Too Proud to Ask in Prayer

"Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." (Mark 11:24)

For a believer, prayers are powerful means to petition for God's providence, to praise His mightiness, and to thank for His protection and provision. Though I have returned to God's corner, I still find prayers, especially mental prayers, to be problematic from time to time. I have no problem with praising Him or thanking Him, but I struggle with the asking part (I do the asking using mental prayer. Why let the person next to me confused with all my petitions?). There is something in me that prevents me from asking. It could very well be pride. To determine, I have decided to chronologically write down my prayer process over the last year or so. So here it is.

Saul's Horse and St. Paul's Race

Conversion of St. Paul
by Caravaggio

The Church today commemorates the fall of Saul of Tarsus, or commonly known as the feast day of conversion of St. Paul. One of the first things that comes to mind when I think about how Saul turned into Paul, is his fall off of the horse. Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest and bring Christians back to Jerusalem as part of the early Christian persecution. Though the Acts of Apostles give a vivid picture of what happened to Saul during that journey, it doesn't say anything about a horse; it simply says, "He fell to the ground" (Acts 9:4). So where did this horse come from, or does it even matter whether there was a horse or not?  

I will be the first one to admit and the last to realize that I am no Bible expert. I am still confused how to perceive what I read in the Bible - whether it is literal or figurative. But when it comes to Saul's fall, I have no doubt that a horse was involved; not a literal one, but a figurative one. And how do I know this? I know because it takes one to know one; I too have fallen off the horse.

Who is Jane Roe?

Over the last few weeks, I had an opportunity to read a lot (but probably not enough) about the U.S. Supreme court's landmark decision regarding the issue of abortion. By voting in favor of Jane Roe versus the defendant Henry Wade, the Court extended the due process clause of the 14th amendment to give women right to have privacy while considering abortion. The defendant Henry Wade was the Dallas county district attorney at the time. Jane Roe was the pseudonym used to protect the identity of the plaintiff in this case. While writing my last post, Heal me Lord with your Word, I got curious about the identity of Jane Roe, and did some digging since. I must admit that the description of Jane Roe leading up to the Supreme Court's decision might seem harsh, even judgmental. But her story in its entirety must be told in order for us to understand  the God of Joseph, a God who could take any evil and turn it into good for the salvation of many. 

Heal me Lord with your Word

If you were to ask me a year and a half ago, while having a good time with my buddies on a weekend, about my opinion on Catholicism, this is what my response would have been:

What's wrong with these catholics? Not all of them, I mean. Most of the catholics are good people - they come to church once a week on Sundays and leave their faith at the door as they exit the church. They, then, go on with their normal life. Such catholics are easy to be around - at times they might even share a joke about the priest or about confession. They don't mind bending the rules from time to time; they lie and gossip; they drink to get drunk; they have no problem with other peoples' sexual orientation; they could care less about abortion and contraception. Unless you see them on any given Sunday at the church, you could never even tell that they are catholics. They are the good catholics.

The Curious Case of Lance Armstrong - Part 2

In today's world, more than ever, people go hungry. There is a shortage of truthfulness in societies all over the world regardless of their physical abundance or lack of it. Appearance and illusion has taken over us; there is no longer any substance to anything, reality has become a relative term. The problem with illusion is that it exists only on the surface - anybody who bothers to dig into it will be faced with this enormous emptiness. But human beings cannot thrive in emptiness because we are meant to share the fullness of God in Christ (cf. Colossians 2:9). Therefore, the humanity today is poor: we desperately seek the truth and authenticity without even realizing it.

The Curious Case of Lance Armstrong - Part 1

Almost everything is a news these days, everybody knows everything. In this age of information over-flood that we live in, it is hard to say where the next big news is going to come from. So it is not surprising to see a guy who made bicycling looks cool making news these days, though for the wrong reasons. Lance Armstrong's name was a synonym for human perseverance and endurance. A cancer survivor who won seven Tour de France, one of the most grueling sports competitions, Armstrong gave hope and courage to millions going through tough times. 

Should religion be kept private?

Though most of the religions exist to point the way to God, there are significant differences between these religions. For example, one could argue that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all professes about the same God; yet there are so many irreconcilable differences between the three. Not only that, both Christianity and Islam are sharply criticized over the centuries about their aggressive style of expansion. Though not much in the last few centuries, Christianity had been blamed for annihilating many cultures, their traditions, and their literary and art work in the name of religious conversion. In today's society, it seems like Muslims are often associated with violence and intolerance, promoting terrorism as a means to establish their presence. And Israel, a tiny nation in the Middle east, gives us the notion that it is the epicenter of civil unrest in that entire region. And this is only the tip of the iceberg if you factor in the Hindu-Muslim conflicts, and also the friction that exist within fractions of these religions. 

My article on Ignitum Today

"Ignitum Today" provides Catholic perspectives on every topic that matters to young adults--life, religion, relationships, and entertainment. Ignitum (pronounced ig-NEE-tum) means set on fire (by the Holy Spirit, of course). They published one of my articles today, please go here to read it.

Past, Present, and Future. Oh yeah, and God also.

The Prelude
The day was horrible - temperature was in the low 40s and it drizzled all day. Everywhere I looked, I saw shades of gray. Earth has lost its greenery. Light fog covered everything. I had two choices, both unusual: make batter with chickpea flour, deep fry everything I could put my hands on, or spend the day in an Adoration Chapel - a 15ft X 10ft room with no windows - and make good use of the Notepad app on the iPhone. I chose the latter. And now I wonder if I would get up tomorrow regretting my choice. Choices, O God, tricky indeed they are. With Your grace, one thing I have decided - when choosing between the two unknowns, I will go for the one that is more unusual than the other.

GOD: The What and The Who

Trying to understand God or the Supreme Being is a tricky proposition. There are two ways to you can pursue your knowledge of God: You can ask "What is God?" or "Who is God?". The first is a philosophical question that requires no backing from any religion. According to this view God is an impersonal Being - a supernatural phenomenon that exists in the universe and beyond the universe. Philosophy doesn't offer any clear consensus on the nature or attributes of God, rather it offer explanations such as God exists objectively and independently of human thought. 

Planned Parenthood touts over aborting over 333,000 babies in 2011

Planned Parenthood Federation of America's latest annual report for 2011-2012 says that its affiliated clinics performed 333,964 abortions in fiscal 2011.

That works out to an average of one abortion every 94 seconds.

The 333,964 abortion Planned Parenthood did in fiscal 2011 is an increase of 4,519 from the 329,445 abortions it did in 2010, according to a fact sheet that Planned Parenthood published last year.

Over two years, Planned Parenthood says, it has aborted 663,409.

The 2011-2012 report states that Planned Parenthood received $542.4 million in “government health services grants and reimbursements,” which it states includes “payments from Medicaid managed care plans.”

The report also shows that Planned Parenthood’s total assets top $1 billion dollars, specifically $1,244.7 billion.

“We are so proud of the year’s many successes, and deeply grateful for all the partners, sponsors, volunteers, staff and friends who helped make them possible,” states the report's introductory letter, signed by PPFA president Cecile Richards and Cecelia Boone, chairwoman of the organization.

Is God too big to fit into one religion?

Using "Is there a God" and "Religion: What is it"?, I tried to come to a conclusion that there is a God or a Supreme Being, and humans use religion to reach out to God. But there are so many religions in this world, and most of them are in existence to help human beings to guide the way - to point them to God. Monotheistic religions such as Judaism follows a God who is high up there  - simply uttering His name in vain could be considered as blasphemy. The glory and grandeur of this Jewish God is so frightening that you might get the sense of a highly impersonal god.

Point the Way

The Church celebrates Epiphany - the visit of three magi to the Christ child - this Sunday. The Scripture says that they came from the East following the star of Bethlehem. The wise men saw the star and they left the comforts of their home to embark on a difficult and dangerous journey in search of God. The star went before them, guiding them, and pointing them in the right direction, thus drawing them closer to God. Several years later we get to see another star in the Bible, he is John the Baptist. As the man responsible to "Make straight the way of the Lord", John pointed the crowds that came to listen to him to Christ Jesus. 

The Evangelist

During early and mid 1990s, as a full time college student in New York city and living on my own, I was in desperate need of a nighttime job. My search ended at the regional hub of United Parcel Services located on 43rd Street and 11th Ave, when I was hired to load and unload tractor trailers during the midnight shift. Everybody I knew was against me taking that job because it involved walking through Times Square at 11 o'clock at night. I was only a year or so removed from getting off the boat into the United States, and many feared that I don't have the street smarts to survive walking through the red light district to get to work. Times Square was the center of everything that is considered "dirty" by family oriented people, the place was humming with prostitutes, adult movie theaters, drug dealers, drug addicts and those who seek carnal pleasures. Never a man who listened to  unsolicited advises, I took the job. After making my way through the "sinners" for the first several week, one thing I learned quickly, though the place could be used as the cover picture for mayhem, there exists an underlying order and everybody notices everything. In the beginning, I was approached by everybody from transvestites to pimps in fur coats; a week later, I walked through there as if I am invisible, not even a runaway teenager who just got off the bus from the Midwest solicited my business. I too began to recognize familiar faces in the crowd, it was mostly the same people standing at the same spot every night wearing the same dress.

Religion: What is it?

While discussing about the existence of God (Is there a God?), I briefly discussed what set humans apart from animals. Saint Thomas Aquinas, as part of his fourth proof 'gradation', used human being's ability to reason to place them on a higher level than animals. Rationality provides us with the tools to think logically and choose intellectually. This unique ability of humans to reason also make it not only amazing but also strange that majority of the human beings believe in the supernatural. Even with all the logical thinking and free will available to our disposal, we choose to believe that there is something or someone else out there that is invisible to us, but somehow plays a vital role in our very existence. 

Is there a God?

"How do you know God exists?" It is a simple question with both a simple and complicated answer. It is simple for a faithful believer because faith is believing in something or someone you cannot see, or accepting something that cannot be proven as true. Faith doesn't require proof, or you don't need faith to believe in something already proven. Majority of the religious believers regardless of whether they are Christian, Muslim, Jew or Hindu accept the existence of God not due to revelations, but because of their faith. 

Lost in Knowledge; Lacking in Wisdom

Yet another year is upon us. Even with my optimistic glasses on, I am afraid that I don't anticipate a sudden and significant change in issues plaguing our society. Pain and misery still exists in the midst of all the scientific and technological advancements that we have experienced in the recent history. One might even argue that sufferings and influence of evil have a tighter grip on us than ever before. Wealth, convenience and abundance have failed to bring us true happiness and satisfaction. We live in a society that is overloaded with knowledge - almost everybody is a 'how-to guru'. Unfortunately as individuals we lack the wisdom to sort through the clutter of knowledge to identify what matters to us. I have this humble opinion that, more than ever, we need guidance to navigate through the overbearing load of information and knowledge. I believe that we live in a time where we need to re-examine our notion of the validity of a Church that looks old and the significance of the Word of God that seems ancient and out of touch with reality. Everyday more and more people are distancing themselves from the God, His word and His Church. People find it hard to link our everyday problems with a book that was written thousands of years ago. But can the word of God through the Church provide us with the wisdom to sort through our daily mess and find peace and happiness in a sinful world?