Weekly Guidelines
Read this week's guidelines and be nourished as you journey with our Community in Cebu.
10/9/2017
Guidelines for Prayer: October 9-15, 2017 - As the Father Sent me, so I am sending you. Courage!As the Father Sent me, so I am sending you. Courage!October 9-15, 2017 General Theme: YOU ARE AN APOSTLE, CHOSEN AND CALLED (cf. Rom 1:1) General Objective: To deepen and strengthen the identity of being an apostle today. Objective of the week: To follow Jesus’ way of responding by having the disposition and the availability in seeing the need to be sent as His laborers
Introduction
To be an apostle is our true identity. It’s a calling and it entails an immediate response, because we are not sent by men but personally by Jesus to be His ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20). To be an apostle is to be courageous and being ready to be sent out like sheep among wolves (Lk.10:3). To be an apostle is being sensitive to the needs of others today and to speak in His name. ‘Jesus sends his disciples out to all nations. To every people. We too were part of all those people of two thousand years ago. Jesus did not provide a short list of who is, or is not, worthy of receiving his message and his presence.’ (9/23/15, Pope Francis) To be an apostle is thinking less of oneself and more for others. Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. (Pope St. John XXIII) Monday “..in all things God works for good” Rom 8:28 We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose. Mk 6:34-37 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things. When it was getting late, his disciples came to him and said, “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. Send the people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy themselves something to eat.” “You yourselves give them something to eat,” Jesus answered. They asked, “Do you want us to go and spend two hundred silver coins on bread in order to feed them?” Being an apostle is seeing the needs of others, being moved with compassion, and thinking and doing good works toward them. We have been blessed with many good things by God. What goodness can we give to them? Tuesday “Be ready to give yourself” 1 Thes. 2:8 Because of our love for you we were ready to share with you not only the Good News from God but even our own lives. You were so dear to us! 1 Thes. 3:2 while we sent Timothy, our brother who works with us for God in preaching the Good News about Christ. We sent him to strengthen you and help your faith, Being an apostle is being ready to give oneself for the sake of the Gospel; being courageous to share the word and become light for others. Whoever has a heart full of love always has something to give. (Pope St.John XXIII) What have you listened from Jesus today that you’re ready to share? Wednesday (Pope St. John XXIII) “Knowing whom I have trusted” 2 Tim 1:11-14 God has appointed me as an apostle and teacher to proclaim the Good News, and it is for this reason that I suffer these things. But I am still full of confidence, because I know whom I have trusted, and I am sure that he is able to keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me. Hold firmly to the true words that I taught you, as the example for you to follow, and remain in the faith and love that are ours in union with Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, keep the good things that have been entrusted to you. “I do not understand a Christian standing still! A Christian who does not walk, I do not understand him! A Christian must walk! . . . Christians standing still: this harms, because what is still, what does not walk, spoils. Like still water, which is the first water to stagnate, water which doesn’t flow.... (7/28/14, Pope Francis) Being an apostle is being most trusted by Jesus to announce the Good News; being confident enough to give the Word, for the Holy Spirit is with him and ready to work for the conversion of many hearts. Do we trust Jesus enough to make us move and do His will? Thursday (Our Lady of the Pillar) “Be persistent in seeking for God’s help” Lk.11:9-10 And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks. Being an apostle is being the one who never gets weary of asking, knocking and waiting for God’s help. The one who is not reluctant to approach Jesus in moments of tiredness, burned out, impatience, boredom. Are we persistent enough to ask from Jesus to activate our enthusiasm for the mission? Friday “Letting ourselves be push always by Jesus towards others” Lk.11:28 But Jesus answered, “Rather, how happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” Lk.4:42-43 At daybreak Jesus left the town and went off to a lonely place. The people started looking for him, and when they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving. But he said to them, “I must preach the Good News about the Kingdom of God in other towns also, because that is what God sent me to do.”So he preached in the synagogues throughout the country. Being an apostle is being one like Jesus who “always embrace life as he saw it. In faces of pain, hunger, sickness and sin. In faces of wounds, of thirst, of weariness, doubt and pity. Far from expecting a pretty life, smartly-dressed and neatly groomed, he embraced life as he found it. It made no difference whether it was dirty, unkempt,broken.” (Pope Francis) Are we aware that our presence in the different life’s situation can make a difference? Saturday “Keep listening and keeping the Word, ‘I am sending you'” John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 2 Tim 2:9-10 Because I preach the Good News, I suffer and I am even chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not in chains, and so I endure everything for the sake of God's chosen people, in order that they too may obtain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and brings eternal glory. …Jesus said: Go out and tell the good news to everyone. Go out and in my name embrace life as it is, and not as you think it should be. Go out to the highways and byways, go out to tell the good news fearlessly, without prejudice, without superiority, without condescension, to all those who have lost the joy of living. Go out to proclaim the merciful embrace of the Father. Go out to those who are burdened by pain and failure, who feel that their lives are empty, and proclaim the folly of a loving Father..(Pope Francis) Being an apostle is being the one who listens attentively and wholeheartedly, doing God’s will for his people. Lord, to whom are you sending me today? Sunday Sunday of Cultures (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time) First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10 Resp. Psalm: Ps. 23:1-6 Second Reading: Phil.12-14,19-20 Gospel: Mt.22:1-14 |
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