Be One of the 94

"Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.” Jn. 1:16

I’m inspired after hearing from a local report last night that generally,
94% of Filipinos are welcoming 2014 with much hope. And it’s also good to note here that even in Visayas, badly affected by 7.2 earthquake and super typhoon Yolanda,
93% of our kababayan there are facing the New Year with the same spirit.

“Why not?” I told to myself.
I cannot deny that we encountered a lot of negative issues and catastrophes as a nation and even as an individual this year. But I cannot also deny, (and I don’t want to) that I also saw enormous blessings and providence this year in each and every corner. Here are some of them.

I’m alive. (And living)
I share bed with my lovely wife Karen and son AJ.
I still dine with very supportive relatives and friends.
I have the chance to laugh, dream and pray with my students.

I meet a loving father who drives taxi day in and out to honestly support his family.
I rode with a pregnant mother who can’t wait to give birth to her second daughter. 
I heard a friend who after years, still prays and longs for the love of her own parents. 
I encountered a student who came to me and honestly admits that he cheated in my exam.

I worked with a government official who puts God at the center of his barangay.
I segregated garbage with friends who travel around the country to combat global warming.
I worked with generous colleagues who put-up scholarship fund for the most-in-need students. 
I served with inspiring ‘pasahero’ friends who promote generosity in their respective work places.

‘Know what? If I will continue, the list will hardly end.
Praise to God and my Father who is very much alive and generous
YESTERDAY, TODAY, and FOREVER.
Indeed, He bestowed me with needed blessing one after the other.

Now, don’t miss this.
My generous Father is YOUR generous Father too!
And this Father of yours has nothing in mind but to bless you every single second of your life. In doubt? Try to count every single blessing you received (no matter how small and insignificant they are to you) before this year end and I’m telling you, before 2014 ends, you’re not yet done. That’s how generous your Father is to you.

So today, claim God’s blessings in your life.
And be one of the 94.

Enjoy inspiring decades ahead of you my friend. God loves you!

The Overwhelming Generosity of Christmas

“But when the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom he generously poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior.” Titus 3:4-6

I am guilty, but God pardoned me.
I am unkind, but God is kind to me.
I am selfish, but God is generous to me.

I have my doubts, but to me; God have His conviction.
I have my addictions; but to me, God have His affection.
I have my limitations; but to me, God have His permission.

I feel I’m nothing, but God becomes everything.
I feel I’m sinning, but God keeps on blessing.
I feel I’m wandering, but God remains on directing.

Indeed, Christmas is all about Him, but He makes it all about me.
Not because I am worthy, but because of His generosity!

Today in a special way, I thank you Lord for you are my heavenly Father.
And for making us special and making your Son our earthly Brother.

Have a Christ-filled Christmas to all of you mga kapasahero!

From Poverty to Generosity

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Mt. 5:3

Observing poverty as a way of life is not an end in itself, meaning, we don’t choose poverty for poverty’s sake. Rather, we choose poverty to KEEP LESS so that we can GIVE MORE. 

When someone’s poverty makes somebody poor, it’s not poverty; it’s misery. But when someone’s poverty makes somebody rich, it’s not just poverty; it’s generosity. 

Indeed, the purpose of poverty is generosity!

Mark’s Mark

“For whoever produces will be given more, but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.” Lk. 8:18

Today, allow me to tell a story about Mark and Anthony.

Mark and Anthony are good singers. I know it because when we were still in high school, they are the one being invited (and forced) to sing when there are school programs. Not only that, when there are competitions in and out campus, they usually win. But though both of them are good singers, only one of them became great and a well-known singer in one TV Company abroad.

Looking back, Anthony is the best among the two. In fact, Mark always placed second after Anthony in most competitions. However, Anthony doesn’t really like to sing for he believes that he’s not for it. He also usually joins contest for grades and after much request from our teachers. After high school, although he got a scholarship in Music, he did not pursue it. I also heard that Anthony seldom sings since then. Sometimes, he sings for wedding and corporate events but for hire. The last news I heard about Anthony is that he’s having hard time to find a permanent job and he’s getting through by mere guesting in a local bar in his place.

However, Mark was different. He’s not a born singer like Anthony but he loves to sing- and He dreamt to become a great singer. I remember one time skipping classes just to join him singing Videoke. Every time there are also programs in school, he volunteers. He also usually say “yes” for invitations when there are occasions in his barangay (local town) like birthday or wedding parties for free.  After high school, I heard him singing as a volunteer choir member in his parish and in his work. Few days back, a friend informed me that he’s already a singer and a regular host in one TV network in Australia.

What makes the difference? Talent? I think not.

It is this.

Mark believes in his talent, Anthony didn’t.

Mark works on his talent, Anthony didn’t.

Mark share generously his talent, Anthony didn’t.

Bottom line, Mark produces more with his talent and Anthony didn’t.

Remember, “For whoever produces will be given more, but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”

Today, share your talent and produce.

Don’t Settle

“The old is good.” Lk. 5:39

“The old is good.”
I used to believe on this before without realizing that- the "new is something better."

What I mean is that, before, I usually settle for old activities, old places, old behaviors, old emotions and old thoughts. I don’t usually try something new, do something different, and think something fresh. Most of the time, it’s because I was used and safe with them and I just want to be in my comfort zone.

But I learned from a friend that staying in your comfort zone will get you nowhere. That if I settle, be comfortable and just be satisfied with what I have, I can never discover and reach my true potential. And if I can never reach my true potential, I deprive myself (and the world) of the immense gift that my Creator has given me.

Indeed, if I want to grow, be generous and be my and God’s best,  I must allow myself to experience new and fresher activities, visit new places, try to do things differently, nourish positive emotions, and think positive thoughts. Bottom line- I need to overcome my fear and to trust more.

Now, to tell you honestly, there are times that I still tempted to believe that “the old is good” and “the old is safe”. That it would be hassle free if I will just stick with my routine. But the thing is- I choose to be different every day, to grow every day, to be fresher every day. After all, God is giving me a new and a fresher day each day.

Don’t settle my friend. Have a new and vibrant day every day.

May God bless you more!

Be the Good News

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” 
Lk. 4:18

All of us want to hear good news, right?
So why not make and share one today.

Go and visit an old friend.
Order and treat a co-worker.
Organize a get-together.
Do something special for your classmate.

Notice and appreciate someone’s goodness.
Enjoy and listen well to your son/daughter
Win and forgive someone.
Smile to a stranger.

Yes, be the good news you wish to hear today.
Godspeed!

How To Be Rich and Reach Heaven?

“If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you possess and give the money to the poor and you will become the owner of a treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Mt. 19:21 

What more can I say?! Jesus is very clear.

He invited the young man and He’s now inviting us.

“Go, sell, give, come, and follow.”

GO - This is an invitation for us to go back to ourselves and assess what we really possess.

SELL– Once we have taken an inventory and “hold” of our possessions, we should be willing to sell them. To whom?  God! Yes, not to anyone but to God. Meaning, we should be able to “TRADE OFF” our momentarily “POSSESSIONS” for the Infinite “POSSESSOR”. In other words, we need to give up the “gifts” for us to receive the “Giver”.  This is what Jesus wants us to do when he told us that parable:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Mt. 13:46

GIVE – Now that we have received the “Giver” – GOD; we are now set to become rich. Believe me, you possess God; you will possess all!  Jesus assured us when he said:

"Seek first His kingdom and is righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Mt. 6:33
 

But how can we know that we’re truly rich? Listen, being rich is not only about money, it’s more about generosity! Meaning, you are truly rich when you become TRULY GENEROUS.  Come to think about this for a while. If somebody considered himself rich or wealthy, he should not be afraid of giving because in the first place he’s convinced that he’s rich. Meaning, he believes that no amount of giving can exhaust his wealth. What do you think? I’m telling you, if a rich man is afraid of giving, he’s not truly rich!

So, it’s only when we become generous that we can be sure that we are truly rich. And we’re generous when we know how to receive and give not only the “gift” but also the “Giver” Himself. That we know how to receive and give not only within our family and friends but even to strangers especially the poor and the sinners.  This is what Jesus wants us to do when he told us “The Parable of Sheep and Goats”:

“When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Mt 25: 38-40

Again, only through this generosity that we can give to God. And only through this we can store riches (and reach) in heaven:

“…where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.” Mt. 6:20

 

COME – “COME” depicts an “invitation to journey” and so generosity is. Generosity (receiving God and giving God) is a journey and so it should become our “way” of life. In other words, it should become our lifestyle and priority and not just a momentarily activity. Yes, this is possible when we learn to always give from the heart.  Jesus fully understands this when he said:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Mt. 6:21

 

FOLLOW - Lastly, generosity as a way of life is not primarily a task, first it’s a relationship. It’s a relationship “with” Christ- the perfect expression of God’s generosity. So, we are all invited to love Him or better say allow ourselves to be loved by Him- meaning, He should be our inspiration, He should be our model, and He should be our way. “With” Him we will never get lost, we will surely reach heaven. Remember what he said?  

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” Jn. 14:6

Indeed, when we give generously, we receive what the “Great Theft” received on the cross: 

“Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Lk. 23:43  

  

Now; go, sell, give, come and follow Jesus.

What more can I say?!

The Parable of Two Seeds*

“Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from? He answered them, ‘This is the work of the enemy.” Mt. 13: 27-28

An old farmer was teaching his grandchildren about life, saying: ‘There are two seeds competing to grow inside me. The competition and conflict is very, very strong.

One seed is bad and selfish- its fruits are anger, fear, envy,
Despair, lust, greed, lies, false pride, corruption and guilt.
The other seed is good and generous- its fruits are love, faith, hope,
Joy, peace, humility, kindness, friendship, compassion and truthfulness.”

The thing is; you too have the same seeds and conflict inside you.
In fact, the fight goes inside every person here on earth.”
The kids thought about it for a while and then one of them asked,
“Which seed will win, grandpa?”

The old farmer replied, “The one you water.”

*Inspired by a Native American story.

Don’t Just Give, Be Generous!

                          “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these

brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Mt. 25:40

“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.” Mt. 10:42

This is what I believe.

“You can give without being generous, but you cannot be generous without giving.”

Now you ask. Is there any difference between generosity and giving?

My answer; yes there is! Actually there’s a handful of them but for now let me give you one.

Giving is something you do for yourself and others.

While generosity is something you do for God.

I’m not sure if you will believe me because I can’t believe it either in the first instance.  Honestly, it takes me two weeks to be able to put this inspiration into paper and until now I’m still surprise that many of my 'givings' are not really forms of generosity. So if ever you find yourself in the same situation, don’t be so sad. Giving is already a 'good' act. However, what I would like to share here is that we can put this into a higher level. I mean translating this 'good' act into something 'better', or from something better into something 'best', or from something best into something 'excellent', or from something excellent into something 'infinite'.

Three Occasions of Giving

Now, what makes 'giving' generous? How can we transform our 'giving' into something better or into something 'infinite?'  Let us start by reading the three occasions of giving described by Jesus in Mt. 10:41-42. For our discussion, we will refer to these occasions as statements 1, 2 and 3. Here they are.

Statement 1: “Whoever welcomes a prophet because He’s a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet.

Statement 2: Whoever welcomes a just man because he’s a just man will receive the reward of a just man.

Statement 3: “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.”

All these statements are acts of giving, but only one shows real generosity. If you noticed, statement no. 1 speaks of welcoming a prophet; a very generous act.  Welcoming a prophet before, during and after the time of Jesus is a very noble act (by the way, etymologically speaking, generosity means ‘of noble birth’) for it means being accommodating to the needs of a prophet particularly his meals and resting place. (cf. Gen.18:1-5, 2 Kings 4:10 Lk. 10: 38-40). Although this act may look like generosity, it’s not. Why? Because of the intention. What’s the intention of the doer? Yes, he welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet.  It is like welcoming a doctor, because he’s a doctor, or welcoming a priest because he’s a priest. Again, welcoming someone because of his stature is not bad but we can make this better.

Statement no.2 is almost the same; the only difference is that the recipient of the act (a just man) is a bit lower in stature compared to the first (a prophet).  Here the giver welcomes the just man because he is a just man. Again, this is a good act however, like the first; we can raise it into something better. Something truly generous.

When You Give, Choose the Least

Obviously, we have only one statement left; statement no 3. And obviously, this statement speaks of true generosity. Why? Let us discover three things- the recipient, intention and the reward of the giver.

The Recipient. Compared to the first two, the last recipient (Jesus’ disciples) is the least. This is obvious because Jesus regarded them as such and for He knows they will not be treated like prophets or even a just man of their community (in fact many of them were considered treat to the community and so they died martyrs).

Here lies the first criterion of generosity. It should be a loving service directed to the very ‘least’ of the community. Literally, this speaks of the poorest of the poor, sick, elderly, differently able, abandoned, abused, prisoners, children and marginalized. But they’re not all. The ‘least’ also speaks of individuals who want to be free from corruption and sin, meaning those treated by our community as “sinners”. This includes corrupt public and private officials, those in the middle class or even billionaires who are controlled by their selfish ambitions. Remember, Jesus invites us also to be generous to them (cf. Lk. 5:32, Mk. 2:17).

As a whole, the ‘least’ (who should be the subject most of our giving) is composed of anyone who needs physical, emotional or spiritual care.

When You Give, Choose Your Intention

The Intention. If you noticed, looking only at the ‘recipient’, everyone can be a subject of generosity (although it prioritizes those considered ‘least’ by the community). Now to make it more clear, we need to look into the intention of the ‘giver.’

The first two givers gave because of the “status” of the recipients (the prophet, and the just man). Again, there is nothing wrong here, particularly if it’s pure and not self motivated. However, in the last example of Jesus, He acclaimed, “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.”

What I would like you to see here is that for our ‘giving’ to be generous; the act should be done in the ‘name of the Jesus’ or because of Jesus and not just because of the capability of the giver or of the condition of the recipient.

For this is what I discovered, true generosity points and leads to Christ. When our giving points and leads only to us or even only to the recipient, there’s something lacking. Again, all generosity, to become real, should be motivated because of our love of God and the love of God for us.

There are many wonderful things that can and will happen to us when God is the reason for our giving, though for now, I will not deal with them for this will be the subject of our sharing next time. Now, what would be the reward when we become truly generous?

When You Give, Choose Your Reward

The Reward. I’m sure you already heard this many times “When you give, don’t expect something in return.” This is true, for a generous act is always a selfless or better say self-full act. However, this “something in return” should not be equated with the “reward”.  Because Jesus himself assures us that when we give generously, we will be rewarded. (Although, this should not be our main concern, because it’s our Father’s concern)

Now, the only question is what kind of “reward” we are after. In the first two occasions of giving, the one who welcomed the prophet received the reward of a prophet. And the one who welcomes a just man, received a reward of a just man. Now look at the third giver, what did he received? Yes, the answer is not obvious, but let me show it to you.

Before Jesus spoke of these three occasions of giving, He said:

"Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Mt. 10:40

Now, if you remember, the third giver welcomed the least, and in welcoming the least, according to Jesus, he also welcomed Him. (Remember also that he gave water because of Jesus) Consequently, Jesus continues that anyone who welcomed Him will also welcome the one who sent Him, His Father.  And so the answer and the great news is this – the third giver’s (though he only gave a cup of water, not like that of the one who accommodate a prophet or a just man) reward is the Father Himself.  What a great reward!

Indeed, God Himself is our “infinite” reward when we give generously. This is far more important than those fading and momentarily rewards that we usually gain when we just give for material gains. And so this is the reason why I told you at the beginning that when we give generously (meaning when we prioritize the least and when we give because of Jesus) we transform giving from something ‘good’ into something ‘infinite’.

So now let me ask you. How is your giving? Is it directed toward the least?

Why do you usually give? Is it because you have the capacity to give or is it a must? Or is it primarily because you want to give to Jesus? You want to love God?

Why was Mother Teresa Considered the Living Saint?

There’s so much to learn in giving until we become truly generous. But don’t be afraid, the great thing is that Jesus is always with us helping us to become more generous. And so let us always learn from Him through his words and pray that we learn to give to everyone we meet, not just because they are individuals who longs to be received but because we see Jesus in them. That when we look and help the oppressed and the poor, we look and help them because of Jesus and not for anything else. I assure you, like Jesus assured us; we will never go unrewarded.

Now, I would like to end by sharing an excerpt of one of the last interviews with Mother Teresa by Edward W. Desmond for Time magazine.  In one point of the conversation, this is what the world discovered-

Time: What is God's greatest gift to you?

Mother Teresa: The poor people.

Time: How are they a gift?

Mother Teresa: I have an opportunity to be with Jesus 24 hours a day.

Let us now be generous like Mother Theresa. Let us all see and give to people around us as if we see and give to Jesus. For the more we see Jesus in them, the more we can welcome Him.  And the more we welcome Jesus, the more we welcome His Father.  The more we welcome His Father, the more we will receive the Father.

Now, don’t just give; give to the least, give because of Jesus. 
Be generous!