BLD WASHINGTON NEWSLETTER - IPOWER, Inc. · 2017-07-17 · LSS16 and 17 – New Creation Realities (NCR). LSS15 – Christian Maturity Program Part 1 – Overcoming the World, Flesh

BLD WASHINGTON NEWSLETTER

July 14, 2017

VOL. 17 NO. 170

Bukas-Loob Sa Diyos (Open In Spirit to God)

Catholic Charismatic Covenant Community Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church

4835 MacArthur Blvd. N.W. Washington D.C. 20007

Inside this Issue:

Counsels

Member’s Corner

Upcoming Events

Teachings July 22

10 Tips on Dialogue from Pope Francis:

A Challenge to Families…

and Candidates?

Praise and Worship Every Friday 8:30 p.m.

Hess Auditorium

Eucharistic Celebration every

First Friday of the month—OLV Church

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Visit us at www.BLDWASHINGTON.com

This Sunday’s parable is a reminder to everyone that God’s Word can only take root in fertile

ground; in a receptive heart which is righteous, docile and ready to hear what He has to say. It is a heart that God em-powers to positively act on His Word, to bring the Truth it embodies to the ends of the world. He bears the Truth no mat-ter what the circumstances may be. There are many needful measures for one to listen to God’s Word, but they all center on man’s willingness to sur-render to God’s ways and act on it; for happy are we, if we listen, act and abide by the underlying Truth in God’s Word. The big challenge that is upon all of us is to be able to receive His Word in good ground, in fertile soil, so we can be honest, noble and of good heart, and able to bring forth God’s Truth to the world and bear the right fruit, a thou-sand fold. "Whoever has ears ought to hear.” Isaiah once prophesied, “You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see.”

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Please Read Your

Bible daily

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of

Christ”

" AND HE GAVE SOME AS APOSTLES, OTHERS AS PROPHETS, OTHERS AS EVANGELISTS, OTHERS AS PASTORS AND TEACHERS,

TO EQUIP THE HOLY ONES FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY, FOR BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRIST, UNTIL WE ALL ATTAIN TO THE UNITY OF FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON

OF GOD." EPHESIANS 4:11-14

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COUNSELS

BLD WASHINGTON NEWSLETTER

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We ought to take heed of the things that hinder us from benefiting from God’s Word, lest we hear carelessly and add our prejudice; lest we lose what we have received. We can only bear fruit from God’s Word if we use His Word for the good of our brethren, for His greater glory! It is not enough to hold the Truth in righteousness. We should also desire to hold forth the Word of Life, make it shine and give light to all around us, by the Truth we carry into all our personal and communitarian affairs. Great encouragement is given to those who prove faithful hearers of the Word, by being doers of the work, never circumventing, never concealing or even giving out half-truths. Christ is Truth and He is the Truth that we need to share. Our minds and hearts should be raised above moral earthliness so that our sinful hearts are not bent on worldly desires, which satiate only our quest for power; seek instead, the attainment of wisdom, holiness, righteousness, justice and fairness.

Hearing God’s Word and understanding it means expressing the Truth, the Truth that sets us free, the Truth that enables us to rest in our Lord’s embrace, the Truth that makes us change the innermost parts of our hearts, our ways and our ways in community. The Word of God is living and active, penetrates the soul and spirit, joints and marrow; judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. However, that power is affected, not only by one’s ability to hear the Word, but also by his mindset - for the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from It, as they are beyond his understanding, and are foolishness to him. With utter self-abandonment, we can share the Light and the Love of God by bringing consolation, comfort, encouragement and hope through God’s Word. We must use words that take away fear, shame, and guilt; words that reconcile, unite, forgive, and heal; words that bring peace and joy, inner freedom and deep gratitude. They carry God’s love on their wings; words that become flesh in our own lives and the lives of oth-ers; words rooted in our hearts, sincere and honest; and not words said, simply to please others, that have no roots in interior lives. If we surrender and allow God’s Word to take control, the peace of God, which transcends all under-standing, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. It shall not return to Him void but shall do His will, achieving the end for which He sent it. Only then can we rest in God and bear fruit one- hundred or sixty or thirtyfold, provided we act on it. If we surrender and allow God’s Word to take control, the peace of God, which transcends all under-standing, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. It shall not return to Him void but shall do His will, achieving the end for which He sent it. Only then can we rest in God and bear fruit one- hundred or sixty or thirtyfold, provided we act on it. Today, let us pray that we may live a life worthy of the Lord; a life that is true, noble and right; a life, pure and lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy, so that we may please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. DIRECTIONS: 1. Listen and spend time with Jesus. Take time to get to know him more.

2. Learn and understand our faith by attending the BLD teachings and reading the scriptures.

3. Live and practice our faith as Jesus did. Be doers of the word and not hearers only.

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In this week’s readings, the Psalms extort: I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. This particular passage struck me because – quite frankly – I haven’t been doing a very good job praising the Lord. As a matter of fact, I must admit that I have done a good job focusing on God in the last few months. My reasons are as typical as anyone else’s: I’ve been distracted, I’ve been busy, I haven’t had the time, etc. Therefore, it came no surprise to me that with my failure to praise the Lord everyday, I also began to feel lost. I found myself irration-ally angry when it came to several aspects of my life. I was also very impatient and ungrateful. When it got to the point where it felt like all my emotions were caving in on me, and I made a conscious decision to go back to BLD.

Last Friday, while I was at BLD, I found myself getting emotional again as I sang along to the hymn. Hear me, Jesus; hide me in thy wounds that I may never leave thy side. It was at this moment that I was moved to tears because I remembered what I had forgotten. I had forgotten what it was like to revel in prayer. I had for-gotten what it was like to feel peace. I had forgotten what it was like to be simply grateful to be in God’s pres-ence. All this came back to me in a single instance when I decided to accept Jesus in my life again. And so it is with great pleasure that I read this Sunday’s Gospel for I am no reminded of truth of God’s voice: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

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UPCOMING EVENTS: Mark your calendars

July 15, 2017 LSS Grand Reunion— Lincolnia Senior Center

4710 N. Chamblis Street, Alexandria, VA 22312

July 22, 2017 TEACHING DAY (LSS GRAD, LSS10—LSS17

July 28-30, 2017 YLSS #7 Shrine of St. Anthony

August 13, 2017 Community Day—Lake Fairfax

November 4 –5, 2017 Marriage Encounter #18

December 22, 2017 BLD Christmas Party

Love Offering June 16, 2017 $800.00 June 23, 2017 $402.00 June 30, 2017 $350.00

July 07, 2017 $406.00 Thank you for your faithful and consis-tent giving. Your donations are so very

important because they allow us to carry on the work of evangelization.

God bless you!

“ Come Holy Spirit”

MEMBER’S CORNER

BLD WASHINGTON NEWSLETTER

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Structure of Bukas-Loob Sa Diyos (Open In Spirit to God)

JULY TEACHINGS will be held on Saturday, July 22, 2017 at the McCarrick Family Center in Silver Spring, MD. All teachings will start PROMPTLY at 9:30 a.m.

Venue: 12247 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring MD

Please bring your Bibles to class. The teachings for each LSS Class are as follows:

LSS16 and 17 – New Creation Realities (NCR).

LSS15 – Christian Maturity Program Part 1 – Overcoming the World, Flesh and Devil and the Body and Blood of Christ

LSS 14 – Christian Maturity Program Part 2 – Christian Servanthood.

LSS’s 10, 11, 12 and 13 – Christian Maturity Program 1 and 2.

Please mark your calendars. Much preparations are made for each scheduled teachings and the courtesy of a prompt reply would be greatly appreciated. Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

“Let us All Pray for our Pope”

Tips on Dialogue from Pope Francis: A Challenge to Families…and Candidates? May 10, 2016May 9, 2016 / Justice, Peace & Human Development

In Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis calls dialogue “essential” for family life. His guidelines on dialogue are easily applicable to civil society as well.

Can you imagine how this election cycle might be different if we challenged ourselves, candidates, political parties, commentators, ourselves, and others to follow Pope Francis’ advice?

1. Recognize the real “importance” and dignity of the other person. Recognize others’ right “to think as they do and to be happy.” Pope Francis challenges us to acknowledge the values of the other’s “deepest concerns” and what he or she is try to say (no. 138).

2. Try to understand where the other person is coming from: his or her pain, disappointments, fear, anger, hopes, and dreams (no. 137).

3. Put yourself in the other’s “shoes”; try to “peer” into his or her heart. This is the starting point for dia-logue (no. 138).

4. Be ready to “listen patiently and attentively to everything the other person wants to say.” Dialogue requires the “self-discipline” of waiting until someone is finished speaking before responding. And, it means truly listening to what someone else is saying—not planning a comeback before the other person has even finished speaking (no. 137).

5. “Keep an open mind.” We need not stick to our own “limited ideas and opinions,” but we must “be pre-pared to change or expand them.” Our goal is “synthesis” that enriches everyone involved in the dialogue. We don’t seek unity in diversity, Pope Francis says, but rather “reconciled diversity” (no. 139).

6. Our goal is to advance the common good. Respect and appreciation for the “other” are necessary prereq-uisites (no. 139).

7. Try not to offend, and don’t vent. We must choose our words carefully, be sensitive to how others feel, and never seek to inflict hurt. We must also avoid a “patronizing” tone, which “only serves to hurt, ridicule, accuse and offend others” (no. 139).

8. Love everyone. “Love,” Pope Francis writes, “surmounts even the worst barriers.” When we come from a place of love, we can better understand others (no. 140).

9. Base positions on beliefs and values, not on the desire to “win” an argument or be “proved right” (no. 140).

10. Pray! True dialogue, Pope Francis reminds us, “can only be the fruit of an interior richness” nourished by our quiet time with God through reading, reflection, prayer, and “openness to the world around us” (no. 141).

These are challenging words from Pope Francis. How might our own families be different if we took his words to heart? Our parishes? Our neighborhoods? Ourselves? Our society? The current election cycle? Pope Francis’ vision is a vision of joy-filled love. Let’s share it! Jill Rauh is assistant director for education & outreach at the USCCB Department of Justice, Peace & Human De-velopment.

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