BLD Washington

NOVEMBER REFLECTIONThe month of November ushers in a very important feast which marks the end of the Church’s liturgical year – Solemnity of Christ the King. There are several references in Scriptures about the sovereignty of Christ and one pre-eminent verse is Matthew 28:18, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”The Feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. The intent of the Encyclical which established the feast is to provide a clear guide on how we can be faithful to Christ and live up to His commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength,”(Mk 12:30-31).

Thus, our Community Word for November tells us: Jesus the King reigns in the hearts of those who are faithful to Him. Pope Pius XI says: “If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth: He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls.”

Among the precepts of the Lord, it is actually “Love your neighbor as yourself” that manifests our love for the Lord in concrete terms. Apparently, this involves a relationship which is quite complex and difficult to handle as it could end up in discord in case of disagreement. There is a businessman, one of the richest in the Philippines, though he holds considerable power and authority, uncharacteristically displays a noble virtue of keeping a good relationship and does not nurture rancor in his heart for any untoward past experience with others. A parent counsels his children: To journey in this life, keep moving forward and do good things.

The BLD Washington community praises the Lord for a very successful and spirit-filled Singles Encounter weekend #9, held at the Hyatt House, Dulles, VA, on Oct. 27-28, 2018. The thirteen SE graduates, led by Spiritual Director, Fr. Emmanuel were Luigi Fernandez, Hannah Johns, Christle Linsao, Marris Linsao, Satriani Manzana, Mikee Orbeta, Christine Oliveros, Paolo Orosa, Victoria Orosa, Annamae Ortaleza, Maria Sibrian Pleitez, Charmaine Ramos and Rica Sunga.

Community Word for November

Jesus the King reigns in the hearts of those who are faithful to Him.

ORDER‘’Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

with all your mind, and with all your strength.”(Mk 12:30-31)

READINGS

November 4- Dt 6:2-6/Ps 18:2-4, 47, 51/Hb 7:23-28/Mk 12:28-34

November 11- 1Kgs 17:10-16/Ps 144:7-10/Hb 9:24-28/Mk 12:38-44

November 18-Dn 12:1-3/Ps 16:5, 8-11/Hb 10:11-14, 18/Mk 13:24-32

November 25- Dn 7:13-14/Ps 93:1, 1-2, 5/Rv 1:5-8/Jn 18:33-37

*Basic Bible Seminar (All LSS graduates)

*Excellence in Worship (for Worship leaders and

Praise members)

November 23Thanksgiving Mass

December 21Christmas Party

January 4Healing Mass

OCTOBER 2018LOVE OFFERINGS

OCTOBER 5 $478 OCTOBER 12 No PW OCTOBER 19 $709 OCTOBER 26 $573 OMPONG Collection $287

Thank you for your generous support for BLD Washington’s ministries.

Holy Days of Obligation

December 1Solemnity of Immaculate

ConceptionDecember25

NativityJanuary 1

Solemnity of Mary Mother of God

Reflection continued

Which kingdom will you serve today and for all eternity? The world, which is passing, or God’s kingdom, which will endure for all time? If we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and King, we become citizens of His everlasting kingdom which is governed by God’s righteousness, peace, and love.

In community, we testify to Christ by our way of life as genuine Christians, through our evangelization and mission works, through our assignments as lay under-shepherds, in the study of God’s word and in spreading His word by our faith and good works.Is your life submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Faithful servants of God will know of this promise: “Behold He is coming amidst the clouds, and every eye will see Him,” (Rv 1:7a) and, in the end of time, will inherit eternal reward in heaven.

Let us all possess this solemn faith, that as we faithfully serve the Lord in the community, He will welcome us at the end of our journey on earth.

SE #13, sponsoring class, sharers, facilitators, auxies, and praise team in ACTION!!!!

Sponsoring Class

SE #9 Graduates

November, 2018

November Reflection continued

If you have a positive attitude and you treat others well, the road ahead becomes wider for you to walk through. Extract wisdom from crisis like juicing, but consider as useless residue what is left. If you retain unnecessary baggage of anger and negative thoughts, you will be weighed down and you will lose your freedom. Don’t think of exacting revenge against those who have wronged you, because to think of vengeance is looking back and distracts you from moving on.

During this month, we are exhorted to reflect on the readings of the remaining Sundays of the liturgical year.

For the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, the theme is: Those who are faithful to Jesus the King keep and honor God’s commandments. Psalm 1:1-3 tells us, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, but delight in the law of the Lord. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and whatever he does, he prospers.” God wants us to be happy and live an abundant life. We can have this if our relationship with God is right and we are in tune with all that He commands us to do. Certainly, a life without God is like a vine cut-off from the main branch that will eventually die. Those who follow God will receive His blessing in this promise: “Keep…all His commandments…that you may grow and prosper the more,” (Dt 6:2b-3a).Those who are faithful to Jesus the King generously share their blessings – is our theme for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Giving generous tithes and love offering is the Lord’s precept that may be very challenging to observe. It may be difficult to let go even a small amount if family earnings is hardly enough for daily needs. It may also be difficult to be charitable if one is not used to giving. But in Malachi 3:10, the Lord says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” It is an ultimate test of faith. Sometimes, blessing comes in the form of genuine peace and joy because of faithfully serving the Lord. We admire a covenant member from our Smokey Mountain outreach who has been faithful in community for over 25 years, even if her income is not much, giving her all in community service. And, another member who left a high paying job to devote his time fullyl, in community, yet finds joy and fulfillment in his present vocation. Truly, God’s generosity cannot be outdone when He promises: “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry,” (Kgs 17:14b).

The theme for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time is: Those who are faithful to Jesus the King stay vigilant for His coming.Jesus comes to us every time we receive Him in Holy Communion. He comes to us when we celebrate His birth on Christmas day. And most importantly, we anticipate His second coming at the end of time. To give flesh to the theme in a meaningful way, we are exhorted to follow the directions for the month: 1. Make a daily examination of conscience on how faithful you are in honoring God’s commandments, 2. Go to confession and receive the Holy Eucharist regularly, and 3. Show your love of neighbor by doing spiritual and corporal works of mercy. To those who store treasures in heaven by their acts of mercy, Jesus will say: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world,” (Mt 25:34). Lord, we claim Your promise that: “You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever,” (Ps 16:11).

For the Solemnity of Christ the King, our theme is: Those who are faithful to Jesus the King listen to Him and testify to the Truth.The Truth is Jesus is King and Ruler over all. He has all authority and power to reign over heaven and earth. He came to conquer every heart and soul and establish God’s kingdom here on earth – “a kingdom ruled not by force or fear but by the power of God’s righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit,” (Rm 14:17). Our lives should be submitted to His lordship as we seek to do only His will and to serve His Kingdom above all else today and for all eternity.

In memory of our dearest brother Ricky Bond (ME#4, LSS#4).Good evening and a Happy New Year to all of you. My name is Ricky Bond and my wife, Heidi and myself are members of the ME#4 class which was held in early 2004. Heidi unfortunately cannot make it tonight due to her work schedule.

Before I joined BLD, although I believed in GOD, I was a very laid back believer and basically just tried to meet the minimum required as a Christian. I remember as a kid that we would go to church on Sunday but that was about it. When I joined the Navy back in 1967, I stopped going to church altogether. In 1988, I met Heidi and she encouraged me to start going back to church again and we went together.

At her urging in 1992, I converted to become a Catholic. But even then, I still did not pay much attention to church and basically just day dreamed whenever we went to mass. When Heidi and I got married we joined our local church Rosary group which met every other week. Somehow, I felt proud to be part of the group and I started to get used to going and praying the Rosary.

Meanwhile, Heidi has been after me to go to a Marriage encounter for a long time. I refused to go every time until one day in 2004, I got home from work on the Friday night and I told her let’s go to the Marriage Encounter.

After the Encounter, like most of you, I felt very good and became spiritual. That started a new life for me. We went to Praise and Worship every Friday and joined and participated in all the activities our shepherd, Mel and Lolit, asked us to do.

We went to all the teachings and for me the best of all was going to the Life in Spirit Seminar, the LSS. I felt a renewal within me that I have not felt before and had energized my spirit.

Later on, we were assigned to the Mission Apostolate and one of the programs was the outreach program outside of our community here in DC. BLD has a Feed the Homeless program once a month and we were assigned to coordinate the program which we did for a number of years. We have also been asked to help in the LSS and ME’s when needed in other BLD Communities like the ones in North Carolina.

During this time I started grow with my life and my walk with GOD. I started to talk to GOD all the time and somehow I feel that he is also talking to me. This helps me live my life today. Sometimes, I hear GOD talking to me in my dreams. I’m here today to witness to you the growth of my faith and my spirituality. It would not have been possible without the support of my BLD brothers and sisters or without the teachings, without the service and servant hood. Let me tell you this, sometimes it does not make any sense, but if you are asked to do things with BLD don’t be afraid to say yes. Even if you think you can’t do it. You can always pray to GOD for help. He will guide you. Thank You.

May GOD bless you all.

Friday nights at BLD Washington.