​Heirs… and Apostleship
Local Assembly Cebu, 10 Feb 2019

The Verbum Dei family in Cebu was happy to hold its … (guess what number…) tenth Local assembly! This was a moment for the local community to share, review, plan and celebrate its commitment to the mission entrusted to them.

The day kicked off with the Eucharist where we all had the chance to reflect on the Gospel (Luke 5:1-11) and the call of Jesus to “push out into deep waters.” Where are those deeper waters? To take more risks in our missionary outreach? To bring our charism more to the world of today? In the call we understand it also presupposes going deeper into the love of Christ.

It was very encouraging to see the participation of all the missionary family in their reports – from the enthusiasm of the kids, through the energy of the youth and teens, the singles, the mamas, up to including the faithful apostles at 83 years old (no names mentioned).

Teambuilding followed where the differing realities were represented by a creative symbol. The various committees gave updates and there followed a job fair where you could sign up, knowing that “the harvest is big and the laborers are few” (Luke 10:2).

A Local Assembly is fully in line with the call of the Church. Pope Francis wrote “In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love. Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are “disciples” and “missionaries”, but rather that we are always “missionary disciples” (Evangelii Gaudium, no. 120).

As Verbum Dei we are heirs of a very rich charism, received from the Holy Spirit through the life of Jaime Bonet. This charism is to be shared to the Church and the world of today. If we believe, we will speak (see 2 Cor 4:13), and pray and also invite new people. We are called to form apostles. As Jaime Bonet reminded us “People are formed by doing and above all by enabling others to also do; making others to act, forming School of Apostles – practicing -- where everyone really can do something… The disciples to be apostles have to act. If they do not act, they do not advance” (See “Form Apostles” by J. McTavish, pages 39 & 43). As Verbum Dei, we are called not just to be listeners or mere hearers but we are called to be doers who act according to what we hear in God’s Word (see James 1:22). It was very encouraging to see our disciples active in various ways including signing up to help lead various forthcoming Lenten recollections.

What are you doing to build up the Kingdom? Don’t just sit there, do something!
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May the Holy Spirit always move us as Verbum Dei to be faithful. Mother Mary, Queen of Apostles, thank you for the gift of our Local Assemblies. May we be faithful to all we have discussed and decided there. Amen. 

Here are some photos of the event:

Cebu City - Our family here in Cebu has just recently concluded the 6th local family assembly last Feb. 5, 2017 which was held in the apostolate center in Banawa, Cebu City. The theme was on the passage on Isaiah 54:2: "Enlarge the space of your tent