Our "To-Love-List"

Father Andrew Recepcion mentioned in our recollection, "Many missionaries today overwhelmed by the immensity of the work in the mission field have become enslaved by to-do-lists and goals to achieve according to a mission plan to the detriment of a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus."


Does our to-do-list run our lives or does Christ still run it? We have to get back on prayer and build that relationship with our Lord.  At the end of the day, we do get our instructions from Him.  This is a "Martha and Mary" lesson where the Lord commended Mary more for doing what is more important.


"You grow in belief by believing (St. Augustine)."

How do we increase our faith? Is it by increasing the length of our prayer time?  Spending time with someone can indeed build a relationship. But how much trust is in that relationship? You can spend a whole day in prayer, yet not being able to fully trust everything to God.  Believing is trusting, and so our faith grows. When you are with someone you trust and believe, your time together will never be enough because you have your whole lives to share. When with God in prayer we are lost in time, for in Him we trust and believe and have our whole lives to share.

When immersed in a love-trust relationship with God, our to-do-list becomes our "to-love-list." Do all your works in love (1 Cor. 16:14). Our burdens become light, for we do things out of love for Christ.  We have to find Christ in the menial acts that we do:  In washing the dishes, in arranging paper, in texting people to remind them, in commuting, and more. This is finding God's grace in the ordinary.

A personal and intimate relationship with Jesus is what we need to achieve.  The rest of things we do will just be expressions of our love for Him.  Now, get your pen and paper and start jotting your "to-love-list."

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)."

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.

A Perspective On Livelihood

As a birthday gift, I gave my 3 year old son, Sev, a ukulele. He loves it so much. He brings his ukulele everywhere. In the office, in the mall, in the sala, in the bedroom, you name it. He does his best to sing worship songs. His favorites so far are 'Worship the Lord' and 'How Great is our God.' He strums and strums and sings his heart out. He is so happy playing his ukelele. He even made a song called, 'Hippopotamus.' During Mass, he tries to keep up with the music ministry by strumming along. Today, while the other fulltime workers were worshipping, he was even closing his eyes and trying to sing the songs. I saw in Sev something he really loves doing.

What is it that we love doing so much? What is the very thing that we do that ignites our hearts? What makes us sing with joy when we do such a thing? They say, "Find something you love doing, and you don't have to work a single day."

This reminds me of our livelihood. Our daily work, whether at work or in school. The word livelihood' comes from “lyuelode,” a 14th century Old English word which means “the way of life” or “the manner of living one’s life.” Since it is a way of life that supports our personal and family's needs, is our livelihood, life giving? Many of us complain about our jobs or livelihood more than we are thankful for it. For some, it's all about logging in on time and logging out on time and making sure we get paid for our work. I believe we have to assess some key points in our livelihood. We ask, "What is our company's end goal? It's vision and mission?" Is it something we believe in? Is it something we are proud of? What are the values that we are practicing or pursuing in our livelihood? Is it being lived out or is it compromised? Is what we are doing pleasing to the Lord? My perspective is that it would be great if we are in a livelihood that we are truly passionate about. But even if we land on something that is not fully aligned to our passion, I believe we have to sincerely consider these three important things. First, we dedicate all our works to the Lord, making us strive for excellence. Second, our character and integrity are not to be compromised. This will allow us to live a life of dignity and righteousness. Third, we think beyond our profit goals and see ourselves contributing to the noble vision of the workplace, specially if it is compatible with our Christian values. This will remind us that the little and big things we do lead to something worthwhile. With these, we gain peace. With these, we honor God.

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better (Colossians 1:10).

Let us remember that our livelihood gives us life and not the opposite. May we do our work passionately like how my son plays his ukulele. Let us grow in loving our work, fully dedicating it to our Lord Jesus.