Dear Loved Ones,

Pleasant Greetings from Sacramento, CA! We praise and thank God for all the blessings of 2010 as we look forward to and welcome 2011, with more hope and enthusiasm for God’s loving kindness, generosity, guidance, as we pray for discerning well His Holy Will towards the right, good and positive direction in our lives! To everyone, I wish you the best for 2011 – good health, peace, love, joy and happiness always, and may we always do the things that we pray for!!!

On our monthly Catholic Lunch Club held on Dec. 17 at the Radisson Hotel, the guest speaker was Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ – Pres., Gonzaga University, Host, - WTN program, author of many books. He discussed the topic ‘New Proofs of God’s Existence’. Since my Faith and my Thomasian philosophy studies had equipped me well on God’s existence, which was re-affirmed in his presentation, I instead got his autographed book on ‘Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life’ - A practical guide to prayer life for active people. The five pillars are as follows:

· The Holy Eucharist and other Sacraments

· Spontaneous Prayer, “Thy Will Be Done”

· The Beatitudes, toward Holiness

· Partnership with the Holy Spirit: Peace, Inspiration, and Transformation

· The Contemplative Life: This portion gave me the ‘AHA’ moment since it affirmed my present life phase where God has given me all the graces of experiencing all the elements I am enjoying; thus, I am on the right path of my life journey!

The season was a rush of activities focused on the meaning of the Christmas, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ: giving and sharing all the blessings. Aside from contending with the harsh winter cold weather and heavy rains daily routine, Highlights are as follows:

· I completed the 9-days morning Novena Masses at St. Mel’s church starting on Dec. 16, culminating with agape breakfast with other churchgoers on the 24^th;

· I met up with friends several days prior for exchanging pleasantries and gifts, sending out donations at various drop-off points in between holiday shopping to take advantage of discounts / sales of merchandisers and malls;

· We had special recollection during the month with our Opus Dei group with Fr. Gerry officiating Mass, which also coincided with the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe wherein the Latino community had musicians in colorful costumes with maracas, mandolins with fiesta ambiance;

· After the Christmas eve Mass, we attended our neighbors’ (Jonah & Joey Caliao) party together with their 5-couples nurses- friends and their kids. Everyone had so much fun: food was great (lechon, ham, pasta, cakes, salads, and many more), kids’ game (Xmas edition of Pinoy henyo and others), exchange of gifts, singing and dancing, and the ever present karaoke sing-out challenge. A dozen adults were competing for the pot of $100. My son Sean and nurse Joy were tied at a score of 96. Some suggested splitting the money while others wanted a tie-breaker. Joy opted to sing again and got a score of 85. Sean had to sing again and got the same score of 96, thus was declared ‘karaoke

king’. On several times he had won at ‘magic sing’ challenges, thus, he had proven to be adept at his singing skills – may dependable sideline na, with his favorite ‘Creep’. After the 2^nd round of eating, we went home by 3:00AM Christmas day – what a truly memorable and enjoyable celebration!

· On New Year’s Eve, we went to the 5:00pm Mass at the Basilica of our Blessed Sacrament. Then later, we went to Old SAC for some musical entertainment, displays and join the rest of families and children enjoy the fireworks at 9:00 pm; another fireworks was set at midnight for adults. By 9:30pm we were back at home to watch the NY Times square drop ball for 2011 and the rest of the US and the world, and make/ receive New Year’s greetings to families and friends. A MORE BLESSED AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!

Attached are 4 group photos of recent reunions with family and friends. Let us continue to pray for our country and people. Peace and Joy to You and God Bless Us All!

Much love and Best Regards!!!

SUSAN BG