Message from Lucía Herrerías Guerra, President FMVD

Dear Fraternity and entire FaMVD:
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Within a few days, on June 25, we will celebrate the first anniversary of the departure of Jaime Bonet to full life with his beloved Trinity and Mary. I say well: we will celebrate, because it is the feast of eternal life that he always preached to us. On several occasions we heard him tell how in moments of difficulty, trial and desolation, he "went away" to coexist with those of heaven, where everything looked differently.

Throughout this year, we have experienced in different ways their new form of presence among us, and we have grown in the desire to know the spirituality we have received, to value and deepen the charism that has left us as an inheritance.
In the change of time that we live as Humanity, we have the task of learning to "look where Jaime looked" to reinterpret, guided by the Holy Spirit, the charisma and mission of the Verbum Dei responding to the signs of the times.

We celebrate the anniversary of Jaime in the context of the preparation of the Fifth Ordinary General Congress: there are many issues that concern us, many projects that we dream of, many challenges that we face. But also, our world and the reality of the Verbum Dei offers us many opportunities that we need to take advantage of, to launch ourselves to the mission with the freshness of the Gospel, driven by the constant renewing dynamism of the Holy Spirit.

In Siete Aguas, on June 24, we will celebrate a Thanksgiving Eucharist for the life of Jaime. On that day as well as on the 25th, surely in all the communities a commemorative activity will be organized, so that we will be united with the intimate bonds of Family, accompanied by all our brothers and sisters who are already in heaven: our ancestors, who they encourage us to walk towards the goal, without being discouraged, and getting up, if necessary, seven hundred times seven each day.

On June 24 - happy coincidence - is the solemnity of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, a beloved Saint of Jaime. We ask the forerunner to help us discern structures, methods and means in our mission, so that they have the thickness of their finger, and nothing in our life hides the Jesus we want to announce so that people meet Him and have Life.

Very united in prayer and mission, and that Jaime, from the bosom of the Trinity, does not stop orienting us on the way.
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Lucía Herrerías Guerra
President FMVD

Last June 2 was a memorable day for Verbum Dei Pasig. It was a dream come true for eight couples from our neighbors and from the nearby barangays of our area as they received the Sacrament of Matrimony. 

They tied the knots in the parish where we belong, San Agustin Parish, followed by a discrete but meaningful reception in our very own Apostolate Center. It was great to witness the couples who still believe in a life time commitment to each other and to raise their families rooted in the faithful love of God. They carry in their hearts the message of Jesus to “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:).

This was actually the framework of their five Sundays formation that our Verbum Dei Couples
facilitated. We thank God for his faithfulness to these couples, and to the Verbum Dei disciples who
accompanied them in their journey, as well as the sponsors and benefactors, for their support made possible this dream come true!

See some photos of the event:

As part of our desire to bring the Word of God to everyone, we have launched our national communications for our Verbum Dei family here in the Philippines! 

You can reach us in the different platforms like our website, social media, radio and written word (e.g. newsletter, articles, etc). 

For any questions, suggestions or if you would like to share your talents, please let us know by sending us a message at our Contact Us page.

Hello family and friends!

Read the first issue of our Word News, our National Newsletter here in the Philippines. 
Read the embedded PDF below or download the PDF file and read it offline. Enjoy!

“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” 
(Proverbs: 22:6) 

Recently we had a formation entitled “Parenting Children of the Third Millennium”. Many say that parenting is a lifelong job, and yet, proper parenting is never really taught. When parents raise their children, they often struggle with discovering what the do’s and don’ts are. This is a reality that even young couples themselves are facing nowadays. 

We were so privileged to have Yoyoy and Lucy, one of the Verbum Dei missionary couples, to give us the formation. Among the highlights were the importance of listening, memories and the beauty of discipline in handling our children. Listening is an active reaching out to another person’s attempt to express him or herself with all our antennae out. It is not just hearing words, in a passive way. Memories are the end product of parenthood; how much quality time we spent with our children matters most. And the beauty of discipline which lies in the parent-child relationship. Indeed parenting is one of the toughest jobs in the world but the heart-melting moments make it worthwhile. 

Oftentimes, we, parents, get so caught up with our responsibilities in raising our children that we sometimes compromise the quality of the relationship we build with them. As parents, we feel responsible and we want to raise our children right. We want them to become successful. Often we are afraid to make mistakes because we worry that these mistakes will stay with our kids forever. Many parents, like me, feel like the kind of upbringing we had needs to be altered for modern times. We attempt to learn to be better parents. We teach our children to share, say the magic words, proper behaviour in public places, right manners and so on…But is it really good enough? What kind of parents are we to our children? 

In continuation to this formation, another followed entitled, “Mom + Dad + I = The True Team”. Ate Aida discussed different parenting styles. Are we authoritarian? Are we permissive? Or are we authoritative? Our parenting style greatly affects the behaviour and attitudes of our children. Authoritarian parents are aggressive, lack warmth and comfort, are hostile towards the child and harsh and rigid in their discipline. While being permissive is a mix of authoritarian and uninvolved parenting. It also means not setting expectations and being inconsistent with rules. Authoritative parenting is listening to their children’s point of view and taking it into account, having a structured and secure environment and setting high standards of behaviour and achievement for their children. The relationship we want with our children is possible when we teach them to be independent of us. When we give them wings, they can soar. Parenting is the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings. As with any risk, we have to take a leap of faith and ask lots of wonderful people for their help and guidance. 
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I thank the Verbum Dei Community for giving us such great formations which will help us in raising our children. And lastly, I thank God every day for giving me the opportunity to be a parent. ​