Espanyola NM hideaway

Monks, need a break too!.... It was in February of the same day today, that was five years ago, when I visited my friend Amy Flores, who was then a teacher in one school in Espanyola City in New Mexico. I felt good to see friends like her and this made me feel that I still belong to the world despite the truth that I was a cloistered monk and thus, should be separated from the people of the outside world.
Reminiscing this day made me feel that I should keep in touch to her, who, right now, is in San Jose CA, and has relocated with her husband Dan.

a ready smile...

That is me, all ready to smile at anyone I meet inside a residential community of senior citizens in Valley Village, CA.

Christmas at the mall

celebrating my birthday...

...away from my family.

yes, I am a commuter, and there is so much to tell about it.

I become a commuter since I arrived in CA after relocating myself from New Mexico. Life in Los Angeles most specifically is easy and access to public transport is easy. Food and housing seem to be fine and not expensive. Living life with a purpose is a challenge, though. The whole environment is filled with people, commuters, cars and vehicles and Filipino stores and business establishments of all sorts.

rest-if-you-must-but-never-quit-your-job

There were times when I would reminisce the olden days in my life as monk in a monastery and I couldn't help but to sigh- ..Indeed, life outside the monastery is a challenging kind of life.But sorts of challenges may have squeezed me but never shrunk me to the point of giving up on these challenges because I learned that life is what we make it a choices in life has consequences...

working with caregivers in performing my job as activity director in RB

I worked as Director of Activities in an RCFE facility, that is, a residential assisted living facility or in short, a retirement home. 

I have come to realize that life is indeed a mystery because I saw with my own two eyes the unfolding of the ongoings of human life and the end of it. 

I worked with caregivers and personal care assistants at the facility and from their own sharing of their experiences, i would say- they are the epitome of the the modern-day cinderellas snow whites!

RB Staff poses with Lito, the Executive Administrator

Lito, (far left-standing), the owner-exec admin of RB posed a souvenir photo with his staff after distributing our very attractive uniforms!

The staff of which I worked with in the retirement facility at Valley Village.

bonding with the cooks of RB

Ryan, Caucasian  the latest hired cook of RB, discussed his vision as cook of the community. His culinary  experience helps the kitchen staff makes things possible for the meals of the whole community.

Norman, Filipino Bulakenyo, makes the kitchen atmosphere a lighter one and a no dull-moment experience to all of the  kitchen staff (me,activity director; the medication staff, the caregiver staff).

Another, jolly-down-to-earth cook is Maryann, Filipino immigrant who makes the kitchen an interesting and stress-free moments for all of the kitchen staff.

Joey -former Pinoy movie actor and comedian- worked at RB kitchen for almost three months and decided to move on to another calling. We missed him at the kitchen, though life has to move on with him.

Indeed, socializing with the cooks of the Residences @ Royal Bellingham is a significant action as activity director of the facility. Making myself familiar with them and what they can offer for the residents of the community plays a very important factor for me in reaching out to every resident of the community.

working at the kitchen with a Med-tech and a cook at RB Retirement community

I am the current Activity Director in a retirement home here in Valley Village, and one part of my job is to work as a team with the Kitchen staff and Medication staff.

This enables me to monitor the current conditions of our residents as far as their diet and medication conditions are concerned.

Knowing how they are and what may be their conditions are in a day, helps me make adjustments in their activity-of-the-day schedule so as to be able to make them attend and enjoy it without further conflict and complications.

For I knew that attending activity adds more meaning and worth to their life.

After all, activity is considered as the heart and soul of a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly!

it's been awhile and now I am back with a smile...

It has been awhile since I last published my post here and I would say, after some few months of hibernation...I am back with a new fervor for blogging--afterall, blogging is really in my veins and it would not leave me like a tick on my head...

So, what has been and what have I been doing these past months?...

I was buried deep with my work, work and work...

I was also hooked to my gym workouts.

Like a real gym rat, i spent every other day doing my workouts at 24 Hr Fitness gym nearby my place, and what else?

I was all just focused in doing my job excellently! (raise..raise..raise..I need a raise boss!)...

Anyways, I will be visible again in blogging and hope I gain back my blogger friends who, because of my long absence on the net, have drifted apart .....Come back...come back my friends..I am backk....

what does it take to live a cloistered life?

3:40 AM

Rise and Shine
I woke up as usual, a little before the rising bell. My body clock had its own alarm, but that doesn't stop me from feeling far from fresh. I always have to struggle in the early wee hours of the mornings. Still not truly awake, I struggled with my monastic habit and scapular and rushed down to our Abbey Church and braved the sharp freezing morning air of the cloister on my way to Church. Another day has begun.

4:00 AM
VIGILS
The first service of the day breaks the silent darkness. Vigils (in Church) lasts about one hour. "O, Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise." The Psalms flowed from side to side of our choir, long Psalms, telling the story of God's chosen people, telling of the long centuries of watching, of vigil, before the dawning of God's light, of his coming into a world darkened by ignorance, malice and sin.

5:10 AM
Breakfast
A mug of hot tea, and a piece of whole wheat bread, butter and marmalade began to introduce some life into my still sluggish and reluctant body though my mind was clearer by the minute.

5:45 AM.
LAUDS and MASS
The second service of the day began as the new born light breaks through the sanctuary windows, and sets the pink and orange bricks ablaze. Lauds (in Church) lasts about thirty minutes, followed by Mass. Praise God, the Creator of Light! Praise Christ, the Son of God, who has risen, Victor over Satan, sin and death! In the words of the Canticle, the loving-kindness of the heart of our God has visited us like the dawn from on high. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist followed shortly after Lauds, the very heart of the monastic round. Who can grasp the mystery of Christ's body and blood? We receive the signs, the tokens of His love for us, and we enter into the great mystery of His passion, death and resurrection, to be united with the very source of our salvation. And we go out to share His peace with all around us.

7:20 AM
Back to the Cell
I returned to my cell for "lectio divina", that basic monastic practice of reading the Scriptures. I read the Scriptures, or rather, I listened to them, trying to catch the voice of the Spirit, who was trying to get through me, trying to tell me something of how He sees things, of how He wants me to respond to the Father. I couldn't hear much this time of the day, but never mind. Sooner or later, the Word which was received in quietness will come alive. How often has the memory brought forth the living Word and offered encouragement, correction or a challenge.

"Lectio divina" flows naturally into prayer. Some prefer the Church for personal prayer, but I would stay in my cell – so there were fewer outward distractions. But that did not stop the distractions from within. Waves of thoughts come on, by turns funny and fantastic, foul and fascinating. But they brought me face to face with something of my own darkness and need for God.
I try to put myself before him just as I am; He can cope with all that is within me, even if I cannot. And then deeper, much deeper than all this, I become aware of the roots of my being reaching out, seeking nourishment, seeking a source of stability in the midst of the turbulent void. Mysteriously, a certain confidence is born.

8:10 AM
Work meeting with the Abbot
Short Meeting with the Abbot declaring the work I am assigned for the day. This was also coupled with a short recitation of the Psalm

8:45 AM.
TERCE
The Third Service of the Day
Consisting of three short Psalms only. Terce (in Church) lasts about ten minutes.

9:00 AM
Monastic Work for all
Monastic day comes down to earth. Most of the days, I had been given the job of the guesthouse cleaner. I would clean all the vacated rooms of our small lodging house for guests, dump the dirty linens and beddings to the bins and clean the men's and women's toilets. How extraordinary the monastic life seems from the outside, and yet how ordinary from within – just basic human activities, encompassed by faith and prayer.

12:40 PM
End of Work Period

1:00 PM
SEXT
The fourth Service of the day was very short: a Hymn, three short Psalms, a reading and a prayer. But we were reminded of the Creator when our own affairs are liable to be uppermost in our minds.

1:10 PM
Monastic Main Meal
We processed from the Church to the refectory, and after singing grace, we all sit down together. No voice but the reader's is heard as we began our soup. We sit down together and we listen to the voice of the reader.Towards the end of the meal, the table reader read the lives of the saints we will commemorate for the next day, and then reciting a chapter of Saint Benedict's Rule. I've never had much difficulty in attending to both my food and the reading, especially if the book being read is an interesting one. Washing dishes and pots and pans followed.

2:10 PM
Rest and Relaxation
After the main meal, we could relax a little as a community. It is true that the brethren are not always relaxing company; building community is ever one of life's greater challenges. But mostly it is peaceful over a bowl of coffee, and any day is no exception. Monastic walk to the terrains and the climb up the Chama canyon would always dominate the monks' free time.

3:30 PM
NONE
The fifth service of the day, like Sext, marks the passing hours, and recalls our minds and hearts to the Creator of time. He fills every moment with his watchful and loving presence. How watchful are we, and how loving?

4: 00 PM
Lectio Divina
Back to the cells and Lectio Divina for the Solemnly professed monks like me and Lectio Divina in a group for the Novices and the Simply Professed monks.

5:20 PM
Silent Prayers in the Church
The monks meet again in Church for silent prayers and meditations. Monks have their own unique way of spending this time with the Lord. Some read the Bible and other theological books, others recite the five decades of the Holy Rosary an others just shut their eyes and allow God's presence to envelope and dominate their beings. The Holy Spirit comes in when the human soul is receptive and open to its dominion.

5:50 PM
VESPERS
The sixth service of the day is an evening sacrifice of praise at Church. We offer to God all we have received in the course of the day, and all we have done, or tried to do with his all-powerful help. "Let my prayer rise like incense before you, O Lord." Vespers lasts about thirty minutes.

6:20 PM
Light Meal
Light Meal until 6:50 PM in the monastic refectory for monks and guests as well.

7:30 PM
COMPLINE
The seventh and final service of the day, brings the monastic day to its close. "Now Lord, let your servant depart in peace." We sing the song of Simeon, the old man, whose life was prolonged by the Lord until his eyes had seen the salvation prepared for all peoples. We give thanks for the mercy we have received today, and pray for a quiet night and a perfect end. And with a final antiphon sung to Mary, Queen of heaven, and confident of her protection, we take our leave. "Farewell, O fair Lady, and pray for us to Christ."

What does it take to live a cloistered life? ...perseverance... faith... courage, patience, humility, discipline and love for God.

passion, death, resurrection

Life has its own passion, death and resurrection. As what my superior said many years ago, as monks- we needed to die from our old selves and the process of dying is a great passion that one monk must undergo and allow himself to  experience the death of his old self, in order to resurrect to a new life of purity, holiness, faith in God and total conversion of life....Every person, I believe,  must undergo the processes...in order to find new meaning in his/her life towards living with God  in the midst of the world.

for adults only!

It was time for Bingo! The residents of the community where I worked as activity director look forward to playing Bingo with me everyday from 1:00pm til 2:00pm. It has been their custom to gather inside the recreation room of the facility and without any invitation coming from me, they would wait for me to come over and be their bingo dealer. This game is a non-profit game as the administration doles out prizes without the residents betting any single cent for the games. It was a pure way to really make them enjoy their day and make them busy with their life everyday.

brothers

unity in diversity