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.

LANDED HOME- THE NEW FR. RICHARD

Father Richard is home again in India

February 13, 2012, Manila- By counting, Rev. Father Richard has landed back in his home country, India. Varanasi his diocese, where he will continue his mission of priesthood. Calculalting by this time, he is now in New Delhi, at the CBCI, where he will have a short stint of stay before going back home to his province somewhere in the part of the north India, sorry I do not specifically knew.

The importance and relevance of this blog is nothing but a personal trailing of our spiritual adviser whom breaking the bread in the Bago Bantay owes much to this person and man of God the good works that we're now blessed with. Not actually watching his every move, but sensing his presence in our parish and what had he'd done good for us is enough to spot him randomly in our hearts, a kind of connection that is we are bonded as spiritual brothers. He's not far away, and he is fondly in contact and communication with us through the vantage of technology available to us today.

Future is what I'm speaking about here, it is not only about the greater good of Fr. Richard's journey in his mission but also, his legacy is one footprint of protracting this priest to make  something better for the church in the next decades.

As god is good and in all the time, we  pursue the works needed to be done. Thanks.

THE YOUTH, HOPE OF THE CHURCH

the 8th day of the rosary of the children

The rosary, in the novena a way to start them young

February 10, 2012, BTB Office, 4 pm: thus, the usual time to gather and pray the Rosary in the Breaking the Bread, this friday starts our program for the Children. We had made significant change in our street children, a discipline and a good behaviour is seen with good results. The way to build our church is to build our children, and those children we deal with is the little ones and the biggest in our community. The hope of the church is the youth, and they are being prepared to be real catholics by the BTB.

If there is time to spend on, it is the time to give to them to the children for they are the future of our church, for they are the future parishioners, and for they are the leaders to be tthat will hone our church, and to be apt with  the modern age of our time. The chances on the growth of the body of Christ  relies on how we build the youth, our children to become the faithful catholics in their generation.  The sweetest thing about our apostolate is that we harness the  strength and the future of the church from those in the lesser ones of our community, the street children and what we do not know is that in a few more years they can become members of any  Ministry of our Parish, like choirs and the PYM, etc.  Father Richard is right in his discerment of our apostolate minstry and there is a reason and  time to give more power to this noble work where gospel is applied to the fullest.

The strength of our church and specially the faith will remain on one question ;" what have we done to our children, wether it may had came from the upper or middle social class of our society, does not matter, but in the critical, the biggest chunk of them is the lower and the lowest portion of our society- the Poor -  where we need to lay our eyes on.

May we ask the Lord that, we members and staff of the BTB having answered the call to serve God, may gather our strength through prayers and  faith to god, and through the gospel of our Lord to bring more fruits in our work amidst our own strength and gifts we received from Him, and He may always bless us for the things that we need spritually and materialy to keep His church alive forever and ever ,Amen,

THE CHILDREN IN THE ROSARY

BTB children  in the 5th day

The Rosary prayed by the children

February 6, 2012 -Breaking the Bread 4PM.  The children of the BTB say the segment of the series of Novena Prayers in the Home Office of the Breaking the Bread. The continued practice for the children's prayerful life in the ways of the novena rosaries is one example and a training ground of the BTB for the children.

This novena rosary prayers will bring forth fruit of spirituality for the children, and will extend to their homes the light of prayers for their families. When we teach the children to be with god, we teach also their parents to be aware of god.   What is unknown to these children and also to the community of the Bago Bantay is the culture of getting and being close catholics in our parish. What will be reaped in these priograms is like a "buy one take one" scheme, as we take to catechize the children,  we also catchize their families. The adult parents themeselves which are in hostile life conditions brought about by their impoverished conditions in life is slowly and unknowingly  embracing god. Our less ones cannot meet or comprehend sprituality when their stomach is burning in hunger and in  their minds are the  concerns for their daily food and their basic needs for needed forn existence, and prayers and church going is less in mind and forgotten in their chores. If we are suceeding in the children, we also are slowly suceeding in their domestic lives most importantly we are conquering  their families.

The work is active to go deeper in the Block 5, sooner or later, we will succeed to reform the families. In god's time that we are there. Thank you.

the 4th day Our Lady of Lourdes Rosary Novena

the 4th day rosary novena to our Lady

BTB members pray

February 5, 2012,  the BTB home office, 8:30 PM. The continued rosary novena for our Lady of Lourdes in the BTB home office is kept alive. This devotion to our lady shines brightly in the BTB as prayerfullness and religious deeds, to the veneration of saints and specially mother Mary, kowing that holy ones is helping us throught their prayers to god, so do also we pray to them that they may always pray for us and help us.

In relating this blog article about praying to the saints, it is best to discuss them to add up good understanding of our faith as catholics. In an apologetic way to be able to answer questions made by our brothers in christian faith .

The historic Christian practice of asking our departed brothers and sisters in Christ—the saints—for their intercession has come under attack in the last few hundred years. Though the practice dates to the earliest days of Christianity and is shared by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, the other Eastern Christians, and even some Anglicans—meaning that all-told it is shared by more than three quarters of the Christians on earth—it still comes under heavy attack from many within the Protestant movement that started in the sixteenth century.

One charge made against it is that the saints in heaven cannot even hear our prayers, making it useless to ask for their intercession. However, this is not true. As Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." But if the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God, then they must be aware of our prayers. They are aware of our petitions and present them to God by interceding for us.
Some might try to argue that in this passage the prayers being offered were not addressed to the saints in heaven, but directly to God. Yet this argument would only strengthen the fact that those in heaven can hear our prayers, for then the saints would be aware of our prayers even when they are not directed to them!
In any event, it is clear from Revelation 5:8 that the saints in heaven do actively intercede for us. We are explicitly told by John that the incense they offer to God are the prayers of the saints. Prayers are not physical things and cannot be physically offered to God. Thus the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God mentally. In other words, they are interceding.

NOVENA ROSARY FOR OUR LADY OF LOURDES

The 3rd day rosary novena

The Mama Mary grotto of the BTB

February 4, 2012, the BTB- The regular rosary  novena at the BTB is held in honor of the Our Lady of Lourdes. Coinciding with this global event, in having the novena Masses at the Sto. Nino Parish Shrine and in all the Church,  the rosary for the Virgin Mary is extraordinarily important for the Breaking the Bread as BTB itself was founded on the January 1, Mother of God dogma of the Catholic Church.

The our lady of Lourdes is one appariton of the Blessed Virgin for helping and urging mankind to act more on prayers and conversion. The vision of Mary through St. Bernadette in 1858 was one of the signficant marks of Mary's helping the church eversince her time with the apostles. Please read more about this particular Marian apparition.

As the loving mother of Jesus devotes herself in helping his church to be with his son in prayers and likeness, we should imitate her as our model in following Jesus,  and the will of god in our lives. Mary is our guide towards God, she leads us to her son Jesus. By her help, we should thank her for her prayers.

The novena rosary in the BTB is on-going, you can share your time also to be with us as we invite all of you, in prayers and oneness with our church.

PRESENT IN THE BREAKING THE BREAD

Fr. Richard with the BTB members and some close friends

FATHER RICHARD Feb  4, 2012, Terminal 3 International Airport- By just about 5 am in the morning Rev. Fr. Richard Monteiro, the guest priest of the Sto. Nino Parish Shrine left the convent and flown back to India, his homeland and birth place. It was that early in the staurday morning that our beloved guest priest say goodbye to his friends at the airport, and bid safe journey back home, god bless him.

The footprint of Fr. Richard in the Bago Bantay is one strong legacy with reference to Breaking the Bread, his being the spritual founder and director of the group. The good work will continue and surely will flourish through by the spirit borned to it in the three years making of the BTB.

High hopes and high dreams , will both apply to Fr, Richard and the Breaking the Bread, as both will work together for a better community, and for our faith as catholics, specially applying the teachings of Christ through the images of the littles ones as the center of the apostolate of the BTB. The good work has no limits, only our physical bodies will tire but our spirits will not fail and never shall it stop before the odds.

Bago Bantay will always feel the presence of Fr. Richard, as he is in BTB, as Christ is identified in the Breaking of the Bread.