Author: OJ Rivera

Long time no see (??…read?? idk lol).

Back at it again, an attempt to return back to this. Almost 6 months since my last post, and 6 months of so many things that have happened. (Don’t worry I journaled all those moments, so I won’t forget hehe).

But let’s start with this first,

The ways of the Lord are not comfortable. But we were not created for comfort, but for greatness.

– Pope Benedict XVI

Magnanimity, which means “greatness of soul,” is a virtue wherein we pursue all that is great and honourable in the eyes of God, even if it is difficult. Don’t mistake this as an antonym of humility, don’t worry I did at first, but look at it as using all the gifts and abilities God has given you and using all of it as best as you can. An acknowledgement that all that we have is from God, and thus for God.

I know of my talents, and it is quite a lot (not bragging at all, just making a point lol). But rather than using all these gifts and abilities to the best of my ability, I would only meet halfway on many of these things. Satisfied with only good, and not great. Mostly because I didn’t want to stand out fully and meet all the hard work that came with it, or risk any sort of failure…I wanted to be comfortable in what I was doing. As I’m reflecting on this note, I am beginning to see just how often I do this. Not only in the big things, but even in the small things much like these blog posts/reflections. I know I can do these, however its something that I don’t usually do, putting myself out there especially on a medium and platform such as this where everyone can read it. And in doing so, I had this made-up expectation to make sure I had to have epic reflections, thought-provoking notes, and insane punchlines/one-liners. But when I slowly came to realize that that wasn’t coming easy, I easily fell off from writing. Afraid of not writing great posts and not willing to risk it.

As a matter of fact, until just recently, I’ve somewhat taken that convenient pathway in my journey as a Mission Volunteer. A path where I was comfortable with the problems I face in the West Sector or Windsor, comfortable with just going to work then a meeting then go home, comfortable with basically everything. But in these past 2 months, the Lord had shaken me again as if I had been daydreaming the 4 months prior. And so, with our MV teaching night on magnanimity, I am reminded as to why things aren’t going according to plan recently, or why its been a difficult and tiring 2 months. Because just as Mother Teresa said, “We are called to be faithful, not successful,” so too has the Lord challenged me to stay faithful regardless of where I find myself.

And so, let’s not take this post as a reset, a start from square one, but let’s take it as a “Nice to see you again!”.

My name is Ohmar Jericho Rivera, 22 years old and a mission volunteer for Couples for Christ. As I share my ongoing journey, I hope that you pray for me as I continue on this journey, just as I pray for you.

AMDG.

#ONRouteToHeaven

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

– Matthew 9:9

[December 31, 2015 – Around 10AM]

Plans were set, goals in mind already brewing and processing. No changes to be made. Simply, another year at hand. Where would Hamilton-St. Catherine’s go next year? What is the state of music ministry in the area? My last term of university is about to begin, what next?

I thought I had it all figured out. The ship was ready to sail – actually it was ready to coast. On this day everything was set for cruising, like a plane about to reach cruising altitude. All I had to do was prepare for the New Years Eve party later that night.

[December 31, 2015 – 6PM]

I saw that I had missed a call from the GTA Area CC and thought it was something regarding the upcoming Regional Youth Conference, possibly to serve as a committee/sub-committee head. As I slid my finger left-to-right on their contact, to initiate the phone call, my mind was blank. It was already cruising. But then the Lord decided to shake things up. By the end of the call, what was once calm and cruising suddenly became a frenzy of what-ifs and constant measuring of pros and cons. I was asked to serve as the GTA West Sector head.

As the countdown continued, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5….., externally I was present but internally I had waged a war in my heart and mind.

[November 29, 2016]

As cliché as it sounds, who would’ve thought that in the span of 8 hours, or one day, that my life changed. Like Matthew, I was in my booth of comfort. I could just stay there, do my job, meet the bare minimum and continue moving forward. But in the same way, there was a plan set for Matthew, and he was called out from the comforts of his booth. And like for me, I was brought out of the comforts of my mind. God called me to step out in order to follow Him.

This reading has been speaking to me for a while now, because of how life-changing two simple words could be. Or in my case, how a calling could be so simple and not complex. All that is ever asked of us is to follow Him. No need to overcomplicate and overthink. No need to weigh one option versus another. Once Matthew was called, he simply got up and followed.

And so, each and every day of this year, the Lord has definitely called me to follow Him through many different challenges. I never knew where He would lead me, but each and every time I entrusted things to the Lord, He blessed me abundantly.

I can desire a lot of things, I can plan for things, adjusting them according to the present circumstances. However, when the Lord calls, I know that the only thing I should do, the only thing that any one of us should do, is to leave behind everything, answering that call and follow Him.

AMDG.

As I am writing this, it’s about 3 hours until I turn 22 *cue Taylor Swift LOL*. And today also is Canadian Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving!!

As a kid, I never really appreciated having my birthday most of the time being around thanksgiving weekend. I always saw it as a hindrance to the special day that which is my birthday. Celebrations would either be postponed because of Thanksgiving plans, or it’d simply be combined with Thanksgiving dinners because it was a lot easier to do so. Now of course, this isn’t like having your birthday on Christmas, which I thought sucked because you would only get one set of presents rather than double lol. But now that I’ve become more aware of myself, spiritually especially, I am more appreciative and understanding of the significance of having Thanksgiving and my birthday fall around the same time.

And especially in the past few years, I began to not associate my birthday as a means of receiving gifts, but instead I began to see the gifts I have at those moments and the gifts I have received from God the past year.

Today, I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving in the best way possible, by going to Mass. All that I have received in the past year, all the good, successes, beautiful things and even the things that aren’t so good, all come from God. And in today’s Mass I reflected on this one thought that to practice gratitude should never lie on a solitary day but rather be practiced every single day, hour, minute, and second of our lives. And what better way to give thanks than to go to Mass.

Thank You Lord for another year, for blessing me with a life that I can use to proclaim Your greatness. Thank You for all the ups and downs, for the times of victory and times of defeat, that in each moment I have grown closer to You. Thank you for all the people in my life, for my family, my friends, and even the strangers I encounter. I thank You for everything, and I continue to entrust all things to You.

AMDG.

I have been a Mission Volunteer for CFC in CFC-Youth for about 5 months now. Praise the Lord for a very fruitful 5 months so far. The one thing I have been affirmed by over and over again these past 5 months, is how providential God is and how beautiful His plans are for me.

These 5 months as an MV has been mostly occupied by the busiest part of the year for the CFC community, it was conference season. At the time that these conferences were happening I hadn’t realized this, but I was able to attend and serve at almost every family ministry conference this year. Starting with the CFC conference in Ottawa, then to the CFCY True North Festival, then to the first-ever Family Conference in Metro, and finally the SFC TNC which just recently happened earlier this month. The fact that these conferences were all hosted in Ottawa, GTA and Hamilton-St. Catharines made it even more possible to be a part of these conferences.

Now of course these conferences meant busy times in my schedule. Trying to balance service, MV duties, households, family and friends altogether was difficult. However, the Lord never left me unaided nor empty-handed. Each and every conference, the Lord revealed to me over and over again, just how good He has been to me. *cue Audrey Assad*

The best part was that He ended the conference season with a bang. Having transitioned into SFC just this year, this year’s SFC TNC was going to be my first one. The theme of the TNC was Christ Bound, and reflecting on it now, it was such a beautiful way to encompass the whole journey I had been on so far through the 5 months. Time and time again, especially in my reflections, the notion of busy-ness really resonated within me. It wasn’t looking at busy-ness as a hindrance but rather as another opportunity to serve God and to bring Christ to others. This busy-ness doesn’t take away the fact that my body would become tired from it all (I actually got a fever after all the conferences ended, praise God I rested and got better tho!). Anyways, to respond to my focus on the busy-ness, the Lord used the SFC TNC to take a rest stop. Everything about this SFC TNC was so pivotal for my own journey as an MV. The schedule wasn’t as hectic nor as packed, so my body wasn’t dead tired. There was Latin low mass, confessions, benediction after every mass, AND perpetual adoration. God was literally available every minute of the weekend. And so this very conference, in all that it had and offered, was God’s response to me. No matter how busy things would become, the one thing that remains constant is His presence in the midst of everything. God has been and will be there in every situation. It all comes down to whether or not we are leading ourselves and others to God. At the end of the day we are all destined to be with God, we are all Christ Bound. From this well-needed rest stop, I am reminded to constantly pursue Christ and travel towards Christ.

AMDG.

(August 31, 2016)

Talk to any Christian youth or young adult and ask them what their favourite worship song is?

More often than not, you will hear a song written by Hillsong. And more often than not, singing a line in the verse or chorus will easily garner the interest of those around you. Whether it’s the classics like “Here I am to Worship”, the recent ones like “Touch The Sky” and everything in between, there is a sort of relationship or attachment we have to the songs of prayer. And hearing more and more of their songs, I knew it was one thing to listen to their Live Albums, but another to actually experience it first-hand. And so for a good 6 years I hoped and dreamed of attending a Hillsong concert, building up the experience in my head. Imagining singing the same song with thousands of other Christians.

And it was during their Zion tour that I got to finally experience it. The best part of this experience was that a majority of the concert they played their classics and hit songs. Being able to finally translate my dreams while singing in the car to reality inside an arena, I came to a realization (through another brother with the same reflection) that the concert itself wasn’t fulfilling. For sure, it was great singing all these songs that I jammed to, but there was something missing, something was lacking — and that was Jesus Christ.

This all became a sudden realization; what’s greater than singing the worship songs that I love?Receiving Christ. What’s greater than singing with thousands of other people in that arena?Receiving Christ with Catholics all across the globe. What’s greater than sharing these songs and still singing the songs we love after the concert? Receiving Christ and sharing Christ to whomever we encounter.

When we receive the Holy Eucharist at Mass, we receive Jesus Christ and we become walking tabernacles. We become the vessels of Christ and the messenger of God’s love to all. And over my spiritual journey I have continued to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Holy Mass. What was once thought of as a Catholic task done once a week has now become the very essence of who I am, of who we are, as bearers of Christ’s love, grace and mercy.

These songs may only be memorable when brought up, but the Lord is truly present all the time within us.

AMDG.

(August 25, 2016)

This past weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the SFC CLP in Niagara Falls. The great blessing from attending the CLP was the opportunity to become a participant again. In fact, it has been about 9-10 years since I joined CFC-Youth, 9 years since I went to my first conference as a participant. That many years since I was not involved in the planning, in the busy-ness, in the stresses of an event. This experience was more than hearing the familiar teachings about God’s love, about who Jesus Christ is, about repentance and faith, about the power of the Holy Spirit, and about upholding the Christian ideal. Instead, I was reaffirmed of what I was called to do in my life, that in everything that we do and in everything we are, it all must lead to Christ.

How we present ourselves, how we conduct ourselves in our day to day lives, if they do not lead ourselves and others to Christ, then we are doing it wrong. It’s not that we are being controlled, rather, if we are to present Christ and be Christ then we must do it excellently.

Now it doesn’t take a person to go to a camp or a CLP to understand this. This is the very purpose we have in our lives. As for us in the community of Couples For Christ, it is in our very name that we highlight the calling and challenge we are called to, we are called to be For Christ. We are not youth for vanity, youth for materialism, youth for self-absorption, youth for evil…we are Youth for Christ. Singles for Christ. Yes it is difficult, yes we will fail at times, yes we will struggle, but let us remember that Christ too suffered for our sake and carried the cross. Therefore we must also carry ours.

Most merciful and loving God, empower us, inspire us, move us, and use us. In times of good and bad, may we continue to draw closer to You, for You are the everlasting source of life. May our mind, body and soul proclaim Your love and may it lead not only ourselves, but others as well, to You.

AMDG.