Tag Archives: faith

*FAITH

Apps for Our Faith Journey

With New Year comes resolutions and whatnot. It’s almost the end of January, how are your resolutions so far? I pray that you keep going and that on top of being physically healthy, we also strive to be spiritually strong too! 😉

Based on my experience, using apps to help me in my faith journey as a practicing Roman Catholic proved to be one of the advantages of our technology today. Being “busy” isn’t an excuse to put our faith at the back burner; in fact, the busier we get, the more we need to be intentional in carving out time with God because it’s not about not having enough time but about making time.

So if you’re wondering how to do that, you can start by playing the rosary or reading the Bible and more through one of these apps:

Ascencion app – The app of Ascension Press, here you can read the Bible as well as listen to podcasts. What I love about it is it has The Great Adventure Catholic Bible — the easiest way to learn about God’s Word, at least for me. 🙂 There’s a paid version monthly or annually to unlock some of the features, though.

Formed app – It’s basically like Netflix but purely with videos that’s all about the Catholic faith! Most of their content is produced by the Augustine Institute and it has a monthly or annual subscription option too.

Hallow app – Claiming as the “#1 prayer app in the world”, it’s no wonder because Hallow has “premium” content that offers a lot of options for its users. It also collaborates with artists such as Jonathan Roumie who played Jesus in The Chosen series, Mark Wahlberg, even Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle plus more! It has a free trial version for three months, then you can choose to continue by subscribing either monthly or annually.

Laudate app – This app is my go-to when I need to look for prayers and am too lazy to do a Google search. Haha. Seriously, I also love that it allows me to bookmark certain prayers, so it’s easier for me to just pray them when I prefer reading over listening. It’s free, too!

Tabella app – This is a FREE app for all your Catholic podcasts, prayers, etc. As in it doesn’t have a subscription fee, but I noticed that it’s purely streaming and offline downloads aren’t available. Still, if you don’t want to pay but want to have an app for all your faith needs, then this is the one for you!

The Feast app – This is my favorite among all the apps listed here! Save the best for last, no? Call me biased or not but as someone who’s been part of The Feast family since I was 14 years old (I started in the youth ministry), reading the devotionals, Companion / Didache / Sabbath, has been somewhat my own tradition and having them on an app has made things easier for me to keep up with them daily! This also has free and paid versions, but I suggest you go with the latter because it allows you to read a book by Bro. Bo Sanchez EVERY MONTH through the Growth Plans. And since it’s part of The Feast media arm, a portion of your subscription goes to The Feast Mercy Ministries too. Win-win!

For the record, I’m not paid for endorsing the aforementioned apps. They are apps that I use during my personal time and my observations are purely based on my experience. No more, no less.

I pray that this new year, whether or not you use these apps, you finally get to renew your relationship with God if not get closer. 🙂

TO GOD BE THE GLORY ALWAYS AND FOREVER!

❤

“Your word is a lamp for my feet,
    a light for my path.”
-Psalm 119:105

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*FAITH, *MOTHERHOOD, Beauty and Wellness

Keeping It Real: Let’s Talk about Mental Health

How are you?

Me, so-so to be honest. And no, it’s not just about the elections. Since last year, I’ve already been feeling something different and it was only this year that I had the courage to finally face it and start my way to recovery. After all, acknowledgment is the first step to healing. So here I am, sharing my story.

I’ve been experiencing occasional panic attacks and recently diagnosed with a panic disorder. It was almost a year ago when I first experienced symptoms: hyperventilation, lightheadedness, feeling panicked and unsafe — the trigger? Mostly when I’m alone and away from my comfort zone (home, familiar faces, daily routine, etc.). Like when I’m trying to have “me time” at the mall, driving by myself, doing errands, etc. At first, I wasn’t aware that I was having panic attacks, I just thought that maybe it was all part of my postpartum phase in life, hormones doing their usual thing, and kind of shrugged it off.

Pre-pandemic, I was the kind of person very happy and content with myself. Like I considered my “me time” sacred — spending hours doing my own thing, even watching movies in theaters all by myself! That’s why when I felt the first symptoms of a panic attack last year (which at that time, I didn’t have a name for it ’cause I wasn’t aware), I knew that something was up. And then it happened again the following month, and again, and again, you know the drill. Which led me to Dr. Google (lol), and that’s when I did the one thing most medical experts wouldn’t recommend: self diagnose! Haha! But maybe I really know myself well because when I finally consulted a clinical psychologist, turns out, I was right. Hence the panic disorder diagnosis. Once that was finally determined, the only thing left to do is manage it, not be in denial, and hopefully, go back to my usual “independent” self one day at a time.

I wanted to have the best of both worlds so I consulted both a clinical psychologist (for the psychological and scientific explanation) AND a Catholic healing minister friend (for the spiritual side). As of this writing, I’m in on-going consultations with my psych, learning coping mechanisms and whatnot (which I may or may not write in another blog post); my friend also prayed over me (and continues to pray for me). I was told that one of the root causes of my panic attacks was having trauma when I gave birth alone (due to the pandemic protocols). Add to that the overall pandemic effect, postpartum hormones, major life changes (hello motherhood!), and my lingering abandonment issues which can be traced back to childhood (you’ll be surprised to know that most of our “issues” as adults can be traced back to that) — listing all that does make sense why I am where I am now in terms of my mental health.

I know I still have a long way to go. WE all have a long way to go to achieve “normalcy” again in our day-to-day life. My only point in sharing this is to let others who are also experiencing the same know that they’re not alone. And that it’s okay not to be okay sometimes. Heck, acknowledging that you’re not okay is actually a way for you to eventually be okay. Mental health matters now more than ever! So if you’re still shy about it, I hope you’ll eventually find the courage not to be. I know that each person processes things differently and at their own pace (that’s why it’s really NOT helpful to tell someone to “just get over it”), but I believe that we can overcome every challenge life throws at us and come out stronger each and every single time. At the end of the day, believe that the good always outweighs the bad.

Most importantly, God always has a plan for everything. And that’s what faith is all about, walking alongside God despite experiencing the things we don’t like and we don’t have control of. After all, He didn’t promise a pain-free life. Even Jesus experienced His own sorrowful moments, but it was in those moments that He gave birth to new life and saved us all from eternal darkness.

So yes, my current mental health is probably a cross I’m tasked to carry on my shoulders for now. I can only pray that it’ll be a cross that can help shed light not just to myself, but to others as well. If that’s really the case, then so be it. 🙂

TO GOD BE THE GLORY ALWAYS AND FOREVER!

❤

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the Lord—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.”
-Jeremiah 29:11

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