The Concept of 'Free'

The new way to market products and services today is not just giving out samples, but to really give something free at substantial amounts. The money is made when one wants to upgrade from this 'free' service. I just recently paid 5 dollars to gmail to increase storage after using it free after all these years. In the Philippines, for about two years or so, the introduction of text/sms service was free until they charged 1 peso for every txt when it became a necessity. Recently, Amazon.com offers a free 5gb free upload of files and they are offering website owners their S3 service that allows unlimited space for your website needs. But soon enough people will need more or a new attached upgrade will be introduced. Also lately, amazon's digital book sales surpassed its paper books by selling the kindle ebook readers cheap and offering free 3g globally. This free service makes it easier for people to buy books with a few clicks at anytime instead of driving to the bookstore and spend much time searching for the book and queuing to pay. Now ipad2 also offers the free 3g option for people to conveniently buy from the istore, besides getting to check your facebook anytime.
The goal for the companies is not to profit initially but build up patronage and loyalty until the inevitable comes: the need to have more, for convenience, to save time, to be mobile, to be up to date, to be ahead, to make it a lifestyle.
Let me clarify, this post isn't a rant. It is an observation of how technology, open-sourcing, cloud computing, and all these other trends is reshaping human behavior. We can learn from this 'free' approach. Specially in bringing people to Christ. All of mankind need Christ in their lives, many just don't know it yet. We have to let them experience Christ through us.
Jesus knew the value of this approach. The first time He met His apostles, He didn't right out say that He's God in the flesh. He just said, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. Later on, after many parables, miracles, teachings... all these experiences with Christ, He then asked Peter, "Who do you say I am?" And Peter replied, "You are the Christ." It was after all these moments being with Jesus, that they themselves discovered that He is the Messiah.
Are we letting others FREELY experience Christ through us? Evangelization is not 'hard selling' or even 'soft selling' the faith. It's about being the 'product' of Christ's saving grace by giving His love FREELY to others. Our goal is to make Christianity a lifestyle, a necessity, that everyday we just want more and more of Jesus Christ.

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Dignity As Sons and Daughters of God

Dignity is such a profound word.  Dictionary.com defines it as nobility or elevation of character; worthiness.  As human beings, we are dignified because of the freedom of will that God has given us.  He did not design us to be puppets.  He designed us to have the power to choose.  It is difficult for Him because everytime we choose sin, it hurts Him. But He has faith in us that we will go back to Him and do His will, as our personal decision.

The loss of dignity is the root of poverty, corruption, and immorality.

When a people has lost its sense of dignity, an individual will only fend for himself and be apathetic about others.  The result of course, is poverty because one can only be truly liberated if there is cooperation, sharing, and understanding.

Besides greed, corruption is a result of not having substantially something to be proud of or to safeguard.  If the very thing one should protect is already ransacked; or if the source of your pride is something to be ashamed about, then what would stop a tempted individual from making some money out of a seemingly hopeless case? If a nation is without dignity, its people will compromise its integrity. There is a need to remind the people of their goodness and make their innate noble values shine and make these part of their way of life. When dignity is restored, then their outlook and actions will change for the good. Corruption will then not be the norm in society but integrity.

Immorality is the result of misunderstanding what dignity is all about. Dignity and freedom is not about being able to choose what you think is right.  It's about adhering to principles that Jesus himself has laid upon us. If we have faith like a mustard seed by believing that Jesus is indeed the God of all, then we are to follow His teachings.  "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.This is the greatest and the first commandment.The second is like it:You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22: 37-39)."  Looking upon these commandments, if we love God with all we've got, then we will not choose what is immoral or shameful before the eyes of God. If we love our neighbor, (that means other people including the unborn, the poor, the sick and dying, our family, our fellow citizens) then would we do to them what we wouldn't want done to ourselves? Would we abort ourselves? Would we kill ourselves? Would we not feed ourselves?  Would we want parents with same sex? Immorality is therefore a self-serving interpretation of dignity and freedom in which is not aligned to God's principles.

As people of God, our hallmark is the dignity and freedom as sons and daughters of God (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Faith). We therefore act accordingly and willfully as prince and princesses of a noble and great King. Our dignity comes from giving joy to our God by pursuing the purpose He has set for us on earth. In doing this we are ennobled, elevated, and made worthy by the grace of God.

Paul's Unwavered Passion and Commitment

Paul, in Acts 14: 19-28, was stoned, dragged, and left for dead. But still, after recovering a bit, stood up and continued his mission. Paul had unwavering passion and commitment to build God's kingdom.
We too have our own persecutions. We are also stoned with hurtful words, unexpected sickness and deaths, calamities, and more. But how soon do we stand up once again and go about the Father's work?
Paul shows us the mighty strength of God's Spirit that made him one of the greatest missionaries of all time. May his unwavered passion and commitment inspire us to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power (Eph. 6:10).

We are Melted and Molded for His Mission

God prepares us for His mission by melting us and molding us.  Melting requires much of disfiguring the present form using fire.  Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith (Proverbs 25:4).There are many things that have to melt so we can take on the form that God plans us to be molded into.  He wants to melt away our pride, fears, hurtful memories, bondages, addiction, and all of our sinful ways. But the process of melting is a painful process.  As the fire of the Holy Spirit melts us, we are humbled into liquid form. Being liquid, we are disfigured from our past form, shape, or identity. This usually goes through a process of humiliation and shame. But this process leads us to the servant level, the point of nothingness, making God our only hope and redemption. When humbled, the Lord can mold us at will for His will. We are then convinced that real mission can only succeed with His hand upon it using our new mold to fit the purpose He has prepared for us to fulfill. But we are always reminded that the Lord cannot melt and mold us if we do not surrender to the fire of His holy will.

Honoring Saint Andre Bessette of Montreal

 I visited the Oratory of St. Joseph of Mount Royal in Montreal, Canada. I was awed by the story of Saint Brother Andre Bessette. He was recently canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on February 19, 2010.  He was a very humble man, a true servant of God, who prayed to St. Joseph for healing of those who came to him for prayer.  He said, "You should have more confidence in Saint Joseph. Many sick people would be healed if they persevered longer.  Go and pray before the statue of Saint Joseph; tell him, ' Saint Joseph, pray for me as you would have prayed if you were on earth, in my place."   There I saw hundreds of crutches left by those who were miraculously healed through Saint Bro. Andre's intercessory prayers to Saint Joseph.  In 1904, he built a chapel in honor of St. Joseph, then in 1924, the Oratory of St. Joseph started construction.  Another inspiring relic was the heart of Saint Andre. It was preserved inside a chamber, and I could visibly see his heart.

I am inspired to pray to Saint Joseph more and more.  There was a prayer I saw that struck me as well, the Memorare to Saint Joseph (see picture).

Though seemingly impossible, we are all called to holiness. The saints and martyrs who have gone before us showed us how God's grace have allowed them to live such a life devoted to our Lord.

Crutches left by those miraculously healed

I quote from Matthew Kelly, author of Rediscovering Catholicism,"In any moment, when you surrender to the will of God and choose to be the-best-version-of-yourself, you are holy.”  “Striving for holiness, is to be continually answering God’s invitation to grasp the moments of our lives and allow God to use them to transform us into all he has created us to be.”

The challenge for us everyday is to choose to be the best version of ourselves.  It might sound as a simplistic approach to holiness, but looking at how the saints lived their lives, they indeed lived out the best version of themselves by surrending to the will of God.

Where the heart of St. Brother Andre Bessette's is placed

Like Saint Brother Andre Bessette, he simply did what a humble servant of God does and did it with the best version of himself. Here's an account of the tasks he did:

The Oratory of St. Joseph of Mount Royal

André was given the task of porter (doorman) at Notre Dame College in Côte-des-Neiges, Quebec. He fulfilled this function for some forty years while at the same time doing innumerable odd jobs for the community. At the end of his life, he would joke that when he came, he was shown the door, and stayed for forty years. In addition to his duties as receptionist, his tasks included washing floors and windows, cleaning lamps, bringing in firewood and carrying messages (wikipedia).

Lord, help us to be the best version of ourselves. Give us the grace to answer and follow the call to holiness like your servant Saint Andre Bessette.  This we pray through the intercession of St. Joseph and St. Andre, amen.