Where Were You?

We can’t discount the horribleness of the evil that is happening around us especially when it hits us really close to home. When you are the one affected or somebody close to you. Especially when we don’t find any meaning or sense in the pain, loss and/or suffering. Sometimes, it is easier to accept when tragedy happens to other people especially the “bad” people and we will just say “karma.”

If we come to think of it, we are always double standard. We are easy to judge who is “bad” or not and who is deserving. We probably don’t realize that our self defined standard of morality is broken because of our own sins. This is the reason why people when confronted with this reality resist the message. Because of sin, our eyes are calloused and our hearings are selective. The scriptures speak of this not only once but on several occasions across many generations - Isaiah 6:10: Jeremiah 5:21: Ezekiel 12:2: Matthew 13:15: Acts 28:27 ... “you have eyes and ears but fail to see and hear.”

Like Job, the easiest way out to unburden once self is put the blame on God. If God is good, why does he allow pain and suffering happen to good people? Why in the sense he seems to not care? As we see, this issue of pain and suffering has been asked since time immemorial. What is fascinating is how God answered Job in his questions – Job 38 4-7:

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

If I am to tear the pages of the bible in Luke chapters 22 and 23 and hand it over to somebody who has not read any single paragraph of the bible lest, not know the Christian God, what would he say? If the highlights of our lives are just zeroed in on our own misery, pain and suffering, are we not missing to tell the whole story here? How about the joy you have brought to your parents when your born, you had your first step? How about the people in your life which you have shown kindness and are grateful that have met you? Are those to be taken for granted? Are those joy and beauty experienced by others and in your own experience of joy and beauty that others brought to your life inferior and subservient to the pain and suffering you have now? Has the beauty of your life stopped because of your pain?

We are a generation of confused people. Our biggest problem is we listen to the lies of the devil and we are easily deceived. There are even some from among our ranks, promising to ease our pain. This is the reason why we don’t know the value of sacrifice and sacrificial offering. We have been deceived that pain is all bad and we forgot that it is a gift from God. This is the reason why those who have colon cancer, 97% of the time when it is discovered they are already terminally ill. Why because you don’t feel any pain. If you don’t feel the pain of appendicitis, you will die too.

Pain is a gift, sometimes it is temporary to wake us up and tell us there is something wrong. I need to repair my relationship with my spouse, children, neighbor… and sometimes it is permanent and God given. I don’t have an explanation how he chooses the bearer and I don’t want to attempt to know. The only thing I know is that it is meant to bring glory to His name. The only attitude necessary here then is to thank God for trusting you to give him this glory.

Our life with its joy and pain are all beautiful. It should shout joy and glory to God and let us all be thankful. The Israelites didn’t reach the promised land until they are done wandering in the desert for 40 years (time of completion). We too, when God deemed our life completed here on earth, we will enter the promised land where sin, death, pain and suffering have no more sting – eternally!

Religious and Spiritual

One of the greatest tragedies of modern Catholicism is that as Catholics we are no longer considered a spiritual people (Matthew Kelly – Rediscovering Catholicism). There are some who agree with the famous meme in you tube some years ago about being spiritual and not religious. That being spiritual can be achieved and that is the ultimate goal of our life's journey. I believe that we can't be spiritual without being religious, while I agree that we can be religious but not spiritual, another tragedy in the modern day faith

Many of us have forgotten that we are a communion of body and soul. That as the soul yearns for God, the body finds a way to express that yearning and that is expressed by our reverence and awe of what is beautiful, true and good, the love of the sacraments and the exercise of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy which now make us “religious.”

Modern man has always tried to find new ways and means to improve our living. We have advanced in science and technology by leaps and bounds and they are all good. This is a fulfilment of God’s mandate to man when He says to Adam "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Gen. 1:28.

We have become, as God has designed it: pro-creators. When you read the creation story, from Genesis chapter 1 up to a few verses of chapter 2, you will realize that God has created everything from nothing. Things and beings come into existence with God just saying “let there be…..” However, as pro-creators, we can also create something but only coming from what God has already created. Chairs come from trees that God has caused into being. We can also notice that other living creatures can create same as man. The difference is that they don’t evolve. Birds 10,000 years ago still build their nest the same way they build their nests now. While the materials maybe different but the technology has remained the same. Unlike man (“people” as Justin T would correct me if he reads this), we have improved our level of sophistication in creating things. Buildings become taller and taller, aircrafts becoming more sophisticated, medicines are discovered to cure where 100 years ago can’t be cured. And yet we still create from something what God has blessed us with.

The good news is, when we pursue our side of getting or being spiritual, we can turn to all proven ancient practices. We don’t need to “re-invent the wheel” so we can find that right expression of our love for God. Early Christians and modern day saints have one common denominator, their love of the sacraments and the sacramentals. The Eucharist, regular confession and praying the rosary and devotion to Blessed Mary. We can also grow by leaps and bounds in our spirituality and reach that perfection and greatness God has called and destined all of us.

To God be the Glory!

The True Meaning of Worship

This 2^nd week of Lent we are treated to the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah on the first reading and the Gospel with the story of Jesus and three disciples on the mount of Transfiguration. The Abraham and Isaac story is very famous. It is not only a child story, make believe story we would like to repeat and re-tell but to really ponder upon.

I think it was 5 years ago when this same story hit me really hard. The shorter version of the reading did not really give us the complete image of how it happened but imagine Isaac carrying the wood but not seeing any lamb needed for the sacrifice. Isaac, to be able to carry the wood must be some kind of a teenager and while he might have no knowledge of what is going to happen as his father assured him the Lord will provide the lamb for burnt offering, he did not resist with his youthful strength and agility when his father bound him. At this time, he knew what is happening and he has willingly submitted himself to his father.

In the ancient world, the true meaning of worship is not about raising your hands and shouting from the top of your voices how much you love God and your willingness to offer your self to Him. God deserves everything because He has given us everything. So ancient peoples instinctively knew that authentic worship is about offering a sacrifice to their gods that is big and precious enough to represent their entire lives. That’s why human sacrifice was so prevalent in ancient times–the offering of the firstborn was seen as the only adequate worship.

In Genesis 22, God stops Abraham before he slays his son. The command to sacrifice Isaac was a test to see if Abraham was truly devoted to God in faith, obedience, and gratitude. God does not want Isaac’s blood, only Abraham’s heart and this is still true today - “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams." 1 Sam. 15:22

In contrast, Jesus did carry the wood on his back that will be used for his sacrifice in obedience to His Father up not to mount Moriah but to mount Golgotha. The ram caught by its horn in a thicket is not a substitute and the sacrifice did not really happen on mount Moriah. Jesus who was crowned with thorns was nailed and died on the cross as the perfect and final sacrifice. The only sacrifice acceptable to the Father to redeem us all from our sins.

Although it is we who owe everything to God, it is he who sacrificed everything for us. This is the whole story of the Gospel. This is what Jesus means every time he says – behold, the time is now, repent for the kingdom of God has come.

Only a few weeks ago, we celebrated the Word who became flesh and dwelt amongst us. In the next few weeks, we will again witness and hopefully experience the same God whose love for us surpasses all the love we know and we can ever experience.

Remember, Jesus did not want to stay in the mount of Transfiguration as the three apostles suggested. He wanted us to wake up and realize that when we said yes to Him – it means we will have to deny our selves, carry our crosses and take the footsteps where He had trodden.

As we enter deeply into the Lenten season, let us renew and deepen our dedication to Him by expressing to Him a sacrifice that is truly meaningful and lasting. Let us graduate from sacrificing something just during Lent, but something big enough that will last our lifetime.

PAID IN FULL

Tetelestai! Jesus’ final word on the cross as He expires. Etymology – Greek which literally means “it is finished.” In accounting term, it means – paid in full! Jesus, the Word who became flesh, the greatest Lover shouted from the cross to His Father - it is finished, I have paid the debt in full. What was yours that were stolen by human pride and have long been kept captive have been redeemed and now they can come home.

The prison gate is now open and all we must do is walk out. In the similar historical account, where God through Moses, the Israelites had to come out of Egypt and journey towards the promised land. Unfortunately, like the many Jews when they started to see and experience the hardship of the long and arduous journey to the promised land prefer to have remained in Egypt as slaves, like many of us who prefer to remain in the comfort of our cells where we have grown familiar all our lives. This is the sad story for many of us, because we have not learned to trust God and our eyes have failed to see with faith the new life God has prepared for us.

The Church, remaining faithful to her mission has given us the season of Lent. The days of Lent are like signposts that point us to the reality. This Ash Wednesday, as ashes is marked on our foreheads, we have again been reminded “thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return” or a better expression – “repent and believe in the Gospel.” It is a compelling reminder of who we are, about our beginning and our end. The beginning and the end belonging to God and anything in between is what we call our journey in life.

London to Paris, Feb. 15, 2018
 writing this blog

We are all on a journey to find our home, which is our life’s purpose. But life, if it does not know it's purpose will not reach the goal and there is nothing to complete. 

In the same way as I write this post - we are travelling on a train from Westminster to Paris and in the next 10 days and to many other places we have never been. Unfamiliar places and culture with no permanent address, we hop the train, the bus, taxis/uber and walk (a lot of walking) to get where we need to be. That we are just transient and while we try to enjoy this journey, we know we will have to come home one day. But most modern man, has lost his address and cannot return home.

We were not redeemed at a discounted rate, we were paid in full including the exorbitant interests. But Jesus in respect to our free will can’t force us to walk out of our prison cell. We will have to make that choice and make the actual steps and sometimes, it is a leap of faith. St. Paul, at the end of his life has said: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). His faith was trust that life has a goal, and it is realized in the eternal existence offered by the Creator who made us in his image.

Our destination, our heavenly home and address - #143 Paradise Dr., Eternal State, Heaven 12344. Do you have the same address? How are you planning to get there?

Freedom to love God

I have done my first RCIA Catechumen presentation for the year 2018 at St. Albert the Great Parish last night on the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and despite the heavy snow and the frigid temperature, we were almost full house - about 20 or more including sponsors. I feel bad because I wasn't feeling very well and definitely not in my A game and feels like I was floating in the air when I was doing my presentation. It could be a combination of many things - lack of sleep, fatigue, pressures both from work and driving in this treacherous, horrendous snowy conditions and blood sugar dropping down.

While there was some kind of feeling of guilt or sorry by not able to give my best because of my own limitations, I have come to realize that things like this happen and the only thing I can do is to rely and trust that even in this seemingly poor performance in the secular standard, still, God is at work. I have received in the end a lot of compliments and this proves that His power is not diminished and in the end, His will and purpose always prevails. Isaiah 55:11.

When we talk about the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, we could not help but to talk and reflect on the issues of pain and suffering, life and death, and many other hosts of issues about the will of God happening in our lives. There is a great many of us, well meaning Christians/Catholics that without blinking eyes would always profess that we want the will of God to happen in our lives. If we examine ourselves seriously, for most part it is more a wishful thinking and not really faith or an act of surrender to God. This is because we have a different understanding of what God wants to happen in our lives versus our own determination of what we want to happen in our lives. This is the reason why Churches of prosperity preachers are mostly well attended than those who preach the true Gospel. The Gospel of the Cross and Resurrection. That God's will for us is to be with Him in heaven and before we are re-united to our resurrected bodies at the end of time, we will have to carry and bear with our crosses for the rest of our lives. I am not sure if there is a better way to put it but there are hardships and obligations that come with our faith and Jesus Himself affirms that the road to Heaven is narrow and full of trouble. Mat. 7: 13-14.

The highest attribute of God is love. In this same love, He created us and the whole universe and the many other things that science have not proven or have not yet explored. In this same love, God calls us and invites us to love him back. This He did by giving us the gift of "free will." That in choosing to love Him back, He will not violate that gift. That as a free man, I will gladly and freely choose God and to live my life in accordance to His statutes.

So, if God will hinder me or intervene that I don't pull the trigger of a gun to kill a person, then I am not free. If am forced to feed the hungry, cloth the naked and visit the sick, as I am forced to do good just like a machine with an "on" and "off" switch, then I am not really free. It would have been better for God to have created machines that He can manipulate to bow down before Him in worship anytime He wishes. But then, His very own nature is violated.

I know this is a bit overwhelming for many of us and I don't think I can find enough words to truly give justice to what I am trying to say. But I remember an ancient story somewhere that probably best parallel how God's will happen in our lives...

There was an old farmer who lives in his own farm with one horse and with his wife and only son. One day, the horse got loose and ran away. A neighbor came and remarked "what a bad luck, the only horse you have as a source of your income is gone." The farmer shrugged his shoulders and said " what do I know about good or bad luck?" After a few days, the horse came back with 100 more wild horses. The farmer now owns not only 1 horse but another 100. The same neighbor came back and exhorted "maybe it is not bad luck that your horse ran away." The farmer again shrugged his shoulders and said " What do I know about good or bad luck?" A few more days, while his son was training one of the wild horses got kicked and broke his leg. The nosy neighbor came back again and sarcastically remarked "definitely not good luck, your son who helps you in the farm is now a cripple." Again, the farmer remarked "what do I know about good or bad luck?" A few more weeks, war broke out and militia came to their town and forcing all ablled body to join the army. When they got to the farmer's house and found the crippled young man, they left him behind because he is of no use to the militatry.  

I don't remember how the story ended, but I think the story reveals that there are things that happen in our lives and we won't really know what God intends. For me the moral of the story is not to worry about the "good" and the "bad" that happen in our lives. The will of God is not only manifested in the "good" but also in the "bad." His ultimate will in our lives is that we be with Him in heaven. But this is only possible for those who will persevere in faith until the end. For only a man of faith can exercise the virtue of trust in God's love in the midst of all the "good" and "bad" that may happen or is happening in our lives.

When we come face to face with Him, we can ask all the questions. But for now, we pray for the grace to persevere, to trust, hope and believe in the love of God. Amen. 

For the Sake of the Kingdom

The easiest way to know the will of God in our lives is to live out our vocation. It may be easier for priests and religious to do what they need to do everyday as their vocation has almost given them what actually God needs from them everyday in the exercise of their ministry.

However for baptized lay, we share in the three ministries of Christ, to be priest, prophet and king. This now becomes complicated because these ministries are not only exercised in the context of a lay’s vocation to his/her family but also his/her role in society and the Church. Of course the Church, most of the time, will always say that our first priority is our family as it is our first vocation.

There are times when duty calls soldiers to leave their families. There are times, when mother or father and sometimes both parents have to leave their children behind and find a way to support financially their children from working abroad for a number of years and even for an extended period of time.

So it is true that at times some may be called to leave family for the sake of the Kingdom of God. We may not be called to literally leave behind our loves one but there will come a moment when we may hear an invitation to decline a scholarship, or a promotion, or a romance for the sake of the Kingdom. There will be a moment we may skip a family dinner and/or a family social for some ministry we will have to do because nobody else has the time or has the willingness to do it.

Gospel stories tell us how the apostles have been called. Yes, they may have more than a few shortcomings but when that initial call came, as challenging as it was, they left their nets, their father, their work and made no excuses.

Can the same be said for us?

I hate Religion but love Jesus?

"The Spirit of Jesus is introduced into our earthly life, not through the medium of individuals endowed with special charismatical gifts, but through the ministry of an ordered hierarchy, which being appointed by Jesus to be the structural basis of the community, creates, supports and develops it. So the Church possesses the Spirit of Christ, not as a many of single individuals, nor as a sum of spiritual personalities, but as the compact, ordered unity of the faithful, as a community that transcends the individual personalities and expresses itself in a sacred hierarchy. This organized unity, this community, as germinally given with the Head, Christ, and depending upon His institution, is a fundamental datum of Christianity, not a thing created by the voluntary or forced association of the faithful, not a mere secondary and derivative thing depending on the good pleasure of Christians, but a thing which, in the divine plan of salvation, is in its essence antecedent to any Christian personality and is to that extent a supra-personal thing, a comprehensive unity, which does not presuppose Christian personalities, but itself creates and produces them." The Spirit of Catholicism by Karl Adams

Teach Me Your Ways O Lord

We are Christians, followers of Christ and in the biblical sense, followers of Christ are disciples. We live the reality that it is Christ who calls us and we are here because we have answered that call. We have come to believe and see and our coming and believing lead us to transformation.

We believe that the teachings and life of Christ are the best way to live and in here we become who God intends us to be – to become the best version of ourselves. To become the best not as the world sees us with its own secular standards of being “best” but to become the best as God sees us.

In our culture today that puts emphasis on appearance and entertainment. We have come to realize that we are lacking and seeing the shortage of spiritual heroes or models.

The models that our culture exults are those who have achieved their American and/or Canadian dreams. That the summit of all our dreams seem to be based on the success in one’s profession or their financial lives. Most people will work tirelessly to be able to afford their dream house, land their dream job and buy a new car every year only to find out that 
after reaching one dream to the other - that we are still lacking.

This could probably be summed up with what St. Augustine has said – “our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” Because deep inside us, we yearn for love and to be loved and our true longing is to belong to God and feel the blessings of being his child.

This should be our ultimate dream – our heavenly dream? Have we not dreamed of going to heaven and be with God for eternity? If we understand these questions, it should lead us to shift our focus and make that the ultimate goal of our life.

Each year, we are given a symbolic opportunity to mark the passing of the old and the beginning of a new better life. But the renewal of one’s self and the growth of our character do not happen with the change of calendar year. They require acknowledgment that there is something wrong with our philosophies or our understanding on how life should be lived. They require a decision to change those ways and return to God. To realize that all this time - I have been dreaming the wrong dream.

This year, starting today, we can decide to do something new. Whether we’ve ever done it before or not, we can set ourselves to becoming what God intended us to be. If we follow the teachings of Christ, if we embody the character qualities, the virtues, that he laid out for us, and if we make the Kingdom of God our primary goal, then with the help of the Holy Spirit we will move toward fulfilling the nature that God created in us. We will flourish. We will be happy. Because we will have learned that happiness itself is not the goal but is a side effect of the goal that God set for each of us.

In the great commission, Jesus asked all of us to go to the ends of the earth – not as theologians or bible scholars – but to be a witness. People want to see someone. Gandhi, when asked why he did not become a Christian, his answer was “I did not meet one!” I know by experience that the presence of God in our innermost interior calls us to move beyond the surface of our humanity. We need to learn to listen and have the courage to respond.

Be a witness!