Living Water– May 19, 2017 1

May 19, 2017

BUKÁS-LOÓB SA DIYÓS • OPEN IN SPIRIT TO GOD

www.bldworld.org www.bldtoronto.com

THEME

We are empowered by the Holy Spirit

when we remain in Christ and live in Him

WORD

Acts 8:5-8; Ps 66; 1 Pet 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-23

ORDER

1. “In your hearts, sanctify Christ as Lord

(1 Pt 3:15)

2. “Keep your conscience clear” (1 Pt 3:16)

3. “Keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15) DIRECTION

Listen to what the Lord is saying and accept the

word of God.

REFLECTION As the day of Pentecost draws near, Jesus pre-

pares His apostles for that time when He would

leave them to go back to His rightful place at the

right hand of the Father. Now that He was going

back to heaven, He promised He would not

leave them alone to struggle with life. In just a

few days they will receive power from the Holy

Spirit. The Holy Spirit will remain to be their

guide as to what to do and enable them to do it.

To this very day, the Holy Spirit is doing the

same work in all of God’s people.

Just as the first disciples were not left orphaned,

we too are not orphaned. Through our baptism,

we have received the Holy Spirit. And as it was

for the people our first reading speaks of who

received the Holy Spirit when Peter and John

laid their hands on them (Acts 8: 15-17), so too

for those of us in the Renewal, it was when

hands were laid on us during our own baptism

in the Holy Spirit at our LSS that we experienced

more fully the presence of Jesus in our lives and

the power of the Holy Spirit in us. The condition that Jesus sets on having a living

relationship with Him is loving obedience to

Him by keeping His commandments. To those

who walk in obedience to His Word, Jesus ...P2

6th Sunday of Easter

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2 Living Water - January 15, 2016222

Living Water - May 19, 2017 BLD TORONTO MID-YEAR RETREAT

(Cont’d from P.1)

...promised to reveal Himself. “They who love

my commandments and keep them are those who

love me; and those who love me will be loved by my

Father and I will love them and reveal myself to

them.” (Jn. 14:21). Yes, it is very clear that one

way to know the power of the Holy Spirit in

our own lives is by obeying the Lord. Our best model of obedience is Jesus Himself.

He laid down His life to accomplish the Fa-

ther’s will. And throughout His life, Jesus

showed obedience by subjecting Himself to the

authority of other people. He allowed Himself

to be born to a Jewish woman, being subject to

the authority of Mary and Joseph. Although

He had no sin, He submitted Himself to be bap-

tized. As He came out of the water, the Holy

Spirit overshadowed Him and the voice of God

was heard saying “This is my Beloved Son in

whom I am well pleased.” (Matt 3:17) When we

obey, we please the Father. Obedience is merely the minimum. Love is

what makes obedience possible. It motivates

us to do more than the minimum. If we love,

we cannot help but want to do more for others,

because unconditional love is the nature of Je-

sus. Truly loving Jesus leads us to love even the

unlovable. In loving Him we give up whatever

it is in our lives which draws us away from

Him. It means changing our lives, working on

our personalities and characters, overcoming

sinful habits, stretching ourselves to love as

Jesus loved. As Pentecost approaches, let us ask the Holy

Spirit to give us a deeper knowledge of God’s

love and to make us channels of His love. As

our helper and counselor, let us pray for His

guidance to grow more in the fruit of the Spirit

so we can truly become worthy sons and

daughters of a loving God. May the Holy

Spirit, living and working in us, help us in per-

severing in our faith and obeying the com-

mandments that Jesus taught. PROMISE

" … whoever loves me will be loved by my

Father, and I will love them and reveal my-

self to them.” Jn 14, 21b:

MARCH for LIFE The Canadian National March for Life is an on-going

campaign against the passage of the infamous Omnibus

Bill C-150 which decriminalized abortion. This year the March for Life in Ottawa was held on May

11. More than 20,000 Canadians from all walks of life at-

tended the event. It started with the Rally on Parlia-

ment Hill where political, cultural and spiritual

leaders gave stirring calls to action on how to re-

store a culture of life in Canada. The participants then marched through the streets

of downtown Ottawa and returned to the Hill for an impromptu concert. This was

followed by powerful testimonies given by the women and men of the … cont’d P3

Living Water– May 19, 2017 3

(March for Life - Cont’d from P2)

...Silent No More Awareness Campaign. The program wrapped up at 4pm with a

closing prayer service led by the Eastern Catholic Chaplaincy of Ottawa. Our heartfelt thanks to the BLD Community for its active support of this event. We are now on

our 3rd year of participation and we have again been well represented this year with a contingent

of 48 attendees from SFX and Toronto. Special thanks to Tito/Dora Bacungan, Carmen Jimenez

and YolyUranza who helped coordinate our 2017 March for Life. It was a blessed day in-

deed, specially for the first timers. See you all next year! And together, let us continue to stand on guard and protect the unborn

children.

On May 11, 2017, Philip and

Clarita Malolos (ME#2) cele-

brated 49 years of marriage.

To many, that seems to be a

very big deal. But if you look

at it from a different per-

spective, you realize that the number 49

falls woefully short of its intended tar-

get in almost every conceivable respect.

While it is true that 49 is actually 48

digits more than the number 1, it is

equally true that this oddest of numbers

is 1 digit shy of the golden 50. And

therein lies the rub! After 49 years of

deciding to love and to keep loving each

other day-in and day-out… after 49

years of sacrificing for one another over

and over again in countless little ways,

Philip and Clarita are now faced with

the prospect of going through another

525,600 minutes of love and sacrifice

before they can reach that golden and

triumphant number of 50. How utterly

inconceivable is that!

But perhaps that’s the key to

understanding marriage and

rediscovering yet again, what

this lovely couple has so gra-

ciously shared with our com-

munity over the years. For it

was through them that we came to un-

derstand why marriage is a Holy Sacra-

ment, which is to say that it has nothing

to do with numbers, nor a goal that we

need to reach or achieve. Because for

Philip and Clarita, it’s a kind of naviga-

tional star that we look up to as we pass

through those incredible years of joy,

heartaches, hopes and dreams -- a star

that is so unfathomably difficult to

reach, yet so miraculously beautiful to

experience. Much like…God’s grace. And so to Philip and Clarita and to a

miraculously beautiful 49 years of mar-

riage (which is still.. .ehem..1 shy of 50),

Happy Anniversary!! May the grace of

the Lord be upon you always!

By: Fran and Baby Pulumbarit

ONE SHY OF FIFTY By Mon/Len Carluen

4 Living Water - January 15, 2016444

Living Water - May 19, 2017

Shepherding Sessions: OLA Church (after Praise & Worship)

Friday, May 19, 2017 : (Salubong) Welcome & Acquaintance

Friday, May 26, 2017 : Topic - God’s Love

Friday, June 09, 2017 : Topic - Salvation

Friday, June 16, 2017 : Topic - New Life and Receiving God’s Gift

Mon-Thurs, June 19-22, 2017 : One-on-One Shepherding Session

Mon-Thurs, June 19-22, 2017 : Confession

Friday, June 23, 2017 : Invocation Mass,

8:00 p.m., OLA Church LSS Weekend Proper: Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School

1107 Avenue Rd., Toronto

Saturday, June 24, 2017 : LSS Proper (8:30 am – 7:30 pm)

Sunday, June 25, 2017 : LSS Proper (8:30 am – 4:00 pm)

SAVE THE DATE JULY 29, 2017 BLD-TORONTO

COMMUNITY PICNIC

BLD-TORONTO MID-YEAR RETREAT

“RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY ENCOUNTER”

SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2017 @ 8:00AM

FACILITATOR: FR. LARRY TAN, SDB Registration starts tonight, May 19. Please see the

Pastoral Services Ministry Desk at the basement hall

after our Praise & Worship.

LIFE IN THE SPIRIT SEMINAR #35