8 Living Water - January 15, 2016888

Living Water - November 18, 2016

A N N O U N C E M E N T

THANK YOU

To all those who tirelessly and selflessly gave of themselves to make the ME#41 Weekend a spirit-filled success: the Intercessory Ministry, the Praise Ministry (with Ninong Gus and Ninang Nila), the Service Ministry, the Liturgy Ministry, the Treasury Ministry, the Witness Development Minis-try, the BLD Toronto Community Stewards, the DSL, the MFLA Apostolate under Manny/Letty Buado, the Pastoral Team composed of Fr. Terry Faye, Tony/Angie Ng and Willie/Vivian Saguil, the Auxies, and to the sponsoring classes of ME#40 headed by Class Shepherds Willie/Annette Guillermo and Head Coordinators Mark/Cora Jamili and the ME#1 OSG/Barrie Group headed by Lito/Ralyn Mitra…. may you all be blessed a hundredfold as you, in turn, blessed our community with the gift of your minds, your hearts and your soaring spirits.

LIFE IN THE SPIRIT SEMINAR #34

GRAND REUNION

OUR LADY OF ASSUMPTION CHURCH HALL

TOMORROW, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2016

9:00AM - 3:00PM

The event will promptly start at 9:00am with a mass at the OLA Church.

For more information, please contact:

Ariel/Ethel Ang, ME#34 Coordinators

Living Water – November 18, 2016 1

November 20, 2016

BUKÁS-LOÓB SA DIYÓS • OPEN IN SPIRIT TO GOD

www.bldworld.org www.bldtoronto.com

THEME

Christ is sovereign in our life when we proclaim

Him as our God and King. WORD

2 Sm 5:1-3; Ps 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5; Col 1:12-20; Lk

23:35-43

ORDER

Give thanks to the name of the Lord (Psalm 122)

DIRECTION

Reconcile all things while making peace

through the blood of Christ. REFLECTION

On this feast of Christ the King,

the last Sunday of our liturgical

year, we see our place in this

created world with joy and

hope. Christ embraces all

people and all creation

because in him and for

him all was created.

Through him all

t h i ng s u n fo l d ,

evolve, and reach

their end. He holds

all things together. As his disciples we are

called to work alongside him, as Mary and Jo-

seph did. We are called to embrace all creation

with him and play a role in bringing creation to

its fullness, its divinization in Christ, for the

glory of God. (Excerpt from "Weekly Laudato

Si' themes for bulletins and homilists.")

In the first reading, we learn about David be-

coming king over Israel. He may have won-

dered when God’s promise that he would be

king would come true, but his struggles pre-

pared him for the great responsibilities he

would face later. The book of 2 Sam-

uel tells how David was finally

rewarded for his patience

and consistent faith in

God. He did not be-

come king over all

Israel until he was

37 years old, al-

though he had

been promised

the kingdom

many years ear-

lier. ...Cont’d P2

34th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Christ the King

www.bldworld.org www.bldtoronto.com

2 Living Water - January 15, 2016222

Living Water - November 18, 2016

Cont’d from P1

He had to wait patiently for the fulfillment of

God’s promise to him. If you feel pressured to

achieve instant results and success, remember

David’s patience. Just as his time of waiting

prepared him for his important task, a waiting

period may help prepare you by strengthening

your character. In the second reading St. Paul tells us “Christ is

the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of

all creation; for in him all things in heaven and

on earth were created; things visible and invisi-

ble; whether thrones or do-

minions or rulers or powers –

all things have been created

through him and for him. He

is the head of the body, the

Church; he is the beginning,

the firstborn from the dead, so

that he might come to have

first place in everything. For in

Christ all the fullness of God

was pleased to dwell, whether

on earth or in heaven, by mak-

ing peace through the blood of his Cross”.

These are strongest statements about the divine

nature of Christ found anywhere in the Bible.

Jesus is not only equal to God, he is God. As the

image of the invisible God, he is the exact rep-

resentation of God. He not only reflects God,

but he reveals God to us (John 1:18; 14:9). As

the first born over all creation, he has all the

priority and authority of the firstborn prince in

a king’s household. He came from heaven, not

from the dust of the earth and he is Lord of all.

He is completely holy and he has authority to

judge the world. Therefore, Christ is supreme

over all creation, including the spirit world. We,

like the Colossian believers, must believe in the

deity of Jesus Christ (that Jesus is God) or our

Christian faith is hollow, misdirected, and

meaningless. This is a central truth of Christian-

ity and we must oppose those who say the Je-

sus was merely a prophet or a good teacher.

Truly, Christ is the chosen one who made him-

self one among us because of his great love for

mankind. “God so loved the world that he sent

his only Son so that those who believe in him

might not perish but will have eternal

life” (John 3:16).

The Gospel reading

tells us that that King-

ship of Jesus is pro-

claimed on the Cross

as His throne, covered

with His blood, wear-

ing a crown of thorns,

and with nails in His

hands as scepter. Jesus

was crucified between

two thieves. One had

no repentance and was

hardened up to his last breath. The other re-

pented at the last moment and he said “Jesus,

remember me when you come into your king-

dom”; and Jesus replied “Truly I tell you, to-

day you will be with me in paradise”. It is cer-

tain that true repentance is never too late; but

nobody can be sure they shall have time to re-

pent at death, as it may come suddenly like a

thief in the night. In his last moment, the repen-

tant thief must have believed in the salvation

that Jesus Christ offers to everyone of us. He

believed in a new life to come, and desired to

be happy in that life; not like the other thief

who even derided the hanging Christ < P3

Living Water – November 18, 2016 7

...experience, he said that he

was actually living on bor-

rowed time, having been diag-

nosed with lung cancer in

March 2015 . His doctors gave

him only 4 months to live.

That was 16 months ago, and

by the grace of God and the

loving support of his family,

his spirited battle with cancer

continues. With a calm and

renewed strength, he ex-

claimed that the ME41 week-

end reaffirmed in his heart

that God is truly good and that

prayers move mountains.

It's about time we start to lis-

ten to the voices in the wind,

it's about time, and it's about

changes, and it's about time…

Indeed, like the whisper of the

gentle autumn wind, the pres-

ence of the Holy Spirit was felt

moving on that weekend. It

soothed the pain, healed the

wounds and transformed the

hearts of those who sought

and knocked at the wondrous

door of second chances.

Looking back at all our En-

counter Weekends through the

years, it would be naive to

think that the stories we have

heard, and will continue to

hear, will all end happily. For

changes will remain constant

in our lives, and the imperma-

nence that is intrinsic in

change brings with it a mixed

bag and a mixed blessing --- it

brings with it not only joy, but

pain and heartache as well.

It's about time we realize it,

we're all in this together…

It's about time we start to face

it, we can't make it all alone.

it's about time and it's about

changes and it's about time…

As we witness people like

Melanie and Jun come to terms

with their fragility, we turn to

our own, and to our life in

community. We will never

know what lies ahead or what

the future will bring us, be-

cause the truth is<all we have

is now. We recognize that cir-

cumstances in life could

change at any given moment

and with it, the pain in deal-

ing with the consequences of

that change. Yet, we also real-

ize that this pain points us to-

wards all the things that are

unchangeable:: faith, hope

and love. And as Melanie and

Jun understood with divine

clarity , it is also a pain that

allows us to search more

deeply into our souls for that

which is truly everlasting.

Welcome to the BLD family,

ME41!

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER #41

6 Living Water - January 15, 2016666

Living Water - November 18, 2016

After the morning prayers last Sunday, Melanie

stood up, took out her iPhone and invited eve-

ryone to listen to a song which has touched her

so profoundly. It was an old John Denver song

entitled “Its About Time.” She has been listen-

ing to it over and over again days prior to the

ME41 weekend. And as she and her husband

Tim were dressing up and preparing for the

final day’s activities, she picked up her phone

and there it was again<playing on repeat: .

It's about time we realize it, we're all in this

together…

It's about time we start to face it, we can't

make it all alone.

It's about time we start to make it, the dream

we've always known.

It's about you and me together… and it's about

time.”

For Melanie, that familiar song took a whole

new meaning that morning. As she listened to it

intently and allowed herself to be nourished

by the grace of that moment, she realized more

than ever before that the time had come<the

time to embrace the change happening in her

life and start living its boundless promise of

new beginnings. With a voice full of hope, she

said “now is the time to give ourselves a sec-

ond chance<everybody deserves one.”

Similar inspiring stories were shared by the

other nine ME41 couples who came on that re-

markable weekend – stories about profound

changes that brought heartache and joy, but at

the same time, proving that transient events in

our lives lead us to a higher calling if we open

our hearts. Jun Alamani understood this well.

When he came forward to share his weekend..

IT’S ABOUT CHANGES ...AND IT’S ABOUT TIME

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER #41

By Mon/Len Carluen

Living Water – November 18, 2016 3

Cont’d from P2

...saying “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself

and us”. Shall we be like the first unrepentant

thief or the second one who repented? Are we

going to wait for the last moment, before we

shall repent of our sinfulness? Let us take every

opportunity to renew our lives and ask God for

the forgiveness of our sins. Selfishness, hatred, unforgiveness, self-

righteousness, resentment and pride must give

way to Christ-like attitudes if we are to follow

his message. Let the fire of the Holy Spirit al-

ways remain in us so that others will see Christ

in us. What a contradiction that the Son of God had to

die a shameful death to give us life in the king-

dom where love and joy will reign. We could

not do it ourselves for if God is to judge us ac-

cording to our sinfulness, who can be worthy to

be saved? He came to save us, to forgive us,

and bring salvation to us. It is only thru his

mercy that he has assured us a place for us in

His kingdom ruled by love, mercy and compas-

sion. It is only through his grace that He has

made us fit “to share in the inheritance of the

holy ones” (Col 1:12). What an awesome God

we have, full of mercy and compassion. His

love endures forever, even when he was al-

ready nailed on the cross. Let us, therefore, express to Him our profound

gratitude for bringing us in the BLD Commu-

nity where we have discovered the great pearl

of knowing him in a personal way; and how

much he has love us and provided for our

needs throughout all these years of our commu-

nity life.

PROMISE

“The Father has enabled you to share in the

inheritance of the Saints in the light”. (Col 1:12)

TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE

Cost of tickets: $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for the youth.

Children 4 years and younger are free.

To reserve tables/seats, we encourage you to purchase your tickets by blocks.

To buy tickets or for more information, please see Cliff/Cristy Jacinto, Alain/Tracy

Dela Cruz, Manny/Tina Valencia or any of the FE Class #18 family members.

2016 BLD Advent Celebration December 10, 6:00pm, North Thornhill Community Center

Attire: ‘70s

4 Living Water - January 15, 2016444

Living Water - November 18, 2016

M any of us find our meaning in what

we do. But oftentimes, this causes a

problem because if we are not do-

ing much or we fall short of our objectives, it’s

easy to feel disheartened. Our meaning has to

come from somewhere else. It cannot just come

from doing. While we do derive a sense of

value and meaning from mission, it cannot be

just that. We are not what we do. But rather

we do who we are.

Who are we for the Lord? It is when we have

the answer that we can come to know our meaning.

We are the beloved of the Father who sent His

only Son to die on the cross for us so that we

can know who we are to Him. Our mission, our

ministry work is only something we have to do

but now that we know who we are to God, mis-

sion becomes our whole life. As we come to

know the Father’s love, we are filled with His

love. And love cannot be kept for oneself. The

nature of loving is that we have to share it.

Finding Meaning In Mission

Sharing a Talk Given by Fr. John Sullivan SJ at the 2017 Planning Session on Nov 5/16

By Menchu Ealdama, Witness Development Ministry

Living Water – November 18, 2016 5

But it is not easy. So often we hold back from

the Father’s love. We want to do so many things

and only when we have everything worked out

do we go back to the Father. We feel so unwor-

thy to go to Him the way we are. What is in our

hearts is the fear of judgment. What we do not

realize is that the Father’s love for us is perfect.

And in perfect love, there is no fear of judg-

ment.

Jesus revealed the Father’s face to us. Because

the face of God is revealed to us, we come to

know who we are to the Father. We are His

children and we can never lose that. Much like

we read in the parable of the Prodigal Son,

there is nothing we can say or do that will re-

move us from the Father’s love. When we know

this in our hearts, the love of the Father be-

comes real for us.

And it is the Father’s love that propels us into

mission. The mission work, the apostolate is a

part of who we are. But it is not about stacking

our numbers. It is not about success or failure.

We do it because we are on fire! And being on

fire, we cannot be silent. We have to go on pro-

claiming the good news. We are propelled into

service because that is who we are. We give

ourselves because it is the natural thing to do.

Love for us, as it is with the Father, always

means giving oneself.

In spiritual leadership, we are called to share

this love and foster within the hearts of other

people the love of the Father. We are called to

let them see themselves as God sees them.

What is the glory of God? According to St

Irenaeus, it is the human person fully alive.

Surely every human being wants to be truly

alive – to live life more fully and completely.

We are invited to share in a life that is simply

the love that God wants to share with us all.

It’s not about stacking numbers, or success and failure. We are propelled into service because that is who we are!