If a picture paints a thousand words
Then why can’t I paint you
That the world may ever know
It is You I have come to know.
( -Heaton Paul,et al)
This is one song that touches me so much. I am always awed with the wonder of creation. I look at the sea, the sky, the mountains, flowers and trees...they all speak of God’s love for me and for all of humanity. When I am seated by the seashore I look at the horizon and imagine God’s hands forming, painting...creating a picture that speaks thousand words ...among which are PEACE, JOY, HOPE, LOVE.
There is that inner drive to express my delight and my gratitude for the gift of nature that surrounds me. In praise and thanksgiving to God who loves me and who gifted me to be in communion with His creation I then venture to paint. It is He I have come to know, I have come to intimately listen to and to love deeply.
Indeed, how great is my God to those who can see Him, touch Him, breathe Him, walk and journey with Him, talk with Him. Ah! ‘If a picture paints a thousand words, why can I not paint You so that the world may know it is You I have come to know and love.’
My God comes in many ways...He calls in different ways...sometimes as a surprise at other times gentle and cool as a morning breeze.
After so many years in active ministry as a Sister of the Good Shepherd, on September 5, 2008, First Friday, I got very sick...just a few minutes away from doors of Eternal Life. I had to slow down and avoid getting too tired. I was not able to return to Hong Kong or to the Northeast Province of the Good Shepherd Sisters. I attempted to be actively involved in Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation advocacies. I volunteered for part time campus ministry work in U.P. I joined rallies and meetings of cause oriented groups. But I often got sick, and weak each time.
At a certain point I felt the pains of seeing myself slowly diminishing. I am still feeling the anxiety, the pain of slowly giving up what I used to do. I felt really being emptied. I was afraid I will no longer be able to give...afraid to be useless. Call it season of autumn. Time when trees are empty ...leaves have fallen. The lawn that was covered with green grass turns brown and arid. The flowers are gone.
It was at this time that the God I know was calling me for something else. It was a call to inner journey, a call to solitude and to lose one self and find new life. It was then that I found painting and writing was a medium and a venue to express what lies at the depth of my soul. Painting has become my way of communion with my God and with the whole of creation.
I praise and thank our God for the gift of art. Indeed, God is my Shepherd...there is nothing more I shall want. He leads me where I may not know and may not dare to go. But he guides me and equips me with what I may need along the journey.
The venture in painting must have been with me. I have strong inclination for arts. I love to read and I just love works of art -.music, dance, sculpture and painting. I can be lost in an art gallery or drown and mesmerized in classical and ballad music. I thought I could neither sketch nor paint But I remember when we were little children my father mounted brown manila papers on our wall on which we could draw/paint anything, anytime. And then as an intern in teaching I had to prepare my visual aids. These were my initial attempts to painting.
It was during the “Gathering the Hundredfold”, November 2010 and the going formation program in February 8, 201l, ‘Vintage Year Journey’ that I started to venture into painting. I was so delighted in mixing colors... making brush strokes and in seeing the finish product. I was interested in going to an art lesson. In the meantime, I did some self-studying. I bought books that showed me techniques. I use mainly water-color and poster paints. I started with the three primary colors which I mix to come out with different colors. This I enjoyed doing.
Paintings speak of and for the artist. As I venture into landscape painting through poster and water colors I see the blend of colors and the contrast in textures and curves and lines that makes up the fibers in the tapestry of my life journey. Each painting represents/reminds me of significant events and persons that have become a part of what I am today. Each painting is inspired by passage from scripture or from our Mother Founder, St. Mary Euphrasia.
Each painting calls me to go beyond the bounds of lines, time and space. The moment of painting takes me to a journey to God... a journey to my Home with My God. Painting offers a time of solitude and contemplation. I praise and thank my God for this rekindled gift. It is through this journey with painting that
When love for life is seemingly running dry
I would have a way of spending my time with You
tomorrow and today, beside you all the way.
So you and I will simply fly away
To spend the end with you.
Gallery of My Paintings
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“I was honoured in the eyes of YAHWEH, my God was my strength.
He formed me in the womb to be his servant” ( -Isa.49:50+)
Like the flower that stands and faces the sun, I stand to praise and thank God who has formed me in my mother’s womb.
I praise and thank our God for Papa, Mama and mommy who cared for me and nurtured me with love, with faith.
I praise and thank God for my family, brothers and sisters, for my home, my U.P. community for the good soil where I grew in wisdom and in love for God and for others.
I praise and thank God who says to me as He has said to Israel, ‘are my servant in whom I shall be glorified’
The flower may fall and wither but she has been created for a purpose. She has given glory to God as she gives color and beauty to the world. She may wither and die yet she leaves with her pollens scattered to give new life.
I praise and thank God for the joys and pains of growing, of knowing and doing His holy will.
I praise and thank God for the experience of dying to oneself and the rising to give new life.
I praise and thank God for He has bestowed on me with blessings of heaven, for choosing me in Christ to live through love in His presence for His kind purpose.
Yes, I could go on praising and thanking God. Indeed, He loves us. We are precious in His eyes even with our imperfections. I will sing this song all my life...and with all my heart and soul...
My God loves me, His love will never end.
He rest within my heart for God loves me.
My God loves me, His faithful love endures
And I will live like a held in love secure.
(“My God Loves Me” –annonymous)
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“Sing to the mountains, sing to the sea. Raise your voices, your hearts. This is the day the Lord has made. Let all the earth rejoice. “
- Bob Dufford, S.J.
Even as a little girl of 3 years -4 years old I enjoyed the life by the seashore. I was 3 years old when Papa had to leave for the States to take a Masters Degree at the encouragement of Father John Delaney, S.J. Mama brought us then to live in San Fabian, Pangasinan to be close to my grandparents, aunties and uncles. I remember we stayed in a small house near the seashore. Some early morning mama would take us for a walk or to play by the seaside. I enjoyed those moments. I enjoyed the splash of the waves and the touch of the wind with the gentle breeze. The memories of playing with mama by sea have stayed me as I grew. These were the happiest years with Mama. Life was so simple then. Papa was miles away but mama would read to us at supper time each letter that came. We were also comforted by the visits of Father John Delaney, SJ. The loving care of my aunties, uncles, Daddy and Nanay filled-in the absence and gaps then and even when Mama was called to eternal life on December 13, 1952.
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I love the sight and the sound of the sea. Whenever I traveled by water during my mission in Cebu and Negros Occidental as young sister, I would always go to the roof deck of the ship to be engulfed with the scenery and to be touched by the wind. And there I would sing my praises to God...
‘’How great is your name for those who can
Read where it is written all over the sky;
Where the stars sing their praise,
Name’ by Sebastian Temple)
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The cycle of the rising and setting of the sun is an amazing rhythm of life The rising of the sun in the morning brings freshness and newness of life. On the other hand, the setting of the sun brings us to a moment quiet and rest from the humdrum of the day.
I remember Jesus’ words: I will always be with you.
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‘I am Lord everywhere in the wide,
restless sea that is shouting of me.’
( -‘How Great is Your