Monday, August 20, 2012

Thrilled with Anticipation

Our doctor said, "The baby can already come out anytime."  So, I'm always on call and ready.   We have on stand-by; the baby bag, our clothes, video and camera, and other important things related to our 3rd baby's birthday.  I'm thrilled with anticipation.  The days seem to come by very slowly as I wait and wait for his coming.

I remember what was written in Matthew 3: 1-3: In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea (and) saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: "A voice of one crying out in the desert, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'"

Are we prepared for the Lord's coming? Are our hearts ready to be His dwelling place? Are we ready to serve Him on call?

In our day to day lives, let us be thrilled with anticipation. Today, the Lord desires to dwell in our hearts.  In the same manner of how we prepare our homes for a newborn, we strive to make the home of our hearts clean and suitable.

And when the Lord calls us, we cannot pass up the opportunity and say, "I'm not yet ready Lord."  We might just miss out the very best thing that can happen to our lives.  "On call," should be our posture.  We prepare our hearts to be ready to respond to His coming and to His prompting.  We look on to God's will for our lives with thrill and excitement.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Rock Solid Faith in the Lord

While in Batanes, we came upon a row of stone houses located near the sea shore. The stone houses were built to withstand the worst storms. The people there through time developed this design out of the many experiences they had with all kinds of treacherous weather.

If the conviction of our faith is like a house, what is it made of? Is it made of stones or rocks that is immovable and strong even through tough conditions? Is the conviction of our faith made of Nipa (dried leaves made into straw), that when tested by winds of peer pressure or popular opinion will easily be blown down?

How can we build up our conviction?

1. Study and research about your faith. Nothing imprints on our minds and hearts better than the process of reading through and noting down. Discovering more about the faith through a laborious undertaking convicts us.

2. Engage in discussion with others. Our stand is tested in engaging through dialogue. By conveying and defending our beliefs to others, our convictions are deepened.

3. Have an Intimate relationship with the Lord. Having this type of relationship with God makes our faith like solid rock. Peter was referred to as the "Rock." He truly had a strong relationship with Jesus and he was convicted in his faith until his death.

Let us have a solid rock faith conviction; immovable and constant amidst winds that want to blow us to the direction of sin and pride.

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. (Luke 6:48)

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Finishing Strong!

My son Sev and I joined the CFC Ancop Global Walk to sponsor scholars. It was participated by about 80,000 people. It was a 5km distance and Sev was on his bike. At first I doubted if Sev could finish the whole stretch. But my son was determined. It also helped that I was encouraging him. We took it slow, enjoying every bit of the scenery and the people until we finished the race. We were not ahead of the rest but I could say that we finished strong!
In our walk with the Lord, we can easily have doubts along the way. Some of us start strong with our relationship with Him, only to give it up later in life. Somehow we get tired and succumb to the weaknesses of our humanity. But the Lord is there to encourage us and to show us how to enjoy our journey with Him until we reach the end. So how do we finish strong? We must have...

1. Faith that God wants the best for our lives. The Lord wants us to reach heaven and he'll do everything to help us get there. We go through trials to strengthen our faith and practice humility, so we may fully embrace the cross. We have to keep on believing in him in both good and bad times to reach heaven, our finish line. We have to...

2. Invite the Lord daily to walk with us. Prayer and Scripture is key. The Lord encourages us through His Word. But if we don't invite Him and take time to listen, we might just miss out His message that will give us hope and determination. We have to seek...

3. Nourishment to gain strength. Attending Mass regularly is the ultimate nourishment. The Eucharist gives us the grace to partake in the body and blood of Christ that will quench our thirst and hunger. We are also nourished through the relationships in the community of believers. We must gain...

4. Inspiration from those who successfully finished. One of my inspirations is a video in You Tube about a father who entered an Iron Man race with his son who could not walk and speak. They called their team "My Redeemer lives." Despite the odds, the father pressed on and finished the race. I was inspired to tears. We also know of countless saints who like us, humans with weaknesses, have kept the faith and finished strong in life. We can draw inspiration from them.

5. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. And yes, all these things shall be added unto you. What slows us down are the many distractions along the race. We get sidetracked by our own greed and selfish ambitions. We must remember that if God comes first, everything else will be put in order.

6. Help others along the way. God calls us to evangelize and bring glad tidings to the poor. In fact the only way to reach the finish line, heaven, is if we have helped the poor around us.
Let us strive to finish strong by being faithful to the end. His grace will give us strength to endure and reach the finish line.

I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:14

Thursday, August 9, 2012

A Life Shared to Others

Today, we had a relief operation at the home office. Many came to help. While packing some goods the rain was still down pouring and we noticed the flood rising in the parking area. When I checked the streets, the way home was already almost at waist level. I took the long route walking, finding the least possible flooded streets. Praise God, I arrived safe at home wading through knee high water level.

When offering relief, we have to realize that we are also yielding to possible risks and sacrifices. But this is exactly why the Lord said, "there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends (Jn 15:13)."

We offer relief in many ways; listening to somebody's problems, extending financial help, tutoring a classmate, sharing food and clothing...these among other things. When we give up something dear to us like time, money, possessions, and security...our very own life is shared, not diminished.

As we share in this time of need, let us think of something dear that we can give up so that others will be blessed by our lives.
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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Gloom to Glory

August 7, 2012, 8pm
And the monsoon rains keep on pouring down...It's been raining like crazy. I wonder when the rain will ever stop, it's relentless. Watching the news of flood victims breaks my heart. Water levels are at the roof tops in many areas. Some flyovers are almost caught up by flood. While all these are happening, my wife Michelle can give birth anytime. She's starting to feel the contractions. It's probably the worst time to go to the hospital since the streets are flooded and our doctor's residence area is also affected by it. It's a gloomy situation on the streets as I made my way to buy some emergency groceries. There will be days of gloom in our lives. But gloom doesn't mean doom. Times like these remind us that there are things beyond our control and that Someone bigger than us can help.Days of gloom bring us down to our knees before God. We are brought to a point of an honest and sincere conversation with Him. Yes, the trying times will bring us closer to Him. We may find it hard to understand His plan for us, specially in painful circumstances. Our 'rational' minds and the feelings in our hearts are too primitive compared to God's infinite wisdom and love. Yet, our Lord Jesus showed us the way to the Almighty by teaching us to relate to God as our Father. Like a little child, there are things that we cannot comprehend about the father's ways. We sometimes cry over things that we do not know can be good for us in the future. Days of gloom are allowed by the Father so we can bloom in the strength of our faith.There will always be times of testing, especially in days of gloom. Here we come to know our true self; where we stand, what we believe in, our level of courage, and the depth of our faith. We might breakdown or breakthrough. We can either lose hope or find faith. We were not created puppets. We were created as children in His likeness. With the gift of life, through His love we are granted the freedom to choose. Hoping that we choose what is right, what brings life, and what reflects His love. Times of testing, these days of gloom, will surface our weaknesses and how far our pride and self-idolatry has taken us. We pray to God for mercy and the grace to embrace humility.Gloom does not mean doom. There is hope in every person and in every season. The best in us also surface in these times. Our heroism, our faith, and our love go the distance in these unusual occasions...if we choose to. Christ, in His days of gloom suffered and died. His sacrifice was not that of doom, but of resurrection. From gloom to glory.Let us then choose as what Christ had chosen in His days of gloom. He chose the Father's will amidst excruciating and unimaginable physical and emotional pain. Christ's heroism cannot be surpassed for He saved us all. He chose to see the glory of God beyond the gloom.
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Saturday, August 4, 2012

Ask Why

Any goal, no matter how big can be organized into chunks of smaller, achievable milestones. The bigger challenge is to actually first understand the full intent of the goal or vision. The design of these "smaller chunks" whether an event, product, or deal will greatly depend on it's intent.
Many will go through the motions or "with the flow" without understanding the intent. They soon find themselves tired, uninspired, or even lost. The intent of the goal answers "The Why." Surprisingly only few people ask why and also less leaders explain why.
One can start to ask, "Why am I in my current job?" or "Why am I in this group?" Or "Why am I taking this course?."
Asking "why" is not a sign of a lack of faith, rather it is an indicator of having great interest in the very thing you believe in.
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