Nation Building Talk 2

I was interviewed by some
students for their school
requirement. One of their
questions was, “Kuya Lep, bakit
mo ginagawa ang ginagawa mo
ngayon?”
At dahil sa tanong na ito, feeling
ko nag-slow motion ang buong
paligid ko. Nagkaroon ako ng
blast from my past experience,
gaya ng nangyayari sa movies.
I remembered the time when I
gave up my career. I gave up an
opportunity to be a department
officer. I gave up a lot of
things. Ang dami ko sigurong
magagandang opportunites and
experiences na naranasan, but I
chose a different path.
I found myself back in the
interview. Nakangiti kong silang
sinagot na, “Ginagawa ko ito
dahil last week may lumapit
sa aking bata na gusto nang
magpakamatay, pero dahil sa
Feast, naramdaman niyang may
pag-asa pa.
“Ginagawa ko ito dahil doon
sa nag-pm sa akin para
magpasalamat because she was
reminded that her identity is not
defined by the sin she committed,
but by God, and thatshe is a child
of God. I am doing this because
of the students who are being
pressured by a lot of things and
who are being bullied by their
fear. Through the Feast they
find a place to rest, to believe in
themselves again, and to
experience the embrace of
Jesus.”
Today, we will be talking
about being a leader. And
leaders for me are driven.
So allow me to ask you,
what drives you?
Be mightily blessed,
KUYA LEP SUMERA
The Feast SM Manila, LOUD
P.S.
One more reason bakit ko
ginagawa ito, ay dahil sa
iyo na nagbabasa nito.
Leadership is all about sacrifice!
When GOD called me to lead The
Feast SM Manila, it meant taking
some time away from my work, my
family and friends. When the LORD
inspired me to build a Saturday
Feast, that entailed a new round of
adjustments. But I obeyed, I made
the sacrifice as leaders should out of
love for the people they lead.
In choosing our country’s leaders,
we should apply the same standard
of sacrifice as well. We should vote
for leaders who are ready to offer
themselves to the people they serve.
We deserve leaders who will dirty
their hands for service instead of
seeking the comfort of their positions.
PRAISEcription:
Choose wisely. Learn from our past
mistakes.
Be well and make a difference,
RYAN B. CAPITULO, MD
The Feast SM Manila, MD

AT the Feast, all our leaders are Bi-
Vocational. That means they serve
in ministry while running their own
businesses or working in full-time
jobs as speakers, authors, managers,
lawyers, teachers, etc.
This set-up has worked beautifully.
But the reason this works now is it’s
built on a very different foundation.
In the first 20 years of our history,
our pioneering leaders, like Pio
Espanol and Roy Pasimio, gave up
cushy jobs and served God as fulltime
missionaries. They gave up
high salaries and lived on “survival”
allowances. They gave up their brand
new cars and drove old cars for years.
Their sacrifice was immense. (And
that sacrifice paid off: They were able
to build Feasts all over the world.)
To launch something off the ground,
that kind of extreme sacrifice was
needed. But now that we’re flying, it’s
a bit easier because of momentum.
Question: Why did those pioneers do
it? They were moved. They found
something worthy of that extreme
sacrifice. In today’s Feast, I ask this
question: What moves you? What
moves you enough to sacrifice your
all?
May your dreams come true,
BO SANCHEZ
Nehemiah 1:2 NIV
Hanani, one of my brothers, came from
Judah with some other men, and I questioned
them about the Jewish remnant
that had survived the exile, and also
about Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 1:3-4 NIV
They said to me, “Those who survived the
exile and are back in the province are in
great trouble and disgrace. The wall of
Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates
have been burned with fire.” When I
heard these things, I sat down and wept.
For some days I mourned and fasted and
prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 2:1-5
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth
year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was
brought for him, I took the wine and
gave it to the king. I had not been sad in
his presence before, so the king asked
me, “Why does your face look so sad
when you are not ill? This can be nothing
but sadness of heart.” I vvwas very much
afraid, but I said to the king, “May the
king live forever! Why should my face
not look sad when the city where my
ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its
gates have been destroyed by fire?” The
king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I
answered the king, “If it pleases the king
and if your servant has found favor in
his sight, let him send me to the city in
Judah where my ancestors are buried so
that I can rebuild it.”
PERSONAL REFLECTION AND GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
What moves you? Is God moving you to do something for Him?

We were born neither good, nor evil.
When Adam and Eve first disobeyed
God, all humans inherited original sin.
So, we are sinners.
To sin is human nature, but it’s
also a choice that we make. If we
allow ourselves to be overpowered
by our anger, we accumulate sin. It
becomes a series of actions, since it
hardens our hearts and destroys our
A Homily by Fr. Francis Lucas
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:20-26
understanding of love.
Maybe it pains to forgive, not to get
angry, or to do good to those who
persecute us. But after that pain, we
will feel joy and peace in our hearts.
We were neither born good nor evil,
but we were born with so much
goodness in our hearts. Therefore, let’s
choose to be good. Let’s choose Jesus.
We build a nation by building selfless
leaders, and this starts with our families.
Our inner values are home-cooked over
the slow fire of family love.
We need three rocks in our families to
build selfless leaders:
1. Home—a place where hope and
forgiveness reside
2. You—a channel to love your imperfect
family with the perfect love of God
3. God— our main foundation, the
reason for everything.
Nothing shall be impossible with God.
He can heal the deepest wounds and
the messiest homes. He can change
us. We need the author of love to teach
us how to truly love—to love in action.
He invites us to start in our families,
because only with such change in the
smallest unit of our community can we
really build the nation.

I can never forget the 9th anniversary of The
Feast SM Manila. It was my ultimate restoration
day. Because that day, I got my first
breakthrough as a Christian.
I kept on saying, “Grabe ka Lord!” that time
because I was literally out of words and there
was nothing much I could say. What I felt
was extra-ordinary. Damang-dama ko ‘yung
pag-overflow ng presence and love ni God sa
loob ng cinema.
Naalala ko rin noon kung gaano ako
kalugmok dahil sa mga dinadala kong
problema at pagdududa sa aking pagiging
Kristiyano. But thanks to Jesus, that day, I
was ultimately restored. That day, I was born
again.
Since then, I started attending at The Feast
regularly. I am super blessed and empowered
by the talks and I am happy to see myself
growing more and more as a follower of
Christ.
Hindi ko na pinagdududahan ang sarili ko
ngayon. As I get to know more about Jesus, I
understand more how He loves us. And that’s
what we are worth, that while we were still
sinners, He died for us
“I always draw myself near to God because He
is the light. The Lord made me realize that He
loves a sinner like me. That when Jesus died
for me, I am then a new creation.” —Romans
5:8
Bago pa man tayo magmahal, inibig na tayo
ng ating Diyos, kaya bakit ko pa hahadlangan
ang sarili kong tanggapin ang pagmamahal
na binibinigay Niya sa akin nang buong-buo?
There’s no more doubt. I fear nothing now
because I know that God is with me and I am
on the right direction.
I will forever be grateful to that fateful day
because I know that God made a way for me
to get to know Him better, so that we may
have a deeper connection and a stronger
relationship.
Sa aking pag-attend sa The Feast, nanaig ang
puso ko para sa Panginoon, at ‘yun, sa tingin
ko, ang isa sa pinakamagagandang regalong
aking natanggap.
Sabi nga nila, ang pusong Kristiyano ay pusong
pinagpapala. Kapag tayo’y nasa Kanya,
wala na tayong dapat pang ikabahala.
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THE FEAST SM manila BULLETIN STAFF
THE FEAST SM MANILA
FEAST BUILDERS:
MEDIA HEAD:
EDITOR IN CHIEF:
WRITERS:
Philip Sumera
Ryan Capitulo
Paulo Sumera
Alyssa Marie G. Ilagan
Alyanna Mae G. Ilagan
Peter Stefan Otto Keller
Rosevie M. Tan
Remnel Cris Vicentina
LAYOUT ARTIST:
PHOTOGRAPHERS:
Pau Sumera
Adrian Reyes
JD Medina
Patricia Reyala
Melvin Rosetes
Samantha Santiago
Oggie Cayetano
The FEAST SM Manila Bulletin, published by the Light of Jesus Family, is distributed during The Feast SM Manila, a weekly prayer gathering of the Light of Jesus held at the Cinema 4 of SM City Manila, every Friday, 3:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 8:00 p.m.
The FEAST holds office at The Lighthouse, 60 Chicago St., Cubao, Quezon City, with telephone numbers 725-9999. Contact us thru www.lightfam.com.