desire to connect

There is in the deepest and innermost being of man the need to connect.

I hear and read about it a lot - man's desire to connect, not being an island, or a lone ranger. As I walked through a row of establishments in a mall one day, I saw a man, grinning with excitement as he was taking a selfie with his meal - I quickly judged it was a selfie but then I saw and realized he was talking to someone using his device. In the next establishment I saw through the glass a young lady with long black hair, sitting at the bar facing me and the passers by. She was chatting happily with someone using her phone with her white earphones in her ears. How powerful indeed has technology evolved to bring us such a gift for us to connect with people!

Yet technology only aids our means to connect. What pushes us to connect is our deepest desire of being in touch with another. What fuels this desire is just that real longing of something that is inside us - a truth of what we lost and what we wish to recover.

The truth is - we were born united with the One who made us. We were separated from Him because of our ways which are against His intention for us and for our lives. Yet even though we willfully choose to do things our way, inside of us there is a yearning that can never be quenched. This yearning is to just be back with Him, be one with Him, and do His will.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." John 6:35-40

throw your life away

To the young, throw your youth - your prime years to the Lord. To the elders, it seems that at this point, what this means is to throw your whole life away to the Lord!

- Andy Juan, March 28, 2016

PS. I paraphrase the statement above from a senior leader in the community I am a part of (Ligaya ng Panginoon). He was addressing the brothers of the Servants of the Word during an Alumni Night, himself being alumnus of the brotherhood.

life for a life

"As how I offered my Beloved Son to redeem your life, will you offer your life to redeem yours?"

faithful because He is

I've always considered it a grace from the Lord to be somewhat free from strong attachments which may distract me from quickly responding to His promptings. In a lot of my decisions in the past since my renewed relationship with the Lord, I recognize that God's hand has always held my heart close to His through this grace.

A good friend of mine pointed my natural tendency of being like this once and realizing it for myself, I thanked God for it! I tried to examine deep in my heart on where this was rooted and I could not find anything else but this verse:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23)

I am trusting that what lies ahead of me is according to God's plans, even in ways I cannot logically explain, because my God is faithful. Even just looking back at my life, at the many crossroads I've faced and the side trips I've taken, I look at this winding road and just see the hand of God. I see the hand of God directing my path in every step of the undiscerning ways I took and I see Him always directing me toward Him.

We can be trusting and faithful to the will of the Lord because our God is a God who is faithful in ways unimaginable and in ways beyond our rational mind.

This is a good reminder for all of us, even for me, when at times I find myself weak, beat down, and just fazed with so many things before me blocking my sight of the Hand that has always been there and the promise that it has always been leading me to.

hold on to love

In this second week of Advent, I am faced with a lot of realizations. The most important of all is the fact that we are just pilgrims here on earth - that everything we have now is temporary. The security of our career and finances, the self-confidence that we have with our achievements and experience, and even the comfort of family and friends, all these are futile when judgment day comes and we will come before the Lord to see Him face to face.

There are many things people can hold on to, but what I know for sure is that in this life and the next, I will hold on to only one thing. I will be judged by my Creator by this one thing that I have and what I can carry before Him. It is with this one thing that I hope I will be able to fulfill the purpose of my life - the love that I have from the Lord.

We will lose everything we have now, except the love that we have from the Lord.When the day comes that we face the Lord, faith and hope will already be brought to completion - for our faith is already made real before us and our hope is already fulfilled. Such is the reason why the St. Paul says that love is the greatest of all (1 Cor 13:13)!

I will hold on to the love that I have received first from Him. Before Him, at the end of my earthly life, I will give back this love that I have cultivated in my being - my love for Him and my love for my neighbors (Mt 36:40). I pray that my offering may be pleasing to Him. I invite you to pray this with me.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

- Psalm 136:1

outcast and included

I remember when I was a kid, I used to go out and play with the neighbors from next door. Our families were close. Only a small gate at the side separate our lots. This is where I would pass to go to their house.

On one occasion, their grandmother visited and handed out treats and peso coins to them while we were playing. Realizing I was also there, with my friends (her grand kids) telling her I was from next door, their grandmother gave some coins to me as well. At that time I did not really know how to be embarrassed, but good thing I was also not childish enough to be envious if I were not able to receive any! I said "Thank you," at that time and I remembered how I felt good to receive that treat. I even recall cheerfully mentioning to my parents later on that day that I received such a treat!

I can't exactly remember how my parents reacted to it. I knew I was just thankful. I didn't really deserve the treat as I wasn't part of the family. I didn't expect to receive any as well; but anyway, I got the treat.

"Now he was a Samaritan." - Luke 17:16

I remembered this childhood story of mine as I read the passage of the healing of the ten lepers. After Jesus's miracle, only one came back and gave thanks to Him. The story highlights as well that that only man was a Samaritan - a foreigner and an outcast. Yet, it was he who recognized the blessings and had the initiative to go back and thank the One who healed him.

Such is the case for us sometimes. When it's so familiar to us, we sometimes forget to be thankful of what we already have and think we deserve - even forgetting to simply thank the giver! At other times, when we recognize we do not deserve something, we are more thankful of the things we receive. How weird we can be sometimes.

The message of the Gospel underscored today is simple. The love of the Lord is for everyone. Sinners and saints - He loves us all. His love is inclusive and His love does great things for us. It is my prayer not to forget to thank Him at every moment I remember His goodness for me! I pray that this may be our disposition as we welcome each day of our lives.

"I will bless the Lord at all time; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." - Psalms 34:1

roller coaster

John 16: 5. Roller coaster ride.

Jn 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away...

That must have been what the disciples were experiencing at that time. One minute they were exuberantly ascending the road to Jerusalem proclaiming that the Messiah was in their midst, the next minute, they see Him condemned, scourged, and crucified - a most humiliating death for the king of a nation! Then in a middle of their disillusionment and confusion, a miracle happens and their hearts were filled with joy as the promise was fulfilled - Jesus was once again with them. This was only to find out that  after a while He would leave them and return in an uncertain time in the future.

How it must have been a roller coaster ride of emotions indeed for Jesus's dsiciples! The image was striking to me reading the passage as it was what I experienced immediately after the celebrating the feast of Easter and Jesus's resurrection. It was a time where I most exprienced overwhelming joy most especially with good friends and warm relationships sharing the miracle that is Jesus's resurrection in our lives. Just a few days after, however, that joy was shaken. Not shattered, or destroyed, just shaken.

It must have been how the disciples felt. Hearts troubled with the news of their Savior leaving them, they failed to ask the question of where they will go from thereon. Their hearts were just too preoccupied with sorrow. At that moment where my heart was struck with anxiousness, my mind was clouded with disbelief on how such an experience could happen. Of all the times that it could happen, it had to be immediately after such an occasion where everything seemed right?

Yet this was the assurance that Jesus gave when he was about to leave his beloved disciples,

"But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you." - John 16:7

The joy of the resurrection was that the promise of victory over sin was fulfilled. But more than that, it was a time where the Easter Peace was breathed into those who believed. When Jesus left, His words were strong - welcome the One who was sent to be with us. During times when we are shaken, we might fail to remember to cling to not just the Father who is our comforting hand, nor Jesus, our Savior, but the Holy Spirit who is our Advocate and the one who lavishes us with spiritual blessings:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control," - Gal 5:22

Do we really tap the power of the Holy Spirit as we go about our daily lives?