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

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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God Always Fulfills His Promise

We went to Mt. Nebo in Madaba, Jordan. This is the place where Moses saw with his own eyes, the promise land. As we all know, he was not allowed by God to cross it and he died on this mountain (Deut. 34:4). To this day, no one knows where Moses was exactly buried (Deut.34:6), so the mountain became a memorial site for him.
I believe that despite not crossing over to Canaan, Moses knew what was more important. He knew that the Promise Giver was more important than the Promised Land. The authenticity of God's promises for our lives is when we are led to the Promise Giver Himself. God's promises are meant to draw us closer to Him.
Sometimes, we are disappointed with God because we think that He didn't listen to us. This is an evidence that we have misunderstood
what God's promises are for. Let us remember these when we think of God's promises for our lives:

1. God's promises give us hope. When all else fails, God does not. God says, "I will never forsake you." When we feel that God is distant, it is because we have allowed sin to separate us from Him. But if we accept Christ as our savior and friend, our hope is restored and our strength is renewed.

2. A Promise is a Two Way Street. Attached to God's promise is our promise to Him as well. If we are unfaithful, then we delay the fulfillment of God's promise or forfeit it. The journey from Egypt to Canaan should have not taken Forty years if Israel was faithful to God.

3. Our Goal is to meet the Promise Giver. Our life on earth is temporary, but our life in heaven is eternal. Let us focus on the Giver, not the Gift or the Promise. Many times, the Israelites complained and said they were better off as slaves in Egypt. They lost sight of God and worshipped idols because they were too focused on getting to the Promised land. Let us not go into tantrums when we do not immediately get what we want. God is teaching us to value Him more than anything, so we are ready to receive the blessings of His Promises.

When God reveals to us His promises, our faithfulness is required. God never promises what He cannot fulfill. The timeline in fulfilling these promises is in His hands. It may be within our lifetime, some
even beyond our own.  Let us rejoice for we serve a God who is true to His Word. May we as well stay true to our promises to Him.


"But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same.  The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to tun away from their sins. (2 Peter 3: 8-9)"