 |
 |
|
|
The Couples for Christ is bringing more couples closer and dearer to Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In my parish alone, there is a great transformation. More and more husbands are coming to church with their families and so many are getting married in church during the CLPs. I encourage all Cathjolic couples to join
this movement.
-- Fr. Damaso Argel of St. Joseph Parish, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Letters of Aquila and Priscilla
Posted by: CamoteQ on Sunday, January 31, 2010 - 01:41 AM
|
|
|
| |
Volume 8, Issue 12 Reflections of Jun and Jean Uriarte December 2009
Kept all these things in her heart
Lk 2:51
The Gospels are silent regarding the years of Jesus as a young boy. St. Luke very succinctly summarized it by writing: He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man (Lk 2:51-52). For this reason, we thought of remaining silent and not write anything about the first CFC Marian conference. We would have been content with merely “keeping all these wonderful and exuberant things in our heart”. But we kept on hearing voices urging us to share these “wonderful and exuberant things” with others.
Over 270 participants came from CFC communities in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to the CFC Southeast Asia Regional Conference on the Role of Mary in Evangelization and Family Renewal held in Jakarta, Indonesia on 12-13 December 2009 coinciding with the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. We were expecting only 150 but the Lord blessed the conference greatly drawing an overflow crowd. After Indonesia, the Philippines sent the most number of participants led by CFC Camarines Sur.
The conference commenced with the praying of the Holy Rosary, the Joyful Mysteries. After the usual CFC worship, Gunawan Purwadi, CFC Indonesia National Director, welcomed the participants. This was followed by the opening remarks of Joe Yamamoto, CFC Executive Director, and the keynote address of Joe Tale, CFC Chairman. The first talk on the role of Mary in the Church, a reflection on the verse “Be it done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38), was by Bishop Mikael Angkur, OFM, Head, Indonesia Family Commission, but delivered by his representative. This was followed by sharing from three participants. Prasert Tungjunyatham of CFC Thailand made everyone teary eyed when he related the role of the Blessed Mother in his family’s conversion to Christianity. Their son was then a student in a Redemptorist school where he learned about the devotion to the Mother of Perpetual Help. Later he taught them how to pray the Hail Mary. This led to their own interest in the Blessed Virgin and ultimately to catechism lessons and their baptism.
The second talk on the role of Mary in family life, a reflection on the verse “His mother kept all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51), was given by Mannix Ocampo, Moderator, CFC Board of Elders, followed again by three sharers. Everyone was touched by the sharing of Michael Bay of CFC Malaysia who said that he was at first reluctant to attend the conference. But at the conference, it was revealed to him why God had made it possible for him to be present. He needed to discover more intimately the meaning and purpose of his relationship with the Blessed Mother in order for him to more fully realize and discover the need to improve his relationship with his very own mother.
At dusk the participants prayed the Angelus and the conference prayer, Sub Tuum Praesidium, the oldest complete prayer to Mary dating back to 250 AD. After dinner, the conference resumed with the praying of the Holy Rosary, the Luminous Mysteries. The emcees then described the Marian images brought by the various CFC communities. They were beautifully arranged on flower-decorated tables and pedestals placed on the stage in front of the conference hall. Archbishop Arguelles of Lipa brought two beautiful, large images of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, as well as smaller images of the Virgin of Caysasay. The larger image of the Mediatrix of All Grace was donated to CFC Indonesia while the smaller image was given as a gift to the Archbishop of Jakarta. CFC Camarines Sur brought an image of the Virgin of Peñafrancia.
A highlight of the conference was the Rite of Enrollment in the Brown Scapular of the Lady of Mt. Carmel – the very first such occasion during a CFC conference – officiated by Archbishop Ramon Arguelles. He gave a historical background of the Brown Scapular. In 1241 Baron de Grey of England returned from the Crusades bringing back with him a group of religious from the holy mountain of Carmel. He gave the monks a manor house in Aylesford where ten years later the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Simon Stock and handed him the Brown Scapular saying: “This shall be the privilege for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire.” In time, the Church extended this privilege to all the laity willing to be invested in the Brown Scapular. The Blessed Virgin appeared later to Pope John XXII and said of those wearing the Brown Scapular: “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory I shall free so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.” Thus on the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, over 200 men and women pledged to perpetually wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of their devotion to the Mother of God.
The imposition of the Brown Scapular was followed by audio-visual presentations on various Marian sites and devotions in participating countries. Singapore and Thailand featured churches in their respective countries named after the Blessed Mother as well as various Marian images. Indonesia presented the history of the devotion to the Lady of Sendang Sono with photos of activities at the pilgrimage site. CFC Camarines Sur gave an audio-visual presentation on the celebration of the feast day of the Virgin of Peñafrancia and CFC Batangas an audio-visual presentation on the Virgin of Lipa, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, as well as on the history of the discovery of the image of the Virgin of Caysasay and the resulting devotion. The first day of the conference closed at almost an hour before midnight with a solemn and touching closing prayer. Throughout the conference, the music ministry sang Marian songs mixed with the usual CFC songs.
The second day opened again with the praying of the Holy Rosary, the Glorious Mysteries. This was followed by a highly emotional and tearful opening worship by Rene Velarde of CFC Indonesia. Two talks followed on the role of Mary in evangelization, a reflection on the verse “Mary set out and travelled to the hill country in haste” (Lk 1:39), and on Mary and the Church of the future, a reflection on the verse “A woman clothed with the sun” (Rev 12:1), given by Archbishop Arguelles and Fr. Agung Prihartana, MSF, Secretary, Indonesian Family Commission, respectively. Archbishop Arguelles gave an extensive and scholarly dissertation interspersed with interesting anecdotes that was greatly appreciated and enjoyed by the participants.
The Holy Mass was said by Archbishop Arguelles and concelebrated by several priests in attendance. The Prayers of the Faithful was said in the different languages of the participating countries, namely, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, English, Tagalog and Thai. The closing remarks were delivered by Joe Tale, Rouquel Ponte and Jun Uriarte. The conference closed with a Spirit-filled and joyful praise fest led by Jojo Apolo. As the participants took turn in taking photographs in front of the images of the Blessed Virgin, Archbishop Arguelles was the most sought after personality being asked to join the picture taking.
During the conference, the latest book of Jun and Jean Uriarte titled Aquila and Priscilla’s Moments with Mary was launched. Copies were included in the blue conference bag that also contained the concept paper and program of the conference, background papers for the three talks, and brochure and rite of blessing prayers of the Brown Scapular. It was indeed a conference that all would “keep in their hearts” for a long time – a Spirit-filled occasion for intimate Moments with Mary.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Letters of Aquila and Priscilla | Log-in or register a new user account | 0 Comments |
|
| Comments are statements made by the person that posted them.
They do not necessarily represent the opinions of the site editor. |
|
| |
