4 Virtues, 4 Activities: A Journal on Practicing Christian Spirituality at Home

4 VIRTUES A C T I V I T I E S

JOURNAL

Practicing Christian Spirituality at Home

By Katrina Francesca Asedillo of 12-Curie

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4 VIRTUES, 4 ACTIVITIES

INTRO For my Christian Living class, I had to make a journal about how my family nurtures our Christian Spirituality during the pandemic.

In this journal, I documented four different activities we did as a family and what virtues we develop when we practice our faith.

Instead of using pictures, I decided to express these moments by creating my own appropriation art of Renaissance and Classical Catholic religious paintings. My family and I deeply appreciate religious artwork and we even save up money just to buy books about these paintings. My visit to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel in 2014 is also what inspired me to present my journal in this way.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Entry 1 - Hope 04

Through the praying of the rosary, we find hope for a better future.

Entry 2 - Temperance 05

By giving grace and thanking God for our meals, we learn moderation.

Entry 3 - Faith 06

Though we cannot attend Mass in person, we still partake of the Eucharist in spirit through online means.

Entry 5 - Love 07

Charity and compassion for those in need during these difficult times is essential to Christian life.

Reflection 08

A reflection of my faith and values.

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September 20, 2021 | MONDAY

ENTRY 1

HOPE

Every Monday, to start off the week, my family likes to pray the rosary. If my mother and father are unavailable (since they are often at the hospital) my brother and I pray with each other. However, we always pray together on Sunday afternoon since that is when all of us are at home. This habit was taught to us by my grandmother, who is a devout Catholic. We only started praying the rosary weekly after our grandfather died due to a stroke a few months earlier. Aside from using this as a way to bond and meditate with my family, I also pray the rosary to remember my late grandfather.

The rosary is more than a prayer. It symbolizes our destiny in and with God according to Mary's example. And through Mary, we can experience the hope for a better future, that God is always with us, and that the Blessed Mother is protecting us and will always intercede on our behalf.

Niña Featured here is The Evening Prayer by Pierre Edouard Frere.

After my grandfather's death, further compounded by the pandemic and the stress and suffering it brought, praying the rosary was what helped me cope with these big changes in my life.

Although my grandfather was Protestant, he had a fondness for Mary, and always told me and my cousins to pray to her in our time of need. His words and teachings about Mary have definitely helped me and my family deepen our devotion to the Lord. When I pray the rosary, I am comforted by the memories of my grandfather and the protection of Mother Mary, which gives me hope.

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September 21, 2021 | TUESDAY

ENTRY 2

TEMPERANCE Featured here are Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper and A Family Group by Bernardino Licinio.

Because of the pandemic, my family has been able to eat together during lunch and dinner. Before, we only ate together during the weekend since our schedules would conflict during the weekdays. Now that we get to share our meals together, we also pray together before we eat. Before we had our dinner and lunch today, we said the Prayer Before Meals and did the Sign of the Cross.

Niña The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly upended our world and caused economies to reel. A lot of people have lost their jobs and their source of income, making it difficult to provide for their family. According to CNN, 62% of households in the Philippines have experienced having no food amid the pandemic.

Our Christian spirituality entails that we be sensitive to the plight of our brothers and sisters. Because of this, my family puts more focus on practicing temperance and gratefulness, not only through giving thanks before meals, but also by not being wasteful of the food and resources that we were lucky enough to come by during the pandemic.

September 22, 2021 | WEDNESDAY

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ENTRY 3

FAITH-I I chose to feature Carlos "Botong" Francisco's First Mass at Limasawa and Interaction by Victorio Edades to celebrate 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.

Niña Because mass gatherings are prohibited due to social distancing rules, we hear Mass online every Sunday. However, since it was the day before my birthday (September 23), we decided to attend the daily Mass via YouTube. Today, we listened to Fr. Michael Coutts, S.J on Daily TV Mass. In his homily, he spoke about how we must learn to place our trust in the Lord during difficult times, just like how the Jews entered into a covenant with the Lord when they were fleeing Egypt. He also emphasized the teaching, "If you don't learn from history, you will commit the same mistakes."

Aside from hearing Mass to deepen our faith in the Lord, our family has also used it as a means of reflection on our current situation. I think Father Coutts' teaching about learning from the past is a very fitting reminder for our world today. To some, the COVID-19 pandemic is yet another hurdle that needs to be overcome so that we may return to "normal." However, this "normal" - our consumerist, environmentally unsustainable, and greed-driven system - is the same way of living that lead us to this pandemic in the first place. My family has realized the flaws of our former way of living, and, guided by the Church's teachings on faith and understanding, we are now focused on changing our habits to fit the more sustainable lifestyle for the sake of our future and the planet.

September 23, 2021 | THURSDAY In a time of immense suffering, the best way we can spread the Good News is through showing charity and compassion to our neighbor. For my birthday, I decided to donate my earnings from my art commissions to the Philippine Red Cross. I opened up for commissions last August and through my Instagram art account and Gcash, I was able to raise around 10,000 pesos to donate to PRC to aid in their COVID-19 relief programs.

Donating and showing magnanimity has been a practice that my parents have always emphasized to my brother and I. Both of them are doctors, and they often tell us of their experiences as residents at the UPPGH Medical Center. They tell us of the different patients they meet, and how much the common Filipino has to sacrifice to be able to get the most basic healthcare. When we meet people like this, it is always good to show them more generosity and love.

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ENTRY 4

LOVE

During the pandemic, I have learned to be more grateful of what I have, and more compassionate to the people around me.

Whenever we order food from Grab, we tip the delivery men more. When we see food vendors on the street or small businesses on social media, we buy and promote their products as much as we can. Simple gestures like these are what have the biggest impact on people. As Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

Featured here is Belisarius by Jacques-Louis David.

Niña

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4 VIRTUES, 4 ACTIVITIES

REFLECTION

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