Jesus loves me faithfully! I am blessed abundantly!

Many times I might forget it, or might not feel It. But the truth will always remain…

“Jesus loves me faithfully!

I am blessed abundantly!”

 

Prayer for Grace of Remembering God’s Love

“Father I thank You for this life, and for having You as my God, because you are loving, faithful, and powerful! I am experiencing many happy and painful situations which sometimes cause me to forget your love. Give me the grace of remembering You,  that whatever situation I might be in, whether I feel it or not, I will remember and hold on to the truth – that You are loving me faithfully and blessing me abundantly!

In Jesus’ name I pray, by the power of your Holy Presence, Amen.”

St.Lawrence

by AmericanCatholic.org

Saint of the Day
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God’s invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint. Click here to receive Saint of the Day in your email.

August 10

St. Lawrence

The esteem in which the Church holds Lawrence is seen in the fact that today’s celebration ranks as a feast. We know very little about his life. He is one of those whose martyrdom made a deep and lasting impression on the early Church. Celebration of his feast day spread rapidly.

He was a Roman deacon under Pope St. Sixtus II. Four days after this pope was put to death, Lawrence and four clerics suffered martyrdom, probably during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian.

Legendary details of his death were known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose and Augustine. The church built over his tomb became one of the seven principal churches in Rome and a favorite place for Roman pilgrimages.

A well-known legend has persisted from earliest times. As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution of alms to the poor. When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he sought out the poor, widows and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels to increase the sum. When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure. He sent for Lawrence and said, “You Christians say we are cruel to you, but that is not what I have in mind. I am told that your priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in silver cups, that you have golden candlesticks at your evening services. Now, your doctrine says you must render to Caesar what is his. Bring these treasures—the emperor needs them to maintain his forces. God does not cause money to be counted: He brought none of it into the world with him—only words. Give me the money, therefore, and be rich in words.”

Lawrence replied that the Church was indeed rich. “I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.”

The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would indeed have his wish to die—but it would be by inches. He had a great gridiron prepared, with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn me over!”

Comment:

Once again we have a saint about whom almost nothing is known, yet one who has received extraordinary honor in the Church since the fourth century. Almost nothing—yet the greatest fact of his life is certain: He died for Christ. We who are hungry for details about the lives of the saints are again reminded that their holiness was, after all, a total response to Christ, expressed perfectly by a death like this.

Patron Saint of:

Cooks
Poor

Saint of the Day
Lives, Lessons and Feast
By Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.

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This entry appears in the print edition of Saint of the Day

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Beauty to the Highest Level!

This is not only for women, with the word “beauty”, it’s also for men. If you want, change the word to “handsome!”

Many people are waiting for so long already, for their “someone”. Some of them are already telling themselves “Is there somebody who will love me?”, “Am I meant for someone?” , “Do I deserve somebody?”, “Am I beautiful, at least a bit?”, Will someone like me?”, and more sad questions.

Allow me to be biased a bit, but based on my engagement with single men and women around me, women are most likely the ones who are asking the above questions earlier in their lives, especially when they are about to turn 30 years old! At least I’ve met some men as well. Sad questions as they may seem, but these are reality questions for those people (yes, “those”, because I got married at 27!).

Now, allow me answer these questions, based on my “enlightened general point of view” (I’m sure you would prefer to hear an enlightened one!) For me it is simple, if you are able to relate to these questions up to now, let me ask you…. Aren’t you happy that if ever there’s nobody here on earth who is meant for you, it might be that it is only God who deserves you?! Someone who sees your beauty to the highest level that He did not create someone to deserve you, only Himself! What an honor and a privilege!

So while waiting, you have a choice to think of anything. But I urge you to believe what I’ve said, God created your beauty to the highest level, that only Him might only be the One who deserves you! But, if ever your waiting ends and God sent you “someone” to takeover His place on you, well, you better just thank Him!

God’s Presence in our Togetherness

It’s really good to be in a community! We are really not meant to be alone. It is God’s design that we engage with one another.

I’ve met many people saying “I’m good, I’m ok, at least I attend Holy Mass every Sunday. And I don’t do any bad to people around me, so I’m ok!” Many people believe that they are ok as long as they are not doing any harm to the people around them. But failed to realize that it’s not just about not doing any harm, but also doing any good to the people around them!

Our togetherness should always manifest God’s Presence!

Like the Holy Trinity, 1 God, 3 Persons. The unity of God the Father and God the Son creates the 3rd Person in the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. Because the nature of our God is “love”. God is love. Love cannot be manifested by being alone. That is why it said  “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) I believe that the Holy Trinity is the very basic expression of a community, of “togetherness”. That is why God the Father who is love, together with God the Son who is love, creates the God the Holy Spirit who is love, because created out of love! I believe that this is precisely the very natural effect and plan of God for us, that we are created out of love and to live together out of love with one another, just like our Creator, “when we were created in the image and likeness of God.”

God is always present in each one of us, whether we recognize it or not out of our weaknesses, limitations, and sins. Out of our imperfections, at least we always have a piece of God in us who created us out love. And so, as long as we are alive, we can love! With the grace of God, our nature dictates that we be the one to always initiate and act out of love, in any simple ways that we can wherever we are, who ever we are with, whatever situation we are in. (i.e. greeting “hi!” ,offering a glass of water, listening to someone’s cry, sharing resources, forgiving of shortcomings, sharing happy moments and sad moments, and more – all these are Christ experience, whether big or small!)

Even asking for help if we are the ones in need, is a way of manifesting God’s Presence. It takes humility to express our being in need, that we cannot do it alone, that we need someone to carry our burden with us – it is initiating a life of community, of togetherness, of love!

God’s Presence is manifested in our togetherness, if we act, speak, live, and engage with one another out of love. Just the decision and the commitment to love, whether we feel it or not, is what it takes to make it happen! It’s in us. We are created out of it. It is our nature from the very nature of our creator.

The next time we say God is with us, it is true, GOD IS WITH US!

LQ Moments

“LQ Moments!”

Sounds sad! “Love quarrel” moments as many people would think. But let me change that sadness into a grand celebration! I preferred a much better, in fact, the best meaning possible as of this point. LQ for me, (aside from it being the abbreviation of my name) is “love quantitious”. What is “quantitious”? In Merriam-Webster Open Dictionary, it means (adjective) : Plentiful, exuberant or in quantity, abundant.

Shall we say now that this blog spot is all about “Love Quantitious Moments!” In the beautiful and perfect eyes of God it is, absolutely!

Just like many of us, in times of trials and difficulties, we often take it or look at it as God going away from us, leaving us behind. And then, at time some may even blame God for all the bad things, pains, sufferings, humiliations, and brokenness that are happening in their lives – love quarrel in deed! But if we just search the heart of God, we will see that He never left us, all along we are the ones who went astray. But He is following us, pursuing us, because He doesn’t only have beautiful and perfect eyes, it goes with an extravagantly beautiful and perfect heart, full of love, “quantitious!”

Good to know, not only the meaning of LQ as love quantitious, but the “love quantitious that comes from the heart of God, our Father, being given to us, each moment of our lives.”

I hope, pray, and claim that more people will recognize it, and so experience it, each moment. Now, each moment we can celebrate!

The Power of Proclaiming

“Jesus loves me faithfully! I am blessed abundantly!”

That’s what I proclaim everyday. I start, live, and end the day proclaiming it! and it is happening! I even urged my wife Anna to proclaim it, everyday, and things are becoming positive. Our children will grow with that statement, it is our “family-personal battle-cry”. When I started doing it, things have changed very positively! whether we feel it or not, we are reminded that truly, “Jesus loves us faithfully, and we are blessed abundantly!” and most of the time, it is becoming real! Though it is by how I felt it, excluding those moments that are truly blessed, but we just failed to recognize it because of our limited senses to measure the unfathomable love, faithfulness, and power of God!

That is the power of proclaiming. “Pro” means “in support of” or “for” something or someone. Therefore, when we proclaim, we mean that that we are “for claiming!” And if we proclaim in the name of Jesus, we are definitely backed-up by the most loving, most faithful, and most powerful person in this world! What else can you expect? For all we know, things are truly blessed by the Lord abundantly, beyond measure, and that’s the truth! The Lord is just waiting for us proclaim it, and for sure, we will claim it!

Just recently, when I am on my way home from the office, my wife told me that it’s raining hard like a storm with thunders at our place. And asked if I have my umbrella with me, I told her “No, I didn’t bring my umbrella. Don’t worry, when I reach our place, there’s no rain anymore.” Through enough, when I reached home, there’s no rain and not even a single sound of thunder! See, even nature is still controlled by God up to now!

What ever good you want to happen now in your life and to those around you, whether you feel it or not, now is the time to proclaim it. Believe in the truth of the unlimited love, faithfulness, and power of God! and right at that moment you proclaim it, God is already orchestrating everything in heaven and on earth to make His great will happen to you! The next thing to do is just to claim it.