The Apostles creed

"Our Father" - God wants us to approach Him as "Daddy" (Aramaic: Abba). 
He wants to take care of us and protect us. God desires intimacy. 
Remember, He has infinite love and grace. 
God wants us to be secure in His family as adopted children and heirs.


"Who Art in Heaven" -- Look up to God. Obey Him and Love Him and Trust Him. 
He is all-powerful and can deal with all our problems, even the big ones. But He loves us so much that He doesn't stay up there.

"Hallowed be Thy Name" -- Holy, holy, holy. Approach God with awe and wonder. Save the word "awesome" for God. Live a life that honors Him.


"Thy Kingdom Come" - "Take this job and love it!"  Working on behalf of God's kingdom is the ultimate joy.  Bloom where you're planted. Do everything as unto the Lord. Find your gifts and use them.
Be open to God's leading each day.

"Thy Will Be Done" - God is the potter; we are the clay. God keeps us spinning on His potter's wheel, shaping and reshaping us as He bathes our lives in tears to make us more Christ-like so He can use us for His will. Surrender daily. Keep your clay moist through daily prayer.


"On Earth as it is in Heaven" -- Thy will be done - not my will be done!


"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread" - Trust! God will provide for our needs. His eye is on the sparrow and I know He cares for me.


"Forgive Us Our Debts as We Forgive Our Debtors" -- Forgiveness = Surrender. Don't carry your own backpack - surrender it to Him. 
Revealing the feeling is the beginning of healing. 
Act as if you have forgiven and the feeling will follow. 
In our weakness, God sends His strength and peace..
"Lead Us Not Into Temptation" - Watch for unrecognized temptation. 
Pray, so you won't fall. We are tempted every day. 
It deepens our walk and strengthens our faith - but be careful of spiritual blindness. Open my eyes, Lord, to my blind spots - use honest friends and family
"Deliver Us From Evil" -- The evil One, satan. 
We are saved from death to life. 
Jesus is more powerful than Satan - God is greater!


"For Thine Is the Kingdom (obedience), and the Power (confidence) and the Glory (joy), Forever" -- This is our Father's world. 
Everything we have is His. He is the ruler!

Descubriendo el Siglo 21

Discovering 21century

Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

(212) 244 4778

www.descubriendoelsiglo21.com/

Almighty Father

Almighty Father, grant me to greet the coming day in peace, help me in all things to rely upon your holy will. 
Guide me with your wisdom, in every hour of the day reveal your spirit to me.
 Bless my dealings with all who encircle me. 
Teach me to treat all that comes to throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm assurance that your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words, guide my thoughts and feelings. 
In unpredictably events, let me not forget that all are sent by you. 
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. 
Give me strength to bear the exhaustion of the coming day with all that it shall bring. 
Direct my will, teach me to pray, and be humble to others and you. 
 Amen.

Descubriendo el Siglo 21

Discovering 21century

Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

(212) 244 4778

www.descubriendoelsiglo21.com/

A Small White Envelope

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. 
No name, no identification, no inscription.
It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband hated Christmas – oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it: overspending; the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma; the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for him. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended. 
And shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. 
These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. 
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears.
It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. 
We took every weight class. 
And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.
My husband, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”
He loved kids – all kids – and he knew them, having coached little league, football, baseball and lacrosse.
That’s when the idea for his present came.
That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling my husband what I had done and that this was his gift from me.
His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.
For each Christmas, I followed the tradition – one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and one.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas.
It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn’t end there.
You see, we lost my husband last year due to dreaded cancer.
When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up.
But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.
Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad.
The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyes anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope.
my husband's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

Descubriendo el Siglo 21

Discovering 21century

Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

(212) 244 4778

www.descubriendoelsiglo21.com/

Lord, My Cross is too heavy

Just remember, God never send us a cross that our shoulders cannot carry it… Please read till the end.
Fr. Tomas

We all carry our own crosses in life….

Sometimes it seems so heavy

It is easier to complaint!

And choose what seems to be convenient

Always looking for the easiest way out!

Very soon we get tire of it and keep complaining!

We think, we can cheat and go choose to our convenience

Unfortunately, sometimes we choose wrongly

If your cross is too heavy, don’t complaint! Your Heavenly Father is always at your side, always!!

Descubriendo el Siglo 21

Discovering 21century

Fr Tomás Del Valle-Reyes

P. O. BOX 1170

New York, NY 10018

(212) 244 4778

www.descubriendoelsiglo21.com/