CBCP Monitor

C1

February 2 - 15, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 3

The News Supplement of

Couples for Christ

Love More! The 2015

CFC International Leaders Conference
By Aiza Garnica

THE Mall of Asia Arena became a sea of red last January

10 as thousands of members
of Couples for Christ, clad in
the red Love More shirts, filled
the venue to attend the communitys first major global activity
for 2015.

Held annually during the second week

of January, the Leaders Conference, the
biggest gathering of CFC missionaries
from all over the world, had the theme
LOVE MORE, inspired by John 21:15-17.
To formally start the event, the PNPA
Marching Band played the CFC Theme to
accompany the Parade of Flags of 128 countries and 7 territories where CFC is active.
Davis Abuel, SOLD Provincial Coordinator of Leyte, led the crowd in a
powerful opening worship. To help the
CFC community remember God's faithfulness, El Gamma Penumbra performed
an exceptionally moving shadow dance
depicting the victories and trials of the

Catch More By Loving More

By Aiza Garnica

Four hundred and nine

leaders of Couples for Christ
from 40 countries gathered
as one last January 9, 2015
(Friday) at SMX Convention
Center in Pasay City, Philippines.

To know more how to Love More was

the main focus of the 3rd CFC Global
Leaders Empowerment Convention, as it
is also the communitys theme for 2015.
The event officially started with the
celebration of the Holy Mass, with Fr.

Mario Sobrejuanite as main presider,

together with Fr. Mrutyunjay Digal of
India as concelebrant. During his final
blessing, Fr. Mario encouraged everyone
to Go and truly shine brightly with the
light of Christ.
After the Holy Mass, the CFC leaders
raised their hands in worship to thank the
Lord for a fruitful year that was and to ask
for Gods mercy to do more for this year.
The worship was led by Alex Gosianto,
National Director of CFC Indonesia.
George Campos, the CFC Executive
Director and Metro Manila Missions
Director, shared the CFC Global Report
for 2014 and challenged everyone to

not be afraid to go on mission and spread

the Good News to the ends of the earth.
He exhorted everyone to be mindful that
What we have done, though impressive,
is still too little. We need to love more.
Manny Garcia, Nonoy Dalman, Jimmy
Ilagan, Mannix Ocampo and James
Solano, continent overseers of Africa,
the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, respectively, presented reports on
evangelization efforts in their continents,
highlighting breakthroughs, new areas and
territories and specific challenges encountered. All of them echoed one appeal -- for

previous years.
Session 1, titled "Love", was delivered
by CFC Executive Director George Campos with sharers Cynthia Campos and
Rachel Arguelles who both inspired the
audience with their personal love stories
with the Lord.
ANCOP Scholar Eugene Rubio thanked
the community for giving him the chance
to have a better future through the gift of
education. As a token of gratitude for the
community's generosity, he promised to
do well in school and make CFC proud
of having him as a scholar.
CFC Chairman Joe Tale gave the community's marching orders in the second
session titled "Feed My Sheep." Picking
up from Campos bold statements that
to love more means we are to pray more,
study more, serve more, fellowship more,
and hunger more for the sacraments, Tale
shared that the true measure of loving our
God is when we fully commit to obey His
command and feed His sheep.
Glenn Santayana, CFC USA serving in
South America, inspired the crowd to be
bold enough to say yes to the Lord despite

uncertainties, knowing fully that when

God calls, He equips. Aileen Serrano, wife
of the late Bob Serrano, leader of the 29
AD Band and core member of the national
music ministry, moved the audience with
a powerful insight called "finishing grace"
- dying in faith, dying with joy, and becoming everything that God wants you to be.
The sessions ended with the members
of the International Council leading the
community in a Prayer of Empowerment, recognizing that CFC cannot move
forward as one and cannot accomplish
anything without the grace of God. This
was followed by a spirit-filled praisefest led
by young couple and KFC FTPWs Chino
and Gretchen Santos.
The event concluded with the highest
form of worship, the Holy Mass, officiated
by Most Rev. Guillermo Afable, Bishop of
Digos, Davao del Sur, with CFC Spiritual
Director Msgr. Allen Aganon, Fr. Socrates
Mesiona of the Pontifical Missions Societies, and other brother priests who have
become partners with CFC in renewing
families and building generations of
Christian leaders.

CFC Defines Mission to the

Poor at the BCOP Summit

GLEC 3 / C2

By Aiza Garnica

In the spirit of its twofold mission of Building

the Church of the Home
and Building the Church of
the Poor, Couples for Christ
held the BCOP Summit on
January 10, 2015 at the SMX
Convention Center. BCOP,
or Building the Church of

the Poor, is CFCs umbrella

organization for its work
with the poor program.

Present in the event were BCOP

leaders, led by BCOP head and International Council member Jose Yamamoto,
and representatives from areas where
CFC actively serves.
Jaycee Dela Cruz, BCOP fulltime
worker, opened the program with the
BCOP / C2

C2

February 2 - 15, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 3

CBCP Monitor

The Popes Challenge to Love More

Joe Tale

The Real Meaning Of

Love More
When the IC emerged from our
September 2014 annual retreat with
a new theme Love More - taken
from John 21:15-17, we did not
fully anticipate what the theme
would require from all of us in
community.

We knew that Love More emerged from Jesus

question to Peter: Do you love me more than
these? We knew that Jesus asked this same question three times and Peters reply of Yes, Lord
each time elicited Jesuss response of Feed my
sheep. We knew that Jesus was giving Peter three
chances to negate the three instances of his betrayal.
What we didnt know then was how far our own
understanding of Feed my sheep would take us
or how much would be expected of us.
As we began to internalize the theme Love
More, we realized all of us in community are being
asked by the Lord to do so much more than we ever
did in our entire 33 year history. It was humbling
to realize that even as we took pride in our many
accomplishments 128 countries and 7 territories,
new programs and ministries, our Vatican recognition, testimonials from clergy all over the world
we have actually not done enough. There are 195
countries in the world and we have presence in
only 128! There are hundreds of millions of people
who dont know Christ in the world and we brag
about our million members. There are millions of
children everywhere who do not have the benefit
of education and we take pride in the thousands we
are sponsoring. There are ten million OFWs and
we have not even touched the tip of the iceberg in
terms of the families they have left behind.
We also realized that Jesus question to Peter:
Do you love me more than these? takes on special
significance when applied to our personal and community life. As we began to look at the implications
of this question in relation to loving more, we saw
that indeed, we needed to take a second and third
look at the obstacles to our service to the Lord.
These include our careers, our desires and dreams,
our friendships, our hobbies and interests, even
the sins and resentments we continue to harbor
in our hearts.
It was overwhelming to think about the ramifications of Love More. We thought that since all
of us in community are already geared to loving a
wider spectrum than simply our families, it would
be quite easy to expand our horizons and love more
people. We thought it simply meant expressing our
love more to those we already love. But God is
actually asking us to show that we love Him more
by sacrificing more, serving more, doing more,

loving even the unlovable.

More and more we realized that it wasnt that
simple. It became clear that indeed, we have done
too little and we will continue to do little things in
little arenas if we do not ascribe to Loving More in
the very real sense that God intends for us.
We are awed and grateful that Pope Francis, at
the Mass he celebrated at the Manila Cathedral,
used the very same Bible verse that our theme is
anchored on John 21:15-17 as the Gospel
reading. We are humbled that our theme is attuned
to the spirit that moves in our Church leaders.
Indeed, Pope Francis entire papal visit had Love
More as recurring theme when he stopped to kiss
the children, when he met with the poor, when he
embraced the old nuns and priests, when he refused
to back away from his commitment to go to Tacloban even in the face of the typhoon, donning a
yellow raincoat over his vestments in solidarity with
the hundreds of thousands who stood in the rain.
I salute all the CFC volunteers who, through
their very humble contributions, helped in the
preparations and conduct of this papal visit. There
were more than 22,000 CFC volunteers, some who
acted as human shield along the papal route, some
who labored for weeks prior to the event as part
of the CBCP organizing committees, some who
served in the media center, seeing nothing but their
computers all day long, knowing that they would
never even see the Pope in person. We are proud
of you and of the way you showed the true spirit
of volunteerism and servanthood.
On a somber note, I also salute the 44 Special
Action Force members of the Philippine National
Police who lost their lives in an encounter with
the MILF. They showed what love of country is all
about, what gallantry and nobility truly mean. It
is very sad to know that three of the Fallen 44 were
members of the Singles for Christ: Police Senior Inspector Ryan B. Pabalinas (who had gotten married
and whose wife spoke on behalf of all the widows
and families), Police Senior Inspector Gebnat G.
Tabdi, and Police Inspector Rennie Tayrus. One
of the 44, Russel B. Bilog, Police Officer 1, was
the brother of our CFC leader in Cuomo, Italy.
This incident has caused us to resolve to do more
for the men and women in uniform. CFC will
extend assistance to the families of our fallen brethren. But we will also intensify our efforts to bring
Gods message to the military schools and camps.
As we begin the second month of 2015, let our
resolve to love more grow stronger, even if we know
that loving more could lead to great sacrifices, a lot
of work and many difficult challenges ahead. With
our great God showing the way, we also know that
we can look forward to the great joy that loving
more will bring.

GLEC 3 / C1

The regular teaching

night of CFC, held on
Tuesday, January 20,
coming just a day after
Pope Francis ended his
five-day pastoral visit to
the Philippines, had an
apt topicthe lessons
the Pope imparted to his
Philippine flock.

Fr. Benedict Lagarde, Missionary

of Jesus, was the nights speaker and
he began by emphasizing that the
Popes visit was all about the Lord
shepherding His people through
His vicar on earth. The theme of
the papal visit, after all, was The
Shepherd in Sri Lanka and the
Philippinesthe Challenge of
Shepherding Those in Leadership.
Fr. Benedict called the Pope a
true shepherd because in spite of
his being 78 years old, having only
one functioning lung and facing
challenges from within and outside
the Church, he decided to go on
this trip even though he could have
opted not to. He made the grueling
trip in order to shepherd his flock.
In Sri Lanka, it was to reassure the
flock, coming out of the ravages
of civil war, that he is mindful of
their situation as a minority. In the
Philippines, it was to reassure his
flock that he is mindful of them as
they are coming out of the ravages
of typhoon Yolanda.
Fr. Benedict compared this
kind of shepherding to the kind of
service we as CFC leaders give our
members. He said, This is what
shepherding is all about your
flock need to be reassured of your
intimate presence during their moment of greatest need. There is no
excuse for not being there when
your flock needs you.

He continued: You are excused

if you are not around during their
moments of celebration and triumph. But you are not excused
when something bad happens to
the group you are leading and you
are not there. Do not make the
excuse that you are weak. The Pope
has only one lung. Do not say I
am old. The Pope is older. And
please do not use the excuse that
your member lives so far away. The
Pope traveled thousands of miles
just to be with us.
Referring to the Manila Cathedral Mass that the Pope celebrated, Fr. Benedict said that When
you in CFC heard the Pope use
John 21:15-17 as the Gospel
message, I am sure it sent shivers
down your spine, especially the
International Council. I am sure
they exclaimed in their hearts
Oh my God! The Pope is using
the same Bible text that gave life
to the theme Love More!
Fr. Benedict reiterated that Love
More is the Popes greatest challenge
to all of us. Placing Love More
within the context of Scripture, Fr.
Benedict said that despite Peter betraying and denying him, Jesus was
awesomely good in that he resurrected from the dead. Resurrection
had to happen so that his disciples
may be reconciled with him. If
he did not return from the grave,
reconciliation could never have
taken place. And mission, which is
a natural progression from reconciliation, could never have happened.
The Bible text describes that Jesus prepared a meal for his disciples
on the seashore. And he did this
right after he experienced betrayal,
abandonment, and death. This is
what makes Jesus awesome this
was a meal of reconciliation and
mission, Fr. Benedict said.

Directly addressing the younger

CFC present, Fr. Benedict cautioned them not to forget the
generation that came before you.
I hope you recognize the sacrifices
of those who served before you,
the contributions they gave that
makes CFC what it is now. Many
of the CFC who are now seniors
provided a steadying hand when
CFC went through severe storms
caused by the splits. Let us not
forget what they suffered confusion, sorrow, lost sleep, tears,
broken relationships but in spite
of all these, they still provided the
steadying hand.
Moving on to the Popes homily during the Mass in the airport
in Tacloban, Leyte, Fr. Benedict
mentioned that Pope Francis
message was I have nothing to
tell you. It is because it is Gods
Word that we should seek and
speak. Fr. Benedict stressed that
if there is one sin we all commit,
it is that we always think we have
an explanation for what is happening, that our followers, our flock
are always waiting for our word.
But they are not, because they are
waiting for the life giving word of
the Lord, not ours.
Concluding, Fr. Benedict exhorted CFC to Just help the poor.
Dont spend too much time defining who the poor are. Widows,
orphans, the sick, the landless and
sinners are the least, the last and
the lost. And it is exactly to the
last, lost and least that the Shepherd
was sent.
Fr. Benedict invited everyone to:
First, go back to all the homilies
of the Pope; second, have a silent
moment and ponder on them, and
third, celebrate the coming of God
who shepherded us through the
coming of the Vicar of Christ.

BCOP / C1

more missionaries in their areas.

The call is now out for mission volunteers. Indeed, to
love more is to connect as one,
to move as one and to support
one another in our communitys
awesome task of bringing the
world to Christ.
During the afternoon worship, Michael Bay, Country
Head of CFC Malaysia exhorted, Mission is not easy, it
is always full of crisis but we will
be empowered as long as we have
the courage to ask the Lord.
Jun Uriarte, Chairman of
the CFC Institute, the new
subsidiary of CFC, introduced
CFCI, and how it aims to
educate, train, foster research
and innovation, manage and
share knowledge, so that leaders and missionaries may realize
the mission of CFC and the
Church in proclaiming Christ
to the world. Soon, the Institute
will develop and offer degree
and non-degree courses that
will serve and promote the mission and vision of CFC.
Afterwards, the participants
were grouped into different

workshops to further deepen their

understanding of the different programs of the community.
Mannix Ocampo, Ablaze Chairman, and Rommel Ancheta, Ablaze
President, encouraged everyone
to Catch More Fish using the
products and offerings of Ablaze.
George Campos and Jess Ferrer,
the Migrants Program Head, shared
during the Migrants Program
workshop the highlights of the 7th
World Congress on the Pastoral
Care for Migrants and Itinerant
people and emphasized that the program is also an evangelization tool.
Rouquel Ponte, Church Integration Office (CIO) Head
and Pastoral Formation Office
(PFO) Consultant, reminded
those who attended the CIO
workshop that We are called to
holiness; for it is the very measure
of Christian living. During this
workshop, Arnel Santos, PFO
Director, explained the CFC
culture and the different roles
of the PFO coordinators in the
sectors, provinces and countries.
Kirby Llaban, overall PFO Coordinator, expounded on the
leaders formation track.

Joe Tale, CFC Chairman

and International Missions
Director, gave the last session
for the day titled Daybreak.
He reminded everyone that
We start the year with Love
More, but because of the
new opportunities that the
Lord is giving us, He is also
calling us to continuously
Behold and Ponder. So
let us always ask the Lord
in prayer to teach us to still
do more, give more, sacrifice
more and love more.
The Chairman also conveyed
the Popes call for spirit-filled
evangelizers and concluded
his session by calling all those
who are fearlessly open to the
workings of the Holy Spirit to
proclaim the joy of the Gospel.
He exhorted everyone to be
bold in proclaiming the Gospel
in every time and place even in
the face of opposition.
During the prayer for empowerment, CFC declared,
Almighty Father, take away
the words No and fear and
replace them with Yes, faith,
courage and love.

morning worship. CFC ANCOP President and

member of the CFC International Council Jimmy
Ilagan welcomed the delegates.
Session 1, titled "New Evangelization: Mission to
the Poor", was delivered by Archbishop Jose Palma of
Cebu who called Couples for Christ the joy and the
hope of the Church. His talk highlighted the communitys special call to serve the least, the last, and the lost.
Jerry Pompong Jr. and Bernie Cueto shared their
stories of loving the poor and being loved as well.
Session 2 followed with CFC ANCOP Chairman
Joe Yamamoto sharing the irreplaceable role of BCOP
in the realization of the mission and its directions for

2015, which also happens to be the Year of the Poor.

Inspired by Mercy and Compassion, the theme of
Pope Francis's visit to the Philippines, CFC, through
BCOP, is affirmed and challenged to help make the
country truly a nation of mercy and compassion.
The audience was given the opportunity to voice out
their opinions in a panel discussion with Jimmy Ilagan
as the moderator and Arnel Santos, Joe Yamamoto,
and the Social Development Program Heads as the
panelists. Synthesis and final announcements were
given by Santos afterwards.
Elmer Cadiz, who heads the CFC ANCOP operations,
closed the summit with a powerful worship.

CBCP Monitor

C3

February 2 - 15, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 3

CFC ANCOP Open Golf Year 4:

Faith, Fellowship, Fundraising

CFC Honors 3 PNP SAF

Troopers in MM MC Assembly

The Metro Manila Mission Core honored the Fallen 44, members of
the PNP Special Action Force who were killed in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January 25, 2015. Three of the troopers were active members of CFC Singles for Christ while they were cadets in the Philippine
National Police Academy--PSr. Insp. Ryan B. Pabalina (SFC 2006), PSr.
Insp. Rennie L. Tayrus and PInsp. Gednat Tabdi (SFC 2010).
According to Dong Tacocong of CFC Cavite, several couples, including himself, stood as foster
parents to some of these cadets while they were in the Academy. He recalled, "We would pick them up
during weekends and holidays when they were allowed to leave the Academy. We would bring them to
our homes, and take them along to SFC activities."
CFC salutes these brothers in Christ, and the community praises God for making CFC Singles for
Christ an instrument in planting the seed of renewed faith in these young men.
CFC will extend assistance to the families the troopers left behind. Please continue to pray for all the
Fallen 44 who gave their lives in pursuit of their sworn duty, truly examples of gallantry and nobility.

GPSI Finalists Experience

ANCOP for a Day
The DZMM World Caravan Global Pinoy Singing Idol finalists experienced ANCOP at the CFC ANCOP AVANAI Community in Visayas
Avenue, Quezon City last January 23, 2015. The immersion was part of
their duties as GPSI winners of their respective countries.

The five finalists, plus a guest performer from Indonesia, were given an orientation and actually helped
in the construction work ongoing in the community.
GPSI is a partnership between DZMM Teleradyo and CFC ANCOP for the benefit of the Child
Sponsorship Program and ANCOP Shelter. The World Caravan annually searches for Filipino singing
champions who are living abroad through a talent search competition in different countries. The winners are then brought to Manila to compete in the championship round.
This year's champion is Jing Wenghofer, a music teacher living in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Alessandra Joy
Morales, also from the USA, and Kristine Karremans of The Netherlands were runners-up. (Alma Alvarez)

Couples for Christ members, sponsor representatives, and ANCOP supporters all over Metro Manila and the provinces hit the greens last January
13, 2015at the Villamor Golf Club for theAnnual CFC ANCOP Open Golf
Tournament.
This is the fourth installment of the tournament which aims to raise funds for CFC ANCOP scholars under
its Child Sponsorship Program. The golf tournament supports 10 scholars to date. Funds raised this year will
be used for the current roster and to add new scholars.
Golfers enjoyed 18 holes of golf, a superb lunch and raffle prizes. ANCOP scholars Crisanto Clarino and
Pauline Enecillo shared their stories and expressed their gratitude to ANCOP during lunch.
The following took home the championship trophies:
Class C Champion: Eric Zuniga
Class B Champion: Robert Quiogie
Class A Champion: Vital Zabala
Individual Low Gross Champion: Rodney Catayong
CFC ANCOP Open Champion: Bong Catabay
CFC ANCOP Open Team Champion: CFC Pangasinan
The CFC ANCOP Golf Open was made possible through Event SponsorsGT Radial and KiG Glassware,
and hole sponsors Meralco Power, Birmingham Homeowners Dev't. Corp., Livestock Shelter Concepts, Sison
Tagayuna Construction and Development Corporation, CFC ANCOP KSA, CFC ANCOP QATAR and
CFC ANCOP UAE.
The Child Sponsorship Program provides educational assistance for elementary, high school and college/
technical/vocational students.
CSP is aone-on-one-sponsorshipby a donor partner to a poor child or youth, pre-qualified from the funded
communities of the ANCOP donor network and CFC ANCOP covered areas/ target groups.
For more information about how the CFC ANCOP-Tekton Foundation is supporting poor students, visit
www.cfcancop.org. (Romeo M. Medina)

The News Supplement

of Couples for Christ

George B. Campos
IC Oversight

Zenaida A. Gimenez
Editor-in-Chief

Deomar P. Oliveria
Layout Artist

Alma M. Alvarez
Associate Editor

Evangeline C. Mecedilla
Circulation Staff

The Ugnayan News Supplement is published by the Couples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc., with editorial
offices at 156 20th Avenue, 1109 Cubao, Quezon City.
Editorial trunk line: (+63 2) 709-4868 local 23
Direct line : (+63 2) 709-4856
www.couplesforchristglobal.org
cfcglobalcommunications@gmail.com

facebook.com/CFC.Global.Mission

@CFChrist

C4

February 2 - 15, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 3

Starting 2015 the CFC Way

For Couples for Christ, each year does not officially begin unless the members are rallied
towards the work of evangelization and the first fruits of of our toil are offered. Here are
some of the provinces and countries that have started 2015 the CFC way.

New Zealand

Switzerland

Rizal

Lanao Del Norte

CBCP Monitor

Personal Testimony

Mercy and Compassion:

Real and Personal

By Karen Joy C. Alcober

SarGen

Samal

SoCal USA

Agusan Del Norte

The call to preach the

gospel in community

When I saw from Rome

the catastrophe, I felt that
I had to be here. On those
very days, I decided to come
here. Im here to be with
you. A little bit late, sad to
say, but I am here... With
these words, Pope Francis
touched the hearts of the
estimated 200,000 pilgrims
from the Diocese of Palo and
other dioceses, schools, civic
groups and institutions who
attended the Mass he celebrated at the Tacloban airport
on January 17, 2015. Many
of them braved the elements
and walked for hours just to
be able to catch a glimpse of
the beloved Pontiff.

It has been 14 long months since super

typhoon Yolanda wreaked havoc in Tacloban, Leyte and other nearby provinces,
resulting in thousands of deaths, hundreds
still missing and displacing hundreds of
thousands. Pope Francis, with his words of
comfort, assuaged the pain of the typhoon
victims and brought hope that indeed, the
Lord is present in our daily lives.
The airport was a sea of yellow as the
pilgrims took advantage of the governments distribution of yellow raincoats.
Even the Pope was in a raincoat, showing
his solidarity with everyone.
The storm warning was upgraded to
signal number two on the very day of
the Popes visit but this did not deter the
pilgrims from converging at the airport
or from lining the streets of Tacloban and

Palo. Despite the pouring rain, no one

moved from places that had been staked
out hours before, all of them eager to
hear the Popes message of hope. Rain
mixed with tears on the faces of many,
awed at the very thought that before
them was truly Christs Vicar on earth.
The Popes eagerness to be with us
inspite of the typhoon moved me and
humbled me. His presence, for me, was
an affirmation of the very words he
shared during his homily: Jesus is Lord.
And the Lord from the cross is there for
youThat is why we have a Lord who
cries with us and walks with us in the
most difficult moments of life.
Even if I cannot claim to be a
genuine Leyteo yet, considering
that I just moved here from Manila a
month before Yolanda hit, I am proud
to be one with the Leytenos. The
common pain that we shared united
us, and our united faith showed our
resilience as a people. The help, support and prayers extended to us by
families, friends and even strangers
when we were at our most vulnerable
and when we had nothing to give in
return proved that love thrives even
in devastationthat mercy and compassion is real and personal.
Although Pope Francis apostolic
visit in Leyte was cut short because of
the worsening weather conditions, his
presence warmed the hearts of many
amidst the cold weather. Now, a few
weeks after, the streets of Tacloban
and Palo are back to their busy state,
everyones life is back to normal, and
I find myself doing my daily routines
again, but his messages continue to
bring warmth to my heart.

ANCOP Bets Win Big In GPSI

By the CFC Global Comm

Fr. Gerard Timoner, OP,

Provincial of the Dominican
Order in the Philippines,
gave a recollection to the
members of the Elders Assembly of CFC last January
11, 2015 at the SM Aura. Top
leaders from Metro Manila,
the provinces and overseas
came to listen to Fr. Gerard
talk about The call to preach
the gospel in community.

The entire recollection was centered on

the Gospel according to Matthew Chapter
10, which talks about the mission and
commissioning of the 12 apostles.

On Mission

Fr. Gerard highlighted the words "summoned" and "sent" two different movements of Christs followers. According to
him, discipleship (the character of one
summoned) and apostleship (the character
of one sent) are interrelated but not the
same. Discipleship is the never-ending
process of being a student of Jesus. But
after learning, a disciple is sent by the Lord
to proclaim the Good News (apostleship).
Fr. Gerard also focused on the word
and, signifying the gesture of sending
missionaries in pairs, two by two, just as
CFC is sending couples on mission. Why
two by two? Because at the heart of the
Gospel is the Gospel of Love and thus the
pair are called to preach the Gospel and to
exemplify and witness to its truth through
the love they bear for each other.
How can we preach love if we do not
live it? Fr. Gerard asked.
He illustrated marriage as a sacrament,
a sign that points to the love of Christ for
the Church. In the Philippines, the marriage rite includes the ceremony of putting
the couple under one veil. This is uniquely

Filipino and highly symbolic. The veil is

a symbol of worship. Hence, a couples
conscious decision to live together in love
is an act of worship.
Gods call is personal, but all are also
called to community. To live together in
community, in love and fidelity, is an apostolate. The ideal community bonds together
not just for the mission. Being together is
already part of the missionliving together
in unanimity of mind and heart.
Fr. Gerard added, Part of this is
obedience to Gods will. Disobedience
leads to disintegration.
He further said that obedience is about
listening, and listening emanates from the
principle of unity. Listening also means to
hear what is not being said.
When we listen attentively to one
another, we maintain unity. Otherwise,
division would ensue. Fr. Gerard added,
But more importantly, we need to develop
that capacity to listen even in silence. The
bottom line is, we ask ourselves: Is it the
good of the entire community that I am
after, or is it my own personal goal that I
am seeking?
Fr. Gerard quoted an excerpt from
The Pearl of Great Price, CFCs commemorative book on the occasion of
its 30th anniversary:
When human wisdom would have
dictated a more aggressive, iron-fisted approach, the International Council asked
the global community to be still and to
pray. When corporate leaders would have
resorted immediately to sacking errant
leaders, the IC repeatedly sought dialogue
and reconciliation.
Against all human expectations, the quiet
prayerful approach proved to be more effective. The community, affirmed and guided
by the succeeding annual themes, chose to
love and then to move forward in Christ.
As Fr. Gerard explained, this gesture not
only showed the capacity to listen to one
another, but more importantly, to listen
to Christ. It meant not following like a
slave, but having the capacity to listen to

one another. It is not listening to the

majority, but practicing unanimity.
Truth and community are inseparable, Fr. Gerard said. We need to
possess that spiritto listen to ideas
other than our own. The unity of the
community is the presence of Jesus. If
that unity is fractured, then we compromise the presence of Jesus in our midst.
Commissioning

Fr. Gerard explained that the term

Shake the dust off your feet from
the second part of the Gospel on the
commissioning of the 12, does not
mean, as is generally understood, to
walk away and have nothing further to
do with the ones we seek to evangelize.
Rather, it refers to the state of our own
hearts. As he said, when we evangelize,
we first have to get rid of our own painful and toxic memories, we first have
to learn to forgive because if we are
carrying the Good News, bad news
has no place in the heart of the one who
carries the Good News.
Fr. Gerard stressed, That is why
Pope Francis reminds us to pay attention to the joy of the gospel. No to
sour-faced Christians; the gospel should
be alive and light up the room.
Finally, Fr. Gerard reminded the
CFC Elders Assembly that a happy
community is a communion of good
forgivers.
Your theme is love more. And when
we love, imperfections become perfect.
Before the prayer for empowerment,
Fr. Gerard reminded everyone, Do
not allow disagreements to distract you
from the good you do. Shake the dust
off your feet. He added, Is it easy to
do? No. That is why Jesus did it for
the 12. He took a basin and washed
the feet of the disciples. If we find it
difficult to shake off the dust, we go
to Jesus: Please wash my feet. Again,
we can only forgive if we engage Gods
forgiveness within our own.

By ANCOP USA Communications

Two representatives of ANCOP USA garnered top spots

in the recently held Global
Pinoy Singing Idol contest.
The singing contest is an
annual global competition.
Since 2012, ANCOP USA has
partnered with ABS-CBN
DZMM in the conduct of
Global Pinoy Singing Idol
(GPSI) contests in the United
States.

The 2014 GPSI championship was held

in Market Market Mall in Taguig City on
January 24, 2015 and was aired live on
ABS-CBNs DZMM.
Jing Quitain Wenghofer of ANCOP
Illinois (Chicago) was declared 2014 GPSI
Champion, winning $2,500 and a championship trophy while Alessja Morales
of ANCOP California (San Diego) won
$1,500 plus a runner-up trophy.
Celebrating her win, Wenghofer said,
Last weekend was a very memorable one
for me. I thank the Lord for blessing me
with this great opportunity. Thanks to my
family and my relatives and neighbors in
Dalipit who came to support me. Thanks
to Isabelle and Kevin Wenghofer for the
unending love, support and encourage-

ment. And special thanks to CFC

ANCOP and ABS-CBN DZMM and
to Ahwel Paz, Ms. Weng, Ms. May, Ms.
Mara, Kenneth Joy Carino, voice coach
Ms. Annie Quintos, Yu Von Ryan, and
Ramona Buizon.
Alessja, on the other hand, said This
contest was one of the best experiences
of my life. Being able to serve God's
people, physically as well as musically,
was truly a blessing. Thank you CFC
ANCOP and DZMM for such a wonderful experience.
Other ANCOP singers who participated in the championship event were:
Kristine Sagad Karremans (Amsterdam);
Isabelle Llanzare (The Netherlands) and
Michael Sherwin Vaflor (Indonesia).
GPSI USA is a fund-raising event for
the benefit of ANCOP USAs Child
Sponsorship Program (scholarship for
poor Filipino children).
At present, there are a total of 7,000
ANCOP scholars throughout the Philippines, of which 800 are sponsored by
ANCOP USA.
The Child Sponsorship Program
(CSP) is one of the programs of ANCOP. Other projects are: Community
Development Program (free housing
forpoorest families); Medical/Surgical
Mission; Cornerstone (child development education) and Disaster Relief.