Reflection on Jan. 3, 2010 Mass Readings

Reflection on January 2010 Sunday Mass Readings:
Is 60:1-6
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

We have been blessed with unimaginable grace, grace upon grace. Our light, our glory has come to us! The Lord is with us, within us, around us. Others see it, realize it. Do we? If we do, do we show it? Do we live it? Now, what are the concrete ways of living and witnessing God in us, with us, among us?

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13.
(cf. 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

For those of us who have been given a sharing in the Lord’s authority, do we serve or “govern” with God’s wisdom, with God’s justice? Do we promote peace – among brethren, within the Church, in all the earth? Do we offer our God-given gifts in service and homage to God? Do we use all that He has given us to in compassionate generosity to liberate the poor, the afflicted, the lowly from the social, economic, political and spiritual structures that keep them in bondage, from one generation to the next?

Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6
Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Beyond wealth, beyond power, beyond authority, beyond the material and the worldly, we have been entrusted with a stewardship of a gift so precious that all that the world can offer pales before it. It is our stewardship of the mystical presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose person we have been graced to personify, whose Gospel we have been commissioned to preach, whose love we have been commanded to freely give, whose ministry we have been ordained to share, whose gifts we have been equipped in the service of the common good, and whose Spirit joins us, links us, unites us with Him and with all believers, regardless of race or time, so that together we may constitute His mystical body.

Are we up to such undeserved stewardship? How could people like us who are so undeserving rise up to that stewardship?

The answer is in the models the Gospel narrative gives us.

Gospel
Mt 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

It is in the model of the Magi- who, trusting an ancient prophecy that a new King would visit the earth, ventured out for a long journey of faith, following nothing but the light of Christ, until that same light led them to a humble house in Bethlehem. Upon finding the newborn King, they realized what grace has visited them, and in homage opened up and offered their treasures to Jesus. Like the Magi, we too have been given the Word- a prophecy fulfilled through Christ among us. Do we know it? Do we live our lives in homage to the ever-present King?

It is in the model of Mary- whose participation in the plan for our salvation was so vital to our liberation. She was visited by the Lord in her very being, bearing God in her womb, nursing Him with her breasts, cradling Him in her arms, nurturing Him with Her values and raising Him to manhood. Yes, she knew it, she lived it, ever quietly, unassumingly, humbly, giving her everything in homage to her child, her God, her King.

It is in the model of Jesus, God, who for our sake came to mankind, coming in human form, a helpless Babe, glorious, divine, born in the humblest circumstance. He began His life in humble and obedient faithfulness and homage to His Father, our Father. He came as our Redeemer, who sacrificed everything- His very own nature, His very own life, so that He may win for us His everything!

Commentary - Oct. 9, 2009 BLD Newark Worship

Imagine that we are the rich man in the gospel narrative. We have run up to Jesus, knelt before Him and asked Him, “Lord, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Suppose the Lord answers as He did in the gospel, “You know the commandments: you shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother. ”

Before responding, note that the Lord used the word know in the sense of faithful observance, not merely mental knowledge. The rich man understood this correctly, when he responded “Lord, all these I have observed from my youth.” Can we honestly say, “Lord, all these I have observed since I joined BLD?”

“Jesus, looking at him…” When the Lord looks at us, what will He see? “No creature is concealed from Him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must render an account.” This thought alone should bring us to urgently plea, “Lord, have mercy!” Thankfully, the Lord sees not as man sees. For when we see our brother sinning, what comes to our heart? Is it judgment or compassion? Are we moved to condemn or to correct? Do we run away from our brother or run to him that we may bring him back to the Lord?

“Jesus, looking at him, loved him” This verse captures God’s deepest essence- love. God sees our sins and all, yet His love for us remains as great and as unfathomable as ever. And because Deus caritas est, the Lord guides us to the road leading to salvation. “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

What is that one thing that the rich man was lacking? He may have tried to faithfully observe all the commandments summed up in the 2^nd great commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:31). But his love of neighbor was hollow, because his love of God was lacking: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mk 12:30). When the Lord looked at the man, He saw that the man’s heart was in his earthly possessions. His love for wealth competed with his love for God.

The Lord’s sermon on the mount regarding the foolishness of worldly wealth is clear: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…but store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Mt 6:19-21). “You can not serve God and mammon” Mt 6:24. “But seek first the kingdom of God and is righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides” (Mt 6:33).

Some might be tempted to say, I am not rich, so that teaching does not apply to me. Perhaps our treasure comes in other forms. Am I attached to power and authority that I would zealously protect my turf against an interloper? Am I attached to my ideas and preferences that I would insist on always having my way? Am I attached to my personal good or that of my “group” that I would actively advocate for them even at the expense of common good? The Lord said that we can not serve both God and mammon. To identify our mammon, ask these questions: What opposing love competes against our love for God? What rival thrones wage war against Jesus’ lordship in our life?

Hearing the Lord’s command to go sell what he had and give to the poor, the man’s “face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.” He did not love God enough to give up his possessions. Why does giving to the poor equate to love of God? Jesus Himself said: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40). The disciples were present during the exchange between Jesus and the rich man. They heard Jesus say “how hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.” They heard Jesus’ next statement as well, “How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.” So they asked, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus then said, “For human beings, it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” Meaning, we can not work out our own salvation. We can only enter the kingdom of God with God’s grace.

Then Peter spoke for himself and the rest of the disciples, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Although Peter said this plaintively, his statement does provide a contrast to the reaction of the rich man. Looking at our own discipleship in BLD, we too are asked to give up all for Christ. Our CDFP’s for phases are Come & See, Love Me, Give Up All, and Follow Me. Is the Lord placing an unreasonable prerequisite – giving up all- or detachment from worldly possessions - upon His disciples? The way to answer this question is to look at His own example. Is this not something He did Himself? Didn’t the Lord give up all? God, He became man. Self-sufficient, He became dependent on His mother as an infant and child. Indestructible, He died for us. Our God gave up everything, for the sake of the poor. That poor is us! Now, can we truly say as Peter did, we have given up all to follow You?

The Lord reassured the disciples that God is not unjust so as to overlook the disciples’ work and the love they demonstrated for His name by having served and continuing to serve others (Heb 6:10). On what do we base our confidence for our hope? The gospel narrative cites two reasons: 1^st, He loved the rich man, in spite of his lack. We are confident of salvation because of His love for us. The 2^nd reason is His Word. He promised, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters of mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

Discernment - Part 1

Bukas-Loob sa Diyos or its English translation Open in Spirit to God, is more than just the name or identity of our faith community. It also expresses our spirituality and our discernment.

Our identity is of children in quest of Father God, in journey towards the highest union with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Our spirituality is of sinners needing continuing conversion. Hence our hearts are open to God, a sign of our utter reliance on grace for the fulfillment of our God-ward quest. Our discernment flows from our openness and responsiveness to the movement of the Holy Spirit within us, who guides us to faithfully follow Jesus’ footsteps, to lovingly obey the Father’s will and to fruitfully serve His Church.

“Bukas-Loob sa Diyos” is the quality of our heart, the state of our spiritual disposition that is necessary for an ever-deepening experience of God. When our heart is open to God, we awaken to His Spirit, aware of His presence and amazed by His love. The heart broken by sin and hardened by hurt recognizes that it has been visited by grace, free and unmerited. It allows itself to be disturbed and moved by God into repentance and conversion.

What is discernment? Discernment comes from the Latin word “discernere”, which means to sift, as grain from chaff. It has a close correlation to “discere” or disciple, which means to learn, to follow. This etymology suggests a similar correlation between discipleship and discernment. Jesus said, the true disciple is “the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21). Christ’s disciple seeks the Holy Spirit’s help to find and do God’s will in his life.

The Lord has equipped us to distinguish between right and wrong through the revelation of His will in the 10 commandments and through a conscience that has the inner stamp of His moral law. In every choice involving right or wrong, good or evil, we are commanded to choose what is good, what is right.

Discernment is necessary when we are confronted with choices which are all good, and what God wants us to choose is unclear to us. God has endowed us with faculties essential for“scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor 2:10). discernment: our natural gifts of the mind, feeling and will, and the supernatural gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit who

God planted us in a community where the praxis of discernment is encouraged through formation in prayer, scripture and ministry service. Our formation includes teachings in Christian discernment, discernment of spirits and Ignatian discernment, which we apply in individual and group decision-making.

Our name “Bukas-Loob sa Diyos” expresses our open invitation to the Spirit of God to make His dwelling in us. When our hearts are open to God, every day is a moment of the Spirit’s visitation, to teach us about Jesus and to guide us to a deeper communion with Him. The Spirit clears our vision so that we see Jesus more distinctly, whom He reveals to us in prayer, in Scripture, in the sacraments, in His other children, in our sufferings and joys. The more we know Jesus, the more we grow in love with Him. To do His will becomes our greatest desire.

The Holy Spirit is the sure guide of the Christian disciple to discernment of God’s will. We may ask, how do we know that it is the Holy Spirit’s moving us and not our inner motivations? After all, do not evil inclinations remain in us due to original sin? Enticed by the world, the flesh or the evil one, don't we often fall to sin by choosing against God?

We may stray from time to time, but our faithful Shepherd seeks us without fail and brings us back to the flock. The power of His love conquers the power of evil. We can never be separated from God's love.

Our confidence comes from God’s word:

• “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” Jn 10:27.
  

• “You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1Jn 4:4).
  

• “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rm 5:20).

We can trust the Holy Spirit, who speaks to our deepest center, to lead us to God.

Ephphatha - A Reflection on Mk 7:34

Then He looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” – that is, “Be opened.” Mk 7:34

In this verse, we see the Lord Jesus linking heaven and earth as He interceded to His Father on behalf of the deaf and mute man.

“Then He looked up to heaven and groaned” describes the Lord communing in prayer with His Father in heaven. In the New Testament, the verb to “groan” almost always infers an urgent prayer or heaven-ward cry coming from our deepest core. For example: “But the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” Rom 8:26. The people begged Jesus to lay His hand on the deaf and mute man. They did not have to. The Lord is united in will with His Father. His mission is to give us life, an abundant life. His groaning? Our compassionate Lord felt the man's suffering; He may have been urgently commanding heaven to open its floodgates, so that the Father’s mercy and healing grace may be poured out on the man.

He spoke to the man (and to us): “Be opened”. Why did the Lord speak that command and not merely, “Speak and hear”? The Lord was not only speaking to the physical impairment in the man. The ear is clogged and can’t hear. The tongue is cleaved to the roof of the mouth and can’t speak. He was also speaking to his (and our) spiritual impairment.

Why do we not hear the word of God nor speak it? What deafens our ears that we can’t hear His voice? Our desire for or anxieties about worldly goods? Our self-centered motivations in ministry? Our hyperactivity and lack of solitude? What has kept us from proclaiming His gospel to others, but rather, caused us to speak lies, boasts, hurtful or divisive words? “From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” Mt 12:34. What fills our heart and closes it to God’s grace?

That man was deaf, but he felt the Lord's finger in his ears; he was mute, but he felt and tasted the Lord's touch of his tongue. He felt the Lord's love, savored the Lord's attention, saw the Lord's confident look of authority. He did not have to hear the Lord’s command, “be opened”. The Lord's command was relayed to his mind and heart by his functioning senses. And he obeyed. He opened his heart, his spirit to the Lord. Because of his obedience, he was healed.

The man prefigured all of us who opened ourselves to the good news of Christ, to the Lord Himself. He became Bukas-Loob sa Diyos, open in spirit to God. Our community name is thus our response to the Lord’s command. When we became part of this community, which is in turn a part of His Church, we are in fact declaring our obedience to His command, "ephphatha!" Yes, Lord, our spirit is open to You and to Your will, Lord!

And if our spirit is open to the Lord, it is also open to every human being, regardless of who he is and what is his stature in life. Individually and as a community, we will be open in hospitality and friendship and love and compassion. We will be open in sharing with others the abundant grace we’ve received from God through the ministry He has entrusted to us. God will make His home in the heart of the community. And God will pour out His grace through the open floodgates of our heart.

Our being open in spirit to God is our invitation to Him and to His people to commune with us. Every day becomes a moment of the Spirit’s visitation, to teach us about Jesus and to guide us to a deeper communion with Him. The Spirit clears our senses so that we see, hear, feel, taste Jesus more distinctly, as He reveals Himself to us in prayer, in Scripture, in the sacraments, in other people, in our sufferings and joys. The more we know Jesus, the more we grow in love with Him. To do His will becomes our greatest desire.

A Good Sign: the Return of A Beloved Couple

(This article, just like most of the previous articles in this series, was first written two years ago. We updated and posted it in recognition of Roger & Irma Santiago's role in starting and building our community, which is celebrating its 17th foundation anniversary in August 2009.)

It has been about seven years since Roger & Irma Santiago left Newark for Manila. During their long absence, much happened in the community they helped start. Now they are back, and at a momentous time in our community's short history at that! We met with Roger & Irma last week, and during our brief get together, we could not help but recall the early years of BLD Newark.

We do not want to sound nostalgic, but those were good and exciting years. Our community then was much smaller. There were not many members to spread around the few ministries that existed at that time. Every member was involved in just about everything going on in community, yet it seemed that our energies were inexhaustible. We could not wait for Fridays to come so we can gather for worship and fellowship. We devoured every page of the bible in search of Christ and His Wisdom. We were not content with our weekly Word Sharing, and scheduled a second session with brethren living in our general vicinity.

We eagerly looked forward to the visits of our elders and teachers from Manila. We gladly gave up our weekends and weeknights to attend the teachings. We were so Word-hungry that we could not have enough of our elders and teachers. We quite literally sat at their feet to learn from their wisdom and experience. We even rejoiced when our consultations resulted in our rebuke or correction by our elders. This is how we discovered the wisdom that await those who are open to correction.

Our treasury had little money. We owed BLD Manila a hefty amount of money. Despite our lack, the Lord called us to open up new communities in both coasts of the American continent. Our little started the many: there are now over 12 districts which Newark "fathered" in the US. I must admit that I entertained the thought that going into outreach without the necessary financial resources was irresponsible and foolish. Of course I was wrong. God makes great things out of nothing. All we needed to do was to believe and to obey.

I recall our almost weekly Board of Coordinators meetings with the Tricord and our once a month disciples assemblies. We worked hard to establish a two-way communication between leaders and members. Not that there were no contentious issues. In fact, one elder from Manila observed that our members were too vocal and critical, compared perhaps to our brethren in Manila. What we have learned since then was that although BLD is a global community, every district has its own unique traits and gifts. For Newark, proactive inquiry and critical thinking were necessary given the society we lived in. What we need to do is to constructively channel these traits towards the attainment of our mission.

We recall many meetings where leaders faced hard questioning from the members. We believed then and still believe now that this is a sign of a healthy community. Having an engaged, empowered, participative membership is a more desirable situation than having disinterested members who do not attend assemblies. We recall those days when members showed up to our meetings in large number, because they wanted to be involved in community discernment and action.

For sure, the community during those days was not perfect. As it is a reflection of our own imperfection, it will never be perfect. If we can accept this, then we will realize that we utterly need God and each other.

God has given us signs that better times await us. The return of Roger and Irma is one of those signs.

Thank You Lord for not abandoning us.

Our First Life in the Spirit Seminar

Preparations for our community’s first Life in the Spirit Seminar started about 6 months after the ME 1 weekend. Only the three founding couples had formation as LSS shepherds, hence the candidates were prepared through group shepherding after worship on Fridays.

Group shepherding was like Word Sharing Circles: we all reflected on how the assigned Scripture verses spoke to our hearts. Our LSS shepherd functioned as a circle shepherd. The only difference was that we were asked to reflect on each day's assigned Scripture verse for a period of seven weeks, to record these reflections in a journal, and to share the reflections with the group during shepherding.

This daily immersion in the Word opened me to a more intense “shepherding” by the Holy Spirit, for I found myself being drawn to frequent prayer and praise during the day, oftentimes without consciously deciding to do so.

I recall 2 or 3 instances during the LSS shepherding season when I would fall asleep at night and then dream of having some sort of an ecstatic encounter with the Lord. I would wake up with shock and incredulity to the sound and feel of babbling coming from my mouth. The moment my mind took over, the babble disappeared. I recall driving to work one morning while singing praise songs, and then involuntarily babbling. It lasted only briefly, for I instinctively suppressed it with my mind and with my hand over my mouth.

A couple of weeks before our LSS weekend, I attended an annual industry convention in Las Vegas. After dinner on my first night in town, I declined my colleagues’ invitation to join them in gambling and watching shows. I knew what would happen if I went with them. Instead, I returned to my hotel room where I read the Bible and prayed. While I was praying, I felt a pleasant warmness surge through my body and I began babbling. It was like my previous babbling experiences, but this time, I did not stifle it. I allowed it to continue. It was on this night, in the city of sin no less, when the gift of tongues was fully released in me.

As we were unable to secure a Catholic Church as venue for the LSS, we held it in the basement of a Methodist Church in Kenilworth. We were blessed with sharers, auxiliaries and praise ministry volunteers from our sister communities in Manila and Toronto. During the baptism of the Spirit that Saturday night, my gift of tongues freely expressed itself when the priest laid his hand on me. Along with it, I felt a new, initially eerie sensation. It felt like a marble rolling around inside a vein on my left temple. It was followed by a similar sensation on my right temple. Then I experienced the sensation simultaneously on both temples. When the “baptism” ended, the sensation disappeared. It would return every now and then during prayer for several years. I do not know if that sensation can be associated with a spiritual gift. Whatever it was, I believed that it was for good.

A month or so later, some brothers and sisters from the community gathered for Easter vigil at our home. We stayed in the living room and closed its four windows shut, to avoid waking up the neighbors with our singing. At midnight, after proclaiming the Easter vigil Scripture readings and while praising God in songs, a strong wind buffeted the room’s opposite side windows simultaneously. The wind came from the east and the west, and it shook the windows vigorously.

When this happened, we looked at each other with surprise. That surprise quickly changed to understanding. Without exchanging words or missing a beat, we continued our worship songs, but this time, with greater exultation and gusto, for we knew that the Spirit of the Lord had honored us with His visit.

“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly, there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.” Acts 2:1-2

Learning to Walk By Faith

“For we walk by faith and not by sight” 2 Cor 5:7

Over the past month, we were one of the presenting couples in three Marriage Encounter weekends organized by three different BLD districts. Last week, we helped facilitate a reconciliation retreat in another district. While we are physically tired, we have remained spiritually buoyant, for the Lord ministered to us just as He ministered to those whom we served.

The marvel of seeing how the Lord builds communities through collaborative ministry reminded us of BLD Newark's early years when we did not have the material and spiritual resources for outreach. We had zeal, but we did not have what matters the most- faith. Those were the times when the Lord taught us to walk by faith and not by sight.

We recall that when the ME1 class decided to sponsor ME2, we were not sure how we will raise the $5,000 in airfare cost to bring the two presenting couples and priest from Manila to New Jersey. We dedicated our love offerings during our monthly ME reunions for the sponsorship. But we could not use the love offerings from our weekly worship, which were used to pay for venue and other community operating expenses. After 5 months of reunions, we had enough to pay for the airfare of one couple and the priest. We intensified our prayers. In no time, the Lord sent sister districts and benefactors to the rescue. They provided for what we lacked. All we needed to do was to ask in faith, and the Lord took care of the rest.

God’s steadfast love was again manifested when we sponsored our second Life in the Spirit Seminar. We still had no local sharers then; we did not have our first witnesses until our third year. Our community treasury simply did not have enough to defray the cost of flying LSS sharers and a priest from Manila. Who else could we turn to for help but the Lord? Again, He delivered through the generosity of sister districts who gave from their treasures and talents.

A few months after we sealed our covenant in 1994, BLD's Council of Servant Leaders (CSL) in Manila asked Newark to form a new community in Reno. Like any significant question in community, we needed to discern our decision. But our concerns and anxieties prevented us from seeking the Lord's will on the matter.

Based on logic, our fears were not unfounded. We were “fast-tracked” in our formation; we were barely starting in our discipleship walk at that time. No one among us, except for Donnie & Ningning de Vera, had any experience in forming new communities. No one knew had to administer a new district; BLD had no manual on that subject.

Moreover, Reno was 3,000 miles away from us! How could we commit to the responsibility of forming, nurturing and supporting such a far-flung outreach when our very own community was just a “toddler” in terms of spiritual maturity and needed nurturing itself? For a community that just had enough funds for next month's venue rental, how could we even think that we could afford the cost of sending outreach shepherds and teachers to Reno every month?

How could we not have faith in God whose faithfulness extends to the heavens? The Lord saved us from unbelief by sending His disciples Eliong & Leah Sison- whom Fr. Adorable called "the prayerful ones"- to aid us in our discernment. They advised us to leave behind our fears and anxieties, and to focus on prayer, the Scripture and on seeking the will of God.

After worship and during our waiting on the Lord, we received the following word: "Rise, take up your mat, and walk" Jn 5:8. God revealed to us our spiritual condition. We laid on our mat of unbelief, we allowed ourselves to be paralyzed by fear. The Lord assured us that we were not lame, that we are made strong by His grace. He commanded us to arise from our stupor, to put away our doubts, and to walk in faith as directed by His Spirit.

We gave the Lord our tearful yes, and that was enough for Him. He did all the rest. He poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. In early 1995, a plane load of BLD Newark disciples descended into Reno to serve in their ME1 weekend. Our faithful God was with us throughout the years of Reno's formation and growth. From thereon, we began our life of faith, obeying His Word which directed us to begin new communities of faith in Seattle, Long Island, Albany, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Trenton, Rockland, Phoenix, Charlotte, Allentown and Camden.

The stories of God’s faithfulness do not end here. There are many more stories of God’s faithful love awaiting to be told. This is just the beginning. We will not stop proclaiming His love that never ends! Neither should you.

"Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Mt 17:20