Author: Danielle Lape

On the feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul, I offered myself to the Merciful Love of Jesus.

For 33 days I journeyed alongside one of the greatest saints of today’s time – St. Therese of Liseux! Being the younger sibling that I am, I tried as hard as I could to not like the same saint as my sister (jealousy probs, lol). However for the past month I have come to realize why so many people including my ate, admire her so much. Not only is St. Therese so relatable but she gives hope to all those who desire to be a Saint as well.

Of course, completing this retreat was not that easy. There were many days where I felt very small, as if I could never follow in the footsteps of St. Therese. But these few words of hers encouraged me to keep pushing forward and to keep desiring for holiness:

” I have always wanted to be a saint. Alas! I have always noticed that when I compared myself to the saints, there is between them and me the same difference that exists between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and the obscure grain of sand trampled underfoot by passers-by. Instead of becoming discouraged, I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can, then, in spite of my littleness, aspire for holiness.” (33 Days to Merciful Love, pg. 51)

I look forward to where this consecration will lead me; A young Catholic woman who experiences struggles in her every day life but also as someone who is on fire with God’s merciful love.

Now I not only desire to be a saint, I KNOW I can be one but only if I: 1) Recognize the darkness of my littleness; 2) Keep trying to grow in holiness and 3) Keep trusting in Gods infinite and powerful mercy.

St. Therese of liseux, pray for us.

Danielle

This past Monday I had my convocation. After four years of hard work, perseverance and time spent commuting, I can finally say that I accomplished one of my biggest goals in life; surviving university.

While I was sitting beside my fellow classmates during graduation, I could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. If you are currently in post-secondary or have already graduated, you know just how challenging university can be at times.

During my first year of school, I experienced many moments of self-doubt and wondered if the program I picked was the right choice for me. It was not the easiest of times and I really struggled to be the model of excellence that I strived to be. Despite these negative feelings, I had family and friends who supported me all the way to my convocation. These people prayed for me whenever I had an exam, were accountable to me in making sure that I finished my assignments on time, and reminded me the importance of balancing schoolwork AND my self-care. I’d like to think that a big reason why I was able to walk across the stage with a degree in my hand was because of their unfailing support and guidance.

As I reflect back on that day, all I can hear is the Lord whispering to my heart: “Danielle, you are loved!”

I am affirmed that God sent these people in my life for a specific reason and I am truly grateful for the Lord gifting me such a wonderful group to rely on. Life is truly not meant be spent alone!

Thus, my prayer this week is that everyone will be able to find a supportive system that they know they can trust and depend on. God wants to share His love with us and one of the ways this can be done is through the relationships we have with our family members and friends. It is within these Christ-centered relationships where we are able to experience a joy unlike another other. And so, I pray that more people can have a taste of this joy in their lives.

Amen.

Danielle Lape

Six months have come and gone and just like that, half of my first year serving as the community-based area head is now over.

Serving in the GTA is most definitely a privilege and an honour but it can definitely feel very overwhelming at times. Despite the many victories we have won with God this year, I have found it personally challenging to pause and thank God for all the blessings He has given my household and I.

This in turn has also made it difficult for me to find the joys in service. Don’t get me wrong, I love whom I serve with and more importantly the God that I serve for, but when schedules start piling up and there are deadlines for events to be met, I can’t help but feel like service is more of a chore over a joyful offering of my time to God.

Regardless of feel this way, I knew in my heart to not lose hope. I also knew that God was calling me to prayer whenever these feelings would resurface. This problem has actually been one of the silent prayers of my heart for quite some time now. And just like the great and funny God that He is, God answered this prayer by meeting me where I was, at SHOUT.

Now if you don’t know what SHOUT is, it is a summer house training where all the area core leaders come together for five days. We listen to various talks,  participate in different workshops and complete tasks around the house with our assigned groups. We are also challenged to grow as servant-leaders for our respective areas as well.

Reflecting back to the training now, this year’s SHOUT was unlike the rest. If you’ve heard about the previous SHOUT’s from before, you may have heard people throw around words such as: boot-camp, tiring, physically draining, emotional, and so on. But what made this SHOUT so special was that we had so much free time to spare.

At first, I was confused. During these moments where we had nothing in particular to do, I found myself itching to do something. Anything! Coming from such a busy and hectic area, I just couldn’t sit still and even felt guilty if I was just sitting around.

It wasn’t until the third day of SHOUT where I realized that God was actually  gifting my household and I, rest. Now when I say “rest,” I do mean sleep (thank You, Lord!), but I am also referring to being at peace and finding joy in the little and subtle things too.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28

For months, I have been complaining to God asking for a break, a time-out, or even just a moment where I could just lay-low and catch my breath and here He was, giving it to me.. and my household!

Throughout the five days of SHOUT, especially during all the “rest” moments of the training, I have never laughed as much or enjoyed spending time with my co-missionaries and friends more than I did there. If there was free time, my household and I were either dancing (s/o to Tita Betina and Tito Josh for the hip-hop lessons), writing songs (s/o to the Ablaze-boys haha), or just spending quality time with one another. I truly felt the Holy Spirit working through us in these moments.

And even though there are technical things that must be done in service, it is also good for us to take time to rest. For it is in rest where we can re-charge and prepare ourselves to be 100% for the Lord.

Thank You, God for hearing my prayers and for answering them during your own perfect timing. In the moments where I may feel too stressed or overwhelmed, may I have the wisdom to know when to rest. I also want to thank You for giving my household and I time to relax and enjoy one another’s company during SHOUT. May our hearts grow in passion to serve you more faithfully and may worship you more joyfully through our words and our bodies.

Amen.

Danielle Lape

 

 

This past Sunday, I attended a celebration for a Tito who just recently got ordained to become a deacon. This Tito is someone I have looked up to over the years. From a past Couples for Christ coordinator to a now faithful servant of the church, it was such a blessing to celebrate such an occasion.

What was even greater though, was that this event brought old and new faces together once again. At the celebration I saw my past couple coordinators, counterparts, and CFC-Youth friends who have all impacted my growth in the community over the years. At first, it felt so strange to be together under the same roof again, but the feelings of joy and excitement overshadowed it.

“Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” – Psalm 106:1

Sometimes when life gets too hectic and our schedules become too busy, it can be very difficult to reflect on God’s goodness on our lives. I will be honest, the past week was not the easiest for me, which made it extremely difficult to see, hear or feel God working in my life. However, through attending this Tito’s event, I was reminded of God’s faithfulness to me over the years through being reunited with these wonderful individuals again.

My experiences of being a HSB, chapter and cluster head were not always the most grand or stress-free of moments BUT because of the love and support I received from these people, I was able to survive and get through it all (With God by our sides as well, of course).

As simple as this reflection may be, I just want to thank God for allowing me to be a witness at this event. Last Sunday reminded me to be grateful of all the past moments in my life, good or bad, because they have shaped me in becoming the servant leader that I am today. Also, I was reminded to never take the friendships that I have made in this community for granted. For each person that I was reunited with, I have felt and seen Christ through every single one of them. They have shared Christ’s love to me and I hope that I have been able to do the same at one point of their lives as well.

Lord, thank You for this much-needed reminder to be grateful always!

Amen.

Danielle Lape

Today I started my first day of work for Camp Merciful. One of the activities we did was pray the Divine Mercy chaplet, which was later followed by a Lectio Divina on today’s gospel. If you did not have the chance to read the gospel just yet, don’t fret! Here is a snippet of it:

“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servantof all.” (Mark 9:30-37)

(Full gospel can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052218.cfm)

As I was reflecting on what I should write about, I thought that it would be fitting to share my reflection on this particular reading.

The first word that stuck out to me was “rise.” When I initially heard this word being read out loud, I wondered why such a simple word caught my attention. However, when the second word, “servant” was read, it didn’t take long to realize its significance and correlation between the two.

The Lord was reminding me that no matter how high a person goes up in their service – be that in ministry work or in community – they must always remember to be humble. To be a great disciple of Jesus does not necessarily mean to be the smartest, strongest, most knowledgeable person, but someone who is willing to be a loyal servant of Christ a-l-w-a-y-s. This means that they stay connected to Christ at all times. They may feel like they are better than everyone else, or even believe that they don’t need to include God in their life choices or decisions, but they soon realize the fault in this belief.

I thought that this gospel came at the perfect time; especially since I am returning to work for Camp Merciful a second time around. Even though I may have experience of working in this position as before, I know that there is always something new that I can learn and take away from my co-workers, the volunteers and even the participants of the camp. Also, after being in CFC-Youth for a decade now, it can be difficult to not let my pride take over my mind and my actions at times. I’m still in the process of learning how I can improve on comparing myself to others, as it can definitely make me question my personal abilities and what I can offer to God specifically.

With that being said, I was very touched by today’s gospel reading. I am thankful for Jesus speaking so closely to my heart and for reminding me the importance of having a servant heart in the mission. May I learn to be a more kind, loving and humble disciple of His.

Amen.

Danielle Lape

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to serve for the KFC ROCK training. Just a few days before the event, I reached out to one of the KFC area heads and asked if they needed any support for the day. When I messaged them I was expecting to be asked to possibly help with games, maybe even lead a workshop, or just attend the event as a participant.

But to my surprise, my counterpart and I were asked to serve as the music ministry for the day. If you know my service history in CFC-Y, then you would know that I used to serve in the music ministry in my old chapter. I really enjoyed this service because one of my hobbies is to sing (though I’m not amazing at it) and because I love to worship the Lord. However, once I was asked to move onto another service I never thought that I would be part of a music ministry again.

So when this opportunity came up, not only was I surprised or eager to serve, but I was nervous as well. I was so prepared to help in KFC, as in doing something that involved KFC teachings or aspects but instead I was asked to serve in something that I was not necessarily ready for.

Reflecting back on the entire day of the ROCK training, I have come to realize two things.

One, sometimes in mission you will be asked to serve in something that is not necessarily your strong suit or something that you were prepared for.
When there’s a limited amount of people on the battlefield, you must learn to be open-minded as you could be asked to sub-in at any time or day. It may be scary but it’s important to trust in the Lord that He will carry you through it. Also, don’t doubt in your God-given talents. He’s gifted them to you for a reason – which is to share it with the world! (Not saying I’m a great singer or will start posting covers on the internet though)

Second, the wonderful thing about this community is that we are a FAMILY ministry. This means that we support one another regardless if we are in CFC, SFC, CFC-Y, KFC and so forth. We all serve for one purpose and that is because of God.
It was so amazing to witness young leaders who I’ve known for a while, ready to grow as the future ROCK leaders of the GTA region. It was also inspiring to know that these youth wanted to dedicate their whole Saturday to learn how they can lead the future Catholic generation of the world!

I praise God for this humbling and eye-opening experience. I’m so happy that I was able to see the joys of mission in another ministry that I’m not entirely familiar with. Serving the kids may be difficult at times BUT there is always something we can learn from these moments of unfamiliarity and uncomfortability. Whether it is learning to be more patient, compassionate, understanding or even loving, there is always something the Lord wants us to learn.

I honour every past, present and future leader in ROCK and in the Kids-for-Christ ministry. Praise God for your child-like hearts!

Danielle Lape

“It is better to be a child of God than king of the whole world!” – St. Aloysius Gonzaga