Friday, November 2, 2007

CFC Theme for 2008

UPDATE:

I originally posted this without any remarks from me because I wanted the beautiful theme to stand on its own. I know that the prior entry has a lot more "comment attraction" because of its controversial subject and topic, but I implore all my brothers and sisters to try and balance your comments on the prior entry with a comment IN THIS ONE. This is THE theme for the whole of next year and I'd like to hear your reactions to it. Lets hear all the voices in support of CFC's official theme for 2008! We don't have to be told the way, we ARE looking forward!

Rejoice!

Mini Update:

here's a version that's not the photocopy. PDF download link HERE. Spread the word!



You can discuss this in the forum HERE.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The theme is indeed from God :)

Anonymous said...

amen...

to the MC's,
see you at the Ateneo this Sunday.

MC bloggers can we meet near the book table at the back during the break (after the mass). i'll be in vibrant ORANGE! bring food to share j/k!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful theme.YES! Let's love one another. Calling FFL to do the same. Enough of arguments as this will lead to quarrels(II Tim 2:23). II Tim 2: 16 "Keep away from profane and foolish discussions which only drive people away from God" Basta tayo sa CFC walang siraan. OK? Love nalang ng love. Love conquers all. This will make us move ahead in our evangelization. ICor 13says LOVE is PATIENT and KIND,NOT JEALOUS or CONCEITED or PROUD; NOT ILL-MANNERED OR SELFISH OR IRRITABLE;DOES NOT KEEP A RECORD OF WRONGS; LOVE IS NOT HAPPY WITH EVIL BUT IS HAPPY WITH THE TRUTH; LOVE NEVER GIVES UP' AND ITS FAITH HOPE AND PATIENCE NEVER FAIL. So CFC, let's FILL THE WORLD WITH LOVE.

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful theme...

just when i thought Lamentations was difficult.

*sigh*

Lord, give us strength.

Anonymous said...

CFC Theme for 2008

The full text of John 13:34-35 is as follows:

34 I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
35 This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

I call on our brothers and sisters in CFC to pray with me as follows:

LORD, grant unto us the ability to let go and forgive those who have hurt us, and embrace those who persecute us, for it is by doing so that we can truly follow you.

LORD, grant us the ability to focus on the life and mission of Couples for Christ, pursue the directions set by the International Council in our respective chapters, devoid of pride and hate, and consumed by the power of your Love for all.

LORD, we pray for the International Council that they will be wrapped by the power of your divine protection from temptations of pride and hate. Grant unto our leaders, and all the other leaders who follow them all around the world, down to our respective Household Heads, the ability to move on with renewed spirit and charism in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ, our King, our Savior, our redeemer.

LORD, we pray for all members of Couples for Christ, that each one may continue living with the Covenant we all signed. We are dependent on your power and grace, O Lord. Grant us the humility and love in our hearts to thank you at each moment for every piece of blessing we receive.

LORD, we pray that our brothers and sisters in FFL will be able to organize themselves well, come up with a clear program of action, and implement their own activities as a new community separate and distinct from CFC, devoid of pride and hate in the pursuit of their mission, and consumed by the power of your Love for all.

LORD, we pray for our brother Frank Padilla, who is clearly hurting right now, even as he continues to hurt the sensibilities of others by his words and actions in the middle of the crisis. We pray for acceptance on his part on the real situation at hand. He has a new community to lead, separate and distinct from CFC, whose members are following him in good faith, and who is looking up to him for Christ-centered leadership.

LORD, we pray for the Church in general. The Couples for Christ is private and international association of the laity recognized by the Holy See. It has been a dynamic instrument to bring lives and families into fold of the Spirit worldwide. It is also the target of the evil forces, specifically by Satan, who is the master of all pride and hate and whose aim is to destroy the good things that God has done. The CFC crisis is evidence that Satan is at it. What we experience is but a small part of what Satan seeks to happen to the entire creation of God. We live in faith, O Lord, that you have blessed this Church from the very beginning with the mantle of your divine protection: "And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). We pray that despite the crisis CFC went through, the movement to empower the laity as mandated in Vatican II will continue in full steam and in full communion with the Catholic Church. With equal passion, we pray for the clergy and the religious, that they will always be faithful to their calling, never succumbing to the forces of evil that beset us at every turn. We pray O Lord for a more dynamic, more responsive and more loving Catholic Church composed of the clergy, the religious and the laity in full communion with each other in the spirit of the Love that Christ has commanded us.

All these we ask in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen

Anonymous said...

dear cd,

the theme is very fitting not only as a marching order for all CFC members for 2008 but as an affirmation of the vision and mission of Couples for Christ. Christ exhorts his disciples to love one another.... what better manifestation can we show of this than our loving and caring among each other within community and the work that God has given us in Gawad Kalinga.

am sure Christ is not only asking His disciples to love within their exclusive group but even outside. remember that He went out to preach the Good News to the Gentiles, too!

the theme: "Loving One Another" for the coming year is indeed from Him our Lord and Saviour!

Anonymous said...

yeah, i was awed when i read the email announcing the Theme for 2008.

indeed this is the way to move forward!

Anonymous said...

Have you been hurt by someone? Do you hurt others?

We all struggle when someone hurts us. These days, it appears like many are on a mission to hurt anyone. We can correct, yes, we need to do that, especially with our children.

But that's not a "hurt." A hurt is different. It has poison in it. There's no love in it. It comes from envy, dislike, jealousy, selfishness, rivalry, faction, and hatred. It is mortal sin. -Galatians 5:20

There is that e-mail that puts you down. There is that comment that penetrates sharply into your spirit.

There are those who justify their negative comments and actions as correction.

Forget that.

Hurt does not correct. It infects. It kills.

Suddenly you hear from someone and it immediately disturbs you. It ruins your day.

We don't want that. What does it tell us about those who deliver hurt?

There are ways to speak and advise without delivering hurt.

How?

Don't accept the poison from the devil. He is always provoking. He wants us to respond in kind with our own poison. If we don't accept the poison, the hurt goes away.

Cast it away, immediately. -Luke 10:19

Is there someone who is hurting you?

Here's the cure: Don't respond to it. Turn the other cheek. Let it go. Forgive right away.

A hurtful word or a negative action is like a boomerang. Take cover, duck, and it will return to the sender.

And when hurt, don't think of retaliation. Send instead love and forgiveness, totally. Immediately. Do this and the poison won't spread.

There you have it: the cure when someone hurts you.

<")))><



Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. -Lk 6:27

Anonymous said...

I chanced upon 3 of our full time workers (who are solidly FFL) who are still working in the Center. Unlike before when they would have "sunshiny" disposition and greet you with a "hello, tita or tito", I saw a "dark cloud" or aura over their heads. They seemed not only cold, but bitter, angry,like "a rubber band stretched so much that it could snap anytime." Clearly, they are not at peace.
My initial reactions after seeing them still there (note that they're listed in the Easter page as contact persons for their Nov gathering in Tagaytay)was "Ang kapal naman nila. They continue to work in the center, yet bite the hand that feeds them."
I began to admire our brethren at the center all the more, who continue to allow them their livelihood without putting them to task and (unlike you & me) have to deal with them on a daily basis. Maybe just plain loving them (mahirap)would give enough room for the Spirit to move.
Let's try to live our theme and be the embodiment of love in
1 Cor 13:4-7 so we can say , " I am patient and kind, not jealous or conceited or proud; I not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable. I do not keep a record of wrongs... I never give up and my faith, hope and patience never fail."