The Littlest Giant Part 2

“The littlest giant” realized that all our faith and that all our strength stems from Him who showers us with gifts and blessings, not from our own effort. And so he prayed in the name of Jesus,  so that God would give him different graces or gifts.  And through the power of the Holy Spirit he received more faith, and he learned how to pray better and more often.  He got to know God better, he began to understand His word, he felt His presence. “The littlest giant” learned that Jesus always answers our prayers, but that we do have to do our part.  He read, studied His word, and reflected on it. “The littlest giant” realized that he needed to have a, strong and constant, close relationship with Jesus.  And this could only be possible through remaining in His word and through prayer. 

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8(31, 32).

“Heaven and earth will pass away but my words 
will not pass away”  Mat 24(35)

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and 
it will be done for you” Jn 15(7)

He knew that if he didn’t pray and remain in His word then he would be  just  an occasional visitor to the Sunday mass and not a faithful friend of Jesus.  He did not want Jesus to be only someone he knew about, someone he read about. No! He wanted an intimate friend. Yes, more than anything in this whole world, he wanted to be a good friend to Jesus. A close friend seeks his friend constantly and makes an effort to love his dear friend more and more each day. A close friend seeks his friend constantly and makes an effort to love his dear friend more and more each day.  And in essence makes an effort to get to know his friend better.  There is never a limit for a true friend.

“You are my friends if you do what I command you” John 15(14)

 “Remain in me as I remain in you” John 15(4)

After all Jesus invites us not only to be His friends, but to imitate Him, follow Him, and love Him:  he who knows Him loves him and as He says “He who loves me follows my commandments."

“This I command you: love one another.” John 15(17)

“Whoever has my commandments and observes them 
is the one who loves me.” John 14 (21)

“The way that we may be sure that we know Him is to keep his commandments” 
Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep His commandments is a liar, 
and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word, 
the love of God is truly perfected in him….” 1 John2 (3,4,5)

 “The littlest giant” was determined to love Jesus more and more, committed to follow Him closer and better.  He understood that even though he was far from being perfect, this did not matter to Jesus,  Jesus knows us well: our defects, our sins, our fears, our deepest secrets.  But regardless of what is in our hearts,  He loves us and wants us to be by His side.  He loves us and calls each one of us  to follow Him.  And He always forgives us if we have a: Change of mind …. Change of heart….and Change of actions.  Yes,  if we repent truly and sincerely from the bottom of our heart.  

“Remain in my love.  John 15(9)

“The littlest giant” understood that what he needed was to have a great love for Jesus and a fervent and honest desire to improve. Yes, and he needed to follow Him with his maximum effort, following  Him the best that he could - according to his capacity.  After all we all have different capacities to follow our Lord and different gifts to share with others. Jesus was patient with him,  “the littlest giant” learned to patient with himself.  Jesus always forgave him; he had to learne to forgive himself, and most important he learned to persevere and never give up. He decided to fix to fix  his eyes on Jesus, and let his goal be : 

·      Getting to know Him better and more, allowing His love to dwell inside him

·      Following His commandments out of love and trust,  not fear or plain obligation

·      Repenting every time that, without being able to avoid it,   he was unable to faithfully follow       His commandments. 

·      Remembering always that when he falls down Jesus is there to pick him up.

                        “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

                                                                      Mathew 19(17)

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  But it dis not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.” 

Mathew 24(35)

 “The littlest giant” realized that it is hard to love the way Jesus call us to love, but this is no reason why to stop trying.  He decided to try more, try harder, pray more, love more, improve more, and always give more.  Give more in order to have more of Jesus in his life. He decided to seek Him with all his heart….all his strength ...loving Him with all his mind all his soul.  

     

  “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ but not do what I command” Luke 6(46)

“It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ 

Jesus…” Paul to Philippians 3 (12)

Well not to wear you out you with the story of “The littlest giant”, I shall come to the end of my story.  After 10 years of listening to the soft but constant voice of our Lord Jesus calling him the Lord decided to call even louder, to a bigger commitment. Jesus was inviting him to be baptized by water, to become part of his church, of His community, and to share with others in faith and joy.

 “The littlest giant” decided that he wanted to fill up his life with He who had showered him with blessings.  He who had rescued him from the darkness into the light, because he was lost but now was found, blind but now could see!  He wanted to get baptized into our beloved Catholic Church.  Because Jesus calls, Jesus invites, but it is we who decide if we answer His call.  We must want to answer “Yes!” when He calls. “The littlest giant” decided to say “Yes ….yes!  Jesus ….yes!”

Well by now I imagine many of you have guessed that “The littlest giant” is a giant 2 meter, 200 lb Turkish guy whose name is John. Well, being that this is his appearance to the naked eye. But then when you look with attention and when you get to know him, you realize that he is one of Jesus’ “Little ones”.  Yes, he is a man with a sweet smile and eyes like those of a little kid, and soft of heart.  Like a child he was able to find his beloved Jesus and like a child he loves him with all his heart.  He   has put his faith in Him, and will never look back.  Like a child he now is feeling safe and has joy and peace, because he knows that he is in the shadow of the almighty and takes refuge under His wings. 

“You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, 

Say to the Lord, “My refugee and my fortress, my God in whom I trust” 

God will rescue you from the fowler’s snare, from the destroying plague,  

will shelter you with pinions, spread wings that you may take refuge; 

God faithfulness is a protecting shield..” Psalm 91(1-4)

John wanted to get baptized for Christmas 2003, in Ephesus, were Mother Mary is said to have spent most of the last years of her life and where Paul and John lived and preached.  That holy place were John prayed many times to our beloved Virgin Mary.

But Jesus had other plans for him and so our long time priest friend, Father Tarcy, encouraged him to get baptized in Vancouver, since it was the eve of our departure from Turkey. The time to move was near and so our priest suggested finding a course in our new city. John was a bit disappointed at first, but just temporarily, because he is convinced that Jesus gently directs his life and that surely He had better plans for him!

“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:  the old things have passed away; 

behold new things have come.” 2 Cor 5(17)

So well we arrived to Vancouver and John got excited again, after all soon there would be Easter and maybe he would be able to get baptized in this most meaningful and solemn time.  We talked first in a church downtown but the priest was not to sure if John would be able to be accepted in any Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) course in time for Easter baptism. After all it was a bit late, and many courses had started much earlier.  Thingsdid not look too promising but nothing is impossible with God.   He promised that if we prayed with faith, two or more people in His name (Mat 18 verse 19-20), God would grant whatever we asked for.    

        

“Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Mark9(23)

Well so we prayed and then we headed to St. Augustine’s to talk to the person in charge of the RCIA. She said she was not so sure if it would be ok or not,  she would have to talk to the Father in charge of the parish, and we had to wait until the next day. We knew that if it was God’s will He would gently speak to their hearts.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You have faith in God; have faith also in me” John 14(1)

         And so we went to see her again on the next day.   She said Father had left it up to her and that, well, after talking to us in her office the other day….she had a feeling that John was ok and could join the course! He could take the course with the RCIA group until Easter and then he would get baptized, and get confirmed all in one!  We were thrilled, Easter, what a wonderful gift from the Lord.

I am happy to share with all that “the littlest giant” that all of you know as John, got baptized on Easter Vigil Saturday April 10^th , 2004! And he never looked back, he has been the most faithful holy Catholic I know ever since.

 I give thanks to God for all He has given us, for blessing us and for overflowing our lives with His great love.  In blessing and calling John I too was blessed.  I too, found Him in a deeper way that I never imagined possible. In a way that I had never experienced before.  Today thanks to John’s encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ, I am more in love with Jesus.   And I  love God in a way like I never knew was possible. In walking the way towards Jesus next to John, I found Jesus all over again. I found Him in a way and with strength I never imagined possible.  My heart and my spirit sing with joy and I give thanks God for this most beautiful gift! 

“And behold,    until the end of age.”  Mat.28(20)

Source for Bible verses:  The New American Bible (Catholic version)

Love comes walking in

Just when you thought it was all over, and you decided it was time to move on, he comes back.  

What do you do? 

Well, if you open the door, loves comes walking in.  

Think hard, pray much and then make your decision.  Matters of the heart can be complicated.  

Take your time don't quash your chances to live a great love story.

A great love is worth the effort.

A great love is worth the wait. 

If you feel you found your guy, give another chance. In love there is no room for pride.  There is no room for stupidity either so think hard, pray and then make a wise decision.

I will be praying for you!

Expecting great from little humans

                                          

Can we expect "great" from a small kid?  Great character, great behaviour, great love? Should we teach what is right and what is wrong from a young age?  

Oh heavens yes!  

Do me a favour if you have a small sibling, don't enable them when they act badly.  They are capable of understanding, and they are capable of great things.  Why would we not help them be great?  

Truth be told,  I have seen plenty a kid maybe between 4-9 years old that are spoiled rotten by parents that seem to be under the impression, that these children are incapable of being:  kind, respectful, loving etc.  There parents allow these "little terrors" to rule their house.  These "little ones" run around terrorizing older siblings and friends of the family.  They are rude, harsh, aggressive and extremely disrespectful and annoying to all who are around them.  Do you know someone like this? Maybe even in your own house?

God made us with an incredible capacity to love.  Our spirits are made for greatness.  When parents and siblings don't correct "the little ones" in a family , they are robbing them from something precious; the ability to truly shine!  They are also smashing any opportunity to becoming well adjusted, well functioning humans.  What do you think , do you think that it is easier to learn obedience, respect and kindness from the time you are a little baby....or do you think that it will be easier to learn after years of getting away with a reign of terror?  Kind and loving do not happen by magic!

Honestly bad habits become part of who we are.  If a person acts the same terrible way over a period of time - it will become a bad habit.  Act that same terrible way over a prolonged period of time and it will become part of who you are. 

So if you have a small sibling at home that is out of control, well first of all pray about it.  Then address it with your mom and dad.  If all else fails, at least you can try to teach what is good and right to them.  Believe me you will be doing a labor of love.  True love teaches what is true and right and expects great things from people.  We need to love one another.  We need to believe that we can be great.  We need to teach holiness and hope for holiness, so that holiness can shine in a soul.  

If you know a small person who:

• Disrespects those older than them
• Are cruel and unkind with their siblings  and piers
• Are harsh and threatening towards people
• Manipulate their parents
• Want to act as if they are way older than they truly are, etc

If you know kids like these, speak up.  Don't tolerate bad behaviour, you will be doing them a service.  Otherwise these "little tyrants" will grow up to be monsters....and it might be to late to fix things at this point.  

Don't be part of the problem....be bold, pray and act.  All things are possible for those who love God!  Believe and things will change.

True love ?

            We all wonder…does true love really exist? Will it happen for me? When will it happen in my life? Some of us go through life trying to appear strong and independent. Many of us go through life alone, struggling with loneliness and convincing ourselves that love is not a reality but a myth. We think Hollywood has exaggerated things and that people are fooling themselves, and we tell ourselves that we are smarter than that. We see ourselves as realistic, mature, independent and self-reliant! Besides, we are too busy, too this or too that to believe in love. After all, there are so many fish in the sea. We convince ourselves that it is illogical to think that there is only one perfect match for us and that we have to go out into the world to find him or her. It is ludicrous to think we need to put up with one person and one person only for the rest of our lives; after all, we are sexual creatures, we need variety, and times have changed! Right?

            Wrong! I am sorry if I disappoint you, but I am of a very different point of view. I believe people tell themselves lies as a defense mechanism, to protect themselves. They often convince themselves of ideas that have been taught to them by their own brains, a bitter psychology professor or the media. Many times, we tell ourselves that love does not exist, so we can excuse the fact that we are incapable of commitment. Maybe we need to face the fact that we need to change a few things about ourselves. Maybe, of all the chapters in this book, this will be the one that you will really disagree with. But look at it from the bright side if you can discern what is good and valuable for you and ignore what is bad, then what you are reading is already worth it. If you don’t like what I say but you feel in the very depths of your soul that I am right, then maybe you should reorganize your priorities and your life. 

        Do not be afraid to change your mind! Love is a reality, not a myth. But someone who does not believe in love will never find it. Perfect people are a myth, not a reality, but a perfect match does exist for each one of us. The idea that we can only fall in love with a perfect person is nonsense; it is unreasonable and unrealistic. But loving someone as a package, with all of his or her good and bad characteristics, is a possibility. Hoping for things to run smoothly and without any obstacles from the very beginning is unrealistic, but working things out one problem at a time is a wise approach. If two people keep in mind their love for each other and focus on the goal of being happy together, then, no matter what disagreement or argument happens, they will be able to overcome it.

 This is what I want to say to you in a nutshell. Now let me be a bit more specific. The most important thing is to always be honest with ourselves. Yes, we need to examine ourselves and find out what kind of person we are, what our priorities in life are and what we want or don’t want. This is essential in order for us to steer our lives into the right direction.

            If, from the bottom of your heart, you know that you never want to marry and that you will be happier by yourself than with a partner, then you can skip this chapter. If you are called to live a single life, then you need to embrace that call. Those called to the single life can live very fulfilling joyful lives, lives that God uses to touch and bless others. But, if, in the depths of your heart, you know that you believe in love and you want to find your soul mate, if you feel you are called to marriage, or if you would like to understand people who do , and/or give advise to those who need it then this chapter might be a good read!

            I believe we all have a soul mate. I know this sounds corny, but it does not make it less real. Many people are bullied into giving up their desire for and belief in a soul mate. But, in my opinion, there is a person out there for each one of us who will not only complete us but will also bring out the best in us, a person with whom we will become one flesh. We will no longer feel as if we are two people, but one more complete person.

            Somewhere, there is a person who will force us to extend our limits and who will not allow us to ever be mediocre. Someone who, in one way or another, will propel us to continue to improve and grow spiritually. Someone who will inspire us to be more patient, kind, humble, forgiving, encouraging, giving, trusting, truthful, hopeful, enduring and balanced. The person we fall in love with will make us push ourselves to the limit. That person will help us to become a better listener, advisor and friend. Sometimes that person will lovingly correct us or remind us of what is important. At other times, that person’s behavior will demand that we put into practice concepts that we believe in but have never acted on.

Finding this very special someone is not an easy task. But the best things in life don’t come easy. Why are we willing to try hard, look hard and work hard when it comes to our career, making money or being beautiful but not when it comes to finding true love?

             Why? Maybe because the world often teaches us to be mediocre in our dealings with love and society pushes us to have meaningless relationships. We are told that we should “have a taste of each different ice cream.” Our society applauds “not being so serious” and “having fun” and in the end all that happens is that we end up empty, frustrated and alone.

            Why do we let the world tell us what to believe? Why do we get duped into pursuing a series of meaningless relationships? Maybe because deep inside we think it is better not to believe in a great love than it is to pursue true love and never find it or, even worse, find love and then lose it. So maybe, as usual, the culprit is fear. My guess is that it is a mixture of fear, ego and selfishness. Because in order to have a great love, you have to be willing to give it everything you have and to risk everything you have for it. For a great love, you need two people who are willing to sacrifice and to compromise. In such an endeavor, there is no room for ego. There is only room for two people who have opened themselves completely to each other in order to become one, one in mind and actions, two people trying their best to endure and to overcome whatever challenges come their way.  

             Some people know that they are in love right away; other people take a while to realize it or to have the courage to accept it. When we are in love, it is important to recognize it, acknowledge it and act on it. With love, taking a chance is always worth it. Rejection you can live with, but missing out on the love of your life is something that is tragic and, many times, unfixable. The hardships that may come as part of the journey we embark on when we meet that special someone are worth it because loving is a feeling, a place, a situation, an experience that cannot be matched by anything else.

             To love is to choose to love. Yes, loving is a choice, a choice to make ourselves vulnerable, to not pretend, to not use masks and to give our hearts completely. To love is to believe we can love and be loved. To love is to dive into something with our heart full of trust and our mind set on the idea that we will be committed to it in good times and in bad, come what may. Loving requires constant revision of our “self.” It requires second-guessing ourselves and being open to accept that there are many things we need to change and many areas in which we need to improve. This is why I say that for one who does not believe in love it will be hard or even impossible to ever experience it or even understand it.

            There are no guarantees just our faith in this love we have found and our faith in God, because God is the glue that holds the two together. He is the source of all hope, the source of all patience and the source of selfless love. God’s guidance is the only way to correctly discern if what we feel is love. It is an awesome truth that one thing always remains the same that we can always count on God for help in our every decision. When we invite God to help us decide and through prayer seek for answers, then answers will be given to us. God knows the plans that He has for us, and if we invite Him into our every situation, then each time we will be given the gift that we need in order to make the best decision. He will make sure we have all tools we need in order to make the right choice. God will help us open our eyes and open our hearts. It is His delight to help us find our way in life. If we open our hearts, we will be able to discern what is good and pleasing to Him.

  

Wisdom to contemplate:

    

“Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

“Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” 
(Romans 12:2)

“And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” (Philippians 1:9-10)