MAMA MARY OF BTB

March 10, 2012 - Breaking the Bread, Bago Bantay
Mama Mary always leads us to Jesus. It is not a thing of being the Mother of the son of God, but being her as mother is also a mother for all of us which She always show her son  Jesus to  the world, but the world cannot  recognize Jesus by not acknowledging  Mary who can speak about her son fully to us, for Mary is the person who gave the sone of God to the world

Many other believers are not believers by itslef, it s a kind of a cafeteria faith which they chose only to believe on what they like to believe and what they  comfortably and conveniently love to do. Mostly, our other brothers in the faith, the protestants and other denominations chose to be that way, the importance of doing good works like in the church's teaching they deny, as the only thing needed is a personal relaltionship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have to love what God loves. Jesus loves her mother, and so also we should also give love to her, he gave her respect, so do we also. This is the problem with the others, they despise more the mother of Jesus. And this is why we Catholics are fortunate to see and recognize all these things, we should honor her as Jesus had jhonored her and given a place in heaven.

This is the Breaking the Bread, we continue to do the works commanded by Christ, for we are guided and lead to the way of Jesus through her mother Mary.

Breaking the Bread- A CHALLENGE FOR LENT

February 24, 2012- Ilocos Norte St.. Bago Bantay.
It is Lent, the season of  recalling back ourselves to god, the moment to reflect on, repent, and seek forgiveness.

There are challenges in these times, as to be forgiven is to forgive, and  also there are temptations, to test us how strong we are in the face of adversities, thus the work particularly in the breaking the bread is also part of these challenges.

Let's put ourselves in the desert where Jesus himself stayed there for forty days. No one would like to be in an arid condition of the desert, but the necessity  to experience it is part to become fully with god in life. In our times, we need not to be in the physical place of the desert, what then we need is to simulate in our lives the desert life through animating charity in our ways, taking care of the needy, helping those impoverished families, sponsoring education, help the street children, sharing food, visiting the sick, etc.etc., these all resembles the "desert" in life, for this is the new way and the meaning Jesus like to impart to us not only in every Lent season but for a lifetime mission of every Christian Catholics.

In the part of BTB, we are greatly challenged. We work in a mission to save the street children through catechisms, sharing god's loving word to them in their very young minds, feeding them of food physically and spiritually, preparing these young street children to become good catholics tomorrow as well as to be good citizens for this country. But the challenge are numerous, not only in our  minimal resources, but the way our other brothers and sisters take the view of these children, and undermining and putting down the value of the hardwork  of this Ministry. The condition is difficult for us to move along a way upstream of a flowing river. But there is only one things sure, Breaking the Bread is the handknit of the Lord, and his spirit is driving us to overcome these challenges. 

Breaking the Bread  is always a desert place, come,  be with us to experience it.

THE FAITH IN THE DESERT

Pope Benedict : the Lent

February 22, 2012- Ash wednesday starts the Lent season, and for forty days we are invited to meditate and come back to god because we've sinned.

Breaking the Bread, in it's form makes Lent the center of it's mission - to make changes in our lives, changes that will bring us forth before god to his kingdom. The challenge is how can we realize the need to break ourselves and recognize god's importance in our lives? We are called everyday by god to listen to him, hear his voice, to be with him and do what we are commanded to. We are in the midst of mature decesion for this time of Lent, as Pope Benedict spoke In his homily just this Ash Wednesday. He called for the church to see itself like pilgrim in the desert, "desert" that gives the church to pursue and work for more in these times that what this generation had done in our faith. The condition of the church is like  a place in the desert that it should live itself to meet the needs of procaliming the gospel in these difficult times.  The arid condition we are in, in negative view like poverty of faith and physical needs, the spiritual deformation of mankind,  the sad social and moral conditions of the world is a desert for the church.

Breaking the Bread in a level we are in for our community, will serve the purpose of bringing forth souls to god through the little resources, talents, and time we're given, but the point of it all is that quantity doesn't matter to god, it is the quality  in a little space given that we are to work with in the breaking the bread. Everyone is tasked to work for god, and in evey little way, short accomplishments is enough and needed today in a desert place and time.

UP FOR ASH WEDNESDAY

Fr. Aloy after the 6 am Mass, the rite of old palm fire up

February 19, 2012, Sto. Nino Parish Shrine- Looking up ahead for the Lenten season was one of the highlighted activities last sunday of the SNPS as led by Rev. Fr. Aloy through the rite of burning up the old palms to be used for the next wednesday ashes impositions. 

Fr. aloy after his 6 am Mass, proceeded outside of the foreground of the church and led the ceremonial  rite on the burning of the dried plam leaves. With a short liturgical ceremony, he emphasized and deepened the meaning  of the coming season of Lent as signalled by the Ash Wednesday as the time to reflect and recall all our sins and come back to god. We will all finish life and end everything, our lives just being  temporary, and death as inescapable through the reminder of the ash,

There are so much to look forward this Lent, just as we've seen in the previous gospel readings, we are taken to a ride of healing sorties by Jesus, reminding that illnesses, leprosies, paralysis are just signs and symptoms that we should seek forgiveness of our sins and live with god in these difficult times. The healings made were  messages that god is merciful and ready to give us forgiveness, comfort, refuge, for all the sufferings and struggles we've had when we're away from him, and if we'll only submit ourselves and let god heal us if we ask for his will, to let him enter our lives, and let his divine will direct us, as he is ready and more than willing to grant us peace.

MINISTRY FOR THE CHILDREN IS MINISTRY FOR THE PARENTS

the parents are joining the Breaking the Bread

February 17, 2102- Ilocos Norte St., Bago Bantay, Sto. Nino Parish Shrine- Friday and it's BTB day once again. Our weekly program for the children has advanced further with the faithful attendance of some parents in the BTB, and this indicates that we are effectively evangelizing the word of God through the way of the children.

We're thankful to the Lord for bringing us the parents of these children, and this gives us the message that we are commanded to undertake the Ministry for  the Parents, evangelize and extend formation programs to them. Looking back, Father Richard has given us  before ways to reach to the parents of the children, evangelizing them, use BTB as a way to pursue more of good works. What is revealed now is the reality of expanding the Ministry to the adults, the Parents, and these signs does crop up now and we are given the hint that this work should start asap.

In the coming programs we are laying out plans specially for the parents separately, and in the coming days  this lent season. Just after our program, the staff held a short meeting and discussion for the children's program this Lent, and because the time is now to attend to the given situation for the Ministry for the Parents, we will be engaging in such line in the coming days to catch up with the season in the case of the parents. We know that God is showing us ways  to where we should go,  and by his given time we will answer to it.

HEART FOR YOU

Happy Valentines to Mama Mary

Feb. 14, 2012-  Valentines day, is for our loved ones and ofcourse for Mama Mary, Our lady of BTB, something we need to share and give her for this special day. Love is the spirit and and the spirit is love, that is for this moment, we need to remember that god is love and should it be given first to him. Thanks for his love.

Is love in us? If only love is true in our hearts today, there would have been joy and peace  in everyone, but in reality, love is something to be further  investigated by the senate if love is really there in our pinoy hearts. We have love, yes, love for money, power, influence, honor, etc., etc., where this kind of love wreck misery and griefs to others, the still unresolved issues of our society, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, vis-a-vis is the product of our kind of love today we foster today. We need to change and employ real love in this world. Love and Greed over material things and selfishness, make this world a place of war and conflicts, an imbalance distribution of wealth and an unfair practice of justice to favor the few and the powerful, has diminihsed away the meaning of love, and it has just  reduced it as  decoration and lipservice in our time.

True love is from god, but at least we have to try in us to have this love rule in our hearts and in this world. 

PERFECTING THE NOVENA ROSARY

The ninth of the Rsary Novena

BTB Feb 11, 201, Bago Bantay Ilocos Norte St.-  Perfecting the rosary Novena for the Our lady of Lourdes, was the highlight of prayers in the month of February for the Breaking the Bread and also the Church, the Sto. Nino Parish Shrine.

Thanking god for all the blessings we received from him, and the opportunity to serve him through varied ways in the Ministries of the Church, the novena rosary for the Our Lady of Lourdes is not simply an act of prayer asking the son of Mary our Lord Jesus Christ to help us heal our sickness, may it be physically, morally, or spirtually, but to intervene in us to go beyond what is commanded by her son, to do the act of helping the lesser ones of our community.

Mary's help or intercessory works as we journey ourselves in the life of prayers,  is also like asking her to touch our heart to listen to him not only to his voice but to the voice of the needy where god himself is there in their images of the poor. God speaks in so many variant of ways just to make us heed on the call to be with him, but to be with him through the voices and pleadings of those who seek help, by shelter, food, medicines, compassion, etc.,  that takes god's presence physically in the images of the poor.