The great
Pope John Paul 2 once said, "It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of
happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He
is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with
that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He
who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your
heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives,
the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down
by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to
improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more
fraternal."
Reflecting
on these beautiful words eloquently said by the Pope makes me want to do more
for the mission. There is something in each one of us that longs for the One
who created us. We are somehow wired to yearn, as if we are not complete
without it. And, St. Augustine pointed it so well, by saying, “my heart finds
no rest until it rest in you.”
Only in Jesus
Only in
Jesus can our longing be quenched. Only He can satisfy every yearning that we
have. Hearing so many young people sharing about their lives, their
frustrations and passions, their ups and downs, their joys and sadness, I can’t
help but be affirmed of that connection to the One true source of all that is
needed in a world that is thirsty of real love.
Our world
today offers a different reality. It says, that what makes a young person happy
is by having material things as many as he can have. And yet we have seen in
our young people, not satisfied with what they have. After having an Ipod, they
long to have another new one. After having a car, they want another new one. It
seems that the hunger cannot be quenched. Relationship after another
relationships, they come and go and end up more broken than ever, because the
meaning of having relationships had been watered down so low. It just means,
using one another instead of building up. They remain unhappy, unsatisfied,
because, true joy cannot just be found on these things, artificial and passing
things, but only by anchoring themselves to Christ.
Blessed Mother
Theresa of Calcutta describes our modern situation by saying, “The loneliness of Jesus, the pain and
the suffering of Jesus in Gethsemane that cause perspiration of blood, I think
that was much greater than even the crucifixion itself. Crucifixion was temporary
on the flesh but the agony of the loneliness, the agony of being rejected,
being left alone cause that perspiration of blood and I think today we see that
loneliness being relived in many many rich countries, that people are going to
a torture of being unwanted, rejected. And I think that is the greatest
suffering, the greatest poverty today.”
Today, young
people are hungry for love and compassion, of acceptance and care, of genuine
relationships. We are to give Jesus to the world!
Northern Lights
I am always
fascinated by lights, when I read encyclopedia, I am always in awe of the
northern lights or what we call the ‘aurora borealis”. It is such a beautiful
sight to behold. It reminds me of our true light. We have more than the
northern lights here. If in Canada we have the northern lights, we are blessed
to be reminded of our true light, Jesus Christ.
Let us all point other young people to the light, in the midst of
darkness, of gloom, of feeling unwanted and unloved, rejected and alone. Jesus is our hope and light that will guide
us.
Unite Canada
In the
history of nation building of Canada, there was always a challenge of uniting
the Atlantic side from the Pacific, so what Prime Minister Macdonald did, was
to build the Trans Pacific railway that will connect the Atlantic coast to the
pacific. This has contributed immensely in unifying the country. Today, it is
our challenge to build a new human railway that will connect Atlantic to the Pacific,
with the bond of love and then we can ignite the whole country on fire for the
love of mission! Let us be that railway!
True North
As YFCs in
this country, let us share Jesus, our true source of joy. Canada is blessed not
just because it is a first world country, but because it has a first world
Christians who are not just aware of what is happening but is actually doing
something.
I love
history and researching on Canada I found out that it is also known by its
nickname “true north”. It is even in the national anthem, ‘true north strong and
free”. Canada is the True North. True North is where the compass points to, for
the ship to arrive correctly and safely at its destination. We also have our
True North, Jesus Christ! God must be so in love with our country that He puts
that true north in our land, so that we will always be reminded of our mission.
True North is in Canada! Jesus Christ is in Canada! Let us be that compass that
will point other youth to that True North.
With our
true light Jesus Christ, let us journey together with passion and conviction;
let us proclaim Gods love with boldness and sense of urgency. Let us work us
one Canada by building that new human railway of love. Let us be that compass
that will point others to the One True North. And in the end we will be able to
arrive to our true destination, Jesus Christ our True North.
One Canada! One Destination! TRUE NORTH!
(An inspiration for mission in Canada originally written August 2010.)
by aats
