A Moving Will

Usually when we accomplish something we feel good about it, if we did not feel good about our accomplishments then there would be no reason to start. I think of my younger days when I would run up the water bill by leaving the waterhose on in the backyard to make a small river that trickled down from the patio all the way to the end of the yard. I would dig a small trench and make turns and curves for the water, make reservoirs where the water would gather then soon continue down the path I created. I tried so hard to keep the water from overflowing and out of control, I placed sticks and rocks to make it look authentic and then I would connect it all together, end to end to keep the water running. The fact is that when it was all done I was proud of what I had done, It was fun to watch, my toes got wet and muddy but it was an accomplishment in my eyes.

 In a bigger picture, in all eyes man has a moving will. Our will is moved primarily by Grace and secondarily our will may be moved by motivation, joy and even the outcomes that we foresee. What I mean by the will is our plan or our judgments of right and wrong, even our desire. God gives us free will, meaning we can choose to go left or right, we have the option to live a good life or a bad life. The reason why we have a moving will is because we do things, and we are moved. As humans we want to see the outcome, we want to see our accomplishments and we want to be happy and joyous because of them. Ultimately, God moves our will by the Grace he provides. God aids our will by his presence in our lives, and so it is by his aid of Grace that our will can be conformed to the will of His.

The past May I graduated from college, after four long collegiate years it is joyous yet at the same time, it is a reminder for me that God has moved and continues to move my own will. Free will is not so free, because God captivates by his love and Grace and He aids us to make the right moves in our lives. One Catholic musician by the name of Luke Spehar describes it well in a song he wrote, God as a Master chess player, knows every possible move, but plays the one that is best in fulfilling that goal. God in his love for us, wishes to move the will rather than the mind. This means that God wants to have an impact in our lives on helping us choose right over wrong, and good over bad. This is why we have goals in our lives. Today our lives are made up of 'finish lines' if you will. Finish lines like graduating high school, or graduating college, getting a new car, buying a new house, or learning that rainbow soccer trick. All of these are finish lines and goals, they are ends. The reason why we start in attempting to obtain these goals are well one, because we are naturally ordered to an end. We are naturally ordered to finish lines just like a flower is naturally ordered to full blossom and then on to it's withering, it is apart of life. The joy is that we have to work for these things and God allows us to work for these things, God allows us to strive for these goals, and He wants us to experience the joy in crossing that finish line. Since God desires to move the will, he allows it and aids it to be moved. If we are given perfect clarity in life and given no natural end then there is no practice in moving the will. If we know the outcome of our each and individual lives then it would harm the will, build up our pride and humble our minds.

So therefore, God in his love for us, allows us and aids us by his Grace in moving our will. As humans, we naturally have a moving will, that will is ultimately moving towards God. So when we accomplish something, recognize that God moves our will, He places motivation in us, He helps us be determined to accomplish, He helps us overcome adversity all by the help of His Grace and it is through all of this that our wills are being trained and moved to God.

St. Francis: Man of Peace

These past few months, have been extremely Franciscan for me, by the help of Grace I am more drawn to the life of Saint Francis, who he is and what he did. With the help of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio taking on the name of Pope Francis after Saint Francis, I have became attracted more to who Saint Francis is and Pope Francis by the authority given to him by God, invites us to do the same. In the life of Saint Francis, he leaves us with a message of love and compassion. He leaves us with a message to follow Christ with immediate obedience and I think this is what makes the life of Francis so attractive. A few weeks ago, I picked up a book over Saint Francis and found myself so drawn to his life, pretty soon I found myself halfway through the book. There are a couple things that I think are the most profound and necessary in following Christ, especially through the Saint Francis lens.


1.) Saint Francis at a young age was thrown in prison because he left the army he had only been apart of for a day. He was left in the dark, the silence and the cold for over a year. The interesting thing is that Saint Francis in essence,  was formed and molded by the silence, much like the Apostle Paul. It was said that it was in the silence where  Francis found God and so when he was released from prison he was so wrapped up in the silence and the insight he got because of it! So much that he would even seek the silence and look for caves in the nearby mountains. The very thing that he was afraid of before he was now seeking out. Saint Francis new the impact the silence had on him, he wanted to hear the voice of Christ, he desired him and he wanted to now more about him, so he placed himself in the silence and the very darkness he was afraid of.

2.) Saint Francis before his conversion wanted desperatly to become a noble knight and fight for the king of the land. He knew it would give honor to his family, especially his wealthy father. One night in a dream, God spoke to him asking, "Francis, who is it better to serve, The Lord or a man?", without question, Francis said "The Lord" Francis then left his original desire to become a noble Knight to listen and harken to the voice that he had heard. While seeking out this voice in the caves, and in the silence, Francis came upon small run down church and began praying before the altar, with his hands outstretched. Suddenly a voice came from the cross of the altar that said, "Francis, rebuild my Church, because as you can see, it is in ruins." It is described that God spoke directly into the heart of Francis and immediately, Francis ran home, sold everything he owned to follow Christ.

3.) The last is one that I find to be very appealing even in my own life. Saint Francis was a care giver and he cared for everyone even those who were not cared for. The lesser, the sick, the imprisoned, the  naked and the leper. One day St Francis was off to the Courtyard of the king on his father's horse. He recognized a leper on the side of the road. In those days, a Leper would yell, "unclean! unclean!" as they are ringing a bell so that passer-byers would stay clear of them. Well this particular day, Francis got down from his high horse, which is symbolic of losing his pride and honorary status. As he got down, he gave him what little money he had left before he could walk away, Francis was became prompted by the spirit to hug this poor leper. So he did the unthinkable and gave him a hug, with no words exchanged, he got back on his horse, left and as he turned to wave goodbye, he noticed that there was never was anybody there. At that moment, Saint Francis knew that he did not just embrace a leper, but he was embracing Christ and professing not only a love for the leper, but a love for God.

I think the joy is that we are reminded to live a Franciscan lifestyle, one that involves the silence and it involves a little immediate obedience, maybe even some embracing. Embracing those who are lesser than we are and those who don't have anybody. Francis in his life, wanted to serve God the King of Kings, he wanted to know God in a perfect way. How he did it is was through serving those people in need, and listening in the silence where he was placed.  We are called to live in silence, not in noise, with the help of silence God becomes present to us and I think Saint Francis realized this and so he wanted more of it.

Easter Sunday: Death Has Lost

Alleluia!

Original painting by Randy Friemel © 2013

Christ has risen from the dead! Death has lost it's sting and now we are all free because of the great love that Christ has for us. The message for us is that death has been defeated, defeated by Christ, and that it can also be defeated by us. There is hope this Easter Sunday, because by the resurrection of Christ the message becomes clear to us that even we can defeat death. We can rise up from our sleep, our sin, and our distress and overcome the grave that has once kept us tied up and bound from becoming all that we can be. Paul in Corinthians tells us that we are all made alive in Christ, in his life and death. (1 Cor 15:22) This Easter should be a message for our hope, hope to overcome, hope to be better, and hope to seek a new life in Christ everyday that we are alive. The debt has been paid, and we are no longer hostages to sin because God in his immeasurable love for us would come down to die on a cross and be raised to pay the price for all our sin. Death has lost, and we are brought to new life because of it.

So Rejoice my friends, Rejoice. Happy Easters.

To see more of paintings by Randy Friemel you can visit his website at www.randyfriemel.com

Joy: a New Motive

Whoever said life was a roller coaster was not lying. There are so many up and downs in our lives that sometimes it might be so hard to keep up and even "hang on". There might be stages of having no motivation to do anything, no desire to speak or even get out of bed. It's like we want joy an we want peace but there's a distraction before all of it. For a college campus like this its everywhere and it leads us to depression and sadness. All of this and it seems like your in a rut with no way out, its like a hole that we dug underneath our feet and we forget to jump out. The tool being used to dig is in fact our very sin. Since sin is a distraction and hinders our relationship with Christ, it also separates us and breaks that natural link of sanctifying grace that is placed within us constantly. It makes perfect sense that in this break between man and God, sin can also break our relationship between man and creation, therefore keeping us from what we can fully be! Even Saint Irenaeus said it himself when he said that glory of God is man is fully alive. We are called to be fully alive, enduring sin, and resisting what hurts. If this is you, unable to move with no desire to get anything done, no motivation to get up out of bed I think the answer is very simple. For me its the people and the very creation of God. Besides prayer with a desire to rebuild that relationship with Christ, just talking to people and enjoying what they have to give you can be a relief. In my experience it gives joy and true happiness. The joy that is found, comes from the people and from God indirectly. Talk to your friends and peers talk to your co-workers, jump outside the box an forget the childhood rule that says "don't talk to strangers". Lent is the season of our joy an it can help bring you up an give you peace. Since we as a humanity have an obligation to each other, to build each other up and be a light for others, we are our brother's keeper and we should rely not only on our friends and peers to bring us up in speech, but also God who sustains all of us while granting a never-ending grace that unites us all together as one.

#Catholicsoup #JoyRide #JoyInThePeople

Restoring the City of Man; Jerusalem

In our brokenness, there is always room for healing. In God's eyes we can be forgiven of any fault and fall that we've endured. In our sin, there is restoration by God to a spirit a faithfulness and obedience to him. Just as the restoration of Jerusalem is described in Psalm 147, we too, are restored and brought to new life in him. We might feel so unworthy for the love that Christ offers to us because of who we are and maybe where we've been. We might feel so unclean that there is no room to be washed and cleansed but the joy is that in our sin and suffering, there is healing. Healing of a better heart, a better soul, even a better mind! Because in our unworthiness God restores us and still holds us up even after we sin. In this restoration of Jerusalem, or man, God sustains, He provides, he rebuilds, gathers, strengthens, blesses, proclaims and delights in this City. He does all of this for us. God, in our sin, restores us, he sustains us still, and provides for us the necessary grace to return to his yard.

For me in my unworthiness, it can be hard sometimes to be fully devout because I know that I am unworthy of His love. With that, it doesn't mean that I can't be as faithful and obedient as I can be. It is my unworthiness that should allow me to be faithful, obedient and fully devout to God who restores even in all of this. God made us, he built us, why wouldn't he be able to rebuild us in our sin, and restore our relationship with him?

A Savior is Born

Merry Christmas! Christ has been born! and God, in his Divinity, comes down through the womb of the ever sinless Virgin to take on a lesser humanity, so that He can save us all by death on a cross. The birth of Jesus marks the start of our salvation, and the end of our broken world. Christmas comes from the Latin, "Christ's Mass" and marks the celebration of the birth of our Messiah. It even marks the nativity scene when kings and shepherds traveled far to greet the newborn King and to pay him Homae.

During Christmas, sure the season is a time of Joy and laughter, and spending time with that mean old aunt of yours but even past that, Christmas is a reminder for us all that Jesus, in our brokenness still is to be born, to redeem us, bring us and keep us. So many times we forget the meaning of this mystery of the Incarnation and the birth of Christ by looking at history and what the modern world has to say. The weight of the subject is not where or when Christ was born but a bigger part is that Christ was born and He did it so that we could gain joy in Him, happiness in Him and salvation through Him. The Birth of Christ through the Virgin is the cause of our joy this season of Christmas because like the gathering at the nativity, so too our families gather in the communion of joy because our Savior has finally been born.

Being a Light of Christ: Guiding Principle

For me in my prayer life, I like to pray that I be a light for all that I meet. A light that shines from my word and deeds so that people can see Christ through me. I want people to experience Christ through me and what I do as a person.

In our faith and lives as Christians, it can be super hard, being a light or a reflection of Christ. It sounds like a radical idea especially when we allow other things to exist in our lives like envy; which brings hate, or impatience; the stripping of the very peace that we're ordered to, even the presence of sin and slavery that puts a rift between our relationship with God. It is true that our actions are louder than words, everything that we do has a positive or negative impact on the people who look up to us and see us like our family and peers. I am a victim of all these things, in my prayer of being a reflection of Christ to all, God still, in our weakness delivers and provides all that is necessary to be that light or be that message. God gives us the gift of Grace that binds us and strengthens us to use and reflect to everybody we meet. In our weakness, we do fall but in our strength of guilt we rise and return. The prayer of being a light that reflects to all people is not for self-pride but I think rather permission to be the mediatrix between man and God. In Christianity there can't just be one light, but many. Lights are meant to lead out of darkness. So we are called to be the light for the many, reflecting Christ. Isn't it true that a light is seen more clearly at night?  Even when darkness is present, or sin or trial, the Grace and the light of faith of a person is the guiding principle. Let there be light! 

Jesus, help me be a light for all those I meet. That everyone I meet and come in contact with see YOU through everything I do, and everything I am.  Amen.

Practice Patience

For the past couple days, I have slowly been realizing that my own patience is one of those virtues that is needed and I can't strive to be better without it. Patience, especially for me is hard, I struggle with inconsistency in my patience. I can tell you that I am not a very patient person, especially when I see something I want. There is inconsistency there because some days I am pretty patient other days, not so much. I get ahead of myself, and want things done, I'm impatient thinking about a couple things like my future, or the days that I am in, and even school now.  I think a big-part of our Christian lives has to do with waiting. Not necessarily waiting on things to happen on their own, but waiting and being patient in our fast-paced lives. When I think about it, we live today in a world that is supplying to our needs, we can get just about anything if we really want to. For example, if we want food, we eat, if we want drink, we drink. The norm is if you want something you can get it. Today with patience I think it applies the same; If we want something, we're so used to having those things placed right in front of us really fast. When we are patient towards receiving, all of a sudden its different for us. Now we have to wait for any sort of delay to pass, wait for things to develop and train our minds to really slow down and get used to the act of waiting itself. The joy is that God who is the cause of all things even our choices allows for us to practice this patience of our own so we can enjoy something even greater in the end. In life, our patience is tested everyday. Last night for me, it was in the McDonald's drive-thru line. Maybe for you its something else, the experience is that in our patience God molds our minds and prepares our soul to be still and quiet to focus on him. In our delay, God prepares us and stills us to experience a far greater joy in the end. We hear in Proverbs that "Patience brings peace." This is true in our lives, for the fisherman, patience is everything and has to be applied on the job, if it ain't, then he is looking at a hard day ahead of him. I have to remind myself constantly that I'm not here on my own time, If we did what we wanted when we wanted all the time then what room do we have for that growth of peace and stillness that we need to experience Christ? So far I have learned that Patience is not only training but it helps us also learn to submit ourselves to the will of the Father and not our own. When we are patient, the outward sign is that we are placing ourselves at the foot of the cross and we are allowing the one true God to do with us according to His will. This is the true meaning of patience.
 
I remember the scripture from Psalm 46:10
"Be still and know that I am God"

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...

I'll Leave (For You)

Everyday I know that I'm getting closer and closer to what I'm called to do. It's sort of scary but exciting at the same time. It's like starting another chapter but you don't know how it's going to be written. One thing is for sure, I do know what I need to do and that is to leave everything. Deep inside I don't want an amazing life, I don't want to be rich an famous an smart. I want to help and be there for those who don't have nothing either. The other day, I was praying in the chapel over my vocation there at school an I felt like leaving. I felt like getting up an walking out, I wasn't frustrated and I wasn't mad. It was me wanting to leave the good life and pick up a lesser life I feel like. That night I wrote a song about leaving everything we have, our pride, our homes and even the things that we want so badly like love, an materials. The thing is that I do want all of that, I just have to say no to those things I want. This song is called I'll leave (For You) click the link below or click the 'my music' tab at the top. Enjoy. 

http://www.soundcloud.com/vscarrasco/ill-leave-for-you/s-ZpJIw