Zero Tolerance

Why should any human being in the world be merely tolerated? What man has ever made a sacrifice in the name of tolerance? It leads men, instead, to express their own egotism in a book or a lecture that patronizes the downtrodden group. One of the cruelest things that can happen to a human being is to be tolerated. Never once did Our Lord say, “Tolerate your enemies!” But He did say, “Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you” (Matt. 5:44). Such love can be achieved only if we deliberately curb our fallen nature’s animosities.” -Fulton J. Sheen, Peace of Soul

There are many instances that we just let the wrong doing of others pass us by.  We tend to "tolerate" it and just keep it to ourselves.  But if we look deeper, we just don't want to be aggraivated by the situation or we just want to evade the person.  As Sheen would put it, One of the cruelest things that can happen to a human being is to be tolerated.

Loving your enemies is the Christian response to those whom we easily despise or to those who have wronged us.  To love is to be in an uncomfortable situation, where our humility is tested and our patience is challenged.  Jesus, despite knowing the criticisms he will get for entering the home of Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-12), didn't mind for love and salvation was His agenda.  Who was Zacchaeus? A rich "publican," that is, a tax collector for the Roman authorities, and precisely for this he was regarded as a public sinner (Benedict XVI).

The love of Christ transformed this public sinner.  Zacchaeus offered half of his possessions to be given to the poor and to pay back four times of whatever was extorted.  Salvation has come for this sinner.

Christ does not tolerate, He loves.  And so must we.

God Reveals Who We Are

"When God reveals Himself to us, He reveals who we are."  These were words spoken by Msgr. Allen Aganon in the last Mission Core teaching night.  I come to reflect on this statement. I'll try to rephrase it.  When we come to know God, we come to realize who we really are.  By our relationship with Jesus, our true selves come out.  Our purpose, our worth, our design, and why we have experienced all the sweet and bitter things of life come to realization when we are one with the Lord.

We reflect on some people to whom God revealed Himself.

A drug addict comes to embrace the salvation of the Cross and becomes a renewed productive citizen, then shares his life and inspires others.

A heart that was badly hurt because of much betrayal, then comes to know the loving mercy of Jesus, and is given the grace to forgive and heal.

A corrupt businessman upon knowing the true riches of Heaven, gives up all that is illegal and decides to help the poor.

An inspirer, healer, helper of the poor, among other things that are great are who really are.  God through His love, reveals our true nature.

A World of Relationships

We live in a world of relationships.  It’s amazing that if you actually have a network of about a thousand friends on facebook, you are loosely connected to 800,000 friends of your friends. Imagine if all your friends reposted your status, then it would have potentially reached 800,000 to a million.

There is great power in the network, and I’m not only talking about the social networking sites, but relationships in general.  It’s so important to nurture our relationships.  If we sacrifice a relationship because of pride and unforgiveness, we are not only giving up one person, but also potentially the friends of this person.

Somehow we are all connected. What you do makes a ripple to the rest of the world in different degrees.

How are we taking care of our relationships?

How are we using our network to do great things for God and country?
Are we easy to sacrifice friendships? Do we bother to mend our broken relationships?

With the argument above, I conclude therefore that no one is insignificant.  We were created to matter.  What matters to you may matter to millions out there.

What is surprising is that many of us sacrifice the most important relationship: our relationship with God.  God who created us and loves us immensely, is someone whose relationship we should continue to build and nurture. Prayer is our way of communicating to Him. He is the ultimate relationship and believe me, he has the greatest network in the universe.  He is a friend we shouldn’t “unfriend.”  He can inspire others to come to our aid as an answered prayer or even tell the sea to calm down if we are afraid (like Peter and the apostles in the boat) and even stop sun from setting (Joshua).

In a world of relationships, we are to connect to each other and work towards building God’s kingdom.  Let us have a humble, understanding, and forgiving nature, so we can overcome relationship hurdles and build stronger ties.  May God bless the people we meet along our journey towards heaven.

The Meaning of New Year's Resolution

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind had conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Cor 2:9."


It's a brand new year, and it's once again time for our New Year's resolution.  But what does it really mean?

According to Macmillan's Dictionary, New Year's resolution means "a decision that you make on the first day of the year about the things that you intend to do or stop doing during that year."

Let me dissect this definition. 

A Decision... 

a resolution is first and foremost a decision. When we decide, say, to lose weight, this will be regardless later on whether we will feel like it or not.  Once you decide, you have to stick to it or else nothing significant is going to happen.  You can tell this decision to a friend or your spouse so you can be accountable to someone and to have a person that reminds you of your commitment.

 ...Made on the first day of the year...

This would mean that during the holiday break, you might have done some soul searching or deep thinking that lead you to that resolution. So on the first day, the resolutions would have been already processed or best, prayed for. The first day is significant because it symbolizes a new hope. There is a strong sense of renewal on the first day.  But of course, some of us may not have read this post on January 1st, so choose your first day whether it be the first day of work or school.

...About things you intend to do... What are the things that you need to continue? What are the new things that you are willing to start? You can start to list about ten things that excite you. It may be a passion you wish to pursue or a basic skill that you always put off (like swimming or driving).  Maybe you want to set your financial goals for the year. It can also be an opportunity to start to write your life dreams, and how you intend to start pursuing it starting this year. Top on the list can be to have a more faithful time of prayer, 'cause all the rest will successfully flow from this.  

...or things you intend to stop doing...  

Now this part is serious. There are things that we habitually do that hinder our growth:  a favorite sin, vices that kill our body (smoking, drinking, food with much cholesterol), impatience, laziness, and procrastination, among other things. By God's grace we can stop these. We need the Holy Spirit, a supernatural strength, to overcome our human weakness. We can start through repentance, having faith, forgiving, and the process of healing and strengthening will follow.  

...during that year. 

It's time bound! It's for the specific year. This means you have to carefully plan and decide on the things you can accomplish this year.  In fact, you should be able to schedule it, take a leave for it, and mark it on your planner.  If you are a good planner when it comes to your work or in your studies, you should also be the same when it comes to your personal and family life.

With God, we can do it! 2012 here we come!

"For nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37)."

Be Made Clean

Now there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where he was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." Luke 5:12

How do we physically cleanse ourselves? We take a bath, brush our teeth, cut our nails, clean our ears and all other bathroom rituals to rid us of yesterday's impurities.  Only yet to face another day that we will once again come into contact with the day's pollutants. Imagine not having to take a bath for 2 days, or even a week.  Surely, we will smell, and we'll probably ward off our friends and even risk losing our jobs or get suspended from school.

How often do we spiritually cleanse ourselves? I know of somebody who went back to confession after 10 years. It almost took two hours to finish.  It took a great deal of unburdening, repenting, forgiving, and healing.  Hatred consumed this person over the years, and was led to be far from the Lord because of shame and feeling of unworthiness. This person thought that the pain would just go away, without forgiving, without being cleansed spiritually. Like not having to take a bath for 10 years, our souls are compounded with the world's dirt and filth, and yes we will stink to the point that we are used to the smell. We ward off God's graces for our lives and suspend the blessings He has in store for us.

The mercy of God is greater than any of our sins. He forgives, but for us to come to the point of asking forgiveness, we have to go through the process of total humility, of letting go, of wishing God to make us clean.

"Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do will it. Be made clean." And the leprosy left him immediately (Luke 5:13)."

A Good Collection

I visited a friend's house while on mission and he has this amazing collection of action figures. There were all sorts of comic heroes, iron man, batman, superman, hulk, g.i. joes...you name it. All my childhood dreams of collecting these toys are in one single room.

What are the things in life we collect and store in the room or our hearts? Unknown to us, we might be collecting grudges, dissapointments, frustrations and other negative emotions. Once these things store up in our hearts, we can't help but talk about it. We then emit a negative presence with the people around us. We want to share our negativity to others and make them see our perspective. Often times we catch ourselves talking bad about other people.

We have to be conscious to collect and store in our hearts love, humility, and forgiveness. When these things build up inside of us, we also can't help but talk about 'em. We command a presence of encouragement and nourishment. When we are faced with challenging and humbling situations, our posture should be forgiveness, for we all fall short of His graces as humans. We then transform into persons who care, share, and honor the people around us.

May we collect what is good and discard what is bad.

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).