Embrace – Day 5

These are my current service roles:

1. YCOM Area head of Vancouver
2. YCOM (1/2) National Program Head
3. Mission Volunteer (Vancouver Missions Sea-to-Sky Chapter)

Throughout the past year and a half or so, it’s been difficult to find a balance.  When one of them seems to flourish, the others seem to suffer.  When all of these seem to flourish, my personal, family, and faith life seems to suffer.  Why is it that the Lord blesses us with so many ways to honour Him, yet when we try to take everything on, we fail?

Simple.  We fail because life turns in to a checklist.  Life turns in to a series of challenges that we have to overcome, tasks that we need to complete, goals that we need to attain.  Yes, we are called to make sacrifices in our life and we are called to overcome adversities.  But moreover, we are called to do all of this with faith, hope and charity.  Our Lord God endured his “mission” by way of embracing not simply by carrying.

A missionary heart doesn’t grow through an accomplishment or service.  It grows through intimate love of the Lord.  From that intimacy, everything comes easy.  Time is managed.  We learn to prioritize.  From establishing that deep love for God, he takes care of everything else – whether it’s through the gifts of the Holy Spirit or His sanctifying grace.  We must remember that we don’t serve the Lord expecting for something in return.  We serve the Lord simply because we love Him.  Just as we greet our friends, the first thing we think about is embracing them out of sincere love for them, not “are they going to reciprocate the feelings” or “will they hug me back”.

Our service should be as simple as an embrace.

I was once asked by someone who wasn’t in the community or a Catholic how it was like serving or being part of a church.  He was always so curious why I would spend my weekends losing sleep instead of partying or expanding my network.  He was also very curious as to why I would attend the Holy Mass at Holy Rosary every lunch instead of going to the Pub with them.

More precisely he asked: “How does it feel to be a church-goer?” (out of sincere curiousity).
I remember saying exactly: “It feels like God is constantly embracing me.”

I didn’t realize at the time just what exactly I was saying, however little did I know just how right I was.