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IN
THIS ISSUE:
Cover
Page
by Bro.
Pete Lapid
The
Father Speaks
By Fr.
Binzler, SJ
Our
Faith
By Fr.
KJ Veeger, MSC
Place
of Refuge
By
Philip Yuson
Surabaya
Corner
By
Ramon Martillano
Sharing
By
Pinky Torres
Here's
the Latest
By
Tintin Magbitang
Sharing
By
Jovie Joaquin
God
Answers Prayers
By
Beth Manibog
Saint
for the Month
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- Catholic
Links
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 - PROFILE
OF THE
- GENESIS
CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
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- SURABAYA
CORNER
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In
Mark 16:15 Jesus commanded His disciples, “Go throughout the whole
world and preach the Gospel to all mankind.” In modern times, we are
Jesus’ disciples. The above statement is not
a request but a command
from no less than our King, Jesus Christ! And of course if we are
commanded by our King to preach the Gospel, can we disobey Him? I
don’t think so. Fortunately, our King is a very patient King.
Just
recently the Genesis Surabaya held a Lord’s Day Celebration together
with some invited guests. It was Bro. Yoyok's idea to invite guests and
at the same time, introduce the activities of the Genesis Surabaya.
Fr. Paty Aurelius, our Spiritual Director, led the celebration. There
were eight guests who joined us that night.
Actually,
we were expecting more guests to attend the above Lord’s Day
Celebration. In fact about 100 invitations were sent, apart from those
sent by e-mail and through telephone calls.
It was a frustrating
experience. Some people seemed not to care at all, although others had
valid reasons, e.g., sick relative, prior commitment, etc. Still
others confirmed but never showed up.
The
point is – as most of us know or might have experienced - evangelizing
is not an easy task. Many times it is frustrating and
disappointing. However, if we look back at the experiences of the
early disciples of Jesus, our experiences pale in comparison. Remember
the persecution of the early Christian movement in Jerusalem following
the ascension of Jesus? The stoning of Stephen until he died (Acts
7:54-60). When John was arrested and put into prison by King Herod
(Acts 12:4.) This is not to mention the difficulty experienced by
these disciples when they traveled by foot (or maybe by slow
sailboats) hundreds of miles from one town to another to preach the
Gospel - with probably only their clothes and sandals with them.
In
John 21:6 Jesus said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of
the boat, and you’ll get plenty of fish!” So they did, and they
couldn’t draw in the net because there were so many fish in it.
We
are the modern “fishers of men.” And we are equipped with every
hi-tech gadget available in the world today. Radio, television, mobile
phones, e-mail, the internet and all means of communication - all at
the tip of our fingers. We need not travel by foot but could travel
much faster by sea, land or by air. With all these available
facilities to help us in our evangelization work, what else can we ask
for? And yet what have we done so far to spread the Gospel?
It
is not too late brothers and sisters. No matter how frustrating it
might be at times, do not be discouraged. As a famous evangelist said,
“Don’t’ look to the bigness of your task, look to the bigness of
your God!” When you encounter hardships and harassments, just
remember the experiences of Stephen, Paul, Peter and the other
disciples. And if God is with us, who can be against us?
Don't
give up. If they say no today, try again next week. If still they have
the same answer, try again the following week until they run out of
excuses. This happened to me and my wife about 15 years ago. An old
friend was very persistent in inviting us to attend a “Marriage
Encounter” seminar until we finally relented and said yes. And as we
have received the blessings of the Holy Spirit, it is our obligation
to share these blessings to others. Let us not keep these blessings to
ourselves. You do not have to look far for people to evangelize. Just
look around you - your family members, relatives, friends and
officemates. For a start, bring them to your next cell group meeting
or pray the Rosary together.
With
all the facilities available to carry out a full-scale evangelization,
what do we still need or lack? Probably, the desire
and commitment to obey the
command of our King “to go out and preach the Good News of our
salvation.” Do you have that desire and commitment in your hearts,
brothers and sisters? Please answer this question honestly and start
with a short step. Don’t compare yourself with Bro. Bo Sanchez. Not
yet! Be inspired by him,
yes. But not to gauge your performance otherwise you may get
frustrated if you do not achieve your desired results. Above all,
always pray for guidance and help from the Holy Spirit to prepare the
hearts of those people whom you are going to evangelize.
Amen!
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