Man of the Eight Beatitudes

Here is one my hero and try to imitate

Quotes from Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

"Around the sick, the poor, the unfortunate, I see a particular light, a light that we do not have"

"Jesus comes to me every morning in Holy Communion: I repay him in my very small way by visiting the poor".

"Seeing daily the faith with which families often bear the most atrocious sufferings, their constant sacrifices, and that they do all this for the love of God often makes us ask why I, who have so many things from God, have always been so neglectful, so bad, while they, who have not been privileged like me are infinitely better than me?"

"We have the duty of putting our health at the service of those who (do not posses it) haven't it. To act otherwise would be to betray the gift of God."

When Pier Giorgio died, Mrs. Converso came to me weeping and told me that the strongest ally had left her. She told me that thanks to him she was able to stay longer in the maternity department of the hospital since Pier Giorgio would accompany her. She also told me how Pier Giorgio acted as godfather to her daughter and how he bought her a dress for her baptism. How he met her husband when he came out of prison to take him to a factory where they would accept people who had a prison record, since he had the habit of getting drunk and not working. (I.Nebia)

One of his favourite haunts was the Cottolengo ( a hospital for the physically and mentally handicapped). He would wander thorough the corridors with a secure and steady spirit of charity consoling the wretched and stopping to talk to them as though they were really his brothers.
He would bring them money, candy and clothes and would never forget to kiss them warmly as though they were the closest of friends, not even stopping to think of the possible risk of infection or having any hint of human repulsion. (M:Ghemlera).

How many times I saw him coming out of the pawnbroker's, his hands full of boxes of clothes that had been pawned which he would return to the poor. (M.Cerutti)

Amazed, people saw this young man drag hand carts through the streets of Turin filled with household goods of the poor who were looking for a home. He would enter the most squalid houses and give all the money he had so that he did not have enough money to take the bus home.


PASSIONATELY EAGER TO SERVE BROTHERS AND CONSUMED BY BURNING CHARITY WHICH LED HIM TO APPROACH, IN ORDER OF ABSOLUTE PRECEDENCE, THE POOR AND THE SICK.
John Paul II-Turin, 15.4.1980

Does Your Ass Speaks?

Is an ass better than you?

What is your excuse for not doing the work of the Lord? You are imperfect? You are sinful? You are lack the talents?

If God wants to use you, He can. With all of your weakness, God still can work miracles through you. God can speak through an ass if He wants to. And He did. That is how he spoke to Balaam the prophet at the book of Numbers (Num. 22:28-30). And that is encouraging!

A friend once said, “God does not call the equipped, but equips the called.” You don’t have to be a genius or to be super holy to do God’s work. The only thing God needs from you is a willing heart. From there God will give you the grace and the talents you need to His work. God is the God of the impossible; He is not limited by your limitations. In every one of us lies the seed of greatness, waiting to spring up.

So if the ass can do it, why can’t you?

Q. If you know you’re going to die, and you understand the consequences of sex, what’s wrong with sleeping with the person you love?

A. A friend of mine proposed to his wife with the following quote from St. John Chrysostom:

“I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not being separated in the life reserved for us. I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you.”

This is perhaps my favorite explanation of love, that the man who loves a woman wants heaven for her more than anything. No pleasure on earth could outmatch his desire to be with her for eternity.

I’ll surely grant that the idea of abstinence is pretty boring. It means “no sex.” The idea of purity is different. It means love. It means wanting nothing but heaven for the one you love. It is the highest form of human love, because it requires sacrifice. It’s a participation in the very love of God. Any animal can have sex. But how many creatures can be pure? One the ones made in the image and likeness of God.

I hope though this you see that I’m not trying to snuff out your love for whomever this guy is, but to ignite that love.

You had mentioned that you knew the consequences of sex, but have you thought this out fully? For example, what if death is not imminent, but you become pregnant, give birth, and then die and leave a child orphan? Or what if you live and the father dies? Either way, the child’s memory of his parent is that she knew she was going to die, so she preferred sex, regardless of the consequences in this life or the next. What about if you do not die soon, but your partner does? Where does this leave his soul? What if either one (or both) of you lives, and then goes on to marry another person? What about the heart of that person’s future spouse?

In high school, several of my friends died. Through their deaths, I learned that we never know how many days we’ve been given, and we should love to the fullest with the time we have. But this love must have eternity in mind, not just the passing pleasures of this life. While sex right now might seem like an oasis in a desert of suffering, I promise you that it is a mirage. It promises everything, but does not deliver. That’s why 80% of teenage girls regret losing their virginity. You sure don’t hear about that statistic on MTV.

So, the answer to your suffering is not to throw caution to the wind and indulge in whatever you want. The answer to suffering is to realize its meaning. One of the greatest saints the Church has ever known was a man named Padre Pio. He said, “Suffering is a gift from God. Blessed is he who knows how to profit by it.” Lest you think he didn’t know what he was talking about, he suffered terribly for decades, and lost a cup of blood every day for 50 years!

During that time, he had every reason to drown his pain in pleasure. But instead he immersed himself in the love of God and grew in wisdom and irresistible joy. So, with whatever days you have left, give them to God and he’ll give you greater delights in heaven than you could ever have grasped on your own. Then, if you die, your eternity is secure. And if you live, your future is wide open. Either way, you win.

Q&A from pureloveclub.com

Q. Can't we accept that people have different values when it comes to sex? We need to be realistic--times have changed since the Bible was written.

A. A poll in Rhode Island recently asked students in grades six through nine if it is okay to force a young woman to have sex if the two of them have dated for six months or more. Two-thirds of the guys said that this was acceptable--and half of the girls did as well!(1) Eighty-six percent of the guys said that it is okay to rape your wife, and twenty-four percent said that it was okay to rape a date if you spent "a lot of money" on her.(2)

Are you willing to "accept" those students' responses as those of "people having different values"? There is no doubt that times have changed since the Bible was written, but does the morality of an act depend upon where you live, when you live, or how many people agree with you? For example, if you jumped into a time machine, how far into the future would you need to go in order for child abuse to become moral? If you went back in time, took a poll of Nazi guards and the majority said that killing Jews was good, would that mean that we should be open-minded and accept their different values? Even today, if I were taken to court for shooting a clerk and shoplifting, do you think that the judge would be convinced of my innocence because I "just have different values"?

I hope you agree that no matter how times change, these acts will always be immoral. Why is it, then, that when we get to the sixth and ninth commandments (the ones regarding sexuality), people feel that morality is subjective and the Ten Commandments are multiple choice? Morality is objective, and a properly formed conscience can see this. No one likes to be told that what he wants to do is wrong, but we're not the authors of right and wrong. We need to overcome the temptation to judge God's laws by our standards, and begin measuring our standards by his laws.

We cannot construct our own private system of values. As Pope John Paul II said during the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado: "Do not give in to this widespread false morality! Do not stifle your conscience." St. Paul also warned us that "the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry" (2 Tim. 4:3–5).

Modern culture tells us that if something feels good and we want it, we should have it. Go ahead. Gorge yourself. But when this mentality seeps into the minds of the youth, we get the moral anarchy expressed in the responses of the children in the poll mentioned above. This whole idea of making up our own values was promoted to schools by a psychologist named Dr. Carl Rogers. He said that the teachers should offer students non-directive "values clarification." In other words, telling the students to make up their own minds when it came to sex, drugs, etc. Decades later, Dr. Rogers openly admitted that this method of teaching was a huge mistake. He recognized that when adults fail to pass on solid direction and clear values, then the young people are left without a compass. Yet, the drug dealers and porn industries will not stop directing the teens to themselves. They continue to sell their lifestyle with great zeal, and the youth are unprepared to make the best decisions.

Although our civilization has lost the sense of sin, God still takes it seriously. Look at a crucifix. There on the cross is our answer. Sin is still sin and for this reason Christ's call to holiness applies for all times to every person on the globe. Christ makes demands on us precisely in the arena of sexual values. He asks much because he knows we can give much. We cannot dismiss our responsibilities by saying, "I gotta be me," or, "Boys will be boys." We will either glorify God or deeply offend him by how we use the gift of our sexuality.

Ask yourself, "Do I really desire union with God?" If so, the quickest route is simple and humble honesty. Since God is truth, then our union with him depends on whether or not we are willing to submit our lives to the truth. We must love the truth and desire it with every fiber of our being regardless of how inconvenient it may be. In the words of Scripture, we must, "even to the death, fight for truth" (Sir. 4:28). This is the sincerity of heart that God longs to find in us.

One man noted, "There are few better tests for whether or not someone lives a life in submission to God than what he or she does with their sexuality. Sex is such a powerful and meaningful desire that to give it up and obey God in that area is a true sign of worship."(3) As Jesus said in his agony in the garden, "not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). If we say that we love God but we still want to make up the rules when it comes to sexual desire, we've made pleasure our god. We should ask ourselves, "Do I love myself to the contempt of God's will, or do I love God to the contempt of my own will?"
__________________
1.Thomas Lickona, "The Neglected Heart," American Educator (Summer 1994): 37–38.
2. Jacqueline Jackson Kikuchi, Rhode Island Rape Crisis Center, Providence, Rhode Island. As quoted by Harper's, July 1988, 15. As quoted by Wetzel, Sexual Wisdom, 31.
3. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, Boundaries in Dating (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2000), 252.

Q&A came from pureloveclub.com

How to be Happy? Forgive!

Revenge may be sweet but the vengeful is bitter.

Many people ruin their health and their lives by taking the poison of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. Matthew 18:23-35 tells us that if we do not forgive people, we get turned over to the torturers. If you have a problem in this area or have ever had one, I’m sure you bear witness with what I’m saying. It’s torture to have hateful thoughts toward another person rolling around inside your head. - Joyce Meyer

Unforgiveness is a hindrance to attaining joy in your life. Instead of focusing your attention in living life to the full, you are stuck on thinking how to get even. You spend most of your time in your mental movie house where scenes of past offences are played and replayed like a broken record. On the other side, your offender has moved forward in life. Again, you are the loser.

Unforgiving people are always stuck in the past. They still brood over offences that happened a decade ago. In effect, they fail to live in the present. They also fail to see the opportunity for joy in front of them because their heads are turned backwards. They end up being miserable most of the time. Trapped in the past and not enjoying the present.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

People who forgive are much happier persons. They try their best to forgive and not keep bitterness in their hearts. They continually move forward in life. Since their heads and eyes are looking forward, they are able to focus more on being happy. They do not spend their time brooding over the past, but living in the present and making their future a more joy-filled place.

Their hearts are unburdened, free and most of all happy.

Q. What's wrong with masturbation? I think of it as getting rid of your temptations without leading anyone into sin.

A. Masturbation doesn't get rid of temptations any more than a prostitute does. Both may temporarily relieve sexual desires, but our goal as Christians is not simply to get rid of temptations. Our goal is to glorify God with our bodies. The idea that masturbation can be used to decrease sexual desires is like saying that lighter fluid can be used to extinguish a fire. If anything, masturbation incites lustful thoughts and teaches a person that he or she deserves--and needs--sexual gratification whenever the desire arises.

To understand why masturbation is wrong, we need to step back from the world's constant clamoring for sexual "needs" and go back to God's plan for sex. Sexuality is meant to be a gift between a husband and wife for the purpose of babies and bonding. When it is taken out of that context the gift is degraded--and in the case of masturbation, altogether ceases being a gift. The purpose of sexuality is abandoned, because the center of the sexual act becomes "me" instead of "we" and the person is trained to look to himself for sexual fulfillment. The gift of one's sexuality is misused for the sake of lifeless pleasure. Only selfless giving will fulfill you.

When people misuse their sexuality in this way, they begin to use pleasure to change their mood, release tension, or forget their loneliness. Masturbation becomes an escape. It may pacify them, but it will never satisfy them, because they'll always want more. They use the fantasies of their mind and the pleasures of their body to flee from reality and the call to love. Their goal in sexual activity has been reduced to merely receiving pleasure instead of showing love. If men and women have trained themselves to use their sexuality in this way, why would this suddenly change once they're married? The husband or wife will simply be a substitute for the fantasies, to be used in place of self. They may even imagine the fantasies while with their spouse. The problem is that the lust will be transferred to the other, not healed within.

Worse yet, merely getting married will not cure their problem with masturbation. Because masturbation has trained disordered impulses in them, the true pleasures of marriage--though far superior--may not appease their warped attachments. Where will they turn to find those pleasures within marriage? Often, they'll continue to struggle with masturbation, to the sorrow and distress of their spouse, and to the detriment of their marriage. A person who does not preserve his own purity when alone will have a difficult time remaining pure with another. If he lacks self-control when alone, he will be unable to properly give himself to his spouse when the time comes. You can not give what you do not control. No self-control equals no gift of self. To the extent that there is no gift of self, there is no love. If you want to be able to genuinely love your spouse, you must build self-mastery.

Q. My girlfriend and I have decided not to have sex. But is it wrong to sleep in the same bed occasionally?

A. It is understandable that a couple would want to lie down together. This is a natural desire. After all, who would not want to wake up next to their loved one? However, this kind of intimacy belongs only in marriage. To lie down with a woman in bed is marital. When we use the expression, "They slept together," we usually aren't thinking about sleep at all. But this phrase is used because the marital act is inseparable from the marriage bed. In Hebrews 13:4, we are told to keep the marriage bed undefiled. It is to be sacred, and this means it is to be set apart for holy use. The holy use that God has in mind is marital union. In your heart you know that this belongs in marriage, because if you knew that sleeping in the same bed with her was pleasing to God, you wouldn't have asked this question.

If you want to save sex for marriage, sleeping in the same bed is not the best way to guard that commitment. Granted, you may not be having sex, but as Proverbs 16:18 says, pride goes before a fall.

There is wisdom in avoiding occasions of sin and not trusting ourselves too much. Promise each other that the next time the two of you share a bed, it will be as husband and wife. There is a time and a season for everything under the sun, and as difficult as this may be, purity calls you to make this sacrifice. After all, if the Lord calls you to marry her, you will have the rest of your life to fall asleep looking at her. But if you are not called to marry her, your future wife may not be thrilled to hear that you slept with another woman, even if you did not have a sexual relationship.

Q&A came from pureloveclub.com

Do It Anyway!

This written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

How to be Happy: Be Poor!

"What kind of crazy talk is this?” you might be saying to yourself. Poverty and happiness does not go together, especially in this materialistic world we live in. For many people happiness spells “Moolah.”

This happy poverty I am talking about is not just being materially poor, though for some material poverty might actually help them to find happiness. The poverty I am talking about is being “poor in spirit.”

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Jesus

What kind of topsy turvy thinking is this?

Fr Robert Barron proposes to read it this way, “Happy are you if you are not attach to the material things of this world.” Happy are you if your life does not revolve in seeking the goods of this world. Happy are you if you are not addicted to accumulating stuffs.

Our hearts are wired for God. St Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord” God is our ultimate satisfaction! To fill our hearts with stuffs will always leave us empty in the end.

Have you notice the vicious cycle of being addicted to stuffs?

Let’s say you wanted a car for the longest time. So you labor and labor for it. Then you get your car. You are ecstatic! You even sleep with it!

But after sometime you start to get bored with your car. Now you panic! The happiness that you had for your car is now gone! Now you want a new one, a better one. The cycle starts again. For the rest of your life you are trapped in this cycle of addiction to stuffs. Your life in the end has been a series of labor and boredom.

People who are addicted to stuffs have something in common. They have this sense of misery because they don’t have what they want. And their “wants” are getting bigger and bigger to the point they are not attainable. Their desire is insatiable!

Happy are you if you are not attached to the things of this world. For your joy is not defined by what you have materially. If you “have” or “have not”, your life continues. You can continue to enjoy life’s simple joys.

And lastly, happy are you if God and His will is the source of your fulfillment. For He alone can really make you happy!

Q. How should I respond when people in my high school say, "Everyone is doing it?"

A. You could respond to this in any number of ways. For one, you could ask the person, "If I can prove that the majority of high school students are virgins, will you be abstinent?" The fact is, according to a 1997 survey, the majority of high school students are virgins. Between 1990 and 1997, sexual activity among high school guys dropped about 20 percent!(1)

There are many "closet virgins" but the sexually active students tend to do a lot of talking. This gives the impression that "everyone is doing it," when in reality, the majority is not. The majority of high school students are virgins, and 71 percent of the teens who have had sex wish they had waited.(2)

You could also point out that the "everyone" who is "doing it" is also getting STDs, that "everyone" is breaking up three weeks after they have sex, and "everyone" ends up getting divorced if they stay together long enough to get married. You are in no rush to join any of these crowds. We all have a fear of not being accepted, or of being a loner if we do not conform to the world. But you must hold out for the higher standard of love.

The bottom line is this: What is our motivation? Is it to please God, or to conform to the world and make life-changing decisions based on the opinions of classmates, ninety-five percent of whom you will probably never see again after graduation? Stay strong. You are well worth the wait. Besides, the world needs to see young people who are not scared out of their minds to be chaste. This is something to be proud of, and if enough virgins on your campus realize this and have the courage to stand up, I'd bet the saying "everyone is doing it" will soon refer to chastity.
_________________________
1. The Consortium of State Physicians Resource Councils, "The Declines in Adolescent Pregnancy, Birth, and Abortion Rates in the 1990's: What Factors Are Responsible?" 7 January 1999, 5.
2. Roper Starch Worldwide poll for The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States [SIECUS], 1994. As quoted by Mary Beth Bonacci, Real Love (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996), 273–274. Also see Seventeen Magazine, May 1996.

from Pureloveclub.com

Q. Is foreplay with your boyfriend wrong, even if you really love him and just want to get as close as physically possible? I see myself marrying him some day.

A. Although I was not alive in the 1960s, I understand that at the time there was a big "free love" movement. Apparently, it had one fatal flaw: The promoters of this sexual revolution had no idea what constituted freedom or love. The people assumed that if there were mutual feelings between two people, they should be free to have sex. I agree that we should be free to do whatever love calls us to do, but we need to make sure that it is love that is calling us. It's easy to be moved by infatuation, loneliness, or lust and to mistake any of these for love because the feelings are so strong. Many people assume that if a couple has a strong desire to be sexually intimate, then that's a sign of love indicating they should do whatever they both feel comfortable with.

If you deeply love a person, are committed to him, and see yourself marrying him, why can't you express that in whatever way you want? After all, when you love someone, you desire union with him. I would say that as long as a couple only sees themselves being together for life, and can only talk about marriage, then they should only see themselves having marital relations in the future, within marriage. Until the reality of marriage is there, the expression of marital oneness is dishonest. Even if I reserve sexual arousal for a person whom I hope to marry, this does not make my actions moral. It just means I'm consistent.

You mentioned that you wanted to get as close as physically possible. Many young women suspect that this will draw a guy closer to them, but this tactic often backfires. As one girl said, "I tried to achieve 'maximum pleasure,' but was becoming painfully disappointed when I found only guilt instead of freedom, pain instead of love, and suffering instead of pleasure. Instead of drawing my boyfriend and me closer together, a sexual relationship only drove us further and further apart."(1)

Perhaps the easiest way to find out if our actions conform to authentic love is to imagine God sitting on a nearby sofa watching us. If his presence would cause immediate shame or the desire to stop dead in our tracks, we need to ask ourselves why. If God is love, and we "really love" the other person, shouldn't we be thrilled to have Love himself witness everything that we do together?

That awkwardness in our hearts is there because deep inside we know that our actions are not fully loving. There are two essential elements of love. The first is the desire for union. (I'd say you've got that.) The second and more important element of love is to desire what is best for the other, to desire God and heaven for him. It elevates the desire for union so that the two want to be together not only for a night, but for eternity. Both elements must be present for love to exist. If I crave unity with a girlfriend, but I do not desire her salvation, call it whatever you want, it is not love.

If you're unsure whether or not a particular action could be sinful, then love demands that you refuse to go there. Suppose I put a teaspoon of powder into a cup of tea for a girlfriend. I look at the bowl where I got the powder. It reads "sugar" on one side and "rat poison" on the other. Do I say, "Oh, it's probably not poison. I'll give it to her anyway?" If I loved her, then I would never do something that was possibly lethal for her. Similarly, even if I were not convinced that a particular action with her would be sinful, I would still avoid it if there is good reason to believe that it might be harmful to her soul. Since her soul is more important than her body, I should have all the more concern to protect her salvation.

Also, consider the heart of this guy's future wife, in case you don't end up marrying him. I think that most sincere people who become physically intimate before marriage can see themselves marrying their partner. But most don't end up marrying each other. I've been in a few long relationships, and in each one marriage was a real possibility. In one case, we were even trying on rings. The Lord had different plans for us. Not long ago, I went to her wedding where she married a friend of mine! Watching them exchange vows and kiss at the altar made me take a deep look at the relationships that I have had in my life. Take the same look, and honestly ask yourself if your actions are in any way defrauding the future bride of the guy you're with.
________________________
1. McDowell, Why Wait?, 115.

Q&A came from pureloveclub.com

What Will You Do if a Man Suddenly Jumps in Your Car and Tells You to Drive?

“Drive!” the stranger tell you as he enters your car and sit besides you. He then tells you to head to the next town, pronto! You might be thinking right now if you are getting kidnapped or your vehicle car napped!

What will you do?

Flash back 2000 years ago. Peter just got back to the shore after a whole night of fishing. He was quietly cleaning his net and minding his own business, when suddenly Jesus jumps into Peter’s boat! Jesus then asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. After Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." (see Luke 5)

If you were Peter, would you have obeyed Jesus?

What followed was just awesome. Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.

Sometimes Jesus just suddenly pops up. Without asking your permission He just jumps into your life! Suddenly you realized that we are in the Presence of the Divine. Then you hear in the depths your heart the voice of Jesus “Put out into deep water.” He calls you to a deeper life. He wants you to leave behind the shallow existence that you have become comfortable with.

Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing...” That statement kinda summarize the story of our lives. We have tired ourselves in seeking meaning and joy in our life but “we have caught nothing!” Our human efforts are not enough. We need Jesus!

After Peter followed Jesus instructions what happened? “When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing”. To follow and be lead by Jesus is to find “FULL-fillment.” Jesus will not only give us the meaningful and joyful life we are trying to catch, but He will give us more! More than our nets can handle.

So what will you do the next time Jesus jumps into your life? Will you let Him take you to the depths? Or will you ignore Him and stay behind the shallows?

Is success everything?

There are a lot of books and materials about how to be successful these days. Most of these books are oriented on how to accumulate wealth. Becoming rich has become synonymous to being successful in our time. It was not then. Money has somehow become the measure of one’s success.

I believe that success is more than stuffing yourself with a lot of stuff!

The accumulation of wealth cannot be the standard of success. Life is far deeper than amassing of material things. Success cannot also be just about power and prestige, for that too fades away and does not necessarily add anything to a person’s being.

So what does being successful means?

The ultimate success is to be a successful human being. A successful person is someone who is fully alive. Someone who uses all that is good in him and all his talents to make this world a better place. He is a person who finds joy and meaning in life. In the same time he is also a source of joy, light and hope to others. Money, power and fame are only a means he uses to make this world a better place.

External successes will always fade away, as time fades away. But success that happens from within us, in our souls, will stay with us. Whatever success we have accomplished in our souls, we will take it to eternity.

“The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” - William James

30 things I am Grateful for

Since it is my 30^th year of my creation today, I would like to list 30 things I am grateful for.

1. I know God loves me, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus! My Lord and my savior. What more can I say?
3. I have a mother in Heaven, Mary.
4. I am a Catholic
5. I got friends in high places, the Saints
6. The Catholic Church
7. The Holy Father as my shepherd
8. I reached this age, many don’t
9. I am fairly healthy
10. I have no critical illness
11. I still all my body parts in tacked, specially my limbs
12. My family
13. My friends
14. The Sisters
15. I got a decent job
16. I got a roof over my head and a comfortable bed
17. I get to eat 3 times a day
18. I have money to buy medicine when I get sick
19. I graduated from 3 Catholic School
20. I am an artist
21. I have survived my mistakes from the past
22. I am able to help the poor
23. I got a seminary as my neighbor, so I get to attend Mass frequently as I can
24. I can buy the books I like
25. I am to work for the Church and it’s different organizations like Our Parish, Caritas Manila and Pro-Life Phil
26. I am able to design Religious and Christian web sites
27. The children at the orphanage
28. EWTN (cable channel) which has been my continual source of inspiration and encouragement
29. For the gift of conversion years ago, if for that I would have still be very lost today
30. God, whom have been merciful with this foolish sinner this years.

Q. How do you know if you should break up with the guy you're dating?

A. Ask yourself the following questions (the more questions you answer with "no," the more reason you have to break things off):
Has my relationship with him brought me closer to God? Can I see myself marrying him? Would I like my children to grow up to be just like him? Am I dating to discern marriage? Do my parents approve of him? Is he one-hundred percent faithful? Do I feel safe, honored, and respected around him? Is he clean of any drug, alcohol, or pornography problems? Has this relationship helped me to become the woman I hope to be? Does he bring out the best in me? Does he respect my purity? Does he love God more than he loves pleasure? Can I honestly say that the relationship is emotionally, physically, spiritually, and psychologically healthy? Has the relationship brought me closer to my family and other friends? Ideally, you should be able to announce an emphatic "YES!" to all of the above questions. The more negative answers you have, the more reason you have to think twice about the relationship. You might also want to take the love test, here.

St. Paul tells us that an unmarried woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, about how she can serve him and be holy (1 Cor. 7). Are you free to be anxious about the things of the Lord or are you consumed by emotional conflicts with your boyfriend or consumed by your relationship in general? Some young women are willing to stay in bad relationships so that they never have to be alone. They'll put up with disrespectful behavior, compromise their values, and stay in a dead-end relationship that should have ended long ago. Many couples become so close that they feel as if the other person is their entire world. If they let the person go, they fear that they'll have nothing left and love will be lost forever. Do not give in to this fear.

If he has some major issues, do not move toward marriage expecting that these issues will resolve themselves over time. This is denial. If he treats you disrespectfully, lovingly confront his behavior. If he listens, apologizes, accepts responsibility, and works to correct the behavior, then he is making progress. If not, then do not harbor false hope. If you want to know how the future will be with him, look at the past. The longer you wait to deal with his problems, the more burdensome they will become. Throughout all of this, he must have some personal desire to change. All of the motivation should not come from you.

The presence of difficulties does not necessarily mean you need to break things off. It is common for couples to walk away from a relationship if things get tough. Your job is to discern if the issue is significant enough to merit a breakup, or if it is a problem that can be solved. As you pray and ask the Lord for guidance, do not try to figure out the answers on your own. Turn to people you trust, such as family members, a priest, youth minister, or friends. Reflect on their input and have courage.

Whatever your decision, make it clear. The longer it flops back and forth, the worse it is. If you do break things off, do not worry. If he is the right one for you, then taking this time off won't hurt. Also, don't jump back into the relationship quickly if you see signs of improvement in his behavior. Often a guy will manipulate a girl into letting him back even if he hasn't made a true change of heart. Resist the temptation, wait on God, and write a letter to yourself about why you broke up, and what you are looking for in a spouse. When you feel the urge to jump back into the relationship for comfort, you will have a reminder of why you are holding out for God's best.

If you break up, you might desire to "just be friends." But as long as one of you is still romantically interested in the other, this is practically impossible. If the two of you are to be friends again one day, you need space right now. When we try the "just friends" approach right after a breakup, it is usually because we are dragging our feet and we do not want to let go. I have tried it before, and it can harm the friendship in the long run because the breakup is so drawn out.

And remember to take this to God in prayer. Ask him what he thinks you should do. Sometimes we run around and grab what we want and rarely sit still long enough to hear him. He will speak if we will listen. Until you do make a decision, live the virtue of purity in the relationship. This will help you to see more clearly. Also, chaste relationships tend to end on a happier note, since the couple did not do anything regrettable.

Q&A came from pureloveclub.com

"Forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward to what lies ahead"

Today is my last day of my 20’s. I decided to leave my past behind, the good and the bad, the joys and the pains. I want to let go of the bitterness and disappointments in the past 29 years of my existence. I was burdened long enough by them. It's time for me to unload all that is useless in my life. It is time to start a new and fresh page in my life.

Phil 3:1314 “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

The adventure begins - once more.

What Money Means to a Christian

Book Explains Wealth in Today’s World

ROME, OCT. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The danger of riches has long been a core topic for Christian preaching. This month saw the release of entrepreneur Frank J. Hanna’s new book “What Your Money Means: And How to Use it Well.”

ZENIT spoke with Hanna, who has started and financed many businesses, and awarded the William B. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. Through the Solidarity Foundation he donated to the Vatican the oldest copy of the Gospel of Luke and the “Our Father” in the world.

Q: Did you schedule this book to come out at the same time as the current worldwide financial crisis?

Hanna: No, but I will treat the timing as providential. Interestingly enough, there has probably been more public discourse about economics and money during the last month than any recent time in memory. So I think the message contained in the book is particularly relevant to folks right now.

Q: And what is that message?

Hanna: Well, there are actually several messages, but first and foremost is that money is a gift from God that we are obliged to use wisely. Many of us spend a lot of time and energy trying to make money, and we often spend a lot of effort studying the products we are going to buy, like a new car or a washing machine, but we don’t tend to spend as much effort asking ourselves, “How am I supposed to use my money to be a better person, and to help those I love grow in virtue?”

Q: So how does one use money to grow in virtue? Isn’t money the root of all evil?

Hanna: Money is not the root of all evil. Instead, the attachment to money, in place of God, is what damages our soul. For that matter, the attachment to anything that is objectively good can be damaging if we put it before God, for then we have made some thing or person into a replacement for God, and we have violated the first commandment.

And so money, like other gifts from God, is something he gives us in order that we might serve others with it. And in serving others, we grow in virtue.

Q: Does this mean it is wrong to spend any of our money on ourselves?

Hanna: Not at all. In fact, I spend some time in the book exploring this question of how much is enough, both in terms of how much we amass, and how much we spend on ourselves and others, particularly our children. In the same way that someone blessed with a talent or intelligence is justified in using it to provide for themselves and those they love, so too can we use money. But any time we become self-indulgent, or for that matter overly indulgent of our family members, we enter dangerous territory.

Q: So what prompted you, a businessman, to write this book?

Hanna: Socrates said the unexamined life not worth living, and so as a businessman, I resolved that I would not spend my money, my energy and my time in an unexamined manner. But that meant I would have to spend a lot of time examining -- money, my own life with money, and the lives and thoughts of others who had dealt with the notion of money.

This book is the result of that examination. I originally just gathered notes for myself. Soon, I realized that I needed to organize my thoughts and notes to be able to have something of a paradigm through which I could understand what I had gathered. And as I pulled it all together, I realized that my brothers and sisters might also benefit from reading it. After he read it, I shared it with some friends, some of whom had a lot of money, and some of whom had to struggle with their financial survival every day, and both groups of friends seemed to benefit from it.

In the end, money is an integral part of the world in which we live, and the failure to think about it clearly can easily lead to hazardous results. Conversely, the proper understanding and use of money can help us lead far more fulfilling lives that we might otherwise expect. In fact, a better understanding of our money can even help us achieve a better understanding of those things that money can’t buy.

Q: Do you really believe that understanding money can help us better understand the things that money cannot buy?

Hanna: Absolutely. Any time we seek to prayerfully discern our use of the blessings God has given us, seeking His guidance, we are going to get closer to him. And so this effort to understand something like money, which because of the physical world of scarcity in which we live necessarily demands a fair amount of our time and attention, is likely to help us obtain wisdom concerning its use.

Once we have wisdom, we are better able to appreciate the non-monetary, non-material things, like love, hope, faith, courage, friendship, and so on. We can start to see money, not as an end it and of itself, but a tool, an instrument, that should help us in our quest for the things of God.

Q: You have received recognition as a philanthropist. How can those of us who do not have the money to be philanthropists give to others?

Hanna: Well, let’s first understand what philanthropy is. The word itself comes from two Greek words: “philos,” meaning “love for,” and “anthropos,” meaning “man.” So by this definition Christ, who had very little material possessions, was the philanthropist par excellence!

We do not need a lot of money to be generous, and again, that is part of what this book is about. The money we have, however much it may be, should be an instrument whereby our generosity is nourished and encouraged. And I think that the better we understand it, and its role in our lives, the more likely we are to meet this ideal.

Q: Is this book on money consistent with the teaching of the Church?

Hanna: I certainly hope so! I had a couple of priests and an archbishop read the draft, as I wanted to make sure I was in accord with the Church’s teachings. I think, however, that it also helps that I am a layman, as the perspective from someone who has been in the trenches of business is, I hope, a helpful contribution.

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On the Net:

"What Your Money Means: And How to Use it Well": www.amazon.com/What-Your-Money-Means-Well/dp/0824525205

Are You an Asset or a Liability?

There are a lot of people who thinks this way, “I am not doing any criminal activity also I’m not really doing anything good for others, so hmm… I am doing well.” They live a life absorbed in their own little world.

They are the center of their own universe.

I have been reading some books on investments lately; one thing I learned was an asset that is not generating income is a liability! A store that is not selling well becomes a liability because the rent, electricity and the salaries still has to be paid regardless of its income. If the expenses are greater than the income then the store becomes a liability since it drains money away from its owner.

A healthy lazy son becomes a liability to the family since he is not contributing to help the family in their needs. He takes up food and space without replenishing them.

God has given us life. Our “life” is God’s investment. God was very specific with what He wanted with His investment. Jesus showed us that when told the parable of the talents.

“Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The one who had received five talents went off right away and put his money to work and gained five more. In the same way, the one who had two gained two more. But the one who had received one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money in it. After a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ The one with the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’ His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’”

If we are not doing anything to make this world a better place, we are a liability. We are literally taking space and resources and not giving anything back. If we have a “consume-er” mentality, the world will eventually be exhausted. If we fail to do some “good”, then there is a depreciation of good. If the good acts are lost, then the balance of good and evil is lost.

Not doing anything is NOT GOOD!

Do we wonder why the world is so dark and miserable? Because we fail to do the good we should have done. If we are not Assets, then we are liabilities.

What do you call an asset that is not producing anything good?

It’s called “useless!”

Young African woman crawls 2.5 miles to attend Sunday Mass

Valencia, Aug 28, 2008 / 01:42 am (CNA).- The Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly in Chissano (Mozambique) took into their home this week a 25 year-old African young girl named Olivia, who despite not being baptized at the time and not having any legs, crawled 2.5 miles every Sunday to attend Mass.

According to the AVAN news agency, the nuns said that one day, they saw “something moving on the ground far away,” and when they drew near they saw, “to our surprise, that it was a young woman.”

“We were able to talk to her through a lady who was walking by and who translated into Portuguese what she was saying to us” in her dialect, they said.

The sisters said that although “the sand from the road burned the palms of her hands during the hottest times of the year,” the young woman crawled to Mass, “giving witness of perseverance and heroic faith.”

The young woman received baptismal preparation from a catechist, who periodically visited her at home. After she was recently baptized, one of the benefactors of the sisters donated a wheel chair for Olivia.

from http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13650

Will Somebody Get Iron Man a Cheeseburger!

One of my favorite scenes in Marvel’s movie Iron Man was when Tony Stark, Iron Man, arrived back home from his captivity and asked for a cheese burger before anything else.

After that short remark of Tony Stark of wanting a cheeseburger, I actually smiled.

It is something I experience in my own life. Trials and crisis has the power to strip us down and simplify us. Tony could have asked for a fine meal at a great hotel or luxurious vacation to take the trauma and stress of his abduction, but he asked for a cheeseburger!

Tony became a simple man after his kidnapping. He had stopped his “rich playboy” life style and started focusing in what was really important. It was also the time that he started noticing how beautiful her secretary was.

Sometimes God permits trials and crisis in our lives to shake us up from our all the meaningless and empty distractions we pursue and consume us. Trials taken the right way can lead us to a better appreciation of what we have.

Yes even the cheeseburger.

We realize that even though we got all sorts of problems we can still eat a cheeseburger which may people in the world cannot afford.

So can anybody get Iron Man a cheeseburger?

Q. How do you know if you should marry the person you're seeing?

A. The most important decision you will make in life is to follow God. The second most important decision is your vocation. So make sure that God is guiding your choice. Talk to him about your dreams, your joys, your problems, and your fears. It is common to meet people who have faith in God, but they select a spouse on their own, get engaged, and then only afterwards ask God and their family to bless it. Try that the other way--start with God and your family--and it tends to run more smoothly.

Here are five practical points to consider when wondering if you should marry a specific person.

One: How is your friendship? It is easy to feel close to a person if you have been physically intimate, but apart from the physical element, how well can you honestly say you know this person? The more physically involved you have been, the more you will need to step back to evaluate the relationship. This is because physical intimacy clouds our judgment--which it should. One of the benefits of total physical intimacy for married couples is that it renders them less critical of each other. However, this clouding of your thinking belongs in marriage, not before.

Be honest in examining what truly unites the two of you. Is it a desire for pleasure or emotional gain? Is there an unhealthy dependency, where one or both of you have made an idol out of marriage, expecting that it will solve loneliness? How do the two of you deal with differences? Can you disagree lovingly, or are there some issues of manipulation, anger, or guilt that need to be sorted out first? Before marriage it is easy to maintain a good image, so make sure you have seen each other with your masks down, so to speak. Lastly, is there a real romantic interest? Some people say that romantic feelings are not that important, but there is grave reason for concern if these feelings are not present. This is not to say that you must feel constantly madly in love with each other. Most people do not struggle with the absence of feelings, but with infatuation. Just have the honesty to look at where you stand with this.

Two: Are the two of you on the same page when it comes to the size of your family? Does one of you expect one child, while the other envisions three minivans brimming with kids? Does one of you want kids right away while the other wants to wait ten years before having any children? If you have different dreams, then now is the time to be honest about your differences. More importantly, do you think that your prospective spouse would be a good parent?

Three: Are you financially ready for a family? The book of Proverbs advises, "Prepare your work outside, get everything ready for you in the field; and after that build your house" (Prov. 24:27). We should not jump into marriage before we are able to financially care for a family. You do not need to have college money set aside for your kids before you get married, but you should be stable enough with your career that you will be able to carry the great responsibilities that come with the blessings of parenthood.

Four: How is your prospective spouse's faith? Do you lead each other to God? Is your relationship centered on God? Do the two of you have different faiths? Does he or she have a faith at all? The Bible advises against marrying a non-believer (2 Cor. 6:14) because marriage is difficult enough without having differences on an issue that should be the foundation of your life together. If one goes to a non-Catholic church, then know that there will be trials as a result of this. The Church does allow mixed marriages, but advises against them because of the difficulties that they present within marriage.

In the words of a wise and holy priest, Fr. Marcel Maciel, "The greater the spiritual compatibility between the two of you, the greater your harmony in marriage will be."(1) As a result of spiritual compatibility, a husband and wife should be able to do more for God together than they can do apart. They should form a team, and to be effective they need to have the same goal in mind. So, take this all to prayer and trust that God will guide you. Some couples make the mistake of failing to ask for the Lord's guidance, while others over-spiritualize the matter and will not move forward unless they receive numerous signs from heaven. God wants you to have confidence. Trust in him, and as Augustine said, "Love God, and do as you will." Use all the wisdom at your disposal, and then make a decision.

Five: What do your friends and families say? It is easy for a couple to become isolated and fail to consult the friends and families God has given them. They know your habits, your emotional health, your dreams, and plenty of things you probably wish nobody knew. But they love you nonetheless and can give some of the best guidance.

As I was finishing my masters studies, I was seeing a young woman and we were looking toward marriage. We met with her parents to discuss our hopes. The parents approved of our relationship, but saw marriage as something still several years ahead of us. At the time, I was frustrated that they could not see how much we loved each other, but their wisdom prevailed and the Lord took us down different paths. Her family had a great deal of wisdom, and they knew that if we were to be together we would have to be patient and prayerful, waiting for the proper time.

Finally, know that if marriage is anything, it is a carefully planned leap of faith. You will need to weigh all of the above considerations and more, pray about them, and move ahead. You can only know a person so well before you marry. This is because coming to know another person is not so much a destination as it is a lifelong process. Within marriage you will see strengths and weaknesses more clearly than ever before. Because of this, there are inevitably going to be disappointments, but you should anticipate them with hope.

When difficulties arise--and they will come--they will test and affirm your love. Marriage is not an endless whirling romance, and your marriage will suffer to the extent that you expect it to fit that fairy tale. When the infatuation fades, some imagine that they must not have married Mr. or Miss Right. This is partly why the majority of divorces happen within the first two years of marriage. It is a shame that couples are not prepared to let their relationship breathe. We often have little faith when the time comes to exhale. There is a love waiting to grow, but it is a quieter love than a couple knows at the start of their relationship. It is unfortunate that so few have the patience to wait and work in sacrifice to see it blossom.

Successful marriages are not the result of finding the perfect person, but of loving the imperfect person that you have chosen to marry. Do not allow yourself to be discouraged when you discover faults and annoyances that you never recognized before. It is said that after marriage, the man gets upset because the woman changes, and the woman gets upset because the man will not change. But when faults do come to the surface, we should not be set on "fixing" our spouse. We marry a person, not a project. We marry a human being, not an idealized image. Only when we let go of the idealized image and begin to accept and love our spouse will the deepest and most fulfilling kind of love appear.

When a couple understands these principles, they are mature enough to think about marriage. We are not eleven years old any more, fluttering from one crush to another, according to how fun the feelings are. When a relationship is based on an infatuation instead of a decision, it will last only as long as the infatuation does. We must be careful about what we base our relationships on, because finding the love that everyone longs for is a serious endeavor.

Pope John Paul II beautifully sums up all of these thoughts in his book Love and Responsibility:

The essential reason for choosing a person must be personal, not merely sexual. Life will determine the value of a choice and the value and true magnitude of love. It is put to the test most severely when the sensual and emotional reactions themselves grow weaker, and sexual values as such lose their effect. Nothing then remains except the value of the person, and the inner truth about the love of those connected comes to light. If their love is a true gift of self, so that they belong to the other, it will not only survive but grow stronger, and sink deeper roots. Whereas if it was never more than a synchronization of sensual and emotional experiences it will lose its raison d'être [reason for existence] and the persons involved in it will suddenly find themselves in a vacuum. We must never forget that only when love between human beings is put to the test can its true value be seen.(2)
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1. Marcel Maciel, Mexico City, 12 March 1988.
2. Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), Love and Responsibility, 134.

Article came from Pureloveclub.com

Is Your Joy Lacking or Incomplete?

What delights you? How do you make yourself happy? What is the source of your joy?

Does shopping delights you? Do you find happiness in being popular among your peers? Is
accomplishing your goals bring you joy?

Most of us when we think of happiness we think of getting what we want. The media has done a good job ingraining in our minds that if you want to be happy, “then go get some”. We have become a society of “Go Getters!”

But are we really happy with what we've got? Or do we feel that our joy is lacking or incomplete?

When a rich young man approached Jesus asked what he still lacked. Jesus answered to sell all his possessions and come follow Him. When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

A priest/psychologist said, “If you feel depressed, go help somebody.”

Joy can be found outside ourselves. St Francis said, “For it is in giving that we receive.” Real, deep and abiding joy comes from giving ourselves to others. It is in selflessness and not in selfishness can we find authentic joy. The “Go Givers” are happier than the “Go Getters”.

If you still have not found the joy that you are looking for, maybe it is time for you to look for it outside of yourself.

So go help somebody now. Now!

Have You Ever Attended a Coin Party?

How will you react if after arriving at a party you come to know the party was being thrown for a coin? You then see the coin up the stage with spot lights on it.

You must be thinking what kinda crazy party is this? You have been to crazy parties but this one goes off the roof. You might be thinking if you have got yourself in a mental hospital or entered the “twilight zone.”

Crazy?

Yes.

Now listen to Jesus’ parable of the coin. "Or what woman having ten coins 2 and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.' In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Now let us examine the parable. A lousy coin was lost, and then the woman tired herself looking for it. Stop! Would you clean the whole of your house for a coin? Hm-mm. Now it gets stranger. After finding the coin the woman, she called her peeps to party! Again, Stop! Have you ever thought how much the woman is going to spend to get the party going? More than the coins worth I am sure!

What a crazy story you might say. Well… it is.

That parable shows how God loves you! There no one insignificant to God. You are not insignificant to Him. And He loves you infinitely more than you deserve. God does not calculate your worth. You might say that His love for you is impractical or even irrational. He will go out of His way to find you. And He did!

Jesus went out of His way when he decided to leave heaven and become a man to find you. He went further went out of His way when He took on Himself your sins and suffered unimaginable pain to blot them all away. How unpractical of God!

God loves you more than your worth, more than you can imagine. All you need is to look at the Crucifix to see God’s impractical, irrational and even crazy love for you.

Q. How do you know if a guy loves you or wants to use you?

A. Step one is to only commit to a guy if you've had a long friendship with him, your family likes him, and you can see yourself marrying him. Also, practice the principles of courtship, here.

Secondly, do NOT pay attention to his words. His actions are what matters. I've seen relationships where the guy cheated on the girl, and as soon as he got caught, his first words were, "Baby, it's not what you think. I love you." Thankfully, the girl wasn't convinced, and she dumped him.

I think that girls easily get swept away by a guy's flattering words because the media tends to make women feel constantly imperfect. Therefore, the "I love you baby, you're so beautiful, you're the only one for me," language really sweeps away some girls.

But this is where a girl must have wisdom. No matter what he says, don't give him sexual stuff. If a guy pressures you to give him your body, then he doesn't love you. Period.

Although this will weed out a lot of immature guys, only time will reveal a man's intentions. One man said, "If I sensed there was a moral dilemma in her mind, I would play any role necessary to reach the point where sex became inevitable."(1) There are many good guys out there but there are also plenty of predators who will tell a girl whatever she wants to hear. Therefore, a girl needs to proceed slowly, develop the skill of listening to her heart, and have the courage to follow it. Otherwise, a young woman may be left feeling as this fifteen-year-old did: "I felt strange, and in a sense, used. It was like we were both caring for the same person--him. I felt left out of it."(2)
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1. McDowell, Why Wait?, 110.
2. Joyce L. Vedral, Boyfriends: Getting Them, Keeping Them, Living Without Them (New York: Ballantine Books, 1990). As quoted by www.lovematters.com/teenstalk.htm

Article from pureloveclub.com

“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” – Galandriel

“I will amount to nothing!” Many of you feel that way. When you look at yourself and your life, all you see are weaknesses and limitations. You compare yourself to those “Big People” you see in TV or in books and then realize how far ahead they are from you.

Suddenly you feel so small.

Yet there is something great in smallness. God loves the small people for they are more inclined to humility. “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, And has lifted up the lowly.” (Luke 1:52). God’s grace can work more on humble people because they put all their trust of God and not on themselves. They are beggar before the Lord, so God blesses them abundantly. “Ask and you shall receive.”

In the Lord of the Rings it was a small Halfling that was able to carry the burden of the One Ring. Elves, men and dwarfs were not able to handle the temptation of the One Ring. It was Frodo’s smallness that made him the perfect person to save Middle Earth. Frodo’s simplicity and humility made him less corruptible by the Rings temptation to power.

If you feel small and weak, then maybe you are the one God is looking for to do his great work. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is the “mustard seed principle” Jesus spoke about. “It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of all shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air comes and make nests in its branches." (Matt. 13).

In the end it was not the strength of the elves, men or dwarfs that saved middle earth, but the willingness of a small Halfling to do the right thing.

He’s Back!!! (A Ghost story)

What will you do if the friend you betrayed just came back from the dead?

Every time we hear of a ghost story, typically the ghost is back to get revenge to the people who have caused him harm.

Just imagine what the apostle would have felt when they heard Jesus was back! “He’s baaaaaaaack!!! They might have been really scared knowing they betrayed Jesus. Peter even denied knowing him during crunch time. What fear must have overwhelmed them when Jesus suddenly appeared from them?

But Jesus' first words was “Shalom” or “Peace”.

The apostles must have been surprised with those words! Jesus was not out to “get ‘em’”. Then Jesus showed them His wounds to remind them of what they have done. But that is how God is with us. He doesn’t point fingers and say “You fool! Look what you have done to me!” Even though how much we betray and crucify Jesus with our infidelity and sinfulness, He still says to us “Peace! Do not be afraid!”

He has come for the very reason that we are sinners! Even though we have hurt God in so many ways, God continues to “haunt” us. He continually wants to bring His Peace in our lives! He wants to free us from our slavery to sin, which is the cause of all our anxiety and pain. So no matter what you have done, do not be afraid of God.

Jesus has come back from the dead so that His peace may live in you.

Totus Tuus: Pope John Paul’s Great Love for Mary

Pope John Paul II is one great Marian pope and figure of our times. Early in his life, Pope John Paul II made his Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary according to the formula of St. Louis de Montfort. This union with Jesus through His Mother has been the guiding force for his priesthood, episcopate and papacy.

Totally Yours

Totus Tuus is the Latin for “Totally Yours”. It is giving everything to Jesus through Mary. In giving our merits to Mary, she purifies and multiplies them by her own incalculable merits before giving it to her divine son, Jesus.

Pope John Paul II explains this devotion in his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope: “Totus Tuus. This phrase is not only an expression of piety, or simply an expression of devotion. It is more. During the Second World War, while I was employed as a factory worker, I came to be attracted to Marian devotion. At first, it had seemed to me that I should distance myself a bit from the Marian devotion of my childhood, in order to focus more on Christ.

“Thanks to Saint Louis of Montfort, I came to understand that true devotion to the Mother of God is actually Christocentric, indeed, it is very profoundly rooted in the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity, and the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption.

“And so, I rediscovered Marian piety, this time with a deeper understanding. This mature form of devotion to the Mother of God has stayed with me over the years, bearing fruit in the encyclicals Redemptoris Mater and Mulieris Dignitatem.”

“In regard to Marian devotion, each of us must understand that such devotion not only addresses a need of the heart, a sentimental inclination, but that it also corresponds to the objective truth about the Mother of God. Mary is the new Eve, placed by God in close relation to Christ, the new Adam, beginning with the Annunciation, through the night of His birth in Bethlehem, through the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee, through the Cross at Calvary, and up to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Mother of Christ the Redeemer is the Mother of the Church.”

To Jesus through Mary

St. Louie de Montfort said that Mary is the easiest, safest, fastest, most secure and sure path to Jesus. When we approach Mary she always points us to her son and says “Do whatever He tells you.”

Pope John Paul’s life is a witness of the power of uniting ourselves to Jesus through Mary. Pope John Paul II will go down in the history as one of the great popes who has brought Christ to all parts of the world. His deep love for Mary has drawn him closer to Jesus and thus drawing others closer to Jesus as well.

We too can experience the fullness of Christ’s grace in our lives when we unite ourselves to Jesus through Mary. It only took one request by Mary to her son Jesus to turn water into wine at the wedding at Cana. Mary too can change our mediocre life to a life of fullness and of joy.

You Can Make A Life-Changing Difference for a Child in Need!

A child from the Montalban walks barefoot through rocky roads and muddy puddles for hours. His skin is being burned by the heat of the sun. Add to that he has not eaten anything yet. But he continues to walk and walk... and walk some more.

Where is he going?

Most of us did not go to this kind of harsh situation to go to school. But many kids who live below the poverty line endure this kind of condition everyday. Even with the odds stacked against them, they are still determined to get an education.

Will you not help them?

A message from http://brigadaeskwela.multiply.com/

Hi everyone,

We really need everyone's help in selling tickets. Please keep in mind that all proceeds will go to our activities:

-book donations

-art and writing workshops

-literacy workshops

-feeding programs

-shoe drive

In case you want to help promote it, here are fast facts about the screening:

WHAT: A block screening of Twilight, starring Kristen Stewart. This is based on the bestseller by Stephenie Meyer.

A block screening is NOT an advanced screening. It is simply a regular screening that was blocked off for a particular group. We are paying for all the seats, and selling them at a higher price--but for a cause!

Each ticket costs P250 each. Our target is to sell all 480 tickets by the end of October.

WHEN: November 21, Friday. 830 pm. The screening time will be confirmed on the week of the showing because we don't know yet the running time of the movie, and Galleria has not finalized the screening schedule.

WHERE: Cinema 1 (THX) Robinson's Galleria.

Other details:

1. The final screening time will be confirmed by the ticket seller on the week of the block screening. This means that if you sell tickets to someone, it will be your responsibility to inform the viewer what the exact screening time will be.

2. Viewers need to be at the theater entrance 30 minutes before the screening time.

3. Seats will be on a first come, first served basis. There will be no reserved seats, not even for KaEskwela members.

4. The ticket is good for one screening only. The theater has to be completely vacated after the block screening.

Please PM: brigadaeskwela.multiply.com or text 0917-5363224.

Hope this helps you spread the word!

:) Grace.

Q. Is oral sex okay, so that you don't go all the way?

A. If you are being called to marriage, then right now your future spouse is somewhere out there. Do you ever wonder what she or he is doing right now? Maybe he is running the bases during baseball practice, or maybe she is laughing with friends at a coffee shop as they cram for a test. Suppose that he or she is elsewhere, namely at the house of a person who finds him or her very attractive. The parents are not home, and as you read this, that person is trying to talk your future spouse into having oral sex.

If you could speak to the heart of your future spouse right now, would you say, "Oh, go ahead--just make sure you don't go all the way, honey!" Probably not. You would also have some words for the other person, such as: "That's my bride!" or "That's the man who will one day kiss my children goodnight." You would feel sickened by what that person is trying to get from your future husband or wife.

One reason why oral sex is gaining popularity is because people think that it is a safe alternative to sex. Although you will not get pregnant from it, it is anything but safe. I once asked a microbiologist which STDs you could not get by means of oral sex. She stood there thinking for a while and said, "I can't think of any that you can't get from oral sex (including HIV)." Sure enough, doctors today are seeing cases of oral herpes, HPV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, etc...

Other people resort to oral sex so that they don't lose their virginity. Although you do not technically lose your virginity by having oral sex, it still robs you of innocence and puts you in situations where you could easily lose your virginity. It does not relieve sexual tension in a man, but creates it and reinforces in him the myth that he has sexual "needs" that must be met, even at the expense of a woman's dignity and innocence. The bottom line is that you don't need oral sex to keep from going all the way. You need grace, courage, and self-respect.

We need to take an honest look at our motives. Why are we doing this anyway? Why would a person become upset if he or she were not allowed to have oral sex? Recently I was invited to speak to a high school morality class. When I arrived, the teacher said to me in front of the class, "We've been having a big debate about oral sex. They do not see anything wrong with it. What would you say?" Everyone in the class looked at me and awaited my response. I said what came to mind: "If a guy needs to place his genitals into the mouth of his girlfriend in order to show her what she means to him, then it shows exactly what she means to him."

from pureloveclub.com

A Martyr's Love Letter

Provincial prison of Jaen, Oct. 1, 1936

My dearest Maruja:

Your memory will remain with me to the grave and, as long as the slightest throb stirs my heart, it will beat for love of you. God has deemed fit to sublimate these worldly affections, ennobling them when we love each other in him. Though in my final days, God is my light and what I long for, this does not mean that the recollection of the one dearest to me will not accompany me until the hour of my death.

I am assisted by many priests who -- what a sweet comfort -- pour out the treasures of grace into my soul, strengthening it. I look death in the eye and, believe my words, it does not daunt me or make me afraid.

My sentence before the court of mankind will be my soundest defense before God's court; in their effort to revile me, they have ennobled me; in trying to sentence me, they have absolved me, and by attempting to lose me, they have saved me. Do you see what I mean? Why, of course! Because in killing me, they grant me true life and in condemning me for always upholding the highest ideals of religion, country and family, they swing open before me the doors of heaven.

My body will be buried in a grave in this cemetery of Jaen; while I am left with only a few hours before that definitive repose, allow me to ask but one thing of you: that in memory of the love we shared, which at this moment is enhanced, that you would take on as your primary objective the salvation of your soul. In that way, we will procure our reuniting in heaven for all eternity, where nothing will separate us.

Goodbye, until that moment, then, dearest Maruja! Do not forget that I am looking at you from heaven, and try to be a model Christian woman, since, in the end, worldly goods and delights are of no avail if we do not manage to save our souls.

My thoughts of gratitude to all your family and, for you, all my love, sublimated in the hours of death. Do not forget me, my Maruja, and let my memory always remind you there is a better life, and that attaining it should constitute our highest aspiration.

Be strong and make a new life; you are young and kind, and you will have God's help, which I will implore upon you from his kingdom. Goodbye, until eternity, then, when we shall continue to love each other for life everlasting.

____________________________________________________________________________

"Let My Memory Always Remind You There Is a Better Life"

MADRID, Spain, NOV. 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of a letter from Bartolomé Blanco Márquez, written to his girlfriend from prison the day before he was executed during religious persecution in 1930s Spain. Márquez was beatified Oct. 28; the letter is published in the “Summarium Super Martyrio” of his beatification cause.

What do you do when life throws dirt at you?

Let me tell you a story about an ass and a hole. Once there was a donkey that fell in to an old empty well. The farmer who owns the donkey looked at the ass and tried to figure out how to get it out of there. Having thought of nothing to get the donkey out of the well, he decided to simply bury his donkey alive. So the farmer called his neighbors to shovel dirt into the well. At first the donkey got frightened and panicked. After some time the ass realized that if he shakes the dirt of his back, he can step up. He continued to shake the dirt off and step up until the well was full. I will leave to your imagination what he did to the farmer and his neighbors when he got out of the well.

Trials, problems and suffering are much part of the reality of life. Denying and running away from them will not make them disappear. Instead of being bitter about them you can use it as a tool for personal growth.

You can use dirt to your advantage or disadvantage.

Pains and sufferings in life force us to grow or mature. If taken well it can lead us to wisdom and most of all compassion. Since you have suffered much, you can more easily understand and empathize with other people who are suffering themselves. It can also bring calmness and mental stability. When problems arise you can say to yourself, “I’ve been here before, and I survived.”

St Thomas Aquinas describes wisdom as the view from the hill top. We can raise our hilltops with whatever life gives or throws at us. The good, bad and even the most painful experiences can be an opportunity for us to grow in wisdom.

With much dirt under you feet, you have a better view in life.