Do Not Pamper Your Fear

Fear can paralyze.  Our imagination of the worst case scenario can stir emotions in us that make us retreat instead of bravely marching forward. But let us be assured -- God is always ahead of us. 

"It is the Lord who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not be dismayed (Deut 31:8)."

A missionary priest shared to us, "When you go to a mission area, do not presume that you are 'bringing' Christ to the place. Christ is already there, waiting to use you. Christ is already with the people you will serve. You will meet Christ there." True enough, in the missions that I do, I am always amazed of how the Lord talks to me through the people I serve. The Lord surprises me of the unforeseen opportunities that he opens up for the mission -- especially at times when oppressions happen. The Lord's promise of not forsaking us should make us the bravest person of all. 

The only thing that blocks us from moving forward is that we are pampering our fear instead of conquering it with faith. We feed it, entertain it, and nurture it -- and so it grows until it eats us up. 

Let us not make fear our best friend -- Christ is. Peter was walking on water when Christ called him. But whenPeter feared the strong winds, he started to sink. We should trust more the One who commands the strong winds to stop; He who lifts us up when we start to sink.

Many of us fear this one thing -- the future. Fears that affect our future: fear of not having enough, the fear of loss, the fear of not being good enough, the fear of not meeting high expectations. Fr. Joel Jason in one of his homilies said, "When you plan for your future, make a faith declaration not a fear declaration." We must work hard not out of fear but out of faith. Fear can make us greedy, while faith can make us generous -- and when we share, the Lord blesses us a hundred fold. Just ask those who tithe.

Faith is a response to the reality of God in our lives. When Jesus revealed the true nature of God as our Father, He was not only talking about any other father but the reality of a perfect Father! A Father who knows the number of hair on our heads, who knows us more than we can ever know ourselves, who looks at us lovingly and assures us, "I will never fail you or forsake you."

So let us put our faith forward and march on. Be brave, God marches before us!

Why History Is Important

The way to move forward is to have an understanding of the past.  History tells us,"we have done this, learn from it, build on it." An appreciation of history helps one become a visionary leader.  The farther we see the past, the farther we see the future. Often, one does not know his way forward because he doesn't know where he's been. 

If we take time at night to evaluate our day, tomorrow will surely be better. Each day is an opportunity to improve one's self. I heard from one of my leaders say, "The path to holiness is to become the best version of yourself." I also heard from a song, "I love you more today, than yesterday." Have we become more loving to others today, as compared to yesterday? Are we the best version of ourselves today?

If one knows much about the past, he should take time to write it and teach the new generation, especially of it's lessons. If one wishes to contribute to the future, he should seek out the pioneers and derive wisdom from their stories. This is how ideals survive and thrive. Let not what you start die with you and let not what you inherit be partial.

Great Things Await

Fear not how I may use you
My purpose will bring you joy
Worry not of the future
Tomorrow is in my hands

Surrender all evil intentions
Let me purify your soul
Receive my offer of blessing
Open your heart to me

My child, to Me you belong
behold your Father's love
Rise up, claim your identity
you are heir to My kingdom

Do not fret on the impossible
your faith can achieve no bounds
wake up from your slumber
Today great things await
 

God's Gift of Imagination

God's gift of the human imagination is limitless.  We can go on a "date" with our brains, alone in a coffee shop and fly to a land of possibilities.  Armed with pen and paper plus an open mind, great things can be created.  Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Knowledge, we can learn from books and people, but imagination is unique to each one of us.  There can never be two same imaginations, like a thumbprint or a voice print.  A good imagination gives us an edge.  Like mastering any craft, imagination needs practice. The lesser you use it, the shallower it gets.  The more you use it, the broader your vision becomes.

The challenge  is closing the gap between our imagination and current reality.  Achieve this and we'll have progress.  Robert Orben wrote, “There are only two kinds of people in this world. The realists and the dreamers. The realists know where they are going and the dreamers have already been there.” 

It is good to store ideas in a notebook or on an online journal. Many of these ideas may not seem relevant today, even bordering to crazy funny.  But as time progresses, these ideas if anointed, will take root and bloom at the time most needed.  Just watch Back to the Future and you'll realize that some things there, like talking face to face on a screen, are already happening today.  

Don't be afraid to dream, for if the vision is clear, the resources will fall into place.  People contribute to something they believe in. Just look at the amazing amount of knowledge people share for free to Wikipedia or the solutions people provide in online forums, or the story of how the American people contributed to finance the Statue of Liberty. In faith, they just need to see what you see, and believe in what you believe.

Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” John 20:28

Are we a "doubting Thomas?"  We need to have great faith for God's plans in our lives to happen.  In the 3 years of Christ's ministry on earth, many times the Lord described the vision of the Kingdom of God in ways we can understand, through parables.  Christ shared His vision, the Father's will, and people followed and contributed.  

It's amazing that even if we take a shot in imagining how great God is, the reality of His greatness will still be unfathomable. He is beyond imagination. 

Let us use God's gift of imagination to do great things for Him. After all, God invented imagination, and we are to utilize it to build His kingdom.

Every Saint Has a Past and Every Sinner has a Future

We were invited to watch an advanced screening of the movie, "There Be Dragons." It is a film that reflected on the life of St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei.  The setting was during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, where facists and communists were against each other. Caught up in between was the Church of which priests were killed and churches were burned.  The movie also highlighted the life of his friend, Manolo, who lived a sinful life, but finding redemption in the end. One of it's main messages was a quote from Oscar Wilde, "Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future."

There is a saint in all of us.  I don't think the saints asked, "Lord please make me a saint."  I think that for them it was a day to day decision of following Christ and obeying him until death.  Many of our Saints were also great sinners.  We have St. Paul who ordered the execution of St. Stephen. We have St. Matthew, who was a tax collector.  St. Augustine prior to his conversion joined a heretical sect called Manicheans.  Yet, the Lord, by His grace called them and they responded to God's call and were transformed by His love.  There are over 10,000 named saints and beati from history, the Roman Martyology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive "head count" (catholic.org). Let us praise God for Saints who help us in the following:

1. Intercessory Prayers
We pray with the saints in heaven. We ask them to intercede for us. In the same way, we pray for others also who requests us for prayers.  We have heard of numerous accounts of miracles wherein prayers were answered through a Saint's intercession.  I visited the the Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal where I saw literally hundreds of crutches left by those who miraculously prayed through the intercession of St. Joseph.

2. Patrons as examples and guide
We have heard about patron saints. Patron saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of life. These areas can include occupations, illnesses, churches, countries, causes -- anything that is important to us. The earliest records show that people and churches were named after apostles and martyrs as early as the fourth century (catholic.org). Our patron saints help us in our growth as Christians as we reflect on their examples.  We relate to them. It makes us think that if he or she who is human like us can do it, so can we, by God's grace.  Their life inspires us and strengthens our convictions.

In the coming All Saints Day, let us honor the faithful who have walked this earth before us. Let us call upon the help of thousands of angels, saints, and martyrs who will pray for us to our Lord Jesus.  We need all the prayers we can get so we can truly live as Christ's follower in our daily lives. Sinners as we are, God looks upon our saintly potential.  St. Josemaria Escriva, pray for us.

"Past" Forward

Lately, I find myself watching the History Channel a lot and reading books about the past.  There's just so much  nuggets of golden learning from our history.  The best way to really move forward is to understand the future in the context of the past.  Well, the past can either drag us or catapult us forward. 

What is about the past that can drag us?  It is when we cannot accept our failures, when we do not learn to forgive (others and ourselves), and when we miss to see it as something that will prepare us for the future.

What is about the past that can catapult us forward?  It is when we pause and reflect of our learnings from a mistake, when it humbles us, when the compounded experiences are translated into applied wisdom.

In the Holy Bible, the whole Old Testament is in preparation for Who is to come, Jesus Christ.  It is a vital element to understanding the fullness of the New Testament. Otherwise, we will not be able grasp our salvation history.  He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21).”


When Steve Jobs resigned from being the CEO of Apple, I was able to review his Standford Speech to graduates. He enumerated many of what seemingly were failures, but instead became the reasons for his future success. He was an adopted child, a college drop-out, ousted from Apple in the 80's and back again, and had a rare type of pancreatic cancer. But these sad experiences led to studying calligraphy which became the reason for clear true type fonts of the Mac, finding two companies (neXT and Pixar) that contributed greatly to Apple's innovations, and a passionate outlook to live each day as if it was his last.  He mentioned about "Connecting the dots," and that you can only connect the dots backwards.  So as you read this blog post today in whatever seemingly hopeless situation you are in, it is going to connect to something great in the future, as long as we keep our faith in Him strong.

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope (Jeremiah 29:11)."

Those who are great visionaries have a deep appreciation of the past and have a good sense of the present.  Let us then gain from the experiences of those who have gone before us.  Let's reflect on our own mistakes and do better next time. More importantly, look to the future with the humility Christ has shown us.