Happiness

When we think less of ourselves, we open more space to joy. The secret of being happy is to make others happy.

Doing God's will is my prayer

To pray is to listen to God, and listening is not just lending one's ears or paying attention.
To listen means to make what you have heard a part of your life, a part of who you are.
To listen to God means to be transformed by Him, so that what He wants becomes what I want. It is not so much renouncing what I want so as to accommodate what God wants, as discovering that deep within me I want what God wants becausee what God wants is nothing else but my true happiness.
Many times it is not easy to understand this because I often begin with the premise that what God wants is contrary to what I want.
I pray that I may understand that God only wants for me true joy and fullness of life.

Home

God is not against our happiness.
But it takes a lot of time, bumps, bruises and tears before we can say this, before we realize that what we thought would make us happy are merely passing thrills that leave us either disillusioned or longing for more.
Blessed are those who wake up from this stupor, when we realize that, all along, that elusive joy isn't elusive at all; that, deep in our hearts, it is what God wants that I truly want, because God only wants for me the fullness of joy.
I am home.

Wisdom

On this day of commemoration of Saint Thomas Aquinas, I reflect on wisdom. Sure, wisdom is a gift from God, but as with other gifts it needs our collaboration.
It requires that we be open to receive this gift. It means having a mind and a heart that is capable of seeing and listening to God's many manifestations each day.
Wisdom goes beyond intelligence; because wisdom is able to penetrate what is apparent and go to the heart of things. And this is not something forced or in accordance with our calculated timeline.
Wisdom is something one touches but cannot control or keep in a safebox.
Wise people are not self-conscious, but people in their company becomes aware of their wisdom.
The Psalms say that "to fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps 111:10). Fear here is not the neurotic fear that we know. It is the recognition that God is The Other. He isn't a human person. He doesn't fall into our categories. But in His goodness and utter generosity He desires communion with us.
Thus, it is really possible to touch God.
The truly wise are grateful for this gift and they are happy for what God gifts them at this particular moment. They know that they do not need to hoard or to "save for the rainy day" because God is always present.
This presence of God is not based on our senses nor is it gauged by our feelings and emotions. Rather, the presence of God in our life is founded on God's promise.
And true wisdom is to believe in this promise.

God's promise

God does not promise that the road will be easy; but He does promise that He is there with us every step of the way.
"I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Mt 28:20)

The difference

There is a difference between not doing something because of fear and not doing something because it is wrong. It takes honesty and unselfishness to know the difference.

Follow me

Twenty-five years ago, more or less on this month of January, I have decided to enter the religious life, in other words, to become a nun. It was a decision that I just kept within myself for a few weeks, waiting for it to mature and to become something that I would be ready to share with others.
Going back to that experience I can say that it was a combination of events and my feelings that has made me to go for that decision. On hindsight, I can say that it was the right time.
So, that was the BIG CALL.
But Jesus calls me everyday, addressing me the same words "Come, follow me...". Now it is not anymore the physical leaving of my home, my career, my plans for the future. Now Jesus calls me to follow Him - His ways, His passion, His identity as God's child. And this is my contribution in the building of the Kingdom. This is how I become a fisher of men - when I allow my life to be totally transformed by the love of God, just like Jesus.

Like father, like daughter

 In today's first reading (John 3:22-30), the apostle John tells us that whatever it is we ask of God, if it is according to His will, He will grant us.
Sounds tricky.
What is the use of asking God for something when I am sure that He is not going to give it to me if it is not what He wants? Or, Why do I need to still pray for something which is already according to God's plan?
When I focus my attention on prayer as twisting God's arm, indeed prayer doesn't make sense.
However, when I look at prayer from another light, I think this passage from John makes sense.
Prayer is an expression of my being God's child. A son or a daughter is, normally, not afraid nor embarrassed to ask from their parents. It is something natural. In this sense, the more I ask God for something, the more I express my daughter-ship.
And the more I grow in my daughter-ship, the more my interests, my concerns, my tastes become similar to my Father's... and in a sense we become one, one mind and one heart.
And this is prayer's journey - to become more and more like my Heavenly Father.

Pray

To pray is to listen to God. To listen requires time and attention. To listen is some sort of a pre-commandment. In fact, it is a prelude to the ten commandments: "Listen, Israel!"
I remember that I once heard a young father say "in my house everybody talks, nobody listens."
What a pity it is when we only talk and we don't know how to listen! It is listening that transforms talking into conversation.
In today's Gospel (Luke 5:12-16), we hear about Jesus' growing popularity, how many people were listening to Him and wanting to be healed. But in all these, Jesus goes off in deserted places to pray.
Prayer is a great equalizer. It enables us to take a reality check.
Prayer makes us realize that our accomplishments are good but they are not forever.
Prayer makes us remember that our difficulties and sufferings may be great but they are not forever.
Prayer helps us to understand that neither our accomplishments nor our sufferings defines who we are.
Prayer reminds us that, first and foremost, we are beloved children of a Good Father.

Faithful

God is faithful to His promise. Always faithful.
But we should let God be God, and not want God to fit into our categories.
Instead, we implore for the gift of faith, to see God's hand always at work in the ordinariness of our everyday life.

God has loved me first

Today's first reading (1 John 4:7-10) is both beautiful and consoling: God loves me.
But it is also way beyond my normal experience of love: God has loved me first.
My usual experience of love is that there is a certain vibes between two people, a sort of connection that cannot be explained. But a big part of that connection lies on the fact that you are lovable, that is, you have certain qualities that make you lovable for the other peson.
What makes this a little bit complicated is when one wants to be lovable to the other person, yet there is no connection. And a lot of people undergo an overhauling of their own person just so they can somehow have the "x factor" that would make them lovable to the other person. And we see the sad and even tragic consequances of this in so many lives.
So it is not easy to believe when we hear that Somebody loves us first, that is, as we are, for no reason at all, without any merit on our part.
But this unbelievable good news is true! Someone, and that Someone is God, has loved us first.
How is this possible? Because God is love. Loving is God's identity.
Oh how different we would live our lives if we only delight in this truth instead of running after people and proving them that we are worthy to be loved!

Rights

Each time you passionately defend your right, remember that you also have the responsibility to ensure that the same right be enjoyed by others.

A prayer for one who is in pain

If I can only make things better for you, I will do so. But we know that each one of us must make our own journey and write our own life story with the God of love.
I entrust you to Mother Mary. May you rest in her arms where she cradles you as you cry your silent tears. May her hands, seasoned by life's experiences, wipe away the tears in your eyes so that you may see shafts of light, one at a time, until you are able to see and touch again the rainbow that has always been there in the horizon.

Peace on earth

Glory to God in the highest and peace to all men and women of goodwill.
Yes, may this new year be a time of recognizing that without God in our lives all our efforts at success, at the good life, do not really give us what we think they can give us. Without God in our lives we run around without any direction.
And as we re-discover God, we will find, to our surprise, that He has been there all along, in the ups and downs of our life. He is the voice that tells us not to surrender; the gentle breeze that breathes peace to our restless hearts.