Reign In My Heart

Today I attended Holy Mass at St. Monica’s Parish as I usually do every Sunday with Charlene’s family who sings for the choir. Through the readings and the homily, the Lord reminded me of the importance of living under His authority and how I must try my best to avoid anything that may distract me from focusing on Him.

I can imagine that the second reading must have been difficult to hear, especially for those who are married. I say this because St. Paul warns that it’s better to not be married because it may cause the man or woman to be “anxious of this world.” Well, marriage is obviously a very good thing instituted by God Himself. I think St. Paul put it this way to emphasize the absolute importance of being focused on Jesus. I think he’s emphasizing that we must be careful not to turn icons (which are meant to point to a greater reality) into idols, for marriage is not an end in itself. It is a Sacrament—a Sign and a great mystery—that points to the marriage of Christ and His Church, ultimate communion with God. The Lord doesn’t want our hearts to be divided. He wants it to be perfectly integrated in Him.

I shouldn’t be afraid to allow the Lord to reign in my heart. In allowing Him, He casts out what should not be there, the things causing a dichotomy of worship. I need to be more confident in His authority in my life, and not see it as tyrannically oppressive, but lovingly liberating. For He is a Father who loves me and who will never stop loving me until I am completely and eternally His.

Fires of Passions

As I knelt down in Holy Rosary Adoration Chapel I began to take note of something. Staring at the carving of Adam & Eve on the monstrance, freed of the serpent’s temptation, sitting in the Garden, I wondered, Why are they facing each other? After being freed, why are they just gazing at each other rather than being in embrace? And then all of a sudden, very humorously, I remembered leaders in our community saying, “Leave room for the Holy Spirit,” as I took note of the Holy Spirit (depicted as a dove) flying directly above them, right in the middle. And I realized, the reason why they are depicted the way they are is because they have tamed the fires of passion, and are representing patience in true love…

HAPPINESS.

But PASSION goes BEYOND HAPPINESS. Looking into the understanding of passion in the secular point of view, another fire of passion is…

PLEASURE.

…”a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment”; fulfillment. For many, pleasure refers to something physical, and to others, it is found in self accomplishments (i.e. finishing first in a race, or being at the top of the class or company), or accomplishment in general (like completing a project). But what if we look deeper? It boils down to the words: happy satisfaction; fulfillment. Like Adam & Eve in the design of the monstrance, there is happy satisfaction and fulfillment in simply BEING, and in both cases, it goes BEYOND the physical. But passion IS inasmuch physical, as it is emotional and spiritual, and we see this most in Jesus Christ.

The Passion of Christ

…shows us the life, birth and ‘death’ of passion; the essence. Christ’s passion was to live out God’s will. And God’s will is to bring us to salvation. So when we put this together, THE PASSION OF CHRIST begins to look much more intimate – His PASSION was BRINGING US SALVATION. It wasn’t physical pleasure, or an emotional fulfillment, but a physical & emotional suffering to attain spiritual joy – salvation.

SUFFERING.

A fire of passion that tends to be avoided, ignored, or overlooked. But when we accept this part, we accept the true life of living in passion; the fires of passion. But it is not always the extremes of each fire. To truly and healthily live in passion, we must acknowledge these ‘fires’, but not be engulfed.

PATIENCE is PASSION, TAMED…

And if we are really called to love more, we must not forget that patience is a part of love. So as we grow in passion, we also grow in love by continuously learning patience in our passion… to ‘tame’ our passion in the way of Christ. But we are also challenged to not over-think this. The tendency is that the more we think about one “fire”, the more we forget the other/s. We either become naive to suffering, ‘forget’ happiness, or become hesitant and afraid to seek fulfillment in our lives. The key is finding balance(which, to my belief, is also a key in being a missionary)… 

“Aura et labora.”

“Lead a balanced life.” To be a missionary is to evangelize God’s love. And the greatest way to evangelize is through our joy. So in our passion, we must be joyful in our service to others and to the communities around us. It is joyfully living in the true fires of passion. In all suffering, we must seek pieces of happiness, and somewhere along the way, we find fulfillment.. happiness. In finding BALANCE, we learn PATIENCE. Patience, in turn, brings us to love more. And in that love, we learn that PATIENCE IS PASSION TAMED.

Liveloud is Thanksgiving

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Jak Jak Fournier (also with his brother and father) witnessing to God’s goodness at Liveloud 2013

On February 21, in Surrey, BC, 1,500 CFC, HOLD, SFC, CFC-Youth, and members of the Archdiocese will be gathered to witness God’s prevailing love in the form of the Holy Mass and Praise and Worship. This will truly be a momentous occasion not just for our community but also for our archdiocese because rarely do we get to experience over a thousand individuals of all ages and walks of life gather to praise and worship God through original songs written by CFC and its ministries.

It will be a time to lift up to God our thanksgiving personally and as a community of faith. As a community, we can be thankful for the very fact that we have been abundantly blessed for 21 years of evangelization and family ministry. For 21 years the Lord has blessed our work through the Couples for Christ, the Handmaids of the Lord, Kids for Christ, CFC-Youth, and Singles for Christ, serving hand in hand with our Archdiocese in renewing the face of the earth by renewing the families. This is why I pray that every ministry be present at Liveloud, simply because it wouldn’t be the same without you.

It wouldn’t be the same without the presence of unconditional love always shown by the CFC couples, the charismatic fire of the Handmaids, the zeal and passion of the youth, and the witness of faith of the Singles for Christ. Also, it wouldn’t be the same without the presence of our beloved clergy and religious who are our main inspiration for being FOR CHRIST.

So let’s gather, my brothers and sisters, all in the name of Jesus Christ who has been so good to us throughout the years, and Who will never stop being good to us, Who will never stop loving us. He is the reason for Liveloud and He will be right there with us, and because of that, our hearts will be renewed and the fire to serve, re-kindled.

All for the Lord! God is good!

Theirs is the Kingdom

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” –Matthew 5:3

The juxtaposition of the poor in spirit and the kingdom of heaven is intriguing. It’s nothing and everything at the same time. Why does the poor in spirit receive the kingdom of heaven? I think this has much to do about humility, for God only gives grace to the humble—to those who are open to receive. No wonder why it’s “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”. It’s because a rich man “owns” the kingdom of the world. He has the false sense of security for his life, being wealthy in materials things. It’s hard for a rich person to think he needs anything else when he feels he has everything already. And that’s the very reason why he will find it extremely difficult to receive the kingdom of heaven. In order to receive the kingdom of God, one has to be willing to forsake the kingdom of the world.

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” –Matthew 16:25

The key to the kingdom of heaven is being poor in spirit. It’s about having a vulnerable disposition and coming to the Lord as children do, with arms wide open, holding on to nothing, so as to hold on to everything from our Father. He wants to give us His Kingdom. He wants to give us His love. He wants us to know that what He gives is all that we need.

I’ve realized that to desire and have everything of this world, is to have nothing at all. But to desire and have nothing of this world, is to have everything of God.

“And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, ‘One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ But when he heard this he became sad, for he was very rich.” – Luke 18:22-23

Love in action

“Fear the Lord and keep His law; that is what Wisdom is all about.  You may know everything there is to know about wickedness, but that does not make you wise.” –Sirach 19:20-22

Lately the Lord has been reminding me that every day in Mission is only successful if it was lived in faithfulness and obedience.

  • Serving God despite feelings of unworthiness.
  • Committing to prayer even when in dark night (#stjohnofthecross). 
  • Believing and stepping out in faith, even when you really don’t know (#hopemore).
  • Cooperating with the Lord in correcting that “one sin”.

To do little things with great love. To be wise is to make action of what He has spoken to us out of love.   Ever since the injury to my knee, the Lord is still teaching me what it means to take every (literal) step…with the intentional purpose of loving the way Christ did (#hard). It feels impossible, but daring against all odds to do so is what makes a Missionary. Being a disciple is truly the work of the Spirit. Strength of man fails, but grace ends up being enough at the end of every mission.

It may be easier to gravitate towards “woe-is-me” when things get difficult in Mission (whatever that may be for each person), but it’s only in marching our own Passion and bearing our own Cross that we will leave the mark of Christ (Love) in the world.

Lord, help me to love more. #simple

The Pearl of Great Price

I was recently reminded of Bishop Crosby’s homily of the pearl of great price. He had mentioned that many people – upon hearing this parable – begin to relate the pearl to the people or items in which they find are most precious in their lives. However, the pearl, in fact, is actually the Holy Spirit. He had said that very few people know the price of this “pearl”, but when they see it as the Holy Spirit, they know It for Its value, and they give everything to attain it. But I found myself asking, What happens after?

Once the pearl has been purchased after having given everything, what is left? When something is so precious and so expensive, the tendency is to really hold onto that item and keep it as close to us as possible. We are called to embrace the Holy Spirit, and allow it to dwell in our hearts; to embed the pearl as it is embedded in an oyster. And as we carry something so precious in us, we must also be ready to bear the journey of the pearl in our lives.

In the same way a pearl forms and grows in an oyster by the secretion of a protective fluid upon the entrance of “intruders” (such as sand or foreign particles), we must prepare a journey where “intruders” will come in and set hardships or challenges in our paths, which will attempt to disturb our precious pearl’s dwelling place. But in these moments, I believe that there are fruits of being able to turn to the Lord and allow Him to be the protective fluid to protect us from those “intruders”. But it takes the consciousness of being able to recognize and accept that we need His help and guidance. Upon doing so, the layers of this fluid will set its foundation more and more, allowing the pearl – the Holy Spirit – to grow larger in our hearts each time. Therefore, the more we journey with the Lord, the more we embody His Spirit, and the more we are able to truly bring His Presence and Love to others.

“I know, my God, that thou triest the heart,
and hast pleasure in uprightness;
in the uprightness of my heart
I have freely offered all these things,
and now I have seen thy people,
who are present here,
offering freely and joyously to thee.
O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers,
keep for ever such purposes
and thoughts in the hearts of thy people,
and direct their hearts towards thee.”

(1 Chronicles 29: 17-18)

AMEN.

TOTUS TUUS.

The Next Chapter

Often times do I hear, “Out with the old; in with the new,” or “Onto a new chapter of my life!” But very recently, I had a conversation with a close friend of mine and she pointed out one thing…

Opening new chapters in our lives does not necessarily mean bringing the old chapter to a close; the story remains and the journey continues.

New chapters may appear as we go, but the old chapters do not disappear. They are a part of the journey, and it is simply learning patience in how the story unfolds, and where each chapter will take us. But whatever is done and read in the old will always be a part of how we tread the journey. And how we see the story is how we choose to journey through each chapter.

“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. Yea, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.”
(Psalm 85: 8, 10-14)

Lord, I pray that I may never forget or fail to be content where You have led me, where You are leading me, and where You will be leading me to in my life. May I always find joy and beauty wherever I go, and stand in steadfast love and faith, so that I may grow in righteousness and peace, 

Amen.