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Episode 1: Listening to OUR TRUTH

Sr. Cecille Tuble, RC in this episode shares with us the true meaning of Humility. Following the Saints, especially St. Thérèse Couderc, the Foundress of the Religious of the Cenacle, we learn to live in our complex and competitive world imitating the love and service of our Lord Jesus Christ. Episode 2: Listening to the SIGNS OF OUR TIMES Cenacle Sisters (Srs. Linda, Yna and Mel) share in this episode about learning from St. Thérèse Couderc, our Co-Foundress, a way of seeing and responding during this time of crisis. Episode 3: Listening and WAITING In our last episode of “Listening”, Sr. Malen Java shares with us how listening and waiting are essential components for Discernment. May we not forget what has been revealed to us in these days of quarantine and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to respond in a new and transformative way of life and proceeding.

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Creating a space for the other: an Easter gift of covid-19

“Give us the grace in this trying times to work for the good of all and to help others  in need.” (from “Oratio Imperata”) This line has moved the hearts of many individuals, groups, organizations, congregations do what they can to help the neediest of our brothers and sisters. The Cebu Cenacle’s small contribution to this is coordinating ‘free kitchens.’ This idea came from a directee, Mary T.A. who asked if there’s a place to set up a free kitchen. Two places readily came to mind, the Inayawan dumpsite and Kalubihan, Banawa where our helper, Alice, lives.   The Cenacle receives the donations of rice, veggies, eggs, cooking oil, canned goods, spices, and other ingredients which are then passed on to the volunteers in the two areas. The volunteers take pictures and post these on Facebook so the donors see that the cooked food are given to the target individuals, the senior citizens and children. Reflection of Sr. Perry Inso, from Cenacle Cebu community: Holding a ‘free kitchen’ is not an easy task especially in a place like the Inayawan dumpsite. The volunteers had to set up a makeshift dirty kitchen since there was no available kitchen. They use big stones as the stove for cooking and made three of these ‘stoves’. They gather firewood which is fortunately available in a nearby lot. They have to set up some tables to prepare the ingredients for cooking. The reusable containers are then laid out for efficient apportioning of the cooked food.  Once I helped the volunteers. I experienced all the challenges they went through the past 14 days. One challenge is the smoke from the firewood which makes one’s eyes teary. Enduring the smoke, the heat and the sweat were not much of a problem.  What I found difficult and heartbreaking was the experience of bringing the cooked food to the houses of the senior citizens and being confronted with the stark poverty of their homes. I’ve been to this area a number of times, but not to the houses of the senior citizens. Inayawan is a dumpsite — so mounds of garbage were everywhere. Garbage littered the footpaths and covered the muddy places where pigs were raised and the residents did their laundry. I had to mind my steps so as not to accidentally step on something unwanted even as the volunteer ahead of me would warn me from time to time to watch my step. The stench of the place was something to contend with, something that has become a normal for the residents. Fortunata, one of the original scavengers in the place, owned the first house we went to. She lives alone even if her children live nearby. Her one-room house is used for everything — kitchen, dining room, and sleeping area. Scattered around were piles of soiled clothes on the floor and stacks of unwashed plates. The walls of the one-room house were made of flimsy material. One wall was a used shower curtain and the other side was a used tarpaulin. The roof was made of galvanized iron with a lot of empty sacks on top of it which were supposed to cover the leaking roof when it rains. When we gave Fortunata the cooked food, a big smile covered her face. She told us that she’s been waiting for us and repeatedly said “thank you” and “God bless you” in Cebuano. Then she asked for water but we did not have any bottled water this day. Helen, the social worker, we work with closely, immediately gave her 100 pesos. Fortunata became teary eyed and was truly grateful. Though it was a difficult to witness, she was still smiling. Fortunata was just one of the numerous senior citizens in the area whose living situation was miserable.  After the food distribution, my blouse was very wet with sweat and my feet heavy from walking. But my heart felt heavier. Seeing the reality of our poorer brothers and sisters living in that kind of environment breaks my heart. Yet, they were very grateful. Another source of consolation was the fact that the other needy neighbors did not question why they were not given food packs. Instead from their windows they greeted us and smiled at us as we passed. They understood that our priorities were the senior citizens and babies/children. Despite the heaviness of heart brought about by helplessness, I am still very grateful for the gift of the encounter with them. I may not be able to build houses for each of them, but they have found a home in my heart. I am forever grateful for their humility and simplicity. My heart too is full of gratitude for the generosity of the donors and most especially for the volunteers. I am confident that God blesses all!! 

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Faint Glows and Sparkly Somethings

A reflection for Easter 2020 by Sr. Yna Oñate, rc For K-drama fans, these images from a scene in the recent hit “Crash Landing On You” would be familiar. A blackout envelops the entire village and Yoon Se-ri, a South Korean who accidentally landed in North Korea, was left by herself in the market, lost among a crowd of strangers in a potentially dangerous place. The darkness pulls her back into a painful memory of being abandoned as a child. She starts to count, just like she did back then, while waiting for someone to rescue her. Perhaps resigned to the thought that no one would come, she takes a deep sigh, as if mustering all her courage, to face her present darkness, and just as she did she saw a dot of faint glow from a distance. She walks toward it, one timid step at a time, eyes fixed on the source. It got brighter and brighter as she drew nearer. She soon realizes it is Captain Ri who’s holding a candle high for her to see. Tears well up in her eyes; this is the same man who had come to her rescue several times before.  Faith in God does not guarantee we will never be in darkness. Darkness is part of our human experience. Even Jesus, the Son of God, was not spared of darkness; we were reminded of this these past three days, but the promise of Easter is that the darkness of death will never triumph. When we look around us we still see the darkness of disease, greed, hatred, hunger, corruption, injustice, inequality, etc. These days in quarantine must have heightened our sensitivity toward the darkness that surrounds us, and yet, in spite of the gloom, glimmers of goodness and generosity give us hope. Amidst the rising death toll, you may have heard of the nurse who, after her shift, buys groceries and distributes to the homeless, or of the street vendor who gave free taho to the checkpoint personnel at a border, and of many acts of selflessness and compassion from ordinary people. Or maybe you didn’t have to look very far, you may have observed lovely things in your own home—the laughter of your child or spouse, the chirping birds, the plants outside your house, the filling goodness of the humble kamote… things you failed to notice before. God’s love for us is like Captain Ri with his candle, God’s help always comes at the right time. We do not know how long this Covid-19 crisis will last, and what else will come, but we trust that God always gives us enough light to enable us to take a step, one at a time, toward the right direction. Jesus Christ is our Light! Light shines in the dark, “a light that darkness could not overpower. (John 1:5)” This is what our Christian faith asserts, but how do we keep trusting God in the “blackout” of our lives? St. Ignatius de Loyola has an advice: In moments of desolation, recall moments of consolation. A wise omma from one of my favorite K-dramas (iBecause This Is My First Life) puts it in a lyrical way when she talked about “star pockets”: “Even in an ordinary life there are times when something sparkly floats by. At those times you must not miss it, and keep it carefully in your star pocket. So when you are having a tough time and when you are exhausted, you can take out your stars and look at them, and endure the hard times.” We only see stars when the sky is dark, don’t we?” So, this Easter, let us pray for the grace that we may recognise the stars and the Captain Ri’s that God sends our way. And may we never fail to respond to God’s call to be light for others. Happy Easter, friends! P.S. Captain Ri is played by actor Hyun Bin, an oppa with bewitching handsomeness! Well, while God’s help always comes, it does not always come in this package. We pray that we may not pass up God’s offers just because we expect them to come in certain ways. 

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A Lesson in Patient Suffering: Palm Sunday and Covid-19

A reflection on the readings of Palm Sunday 2020 by Sr. Cecille Tuble, rc. Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion came early for all of us. Too early, and now too long. We live it now in the midst of this pandemic. The whole world is brought on its knees: this plague has struck and affected everyone and cut across all boundaries of culture, race, religion, age, gender, socio-economic and political status. According to the latest statistics, Covid-19 has affected 204 out of 235 countries and territories. Truly, it is a global horror that is made more frightening in the fact that it is still happening, right now.  How do we make sense of this ongoing tragedy? How do we keep faith in these appalling times? The readings of Palm Sunday offer us rich insights and deep consolation, as they unfold before us the story of our Lord’s passion. They call us, as the Opening Prayer or Collect tells us, to follow Christ’s example of humility, and to “heed his lesson of patient suffering,” for therein shall we share in his Resurrection too. The first and second readings give us an overview of who Jesus is, the One who did not shield his face from buffets and spitting, but looked upon God as his help. “He emptied himself…. becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” This is not the end of his story, of course: God “greatly exalted him,” so that every tongue will henceforth proclaim him Lord. The Gospel from Matthew recounts several stories in the Passion narrative: the betrayal of Judas, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the trials before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, the betrayal of Peter, his torture, crucifixion, death and burial. It is a familiar story that, year in and year out, still makes our hearts tremble, for it is the story of our redemption by a God who became one of us, and gave his life in order to save us. He died so that we may live. And yet this year it takes on an even more luminous significance. Death is around us. We see its long shadow in the familiar contours of our homes which have become our confinement. We feel its cold fingers grasp our hearts as every day we hear the statistics rising, as we read of more deaths and infected, of lack of resources to cope with this horrendous suffering, of our doctors and nurses and medical workers falling ill themselves and dying, of the homeless and the poor whose dire circumstances are further exacerbated by this crisis.  Yes, death is in our midst, but so is the Lord. Perhaps the deepest invitation for us is to suffer all of this with the Lord, and in the Lord.  By doing so, we live out this lesson in patient suffering. However, patient suffering is not despairing passivity, or abject resignation. We are called to be brave, generous, responsible and compassionate. We are called to be resilient in our loving. We are called not to run away from this harsh reality, but to live it in faith. Our confined spaces at home is our Gethsemane, where we are invited to enter into the profound anguish but trusting surrender of Jesus, and to pray: “My Father, if it is possible that this cup of suffering pass SOON, but your will be done.” When we unite ourselves with the courageous labors of our medical workers and front-liners, when we do all that we can to support and help them and the most vulnerable of our people, we walk with Jesus on his lonely, arduous road to Calvary. When we pray for all those who have died, when we face our own specter of death with faith and humility in the fidelity of a loving Father, we follow Jesus in his obedience, all the way to his self-emptying on the cross. When we resist all temptations to despair, when we practice prudence and discernment in spreading news and videos, when we give love, hope and encouragement instead of fear and panic, when we do our own small share in containing this virus, we touch the fabric of his garments, until they are stripped on the hill.  But perhaps the greatest act of patient suffering for us is to see all this in faith, and therefore in gratitude. To see God actively working, tirelessly laboring with us and for us to bring an end to this pandemic is a daily act of gratitude. For it is easy to get drowned by the bad news. We must beg for the grace to truly see, to be healed of our jaded, faithless blindness, that there is much to be grateful for. It is in gratitude that we begin to see glimpses of Easter hope: doctors, nurses and medical staff who transcend their own fears and personal interests to give their lives to their patients. Government officials who are dedicated, hardworking and creative, truly beacons of leadership in this darkness. Business corporations and owners, private organizations who do their share to help. Ordinary citizens who volunteer, risking health and lives, to ease the suffering of others. The unpretentious but heroic efforts of ordinary people to contribute and do their share in fighting this pandemic. All this is God’s grace, working in mysterious, hidden but all-powerful ways. Some acts may well be spectacular, attention-getting. But most will be invisible, except to those who look for them, who desire to be grateful, who desire to thank God for his untiring loving, especially in this darkness. God has never left us to suffer alone. In God’s vast providential love, there is no small grace. True, death is around us, but death will not have the last word. And just as in Jesus, we know that our story, this story of Covid-19, will end with Easter, and we will be resurrected in God’s love.

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Heaven

A reflection on the readings of the 5th Sunday of Lent 2020 by Sr. Yna, rc Watch the following video first before you begin to read the reflection: To close A monastery Death surrounds us. It is a sobering reality, to say the least. For most, it is frightening. I suppose because the deaths we witness are almost always riddled with pain and suffering. It surely is mysterious, for we would never know what the experience is actually like until we are there; no one has ever died and lived to tell the tale. At 3.50 into the video you’ll see a bent, wobbling elderly monk leaving his room for the last time, with a suitcase of what seems to be all that he has. And then the interviewer asks: “Where are you going next, what happens to you?” The monk points up and says, “heaven” and lets out a chuckle. The chuckle struck me. It sounds to me like, “I believe, but I am afraid too.” Wisdom of old age. In the gospel today we listen to an interesting exchange between Martha and Jesus. It might help to put a context to the scene: both of them are faced with death, both are grieving. Jesus said to [Martha], “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” …Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”Martha said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.”Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” Jn 11:24, 39-40 Martha does not seem to be in the same wavelength as Jesus here. Like us with God, all too often. How many times do we jump to preset spiritual scripts in our head when God invites us to listen and simply be present? How often do we question the future when God wants us to trust his hand in the present? This global crisis caused by the Covid-19 virus has rearranged our lives drastically. Suddenly plans are suspended “until further notice,” and we find ourselves in “quarantine” and practicing “social distancing.” As the virus spreads, so does fear, panic, anxiety, anger and sadnesss. It is natural to feel these feelings, but we hope our vulnerability can help us turn to God more than ever. In this week before Holy Week, let us beg for the grace to turn to God to be in tune with God, to receive that Sensus Christi which Fr. Pedro Arrupe prayed for:  “Above all, give me that sensus Christi – the sensing of Christ about which St Paul speaks: that I may feel with your feelings, with the sentiments of your heart, which basically are love for your Father and love for humanity…. Give me that grace, that sensus Christi, your very heartbeat, that I may live all my life, interiorly and exteriorly, proceeding and discerning with your spirit, exactly as you did during your mortal life.” May we come to know Jesus, who is our peace amidst pain and fear, and our resurrection and life amidst death. May we come to understand and accept the “heaven” that Jesus is offering us, here and now.

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Stranger No More

A Reflection on the readings of the 3rd Sunday of Lent 2020 by Srs. Ria and Rose, nc. Ex 17:3-7 Rom 5:1-2, 5-8 Jn 4:5-42 Would you find it strange receiving a friend request from someone you do not know, without both of you having even a  single mutual friend?  Jesus and the Samaritan woman in today’s Gospel reading were not only strangers to each other, but their own ancestors hated each other and did not relate with each other for ages. While the woman waited until noon time before she could get water from the well so nobody would notice her, Jesus was there by the well, under the scorching heat of the noon sun, waiting for her. Jesus, the stranger, initiated a conversation with the woman by first expressing a basic need: water, for he was thirsty. Give me a drink [John 4:7], perhaps Jesus meant, We can relate to each other. Yes, we can be friends. The conversation deepened, the trust was built, and turned into an encounter of  hearts – from a thirst for water to a deeper thirst for freedom, for love, for God. The encounter speaks of barriers being broken. Jesus destroyed the barriers that divided them – gender, role, status, race. Jesus came not only for the Jews but for all. The love that Jesus offers is an inclusive love. The salvation He offers knows no boundaries. This profound experience of the woman being fully known yet accepted and truly loved by the One she encountered restored her sense of dignity and gave her a new perspective. Jesus was a stranger no more.  He told me everything I have ever done [John 4:29]. The Samaritan Woman went back to the town to tell everyone about Jesus and the encounter that freed her. Her heart was transformed by the encounter and made her transforming as well. She was never the same again. Mindful of what happened in her past, the Samaritan Woman was renewed by the acceptance and the love Jesus she experienced from Jesus. She was not condemned with what she did but loved with who she truly was in the eyes of God. Having met Jesus, she remembered that she was loved through and through; she realized her worth; she celebrated the life she was given; she gave witness to the person and the encounter that changed her and her life forever. We, too, have our past but God waits for us to reveal ourselves to Him and to share with Him our own stories. No matter where we are and what we have done, God will meet us where we are and invite us to return to the journey with Him and begin again.  Let us earnestly seek Him, who seeks us first and perhaps, we can make this prayer of Anselm of Canterbury our own: Let me seek you in desiring you; let me desire you in seeking you. Let me find you in loving you; let me love you in finding you. As we continue our Lenten journey through Easter, let us beg for the grace of trust and openness to approach and to encounter God by our own well, where He has been waiting for us. Take courage in accepting God’s friend request and know that we have a mutual connection and that is love.  Let us listen to this song and allow it to lead us to prayer: Till I Met You – Laura Story (Youtube Link). Till I Met You by Laura Story I’ve known pain and deep regretI’ve known the weight of my mistakes like the back of my handI’ve known deception and all its gamesI’ve known the way it feels to drown in my own shame But I never knew loveI never knew truthI never knew peace, the sweet release that brought me throughI never knew freedom, what grace could doThe broken chains, the hope that saves, a life made newTill I met You I’ve known rejection, I’ve bought the lieThat I could never overcome the hurt insideWith arms of mercyYou reached for meTore the veil away and gave me eyes to seeYou’re all I need And I never knew loveI never knew truthI never knew peace, the sweet release that brought me throughI never knew freedom, what grace could doThe broken chains, the hope that saves, a life made newTill I met You (I was empty, I was hopeless)Till I met You (I was stumbling in the darkness) I never knew loveI never knew truthI never knew peace, the sweet releaseYou’re the one Who brought me throughAnd I never knew freedom, what grace could doThe broken chains, the hope that saves, a life made newTill I met You (till I met You)Till I met You (till I met You)Till I met You

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Harmatia and Redeeming Grace

A Reflection on the Readings of the First Sunday of Lent 2020 by Sr. Cecille Tuble, rc. Genesis 2: 7-9; 3:1-7 Romans 5: 12-19 Matt 4: 1-11 Lent opens with our readings which tell the profound and astounding story of God’s saving love for us. Genesis looks at the mystery of sin straight in the eye and boldly pronounces: all creation is good because it comes from a Good God. God is good, and yet humans, although made in the image and likeness of God and therefore fundamentally good, have nonetheless freely opted for evil. The passage from innocence to sinfulness was freely chosen, and the lot of Adam and Eve, our archetypal representatives, is the condition of all of us. Here is the harsh reality of evil and sin and death, and we human beings—no matter how hard we try— are bound to falter and sin and fall short of responding fully to God’s life-giving love. The story of Adam and Eve is the story of human rebellion, a pretentious striving “to be like God.” Found out, they did not acknowledge their fault but instead pointed fingers at others: Adam blaming Eve, Eve blaming the serpent. This sinfulness courses through our veins and makes our best efforts finite and paltry. The ancient Greeks had a similar term for this: Hamartia, the tragic flaw. As Stephen Duffy describes it: “The flow of fallen history courses through us, not around us, and leaves the ‘death dance in our blood.’”  Who can save us then? St. Paul in his letter to the Romans asserts that our redemption originates in and through Christ, the new Adam. Paul understood that we all experience the war between spirit and flesh, because sin contaminates us all, down through human history. And so it is that God’s grace overflows and redeems us, through Christ. How then, can we look at Christ’s redeeming grace? In our Gospel, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. At first glance, this seems odd: the Holy Spirit leading Jesus into a deserted place where he will encounter the devil? However, it is important to remember the event that came before this episode: the Baptism of Jesus. In his baptism, Jesus hears the Father say: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Matt 3:17). Jesus, led by the Spirit, must now pray and fast and discern exactly what being the Beloved Son means. So he goes off into the desert, to make, one might say, a discernment retreat. And the stage is set for the tempter. Twice he taunts Jesus: “If you are the Son of God…” The temptation is closely linked with Jesus’ identity. So it is with us. If we look closely at our temptations, we will notice how they touch and echo our heart’s desires, our self-concepts, our little and great schemes to boost who we think we are and who we want to be. Whatever the myriad ways we go about it, at the heart of it all we just want to be loved. In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, we are invited to meditate on the ways of the Evil One and the ways of Jesus. The evil one tempts through riches, honor and pride; Jesus invites us to a way marked by poverty, dishonor and humility. We see the echoes of this in the temptation story: Jesus spurns personal fulfillment and satisfaction even of his most basic needs (bread), personal glory and honor and power in the world (kingdoms), and even the absolute certainty about the Father’s love and care for him (throw yourself down to prove that your Father will save you). In the Spiritual Exercises, Jesus instead chooses poverty, dishonor and humility, which express his absolute trust and unshakeable love for the One he calls “Abba.” What about us? Lent is an invitation to look at the sinfulness and selfishness present in our life, straight in the eye. Can we honestly say, yes, that’s my temptation and this is my sin, and not point fingers like Adam and Eve? Can we face our temptations squarely and discern, putting our complete trust that Jesus will show us the way? Can we take consolation in the truth that Jesus, like us, was “tempted in every way but did not sin” (Hebrews 4: 15)? Can we believe in our hearts that we, like Jesus, are God’s beloved children, and that God yearns for us and wants us to come home? Jan Richardson has a beautiful blessing to begin Lent: Beloved is Where We Begin If you would enterinto the wilderness,do not beginwithout a blessing. Do not leavewithout hearingwho you are:Beloved,named by the Onewho has traveled this pathbefore you. Do not gowithout letting it echoin your ears,and if you findit is hardto let it into your heart,do not despair.That is whatthis journey is for. I cannot promisethis blessing will free youfrom danger,from fear,from hungeror thirst,from the scorchingof sunor the fallof the night. But I can tell youthat on this paththere will be help. I can tell youthat on this waythere will be rest. I can tell youthat you will knowthe strange gracesthat come to our aidonly on a roadsuch as this,that fly to meet usbearing comfortand strength,that come alongside usfor no other causethan to lean themselvestoward our earand with theircurious insistencewhisper our name: Beloved.Beloved.Beloved. From ‘Circle of Grace‘ by Jan Richardson

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Fruits of Year 2019 in Cebu

Surrenderees’ Completion Ceremony The Tindog Recovery Support Group for drug surrenderees culminated with a completion ceremony held on December 17, 2019 at Our Lady of Assumption Parish in Tindog, Medellin, Cebu. The program started in 2017 in response to the request of the barangay chairman for some kind of intervention  to deal with the “tokhang” initiative. This was a government mandate for drug users to surrender to authorities or get arrested. Since there were no readily available rehab facilities, the Cenacle and an experienced drug rehab volunteer designed a recovery support module intended to illustrate the nature, causes and consequences of drug use versus a healthy lifestyle without drugs. Experiential activities and personal testimonies of participants’ struggles with addiction, punctuate concepts and theories to provide a deeper awareness and understanding of the dynamics and challenges of recovery. Seventeen surrenderees accepted their certificate of completion accompanied by their family members. The ceremony was highlighted by the inspirational message of Dr. Russel Makiling, clinical psychologist, who emphasized that recovery is a precious gift from God and should be treasured with a lot of gratitude. The group also decided to elect a set of officers as they move to continue to a deeper level of formation in collaboration with Fr. Dan Mata, parish priest. After their completion the group will move into the re-entry phase in recovery where they are expected to reintegrate as productive members of the community and positive role models of a drug-free lifestyle. Straight from the Heart (Translated and edited by Joe L.THE HEART) The following are excerpts of the personal experiences of participants of the Tindog Recovery Support Group in Tindog, Medellin, Cebu. I started smoking marijuana in 1989 but did not realize it opened the door for me to get hooked deeper into drug use. I learned in the group that drug use is progressive and addicting. True enough, I lost interest in working and eventually lost my good job in a 5 star hotel due to my preoccupation with drugs. My temper became very explosive and I was in and out of jail so many times. My wife never gave up on me and kept praying for me to change. Thank God, I’m clean now and I have learned so much from my bad experience with drug use. – Randy Y. My drug history started with an innocent but immature curiosity to “just try it”. With no knowledge about triggers and the mood-altering effects of drugs , I got pulled into the  madness of addiction. It got worse when I associated with a local drug lord.I forgot about my family and got stuck in getting high daily. Addiction does not discriminate.(ang pagka adik way gipili.) I had drug- using peers who were OFW’s, educators and even from the church. Drug use is indeed a useless and aimless journey. – Ronald I. Having friends who use drugs was the main reason I started using. Their influence was very strong and persuasive that even my parents’ advice had no effect. Now that I’m clean I’ve learned to stay away from drug-using friends to avoid negative peer-pressure. – Alvic B. At the age of 13, I got initiated into drug use mainly because of lack of parental guidance. Drug use was a convenient excuse for me to fit into the group in my desire to belong. It was also a distraction for me not to finish high school. When I got married, I quit using for a while but got pulled back into it because of the influence of my friends who also use. As a former addict, I can associate lying, manipulation and bad temper as common traits of drug users. – Noel J. I thank God that despite my involvement in illegal activities in the past, I’m still alive. I’ve hurt many people and probably destroyed many lives not only because of my drug use but also my drug-dealing activities. I look back with a lot of remorse and regrets at the many bad decisions I’ve made that caused so much problems and suffering to my family.Drug use is the worst experience in my life. – Jerome Y. I was a drug user for 19 years. I started using at age 16 and was good at lying and manipulation, especially with my parents.’Barkada’ was the primary motivator of my drug use. It is so hard to resist the peer pressure of a drug-using group that you associate with. It was not until a motor accident resulting from  my drug use that I finally quit. My long stay in the hospital was a positive awakening and led me to clean up my life with my family’s support. – Elmer P. In Gratitude The Cenacle is grateful and deeply appreciates the generosity of its donors and volunteers for sharing their time and resources to keep the mission of the Cenacle vibrant  and alive. We have received this year: 2 sacks of  rice for distribution to indigent families during Christmas Jollibee and ice cream treat for 150 children in Tindog, Medellin, Cebu Equipment, food, and prizes for the Surrenderees Support Group volleyball tournament in November and athletic t-shirts Catered lunch for the Completion Ceremony catered lunch for the surrenderees and their family Donated cash for 2 ministries – the newly formed Youth Empowerment, Leadership group and the continuing formation of the Tindog Surrenderees Support Group in collaboration with Fr. Dan Mata, Parish priest, Tindog, Medellin, Cebu. To all who continue to support us in one way or another, THANK YOU and GOD BLESS! If you would like to participate in our mission for year 2020, and/or make a donation, please use this online form or email us at cenacle.philippines@gmail.com and the Sisters will connect with you directly. Ministry Updates On-going: Bible Groups — meets 4 times a week (Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri) discovering one’s everyday reality in the context of the Word. Parenting and Family Development – alternating monthly sessions for fathers and mothers from Inayawan Dumpsite, Pardo, focusing on the roles of parents in creating the foundation of a healthy and God-centered family

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Courage, Trust & Love of a Religious

Immersion Program @Cenacle, 2020 A testimony from a participant through whatsapp: Gd Morning Sr.!I really wish to visit Manila. My heart is drawn to go there again.. It is hard to share a little of my experience about the Manila Immersion Programme as it is a rich and eye-opening 7 days journey. However, if I am to summarize the grace God has granted me, that would be the courage to trust in the love of our good Lord, in the way He wants to love me, not in my preferred way, because He always know the best than I do. At first, I hesitated to join the programme because there is too many ‘risk’ I have to face, especially in taking leave from full time job, which is normally not so easy. But even before the programme, God has granted me the courage to trust in His providence. He only wants my YES and He takes care of the rest. Praise God for that! Throughout my journey in Manila, He showed me that this grace came alive in the Religious Sisters and Brothers whom we visited. They face different challenges in their respective missions and vocation journey, but they persevere on and amazingly, all of them look so happy. They love until it hurts, but they still carry on to love, until it hurts no more, but only love remains. Thank you Sisters and Brothers for letting me taste the fruits of your courage, trust and love. On top of all, I thank my Lord for this experience. It is too wonderful that I wish to return to Manila and I hope there will be another similar programme so others can receive the experience like I do. 🙂

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Let Christ easter in us

The resurrection isn’t simply about getting the message out in the most efficient way –  it is about individual transformation, one person at a time. That’s why the risen Jesus took the time to console Magdalene and walk with a couple of discouraged disciples to Emmaus.. appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem, he came back just to appear for Thomas who missed the chance to see him.. Our Lord always deals with us in a very personal way. He knows each of us so well and he understands our deepest desires and he knows what we truly need.

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