8 Living Water - August 29, 2014

A N N O U N C E M E N T S

PLEASE WEAR YOUR BLD ID EVERY FRIDAY

LIFE IN THE SPIRIT SEMINAR #30

SCHEDULE

Shepherding Sessions: Our Lady of Assumption

Church (after Praise & Worship)

Friday, August 29, 2014 : Topic: Salvation

Friday, September 12, 2014 : Topic: New Life

and Receiving God’s Gift

Mon-Thurs, Sept 15-18, 2014 : One-on-One

Shepherding Session

Mon-Tues, Sept 15-16, 2014 : General Confes-

sions, OLA Church, 7:30-9:00pm

Friday, September 19, 2014 : Invocation Mass,

OLA Church, 8:00pm

LSS Weekend Proper: Cardinal Leger Catholic

School

Saturday, September 20, 2014 : LSS Proper

(8:30 am – 7:30 pm)

Sunday, September 21, 2014 : LSS Proper

(8:30 am – 4:00 pm)

Post LSS Shepherding Sessions: OLA Church

Friday, September 26, 2014 : Growth

Friday, October 10, 2014 : Transformation

Grand Reunion: OLA Church Hall

Saturday, November 1, 2014 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

FROM THE DISCIPLING

MINISTRY

UNDERSTANDING

CORPORATE WORSHIP

September 3, Wednesday

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the OLA Hall

Invitees are graduates of LSS#s 27,

28 & 29 Service Ministry Members

and previous LSS graduates who

have not taken this teaching

Please bring your bible, notebook and

name tags. We continue to encourage

participants to be on time.

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014 FIRST FRIDAY MASS 1st reading...........................Bing or Emma Ongteco

Psalm.......................................Ray or Ellen Lingan

Prayer of the Faithful..............Josie Pabalinas

OFFERTORY: Cruets..............................Carlito and Annie Suarez

Ciborium........................Nolie and Jeanny Mercado

Baskets............................Boni and Ludi Baltazar

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS......Phoebe Ouano

Ed and Cristy Samson

SEPTEMBER LECTORS

September 12th 1st reading.......................................Bert and Cecile Cruz

Psalm..........................................Felix and Linda Fullante

2nd reading...................................Al and Sol Crisostomo

September 26th 1st reading...................................Nestor and Cielo Naluz

Psalm......................................Clifford and Cristy Jacinto

2nd reading..................................Frank and Grace Gujol

Living Water - August 29, 2014

August 29, 2014

BUKÁS-LOÓB SA DIYÓS • OPEN IN SPIRIT TO GOD

www.bldworld.org www.bldtoronto.com

THEME

We believe in the Lord when we are trans-

formed to think and act like Jesus.

WORD

Jer 20:7-9; Ps 63:2,3-4,5-6,8-9; Rom 12:1-2;

Mt 16:21-27

ORDER

“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy

and acceptable to God.” (Rom 12:1)

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be

transformed through the renewing of your

minds.” (Rom 12:2)

“Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow

Him.” (Mt 16:24)

DIRECTION

Evangelize and build Christ’s church.

Continue to shepherd the flock that the

Lord has entrusted to your care.

Soak yourselves in the Word of God to

know and understand the message of the

Lord for you.

REFLECTION

Jesus told his disciples: “If anyone wants to

become my follower, let him deny himself and

take up his cross and follow me. For whoever

wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever

loses his life for my sake will find it. For what

will it profit anyone to gain the whole world

but forfeit his life? Or what will anyone give in

return for his life? For the Son of Man is to

come with his Angels in the glory of his Fa-

ther, and then he will repay each according to

their work” (Mt 16: 21-27).

The saying goes, “I never promised you a rose

garden.” In a sense, God never promises a

rose garden either, unless the rose plants are

covered with the thorns. Jeremiah realizes

how difficult his life is because he is a prophet

Twenty-Second Sunday In Ordinary Time

2 Living Water - August 29, 2014

which proclaim their allegiance to God.

As we heard in last weekend’s Gospel, St. Peter

proclaimed his faith in Jesus as the Messiah and

the Son of God. Today, Jesus explains what it

means for Him to be the Messiah. It means that

He must suffer and die for the sake of oth-

ers. Peter, the one who proclaims his faith in

Jesus, challenges Jesus’ message about having to

suffer. He pulls Jesus aside and basically says to

Him, “You won’t win many followers and be

able to be the great leader if you talk about

suffering and death.” Jesus likens Peter’s mis-

understanding to a temptation from Satan. Pe-

ter not only misses the point of what it means

for Jesus to be the Messiah, but Peter is also

putting an obstacle (skandalon = “stumbling

block”) in Jesus’ way.

Jesus challenges Peter and the other followers to

be disciples – disciplined learners. He mentions

that this means three things: denying them-

selves, accepting the cross, and following Je-

sus. Not only does Jesus tell His disciples what to do, but He will give them an example through

His own life, suffering, death, and resurrection.

As I reflect on these three key aspects of being a

disciple, I recall a retreat in which I have partici-

pated dealing with discipleship. In that retreat

we talked about what it means to do all three

requirements. Denying myself means thinking

not of who I am and what I want, but thinking

first and foremost of how I can further the cause

of Jesus. It involves belonging totally to my

Master-Teacher and being able to do anything -

which I am asked to do by my Master-Teacher

and His Abba. Just as Jesus was totally submis-

sive to His Abba and the Abba’s will, so I must submit everything in order to do what is ex-

pected of me.

of the LORD. The only source of help and

strength is a relationship with the LORD as the

Psalm reminds us. St. Paul cautions the Ro-

mans that their lives, their very selves, must be

a sacrifice to God. In the Gospel, Jesus lays

down the requirements for His disci-

ples: “deny yourself, carry your cross, and

follow the Master.”

Jeremiah never wanted the job of being a

spokesperson (prophet) for the LORD. He had

tried to make excuses to get out of the position

as a prophet. Even though God had promised

to take care of him, Jeremiah did not always

feel the protection from God. He was beaten,

thrown into a cistern (a well), and persecut-

ed. In today’s passage, Jeremiah complains

that he was misled by God and he has had

enough. He tries to keep from proclaiming

God’s message, but it starts burning away in-

side of him until he finally has to let it out.

The psalmist realizes that no matter what hap-

pens, God is the one and only help that can be

counted on. It is only when reflecting on one’s

life that it is possible to see God’s hand at

work, guiding, protecting, helping. The only

response is to give God glory and praise.

St. Paul has completed his discussion of the

major theological points he wanted to share

with the Romans by the end of the eleventh

chapter of his letter. He now turns to pointing

out some of the ramifications of those be-

liefs. He begins today’s passage by reminding

his readers that God does not want them to

offer ritualistic sacrifices, but to give them-

selves totally over to God as human, living

sacrifices. This does not mean that they are to

kill themselves or become some sort of human

victims in a rite, but they are to live lives

Living Water - August 29, 2014 7

BLD joins ANCOP Walk 2014

The recent ANCOP Walk held last Sunday, August 24, 2014 at Nathan Phillips Square was a great

success.

We want to thank all our registrants, participants, donors and volunteers for their participation

and generosity to this year’s ANCOP Walk. Because of your participation, we will be able to com-

plete the educational funding of our current 34 high school and 9 college students until they grad-

uate. You have helped uplift the lives of our poor kababayan and you have become an invaluable

part of our team working to provide education for the poor children in the Philippines.

Participants and donors like you play an essential role in bringing better future to these poor fami-

lies. We are making great things possible through your support and you bless others with your

caring heart.

This only proves that we can transform all our possibilities into realities by our faith, by believing

and by trusting with all our hearts to our God Almighty. As always, your time, dedication and

generosity are deeply appreciated.

On behalf of BYOP Ministry, and Mission Apostolate, we thank all of you.

Felix/Linda Fullante, Bernie/Belen Consul, Nito/Joanna Cruz, Al/Sol Crisostomo, Juliet Caniedo

Tony/Angie Ng – Mission Apostolate DCS

6 Living Water - August 29, 2014

Missionaries of Africa 26 August 2014

56 Indian Road Crescent

My Family Encounter Weekend #18 experience

As we went deeper into the Family Encounter process, on Sunday, the 24th of August 2014,

when families were invited to the grand dialogue, the Gospel scene which came so vivid in my

thoughts was that of Jesus walking on the stormy waters inviting Peter to come to him on the wa-

ter. Knowing that it was Jesus, Peter took the risk to walk on the water to come close to his Lord

(Matthew 14, 22 – 33).

I would like to believe that all the 13 families, parents and children alike, participating in

that FEW #18 did dare to take the risk to reach out to the others in the family, especially to those

whom they have had difficulties to relate with. FEW #18 families, as I brought to you the Blessed

Sacrament, my hope and prayers were for each one of you to make that step to go out of your com-

fort zone, whatever that might be, and dare to say, from your heart, to one another: “I love you. I

forgive you. Please forgive me.”

I know that was not an easy and simple thing to do. But some of the best experiences and

opportunities in life will happen to us only after we take risks and dare to fail. If we are too afraid

of failure, we can’t possibly do what needs to be done in order to change our present situation and

open ourselves to new possibilities in life, in our family relationship in particular.

Through their sharing, we have seen marvelous things that have happened in the lives of

the Jacinto and Buado families as they dared to embrace the whole process and challenges of the

FEW. With their firm resolve to forgive one another and embrace each other with that uncondition-

al love of the Lord, their family relationship has changed for the better.

Transformation is a life-long process. Take one step forward at a time. When your efforts

are met with failure, know that you are on to something; because on the flip-side of that failure is a

real, substantial accomplishment that doesn’t come easy. Your failed attempt is evidence that you

have done your very best to reach out, trusting always that Jesus was there carrying you in his

arms, especially when the going really got tough. Don’t get weary to forgive, to hope and to love

again.

FE #17 Family Shepherd and Sponsoring Class, Presenting families, Pastoral teams, all the

support groups, adults and children, your smiles, your dedicated service and help including those

of the workers of the venue, your prayers, your leadership, your wit and your talents made this

FEW #18 an amazing moment of grace! On the sidelines, I lived that whole experience as a beauti-

ful present from you and from our Lord on my 12th Year of Priesthood!

Peace and many blessings,

Fr. Armand Galay, M.Afr., Missionaries of Africa/Pères Blancs

Living Water - August 29, 2014 3

Carrying a cross does not mean I wear a beauti-

ful piece of jewelry that is shaped like a

cross. Carrying a cross means I am willing to

accept the excruciatingly (ex “from;” crucis

“cross”) painful death just like my Master. The

cross was the most feared and dreaded form of

execution in the ancient world. It was devised

by the Romans to cause pain, humiliation, and

torture to those who were crucified. Jesus

agrees to be nailed on a cross and die in order to

show how far God is willing to go to reveal the

divine love God has for the people. If I want to

be a disciple, I must be willing to do what the

Master-Teacher did – lay down my life for the

sake of others.

Following Jesus means more than saying I am a

Christian when I attend weekend church ser-

vices. It means imitating the Master-Teacher in

every aspect of my life (and my death). It means

that people can look at what I say and do and

say, “I know who you remind me of - Jesus.” I

should so much model the Master-Teacher that

people can come to know Jesus and His loving

compassion by the way I treat them. They

should be able to look beyond me and see the

Master-Teacher whom I am imitating.

The retreat likened the role of a disciple to that

of an apprentice who wanted to learn a trade

from a master-craftsperson. The apprentice went

to the master and was more than a student who

read the master’s book (if he had written

one). The apprentice went and lived, day in and day out, with the master. He ate with the

master, joked with the master, worked beside

the master. The master shared not only the how

-to skills with the apprentice, but also his own

personal philosophy and ideals. The appren-

tice would try to imitate the master so much

so that when the apprentice would finally take

his finished work to the market place, people

would say to the apprentice, “I don’t know

who you are, but I know who your master is

because your work reflects your master.”

The greatest compliment anyone can say to a

disciple of Jesus is something similar: “I don’t

know who you are, but I have come to know

your Master-Teacher, Jesus, because your ac-

tions reflect Jesus. I have come to know Jesus

because of what you have said and done.”

Source: http://reflectionsbybob.weebly.com/aug-31-

2014---22nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html

GOD’S PROMISE

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in

the glory of Father, and then he will repay each

according to their work.” (Mt16:27)

“Firstly, I would like to personally thank everyone

who donated time and money to help raise funds

for the youth ministry and their activities. On

Monday, twenty-four of the youth members in-

cluding myself returned from this year's Youth-

Inter-District-Conference in Kearny, New Jer-

sey. We had a great opportunity to experience,

share and strengthen our love of Jesus Christ with

our brothers and sisters across North Ameri-

ca. Through talks by Fr. Leo Patalinghug and

Ramil Caragay about this year's theme of break-

YIDC 20 14: An enriching

experience for the youth

4 Living Water - August 29, 2014

(YIDC...continued from page 3)

Taught us that it is possible to live out a proper yet exciting Christ-centred life, not just on Sun-days.” (Marylou Malicdem)

“In my opinion, YIDC was a fun and enjoyable experience. I felt like the event was well organized and for the most part, executed perfectly. I learned a lot from Father Leo's talks and the workshops that were planned. The group leaders were very friendly and they made the teachings simple and easy to understand. The food at the venue was cooked extremely well and was very delicious. The beds were very comfortable. The music was sung beautifully and the musicians made it two times better. For future YIDC's, I think the hosts should manage the time better because most of the districts did not get to perform their skits. Also, the morning praise and worship should be more exciting and upbeat. But overall, I really enjoyed this YIDC and I would recommend YIDC for anyone who wants to try it. It was a great experience to strengthen my faith and bring me closer to God.” (John Respicio)

"YIDC was an amazing experience. It not only brought me closer to the youth in other districts, it brought me closer to the other Toronto youth and especially God. We listened to talks that really touched me and helped me come to a better understanding of God and how I can be a better follower of Christ. The praise team there was amazing, and I could feel their prayer through the song. Our theme song is still stuck in my head. Father Leo had amazing talks that both intrigued me and made me laugh. He made connections that us youth could understand because he compared bible teachings to things that happen to us in everyday life, like temptation and how we can avoid it. 'You see a person you want to make fun of, say.... 'woah he looks like a CHILD OF GOD'. It's really hard to put my experience into words, because so much happened in such a small time. I made new friends, and I recon-nected with old ones. My relationship with God has grown stronger just when I felt like it was fading away, and I think that it will stay this way, thanks to the weekend and the other Youth. I'm really glad I got to go to YIDC, since it was my first time and all, I was really nervous, but it was so great I wish it didn't end!" (Vanessa Soares)

YIDC Delegates (Toronto /St Catharines)

BLD Toronto Youth delegates: Aaron Castillo, Allison Mingaracal, Alyssa Andino, Alyssia Sanchez, Amiel Castillo, Angelica de la Cruz, Angelyn Fullante, Ariana Ang, Arielle Uchida, Carlo Genilla, Daniel Fernandez, Dara Andino, David Dimen, Dyllen Alhambra, Eric Sanchez, Ginelle Feliciano, Gio Del Castillo, Kristina Meriel, Kyle Fernandez, Lubert Montero, Madi Martinez, Marylou Malicdem, Pete Delgra and Vanessa Soares, Adult chaperones: Froilan & Charito Piamonte, Fe Sanchez, Mon & Len Carluen and Gerard & Joy Del Castillo

BLD St. Catharines Youth Delegates: Ann Nguyen, Janella Tutanes, Janzen Tutanes, John Paul Tabi-os, John Respicio, Justin Sambajon, Ken Nguyen, Matthan Condez and Vicky Pham

Erratum: In the August 22, 2014 issue of

the Living Water Bulletin, there was no

mention of the nine youth delegates from

St. Catharines who attended the YIDC in

New Jersey. Our apologies for the acci-

dental omission.

Living Water - August 29, 2014 5

Family Encounter Weekend #18 reaps 13 lovely families

We thank and praise the Lord for a very successful, powerful, and spirit filled Family Encounter

Weekend #18 at the Valley of the Mother of God Retreat Centre last weekend (Aug. 22-24th). God’s

mighty strength was manifested by the boldness of our Pastoral Team, Fr. Armand Galay, as the Spiritu-

al Director of the weekend, the presenting families: the Buado and the Jacinto Families. We would like

to extend our heartfelt thanks to the FE # 17 Shepherd Family, the Dimen family and all the Sponsoring

families, the entire BLD community for prayers and support, the DSL and the DCS, members of vari-

ous BLD Ministries, and to the Staff of the Valley of the Mother of God. Special thanks, to our generous

donors and to those, who in one way or another contributed their time, talent, effort and treasure to the

success of the weekend.

Congratulations to our FE #18 families together with their shepherd family, the Jacinto family.

To God Be The Glory,

The Family Life Ministry

Eric, Glenda, Sean & Leanne Alhambra; Arnold, Fe, Aaron, Amiel & Angela Castillo; Rey,

Rose, Joy, Jet & Leslie Cavida; Dexter, Ritz, Hans, Keith & Danielle Chin; Alain, Traci,

Aaron & Angelica De la Cruz; Bob, Annie & Matthew Gleeson; Phil, Sharri, Julia, Liz,

Paula, Patrick, Stephanie & Owen Keogh; Vel, Rica, Julia, Theresa, Bryan, Tina & Justine

Meriel; Virgil, Helen, Eryn & Erica Navarro; Francis, Rhodelia, Denisse & John Tapia;

Selwyn, Lily,Sabrina, Liselle & Brendan Tungol; Manny, Tina, Paolo, Pia & Patty Valen-

cia; Nestor, Melds, Daniel & Noel Vilela