Inspired by Blessed Dom Justo Takayama.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. 
I have come to bring not peace but the sword....

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, 
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
- Matthew 10:34;37-39

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- The Symbol
- All is Love

Simply reminiscing on the past and the come up.... Listening back to my tape cassettes.  Watch lyric video above and stream/download for FREE below.

- The Symbol
- All is Love

Starting March 1st, 2017 we at all is love have coming to you a series to help you reflect on scripture and pray this Lent.  The series was created as a collaboration between by brother Alex Gotay and I as we continue to work towards bringing you Encultured the film.

Stay tuned for more information and pray with us as we move forward. God bless.

- The Symbol
- All is Love

As I grow not only in art and ministry, but also as I develop as a person I learn more and more about my natural talents, strengths, and weaknesses. I have come to understand that in order to truly succeed, one of the best things I could do is to focus on my strengths, and build teams of people who can cover my weaknesses with their strengths. 

All of this being said, I know one of the reasons I get so many opportunities to speak, perform, minister, etc. is because of my ability to engage in a way many others cannot through my unique artistic approach.  I am horrible with things like paperwork, and organization, but I am great with inspiring and igniting people.... I know that I have to in some ways learn skills that I can apply to help those areas of weakness, but also in exchange it is my duty to transmit those unique gifts I have been blessed with to others.  Because of this, a few weeks back I had the opportunity to give a lesson to youth ministers on a simple and practical way to plan for their meetings with youth that will keep the space dynamic and engaging.

There will be a follow up to this post soon, with an actual video of the presentation however I only ask that you pray with us as we continue to engage young people with the Gospel for their own personal growth.  I pray this all finds you well. God bless.

- The Symbol
- All is Love

Many times just because of the effect that life and all of it's stresses leave on us, we forget to truly live and express our love to the ones who matter most to us.  "Yesterday. Today. Forever." is a book of poetry to always remind us and help us to remember truly of that love.

- The Symbol
- All is Love

Over these past months, I have contemplated much on this concept or idea of what seems to be two opposing forces in our world. These two seem to be the battle we as humans encounter both internally and externally all throughout our lives.  From our conversations and interactions, these happen to be the places where we can't seem to agree and sometimes these disputes turn into all out wars both in society and in our own personal battles.

First, as always I like to look at the definitions....

In many ways, it has seemed to me always that spirituality is what presents the ideal and our environment presents the reality.  To me this is the conflict between the church and our modern society.

We have a culture which has in many ways given up on seeking the ideal and settles for the reality if it causes any personal pains or afflictions.  The church on the other hand, always pushing for its people to be Saints, giving the ideal.  The biggest problem occurs especially where we as a church forget to meet people in their reality and walk them along into the ideal. And what adds to the complexity of the situation is where we find the institution of the church initiated and guided by God (the Ideal) but still run by human beings (the reality).  So what you have is many people(especially leaders) in the church who preach the ideal, but many times don't allow this to shape, mold, and guide their reality.

​I think St. Paul in Romans, Chapter 7 speaks of this most when he says.... "What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate."

Paul unlike many in our modern society recognizes his own fallen state (reality), but does not stop fighting to strive for the most perfect or most holy (ideal).  Learning from Jesus, Paul does as all Christians should in meeting people in their reality, sympathizing with them, yet not leaving there in always directing towards the ideal.

Recently in my life as I have in many ways always been an "idealist" have had to face many harsh realities.  As I am able to sit at more dinner table conversations with leaders in the church, and engage in meetings, I have seen more and  more just how far we have come from the realities of the common everyday people.  Even more so, I have personally even experienced the repercussions of this separation by judgements passed on me even to the point of lost opportunities (including job loss).  Even more so as I am a person who naturally takes action and activates initiatives/movements, etc. I have had to come to face the reality of free will in other peoples lives how they will not take action.  Lastly, I have had to face my own human limitations in just how much I can do personally on my own.

Recently, I let the AMDG movement website go down because at the end of the day there wasn't enough effort from others that would allow it to continue/sustain/grow.  I also have been faced with some big burdens of forgiveness towards people in my life and even the church in ways that I have been treated.  Like Paul... I choose to persevere.

I recently read an article which reminded me of the story in the book of Hosea of the Old Testament, where Hosea is called by God to be a living representation of God's relationship with  Israel. God calls Hosea to marry a woman who cheats on him and is with many other men, in order to represent to Israel that God views them as an adulterer. We are told by God "I will allure her now; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak persuasively to her. Then I will give her the vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope" (Hosea 2:16-17). It is clear that God's marital devotion is profound, but since Israel has not been loyal God has every right to divorce her..... Even so still, God keeps working to unite and redeem her.

As we fast forward to Jesus, in the incarnation we see the God finally coming to reunite Heaven and Earth or the Ideal and the Reality in himself... 100% Human, yet still 100% Divine.  Then in the institution of the Church as his body, we are meant to continue this.  So though many times we fall short of living this to its fullest, we see in the life of every Saint persevering until the end of their life, the re-unification once more of the ideal living in the reality.

I have faced many things that have tried to push me away, and I know that logic alone would tell me to simply leave the church, or to give up on pushing this ideal.... I could easily fall into that fanaticism that would separate myself from the people however I know I have been called to sanctity. Many times I fall short just like Paul following Jesus, but I will continue to this end until this is fulfilled.  No matter who rejects me, mocks me, persecutes me, or what challenges may come against me.... No matter the budget or lack of.... At home; work; or wherever as I maneuver through the world.

I know many find it admirable to fight through the harsh realities in order to gain financial success, or to reach some plateau in a relationship, etc and satisfy that "ideal" but I only wish to persevere in extending this Heaven on Earth.

I just pray that all of you do the same and that we do it together.

- The Symbol
- All is Love

As you already know, I am preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage with the woman God has entrusted to me to love...  I thought I should share the story with you all a bit more here on the blog in a few part series I will entitle "Preparing for Marriage". Here is our story....

It all started Four years ago in a Facebook Christian Group where Janet posted asking for testimonies to share on campus. Brandon, wrote back stating that he will a video but it has never been completed 'til this day. Once Janet and Brandon became Facebook Friends Janet looked through his page and liked almost all of his comments/photos.  A few weeks later there was a Skype call and Janet who had developed an attraction became very nervous she rushed him off the phone. 

The next time they spoke was in June of 2012 when Brandon asked if Janet was going to go his birthday barbecue in Pelham Bay Park because she had clicked "going" on the invite page. She said she was going, but in the end never showed up.

In August Brandon attempted a meet up to talk more about the group Janet was starting on campus and after a few tries they met up at the end of August. (Janet considers this the first date, but Brandon honestly viewed it as a simple meet up) Janet stated she would be moving back to Rochester and she had a big bag which turned out to be a suitcase with a broken wheel that they lugged around after meeting by 14th Street Union Square at Starbucks.

 After this first in person meeting in August, Brandon and Janet did not meet up until the end of October of 2012 where after ice skating and going to eat they sat in the park.  During their conversation, Brandon decided to ask Janet to Pinky Swear that no matter what the outcome was they would have in their interactions(whether as a romantic couple or not), they would promise to get one another to Heaven. Their next meeting was in November when they officially started dating. 

Since then it has been four years of long distance, finishing school, learning and growing with one another in faith.  This journey has been one with laughter, tears, arguments, prayer, and bible studies over Skype.  It was on October 21st at St. Dominic's Church during The Encounter NYC, Brandon performed in presentation entitled "Covenant" one unreleased song called "Seasons" where he proposed to Janet asking her hand in marriage.

- The Symbol
- All is Love