On the 4th of October I was one of the speakers at the Symposium with the theme “Be a Witness”. The symposium took place in the federation week of the Clara and Franciscus federation in the Netherlands. I was asked to speak about the transition from culture-Catholic to choice-Catholic and what that means. In this article a summary of my story. Your life is the result of the choices you make. You make choices yourself, and others are made for you. Life is full of moments with choices. Are you aware of your choices? I will share some milestones in my life and tell you what the result is of my choices. We start at the beginning.

Receiving Holy Baptism

When I was less than 2 months old I was baptized, this was on October 11th, 1987. Pope Francis has asked everyone this year to look for the date you were baptized because it is your birthday of being born again. A true holiday. Of course I did not know when this was but my parents could tell me. I received the first Sacrament, as a gift, my parents made this choice. With receiving Baptism I became a child of God, a child of the Light through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the letter to the Christians of Ephesians , Paul writes that we must put on the whole armor of God. This is a spiritual act that we have to do every day to protect us. Inspired by Ephesians 6: 10-19, I have written a prayer. Originally written in Dutch.

The prayer

The Lord is my shepherd. He knows me and He loves me. In His perfect love there is no room for fear. No water can quench His perfect love, no river can wash away His love. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for me. By His blood I am a child of God in the new covenant. God is faithful and will not allow me to be tested beyond my strength. He has plans to prosper me. My strength is in the Lord, in the power of His might.

My battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age. That is why I don’t ask help from people but from the Almighty One. I live in the world but I am not of this world and I don’t fight with weapons of this world. Today, I put on the whole armor of God. I gird my waist with truth. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Word of God is truth. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. I put on the breastplate of righteousness. It protects my vulnerable heart. Because of the precious blood of Jesus Christ, I am righteous before God. And for God I will do righteous deeds. In humble, devoted obedience, I commit myself to the gospel of peace. As sandals on my feet, I bring the peace of Christ wherever I go. I carry my faith in God as a shield. Arrows are fired at me by the wicked one, but my God who is my shield will ensure that they don’t touch me. I wear the helmet of salvation. It protects my thoughts and the Word of God in my head. Eventhough I am helpless, Jesus Christ, my Savior saves me. The sword of the Spirit, God’s Word, is the weapon in my hand. The Word of God is alive and powerful, it’s sharper than a two-edged sword. If God is for me, who can stand against me? Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit. So that I can represent You today in this broken world. Let me be a light.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Bible is full of beautiful prayers we can use to pray over people we know. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, wrote a prayer for Spiritual Wisdom. We can find this prayer in Ephesians 1:17-21.

Now, take a moment to focus on God. Ask the Holy Spirit for who He wants you to pray. Make this prayer personal by saying the name of the one you will be praying for. Let us pray.

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

Today, I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to ………. the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowlegde of Him, the eyes of ……….’s understanding being enlightened; that ………. may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His enheritance in the saints, and what is the exeeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. Amen.

Recently, I was at a retreat for mothers and their adult daughters at the Brothers of Saint John community in The Hague, The Netherlands. The theme of this weekend was: the image of oneself. During this weekend we had teachings about this theme, Holy Mass, adoration, and plenty mother-daughter time to talk about what’s really going on in each others lives. In this blog I will tell you about the reflections on the image of oneself.

What can I do with images?

An image is a captured moment. In this day it’s easy to make several images within seconds to capture a moment. You can check which image you like the most and keep that one and share it. I think we are all guilty of making way too much pictures and/or selfies, than zoom in and out to make sure we do really have the ‘best’ moment to share with family, friends, and strangers.