Love and Acceptance Healed Me

This is the inspiring testimonial of a fellow Courage brother, Dr. Ryan Capitulo, on his amazing healing journey.  He now actively serves in the Feast, a weekly prayer gathering of the Light of Jesus Community founded by Bro. Bo Sanchez.


 I am an obstetrician gynecologist, and I was a practicing homosexual.

In 2004, I felt that God was calling me to have an intimate relationship with Him. I tried to look for a spiritual community that I could join, where I could be accepted as I was.

Then I saw a book of Bro. Bo Sanchez in National Book Store. In the book were the telephone numbers of the Light of Jesus Family. I dialed a number and learned that the Light of Jesus had a group for single men called Joshua and for single women called Esther. I asked if I could join Esther. There was a long silence at the other end of the line. I took it from there that I should join Joshua.

Joshua was a huge blessing. There, I was introduced to Ephesians 5:3: But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

Those words inspired me to abandon "improper" acts so that I may be what God purposed me to be: pure and holy.

I desired to be sober. Sobriety is the freedom from self-gratification.

I consulted a priest who, at the same time, is a clinical psychologist. He helped me go through psychoanalysis and therapy. I struggled to be sober. But after six months, I engaged in those improper acts again.

My efforts to change my ways all seemed futile. I was already losing hope until I heard about Courage Philippines - an apostolate of the Catholic Church that supports men and women who struggle with same-sex attraction (SSA).

 In one of the Courage sessions, I shared my failures in attaining sobriety, and no one judged me. They accepted me and, through them, I felt God's acceptance, His love, mercy, forgiveness, and embrace.

After our meeting, I became sober for a week, 2 weeks, and many weeks. Today, I have been sober for 7 years, 7 months, and 14 days, and counting.

 In my struggle with homosexuality, only the power of God's love - unconditional, unfailing, undying - has healed and saved me.


(Note:  Although Courage is an anonymous group, Doc Ryan has agreed to publish his real name.)
 

Catholic Social Media Summit ver 2.0

Do you want to be an Online Missionary of God (OMG)? Do you have the burning desire or calling to be an online evangelist but do not know where to start? Then you should attend the Catholic Social Media Summit 2 that will happen on Nov. 23-24, 2013 at Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila.

The 1st Catholic Social Media Summit which was held last year was successful in stirring up interest among the religious and lay people to make a concerted effort to promote the 'New Evangelization' using the new media. This year the organizers of the summit aim to engage the young people to use social media as a platform and catalyst for change in our society.


Why Be an Online Missionary?

It's an established fact that we as a people are more connected than ever, thanks to the power of social media like Facebook and Twitter. Not all of us can become 'missionaries to distant fields' yet we as baptized Christians are called to share in the mission of the Church to spread the Good News to the ends of the Earth. And one way to do that in our modern times is to harness the power of the internet. Our dear Holy Father no less has a Twitter account.

I will take our blog as an example. Since being around for almost four years, thousands of people from all over the world have found their way to our site by searching topics on Google without me actively promoting this site. When visitors arrive at our blogspot they then can find more links and articles related to our ministry hence the blog becomes a tool for evangelizing them.

Consider also the fact that you can reach anyone anywhere with an internet connection at any given time and really there is no limit to the number of people you can 'catch' so to speak. Talk about casting your nets into the world wide web. We need to meet where the people are and guess where they are most of the time?

Here's a bonus for us - some of the members in our community have found Courage Philippines through this blog. Praise God!

To find out more about Catholic Social Media Summit ver 2.0, just click on the photo above or visit  www.catholicsocialmediasummit.com

Go and make disciples of all netizens!



"The Church would feel guilty before the Lord if it failed to use the media for evangelization." 

- Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), n. 45.

Lonely No More

A peek from Bro. N's journal:

I learned a beautiful lesson reflecting from my experience today. 

I was in my room laughing incessantly from a television series that I just finished watching for the past hour, when all of a sudden I was overwhelmed  by a strong emotion  - one that is not all too unfamiliar. 

I felt terribly lonely. That awful hurting emotion that you are all on your own accompanied by a striking fear of being abandoned. It came from deep beneath the surface I'm well aware. And it's getting more frequent since the healing conference I attended the weekend before which dealt with sexual and relational brokenness. The spontaneous flashbacks - scenes and feelings that you have kept bottled up for so long. 

I was quickly moved to tears. 

It took me a while to go beyond the hesitant anxiety of causing concern, but eventually I gained the strength to text three brothers from our Courage group to pray for me. I am relieved by their words dealing with such a spontaneous reaction. They assured me that asking for help was the right thing to do. The feeling lingered still after my ordeal. But I was consoled psychologically that there's someone present (though not necessarily physically present) when I get the feeling that I'm about to fall. 

Suddenly I realized that I'm no longer lonely after all. And I thank God for it.

Gay, Catholic and Doing Fine

(Editor’s note: Here's a repost from a veritable site, chastityproject.com. It was written by Steve Gershom - a pseudonym - who runs the blog stevegershom.com.)

I have heard a lot about how mean the Church is, and how bigoted, because she opposes gay marriage. How badly she misunderstands gay people, and how hostile she is towards us. My gut reaction to such things is: Are you freaking kidding me? Are we even talking about the same church?

When I go to Confession, I sometimes mention the fact that I’m gay, to give the priest some context. (And to spare him some confusion: Did you say ‘locker room’? What were you doing in the women’s…oh.) I’ve always gotten one of two responses: either compassion, encouragement, and admiration, because the celibate life is difficult and profoundly counter-cultural; or nothing at all, not even a ripple, as if I had confessed eating too much on Thanksgiving.

Of the two responses, my ego prefers the first — who doesn’t like thinking of themselves as some kind of hero? — but the second might make more sense. Being gay doesn’t mean I’m special or extraordinary. It just means that my life is not always easy. (Surprise!) And as my friend J. said when I told him recently about my homosexuality, “I guess if it wasn’t that, it would have been something else.” Meaning that nobody lives without a burden of one kind or another. As Rabbi Abraham Heschel said: “The man who has not suffered, what can he possibly know, anyway?”

Where are all these bigoted Catholics I keep hearing about? When I told my family a year ago, not one of them responded with anything but love and understanding. Nobody acted like I had a disease. Nobody started treating me differently or looking at me funny. The same is true of every one of the Catholic friends that I’ve told. They love me for who I am.

Actually, the only time I get shock or disgust or disbelief, the only time I’ve noticed people treating me differently after I tell them, is when I tell someone who supports the gay lifestyle. Celibacy?? You must be some kind of freak.

Hooray for tolerance of different viewpoints. I’m grateful to gay activists for some things — making people people more aware of the prevalence of homosexuality, making homophobia less socially acceptable — but they also make it more difficult for me to be understood, to be accepted for who I am and what I believe. If I want open-mindedness, acceptance, and understanding, I look to Catholics.

Is it hard to be gay and Catholic? Yes, because like everybody, I sometimes want things that are not good for me. The Church doesn’t let me have those things, not because she’s mean, but because she’s a good mother. If my son or daughter wanted to eat sand I’d tell them: that’s not what eating is for; it won’t nourish you; it will hurt you. Maybe my daughter has some kind of condition that makes her like sand better than food, but I still wouldn’t let her eat it. Actually, if she was young or stubborn enough, I might not be able to reason with her — I might just have to make a rule against eating sand. Even if she thought I was mean.

So the Church doesn’t oppose gay marriage because it’s wrong; she opposes it because it’s impossible, just as impossible as living on sand. The Church believes, and I believe, in a universe that means something, and in a God who made the universe — made men and women, designed sex and marriage from the ground up. In that universe, gay marriage doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit with the rest of the picture, and we’re not about to throw out the rest of the picture.

If you don’t believe in these things, if you believe that men and women and sex and marriage are pretty much whatever we say they are, then okay: we don’t have much left to talk about. That’s not the world I live in.

So, yes, it’s hard to be gay and Catholic — it’s hard to be anything and Catholic — because I don’t always get to do what I want. Show me a religion where you always get to do what you want and I’ll show you a pretty shabby, lazy religion. Something not worth living or dying for, or even getting up in the morning for. That might be the kind of world John Lennon wanted, but John Lennon was kind of an idiot.

Would I trade in my Catholicism for a worldview where I get to marry a man? Would I trade in the Eucharist and the Mass and the rest of it? Being a Catholic means believing in a God who literally waits in the chapel for me, hoping I’ll stop by just for ten minutes so he can pour out love and healing on my heart. Which is worth more — all this, or getting to have sex with who I want? I wish everybody, straight or gay, had as beautiful a life as I have.

I know this isn’t a satisfactory answer. I don’t think any words could be. I try to make my life a satisfactory answer, to this question and to others: What are people for? What is love, and what does it look like? How do we get past our own selfishness so we can love God and our neighbors and ourselves?

It’s a work in progress.

10 Reasons Why Homosexual "Marriage" Must Be Opposed

(Source:  America Needs Fatima)



1. It Is Not Marriage

Calling something marriage does not make it marriage. Marriage has always been a covenant between a man and a woman which is by its nature ordered toward the procreation and education of children and the unity and well-being of the spouses.

The promoters of same-sex “marriage” propose something entirely different. They propose the union between two men or two women. This denies the self-evident biological, physiological, and psychological differences between men and women which find their complementarity in marriage. It also denies the specific primary purpose of marriage: the perpetuation of the human race and the raising of children.

Two entirely different things cannot be considered the same thing.


2. It Violates Natural Law

Marriage is not just any relationship between human beings. It is a relationship rooted in human nature and thus governed by natural law.

Natural law’s most elementary precept is that “good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.” By his natural reason, man can perceive what is morally good or bad for him. Thus, he can know the end or purpose of each of his acts and how it is morally wrong to transform the means that help him accomplish an act into the act’s purpose.

Any situation which institutionalizes the circumvention of the purpose of the sexual act violates natural law and the objective norm of morality.

Being rooted in human nature, natural law is universal and immutable. It applies to the entire human race, equally. It commands and forbids consistently, everywhere and always. Saint Paul taught in the Epistle to the Romans that the natural law is inscribed on the heart of every man. (Rom. 2:14-15)


3. It Always Denies a Child Either a Father or a Mother

It is in the child’s best interests that he be raised under the influence of his natural father and mother. This rule is confirmed by the evident difficulties faced by the many children who are orphans or are raised by a single parent, a relative, or a foster parent.

The unfortunate situation of these children will be the norm for all children of a same-sex “marriage.” A child of a same-sex “marriage” will always be deprived of either his natural mother or father. He will necessarily be raised by one party who has no blood relationship with him. He will always be deprived of either a mother or a father role model.

Same-sex “marriage” ignores a child’s best interests.


4. It Validates and Promotes the Homosexual Lifestyle

In the name of the “family,” same-sex “marriage” serves to validate not only such unions but the whole homosexual lifestyle in all its bisexual and transgender variants.

Civil laws are structuring principles of man's life in society. As such, they play a very important and sometimes decisive role in influencing patterns of thought and behavior. They externally shape the life of society, but also profoundly modify everyone’s perception and evaluation of forms of behavior.

Legal recognition of same-sex “marriage” would necessarily obscure certain basic moral values, devalue traditional marriage, and weaken public morality.


5. It Turns a Moral Wrong into a Civil Right

Homosexual activists argue that same-sex “marriage” is a civil rights issue similar to the struggle for racial equality in the 1960s.

This is false.

First of all, sexual behavior and race are essentially different realities. A man and a woman wanting to marry may be different in their characteristics: one may be black, the other white; one rich, the other poor; or one tall, the other short. None of these differences are insurmountable obstacles to marriage. The two individuals are still man and woman, and thus the requirements of nature are respected.

Same-sex “marriage” opposes nature. Two individuals of the same sex, regardless of their race, wealth, stature, erudition or fame, will never be able to marry because of an insurmountable biological impossibility.

Secondly, inherited and unchangeable racial traits cannot be compared with non-genetic and changeable behavior. There is simply no analogy between the interracial marriage of a man and a woman and the “marriage” between two individuals of the same sex.


6. It Does Not Create a Family but a Naturally Sterile Union

Traditional marriage is usually so fecund that those who would frustrate its end must do violence to nature to prevent the birth of children by using contraception. It naturally tends to create families.

On the contrary, same-sex “marriage” is intrinsically sterile. If the “spouses” want a child, they must circumvent nature by costly and artificial means or employ surrogates. The natural tendency of such a union is not to create families. Therefore, we cannot call a same-sex union marriage and give it the benefits of true marriage.


7. It Defeats the State’s Purpose of Benefiting Marriage

One of the main reasons why the State bestows numerous benefits on marriage is that by its very nature and design, marriage provides the normal conditions for a stable, affectionate, and moral atmosphere that is beneficial to the upbringing of children—all fruit of the mutual affection of the parents. This aids in perpetuating the nation and strengthening society, an evident interest of the State.

Homosexual “marriage” does not provide such conditions. Its primary purpose, objectively speaking, is the personal gratification of two individuals whose union is sterile by nature. It is not entitled, therefore, to the protection the State extends to true marriage.


8. It Imposes Its Acceptance on All Society

By legalizing same-sex “marriage,” the State becomes its official and active promoter. The State calls on public officials to officiate at the new civil ceremony, orders public schools to teach its acceptability to children, and punishes any state employee who expresses disapproval.

In the private sphere, objecting parents will see their children exposed more than ever to this new “morality,” businesses offering wedding services will be forced to provide them for same-sex unions, and rental property owners will have to agree to accept same-sex couples as tenants.

In every situation where marriage affects society, the State will expect Christians and all people of good will to betray their consciences by condoning, through silence or act, an attack on the natural order and Christian morality.


9. It Is the Cutting Edge of the Sexual Revolution

In the 1960s, society was pressured to accept all kinds of immoral sexual relationships between men and women. Today we are seeing a new sexual revolution where society is being asked to accept sodomy and same-sex “marriage.”

If homosexual “marriage” is universally accepted as the present step in sexual “freedom,” what logical arguments can be used to stop the next steps of incest, pedophilia, bestiality, and other forms of unnatural behavior? Indeed, radical elements of certain “avant garde” subcultures are already advocating such aberrations.

The railroading of same-sex “marriage” on the American people makes increasingly clear what homosexual activist Paul Varnell wrote in the Chicago Free Press:

The gay movement, whether we acknowledge it or not, is not a civil rights movement, not even a sexual liberation movement, but a moral revolution aimed at changing people's view of homosexuality.


10. It Offends God

This is the most important reason. Whenever one violates the natural moral order established by God, one sins and offends God. Same-sex “marriage” does just this. Accordingly, anyone who professes to love God must be opposed to it.

Marriage is not the creature of any State. Rather, it was established by God in Paradise for our first parents, Adam and Eve. As we read in the Book of Genesis: “God created man in His image; in the Divine image he created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.’” (Gen. 1:28-29)

The same was taught by Our Savior Jesus Christ: “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife.” (Mark 10:6-7).

Genesis also teaches how God punished Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of homosexuality: “The Lord rained down sulphurous fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain, together with the inhabitants of the cities and the produce of the soil.” (Gen. 19:24-25)


Taking a Principled not a Personal Stand

In writing this statement, we have no intention to defame or disparage anyone. We are not moved by personal hatred against any individual. In intellectually opposing individuals or organizations promoting the homosexual agenda, our only intent is the defense of traditional marriage, the family, and the precious remnants of Christian civilization.

As practicing Catholics, we are filled with compassion and pray for those who struggle against unrelenting and violent temptation to homosexual sin. We pray for those who fall into homosexual sin out of human weakness, that God may assist them with His grace.

We are conscious of the enormous difference between these individuals who struggle with their weakness and strive to overcome it and others who transform their sin into a reason for pride and try to impose their lifestyle on society as a whole, in flagrant opposition to traditional Christian morality and natural law. However, we pray for these too.

We pray also for the judges, legislators and government officials who in one way or another take steps that favor homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.” We do not judge their intentions, interior dispositions, or personal motivations.

We reject and condemn any violence. We simply exercise our liberty as children of God (Rom. 8:21) and our constitutional rights to free speech and the candid, unapologetic and unashamed public display of our Catholic faith. We oppose arguments with arguments. To the arguments in favor of homosexuality and same-sex “marriage” we respond with arguments based on right reason, natural law and Divine Revelation.

In a polemical statement like this, it is possible that one or another formulation may be perceived as excessive or ironic. Such is not our intention.

Defensores Fidei Apologetics Seminar 2013

This Year of Faith, we are given the opportunity to deepen our knowledge of the Catholic Faith through a series of apologetics seminar given by Defensores Fidei. The talks are scheduled every Saturday morning in Greehnills, San Juan (please refer to above poster for exact venue). This is your chance to meet and interact with highly competent Catholic apologists, priests and speakers for FREE.

For inquiries, please call Totus Bookstore at 723-4326 and +639178260047.

Be defenders of the faith!

The Book of Truth

With all the bad things that are going on around us such as the unprecedented rise in natural calamities, strife, wars, etc., have you ever wondered if we are indeed living in the end times? If yes, what are you doing to prepare yourself spiritually?

If you believe in the Second Coming of Christ, I urge you to visit this website:

www.thewarningsecondcoming.com

The messages contained there are a series of divine revelations from the Holy Trinity and Our Lady given to a visionary known by the name Maria Divine Mercy and I have read some of these myself. They are mostly prophecies, teachings, and warnings of events that will come about in the lead up to the Second Coming. It is important to note that according to theologians these messages reinforce Catholic teachings which I personally believe as well. These messages are being revealed to the world for our own good and that God wishes to save everyone by warning us of what lies ahead so that we are not caught unprepared when the time comes.

In the Gospel, Our Lord has constantly preached about the value of always being prepared at all times. The Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Faithful Servant best exemplify this. Christ teaches us to be prepared because we neither know the day nor the hour and that He Himself said that He will come in an hour that we least expect Him. In summary, these divine messages should spur all of us to repentance and conversion, a rekindling of our faith and prayer life, and trust and hope in God's mercy which are really the best means to prepare ourselves.

Whether these things are officially approved by the Church or not, Catholics are not morally obliged to espouse the messages emanating from private revelation; however, in light of faith and the written Word of God, we can easily discern whether or not revelations such as these are of divine origin or not.

You can also like their Facebook page in order to receive the messages directly on your wall. I suggest that you say a short prayer to the Holy Spirit to enlighten you and guide you before reading the contents of the website. In that way, you can fully understand and appreciate the messages being conveyed. 

www.facebook.com/JesusToMankind

Share this to everyone you know. I have done my small part. I hope and pray that through this many people will come to experience the depth of God's mercy and love for each one of us, that indeed He will never leave us nor forsake us in these very difficult times that we live in.



(P.S.  These end-time messages given to Maria Divine Mercy are not without controversies. To fairly represent both sides, I am posting below two reviews - one in favor and the other against these messages.


I will leave it up to you, the reader, to discern the truth. Please pray to the Holy Spirit for enlightenment and true discernment.)


Review in favor - http://www.all-about-the-virgin-mary.com/response-to-mark-miravalle.html


Review against -  http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/9-things-you-need-to-know-about-maria-divine-mercy



"Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour." - Luke 12:37-40

Chris Tiu on Chastity and True Love

Nowadays it is extremely rare to find a local celebrity who can talk about things such as chastity and true love that is why I admire Chris Tiu a lot. You won't find this guy endorsing products such as cigars or alcohol or posing half naked on giant billboards along EDSA wearing some skimpy underwear...ever. If you want to know more about the virtue of chastity and true love, I encourage you to attend Real Love Revolution 2013. You can find the details here. Live pure!

'Real Life' My Husband's Lover

Guest post by Bro. A.  This is perhaps the closest you can get to a real-life MHL-type story.


My Husband’s Lover is a strange story, but it is a story that is familiar to me.

She was a pretty woman from the province newly married to a man she found in the city. She was pretty -- no, beautiful. A long line of suitors must have hounded her in her youth. The couple had a child, a son.

One day, what would she find inside her bedroom, but her husband and another man in an X-rated position, one that left nothing to doubt as to the two men’s sexuality/sex orientation/sexual preference? Shocked by the graphic scene, the woman left the marriage. The family would not hear of the husband for a long, long time.

After several years, the woman found another love, an old, gaunt but still good-looking mestizo who was well-traveled and talked smoothly. She was smitten. This time, she was sure he was a he. They lived happily ever after, we could say, shacking up in one corner of the city. They had a daughter. With this complex arrangement, the family fell into hard times but survived by dint of hard work.

When the old man got sick, he fell down hard and fast, leaving his family with almost nothing. By this time, the children were all grownup fending for themselves. One has left home, while the other stayed, with his own family in tow.

One day, who would reappear at the scene but the husband, who was seriously ill? He had no one and nothing but the shirt on his back. Where he came from no one knew, no one bothered to know. He desired to be taken in again, just like the old times. With much trepidation, his ex-wife decided to accept him in her humble abode, but on one condition: he would not talk to her nor she would take care of him. She had her son, his son, do the part she’d rather not do.

The son, to his credit, took good care of his dad, even though he was abandoned almost at birth. Where he got the grace to forgive no one knows up to this day, no one bothered to know. Soon the old man deteriorated until he got fatally ill from a major stroke. He would die a lonely death, although he was not entirely alone. He was with his son and his family.

His former wife could only look on, without any emotion. She was doing it only for the sake of her son, only for charity. But it would not be too soon before she exited this life as well. One day, she suddenly was struck down by the same illness. The two major players are now all gone, virtually ending the story in silence.

As to the husband’s lover, no one knew him, no one knows who and where he is right now, no one bothered to know.

But the child of the original husband and wife remains, with his wife, his five children, and ten grandchildren. Life has to go on.

My Husband’s Lover-type of stories are stories you will never hear the protagonist and other main characters to tell. They are stories mostly filtered through second-hand sources. It is because they are stories of trauma, and tremendous pain, or the most unspeakable shame possible. You just don’t publish these stories for mass consumption. You don’t tell the story with a megaphone, during primetime, when innocent viewers can get easily confused. You prefer more proper venues.

Philippine Conference On New Evangelization

A conference on the New Evangelization will be held from October 16-18, 2013 at the University of Santo Tomas. You can find all the details of this event on their website including online registration. Don't forget to like their Facebook account to stay updated. Register ASAP and avail of their early bird promo.


The changed social, cultural, economic, civil and religious scenarios call us to something new: to live our communitarian experience of faith in a renewed way and to proclaim it through an evangelization that is “new in its ardor, in its methods, in its expressions”, as John Paul II said (Discourse to the XIX Assembly of CELAM, Port-au-Prince, 9 March 1983, n. 3).

This is the call of the Church through the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization for the Transmission of Faith.

Twenty-two years ago, the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) envisioned a renewed integral evangelization in the Church in the Philippines. Today, this Church in South East Asia, in particular the Archdiocese of Manila, joins the journey of the universal Church towards new evangelization. This Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization (PCNE) is a milestone in the Church’s journey and a concrete response to her call as well as a reawakening to PCP II’s vision of renewed integral evangelization.

The Synod Fathers recognize that in heeding the call for new evangelization, “we cannot remain indifferent to the process of secularization.” Moreover, “ the proclamation of the good news in different contexts of the world – marked by the processes of globalization and secularism – places different challenges before the Church: at times in an outright religious persecution, at other times in a widespread indifference, interference, restriction or harassment.”

Today, we Filipino Catholics find our country and the Church not far from the contexts described by the Synod Fathers as PCP II already observed. Urbanization, globalization and communication technologies are bringing changes in Philippine society. We are still challenged by pluralism, burdened by much graft and corruption in politics and governance, saddled in economics with “inequalities of the grossest kind” and widespread poverty resulting in the poor becoming poorer and the rich becoming richer, and confronted with increasing imbalances in the educational sector. We cannot ignore the emergent powerful culture developed by developments in information technologies, new media and social networking that influence our way of thinking, feeling and relating with others.

However, one with the Synod Fathers’ optimism and trust in the Lord, we still strive to preserve the culture and faith of our ancestors; many of us still anchor ourselves on basic faith and trust in God’s mercy. Our religiosity is even more heightened among overseas workers who have migrated in Europe and America.

Thus, for us Filipino Catholics, the call for new evangelization is both “entering into the long path of proclaiming the Gospel with the apostolic courage of Paul who would go so far as to say ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!’ (1 Corinthians 9:16)” and making the spirit of PCP II come alive and rekindle this in the hearts of the clergy, those in the consecrated life and the lay faithful to move forward.

The Synod Fathers declared: “We need not invent new strategies as if the Gospel were a product to be placed in the market of religions. We need to rediscover the ways in which Jesus approached persons and called them, in order to put these approaches into practice in today’s circumstances.” Applying this basic approach in new evangelization, three events in the life of Jesus serve as inspiration and framework in organizing the PCNE. These three events point to the phases of the conference.


Phase One: "Come and See" - A Personal Encounter with Jesus: The Beginning of All Evangelization

Phase Two: "Stay With Us" - We Encounter Jesus in The Church Through The Word and The Eucharist

Phase Three: "Duc In Altum" - Go and Preach The Gospel to The Whole Creation (Mission and Spirituality)


(Reposted from the PCNE website)



"Behold, I make all things new." - Rev 21:5