Author: George Fournier

Luke 5:1-11
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The First Disciples

5 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the [a]people from the boat. 4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but [b]I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ [c]feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were [d]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
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Yesterday’s gospel reading spoke powerfully to me. Fr. Wilbert, the young Filipino priest, gave a very eye opening homily. In the gospel, Jesus, the carpenter, was giving instructions to  Peter, the fisherman, on how to fish. Peter, already tired from casting the nets and getting nothing was probably thinking, “why is Jesus telling me to cast the nets again?”. “I know better, I do this for a living”.

And yet Peter obeyed anyway, and the Lord revealed his wisdom, glory and power when the nets could not even hold the load of fish that were caught.

How many times in our service do we feel we could not be successful and we should cancel an event based on what we assess? There was a time when I was asked to lead an Marriage Enrichment Retreat (MER) for CFC. There were only a few couples who signed up. Based on the costing, I concluded that this won’t be financially successful and I told my leader that we should just cancel this event. I also just recovering from being sick so I was feeling a bit lazy. Thank God the Lord spoke powerfully through my leader. He told to me to continue the MER, the rest of my household members offered to sponsor the food. The weekend resulted in a very personal and touching MER, where 7 couples where able to give their personal vows for their spouses during the renewal of vows, something that could be very time consuming with a larger group.

How many times do we feel we should not attend an activity because we feel lazy or not up to it, ATTEND anyway!

How many times do we feel we do not want to serve because we feel we are not capable and skilled, SERVE anyway!

How many times we feel that what God is asking us to do something that is too much for us handle, OBEY anyway!

Imagine if Jesus gave up on carrying the cross for us and suffering the painful crucifixion, would we be saved?

Lord, thank for the powerful theme for this year for our community, may we truly walk in the footsteps of the first disciple, our dear Mother Mary, when she asked the servants to “Do Whatever He tells you”. Amen!

Tito Gee

What a wonderful quote from Mother Teresa. Often times, when we prepare for activities and events we are like Martha, busy taking care of logistics and forgetting the most important part , our spiritual preparation and focus.

Many times we are discouraged because of failures, obstacles trials but in these circumstances the Lord will not focus on how well we did but on how we continue to “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”.

Lord, continue to remind us on how to be faithful, just as you were faithful to your mission.

Tito Gee

Proverbs 22:6 6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

My mom was such a faithful follower of Christ. Prayer and constant union with the Eucharist was such a part of her life. Even when she was stricken with cancer for more than 36 years, her faith never wavered.

I, her son, was such an opposite, a once a year church goer, praying only when there is a need.
How fortunate I was that my Mom planted the seed in me by the way she lived her life. It was a seed that remained in me, waiting for the right time to grow, even in my dark days.
CFC was the water, the fertilizer that allowed that seed of faith to grow.
Now, called to serve the youth, I am a farmer, planting the seed of Christ into our young ones including my children, so that one day, whether they remain in this community or not, this seed will grow and Christ will be more alive than ever in their lives.

Thank you, Lord for my Mom and for calling me to this wonderful work with the youth.

Tito Gee

Tomorrow, Jan 22, my youngest son Jak-jak is turning 7 years old. It never ceases to amaze me how God has allowed me to watch my kids grow up and be a blessing to me and my wife each day (even when they are most annoying).

Jak-jak is such a sweet kid. Never a day passes that he does not say “I love you mom and dad”. Sometimes our exchange would go like this:

Jak-jak: I love you more, Dad.

Dad: I love you the mostest, Jak.

Jak-jak: I love you most of all!

When you ask him, who he loves the most, he would say, “Jesus, first, then my family second and my friends third).

Its such a wonder how Jak would put Jesus Christ first, somebody who he has never met in person, from whom he has never felt a hug and a kiss, over his loving parents. I’m not jealous of this but I am truly happy that he knows what faith is all about and I hope he continues on this journey as he grows up. My most favourite bible verses are when Jesus talks about children. Our faith should always be like Jak-jak’s faith, not blind faith but faith knowing that Jesus Christ loves us and will take care of us, just because!

Lord, thank you for the blessing of my son, Jak-jak, for allowing me to see how much You love us and how you want us to love You. Please continue to bless Jak-jak in his life, you know what he wants so please grant him his heart’s desire. In Your most mighty name I pray, Amen!

Tito Gee

“the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light”

 

I have always wondered my life would have been, if the Lord gave up on me and never called me to the community of CFC.  I wonder if my marriage would be as strong as it is today, would I have given in to temptations, would I have fallen in love with my wife everyday as I do now.  Would I have been the father I am, although imperfect as I still am?  Would I be going to church and serving Him in all areas of my life.

Before I found the Lord, I was always afraid of death, it was a scary vision of imagining nothingness for eternity.  But now I can truly say that even though I fear death, I know that the Lord has a better life for me, in His time.

Tito Gee January 7, 2013

Last Friday, my wife and I went to Superstore to buy some groceries for a dinner we had planned for some guests. I bought five packs of beef grilling ribs, the price of one which I noted was an exact $8.00. Each pack was priced differently since they were based on weight.

We loaded all the groceries on our van and I didn`t think about the rib until the next day. As I tried to prepare the beef for marinating, I couldn`t find them. I asked my wife to look for them as well, I checked our van, nothing.

So I went back to Superstore to buy some more ribs as we may have left the original ones in the shopping cart. At Superstore, I decided to ask Customer Service, just in case somebody found them and returned them. The Customer Service Clerk gave me a sarcastic look and asked me, “do you think somebody would return the beef ribs if they found them“. I told her, “you never know“, still believing that there are still decent people out there who would actually return things to lost and found.

I was still a bit annoyed on how people can be so cynical and not hope in the good but I still had the mission of buying beef ribs. I was lucky to have found exactly 5 packs of beef grilling ribs left and picked them quickly. I noted that one pack was priced exactly at $8.00.

At home just for curiosity, I looked at the receipt from the previous day. I noted that the prices of the 5 packs were $6.18, $5.58, $6.70, $5.62 and $8.00. I then looked at the receipt from my recent purchase and the prices were $6.18, $5.58, $6.70, $5.62 and $8.00, an exact match, just like lottery tickets. I then thought of the probability of having 5 packs of grilling ribs that had different weight and price, match the same pack of ribs the next day having the same weight and price.

As much as Superstore refused to give me a refund, what was more satisfying is that knowing that someone must have found those ribs and returned them. That in these ribs, there was hope in humanity and that the work we do in the community will prosper, because there is good in people. Just as God brought out the best in people through these ribs, He will bring out the best in people in the work that we do as long as we continue to hope, believe, and persevere.

The ribs tasted better than any ribs I`ve cooked or bought, much more than the spices I added, what made them tastier was the dash of hope and goodness.

God is awesome!

Tito Gee Dec. 31, 2012