Feast Bay Area Morning Bulletin for Dec 15, 2019

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This Is My StoryThe Hotline that Saved MeAccountant Rieena “Rina” Piquero, 27, tells ImyEulin how God used a support center to stop herfrom committing suicide one night, and other people,including her mom to serve as her lifeline.Drunk, alone and brokenhearted. So why not jump off the buildingand end it all? That was me. I wanted to take my life because I found out, myboyfriend was cheating on me.What saved me was the Light of Jesus Pastoral Care Center —theirFacebook post suddenly popped up in my head. I thought, baka kailangan ko lang ngkausap.I dialed their hotline. A friendly voice came on the line and helped me getover my suicidal tendency.Away from my family, I realized that all I needed was someone to talk to,someone to listen to me.Growing UpKami ‘yung pamilyanglaman ng simbahan. My mom,Emeteria, brought us up, herchildren — Kuya Ryan, KuyaRhene and me as churchservants. From elementarythrough high school, I servedin various ministries frombeing an altar server, lector/commentator and the leader ofthe Rosary brigade both in ourlocal parish and in our schoolin Cagayan de Oro City.In short, servingGod was part of my regularschedule. Eventually, however,I failed to see the reason I dosuch and I grew tired of it.▲ Rina Piquero from CDO says, “I’vesearched high and low before, but I forgot themost important thing – to search with Him.”Going AstrayEntering college at the Xavier University — Ateneo de Cagayan, I gotexposed to various influences. In an attempt to understand my faith, I secretlyjoined other churches.With my spiritual debacle, I experienced chaos internally. And thenexternally. Our family experienced a tragedy. Dad suffered a heart attack. Heneeded a bypass surgery at a time when my brother’s and his wife’s businesseswere not doing well and I just started working. Suddenly, we had moneyproblems.One time as our family said grace over meals in the hospital, Mamanoticed me not making the sign of the cross. “Are you not Catholic anymore?”She asked.Hearing those words, I felt judged and mocked. I wanted to reply “Howcan I express the faith that I couldn’t understand by making the sign of thecross?” But I held back.With all these happening, I found refuge in the arms of my boyfriend — apastor’s son. My life revolved around him.I entered a new world without my family knowing it. We becameintimate. We did heavy drinking and partying. The relationship was intoxicating.A Roller Coaster RideBy December 2017, back home in CDO, I got the shock of my life whenI found out about my boyfriend’s infidelity. Devastated, I broke off with him.He tried to woo me back — stalking and begging me to get back withhim — but immersed with the Feast teachings, I resisted. Those encounters weremessy and full of drama. It affected my work performance, so I decided to leavethe city.I prayed and things just fell into place.New Year, New LifeIn January this year, I found a job at an Australian accounting firm inMandaluyong. The best part of moving to Manila is being part of Bro. Bo’sspiritual community. In March, I joined the Love Life Retreat (LLR) Batch 2 andwas later given the chance to speak onstage at The Feast to invite singles for thenext batch.I even posted about it on my social media account. My friend Novacommented, “Look at you now, the one bearing fruit, inviting others to go toGod as I did to you.” To which, I could only mutter, thank God.The Lord also surrounded me with great people — my Light Group (LG)sisters and friends at work — another answered prayer.At work, I like sharing with my colleagues The Feast teachings. I alsointroduced them to the He Cares Mission, a home for street children, one of themercy ministries of our spiritual community. Now, our company is sponsoring 44street children. We do volunteer work there every month.A Big Thank YouI used to think I can do everything on my own. Akala ko, hawak ko lahat.Ngayon, naisip ko, ang liit pala ng kamay ko. Di ko pala kaya kung ako lang. It’s better tohold hands with God.Thanks to the people He sent me to be my lifeline — starting with Mamaand my family. Mama, thank you for bringing me up the way you did. Yourefforts bore fruits. I may have gone astray but I found my way back because fromthe very start, you taught me Whom to cling to.Thank you to my friends, my LG sisters and the people behind the LOJPastoral Care Center for making me feel loved and accepted.continued from page 1Need an advice or just a listening ear? Call up the LOJPastoral Care Center, a support group for people in crisis.Their new numbers are 87260267, 87266728, 87264709 and0923-1323071.PERSONAL REFLECTION AND GROUP DISCUSSION:• Can you explain in your own words how God sacrificed Himself in the Incarnation?• Will this deeper understanding affect the way you sacrifice your life for God?Finding The FeastStationed in our head offce in Taguig, we had to make do with a longdistancerelationship. It was also the time I came to know about the Sundayprayer event at PICC. My colleague Nova Fajardo, a colleague, invited me.Through the God Mythology talk of Bro. Bo Sanchez, The Feast founder,I received this message: “God doesn’t want to punish you.” Tears streamed down myface. It felt good to hear that. I felt like a heavy burden was lifted off me. Thatstarted my Feast habit, whether on-site or online.
RECAPHomilyThe Gospel According to Matthew 3:1-12 //John the Baptist Prepares the Way“Every day,God offersyou the giftof peace.”For us to have peace on earth —in our family,community, country and in the world, as the song goes,let it begin with me. Let it begin with you.TalkMATTHEWTalk 2: Birth of a KingBig Message:You are part of God’s story.“The real superheroesof The Feast are theservants.”Bro. Audee VillarazaLibrary of Books. That’s the literal meaningof the Bible or Biblia. This Holy Book has manydifferent books with stories. Each story is connectedto another story, but the climax is Jesus Himself.Genealogy of Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel starts byidentifying the ancestors of the Messiah but with afew names skipped.The names of the ancestors of Jesus aredivided in three sections of 14 generations; 14 beinga meaningful number to the Jews. The number 7symbolizes perfection while 14, spiritual perfection.Jesus’ lineage is a picture of the grandness, andthus, sends the message that the Messiah has finallycome.Women Power. Five of the names in Christ’sgenealogy are women; three of them —Tamar,Rahab and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba) withquestionable or dirty past.tWhat does this tell us? That God loves us all—despite our flaws — and that He came to save us.No matter how dirty we are, we are included in Hislineage. Jesus is the climax of this beautiful story andwe are next in line.▲ Children from the He Cares Mission, one of the mercy ministries of the Light of JesusFamily, perform for the Feasters.“”Bro. Audee VillarazaYou are God’s hero.Dear Lord, You say I am Yourhero, and so, I say I am gratefulto play a part in what You’redoing in this world. While I havebreath, while I have life, I will do mybest. I am going to do this job with allmy heart, with all my soul. Use me,Jesus to build Your kingdom. Amen.God’s Rep. When you fear that you are not enough– for your family, friends and other people aroundyou – remember that Jesus’ genealogy doesn’t endwith Him. It continues through us, as God’s children,representing Him here on Earth. Because we are all partof His story.
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Feast Bay Area Morning Bulletin for Dec 15, 2019

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