Be a Community Helper

Today, my 4 year-old son had an assignment to go to school dressed up as a Community Helper.  We thought of many things; doctor, fireman, police among others. We ended up with...musician. So Sev brought to school all his musical instruments; a flute, a ukulele, a toy xylophone, and a small bongo. Although being a musician is not the typical concept of a community helper, but then i thought that if no one actually wrote songs or played music for the community, then we would be like robots without artistry, expression, and emotion. Without musicians, then we would have not much entertainment (clean entertainment, that is) that can relax us from a hectic day and refresh us for the next. So we figured, a musician is a community helper.

Are you a community helper? How is the product you are selling or your field of study benefiting the society? More so, are you helping build a Christ-centered society?  I believe that whatever profession or business we are in, we can all be community helpers.

But then, let us not also be blind if we know what we are doing destroys community.  There might be things we are involved in that are environmental hazards and yet we are more concerned of profit.  What are the values that our work or product promote?  Are these products helping others become better people?  Are we justly compensating workers?

As community helpers, we are concerned with justice, love, and peace. 

Justice according to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church 201 (CSDC) states, "According to its most classical formulation, it consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor ." As a community helper, we give what is due.

When we do things out of love for neighbor, we are building a "civilization of love." Again, from the Church's Social Doctrine (580), "Christians must be deeply convinced witnesses of this, and they are to show by their lives how love is the only force that can lead to personal and social perfection, allowing society to make progress towards the good."  Are we helping the community out of love or out of mere duty?

Peace is the fruit of justice and love (CSDC, 494).  Without justice and love, there will surely be crime, violence, and the failure of peace which is war.  Therefore, as Community Helpers who work towards a Christ-centered society, we carry justice and love as our virtue and our posture.  May our day-to-day work lead us to God's will for our society.

Family on Mission

My family and I, along with Msgr. Allen Aganon, just returned from an 8-day mission trip to Brunei and Miri, Malaysia. We were blessed to have been invited to CFC Brunei's 17th Anniversary.  Here are some of my mission reflections:

1. Expose your family to mission.  On our way to Brunei, my wife Michelle asked my 4 year old son Sev, "Are you excited for the mission?" He answered, "No, it's not mission mom, it's a vacation." After 8 days on the way back to the Philippines, Michelle asked Sev again, "So Sev, did you enjoy your vacation?" Sev replied, "It was a mission mom!"  Sev may have just played most of the time with the other kids while in Brunei, but he was conscious that we were already doing mission. I also witnessed my one year old daughter, Kaitlyn, raising her hands and closing her eyes, mimicking us in worship.  These little actions are already part of her consciousness and will be a seed of faith that will blossom as she grows.   It's hard to let our kids understand mission by just describing it, they have to experience it.  "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6)."

2. Nurture old friendships. One of our good friends whom we visited was Bishop Sim. Michelle went on mission to Brunei back in 2003 for a Kids Conference and bonded with Bishop Sim, who was then a Monsignor.  It was good to catch up on life and get guidance from him.  Great things happen with strong, genuine friendships. Friendships also go through a time of testing, but it is for the purpose of strengthening and deepening. Friendships are our lives' treasures. Many are willing to go forego friendships because of a hurtful experience. In friendship there is love. But love has three kinds. The Eros, the Philia, and the Agape love.  Eros is more of the joy of physical attraction and Philia is about the joy of togetherness. Both can fade and be replaced. We are to strive the Agape love in our friendships, wherein love is sacrificial and is about the joy of seeking the true good of the other. We learn to love someone despite of and not only because of.  Old friendships go through a time of testing, until our love becomes agape.

3. Your community is your family. We were hosted by gracious families. It was a blessing to have shared each others' lives in our stay with with them. Opening your home is like saying, "You are family to us." Being in a community like Couples for Christ brings us to understand how the first Christian community lived. "The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common (Acts 4:32)." Our hosts would always tell us, "Feel at home, tell us if there is anything you need." I believe that hosting should be a practice a Christian community should not lose. It is convenient to send our guests to a hotel, thinking that they will be more comfortable there. But we lose the essence of being community and being a family.  It doesn't matter if you have simple food or limited space, what matters is that your house is open to your brothers and sisters and that we break bread with them.

We thank God and our bretheren in Brunei for the outpouring of love upon us.  We pray for all Christian communities all over the world who share in the conviction of mission, nurturing friendships, and building more communities for Christ.

Be a Champion for Chino!

Chino Nebrao, 10-month old son of our friends and household mates, Clark and Cynch, has severe mitral regurgitation with mild stenosis. In simple terms, he has a defective heart valve. The condition affects only 2% of the world’s population and survival rate is only 5%. To treat baby Chino's condition, a sum of Php 2 million or USD 45,000 is needed for the open heart surgery, medications, and other hospitalization expenses. We need 2,000 generous souls to give, at least, Php 1,000 (USD 20) each.

I don't know how many people in cyberspace this blog can reach, but I do pray for the Lord to touch the hearts of the readers to help baby Chino. Chino's parents, Clark and Cynch, are faithful servants of God. They have been going on many missions around the world and have made a great impact in bringing Christ to others specially to the people in Africa. I am moved by their great faith in God and posture of total surrender in the light of Chino's condition.

Let us pray for baby Chino's healing. Let us allow the Lord to use us by being Champions for Chino.

Please visit www.championsforchino.com for more details.

We Are All God's Children

August 6, 2010, 10pm, Doha, Qatar Airport

I just arrived in Doha Airport after 8 hours of travel. It’s 10pm and my flight is still at 7:50am the next day. It’s a long lay-over, the longest I’ve been. In the airport I see a lot of people waiting for their boarding, people of different races and nationalities. Here all of us are the same. No rich no poor, no white or black (or brown), all of us are travellers waiting for our flight.

How does God see us? Does He look at the color of our skin or our status in life? I believe that God sees only one thing, His children. All of us are God’s children, no matter who we are on this earth. Whether rich or poor, powerful or deprived, intelligent or simple minded, He only looks at the heart of His children. He sees the purity in our hearts, our intentions and our desires. As our Father, He knows us best. But how are we to act as His children?

As children, we act with dependence on God. The moment we try to figure out life without asking help from God our father, we become lost. Like the prodigal son, who thought he got things figured out but ended up squandering his money and eating with pigs. Being dependent on God makes us ask for His guidance and blessings. God is generous to His children, we need only ask.

As children, we act with honor and reverence to God. Being children, our actions reflect on our parents. When we commit a grievance, we bring shame to our parent’s name. Our parents, in their capacity, do all they can to raise us to be proper. But sometimes, our choice of actions is opposite to what we were taught. God our Father, has provided us guidance and teachings through His church. We know what is right or wrong, yet we dishonor him with our behaviour. May we be conscious of our actions and do things that will honor God. When someone thanks and honors us for the good service that we do, our answer is, “Praise God.” We give the glory back to Him and bring honor to His name.

As children, we act with love and kindness to our brothers and sisters. It is important for God to see His children living in peace and harmony. He sent his begotten Son, Jesus, to show us the way. Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you (John).” Jesus, our big brother, taught us how to relate with one another. He even said, “Love your enemies.” Let us avoid the posture and attitude of Cain when he answered God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God the father, is delighted to see His children look out for one another.

We are all the same in the Father’s eyes. We are all loved. Let us then be the children God envisions us to be.

Being Brothers and Sisters in Christ

My son, Sev, is very affectionate to his younger sister, Kaitlyn. Sev usually gets things broken because of his hyper active ways. But when it comes to his sister, he's very careful. He tries to control his strength so he can be gentle with her. At times, Sev will dance for her so that she'll burst with joy and laughter. Sev would fondly refer to himself as "Tigger" and Kaitlyn as his "Pooh bear." We're blessed to have Sev as a loving brother to Kaitlyn.

We have a loving and affectionate God. He calls as His children. He loves us so much that He sends his own son, Jesus, to be our brother. As our Brother, he guides and shows us the way. He tells us parables and shows us how to relate to God our Father. He protects us, heals us and saves us from our sins. When God searched for Abel, Cain answered God by saying, "Am I my brother's keeper (Genesis 4:9)?" But Jesus our true brother will do everything for us. Even if He will be shamed, undergo suffering, and even put to death, just so that we will be saved.

How are we as brothers and sisters to others? Do we protect and save each other? Or do we seek for the fault of others? There three things that I remember in how we are to relate as bretheren. It's Three L's. We have to be loyal, loving, and life giving.

An example of being loyal is not to talk about other people when they are not around. Specially when it degrades the character of the person. Loyalty is also about not telling others of things that are shared to you in confidentiality. Most often the case is that we can't control ourselves from telling secrets. We find ourselves saying, "Don't tell others that I told you this.. ." Having a loose tongue breeds distrust. Another thing, being loyal is not about standing by your friend even if you know that what he or she is doing is wrong. Loyalty is about helping others to be true to the right principles and see them through in becoming better people.

"Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34)." This is Christ's challenge to us. Loving is not easy. We are able to love out of God's grace. Since we are dealing everyday with sinners like you and me, one is bound to disappoint the other. We have to learn to love in a way that is unconditional. In 1 Corinthians 13, it says everything about how we should love. One way to check if we are aligned to how God want us to love is to replace the word "love" to "your name" in the verses of 1 Cor. 13. It will sound like "Kirby is patient, Kirby is kind (and so on...) ."

Are we leading people to life or closer to death? Are we bringing them to the Lord or are we influencing them to sin? As a brother or sister, we have to be life giving. Loyalty and love will make a good relationship, but without the life that faith gives, it will be limited and possibly non-sustainable. Christ should be at the center of our relationships. We can do our best help out a friend or a family member, but it is Christ that will create the miracles in their lives. The best gift we can give them is the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

May we be loyal, loving, and live giving to each other. Christ has shown us how to be a true brother. Indeed we are our brother's keeper. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (1 John 3:16)."