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richie_73
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Name: Richie
Country: Canada
Gender: Male
Interests: Roman Catholicism, Hockey, Football, College Basketball, Hip Hop, Christian Music, Cartoons, Poetry, Literature,
Expertise: communicating nonsense that actually makes sense, confusing the organized and eating large portions of raw fish
Occupation: CFC Youth for Christ Pastoral
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
6/2/2003
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| "I charge [you] before God, who gives life to all things [...] to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Tm 6:13-14)
"Some of us are called, as Saint Timothy was, to work within the Church, others work in the world, others within the family, but wherever we are placed, most of us have to deal with other people, and frankly this often the part of the task that causes the most stress. Sometimes we may feel that things would be easier if only other people would do what we want them to do. If we allow this thought to fester, we can become angry or bitter.
It is easy to be tempted to think that our plans are so good, so wise that everyone should follow them. We may become discouraged because others do not join our organization or come to the event we have worked so hard to plan. We may see our hard work as wasted. We can become so concerned about the success of a particular project that we forget the people involved.
Yes the tasks matter, but what matters more is love. Have we done everything with love? If one person comes when you expect twenty, will you serve that one person with the same love? If, on the other hand, the event is a great success, will you give glory to God or keep it for yourself.
If we do everything out of love - love of God and love of neighbor - every project, regardless of the natural outcome, will be supernaturally successful."
Dale O'Leary. Praying with St. Paul. ed. Father Peter John Cameron, OP. Magnificat. 2008. | | |
| Battle scars never leave you. They remind you about the past hurts, the past pains and the past weaknesses. They can either devastate your confidence, destroy your self-esteem or send you tumbling down the hole of self-pity.
Or, they can push you to work harder, to get better, to ensure that tomorrow's version will better than today, and today is better than tomorrow. It can make you hungry; The kind of hunger that hurts more than the scars, and there's nothing you won't do to get better and overcome.
That's the great thing about about battle scars...
No matter how many you have, fresh ones are always ready to be made. | | |
| For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Thinks of the ravens. They do not sow or reap; they have no storehouses and no barns; yet God feeds them.
And how much more you are worth than birds.
Can any of you, however much you worry, add a single cubit to your span of life.
Luke 12:23-25
I don’t classify myself as a worrier all that often. I don’t typically worry about exams or papers. I don’t worry about deadlines. I’d like to think of myself (at times at least) to be a pressure performer. When it gets down to the last minute, I want the proverbial “ball in my hands.”
But it isn’t always the case. I mean, I worry about big stuff, big stuff like my vocation. Am I really meant for married life? How am I supposed to support a family? Will God really trust me with a baby? Or possibly, a congregation? I worry about these things because they feel like they’re completely far from my grasp. Much too far for comfort.
And that’s how they should be. I used to worry about these things because I was scared of mismanaging some of God’s greatest gifts on earth. I was scared of spoiling his blessings and taking His grace for granted. But these things are beyond my hands. These things are from, for and as a result of God’s love alone. So why worry? Just as God provides for the ravens, God will provide for me.
So it’s okay to take risks. It’s okay to love with all your heart, to believe beyond belief, to shoot like every shot is going in. Because in truth, all these things are gifts, make or miss, God will never be far behind. The Father loves too providentially, loves too powerfully and loves too generously for you to make a mess of things beyond His repair.
These things will never be ‘in my hands,’ and for that, I’ll always have reason to believe, a reason to be faithful and a deep desire for the proverbial ball, to remain in His hands. | | |
| This summer, the grace of God flowed abundantly. Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, the Lord somehow presented a more vivid flow of grace. By summer's end, the grace was flowing so profusely I couldn't contain myself.
I realized just how good the summer was when I caught myself thinking, "Remember the time."
Like, "remember the time..."
- when I actually got write a paper on the Simpsons and Sacraments...in the same semester!
- when we reminisced about the origins of wrestling with Father Augustine
- when we crossed the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and it was Father Augustine who had a mischievous smirk implying he was the one thinking of shaking the bridge
- we were at Save-On Foods and they gave us this creepy looking garden gnome named Tree Peeker, and he proceeded to follow us in EVERY SINGLE picture we took?
- we stopped by on the side of the road to take pictures of fruit
- when tennis beat up Vanessa
- when we went boating and we chased sea gulls
- when we went to Mission Hill so we could drink wine we bought at the Burrowing Owl
- when Richie screwed up a song during worship, not once but twice
- when Marquez hit Richie with a Sandman cane
- when Peter said, "mahal Kita kuya"
- when EXERT '09 had by far the best food in the history of EXERT or 09
- when we ended a session so late/early, that we decided to do closing and opening prayer at the same time
- we went to Mission and stood in awe at the cliff for a good 20 minutes?
- when Louie and Jessa totally caught those Pizza Hut employees dancing after hours [edit: sorry Jessa, i was thinking about the time we watched funny people vs the time we watched district 9, my sincerest apologies]
- when Velasco came out with that hit song, "Oh Joyce"
- when it was 100 degrees at the Abbey Church, prompting Justin to have a perpetually stunned look on his face for the entirety of frater Joachim's first profession
- when we thought about super powers rendered useless
- Father Augustine said, "I blame one man. Brett Favre"
- when we went to LA to watch USC's mock game, and it was so hot but frater Joachim had to wear black clerics for the game
- when we went to Newport Beach and realized that Tommy Bahamas is no place for men who have taken vows of poverty
- when we went to Phoenix and bought a watch from a watch saleswoman who couldn't tell time
- when Sheree met Stan Ford and his water polo team
- when we got lost looking for the White House thanks to faulty instructions from a SECURITY GUARD
- the beautiful holy hour celebrated with our Lord Jesus Christ
- Pen and Paper represented at SFC Conference, and with Christopher West
- when a Chinese cowboy attended the SFC formal
- Virginia Tech vs Alabama, intertwined with Theology of the Body, and Confessions of St. Augustine
- when the slapping game became dangerously close to being real
It was a great summer, a summer that pointed more and more vividly to the personification of love in Jesus. Just when I think things are couldn't get any better, I give myself more to Christ and... | | |
| Other than blasting it in my ears, I've never been comfortable with music. And one of the reasons that I'm particularly uncomfortable with music, and specifically music ministry, is my penchant for forgetting lyrics and chords at the most inopportune times. The only reason I wanted to learn guitar was to serve my brothers and sisters in Victoria, who at the time, needed someone to play for their worship. I even joked that after my service in Victoria, I would lay down the guitar for good.
Suffice to say, that didn't happen. Instead, for reasons unknown, I opened myself up to numerous opportunities to embarrass myself in front of friends and strangers. Now I'm that kid in elementary school trying to shy away from the teacher because he doesn't know the answer and he knows that the teacher is going to pick on him regardless.
However, during Monday morning praise and worship, I found myself in a strange place. I just finished embarrassing myself yet again in front of my brothers and sisters but instead of shame, my heart filled with a profound joy. Yes, they all snickered at me as I botched lyrics not only once, but twice. Yes for a few seconds, I couldn't look at anyone in the eye because I couldn't stop laughing at myself. But I wasn't embarrassed in the same way. For some reason, I was glad that they were all snickering at me.
After reflection, I realized that the joy the Lord gave me at being embarrassed was a revelation of a deep love. While they did point and laugh at me, I realized that all of them did so in a weirdly affirming way. They laughed at me like siblings laugh at each other. More importantly, they loved in the way that siblings love each other.
We all embarrass ourselves at some point in time. Some moments are far more embarrassing than others. But at that moment, perhaps for the first time in a long time, I realized my shame was covered in love. I could let it go far easier most especially because it, at the very least, brought joy to my brothers and sisters.
In these moments, we have distinct opportunities to transform shame into love, embarrassment to joy, fear into peace. While I am and will probably continue to be embarrassed by that moment, I am assured more concretely, in the love that God has for me through those moments, especially in my brothers and sisters.
But I have to ask, next time, let someone else play and embarrass themselves.
The Lord knows, they need love too. | | |
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