Author: Kyle Beley

Praise God for a wonderful experience at the TNC in BC. Words could not describe the overwhelming joy that was in my heart in moments like: 1300+ worshipping, Adoration on Saturday evening, during mass on all 3 days, and many more. Also, being called to be the program head along with the Ruiz’s and Hannah was such a blessed experience that I will never forget.

As I leave the airport in BC, my mindset was … “Reflect, Reflect, Reflect”. I wanted to take everything in, process and hear the God speaking to me so that I can realize how to love Him, myself and others more. What came to me was:

1. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE – This is one of the resounding messages for me personally that I have heard throughout and after my TNC experience. Despite the emptiness and loneliness I may feel or obtain, the Lord will always be there for me in the Church, the community and through other people. “The Holy Spirit will always be with you, as long as you ask, seek, knock. I am with you.”

2. YOU ARE THE BRIDGE – Some people say it is hard to be an evangelist because sometimes people who do not know the faith at all find it hard to understand our conviction and love for God. A good example of this can be in our own families who are not in the community. Sometimes we tend to ignore them because we feel they wont “understand” what we go through. But really, those are the people who need to be the most loving towards. Father Robert explains it really well in his youtube video on “Intentional Discipleship”. It has come to me that as a missionary, which we are all called to be, we are to be the bridge to those who do not know the faith or who are not convicted in Jesus’ saving grace.

How do we become a good bridge?

Simply being kind, generous, loving and implementing the gospel in our words and actions. Yes it is good to know the doctrines of the church but showing Christ in the simplest way will be more effective in helping others realize Christ more. We have the inexhaustible word of God in our hearts to share to those who long for Christ. As St. Augustine says, we all long and desire for God whether we are an atheist or convicted catholic.

And that’s the good news. We all LONG for GOD.

We are all called to be the bridge for others to realize Christ. To plant seeds on good, thorny, rocky or even bad soil, referring to all people. Let’s do a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) to everyone everyday.

 

“The First Pentecost does not remain only limited in the moment but is an event that is renewed and renews itself again. Christ glorified at the right (hand) of the father, continues to realize his promise, sending the Holy Spirit to enliven the church who teaches and reminds us and makes us speak. The Holy Spirit is the interior teacher, guiding us along the path throughout the situations of life.”

– POPE FRANCIS

Since this year, I always here about Pentecost Sunday and the story of pentecost but never really took it to heart. Going to Neepawa for a Mission trip (2.5 hours away from Winnipeg, MB) and attending mass at St. Dominic’s Parish, I was really overwhelmed by how important the Holy Spirit is and should be in our lives.

He is the third person of the Trinity and gave birth to Jesus and the church. He is the one that strengthen and empowers us during those hard and difficult times. He is the one who lets us go beyond our human nature so that we can defeat evil.

He is one with God the Father and the Son.

Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit so that He may dwell in our hearts and give us the strength and courage to go beyond what we are capable of doing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

 

Guard your heart… we hear that said often and usually referring to courtship or lovelife and protecting yourself from a relationship that might not be beneficial for you.

Recently, I just came back from a blessed trip back home to Ontario. It was such a blessing seeing my family, which consists of my parents, sisters, brother in law, my nieces, brothers and sisters in the community, and one of my best friends. Not only that, I was able to see my GG, Norelle Rose Cuevas.

Praise God for all the joy, laughter, relaxation and time spent together with people I dearly loved. The challenge was, since I was in the comfort of my own home and province, there were so many times where I was tempted to let my guard down and not protect it from the evil one.

It can be hard at times especially when we get distracted from things that we might think bring us happiness, especially as a missionary. I was reminded during this trip that if we believe in Jesus and what He says, then we must give our whole heart to Him. No excuses. And not only we should give our whole life to Him but also ask His help to protect our heart so that it may be focused on His.

Ask to protect our heart so that it may be focused on His. Guarding our hearts should not only be towards courtship and lovelife, but also towards the evil one.

the question is, “What should I protect / guard my heart from?”

Lord Jesus, I asked through the intercession Mother Mary, to protect and guard our hearts from the things that bring us farther away from you, whatever it may be. Amen.

“Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart which no unworthy thought can drag downwards; an unconquered heart which no tribulation can wear out; an urpright heart which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you and faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

Amen.

Dear Blog,

What a blessed and fruitful trip to Saskatoon this weekend. I really did not know what to expect. The Big Sky Mission trip team needed to really rely on the Lord and trust in His plan that everything was going to “Work out”.

Funny story before I move on.

On the way to Saskatoon, which was an 8 hour drive by the way, one of the brothers in the car was sick and had a runny nose. It came to a point where he was sniffilin’ every 5-10 seconds and desperately needed some tissue to blow his nose. Therefore, we looked around in the van for some.

Looking throughly for a box of kleenex or even paper napkins from McDonalds or something (Sometimes we take too much and just leave it in our cars… right?), we had no luck. But, we found some wipes.

Score. We only had one problem. They were labelled “Tender Toughness” and were used to clean hard surfaces… WOMP WOMP.

Before we jumped to any conclusions, we wanted to check if the wipes were harmful when used on human skin. So, we checked the back to make sure that it was okay to use to blow the brother’s nose. We found the caution section but to our surprise it said, “COMMON SENSE CAUTION” which it then listed out all the things you should not do, including: do not rub on eyes, do not inhale, do not consume, etc.

Common sense caution? It actually said that.

As Catholics, we believe in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We believe in many other things that brings joy to our heart and leads us to the everlasting kingdom which God has prepared for us.

It seems as if this should be common sense to us. It seems as though the teachings of the church, the sacraments, and loving thy neighbour as ourselves should not even be second guessed or even thought about. It should just be done.

But, of course, we tend to forget. We tend to let our human-ness take over us and we lose sight of what it truly means to have common sense in our heart. Christ in our heart. Christ in what we do, what we say and Him we believe in.

Actually, it should be more than common sense… it should be the only sense in our hearts. Christ in our hearts. It is also should be common sense that our Mother Mary should be the one who brings us closest to Her son.

But then sometimes I justify and say, “its hard sometimes” or “but he/she didn’t deserve to be given my love” or “I’ll just do this one time… no one will know.”

Lord, heavenly Father, grant us the strength and grace to know you more and more so that our heart resides in you.

 

 

 

My reflection is taken from Nathaniel Abarca, KFC Program head here in the Big Sky Region.

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In Upper HH with CG we were asked to reflect on what Lent means to us and I just wanted to share what Lent means to me!

If you guys can remember my last reflection, I stated that the kingdom on this earth will perish and all of its contents but the kingdom of the Lord is eternal. Take this and apply it to working out. I often found my only working out for the sole purpose of looking good but truly this is not the reason the Lord called me to the life I have and for His Son to expire. — Sooo vain right? My body will totes (Totally) deteriorate and be old(er)– But truly the calling is to live a life of good health and in reflection it came across to me that good health means so much. If we aren’t physically ready for the mission, how are we gna get up out of bed and truly be read to be send out where He wants us?

This garnered a change from bulking season to CUTTING season (reduction of weight in muscles to produce a better tone ie less fat). More cardio, more stamina to do more work for the Lord in being physically able to go out on His mission!

Now in Lent we are called to fast — usually taking away something that inhibits you– right? But take this into consideration: we are called to CUT! Cut in fat to be ready for the mission physically in my case. But we are called to cut things out of our lives that inhibit us from fulfilling the mission EMOTIONALLY, SPIRITUALLY, AND MENTALLY in fulfillment of our Lord’s calling “DENY OURSELVES AND TAKE UP OUR CROSSES”

And truly by this, Lent is the ULTIMATE CUTTING SEASON to be fully ready for the Lord in His resurrection!!

Oh Father in Heaven help us take up our crosses so that Yours may be that much lighter!

In the Mighty name of Jesus, through the intercession of Mary and Saints Benedict of Nursia, Michael the Archangel, and Padre Pio.
AMEN.

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It was really nice to hear His reflection for this evening’s Area  Household. He was actually the first one to share and had the least amount of time to think of what to say. He has so much to offer and I am so glad that the Lord has blessed Him with the ardor and desire to preach the Lord’s “Word” (PROMO… GO TO RYC!)  accurately and passionately.

Praise God for Him. Praise God for the Brothers. Praise God for our struggles that we continue to experience in order to grow.

Answered Prayers.

So, Ash Wednesday is tomorrow. Its about that time to think of that “FAST” we are to give up.

What will yours be? Candy? Chocolate? Facebook? Instagram?

What does this fast mean to you? …

…This form of “Discipline” during this lent season.

Lent is a special time of prayer, penance, sacrifice, and good works in preparation for the celebration of Easter. So will this fast be something good for our souls and prepare ourselves more fervently for Christ’s ultimate passion? Will this fast make us a better person permanently?

Or will this fast be something stop after lent, which might continue darkening our souls?

Back to discipline.

In my younger days, I was disciplined A LOT because my parents and sisters knew I was and would get in a lot of trouble. They did it out of love for me… because they cared. I was so blind to see that this discipline was not only for a period of time, but it was enforced for me to come out of the darkness and become a better person for the future.

This fast not only shows love to our God but it’s actually a gift from God for us to become better sons and daughters for Him. He cares. He loves. He will do anything to show it. Sacrifice is one way, if not the ultimate way.

Our fast, if we give it up for the greater glory of God, lets tough it out. Lets not act like those Pharisees back in the day who found loop holes. Lets also pay special emphasis on becoming more spiritual, attending mass more often, having a good confession, spending time in Adoration and just ultimately loving and sharing God’s more.

For this 2014 Lenten season, I pray that our lives are renewed with a deeper understanding of Christ and relationship with Him.

Deo Gloria.