Feast of St. Pio de Pietrelcina Today

There was a massive traffic around 5PM this afternoon along the stretch of C5-Libis Area , in Quezon City. The reason for the traffic? Today, September 23, is the feast day of St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Eucharistic celebrations were held at 12Noon and at 5:30PM today, in honor of the miraculous saint. He was even featured in one of the local television shows, Balitang K, about 2-3 weeks ago. I guess this "tv guesting" heightened the public curiosity, and has added to the crowds of people (and cars!) who braved the rains and the heavy traffic just to step and take a glimpse of the shrine of St. Pio.

My family and I can be considered devotees of the said saint. I am not really a super devout and pious churchgoer, but I believe St. Pio have answered some of my little prayer requests - not really as grand as those testimonials posted on the church's walls, but small requests that has allowed me to survive and overcome some personal and career-related trials. And though I still have some "bigger prayer requests", I know and I have faith that God, through the intercession of St. Pio, will hear and grant those requests in ways He deemed would be beneficial to me and my son.

Below is the prayer to St. Pio. I would like to share it to everyone. My way of thanking St. Pio for all the petitions he has granted, and for the other blessings waiting to be sent.

O God,

You gave Saint Pio of Pietrelcina,

Capuchin priest,

the great privilege of participating

in a unique way in the passion of Your Son,

grant me through his intercession

the grace of (PAUSE...) which I ardently

desire; and above all grant me the grace

of living in conformity

with the death of Jesus,

to arrive at the glory

of the resurrection.

Glory be to the Father... (three times)

The Philippine Center for St. Pio of Pietrelcina can be located at 188 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave, C5 Bagumbayan, Quezon City, Philippines. It is located between Honda Cars and The Floor Center. Here's the link to the center's website.

Facebook Family Addiction

This will be a short post. I just can't help but blog about it, since it's really becoming the "in" thing here at home.

An old saying goes,"The family that prays together, stays together". Well, let me modify this a little to describe my family's current "addiction" - the family that plays together, stays together.

This is so true for my family now. Lately, almost all of us are addicted to various applications in Facebook - my brother had chosen to establish his own eatery/carinderia (sorry bro, yours really look like a carinderia.. hehehe.. Ü) at Restaurant City; my mom tries her hand raising cows, growing rice paddies and strawberry fields at FarmVille; and I get to pursue my dream to burn rubber in Street Racing. Not that my Dad has no participation at all, but having experienced life as a farmer in the province, he advises my mom on how to setup her crops in FarmVille. It was fun watching my parents while they are discussing on which crops should be near each other, and which animals should be placed far from the crops. My mom grew in the city, so she listens intently to my Dad's advice. From a distance one would think that they are seriously discussing about the planned family business or the budget for the week. But try to come closer, and you can hear them discuss about rice paddies, cows, cattle, and strawberry fields.

As for me and my brother, we're quite contented with the "domains" we have chosen. My brother maintains his carinderia (I mean restaurant.. tee hee!!) very well, sometimes asking me or my cousin the answer to the secret question to get the ingredient of the day. After playing with Restaurant City for quite sometime, he has acquired this sense of order in arranging his restaurant furnitures and fixtures (i.e. the toilet is no longer located at the center of the dining tables nor close to the stove). As for me, I am still in the process of recruiting more peeps to have a larger crew, upgrading my ZYN-OIL NSX and Nissan Supra race cars, buying cars and properties to increase my stash, and most importantly race and race and race, to reach my ultimate goal - the Skilled LA Street Champ title.

I may setup my own farm, barn, or eatery (or restaurant, depending on how it would look like) one of these days, and my brother might try his hands in racing. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing for my Mom. She gave up on Street Racing the first time she tried it. It's not her cup of tea, daw. Hopefully, she'll be able to detach herself from the other farm-related apps in Facebook and try some other games. Till then, we'll be stuck in our little worlds, drowning in this addiction we all love.

Gotta go now... Just noticed that my Health, Gas, and Adrenaline are now replenished... Ciao! :-)