Saturated With Grace

Like a sponge, we too, absorb. It can't be helped that in a day we are immersed in situations that seep in the negative: random people cursing and badmouthing; heavy winding traffic; sudden work pressures; family misunderstandings; and other unexpected concerns that weigh on us. Yet, we too can absorb the positive: God's Grace! At the start of the day, we have to soak in the Holy Spirit -- saturated in Grace through prayer and especially the Sacraments (daily Mass is highly recommended). Once saturated with Grace that sanctifies, all the absorbed negatives will be purified and met with faith, hope, and love. Burdens become challenges; the mundane turns exciting; hopeless cases find faith; anger trimmed to calmness; and work transforms into mission. Be a "gracious sponge" today!

Great Love Unleashes True Potential

"It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants." (Mt.13:32) Every small work done with great love unleashes true potential!

Hidden in every task, even in the mundane, is an opportunity for love to be uncovered; for God who is Love, is in all things. Our negative attitude towards work may come from a belittling view of the world around us and an enlargement of the ego within. We belittle things or people who/that don't challenge us; tasks that demean our position; and efforts that move us out from our comforts. 

On the flip side, many of us also belittle ourselves, and rely much on how others criticize us. We may become too overwhelmed by the task at hand to the point of fear and paralysis. We find ourselves constantly faced by a "Goliath"; not realizing the "David" within.

Jesus, sees something big in us, even if others belittle us; he beholds something great in others even if we belittle them. There is no servant's task too small for Him not to merit His love. He washes our feet. He takes notice of a mustard seed and tells us that the biggest thing unimaginable, the Kingdom of Heaven, is such. Are we not more than a mustard seed? 

A "Burj Eyeview" of What is Big and Small

My wife and I had the chance to go up the tallest man-made structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai -- 828 meters and 163 floors high. It took us just exactly 1-minute to go all the way up the view deck at the 124th floor. That was really fast! Though we barely felt the speed and pressure.  The view from the top was amazing!  We could see the whole breadth of the city: the sea and the sunset, the modern infrastructure, the systematic highways, and the wide desert. Everything below was so miniature.  There was something about seeing the world from the "Burj Eyeview".  It made me feel big and small at the same time. Big, because I was the one beholding from above. Small, since I knew that if I was the one below, from the standpoint of 828 meters high, I looked smaller than an ant.

We always have to reminded of both our "bigness" and "smallness". First, God is our biggest

fan; we are big in God's eyes!  The psalmist exclaims: "What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them?" (Psalm 8:4) We're such a big deal with God, that He sent His own begotten Son, to liberate us from the dominion of sin.  Yes, God loves in a very big way!

Second, we too, have to be small before God; "He must increase; I must decrease." (John 3:30) Man, through the sin of Adam and Eve, has a tendency in wanting to be god or be bigger than God -- rationalizing that the Maker does not exist. We sometimes do not notice it, but the moment we allow pride to take over -- we want ourselves to increase, and God to decrease from our lives; a total opposite of what St. John was conveying.

We---at the same time---realize that we are big with God's love and genuinely have an inner disposition of being small before the Creator.  In acknowledging God's greatness and through our humility alone can we be granted by the Holy Spirit the gift of faith to decipher how to apply---in our own lives---Jesus' teachings: that the "first shall be last and the last shall be first" or to "love your enemies" or that "if anyone wishes to be great, he must be the servant of all." The paradoxical wisdom of Jesus is the key to life, a revelation, that requires of us to follow Him in faith with absolute freedom for our salvation. 

So I Send You

No matter how far we travel for mission or how difficult our tasks, no one can surpass how far Jesus---the Eternal Logos, the Word---"traveled" to accomplish his mission, out of pure love, to save us. He who condescended from heaven; incarnated into human history; chose to be poor; obedient even in suffering and death; rose to raise us up with Him -- is unsurpassed, and is unsurpassable, as a missionary. "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (John 20:21), implies that we too, are all called to mission -- to go the distance, according to the talents and abilities God has uniquely endowed us; to endure in faith despite the odds: all for the glory of God Who wills to save His children in love and freedom!

A Heart, Big as the World

In a retreat at St. Paul Center for Renewal in Cavite, I came upon the "Prayer to St. Paul". I was struck by the words, "Obtain for us the heart of an apostle, a heart, big as the world. 

Reflecting on this, I tried doing a "heart check-up". How big is my heart? Is my capacity to love enough only for my family and friends? How easily does my heart tire? Is my heart hosted with humility that I am able to accommodate criticism and correction? 

I am reminded of Saint Candida de Jesus (my high school alma mater's congregation founder). On favoring God over earthly lures, she said, "The world is too small for my desires". 

Indeed, when one discovers the joy of God and allows Him to enter the heart -- there is no other way but for the heart to grow bigger. 

A heart without God shrinks in size until it becomes compacted like stone. Nothing permeates through a stony heart. But the Lord cries out, "If today you hear My voice harden not your heart." It is the Lord who is the initiator of love. He knocks at the door of our hearts without tiring. Need we only open and welcome him and God will give us a new heart, big as the world!

"I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ez 36:26)."

There are many out there who will discover the truth about God's love through the channel of our own hearts. 

Love not as yourself, but as the Lord using you as conductor of the currents of His powerful love. A big heart can take in and deliver large amounts of God's grace to His people. 

St. Paul, pray for us as we dare take on the world with our puny hearts in the hope that God will expand it by His grace and mercy. Amen.

Permeating the Christ Culture in Society

The other day I was with two people who are very convicted in the work of evangelization. Fr. Jacob, from Bangladesh shared that even if Christians are the minority in his country, they continue to make an impact by simply being witnesses of Christ in their area. He shared to me that the way to truly evangelize is to bring families to the faith. This is something we both strongly agree upon. Moses, a CFC brother from Sierra Leone (West Africa), expressed that in spite the problems their country faces, especially coming from civil war that ended just in 2002, they do their best to pursue the work of evangelization through Couples For Christ.

No matter what color, race, or tongue--CHRIST is universal. There is one Christ culture. The culture of humility, servanthood, sacrifice, and the mandate to make disciples of all nations (Mt.29:18).

What is it that stops us from spreading the faith? Is it our office culture? Our peer culture? The Christ culture is seen and felt in our speech and in our deeds.  If one is truly filled with the presence of God, His grace will overflow to the people we meet.  With constancy, the environment will slowly transform and adapt to the culture of Christ. Let the Gospel permeate into society through the lives we live.

Be filled, let His lover overflow, and witness change!

Smell Like Your Sheep

A brother in community shared something to me he read from a news column. He said "If you truly want to be a good shepherd, you must smell like your sheep."
As we mature in a Christian community, we are entrusted with a flock. How involved are we in the life of the sheep given us to care for?

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep. John 21:17

As we spend more time with our sheep, we will start to smell like them. We come to know how they live, their worries, their hopes and dreams, and their prayers. And by this immersion, we will learn how to feed them.

Christ the Good Shepherd, though in the heavens, came down on earth to be with us... to smell like us. Let us follow His example. As He feeds us, we are asked to feed others with His amazing love that we receive daily.
 

Stop Living in a Bubble

We bought this special bubble formula from the bazaar and had loads of fun when we got home. The kids couldn't wait to pop the bubbles.  The bigger they were, the more fun it would be to burst them. I imagined that if the formula were stronger, I could make a bubble big enough to "live in it."

At times, we hear the expression, "living in a bubble."  It means isolating yourself from the world, to protect yourself from possible dangers. There was even a movie in 2001, Bubble Boy, that literally depicted this idiom. Bubble boy was under the impression that he had to live in the bubble because he might get infected by the outside world.  But as it turned out, it was safe. It was because of the overly protective mother's idea that led to this predicament.

What is that risk that you should take to make life better?  Have you risked anything for God? Faith requires risk. St. Paul said in Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen."  Often when we hope for something, but before taking action, we wish to see it first before we believe it. Faith is evidence of things not seen.

God does not want us to live in a bubble. He wants us to go and live an exciting life. Not to play it too safe, but venture with the blessings God has given us. In the parable of the talents, Jesus pointed out how the master reprimanded the person who hid the one talent given to him. ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (Matthew 25: 26-29)

Besides, the bubble decieves you to thinking that it will protect you. No bubble is infinitely stable. Sooner than expected, it will burst. What are the bubbles that we live in? What are we overprotecting ourselves from?

1. Overprotecting ourselves from the possibility of failure.

Still, the best way to learn is to actually fail at something.  I'm not talking about failing because of laziness or a lack of diligence, but failing despite giving our all.  Tom Peters would refer this as excellent failures.  Life is full of challenges and the fear of failure is something that traps us in a bubble. This makes us afraid of making bold decisions.  The fear of failure can paralyze our lives.

2. Overprotection from getting hurt

When somebody hurts us, specially a loved one, we tend to deflect from the possibility of getting hurt again. This makes our hearts closed to loving again. A betrayal is especially traumatic. We grieve over this hurt.  Often we make this hurt like a bubble to protect us from future hurts. I'd like to quoute a cartoon movie that I viewed with my kids, Tale of Desperaux. It says in the movie, "There is something greater than grief...forgiveness."  Once we forgive others, and especially ourselves, we can move forward in life and learn to love again. Yes, there is a possibility of getting hurt again, but one cannot experience the fullness of love unless the heart is open and vulnerable.  A good image of this is are the hearts of Jesus and Mary, crowned with thorns and pierced by a sword.

3.  Overprotecting the people, things, and the work we love

I love my kids and I'll die if I have to in order to protect them. But one day, when they are all grown up and capable to make decisions on their own, It'll be the time wherein I have to trust them in making the right choices and trust God that they be led to the right path.  We have to let go and let God. It is in empowering others that dignity is raised.  We cannot do everything for the people we love, especially when they have to really do it themselves like choosing the right course in college or answering to a vocation. 
Sometimes in work, because of our obsession for perfection, we hog all the work and end up tired while leaving others disempowered.
When we grow an attachment to things we love, like money or possessions, we can't bear to lose them.  We'll do anything to keep it, even by hook or by crook.  We cannot overprotect to the point of compromising our integrity and our faith.

Let us live freely! With full trust in the Lord, Peter, James and John left their nets and followed Jesus.  They let go of the very thing they knew and loved to do which is to be fishermen. Many of the apostles were persecuted, even martyred for the sake of Christ.  They even witnessed Jesus being nailed to the cross, and thought that all they did failed, until the Holy Spirit revived and empowered them to preach to the ends of the earth.

Let us go through life, full of faith in the Lord, willing to risk what we hold dear for the sake of His Name. Let us open our hearts, vulnerable to hurt, but entered with the grace of God to love others beyond our capacity. 

Viral Faith

Faith is strengthened when it is given to others. -Redemptoris Missio

Today, I acquired this flu virus that's been spreading in the office these past few weeks. I thought I'd be strong enough to resist, but no, I still caught it.

It made me reflect on "Faith going viral". Are we spreading the faith? Are we contagious witnesses of the Good News?

Evangelization, though challenging, has a very simple faith formula: "Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34)." If we can love others like Christ does, then faith shall spread. Consistent witnessing is tantamount to growth in evangelization.

Bishop Ambo, in his homily said "Bad news is contagious but Good news is even more contagious." The question we can ask ourselves is "Do we bring good news?" How often do we catch ourselves complaining, blaming, and frustrated? As if hope is gone.

People compromise their faith because of the loss of hope. The hope that one day, corruption will be a thing of the past or spouses will be more faithful to their vows or teens will save sex for marriage, will keep us striving for the ideal and not settle for less. When society becomes less hopeful, compromises happen. That's when laws that are anti-life start to get proposed. When society loses its faith in God, its concept of hope diminishes. But love can bring it back. If we love with the strength that comes from God, then anything is possible.

Faith, hope, and love are indeed connected to each other. St. Paul pointed out, "And the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13)."

Let us spread faith and hope by being infected with the contagious love of Christ.
 

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.

Radical Kindness

image from  http://thefilmstage.com/reviews/review-les-miserables/

The movie Les Miserables depicts how radical kindness can impact the lives of many. The Bishop's gesture to Jean Valjean made ripples of hope for others.

By God's grace, an act of unexpected generosity and selfless giving can change a person.

Who would have expected that Christ would suffer and die a shameful death? He gave of Himself, radically and unexpectedly, as a ransom for our sins. And so we are saved, as well as those to whom we evangelize.

Upon experiencing Christ fully, through people and through prayer, one cannot help but to also be Christ to others and see Christ in others. As Les Miserables' most famous line goes, "To love another person is to see the face of God."

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. (John 13:34)

When was the last time that we gave unexpectedly?  Are we ready to do an act of radical kindness?

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.

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
 

Finding Strength In Surrender

Life as it is, is not always easy. It comes with pressures and high expectations. We need to be strong. But man's strength falls short to the demands of this world. So we try to find strength in convenient places, things or persons. We try to seek it through our friends. Others resort to addictive things like alcohol, drugs, or vices. Some like to go on a vacation to recharge. We surrender to these pleasures, hoping to reset ourselves and be re-energized.

But what is real strength? What should we do to gain it?

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength and with all your mind." Luke 10:27

To love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is an act of sweet surrender. Instead of surrendering to the love of temporary pleasures to "regain strength." We are to surrender to loving Him. To God shall we lift up our worries, hopes, and dreams. Surrendering to God is to yield, giving way for His love to capture us.

When we give to God our love, we are responding to His initiative. God loved us first and He is just waiting for us to accept His love. Our response is like opening the flood gates of abundance that is reserved for us every single day. When we are filled with His love, then we have much strength to give. We then shall overcome the world.

So go ahead, surrender to loving Him and see how real strength...God's strength, will change your life today.

Gloom to Glory

August 7, 2012, 8pm
And the monsoon rains keep on pouring down...It's been raining like crazy. I wonder when the rain will ever stop, it's relentless. Watching the news of flood victims breaks my heart. Water levels are at the roof tops in many areas. Some flyovers are almost caught up by flood. While all these are happening, my wife Michelle can give birth anytime. She's starting to feel the contractions. It's probably the worst time to go to the hospital since the streets are flooded and our doctor's residence area is also affected by it. It's a gloomy situation on the streets as I made my way to buy some emergency groceries. There will be days of gloom in our lives. But gloom doesn't mean doom. Times like these remind us that there are things beyond our control and that Someone bigger than us can help.Days of gloom bring us down to our knees before God. We are brought to a point of an honest and sincere conversation with Him. Yes, the trying times will bring us closer to Him. We may find it hard to understand His plan for us, specially in painful circumstances. Our 'rational' minds and the feelings in our hearts are too primitive compared to God's infinite wisdom and love. Yet, our Lord Jesus showed us the way to the Almighty by teaching us to relate to God as our Father. Like a little child, there are things that we cannot comprehend about the father's ways. We sometimes cry over things that we do not know can be good for us in the future. Days of gloom are allowed by the Father so we can bloom in the strength of our faith.There will always be times of testing, especially in days of gloom. Here we come to know our true self; where we stand, what we believe in, our level of courage, and the depth of our faith. We might breakdown or breakthrough. We can either lose hope or find faith. We were not created puppets. We were created as children in His likeness. With the gift of life, through His love we are granted the freedom to choose. Hoping that we choose what is right, what brings life, and what reflects His love. Times of testing, these days of gloom, will surface our weaknesses and how far our pride and self-idolatry has taken us. We pray to God for mercy and the grace to embrace humility.Gloom does not mean doom. There is hope in every person and in every season. The best in us also surface in these times. Our heroism, our faith, and our love go the distance in these unusual occasions...if we choose to. Christ, in His days of gloom suffered and died. His sacrifice was not that of doom, but of resurrection. From gloom to glory.Let us then choose as what Christ had chosen in His days of gloom. He chose the Father's will amidst excruciating and unimaginable physical and emotional pain. Christ's heroism cannot be surpassed for He saved us all. He chose to see the glory of God beyond the gloom.
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An Honoring For My Love

Michelle, my wife, celebrated her birthday on a rainy Sunday. We had a unique celebration. Instead of going out, we ate at home. Had some cake, pizza and pasta. Kids were happily doing their impersonations of cartoon characters and we had fun singing the whole night.

I'd like to honor my wife. First, for being a woman of faith. Her prayers keep the family strong. She always reminds the kids to pray and love Jesus. Second for her patience, I'm not the easiest person to be with. But her humility and forgiving heart makes me learn more of God's ways. And third for her love, which makes her special, ever beautiful, and so easy to love.

Thanks love, for being God's gift to me and the kids. May God continue to make you a woman of faith, patience, and love.

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Father's Day in Heaven

We're missing you much dad
And all the good times we had
Your words I'll always remember
And our moments together

We now just have pictures
We're Imagining your gestures
You were so strong and tough
But you sure knew how to laugh

Who I am and what I do today
I say thanks for showing the way
Pray for us when we weaken
Oh my dear father in heaven

I just wish there was more time
To say these words of mine
In spirit I hope you'll know
That I love you dad, I love you so."

Happy Father's Day.
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Love is the hallmark of Christianity

I just witnessed one of my very good friends, Butch Alcudia, accept his first vows as a LaSallian brother. It was a touching scene and I'm privileged to see how the Brothers love one another. One can't help but admire their brotherhood and be attracted to their charism.

"Love one another as I have loved you, by these all will know that you're my disciples." (John 13:34)

Love is the hallmark of Christianity. If we truly want to be Christ's disciples, then the living out and expression of love should be first. We might worry much about organizing our groups and pushing our programs, and forget that we are here to love one another. Our structures and activities are all about love. We are to "organize love."

I congratulate my friend Butch for embracing God's call to love. He will be loving more people along the way, may it be the students that will be under his mentoring or the simple daily encounters. May we too, see the things that we do and the people we work with through eyes that love.
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Sharing the Blessing of Education

Last Sunday, my 4-year old son Sev graduated from Senior Nursery.  After receiving the certificate, he went up front and took a bow. Seeing my son go through the commencement exercises filled me with much joy and hope for the future. Moments like this makes the many sacrifices all worth it.  The right to education is very important and I'm happy that in our simple way of life, we were able to provide for our son. Yes, this is just the first of many years of tuition fees and project expenses, but we are grateful that we made it through the first one. Truly the Lord is faithful.

The plight of many Filipino families living in poverty tends to make education a privilege rather than a right.  Although I am happy that my son finished his initial year, it is also sad to imagine the thousands of 4 year-olds not having the same opportunity. Maybe one can start to ask the difficult questions.

What am I doing to provide the poor with the same opportunities that I have?

How has my education helped the poor?

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34

Divine Love on Valentine's Day

Three events that made me think and reflect.  My birthday, the feast of our Lady of Lourdes (same day as my birthday), and Valentine's day. One is about birth, another about a Mother, and the last one about love.

Everybody has a birthday. That one time in the year that we look upon our lives, celebrate, and try to become better as we get older. As I did my resolutions, I looked upon Mother Mary, a model of a true disciple. Someone whose life and virtues are worth emulating.  And as I am writing this reflection, it's Valentine's day. A day which people go out of their way and prepare something to show love for the special people in their lives. Flowers, particularly roses, are usual expressions of love during this day and something I gave to my dear wife Michelle.  Roses too are very related to Mother Mary, as evident by the "rose"-sary (rosary).

The gifts of Birth, Mary our Mother, and Love.  These three remind me of the goodness of God in our lives.  A friend shared to me, "The most basic of all truths is that God is good." He is so good to give us life, a Mother who is always there, and Love exemplified through Christ.  May the roses this Valentine's day remind us not only of the romantic love for a special person, but also of the divine love of Mary our Mother.