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Chapter 13 to 18 of the Acts of the Apostle center on St. Paul's missionary journey. From being a persecutor of the Church to being a passionate preacher of the Gospel, St. Paul - moved and filled by the Holy Spirit - traveled from one city to another around the Roman Empire, to introduce Jesus as the Messiah and to create and strengthen evangelizing communities. While his message was accepted in many places, he also encountered different oppositions and rejections which illustrates the reality of our journey as followers of Christ. Despite of this, the early Church continued to grow and was strengthened with his accompaniment. As Verbum Dei, we could draw inspiration and encouragement from his determination and perseverance in evangelization and in creating and strengthening our evangelizing communities. “The Verbum Dei Missionary Family in its announcement of the Word and formation of communities of evangelical life, evangelized, and evangelizing, also wishes to live and manifest the untiring missionary zeal of St. Paul in his humility of knowing himself to be a collaborator, and with profound gratitude for the grace received.” (Identity and Mission of the Verbum Dei Missionary Family no. 26)
MONDAY (APRIL 29) Acts 13 Acts 13 marks the beginning of the missionary journey of Paul. Together with Barnabas, they were set apart by the Holy Spirit and sent out with the prayers and blessings of the community in Antioch. Relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit and on the support of their community, their preaching led to the conversion of some Jews and Gentiles to believe in Jesus as the Messiah and strengthened their conviction despite the persecution that they also faced. Looking at our personal and communitarian journey of following Christ as Verbum Dei, how do we experience the grace of the Holy Spirit and the mutual help in the community helping us to persevere in our life of prayer and mission? In what ways do you feel and don’t feel supported by the community in living out your baptismal consecration? In what way can you express your support to the members of the community? “…The members of the VDMFa feel co-responsible for one another, mutually helping each other to discover and develop to the máximum their vocation tol ove and baptismal consecration…” (Identity and Mission of the Verbum Dei Missionary Family no. 86) TUESDAY (APRIL 30) Acts 14 The example of how Paul and Barnabas handled both admiration and persecution in their missionary journey in Acts 14 is for us a strong example of humility and dedication to the mission of evangelization. When treated as a god after healing a crippled man, Paul and Barnabas immediately refused and rejected the praise and took it instead as an opportunity to preach Christ to them. When stoned and dragged out of the town because of people’s unbelief to what they were preaching, they continued preaching in Derbe and visit again the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia to strengthen and encourage the believers to remain true to their faith despite the challenges. May it be in the face of admiration and persecution, Paul and Barnabas were firm and convinced of the intentionality of their mission . What about us? How do we respond to admiration and persecution in our life of faith? Do we take both as an opportunity to encourage and lead the people to an encounter with God? Or dowe fall into self-righteousness when praised and into discouragement when rejected? WEDNESDAY (MAY 1) Acts 15 This chapter narrates the tension that happened in the early Christian community, and how it was resolved by the Council of Jerusalem. There was a debate among believers whether the Gentile converts would need to follow the Jewish custom of circumcision in order to be saved. To address this issue, Paul and Barnabas, together with some believers, apostles, and elders engaged in an active dialogue -- listening to one another and to the Word of God, sharing with sincerity their concerns, and discerning the movement of the Spirit as one community. Eventually, they came up with the decision that Gentile converts did not need to adhere to the Jewish custom -- a decision that transmitted God's grace and mercy beyond rules and God's desire for unity and communion. Conflicts due to differences are inevitable in our family, workplace, and community. How do you deal with them? Do you also create safe spaces for healthy dialogue? Or you avoid them as much as you can? Do you seek guidance from the Holy Spirit in dealing with such circumstances? How do you live the spirituality of communion that we are called to live? “In all areas where the VDMD is present, we are called to live the spirituality of communion as witnesses and architects of the project that God desires for all humanity..” (VDMD Regulations no. 97) Let us ask the Holy Spirit that He may forge and cultivate in us a heart that is synodal -- a heart that is humble to listen ,sincere to express, and open and sensitive to the movement of the Spirit so that we can be a bridge of peace and communion in the reality where we are. Let us pray also for many realities that suffer from brokenness and violence because of lack of dialogue. THURSDAY (MAY 2) Acts 16 Paul begins his second missionary journey. Along with Silas and Timothy, they travelled around Roman colonies to preach the Gospel. In this chapter, three conversion stories were highlighted:
From this, there are two points that we could reflect on:
“..Therefore, we VDMDs must consider ourselves as being on a journey of ongoing missionary formation. For this reason, we will try to live a humble attitude of daily conversion, putting the means at our disposal to maintain the identity of the VDMD until the end.” (VDMD Regulations no. 66) FRIDAY (MAY 3) Acts 17 – 18 In these two chapters, Paul continued to encounter various kinds of people with different cultural, social, and political status in life where he had the opportunity to preach Jesus as the Messiah. He was able to engage with the Jews, Gentiles, open-minded people of Berea, Greek men and women of high social standing, Epicurian and Stoic teachers, city Council of Areopagus, and tentmakers Aquila and Priscilla. While his message found opposition and rejection, many also believed and expressed interest in knowing Jesus. Indeed, the Word of God is for ALL! It transcends all forms of diversity. Yet to reach out to people with different social status, political and cultural background, and specific reality, we need to be courageous and sensitive in the way we transmit the life and love of God so that our efforts of evangelization could truly be a transformative experience for them like what St. Paul did. Looking at your personal and our communal efforts in evangelization, how do you/we take into consideration the background and the reality of the people when we reach out and preach to them? Do we consider their level of understanding, social status, language, etc. in tranmissiting the Word of God? Or we reach out and preach in the way most convenient to us? “The Verbum Dei missión can adopt various forms and spaces according to the call, creativity, and possibilities of its members and different sensibilities of the people and persons to whom it is addressed. The greatest effectiveness in the announcement and propagation of the Kingdom Will always determine the spirit, action, methods and techniques of apostolate so that each group and each eprson can carry out the Verbum Dei Mission.” .” (Identity and Mission of the Verbum Dei Missionary Family no. 44) Let us pray that like St. Paul, we could be missionary disciples who are authentic and effective evangelizers to ALL and for ALL. PRAYER FOR THE CONGRESS To be held in Loeches, Spain from August 30 – September 27, 2024 “Communion, Consecration and Participation in the Mission” Father, you who create and sustain all things with your love, we ask you to make us artisans of communion, so that as we journey towards the Congress we may know how to welcome the diversity that characterizes us as the Verbum Dei Missionary Family.
Jesus, human face of God, consecrate us to your Word so that the Congress may be prepared and carried out in profound fidelity to your voice, listening to each one of us and to the signs of the times. Holy Spirit, you who open rivers in the desert, guide us in this time of discernment and decision, so that we may live, embody and offer our charism ever more fully, so that all the baptized may participate in the mission of Jesus entrusted to the Church. Accompany us, Mary, with your loving motherly presence and intercession, so that this Congress may be a channel of hope in which God transforms us and makes all things new. Amen.
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About the Guidelines SheetThe Guidelines sheet is a prayer guide with the Word of God to help us journey together and be one in our weekly prayer as one community. This contains daily passages from scriptures together with reflections focused on a common theme and intention for the week. Archives
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