Remembering Dad

My dad, Samuel "Sammy" Green Llaban Sr., with my son Sev who was then 6 months old. I took this candid shot in the sala in our home in Cebu. It's his birthday today. He would have been 75 years old. I truly miss him.

What I miss most about him is the life he brings upon the dining table, specially during Sunday. He would crack jokes with sound effects and full action. Then the rest of us would then share our own jokes over Mom's unbeatable spaghetti and turbo broiled chicken. We would laugh for a full hour, whether corny or funny.

Dad would always be the emcee in parties, specially in the Rotary Club functions. Dad also had this particular love for the Security Committee in both villages where we resided in Davao and Cebu. He was also fond of backyard vegetable gardening and chicken raising. These little things mean a great deal to me. He was my greatest influencer. He was a true leader, a man of integrity and a dedicated servant.

I honor and love you Dad. Have a great party with all the saints, angels, friends, relatives and with our Lord Jesus.

The Need to be Persistent

In my reflection of today's readings, one word echoed loudly to me: Persistence. In the gospel it says, "Then He told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary (Luke 18:1)." In the second reading it says, "proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient... (2 Tim 4:2)." The 1st reading talks about Moses and the Israelites' battle against the Amalek, "Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands, remained steady till sunset (Exodus 17:12)." As long as Moses' hands were raised, the Israelites had the better of the fight.

Through the readings, I am reminded to be persistent in three things. First is to be persistent in prayer. When we ask God of something very important in prayer, how many times do we come before Him and ask for it? When someone is sick, how many times do we pray over the person? I believe the value of persistence in prayer is that we are brought to a point of humility and a complete surrender to God's power.

Second is to be persistent in preaching and witnessing. These two come as a packaged deal. One without the other just won't work. Lately within this decade, preaching has become a less popular word. It is usually associated by long sermons and hard sell convincing to believe in God's word. But as I reflect on it, it is still very important to boldly proclaim God's word. But preaching will never work if our lives don't reflect what we speak about. Witnessing is very powerful, but if it reaches the peak of it's effectiveness and we are still shy to evangelize, then we have lost much of the opportunity to share our faith. Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words (St. Francis of Assisi).

Third is to be persistent in pastoring. Most of us have people who need our support, whether they are our children, friends, prayer group members, or office employees. In the First reading, Aaron and Hur supported Moses' arms so that the Israelites will continue to win the battle against the Amalek. If we persist in our support to those entrusted to us, surely God will win for us our battle against life's challenges. Even if we grow weary because they seem unmoved by our efforts, it is God who will change them, encourage them, and bring victory over their lives as well as ours.

Persistence in tagalog may sometimes pertain to being 'makulit.' But like teaching a child, repetition is key. "Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily... (Luke 18:8).

May we persist until we are brought to the point of genuine love and humility.

Our Highest Ideal

Lately, I keep on hearing the song, Billionaire by Travie McCoy. It seems that much of the people around the world, want to be a billionaire. Many make this their highest ideal. What are our ideals? Are they based on money, position, or fame?

If we believe that all things come from God, then we would have a different perspective on our ideals in life. We must remember that we are only stewards, not owners. With this in mind, our highest ideal should not be money, position, or fame. Our highest ideal should be loving God. Jesus commands us:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' (Matthew 12:30)

Loving God with all our heart and soul means deciding to love Him with all of our will. This includes both feelings and intellect. Loving God with all our mind means filling our thoughts with His Word and using our intelligence to spread His gospel. Loving God with all our strength pertains to being stewards and using our effort, time, money, possessions, influence, to spread His kingdom on earth.

If we pursue our goals in life by loving God as our ideal, then things will be clearer for us. It may be a difficult transition, but the best part is having clarity in our direction. When going into a business, we can ask ourselves, "Will this business lead me to loving God or compromising God?" When we devote much time and money to achieve success in our work or studies, we probe our minds, "If I love God, am I using my time and money to help expand God's kingdom on earth?"

Let us make loving God our highest ideal, and we shall see our lives fall right into place.

No More Turning Back

To do something as if it was our last act brings out the best in us. When we no longer have our comfort zones to go back to, then we are forced to be focused and do everything to win. Hernan Cortes, a Spaniard who sailed to Mexico, had to burn his ships, so that he and his men had no other choice but to win against the Aztecs and conquer the land.

"Just as Cortes's men saw their ships as insurance, you may see this fallback as a blessing - but in fact it is a curse. It divides you. Because you think you have options, you never involve yourself deeply enough in one thing to do it thoroughly, and you never quite get what you want. Sometimes you need to run your ships aground, burn them, and leave yourself just one option: succeed or go down." Robert Greene

Sun-tzu also had this in mind:

"Without a way to retreat, Sun-tzu argued, an army fights with double or triple the spirit it would have on open terrain, because death is viscerally present."

Jesus expressed this principle, as written in Luke 9:62, "Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.""

What hinders us from attaining our goals in life? Do we have "safety ships" waiting in case we retreat, get tired, or disheartened? What hinders us from fully serving the Lord? Do we still have vices and other temptations that are easily accessible at anytime? What makes us mediocre in our work, service, and family? Are we forgetting the importance of our roles and the consequences of procastination?

Let us dedicate ourselves to our God, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead (Phil 3:13). No more turning back. Burn your "ships" if you must. Our undivided attention and focus on Christ will result to great things in building God's kingdom. In our daily work and studies, we have to realize that life is short and we only get one chance to live. Let us choose the quality of our actions. Let us act as if our tasks were our last.

Don't Blame Life

There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need. (Acts 4: 34-35)

I believe that we are poor because of greed and corruption. Not because of our population. It is more convenient to think that poverty is caused by having more mouths to feed. But the truth is that the real issue which are greed and corruption is being diverted to population. Why sacrifice life, when we should be addressing greed?

Here are more questions we can ponder upon:

• If we lessen our population, would that mean we will have less greedy people?
• If there were 10 apples for 10 people, and one person got all the apples, won't 90% of them go hungry?
• Because the poor cannot afford to buy food, isn't hunger caused by a lack of access of food, rather than the lack of supply? (Just look at the amount of food that food chains throw everyday)
• Aren't underpopulated countries worried about their negative birth rate which will eventually lead to extiction of their own race and culture?
• Aren't people supposed to be the greatest wealth and asset of a nation?
• If you are reading this and you have siblings, are you willing to sacrifice yourself or one of your family members to death so that the country will be rich?

We first have to have a societal consciousness and goal that there should be no one needy among us. "There was no needy person among them (Acts 4:34). We have grown so accustomed to seeing beggars on the street, that we have accepted the thought that we are "fortunate" and the ones on the streets are "unfortunate." Every child of God is born equal in worth and dignity. Let us not allow poverty to be an "acceptable" notion, but rather envision the day wherein no one is needy among us.

Second, we need to share what we can offer so that others may be provided for their needs.
"for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles(v. 34). To live simply so that others may simply live.

Third, we need trusted, zero corrupt institutions who are able to equitably distribute to the poor what they need. "...and they were distributed to each according to need (v.35)." And more so, empower the poor who have initially benefited to make sharing a part of the Filipino culture.

Let us not be swayed by the simplistic approach to solve poverty through artificial population control methods that hinder and destroy life. Let us go deeper and discover the real cause of our poverty, which is the decaying societal moral values that have resulted to extreme greed and embedded systemic and structural sins. The Biblical way is not an easy path to tread. It requires much love and sacrifice to solve the problem of poverty. The death of an innocent life of a baby in the womb through abortificient methods nor condoms that hinder conception is not the solution to our poverty. Life is not to blame. It is sin.

A Challenge From Mother Teresa

I attended a Missionaries' Fellowship Night last week. Present were different groups who have dedicated their lives to spread God's word all over the world. I was inspired by the message of Fr. Kruger, a Missiologist, who exhorted us about mission work. I was struck by his quote from Mother Teresa. It goes:

‎"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. If you cannot feed a hundred people, then just feed one. I am a little pencil in the hand of the writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. Do not think that love, in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired."

Three things I'd like to highlight:

a. Faithfulness in Small Things

How many times have we been faced with seemingly insignificant situations that compromise our personal integrity? Our daily prayertime, our tithes, our word to be on time, exercising, paying our debts: all these things affect our total being. If we are not faithful in these, we cannot build a strong foundation to handle bigger things. And if we are already handling big responsibilities, the tendency is for these responsibilities to collapse on us. Our faithfulness in small things is the foundation that will uphold our lives to achieve real success.

b. Being God's pencil

Often it is difficult to assume great responsibilities if we are not humble enough that God will use our nothingness to do His mighty work. We look upon ourselves and think, "How can I possibly do this task? I lack the ability." Mother Teresa was able to do great things because of her humility. Let us be God's pencil's for Him to write a love letter to the world.

c. Loving Without Getting Tired

The challenge of Mother Teresa for us is to love consistently and tirelessly. When do we stop loving someone? Is it when the person sins against us? Is it when we are betrayed? Is it when the other one has stopped loving us? It was a steep climb to Mount Calvary with a heavy cross on Christ's back. Yet Jesus carried our sins, endured, suffered, and died, all for His love for you and me. Never stop loving.

Thank you Lord for being faithful to us. We are small and insignificant compared to your power and glory, yet you are always there for us. Loving God, write your love story by using us as your pencils, so that the world may know Your love. And our King, do not grow weary of us. We know that You will never stop loving us. Help us to become like you, ever loving, ever merciful. Amen