"Come and see the works of God, awesome in the deeds done for us. He changed the sea to dry land; through the river they passed on foot. Therefore let us rejoice in him..." (Psalm 66:5-6)
"Yes, in joy you shall depart, in peace you shall be brought back; Mountains and hills shall break out in song before you, and all the trees of the countryside shall clap their hands." (Isiah 55:12) They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the Lord's majesty. (Isaiah 24:14)
“To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.” Luke 1:74-75
Jesus said, "I tell you solemnly, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours, says the Lord." Mark 11:24
If we walk in holiness and righteousness before the Lord, we need not fear for our future. We can serve Him in peace, with love and joy, rather than under the oppression of fear. If we truly honor and respect God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, we will keep our selves from impurity and iniquity; we will obey His commands and do what is right. And, God will deliver us from our enemies and “guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The CFC logo has three (3) elements: the concentric circles, the cross, and the dove. The CFC logo stands for who we are and what we are for.
THE CONCENTRIC CIRCLES
These stand for 2 wedding rings, one on top of the other. They depict Christian marriage, where two have become one. They stand for the unity between husband and wife, a unity manifesting itself in mutual love and service. The ring also point to our family life ministry. The family is to be the focus as well as the foundation of our work.
THE CROSS
This stands for the cross of Christ. The central position of the cross states that Christ is at the center of our lives and of our work. The cross is also an empty cross. It shows that Christ is risen. By his death and resurrection, Christ conquered sin and death, and won for us our salvation. Finally, the cross stands for the radical Christian life we are called to. It is a life where we are to take up the cross of Christ (Mt. 16:24).
THE DOVE
The dove represents the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit Who is our guide, our counsellor, our advocate. He is the Spirit of truth. He is the source of power and strength for the Christian life.
The dove also indicates the charismatic dimension of our spirituality. We are to pursue our work of renewal with the full use of all charismatic gifts at our disposal (1 Cor. 12:4-11).
THE CONCENTRIC CIRCLES AND THE CROSS
The circles also stand for the globe or the world. Christ is at the center. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Our work is to participate in the fulfillment of God's plan: to bring all things in the heavens and on earth into one under Christ's headship (Eph. 1:10).
Also depicted is the establishment of CFC worldwide family, the one global community under the lordship of Christ. The circles also suggest the ever widening network of renewed families in Christ. The light and life of Christ radiates outwards and touches the lives of more and more people. CFC is an evangelistic movement, intending to bring Christ to all people and to all places.
THE CFC LOGO
Taken all together, the meaning of the CFC logo is this ...
CFC is a work of Christ which raises up Christian couples and establishes Christian families committed to the work of evangelization and winning the world for Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In 2003, the younger CFC Family Ministries (meaning Kids for Christ, Youth for Christ and Singles for Christ) were given a vision that “in 10 years the whole world will kneel to Christ”. There is no exact definition or explanation as to what that means, but it is a vision that each ministry is working towards. In SFC, that vision statement was made more relevant with this statement – SFC’s ten year vision:
A Generation of Leaders and Martyrs
In line with this, SFC also adapted the 7 Pillars of CFC to make it relevant to SFC and it`s vision of making a generation of leaders and martyrs. It is SFC`s goal to form SFC to become a generation of:
a. Bravehearts – Relating to the CFC Pillar of Evangelization and Mission. Wherein we want every SFC to be brave in proclaiming Christ to the world.
b. The Faithful – Family Ministries. Wherein we want to make sure that CFC truly becomes a womb to tomb ministry, with no fall outs along the way to Heaven.
c. The Holy – Pastoral Support. Wherein we want every SFC to become pastorally mature and get supported in whatever state of life they are in.
d. Patriots – Social Ministries. Wherein we want SFC to be involved in the life of the country they are in – to work for justice and total human liberation from sin.
e. Heroes – Gawad Kalinga. Wherein we want SFC to see the blessing of Gawad Kalinga to CFC. How GK is helping the poorest of the poor. And how this blessing is changing the lives of the people who benefit from it, and the people who actively participate in it.
f. Witnesses – Pro-life. Wherein we want SFC to live lives that are good examples to others – whether in community of not. And wherein SFC can speak out against what is crippling people today.
g. The Chosen – Special Ministries. Wherein we help SFC find their true calling – marriage, single blessedness or religious vocation – and help them in their path to claim that calling.
Saints of God, come to her aid! Come to meet her, angels of the Lord! Receive her soul and present her to God the Most High.
May Christ, Who called you, take you to Himself; may angels lead you to Abraham's side. Receive her soul and present her to God the Most High.
Give her eternal rest, O Lord, and may Your light shine upon her forever. Receive her soul and present her to God the Most High.
Let us pray: We commend our mother, Felicidad Mangaoang to you, Lord. Now that she has passed from this life, may she live on in Your presence. In Your mercy and love, forgive whatever sins she may have committed through human weakness. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
AS expected, my first Afterthoughts column last month was not received well by some principals in the controversy over CfC/GK. It elicited “afterthoughts” of their own—but most negative of mine. I would be mad to get involved any further in their quarrel. Still, I can’t help asking that they do not dismiss cavalierly as they are doing the logic of the questions (and the answers) of my Bontoc “philosopher”. All I’d wish them to do now,before consigning me to wherever I am to be consigned, is to answer categorically the same questions he put to me. Only then, I believe, can we have a rational discourse on the controversy without the innuendoes, misreading, fallacious reasoning that are being advanced so far by way of response to that maiden column.
Before sending it in to the CBCP Monitor, I had asked a professional moral theologian to look at it and see if he had some comments to make from the viewpoint of his expertise. Father Eric Marcelo Genilo, S.J. of the Loyola School of Theology obliged and sent me the following comments—they are well worth quoting at length here:
“There are enough references in scripture, the saints and the Church’s social teachings that would support the position that meeting the material needs of the poor is just as urgent and important as meeting spiritual needs.“
I would argue against those who criticize GK for taking donations from pharmaceutical companies that are involved in contraceptive production and marketing. First, these companies produce other products and it does not necessarily mean that the donations come directly from profits from contraceptives. Second, it is rash and unjust to label such companies as evil, as if they do not do any good for the community. In all human organizations the capacity for doing good and evil are present and operative. I can call the Church “devil” too if I just focus on the sex abuse committed by clerics, the atrocities of the Inquisition and the Crusades and the destruction of cultures by overzealous missionaries. But I don’t, because I recognize the Church is both sinful and graced. I would also apply the same compassionate consideration to multi-product pharmaceutical companies. Third, single-issue morality,like single-issue politics, ignores the complexity of life and the various factors that should be considered when making a prudent choice for what is good. To judge the worthiness of a charitable work on the basis of the contraceptive issue alone is like choosing a president based on his or her position on divorce, ignoring important issues like war, corruption, poverty, human rights abuses, and unemployment. Single-issue morality is morality for those with small minds and limited vision. Fourthly, one can point to examples of great men and women who did not shy away from working with sinners in order to do great good for others—Mother Teresa received donations from dictators to help the poor and dying; John Paul II visited Fidel Castro even if Cuba is embargoed by Western nations.”
Father Genilo’s ideas need no further commentary. But I would like to dwell a bit here on what he says about the danger of ignoring “the complexity of life and the various factors that should be considered when making a prudent choice for what is good.” His words carry me back to something that happened in Bukidnon during martial law times and that has been a source of lasting inspiration for me personally all these years. It is about our people’s capacity, when given the opportunity and freedom, for making precisely those much-to-be-desired prudent choices in their life as people of faith.
A number of times after the imposing of martial law, referendums were held to gauge how the people looked at the new political dispensation that was “the New Society.” The clergy of Bukidnon felt keenly the degrading effect of those phony acts of suffrage, especially in the coercing of people to vote according to “suggested answers”. They decided to come out openly on the occasion of one such referendum in the mid-‘70s with their collective judgment on it and on how they felt our people should act in its regard.
They analyzed and commented on three possible options open to us and our people: (1) boycotting the referendum in protest at its farcical nature even in the face of the decree forcing us to take part on pain of imprisonment for failure to vote; (2) participating in the process and voting yes or no freely according to conscience but making sure that our votes would be properly counted and reported as cast; and (3) resorting to blank ballots if we felt participation was too debasing or useless, but then we would also have to see to it that those ballots were correctly registered—not an easy thing to do under the menacing and ever present guns of the military.
The three options were openly discussed in all of our BECs to the consternation of government officials who had been bidden by Malacañang to produce a yesvote. Because of the people’s vigilance, the counting of ballots at that particular referendum was done rather fairly. The final results were roughly one third yesvotes, another third no, and the last third “spoiled”—these were evidently the blank ballots. Only 200,000 of a total of more than 300,000 registered voters in the province participated in the voting. That meant some 100,000 had boycotted it. Add to this the novotes and the “spoiled” ballots,and the message sent to Malacañang was unmistakable and clear as day. We like to think our people’s action helped put an end to those debasing travesties.
What amazed us most, however, were not so much the results of the voting (although they were surprising enough) as the way our people seriously discerned on how they were to conduct themselves in the referendum. A general pattern of action was followed by families: Mothers would participate, fathers would boycott. The rationale was simple: Should the non-participating fathers end up in jail, the voting mothers would be left to take care of the children. That approach had never occurred to the celibate clergy! But they were highly gratified when it happened, for it meant their efforts at helping create communities of faith-discernment and action were having an effect after all.
Ordinary folk evinced then in a most remarkable way the capacity for prudent choice that Father Genilo speaks of. One would wish that that capacity were more in evidence too in the resolving of the CfC-GK problem than is being shown to date; and for that matter, for us, the general population, in regard to the burgeoning ills of the nation—a pressing and hard challenge to our capacity as citizens to make the needed prudent choices.
ooOoo
Here are the two pages excerpted from the CPBP Monitor as provided by CD's blogsite IDOTRCFC:
Novena Prayer for the Repose of the Soul of Aida Añoso
Lord, as we come together to pray for the eternal repose of the soul of our dear mother Aida, help us to see death for what it really is / the end of poverty and the beginning of riches, / the end of frustration and the beginning of fulfillment, / the end of fear and the beginning of tranquility, / the end of pain and the beginning of joy, / the end of weakness and the beginning of strength.
Let not grief overwhelm us, / or a sense of loss embitter us. / But out of sadness / let there arise a new joy / for so much given to us.
O gracious Spirit of peace, / come alive within our experience and hurt, / within our sorrow and isolation, / within the sadness of today and loneliness of tomorrow. / Come alive as the peace and trust / which nothing in life or death can kill. / Cast out our fears, / and let not our hearts be troubled, / knowing this world remains our Father’s house.
O God / whose virtue is to have mercy, we humbly beseech you, in behalf of our mother, Aida, whom you called out of this world, that You would not forget her forever, / but bid your holy angels to lead her into paradise, / her true country, / for as much as in you He puts her hope and trust/he may come to the possession of eternal joys.
To you, O Lord, / we humbly commend our mother, Aida in this mortal life. / You loved her always with great love. / Now that she had been freed from all the evils of this earth, / bid your mercy, / that when the first things have passed away, because of your goodness, / You will bring her into your paradise, / where there is no more grief or mourning or sadness, / but peace and joy with Your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.
O God / You overcome death,/through Your only Begotten Son, / opened to us the gate of everlasting life. / We beg you to welcome Aida, who walked the way of the life of your Son. / Fulfill Your promise to her whom you have called to Yourself. / Grant her Your glory in life / through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We give thanks for all the good things you gave to Aida in this mortal life. As a sign of Your goodness / and of the communion of saints in Christ the Lord / in Your great pity, accept our prayer / that the gate of paradise may be opened to her. / In turn, may we be comforted by the words of faith / until we hasten to meet Christ / when we may all be forever with the Lord, / and with our dear mother, Aida.
Lord, our God, / Your days are without end. / Your mercies too many to count. / Cause us never to forget that our life is short and uncertain. / Let Your Holy Spirit lead us through this present life / in holiness and justice all days of our life. / And after we have served you on earth, / in communion with Your Church, / and in perfect charity with all men, / may we joyfully come to your kingdom/ through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Leader: Eternal rest grant unto Aida, O Lord,
All: And let perpetual light shine upon her.
Leader: May she rest in peace,
All: Amen. Leader: May the soul of Aida and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
St Augustine "was a marvelous example to pastors in his intrepid defense of the true faith, and ... was likewise the genius who constructed a philosophy that can truly be called Christian because of its harmony with the faith, and a tireless promoter of spiritual and religious perfection". - John Paul II
His writings "seem to have been nourished with the breath of the Divine Spirit, and to shine with a light so bright, that the course of the centuries cannot quench it; for it shines forth from the soul of a writer thirsting after truth and love, and yearning to nourish others and to make them like to himself" - Pope Pius X11
The work outlines a vigorous intellectual journey which leads to the threshold of contemplation where "all intellectual operations should be abandoned, and the whole height of our affection should be transferred and transformed into God."(Ch 7)
Paul VI, proclaiming her Doctor of the Church, said: "what is most striking in the saint is the inherent wisdom, the lucid, profound and inebriating assimilation of divine truths and of the mysteries of the faith... "
The " Treatise " comprises two different aspects of Abandonment to Divine Providence; one as a virtue, common and necessary to all Christians, the other as a state, proper to souls who have made a special practice of abandonment to the holy will of God.
The "Introduction" is recognized as a masterpiece of mystical and devotional literature. Written by a Doctor of the Church for laity interested in living a better life, it urges upon all men and women a hatred of sin, detachment for the things of the world, love of God and constancy in prayer.
Written to bring souls to a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the love of God, the "Treatise" is a work of genius in devotional dogmatic theology. Spiritual instruction of the highest order.
Written by a famous theologian in simple language, this is a discussion in 32 articles of the Four Last Things- Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. If you are looking for something to wake you up spiritually, this could be it!
Describes the soul's conduct along the spiritual road which leads to the perfect union of the soul with God through love as far as is attainable in this life.
St. Teresa of Avila stated that this work of Venerable Louis converted over 1,000,000 souls in her day. She, along with St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Rose of Lima, all counted it among their favorite spiritual books.
This is a classic of spiritual writing that has had more print editions than any book after the Bible. It is arranged in an ideal format for reading online.
Sunday readings from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible. You can also hear Daily Reflections by visiting www.usccb.org and clicking the "CCC-TV" button.
Indeed, the fervent prayer of a righteous person (and community) is very powerful (James 5:16)
UPDATE:
Thanks to Tita Vangie for this email update and giving us a reason to REJOICE!
Here's the message from T2 Wilson regarding Tita Tess' surgery and from T2 Bert himself also about his recent surgery. I hope they won't mind for publishing their email.
Let us continually pray for their speedy recovery.
Now, here's the update:
-----Original Message----- From: Wilson Sent:Wednesday, July 09, 2008 4:21 PM To: <> Subject: Re: Updates
Dear to all,
We are so blessed to be part of the big CFC family. It is a great privilige for me and Tita Tess for having very loving and caring brethren praying collectively as one family for the successful operation and speedy recovery of Tita Tess. Indeed, our collective prayer is very powerful. Let us shout with joy to God, sing to the glory of his name, proclaim His glorious praise! Let us say to God, "How great are your deeds! How formidable your power that makes your enemies cower!" (Psalm 66:3).
Thank you Tito Bert/Tita Grace for providing updates and for requesting prayers for the speedy recovery of Tita Tess. It is true that Tita Tess is still suffering severe pain but thanks God for giving her the grace to endure the pain and believe on what St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans that “I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us.” The good news is that the malignant cells are only confined at the mass in the removed lower lobe of the lung. Like Tito Bert, Tita Tess lung cancer is stage 1 and may also don't need any further treatment.
Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat. Let us continue with our prayers of thanksgiving and for the complete healing of Tito Bert, Tita Jean, Tita Ging, Tita Tess and all our other sick brothers and sisters. Let us lift our petition to our Almighty God through our Lord Jesus Christ and the intercession of our dear Virgin Mary, Amen.
Purihin ang Panginoon!
Tito Wilson & Tita Tess
Our apology to those that who are not included sa addressee. Paki forward lang po!
----- Original Message ---- From: Bert <> Sent: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 15:02:14 Subject: Updates
Tita Tess is now recovering from her operation. The surgery was done last monday at around 5pm and according to Tito Wilson, she was returned to her room at 1:30am tuesday. We have not seen or visited Tita Tess yet to give her more time to rest as suggested by Tito Wilson. Tito Wilson said that she can't talk yet or entertain visitors. She has a drain tube from her lung and she has to cough to drain the liquid from lungs but she finds it hard to cough as it is painfull just like what I have just experienced. According to Tito Wilson she is in pain although she is constantly given pain medication.
Titos & Titas let us continue with our prayers that she may be relieved of this pain and overcome these trying times. And for Tito Wilson who has been at Tita Tess bedside eversince to be stronger physically. The lord God works in mysterious ways and just like Tita Grace's prophecy "Not to worry about Tita Tess," we believe that she will be alright.
As for me although I find it inappropriate to rejoice on the good results of my histopath while Tita Tess is suffering, but I have to Praise and thank God for His goodness and to thank you all for your love and prayers. Tita Grace and I have tears in our eyes when my doctor (Dr. JESUS Mendoza) told us that the left kidney taken from me has a mass with cancer (stage 1) but he has taken it all and the other adjoining organs or tissues were not affected and I don't need any further treatment. I just need to go back for a check up after three months.
Mula po sa puso namin ni Tita Grace, maraming salamat po sa inyong mga dalangin at pagmamahal.
Praise be to HIM,
Tito Bert & Tita Grace
Tito William, pwede po paki forward na lang sa iba pa nating mga Titos & Titas na wala pa sa address book ko. Salamat po.
"And the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful." James 5:15-16
Amidst the CFC 27th Anniversary celebration our dear Tito Bert Banzon (scheduled to go under the knife) and Tita Tess (waiting for the biopsy result) still found time to join the festivities at the Quirino Grandstand last Saturday - June 21, 2008.
Prayer Request For Our Dear Tito Bert Banzon and Tita Tess Lumbao and most especially to our Tita ELVIE SEVA who is suffering from CANCER!
LET US PRAY:
Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the sick, we turn to you in this time of illness. O dearest comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with your gentle love, and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden. Dear God, we place our worries in your hands. We place our sick under your care and humbly ask that you restore your servant to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge your will and know that whatever you do, you do for the love of us.
Your kind hearts is hereby requested to pray for the healing of Tita Evelyn's mother, Marcela Diaz, who is suffering from Breast Cancer.
And pray for the soul of her sister, Elizabeth Diaz, who died Jan 8, 2008 due the same disease.
Pray for us that the Lord may give us the accepting hearts to remove the "cup of suffering" due to these trials and accept, as well, His divine Will that will be unfolded.
Let's pray as well for the father of T2 Rowell Raganas and all cancer patients that the miracle hand of the Ultimate Healer be manifested in their lives.
In Christ Jesus,
Ceballos & Diaz Families
"Bless the LORD, my soul; do not forget all the gifts of God, Who pardons all your sins, heals all your ills, Delivers your life from the pit, surrounds you with love and compassion" Psalm 103:2-4
Mr. ROMEO RAGANAS, Sr.
and
Tita ELVIE SEVA
LET US PRAY:
Father, we pray that you touch every cancer patient, heal them or grant them sufficient grace to make it through. We pray for all the doctors and nurses taking care of these dear ones. We pray for family members that God You will comfort them and grant them peace.
"And the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful." James 5:15-16
Prayer Request For Our Dear Tito Bert Banzon and Tita Tess Lumbao
LET US PRAY:
Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the sick, we turn to you in this time of illness. O dearest comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with your gentle love, and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden. Dear God, we place our worries in your hands. We place our sick under your care and humbly ask that you restore your servant to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge your will and know that whatever you do, you do for the love of us.
Consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth.…And for their sake I consecrate myself so that they too may be consecrated in truth. (John 17:17, 19)
"And the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful." James 5:15-16
PROVERBS 3:5
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not..."
A - be audible. Speak clearly, do not mumble. Speak in a way that elicits interest in your sharing.
B - be brief. A good sharing can be made in 7 minutes or less. Try to target for this. Going beyond this time, in case a particular sharing has much significant content, should be the exception. Since the overall time for sharing is limited, this affords more people the opportunity to share.
C - be Christ-centered. Do not just tell a story, however interesting it may be, but relate everything ultimately to Christ. The sharing is meant to glorify God, not just amuse or entertain people.
