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IN
THIS ISSUE:
From the Head Servant
by Bro.
Pete Lapid
SPECIAL FEATURE:
Messages
By Bro. Bo Sanchez
Our Faith
By
Fr. KJ Veeger, MSC
Surabaya Corner
By Ramon Martillano
Place of Refuge
By
Philip Yuson
Sharing
By
Fred and Beth Manibog
Here's
the Latest
By
Tintin Magbitang
Sharing
By Carolle Bautista
God
Answers Prayers
By
Beth Manibog
The Children's Ministry
By Tintin Magbitang
Sharing
By Nenette Dizon
Saint for the Month
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Catholic
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- PROFILE
OF THE
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GENESIS
CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
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SHARING
 
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Last summer, as
our family went to visit Canada and the relatives whom we have not
seen for a long time, there came to me a realization of how much I
missed the communities with whom I belong to in Jakarta, that I
wanted so badly to go back. It is a strange feeling I have never felt
before, a longing I never realized existed.
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Years before,
our family never belonged to any community whom we can call our own.
As Catholics, we fervently attended masses every Sunday and all
holidays of obligation. This seemed to be more than enough for us.
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Why we never got
involved with any community in the practice of our Catholic faith may
be largely influenced by the environment to which we have been exposed
to in the past. We would humbly admit that even our own parents and
relatives do not belong to any community, we grew up without it, and
they grew up without it. Besides, on my own, I remembered the
negative impact of what I have always heard from other people on how
hard it is to receive and serve guest in a prayer meeting. They would
scrutinize everything and before you know it, everyone is talking
about "YOU". I have heard too many times how people are afraid to
share about their lives for the same reason, when in effect, their
sharing could very well be a good example of how God had worked in
their lives. In short, the negativism of actions such as this had
turned into their refusal to be Christ's witnesses. But of course
they did not realize that, I did not realize it, and you may not
realize that either, until much later.....
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When my husband
nearly lost his life years ago, and a little while after, when our
second child was diagnosed of one sickness after another (which is not
just fever, cold or coughs that we commonly know of) and to which we
are still battling up to now, our family was comforted and prayed for
by no other than the members of the community. It opened our eyes
and minds to the truth of how the community can help us in our times
of pain, accompany and guide us in our journey of spiritual growth,
and be there to share in those special moments of happiness in our
lives.
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To this day, we
can proudly say that we still belong to the Genesis Catholic
Community, and I for myself to a group of women who prayed the cenacle
every Wednesday. But mind you, the road to community life can be
bumpy at times, the temptation is always there to withdraw, to pull
away, to back slide and to just forget about it or find a new one. As
one priest had adviced me, if you are in a community, and you do not
feel good about the situation that you are in or the people that you
are with, you should not force yourself into it. You always have a
choice of finding another one that fits you better rather than fall
into 'sin'.
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While this
concept of finding something that fits you is generally paralleled in
some ways to finding friends, finding work, or finding a school, I
also keep in mind always about human imperfections, which make the
family imperfect and the community imperfect, as well. There would
always be criticism, conflicts, misunderstandings and trials and
betrayals everywhere. We would always be bugged constantly that there
are better ways to spend our time like working and earning more money,
going to a party or socializing, or simply staying at home and
watching television, rather than praying with the community. Funny as
it may seem, there may be times when a little headache would make us
believe that we are very sick to attend the community gathering. The
irony of it all is when we are made to believe in our own merits which
could make us stand apart and independent of others. But the reality
is, we are weak, which is why so many are focused on the negative
aspect of a community (like members of the community would be prying
into one's private lives), rather than the positive one. But let me
tell you this, it is only when you have lost all your self worth
because others have put you down, that you begin to realize that you
have all the worth there is to God Almighty. And it would no longer
matter if people know about your life, what matters most is that with
the story of your life, you hope and believe that other people would
realize that we all have crosses to bear........, and that other
people's crosses may prove heavier than the one we are carrying......,
and that is when our burden becomes a little bit lighter......., to
know that after all, we are not alone, and sometimes, a realization
may come that we are even more blessed than the others.
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While others
can spend their lifetime searching for the community which fits them,
or withdrawing from one to another, I chose to stick it out and make
the best out of it while I am still there. We all have something in
common, we all live temporarily here in Jakarta and by the time that
we go back to where we came from, or live in another place by will or
circumstance, we should be ready to put up our own community or merge
ourselves in the existing community in the new place where we would
settle. For is it not that life is a constant change?
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And what was
that strange feeling I have never felt before, a longing I never
realized existed? The truth is, I felt so attached to Genesis Catholic
Community and I am not yet ready to leave, I still have many things to
learn and change in myself. I felt that there is more I could still
do in my cenacle prayer group in my own little way. To sum it all, I
still have an unfinished business!
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And with this
unfinished business, let me share this very nice passage from
Colossians 3, verses 12-14 which could guide us in our community life,
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you
may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And
over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in
perfect unity."
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For comments, suggestions or ideas,
Write us: Jl. Bacang No. 20 Kebayoran
Baru, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
Call us: (6221) 720-3824
Fax us: (6221) 662-7384
Genesis
Catholic Community - All Rights Reserved 2002
No part of this website may be copied, reproduced or modified without
the permission from the webmaster.
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