Proclaiming the Gospel of Life

“Jesus said to his disciples, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand?”
Mark 4:21

These words of Jesus spoke to my flickering missionary heart.

As a missionary, I am always expected to boldly proclaim the Gospel at all times and in all places. It sounds courageous, selfless, and heroic even for others. But in reality, the call to proclaim the gospel in this generation is formidable especially in our “woke” generation. Often, I would feel so little to be used by God to speak in front of hundreds of people.
There were times when I prepare for my talks or wait for my session to begin that I would swiftly glance around the room and have a quick  scan of my audience and imagine them often ready to throw an intimidating look at me and earnest to raise their hands and speak up while I was giving a talk, wishing to beat down all the points I have shared and presented. It would often lead me to unnecessary anxiety. But thankfully, all my negative thoughts would always end with God assuring me of His love and mercy. He would remind me again and again that the people who will hear what I will speak about in every session need the Gospel. They need the Good News so that they may live life according to God’s plan for them. But more so, I need to proclaim the Gospel because this is what I am called to. I would be selfish not to share the best gift in my life that I have received and that is knowing Jesus Christ. I need to proclaim the gospel so that more people would find the real meaning of life.

It’s always scary but the power of the Holy Spirit empowers me to speak with confidence because what I am speaking about marriage, family, and life is the truth. There’s nothing more that can give you confidence when you know you are on the side of the truth.

So the next time you are given the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel, say yes. Let the light of Christ shine brightly in your life so that others may see Him. Step in faith and our good Lord will help you accomplish what you must.

Finding God in our Engagement Journey

I received one of the happiest “YES” in my life last March 25 on the Feast of the Annunciation. It was when Karen, my fiancée said her yes to me when I proposed to her. It happened at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish, Boracay and was witnessed and celebrated by both of our families.

Since April, we have been doing our wedding preparations one step at a time. We are very grateful to the Lord the moment we confirmed the reservation for the church, the reception venue and finalized the date of our wedding, because we know that the most important things have already been set which means everything will just follow. At first, I thought wedding preparation was manageable and not that stressful, but I was wrong. I discovered that every aspect of our life will be involved in this preparation. We must balance our schedule with work and wedding preparations, improve our decision-making skills through constant communication and prayer, listen to the suggestions of our family and friends, look for the right suppliers, monitor our budget, travel for errands, prepare spiritually, and still make time for one another. Gradually, I learned to love every step of it, especially my daily errands with Karen.

Not only are we preparing for our wedding, but we were also reminded that we are preparing for our marriage. That’s why our spiritual preparation is a big part of this journey. The Engaged Couples Retreat that we attended helped us by allowing us to communicate clearly about every aspect of our lives and by listening to the speakers and their stories about their marriage. What I found common in their sharing is that God always remained at the center of their love. Another thing that helped us prepare well is our meet-up with our Ninongs & Ninangs (principal sponsors). They provided spiritual advice and also practical tips in married life.

Karen and I are now 7 months engaged and 2 years & 4 months in our relationship. This engagement period helped us to really know and understand one another better. We came from different backgrounds but now here we are preparing to be one in sharing the same dreams and goals.

Just like the “YES” of Mother Mary to God, we are here preparing ourselves to the bigger commitment of choosing & loving one another every day, and to be a missionary family in the future. The call for us now is to surrender ourselves in this preparation and to dwell always in the presence of God. We know and believe that He will take care of everything.

Pray for us as we continue to journey towards our wedding day.

 

 

Here’s What Happens When Conscience is Formed and Informed

Conscience assists us in judging how we interact and apply to the complexity of mixed social issues. It is the sense of right and wrong, but also the obligations that follow from our understanding of what is right and wrong.

Before I started in Live Life, I believed that life is sacred and inviolable, however, there were also issues I stand differently. There were things I think are permissible. My conscience was malformed, and I followed what God teaches but I lost sight of the purpose behind the moral law. Thankfully, God led me to Live Life.

I learned that conscience must be formed and informed. It takes time to form our conscience so that we can make well-reasoned judgements. We need to work continually on it so we can be prepared to make decisions whenever the opportunity arises. We must be open to the truth and what is right, respect and follow reason and God’s law. We should allow ourselves to be formed by what God has revealed to us. Prayer is essential for this; it will keep us focused.

We should not settle for informing our conscience from mere information obtained from sources that do not have our best interest at heart. We should examine the facts and information about various choices and be discerning in where we gather information. It must be informed by the Word of God, what the Church teaches in the Catechism that can help us grow in knowledge of the truth.

May we ask ourselves where we are forming what we believe and what are the truths we hold sacred. Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want nor is it a mere feeling about what we should do or what should not do. It is a wonderful gift from God, it helps us recognize the truth about how we ought to live. Our conscience is a trustworthy guide only when it is well formed, kept well informed and ruled by God.

Let us pray to God to strengthen us with the virtues of faith, hope, love and especially prudence. May He guide us each day and send us graces to always do His will.

How to Avoid Purgatory

HOW TO AVOID PURGATORY
(A reflection on 33 Days to Merciful Love)

Is it really that difficult to enter the Kingdom of God? People have become either too desperate or too laidback in our journey to heaven. And some people just lose hope in life altogether especially when faced with seemingly impossible challenges that come our way. Some even despair in things that are beyond our control. Sadly, in these kinds of situations, people may see no way out and contemplate suicide. But what is it that people really want from their lives? Here is a quote to ponder on from Ven. Fulton J. Sheen:

“Suicide is not so much the desire that one wants to be annihilated, but rather that one wants to be at ease, which is just another way of saying one wants to have a different life.”

So, what people really want is a different life. Some form of change to take the suffering away. But this seems rather contrary to our Christian belief that to get to heaven, we must suffer for us to be perfect. We must undergo a lot of purification. Knowing our imperfections and weaknesses, we might be discouraged to become a great saint. There is no way! But as St. Therese of Lisieux simply puts is “God cannot inspire unrealizable desires.” You see, there are two things that get you to heaven, (1) Divine Justice and (2) Divine Mercy. Divine Justice is when we seek to be great and have merits of suffering in order for us to get to heaven. Divine Mercy, on the other hand, is when we remain little so we can console the Heart of Jesus. Think of our journey to heaven as a stairway. Divine Justice requires us to be strong and great in order for us to reach the top. Divine Mercy requires us to be like a little child who God himself can take in His arms and carry up to reach heaven.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather take the clearly easier path to heaven, which is Divine Mercy. Maybe this is the change you need in your life right now. Maybe your way to heaven is the Little Way through the Divine Mercy. But how do we do it? Here are only three things you can practice:

1. Recognize the darkness
From the time of Adam, our number one enemy is DISTRUST. We did not trust that God is a good. We didn’t trust that he had great plans for us and this led us to the Fall. We are weak and broken human beings who are vulnerable to mistakes and sin. We actually need to put up with ourselves and recognize that some of our struggles will be with us until we die. We need to become merciful to ourselves and to others for our brokenness and TRUST that God can write straight with crooked lines. We recognize our littleness, but we do not despair and we continue to strive even until the very end.

2. Keep trying
Despite of our little darkness, we are called to keep on trying. And sometimes I think it’s a beautiful thing, to continue to learn and search for the source of truth, goodness and beauty. All these in their complete and perfect state is not found in this world, but in God alone. There is more to this world after all. And we must pursue these transcendentals because that is how we are made, in the image and likeness of the perfectly true, good and beautiful. Our child-like hearts will always continue to ache for the love of our Father.

3. Keep trusting
As we continue to grow in holiness, we realize that our brokenness can get the best of us and can even paralyze us from trying to grow in holiness. We lose trust in God who can make us into great saints and revert to our sinfulness. With this, it is important to note that the Lord never tires of forgiving as long as we keep on going back to Him. God’s merciful love is incomparable to human love and mercy. As Jesus puts it, “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy.”

At the end of the day, could we really skip purgatory and become great saints? The answer is a resounding YES. It is not impossible for us to become great saints if we remain as little souls trusting this life and the next to our Father. Trust that God will make you into a saint even if you won’t see it, even if you struggle all your life against vice and sin, even if you have to wait until the very end. This is blind of hope of the Divine Mercy is our only treasure we will ever need in life. So, what are you waiting for? Live life to the fullest and live life in His Merciful Love.

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