News
Read the news from events, activities and other updates on the different communities here in the Philippines
For three Saturdays, from March 13 to 27, we had a series of youth online encounters entitled “You are loved.” A total of fifty (50) young people from age 16 to 24 joined the event and for the majority of them it was the first-time to meet the Verbum Dei community.
The first session was given by Gelo Balsita with the theme “You are loved.” Through his prayer and personal experience, he shared how God the Father loves us. Some of the participants expressed their gratitude to God that amidst the pandemic, He has been so generous and caring. One of the fruits also was to experience the unconditional and merciful love of the Father as we prayed the passage of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). The guidelines on the second session were from James McTavish with a theme “You are love.” He shared to the youth that our truest and most profound identity is “love”. We were invited to “update” not only the application of our mobile phones but our faith! The idea of “investing” our time in important things such as to discover our real identity struck some of the youth. The youth also enjoyed the moment of prayer in silence which is yearned for during these challenging times. The third session was an encounter with the Word themed “You are for love” guided by Jojo David. He shared with us that true happiness can be found in God. We were reminded that God is with us especially amidst loads of studies and being just quarantined in the house. Despite sometimes feeling lonely, God wants us to be happy. This reminds us of the prayer of young Jaime Bonet, “if you exist, make me happy”. One female participant powerfully shared that her joy comes not from material and external things but from her deep interior relationship with God. Despite the range of ages, including both teenagers and youth, the environment of the encounter was light, joyful, meaningful, and the insights from both groups were enlightening. After finishing the series, some of them expressed their desires to continue having these kinds of encounters once or twice a month. The Lord has been gracious to the youth during this time of Lent. We pray that these young men and women continue this path that they have begun, of knowing and creating a relationship with God through His Word. To join more youth online encounters, you may contact Gelo Balsita at angelobalsita@gmail.com or 09615353162. Every year, we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation in a special way since this is the feast day of Verbum Dei. This year, the different communities from Australia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam gathered in an online rosary to pray together with our Mother Mary. It was a beautiful moment of praying as an ecclesial community where the three branches were present. We started with an introduction by Melaine Sallador who renewed her vows that day. She gave thanks for the gift of our Mother who accompanies her in her journey as a missionary. Each mystery was then led by the different countries. It was also a moment to catch up and see each other even just in front of the screen. We give thanks to our Mother who always unites us as one fraternity and encourages us always to be ready to say YES to God. We give thanks for the participation of everyone and for celebrating this feast together with Mary. By Verbum Dei Tagaytay
3/22/2021
Time to Awaken the FaithLent is a time of reflection, a time when people seek answers about faith like is there really a God? Why do we experience sufferings? These questions paved the way for the Ephphata Singles Group of Verbum Dei Quezon City to have an online formation entitled Awaken the Faith in you last March 21, 2021 via Zoom headed by Fr. Iwao Ikegami FMVD.
With 19 people attending online, including participants from Malaysia and Cagayan De Oro, Fr. Iwao discussed aspects about the Catholic Faith like the importance of Sign of the Cross, Why Do We Need To Confess to a Priest, and Why There is Suffering among others. The formation also had a panel discussion where the participants had the chance to ask questions and share thoughts about the things that were discussed. It was an enriching session, questions were raised and thoughts were expressed. Indeed there is a desire of the Singles Group to enrich their faith. This Lent, may we have time to connect to God, talk to him, ask him questions, and express to him our joys and sufferings. After all Jesus is always with us, waiting for us to come to him - “Come to me all you are burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
3/19/2021
Zooming into God’s Holy PresenceGathering with family, friends, and community for prayer meetings, Bible study, and worship used to be commonplace. But in one swoop of the pandemic, being locked down in our homes and isolated from our community somehow crippled our ability to exercise such with fellow lovers of God. Nonetheless, the Lord wouldn’t want us to lose enthusiasm in our practice of faith. In fact, he has graciously rejuvenated our desire and thirst for keeping the lines with Him intact. Through God’s sufficient grace, technology, and amazing people behind it, the School of the Word has carried on ─ online, via Zoom. The first ever “Zoom SOW” for Manila-Pasig was launched on January 27, 2021 and has since been running every Wednesday at 8:00 in the evening. I remember the Scripture passage that night was Joshua 1:9 and just as Joshua reminds us to “not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go,” we also recognize that the Presence of God and online presence of fellow believers defy boundaries and platforms. By meeting regularly in such a sacred time and space to listen to the Word of God, to see how it manifests in the life of others through testimonies, and to bask in His presence through a time of prayer and reflection, the Zoom SOW has helped me have a growing and deepening connection with God. Truly, the Word of God is living and active, loving and transforming. By Imee Sioco
3/11/2021
Preach the Word to Reach the WorldDisciples gathered virtually in the two-part school of preaching conducted by the Verbum Dei Missionaries last February 20 and 27, 2021. The event aimed to prepare and enhance Verbum Dei disciples to share the Word of God. Sr. Cecilia Teo started with a brief discussion about prayer. Participants were reminded about the importance of dialogue with God to have a meaningful and fruitful preaching. The first part mainly focused on the preparation steps and ended with some exercises. A follow up session was done where participants discussed the outline of preaching. Each part was carefully discussed, and every attendee was given a chance to have their own outline. The second session allowed the participants to digest the learnings with more than three exercises. My sister and I was able to attend the second session. Although I was given a lot of chance to preach, I know that the school of preaching will help me understand more the essence of preaching the Word. As I attended this session, I now know how to properly organize the thoughts and fruits from my prayer. From this, I also realized that the Word of God speaks differently to all of us. God’s message is indeed personal. As the two sessions concluded, everyone was encouraged to prepare in preaching the Word of God to reach the people around the world. By Justine Clare Bajados
We have known the love of God and have believed in it. God is love. (1 John 4,16) The Missionary Married Couples Discernment Course in the Philippines culminated the month of hearts with a Formation on the Beauty of Marriage. Prayer guidelines were given by Fr. James McTavish from faraway UK and a Formation Talk was delivered by Bimbo Abrio from Cagayan de Oro, the City of Golden Friendship. All the couples had the opportunity to reflect and share about their history of love and marriage. Ten Things We Learned about the Beauty of Marriage
BONUS Many are digging for treasure in the wrong places! Living marriage well means helping people find the right place to dig. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! (Romans 10,15) With thanks to Cecilia & Resti Bautista and the WordNews team
I am Zimon Claudio G. Romero and I found out about the tweens recollection from the Teens group chat invitation. We, Verbum Dei Teens helped out to make the recollection possible on January 30, 2021 with Tiffany as host, Santino doing the welcome greetings, Angel and Jojire sharing the talks, James and Louise doing the games and Tonet as registration head.
The theme of the Tweens recollection was “You are My Hope.” It started at 10 AM and after the welcome greetings done by Santino we had some games to keep us energized and to have some fun. After the games we had a talk about hope and we learned that we should always have hope in God and as teens we should grow up carrying this learning that he is really our hope. Growing up we will face many challenges, problems, disappointments and successes. And to know that God is our friend gives me the confidence that he is always there for us, so life ahead of us should be very interesting. Other than that we also had case studies where we were grouped and given different situations and we had to share what we would do in that situation with our group. For example, we were given a situation “Because of quarantine you were not able to talk to your best friend for a while but you made new friends with your neighbors and when you meet your friend again your friend is jealous and sad,” we had to share to our group how to act with hope in that situation. We also had candle drawing where we had to draw and decorate our own candle of hope and write our own message of hope in the candle. To summarize the recollection, it was fun, and we learned that God is our hope. And if you read this you should attend our next activity and invite other young people to attend too!
1/22/2021
To See the Face of GodThe 3rd Discernment Course for Missionary Married Couples in the Philippines is now on its third month. On January 17, 2021 their Formation coincided with a triple celebration: the 58th Verbum Dei Foundation Anniversary, the 17th Wedding Anniversary of one of the couples Imelda and Manuel Manceli, and the Feast of the Sto. Niño. Indeed, it was a unique opportunity to give thanks for our history and heritage, and to celebrate our Verbum Dei family around the world today. Formator Mae Paguia imparted Prayer Guidelines inspired by the calling of the prophet Samuel and the calling of the first disciples of Jesus. She emphasized that our Verbum Dei spirituality hinges on our mission to point those around us to God, to place them in contact with God and to teach them how to pray with the Word. And in our specific reality of marriage and family life, this mission begins at home in our “hidden life.” God is also saving us through the call and concerns of our spouse and children. Cristian Alvarado shared, “I recall receiving the call to Christ in my youth in Costa Rica. In front of the Church was a plaza where we play football and had many distractions. Today, the distractions are much nearer to home. I am thankful that God bends down to answer our cry (Psalm 40:1). Jesus came down and today the Holy Spirit is with us. I put in the hands of God all my struggles.” Recollecting her encounters with the first misioneras, formator Marisol Diaz fondly remembered their smiles, their joy and peace, even in the midst of pain and illness. She encouraged us to “find someone like Eli who helped Samuel to meet God. Be docile to those who preserve the voice of God. Ask Him to help you interpret His voice.” The second part of the Formation centered on the means of the Verbum Dei spirituality, focusing on Conjugal Dialogue, Conjugal Prayer, Revision of Life and Marital Accompaniment. Formators Marisol and her husband Antonio Miralles facilitated an interactive session drawing on the experience and practice of all the couples. “Marriage is truly a sign of the grace of God,” Cecilia Bautista reflected, “I pray that God teaches me to look at my spouse in that way, even in the thick of day to day demands and expectations. Marriage is a beautiful gift to take care of! I pray to be more purposeful and to take seriously the means made available to us.” Formator Bimbo Abrio enthused, “God calls and re-calls. I am thankful for the dynamism of prayer in marriage. Your spouse is your automatic and captive audience. He or she can reinforce and confirm your prayer and help you to understand better and faster. Prayer shared is prayer assimilated. Someone is always helping and confirming your needs in prayer.” “You are the proper help for your spouse,” were the final words of exhortation from Antonio. As we endeavor to grow and bear fruit as couples, may we have eyes to see God’s face, and ears to hear God’s voice. As we strive to practice the means of the Verbum Dei spirituality, we pray as Eli instructed to Samuel, “Speak LORD, for your servant is listening.” With thanks to Resti Bautista and the WordNews team
TESTIMONY of EL-EL and ANN of Cebu, Philippines Thirteen (13) Missionary Married Couples from the Philippines, Australia, Spain and Portugal together with James in England had an on-line Spiritual Exercises last Dec. 26-30, 2020. We are very grateful to the Holy Trinity and Mary through the self-giving of Antonio, Marisol, Miguel, Paula, Cookie, Bimbo and James. The 5 days of prayer has really fostered our being contemplative-active.
“Let us rejoice because we are his chosen one” as Marisol told, regarding the passage of Acts 6:4 “… and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the WORD.” The Lord invited us “to give everything to the mission with a full-heart rather than full-time” through Miguel, Antonio challenged us “to sell everything for the marriage project --- for marriage is God’s plan for His people”. In our prayer, the Holy Trinity gave us the light to see how essential unity is in marriage and in the journey of mission --- of forming apostles of Christ. “Learn to live for each other, co-exist with imperfection and hold its peace before the limitations of the loved one” as Antonio mentioned. Thus, Paula encouraged us to “value what each one has to give” – this message came through very strongly for us. The Lord lovingly told us to see the potential of others --- the contributions that they can offer and give to the Mystical Body of Christ. Likewise, the Lord has inspired us through the sharing of Miguel and Paula on the challenge that being ecclesial brings. Moments come that you are not one in mind and heart but still ONE in the goal of imitating Jesus and forming apostles of Christ. We were invited to nourish our love from the source of love through the Holy Eucharist which brought us to Psalm 86:11 “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” God invited us through Marisol to go to the inner castle of our being where the Trinity dwells. So, we went to Mary and told her, teach us to put things that we do not understand in our heart --- in our inner castle like she did. It led us to Matthew 2:12 “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” Mary told us to take a new route --- live a new life in communion and serving the Trinity. Pondering on what Miguel said “serving God is not a part-time job, it is our work.” We believe that this “communion with the Trinity will bear fruit which is the mission” as James announced. Thus, we bring to continued prayer Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …”
12/10/2020
Spirituality of FundraisingA webinar on funds and fund raising The Verbum Dei Catholic Missionary Family in Cebu organized a webinar on Funds and Fund Raising and was realized last Sunday, November 28, 2020. The activity was well-attended, and thanks to stable internet signals, it was just like having a good weather that the attendees held on to listen until the last cast had spoken. The topics and the resource speakers were up to their billing. Though not to be outdone were the organizers who kept the audience lively and accorded contributors with generous remarks and certificates of appreciation. The talk about Financial Stewardship given by Bro. Ric Martinez must have raised the eyebrows of the attendees when he went on to tell the secrets of the billionaires. The Christian financial equation that incorporates biblical component in it, tithes and offerings to please the Lord. The topic Spirituality of Fundraising and Stories of Giving was well-articulated by Sister Mirasol Abala and Bro. Mario Deriquito. We were enlightened that such activity (fundraising) was essential in a mission, and that it is a necessary component ministry in a religious organization. Similarly, a creative means to raise funds provides an avenue for a cheerful giver to express his or her intent for charity. Then Bro. Yoyoy finally captured the heart of the digital audience with his emotional discourse on the topic of Tithing. It then elicited a lively interaction from the enthusiastic crowd. The webinar ended with a lot of rich lessons for spiritual reflections. Kudos to the organizers and thanks be to God above all. With thanks to Vic Gocela and the WordNews team
|
Archives
April 2024
CategoriesAll Advent Articles Bohol CDO Cebu Christmas Couples Ctk Disciples Retreat Easter Encounter Event Family Bonding Fmvd FMVD President Formation Friends Of Verbum Dei Fundraising General Congress 2018 Gift Giving Hiking Holy Week International Kids Leadership Camp Lenten Local Assembly Luzon Manila Manila/Pasig Marrried Couple Missionaries Mission Trip Music Festival Musuan National Family Encounter 2015 National Family Encounter 2017 Newsletter NFE2020 Olango Online Retreat Outreach Pansol Pasig Pentecost Philippines Pilgrimage Prayer Camp Quezon City Recollection Retreat School Of Apostles School Of The Word Semi-silent Retreat Senior High School Siete Aguas Silent Retreat Singapore Singles Song Forum Spiritual Exercises Tagaytay Teens Testimony TGIS Toledo Valentines Valentines Celebration Vietnam Visit To The Archbishop Working Group Workshop Youth Youth Days |