Friday, September 30, 2016

Strong Enough

A friend of mine recently shared this quote that was hand written in the front of his Magnificat:

"Accept with joy the circumstances that are placed in your life, because these are the means God has placed for you to become holy."


The quote came from a book he had read. I am still trying to find the book source. 

Fr. Mike actually talks about that too, in his youtube video titled Will God Heal My Wounds?


Lord, grant that we may fix our eyes on your Cross. In times of gladness and sadness, that we may unite it with your love for us. Help us to be attentive to others. Fill us with your graces to distinguish compassion and pity when others are in distress. Purify our hearts. Amen. 

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Suscipe

[Photos from a morning jog through the fog]

I recently learned that "suscipe" is the Latin word for "receive."
St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote a prayer titled Suscipe:

Receive, O Lord, all my liberty. Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. Whatsoever I have or possess Thou hast bestowed upon me; I give it all back to Thee and surrender it wholly to be governed by Thy Will. Give me love for Thee alone along with Thy grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.


Now Playing: Touch The Sky by Hillsong UNITED

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

To the girl without a father


I pray for you.
I long for you to know your worth.
I pray for you to realize that you are beautiful.
I know that you may be confused, frustrated, exhausted.
Sometimes you may feel lonely, fighting the good fight alone.
and that you have to keep eyes on your back, to always be on guard.
As if in this world, you are unprotected.
You may have fallen into the trap of letting the words of the wrong man define you.
You may experience that deep sense of longing.
A long for protection, affection, through love.
My fear is that you fell into the lies that this world feeds on.
Or settle for a man that cannot see you as God sees you.
What could have first looked as assertiveness could turn to possessiveness and aggression.
Yet that spark in your eyes and that hole in your heart keep steering your sight.
and what you  deeply want is
just to see the truth.
and sense of courage
and to be in sync with the Spirit that guides your soul to the path of the Cross.
But at times, the days look dull.
Yet you pull a front face, while in truth, how delicate are your bones.
It is a fact, that growing up fatherless  can pierce a part of child's life. 
---
God please,
heal the souls of the broken. 
---
God is with you.
He will hold you.
He will protect you.
and He will always love you.

Maybe we all are like this butterfly that has a broken wing.
Nevertheless, beautiful creations. 
Only made complete through Him. 

Monday, September 5, 2016

Vocation to Charity


"Love to be real, it must cost-it must hurt- it must empty us of self."
-Mother Teresa

Missionaries of Charity convent in DC.
Back in 2011, a group of friends and I got the opportunity to visit the Missionaries of Charity in DC. We had a short project to help with the garden and we even got to pray in their chapel.

A gift from the sisters.

“The task which the Lord gives us ... is the vocation to charity in which each of Christ's disciples puts his or her entire life at his service, so to grow each day in love,”
-Pope Francis
(News article from C.N.A.)

This picture makes me so happy. I remember the sight of it all.
"Perhaps I don't speak their language, but I can smile."
-Mother Teresa

Dios mio, please grant us the graces to become the best versions of ourselves in Your image. Help us to radiate Your love, so that each time we encounter someone, they see You. That we may be use as instruments, surrendering it all so that our wills become Your will. Please teach us to trust You and never forget to love.  And that each day, we may grow to know You better. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.