True North Missionaries Journal

This week was pretty eventful and the Lord never ceases to show us His great Love, always.
I cannot even thank the Lord enough for everything that He continues to show
and let me experience. There’s just so much to share. =D

A few things I learned this week 🙂

Certainty.
Last weekend, I spent yet another wonderful and blessed weekend with the Salesian sisters. It was my second time joining them in their “Come and See”. We were five participants who attended this weekend. So blessed to have witnessed other young women in their journey with the Lord. Speaking to the sisters, they speak with so much certainty and truly they have lived this all their lives and through their vocation. Hearing their stories, their journey on how they became sisters is just a true blessing in itself. I feel that in my everyday life, I am faced with many uncertainties or rather I choose to be in a state of uncertainty but I guess this is part of my human nature because I do not know it all and I am in no capacity in knowing it all. And that is fine. But after hearing the sisters, it became a wake up call for me that I should not be living with any uncertainty at all because our God is True. By speaking to the sisters, they approached their vocation with great certainty, assertiveness, aggressive even if you will. For the Lord, they are willing to jump out into the deep because they are certain in their faith that the Lord will always be with them wherever they will go. There was not a hint of doubt in their hearts but rather their hearts were full with what is the Truth. They were so sure because they know that our God is certain, He is without doubt in His children. He is our Truth.

Contentment.
Is it really hard to be content? In our day-to-day lives, I feel that our world has become a world of discontent individuals. And I myself am guilty of this also. Nothing is ever enough. When you have little, you want more, when you have enough, you still want more, when you have much, you still want so much more.
MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE.
It is so hard to satisfy us.
The simplicity of the sisters simply reminded yet again to be content.
To not linger on what we don’t have (not only materially but in all aspects of our lives) but simply to cherish the things that are overflowing in our lives. BLESSINGS. We are showered each day with many blessings in our lives and all we need to do is to be content. Our Lord God is certainly more than enough.

Trust.
Just Trust in the Lord.
If we truly believe in what we say that we are in the great hands of our Lord,
then why do we sometimes hold back with our full trust in Him.
One thing that I can say that I continue to witness in the sisters is that they simply whole-heartedly trust the Lord. They do not need to say it, in their being you witness it.

Joy.
Ohhh man, the Salesian sisters are ever oh-so-JOYFUL!!!
I mean they just are! On the last day of our weekend, a sister in Christ and I shared how much we love the movie “Sister Act” and what do you know, the sisters love it too! One of the Salesian sisters plugged in her iPod and we were blasting songs from “Sister Act” and singing with the sisters as we were doing the chores. I am in complete awe (always will be) in the sisters’ capacity to always be joyful. They choose to be joyful because they know that they can and because they know that our God only wants us to be full of joy. He is our joy. They are joyful because they find joy in the Lord, always.

Love.
I firmly believe that through the religious we can truly witness the great mystery of the most Holy Trinity. I see them so in love with Jesus and how proudly they claim that He is their Spouse. And every time they share this, I know that they share this with great love and great understanding of what the love that they are proclaiming. They are so in love =D And when they come before our Father in heaven, they do not forget to be His child in His presence. Their obedience and respect and much love for our Father is so inspiring in the way that they present themselves in His Most Holy Presence. Their works, the way they move, they breathe, they speak, they cook, they share, they play, they love, it is certainly through the movement of the Spirit.

Faithfulness.
The sisters’ faith is so strong that nothing, I firmly believe nothing can bring their faith down. Their authentic and real faith in our Lord will never waiver. Each word of prayer that they utter, the breaths in between, they say it with so much confidence in our Lord. In prayer, I witness their faith and I can say that their faith in the Lord is so real and true and even when it is shaken, they remain to be faithful. I am ever thankful to the Lord for allowing me to witness to something like this.

Fidelity.
A couple of the sisters are celebrating their anniversaries and one of them is celebrating 40 years as a professed sister and the other sister is celebrating her Golden Year of being married to the Lord. They speak about being Jesus’ Spouse with so much love and joy and you can truly hear it in their voices and see in the way that they say it that they are so much in love with Jesus. It seems like they grow so much more in love with Him even each day of their lives. The sister celebrating her Golden Anniversary excitingly shared about their anniversary, “I’ve been married for 50 years with my Spouse, Jesus” and she said this with a twinkle in her eye. LOVE.

Peace.
The sisters live with such great peace in their hearts, their minds, and their entire being. I guess that’s why they all look so young =D It’s like they’re glowing too. It is just like the great peace when someone has returned back home, a place where they feel safe and secure, a place where they are happy. The sisters’ have so much peace in their hearts and it’s like they will never be stressed. It is true, “My heart is restless until it rests in You” and I truly see that in the sisters each and every time.

This week has truly been an awakening week; awakened my senses, my faith, my mind, my heart. I pray that I will continue to yearn for God and nothing else. I pray that I will always remember that “I am His child and He is my Father”.

[The title of this reflection is “Stay cool and keep smiling”. Yesterday, I came over to one of the Salesian sisters house here in Montreal to have dinner with the sisters and one of the sisters told me just before I left, while hugging me “Stay cool and keep smiling” =D It was really simple but it truly brought joy in my heart and a reminder that it could be just that simple because really all we need is God. He’ll definitely keep us cool because He’s the coolest and He always aims to put a beautiful smile on our faces. He created smiles didn’t he? Now, let’s be cool and show ‘em pearly whites =D]

Stay cool and keep smiling everybody.

Mary Help of Christians, Pray for us.

God bless us all always.

Peace and Love,
Apple
=D

73 Days

The last time I came before the Lord in praise, worship and glory was 73 days ago.

—

At the beginning of this year I handed down the role of Area Head for CFC-Youth Montreal to John Magtibay, and although I’m now officially recognized as a Mission Volunteer for CFC-Youth Canada, these past few months have been spent in a sort of spiritual isolation.

Since I don’t currently have an official service role yet here in Montreal, I haven’t been attending regular events since they’ve all conflicted with my work schedule. On top of that, other scheduling issues have prevented me from attending SFC events as well. The last gathering I was fortunate enough to attend was an upper household in mid-February, which was the last time I experienced praise & worship.

I know that there are many other ways that the Lord can choose to reveal Himself to me, and I know that there are other ways in which I can share and express the blessings in my life with others, but as I’m sure is the case with many other CFC-Youth’ers, praise & worship has become very dear to my prayer life. I’d be lying if I said that this period of time has been easy on me, especially since I’ve been hearing so many great stories from ILC in the Philippines, but I trust that the Lord always finds a purpose for our suffering.

I really don’t know how the Lord will speak to me the next time I’m lucky enough to worship him with my fellow brothers and sisters in this community, but I know that I shouldn’t have any expectations. If anything, this period of isolation has allowed my perspective to be refreshed, which I’m hoping will allow the Lord to uncover for me something in my life that I may have been oblivious to in the past.

Right now I can say that I’m experiencing a beautiful desperation to meet the Lord in glory, and I hope this attitude is something I’ll be able to adopt fully not only in my worship life, but in all ways I choose to serve the Lord.

– Jesse R.

I had read somewhere earlier in the week that just as the parents are specifically chosen for their children, so too are the children hand chosen for their parents. This really flicked a switch within me.. Lately I have been thinking a lot about salvation.. I know this might sound strange, but when I was younger (maybe grade 1 or 2), I used to pray to God that my family and I would enter heaven together. I couldn’t stand the thought of being left here on earth without the two most important people in my life. Now, at 23, I still can’t stand the thought of us not being in heaven together, but not for quite the same reasons as I did back then…

My dad had gone on vacation to the Philippines for a little over a month, and upon his return I wanted the two of us to go to confession then mass together. I know it has not been since elementary school that he has gone, and I felt a tugging at my sleeve to bring him with me.

When Holy Thursday came, I knew that there was an hour of confession before mass rather than the usual 15 minutes so I invited him to come along. He was very nonchalant with his reply, telling me that we had already gone on Sunday and he would be tired after work. I remember shrugging and telling God I tried, but He was unhappy with that answer and asked me to try again.

Just some background on my dad.. He’s not the religious type. At the age of 30, he married my mom, and at that time he didn’t even know the Our Father. He was never raised in a household where God was put first, or even acknowledged. It’s not a surprise then that my dad wasn’t very in on the whole God and church thing. However, through the years, I watched as my dad slowly became the man of God that my family needed and I stand in awe at how much he has changed. From previously discouraging me from attending the activities as they were time consuming, to encouraging not only me, but also my brothers to attend all activities. I never expected the day to come when he would be knocking on my door telling me to get up because we have to go to mass together, even if my mom is at work or my brothers are at my aunt’s, we would go, just me and him. However, although my dad asks us to pray before and during our road-trips, is open and helpful to me serving within the CFC-Youth community, attends mass religiously on Sundays and openly talks about God during family dinners, he still stands there during mass without saying the responses or singing the hymns, and it was only within the past couple of years that I managed to convince my parents to come up with us for communion.

Anyways, the next Tuesday rolled in and I was nervous to ask again. My dad’s a tall and seemingly serious man with a deep and booming voice, and although loving and kind, he pretty much has the last say on things. I went to the kitchen where he was eating lunch and I stood there for a good five minutes in silence before he asked me what was wrong. I took a deep breath and told him that I really wanted him to come to mass with me the following day (as I go on Wednesdays for the Novena.) I hold this conversation very close to my heart, and in order to include it here without divulging such a private moment, I’ll simply say that in the end, he caved in. 

When the next day rolled in, he and I ran some errands in the morning then headed back home. I thought he would have forgotten or might avoid the topic, but just half an hour before mass, he knocked gently on my door and asked if we were still going. I was so joyful the entire drive to the basilica as I went over the process of confession with him. However, we were running late and confession was going to end in 5 minutes. I remember then closing my eyes and asking God to wait for us, just a few more minutes please, this would be the first time in almost 40 years, just a little longer.. When we finally parked, I jumped out of the car and ran to the basilica with my dad taking slow strides behind me. When we got inside, the priest was just turning off the light in the confession box and I asked for him to wait. I watched as my dad stepped in and I in the one further down. I spoke a little to the priest afterwards so that when I had come out of confession, my dad was already standing in the pews. I watched in real amazement as he said his prayers with his eyes closed, and I quietly slid in and began reciting the novena. I continued to be surprised as my dad recited the entire novena with me, and at the end, he even sang Ave Maria. My dad.. singing? It was a beautiful and amazing experience for the both of us, and I came out of this day feeling as though he and I shared a wonderful secret, and I remember we both smiled quietly the entire ride home.

I just thought I would share this moment with other youth.. from someone who has been in the CFC-Youth community for almost a decade.. It may be difficult for some whose parents are not in CFC or are hesitant for their child to take part in activities. These youth may be experiencing a sort of schism between themselves and their family.. but my dear brothers and sisters, I can attest to God’s faithfulness. If we stand firm in our faith and stay true to the teachings, the change within us will inspire others… if we are able to walk the talk at home, our parents will know of the good that this community can bring, and even more importantly, the goodness of the God who loves us all.

I praise God for my earthly father. Lord, thank you for choosing him for me.

This weekend spoke powerfully to me. In our Family Ministries household meeting, we talked about submitting to “His Will”.
When I pray “Your Will Be Done”, do I really mean it or do I mean, “Your Will Be Done” as long as it is okay with me?
Father, help me to completely open myself to you. Just like Mama Mary, who said yes to you unconditionally, even though what you asked of her was such a scary and difficult thing.