Author: Isay Amante

I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve quite enjoyed the last few of Justin Bieber’s latest releases. I wasn’t ashamed of it way back when he was a young Canadian boy taken under the wing of Usher some years ago, and I’m still not ashamed now. People are quick to harp on him because of everything he’s gone through and all the changes he’s had, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. Disclaimer: I’m not defending him or his actions in any way, nor am I endorsing how he chooses to live his personal life, but I’m just using his recent success to drive a point. 

So, why out of all people am I bringing up Justin Bieber. It’s a little bit of a far reach, but I’ll try to explain what was going on in my head while listening to one of his songs earlier.

Simply put, regardless of circumstance, I think we should always rejoice in the ‘comeback’s. In the SFC and/or CFC-Youth community it’s not uncommon for people to go inactive. Although more rare, it’s also not completely uncommon for those who are inactive to come back. I’m sure some of us who have been in this situation may have been told, or may have been the one to tell someone else who was inactive, “Whoaaa look who it is! You’re actually here!” – usually said when there’s been some sort of hiatus from the community and then one day that person shows up at an event. I think we should consider how these comments, extensions of our thoughts, can make that person feel. I’ve heard it shared from others that this can actually make them feel like they maybe shouldn’t come back, or just plain uncomfortable because it’s been made into such a big deal.

When we enter the confessional each time, it’s almost like that same comeback situation. It’s like hearing that catchy Justin Bieber song after he’s been m.i.a for awhile, or like that person we haven’t seen that decides to check in with the community again. The Lord is quick to rejoice, quick to forgive, and doesn’t question why you’ve ‘come back’. He is simple in his forgiveness, and the Lord doesn’t make a show out of it. He doesn’t create a huge scenario when you leave the confessional where the curtains open, a blinking sign over your head flashes “Forgiven!”, and trumpets sound with your list of penance.

I think when someone, in a sense, makes a ‘comeback’, we should rejoice in that fact. We should rejoice in the recommitment of others, in their attempts to try again, and their willingness to come back. Forget for a moment why they left, why they failed, or what lies in their past. Just be…a belieBER…hah, yeah I went there.

On an almost daily basis there’s a sound that’s all too familiar to me, and I’m sure you’ve all heard it too – the sound of people sifting through their pockets and wallets collecting their change for their offering at Mass. There’s something about this specific sound that’s disturbing, although it probably shouldn’t be. I grew up in a family where we had more than we needed and my parents were quick to help or give, knowing that everything comes from God and will eventually go back to Him, and so generosity seemed to always come easy to them. This included how they easily gave whatever they could to my brother and I, and extended this same value to their weekly tithing at church, and then some.

Finances are always a touchy subject and I believe that I’m not the model for how to budget properly, give often, or help generously. I also understand that people can look at my life from the outside and think, “Easy for you to say because you don’t have many financial difficulties so you shouldn’t have an opinion on how people spend their money because you don’t know how hard it can be.” However, I still do believe that we can all give more, and that the tighter we hold on to the little we have the more we allow money to control our lives.

Consider that we have 24 hours in one day. How often do we use x amount of hours for work, then x amount of hours for sleep, x amount of hours for pleasure, x amount of hours for “other”, then what are we left with? Leftovers. And very often it’s those leftovers that we give to God. If we value our time with God and know the kind of model we should follow with how generous we are with our time, then why should it be any different with how generous we are with our money?

Maybe we, again with myself included, can consider arranging all our other (yet still highly important) finances based on the 90% we have AFTER tithing, or maybe even less than that if feasible. We all give according to our blessings and our own individual situations, so it’s definitely all relative, but let’s try not to ruffle through our change and give God just what we have leftover. If we are asked to give it all, let us give it willingly, and also give our leftovers if even then that’s all we have left.

You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him; because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. [Deuteronomy 15:10]

Do you know what your crosses are? They come to us through various ways and manifest themselves in our lives in so many shapes and forms. We’ve heard it said that we should learn how to ’embrace our crosses’ – this is one of those things that is easier said than done, and nearly impossible to do if we haven’t recognized that that “something” in our life is in itself a cross. Similar to curing a disease, one can’t begin to find a cure if they don’t first recognize the source, the symptoms and the makings of the problem at hand.

Our Lord knew very well what He would have to endure and still chose to embrace His cross. He literally and figuratively took up His cross for our sakes, and continues to perform that same sacrifice daily out of pure love for us.

No two crosses are the same, and only God knows why we’ve been given the ones that we have. Crosses come in different weights, are made of different wood, bear unique significances and markings, but are all hand picked for each of us with purpose.

Lord, help us to recognize then accept the crosses You willingly share with us, and teach us how to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow You.

How often have we found ourselves in this situation? No matter how many times God has proven to us that we need not worry about His better plans, we still don’t trust that He knows what He is doing!

“Ask, and it will be given you”

This doesn’t necessarily mean that we can ask, receive, and then simply keep expecting to just receive. Sometimes we need to realize that in order to receive certain things we must first be willing to give up other things too. The key word being willing because God will never force things on us or force things from us.

Loosen the grip, Isay, loosen the grip.

How self-aware do you think you are?

The other day I was on the streetcar on my regular commute home from work and there was a woman standing carrying her newborn baby. This is your typical everyday situation that most of us run into, which comes in various forms like the elderly person crossing the street or the pregnant woman on the bus. Especially in the concrete jungle that is known as Toronto, where everyone is rushing to get from point A to point B, it’s very easy to keep your head down and mind your own business. Not to “blow my own horn”, but I couldn’t help notice that I was the only person, on this overly packed streetcar, that offered her my seat (which she kindly declined and didn’t actually end up taking by the way).

I have some qualms about the idea of “self-awareness”. I think the key is actually found in realizing that maybe we’re too self-aware these days, and in many ways and many times, to a fault. We are trained to be uber conscious of who we are, how we feel, what we are doing, where we are headed. Obtaining a certain level of awareness of one’s self is helpful, but only if we use this consciousness for the betterment of God and others, and not for the sole purpose of pursuing and pushing our own interests.

Are we training ourselves to be just as aware of the ‘other’? How many times a day do we think about our well being compared to the well being of others? The person who needs a seat, the person who needs our prayers, the person who needs an ear or a shoulder – not only to look out for those we hold dear to our hearts, but especially for those we may not even recognize we are called to be an instrument for.

It’s a funny thing that sometimes when we are overburdened with our own crosses it only takes looking at the crosses of others to realize that ours are actually lighter than we originally thought. Maybe then the key to self-awareness is being aware of how much the ‘other’ needs us to be more aware of them, rather than being more aware of ourself.

“Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” [Galatians 6:2]

It’s true that God wants only good things for us. At the end of the day, whether that day was good or bad, filled with struggles or joys, He ultimately always wants what is good for us. However, it’s an important distinction to make that this doesn’t mean that all good things are for us, regardless of how good they may be.

God creates good opportunities, good people, good talents, good experiences, but not all of them meant for each and every one of us. I realized that I compare myself to others a lot – a lot! I compare who I am, what I have, what they have, what i’ve done, where i’m going…and the list goes on. It’s something that I noticed about myself a long time ago, and at times it drove me to want better for myself, but at other times it still just causes me to selfishly question if God really knows what’s good for me.

It takes a constant daily reminder to remember how abundant and endless His love is, and that He really does know what I need and will provide.

“Not everything which is better in itself is better for each man in particular” – St. Philip Neri

 

For the past year now I’ve been telling myself, and others, how great it is to let God surprise you.

Just the other day I was on the phone with a friend who had some bad news to share. Initially I thought the phone call would be one where I’d be picking little pieces of their heart off the floor doing my best to help them put it back together. I was almost completely wrong, and somehow with God’s grace there was immense peace, clarity, and joy that this ‘bad’ news allowed to blossom. It’s true that at certain times when we’re in the thick of things and caught up in what’s going on it can be easy to forget that God is working in the background – He is constantly working in our favour.

The moments when we forget who He is are usually the moments when He catches us off guard. I know that I often unknowingly put limits on Him, which in turn puts limits on what is possible – for myself, my service, my efforts, my choices, etc. As an events planner at work it’s literally my job to plan (something I love to do in general), but in everyday life there comes a time when you have to trust that you’ve done your part. You’ve planned as much as you could, made concrete steps to carry out those plans, but then let the Lord surprise you with His own plans and His way of how things will unfold. It’s not always clear in the beginning, but usually with time we see just how many times His surprises have been in our favour out of pure and unconditional love for us.