“It is not possible to establish true links with God, while ignoring other people.” – Pope Francis I

I’ve noticed that God speaks to me when I least expect it.

I attended a Baha’i Marriage two weeks ago.
I have been reflecting on the Marriage even since
And I have concluded that…

I JUST CAN’T DENY HOW STRONG GOD’S PRESENCE WAS!

God was definitely there.
Yup!

For the past two years I have been attending various Weddings.
All of the Weddings that I have attended were mainly Catholic Marriages,
Which I have been accustomed to and have fallen in love with.

I have always believed that Marriage is Sacred.
Because of this, I have become very conscious as to what is happening during the ceremony
What is being said
Who speaks
What readings are being done
The vows, or even
The choice of songs

Through Sacredness the Lord reveals His messages.
I have become more aware of what God is trying to telling me next.

I can truthfully claim that during each ceremony,
I have encountered God in some shape or form.
The Baha’i Wedding was no exception.

I have come up with three realizations
Marriages are Intimate
Marriages are Sacred
Marriages are Miracles

The couple share their intimacy with others
The couple declare that their relationship is sacred
The couple witnesses how two people can in fact become one,
a Miracle.

As I watched them look into each other’s eyes
I had to catch my breathe

Their very glance

Took me aback

As they recited their vows

For some reason

At that very moment

I knew that they were no longer looking at each other
But they were experiencing God in one another

Though both may be from two different Religious backgrounds,
Who’s it to say that God wasn’t present.

The presence of God isn’t defined by our theological knowledge,
or our memorization of doctrine,
but it is dependent on our catholic love for others.
our universal love for others.

which INCLUDES all
and
EXCLUDES none.

“The unity of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of humanity”

In other words…

“Religions must cooperate to remind humanity that God exist”

– Baha’i Doctrine & Pope Francis I

Lord God,
allow me to have an open heart and an open mind to seek inclusivity rather than exclusivity. As a Catholic, allow me to embrace my faith with joy, to love and respect others of different Religious Backgrounds in how they choose to live out their faith. We are all brothers & sisters alike…all searching for YOU.
May my actions speak louder than my words.
Thank you again for revealing Yourself to me at the perfect moments,

Your Spirit is strong.
Amen 🙂

Everywhere!

Beneath Faithfulness

Is Goodness

Beneath the sun
Is the rain

In the midst of
The burning heat,
The salivating dryness, and
The overwhelming chaos

I am called to
Stand still
Be Silent and
Reflect

As I look up
I secretly beg the Heavens to rid me of the heat

All I see is

blue

I look up once again
With my arms wide open
With my eyes closed

I felt God’s tear

It hit the tip of my nose
He was holding back

I opened my eyes
Looked to the sky
And whispered

” Oh Lord, you are Good!”

And the water flowed
And it flowed

It covered every inch of my body
He was preparing me for this
Preparing my body for change
5 more days until it will be revealed
Until it will be exposed
Little did I know
I have always been exposed to

Water

How good it is
Though we tend to forget

Just like how its presence
Seem so natural to me
I tend to disregard the value it brings

Life

Water
Is
Life

So I let the rain fall
I let the water flow
And I let myself get soaked
By the goodness of The Spirit

I am

Cleansed

Renewed

and

Exposed.

—
Lord God,
“Allow us to prepare our hearts to receive You despite the heated chaos, may the water cleanse us. Leaving us only exposed to You”

“Faith is being obedient to the Spirit even though we may not fully understand all things in reason and in logic…Faith is the LIGHT that we need”

We are exposed to the rays of the Son

Faith is the foundation

The light touches my skin

The base of our personal realization that

And fills my soul

We are nothing but a speck in God’s infinity

I am called to shine bright

We can never reach his complete Divinity
However,
He continues to love us

To Ignite

Fill us

To fight

And constantly calls us to live with Him in Eternity

And to not loose sight!

This is possible because the Lord God

Has exposed His Son to us

Yellow.

—

Lord God,

Allow the rays of The Son to reach us, so that we may be able to expose His Light to others.

Amen 🙂

” Our minds are constantly filled, it may seem impossible to clear it out…”

I lay flat on my back

I close my eyes.
I let go of my hands
And I let my left arm fall at my side
Then my right arm
My abdomen starts to rise
As I

take a deep breathe

My knees start to relax
My calves gently rest on the surface of the floor
My feet give in and open away from each other
With each set of toes facing their respective walls
As I

take a deep breathe

I lay there with my thoughts
As it

Poured

Did You say something Lord?
Am I what who You want?
I’m not sure what I want…
What do You want of me Lord?
What do you want me to do?
I have so much to do…
Did I pray?

And it

Poured

I forgot to pray…
Am I praying now?
I can’t breathe
My heart
So heavy
My mind
So filled

Overflowing

Then it caught my ear

Drop

Drop
Drop
Drop

Drop
Drop
Drop

The sound of water hitting my window

It was pouring

Rain

The rain knocking on my window
Felt like the Lord was seeking my attention
So I paid close attention to the rain

Then it became clear

Through the knocking of the rain The Lord responded

“Yes, my Child I did say something”

“You are everything that I want”

“And this I am sure!”

“I want ALL of YOU”

“So that you can LOVE with ALL of your HEART”

“WE have so much to do

“You are praying now”

And The Lord

Responded

“You did not forget…
But WE are conversing now”

“You are breathing”
“Your heart is
So heavy
but so FULL of LOVE
Your mind is
So filled
but so FILLED with JOY“

“I love you my child,
let me in, even when it pours”

My eyes remained closed
I took a deep breathe

I sat up
And I opened the window
And it poured

—-
Lord God,
Thank you for speaking to me even when my mind seems so preoccupied with overwhelming thoughts and never ending tasks. Thank you for allowing me to be sensitive to Your Spirit in the things that surround me. Being able to hear your voice in the midst of the pouring rain. Thank you Lord for allowing me to recognize that even when it pours, we may experience pain through the rain, but the more we are able to experience the gain that the Lord blesses us with.
The Lord speaks, even when it rains.
We are called to listen, even when it rains.

Amen 🙂

“Every person, every encounter, and every moment in life is: significant “

Last weekend CFC-Youth Montreal travelled to Ottawa for our Regional Youth Conference. We were more than 120 young people gathered to witness God’s invitation.

One of them was my godson.

Last weekend, God reminded me of what it truly means to be a godmother.

Most parents like to boast about how their children have inherited so many similar character traits and physical traits as themself. I guess being a godparent you tend to search for certain commonalities you have with your god child as well.

As for me, I’ve come to the conclusion that we are opposites.

I’m 4″11 and my godchild is 6″2
I’m energetic
He’s quiet
I’m affectionate
He’s chill
I like jumping at people
He’s happy with where he is
I’m his Ninang (godmother)
He’s my godson

I was thrilled to have my godson present at the RYC, having him experience God, with me, under the same roof was mind boggling! I didn’t think this was his thing and because this was really out of his comfort zone. My godson is a little shy and has been inactive in the last year. Therefore, I was so amazed and so proud that he woke up at 5:00 am to attend the RYC even though he doesn’t know most of the youth and he doesn’t talk much to others.

Just having him there was already a blessing.

Throughout the RYC, because I was behind the scenes, I didn’t get to see him much. But I would always scan the room to see where he was or what he was doing. The day went by so fast that I was so upset at myself for not getting the chance to spend enough time with him…by the time I was able to catch my breathe it was already time for the final Praisefest.

At the beginning of the Praisefest, I was so happy and overjoyed that the RYC was already such a success despite its challenges. In the span of 8 hours we were able to experience God through the sessions, competitions, worships, creatives, Adoration, and during the Holy Mass. I ran up to the front to worship, with my hands up in the air signing. As I was worshipping I remained joyful, but for some reason at the middle of the first song I felt The Lord telling me that I shouldn’t be there. And at that moment, I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I saw my godson standing at the back of the room. I closed my eyes, opened them again and walked to the back of the room.

I stood right beside my godson.

I looked at him and put my arm around his lower back (because that was as high as I could reach!) and I asked him if he was ok. He looked down and told me that he was ok. I know that for someone who may be really shy and doesn’t talk or say much, knowing that this was his first RYC Praisefest with this many people…all this was new for him. I didn’t blame him if he was overwhelmed. At this point the worship song was “God in me”, I continued singing as I prayed with my eyes closed. At one point I stopped singing and I heard a male voice singing too, I opened a sliver of my eye and glanced to my left.

I saw my godson moving his lips, I heard him singing…

“No longer I, but Christ in me, My heart desires in His majesty”

And he kept repeating it…and repeating it..
He was singing it louder
And louder each time…

“No longer I, but Christ in me, My heart desires in His majesty”

I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of my eyes
I realized why I was here at this RYC
Why I was present at this very moment

Simply…
To worship God with my godson

Hearing him sing

“No longer I, but Christ in me, My heart desires in His majesty”

Made me realize the importance of being a godparent

To long for your godchild to desire Christ more than you can ever have

I wrapped my arm around his and continued worshipping alongside him.

Today is his 16th birthday
16 years ago I didn’t know that I would be experiencing God through my godson
God knew

And I realized that though my godson and I may seem like opposites
We are actually very similar

We love to sing (Both our secret interests! Shhh)
We love to sing to God
We love God

I also realized why the relationship of a God-parent and God-child is so precious.
Because it is God who unites us.
It is the God-Mother who makes sure God is present in the life of their God-Child.
It is the God-Child who subconsciously reminds the God-Mother that it is:

“No longer I, but Christ in me, My heart desires in His majesty”

How beautiful is this service of love that God has given us!

God is calling us to meet our godchildren right where they are, right where they need us.
Thank you Lord,
My godson is God-sent!
Our godchildren are God-sent!

Amen 🙂

French for “Yes”
pronounced as “We” in English.

Every day I pass by this bright yellow poster on my way to class. It’s an advertisement for people who need help with French, by providing them with assistance and classes given at Concordia University. The ad says:

“Interested in learning French? OUI can help!”

I read it everytime I passed by the advertisement. I would chuckle to myself each time, amazed by how clever it is! The first few times, I read it clearly for my amusement. Then I started to ask myself, why was I so compelled to re-read this advertisement every time even though I knew what it said. It was only the past week when I realized why this line was so powerful.

The power of “OUI”

In English this would translate to: The power of “YES”.
So I’ve been contemplating on the word “YES” and the idea that surrounds the word we so often say but do not realize how important it is.

As I searched the definition of “Yes” on Google, the first thing that popped up was:

EXCLAMATION.
An affirmative response.

Then I thought to myself:
Whenever I say “Yes” do I exclaimed it?
Do I mean it?
Do I embody it?
Do I even know what I’m saying!!!

Then I realized that when I am called to say “Yes” it is only for important things!

The power of “WE”

I found it interesting how every time I say “OUI” (Yes) I am also saying “WE”.

“WE” encompasses all, encompasses us, encompasses community.

I realized that my “OUI” also includes “WE”!

Whenever I say “OUI” to my friends, I am saying yes to the value of “WE”.
The importance of our friendship.

Whenever I say “OUI” to my family, I am saying yes to the value of “WE”.
The importance of family.

Whenever I say “OUI” to service, I am saying yes to the value of “WE”.
The importance of the community.

Whenever I say “OUI” to God, I am saying yes to the value of “WE”.
The importance of my relationship with Christ.

I don’t say “Maybe”
I don’t say “Let me think about it”
I don’t say “If there’s no one else”

I say “OUI” because I value the urgency in the “WE” that I share with God.

” OUI can help!”
Includes diversity instead of division.

In Montreal we have been challenged by the division of language between the English and the French. However, this statement simply and beautifully recognizes the possibility of both.

In Religion we have been challenged by the division of practices, traditions and beliefs.
However, this statement simply and beautifully recognizes how our “OUI” to our faith should in fact recognize our “WE” as human beings, therefore making us all sons and daughters of God.

I was speaking to a brother the other day and he reminded me of
God’s two important commandments.

To love God.
To love others.

Therefore,

Let our “OUI!” EXCLAIM our “WE!”

(Let our ‘yes’ for loving God EXCLAIM our ‘unity’ in Ioving others!)

Amen! 🙂

Comfortability,

hinders one from breaking out of one’s comfort zone

and to be satisfied with just settling.