Pope Francis and St Francis - see the resemblance?

As I've mentioned at today's session... just had to share this image from Aleteia's Facebook page.

Lovely huh? :) brought a smile to my face. 

I love Pope Francis because I feel he is pointing many people - including lapsed Catholics - to Christ. Let us continue to pray for the Holy Father.

P/S: Go 'like' Aleteia's Facebook page. Quite good stuff.

Keeping Faith

I have prayed to do well in the math tests I didn't study for, promising to be an excellent student in the future and live up to my full mathematical potential. Sometimes I have scraped together enough good guesses to answer my prayers. Sometimes I have really regretted not studying.

I have often driven too fast to school, praying and promising God all the way that if I get to school without a wreck or a speeding ticket, I will never be late again.

In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus' friends seem to seek special powers, for like those that I have prayed for - power to get As without studying and to speed without paying. They asked for an increase in their faith.

Jesus insists that faith does not come in medium, large, and extra large. In fact, he seems to poke fun at his disciples when he describes what faith the size of a tiny mustard seed can do. Perhaps he suspects they want to do wonders and show off. "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to the sycamore tree, 'Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea, and it will obey too."

Why would anyone want to transplant a sycamore tree into the sea? Such an act might dazzle spectators, but what is the point? The tree won't survive. What kind of faith throws big shade trees into the sea?

If faith is a gift that gives us power over things, then of course we want more of it. We might want to be like the master in the gospel, who orders his servant around instead of ordering trees into the sea.

But our faith isn't about having power over trees or people. Faith moves us, not trees, or servants, or math grades.

Questions for reflection:
1. When and how have you experienced being part of something bigger than yourself?
2. How is expressing one's inner spirit also an experience of God?
3. How is your relationship with God like the author's in Keeping Faith?

Faith requires sacrifice

Sorry I haven't been posting. Life caught up, BUT... this totally inspired me to get off my butt, log on to post.

Remember that Gospel reading from Luke Chapter 12 on Sunday that was a bit difficult to understand? How come Jesus said he had come for division, and not peace? Well... here's the Pope to explain it for you:

"Jesus is our peace... but this peace is not a peace of a tomb... This peace is not a compromise at any cost. Following Jesus involves... choosing goodness, peace, justice, even when that requires sacrifice".

Indeed, this message of sacrificing my will to follow God's will is so unappealing, almost the whole world (yes even some churches) will tell you that following God's goodness means being prosperous, having everything smooth sailing. We need to remember that choosing God's will more often than not means you are going against many other things of this world.

How would you choose? Where do you draw strength from?

Here's my suggestion:

have a good week. See you guys for prayer meeting on Sunday. It'll be exciting!

<3 bernie

Part 2: how to reduce stress

50 Ways To Reduce Stress

1. Mental prayer (meditation) every day. I pray the rosary every day.
2. Pray with Scripture daily.
3. Frequent The Sacraments - Mass as often as possible + monthly Confession.
4. Quickly forgive others when they mess up.
5. Forgive yourself when you mess up.
6. Go on a retreat.
7. Take several days off of work / your normal schedule.
8. Socialize with friends more often. Schedule if necessary.
9. Go on dates with your spouse.
10. Pray with your family.
11. Eat dinner with your family.
12. Learn to not worry about things you can't control.
13. Don't work to please other people. Please God.
14. Remember that you are wonderful and lovable, even if imperfect.
15. Smile more.
16. Do nice things for other people, just because.
17. Spend time playing with your kids.
18. Spend less time around negative people.
19. Have difficult conversations, in a loving way. Don't avoid them.
20. Work on your character flaws and poor communication skills.
21. Ask for help more often.
22. Be content with what your possessions. 
23. Exercise regularly.
24. Sleep more.
25. Laugh. 
26. Talk to a spiritual director regularly.
27. Learn from your mistakes.
28. Be OK with not controlling others.
29. Reduce your to-do list by distinguishing 'must' and 'should'.
30. Spend time with a pet.
31. Read more good books.
32. Listen to more good music.
33. Turn off the TV and do #32 and #32.
34. Spend time doing something you like to do.
35. Volunteer to help others.
36. Eat healthier.
37. Stop an unhealthy habit (overeating, smoking, drinking too much, etc.)
38. Temper the tone in your voice and the words you use when frustrated.
39. Realize what upsets you and create a plan on how to deal with it in the future.
40. Don't get upset in traffic or with other drivers. Slow down. Chill.
41. Say "no" more often if you are over-scheduled.
42. Don't procrastinate.
43. Don't lash out at others. 
44. Spend time improving yourself. This isn't greedy, it helps everyone around.
45. Question worrisome thoughts. Are they rational / probably / helpful?
46. Focus on the present. Not the past or future.
47. Keep a journal or diary as an outlet of your stress.
48. Say more positive things. I love you, you are wonderful, thanks, etc.
49. Stop wasting time reading blog posts, Facebook, etc.
50. Pray for an increase of faith and hope. Expect God will answer your prayer.

QOP community prayer

QOP YM Community Prayer

Lord Heavenly Father, You sent Your Son Jesus into this world to show us the depth of your love. From a young age, He followed Your will completely. He taught, forgave and healed people. He suffered, died and rose that we might have life. Thank you for the gift of Your Son.
We pray for us, the youth and young adults of the parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace. Give us courage and willing hearts to be the disciples of today. Help us to know, to love and to serve you with a youthful enthusiasm. To be a bridge of faith to those who seek you in prayer, community and service.
Bless us with happiness, charity, peace, faith, companionship, laughter, realization and direction as we discover Your will more fully in our lives.
We dedicate our work to building Your Kingdom on Earth and in our hearts. We entrust our ministry to the special care of Mary our Mother and St Dominic Savio. May their intercession aid us in doing your will wholeheartedly like Your Son Jesus.
L: Our Lady Queen of Peace
R: Pray for us
L: St Dominic Savio
R: Pray for us
---------------
Here is the background to the flow of the prayer.
First paragraph, we affirm our faith in the person of Jesus and thank God for his Son. That helps to put the rest of our prayer in a perspective of the love of God for us.
Second paragraph, we ask for God’s blessing on our ministry and for the graces to carry out our mission. We recognize that all the work we do is done with God in mind and with the help of his grace.
Third paragraph, we ask God to bless each of us personally, and help us to grow in our Christian virtues as we carry out the work He has called us to.
Fourth paragraph, we dedicate our work wholly and solely for God’s greater glory. We keep in mind that all the work we do belongs to God and we must always be humble in carrying it out like Jesus was. We ask our blessed mother and patron saint for their help.
Big acknowledgement to the Archdiocese of Tasmania, I got most of the structure of the prayer from their Youth Ministry prayer. It was so nicely laid out and approved by their Archbishop himself. Can’t go wrong there lol.

Quote from Pope Francis

"We need saints without cassocks, without veils.
We need saints with jeans and tennis shoes.
We need saints that go to the movies, that listen to music, that hang out with friends.
We need saints who put God in first place, ahead of succeeding in any career.

We need saints who look for time to pray every day and who know how to be in love with purity, chastity, and all good things.
We need saints, Saints of the 21st century with a spirituality appropriate to our new time.
We need saints that have a commitment to helping the poor and to make the needed social change.
We need saints to live in the world, to sanctify the world and to not be afraid of living in the world by their presence in it.

We need saints that drink Coca-Cola, that eat hot dogs, that surf the internet and that listen to their iPods.
We need saints that love the Eucharist, that are not afraid or embarrassed to eat a pizza or drink a beer with their friends.
We need saints who love the movies, dance, sports, theater.
We need saints that are open, sociable, normal, happy companions.
We need saints who are in this world and who know how to enjoy the best in this world without being callous or mundane.
We need saints."
–Pope Francis, World Youth Day 2013, Rio

Awesome!

My all time favourite quiet time/reconciliation song. The Lord will never abandon you just because you have sinned, instead he is more than willing to forgive you & embrace you once you are repentant and is willing to come home. (:

Father I have sinned,
Help me find my way
Remember not my sins,
Just let me hear you say

(Chorus)
I forgive you, I love you
You are mine, take my hand
Go in peace, sin no more,
Beloved one

Father I have turned
My back and walked away
Depended on my strength and loved life my own way
(Chorus)

Father I have closed,
My heart to those in need
Thought only of myself,
A victim of my greed

((Chorus)

Father I've returned,
I'm home with you to stay
Standing by your door,
Knowing that you'll say

(Chorus)

Please pray for the confirmants in this coming retreat, that their hearts will be opened to receive the awesome love and power of the Lord. That they will be able to experience God himself, as they become affirmed in their faith.

Please also pray for those attending Awaken tomorrow, that they will be fully renewed in the Spirit, to have that fresh conversion and inspire the rest of the people around them.

This is gonna be an spirit-filled week for both the confirmants, the facils and the Awaken participants! We are gonna storm heaven with our prayers! (:

Being a happy christian: from a view of a taxi driver

So the last few sessions of YM were about being hungry for God and how to be happy christians right?

A little background story:
Just the other day, after a long dry season of not being able to go home early, there came that one chance that i could leave work on time! However, something else cropped up, and that chance flew, really leaving 1 hr later. I was walking to the main road to wait for a taxi, when I saw one at the opposite direction, I was still rather far off from the road, but decided to try flagging anyway, and walk a little bit faster hoping the taxi will stop for me. and it did!
Boarding the cab, I stated my destination, 2 places actually as I was also dropping off some documents for another colleague of mine. The uncle suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed, YAY! Woah, honestly I was a little shocked, what can he be so happy about right?

Throughout the journey, the uncle was laughing and singing happily. For a person (me) who have gone through a tiring day at work, his behaviour was a ltttle not normal, or rather too hyperactive for my comfort. But nevertheless, we started chatting. And as we were chatting, I noticed a cap on the dashboard, with "Praise the Lord" in front. So the thought that came was, "ok so he is Christian too"

We were in a jam on the road, I guess everyone was going home that day at that time. The uncle said to me, "You know I am really happy you boarded tha cab!" And he went further on to explain.. His first passenger took his taxi from the airport to Pasir Panjang - that makes a good start in his business that day, but so far! Then he picked up a Caucasian lady who wanted to go to Bugis - and he was like YAY! another good journey, he is going back to the east! And then he dropped another girl from Bugis to Selegie. Afterwards, he saw me, and I live in Changi - which means he will be going back to the airport after that!!! And he made a full circle, even though the beginning was uncertain. He proceeded on to say that God really provided for him that day as he was initially thinking how he was ever gonna get back to the airport if his first destination was so far away. But in the end, he decided to trust in the Lord, and just flow according to His way, and indeed truely He provided!

After that whole conversation, he started sharing light hearted jokes of the parliament, of anything under the sun that totally tickled me.. and when I left the cab, I was awake and happy! He talked about his family, and all the time, he keeps praising the Lord for what he has in his life now, and how thankful he is.

It's just a ride home, but throughout the ride, the sessions all came back to me, and it made sense! Only by being happy, looking happy, then other people around you will get affected and will listen to you. If we were grumpy all the time, who wants to talk to you, much less to know anything about you.

Have a great week everyone! (: