The Butterfly And Me – A Simple Story

I was baptized by the Holy Spirit as Rosita De Alexandria. My roots are from Malasiqui, Pangasinan, Philippines and had spent my childhood at Camiling, Tarlac. I was born as the eldest among 6 siblings from a family of a tailor and seamstress. I am married and a mother of 3 children. My immediate family had also been baptized by the Holy Spirit.

Let me start my anecdote, by telling a short story about a butterfly and how this simple story relates to me:

A butterfly has four stages within its life-cycle.

1) The Egg – initiation stage
A butterfly starts its life with a very small egg.

It is the same thing where my life as a sealed servant was initiated. It starts out small but had been fertilized by the blessings of the Holy Spirit, Our Beloved Ingkong. He granted a Holy Seal and marked it with hopes and a mission within.

2) The Caterpillar – feeding stage
The egg finally hatches. Majority of us would expect for a butterfly to come out of that egg, right? Well, not yet exactly. In the butterfly’s life cycle, this is only the second stage – an egg being transformed into a caterpillar. Caterpillars do not stay in this stage for long and mostly, in this stage all they do is eat. Caterpillars need to eat and eat so they can grow quickly. When a caterpillar is born, they are extremely small. When they start eating, they instantly grow and expand. Another interesting fact is they eat the leaves wherein the mother butterfly had laid them with. This is due to the fact that since they are small and weak they cannot travel.

Unfortunately, not too many caterpillars pass this stage. Due to their weak nature, they wither away due to poor nourishment, surroundings and weather.

My life as a sealed servant goes through this stage as well. It needs constant and ample supply of Eucharist, prayers, research, meditation, faith, love and hope. It needs to be firmly connected with my leaf, which is my Saint Rosita, to whom I need to be nurtured with, as I cannot travel that far within this stage. This stage requires much faith to survive the storms around my surroundings and its daily challenges.

3) The Pupa or the cocooning stage
The cocooning stage is one of the amazing stages of a butterfly’s life. As soon as a caterpillar have reached a certain length or weight, it forms into a pupa or commonly known as cocoon. From the outside of the cocoon, it looks as if the pupa may just be resting, but inside it is where all of the action and rapid changes is being done.
Now, as most people know, a pupa is short, stubby and have no wings at all. Within the cocoon, the old body parts of the pupa are undergoing a remarkable transformation, called metamorphosis. This process is vital for the beautiful parts that makes up the butterfly that will emerge. Tissue, limbs and organs of a pupa have all been changed, and is now ready for the final stage of a butterfly’s life cycle.

Most of the time, this is the stage where I think, my life as sealed servant got stucked with. I feel that I am at this cocoon stage most often; is sometimes afraid and is hiding within the comfort zones of my cocoon. I am aware that there is really a transformation happening within, but is struggling to come out and emerge. I always pray that I could eventually pass this stage. I know, that this is not the final stage yet to be a full blown Sealed Servant. The Holy Seal cannot be a pupa on a cocoon stage forever, as it will just die inside if it doesn’t emerge in its full swing. I also pray that I can finally emerge as how the Holy Spirit, our Beloved Ingkong intended me to be, the moment He fertilized that mission and purpose in me.

4) Adult Butterfly – reproduction stage

Finally, when the caterpillar has done all of its forming and changing inside the cocoon, if this butterfly is lucky, you will get to see and experience an adult butterfly to emerge.

When the butterfly first emerges out of the cocoon, both of the wings are going to be soft, fragile and folded against its body. This is because the butterfly needs to adjust
to its new transformed life. As soon as the butterfly has rested after coming out of the cocoon, it will pump blood into the wings in order to get them working and flapping,
then it will get to fly. Usually within a certain time duration, the butterfly will master flying and will search for a mate in order to reproduce. It is now visible to its ecosystem and is now fulfilling its purpose to continue the existence of its species on the habitat where it belongs.

Below are some takeaways I noted from our clergy’s homilies and which relates to this simple story for reflection:

1. It is important to acknowledge and know your main purpose and goal. This is being revealed through constant prayers and meditation. The more you communicate with our Beloved Ingkong, the more He reveals His plans for you. (an excerpt I got from Fr. Victor’s homily)

2. Like the butterfly, our existence also undergo several stages and processes. These processes we have to carefully account and learn from. (an excerpt i got from Fr. Abelardo’s homily, when he shared on the Monarch Butterfly)

3. Analyze your own strengths and weaknesses. Nurture and cultivate each weakness and make use of your strengths by connecting with others’ strengths with the same cause to make it more solid and fulfill a greater mission. (an excerpt I got from Msgr. Felipe’s homily)

4. Be vigilant. For we don’t know when will be the final day that our Blessed Ingkong will grant his ultimate “reality check”. (an excerpt I got from Fr. Reynato’s homily)

5. When you are stucked, when you are in need of something, when you need directions, just dial the hotline of our Beloved Ingkong. Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.. (excerpt i got from Fr. Benjamin’s homily)

6. Acknowledge the existence and importance of the ACC Family and your being part of it; through sharing, caring like brothers and sisters, with the guidance of our Mama, St. Maria Virginia (the Mother of our Church), and with the fatherly direction of our Patriarch, Dr. John Florentine. (an excerpt I got from Deacon Jose’s homily)

The ultimate goal of a Sealed Servant is to emerge, be a part of the Apostolic Catholic Church community, be connected, to share thoughts, experience life with others – and to finally reproduce.

Sure, there will be eminent dangers and some would dare to challenge our capacity. But this is a fact of life. Here is a quote from Jack Canfield.

“You don’t have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going.
Babies don’t walk the first time they try, but eventually they get it right”.

I do hope that this mere story of mine had somehow emitted a message. If it did somehow, please share across and lets help each other in getting our foot in the door of being a full-pledged sealed servant and reproduce like the “adult butterfly”.

“We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other”… Luciano De Cresencio

Love, prayers and a blessed New Year to all!

Deaconess Rosita De Alexandria
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
29 December 2012

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