Fr. Suarez is not tall, quite dark, and doesn’t carry the air of by-now a superstar celebrity, although his charisma is unmistakable. I’m immediately impressed. He opens right away with words of reassurance from Jeremiah: “I know the plans I have for you...” With that, he sets the tone for the rest of his talk. “God loves you! That’s all there is to know for one to be healed.”
The rest of his talk minus the amazing signs and wonders spiced up with hilarious anecdotes (to be reported in a separate account):
--------------------
A broken relationship with God brings misery. Healing that relationship leads to joy.
God wants you to be happy! God knows it’s hard to be close to Him if you are not happy.
Our world today is characterized by information overload. Sometimes, this doesn’t help us in knowing God.
In the West, where I came from, the problem is depression, loneliness, anxiety. Here in the Philippines, it’s poverty. We all know it’s cased by corruption, by greed.
We Filipinos are pious, yet we remain selfish. Why? Because of our wrong focus, that’s why. In Mt. 6:33, God says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and everything is added unto you...”
Pope John Paul II said there are two gravitational forces that pull us in opposite directions. The pull of the world brings us down, while the pull of God’s love brings us up.
God provides. Have no fear. We have this fear in us to help, to do good to others. This stops us from experiencing real happiness. After the Holy Spirit came down, the distraught apostles, reeling from fear due to Christ’s death, no longer feared.
The apostle Luke (Paul?) said, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” Our country is still a mission place because of poverty. We need not go abroad, we only need to travel to remote places in the country.
Let’s us not deprive ourselves from helping others. This will bring us back to having a relationship with God.
Before the presence of the Lord, everything is secondary. This (the presence of God in us) is what we need to restore.
Don’t lose hope because God loves you so much. (Jn. 3:16)
Pope Benedict XVI said, “We need to feel the freeing word in our heart.” Rejoice! This is the day the Lord has made.
But we should not keep the word of God to ourselves. It must always be shared. Once we receive a blessing, we want to share them. To quote Pope Benedict XVI again, “Joy must be communicated.” Mary went out of her way to communicate her joy to Elizabeth.
Why are we sad? Because we’re thinking of ourselves. The real commitment is when we refuse to frown. Joy is the gift of Easter.
Let us trust in God’s word. The word of God never fails and doesn’t change. It shall always be fulfilled.
How to mend a broken heart? In Jeremiah, God says, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you. I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart...”
“A humble and contrite heart will not be spurned.” (Ps. 51)
Pope Benedict XVI (?) says, “Of ourselves, we are too weak to lift up our heads to the throne of God.” We need grace to do that. With God’s grace, there’s nothing impossible. The very pride of thinking we can do it on our own drags us down, our hearts led away from God. God Himself must draw us up. This means we should trust everything to the Lord!
Sometimes, it’s because we don’t want to sacrifice that’s why we can’t feel that Christ is alive.
It is gratifying to trust only in God because it draws you near to Him.
In the cross, Jesus has already lifted us all up. We cannot afford to complain.
We are loved so much by God. Repeat this as a chant. That’s what my talk is all about.
The rest of his talk minus the amazing signs and wonders spiced up with hilarious anecdotes (to be reported in a separate account):
--------------------
A broken relationship with God brings misery. Healing that relationship leads to joy.
God wants you to be happy! God knows it’s hard to be close to Him if you are not happy.
Our world today is characterized by information overload. Sometimes, this doesn’t help us in knowing God.
In the West, where I came from, the problem is depression, loneliness, anxiety. Here in the Philippines, it’s poverty. We all know it’s cased by corruption, by greed.
We Filipinos are pious, yet we remain selfish. Why? Because of our wrong focus, that’s why. In Mt. 6:33, God says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and everything is added unto you...”
Pope John Paul II said there are two gravitational forces that pull us in opposite directions. The pull of the world brings us down, while the pull of God’s love brings us up.
God provides. Have no fear. We have this fear in us to help, to do good to others. This stops us from experiencing real happiness. After the Holy Spirit came down, the distraught apostles, reeling from fear due to Christ’s death, no longer feared.
The apostle Luke (Paul?) said, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” Our country is still a mission place because of poverty. We need not go abroad, we only need to travel to remote places in the country.
Let’s us not deprive ourselves from helping others. This will bring us back to having a relationship with God.
Before the presence of the Lord, everything is secondary. This (the presence of God in us) is what we need to restore.
Don’t lose hope because God loves you so much. (Jn. 3:16)
Pope Benedict XVI said, “We need to feel the freeing word in our heart.” Rejoice! This is the day the Lord has made.
But we should not keep the word of God to ourselves. It must always be shared. Once we receive a blessing, we want to share them. To quote Pope Benedict XVI again, “Joy must be communicated.” Mary went out of her way to communicate her joy to Elizabeth.
Why are we sad? Because we’re thinking of ourselves. The real commitment is when we refuse to frown. Joy is the gift of Easter.
Let us trust in God’s word. The word of God never fails and doesn’t change. It shall always be fulfilled.
How to mend a broken heart? In Jeremiah, God says, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you. I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart...”
“A humble and contrite heart will not be spurned.” (Ps. 51)
Pope Benedict XVI (?) says, “Of ourselves, we are too weak to lift up our heads to the throne of God.” We need grace to do that. With God’s grace, there’s nothing impossible. The very pride of thinking we can do it on our own drags us down, our hearts led away from God. God Himself must draw us up. This means we should trust everything to the Lord!
Sometimes, it’s because we don’t want to sacrifice that’s why we can’t feel that Christ is alive.
It is gratifying to trust only in God because it draws you near to Him.
In the cross, Jesus has already lifted us all up. We cannot afford to complain.
We are loved so much by God. Repeat this as a chant. That’s what my talk is all about.
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