Praising God habituates the virtue of Humility

One of the noblest aspects of praising the Lord, such as in a prayer meeting, is that it fosters the virtue of humility within us. It cultivates a "sacrificial heart."

We basically pray in four ways: to adore or praise God, to thank Him, to ask for pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for something.

In those last three, it involves ourselves in the picture when we pray. We pray because we hope to benefit from something in our prayer. But in the first type of prayer, when we praise God, it's all about Him. We devote our minds and hearts to forget ourselves and think of God alone.

If I give thanks, it is because I have received something. If I ask for forgiveness, it is because I have sinned. If I ask for something, it's because I need something. But in the prayer of adoration or praising God, the only person we consider is God alone. There is no element of "me, myself, and I" in this type of prayer.

That is why when we sing praises to the Lord, it is the most perfect form of prayer, the kind that gives the greatest glory to God.

As St. Paul exhorts us in his letter to the Romans 12:1: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters... to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

May the sacrifice of our praise be pleasing to you, O Lord. Come, Holy Spirit, enkindle our hearts and minds, and lead us where you want us to go according to your Holy will. Amen.

Leading a charismatic worship: Another reason why I appreciate the Mass

Charismatic style of worship or popularly known as a Prayer Meeting, in a nutshell, is basically praising God together with fellow members in a Christian community. Usually it starts with an exhortation from the worship leader (to inspire or bring the congregation into the presence of the Holy Spirit), and then followed by fast and slow worship or gospel songs about 4 or 5 tracks.

It is originally a Protestant style of worship, fairly novel (early 20th century innovation), and still the main, normative and typical type of worship being done in various Protestant denominations in their Sunday services today. However, this is allowable in Catholic settings as well (gained popularity in the 1960's), approved by Popes including Pope Paul VI, Pope St. John Paul II and others (although not to be substituted or replaced for the Mass), and adopted by Catholic Charismatic groups.

I happened to belong to one particular ecumenical Charismatic-based Christian community here in the US. And I am currently one of only 6-7 persons in (roughly) 20+ families in the community that take turns in leading worship every other week.

When it is my time and schedule to lead, I have to prepare myself for the whole thing, usually a week before, sometimes longer. Although it is always a great privilege and a blessing to serve others and also an opportunity to "deny yourself and carry your cross" to share your time and service through leading a worship gathering, personally for me, preparation (and delivery) usually take some work, considering you have other daily concerns to attend to, like family and your day job that I bring home with me.

One of the toughest challenges in preparation for worship is looking for a material to be used for exhortation (of course, it is a given that you pray for wisdom, light and inspiration in everything you will do). After I found and worked on my material, executing and delivering it in front of people is another challenging "predicament." Once exhortation is done, you start your worship songs by cueing the music ministry and lead everyone to praise and worship by singing out loud, raising your hands and all that. During the music part, it is a standard practice that you as a worship leader initiate the community in vocal prayers in between those 4-5 song transitions and this pose a challenge as well. Spontaneity in vocalizing your prayers out loud actually requires a bit of preparation too (sounds oxymoronic) at least for me, and I do get mentally blocked or stumped or dry once in awhile, unfortunately. Even though brothers and sisters in the community generally don't mind if you make mistakes (the beauty of Christian charity and forgiveness at work), but in my sinful and proud nature, I can't help feeling a sense of embarrassment internally as well if I ever do.

These experiences brought me to reflect and see, and came to realize a certain perspective about the elements of the Mass in relation to Worship leading.

"How did our Lord really intend our worship to be?"

As a Catholic, we believe He intends that the highest form of worship is about the HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS as what the Apostles had been doing since the dawn of Christianity. Where prayers makes more sense and fitting if it is liturgical and formulary, rather than in spontaneity. Where the central part of worship is not the sermon or homily (no matter how lively or spiritually inspirational the preacher or pastor's talks are). Because if it is about preaching, worshiping our Lord pretty much hang almost solely on the knowledge, wisdom, talent, personal bible interpretation, current subjective disposition and prayer life of the pastor or speaker or the one leading the worship.

Thankfully, the good news is our Lord knew all too well how we should worship that is, not just more objective and consistent, but also more liberating for the pastor or the one leading. That is, He instituted the Mass in the upper room, where we can worship as one body--universal in scope. Not localized and not subjectively dependent on the preparedness and skill of the preacher. Wherever you are and wherever you go around the world, whichever Catholic church you hop into in every town, you hear the same liturgy, the same Gospel readings, the same rites. Across the globe, you can still know and understand (and participate more effectively and consistently) what is going on in the Mass inspite being celebrated in different languages. No worship service is as Christo-centric as the Holy Mass, wherein it directs yourself (and the one leading the worship, i.e. the priest) to focus on Jesus Christ Himself, and not on the "performance" and "meat" of the sermon of the worship leader and song choices to feed one's soul.

As a worship leader, I find it pretty liberating, indeed. It is liberating as a Catholic to know that preaching and singing songs of praise (though fun or entertaining and uplifting as it is) are not the core of worship, and thus it is more objective and consistent to worship our Lord regardless of how your feelings are or how bored you are at Mass, again simply because you are not subjectively dependent on how good or bad the preacher and the music bands are. And It is also liberating for pastors to know that they don't have to carry all the heavy burdens of preparation and leading week after week to come up with new fresh and inspirational ideas and materials in order to feed the flock spiritually. Giving a great homily or sermon is just icing on a cake, the liturgical Holy Mass worshiping our Almighty God mainly takes care of everything else (prayers of contrition, thanksgiving, supplication, petitions, praise, you name it). It has been for 2,000 years and counting.

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Child-Like Faith (An Exhortation)

Good afternoon, brothers and sisters. I know the kids are all eager and excited to go trunk or treating this afternoon. So I will try to make it as short and sweet as I can.

I’m pretty sure all parents would agree and can relate to this. That children, especially toddlers are utterly free. They don’t worry about anything.

For example, my 2 year old son, or even my daughter for that matter, when we go for a ride in the van, they get in their car seats without asking "Where are we going, Daddy?" They fall asleep in those car seats and wake up somewhere else and never wonder what happen last night.

My son loves to climb tables, chairs, and shelves like all typical boys do, he even loves to play in the stairs heading down the basement. On a couple of occasion, while he was playing on the stairs, he suddenly threw himself up in the air towards me without warning, catching me off guard. Good thing I caught him, or else I would have been in trouble.

So kids are utterly free, they don’t worry about anything, that’s because they have a father and a mother who love them, who look after them, even catch them if they jump. Even looking around the children here right now all gear up with their favorite Halloween costumes, they don’t care what people think of them.

Reflecting on these instances, makes me realized that how I wish my faith to our heavenly Father is like that of our children’s faith in us. As parents, our kids teach us how to be holy by simply who they are and just by doing what they do every day.

So as we prepare to worship this afternoon, I wish to invite everyone to ask for the grace to fully trust and fully surrender to our Lord all our doubts, fears, and troubles. To have a child-like faith.

MARK 10:15 “(For) Anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Let us pray.

Lord, we believe in you, help our unbelief. Increase our faith and help us to have a faith like a child.

EXHORTATION 10-21-18

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Worship entails Sacrifice (An Exhortation)

Last Tuesday, we had our Cell Group meeting. Our point of discussion was about Sacrifice. We were sharing what are the sacrifices we can offer so that it may enrich the lives of others, in our family, our work and the community we are in. I felt it was a productive and fruitful discussion as it drives us away from ourselves for once and focus on living sacrificially for others more instead.

In a similar sense, whenever we have a community gathering such as today, as I approach worship time, I like to put into heart what St. Paul wrote to the Romans in the very 1^st verse of Chapter 12: “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.”

Worship entails we sacrifice something. Without sacrifice, we are merely venerating or adoring somebody like we do the saints or our Blessed Mother Mary. If you are in a bad day of coming here today (where your heart and your body are in two opposite spectrum), I wish to tell you to take heart, everyone around here today is already fulfilling a sacrifice for our Lord even just by your mere presence, regardless of your emotional state. And I invite you all to have that mindset and try properly disposing ourselves to worship due to God and God alone by offering ourselves as a living sacrifice, through our presence, through our songs of praise.

EXHORTATION 2017-11-5

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Ants Go Marching One by One & One Stops to Pray to Heaven (An Exhortation)

Good afternoon. Before we begin. Short story. You know my 2 kids, they like to watch YouTube for Kids. (I know bad parenting, right? Give us parents some slack sometimes). Usually what I'll do I cast it on TV using the smartphone, so that they can watch it on TV instead of my phone.

Few weeks ago when we were watching while having our meal, the clips that time were from Super Simple Songs (bunch of kids songs, nursery rhymes and original music, animation pretty good, professionally done). And one of the clips that came up was from a song called "The ants go marching". You know how the song goes... The song also teaches kids how to count. It will say one by one, two by two, etc. and they would show ants marching accordingly to those respective numbers. When the song hits seven, the lyrics went: "The little one stops to pray to heaven..." When my 5 year-old daughter heard the words, she laughed at me and said "Ants pray to heaven??" And asked me "Dad, do ants really pray to heaven?" I told her "You'll never know, perhaps they do. We don't speak ant, we dont understand Ant language. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. But one thing I know, in the Bible, in the book of Daniel, I said to my daughter, there's a passage wherein it says "All the birds in the air, bless the Lord. All the fish in the sea, bless the Lord." There is a litany of all the creation of God blessing and praising God repeatedly like praying the rosary and totally biblical. It was a light hearted moment for us, but what seems whimsical made me realize something, "If--biblically--the animals, nature and all of God's creation are invited to praise the Lord, how much more will our heavenly Father long for the praise and worship of His people?

Something to chew on in our disposition this moment as we begin to worship our Lord.

Exhortation 2018-3-4

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Enter by the Narrow Gate (An Exhortation)

Good Evening brothers and sisters.

Few times I heard over the radio, a 42 year-old evangelist Chris Stefanick, once recount he and his wife had a fight. He said, after a fight with his wife, he was complaining to God "Why does this have to be about her?" "Can it be about me?" and God spoke to him in his heart. GOD said: "You have every right to make it all about you, to put your own needs 1st, you have every right to be average, to be ordinary and not to become a Saint." Suffice to say he retracted his prayer and in retrospect he think God wasn't only calling him to Holiness but to happiness.

I think it is a good reminder for me being in the community as well, especially whenever I find myself complaining in my service, why do I have to sacrifice my family time and personal life for others, why cant I just do the bare minimum and just sit on the sideline? I always have the choice to make it all about me, to be average, to be ordinary. Come to think of it, there are a lot of people like this already in this world, I am adding up to that number.

Instead a Bible verse in Matthew 7 came to mind. Jesus said "Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it. But it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

I was also reminded of quotations from 2 of the more prominent saints in our time. One is from Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, when she said: "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." St. Josemaria Escriva, in the very 1st lines of his book "The Way," once wrote: "Don't let your life be sterile. Be useful. Blaze a trail. Shine forth with the light of your faith and of your love... Don't fly like a barnyard hen when you can soar like an eagle."

As we prepare to worship our Lord, I would like to invite you to join me or at least include in your prayers tonight to ask the Lord for the grace to Enter by the Narrow gate. To do small things with great love.

Let us stand and pray:
"Lord we stand before you here tonight because we want grow in holiness with you and for you. Create in us a clean heart, renew the right spirit and we will offer sacrifices of praise to you, O Lord tonight." Amen.

Exhortation 2018-6-15

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God Is Not For Extra Purpose

© 2003 Excerpt from "I Can Serve": A Community Journal written on 2003, 7th of June

For us trying to lovingly draw our dear friends deeper to God, we may hear these responses:
“I’d rather rest than spend time in church or join a Christian community.”
“I know people from a Christian community who are not good examples. They don’t practice what they preach. They still live in sin. They get angry, they speak bad words, they hurt people. Why should I join?”
“I’m also a member already of a sorority (or a fraternity or a club). They’re all the same as yours. We help the poor, we conduct self-development programs, etc. sometimes even more extensive and financially-organized than Christian communities.”
“I’m ok and happy with my life. Why should I complicate it further by spending on spiritual affairs inconvenient and a waste of my time and schedules. I help out my friends in need better than they do.”

Many of our friends and relatives right now, as I speak, go on living today treating God in two things:
1. That God is just a vending machine. When things, jobs, ambitions or health are failing or are not working, or needs divine intervention, that’s the only time they insert a prayer coin to a heavenly vending machine and ask God for an answered pop soda. They make a deal to God. “Lord, if I make this one, I promise to go to mass, I promise to donate something to charity, etc., etc.” They attend the 40 days novena prior to their set licensure examination; they offer eggs to the Carmelite; they visit the adoration chapel until sunrise. Then when their prayers are answered, they only make a passing or even forget to thank God.

 

2. That God is just an optional extra. Most of the people’s main priorities in life are their work, wealth, vanity, vying for social status, a new cell phone or a new car, travel, leisure and health. In other words, they are concerned first and foremost of their self-fulfillment and God is just a means to that end. And when they had accomplished them, they work on the next task and activity at hand, it's a vicious cycle, never satisfied. Yes, they also pray, they go to mass, they give alms to the poor, perhaps even pray the rosary, do novena, they never killed anyone, never stolen, profess a strict morality, living as upright men and women, honest in work, organized schedules, no vices. They say they are also asking for spiritual enlightenment (only if they feel like it.) “I also consider myself an active Christian, I involved God in my affairs, aren’t I?” They go on living their lives firmly believing it’s enough. “God should be happy with me, I’m doing enough.” “Prayer meetings? Community? Retreat? Been there, done that.” They feel a satisfaction which makes them think of themselves good and just already. “I live a clean simple life, why complicate things?” Life is that simple.*

But True Christians never think he or she loves God enough. True love for that matter, never thinks that it loves its beloved sufficiently.* As St. Augustine beautifully puts it: “The measure of loving God is to love Him without measure.” We cannot go on living life in spiritual paralysis or love God lukewarmly, halfheartedly while holding on to our materialistic priorities and views in life. We should make an effort, love requires struggle. We should persevere for a lifetime. And as what St. Escriva once wrote: "What’s the secret to perseverance? …Love, fall in love and you will never leave Him."

Our entire goal in life is not to work well, to achieve dreams, high hopes and ambitions in life, to find social and material satisfaction, tour the world, to seek leisure or good health for a long prosperous life. And treat God as a genie, a second best in achieving those goals, or even 15th place in our list.
Our end goal in life is "to know, to love and serve the Lord our God," Creator of all these things, things we so tediously work for ourselves to get. He is our first sole priority. Everything else ought to be the means to that end.*

“…The difference between the world’s view of being self-fulfilled and God’s view: The world says we should seek self-fulfillment; pursue it—work at it for our own sake. God says that if we forget ourselves and serve Him, the contentment of self-fulfillment will come as a by-product, without our having to work at it.” (Be Still and Know that I Am God by P.G. Opatz)
Footnote: *Jean Daujat

 

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