Stain Glass Windows

A few months ago I was having a  conversation with one of my Capuchin Brothers. Together we were pondering how God, so abundant and giving of His love for us, has made us to be instruments of His peace. I remember us being in complete fascination at how God can make that possible. All throughout our year of formation talked about how great of an "Honor and a Privilege" it was to be apart of the Order of Capuchin Franciscans and even more so to be apart of God's family of messengers here on earth. That day among many, we were so grateful for the vocation and for the many ways God had allowed us to be the instrument of His love and brotherhood to all. Up to that point, we had run across so many people who were in dire need of some thing, some presence, or some type of healing. We would encounter people who had lost family members, lost homes, lost jobs, lost relationships and then in our encounter, they were longing for a comfort in the midst of their suffering and chaos. But it wasn't just the homeless that we encountered, often it was people living normal lives. Those working, those who have families, those we ministered with, even our own families and those we live with.

So as we sat there in front of the Starbucks talking and recounting all of our experiences up to that point, we were amazed at the fact that we we're commissioned to be Instruments and messengers of God's peace, mercy and compassion. As we were getting ready to leave, a homeless man approached us and thanked us for what we were doing. He thanked us for listening to him, he said "because we don't see this everyday" It was almost like this man was speaking on behalf of every person that had come before him and they were all thanking us. We both gave him a hug said goodbye and sat back down. That experience was so powerful that we didn't say a word because we were both in awe at what had just happened. I remember us drying our eyes before we ever said anything to each other.

Entrance at the front door of our Friary

That has been an experience that I always think back on. The overwhelming part for me is knowing that God has His hand on each of those encounters and allows us everyday to be what He needs us to be in the world. I think the natural tendency for us is to look at everything that we have done, those sins we have committed, our shortcomings and woundedness and we hold that up next to everything God has proven Himself to be in our lives and we say there's no way that God could use me because of this. Behind the scenes, these are all colors that God wants to use. We have a God who can redirect our previous way of life and use those grace-filled colors and stains of sin to create something beautiful, just like a stained-glass window. Though we are sinful in nature, our souls still have the capacity to love without any bounds when we let Christ be our light, radiating the image of his love everywhere we go. Together we are called to be instruments of His love, to be a window that allows Christ to shine through our own sinfulness in order that we be transformed. The result is a beautiful ray of light shining in our hearts, so God can use that to speak to His people.

So with Christ, let us always remember that where we've been and what we've done can never define who we are. All of those things are indeed grace-filled in some way and God wants to use everything that we are, sin and all to bring people into a relationship with Him. He wants to shine His glorious light through each of us so that he can reach those in the darkness. May we be open to God's presence in our lives, so He can shine in our hearts forever.

Advent: Being Prepared for God

This time of the year there are so many things that demand our readiness and preparation. Like Thanksgiving or black Friday and family visits. It’s the holiday season and so much of it requires that we are ready for everything that’s about to happen. The turkey has to be prepared, the famous green-bean casserole in the oven, pies out to cool and the table set. It’s the time of the year that we’re all on our toes, preparing, getting ready for a time away from our busy lives with the people we love. Not only is it a time of preparing for the seasons in our homes, but it’s also a time of preparing in the Church beginning with the season of Advent. 

In Advent, a word translated to mean ‘arrival’ or ‘coming’ from the Greek word Parousia, we are entering a waiting room, a room that prepares our hearts and our souls for the coming of a King. The King comes to us in three beautiful ways. One, in the liturgy of the Word when we open the scripture. Two, in our hearts when we experience the living God in our lives and have personal encounters with him and lastly, the King comes to us in the Incarnation when we remember Jesus’ birth in the Nativity at Christmas AND at Mass during the celebration of the Eucharist where we re-visit that moment of the Word becoming Flesh and experience the Incarnate God who humbled himself for our sake becoming fully present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. We can experience Christ in the Word, in our Hearts and in the Eucharist and all He asks is that we be ready.

During this season of Advent, the gospel tells us to always “be prepared” and to “be alert” comparing the second coming of God a thief in the night so we should “be ready” and “Stay awake”. Just a few days ago, I felt the invitation to participate in the PARA (Prepared, Alert, Ready & Alive) of the spiritual life. I was walking on a popular street in Santa Barbara. Walking aimlessly for I don’t know how long, looking up and around, window shopping and caught up in just the motion of walking. It wasn’t until a homeless man recognized me, grabbed my shoulder and as I turned he open his arms and embraced me with a hug. It was then that I realized where I had been. I was up in the clouds not really paying attention to the people I was walking past.

What that man did was bring me back down to earth where the real connection and relation happens and he helped remind myself that I always need to be prepared to encounter God in each moment and through each person of my life. It was a lesson of PARA for me and It parallels with our own seasons this time of the year. That we should be prepared to meet God in our own prayers or encounters the same way we go to dinner prepared to eat. And we should be ready to greet God when he comes this Christmas the same way we greet our family and friends when they visit. So in this Advent season, I ask God to give all of us the grace to be prepared, alert, ready, and alive to experience God in every moment of our lives. Amen.

Maryknoll Discernment Retreat

A couple years ago, one of the monks here at school had mentioned me about the Mary-knoll Society. He said they do a ton of missionary work and you should check it out. Yeah, I never checked it out. Something happened, two years later that thought of checking it out suddenly came into my head again and there I was looking at some Maryknoll newsletters that I had ordered. It's funny how God works in our lives, especially when your discerning. You think your going right but somehow by the grace of God you turn left. Anyway, after I had contacted Maryknoll I found out they were running a retreat in Los Altos, CA about an hour train ride south from San Francisco. I called the priest in charge to see if I can make it, this was about a week before the actual retreat. He called me back the next day saying they would love for me to come in by the expense of the team. Two days later I got an email confirmation of my flight itinerary. By the time I knew it I was on a plane flying westbound over the Arizona Desert thinking to myself "how did I even do this?" It happened so fast, I had prayed a lot prior before I found out I was going and during the weekend of the retreat as well. When I got to the Society house, which was a retirement home for retired missionaries, I couldn't believe how beautiful the place was. It was like I was captivated by the environment and even more, captivated by the love and attention that God had towards me. A tender care to bring me across the country and then place me in home of servants. During the panels, we talked with the priests and the brothers who had helped in some type of missionary work overseas. They all had been out of the country for 30+ years helping those people who need it the most. It was like talking to a third-class relic. The whole thing felt good and I felt more and more comfortable the longer I was there. As follow up I was invited by Maryknoll for a mission trip to Guatemala in January...