Ligaya ng Panginoon

11 Sure-Fire Ways to Have a Calm and Peaceful Mind

2008-06-14T20:08:00.006+08:00

forwarded by Mon Biticon
The fast pace of the modern world may put our mind in chaotic state. Information comes and goes, we must do this and do that. There are simply too many things that reside in our mind. While it may cause stress or even depression, at the very least it puts us away from a peaceful state of mind. But a peaceful mind is essential for our effectiveness. It keeps us calm no matter how the situation is, and it allows us to stay joyful during the day. At the end of the day, it makes us happier and more productive.
So here I’d like to share 11 ways to have a “mind like water”, a state of mind so peaceful that it’s like a calm water. Pick the ones that work for you:
1. Reduce your use of rational thinking
We need rational thinking, but we tend to overuse it in analyzing our situations and making decisions. That brings a lot of things into our mind which potentially also brings in noise. Is rational thinking really that important? I don’t think so. Even Einstein once said that “I never came upon any of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.”
2. Listen to your intuition
While you should reduce your use of rational thinking, you should increase your use of intuition. Listen to your intuition whenever you need to make decisions. Your intuition often knows more than you think. Furthermore, since intuition works instantly, it won’t bring a lot of things into your mind. Your mind will remain calm and peaceful. No wonder Einstein said that “The only real valuable thing is intuition.”
3. Listen to your heart
Your heart tells you what is right to do. There is where your deepest value and principles reside. Following what your heart says helps you be true to yourself, and that has a great effect on giving you peace of mind. So learn to listen more to your heart, and do what it tells you to do.
4. Get the stuff out of your mind
This is a basic principle of Getting Things Done (GTD). In fact, the term “mind like water” comes from GTD. You should record the things you need to do or remember on an external system you trust so that they do not occupy your mind. This way your mind will be freed to focus on your current task.
5. Meditate
Meditation is one of the best ways to calm your mind and have a “mind like water”. Even if you do the other ways mentioned in this post, sometimes there is still noise left in your mind. Meditation is a good way to purify it. There are many forms of meditation to choose from.
6. Limit your information intake
Consuming more information often means introducing more noise into your mind. That’s why limiting your information intake is essential to have a calm and peaceful mind. The rule of thumb in consuming information is this: consume information no more than what is necessary. But how do you know what is necessary? Rational thinking may help you figure it out, but I believe that your heart and intuition can help you just as much - if not more.
7. Read spiritual texts
Spiritual texts are among the purest kinds of information you can possibly get. It helps you link together your mind, heart, and intuition. While generally you should limit your information intake, I believe that you can safely consume spiritual texts without introducing noise into your mind.
8. Eliminate unessential stuff
It will be easier to have a peaceful mind if you don’t have too much stuff to worry about. So always look for ways to simplify your life. Eliminate the things which are not essential so that you can focus on the essential. Elimination should be a constant part of your life.
9. Don’t think too much about yourself
We usually think about our own needs and problems most of the time. But self-centered thoughts rarely bring peace into our mind. Quite the opposite, it may make us feel stressed and frustrated. So don’t think too much about yourself; forget yourself for a while.
10. Do something for others
Instead of thinking too much of ourselves, we should think more of others. Think of what you can do for others and do it. There is joy in giving which will give you peace of mind.
11. Slow down
In whatever you do, you do not need to be in rush. Doing so may only bring you faster to the wrong direction. First of all, you need to know where is the right direction to go. Slow down so that you can clearly hear the voice of your heart and intuition.

Pastoral Care Initiations: A Discipleship Commitment (excerpt from SOS Leaders Newsletter)

2007-12-20T09:20:00.000+08:00

In the article "Initial and Full Conversion" (April 2006), we looked at what we do to help bring people to Christ. We saw that many people who begin our initiations process have an initial conversion to Christ – they accept the gospel and have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior – but they have not come to full conversion or Christian maturity. They do not keep all the commandments, often because they do not fully know what is involved in keeping them. Our initiations process is designed to bring them to full conversion, "bearing fruit in every good work" (Col 1:10).
But that is not all we try to do. We also want to make them disciples of the Lord. And if they are true disciples, they will want to give their lives to advance his kingdom. Many of us would be inclined to say that someone who is fully converted in the sense that they keep all the commandments (love of God and love of neighbor, including faith in Christ) is a disciple. But that leaves something out, something expressed most clearly in the discipleship sayings in the gospels.
Most people who identify themselves as Christians are nominal or deficient Christians. Sociological surveys tell us that the majority of people who identify themselves as Christians do not "go to church" and do not keep the commandments. These are nominal Christians. Many who go to church do not keep some or even most of the commandments. These could be termed deficient Christians. Some of those whom we meet at church, however, are good Christians. They do keep the commandments. Some of them are quite active as Christians. Most of those say that Christianity is very important to them. But do they have a discipleship commitment?
Some do. Many do not.
Teaching On Discipleship
We talk about Christian discipleship throughout our work with new people in evangelism and initiations. We make the fullest presentation in the talk "Disciples" in the Our Call talk. There we say:
Disciples are people who live for the coming of the kingdom, who are on mission to advance the kingdom, who live to do the will of their heavenly Father. (Lk 11:1–2)
Disciples are people who deny themselves and give their lives to their master, so that their lives are his and not their own (Luke 9:23).
Disciples are people who take up their cross and follow Christ, being willing to give their lives for him and his kingdom as he gave his life for us, "For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it." (Mk 10:35)
Disciples are people who live "all out" for the kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Matt 12:28)
Disciples are people who follow the Lord and live for his kingdom "with all their lives for the rest of their lives".
Disciples are people who sell all to buy the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl of great price. (Matt 13:44–46)
The Discipleship Issue
Why are many good Christians not disciples? The answer has to do with what some people have called "the discipleship issue". The discipleship issue is first and foremost about our lives. Whose are they? Our own or the Lord’s? If we have truly given our lives to him, we approach our lives as stewards of a life that belongs to the Lord. We simply want to know what he wants to do with his life that he has given us, and we want to do whatever that is.
The discipleship issue is secondly about what we have. As modern human beings, this focuses on our time and money. Do we keep our time and contribute some to the Lord, or is it all his? Do we keep our money and contribute some to the Lord, or is it all his? If we are disciples, the time and money in our keeping is his time and his money that he has given us to steward.
For most good Christians, the Lord and his kingdom (Christianity) is one of many things in their lives. For some it is something very important. But they have the Lord and… They have the Lord and their family and their job and their friends and their music and their motorcycle and, and, and… As one Christian teacher put it, they have bought the pearl of great price (rather cheaply, it might be said) and added it to their pearl collection. Until they settle the discipleship issue, they may be good Christians, people the world around them would see as good Christians, at least if they invest enough in Christian things, but they are not yet disciples.
We do not have to stop having a family or a secular job or a bank account in order to be a disciple. As the Acts of the Apostles makes clear, the early Christians saw themselves as disciples, and yet many of them were married, with regular occupations, and with material resources. The discipleship issue is whether we have made those things over to the Lord or whether we keep some of it for ourselves and give some to the Lord.
Forming Disciples
Our initiations process is designed to bring people to a discipleship commitment. Disciples, of course, have to keep the commandments, as we saw in the write-up on full conversion. Zeal for the Lord is not a substitute for obedience. In fact, most of what we do as pastoral workers in initiations is centered on helping people keep the commandments. We are encouraging people to pray, to raise their families well, to support community life, to seek to build up their brothers and sisters in the Lord, to keep Christian sexual morality, to stay out of debt, etc., etc. These are the day-in, day-out concerns of our formative care. Nonetheless, we should not simply be trying to form law-abiding, commandment-keeping Christians. We should not even simply be trying to form faith-filled, obedient Christians. We should be trying to form law-abiding, commandment-keeping, faith-filled, obedient disciples.
One key feature of the discipleship issue concerns decisions in life. We want to help the people in our initiations process to make intelligent decisions. We want to help them use their time and money wisely, for instance, not to waste it or inadvertently throw it away. Even more, we want them to make Christian decisions. Much of the time, these will be commandment-based or obedience decisions. Very often young people who come to us have to decide to stop fornicating or not to borrow money without paying it back. These are decisions that are simply a matter of keeping the commandments – or not.
But there is a different kind of decision. For instance, some young people who come to us decide to repent of serious sin as early as the Life in the Spirit Seminars or their first retreat. But then, they need to decide to come regularly to our activities (or something similar) so that they can grow as Christians. Many do not make that decision. They want to use their time in a different way, and so they do not take the steps that will allow them to be disciples.
People farther in the Lord, people who have decided to give some of their lives to grow as disciples, continue to have further discipleship decisions. A young person may have decided to be connected to us and even enter the initiations process. He may be keeping out of sexual sin. But he may have met someone he is romantically attracted to who is not much of a Christian and who does not want to be. He may marry that person anyway. If he does, he is practically guaranteeing that he cannot live much of his life in a discipleship way, even though he may not have broken a commandment in marrying that person. He has not taken the path of a disciple.
Older people have to make similar decisions. They may be facing the need to get a new home. They may decide not to buy a house that is beyond their means or that is in a bad neighborhood for their children to be in. That is all just fine. But they may also decide to buy a house that is too far for them to be much part of the community because they like it better. Their decision may not break a commandment, but it is not a discipleship decision.
The question a basic good Christian asks is: can I keep the commandments and still do this thing I want to do? Or the less committed good Christian may in the back of his mind be asking the longer-term question: can I do this and not go to hell. But the question a disciple asks is: how I can use this life I have – this life that is the Lord’s and not my own anymore – how can I use it to live for the Lord and advance his kingdom. Which possible marriage partner will allow me to live for the Lord? Which house that I might buy will allow me to contribute most to the advancement of his kingdom?
We are, to be sure, seeking to bring people to Christian maturity, to a life of keeping the commandments. We are, however, also seeking to bring them to Christian discipleship. If those who complete our initiations process simply want to be "good enough" Christians and do not want to be disciples, we have not fully succeeded. That means that we have to regularly help the people we are working with to ask the discipleship question as they make their decisions in life – which choice will allow me to live most fully for the Lord? The answer, of course, may be "either one", and so the decision has to be made on other grounds, but we want to help them get to the point where they ask the question instinctively and approach all their decisions as disciples.
Regular Reviews
Discipleship, of course, is not just a matter of making decisions. It is a matter of living our whole life. That means that we as pastoral workers in initiations are also trying to help people to look at their lives as a whole and say, "am I using my time and money in the best way for the Lord and his kingdom?" Regular reviews of schedule and budget are very helpful in this regard. Being a disciple does not mean that we eliminate all rest and recreation or never spend any money on ourselves. We need such things to function well. But it does mean that we regularly ask the question: "am I stewarding my life and resources for the Lord in the way I use my time and money?"
Sometimes young people are afraid that if they decide to be disciples, they have to live single for the Lord. Some certainly should. But some should get married for the Lord. The discipleship question is: "how can I live in the best way for the Lord?", not "what do I most want to do?" or "what do I most deeply desire?" Most should probably get married, but, if they are disciples, they should do that because that is the best way for them to live for the Lord and advance his kingdom. But all in the course of the initiations process should ask the question how they can live best as a disciple of the Lord, someone seeking to advance his kingdom. We treat this in the course on Entering Your State in Life (Foundations Course 2 for Singles).
The decision to be a disciple can come at any time in the initiations process. For some it happens at the moment of initial conversion. When some new people come to faith in the Lord, they know he is the most important thing in life, the pearl of great price, something worth living their whole life for, and they give him their lives with no strings attached. For some becoming disciples is a gradual process. They can say the words of a discipleship commitment and mean them as far as they understand them. However, their lives stay much the same. They have the same friends and interests, the same values and priorities, the same things taking up most of their time. Only gradually do they agree to pray regularly, to be a regular part of a Christian group, to get some Christian friends, to contribute some of their money on a regular basis. If they are young, only gradually do they seriously make the Christian commitment of their prospective marriage partner an important consideration or ask how their planned occupation can fit into a Christian life. If they are older, only gradually do they make discipleship decisions about how to use the money from the raise they just got or about where to get a new house or what school to send their children to.
Those who have been raised as good Christians are often the slower ones to become disciples, at least to become disciples with "all their lives". New converts sometimes see the issues more clearly and take more decisive steps quickly. Because they are making a big change to become a Christian in the first place, they see the consequences of the step they are taking more easily. Nonetheless, those who have been raised as good Christians, if they go through the initiations process well, will step by step become disciples.
Testing
There is a simple truth here, the truth of what the scripture calls "testing". We only have made a real decision when it is put to the test. It is when we have to decide against marrying someone we are attracted to because that person will not enable us to live for the Lord that we become a disciple in the area of our marriage. It is only when we have to decide to forego a promotion, because the new job will not allow us to live as fully for the Lord that we become a disciple in the area of our occupation. We need to, in a certain way, remake our discipleship commitment constantly. We need to extend it to more and more of our life. And the Lord seems to help the process by constantly providing tests that allow us to grow in discipleship. As pastoral workers, we can be most useful when we help the people we are caring for see that they are facing a discipleship decision.
Nonetheless, whether by quick growth or slow growth, discipleship is what we are aiming at, what should characterize all the members of our communities. We want to be a band of disciples, seeking to give our lives to advance the kingdom of the Lord. And as pastoral workers in initiations, we want to help those we are caring for see the surpassing worth of the pearl of great price and constantly choose for it in small as well as in big things.

God's servant for life

2007-12-08T07:28:00.000+08:00

Indeed, once a Lingkod, always a Lingkod. As I am writing this, I have been in Lingkod for over 13 years! I had my Christian Life Program (CLP) in Lingkod-Makati in 1994, moved to Lingkod-Alabang in 1997 as part of its Mission Team and serving as Branch Women's Moderator (BWM). Prior to my joining the Lingkod National Office as its Fund Development Head in 2003, I was also part of the Branch Visitation Team (BVT) and I was tasked to oversee the Cebu, Mactan and Ormoc branches. Early this year, I moved to Lingkod Ormoc to continue serving in Lingkod as a married person, ably supporting my husband, Junjun Ocampo, who happens to be its current Branch Leader. At present, I am still serving the National Office as its Regional Fund Development head for the Visayas.

I would always say that "I love Lingkod!" I recognized that it is Lingkod that God will use to bring healing to my wounded past and it is through Lingkod that I will experience God's unconditional love through the brothers and sisters. True enough, it was in Lingkod Makati that God showed how faithful He is to me. The love of my action group and my other brothers and sisters helped heal the painful memories of my childhood, having been raised in a broken family.

My experience in Lingkod Makati was what convicted me to serve God faithfully through Lingkod. I was healed to help others. I have been blessed to be a blessing. So when I was asked to be part of the mission team for Lingkod Alabang, I immediately said yes. Ever since that time, my default answer every time I'm asked to serve is "Yes." My constant Yes is my way of saying thank you to God for all that He has done for me.

In one of my prayer times, God spoke very powerfully to me through Psalm 116:12 "How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?" I was certain at that time that God was calling me to be His servant at the National Office. That call came three years after a very fruitful and joyful service as Alabang's BWM.

I really wasn't sure at that time how someone from Cavite would be willing to go to Quezon City where the National Office of Lingkod is and serve as its Fundraiser, a service and work very unfamiliar to me. It was "pure grace" that I survived almost four hours travel time every time I would go to the office.

Fundraising is a service not many would volunteer doing. They say it takes a lot of guts to do it! But I realized that fundraising is not about guts —it's about believing in the mission of your organization and believing in it passionately. And I have passion for the cause of Lingkod in abundance. I've appreciated in my own life and the lives of my brothers and sisters how Lingkod has been used by God to transform ordinary single men and women to become faithful and committed men and women serving God with so much love and joy. Through fundraising, I discovered other talents and gifts God has given me. I would look back and thank God for allowing me to serve Him in that capacity. I would praise God and thank Him for sending me brothers and sisters who made serving Him a blissful experience!

A little over eight months ago, I experienced God's steadfast love once again through the sacrament of marriage. I can't thank God enough for giving me a husband/brother who is also very passionate about serving and loving the Lord. My husband Junjun Ocampo hails from Ormoc City, Leyte. And after much discernment, I decided to move to Ormoc with my husband right after the wedding.

I am certain that God called me here to Ormoc — interestingly enough, serving God here is as hectic as in Manila. Junjun and I are not only serving in Lingkod but we are also given opportunities to serve in BCBP, and other religious organizations here. Nothing really compares to the joy of serving the Lord! Our house has become the home of our brothers and sisters here — they have become part of our family budget. Thanks to the formation we received from Lingkod and Ligaya, serving each other has become our way of life! We would always say "pinagsisilbihan nga namin ang hindi namin kakilala yung isa't isa pa."

Last May, as Junjun and I agreed, I went back to work. I have been blessed to be doing something I love to do: training. Junjun is an invaluable help because most of my trainings are in Bisaya, Tagalog and English. Junjun is as equally blessed in his work. Our clients are like manna from heaven — they just come. We know very well that it is God who leads us to the right customers. Thanks be to God for continuously blessing the work of our hands.

From Makati to Alabang to Quezon City to Ormoc and wherever God will bring me, I will continue serving Him with love, zeal and gladness — the only response I know for all of God's goodness to me!

Vannie Siloterio-Ocampo

Sa Kambas ng Lipunan - In Society's Canvas

2007-11-26T18:35:00.000+08:00

Above is an excerpt from Joey Velasco's speech at the start of his Book Launching and First Solo Exhibit in Art Asia. His book is entitled "They Have Jesus: The Stories of the Children of Hapag" and was launched on Oct. 13, 2006.

This video contains just snippets of the book "They Have Jesus" based on his obra "Hapag ng Pag-asa" (Table of Hope).

I seldom forward messages but this one is really worth your time. A sad eye-opener but has inspired me to prepare my heart for the coming of Jesus this Advent. May this video clip inspire us to give and love more!

Vannie

Moving Overseas

2007-11-15T21:57:00.000+08:00

Moving Overseas by Ricky Dagelet

Moving overseas is one of the biggest decisions one can face in his/her life. After choosing the right lifelong partner, this is probably the next most important decision you may have to make. Our family migrated to Sydney in 2004 after more than a year of praying, consulting, and investigating. Let me share with you what we have learned from our journey.

Your Vision and Mission

I have met some people whose vision is to live overseas. It ends there for them and they have nothing planed beyond this. “Basta makaalis ako sa Pinas”..”Goal ko makapag abroad”..”Gusto kong tumira sa Canada”. Now that they have gone overseas, & started encountering difficulties, they get confused & sometimes ask themselves “Now what…where do I go from here…is this really where I should be?..” .

Before we start planning our move overseas we must first have a clear vision and mission for ourselves and our family. The vision should be something we want to be in the future, it’s a source of inspiration, and will help us in our decision making. Moving overseas should not be the vision, but a means to achieve the vision, and live out the mission for our family. It must also be aligned with God’s Plan for us; we are made for God, and our goal is to be with Him in heaven. This vision should drive us as we make our decision to move overseas.

The Right Environment and Support

When me and my wife planned our move to Sydney, we made sure that we will not compromise our mission and vision for our family because of the change in environment. One important issue we faced was education and schooling for our kids. Our vision is to see them in a school where they can have the right environment to nurture their Catholic faith, at the same time get an education that can open opportunities for them in the future. We won’t make the move until we are sure the school can provide the same or even better environment for spiritual growth and education. Our kids came from Southridge School (http://www.southridge.edu.ph), a PAREF (Parents for Education) School which is known to have excellent value formation and education. We initially thought it will be hard to get something similar in Sydney, but by God’s grace we found a PARED (similar to PAREF) school called Redfield College (http://www.redfield.nsw.edu.au/) that provided the same level of formation. When we met the staff, and consulted the other parents in the school, we knew this is a great place for our kids, and the vision for our kids will be met. We would not have made the move if we could not be assured that the kids will be in the right school because compromising our kids’ formation and education is not an option.

We also agreed to continue the life we have learned to live in our community (Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon). Since there was no affiliate group of Ligaya in Sydney we gathered our friends, and their friends, to start a small prayer group. The Group is called God’s Light and it is now composed of over 12 families from all over Sydney. God’s Light acts as our support in helping us live the life of Christ in Sydney.

Resolving our Problems

Migration should not be used as an escape to the problems we face here. Existing problems could even be compounded overseas. A couple having relationship difficulties with their kids, or with one another, must first settle their differences before moving, and make sure there is a mechanism to resolve issues properly and in a good manner.

People who are having problems with their career, business, or studies should not see migration as a way to fix their problems. They could face harder situations overseas because they may have to start all over and build up their local knowledge, network, and expertise. If a child has bad study habits, these will not go away wherever you go. If you find yourself having frequent relationship problems with friends and co-workers, you can expect to face the same issues. The best thing is to fix these problems while you are still here, where you can get support from your family and friends.

Working Together as a Family

Expect to do a lot more things together as a family because there might not be a full time helper available. This means the job being done by one or two full time helpers will have to be distributed among the family members. To handle this, we need to develop our skills in the household before we leave, and even try living without the helpers a few months before you leave. Knowing how to cook, ironing clothes, cleaning the house, fixing appliances are some of the skills we need to prepare as we plan our move. I had to quickly learn how to be a handyman and use electrical tools when our vacuum cleaner got busted. Repairing it will cost the price of a new vacuum so I had to quickly learn how to be a handyman to save on cost.

In 2003, when we were already seriously considering migration, we spent our summer in Sydney to help us appreciate the life there. We decided not to live in a hotel but in a service apartment. I rented a car, my wife Brenda did the cooking, laundry, and everyone helped out in cleaning the apartment. We wanted to know if we can really live the life without helpers. This was a good test for me and Brenda to see if we can really do it. Brenda passed it with flying colors and I am so proud of her and appreciate her even more.

I strongly suggest each family try this out before making the move. If having a long family vacation overseas is not an option, you can ask your helpers to take a one month break and see if you can do it all without their help. I know some families who made a good decision of releasing their helpers months before they left, in order to get everyone prepared and trained. If you can’t survive this test, you might want to prepare first before making the move.

If you are moving as a family, it is important for you to have good relations with your spouse in order to make it work. There will be a lot of new challenges you will face and the support of one another is really important. Months before you move I suggest you start having weekly time together with your spouse. This is a time where you can really share your plans, dreams, and difficulties. Discuss how you will distribute the work, how to handle the children, and each one’s areas of concern. Make a list of things you wish to accomplish when overseas, and the lifestyle you want to live.

Preparing our Family

When we moved to Sydney in 2004, we realized that my 6 year old son still has not yet developed his fine motor skills required for proper eating. This skill was not developed because our helper would do most of the work, and he simply had to open his mouth to take in food. It took a while for our child to develop this, and a lot of hard work could have been avoided if we had developed his fine motor skills when we were still in Manila. With regards to sports, Australia places a lot of importance in swimming, and they expect every child to know how to swim well. We were not prepared for this and we had to accelerate our kid’s swimming training just to catch up with the requirement. If we had known sooner, we could have enrolled our kids in swimming lessons in Manila, where the cost is much cheaper and they had more time to learn.

Career Expectations

Most companies will not get a manager who just arrived from overseas; they will always prefer a person with local experience. So expect to start small and build up your career slowly. This could be a humbling experience, and you have to be ready to face this. You also have to ask yourself if you are ready to start your career all over again. You hear many stories of Doctors here moving overseas to be Nurses. I have a friend from Canada who used to work for our company as Vice President for Finance but had to downgrade her Resume / Bio Data in order to fit the job she is applying. It is just difficult to start but eventually, after getting experience, you should be able to get your career back on track.

If you work for a multinational company, it would be great if you can ask for a company transfer to the branch in the country you plan to live. Scout the job market even before you move so you can check the kind of jobs available, the compensation, and the location of the jobs available. There’s a lot of websites where you can browse for job openings. In Australia there is www.seek.com.au.

Having the right friends

Moving overseas could also mean starting to build friendships again. You have to choose friends that have similar values and vision to get the right support. Meeting people in the local Parish would be a great start. Pinoys normally hang around after Mass and catch up with one another. Try being involved in the choir or other parish services to meet new friends. This can be a good opportunity for you to associate with people from different backgrounds and learn from their experience.

Use this time to strengthen your friendships with your family. One of the best things that happened to our family is we became much closer and got to know our kids even more. Spend quality time with them, and be their best friend. Part of our weekly activities as a family are board games, Ping Pong, and Basketball. These activities help a lot bring you closer to each other.

You need the support of family and friends especially when loneliness strikes you. Loneliness is something you can never be really prepared for, and the best way to overcome it is to develop new friendships and have your loving family support you.

Distractions of the World

The pull of the world is much greater overseas; you have higher purchasing power, and more choices that could lead to materialism and financial stress. Financial Credit is easier to avail, but don’t be tempted to use it unless really necessary. The recent news about credit and mortgage distress in developed countries just proves that a lot of people spend more than their means. You might be tempted to buy the European Car or Luxury home of your dream, but end up sacrificing more important things like your family vacation or good schooling for your kids. Set your priorities, and don’t be influenced by others in choosing what you need. Have a budget for your family and set aside some money each month for savings and investments.

Don’t just Survive, but Thrive

If your goal is simply to survive then it might be better to just stay here because you can get support from your family and friends. When you migrate, your goal should not survive but to thrive and prosper, not just materially, but spiritually as well. If you think your spirituality will decrease, then its time to rethink your move. “For what will profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul” Mat 16:26. Your spirituality should be strong enough to overcome challenges and even conquer new grounds. Be open to opportunities to spread God’s Word, and have a missionary attitude when going overseas. But it does not mean we should only be missionaries when we go abroad, we should be missionaries wherever we are, even in our home country.

Preparing the Children

For me it is ideal to move overseas if the kids are already mature enough and can already take responsibilities at home. It is more challenging to live overseas when you still have babies and need to attend to them most of the time. We also need to make sure our kids already have a good understanding of what is right and wrong and are grounded on Christian values like love for God, Prayer, Purity, and Forgiveness, so they will not be easily swayed and be strong in their faith. I just found out from that only a fraction of the catholic youth in Sydney are still practicing their faith after finishing University. Most have stopped going to Church regularly, and have neglected their faith. This is an area of concern that the Catholic Schools are working on.

God Needs Filipinos Overseas

I once asked my friend who visited us in Sydney to watch who were serving during the Mass. Also see who are the choir members, and check out the crowd, who do you see there. Yes they are mostly Filipinos. God must have a purpose for sending a lot of Filipinos overseas. One of them is to serve the church and bring life back to the Parish. I am sure if there were no Filipino migrants, the Catholic Church overseas would have lost a great deal. God has a plan for Filipinos overseas and I hope we all participate in God’s Plan. Let’s be active in our local parish and serve our God.

Checklist for Moving Overseas

Here is a simple checklist I made which you can use to check if you are ready to move.
What is your vision and mission? Will moving overseas help you reach your vision or compromise it?
Have you prayed about your decision? Have you consulted your family, friends, and leaders about your move?
Do you already have a good relationship with your spouse and kids? Do you spend quality time with them? Do your kids open up to you? What are their concerns about this move? Have you explained the reasons for moving?
Which part of the city do you plan to live? Are there good schools in the area? Have I done enough background check on the school?
Have you already talked about the responsibilities of each person in the household? What kind of skills do we still need to develop?
Have you scouted the job market? Do you have the skills needed for the job you want? Is the job available in your area? Can the compensation afford the lifestyle we want? Please consider income tax payments when calculating the compensation.
Can we live without helpers? Have we tried to live without helpers?

Why Lord?

2007-11-09T15:38:00.000+08:00

Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

Is it ok to ask the Lord the question why? A lot of us want to. We see sickness and death happening to some faithful people we know. We want to ask why. We look at our country believing its the only catholic nation in Asia and yet we are in a state of national emergency. We want to ask why. We study all we can and yet sometimes we still fail. We want to ask why. We do all the necessary preparations for an event and yet it still fails. We want to ask why. We work very hard and yet at the end of the day our boss is still not satisfied with our work. We want to ask why.

We want to ask why but sometimes we fear that it would insult the Lord. We fear that if we do so, we put question on our faith. Is it ok to come to the Lord in prayer and ask why? In my opinion, it all depends on the purpose of our question.

If it is to question the Lord's wisdom and authority, then I believe it is not right. We need to believe that the Lord is a loving God. We need to believe that the Lord's purpose and ways while sometimes difficult to understand and accept is always right. We need to believe that it is our Heavenly Father's intent for us to be with Him and thus experience true joy and happiness, total peace, without sickness and death. In fact, we don't just need to believe, we ought to accept, because it is true.

If on the other hand, our intent in asking why is to try to understand, then I believe that it is perfectly ok. Jesus, Himself, asked the Lord Why? Asking "why" leads us to conversation and to a deeper relationship with our God. Asking why in this regard leads us to seeking God's will. Asking why in this regard does not weaken our faith, rather, it deepens it. Remember what happened after Jesus asked "why" while He was on the cross ... in Luke 23:46, Jesus said "Father, into Your hands I commit my Spirit." After the question "why" came a total submission to God's will. I believe that between the two statements, the Lord God gave His reply to the Lord Jesus.

Is it ok to ask why? I believe so. For as long as it comes from an intent to seek God's will and to come into conversation with our Lord, thus deepening our relationship with Him. I pray that everytime we ask the question why, it would then be followed by a complete and total submission to God's will for us, just like Jesus.

Dear God, allow me to ask You why things happen to me or to people around me every now and then. I do so not to question Your will and authority nor do I question Your omnipotent wisdom. I do so simply to understand and to come into conversation with You that my relationship with You will deepen and my faith strengthen. Guard me that I may never waiver in my faith, and when I have my conversations with You, may they always lead me to a complete and total submission to Your will.His Word brings Hope, Life, Love, Joy, and Peace.- Randy

obedience desired over sacrifice

2007-11-03T15:44:00.001+08:00

1 Samuel 15:22 "Does the Lord so delight in holocausts and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams."

The world we live in is a world of quick-fixes. We look for short cut solutions to our problems.

As we travel to work, we sometimes knowingly or unknowingly commit a traffic violation - swerve, beat a stoplight, etc. To avoid the hassle of being issued a ticket, going through seminars, and losing time better spent on more important things, we take out a hundred peso bill and give it to the policeman. He lets go of us, we take our license with us, and we go about our normal business. Nothing lost. What we did not realize is that by applying this quick fix, we committed a sin, we tempted a policeman to sin, and we committed a bigger crime - that of bribery. Our character is damaged.

We commit to attend a prayer group regularly. Because of "more important" things or conflicts in schedules, we miss a lot of the activities. Later on, to make up for our commitments, we offer hosting an activity or doing an important service. While we believe we have paid our commitments by offering something much bigger, we lose the grace that we could have acquired through the regular attendance of a prayer group and we lose the character formation brought about by religiously attending to our commitments.

I try my best to spend good quality time with my son, Jas. There are times, however, when I just want to be alone and relax. And so, I take time off spending time with him. Then, when I am "in the mood" again, I offer to Jas playing with him for a full afternoon or give him a gift or something. While I may have achieved being in Jas' good side again, I missed his "growing moments" during the time I decided not to spend with him.

Character is built over time. It does not happen overnight. Sacrifice, more often than not, is a one time activity. While sacrifices teach a lesson or two, it is not sustained. Obedience is our ongoing commitment to follow the Lord. Obedience builds character. This is why obedience is far more important than sacrifice. This is why the Lord desires obedience over sacrifice. While sacrifice teaches us lessons, obedience lead us to holiness. In this world of quick-fixes, let us discern well whether or not our actions build our character or actually destroy it.

Father God, temptations are all around me to go for quick-fix solutions. I am reminded today that You do not seek quick solutions but rather my commitment and dedication to follow and obey You. My obedience to You is far more important than the results I deliver. Lead me away from the temptation of quick-fix. Rather, lead me to act in a way where I will grow in holiness.His Word brings Hope, Life, Love, Joy, and Peace.- Randy

in pursuit of happiness?

2007-11-03T14:19:00.000+08:00

Psalm 89:16-17 "Happy the people who know You, Lord, who walk in the radiance of Your face. In Your name they sing joyfully all the day; at Your victory they raise the festal shout."

I find my son silly at times. There are moments when he can never be contented. He wants to find pleasure in doing something but he can't seem to grasp what it is that he wants. He grabs his crayons and starts drawing. After a few minutes, he would wail. He would then open the TV and watch. Minutes after, he would cry again. He would then pull either my arm or my wife's and lead us outside. Outside, he sees his swing and starts swinging. Minutes later he would cry again. While I find this situation silly, I realize that I am sometimes like that as well. If we look into our lives, we may see similarities.

Knowingly or Unknowingly, A lot of people spend their life on earth in pursuit of happiness. We ask the question, what will make us happy? For some, their carnal nature dominates and they try to find happiness through pleasures that will satisfy the desires of their flesh - sex, drugs, parties, alcohol. For some, they seek happiness through the power that they attain, they find satisfaction from the fact that they are able to control others or dictate on others' wills. For others, happiness is sought through appeasing others, being at peace with other people and with nature. They believe that for as long as they are at peace with everyone and with their surroundings, then they can find happiness. And there are those who would seek happiness through their careers holding their positions and titles as a very important measure of success.

The problem with pursuing perfect happiness is that if happiness is the object of our pursuit, it can never be attained. The Lord has placed a void in our hearts which can only be filled by Him alone. Therefore, if the object of our pursuit is happiness, we will never find it. If, however, the object of our pursuit is the Lord, then happiness will surely come. It is the Lord and only the Lord who can fill the void in our hearts. Only through Him will we be content, only from Him can we experience absolute joy, absolute bliss.

My God, I praise and thank You for allowing me to know You for it is only through You where I can find fulfillment and contentment. While time and again, my flesh can be weak and seek gratification from things of this world (for which I ask forgiveness and beg Your mercy), I am relieved that You continue to watch over me and remind me that nothing and no one can fill the void in my heart but You and You alone. Grant that my eyes always search for You, my ears always long to hear Your voice, and my heart always long to be in Your presence. For it is only in Your presence where I am moved to sing joyfully all day and raise the festal shout. In You and You alone will I be content.

Randy

expect trials but never lose hope

2007-11-03T12:24:00.001+08:00

John 16:33 "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Are you still surprised when trials come your way? Oh I still am. We have our family budget well planned for the coming month and then when the month comes, something breaks down or an unexpected expense comes our way ... Surprise! Everything is going smoothly and then suddenly a family member gets sick ... Surprise! I was tracking well against my objectives and thought that the coming months would be a breeze, then my boss approaches me and suddenly wants me to be part of a project that will entail a lot of my time ... Surprise! My wife and I were well prepared for our last trip, then when we check-in at the airport, the lady tells us that my wife may not be able to board the plane because she's pregnant ... Surprise! I love eating good food with meat always in my diet and then after my annual physical examination I find out that I have high cholesterol; my lifestyle suddenly needs changing drastically ... low salt, low fat, exercise ... Surprise!

We are so accustomed to our daily routine that anything that triggers us to make a change rattles us. But the Lord never promised that life will be easy. In fact, He specifically warns us to EXPECT trials and tribulations, see the passage above. They are a part of life and they are coming or is already here. While trials and tribulations always are difficult and require us to change, they also bring positive consequences. In a reflection by Charles Stanley, he notes three positive consequences of suffering:

1. It drives us deeper to the heart of God. True, what normally happens when we are faced with trials? We pray and we run to the Lord to seek Him to cuddle us like children running to their parents.

2. Suffering causes us to receive more of God's marvelous, merciful grace. True again. God's grace is abundant and is ever present but when do we experience this most and when do we physically experience His grace? It is when we are suffering. It is during the times that we go through trial and yet we endure and ultimately we overcome that we experience His tremendous grace.

3. We develop a base of reality and compassion with which we can minister to and love others. True again. Everyone experiences trials, noone is exempted. Many times, the trials we face are similar if not the same as someone else's trial. As we experience trials, therefore, the better we understand what others are going through, the better also we can minister to them. Jesus came to the world to suffer the same trials we face so He may understand us better. He has felt what we feel.

The other part of the passage is a message for us to never lose hope even when we are in the midst of a most difficult trial. The second part of the passage states that Jesus has overcome the world. This is very important to know. All trials and tribulations come from the world because it is imperfect BUT the Lord has overcome the world. Therefore, for as long as we are in His grace and mercy and in His favor, for as long as we remain faithful, we will always have hope and we will always overcome our trial, for the Lord we serve is a God who has conquered the very source of our trials and tribulations.

My Jesus, thank You for reminding me to expect trials in my life and for helping me understand why they come my way. Thank You for reminding me not to run away from them for they bring positive consequences, the most important of which is the fact that they actually bring me deeper into Your heart. As trials come my way, be by my side and if needed, carry me. I shall remain faithful, I shall never lose hope, for I know that I can rely on You, a God who has conquered the world, the very source of all trial and tribulation.His Word brings Hope, Life, Love, Joy, and Peace- Randy

complacency comes from the enemy

2007-11-03T12:21:00.000+08:00

Galatians 3:3 "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

I started to exercise (again) after finding out that my cholesterol levels were high. I did it for two months because I knew that after two months, I would have my blood chemistry checked again. When the two months were over, I started to slack on my exercise routine. I realize now that I already started a good thing, why stop now!

One of the strategies that our enemy employs to win us is by making us think that we are already ok. He does not negate that God exists. He cannot deny that. He does not negate that there is such a thing as eternal punishment. What he is trying to do to win us over is to make us believe that we are ok. We don't need to change, we don't need to improve ourselves, we don't need to do anything.

Complacency can be very dangerous and it definitely does not come from God but from our enemy. I entered into a personal relationship with the Lord, into the renewal, in 1989 (17 years ago). Have I really grown closer to the Lord? Am I now holier than before? Have I really turned around 180 degrees? Is my life now pleasing and acceptable to the Lord? Have I really been a witness of God's love to others? Sometimes I fear even asking these questions as I realize that 17 years have already past ... what have I been doing since. I admit that there are still areas in my life that needs work. But I need to ask these questions! I need to continuously challenge myself to move from glory to glory because that is what the Lord wants me to do. We all need to ask these questions. We all need to admit that there is still work that needs to be done. We all need to admit that we need the Lord. We are a Work in Progress and only until we are one with our God will that work ever cease.

Dear Lord, painful as it may be at times, do allow me to see the imperfections in me. Allow me to realize the areas in my life that need to be changed. Allow me to submit myself to Your will that I may experience what You intend to do with my person ... someone who moves from glory to glory ... until we are holy, pleasing, and acceptable to Your eyes. I understand that I need to go through Your molding so that I may one day live in Your presence always. And that is my desire.

Randy