Are You The Favorite Person of Anybody?

Are you the favorite person of anybody? Take a second to let that question sink in. Then think of someone who might consider you a favorite person. Are you absolutely sure that you are indeed that someone’s favorite person?

I did give this question a serious thought after watching the video below. The first person to come to mind was my mother, but I have two other siblings and she has always maintained that she loves the three of us equally. Then I thought of my nephews and nieces – who might consider me as their favorite uncle – but they have other uncles!

In the end I realized that there is simply no way for me to be absolutely sure that any of my relatives, friends, coworkers and acquaintances see me as their favorite person. But I also realized another thing – there might be no way for me to be certain that people close to me would treat me as their favorite, yet it is beyond doubt that I am God’s favored one.

I’ll say it again. I am God’s favorite. Everything that I have – friends, family, ministry, joy, even problems, difficulties, challenges – are proofs that I am indeed God’s favorite. I could not think of another day in my life that I felt I lived so fully as the day I realized that I am spending the rest of eternity with a God who chooses me as his favorite person.

All of us are God’s favorite. I fully agree with St. Augustine when he said “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” To God, all of us are special. To God, no one is more important than us. We are precious and honored in God’s sight. All of us have a favored place in God’s heart.

We are God’s favorite people. The Father himself said “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jer 31:3). And Jesus also declared “As the Father has loved Me so have I loved you” (Jn 15:9).

A person who knows that he or she is God’s favorite keeps for life a thankful, loving heart.

Stay Connected to a Power Source

The title of the following video is simply “Reach”. I can’t anymore remember how many times I have used this video in my homilies, talks and presentations. I like it not only because it is short and simple (i.e., fits nicely into my homily time frame) but also because it is meaningful and purposeful.

The video brings home the point that when you are disconnected from a power source you can do nothing. The robot mirrors how many of us live our lives. Like the robot, we want to do things by ourselves, independent of others.  Often we rely on our strength alone. Like the robot, we forget that without being connected to the source of all power we can do nothing. True strength, true power comes from God.

We always need to stay connected to God. Our strength grows out of our closeness with God. With God as our “power source”, we can accomplish far beyond what we can do on our own. For with God we gain strength, courage, and confidence in becoming who we are capable of becoming.

It is Jesus You Seek

I actually made this video about four months ago. It is my hope and prayer that this short video will inspire viewers to become more committed and faithful to Christ. It is based on a writing by the late Pope John Paul II:

“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 provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed off the mask 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 grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”

Watch "Diocese of San Jose" Video on TV Maria

TV Maria, a Catholic Filipino TV channel, will air a video documentary I recently made for the Diocese of San Jose in Nueva Ecija. The thirty-minute docu is simply titled “Diocese of San Jose” and it depicts the extraordinary and inspiring life of the clergy and laity of the diocese.

I was commissioned to write, direct and edit the video in time for the 25th anniversary of the diocese. Here are some screenshots from the video:

That’s Fr. Remigio Malgapo. He regularly says Mass in the San Jose City Jail. But his prison ministry goes beyond celebrating the Eucharist. He also provides legal assistance and livelihood projects for the inmates and for their families.

And that’s Fr. Jun Flores. He ministers to the patients of nearby hospitals. He distributes Communion, anoints them with oil, prays for them, celebrates the Eucharist with them and provides a listening heart both to the patients and their caregivers. He says he finds fulfillment in what he does because aside from being a Catholic priest, he is also a Medical Technologist by profession.

Sr. Susan Imperio walks for hours to distribute medicines to impoverished families in remote barrios in northern Nueva Ecija. She not only gives medicines for free, she also organizes the barrio folks and teaches them how to take blood pressure, administer first aid, and use herbal medicines. Don’t raise your eyebrows, because she knows what she is doing. For apart from being a Cannossian nun she is also a Registered Nurse.

The young lady in magenta stripes and sporting a messenger bag is Jenilyn Joy Curitana. She is only sixteen. You cannot see her face but, trust me, she is beautiful both inside and out. Unlike other youth her age, Jenilyn spends a good part of her time teaching the Faith to other young people. She has been serving as a Catechist in her Parish in Talugtug, Nueva Ecija since she was in third year high school.

Theirs are but some of the stories told in the documentary video. Needless to say, there are more inspiring stories and thus I hope you will get the chance to watch it.

The broadcast will begin at 7:30 pm on August 16 and at 8:00 pm on August 22. TV Maria is available on SkyCable (channel 160), Global Destiny Cable (channel 93), Dream Satellite TV (channel 12), Cable Star Iloilo (channel 10), Unicable Cebu (channel 17) and other elected cable TV stations nationwide.

Small Things Great Love

Here is another short  video slideshow I made while preparing for a homily. This again features the words of Mother Teresa.

This is actually the last slideshow I made using Adobe Premiere Pro as I recently discovered the wonders of Photodex ProShow Producer. When it comes to producing professional slideshows, I think ProShow is the best there is. But well, of course, when it comes to video editing, Premiere Pro is still my number one choice. I only wish Premiere Pro has a Linux version… but that’s another story. So here is Mother Teresa’s words of inspiration.

Smiling is an Act of Love

I was preparing my Sunday homily when I was inspired to make this short video. I hope that Mother Teresa’s words will also encourage you to smile often and  inspire you to become a better version of yourself.

I made this video in high-definition (HD) widescreen (16:9) format. Thus it is best to view this on my YouTube channel.

Desecration of the Eucharist on YouTube

More than 40 videos of a man desecrating the Eucharist are posted on YouTube. The young man’s channel name is fsmdude and he is from Canada. He claims that he gets his consecrated host by going to church and receiving communion. He desecrates the Eucharist by boiling it, hitting it with a nail gun, stapling it, gluing it to a piece of wood, flushing it in the toilet bowl, and other offensive and shocking acts.

Here is one of the repulsive videos:

In response, a number of concerned people had asked the YouTube administration to take down the offensive videos. Fsmdude has not only offended Catholics all over the world, he has also violated YouTube’s Community Guidelines which states: “We encourage free speech and defend everyone’s right to express unpopular points of view. But we don’t permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity).” Frsmdude’s videos undoubtedly belongs to the category of hate speech.

I hope more people will petition YouTube to take down the videos. To report an inappropriate video on YouTube, please click the “Flag” link under the video. Youtube administrators promise that each flagged video is promptly reviewed by them and that they immediately remove any content that violates the Terms of Use.

I fully agree with Catholic League president Bill Donohue when he said: “In August, YouTube took down a video of a teenager who urinated on the Holocaust memorial in Rhodes, Greece. That was not only the right moral choice, it was consistent with its own strictures. Catholics deserve the same sensitivity, and that is why we are asking YouTube to take down these unconscionable videos. It is not only right morally, it is in compliance with its own guidelines.”