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Hey guys love you site! so inspiring and by the look of it, all your hard work in making such sites and blog paid off. Hope to see you someday soon, btw I’m a YFC of Zamboanga City serving the Kids for Christ

The two words suggest two lingering human realities. At first, right are expressions of God’s love manifesting in my own history. Secondly, I have responsibility over these rights. Let me go further by expounding.

We knew that the Lord, our God, is majestic for He is the God of gods, the Lord of Lords, the great God, mighty and awesome. God in His being is capable for self-existence and is not in need of anything outside Him. Yet this very God, in his infinite love for humanity which encompasses time, created us and called us his adopted children. I said infinite here because his love does not change even when I sinned and desecrate myself. He loves you and me. He created us capable of loving and serving Him, with all my heart, soul, and mind, observing His commandments and status. All of these are directed for my brothers and sisters- everything for his glory. I will not be hypocrite before you. It is in honesty if I admit to you that what He wants is normally easily said than done for me. “Ika nga, madaling sabihin pero mahirap gawin.”

During my secondary education, I can deem myself as one among those people who are intoxicated with sinister ideologies. I envisioned my own utopia, my perfect society. I imagined a society. I imagined a society ruled only by the greatest, guided by the intellectuals, pillared by the fit, and made progressed by the skilled and talented. All of these united by one religion. My society has no room for the weaklings, tolerance for other religions, criminals,  mga “bogoy” and “tambay”, vagabonds, and even unskilled homosexuals. All of them should be extinguished, annihilated. Please don’t be shocked. It is just that I had been too stupid.  

Fortunately, I entered the seminary and experience my own metanoia, my change of heart. And then paradigm shift followed. Over the years, my twisted belief has been purified and stripped away as I progress in the seminary formation. It started to be dissolved as my love for God slowly edified. I realized that I cannot be totally His if I continue my stubbornness and wickedness. If Jesus Christ befriended the alien of the Jewish society and clothed them with love and same dignity, who I am then to claim moral and intellectual superiority over these people? As how St. Jose Maria Scriva puts it, “stulturom infinitus est numerus, the number of the fools is infinite, and they seem to grow more every day…[i]f you do not help these people to find right way by doing your work responsibly and finishing it well- by sanctifying their souls,…you become like them. Honestly, I remorse to what I have done. I have proven that these outcasts of my utopia, many of them actually, are truly holy and live in accordance to what is pleasing to God. Each one of us, regardless how the society sees us, is created in love and share the same dignity as a gift given by one God. Given this fact, I cannot be arrogant nor anyone of us in this matter. Indeed, I am a victim of my own myth.

In addition, God has given me rights as His own and responsibility to be observed prudently. Please allow me to share to you another story. During my toddler years, I remember myself being naturally demanding of my parent’s attention, affirmation, and material support. This attitude continued as I entered puberty. Little did I know, as my demands grew, the pressure on my parents likewise became greater. Pasensya na nag-iinarte lang noon

The inability of my parents to elevate our social status became my disappointment and a burden for them. I sought the more my rights to have a better life but never saw my responsibility for my parents. God made me see the truth and admit that my invocations of my rights were selfishly motivated. The damge done by the years makes me want God more than ever in my life. To make up with my parents, I approached Nanay and Tatay to ask for their forgiveness. What happened was the other way around. It was them who begged for my forgiveness for not being good parents to us. Iba talaga sila.Sila pa talaga ang nagsorry kahit ako ang my kasalanan. This really humbled me and made me love and appreciate my  family together with our imperfections. Maybe Nanay and Tatay are right. They are not good parents because they are the BEST parents for me. What I only want then was to exercise my rights but I willfully neglected my responsibilities of their due rights. We are maybe the responsibilities of our parents yet they do not see us as burdens but rather gifts from God. They always want the best for us. Would you mind to payback what they have been longing…your LOVE.

Since our mission in Youth for Christ is global, we should not set aside the worldwide development of social media which is fast-rising. Being an YFC, the effect of our attitudes and personalities also take on a large scale. Being Christ online will help uphold the values and teachings of Youth for Christ.

Just to remind everyone. Never underestimate the power of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and the likes. Internet is a world of interconnected cultures, traditions, and nationalities. It carries a vast range of information throughout the world. We all should guard everything in it for it is not just any other world- its today’s generation’s world where every opinion, stand, emotion will be visible to many. The youths of today are the leaders of tomorrow. We ought to take care of them to secure our future full of hope.  

YFC or not, we all should be a missionary online- supporting wholesomeness, speaking the truth, opposing the bad, protecting the good, making known the virtues and bringing honor to others. Pope Benedict XVI said that we should see the internet as the new mission area for we should conquer the place where youths are.

I am quite a loud person. Some like to call it as being an extrovert (note: euphemism). But what’s funny is that, in spite of all the 8,000++ words i utter everyday, there is still much left unsaid. My HS teacher’s incessant references to empty cans come into mind, btw.

For example, not a lot of people are aware that i have been part of my local parish choir for about 6 years (on and off) now, probably because i’m afraid of being asked to demonstrate my mediocre vocal skills. See, i’m used to being an accessory to the chorale, a back-up. There are only a handful of members and they all have incredible voices, and i never felt that there was even a need for me there or for me to train harder. But recently, there have been an increasing number of times when our soprano couldn’t sing at church because her work required her to be elsewhere during Sundays at 4:30 pm. Hence, i had no option but to try to step my game up. I know that people don’t go to church to hear the choir, but i still get the jitters every time i have to sing, especially during moments when i have to do it solo. Talk about discomfort!

A month ago, i transferred to a new department at work and, though i was really excited because i knew i’d be making a greater difference here than in my last post, i still had my apprehensions. I would be coming from a job that was lax most of the time, to one that required me to take the lead at some points, to constantly be at my best, to learn and master so many things that would be new to me.

Then last weekend, i had to go up the stage and present the YFC website to youth leaders from all over the world. I wasn’t totally prepared, and neither was the site. I had a last-minute wardrobe malfunction (which was thankfully resolved), and i hadn’t spoken in front of that many people since 2009!

Yesterday, i had to tell a good friend something that could potentially be hurtful, and there was no escaping that.

I dislike the spotlight; I have the worst stage fright ever (which is weird, considering i want to act).

I dislike not knowing what to do or what’s gonna happen; I’m a know-it-all and a control freak.

I dislike confrontations; I never wish to cause anyone pain or suffering.

But the last months have seen me literally entering my discomfort zone and practically never leaving it. I was constantly required to do things that i wasn’t used to but that i knew were important. These resulted in a million bathroom breaks, sweaty palms, and a thousand heartbeats per minute. But aside from all those physical symptoms, these also led the way for me to accomplish things that i’ve always wanted and needed to accomplish. Yes, i want to be better. Yes, i want to conquer my stage fright and learn to communicate His word in the best way possible. No, i still don’t want to hurt others, but i do want to be truthful.

God takes us to our discomfort zones, not to give us mild heart attacks, but to make us better than we are. He never does anything without purpose, and most definitely never lets us encounter challenges without reason. He brings us into difficult situations so that we may not only deal with them, but conquer them. And not only will these situations spur us to greater heights, but they will also keep us holding firmly on to Him.

We ARE meant for greatness, and nothing less.

*musings from the coppergirl