UGNAYAN February 7 to 24, 2016

Ugnayan

THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST CBCP Monitor. Vol. 20 No. 9

February 8 - 21, 2016 C1

The 51 IEC: How is it relevant for us today? st

The Unsung Heroes of IEC 2016 Preparing for an event of such magnitude as the International Eucharistic Congress could be very daunting. The event, which only happens every four years, is hosted by a different country each time. The last one, in 2012, happened in Dublin, Ireland, with 17,000 delegates flying in from 120 countries. This year, Cebu, Philippines, the cradle of Christianity in the country, was chosen to be the host. As early as 2013, the wheels have been turning for the Archdiocese of Cebu, with His Excellency Archbishop Jose Palma taking the reins of the organizing committee.

Later that year, the Couples for Christ International Council, in a courtesy call on Archbishop Palma, offered the help of the CFC Community, in any way or capacity as the Committee would need. The prelate was happy about the offer, and by October, 2013, sent a letter to the CFC IC requesting that Vic and Tetet Abarquez, CFC leaders from Cebu, be part of the organizing committee, specifically for the IEC Secretariat office.

The Abarquez couple’s duties officially started on November 2013.

Tetet was appointed by Anne Griffin, Vatican consultant for international conferences and congresses, to be the office manager for the central secretariat. Griffin walked them through the preparations and

closely watched every detail with regards to the Congress.

Vic and Tetet Abarquez were just two of the many unsung heroes of the IEC 2016. The other 2,000 or so CFC volunteers who manned the IEC office, the bus dispatchers, escorts of the participants to and from the IEC Pavilion, the ushers, procession marshals, foster families to the delegates, members of the food committee, volunteers for the cultural nights shows, and media center volunteers, were always ready with their smiles and greetings of “Maayong adlaw!”

To prepare their hearts for the mission, the CFC volunteers went through orientation and a retreat.

Being able to serve in the IEC 2016 as a community was both a blessing and a privilege. The volunteers, to a man, expressed gratitude at being given the opportunity to serve during the congress, never mind the many long hours of work, and the hassle of attending to the needs of all the delegates.

Kudos must also go to the CFC families who opened their homes to many delegates who arrived in Cebu with no definite accommodations. They found homes (and new friends) in the CFC members who readily said Yes to hosting participants, some of them coming from other countries. (CFC Global Comm)

Members of CFC Cebu, not withstanding the heat and early call time, joyfully served at the IEC 2016.

The 51st International Eucharistic Congress—providing an opportunity to experience and understand the Eucharist as a transformational encounter with Jesus.

in that year’s IEC.)

By Alma Alvarez

The 51st International Eucharistic Congress which happened recently in Cebu City, Philippines was truly a historic and, at the same time, a highly pastoral event. The last time the IEC was held in the country was 79 years ago in Manila.

(Just a bit of trivia: Among the delegates, both lay and clergy, the only person who was present in both Congresses is His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop-Emeritus of Cebu. Cardinal Vidal was then a young boy turning 6, who received his first holy communion

Just how important was the recent IEC in the faith life of every Catholic? What did it hope to achieve? What impact will it have on the journey of faith not only of the Filipino Catholics, but of the 1 billion Catholics around the world?

According to the IEC Primer which was circulated prior to the Congress, the IEC is intended to be a station—a kind of a “stopover” on a journey—where a local Church community gathers around the Eucharist to celebrate, render honor, and pray in the presence of the Lord in his Eucharistic Mystery. The Eucharist was the center of everything that took place in the Congress, the catechesis providing a deeper understanding of each person’s passion and commitment to the Eucharistic mystery that takes place every time he or she participates in the Mass. The Congress was also a universal gathering signifying the faithful’s communion with Christ. It was indeed an opportunity to experience and understand the Eucharist as a

transformation encounter with the Lord and His Word.

From January 24th till the 30th, this deeper understanding and experience of the Eucharist was promoted and nurtured via catechetical sessions given by Bishops and Archbishops and Cardinals, personal testimonies highlighting the faith journey of Catholics worldwide, prayer gatherings, the Eucharistic celebrations, plenary sessions, and one-to-one encounters with fellow pilgrims.

His Eminence Charles Maung Cardinal Bo, SDB, D.D., Papal Legate to the IEC, opened the Congress with the celebration of the Mass on January 24. Twelve thousand delegates, plus hundreds of thousands more of the general public, flocked to the Plaza Independencia to participate in that Mass.

In his homily, Cardinal Bo sent the Holy Father’s love to the Filipinos and to the thousands present in the IEC, and set the hearts of the faithful to welcome and experience in IEC 2016, C3

Sharing the faith in a 'smart-shaming' Pinoy culture 'Happy-clappy'

“Eh di wow.” “Nosebleed!”

“Ikaw na!”

If you live in the Philippines, chances are you’ve heard these expressions, usually when someone speaks in straight English or perhaps is struck by some deep insight and passionately shares it with the rest of the group. Essayist Shakira Sison observes that saying these words is like putting up “a figurative hand that signals, ‘No more thinking.’”

For Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron, who gave a talk

to thousands of people at St. Paul’s College in Pasig on Jan. 24, such “smart-shaming” attitudes give rise to a “banners and balloons” type of Catholicism that can only lead to a “pastoral disaster.”

In “An Afternoon with Bp. Robert Barron”, the Word on Fire Ministries founder lamented the fact that despite Vatican II being the fruit of the cream of the crop of Catholic intelligence in the mid-twentieth century, the era that followed was one of a superficial understanding of the faith.

He said he himself was one of the young faithful during that time and recalled how many Catholic adults of his generation realized that their religion “no longer fed them.” Barron described it as a “happy-clappy, not very intelligent, superficial presentation of the Catholic faith.”

“Nobody did this to us; we did it to ourselves. We dumbed down our own richly intelligent faith,” said Barron who also gave two talks at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in Cebu City during his first trip to the Philippines.

According to the prelate, the mass exodus of Catholics from the faith can be explained by the fact that the watered-down version of Catholicism – the only version they were familiar with - did not correspond with “the deepest longings of their heart”—so they left in droves.

The bishop quoted John Henry Newman who said: “One of the signs of a vibrant Catholicism is that it thinks seriously about the faith”. When you stop thinking about the faith, it loses vibrancy and persuasive power, he added.

Barron went on to share about his niece’s reading list for her senior year in a very good Catholic high school: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Virgil’s Aeneid, a complex Physics textbook and—for religion—a text

resembling a comic book!

Old media before new

Things are not much different in the Philippine setting but instead of just settling for a lukewarm, uninspired brand of the faith, the prelate called on the Filipino faithful to shake things up.

“Reclaim it!” urged Barron, noting that the “compelling evangelical power” of Catholicism lives on in the “richly intelligent tradition” of faith.

So, how does this reclaiming happen? Barron said that before we use the “new” media, we should first use the “old” media. According to the prelate, Catholics should read books, and lots of them.

For Erwin Bulahon, a seminarian from Holy Apostles Senior Seminary, what struck him most about Barron’s talk was that his message was rooted in the “lives of the saints” and how he spoke deeply about “the science of our faith.”

Today, the faithful are being exhorted, as St. Augustine was once encouraged: Tolle et lege (take up and read)! (Katrina Martin/ Leo Abot)

Barron on Evangelization: 'Lead with beauty' PASIG City, Metro Manila, Jan. 24, 2016 – Bishop Robert Barron of Word on Fire Ministries, startled the hundreds gathered in the SPACE Building of St. Paul College Pasig with a refreshing encouragement: “Lead with the beauty of the Catholic faith” when evangelizing.

Via Pulchritudinis

“Remember [that] in Pope Francis’ great statement on Evangelii Gaudium, the ‘Joy of the Gospel,’ he says: ‘try the via pulchritudinis,’ Latin for ‘the way of beauty,’” said the bishop who was in the country to give lectures at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu but who graciously acceded to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle’s request that he give a talk during his short stay in Manila.

The prelate’s talk was centered on his “7 Recommendations” for the New Evangelization. These recommendations, according to Barron, were borne of “practical experiences” from the past ten years of evangelizing with Word on Fire. His “Recommendation Number 1” was to “lead with the Beautiful. Lead with the beauty of the Catholic faith.”

Barron made reference to what philosophers had termed the “3 Transcendentals”: the True, the Good, and the Beautiful.

“Beginning with the True and the Good could be non-starters.

So I would suggest, begin with the third Transcendental: the Beautiful,” Barron stressed, nothing that in today's postmodern culture, “it’s difficult to begin with the True or the Good.”

LEAD WITH BEAUTY, C3

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February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

CBCP Commends PMTL

Joe Tale

Beginning the Year Right tendance in the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City, the cradle of Christianity in the Philippines, from January 24-31.

It was indeed a fully loaded month of January, a full tank of spiritual insights, reflections and inspiration, that should energize us throughout the rest of the year. Praise be to God who made it all possible.

In the midst of all of these, brothers and sisters, we realize that our country will hold a national event of high importance for all of us - the national and local elections on May 9, 2016. We again have the opportunity to select the leaders who will govern this country in the years ahead. This is not just a political exercise. We should consider our right to vote as a sacred obligation that we need to exercise with prayer and discernment. How the country will be governed in the next six years (three years in the case of local officials), will depend largely on how we all exercise our right of suffrage.

Our bishops have collectively expressed that our politics, as presently practiced, remains the biggest bane and obstacle in the development of our society. The highest leaders of our church, Pope Francis and the various Popes especially in recent history, have consistently encouraged the lay faithful to actively participate in the field of politics and governance, bringing Christ and the Good News even in this secular and worldly undertaking.

Thus, in response, as announced in various fora, particularly during our Leaders Conference at the MOA Arena, CFC has joined the Pilipino

Movement for Transformational Leadership (PMTL). PMTL is a movement of faith-based organizations - Catholics, Protestants and Evangelicals—that has established a process which its members and the rest of our countrymen can use to select the future leaders of the country.

This process is based on a guide that embodies Christian values that we believe hold the key to make our country move forward as a nation, progressive, peaceful, and one where everyone lives in dignity. That guide is called Gabay Kristo.

We ask the entire community to participate in this process, and do its part in this initial effort to select the best leaders for this country. We are not forming a political party, nor will CFC endorse a particular candidate. However, we ask that every CFC member, in the exercise of one's right to vote and as a citizen of this country, participate in this undertaking Below is the Gabay Kristo and the guidelines on how to implement this exercise. Please go over these guidelines and, in prayerful discernment, answer each checklist or guide question with reference to the national and local candidates who are now seeking our vote.

In the meantime, let us pray for our country, for the candidates, for the COMELEC and others involved, that we shall have a clean, peaceful and credible elections in May 2016.

(By Joe Tale)



We certainly hit the ground running in this New Year of 2016. We held our first First Fruits offering during our first assemblies in the various areas this year. Then on January 9, we had our annual CFC Leaders Conference at the Mall of Asia Arena where, in the presence of some 15,000 leaders, we expounded on our theme for the year “Rejoice. Pray. Give Thanks " and set our directions for 2016: "Strengthen the Core, Expand the Reach".

This was followed on January 10 by a Recollection of our Elders Assembly in the morning and separate Men's and Women's Forum in the afternoon.

We engaged our International leaders in a whole-day Global Leaders Empowerment Conference on January 13. The next weekend, January 15-17, the Mission Core of Metro Manila, together with some provincial leaders and brethren from the international missions, went up to the cool mountain city of Baguio for our traditional Weekend Recollection.

We also had the blessing and privilege of hosting, together with our Partners in Mission (Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon, Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals. and Familia), an afternoon with the renowned Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles who shared his reflections on the New Evangelization and The Family in the Year of Mercy.

Finally, the month was capped with our service and at-

CBCP Monitor

The CBCP acknowledges the value of the Philippine Movement for Transformational Leadershihp and the Gabay Kristo and has gone a step further than just simple endorsement. The bishops, during their last plenary assembly, issued a “message of commendation and praise” to PMTL. As a concrete measure of support, it has asked each diocese to organize, at their level, lay leaders who will support PMTL’s program.

The full text of the commendation is reprinted below: COMMENDATION AND PRAISE

During the 111th Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference held in Cebu City from January 22 to 24, 2016, the bishops voted to issue a message of commendation and praise to the Pilipino Movement for Transformational Leadership, a community of lay faithful from various Christian churches who have come together to engage in the work of God in the field of politics.

As the group presented its programs and vision for Christ-oriented political engagement, the Catholic bishops recalled with gratitude the challenging words of the Second Vatican Council in Gaudium et Spes: This council exhorts Christians,

as citizens of two cities, to strive to discharge their earthly duties conscientiously and in response to the Gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that they may therefore shirk their earthly responsibilities. For they are forgetting that by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these duties, each according to his proper vocation. Nor, on the contrary, are they any less wide of the mark who think that religion consists in acts of worship alone and in the discharge of certain moral obligations, and who imagine they can plunge themselves into earthly affairs in such a way as to imply that these are altogether divorced from the religious life.

This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age. . . . The Christian who neglects his temporal duties, neglects his duties toward his neighbor and even God, and jeopardizes his eternal salvation. (GS 43).

We encourage the Catholic bishops of the Philippines, as decided during the plenary assembly, to organize on the diocesan level lay, leaders who can bring to fulfillment the vision of God-centered, honest, competent, committed,

strong willed servant leaders for the country by encouraging the Diocesan Councils of the Laity to support the Pilipino Movement for Transformational Leadership.

The Pilipino Movement for Transformational Leadership is a significant gift of the Spirit to our Catholic laity inspired by the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI who taught us that “there is a need for authentically Christian politicians but, even more so, for lay faithful who witness to Christ and the Gospel in the civil and political community…Christian membership in faith-related associations, ecclesial movements and new communities can provide a good school for these disciples and witnesses, sustained by the charismatic, communitarian, educational and missionary resources of these groups. (Address on May 21, 2010).

May this work of God for the conversion, transformation and renewal of politics in the Philippines be blessed a hundredfold!

From the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, January 31, 2016

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

National Catholic Charismatic Movements Induct New Set of Officers

The National Catholic Charismatic Movements inducted its new set of officers last January 29, 2016 in Cebu City. His Excellency Most Rev. Filomeno Gonzales Bactol, D.D., Bishop of Biliran, Fr. Joey Faller, and the chairman of the federation Kadyo Tamayo, Jun Cruz of Ligaya ng Panginoon and new commissioners, including our very own, George Campos, were among the inductees.

CFC Philippine Missions Hold Evangelization Rallies, First Fruits Offering

On the sunny Sunday morning of February 7, the CFC Negros Occidental brethren gathered at Bacolod’s Benjamin Hall. The hall was filled to the brim as the Negros leaders, many coming from as far as Guihulngan and Sipalay, raised their voices in praise and worship.

They listened to leaders from Manila – International Council member Manny Garcia and Regional Head for Western Visayas Tony Gimenez – who echoed the directions given to the global community last January 9 at the MOA Arena. The message, as expounded on by the two leaders, was concise and reflected the community’s theme for 2016 – Rejoice. Pray. Give Thanks. The huge attendance was a surprise to everyone and demonstrated, in the words of a Negrense leader, the “increasing strength of CFC in the province.”

The community in Negros Occidental has been growing at more than 12% every year, and now has a population of close to 20,000.

CFC Metro Manila Central A leaders gathered at Don Bosco Mandaluyong for its annual sectoral First Fruits Offering. After the celebration of the Mass, everyone lined up to offer their symbolic 'first fruits' in gratitude for the bounty of the previous year and to give to the Lord what is due Him.

The following guidelines are from the Philippine Movement for Transformational Leadership (PMTL), a coalition of Christian faith-based communities who have decided to “come together to do God’s work in the political field, and ensure that God-centered and competent servant leaders get elected into office in 2016 and onward.” Couples for Christ, mindful of the coalition’s noble mission, has chosen to be part of this group.

CFC has made clear that it will not endorse any single candidate. However, it will encourage everyone to take a look at the group’s criteria, the GabayKristo, as helpful guides for assessing every single candidate and ensuring that he or she passes the strict criteria. CFC believes that the criteria present a fair assessment of what we should all look for in the leaders we shall soon choose to lead us.

Raymond Bucu, Ricky Rico and Willie Padida flew to San Francisco, Ormoc City last February 7, 2016 to rally CFC Southern Leyte at the beginning of 2016 during the provincial evangelization rally.

CBCP Monitor

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February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

Shakespeare for Catholics: 4 books Bishop Barron wants you to read “One of the signs of a vibrant Catholicism is that it thinks seriously about the faith”.

Quoting John Henry Newman, Bishop Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles City, US urged the faithful not to “dumb down the message” of the Gospel in the pursuit of New Evangelization.

During his talk on New Evangelization and family at St. Paul’s College in Pasig on Jan. 24, the founder of Word on Fire Ministies shared how his niece, who was about to enter her senior year in a very good high school in Chicago, was preparing her books for the year ahead. She was assigned the whole texts of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Virgil’s Aeneid in Latin, and an “Einstenian” physics books bristling with complex equations.

Underneath all those was a big paperback with pictures and large print inside—and that was her religion book.

“Does this bother you at all? She’s reading a comic book for religion,” Barron found himself asking his brother. So he decided to get his niece the Catholic equivalents of Shakespeare, Virgil, and Einstein. He went on to share with his spellbound audience four of his must-reads for Catholics: 1. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (1908)

J.M. Shields writes in his centenary review of Orthodoxy that although listeners would come to G.K. “for a laugh, they stayed for a lesson (1998).” And that is why, among all the books on this list, this is the one you might want to start with. In the introduction, the author states that the book is “an explanation, not of whether the Christian faith can be believed, but of how [one man] personally came to believe it”. Though it is very much an autobiography—a series of “mental pictures” rather than a deductive justification of faith, this book has also become a classic of Christian apologetics. G.K. Chesterton wrote this book in 1908. He converted to Catholicism fourteen years later.

2. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1320)

In this epic poem written in 1320, Dante imaginatively envisions the afterlife, describing his travel through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Allegorically, it represents the soul’s journey towards God. The Divine Comedy, which draws from medieval Christian theology and philosophy, has also been called “the Summa Theologica (of Aquinas) in verse”.

3. Summa contra Gentiles (Vol. 1) by Thomas Aquinas (1270 - 73)

Also known as the Summa contra Gentes, this work is often classified as an early missionary’s handbook because of its more apologetic tone—written to explain and defend the “Christian truth” against unbelievers.

It is the only complete summary of Christian doctrine written by St. Thomas. Here, St. Thomas Aquinas explains specific core articles of the faith by bringing forward demonstrative and probable arguments to convince the skeptic. The first volume studies God’s existence, nature, and substance; the autonomy of his knowledge, the independence of his will, the perfection of His life, and the generosity of His love. The succeeding volumes deal with Creation, Providence, and Salvation.

Typhoon Yolanda Survivors Transfer to New Homes A team composed of leaders from CFC United Arab Emirates (UAE) ANCOP, CFC Cebu ANCOP, and representatives from the local government of Bogo, Cebu handed over eight houses that were completed from funds donated by CFC UAE. The turnover of the houses to the home partners, all of them victims of typhoon Yolanda, was held last January 11, 2016.

Present during the handing over ceremony were Former Deputy Director of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Hon. Carlo Martinez, along with Bogo City’s Councilors, ANCOP Middle East Coordinator Ramuel Garcia, ANCOP UAE Coordinator Danilo Abutas, CFC Cebu Provincial Area Director Arnel Sacris, CFC Cebu ANCOP Coordinator Ric Martinez, CFC

ANCOP Global Operations Manager Elmer Cadiz, members of the Project Implementation Team, home partners, and beneficiaries, among others.

Martinez thanked CFC ANCOP for being a beacon of light in a time of darkness for the people of Bogo during the onslaught of Yolanda. He also pledged to expedite water and electricity connection and improve the access road to the site.

CFC Middle East Coordinator Ramuel Garcia exhorted everyone to rejoice in every situation knowing that God will always provide and protect His people. He asked for prayers for continued and strengthened partnership between the Bogo, Cebu LGU and CFC ANCOP and for more generous donors from CFC UAE in the

light of the current political and economic situation in the Middle East. Garcia also exhorted everyone to be grateful to God for His blessings, mercy, and compassion.

Cadiz and Sacris likewise thanked everyone involved and gave messages of hope for all home partners as they highlighted other ANCOP programs which will be implemented in Bogo in the coming months.

In a simple ceremony, a check for PHP 1.4M representing funds for the next batch of houses was handed over. CFC UAE ANCOP Coordinator Danny Abutas expressed gratitude to everyone involved in the project. He requested CFC Cebu ANCOP to complete the remaining 22 houses so that they can be awarded to the next batch of families at the earliest possible time.

4. Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 397 - 400)

In Confessions, St. Augustine begins by writing, "For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.” This partial autobiography is written in the form of prayers to God and details the saint’s regrets at having led a sinful life, especially pertaining to his sexual sins as well as believing in other religions in the past. It outlines his conversion to Christianity and features significant insights, which is why it is considered one of Augustine’s most important works.

How's that for food for thought?

LEAD WITH BEAUTY, C1

IEC 2016, C1

Bishop Barron during the coffee conversations session with Aldy & Joy Katigbak and Fr. Joel Jason.

He explained: “People are skeptical and say ‘who are you to tell me what to believe?’ or worse, ‘who are you to tell me how to live?’ You begin with the Truth, and what do people say today?

Well they’ll say ‘yeah that’s your truth, but who are you to impose it on me?’ or ‘yeah that’s good for you but don’t impose it on me.’”

Bp. Barron, who has become a poster boy for New Evangelization, said the Catholicism series, was very much inspired by talking about the Beautiful first. Catholicism, produced

by Word on Fire Ministries, is a tenpart documentary filmed in 16 countries in which Barron explains the core teachings of the Catholic faith.

'The Beautiful is less threatening'

“Just look at Chartres Cathedral.

I’m not going to tell you what to think or how to behave (yet), but begin with just the beauty of Chartres. Begin with the beauty of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. I’m not telling you what to think or how to behave, [but] just look at it,” he said, noting that pointing to beauty disarms people.

“Or just look at the lives and the work

of MotherTeresa’s sisters in Calcutta.The wager is that the Beautiful is less threatening. It’s a more winsome approach.”

Barron emphasized, however, that “the Beautiful will lead you to the True and the Good. You know why?

Because people will see the beauty of Chartres Cathedral and they’ll say ‘who were the people that built it?

What inspired them? Where did that come from?’”

He added: “The Beautiful leads to the True and the Good. Look at Mother Teresa’s sisters. Once you take in the beauty of it, you’re going to say ‘what made that possible? What are their beliefs? What is the Good that has so grasped their heart that they’re willing to live this way?’ Begin with the beauty of the Catholic faith.”

The veteran evangelizer assured his audience: “Now we’ll get to the True and the Good. We’ll reach the point where you say ‘here’s how you should live.’ But start with the beauty.”

Like a baseball game

The former rector of Chicago’s Mundelein Seminary then compared learning about the Catholic faith with

his experience of learning how to play baseball. “I remember to this day, vividly, my dad taking me and my brother to a Detroit Tigers baseball game. I took in with my seven-year old eyes the beauty of these professional players playing. What that did is [that] immediately it led me to say to my father, ‘I wanna play!’”

Following this context, Barron went on to explain that the Catholic faith first captivates the heart before it spreads to a person's intellect or modes of behaving, acting, and thinking.

“Then once I had played the game for many years, I began to understand its rules, its regulations, but from the inside. They weren’t imposed upon me. I appreciated them once I had played the game,” he explained.

“It’s similar in religion. It’s first the beauty of Catholicism that draws us in. And then that beauty leads me to say ‘I want to play that game, I want to be part of that world.’

And then once I’m in that world, I understand its rules, I understand its regulations, I understand its yes’s and no's. But now from the inside.” (by Leo Francis Abot)

ANCOP Canada Turns Over 9 Houses at CFC ANCOP AVANAI

joyful anticipation the next 5 days.

Cardinal Bo emphasized the two eyes of the Eucharist—as Presence and Mission.

“Eucharist is a historic faith event. Eucharist is the presence of Jesus. It is the same Lord of Moses, Abraham and Isaac. It is the same Lord who through the Paschal meal liberated the Israelites from slavery, through his son, the Paschal lamb. He extends to the WHOLE humanity the gift of redemption and salvation. The celebration of Eucharist and its adoration continue to affirm that the work of liberation and redemption is not yet over,” His Eminence emphasized.

“We adore Jesus in the sacrament of the most Holy.

In our personal moments with him, in our solemn benedictions and in our adoration chapels, the Presence of Christ continues to be adored. The Eucharist and adoration is the intense faith encounter with Jesus,” he added.

Cardinal Bo likewise reiterated how the Eucharist leads each person to mission, to love the poor and to unity or communion.

The Catechesis

The powerful catechesis provided the basic foundation for Catholics on the why and how we should experience the Eucharistic mystery, and the communion between Christ and the Church.

On the second day, the Most Rev. Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, OFM,DD delivered the catechesis on the topic “Christ in you, our Hope of Glory: A Pastoral Reflection on Colossians 1:27”.

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert Barron, DD, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, spoke about “The Eucharist: Celebration of the Paschal Mystery”.

One of the most awaited speakers of the IEC, Bishop Barron is the founder of Word on Fire and creator of the Catholicism video series. In his catechesis, Bishop Barron focused on the hungering for the bread of life by recalling three classic rubrics—the Eucharist as a meal (Luke 24, road to Emmaus), the Eucharist as a sacrifice (Matthew 26, the institution of the Eucharist), and the Eucharist as real presence (John 6, the miraculous feeding of the 5,000).

Bishop Barron likewise expressed his appreciation to the Philippine Church, citing it as the most dynamic he has encountered. “I experienced it directly in America! Filipinos keep the parishes going,” Bishop Barron mentioned during the press conference following the morning session.

On January 27, Most Rev. Thomas Menamparampil, SDB,DD, the apostolic administrator of Diocese of Jowai, appointed by Pope Francis last February 3, 2014, gave the catechesis on “The Eucharist as Mission, Mission as Dialogue”.

Bishop Menamparampil began, “The most significant dimension of the Eucharist is that the ‘Communion’ it creates is for a Mission. In fact the Eucharist is Mission.”

He added that drawing society together itself is “a great Mission today in a fragmented world, when people feel pulled apart in all directions by forces beyond their control: ethnic hatred, political anger, collective greed. In the Eucharist, with the announcement of the Word and the gift of himself, Jesus summons every tribe and tongue and people and nation unto himself (Revelations 14:6). For God’s plan for the human family is that they be One.” “The Eucharist acts as the bond of togetherness and communion among Christian believers,” Bishop Menamparampil told the congregation. He emphasized, “But the love generated within Christian family does not remain idle there; it reaches out to the entire society, going beyond differences of caste, class, ethnicity, nationality, and economic background. It leaves no room for personal egoism, selfish ambition, or collective hatred; nor admits of any reasons for inter-community conflict.”

The next day, His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, DD of the Archdiocese of Manila spoke about “The Eucharist and the Dialogue with Cultures”.

Cardinal Tagle tagged Jesus as a reshaper of culture in biblical times, going against what is common and the norm, and challenged the faithful: “Why does the church engage in dialogue with cultures? How can we approach dialogue more simply in the context of cultures?”

“If the Gospel is to be a leaven of transformation, we need to know the Gospel, but we also need to meet people in their cultures. We need cultural intelligence for the sake of the Gospel and of humanity,” the Cardinal added.

He then exhorted the congregation to turn to the Eucharist which offers an experience of another culture, the culture of convocation or convocare.

On Day 6, His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, DD of the Archdiocese of Abuja, gave the catechesis on “The Eucharist: Dialogue with the Poor and the Suffering”.

He cited different types of poverty -- material, spiritual, social, etc. But according to him, the most immediate poverty that needs to be addressed in this present context is material poverty, which sometimes becomes misery and inhuman standard of living.

“Such poverty is NOT inevitable. Rather, it is due to human failures, like bad distribution of earth’s goods because of injustice and greed,” Cardinal Onaiyekan told the congregation.

He added, “But there is also spiritual poverty.

IEC 2016, C4

The News Supplement of Couples for Christ

Michael C. Ariola IC Oversight

ANCOP Canada President Ricky Cuenca with the leaders of CFC Metro Manila West C during the turnover ceremonies.

CFC ANCOP Canada President Ricky Cuenca attended the turnover of nine houses for the home partners of CFC ANCOP AVANAI last January 22, 2016 in Barangay Culiat, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City.

CFC ANCOP Global Foundation President Jimmy Ilagan, Couples for Christ President George Campos, CFC Country Coordinator for Canada Nonoy Dalman, Sector Head of CFC West C Norman Robles, ANCOP Head of West C Roland Abalos, and Barangay Chairman Vic Bernardo witnessed the ceremony, together with the home partners and other guests from Couples for Christ Canada, the West C project implementing team and representatives from the local government.

In his message, Cuenca expressed his happiness at the completion of the many houses ANCOP Canada has funded around the Philippines. He stressed that the

program is being blessed because almost all of the home partners are now members of Couples for Christ and their children are also part of CFC’s Family Ministries.

“This is such a great blessing from the Lord and I will bring home to Canada your sharings, pictures and videos so that they will be more encouraged and inspired to help and to give more. We are not rich people in Canada, we work hard and we sweat it out even though it is very cold there. But we do all this in order to share and help our poor “kababayans” here in the Philippines,” Cuenca told the guests.

Most of the family beneficiaries are long-time residents of Avanai, a 4,800 square meter ANCOP Community in Visayas Ave., Quezon City. Of the 45 houses that have now been completed, 26 were funded by ANCOP Canada. (Romy Medina)

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

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February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

New CFC National Office in Canada Inaugurated

Couples for Christ Canada inaugurated its first National Office on a most auspicious date -December 12, 2015, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

It has been 21 years since CFC established its presence in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), starting with one household.

Today, CFC in GTA has become the hub of evangelization and mission for Canada.

The plan to set up a national

office was hatched more than five years ago but only came into fruition this year with God’s grace and the endorsement of the CFC Canada National Council. CFC Canada has been using a rented basement as de facto office and the community felt it was time to establish a base in a more prominent place.

Through the contribution and support of our CFC-GTA brothers and sisters, we were able to raise enough funds for the

initial down payment for the new office located in Woodbridge, Vaughan, Ontario, near the intersection of Steeles Ave. West and Weston Road. This was indeed a blessing from God – that we were able to find a suitable and convenient location needing only very minimum renovations.

The CFC National Office was blessed by Fr John Sullivan, our CFC Spiritual Director.

Members of the CFC Canada

National Council: Greg Parillas, Jun Clarito, Francis Yap, Jimmy Arzadon, George Fournier and Arnel Simbulan were on hand to grace the occasion together with some CFC leaders.

The new office will serve as CFC Canada’s Mission Center, the ANCOP Canada office and Ablaze. An open house and the recitation of 2000 Hail Marys were held on January 16, 2016 as a fitting inaugural.

CBCP Monitor

SMB Retreat Comes to Red Deer About 30 brothers gathered on Saturday, January 30, 2016 at the Sacred Heart Parish, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada for the SMB (Sarap Maging Brother or “It’s Great to be a Brother”) Retreat for men. They came from all parts of Canada, including Red Reer, Ponoka, Lacombe, Camrose, Sylvan Lake, Edmonton and Calgary.

It was a relatively cold morning (with the temperature around -10 C) but the warmth of the welcome from the hosts from Red Deer was felt almost immediately.

A joint group from Calgary and Edmonton formed the service team with Rosco Doromal, Servants of the Lord (SOLD) Canada National Coordinator, leading the retreat. The team included George Fournier, CFC Canada National Family Ministries Head, Adel Amar, SOLD Calgary Area

Coordinator, Nonie Ramos, CFC Youth Calgary Area Coordinator, and Jojo Molina, CFC Central Alberta Mission Head.

The men started the retreat with a powerful worship led by CFC Red Deer Head Gerry Saavedra, after which four very inspirational pastoral talks, lively games and intimate discussion groups followed. The activities and the very palpable spirit of openness that prevailed throughout the retreat brought forth powerful expressions of faith from the men present.

Although it was a retreat for SOLD members, some women attended with their husbands.

They had a teaching session with Sally Doromal, incoming HOLD Canada National Coordinator.

The two groups converged at the venue at the end of the retreat to close the day with a joyful joint praise fest.

Pastor helps speed up ANCOP’s charity work in Kenya

Fr. James Kairu with a Canadian student

The story of how a priest in Kenya got involved in Couples for Christ’s work with the poor (ANCOP) is a journey of discovery and of God’s grace.

Fr. James Kairu first came to know of CFC from a young student from Holy Cross HS in Surrey, Canada who campaigned in his parish for financial support so she could join a mission trip to the Philippines.

Then, he was introduced to ANCOP when Jun and Malou Clarito of CFC ANCOP Canada who are assigned as missionaries to Kenya, sought his help in coordinating with the clergy in Kenya for ANCOP’s child sponsorship program. This was April 2015. He facilitated the meetings of the ANCOP mission team with the Kenyan clergy especially the bishops: Bishop Cornelius Korir of Eldoret, Archbishop Kivuvu of Mombasa, Bishop David Kamau of Nairobi, Bishop Philip Anyolo of Homabay, and his former classmate

Bishop Maurice Muhatya of Nakuru.

When he himself visited Kenya in 2015, he personally introduced the ANCOP team to the other clergy including his brother in Eldoret, Fr. Frederick Kairu.

Soon after, ANCOP Canada entered into an agreement with various parishes and schools in Kenya for children to be under ANCOP’s Child Sponsorship Program (CSP). The program benefits the children under the care of St. Clare Sisters in Homabay, those in the school managed by the Franciscan Capuchins, and the seminarians in Nakuru.

The pastor first came to Canada as a visiting priest.

Originally from Eldoret, a principal city in West Kenya, 300 km from Nairobi the capital city of Kenya, one of his early assignments was as vocation director at the diocese of Eldoret. He says, “However, this changed when I was called for a different assignment.

First, I was sent by our bishop to the US to study and to help in the Kenyan mission. From there I was sent to Canada.”

His assignments in Canada included St. Monica Parish and St. Joseph Parish in Richmond, St. Francis de Sales Parish in Burnaby, and other parishes in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia. It did not take long for the parishioners to warm up to this charismatic priest whose homilies are simple, yet full of wisdom and life’s lessons, and conveyed with great sense of humor.

Now, as assistant pastor in St. Joseph Parish in Langley, he is turning out to be an avid leader of his flock helping Fr. Lawrence Donnelly in the day-today affairs of the parish.

His journey has now taken him to involvement with ANCOP. “ANCOP has an enormous potential to help the poor in Kenya especially the children,” said Fr. Kairu. “With its program for children’s education and community involvement, it will have a huge impact in Kenya especially in the villages where more than 50% of the people live in dire poverty.

Most kids do not get education and are forced to be in the streets or do manual labor even at a very young age. Many, especially girls, find themselves in dangerous situations such as sexual exploitation and eventually teenage prostitution.”

Aware that ANCOP’s support program also includes helping seminarians complete their studies,

he enthuses” “Helping the seminarians means helping the Church and the people, and ensuring a continuing line of clergy for the Catholic Church in this part of the world. Many boys are interested to become a priest, although traditionally, Kenyan families don’t want their children to enter priesthood.”

The pastor shared that the Kenyan government does provide children free education in the public schools, but only a few could avail of this. If they do, staying in school is extremely difficult because many families cannot even support the children’s basic needs like school supplies, food, and clothing. This is especially true in the rural areas such as the dioceses of Eldoret, Homabay, and Nakuru.

Fr. Kairu believes that ANCOP can reach out to the thousands of Kenyan families who are desperately in need. “It will be an effective tool to bring the poor to a new way of life – a better life, not only materially, but also spiritually through the values formation that comes with its CSP program. It is my hope that through ANCOP many deserving children will be able to avail of better education in the private schools run by the dioceses.”

The pastor also hopes that ANCOP would be able to help kids with special needs. “Because of their physical and mental disabilities, they are considered as bad luck,” the pastor shared. Thus, these children are rejected, left in small homes in the village, and receiving the least support in Kenya. Their best chance to education is through a learning program in small education centers run by volunteer groups.

For Fr. Kairu, the good that is being done by ANCOP is a powerful witnessing of Christian faith in action. He is willing to help in any way he can to make the CSP program succeed in Kenya, and to rally people in Canada to support the work.

According to him, the church leadership in Kenya, especially the bishops, are in full support of ANCOP. They would provide help in identifying and monitoring the progress of the scholars, and in ensuring accountability and transparency in the use of funds.

In April 2016, Fr. Kairu will be back in Kenya for the CFC national conference that will gather CFC and ANCOP leaders and the clergy. He is hopeful that this will bring ANCOP to more of his people. He is committed to help lay down the preparation for the work.

(By Edna Garrucho, ANCOP Canada)

IEC 2016, C3

The daily events of the 7-day IEC, from top left, clockwise: Opening Mass with Cardinal Bo; plenary session where the catechesis takes place; flags of the countries represented at the IEC; Archbishop Jose Palma giving his thank you address; procession of bishops at the Statio Orbis; 5,000 first communicants; announcement of the IEC 2020 in Budapest, Hungary; Sto Niño procession.

This should not be confused with what Jesus means when He says, ‘Blessed are you who are Poor in Spirit’. (Luke.

6:20) Rather we are talking of a spiritual poverty that is a lack of spiritual values, expressing itself in form of selfishness.”

“The church is supposed to be a sacrament of the presence of God in our world. In the question of justice in our world, the church should be where the Eucharist is seen at work,” Cardinal Onaiyekan exhorted.

“The church should be the sign, a model of how the Eucharist meets the needs of the poor. In our Eucharistic Assembly, the poor must be given their dignity and in our Eucharistic banquet, the concern for the needs of the poor must go beyond the church door into the world out there,” he added.

The catechesis on “The Eucharist in the Church’s Dialogue with Religions” was given by His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias, DD. In his talk, the Archbishop of Mumbai told the faithful, “Asia, the largest and most populous continent, is the cradle of all the major religions of the world. This multi-cultural and multireligious background of the people of Asia poses an enormous challenge to unity.”

“Hence, one of the essential tasks of Christianity is to be a witness to the values of the Kingdom of God by proclamation and dialogue,” the prelate added. He likewise touched on the importance of food as an element that leads to mutual understanding.

On the last day of catechesis, His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, DD of the Archdiocese of New York talked about “The Eucharist and Mary”, quoting the great American evangelist, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: “The mark of a genuine Catholic is the ability to detect the divine in a mother holding her baby in a manger at Bethlehem; and in the bread and wine miraculously transformed at Mass.”

He further emphasized the importance of Mary in the Eucharist when he cited Pueblo amante de Maria, the title of the hymn for the International Eucharistic

Congress held in Manila almost eight decades ago. He went on to speak about the Eucharist as meal, sacrifice and presence, and how Mary animates each of these three ways of looking at the gift and mystery of the Eucharist.

The Statio Orbis

As in the celebration of the Eucharist, the IEC encouraged the pilgrims to pray, listen to the Word, commune with one another and be in communion with Jesus during the entire week. At the Statio Orbis, the Closing Mass of the IEC, Cardinal Bo left a beautiful statement to the Filipino Catholics: “Filipinos, go and multiply your missionaries, multiply your children, go and populate those countries where Christianity is becoming minority.)”

The prelate likewise exhorted, “Philippines, Filipinos, Filipinas, the star from the east, rejoice! Your time with destiny has arrived. You will be the chosen one not only for Asia, but for the world in this millennium. The Philippine church then is the source of hope in a special way, precisely Christ in you, the hope of glory among the people of Asia.” He further challenged the faithful, “Are you ready, the youth of the Philippines, are you ready to be the soul of Paul of Tarsus of the millennium to this world?” He emphasized, “A society that neglects its youth is writing its own death sentence!”

The closing Mass was truly a fitting way of sending off the faithful to “Go and spread the Good News to the world.”

Cardinal Bo reminded the present generation to promote, protect and nurture the family, and to defend its youth.

Those seven days at the mountaintop, as Cardinal Bo described the entire IEC experience, were days of encounter, of reflection, of listening, learning, unlearning and re-learning.

And what is the fruit of the Eucharistic Congress? They are the seeds embedded in each heart during those seven days, each heart bearing Christ, every Christian’s hope of glory.