Nathan, Anna, Ariel, Chloe, John John and I have been officially on the road since Feb 27th (we conducted the first rallies in NorCal from the base of Max and Glo Ochangco’s house in San Jose). So far we’ve conducted 22 Rallies including two which were arranged at the last minute – Tucson, Arizona and Midland, Texas and driven more than 5200 miles (as much as LA to Tokyo).
As we go around I’m more and more amazed at how St Paul and the early Christians could have built up the early church! It’s not just the stamina they must have had to do all that travelling by donkey or on foot, but even more so the organizational ability to build up and sustain churches that remained faithful to the gospel in each place. The only explanation I can come up with is that they must have had a huge army to help them. Although we’re very familiar with the names of St Paul and a few others, there must have been countless others, whose names we will never know, that were equally important in the building up of the early church. They must have found extremely dedicated people in each location, ‘trained’ them very effectively in the gospel message and then provided some sort of continuing oversight and pastoring to each and every city, town and village, despite massive difficulties in terms of communication and travel. And those people in each place must have taken on the spreading of the gospel as their life’s work, making it their number one priority because it just couldn’t have survived and thrived otherwise.
Being part of building up this movement here in the USA and seeing all the struggles we have in ANCOP USA, despite our modern tools such as minivans, cell phones and email, I am just completely in awe of what must have taken place 2000 years ago. I can only thank God for putting those systems in place that kept the gospel intact for us and I can only now fall at His feet and beg Him to do the same for us here and now to sustain His work of GK. We’ve had so many exciting experiences in just two weeks but without the army to sustain things, all this potential may not bear fruit. Nathan and I are praying so hard day after day that God will bring people to take responsibility for GK in every city, town and village that we pass through and formally establish each place as a branch, just as He did with His early Christian communities all those years ago.
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GK Highway of Hope, USA – A Diary of Hope From Dylan Wilk March 27, 2008
Back-to-Back March 26, 2008
Hello Everyone =)
Happy Easter!
Friday, March 28 please join us for a Joint Household 7 pm Bel’s house. We would love to see you all there for this special night. Please bring an item or two to this Friday’s joint Household meeting for the Garage Sale on April 12, all proceeds will be given to CFC Youth and the unsold items will be donated to Salvation Army (they will send a truck to pick up all unsold items).
Saturday, March 29 let us show our support to the Youth’s Dinner Dance 7 pm at Holy Spirit Parish Gym in Fort Caroline. A night to show your dancing skills and dance moves… just like Dancing with the Stars!
Thank you and God Bless!
In Him,
Gerry and Mishiel
Good Friday and Easter Sunday March 18, 2008
Hello my dear brothers and sisters!
I hope and pray that you’re having a blessed Holy Week. In today’s gospel Jesus talked about the disciple who will betray him and the one who will deny him during the last supper. It must be painful for Jesus to know that these disciples whom he considered friends will be turning against him or leaving him behind. Every single day of our lives, Jesus offers us the same friendship. Are we repeating history and following the footsteps of Judas? Sometimes we are quick to judge other people who are manifesting their weaknesses without realizing that we’re not any better than them. May we all truly find the time to reflect on the real meaning of the passion of our Lord especially this week.
Just a reminder, our ministry will be having a GK 1MB Highway of Hope Rally this coming Good Friday 8pm at the Holy Spirit Gym. We ask you to become part of this special event as former British millionaire turned staunch GK advocate Dylan Wilkes with GK1MB national coordinator Nathan Mari visits us as part of a cross-country road tour of 65 cities across the US in 81 days. To help you arrange your schedule for Friday, here is a list of a few Churches who are holding their services earlier than 7pm.
Holy Family Catholic Church (Baymeadows Rd)
6:30pm – Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
Holy Spirit Catholic Church (Fort Caroline)
1pm – Living Stations on the soccer field 3pm – Veneration of the Cross & Holy Comunion Service & Divine Mercy Chaplet
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (Downtown)
12nn – 3pm
Includes: Reading of the Passion, Communion, Seven Last Words of Jesus and Stations of the Cross.
Then on Easter Sunday, join the CFC Family ministry as we traditionally celebrate this feast at the Mayport picnic ground. (Note to SFC: our assignment is to bring any kind of chicken dish and a gallon of water each)
God bless you all!
With love and prayers,
Bel
“Who teaches the soul if not God?” – Saint John of the Cross
Gracias Gracee! March 17, 2008
Thank you Gracee for unselfishly serving God through the CFC Family ministries. We are truly blessed to have been given a pastoral missionary worker at heart in you. You went beyond the call of duty and became a friend, a sister, a daughter, a mom, a dad and whatever shoes you have to fill in to each one of us. Continue to be a beacon of light to everyone you will encounter. Our hearts weep that you are leaving us but we rejoice that you will be able to build your own family and carry on to the next chapter of your life touching more souls. You’ll be missed but our thoughts and prayers are with you always. We love you Gracee!
Good News Reflection
Monday of Holy Week
March 17, 2008
Today’s Saint: Patrick
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Patrick.htm
Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 42:1-7
Ps 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14
John 12:1-11
http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/031708.shtml
The gift of true friendship
Imagine the scene depicted in today’s Gospel reading. It takes place exactly one week before the crucifixion of Jesus. He knows what’s going to happen; he knows his time is short. And how does he spend this day? Fretting and worrying and fearing the pain that he’ll soon suffer? Is he depressed perhaps?No, he’s enjoying a party!Jesus chose to spend his last peaceful day with his dearest and closest friends. He can relax around them. He knows they’re not going to pick a fight with him. If he wants to rest, they will minister to his needs and desires.What a great example of friendship!Look at how they dined. It was no simple meal of pita bread and dates, but a banquet! Jesus taught by his own example that we should live in humble simplicity, and yet he also enjoyed a fancy meal with lots of trimmings and gourmet dishes. And he certainly appreciated the luxury of the perfume that his friend Mary lavished on him. He did not say: “Oh, you shouldn’t have!” He was very gracious in accepting without question the gifts that his friends gave to him. This is a wonderful example of genuine friendship. It didn’t matter if the gift was expensive or frugal; what mattered was the depth of friendship from which it came. In true friendship, we give service and gifts to each other simply because we love each other. There’s no equality to it, no thought of “If you pay the bill at the restaurant this time, next time it’s my turn” or “If you invite me to your $100-a-plate wedding reception, then I have to arrive bearing a gift of equal value.”Mary didn’t anoint Jesus as payment for all the good he had done for her, but as a gift of her own goodness simply because she loved him. She was accused of being wasteful, the gift too extravagant, but she didn’t choose the perfume based on its price tag; she opted to give a gift of extravagant fragrance — she was generous in the enthusiasm of her love.Is your friendship with Jesus like this? How we treat our friends is how we treat Jesus. Our friendship with Jesus is only as strong as the relationships we have with the people he’s provided as friends.Jesus gives us his love through holy friendships. In the fellowship of true friends, Jesus ministers to us, heals us, teaches us, dies with us and resurrects us. In those friendships, we meet Jesus and kiss his feet and anoint him with the perfume of our adoration.
© 2008 by Terry A. Modica
and the greatest of these is LOVE March 10, 2008
Storyline of the Single Momentarily
By Michael Talidong
Here are some practical suggestions for how to live your life to the fullest during your single years.
1. Fall in love with God.
Get to know Christ and build a strong friendship with Him. He is a passionate lover Who offers His life for you, and He will teach you how to be a lover. A love affair with God will boost your self-dignity and honor that will prepare your love relationship with your future spouse. Spend time with Him in the Blessed Sacrament in prayer and reading the Scriptures daily. As a single person, you will soon discover that you have more time to seek the Lord in prayer than most married couples do. Focus your life on God and you will see clearly your love story slowly unfold by God before your eyes.
