In need of a writing spot

Some of the great writers/thinkers I know have a physical location that aids them in their writing/thinking.  For some of them, they have several locations.

I do not have one of these locations that I've designated my writing spot.  Sometimes, it's my bedroom.  Sometimes my office.  Sometimes a sports bar.

Obviously, the creative process can happen at any time and any place.  But there does seem to be about your current surroundings that make a difference.

Speaking of creative, I'm meeting with a sister in ministry tomorrow to vision on how I can be a better worship leader.

Other random thoughts:

• I decided to bust out the scarves that my mom has bought for me through the years.  Pretty sweet, not gonna lie.
  
• One of the blessings of ministry is getting to welcome home youth group kids from college, especially around Christmas time.
  
• Getting body work done on the car this week, so I'm cruising around in a Pontiac G6.  Not a bad ride.
  
• The Utah snowboarding trip is this week.  Oh Lord, please let my body survive.
  

Avenida Magdalena

I’ve driven the 5 freeway from San Diego to Los Angeles for a significant portion of my adult life. And while there have been many reasons over the years for my northbound adventures, my final destination was not so much about a city or a building, but about home.

Yesterday, as I drove up the I-5 through San Clemente, I noticed a sign that I’ve driven by during those many many journeys: Avendia Magdalena, 1/4 mile.

Normally, I would not think twice about this sign, as it looks the same as every other sign on the freeway.

But, Magdalena is the name of my beloved grandmother, who died on Nov. 30.

And I drove by the sign on my way to the airport, to get on a plane to attend her funeral in her home, Cebu.

This moment of awareness of this sign was both sad and joyful.

Sad because it was a reminder of the purpose of this journey. And joyful because it was a reminder of the final destination of this journey.

There is that cliche, “Home is where the heart is”. I think of home whenever I think of my grandmother, whether it was at her house in the Philippines or going to church or a fast-food restaurant or a beach resort or a shopping center.

Throughout my entire life, she taught me to value something greater than myself: God and family. And family, with all it’s imperfections, is a place where two of God’s gifts reside: love and mercy. She gave both generously. I’m sure she made sacrifices for my good that I will never know about. She expected that God and family were first in my heart, even to the point of demanding it.

I am who I am today because she defined home in all it’s beauty and all it’s responsibility.

I will be arriving at her house shortly. I will see pictures of her. I will feel her presence. I will remember her in the family and friends that are gathering to celebrate her life. But she won’t be there to greet me, as she did every time I came to visit her. And, while there is sadness in this realization, there is also hope.

While it might seem like my idea of home should be different without her, there is something strangely familiar and comforting. And that’s probably because now, she’s directing me to a different home, heaven, waiting to greet me there.

My Thanksgiving list

I was at the ultimate Thanksgiving feast yesterday morning - Mass - and listened to a wonderful homily by Fr. Brian.  He encouraged us to be thankful for everyone and everything in our lives.  But...he also said that our gratitude needs to be directed towards the source of all of our blessings: God, our Father in heaven.  In fact, the Thanksgiving holiday was instituted by President Abraham Lincoln with this very thought in mind.  (You'll note in reading President Lincoln's proclamation that our country's issues in 1863 are not that different than what we are dealing with in 2008).

Now, for us as Christians, this seems to be an no-brainer, to give thanks to God.

Yet, I couldn't help but feel Fr. Brian's words pierce my heart.  He challenged us to give thanks from the depths of our hearts, in authentic love for God, not just in tokens of gratitude.

And, it made me realize, that I suck at being grateful.  I'm not grateful enough.  And I probably don't even offer quality gratefulness.  It's not because my parents didn't teach this to me.  It's not because I don't know how to do it.  It's really because I lack the humility to give thanks.

So, here is my very small attempt to live and express the love that I have for the blessings that God has given to me, despite my smallness, and brokennesss...

• To my father, Vicente Jr., who models for me courage and faithfulness to the truth of Jesus Christ and His Church, and the on-going search for that truth.  I would not be the man of God I am today without his example.
• To my mother, Maria, who is to me the definition of love: the self-donation, without counting the cost, always willing the good of the other (whoever the other is).
• My sister, Sister Jennifer, who has endured much and sacrificed much to be in the joyful vocation that Christ has called her to live.
• To my brother Steve, who has always embraced and lived the freedom that is ours when we trust the divine plan, not the human plan.
• To my brother Andrew, who is a man in every sense of the word, and growing beautifully in to his vocation of husband and father.
• To my sister-in-law Grace, who has been a blessing to our family from the very moment she entered our lives.  My brother is lucky, but I think we're equally as lucky.
• To my cousins, my greatest regret in my life is that there are too many miles that separate us and calendar years between our visits.  Yet your presence in my heart and my prayer is always strong.
• To all of my grandparents, Vicente Sr. and Magdalena and Simeon and Eugenia, the best I can do to repay your love is to keep you in prayer and live by the example you set for me.
• To all the priests that have nurtured my faith.  My ministry and my desire to do God's Will would not be possible without your wisdom.
• To my Groupies, I never thought the brotherhood of faith that we share would be so necessary for my sanity and my trust and my hope.  I need your presence in my life more than you will know.
• For music, especially the Coldplay and John Mayer albums that kept me company during my drive home to LA yesterday.
• For people who don't answer an incoming call on their cell phones in front of other people, particularly when that other person happens to be the God of the Universe.
• To old friends who I lost contact with, please know that I pray everyday for our paths to cross again.
• To Rob, Tony, Trish, Michelle, Patti, Franc, Tina, Debbie, Pete, Susan, Roberta, Del, Cheryl, Tim Liz, Melani, Chris, John, I'm in awe of your dedication and desire to serve.  Thank you does not seem like enough of an expression of gratitude.
• To my roommate Nick for how he lives out the Beatitudes.
• To youth workers of every denomination, you are my people!  Thanks for sharing this journey with me.
• To the St. James community, who continue to amaze me by their generosity and love.
• To teens past, present and future of St. James Youth Ministry, I cannot name all of you for fear of forgetting someone.  But know you have touched my heart and brought me closer to God.  My life is most certainly better off for your presence in my life.
• For musicians and speakers who have devoted their talent to serve the people of God, you give me reason to pray hard and worship more from the depths of my heart.
• For the Sacraments, the source of my life.
• For my many crosses, God's gift to me that I may glorify Him and allow him to love me.

God does reward faithfulness

Now don't misunderstand the title of this post.  God rewards faithfulness to Him with love and mercy and the goodness that leads us to heaven.  And if wins on a football field serve the purpose of God's will, then how blessed is that team and their fans.  But if losing brings about God's will, then...how blessed is that team and their fans.

It is this thought of faithfulness to God that makes Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh's story so darn cool.

Yay for integrity!

Being a golfer and a fan of the sport, I was really touched by what pro golfer J.P. Hayes did: to choose telling truth over advancing his career.

Make a new list

For as much as I visit Facebook on a daily basis, I just this morning realized that there is a "Make a new list" feature.  This allows you to organize your friends however you please.

I decided I would create different lists, in the hopes of adding a level of organization to my Facebook experience.

And as I was trying to figure out what to call each list, I for the first time actually went through the names of the people I've connected - or re-connected - with on Facebook.  I reminisced about different experiences I shared with some people or just wondered how others were doing.

But I struggled with naming the lists, because I felt like I should distinguish my high school and college classmates from young people that have been/are part of my youth group.  Or people I've met through the Catholic community here in San Diego from my brother and sister youth workers.  I even struggled with how to "categorize" people based on their age or current life experience/status.

However, this thought kept coming back to me as I discerned: regardless of how the person is related/connected to me or how old they are or what they've been through or which of my lists they end up on, they are still friends.  They bless me by their presence in my life in such a beautiful variety of ways.  They are constant reminders of God's goodness and mercy to me.  Maybe the very pure goodness of "social networking" comes not from the creators of Facebook, but from God's desire that we "should not be alone". 

So to my friends, thank you!

Bravery, sacrifice, support

These are words used by President Bush in his proclamation for this year's observance of Veterans Day.  And these words are very appropriate to describe the men and women of our Armed Forces.

It is easy for us civilians to take for granted the liberties that are protected by our military.  And probably even easier to forget that this protection comes at a great price.

So, perhaps those words the President used are really for us.

Maybe our support is in the form of taking care of our country, so that our armed forces know that their service is worth something.

Maybe our bravery is in the form of taking leaps of faith in willing - and incarnating - the good of our fellow Americans.

Maybe our sacrifice is putting aside our political differences and working towards the common good.

God Bless you men and women in our military, living and deceased.  And God Bless us all!