Don't Buy a Lie (Lessons from the Tuko Trade)

TU-KO!

For a month now, I've been hearing a lot about the "Tuko" or the Philippine Gecko trade. It has been rumored that it's gall bladder enzymes can cure HIV, AIDS, STD and asthma. It can be sold at around Php1,500 each or auctioned.  Yet, never has it been proven that it can cure the mentioned illnesses at all.  Despite this, people still trade whether face to face or online and pay big money. At present the tuko is being illegally captured at night time in the rural areas.  Potentially, it can threaten the ecosystem of an area by disrupting the food chain.

That the tuko can cure AIDS is similar to what Satan wants us to believe, it's lies.  We are intelligent enough to know right from wrong. We even know the ultimate consequence of sin that is hell. Yet, we still "buy" in to sin.  We mistakenly fall into the lies of the temporary cures of this world, so we can forego the eternal healing, peace, and happiness Jesus wants us to gain.

I don't know how long this tuko trade will go on.  I think as long as someone is desperate to get cured of AIDS and will take his or her chances on the Philippine Gecko.  I don't know how long will we believe in Satan's lies of hopelessness, pride, and unforgiveness.  But for as long if we believe and trust in Jesus Christ, we will be guided to the truth and our salvation is in His hands.

Fishers of Men in the Internet Age

So I was with my wife doing groceries. We came upon the frozen section and saw fish for sale. Some alive, some frozen, some chopped, some processed. I was reflecting on being fishers of men.

Before, in the time of Jesus on earth, fishermen simply had boats and nets to catch fish. When I visited a wharf in San Diego, they have a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) attached to some fish so they can easily find where the rest of the school of fish are located.
2,000 years ago the disciples just traveled by foot or by animal and they preached without a sound system. Today, we have air travel, telecommunications, internet, media and etc. We might say that it is easier to "fish" these days. But then again along with progress and technological advances, is also the challenge of an even more rapid spread of evil. Temptations are just a click away and so are nuclear wars.
So how do we become fishers of men in today's rapidly changing world? Here are some ideas:
1. Upgrade: Ride the tide of change with Christ
There are now millions of people in facebook alone. If we were to fish, we cast our nets there. What are we innovating in our evangelization approach so we can reach the millions on-line? When Jesse James was asked why he robbed banks, he said, "That's where the money is." Well, definitely the internet is where the people are. If you think of it, the globe is reduced to the size of your screen when you go online. Let's upgrade and be students once more. It is after all an indicator of humility when one is open to learn new things.
2. Witness: Be Firm with your Christ-centered principles.
It is easy to compromise, specially when 'everyone else is doing it.' The secularized mind set can even justify corruption as, "I'm doing it for my family." When faced with peer pressure, we can be tempted to say, "We now live in a modern age." When we compromise our values and principles, we actually lose "fish." When we fail to be a true witnesses of God in school or in the workplace, we turn them off and they get away. The availability of worldly temptations today is stagerring. We have to learn to tighten God's belt of truth around our waste and stand firm in our faith. The "fish" will come if we have integrity and love in us.
3. Commune: Don't lose your touch.
I read in a news column the other day that "We are the most connected and most disconnected generation." While it's faster, easier, and free to communicate on-line or mobile, we also bypass a lot of personal connectivity. We might be digitally messaging our friends often, but it will also mean a lot to hand-write a personal note to them specially in important occasions. While it is convenient to text how people are, nothing will still replace paying them a visit. Let us still be a real community amidst a virtual orientation of the new generation. Being fishers of men, the personal touch still holds great value and power. Don't lose it.
As fishers of men, we pray, "Lord give me strength to bring someone to you today." They say, when men don't fish, they fight. Let us get busy catching men and women for the Lord, specially in this technologically advanced era.

We Are All Pilgrims

I had a service-filled day. I gave a talk in Rizal in the morning and went to Las Pinas in the late afternoon 'til late evening for another talk.  It was a whole day of commuting and asking directions to get to the venues.  I'm usually the type that easily gets lost, but today I easily found my way.  I asked the right people and took the right jeepney and bus routes and asked where to stop.  Which makes me reflect on life's direction in a general sense.

Are we asking the right people?

In discerning for a path to take, we usually pick relevant people to confide with, so we can get a clearer idea on the right decisions to make.  These people are the ones who care for us or an authority on the course we are treading.  He is someone who has been down that road before and can warn us of the dangers ahead.  He is someone who has wisdom because of his past mistakes and is willing to let you benefit from his learning.

Is the route we are taking heading to God's direction?

The path we take may bring us closer to God or farther from Him.  Money and esteem may lure us at the expense of a life less spent in the service of the Lord and an environment that compromises our moral code.  I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). 


When do you know that you have arrived?


Greed is an insatiable lust that cries out..."More, more, more."  It will not satisfy.  It will not stop until greed becomes your cause of death. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).  I talked to a friend who shared to me that he could have expanded his company, but decided not to. He said, "I have enough already and I'm happy with what I have.  With this I can have more time to serve God." Paint a picture of what state of life will truly make you happy.  Paint again another picture of the state of life that can truly make God happy.  Get to where God is, and you will know that you have arrived.

A pilgrim is someone who undertakes a long journey for a sacred or spiritual cause (unknown author).  We are all pilgrims on this earth, searching for the place that we can say, "I have arrived."  I'm pretty sure that place is called heaven.  But while on earth we continue to ask and search how to get there.  And the best way is to know the way, the truth, and the life...Jesus Christ.

Co-workers in the Lord's Vineyard

I just came from a conference of different lay missionary groups.  Together, these different communities form the CALM or Catholic Association of Lay Missionaries. The venue was in Taytay, Palawan. It was a weekend of bonding, learning, and loving the mission. All working for the Lord in His great vineyard.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field (Luke 10:2)."

 Each of the groups has different approaches on mission. It's clear that the Lord molded each as such that they will cover the different purposes of evangelization. Some are focused on the youth, some for the whole family, some for the environment, and others for the poor.  Here are some of my realizations:

Overcoming Our Weaknesses through Others' Strengths. 


The Lord has blessed each community with a strength that can complement the weakness of other communities.  Not one community has all the talents and skills to build the global mission.  I have noticed that many groups have a deep understanding of different crucial topics for mission. There's a group that is strong on Missiology, others are good with Youth Formation and team building, another on the issue of Social Justice, one on Creative Evangelizaton, another on International Missions and Mission exchanges, some on Catechetics, another is strong in the Social Media evangelization approach.  What these groups have learned is a product of decades of experience and study and they are willing to share it. What a great blessing.  Reflecting on our immediate work and family surroundings, what strength do you have that can be of service to other's weaknesses?  What are the key talents and abilities of the people we are working/serving with, that can help hasten an area of our work that is slow moving? In our family, how can we utilize each others God given gifts to help achieve our family goals?

A Humble Heart for an Open Mind

Another realization is that we cannot have open minds if we do not have humble hearts.  There is a tendency for our cups to already be filled before going to a teaching, conference, or training.  We have to undergo the process of kenosis (emptying of one's self) so that the Lord can fill us with His wisdom.  A humble heart is the key to deeper understanding.  A humble heart understands the idea of emptying our mental and spiritual cups.  A proud posture closes the mind and wanes the interest.  The presence of the different lay missionary organizations gain abundance of wisdom by learning from one another.  Without humility, one will not bother to mingle and initiate conversation.  In our lives, do we pass up opportunities to learn from people who can enrich us?  How attentive are we during talks?


Faith Fascinates Us


Lastly, with pure faith, the work of evangelization and mission will continue to fascinate us.  Some of us are doing mission work for years. Whether as full time missionary, clergy, or simply as a faithful Christian.  We see many of our friends lose heart to continue in the mission. They become inactive, disillusioned, or victims of friendly fire.  Lay mission work is not easy. For many of us, it is not our full time job.  I have met many lay missionaries in the conference who also have secular work, but go full on with the mission. Faith will dictate that it is the Lord who commissions us and not men. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:19)." When mission ceases to excite us or fascinate us, it is usually because of being distant from the Lord.  The farther away we are from Him, due to lack of faith and lack of prayer, the more we lose touch of God's exciting plan for the mission he has prepared for us to do.  How excited are you to do mission?  How far can your faith in God take you?


Let us therefore be generous with the strength God has given us. Strive for humility, so our open minds can gain wisdom. And be faithful for the work ahead of us is more exciting than we can ever imagine. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"-- (1 Cor. 2:9).  We are all workers in the Lord's vineyard, helping one another to achieve one goal, "to sum up all things under Christ (Ephesians 1:10)."

Open to Change

I just went to my bank and was surprised to see it all digitized. No more manual filling up of slips. No more standing in line. The service is faster and more efficient. But before appreciating the new system, I didn't like the change. I was already comfortable of the familiar bank scene. It took some time for me to understand the benefit of the new system.
How do we embrace change? Maybe these 3 O's can help.
1. Openness - first, listen to the new way of doing things and seek to understand the benefits. Being open will allow blessings to come in. A closed heart will keep us in one place, stagnant. The world around us moves, even at a faster rate than all previous generations. Even the Pope has a twitter account to embrace the benefits of technology in our evangelization.
2. Objectiveness - for ease of accepting the change, we have to understand the objectives. The objectives reveal the principles behind the movements. As long as you are agreeable to the objectives, you can even propose a better system, and be a source of the solution and not a stumbling block.
3.Oneness - disunity is a risk of change. So, we ask ourselves, "Are my reactions divisive or unitive?" We can espouse oneness by going back to our core values. This dictates our behavior and the things we value that should make us one.
Change must be managed. Transitions cannot be abrupt. The ushering in of a new way goes through testing, appreciation, as well as strong will. The Pharisees did not like the change that Jesus presented. But prior to His coming, prophets have already prepared God's people. John the baptist was to prepare the way of the Lord. The apostles had openness, objectiveness, and oneness in their minds and hearts. The Pharisees were already comfortable with the old ways. They were close-minded, short sighted, and divisive. And so, they missed the point of what the prophets of old were conveying.
The Holy Spirit will change us. "And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36: 26)." Let us then yield ourselves to the move of the Spirit. Be open to His change in us.
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Be In a Tribe

I heard from one of the trainings I attended, "Birds flock, fish school, cows herd... people tribe." It is amazing what tribes can achieve. Needless to say, one of the greatest achievements of the Ifugao tribe in the Philippines is the creation of the Banawe Rice Terraces.
In primitive times, the rate of survival of a human being is increased if one belonged to a tribe. Going solo would mean easy target for the forest predators.
As a Christian, you cannot go solo. You need a tribe of believers, a community. "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8)." Our chances of getting to heaven increases with a community to encourage us, care for us, and teach us in our Christian living.
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A Life in God's Order

Prayer puts our life in order.  Often we are too busy to pray, thinking that the urgent things that rush us in the morning are more important than taking time to quiet down with the Lord. Many times we are too tired to pray, thinking that our bodies need to hit the bed because of the strain of the day's activities rather than be filled by the Lord.
When we are lured to this mentality, we will even become more busy and even more tired.  We forget that prayer, through our Lord, puts it in the right perspective.  So the lesser we pray, the more our priorities get out of order. This makes us busy with the wrong priorities, thus having more work.

When neglecting to pray and meditate, we only use our physical strength and neglect to tap the immense power of our spiritual strength. Our physical and mental abilities can only bring us to certain limit. But the spiritual strength that God gifts us through the Holy Spirit, can make us achieve what is impossible.  Jesus, being both human and divine, knew the value of prayer. In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12)


The connection of ourselves to Christ, exposes the deceptions of the devil that leads us to sinfulness and pride.  The lower we bow down in prayer, the higher the Lord lifts us up in our lives. He redirects us away from the evil's schemes and brings us forth to His path. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).  If we are living according to the order that God wants for our lives, we shall truly experience the fullness of what God has in store for those who love Him.