Tag: catholic

The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic 4/4 – Evangelization

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” –Mt 28:19-20 (RSVCE)

We are called to always be in the state of evangelization to those who don’t know Christ and to those who know Christ but have lost His scent. Evangelization is spreading the Good News through one’s testimony of being affected and transformed by the Gospel—the life of Jesus. We don’t need to be theologians and articulate with our words, nor flowery with our exhortations. We only need to be a witness to the transforming power of God’s love through Jesus. The world has enough teachers. We need more witnesses. It’s through the witnessing of one’s life that others catch the fragrance of Christ and they become drawn to Him through you.

However, and of course we can never discount the fact that we will eventually be called to evangelize with our words so let us be intimate with the Word of God through prayer, Scripture, and the Sacraments. He will enable us to speak. We have nothing to worry so long as we speak from our hearts, convicted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Holiness goes hand in hand with evangelization because when we are before God in Heaven He will check to see who we brought with us. We are a community of saints. So let us be like the saints in history who have inspired multitudes to be like Jesus through the way they lived their lives. In terms of our future and vocation, we only need to ask this one question: “how is the Lord calling me to make disciples of all nations?” This will lead us to our calling. This is the job and the great commission the Lord has called every one of His disciples!

Praise be God!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, star of the New Evangelization, pray for us!

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!” –Romans 10:15

 

Come to the Feast

What is so beautiful about the Catholic faith to you?

Many times I find myself at home in the community of Couples for Christ. I find it in our assemblies, our meetings, in the early morning wake up calls to worship. But Couples for Christ isn’t my home. My home is in the Catholic Church.

There is a line in the song “Table of Plenty” that goes: Come and sit at my table, where saints and sinners are friends. I wait to welcome the lost and lonely, to share the cup of my love.

And that is what’s so beautiful to me. Everyday I am better and better for my God, but that just means that years ago I was a sucky person. But God loves me the same at my best as at my worst. When I falter and fail Him, He still loves me. He still welcomes me. He still wants me. Even if I’m a moody, antisocial guest in His house, He still invites me to His table. He still wants me to join in the feast.

Laudetur Jesus Christus. In aeternum.

The Three Apostles

Yesterday I found myself in the Oratory of Saint Joseph in Montreal. A year after I said yes to becoming a Mission Volunteer, a month after I became a Full Time Pastoral Worker  – finally ticking off all the major areas where CFC-Youth is present in Canada. And while the whole basilica is beautiful inside and out with amazing architecture, art, and history on it’s side plus the Holy Eucharist being inside it; you can never really go wrong. And while the hundreds of pilgrims were doing there thing, I found myself glued to three fixtures that were grouped together. It was the three statues of Saints Jude Thaddeus, Mathias, and Peter.

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For the longest time, I’ve had an affinity to these three apostles. In fact, it’s safe to say that they have been my friends since day one.

Saint Jude

Saint Jude Thaddeus, the forgotten apostle, because his name was close to that of the traitor is in fact the patron of hopeless causes. Out of the three he was the latest I befriended, but had an immediate click with. He found me at the time when I was preparing for my licensure examination for Chemical Engineering in Manila. I had to cram 5 years worth of knowledge, formulas, concepts in Math, Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering in 6 months for a three day exam – I deemed it impossible. Doubt, laziness and a host of other things crept up that led me to breaking down quite a few times before and during the exam. But praise God, Saint Jude prayed for me and I passed. In the bigger picture, I do consider myself a hopeless and lost cause. Yet here I am, a missionary for one of the biggest lay organizations of the Catholic Church.

Saint Mathias

Saint Mathias was the outsider who found himself cast into the inner group. When Judas was gone, they needed somebody to fill in his place – and in a stroke of luck (literally, his name was casted from a lot of a hundred or so), he became part of the twelve. Being the non-canadian for the first batch of Mission Volunteers in Canada, and the only non-canadian trainee for full time pastoral work from Canada – one can say that I am in fact an outsider. Me being a Mission Volunteer was not in my plans when I moved here, but through God’s grace and calling – I’ve taken a step further in Full Time Pastoral Work.

Saint Peter

Saint Peter, the rock, was not whom Jesus loved the most. In fact the gospels say that it was St. John whom Jesus loved the most. Saint Peter was the one who loved Jesus the most. He was the first one who would always jump out into the water to meet the Lord even if it meant walking on water and almost drowning. He was the one who wanted to serve the Lord first in all things, but he was also the first one to deny him – he did so three times in one instance. But the Lord did not give up on him, he in fact was called to something greater – to be the rock of the Church – our first pope. More often than not, I have denied the One whom I love the most – yet still He calls me. He still loves me and gives me more chances than I deserve. 

The Three Apostles

I could go on and on about how I can relate to these apostles, but the amazing thing is that they were grouped together somewhere in a church thousands of miles from where I was born. And to see them together, praying for me all this time brings me to tears and above all – amazed that God loves me so much to take three of His best to pray for me and lead me to where I am.

They all went to the ends of the world to proclaim the Risen King, and here I am in Montreal – the last of the big mission areas of Canada that I haven’t been to an affirmation of the mission in the Three Apostles.

Saints Jude Thaddeus, Mathias, and Peter, Pray for us. Amen.

 

Saints

saints

Hagiography [hag-ee-og-ruh-fee]
the study of the lives of the saints.

“I will be their God and they will be my children.” – Rev. 21:7

Last Sunday, a few brothers and sisters from my household, along with myself, took a road trip to the states to celebrate mass and visit Fatima Shrine. I’ve always heard of youth going there with their families but this was my first time visiting. When we entered the church, the first thing I noticed was the way the pews surrounded the altar. So much so that it seemed like the altar was completely invading the space of the congregation. The next thing I noticed was a red flame burning on the Paschal candle. I wondered why the candle burned a bold red; usually candles within a church burn a bright yellow.

After the mass, all of us separated to explore the different areas of the shrine, having our own personal prayer time. After spending some time inside of the church, I exited the church and began walking outside around the gardens of the shrine. I heard that Blessed John Paul II would frequently take walks outside and pray the rosary, and so I did as well. I was amazed to discover dozens and dozens of statues of the saints, it was so beautiful. My heart was so full of joy and wonder, thinking about the various hundreds of people that devoted their life completely to Christ. As I walked through the garden, it felt as if I was meeting each saint personally. I would look into the eyes of each statue and I could feel the different personalities of each saint. I thought that this was what heaven must be like. Imagine being able to personally meet each and every saint that ever existed, what an amazing experience that would be!

As I was coming to the end of meeting all the saints in the garden, I realized something. Right now, I am so focused and worried on where the Lord will lead me and what my vocation will be. I realized that no matter where God calls me, whether that would be religious life, full-time pastoral work, marriage, or single blessedness, all I know is that I want to be a saint. Every time a saint is canonized, it is reminder of God’s call for us to fully surrender to Him. Also, with the life of every saint, God shows us the infinite extent of His transforming power, if we can say yes to Him.

As I reflect now, the way the church in the shrine was set up reflects on the essentials of the life of a saint. Primarily, the person’s life must be invaded by the living and breathing presence of Christ, if you recall the invasion of the altar into the congregation. Secondly, the red flame on the Paschal candle signifies the blood of the saints, as their lives were all willingly offered for the glory of God the Father!

We are all called to live a life fit for a saint. It is in this holiness that we are worthy of being sons and daughters of Christ! To be a saint is to offer to God what He has given us; our time, talents, treasures, and most of all our lives. The Lord desires for our yes, so that He can shower us with an unending, overflowing, limitless, ocean of His love. To be a saint is to fully surrender ourselves to Christ. To be a saint is to offer our lives as a sacrifice in union with Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. To be a saint is to trust in the unconditional faithfulness of the Lord so that we may be fearless.

Almighty Father, stir up within us the constant desire to pursue You and the holiness that You freely provide for us. May Catholics everywhere realize their personal call to sainthood and the importance of the sanctity of life. Fill in us the thirst and hunger to know You more. Grant us with everything we need to bravely answer the call to devote our lives fully to You, in accordance with Your Will. Pray for us, all angels and saints. Amen.

Confirmation


As I prepare for a talk I am to give to grade 8 students who are preparing for Confirmation, I decided to go through my old Confirmation scrapbook. It’s an amazing feeling to rediscover the person you were before and I couldn’t help but laugh at myself when I read my letter to the pastor of my parish.

“One reason I really want to go through with Confirmation is because I want to be closer to God. I want to be closer to God because soon I will be passing grade eight in elementary school and I will go straight to high school for grade 9. In high school there will be a lot of pressure in doing bad things that I do not want to do and the pressure will just grow higher and higher. There are many different characters in high school and I will need all the help I can get. I also need God because high school will also pile homework on top of me. I need help from God to help me keep my strength in completing my homework.”

If only I could revert back to a time where I had a child-like faith and when I thought high school homework was the hardest thing to do.

The Lord does not ask too much of us. Sometimes I think that the Lord piles a lot of weight on my shoulders but sometimes that’s just me piling it on myself. What the Lord asks of us is very simple, He asks us to love Him. That’s it. He doesn’t ask us to conquer the world, but only that we go to Him whenever we feel conquered by it. We must remember that we are children, vulnerable and often foolish. In humility, we must learn to always turn to the Lord in our inequities. Why should we turn to a world that is relentless without mercy when our God is relentlessly merciful? It’s the child-like faith that allows us to trust in our Father without doubt, without fear, and without failure.

Always has the Lord been there for us and always has He shown Himself to us; it is us that forgets the warmth of His embrace. As I browse my Confirmation scrapbook, I am able to witness the ways in my life in which the Lord has guided me. The victory is already won in that the Lord has already claimed my life. The closing prayer is my personal prayer made during my preparation for Confirmation.

By the way, my Confirmation saint is St. Francis Xavier.

Dear God, please give me the strength to live each day to the fullest. Protect those who are dear to me. I believe in only one God. I believe in only one faith. Keep me strong and keep my Catholic Faith alive. My life is to You, my love is to You. Protect my soul and repel me from every evil. Amen.

Uncomfortably Comfortable

To finally be living the dream is an awe-inspiring thing. When the Lord of the universe has made sense to the past 25 years of my life. Today I am living the dream, training for the best job in the world – a full time pastoral worker for CFC-Youth. I came into the training with high hopes and confidence that the Lord has truly prepared me for the task ahead. Having been in the community for the past 15 years, I thought I had the means and know how in order to deal with whatever training had in store for me.

Lo and behold, I am humbled by the very fact that God’s plan for me is greater than my own prideful outlook of myself. 12 days into the training, I am reminded that I know nothing, own nothing, and can bring nothing to the table that will compare to what God has brought forth ever since time began. A much needed reality check that God has called better and greater people to the mission before, today, and for sure – tomorrow. I am but a humble servant responding because of an unwavering and unconditional love that He has blessed me with.

A state of being uncomfortable is where I am at because the call entails transformation of being worthy of that very call and love. God is slowly and surely chipping away at hindrances that cause me stumble, and cause others to stumble because of me. He has redirected my direction from a “me” driven path to a path pointed to Him alone. And while each day is a struggle of clawing, crawling and limping my way towards the One who called – it is a very beautiful struggle. I am comforted by the fact that it is Him who put me here. That it is Him who is with me every step of the way.

Coming Home

The Lord has surrounded me with many blessings.
These blessings include the people I encounter on a day-to-day basis at school.
Yesterday, one of my classmates at school had the courage to ask me if I was Catholic. I told her that I am and so I asked her the same question. She told me that she is a Catholic as well, and because of pressure from her parents she attended a Catholic elementary and high school and was also “forced” to attend church and practice the faith regularly. But now that she’s living far from home, she told me that she hasn’t gone to mass or confession in a really long time. She also mentioned how she’s been looking around for a church nearby for her to attend regular Sunday masses. I told her that St. Jude’s Parish was just a 5-minute walk up the street and as I kept talking to her, I could tell by her eyes and the way she spoke that she wanted to cry. She told me how she misses going to church and feels like something is missing in her life. It turns out that the last time she went to confession was in high school. I advised her to go as soon as possible, and she agreed with me. She felt as if she really needed to go. I told her that I would love to join her in mass one day. I shared how I love going to weekday masses because of the peace I feel. The sincerity of her question really opened the doors for her and allowed her to open up about her faith and how she’s been struggling. Her story was humbling to hear and a great witness to God’s plan in her life.

After reflecting on our conversation I was able to see how amazing God’s love and mercy works. He yearns for our hearts and He yearns for us to come back Home to Him. With the conversation I had with my classmate it allowed me to see God’s light within her, yearning for something Greater rather than the temporary pleasures of the world. This year of faith we are all called to evangelize, save souls, and bring them Home. My heart is humbled and her story made me realized the beauty within God’s forgiving and faithful love.

“Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him” – 2 Corinthians 2:8

Deo Gratias.