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Feeding the Mission: A Fish Bowl Mentality?
Few people will deny the theory that a local church stops growing as the size of the church building reaches 80% capacity.
The reason for this is purely human and not so spiritual. Most people
simply will not tolerate feeling crowded in the pews. Using chairs
instead of pews helps this problem somewhat, but eventually the
congregants feel like their space is being invaded and soon become
uncomfortable. However, this is not the biggest reason for a churches lack of growth or the reaching of certain size and then growth stopping.
We use the analogy that a fish will only grow to a certain size in a
small fish bowl but in a larger pond for instance, the fish can grow
much larger. I'm not so sure however that God's church should so
easily be compared to a fish. I suggest that the building is not
necessarily the problem in most cases. In fact, we have all seen
churches who were literally bursting out at the seams. In many parts
of the world today, revival is happening at an unprecedented rate. Pews are packed and chairs are in the aisles. Some churches are utilizing 2-3 services per day to accommodate the crowds.
While it is true that most people don't like to be in a crowded atmosphere, it is also true that people will come when they are being fed.
Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me Peter?" Peter responded in the
affirmative and when he did, our Lord told him to "Feed my sheep." He
did not tell Peter to house them or get them plenty of exercise. He
told him to "Feed Them". [read more]
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SVD CENTENNIAL PRAYER
 O Triune God, source of all blessings, you have always journeyed with us as we celebrate our 100 years of religious missionary presence in the Philippines.
We thankfully remember our first SVD Missionaries with their pioneering spirit and commitment. The people who welcomed and gave us the opportunity to serve the communities that emerged through the prayers and work of our brothers, the active and contemplative sisters, priest and lay partners.
We humbly rejoice the dedication of our confreres, superiors, formators, educators and pastors at the generous support of our lay mission purpose, at the genuine response of the people we work with, at the ministries that developed in the course of time namely: Mission animation, Media Communication, Bible Apostolate, Justice, Peace and Integrity of creation.
And we faithfully renew, our community spirit, our creative hearts and our various works, our common vision to help and strengthen the local church, our involvement with the social concerns of our people and our mission to be witnesses to the Word in the world especially in our country, inspired by our founder St. Arnold Janssen, St. Joseph Freinademetz, Blessed Helena Stollenwerk, Blessed Josefa Stenmanns, the blessed martyrs, Stan, Greogory, Alloysius and Louis and through the intercession of our Blessed Virgin Mary and the other patrons of the Society of the Divine Word, we pray to you Fathe, Son, the Holy Spirit, who lives forever and ever. Amen. top |
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Q: I get distracted easily in my spiritual life but I do want to grow closer to the Lord. What can I do to help me get back on track?
A: Well, distraction is part of our existence and can't be avoided. But there are things we can do to as you said "get back on track". One, try to create a prayerful environment. You can't grow closer to God by staying in front of the TV all day. Got to your room and have some peace and quiet, kneeling in the alter even or go to Adoration chapel. Two, you can offer all those things that distract you in prayer to God's glory. Either pray to the Lord about the things bothering you or just surrender it to Him for His glory. And lastly, you can use guided or memorize prayers (eg. Our Father or Hail Mary etc) only if pray it heart and not by mouth. top
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KNOWING AND LIVING THE BIBLEIn the Philippines, January is the month of the Bible. We love to own a Bible. We enjoy listening to
preaching based on the Bible. And we love to read tracts and booklets about the Bible.
Sometimes we check out the Bible to pray a certain psalm or read a few verses that have been
indicated to us in the course of a lesson, homily or discussion. But few of us ever read the Bible
on a regular basis as a Christian devotion. Why?
When it comes to the Bible this disposition is
carried to excesses in such a way that we not only have a reverential fear for the Bible but a
demobilizing awe that keeps us from seeing the Bible as a book to be read. I used to know a
certain man who owned a Bible. He wrapped it up very neatly in white cloth and saved it
together with his other precious belongings in a drawer. The Bible was brought out and
unwrapped only when there was a dispute in the village and someone needed to swear an oath to
resole the dispute. For this man the Bible had become a sacred object doing the work that used
to be done by the idols of traditional religion in the settlement of disputes. The Bible, sure
enough, is a sacred object. But it is a sacred object meant above all to be read and listened to. read more |
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 Halleluiah, Praise the Lord!Why do we rejoice today? We rejoice because our faith in Christ has been vindicated, truth
has triumphed over falsity, justice over injustice and tragedy has turned into comedy. It is like
watching one of the episodes of Batman. First you see an innocent and helpless victim being attacked,
robbed, kidnapped, assaulted and tortured by a wicked assailant. And we feel so bad seeing the
triumph of the bad guy. Then, almost at the point where the victim has given up hope and is at the
point of death, down from the skies comes Batman to the rescue. He battles and defeats the bad guy
and rescues the innocent victim. And we feel happy inside at the triumph of justice. read more |
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i believe even when...
It was faith that made Abraham able to become a father, even though he was too old and Sarah couldn't have children.He trusted God to keep his promise. Heb. 11:11
On a basement wall in Cologne, Germany, a fugitive from the Nazis in World War II left a beautiful testimony of faith. Workers found the inscription while clearing away
debris from a bombed-out house:
"I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel do not feel it. I believe in God even when he is silent."
The fugitive's faith and Abraham's faith invites me to speak to God about my faith. What do I say?
Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.
Saint Augustine |
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Glimpses of Cordillera
The Cordillera has been a mission frontier since the coming of the first missionaries in the area (c.1900). Its good to have a glimpse of the Cordillera where the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in the Philippines had its root (particularly in Abra). Now, the SVD are also in other remote mission areas of Cordillera (ie. Kalinga, Apayao, Mt.Province and Ifugao) |
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The church's core mission never changes, but how it's
accomplished is up for revision. -Wayne Pohl |
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