What GPS Do You Use?
Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Deacon Franklin came to know Christ as a child thanks to his grandfather, Nicasio Mejía. Nicasio introduced Franklin to the spiritual life and the doctrine of the Catholic faith. Because of this, Franklin was a very active member of the Salesian youth groups in his community from a very young age and, as he grew older, he received training to become a youth leader.
Upon arriving in the United States, Franklin worked for the Hispanic Youth Ministry in the Archdiocese of Boston organizing sports tournaments, youth leadership training programs, and an outreach ministry dedicated to visiting youth in prison. Deacon Franklin’s passion for evangelization led him to Catholic Television, where he was the host and producer of “Good News.” His desire to evangelize through the media was inspired by Pope John Paul II, who encouraged the Church to use all media to present Christ to others.
Ordained in 2014, Deacon Franklin was assigned to Sacred Hearts Parish in Malden and he continues his work at the Catholic Television Network, Boston in charge of the production of The Holy Mass.
He has been happily married to his wife, Wendy, for 18 years and they are the proud parents of Gabriel Andres, 17 and Isabella María, 13.
I remember a day when a close friend invited me to his home. I had never been to his place and really had no idea how to get there. He sent me his address and, after setting up the GPS in the navigation system, I took off.
On the road, the GPS indicated the directions I had to follow. Soon, everything around me appeared familiar and I said to myself, “I know how to get there. I already know this route.” I continued my trajectory, guided by the GPS. While I was driving, I decided to make a phone call and got disconnected from the GPS. Thinking I was no longer in need of the GPS, I wasn’t concerned and I continued with my call as I navigated on my own.
After about 10 minutes, I realized that something was wrong: now, nothing around me appeared familiar. I was entering an uninhabited zone where I found only trees and a few narrow roads. I came to a halt, finished my conversation, and tried to figure out where I was. I attempted to restart the navigation system but, oh surprise, the GPS was not connecting! I had lost the signal. What do I do now? I wondered. I tried to call my friend, but I couldn’t do that either. I still had no signal! I was in a dead zone. How had I arrived at this place? Why had this happened to me? In exasperation, I said out loud to myself, “Why did you allow the GPS to disconnect? What made you think you’d know better?!” Well, I decided to leave that place to try to find a signal. Luckily, in no time at all, I found one and the GPS started guiding me again. This time, I loyally followed its instructions. When I arrived at my friend’s home, I reflected on everything that had happened.
Here is what I discovered: we all can get lost from time to time, but when we use Jesus as the GPS in our lives, we can traverse the most difficult situations and drive through the bottleneck moments of our lives. Jesus, God’s only Son, is our means of navigation. When we believe we are lost, he will guide us with his Word. All we need to do is to allow Him to be our guide. We must understand that it’s not us who should invite him to walk along, but instead, we must let him be the one guiding our path. What we should not do, is turn Jesus “off” just because we believe we already know the “right” road. We must understand that without Jesus’ direction we can get lost and, that his Holy Spirit is the signal, the strength and the connection that will help us along the way.
My advice to you: don’t turn off God. Allow him to be the GPS of your life. Follow his instructions. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your signal so that you may connect with Jesus and find a path to a better you.
