True North Missionaries Journal

I understand that during this time of penance, You desire to call me everyday. Despite my laziness, pride, unwillingness to be a witness, You still show me the way You love me at the end of the day.

I’m not gonna lie, I feel really overwhelmed with everything that has happened in the last few weeks, Lord. Seems like everything is taking a different turn all of a sudden…and I find myself nit picking at everything I am doing wrong. I find myself backing into a corner asking myself why did I say this, why did I do this, why did this happen this and that…You must be molding. If so, please grant me the perseverance and humility I need to co operate.

Thank for sending me an affirmation though that I am growing into a more adult relationship with You. Thank You for the gifts of the sacraments. Thank You for Your mother who I am learning about everyday through devotion.

Anyways, I just wanted to let You know that I am thankful for the life you’ve given me. The people you’ve sent on my path in this life.  Please allow me to continue to serve in this community, in my parish, in my family. Despite what is going on, I know there is a greater glory ahead for me to give back to You. I love You. Help me to love like You.

Amen.

God has blessed me with the opportunity to experience Liveloud in the Philippines (Marikina, 2013 and Pasig, 2014), Eastern Canada (Toronto, 2014) and Western Canada (Calgary, 2013 and 2015, and Vancouver, 2015). If you’re wondering what Liveloud is, check out this post.

I always found it pretty cool that the community had songs that were written by fellow brothers and sisters. It’s inspiring to see how God works in an individuals life. These songs are personal prayers and by the grace of God, they become a reminder of His faithfulness and love to the entire community. To experience something like that first hand, especially on a grand scale with hundreds (or thousands) of people, makes it unforgettable. Each time I left Liveloud, I thought to myself,

“Everyone needs to experience this.”

I’m always excited to worship at a Liveloud. Sure it’s a concert, but it’s a praise and worship concert. I don’t attend to watch the band. I attend to worship the Lord. There is something about music that gets me. I guess it’s one of the ways that the Lord moves my heart. Reflecting on this, I realized that He has always made His presence and message known to me.

1. Love God through your passions
   • God-given passions, when directed to Him, become life giving and can be a blessing to others. It’s meant to be shared not kept. (Matthew 25:14-30)
   • I thank God that I’m given an opportunity to offer back my God-given passion for music through praise and worship songs and hymns.
2. Be open and humble
   • God is always speaking but we’re not always listening. The more we open our hearts and ears to Him, the easier it is to see Him working in our lives. Humility is the best way to allow God to transform us. (1 Peter 5:5)
   • God has chosen me to be part of Liveloud for reasons unknown. But I know for sure that He is continuously changing my life because of it. After every meeting, practice, or praise concert, I am filled with joy. Whatever He asks of me, I have every reason to say Yes to Him because He never fails to disappoint me when I trust in Him.
3. Journey with our Blessed Mother
   • We’ve been reminded many times of the blessing that is our Mother Mary. She will always bring us closer to her Son. She will never cease praying for us. She is a gift to us. (John 19:26-27)
   • Liveloud ignited my desire to be closer to Mother Mary. Singing the prayer over and over again helped me to surrender myself to the Holy Spirit just like she did. I will never forget that moment when I prayed, “Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart, and enkindle in me, the fire of Your love”. It was all thanks to her.
4. Share the joy of the Gospel
   • Liveloud is a lifestyle that calls us to live our faith loudly. We are all called to be missionaries, to bloom where we are planted, and to be witnesses of Christ’s love, power, and faithfulness. (Psalm 30:11-12, Matthew 28:19-20)
   • After almost 15+ years of being inactive, my parents are attending CFC households and assemblies again. I’m so happy to say that they attended Liveloud alongside my grandma and sister. I thank God that I was able to share a moment of worshipping the Lord with them and the rest of the community.

These simple messages have allowed me to find so much purpose and fulfillment in Liveloud, be it the praise concert, the campaign, or the lifestyle. For some, Liveloud is service but for me, it’s a joy.

 

“It would be a complete waste if I don’t use my blessings wisely”

Not even 10 minutes ago, I blurted out this statement…. but probably not in a way that you would expect. Haha.

To give a little more background, I’m a gamer. I enjoy playing games. Video games, card games, board games, you name it!

Much like any recreational hobby, it doesn’t serve much purpose other than self enjoyment, and amusement.

I had just realized that it’s amazing how the Lord can still use these things to communicate with us, and to help us realize His love for us!

So earlier, I was playing on my iPad. The game I was playing was Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. It’s a digital collectible card game. (as a card game and video game enthusiast, this is a terrible weakness for me. Haha)

While in a match, I had the option of playing cards that would give me an advantage early on, but would be best used later on where they would be more effective.

*I had 2 of these cards in my hand*

Rather than using the cards, I simply said “It would be a complete waste if I don’t use my blessings wisely”

Mind = blown

Immediately, I conceded the match, turned off my iPad, and decided to write this reflection.

Truly, God is trying His best to reach out to all of us in any way possible. He leaves hints here and there, and sometimes we fail to see it in the busyness of our lives. But when we finally realize it, there’s just those moments where you just want to drop everything you have, and just be in awe of His love, and to share it with others.

We are so blessed, and the Lord still continues to bless us!

I encourage you all to really embrace these blessings, because they are a gift from our loving God! Use them wisely, and don’t let them go to waste!

 

 

 

 

Sometimes we are so good with words, thinking we have so much knowledge that we can say anything to inspire others and “look good”… but what about action? It becomes ALL TALK if all we do is ‘say say say’ without any ‘DO’. Sometimes we say we are spiritually dry but do not take initiative to do anything about it. We do not pray. We do not take care of our physical health and most especially our spiritual health. Some of us can go and say ‘how’ we can get out of spiritual desolation, but it’s not that easy and different for everyone. The question is, are we willing to try and do something about it?

This gets the best of us lazy people, I’m guilty of this. It sometimes is hard to be motivated in the things we need to do.

There is no doubt, no doubt in the world that the ultimate ‘earthquake’ that happened 2000+ years will motivate us to walk our talk and do the things we need to do. Perseverance is AN ACTION. We say her name time and time again, Mother Theresa… through her desolation she kept on “walking” and doing the ministry she was called to do… why? Cause Jesus said so.

What is Jesus calling me to do? Will it be easy. Of course not. But am I willing to answer?

That courage doe. I need you Christ, my Saviour, Strength, my Friend.

AMDG.

Have you ever taken the time to sit by a windowsill to look outside and just stare at everything surrounding you? Or ever found true peace, just sitting by the shore or by the edge of a highland to stare out into the sunset? Have you ever been in the presence of snow and looked at the intricately unique and perfectly symmetrical design of every snowflake?

We are drawn to simplicity. Even the busiest of the busy people yearn for the time to be able to just relax and enjoy the simplicity of life and nature. Things like being able to stare out into the sky to admire its beauty without having to be on standby for the next meeting or conference call.  SIMPLICITY is something we all desire. But very few of us admit to it. Very few acknowledge it. These things are simple things, but we always find them in the midst of complexity (i.e. within busy schedules, busy streets, business environments, cities, mere kilometres away from busy neighbourhoods, etc).

If I could take this simplicity towards a different perspective, I think I would draw it towards people. Often times, we are quick to seek the complexities in others. The imperfect things. The negative things. And sometimes, it is enough to make us stop looking. But if we take the time to admit and act on this sometimes- buried-desire for simplicity, we might be able to find ourselves looking at something more simple, and more beautiful. We will begin to see at least one beautiful thing about them, and if we focus on that, the healing from our own judgment may begin.

Love is not just about being faithful and hopeful, but also about being merciful.

And if we can look at things in a more simple light… in a childlike faith and in simple joys, we might begin to further understand… We might find ourselves being able to forgive more easily, and stand more in awe of His Presence and leading in others. Lest we not forget, Jesus also called and loved the ordinary. But it was a simple desire in them and how they acted in mercy, faith, hope, and love of God that made them EXTRA ordinary.

“It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.” 

Lord, may we continue to learn and grow in Your extraordinary love. Amen.

Jesus, King of Divine Mercy, I trust in You.
TOTUS TUUS.