Author: Liezl Mary

Echo-reco

“It is easy to love.. It is easy to love!

Why? – because God is Love” (Kuya John A.)

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This evening, SFC Central’s service team for the Regional Conference gathered together at our Recollection. My heart has been looking forward to our brothers and sisters to gather as one for the final send-off before recon for the past wks as the blessed memories of past recollections before previous conferences came to mind.

As Pentecost was just celebrated last Sunday, each of us present tonight were very blessed to receive the grace of hearing the Lord’s voice loud and clear through our anointed speaker.

We had the opportunity to revisit our anchor Scripture verse, John 21: 15-17, visually in a video clip. We were able to take time to reflect on our posture leading up to this beloved Re-Con. We were blessed to hear much needed reminders- the gift of Counsel and we received the Lord’s love, consolation, and mercies through encouragement, only by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord met each of us where we were.. spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally. He only desired that we lifted up our whole hearts to Him, that we offered it all to Him, “Lord, this is what we have. Please take it, we surrender it to You. All for Your glory. Trusting always in Your Love.”

We worshipped together, this precious gift of praising our Almighty Father as sisters and brothers, one family. And not only through the joyous, powerful, and amazing gift of music and song; we came together even more intimately in smaller groups to open up and share our hearts with one another. And, we were given time to reflect  and discuss how the Holy Spirit has moved in our lives and when we’ve last experienced a Pentecost like those did in the “Upper Room”.

We experience Pentecost every time we let our hearts speak “Come, Holy Spirit, come!”, when we open our hearts to receive the Holy Eucharist and precious Blood of Jesus Christ during the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, and simply, truly, every moment we’re blessed with life for we are baptized in the Holy Spirit and profess our faith in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

May we continue to open our hearts to yield to His  Holy Spirit that we may be filled, bear His fruits, ask & receive every Gift!, so that we always recognize He lives, abides, dwells within us and each other, that we will never cease in praying for each other, and only grow in purity, faith, hope, and the LOVE our God gives freely!

Thank you Blessed Mama Mary for your constant care, protection, and intercession!

St. Peter, the apostle, pray for us.

Amen.

 

 

 

Charity

One of Blessed Mother Teresa’s favourite prayers which she recited every day after Holy Mass and the sisters of her founded order, Missionaries of Charity, continue to do is Radiating Christ.
Here is the prayer:
Dear Jesus,
help me to spread your fragrance
everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your Spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly
that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me and be so in me that every soul
I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up, and see no longer me, but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I will begin to shine as Your shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from You;
none of it will be mine.
It will be You, shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You in the way You love best,
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but
by example, by the catching force, the sympathetic
influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my
heart bears for You.
Amen.

Along this path of seeking to grow in God’s love and by His grace, this journey of discernment for the vocation He has planned for this life He’s blessed me with, I was presented this prayer.
One of my past CFC-Youth couple coordinators was truly a beautiful and strong instrument, for it was her who gave me the contact info. to get in touch with the Mother Superior of this order in hopes to speak with her in 2013. After 3 months, I finally accepted the invitation from God, was blessed with the chance to meet her, and spent a good amount of time during that summer at their convent. It was there that the sister offered a few copies of this prayer and I recognized it was the one they faithfully prayed each day after Holy Mass.
It was one of the beginning and active steps our Blessed Mother Mary helped me to take in this walk with and towards our Lord Jesus Christ in discerning His will; and I cherish every teaching, prayer, grace, their openness, experience, the time of sheer simplicity and quietness amidst uncertainties I shared with them. I have been grateful to dive into seeking, learning, and desiring His virtue of charity.
This is a longing in my heart and a prayer I try to revisit constantly, indeed, after Holy Mass, for our loving Father to purify my intentions. May they see You Lord, not me. May we radiate You and shine Your light as Your Word made flesh tells us. Then, wholly trust in every act, deed, service, and word that follows is led by Your Holy Spirit in hopes that we may truly live charity, and love charitably our neighbours.

Charity in Latin is “caritas” which means Christian love of humankind; 
one of the virtues.
– Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus had said, “Above all I have learned that charity must not remain shut up in the depths of our hearts . . .”
Last Sunday, our Church celebrated the tremendous Feast of His Divine Mercy. Mercy . . . Jesus’ beloved daughter, Saint Faustina, who obediently spread the Lord’s message of Divine Mercy had shared to us His instructions.
He tells us, “I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbours always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse yourself from it . . . Even the strongest faith is of no avail without works.”
– – –
May we all open up our hearts, allow His Holy Spirit to penetrate and flood our souls with His graces, grow in virtue, and thus, show mercy, love, and charity to all we encounter. May we all encounter Christ.
Amen.

The Great Amen

(Easter Wednesday, April 8, 2015)
At mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist: presenting the gifts, the specific actions of the priest being ready for something dramatic to occur, the Eucharistic Prayer “Lift up your hearts!” (Col 3:1-2) the moment we should want our heart to unite with God, the moment our reverence in the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy!) should have us bowing down moreso, to the words of Institution and Consecration with our memorial of Jesus Christ giving of Himself as the Lamb- His body, His blood, concludes with
The Great Amen.
“We sign . . . we affirm all the priest has said.”
This afternoon during mass, our priest surprisingly and tenderly allowed us to witness the Gift of the Holy Spirit – counsel. After most us present said “Amen”, he looked up and basically asked us where is your Amen? and encouraged, exhorted us all to repeat this great response. What a humbling and blessed opportunity. It is truly not something we would normally expect to occur. Praise be to God for this grace and mercy to be awakened and give more of ourselves, our Amen, our “yes”.
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We hear it said in the Gospel, “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37 NRSVCE).
“I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, to swim against the tide;
yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes that you are incapable of responsibility, that you are incapable of true love.
I have confidence in you and I pray for you.
Have the courage ‘to swim against the tide.’
Have the courage to be happy.” (Pope Francis)
Amen!

You are Blessed

(Holy Thursday, April 2’15)
As soon as His grace, our Archbishop Richard Gagnon, came down upon one knee and tenderly took hold of the first parishioner’s foot for him to wash, a grace from God opened wide the eyes of my heart and stilled my soul. In that moment, an utter striking and gentle fire burned in my heart as the Holy Spirit allowed me to fully realize and recognize Love.
This is You, Jesus, this is You. How are You kneeling there in the most humble position before me, before each of us?
Our Lord… yes, Your love for us is beyond measure. At this very moment, You remind us how our ways are not Your ways. But, no, let us not get distracted or discouraged; let us simply look before us, here, You go before us.
May we know who goes before us.
You want to tenderly reveal how deeply You love us and came to be a servant of all.
You desire to take care of each of us and show compassion. You desire to humble Yourself above all else, yet You are God. You are our King, our Father, our Creator, our Author. But, You are God and You are Love.
You are Love and Mercy itself. And, You desire for Your children to know Your model of humility to trust in Your Mercy.
Our aim is loving You, Lord Jesus Christ, by trusting in You.
– – –
“It is there that I will know You and You will know me – in the silence of the heart, You speak.” (Audrey Assad)
– – –
“Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” . . .
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 
You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 
So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 
For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 
Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.
If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13: 8, 12-16 NRSVCE)