Colorful World on Palm Sunday in The Netherlands

 Instead of palm fronds, sprigs of boxwood, myrtle, willow, yew or olive leaves are blessed to celebrate Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week for Christians.

 Children choir De Kernzangers of Felicitas Parochie waiting for the start of the Holy Mass

 Children leading the Community Prayer and Petitions

 For this particular Palm Sunday, children read on the situation of farmers in Honduras.

 More on the hard work of people especially children in Honduras. For their part, the kids were able to collect some 200Euro to donate to children of Honduras.

 Preparation for the Holy Communion

 Children Carrying Gift "Chandelier" for sick children in one hospital

 Looking for the right term for this pole or chandelier made of candies and other gifts prepared by the children for sick kids in a hospital somewhere in Spijkennisse

Filipinas attending the Holy Mass in Sint Felictias Kerk: Mila, Claire, Mherzy and Betsy

I am posting below one of the songs rendered by the De Kernzangers during the Holy Mass with the English rough translation provided by google and minor corrections from me.

 

 

Kleurrijk

In het kleurboek van de wereld zijn de kleuren ingevuld.
zwarte aarde, rode rozen,
geel geworden golvend graan.
Blauwe druiven, paarse heide,
groene wei en witte zwaan.

Refrein:	Vul de dagen van je leven met je eigen kleuren in.
	Elke bladzij is weer anders, elke dag een nieuw begin (2x).

In het kleurboek van de wereld zijn de kleuren ingevuld.
Rood, je schaamt je, groen is afgunst,
blauw dat word je van de kou.
Paars van woede, wit van kwaadheid,
geel van nijd en zwart in rouw.

Refrein

Als het kleurboek van jezelf is, kies je toch jouw kleuren uit.
Groen natuurlijk, geel gelukkig,
blauw, je voelt je sterk als staal.
Rood voor liefde, roze vriendschap,
kleurling zijn we allemaal.

Refrein

Colourful

In the coloring book of the world, colors are filled in
black earth, red roses,
turned yellow wavy grain.
Blue grapes, purple heather,
green meadow and white swan.
Refrain: Enter the days of your life with your own colors.
  Each page is different, every day is a new beginning (2x).
The coloring of the world are the colors filled:
Red, for shame,  green for envy,
blue that you become the cold.
Purple with rage, white with anger,
yellow from envy and black in mourning.
refrain
In your own coloring book,  you still choose your colors.
Green for being natural , yellow for happiness
blue for feeling strong  as steel.
Red for love, pink for friendship
we are all colorful. 

Have a Meaningful Holy Week!

Integration Attempt: Attending Mass in a German Community

 Weather says it's about -3° to -7° today. I thought I could also do some minutes of power walking and visit our local church instead of taking the train to the city.  To which church this time, I thought; to the Evangelicals or to the Catholics? Shall I support the small Protestant church this time or see what's new inside the Catholic church? I decided to attend the Catholic mass seeing that the Protestant chapel was not yet lighted while cars were filling up the parking space of the Catholic church.
I learned that they hold extra "Gottesdienst" (divine service) for the small children with their parents in the parish hall while the regular mass is celebrated inside the church. Just imagine a church full of screaming and laughing children when the priest delivers its homily; you could then very well imagine how masses are held in the Philippines or among the Filipino communities abroad or in what they sometimes call now diaspora.
I wonder why Germans don't hold hands while praying the Lord's Prayer? Too uncomfortable gesture of faith for the pious Germans while Pin@ys in their churches give their hands willingly, feeling at home with one another?
In this particular mass, I noticed that I was the only foreigner, I mean non-European as this community is getting over populated with pious migrants coming from Eastern Europe. Surely, the freezing temperature was a big hindrance to keep the Lord's Day holy or my "kababayans" were thinking there would be another mass in this month where the weather would be friendlier, where they would feel more at home, more integrated and more anticipative of the post-mass "Salo-salo" or shared meals among friends and acquaintances. Feast be with you!


 

King's Village Meets the New Kaiser's Supermarket

When they started tearing down this fast hundred year
old villa in my village in April 2008, I wanted to
know the owner and ask why would they sell out
an ancestral home with all the memories like maybe
the voices of the children playing in the gardens with
two giant trees of chestnuts and walnuts while pigeons
of all sorts were clustering in their branches especially
on sunny days reaching for the sunlight.
I have my own share of memory of this villa as I met
here a Pinoy named Dennis who told me that he has married
a German guy but they would move to Holland where he has
found a job. I have not seen Dennis since they moved out
of this villa.

The area where the villa used to stand so majestically
taken in January 2009 and by this time, people have
been talking about a future supermarket to rise in this
ground. Gone are the pigeons and the two giants trees.

Above is the new landmark in our village called
Koenigsdorf (King's Village)and today marks the grand
opening of this chain of German supermarket Kaiser which
attracts the local residents to flock to see, maybe shop
for the especial prices for the opening.
Hubby and I joined the local attraction by having our
brunch outside the supermarket amidst the coming
and going of shoppers with roses, pineapples on sale
potted plants, cherries and strawberries on especial sale.



Introducing the new search hobby of hubby in this new supermarket:


If you, dear reader, meet one Dennis who has moved to
Holland with his hubby, please tell him to visit and
see what has happened to the ancestral home...Well, now
the locals could step on the sacred ground used to be
reserved only for the residents of this fast hundred
year old villa. At least a consoling thought for the
loss of this grand landmark in our village.
We have Kaiser in our King's village. The value of
real property here gets one notch higher.