Author: Christian Medeiros

Abundantly Blessed

Each and every single day the Lord blesses us from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep. Reflecting on the Sunday Gospels these past couple of weeks there was a similar view in them — the Vineyard Parables. Where we see Jesus teaching about how what we give here on earth, we will be blessed in Heaven.

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven” — Matthew 5:12

Giving is not only a matter of donating money, clothes, food. It’s also a matter of giving of our time, talent and treasure. The Lord has blessed us with so much and is giving us so much more each and every single day! Only through the Lord’s grace are we able to give and share our blessings which are meant to be shared amongst others. So if I were to sum it all up in one sentence — each and every single one of us are abundantly blessed to abundantly give so that others can do the same.

Lord, we praise You and thank You for all the blessings you have given to us. Let us not take it for granted in any way, shape or form but instead, let us share our blessings to others so that they too, can feel your abundant Love. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Christian Medeiros

Joyful Mystery

From the Annunciation to the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. There is a lot of uncertainties within this series of decades in the Holy Rosary. It makes you wonder, why is it called the Joyful Mystery? The title of each decade is very exciting and it holds a beautiful story, but when we look deeper into each story what does it really say.

I was very inspired to write this reflection based off of Fr. Mike Schmitz’s video on “Having Joy in the Uncertainties”, which made me then realize the joy in the midst of this life of suffering. Momma Mary, in the Annunciation was approached by the angel Gabriel and was told that she would bare the Son of God. In response she said “Let it be done unto me according to thy word”, I never realized this until I watch the video with Fr. Mike, was that the very next sentence was “then the angel departed from her”. Can you imagine being in that moment, being told that you are going to have within you the Son of God and that was literally it? No context or anything. Like where do you go from there? No one told Mary and Joseph that they would have to go to Bethlehem and give birth to Christ in a manger. No one mentioned that they would have to flee to Egypt to save their Son from being killed. No one told Mary that she would have to witness her Son be tortured, spat on and crucified. There was so much uncertainty that the only thing that was certain was and still is the past. Yet, Momma Mary was still joyful. The Apostles were still joyful, they spread the Good News throughout the world. Through their suffering came out a lot of joy.

It is very humbling to know that in this life of suffering, there is joy that will follow. Yet, we do not know when or where that will come but we remain hopeful. I know for myself in this pandemic, at the beginning of the year, everything was set in stone, I was ready… then the NBA got cancelled, that’s when I knew things were going to change. It was so humbling for me to realize that everything can just be taken away in the snap of a finger. There was so much that was unexpected at that point in time that I had no choice but to rely on God and entrust myself to His will. It was hard to remain hopeful but after households, after one to ones I felt the joy and the hope that the Lord was wanting me to feel. To understand that I was being called to love in the uncertainty, to be joyful in the midst of the suffering. There is so much that I do not know and I can only pray the Lord, for you and I both, gives us the heart to overcome the world. To love beyond our capacities. There is joy and hope because God is with us.

Lord God, help us to entrust our lives to You in the midst of these times. There is so much uncertainty but with You we find hope and joy. Give us the strength to carry on. This we ask through Christ our Lord. 

Amen. 

Christian

An Invitation

The world is literally crumbling right now. It’s amazing how just one virus can bring the world to its knees. A lot of people are suffering and dying because of it. It brings us to the question, how could God allow something like this to happen? What is the good in all that is happening around the world right now? Where is God?

It’s funny because before everything happened I wasn’t really taking Lent seriously, it was more so as a routine for me. Actually I didn’t even realize it was Lent or take it in until I was at the Ash Wednesday mass. I went about this Lent just thinking that it is just another year where I have to get through these 40 days that nothing was going to come out of this. Man, was I ever wrong. Once COVID-19 started to get worse as the days went on, I began to realize what I was missing. It was hard not being able to go to mass, realizing that I was not able to be with Christ physically. With everything going on it is making me realize of how much I am missing and how much of my life is not centred around Christ. Here I am, at the beginning of Lent thinking it’ll be okay because I will continue to serve and that will be pleasing to the Lord. I’m not saying that serving Him is not pleasing, but when not putting Him at the centre of my life, I realized that my service becomes routine as well and just “another thing to do”. Now that I am not able to be with Him physically, I felt like it was all over. I realized that I relied so much on Christ being there physically present so much that I forgot that He is literally everywhere and in everyone we encounter.

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” – Blaise Pascal

With everything that is going on and with a lot of reflection, I am realizing the aspects of my life that Christ is asking me to put Him at the centre. That with all that this world throws at us, God gives us the opportunities to be closer with Him. Suffering is an invitation to be closer with God. We are given a sliver of Christ’s cross to carry. Nothing that we are feeling – the pain, anger, tiredness, sadness, it is nothing compared to what Christ went through, bearing the whole world’s sins on His cross that He carried. The mere fact that Christ walked this earth shows just how much God wants to be present with us and a part of our lives. So I pray, continue to let Him into your hearts. Pray for me as well that I do the same. Make Jesus the centre of your life – in all aspects.

Lord, thank You for blessing us with this life, with the opportunities to encounter You. Lord, protect us from all that is happening right now in this world. So many are suffering but in the same way we know that You are hurt as well seeing us in pain. Protect those on the frontlines Lord – the nurses, doctors, janitors and all those who are putting themselves at risk with everything. Through this suffering Lord, allow us to seize those opportunities where we are able to bring you to the centre of our lives, but to also be a beacon of hope for those around us that aren’t seeing or experiencing Your love.

Amen.

Christian Medeiros

Anchored

I was blessed to be able to attend CCO (Catholic Christian Outreach) conference in 2019 entitled Rise Up. The pastoral theme for the conference revolved around being “Anchored”. Which stirred my heart into writing this reflection:

What is an “anchor”?

It is part of a ship first and foremost, but what does it do? It keeps the ship in place and that even in a storm it is able to stay in position. As I sit here in Adoration before Christ Himself, I wonder about everything. Anchor, how do I make Him my anchor in my life? I think one thing that I struggle with is keeping up my prayer life. I always give into sin. It holds me back and I want to change that.

The very first step is to accept Christ and to claim Him as God, our God. One who is so loving and forgiving, His mercy is so abundant… it is endless. That no matter how many times we sin, we fall, we give up, Christ is constantly there, asking us to let Him in, asking us to choose Him in everything. Small or big… how will these things or everyone we encounter bring us closer to Christ. We must accept Him. Hard, but it was never meant to be easy. Love in everything that we do, because it is only through love that we will find Christ, that we will find God in everything that we do.

We take chances in life. Risky? Yes, but that’s how we grow. We take risks – we would not be able to change for the better good if we did not. Not just any risk though, good risks, ones that would benefit into making you a better version of yourself. Christ meets us where we are at, yes. That doesn’t stop him from moving us though. He calls us to more, He calls us to make Him our anchor. That in life when we move, we are anchored in Him. In Him we find true joy, true love, true happiness. Why? Because He is God, Christ the Messiah, Christ Emmanuel… God forever with us.

Lord continue to be my anchor and . That in times of doubt, sin and fear, I see You through everything. Give me the strength to conquer my selfish desires and to instead bring You everywhere I go. Guide me to the path You call for me Lord. Guide me to holiness. 

Amen.

Christian Medeiros

How Much Do You Love?

How much do you love? Do we love like Christ? Do we try to love like Christ? I leave that to your discretion on how to determine those questions. I remember being asked by a brother one time about how much I love. I told him, a lot. So he asked me, “Christian, if it were to be 3AM and it is a blizzard outside and it’s freezing. You’re in your bed fast asleep and this friend of yours calls you because for some reason they just finished work and they ask you, ‘bro, can you drive me home? I can’t get a hold of my parents and I have no other way home’, will you be willing to bring them home?”

I remember I was left there pondering what I would do in that situation. When it came down to it, I said yes, I would. Why? At the time I never fully grasped why, I just knew that I was willing. Looking back at it actually, yes, that is the most extreme inconvenience if ever faced with that. But then again, I ask… how much do you love?

Love is a choice not a feeling. Love is something that was never meant to be convenient although it can be sometimes. Love is something that is meant to push us to see Christ in others. It is something that makes us a better version of ourselves. It allows us to see our weaknesses and allows us to conquer our dreams. Love allows us to do spontaneous things for those we choose to love.

Sound familiar? God does the same. God is Love and Love is God. In those situations of doubt and fear, anger or frustration… ask yourself, what would Christ do? The answer will always be love.

Lord, allow us to love just as You do. Give us the strength in times of anger or frustration, doubt or worry to just remember to love. Amen.

Christian

 

 

Humble Example

This week I was just reflecting on life and where I want to be and how I want to be. I couldn’t help myself reflecting on the life of my grandfather, but in my family we call him “Tatay”.

He was probably one of the biggest influences in my life, and a huge part of who I am today. He was definitely a man of God, a strong Catholic man who would always be up at 4am down on his knees (even at his old age) praying until 7am. He would then go downstairs and you think that would be a lot of praying in itself… He then would prepare his food and pray some more before eating. Praise God for having such an influence in my life. Though it was not just that.

Let me tell you, this man had an endless amount of money. Every year, he would give $100CAD to each grandchildren for their birthday and there is 19 of us. The thing was, though he was loaded with money, it was never for him. He would send people to school back in the Philippines, there was more than enough money to build a new house in the Philippines, but he never did, instead it was an old house, with the most amount of creaks and cracks, probably the nastiest washroom I have ever used (lol). Nonetheless, how humble my Tatay was, how selfless, caring and most especially loving man of God, is who I asspire to be.

So I pray today, Lord, grant me a humble heart that I am able to give my all for you and for those I encounter in this journey of life. Lead me to be more like You but also follow in the example of my Tatay. Lord, grant eternal rest upon Earl Abaljon Sr., O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace, amen. May all the souls of the faithfully departed and the souls in purgatory, rest in peace.

Amen,

Christian Medeiros

In My Feelings

I find it funny how a Drake song title is the title to this reflection. Nonetheless… it’s been a while.

I guess I can say that I was actually in my feelings. In short, after the month of June, which was an incredibly busy month, not just for me but for the entire Greater Toronto Area, I just felt like I needed a vacation. Let me tell you, once I got into that vacation mode, that was it, I was gone. I definitely let my laziness come over me and just stop me from doing many tasks that I was supposed to do and wanted to do. I would be telling myself that I don’t have the time to do something, meanwhile I actually had a lot of time.

It is currently 2am here in Toronto, and I was actually just thinking about Drake’s lyrics in his song “In My Feelings”. As provocative as the song may be, especially with the recently released music video for it, I couldn’t help but just think of one lyric that sticks out “trap, trapmoneybenny”. Reason being, that is exactly what I have been doing lately, just trapping myself. I can’t lie it was hard for me to get out of this extreme laziness that I’ve been feeling, even right now. It is actually taking a lot for me to write this.

Am I proud of being trapped? Not at all, but I guess why I’m writing this is because as the days go by the harder it is to resist this laziness and especially trying to conquer it, not so much alone, but without asking for prayers. So I’m asking for your prayers. That I will be able to conquer this and be able to be back on my feet with a heart and passion to serve, not just in community but everyone I encounter.

Lord give me the strength.

Amen

Christian Medeiros