As we do our daily routines, it is fairly easy to overlook the simplest of blessings. We rush to work each morning (or night) seldom realizing that it is a gift just to wake up to a brand new day. Sadly, we have fallen prey to our busyness and we fail to see the great blessings we receive every single moment.

Coming from a corporate environment, preparing for MMC was a big challenge. Days before the event, delegates from our unit started to feel oppressed. Schedules, deadlines, urgent tasks and some freak accidents threaten to stop us from joining MMC. On the night before the pilgrimage, almost all of us had to stay very late at the office to attend to last minute work. But God blessed us and fixed all of our seemingly crazy schedules and off we go to our much anticipated pilgrimage and MMC!

Although it rained for most of the day, the pilgrimage allowed us to experience being with a bigger SFC family while praying and reflecting on the mysteries of the rosary - in 5 different beautiful churches! We met new friends, saw new sights and bonded as a family. A blessing indeed!

The talks and workshops of MMC are essentially eye-openers and allowed us to introspect. It was a welcomed breather to our normally filled-up day.

We are reminded that we are truly BLESSED by the very nature that surrounds us but most specially because we are God's children and are saved thru Jesus' sacrifice.

In all circumstances (specially during stressful times) we should learn how to be JOYFUL, knowing that we have a great God who will never let us down. And that we must be PRAYERFUL and be sustained as we connect with our Lord always (If we can have unlimited calls and texts, why can't we have unlimited conversations with God?) We must all pray for the grace of being joyful and prayerful as these are paths towards the Lord.

After counting our blessings (and yes that includes waking up ??), shouldn't our hearts be always GRATEFUL to our Great Provider? Yet sometimes in our fast-paced lifestyles and in a society of I-must-have-what-they-have, we become insensitive to our numerous blessings and thus forget to be thankful. By realizing that we are loved and blessed, we start to be more grateful.

As SFCs, we are called to serve and as such we are BLESSED TO BLESS. And as members of our unit shared, it is a big sacrifice to set aside time and resources to serve in the community. But the deep fulfilment that comes with it is another blessing from God.

Yes, we were bone-tired, sleep-deprived and stripped-off of our usual comforts, but the MMC weekend is a major highlight in our otherwise drab rat-race routine. And all of us came back to Manila with a sense of peace in our hearts that even when we re-enter back into our own worlds, we know we are truly blessed.

Oh and one more thing, we usually have 3-8 delegates when we attend conferences. But this year, 21 delegates from our corporate unit attended the event! And what's more, with God's grace, He formed one more SFC chapter representing media practitioners to help in the vision of making every single man and woman all over the world experience Christ! And this MMC is the first one for our new chapter.

Galing ni Lord, no! Tayo na ang super blessed!