What Excuse?

This Good Friday, many reflections and realizations have taken place inside my head. Many of them came from witnessing and hearing other people's testimony of sacrifice, love, hope and faith. These reflections includes one of my drive to continue believing even if the world shouts to refrain from believing in God due to many crimes, tragedies and death covering the whole world.

Seeing all these survivors from various tragedies that have happened in the Philippines including those who survived typhoon Yolanda and the destructive earthquake in Bohol makes my heart cryout in pain for their loss and at the same time, shout to the world how we are loved by the Lord. These people who have lost so much; shelter, clothing, food and loved ones still continues to have faith in the Lord. All of them who experienced traumatic pain and overwhelming odds managed to cling to Almighty God and found strength in Him to move forward and build their lives from almost nothing.

With that being said, what excuse do we have in not believing? We who might have a recent break-up with our girlfriends/boyfriends, who might have lost to a computer game, we who are being troubled of not eating in a fancy restaurant, we who couldn't style our hairs right or who have received a failing grade, what excuse can we come up to somehow validate our actions in continuously sinning and saying the Lord is without worth?

As we continue to be in solemnity of this Lenten season, let us reflect of all of these things and the unconditional love of the Lord. Let us offer prayers and for just this time deviate from our daily routines to make way for the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts.

Dare to be Different

Almost everything around us has already deviated from its most basic sense. Many things have lost its importance to the society and even its resemblance to people. We can observe this tragedy by simply observing our surroundings and looking at those ordinary events in our lives. We can see a very poor quality of education not just brought by the educational system but also a result of irresponsible parenthood, poor quality of living and many more. Now that is the most obvious and perhaps, all of us are very aware of that. But as we dig deeper, we can probably consider that even our literature suffers the same condition. We have mainstream movies and albums that are only produced for profit's sake. On top of that, we have a stained justice system presumed to be fueled by money and power. Another thing that is very disturbing is the diminished essence of faith. Many believers now tend to practice their faith only as part of tradition without any experience or encounter with the holy.

As we internalize all of these things, maybe we are already thinking that this is hopeless, or we just do not care. But as we go back to the identities we have as YFC, we are then challenged to make a difference; to be excellent, to be a champion of the poor, to be missionaries, to be single-minded for God, to be patriotic, be 100% free and be a source of unity in the family. Though many have already forgotten these identities, I would slap it again to everyone and constantly remind you that the moment we entered our youth camp, the direction of our lives was already redirected towards God and by being closer to Him, we are also called to possess those traits.

BELOVED by Kirby Llaban

Intro: E-A-E-A
Dbm7 - B/Eb - E - Bsus - A9(Hold)

Verse 1:
       E             Bsus    A9
Redeemer of all mankind
  Dbm           Bsus
Born in a manger
  A9
Raised as a carpenter
  Dbm        Bsus       A9
Oh my King, we come to ponder

Verse 2:
  E         Bsus         A9
Son of our God, Most High
   Dbm            Bsus
Obeying the Father
 A9
Destined to suffer
 Dbm        Bsus     A9    A9
All of these we come to ponder

Pre-Chorus
            Dbm7        Bsus    A9
Cause who am I, that you should die for my sins?
         Dbm7    B/Eb    A9(Hold)            A9
Cause everyday, as I pray I thank you Lord for saving me

Chorus:
   Dbm7 - Bsus  A9        Dbm7-E         Bsus
Beloved........... Son of God. Oh Jesus,     we worship You! (2x)
    Dbm7   Bsus              F#m
All glory be to the One. Father, Spirit, Son.


Coda:
Dbm7       Bsus                Dbm7
On the cross you said, "Woman, Behold your Son"
 A9             Dbm7
Son, Behold Your Mother"
       Bsus             A9
And with Mary we come to build Your Church
    F#m7        E/Ab        A9(Hold)
May Your Kingdom come on Earth

Credits to Youtube Uploader: ehperoles