My Redeemer Lives

Someone forwarded this message and powerful video:

"A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?'. The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'.

They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes' too.

For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever.
The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island. Father and son went on to complete the race together. View this race .......

On the Journey Toward Becoming Friends

Friendships are mysterious. They often begin and end when we least them expect them to. We sometimes become friends with people we are not initially drawn to. Sometimes we don't develop the kind of friendship we desire with someone we are attracted to. Some friendships take a lot of work, while others are as natural as breathing.

Friendship is a gift waiting to be revealed with every person I meet. With just a few people, the gift of covenant relationship will be revealed. With very many people, the gift of friendly waves and weather conversations will unfold. In between are the gifts of healthy working friendships, close lifelong friendships, friendships born in crisis, celebration, a shared passion for coffee, golf, children, faith, travel, et cetera.

Friendships are life-giving when we accept, nurture, and celebrate the particular gift that is present in each. Friendships are draining and difficult when we reject the gift by either not accepting the intimacy offered or trying to make the gift more intimate than it was ever meant to be.

These gifts of friendship are scattered like ripe fruit in the gardens of our lives, waiting to be tasted and enjoyed. Each gift is given by a loving God, who knows what we need and who desires a friendship with every one of us. Therefore, while we may choose our friendships, we do not create the gift of friendship. We can work on our friendships, but we cannot change them into something they are not gifted to be. This is the pain and the joy, the poverty and the incredible freedom we experience on the journey to becoming friends.

written by DOUG WEIBE

Laying Down Your Life for Your Friends

Good Shepherds are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep (see John 10:11). As spiritual leaders walking in the footsteps of Jesus, we are called to lay down our lives for our people. This laying down might in special circumstances mean dying for others. But it means first of all making our own lives - our sorrows and joys, our despair and hope, our loneliness and experience of intimacy - available to others as sources of new life.

One of the greatest gifts we can give others is ourselves. We offer consolation and comfort, especially in moments of crisis, when we say: "Do not be afraid, I know what you are living and I am living it with you. You are not alone." Thus we become Christ-like shepherds.

(Henri Nouwen)

Vocation Sunday

New Video

Gift of Baptism

Today is a silent and yet special day for me. 17 years ago, on this date, I received the gift of baptism at the Church of St. Bernadette, and back then was the Easter Vigil. 17 years seem long, yet, I still feel as if I am at the beginning, learning more about the faith, about Jesus, about God, about the Church.... This reminds me of the teaching of our founder, Blessed James Alberione, the attitude of studiosita--to learn from all. We will never finish our learning, and I agree this is the beauty of being human. Till the day we die, we continue to learn from everything.

Today, I am thankful for all the people who in one way or another, help in the growth of my faith--the sponsors, my friends, my god-mother, my sisters in the congregation, particularly my formators and those who journey with me. They have been the one to help me see and experience the love of God till this day. Without them, I would not have reach where I am today. A very big Thank You.

Judas

No-one understands me:
Sometimes something forces me to do things,
to go against his teaching,
to act without love.
Afterwards I hate myself.
I'm not normal like the others.
I know I am an oddity,
and sometimes it's as though
I'm programmed to do bad things.
Even so, I never dreamt that I
could be so wicked, so full of sin, so evil
as to betray the only one who loved me,
the only one I loved: Jesus.

I was greedy for the money, of course.
I had always been poor
and I had never owned
thirty pieces of silver.
It seemed beautiful to me then,
that blood money.
But worse than the money was the kiss,
hideous, horrible hypocrisy!
How could he bear it so calmly,
looking at me with pity?

I hadn't given any thought
to what would happen.
I watched and listened steathily,
the horror grew
and I was powerless to stop it,
I who had set it all in motion.

When I saw him hanging there,
my Jesus, nailed to a cross
I cried to the Father,
'Let us change places.
Let him come down
and nail me there to die'.
But nothing happened.

I knew I was only fit for hell,
beyong forgiveness,
worth absolutely nothing.
It was time to end my useless life
my pitiful existence.
So I took a rope
and went to find a tree.

(taken from Lent (for the not-so-holy) by Anthea Dove, Columba Press, 2006)

The Pharisee

In today's gospel, Jesus told us the parable about the Pharisee and the Tax collector in Luke 18:9-14. It never struck me as before, that the Pharisee actually prayed to himself. Then I came across this beautiful words from the perspective of the Pharisee:

It was a revelation.
It happened after I had prayed.
I was leaving the temple
and I happened to glance across
at that wretched tax-collector.
It was just the look on his face.
He wasn't wretched after all.
He was trule at peace.
I saw that he was blessed
in a way I had never been.
I knew I had missed something absolutely vital!
So I went back into the temple.
I said nothing.
I simply stood in the presence of our God
until it slowly dawned on me,
the truth about myself:
my pride, my contempt, my self-righteousness.
I knew then that I was a sinner,
and I asked the Lord for mercy.

I stayed a long time in the temple,
and when I walked away,
I knew there was just a chance
that one day my face too
might be like that tax-collector's,
glowing with peacefulness
and quiet happiness.

(from Lent (for the not-so-holy) by Anthea Dove)

Thank you, John Paul II

Here it is, the English translation of Grazie, Giovanni Paolo II. Enjoy!

Forgiveness

In today's gospel, Peter ask Jesus about forgiveness, and Jesus told us through him that we must forgive endlessly. I would like to share what our parish priest quoted at the end of his homily today:

The one who does not forgive, breaks the bridge to which he/she must cross, to reach heaven. For everyone needs forgiveness.