Author: Anton Brosas

Where there is sacrifice, there is love.

It’s easy for us to think that if we are sacrificing ourselves for another person, we are loving them. Denying ourselves of what we want and doing things for others is a good thing. However, I’ve learned that there is a higher calling to love.

Jesus died for our sins because He loved us. As difficult as it was, He died for us because He wanted to. He experienced moments of human weakness during His passion yet He continued to find strength to love us to death because He had a desire to love us. Imagine if He died for us without a heart to love us? Will His death have the same impact on our lives?

We are called to love others not just because we ought to but also because we want to. When we don’t have a desire to love someone, then we are just loving because we have to. True love is free, total, faithful and fruitful. The moment we love out of obligation, it is no longer freely given. We are no longer loving with our entire self.

If we are ever in a situation where we are called to love but do not feel 100% propelled to do it, let us ask the Lord to change our hearts to His so that we can sacrificially love with a joyful and free heart.

Lord, change our hearts to be like Yours. May we love propelled by Your compassion, mercy and joy alone. Amen!

 

Sometimes we feel like God is hard to find. There are times where prayers aren’t answered or when we don’t feel His presence, especially in times of great need or despair. We start to question ourselves. We start to question God. Does God really exist? Why would He let this happen to me? to my family? to him? to her? to us?

There are four essential elements of our faith: the profession of faith, the sacraments of faith, the life of faith, and the prayer of the believer. When we question God’s existence because of an unanswered prayer or feeling a lack of presence, we should ask ourselves  the following: which element of faith do I need to grow in more?

The profession of faith is our creed. We say it every Sunday at Mass. There are many times where I say it out of memory, rather than with my heart. Do I really believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and of earth? Do I really believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ? Do I really believe that for MY salvation, He came down from heaven?

The sacraments of faith are outward signs of inward grace. They nourish us and help us grow in virtue. Have I gone to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Have I received Holy Communion?

The life of faith are the commandments. They allow us to live a purposeful life with integrity. Do I live by the commandments? Do I look at the commandments as an upward calling? Do they limit me or set me free?

Lastly the prayer of the believer is the Lord’s prayer. We start by honouring Him, asking that His will be done on earth, to give us our daily needs, to forgive us as we forgive others, and to deliver us from evil. Do I honor God? Do I seek to do His will rather than my own? Do I rely on God to give me what I need, not just what I want? Do I seek His forgiveness?

At the end of the day, we all can grow in these four areas. In fact, we will never stop growing.  We begin to understand and know the Lord more to the best of our abilities, day by day. We grow in wisdom. God’s glory is revealed in that we finally understand and recognize that there is another level of reality that we will never be able to understand or see. God is God and we are not. There is so much peace in knowing that we have a God who knows all, from the depths of the oceans, to the heights of the mountain, to the inner most desires of our heart.

Spirit of Wisdom, guide me with the light of Your revelation.

Praise God for last year! It consisted of moments of joy and peace with a fair share of hardship and trials. But at the end of it all, I can look back at this being the best year of my life! I have experienced the fruits of living each day for the Lord. I have witnessed first hand what happens when I say no to God and yes to my selfish wants – emptiness and restlessness – and when I say yes to God and no to my selfish wants – peace, love, and joy.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God as well as the beginning of a new year. Mama Mary was instrumental in receiving all of those blessings and graces in 2013. She brought me to the Lord and she prepared me to receive Him. Our Mother helps us align our will with the Lord’s will. When we do what the Lord wants us to do, our life is filled with purpose and it is better than we had hoped or dreamed of. Together, let us consecrate this year and ourselves to Mary the Mother of God! She will help us live a life worth living!

 

I was reflecting recently on what it means to be a man of God. I get so caught up in trying to be stronger, more courageous, more this, more that. Time and time again I will fall and get back up with the same resolution and same conviction, but only to fall again. I think it’s important to acknowledge that in one way or another, I will always fall. I am human and I have tendencies to sin. But tendencies are not an excuse to sin, but rather a reminder that I am weak and I cannot be strong or courageous on my own.

I really feel that in order to be a man of God, I must admit that I am weak and that I am not strong enough on my own. It is in this posture that I open myself up to God’s power and His transforming love. I believe that my journey to become a man of God primarily means submitting myself to God. In my weakness, He can be strong. I can be a man in my willingness to let Him take over my life

St. Maximilian  Kolbe shared that the ‘formula’ to holiness is this:

W + w = S

God’s great Will + our willingness to cooperate with Him leads us to Sanctification. God’s plan for us will happen if we let Him work in our lives. It takes our cooperation, or better yet, submission to His will for us because He loves us freely. He allows us to choose. In choosing to let Him in our lives, we can live a life that will bring us joy and hopefully eternal life with Him.

 

I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. – Joshua 1:9

Being part of God’s family inherently makes us soldiers of His army. Each soldier has a specific role in the army. Some soldiers are in the front line, others are air dispatchers, some are medics, while a handful are drivers. But each soldier must carry out his or her responsibilities to the best of their abilities in order for the army to succeed.

The community is also an army for the Lord. Each ministry has a specific task. The soldiers of that ministry carry out their roles and effectively build up the Church of the home and build up the Church of the poor.

Let us be strong and courageous in our mission area. As a chapter head, cluster head, program head, household head or member of another ministry, may we always be engaged in the mission so that God’s will may be accomplished through us.

 

He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
The people walking in front rebuked him,
telling him to be silent,
but he kept calling out all the more,
“Son of David, have pity on me!”
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him;
and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”

This is from today’s Gospel (Luke 18:35-43). In a nutshell, it’s about a blind man crying out to Jesus for His attention, and upon receiving it, begging that he may be cured of his blindness in order to see. Jesus grants his petition by the man’s faith. There are two things about this Gospel that stick out to me: how the man prays and what he asks for.

The blind man persistently prays. I feel that sometimes my prayers are unheard, regardless of how many times or how sincere my prayers are. Or maybe I’m not praying ‘the right way’, which is why my prayers aren’t answered. Anytime I feel that way I know that I’m lacking faith in God and His loving faithfulness. Every prayer, every plea, every word and every thought is heard by our Lord. In times of doubt, I often read Matthew 7:8-11 and Romans 8:28 for encouragement. However, at the end of the day, praying isn’t just about getting what I want or God answering my prayers but it’s about reminding myself that Jesus knows what’s best for me. When I pray for a specific outcome and it doesn’t happen, it is very easy to be disappointed or angry with God. However, I’ve realized that attitude implies that I know better than God, which means I am putting myself above God. And so, my prayers should be less about what I want and more about uniting my wants with His wants. This doesn’t mean that I will stop asking the Lord to grant my hearts desires but instead that I need to humbly accept how and when He answers me. A good practice that I’ve found is just reflecting on the ‘Our Father’ and how it is said. It acknowledges God the Father and adores Him, asks that His will be done in our lives, for what we NEED (daily bread) and forgiveness for our sins. That’s how I ought to pray!

In this Gospel, the blind man asks for the Lord to see. It’s easy for me to associate the man’s physical blindness with his desire to see. I think any blind man would want to see. But looking at it from a different angle, we can associate the man’s physical blindness with our spiritual blindness. We are spiritually blind to God’s hand in our lives. When we pray and our prayers aren’t answered, we automatically think that God doesn’t love us, God is mad at us, or we did something wrong for Him not to answer us. But it’s the complete opposite. We need to ask for eyes of faith so that we can see how God is answering our prayers and how He is working in our lives at this very moment. Our God loves us so much that He is always inviting us to something better but fear and pride keep us away from that. 

I want to see how God is working in my life because I know He is, despite ‘unanswered’ prayers. I’m alive because He breathes life into me for a purpose. His purpose. My prayers lately have been for an increase of faith and courage so that I may come to know how He is working in my life and have the courage follow through with what He’s asking me to do.

Often times I surround myself with tasks. In itself, busyness can be a positive and productive thing but it should not come at the  expense of our relationship with the Lord. The Lord wants more than a successful event, or hours of labour  to build a set design. The Lord wants us. All of us. He wants to speak to us, take care of us and love us.

Moving forward, I will make a stronger effort in my personal prayer  time. No more shortcuts. Not what’s convenient for me but rather what is best for me and my relationship with God.