning of this sign?

Again we should ask, why does Jesus need to talk about the raising of Lazarus prior to doing it? Is it because that the sign would be easily misunderstood, even by us? When we think about the raising of Lazarus, do we place our focus on “I am the resurrection” and not remember that Jesus also says “I am the life?” Indeed, this is exactly what Martha thinks. Notice her dialogue with Jesus in 11:21-27. When Jesus says to her, “your brother will rise again,” she hears only the promise of a future resurrection, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (11:24). And Jesus seems to correct this misunderstanding, “I am the resurrection and the life.” But Jesus, we might ask, what is the difference?

Taken from: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-in-lent/commentary-on-john-111-45-2

On Give an Hour for Earth by spending 60 minutes doing something - anything - positive for our planet. 🌏⌛️💚💙🤎
👉CHOOSE A WAY ON HOW YOU CAN DO IT. CLICK HERE: https://www.earthhour.org/
Thank you for making a difference! As Earth loves you, let's love back Mother Earth even for this moment on.

Each year, we recognize on March 24. This annual event commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis (TB). 🫁❤️

⚡️Fast Facts about :
1. Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by germs that are spread from person to person through the air. TB usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, or the spine. A person with TB can die if they do not get treatment.
2. About one quarter of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis (TB) bacteria. Only a small proportion of those infected will become sick with TB.
3. People with weakened immune systems have a much greater risk of falling ill from TB. A person living with HIV is about 20 times more likely to develop active TB.

For more about TB: https://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/general/tb.htm #:~:text=Tuberculosis%20(TB)%20is%20a%20disease,they%20do%20not%20get%20treatment.

takes place every year on 23 March and commemorates the coming into force on 23 March 1950 of the Convention establishing the World Meteorological Organization. 🌏🌤🌨💨🌊

⚡️Fast Facts about Meteorology:
1. Meteorology is the science that focuses on the Earth's atmosphere. People who study meteorology are called meteorologists. Meteorologists record air pressure, wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, weather patterns, and other information. Meteorologists use this data to understand weather and to predict it.
2. The naming of hurricanes and tropical storms officially began in 1953.
3. The wind doesn’t make a sound until it blows against an object.
4. Average global temperature is up 0.94°C (1.7°F) since 1880.
5. For each minute of the day, 1 billion tonnes of rain falls on the Earth.
6. Every second around 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth.
7. A cubic mile of ordinary fog contains less than a gallon of water.
8. The air located around a lightning bolt is heated to around 30,000°C. This is 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun.
9. Snowflakes falling at 2-4 mph can take up to 1 hour to reach the ground.
10. 9 out of 10 lightings strike land rather than water.
https://funfactsabout.net/interesting-weather-facts/

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This is about accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. 💦🌊🫗
And because water affects us all, we need everyone to take action.
That means you!
You and your family, school and community can by changing the way you use, consume and manage water in your lives.

Your commitments will be added to the Water Action Agenda, to be launched at the UN 2023 Water Conference – the first event of its kind for nearly 50 years.

This is a once-in-a-generation moment for the world to unite around water. 💙

Play your part. Do what you can. Click here for more: https://www.worldwaterday.org/

(WDSD), 21 March, is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012.

Know that just like you, people with Down syndrome have an inherent right to be accepted and included as valued and equal members of the community. 💛💙


⚡️Fast Facts about :
1. Down syndrome (or Trisomy 21) is a condition in which a person has an extra
chromosome.
2. Chromosomes are “packages” of genes in the body. They determine how a
baby’s body forms and functions as it grows.
3. Around 1 in every 800 babies will be born with Down syndrome.
4. Down syndrome occurs naturally – there is no known cause.
5. Down syndrome usually causes varying degrees of intellectual and physical
disability and associated medical issues.

For more: https://www.worlddownsyndromeday.org/what-is-down-syndrome

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It’s a day to be happy, of course! Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the as a way to recognize the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world.
https://www.un.org/en/observances/happiness-day

It is a day to commemorate the achievements of women and to raise awareness for the social and politician equality of women around the world.

😲Be thankful despite some problems, you do not have a rare disease just like the Top 10 Rarest Diseases:
10. Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) - Baldness and enlarged heads with small faces, limited motion, hardening of the arteries, growth delays, hip dislocations and other debilitating symptoms
9. Kuru - Tremors and muscle jerks (Kuru is the Fore tribe’s word for ‘shiver’), headaches and arm and leg pain, difficulty walking and swallowing, progressive and severe coordination problems.
8. Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive – Stoneman’s Disease - Malformation of the big toe in newborns, painful fibrous nodules/tumor-like swellings, over the neck, back and shoulders, joint stiffness, low-grade fever, muscles replaced by bone tissue.
7. Morgellons - Itchiness, crawling, stinging and biting sensations, black hairs, threads or specks on or under the skin, Rashes and sores, Memory loss and confusion, changes in vision
6. Methemoglobinemia - Blueish colorization of the skin, shortness of breath, headaches and dizziness, loss of hairlines, changes in mental status, fatigue and exercise intolerance, anemia, cardiovascular and lung disease, bacteria and toxins in the tissues, seizures and Coma
5. Microcephaly - Reduced life expectancy, neurological defects, reduced head size, dwarfism, delayed speech, hyperactivity, seizures and convulsions, impaired motor ability and clumsiness
4. Parry–Romberg syndrome - Atrophy of the skin and connective tissues, usually on the face, hair loss, scarring, reduction of pigmentation in the skin, severe tissue pain, migraines, recession of the eye orbit and visual abnormalities such as drooping eyelids, nausea and vomiting, decreased swelling at the site, dental abnormalities
3. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis or Treeman syndrome - High risk of skin cancer, flat wart-like papules, scaly growths, lesions and tumors
2. RPI Deficiency - Damage to the optic nerves and involuntary eye movements, seizures, spasticity and developmental delays, balance and mobility problems, slowing of thought and speech
1. Fields’ Disease - Deterioration of the muscular system, progressive limitation of movement and speech, occasional twitching and trembling, painful muscle spasms
From: https://rarest.org/people/diseases

For the list and information of the different rare diseases, see https://emedicine.medscape.com/guide/rare_diseases.

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