Why it's all about the Pope, but not really :)

It's a paradox, well at least for me, how the Papal visit is all about the Pope yet not about him at all. 

Since his arrival last Thursday, I have been one of the millions of Catholics who in one way or another have this mixed emotions of excitement, longing and love for the person we look up to as the Vicar of Christ on Earth. I am by all means and all ends thrilled with the fact that the Pope will walk (or ride on) the very streets I walked. It's overwhelming to think that it is in this lifetime that our Holy Father himself would come to us.

However, I also have this fear at the back of my head. I wanted to make his visit spiritually meaningful to me. I did not want to go to him upholding him like some kind of celebrity. I feared I might, because it's very easy to fall into doing that. There's a thin line that divides admiration and worship. In the end, I feared that I might forget that this is all about the one true High Priest, Jesus Christ.

I went to attend the Pope's encounter with the families and blood rigorously pumped into my veins as I awaited seeing his face with that calming smile painted. All the people were excited, I surely was! All around the energy of brothers and sisters in faith, no matter what religion, was invigorating. Used-to-be-strangers-and-now-friends-in-faith are swapping stories all around me. People seem to be on a high, never letting even the looming clouds above threatening rain worry us. And I was there, basking in the sea of stories of God's love. It's a wonderful feeling. Just being there, doing nothing, but being blessed all around.

Seeing the Pope's face truly was something. I never got as close, but his presence seemed to send out an aura of lightness and purity. He was real and genuine. And that's when it hit me.

I realized that his trip was all about him, yet all about Jesus at the same time. Why? Because HE was all about JESUS! He is a living example for us Christians of the look and feel of what being all about Jesus is! It totally blew my mind when I realized that the Pope himself was a gigantic magnifying glass of the Christ that we should and can be. His being is an announcement to everyone that Christianity is more than being imperfect and okay with it -- it's being imperfect yet shinning the light of Jesus in ways that outwit our imperfections.

That was the Pope to me. His tireless, gentle and comforting smile that never fades nor lack sincerity, his mighty, radical and very Christ-like stand to glaring issues that divide the world, his utter humility on asking US to pray a prayer that he very much needs and his amazing love for the poor, the sick and the children -- all of these are fleshed in that 78-year old body. And it's just wonderful to know that that is the power of Jesus, our God. 

The Pope isn't just here for us to capture into our phones and admire from afar. He is someone whom we should aspire to be. The lightness that he brings to people, is the same lightness we can bring to a friend in need, a neighbor down and lost. The kisses he give around are the same kisses we can bestow our loved ones we've forgotten to give affection to. The full attention that he shows us is the same amount of time we invest in our relationships that put Christ at the center. The compassion that he shows is but the same compassion that we should have to our fellowmen, friends and strangers alike during times of low or even high. Friends, the Pope isn't trying to be the best Francis that he is, because just like you and I, he can only be so much. I believe he is trying to be the best Christian  he can be, as unbounded as the love of Christ. 

So in the end, it's still all about Jesus. It's always about that man who willingly gave his life to people who hadn't loved nor know Him yet. It's the same Christ that inspired the Pope, and the same Christ that should compel us to spread his love to every single person.

After all, we are all God's children, all He called by name. There's Francis, and he's doing well. Then there's us, how are we doing? The God of all is thrilled to know all about us, I bet.

Hello 2015, hello off-beat steps!

Whether new year or not, what better way to wake up one morning than with the enthusiasm to change for the better? :) 

New year's resolutions may be a hollow thing for most already, but the desire to change and hope (regardless of the moment) will never grow old for me. It's true, we don't need any new year celebration or any change of calendar to better ourselves in renewed hope. In fact, time is in a way irrelevant to hoping anew. The new year coming in is just a beautiful reminder, at least for me, of hope for new tomorrows that will always come for us.

Thus... ang bagong bihis ng blog na ito!! *teneeeenen!*

~0~

Aside from the binge watching of movies, splurging in food and sleep, I'm blessed to have found the time to reflect upon how the year has been for me in response to how I have been to it. Man, to be honest, my holidays haven't been as 'holy' as I have imagined and planned spending it. I have actually struggled a lot throughout. I had a lot of wee-hour wrestling with God, questioning Him, giving up, then hoping, then giving up on Him. I have probably faced one of the hardest inner struggles of my life, in time for Christ our savior's birth! Talk about timing.

I remember the emptiness I would feel as I lay in bed. I would wonder, is Christmas really on its way? Christ about to be born? Then why can't I sense His heart beating in mine? New year about to come? Questions... and a lot more questions would flood me as the sun finds its way back to my sky. Only then would I sleep a restless sleep.

It's baffling, from the standpoint I had then. How could I have gotten so low, from the highs that I have experienced with my God? I would ponder. Probably I and many more have asked and will ask this a few more times in our journey to the fullness of Christ.

Then came this fateful New Year's eve. I seldom hear my mother's personal prayers. But as she prayed for us before the meal that mornight, I had a full experience of the love and forgiveness of our almighty Father. She prayed for the things I could not and would not pray for. She prayed a forgiveness that I would not have asked and given. She prayed of a love that I would have long buried. She prayed a prayer that made the mistakes of 2014 into take aways for 2015. She prayed a prayer that did not change God's will, but changed me. She prayed a prayer that spoke of love and forgiveness. 

And finally, with a light and peaceful heart, we said our Amen.

~0~

From there, I willed to change for the better to be more bold in my being Christ-like. I'm a million miles away, but the first step I take is a step closer to Him. And this new vibe in my blog is one of my first steps. I would like to include you in my journey through these changes. From the stiff unbending ways I try to see the world, I will live this 2015 with less fears and more trust to the God who fights my battles beside me. 

I won't aim to be into the beat perfectly, because I never will be. From now on, I'll embrace being off the beat... yet never off the course (His ways!).

Hello 2015! Let's be crazy for God this year!