3 Things to Remember How to Face the Giants

 

In 2003, Grant Taylor (Alex Kendrick) is a high school football coach with a mediocre record. After several poor seasons, the Shiloh Eagles are considering replacing him as head coach. This is not the only problem Taylor is facing; his car is breaking down, the players' fathers are trying to replace him as head coach with assistant coach Brady Owens, and he discovers that he is the reason that his wife Brooke cannot become pregnant.

He creates a new coaching philosophy and decides to praise God, no matter what the result. At the same time he guides and urges each one of his players to give the maximum effort, and motivates them to believe they can win under God's guidance. From that point on, he loses only one game but eventually goes on to win the state championship. His prayers for children are also answered, as two years later, Grant and his wife have children of their own.

 LESSONS ON GREAT LEADERSHIP:

 

Great Leaders NEVER GIVE UP on themselves as well with the team members. Things will not always be easy for leaders but the most important thing is to always believe that everything is just the process of having the best results of what the leader really wanted for the team. Don't stop believing that after hardship there is always great things waiting for us. Same with the God who never ever give up on us. 

 

 
Great Leaders NEVER BACK DOWN and as they always say "there's no turning back". We should always have the courage to face the challenges of the battle of life, and the struggles and issues of having committed as a leader of a team. Always to ask God to shower us the wisdom and courage to be able to win the challenges you as leader may encounter.

 

Great Leaders NEVER LOSE FAITH the most important thing a leader must have. As quote says "You gotta faith until you make it.". To be faithful to God. It's not trust or believe, it must be trust AND believe in God. That's why is called being faithful. It must be a power of two.It's must be full.  

I believe that everyone will be able to relate to this movie. It addresses many issues that we have all had to deal with, from a Biblical stand. The movie will bring you from tears to laughter in a matter of seconds and is easily one of the best movies I have seen.Watch and be inspired as leader and how simple steps and big faith can conquer the fears one may have.

Putting Courage to the Blind Side

The Blind Side depicts the remarkable true story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher's presence in the Touhys' lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome. As a football player and student, Oher works hard and, with the help of his coaches and adopted family, becomes an All-American offensive left tackle. In the latest chapter of his inspiring story, Oher was a First Round draft pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, selected by the Baltimore Ravens. The Touhys were there to share the moment with him.

All courageous acts represent one or more of three types of courage:

TRY Courage: The courage of initiative and action— making first attempts, pursuing pioneering efforts and stepping up to the plate

TRUST Courage: The courage of confidence in others— letting go of the need to control situations or outcomes, having faith in people and being open to direction and change

TELL Courage: The courage of voice— raising difficult issues, providing tough feedback and sharing unpopular opinions





Your job as a leader is to put courage inside of people— to encourage them. By applying the three different types of courage, courage can be put to good use in your own environment. You end up not just by changing the life of others as well as yours.

http://www.eonetwork.org/knowledgebase/specialfeatures/pages/courageisthekeytogreatleadership.aspx

This is one thing I've learned in the youth ministry. Continue to encourage the youth to always believe in the gifts God had showered upon us. Because as one song says "There is no gift that is too small". All are valuable in the eyes of God. Never stop encouraging and believing that there is always something great within us.  

Happy Feet:

A Medical Mission at Jipapad, Eastern Samar. My First Medical Mission and my first time to go out of NCR.

From Manila it's about 1 hour and 20 min. by plane to Tacloban. 4 hours by land going to Oras and 3 hours by water to reach Jipapad, Eastern Samar. 


 
This experience is really indeed a walk to remember. Since I grew up in the City of Manila, this is my first to walk bare-footed. Minsan hindi ko na alam kung putik pa ba o tae ng kalabaw yung tinatapakan ko. Useless ang mga tsinelas na dala namin. Don't dare to wear paniguradong mapipigtas lang. 

On the last day of mission, it returned out to be a mission and a lot of adventure. Fr. Vittorio told us it would just take 2 hours of walk going to the barangay of Hiwaran. Naglalakad kami dala-dala namin yung mga boxes ng mga gamot. At first we we're like having fun, enjoying the walk. Until... isa isa ng nagrereklamo yung mga kasama ko. Yun pala more than 2 hours na pala kami naglalakad pero hindi pa rin kami nakakarating sa barangay na pupuntahan namin. But for the three of us we continue to walk and sing and just have fun.

 Finally, around 1 pm nakarating din kami! Dito ko naka experience magtanghalian na segarillas at toyo ang ulam at fresh buko. :)






Because of that long walk, we only spent a few time for the mission, but we make sure we we're able to serve and gave them the medicines that they need.

Dahil malayo at masukal pa ang aming lalakbayin kailangan na namin umalis at magsimula na ulit maglakad.

Sa sobrang layo at hirap maglakad sa bukid, na dulas, gumapang sa troso makatawid lang sa kabilang daan, malubog hanggang tuhod sa putikan, na halos hindi na makita ang tamang daan pauwi, but this is just to prove the joy of the service, picture taking sa gitna ng dilim with a great smile.

This was a great experience for me. I was able to do the things I'm not used to do, maglakad sa bukid for almost 8 hours (balikan) ng nakayapak kahit hindi alintana ang layo, makarating lang at maabot ang serbisyo para sa mga nangangailangan. Walang signal hindi ka makapag textat yung kuryente ay hanggang 10 pm...... but it was indeed a great experience and a happy feet! :)

September 22, 2013: Sunday Gospel Reflection

Gospel for September 22, 2013 

Sunday, 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Lk 16: 1-13

Jesus said to his disciples,
“A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property. 
He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you? 
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? 
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. 
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.’
He called in his master’s debtors one by one. 
To the first he said,
‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. 
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’
The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.’
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
“For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light. 
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones. 
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,
who will trust you with true wealth? 
If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours? 
No servant can serve two masters. 
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other. 
You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

REFLECTION:

I have a friend who is a manager.  People call him Sir Mac.  Several years ago, he was one of our youth leader in our parish. He was a very dedicated, focus, organize, and versatile.  After his college, he works in a food company and eventually after some years he was promoted as a manager. Just last week his team receives a commendation from their company because of their outstanding job.  Wherever branch he is assigned he always received a commendation of a Job well done.  In the complexity of an international company, I think it a hell of a job to receive an outstanding award.  The merit goes to his team, but yet his role I believe is crucial in achieving such effort. He is indeed a manager, a good manager.

Every company or any business establishment needs good a manager. It’s the Job of the manager to set the objective of that particular company and to supervise and manage the whole operation of the company. Not only that, but he also motivate people to work and to help develop their skills.  Therefore it is important for a manager to fulfill his/her task otherwise the company or the establishment is doomed.
I want to start our reflection today by looking at the creation.  Out of God’s goodness, he created the light, water, air, the plants and the animals. Everything around us is a product of God’s Goodness. He then created the human beings to take care of his creation. In Genesis 1:26, God created mankind to have dominion over all his creation. Therefore, each of us is steward of his creation and is directly accountable to him.

In our first reading, Amos criticized the rich not because of their wealth but because of their attitude toward the poor.  In our Gospel, it simply reminds us that it is not the money itself is the source of evil but it is the “love for money.”  We cannot serve two masters at a time. But if we take a closer look, there was actually no point of making comparison between the God and Money.  The first is the creator and the latter is creation. But most of the time, we forget about the creator and become more indulge on the creation. Our insatiable desires gradually destroy the creation that has been entrusted to us.

Our Readings today challenge us to be a steward, a good steward.  What we need is a good manager to overlook of the good of the community.  There are many of issues that confront us today.  The current issue of the pork barrel scam is a testimony of the greed politician and individual who doesn’t care about the people.  They have miss manage the money entrusted to them for the poor people.  Our present global environmental issues also remind us on abuses we inflict on the gift of creation that has been entrusted to each one of us. We are collecting the minerals and natural’s resources faster than the Mother Nature could replenish itself.  We are harvesting what is more than our needs.  The Mother Nature has enough for the need of every human being, but it doesn’t have enough for everybody’s greed. These are just among the many problem of greediness that we currently dealing with.
Today, let us acknowledge once again our total dependency on God.  Let us set in our heart this fundamental truth and we will begin to appreciate everything that has been entrusted to us.  Let us all be a good manager, accountable of all of our action. Let us use our resources in building God’s kingdom and not ours.   MANGYARI NAWA…

I Have Called You Friends

Homily during the First Religious Profession of Bro. Andreas Nabu, FdCC and Bro. Jonas Lopes, FdCC

                It is heart lifting when somebody that is famous recognized us as a Friend. That is why it is quite natural for a person to take photo with prominent and famous personality. It is photo op as they said. Why? Because when we have a picture with them we can identify that once in our life we are with them. It makes us happy and boasts ourselves. With show business people, we show the best we are in front of the camera with them. Then we claim he or she is our friend. Nice! However, in today’s very special event is not a show. It is a commitment though for a year but aim for a lifetime. Today our brothers, Jonas and Andreas will give their temporary profession to our Lord Jesus in full awareness of being so much love and this is also the reason why they love and love more in serving the youth and the little ones. Because it is given in love it is for eternity.

I have called you friends

                This is not an ordinary love! This is a love of a friend and this friend is not just anybody else but our Lord Jesus himself, who loved you till the end. He gave his life for you. He never gave up on you. He haunted you wherever you are. He looked for you. God never tired of looking for his beloved friends. When he found you, he gave his spirit of courage to leave your homeland and come to the Philippines to meet other friends of Jesus in our Canossian community. It is courage to go to unknown reality but you trusted your friend. Now, in your first profession, you also trusted the friends of your friend, your Canossian family.

Real friends is forever

                As you go along your journey, you can see other friendly love. But be careful because they might not be love of a real friend. All of these other love will not last long. But the love of our Lord is eternal because God is eternal. As Jeremiah heard the words of God, “before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” Indeed you are destined for God. You are not for anybody else but for God and for God alone! Thus hold on to God because he is your only and real friend and real friend is forever.

Real friend will tell the truth

                Take up your cross and follow me! This is what Jesus told to his friends. Without a cross, you cannot be his friend. Without carrying your cross, you cannot be his friend. Without following him, you cannot be his friend. Thus love your cross because that is your ticket of friendship with the Lord. But even if you have a cross, if you will not carry it you cannot enter into the feast of friends of the Lord. But even if you have a cross and carry it but you will not follow the Lord, you will end up nowhere (pupulutin kayo sa talongan ninyo!). Take up your cross and follow the Lord and you will be a real friend of Jesus in his kingdom. Thus a real friend will tell the truth even it hurts. But before you were hurt Jesus went through all the pains just to make you his friend. He emptied himself, took the form of a slave, he humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross. That is how God sacrificed for you. He lives the truth that is why he tells you the truth. The truth is he loved you so much and he will take all the suffering so that you will not forget. When you are tired and discourage, when your prayer is so dry, when people talk against you, when you are not appreciated, when everything seems to fall down because of your love for Jesus your friend, don’t ever forget he never gave up on you and he will never leave. God said to Jeremiah, “Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you!”

Love the friends of Jesus

                Later you will proclaim your profession and part of it will say, “And you, my brothers, help me, that I may continue to offer with renewed love, this gift consecrated in full freedom so that the kingdom maybe extended and every tongue proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord to the to the glory of god, the Father. Amen” I remind you to remember this part of your profession. You are begging the friends of Jesus to help you. Keep begging. Don’t ever run away from the friends of Jesus. This is your family. This is your community. Even how limited and sinful we are, your brothers, we are always your brothers. We are brothers because we are friends of Jesus. We are not here because we like each other. We are not here because we stay together, we eat together, we worked together, etc., we are here because our real friend, Jesus on the Cross, loved us so much. And this love is what he commanded us to be our source of loving each other.

Love one another as I love you

                As you see and you have been with your brothers for four years now, you realized that we are not angels 9some could be a fallen angels even). We are not perfect people. We committed a lot of mistakes. We even hurt each other. We are sinners. But we are loved. For so many years, we will try again to love each other. Many years also we will fail to reach that perfection of loving each other. But the perfection of love is not only when we love perfectly because we never can attain this love. But it is also when we allow ourselves to be loved imperfectly. When Jesus said, “Love one another as I have love you!” It is this love, to accept the imperfect love of each other. By doing this, we indeed love our brothers perfectly as Jesus love his disciples. By doing this we are indeed friends of Jesus.

Patience, Patience, Patience

             

Lastly, just to share the wisdom of our forefather, our Lolo Giochinno, who died more than 90 years old. He told me when I was with him. To make you strong in loving our Lord, remember these three words 1. Patience 2. Patience 3. Patience. Though patience means suffering. But patience for a friend is to wait and stay joyfully. Thus as you live your consecration meaningfully, be joyful. Choose always to be happy because the friends of our Lord are meant to be joyful and happy people. Jonas! Andrea! Remember. Patience, Patience, Patience!

Sunday Gospel Reflection: A Hope for Every Sinner

Gospel for September 15, 2013 

Sunday, 24nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Lk 15:1-10

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them he addressed this parable.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.

“Or what woman having ten coins 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.”

REFLECTION:

A hope for every sinner

The three reading that we heard in our liturgy today talks about unfaithfulness and mercy.  In our first reading, the Israelites are growing impatience regarding the absence of Moises create in themselves a golden calf. They have broken their covenant with God with a serious act of idolatry.  The Lord accounted that the punishment of this “stiff-necked people is their own destruction.  However, the mercy of God prevails over the offenses of the Israelites. God forgives his people not because they deserve to be forgiven, but out of pure mercy and moved by Moses' intercession. Thus God's forgiveness and the people's conversion are divine initiative.

In the second reading, we hear about Paul thanking God for having chosen him to serve. We know that Paul was before a persecutor of the early Christian and was later converted to Christianity. He never forgets his sin in the past, and remembers how he was forgiven through God’s mercy. He had the feeling that he had chosen Christ, but always that Christ had chosen him.  He views his life like he was heading straight for destruction and suddenly, Jesus brought him to his senses. The experience of having encountered Jesus Christ and of being saved by him leads to thankfulness. It was through God’s mercy and grace that he has been forgiven.

In our gospel, we hear about the father who has two sons. The younger son is a volatile, impatient, easily bored, ready-to-try-everything teenager. He collects his inheritance, goes abroad to see the world, and squanders his birthright in loose living. But the worst thing is that, according to the law during their time, the sons can live off from the father but the property remains in his hand. It is only during the death of the father that the son gets their inheritance. Therefore the request of the younger son was very irregular and deeply disrespectful against his father. He committed a grave mistake but later came back to his senses and realized his wrong deeds.

All of us seek happiness and satisfaction in life, but most of the time we fall into sin. We fall into the trap of temporal happiness of this material world. Sin promises us a life of happiness, satisfaction and excitement but in the end all we get out of it is misery, wretchedness, dissatisfaction, depression, and a loss of the sense of personal dignity that belongs to us as God’s children. Sin breaks our relationship with God. The good news is that no matter how deeply the sinner sinks into sin; there is always a still, silent inner voice within us inviting us to come back to our Father’s house where true freedom and satisfaction is to be found. We need to get back in our consciousness and recognize our failures before we can truly patch up our severed relationship with Him. God is willing to do just about anything to bring back someone who is lost!

Canossian Vocation Search-in

 

Do you feel you have a vocation for a religious life?

Ano nga ba talaga ang bokasyon ng isang relihiyoso?

COME and SEE.

Search-in Schedule on September 21-22, 2013.

Open to all young people who wants and are searching for a deeper meaning of their lives.

Call us! 725 67 39 / 0916 436 7348 / 0999 409 4763
Email us at canossian_voc@yahoo.com

Cannosian Minilympics in Cagayan de Oro

An activity done with great love and ardor is a precious thing that in this world, only few are blessed to experience. An experience that seemed to be simple yet became very meaningful to the heart of each and everyone.

Last June 12, 2013, we did a great activity that we could consider as one of the memorable experiences we had here in the seminary, our Cannosian Minilympics. At first, we just considered it as an ordinary activity to play sports, to exercise our physical stamina and to know our potentials in terms of engaging in different sports activities. But as the program goes through, we realized that the event is not just the ordinary, it was about the bond that we would build to each other, a connection that will last forever.

In order to have a challenge, the Minilympics was divided in two teams, the Fr. Angelo Pasa Team spearheaded by Fr. Mark and the Bro. Giovanni Zuccolo Team lead by Fr. Jao, the winning team. The mechanics of the game was to earn points by winning the different challenges which were the Basketball, Volleyball, Badminton, Table Tennis, Sepak Takraw, Treasure Hunting including the parlor games which were the Sack Race, Running Relay, Lemon Relay, Tug of War, Pinoy Henyo and Roll over the Ocean. We were aware that some of us don’t know how to play some of those games but we did our best to finish the game with pride. We recognized the value of doing things to help others though we did not have the background for it. Some also contributed their expertise in sports to give justice in the games and realized the value of sharing talents for the betterment of the team. Certainly, we did not miss the laughter we shared especially as we enjoyed the moment when most of us were too innocent to play the parlor games. We laughed at our own lapses and blunders. Those are our remarkable experiences.

This activity was not about who was winner or the looser of those games. It is about the wonderful experience of playing with your loved companions to deepen your relationship not just as an individual but as a brother. It was good that everyone treasured and cherished the moment to enjoy, to develop one’s self, to accompany others, and to nurture one’s heart.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: September 1, 2013

Gospel for September 1, 2013 

Sunday, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Lk 14:1, 7-14

One Sabbath Jesus had gone to eat a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, and he was carefully watched.

Jesus then told a parable to the guests, for he had noticed how they tried to take the places of honor. And he said, “When you are invited to a wedding party, do not choose the best seat. It may happen that someone more important than you has been invited, and your host, who invited both of you, will come and say to you: ‘Please give this person your place.’ What shame is yours when you take the lowest seat!

Whenever you are invited, go rather to the lowest seat, so that your host may come and say to you: ‘Friend, you must come up higher.’ And this will be a great honor for you in the presence of all the other guests. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised.”

Jesus also addressed the man who had invited him and said, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives and wealthy neighbors. For surely they will also invite you in return and you will be repaid. When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they can’t repay you; you will be repaid at the Resurrection of the upright.”

REFLECTION:

The opening verse of our gospel today brings us to a context of a social meal. . In the Gospel of Luke, he calls this particular event as table fellowship. It is very interesting to explore this particular event because meal is a good avenue to show a particular cultural interaction.  This particular practice actually reflects a map of economic discrimination and social hierarchy. At the same time, Jesus also uses this occasion of table talk as a mode of teaching.

The first point that we can reflect in our Gospel today is the virtue of humility. Knowing one’s place is a condition for discipleship.  The scribes and Pharisees often treated themselves as righteous people because they think that they observe the law and therefore they deserve the place of honor.   They often think that they are more worthy than anybody else in the eyes of God.  Jesus is reminding them through this parable that honor is not generated by oneself; it is not acquired by birth or it is acquired “in the eyes of others”.  We are not in the position to know about ourselves and how worthy are we in the eyes of God.  

Many of us today are like the scribes and the Pharisees. We usually put invisible barriers that separate us from other. We say to ourselves; I go to mass. I give money for charity. I help my neighbor. I sacrifice during lent season. I don’t criticize other people. And we think that we are better than other people. We failed to recognize that our hope as Christians is anchored on our dependence on God’s mercy. Let us not be proud of ourselves and let us not seek honor in front of other people.

The second point that we can reflect in our Gospel today is the virtue of Generosity. The Pharisees have a practice of inviting people that can likewise return an invitation of the same manner.  Jesus urges the host to extend his hospitality to new groups: the poor, the widow, the blind and those who are outside from the village which are regarded as unclean. Jesus is more concern about on the socio-economical aspect of the relationship rather than purity.

At some point in life, we may be also like the host of the dinner, we choose the people to whom we extend our help or our invitation.  We invite or relate on those people to whom we can expect something from.  Sadly our Filipino virtue of “UTANG NA LOOB” is commonly abused to ones advantage. We help and we expect that they in return will help us also.  Jesus is asking from a continuous flow of generosity from us.  Let us extend our generosity to the people whom we least expect that can give back to us.

Let us pray to God for the virtue of humility to accept our own limitation and weakness and become humble towards other people and to God.  Let us also ask the Lord to teach us to become more generous to other people, especially to least of our brothers and sister.   MANGYARI NAWA…