Prep

Lord, allow me to simply be empty only to be filled by You. You know the ways of where I am going, and only you know the reasons to why these things happen.

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to Your name, O Most high, proclaiming your love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night; to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by Your deeds Lord; I sing for joy at what Your hands have done. How great are Your works, Lord, how profound are Your thoughts. Senseless people do not know, fools do not understand, that though the wicked spring out like grass, and evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. Psalm 92:1-7

Cristi Crux Est Mea Lux

Purgative Way

When I think of purgatory, I immediately think of suffering and pain but suffering and pain with a purpose, and that purpose is to be purified for Heaven. Truly, there is no other way to salvation except by way of the cross, and ultimately the Cross of Jesus Christ. No wonder the saints embraced suffering and so many saw their cross as the greatest gift from God. It is because by their cross, the Lord has sanctified and made them holy. Now they are in Heaven. The saints voluntarily experienced “purgatory” on earth so that they were already pure enough to be in Heaven.

Original Sin is the reason we need purging. Because of the fall of Adam and Even, we have become very prone to sin. The fall has caused us to be very ignorant and susceptible to the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have sinned more numerous times than there are stars in the sky—in our thoughts, our words, in what we have done, and what we have failed to do. The sins we have committed and stil commit have injured our nature and we are in need of great repair. Yes, we are forgiven of our sins in Confession, but our tendency to sin still remains and that’s the “broken window” that committing sin leaves behind. There is a need for us to be purged of our bad habits and tendencies to sin.

Praise God for our life here on Earth where we can in this lifetime be purged, illuminated  and unified to God. We need to be aware of our sinfulness and weakness so that we can allow God’s grace to sanctify us evermore. If we are striving to be saints, then we must strive to know our sins, the darkness of our intellect, and weakness of our will. We must know with all that we are, our weakness without the constant presence and grace of God. Let us never be confident in our works or our ways. Let us not let pride fool us into thinking even for a moment, that we don’t need God.

I think the people in purgatory want to be there. It’s hard to imagine that because like I said earlier, when I think of Purgatory, I think of suffering and pain. I think those in purgatory want to suffer and want to be in pain because they can see more clearly than ever, the purpose of their suffering and pain. The suffering comes from the purging, cleansing, purifying, and refining sanctifying grace of God. By the intercession of others, they are being made perfect for Heaven. Let us learn from our brothers and sisters in the Church Suffering, that our suffering always has a purpose.

As for us, we are even more blessed. Unlike those in purgatory, we, the Church Militant, have access to the limitless fountain of grace and mercy in the Sacraments. We don’t have to wait for Purgatory to be purified for Heaven. We can take advantage of all prayers and Sacraments the Lord has given us. We can, with our lives, love God and our neighbour very concretely.

I don’t think suffering is something God intentionally causes to punish us but it’s something He allows. He allows it so that a greater good to come from it. Greater good such as getting rid of a bad habit, growing more in virtue, forgiveness and mercy between family members and loved ones, uniting of relationships, and so much more. However, the ultimate greater good that comes from suffering is our eternal salvation and communion with God.

“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” —2 Cor. 17–18

Let us not be afraid of suffering but embrace it, and always see it as a necessity for the sanctification and salvation of our souls. Let us never forget that to follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily.

Praise God for our cross. Praise God for our suffering. Praise God for the eternal glory that awaits us in Christ Jesus. Amen!

God’s perfect time

I was at a CLP graduation last Saturday and was listening to the sharing of the new members. One of the new members shared how many have invited them to the CLP and they finally attended and finished – in God’s perfect time.

Flashback to God’s love story with me. My journey with Couples for Christ started in 1996, when our good couple friend invited us to attend the Christian Life Program. I was always a person who mocked religious groups. After each session I attended, I would laugh and make fun of the people who were worshipping, raising my hands in mockery and my wife would comment on how bad I was. We lasted only 3 talks (my friend gave the third talk, if he gave the first talk, we would have lasted only 1 talk). I was so worried on how the CLP was a huge commitment and burden and would totally interfere with my social life.

Three years passed and yet God, through my friend, never gave up on me. Through those years, he would constantly invite me to the CLP and I would always smile and give the lamest excuse I could think of. But going through a period of difficult time was the “St. Paul” moment of awakening for me. During this time, my friend continued to support me, no matter what. One day, after all the difficulties were finally resolved, I asked my friend why he was always there to help and he answered, “Because you are my brother”. That was such a powerful blow on me and I was in tears, and I realized how much God was continuing to reach out to me in spite of the mockery and insults I poured on His people. It made me realize that there must be something good in the members of CFC. Lastly, I would have no excuse anymore not to attend the CLP because the next CLP would in our neighborhood church; only two minutes drive at the most.

We finally attended on July 5, 1999 and had almost perfect attendance (we missed only one session due to my brother’s wedding). That date was also significant in my life as it was the day when I finally quit smoking after being a two pack a day smoker.

Truly, God has perfect timing; I truly thank God for never giving up on me and for doing great things in me that I would never imagine I would be doing. I know that no one is so unworthy of God’s love, no matter how sinful we are, His mercy has no limits.

God is awesome!!!!

Mommy’s Girl

I have always believed that God is real. And I know this simply because I know my mother.

My mother is the oldest of five. When she was ten her father went missing. Her mom had to work full-time and my mom had to take care of everyone. And she still takes care of everyone.

Growing up I was a daddy’s girl. My mom would always try and make me do chores. Or help out. Or boring stuff like that. My dad would let me rollerblade around his workshop and buy me ice cream. He’s the fun one. And though I loved my mom, I would always run to my dad.

But now that I’m grown, I realize how amazing she really is. My mom quietly endures the struggles that life hands to her. She loves so deeply and so fully, without holding back. She disciplines with love and kindness. She has faith so strong, no storm can tear it down. And when I pushed God away, she prayed for me, and I came back to Him. All the goodness that I have inside, I can attribute to her love and her prayers. And if God is even half as amazing as my mother is, then what a great God He is.

Comfort

Comfortability,

hinders one from breaking out of one’s comfort zone

and to be satisfied with just settling. 

Comfort closes doors to spontaneity.
Spontaneity allows us to break away from what we want
and what we are used to and to.
We must act according to love.
Comfortability is not harm
unless one refuses to step out of one’s shell and
refuses to act accordingly to what is needed.
I feel that conformability is a hindrance to being spontaneous
and that spontaneity is a requirement of being sensitive to the Spirit.
Being sensitive to the Spirit isn’t solely for service,
but God is calling us to be spontaneous  in our daily lives and in our relationships.
Once we become fixed and  accustomed to the ways of how things are,
we become hesitant to see the freedom of the Spirit.
It hinders us from acting out of love and instead acting out of comfort.
We are worth more than the comfort and convinience of others and of ourselves.
I feel the Lord is telling me that I’m worth it
and that I deserve the best.
I deserve to be pursued and to be cared for.
Whether it be in my family or in the relationships that I’m in.
Sometimes I forget my self worth and settle for what’s present before me…but the Lord has called me to serve Him not out of convenience but loving Him spontaneously.
And not loving comfortably.
This is love.
Love calls us to respond not out of our personal wants
but rather out of our deeper love of God.
Life requires sacrifice.
God does not deserve convenience but he deserves excellence.
Also, as sisters…though we may question our worth…as I have questioned myself countless of times…whether we are in or not in a relationship…
We shouldn’t question our worth, because God wants us to experience excellence.
We are deserving. 
We shouldn’t settle for mediocrity,
but  we should aim for excellencecy.
That spark is important.
That spark gets us to move.
That spark allows us  to dance.
That spark gets us to change.
That spark desires excellence.
That spark requires us to act out of love and not out of want.
This was what The Lord is calling us to do.
To be spontaneous.
Sometimes when our relationship with our Lord has been going on for a while…or when we’ve been in the community for several years…or when we’ve been in relationships for a while…we tend to get caught up doing what’s easy and not what’s romantic.
Romantic = Spontaneity
Let us long to be romantic with God.
 
And for us to be spontaneous and to be spontaneous to Gods call.
Whatever it may be.
He is worth it.
 
I am worth it.
No one deserves convenience.
All deserves excellence.
Excellence = Love
Lets us not become fixated with how things are…
but lets us push for how things could be!
Our God deserve the best!
Amen! 🙂

Thy will be done.

“I trust in the will of God and His plan for me.”

 How many times do we tell ourselves that, yet we hardly know Him in our lives? We stand there and live each day, trying to convince ourselves that we believe that we trust in the will of God, and we forget that it is not about convincing, but CONVICTION.

It’s been such a hard journey for me as an MV, and praise God, now as a CMV, and let me tell you, it never gets easy. More and more challenges appear and it becomes harder to not listen to my desires, and to truly hear out His instead. The misconception is that our desires are bad, and only His are good. So, sometimes, it’s easy for me to think that my good desires are from Him, and the bad ones are my own. What I have come to realize is that even the good desires can be my own. But how can we tell the difference?

It’s as simple as PRAYER and DISCERNMENT.

Yes, our desires may be bad.
Yes, our desires may also be good.
But the desires of the Lord are perfect and they are BEST.

When we pray, we should trust completely in the Lord and come to Him with an open heart. I must empty myself of ALL my desires so that I may hear His. I pray that He will fill me with nothing else, but His desires so that in the good and bad times of my life, I will continue to see Him.

Yes, even the bad. When things go wrong, it’s easy to lose sight of a lot of things. But if we take the time to know God in adoration, in prayer and in others, it will be easy to see the joy in hard times… to see God in difficult moments. I know that His desire for me is the best, and that is why even when I submit myself to Him, I must continue to pray and pray even harder so that I will not lose sight of the joy, love, hope, and happiness that He has placed in my life in everyone and in everything.

It is just as they say: “The closer you get to God, the harder the battle gets.” But because I know God, I am no longer in the state of convincing, but in the state of conviction… Conviction in knowing that everything, both good and bad, is a step closer to being with my Father and rejoicing Him in all those moments is a victory in His name. So yes, it does get harder, but through patience and grace attained in Him through prayer, it makes life much happier because I can see Him and feel Him even more in every moment. When all else changes, HE remains. His love is true. His love is real. His love is and always will be. And as we submit ourselves and our desires to Him more and more, this will become easier and easier to understand.

Our Father who art in Heaven
Hallowed by Thy name
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth
As it is in Heaven
Give us this day,
Our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil,

Amen.