Life to the Max

At 11:44am on August 29, 2012 our 3rd child, John Maximilian S. Llaban greeted the world. Max is a "Holy Land baby." Seeing him grow will always remind us of our experiences in the pilgrimage.  We praise God his safe and normal delivery.

My prayer for Max is that he may live life to the fullest, to the max, for our Lord Jesus.  May he embody the posture of John the Baptist, always humble and preparing the way for the coming of Jesus.  I pray that he may also reflect on the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, declared by Pope John Paul II as "Patron Saint of our difficult century" and known as an Apostle of the Consecration to Mary.

Thank you Max for blessing us with your glowing presence and for the immeasurable joy you give to Sev, Kaitlyn, your Mom Michelle, and I your father.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma. (Ephesians 5: 1-2)

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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Joyful Anticipation

In the fast food business, when the food isn't fast enough, they'll give you a number. This tangible object allows you to retain the idea of the 'fast food' and will keep you in suspense of the meal to come.

What is it that you are eagerly waiting for? A job interview, exam results, a business deal, a payout, visa, her sweet "yes", graduation, ordination? Waiting is a part of living. Those who cannot wait, cannot get the best out of life. Waiting can be excruciating at times and you might want to give up and quit, specially when there is nothing else we can do.

We need to savor the lessons of waiting:
1. Waiting allows us to go inward.
We can go deep into our hearts and find God's message for us.
2. Waiting allows us to have time to "smell the flowers." Amidst the busy life, are we still enjoying God's everyday miracles?
3. As we grow in anticipation, we are also to grow in gratitude. When blessings are to come, we thank God for His goodness, in daily increments.

When I was a kid, my mom used to make fruit cakes and she bakes them about 4 months before Christmas. Fruit cakes are my favorite, and these 4 months were "excruciating" (since I know where they were stored). But to get the optimum taste, I had to wait, patiently. So with joyful anticipation, I did wait... and it was worth it.

We know Christ will come again. We are all waiting for the second coming, and He gave us the Bible as a tangible holy object we can hold on and read on. Yes, Christ will come and when that day comes, and if we're ready, it'll be sweet.

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Life is Not a Treadmill

One of the basic equipment in the gym is the ever reliable treadmill. It helps us warm-up and have a good cardio exercise. The obvious difference of a treadmill compared to a normal outdoor jogging experience, is that you don't get anywhere no matter how fast you run.

Life is not meant to be a treadmill. Life is meant to be a marathon race, with a finish line and a reward in the end. And that 'reward' is heaven. What the devil wants us to do is to work as hard as we can, achieve as much as we can, for our own selfish motives and worldly ambitions. "Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world." 1 John 3: 15-16. It may seem at first that our worldly desires are getting us somewhere, but at the end of it, we realize that we are stuck with the world. 


A treadmill is secure in the sense that you will not encounter the other risk factors of outdoor jogging or a marathon such as the possibility of rain, bumps on the road, and generally being exposed publicly. But in this sense of security, we will not experience the essence of God's mission for our lives.

So go out there, explore life, take risks for our Lord!  Put your life in His hands. Faith after all is risking for the Lord. We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Colossians 5:7). But faith is the kind of risk that is sure of the reward of heaven.  The rewards of the world is nothing compared with the rewards of heaven. Let us therefore not waste our time in indulging in worldly pursuits, but focus on doing things that help us in our pursuit of heaven. Let us get off from the treadmill that the world offers and embrace the exciting race that the Lord invites us to run.

I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.  From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. (2 Timothy 4: 7-8) 

Seeking What Is Right Instead of What is Easy

Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." (Luke 9:58)

What fascinated me in Beijing was that I could see so many birds nests all over the place. While travelling from one place to the next, these nests were very visible from the highway streets. It reminded me of how wonderfully God made us to be able to live and survive in this world. While in the zoo, I also took notice of the foxes that were very playful and would go in and out of their burrows. Surely the holes keep them safe and warm.

When Christ was born, he only laid on a manger. And even in his death, the tomb wasn't His. The birds and the foxes are even more comfortable than He was on occasions when truly resting was required. The Christian life is not a promise of an easy life. Its promise is a purposeful life, leading to eternal life.  When we look at the word discipline, we will see its connection to the word disciple. The cost of Discipleship is to live a disciplined life while the world presents an easy way out. Choosing to be honest instead of accepting or giving bribes, choosing to study instead of cheating in the exam, and choosing to pray and read scripture when laziness sets in.  These are some examples of discipleship amidst the comfort of worldly lures.

Secularism, relativism, consumerism, and materialism, gives in to man's resistance to discipleship.  Man refuses the discipline of Christian morality and reasons to be able to design the world according to his comfort and ease.  We can start to ask ourselves, "In what aspect of my life do I lack the discipline?".

The consequence of discipline is actually a happy life.  An easy life does not equate to a happy life. "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward" (Hebrews 11:26).  Those who are disciplined, those who can delay gratification, will reap great rewards. Although Christ suffered on earth, he was raised to be Lord of all.  While the saints and martyrs didn't have it easy, they are now in eternal happiness with the Lord in heaven.

Lord, make me strong in my conviction as a disciple. Grant me the grace of discipline, so I may seek what is right instead of what is easy.

Unleash Your Great Potential

"...I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10)."

A good friend shared to me a visual. She told me that what if she died and the words engraved on her tomb stone said, "She had great potential."

I imagined this myself and I realized that truly I still have more to give. I still have great potential.  But what are the things that hinder us from embracing our full potential? How can we unleash this great potential of ours? I can think of three.

1. Dream big.  In all we do, whether business, school, or service, we are only limited by the size of our dreams.  If you think your dream is big, God's dream for you is a hundred times bigger.  Dreaming big honors God because we are making the best out of life. There is nothing impossible with God.

2. Desire.  If you have the passion, then great things will happen. John Maxwell said, "A person with passion will always surpass a person with skill."  What is it that drives us to wake up in the morning?  What is our heart's desire. Does our desire honor God?  Be passionate and see how your day turns to your favor.

3. Discipline.  Stephen Covey would describe discipline as something that will get vision and passion to actual realization.  Discipline is our Physical Quotient.  If we look closer, we can derive the word disciple from discipline.  Discipline is our weapon against laziness.

Dreaming big, having desire, and discipline will unleash our God-given potential. Seize the day! Live the best life! 

The glory of God is man fully alive! (St. Irenaeus)

Forever Grateful

We have one life to live
Oh Lord teach us to give
Your graces we receive
For in You we believe

Our prayers we lift on high
Oh Lord do hear our cry
Oh God You are all Love
Provider from up Above

To our hearts You speak
Give us the peace we seek
We long to see Your face
To be with You all our days

May we not forget
From birth 'til our death
All the goodness You showed
And The blessings bestowed

You are our Creator
Our God and our Father
We are forever grateful
May we always be faithful

Preparing the Heart, Home, and Society

I'm now in Bangkok and people are anticipating flood. They transferred most of their things to the 2nd floor of their house. Some homes are putting up sand bags and some even put up a 2ft high cement wall for the purpose of blocking the water.  Having witnessed the flood that affected the northern part of the county and the advisory by the government, people are preparing the best they can.

How prepared are we for things to come?  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:10). The parable of the ten virgins also reflect on being prepared. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ (Matthew 25:3-6)


A priest asked the parishioners in his homily, "Who among you here wants to go to heaven?" (Everybody raised their hands). He asked again, "Who among you here wants to die and go to heaven NOW?" (Very few raised their hands).  This reflects our preparedness.  We are afraid to die. But surely, everybody knows that death is inevitable.

Mark Twain suggests, "The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."

The song Prepare the Way by Darrel Evans may help us on our reflection on preparedness:

Make ready your heart.  Are our hearts clean? When was the last time we went for confession? Have we forgiven?
Make ready your home.  How is our relationship with our family? Are we leading our family closer to God?
Make ready the people of God. Are we taking part in bringing others to God?

The heart, home, and the people of God talk about our individual, family, and societal preparedness.  It is not enough that we ourselves are prepared for the Lord.  We have a responsibility to do our best to renew our families and our society.  John the Baptist is the best example of preparedness.  He went out of his way and prepared others to receive the Lord. "He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie (John 1:27)."  John the Baptist was regarded very highly that when the Lord asked His disciples of 'Who do you say I am?' they said, 'Some say you are John the Baptist, some say you are Elijah..." Despite John's greatness, he did not lose focus on directing others to the Lord.

Let us prepare by directing ourselves and others to the Lord.  Let us make our hearts, homes, and our society ready for the Lord.

Learning from Steve

Today, it was announced that Steve Jobs passed away.  I'm a fan of his leadership and his relentless pursuit for excellence and innovation. He went through many challenges in life. He was adopted, a college drop-out, got kicked out from apple and back again, and suffered a rare illness. Yet despite all odds, through his leadership he gave us the mac, ipod, iphone, ipad, and even Toy Story through his Pixar years.  His inspiring 2005 Commencement speech in Stanford University went viral. He was a master presenter and blew the audience away with his new product ideas.  He changed technology forever.

What can we get out of Steve Jobs' life?

1. He turned defeats into victories.  He had all the reasons to quit and lose hope, but he kept on moving forward until one thing led to another then it led to success.  He knew that there was a reason for everything, evident in his "connect the dots" analogy of life (see his 2005 Stanford speech).

2. He was a master innovator. Steve would "cannibalize" his own products. The iphone could do almost everything that the ipod had to offer.  He knew how to excite the people with new ideas.  We need to be able to innovate our work, our products, or even ourselves.  Having the drive for innovation makes us lifelong learners.  Innovators always challenge the status quo and they know that there is something better than what they see.

3. He finished strong. He resigned as CEO of Apple at the height of his career. I even saw in the news at that time that Apple had more money than the US gov't.  I feel that if he lived longer, he could have given more. He was only 56. The tech world will surely miss him. A void is being felt by the tech industry.  He gave his utmost and truly finished strong.

I am uncertain if Steve Jobs was a Christian. But through his life, we can reflect on how we should live our lives. Christ offers us the fullness of life. With Christ, we can turn our defeats into victories. Jesus innovates our lives by renewing us with his love and He wants us to finish strong by serving Him 'til the end.


I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).

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.

Recollecting Our Scattered Lives

Coffee shops. A dim lighted place where people meet friends, relax, reflect, meet for business, or get a shot of espresso to perk them up. As I am writing this entry, I am in one right now. Some are having serious heart to heart talks, others browse the net, and some are engaged in explaining their business model. While some are just waiting and making the most out of the free newspaper. For me, it is a time well spent alone reflecting on my life and waiting upon the Lord to speak. For many years, besides chapels, coffee shops have been a place for me to recollect.

Recollect in simple terms is "to collect again." Why do we need to do this? As the days of our lives progress, we come across many people and many circumstances. We find ourselves committing to various responsibilities, and sometimes we are overwhelmed by the things we get into. There are moments that we find our lives as scattered, with no sense of order.

When we recollect, we pick up or collect, again, these scattered pieces of our lives. We put it in the right order and throw away the unnecessary. Without recollection, we cannot develop our inner strength, the strength of soul. Our souls dictate to us our sense of purpose and our true joy. If we do not connect with our souls, we will be living frustrating lives because we will be acting like puppets. As puppets, we are controlled by the dictates of our immediate environment. We are stringed to what people say and tell us. The soul is the life in us, making us live life with no strings attached. Connecting to our souls make us free.

Now, who or what influences our souls? Many are willing to trade the goodness of their souls for money, lust, fame, and power. Let us not corrupt our souls. Let us not allow evil things to take hold of our souls. Sin will suck our souls dry to the bones, until we give up hope and submit to evil.

But the Lord promises His Spirit:

Ezekiel 37:3-5

He asked me: Son of man, can these bones come to life? "Lord GOD," I answered, "you alone know that."Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life.

We connect our souls to God's Holy Spirit. When we recollect, we bring our scattered selves back to the Lord and become united in His Spirit once again. What are ways to recollect? Here are some that I know:

Through prayer, study, sacraments, and service. Prayer, allows us to praise, humble down, surrender, and listen to the Lord. We are recollected of who we are, His servants. Sacraments, lets us receive his graces like how the sacrament of reconciliation through confession releases us from sin, like how the Eucharist allows us to worship and partake of Christ's body and blood. We are recollected that his grace overflows and we need only ask. Study, makes us seek God's wisdom. And service, gives us the chance to put our faith into action. With service, we are recollected that it is not always about ourselves.

May prayer, study, sacraments, and service put our lives in God's perspective. Amidst the clutter, busyness, pollution, and politics of everyday life, may we be able to connect with our souls and bring it forth to be united with the Holy Spirit.

Reflection Questions:
When was the last time that you have recollected?
What are the "scattered" areas in your life that need to be recollected?
How will you put these "scattered" areas in God's order?

Well Done My Good and Faithful Servant

I started the morning hearing sad news. Bro. Rey Peralta, the head of the CFC National Music Ministry, passed away. A person I truly admire. A man blessed greatly with talent for music. A man who was a true servant of God...always humble...always smiling. He will be missed. Yet another sad news came to me, Bro. Joey Velasco also passed away. Also, a man who was truly gifted. His paintings depicted Christ in a way that struck the heart of every Filipino. A man who loved the poor and saw Jesus in each of them. He will be missed.

Two people who left a legacy of Christ's love to many. One through his music, another through his paintings. Life may be a great mystery, but one thing is certain: That we have to live life sharing God's love to the world. I salute you, brothers Rey and Joey. Thank you for showing us how to live a life that is full, a life serving our Lord Jesus Christ. Our sadness will turn into joy knowing you are with Jesus. Surely the Lord has welcomed you into the gates of heaven and said, "Well done, my good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:23)."