The Concept of 'Free'

The new way to market products and services today is not just giving out samples, but to really give something free at substantial amounts. The money is made when one wants to upgrade from this 'free' service. I just recently paid 5 dollars to gmail to increase storage after using it free after all these years. In the Philippines, for about two years or so, the introduction of text/sms service was free until they charged 1 peso for every txt when it became a necessity. Recently, Amazon.com offers a free 5gb free upload of files and they are offering website owners their S3 service that allows unlimited space for your website needs. But soon enough people will need more or a new attached upgrade will be introduced. Also lately, amazon's digital book sales surpassed its paper books by selling the kindle ebook readers cheap and offering free 3g globally. This free service makes it easier for people to buy books with a few clicks at anytime instead of driving to the bookstore and spend much time searching for the book and queuing to pay. Now ipad2 also offers the free 3g option for people to conveniently buy from the istore, besides getting to check your facebook anytime.
The goal for the companies is not to profit initially but build up patronage and loyalty until the inevitable comes: the need to have more, for convenience, to save time, to be mobile, to be up to date, to be ahead, to make it a lifestyle.
Let me clarify, this post isn't a rant. It is an observation of how technology, open-sourcing, cloud computing, and all these other trends is reshaping human behavior. We can learn from this 'free' approach. Specially in bringing people to Christ. All of mankind need Christ in their lives, many just don't know it yet. We have to let them experience Christ through us.
Jesus knew the value of this approach. The first time He met His apostles, He didn't right out say that He's God in the flesh. He just said, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. Later on, after many parables, miracles, teachings... all these experiences with Christ, He then asked Peter, "Who do you say I am?" And Peter replied, "You are the Christ." It was after all these moments being with Jesus, that they themselves discovered that He is the Messiah.
Are we letting others FREELY experience Christ through us? Evangelization is not 'hard selling' or even 'soft selling' the faith. It's about being the 'product' of Christ's saving grace by giving His love FREELY to others. Our goal is to make Christianity a lifestyle, a necessity, that everyday we just want more and more of Jesus Christ.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

Dignity As Sons and Daughters of God

Dignity is such a profound word.  Dictionary.com defines it as nobility or elevation of character; worthiness.  As human beings, we are dignified because of the freedom of will that God has given us.  He did not design us to be puppets.  He designed us to have the power to choose.  It is difficult for Him because everytime we choose sin, it hurts Him. But He has faith in us that we will go back to Him and do His will, as our personal decision.

The loss of dignity is the root of poverty, corruption, and immorality.

When a people has lost its sense of dignity, an individual will only fend for himself and be apathetic about others.  The result of course, is poverty because one can only be truly liberated if there is cooperation, sharing, and understanding.

Besides greed, corruption is a result of not having substantially something to be proud of or to safeguard.  If the very thing one should protect is already ransacked; or if the source of your pride is something to be ashamed about, then what would stop a tempted individual from making some money out of a seemingly hopeless case? If a nation is without dignity, its people will compromise its integrity. There is a need to remind the people of their goodness and make their innate noble values shine and make these part of their way of life. When dignity is restored, then their outlook and actions will change for the good. Corruption will then not be the norm in society but integrity.

Immorality is the result of misunderstanding what dignity is all about. Dignity and freedom is not about being able to choose what you think is right.  It's about adhering to principles that Jesus himself has laid upon us. If we have faith like a mustard seed by believing that Jesus is indeed the God of all, then we are to follow His teachings.  "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.This is the greatest and the first commandment.The second is like it:You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22: 37-39)."  Looking upon these commandments, if we love God with all we've got, then we will not choose what is immoral or shameful before the eyes of God. If we love our neighbor, (that means other people including the unborn, the poor, the sick and dying, our family, our fellow citizens) then would we do to them what we wouldn't want done to ourselves? Would we abort ourselves? Would we kill ourselves? Would we not feed ourselves?  Would we want parents with same sex? Immorality is therefore a self-serving interpretation of dignity and freedom in which is not aligned to God's principles.

As people of God, our hallmark is the dignity and freedom as sons and daughters of God (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Faith). We therefore act accordingly and willfully as prince and princesses of a noble and great King. Our dignity comes from giving joy to our God by pursuing the purpose He has set for us on earth. In doing this we are ennobled, elevated, and made worthy by the grace of God.

Paul's Unwavered Passion and Commitment

Paul, in Acts 14: 19-28, was stoned, dragged, and left for dead. But still, after recovering a bit, stood up and continued his mission. Paul had unwavering passion and commitment to build God's kingdom.
We too have our own persecutions. We are also stoned with hurtful words, unexpected sickness and deaths, calamities, and more. But how soon do we stand up once again and go about the Father's work?
Paul shows us the mighty strength of God's Spirit that made him one of the greatest missionaries of all time. May his unwavered passion and commitment inspire us to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power (Eph. 6:10).

We are Melted and Molded for His Mission

God prepares us for His mission by melting us and molding us.  Melting requires much of disfiguring the present form using fire.  Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith (Proverbs 25:4).There are many things that have to melt so we can take on the form that God plans us to be molded into.  He wants to melt away our pride, fears, hurtful memories, bondages, addiction, and all of our sinful ways. But the process of melting is a painful process.  As the fire of the Holy Spirit melts us, we are humbled into liquid form. Being liquid, we are disfigured from our past form, shape, or identity. This usually goes through a process of humiliation and shame. But this process leads us to the servant level, the point of nothingness, making God our only hope and redemption. When humbled, the Lord can mold us at will for His will. We are then convinced that real mission can only succeed with His hand upon it using our new mold to fit the purpose He has prepared for us to fulfill. But we are always reminded that the Lord cannot melt and mold us if we do not surrender to the fire of His holy will.

Honoring Saint Andre Bessette of Montreal

 I visited the Oratory of St. Joseph of Mount Royal in Montreal, Canada. I was awed by the story of Saint Brother Andre Bessette. He was recently canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on February 19, 2010.  He was a very humble man, a true servant of God, who prayed to St. Joseph for healing of those who came to him for prayer.  He said, "You should have more confidence in Saint Joseph. Many sick people would be healed if they persevered longer.  Go and pray before the statue of Saint Joseph; tell him, ' Saint Joseph, pray for me as you would have prayed if you were on earth, in my place."   There I saw hundreds of crutches left by those who were miraculously healed through Saint Bro. Andre's intercessory prayers to Saint Joseph.  In 1904, he built a chapel in honor of St. Joseph, then in 1924, the Oratory of St. Joseph started construction.  Another inspiring relic was the heart of Saint Andre. It was preserved inside a chamber, and I could visibly see his heart.

I am inspired to pray to Saint Joseph more and more.  There was a prayer I saw that struck me as well, the Memorare to Saint Joseph (see picture).

Though seemingly impossible, we are all called to holiness. The saints and martyrs who have gone before us showed us how God's grace have allowed them to live such a life devoted to our Lord.

Crutches left by those miraculously healed

I quote from Matthew Kelly, author of Rediscovering Catholicism,"In any moment, when you surrender to the will of God and choose to be the-best-version-of-yourself, you are holy.”  “Striving for holiness, is to be continually answering God’s invitation to grasp the moments of our lives and allow God to use them to transform us into all he has created us to be.”

The challenge for us everyday is to choose to be the best version of ourselves.  It might sound as a simplistic approach to holiness, but looking at how the saints lived their lives, they indeed lived out the best version of themselves by surrending to the will of God.

Where the heart of St. Brother Andre Bessette's is placed

Like Saint Brother Andre Bessette, he simply did what a humble servant of God does and did it with the best version of himself. Here's an account of the tasks he did:

The Oratory of St. Joseph of Mount Royal

André was given the task of porter (doorman) at Notre Dame College in Côte-des-Neiges, Quebec. He fulfilled this function for some forty years while at the same time doing innumerable odd jobs for the community. At the end of his life, he would joke that when he came, he was shown the door, and stayed for forty years. In addition to his duties as receptionist, his tasks included washing floors and windows, cleaning lamps, bringing in firewood and carrying messages (wikipedia).

Lord, help us to be the best version of ourselves. Give us the grace to answer and follow the call to holiness like your servant Saint Andre Bessette.  This we pray through the intercession of St. Joseph and St. Andre, amen.

God Looks Upon Us With Favor

I just got to Vancouver and went straight for a two-hour drive to Whistler for the CFC Conference. My Visa was delivered just hours before my trip.  I almost didn't make it to the weekend's activity. Praise God, with all the prayers I got my visa just in the nick of time.  The visa processing usually takes about 3 weeks but it got done in a week and a half.

How many times have we experienced God's favor upon us?  For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).  God looks upon us with favor. We are His children and God as our Father is a perfect father.  When we pray fervently, God answers us often in ways we do not expect, for he knows what is perfect for us.  Our imagination of an answered prayer is often different from what God intends. God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding (Job 37:5).

If God favors us, what should we avoid doing? We should avoid having tantrums before the Lord. "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites (Numbers 14:27)."   I have a 3 year old son, Sev, who occassionally goes into his tantrums.  He likes to each chocolates, lots of it. We give him one or two, but at times he wants more. So when we say no, he cries and cries demanding that he should have more. As parents, knowing that too much would be bad for him, we stand firm with our no.  Just like the favors we ask from God, we cannot go into tantrums, for we fully know that He will give what is best for us at the right time.

What then should we do, if indeed God favors us? Be joyful in hope, patient in trouble, and persistent in prayer (Romans 12:12)." The Lord hears us His children, but our posture should be joyful, patient, and persistent.  I believe I got that visa at the last moment because God wanted me to put my trust in Him that He will grant was is best for me.  Our Lord looks upon us with favor. In other words, we are all His favorite.  May we pray to God in complete abandonment to His holy and mighty will. Amen. 
 
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:11-13).”

Being Busy

I'm in the middle of a very busy week. We had a music ministry workshop for CFC and the family ministries, attended the International Kids Village with my family, transferred office, transferring home, and preparing for my Canada trip (whew).  But I praise God, for I am busy for my service to God and my family.

We can be busy about many things.  But who are we busy for?  There are two kinds of busy:

Being Under Satan's Yoke (i heard this from someone before). Busyness that leads us away from God and breaks down our relationships, specially with our family.

Being Under (the) Spirit's Yearning. The Lord yearns, desires for us to serve and worship with the time, talent, and treasures we have. His yearning, should also be our yearning. Being busy for the Lord, gives us no more time to sin. They say, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." To a great degree, this saying is true. We often sin when we have nothing better to do.

Let us then devote our strength and time to the things that merit the Eternal. We can be easily lured to the temporary because the results are immediate. Let us follow the yearning of the Spirit to actively build God's Kingdom and fortify our relationships with our friends and family.

One Year of Blogging

May 3, 2011


My blog is 1 year old today. I find great joy in writing for the Lord. Literary was never one of my strong suits, but the call to share God to others gave me the courage to write.

I was just trying to discover a way where I can do mission online. I wanted to reach whom I physically couldn't. I checked my stats for a year of blogging, and here's the result:


I had 9,100 visits from 5,226 unique visitors from 110 countries. These visitors viewed 16,254 pages of the blog.  Thank you God for using this simple tool on the internet to share your Word.

Blogging has taught me:

To Yield. Writing a reflection allows me to let go and yield to God's word.  Dictionary.com defines yield as to give up, as to superior power or authority. Through writing,  I am able to surrender to Him and overcome the human tendency to hold back, control, and be independent. With God, we can only yield for His power to manifest in our lives.

To be Bold. One of my weaknesses is to be hesitant for fear of judgment. But what I realized is that God gives us a spirit of boldness through His power and not a spirit of timidity. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).  And so I dare explore cyberspace, knowing there are millions of souls there seeking God in their lives. And if by being bold, I am able to bring one person to Christ, then it would have been all worth it.

To Reach out. The act of reaching out requires straining ourselves so that others may be victorious in Christ. Like a runner about to cross the finish line. Writing takes time and energy. Above the daily work loads, there seems to be no time to blog. But it is exactly why it is a form of service, because of the element of sacrifice. Reaching out also means to reach in to myself first (prayer and reflection) so I can reach out to others.

Thank you Lord for the giving me the grace to yield, to be bold, and to reach out. A year of blogging all for Your glory, all for Your Word.