Monday, April 27, 2020

Of Mission and Missionaries



"Come and follow me." Matthew 4:19

The invitation if responded requires a total answer and once answered, requires a total dedication. In mission, the posture of the heart is more important than knowledge and skills. What's the use of knowledge and skills if the heart is full of self?

A missionary who thinks first of himself is not a missionary. He is a fake!  Even at the worst situation, the instinct of a true missionary is thinking of others, not himself. The call to mission is total, there is no partiality in answering the call. We take it or leave it.

by aats

Sunday, April 26, 2020

We are Not Perfect


We are not perfect; we make mistakes and we do some stupid things sometimes. We’ve had some shares of not so good memories that we wish to forget.  

But even though we are not perfect, it is not an excuse for us not to strive to be better, because yes, we are imperfect but love is perfect.

So, what to do with not so good memories? You don't force yourself to forget, the more it will linger on. You let it die a natural death. Some you will forget; others will linger on for some time and others still will remain for the rest of our lives.

The power of memory. It can propel you to the future or it can imprison you to the past. The key is to let it be. There is a reason for everything, only that some things are beyond our reason. Our imperfect past lingers on, but love allows us to look back with compassion and with learnings, so that our present and our future will not be bounded by it. Love is perfect and if we have love then we are on the road to perfection.

by aats

Monday, April 20, 2020

God Loved


I’ve always wanted to see a Pope. The opportunity came when I was able to attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia few years ago. It was a blessed week with inspiring talks and workshops. One of the most moving part in that one week celebration was during the Festival of Families, Pope Francis in his homily, put away his prepared speech and did an unscripted one, he said, "Once a child asked me – you know that kids ask difficult questions – he asked me, ‘Father, what did God do before creating the world?’

I assure you, I found real difficulty in answering the question. So, I said what I’m now going to say to you: Before creating the world, God loved. Because God is love."

If I may add, before He created us, He loved us. Therefore, we should not feel unloved and uncared because someone loved us from the beginning. In a world where it’s so easy to feel abandoned, uncared and unloved, we have to go back always to the truth that God love us. There is no more powerful truth that can change the perspective of how we live our lives. Once we believe and embrace that truth, we will live a happy, contented and fruitful life.

by aats

Monday, April 13, 2020

Thoughts On Service


Service is not imposed; it is a response to love. It comes from a deep sense of duty grounded on a real sense of compassion for the other.

It is not service when it is serving only our ego. The pitfall of “service” is when we think that we are needed and that an organization cannot function without us. If this is our line of thinking then we are not giving service; we are accumulating ego. This is false humility. 

When we serve because we believe others can’t do it, it is no service, it is self-righteousness. Service empowers others. “I have to stay because there is no one who can do it yet.” The truth is there will always be people who can do what we do.

Sometimes we think, yes, "I don’t think that way". Well and good if we do, however it is necessary to challenge ourselves and tests our motives if only to purify it. Let us allow ourselves to face the truth.

Ultimately, our example of course is Christ. He who serves not just “not counting the costs” but also not counting the praise. His truth is - service is given, out of genuine love.

Let us anchor ourselves in truth and not just look for it in others.


by aats