God of the City

Oct 27, 2011 (Thursday)
We are now in Mandalay City, Myanmar. Together with the Mission team. We went through a 9-hour bus trip from Yangon. We were humbled to have been met by the archbishop at 5:30am. On our first day, we conducted 2 prayer meetings with burmese members, a kids camp for 100 burmese kids, and met the filipino community. The whole time, we had priests translating our words. We could see the hunger of these people to know God more and have a personal relationship with him. Although we are in a Buddhist country, there is a great longing and thirst for the power of the Holy Spirit.
We've been listening to Chris Tomlin's song "God of the City."

One of the stanzas goes:
"You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation..."
The chorus goes "Greater things are yet to come in this city. Greater things are still to be done in this city."
It is true that He is the God of all, and of this city where we are. I have a 3 point reflection on this.

1. We have a Great God who will do Great things through us.
To doubt our capacity as God workers is to doubt God's greatness through us. Most of us are hesitant to lead or take on a responsibility because we feel we are ill-equipped. By submitting to God, He will open the floodgates of His graces to flow through us. Just like how some simple fishermen have become the Church's pillars.
2. God has prepared the City
"The harvest is plenty and the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers." We need more people to go on mission. We need harvesters. I read in a Catholic Missions magazine, "Mission is the hallmark of the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit pushes our hearts to go to the end of the earth. I believe every Christian should experience mission.
3. Love is the ultimate language
When we give talks, we always have translators. But there are many instances during casual conversations with the locals that we have to act out what we want to say as if playing charades. But the eyes tell a lot, and they speak of love. We see the love in the eyes of others and we know what they mean to say. When we talk about God we use the language of love.
Yes greater things are yet to come! As we embark on day 2 of mission in Mandalay, we are excited of God's greatness to work through us.

Preparing the Heart, Home, and Society

I'm now in Bangkok and people are anticipating flood. They transferred most of their things to the 2nd floor of their house. Some homes are putting up sand bags and some even put up a 2ft high cement wall for the purpose of blocking the water.  Having witnessed the flood that affected the northern part of the county and the advisory by the government, people are preparing the best they can.

How prepared are we for things to come?  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:10). The parable of the ten virgins also reflect on being prepared. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ (Matthew 25:3-6)


A priest asked the parishioners in his homily, "Who among you here wants to go to heaven?" (Everybody raised their hands). He asked again, "Who among you here wants to die and go to heaven NOW?" (Very few raised their hands).  This reflects our preparedness.  We are afraid to die. But surely, everybody knows that death is inevitable.

Mark Twain suggests, "The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."

The song Prepare the Way by Darrel Evans may help us on our reflection on preparedness:

Make ready your heart.  Are our hearts clean? When was the last time we went for confession? Have we forgiven?
Make ready your home.  How is our relationship with our family? Are we leading our family closer to God?
Make ready the people of God. Are we taking part in bringing others to God?

The heart, home, and the people of God talk about our individual, family, and societal preparedness.  It is not enough that we ourselves are prepared for the Lord.  We have a responsibility to do our best to renew our families and our society.  John the Baptist is the best example of preparedness.  He went out of his way and prepared others to receive the Lord. "He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie (John 1:27)."  John the Baptist was regarded very highly that when the Lord asked His disciples of 'Who do you say I am?' they said, 'Some say you are John the Baptist, some say you are Elijah..." Despite John's greatness, he did not lose focus on directing others to the Lord.

Let us prepare by directing ourselves and others to the Lord.  Let us make our hearts, homes, and our society ready for the Lord.

Be Prepared

For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, "Peace and security," then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3

Yesterday, I was in a meeting of Climate Change Congress of the Philippines (CCCP) to organize a La Nina Summit. The main goal is to help individuals, families, and communities prepare for heavy rains causing floods, just like the one in Ondoy. The problem is that we only react when the flood has arrived. We need to be prepared anytime disaster strikes.

In the same way, it is a challenge for us to always be prepared spiritually. When my dad died last December of 2009, during his wake, the people in the room beside us was mourning for a 31 year old man who died in a sudden accident. I realize that I have to do the following: make peace, confess regularly, make everyday count.

Peace is something every person values. It is important that relationships are restored. We have to learn to forgive and ask forgiveness. Peace is a gift of grace. It is usually not something that we earn or are worthy of. It is freely given. Even if the person whom we need to forgive logically does not deserve it, we give it out of the grace of God's love.

When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.' Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Matthew 18:24-33

Confessing regularly helps us to become better Christians. It is an indicator of humility and sincerity in living out as a Christian. We regularly seek for the Lord's forgiveness and strive not to repeat our sins until good works become habitual. This definitely helps us to be prepared for the Lord.

Making everyday count, is something that people who have terminal illnesses like cancer, advocate to the rest of us. They see the value of life and what they can still do. We don't have to wait to be struck with sickness for us to realize that each day is a gift and that each day we can bring people closer to the Lord. We may have to evaluate our priorities. We may have to ask ourselves, "Am I storing up riches that will not last? Or Am I storing up riches in heaven that is eternal?" Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21).

The famous Boy Scout motto suggests, "Be Prepared." I believe this is the kind of posture that the Lord wants us to have in our daily living. We always have to be alert and vigilant in pursuing the work of the Lord while we are on earth. Let us make peace, confess regularly, and make everyday count all for the glory of His name.