Celebrating My Mother's 70th Birthday

12 August, we celebrated my mother's 70th birthday!

The program started with an opening prayer and a short message. The brief exhortation is based on an Old Testament text, Numbers 6:22-27.

The specific biblical passage is familiar for those who have been attending a public Christian Worship Service. It is the exact word pronounced by ministers of the gospel in closing a worship service known as benediction.

The text talks about God giving Moses a blessing for which the priests are to bless the people of Israel, and that is why it is called as "The Priestly Blessing."

This benediction contains a threefold invocation of God's holy name. This type of blessing is holistic that includes both spiritual and material well-being of a nation "and the thought conveyed here would naturally be that of plentiful crops, fruitful herds, seasonable weather, and military victory" (The Interpreter's Bible, pp. 174-175). And so by invoking the Lord's name would mean that the nation will be protected from bad harvests, barren herds, bad weathers, and defeat in battle.

Applying the priestly benediction to an individual during a birthday celebration would mean an invocation of God's name to pronounce blessing upon the celebrant, a blessing that includes productivity and victory in living a Christian life. The expression "the Lord makes his face shine upon you" is mark of divine favor and pleasure. It refers to a kind of bond between God and man that no one can break and serves as the basis for peace.

Peace or shalom is characteristic of Jewish blessing and developed to be the common form of greeting. It is interesting to note that etymologically speaking, the popular Korean greeting "Annyeonghaseyo" originally meant that the greeter is asking the person if his or her life is really in peace. In the Philippines, in Tagalog language, the literal translation "kapayapaan" does not capture the richness of the word and that is why some Filipino theologians prefer to use the word "kaginhawahan" for this latter translation is more appropriate to describe the holistic character of shalom.

As you will see in the following pictures, the productivity of my mother is proven by the number of her children, grandchildren, relatives, and friends.

This is my Mom on her 70th birthday.

Receiving her birthday cake from my sisters.

The venue where we held the event. The name is really appropriate, Shekinah!

Food preparation . . .

With my Mom's Aunt.

With her brother.

With my sisters.

With my youngest brother.

With my youngest brother and my three sisters.

With my sister, my brother-in-law and their church mates.

With my Aunt and cousins.

With her friend.

With her grandchildren.

With church mates.

Earlier with my sons.

Sharing God's word . . .

Closing prayer and dedication.

With the whole family except the little ones who cannot be stopped from swimming.

Grace and peace!