Who is God?

An absolutely astounding benevolent being, completely capable of caring for your deepest and most daring desires. Eternal entity, everywhen and everywhere. Fundamentally faithful father, from the foundations of our far-flung fledgling galaxy. Graciously giving, glorifying greatly honest, and hopeful hearts hungering in internal intentions for Jesus' heavenly Jerusalem. King in keeping with kindness, keen on lavishing laurel-less love, and lowering Himself mainly to make man move, now and ever nearer out of our own particular preference for pride. Without quantifiable qualities, He causes questioners and queries to fall quiet; regality that reaches and regenerates solemn, stoney souls. Trustworthy, total and titanic truth, unveiled and unfailing. Usurping unbelief; vaccinating vacancy, and vicious, vulgar voices. The Word, without weakness, nor wild, worldly whim, in His excruciating execution, expedites our exultation with His exaltation. He yearns, year after year, that we may yield our yoke to Him; that we may reach the zenith of zest and zealotry. 

That's my God.

Take A Stand

"The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the upright are as bold as lions."

Proverbs 28:1

Do we remember how to be bold? To be men of courage? To take a stand?

I'm not so sure.

I am a man of cowardice. My fears are many; my weaknesses, plentiful. Vice and inconsistency are my happy bedfellows, and worldly things have far greater sway over me than I care to admit. In most areas of my life, I fall much shorter than I wish, trusting in my own power, strength, and wisdom to carry me to my lofty goal.

Why don't we stand in the boldness Our Lord offers us? The Saints and martyrs throughout history spoke with the words of angels; they spoke of Christ unto their deaths. Yet many of us fear even to go offer a stranger a mere, "how are you?". Droves of Christians gave up all wealth, status, and state of well-being, in order to give all they could, yet we don't have a dollar to spare for a man ravaged by poverty. We seek our own self-pleasure, and use a disordered idea of "meekness" to hide our own greed and apathy.

Catholicism is not moderate; Christ was not a man of many words, and little action. We follow not a "middle way"; we blaze a narrow trail, in the footsteps of a King.

My life, and yours, must be Christ. Not "centered around", nor "about". Christ must be all. In every action you do; in every word you say. It is not about ourselves, our families, our jobs, or our hobbies. Christ must be inseparable from every thing in your life.

He is our joy, our hope, our love. He is all-consuming. He is ever-lasting. He is the source of all that is good.

He is Life itself.

Thankfully, though, I am not the benchmark for Catholicism. I am a dying breed.

Young seminarians, and Priests, eager and able to cast out the demons of the "spirit of Vatican II". Courageous men: Priests forever in the order of Melchizedek. Extolling and LIVING the virtues of piety, faith, and obedience. Pray for these men, that God will grant them the depth of faith and understanding necessary for their unbelievably important work. 

New, ever more faithful religious, serving God and their communities with deep, true, and burning compassion, and humility unseen by society. Fervor that threatens to set the whole world ablaze in a conflagration of unshakable love for the unloved.

A new generation of laity, fighting against the injustice of abortion. Informed, intelligent, organized. Acting without fear of being despised, calumniated, or crucified for truth and justice.

I urge you, brothers and sisters in Christ. Stand for God. Stand for His Church. Be bold in your faith. Bold in the Truth. Live for Him... and if it is your calling, die for Him as well.

-Gabriel

 "There is no place for selfishness-and no place for fear! Do not be afraid, then, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid when love requires sacrifice"

- Pope John Paul II

[Author's note: This post has been the works for a long while and sat on the backburner while I was working on a few other projects. Forgive it's datedness]

A Love of Suffering

 Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Saviour; in suffering love becomes crystallised; the greater the suffering, the purer the love.

-St. Faustina

Suffering is such a powerful force. Such a beautifully powerful force.

In recent days, I have been hospitalized for digestive problems. Pain in my chest and abdomen, amongst a sea of other symptoms, of which I will not bore you with details. Through all this time though, I find myself trying hardest to focus on my Lord: in particular, His Passion. Strange, how even dark moments, God is able turn my eyes Heavenward.

Our modern society is one of comfort. We do not like pain, sorrow, nervousness. We cannot stand waiting, even short whiles, for the most important things. We can't comprehend how much good can come from embracing our Crosses, instead of hiding them away, and hoping they never rear their ugly faces again. It saddens me deeply.

Very little in this life is learned without suffering, at least in some small part. Be it boredom in a classroom, taking time away from our joys to study facts and things we care little about(though often have much greater value than we imagine!). Or it may be something much greater. Every heartbreak I've ever experienced has taught me something about myself, about God, and about my future spouse. At the time, these experiences seem unfair, but God has a habit of turning something broken into something so much better than we could have imagined.

How does one gain control over their base passions? Suffering through self-denial.

How does one learn humility? Suffering through humiliation.

How does one learn to forgive? Suffering through betrayal.

More than a mere teaching tool, suffering can be incredible purgative. It purifies our roughness, and our follies, if we allow it. Metal cannot be purified but by fire; wood cannot be made smooth but by the coarse work of the sandpaper. Do not pass through suffering without learning what you can from it.

Suffering can also be redemptive. Oh, that my greatest suffering would assist those in need; that I may bear their burdens so that they may see God's grace. Our suffering can be offered as prayer: and no mere one at that. Suffering offered as prayer is more powerful than any other force imaginable. Suffering offered as prayer is to unite our love, with God's. How many demons and forces of evil in the world tremble each moment a Saint undergoes suffering?

It is through suffering and death that the world's redemption came. It is through suffering that Christians throughout the ages have borne witness to the pagan masses. It is through suffering that we will be able to stand before the Throne, washed clean of our transgressions and inequity, and hear our God say, "Behold my dearly beloved son, in who I am well-pleased."

Remember: love is sacrifice.

-Gabriel

The New Abortion Caravan

It begins today. The beginning of the end. The New Abortion Caravan will be embarking from Vancouver, and touring this nation of ours. Protesting, educating, praying, loving. To inform Canadians about the truth of abortion.

This genocide has gone on too long. The senseless slaughter that takes tens of thousands of lives a year. Catholics, rise up! Protestants, rise up! Support this movement where you can: attending, praying, informing.

Together, with God, we can end this.

-Gabriel

Sealed by the Spirit PT. 1

(Sorry for the time it's taken to write this post. Life has been full of twists and turns lately, and God has led me all over the place. He is thoroughly wonderful)

It is done! This Easter, I was welcomed into the Catholic Church. Full Communion with Christ, and with Rome. Praise the Lord. It has not been an easy journey, nor a short one, but I wouldn't trade my experiences for the world. Let me tell you about the last nine months.

When I began the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) in September, I was nervous, apprehensive, excited, and wary all at once. I had heard some negative things regarding the program(some of which panned out to be true), but also had heard of it's history. A tradition dating back to the earliest Christians. The ex-protestant in me resonated greatly with the latter. Impatient as I was(and still am), I wished that I could receive Christ in the Eucharist, receive the Sacraments, and begin my new life as a full-fledged Catholic immediately!

But such was not the will of the Lord.

Begrudgingly at first, I began attending my Wednesday night RCIA sessions, with Gregory Watson as my sponsor. His life was filled with an unending stream of questions from me. Everything from Genesis to Revelation. From particular local custom, to the oldest facets of Canon Law. I confess that I learned a good deal more from him than I did from the RCIA program(at least in terms of pure knowledge).

I spent hours reading more and more about every dogma, every law, every piece of Truth within the Church. During this time of prayer, my own inadequacies became more and more apparent to my eyes and to my heart. I was deeply convicted by my sin, and by my former life(the effects of with I struggle in many ways with even to this day). But through God's grace and providence, my life was irrevocably changed for the better.

This is just the beginning of my journey. What happened next, I will save for next time.

Yours in Christ,
-Gabriel

Rebirthing

Time to undergo some changes! For those of you who still follow this blog, I am going to be archiving some old articles and adding tags for others in the next week or two. Bear with me!

-Gabriel

Edit: That took all of twenty minutes. 

Why I Love Jesus, but Hate Heresy

What if I told you, Jesus came to abolish religion?


...well I wouldn't, because that would be stupid.

This little gem of "artistic" nonsense has been floating around the internet for a little over a week now, and as of now, has close to sixteen MILLION views. Turns out that in this generation, spreading your message of apostasy and fallacy is easier than ever. And what more? We have a liberalist, uneducated society ready to jump on what seems to be the easiest possible option! In our attempts to be more "accepting" and "all-inclusive" we lose ourselves in a world of convenience, and self-worship. Anything traditional is deemed immoral, idolatrous, or too old-fashioned to be relevant anymore. Proper piety is replaced by rock music, flashing lights, and the opinion that we shouldn't change ourselves and our lifestyles to suit Christ, because He loves us as we are. And He does!... but here is what is wrong with that attitude.

Now, I'm not going to get deeply theological here (I'll leave that to My friend, Gregory), but I will speak to the layman.

Imagine, if you will, that you are in a romantic relationship(Not so much of a stretch, given our Divine Romance). You know this young woman, and she loves you no matter what. That is how it is with Jesus. But what if you decided you don't need dates anymore? You decide to stop being romantic; to let your chivalry fall to pieces. You decide that you'll talk with her, when it suits you, but ignore her desires, the things she asks of you, and her opinions on all the important matters of life.

That sounds pretty terrible, doesn't it? That doesn't sound like a relationship at all... more like an abusive friendship, at best.

With God, we know exactly what He desires of us! He's taught us how He likes to be romanced, and pursued. He's revealed to us what pleases Him, and how we can best serve Him. Why on earth would you ever want to lose that?

Continue to romance God. Go on that date(Mass), bring Him flowers(Rosary), seek His thoughts on the things that matter in this life(Read the Scriptures). If you take away religion from Jesus, you've lost any spark your relationship had. You're trying to phone it in because of your own foolish pride. Your fear of looking like something that does not quite fit in this world, is holding you back from true communion with God. Seek Him... He's already told you how.

May the King of the King's continually open our eyes, that we would not be blinded by heresies that lead us astray. May we always, always seek the will of God in our lives. May we detest religion that suits our lifestyle, but live a lifestyle that is worthy of His Kingdom!

-Gabriel

P.S. In a relationship, it helps if you get to know their Mother.

Here I Raise My Ebenezer

When we last spoke, I told the story of how my journey back to faith began. Years of wandering in my own personal wilderness had led me, tired, weary, and weeping to the doors of the Church. I needed change, I craved peace. I longed so much for true, pure love. In that moment I knew the old adage was true.

"You'll never truly say, 'Grace is all I need', until grace is all you have."

In that moment, grace was all I had. I wasn't entirely sure what it was, but I knew nothing else in my life mattered. I sat and praised God in all His glory, taking in the world from a perspective I had never seen before. My soul rejoiced and my heart was at peace for the first time in what seemed like eternity. I knew I had to change, and give up the sin in my life. Return to the fold of God and allow myself to do His Will in my life.

I went home, broke up with my long-distance girlfriend (another long story). I hopped on the internet and messaged one of my dearest friends, Gregory Watson. I told him to sign me up for that fall's RCIA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rite_of_Christian_Initiation_of_Adults) program. I had studied the Catholic Church for a number of years, and knew that is where I would find God truly and literally present.

Greg delighted in my return to faith, and began to make plans for that coming fall.

Though newly excited by my faith, old habits died hard, and I allowed Satan to disrupt God's work in my. I after some failings and hard times in my life, I turned to the drink again, all culminating in me waking up on the floor after drinking most of a 40 of vodka in a few short hours. I had sufficiently snuffed out any work God was doing in life(or so I thought).

Many years back, David, Andrew, Greg and I went on an awesome, God-filled camping trip. I felt that this summer, we all had sufficient time off, and money to partake in the same again. Sadly, Dave couldn't make it, but the other three of us ventured north, and enjoyed some time together. After much driving, getting lost, and setting up camp in the dark, we settled into what would become one of the greatest weekends of my life.

A good deal of time was spent in fellowship: talking, cooking, swimming. Knowing he would be in no fit state to wake up the next morning for Mass, Greg looked up the Mass times(for Saturday evening) for the nearest Catholic Church, and directions on how to get there. He invited me along, and I decided to go with him.

For years, whenever I entered a place of God, I put up spiritual "Blinders" to stop any supernatural activity (in essence: to deaden the nerves of my soul). But as we entered that Church, I forgot, and by the time I had genuflected, and kneeled in the pew, I was in tears. I felt God so strongly within me. Greg wondered what was wrong, but quickly realized the wonder that was taking place.

The Gospel reading for that day was very appropriate:


²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
 ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
 ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
 ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
   ²⁹ “Come,” he said.
   Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
 ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
 ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” 

Since that moment, my life has truly turned around. As I journey further into the Catholic Church, I find such astounding joy, overabundant peace, and the serenity I longed for. My story doesn't end here, I think.

I think it is just beginning. :)


-Gabriel