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November 24, 2014
Bishop Ongtioco to Catholics:
‘Choose to be brave. Choose to be holy.’
BISHOP Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao called on Catholics “to be brave enough to be holy” at the end of the four-day Kerygma Conference yesterday, which coincided with the end of the Year of the Laity.
The Catholic Church, through the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, declared December 1, 2013, to November 23, 2014, as the Year of the Laity, which centered on the theme, Choose To Be Brave.
As Bishop of Cubao, Bishop Ongtioco has been the spiritual director of the Light of Jesus Family (LOJ), founded by lay preacher Bo Sanchez (below right) in the Sanchez home in Cubao, Quezon City.
With the Light of Jesus Family, Bro. Bo mounts the annual Kerygma Conference, an inspirational learning event, which is named after the Greek word kerygma, meaning proclamation of the Gospel.
Bro. Bo also founded The Feast, a prayer gathering he leads every Sunday at the Philippine International Convention Center, which includes a celebration of the Holy Mass. A Grand Feast caps every Kerygma Conference.
Presiding over the Holy Mass in yesterday’s Grand Feast, Bishop Ongtioco said in his homily that the theme of this year’s Kerygma Conference, Lifted High, is mentioned more than 50 times in the Holy Bible, indicating God’s desire to lift high, or “draw His people close to Him.”
Bishop Ongtioco pointed out that Jesus Christ lifted mankind high unto God when He died on the cross, cutting short the string of sins that separated the people from God.
“Do not be afraid ,” the Bishop said, “because instead of allowing us to die in sin, Jesus, our Shepherd, took upon Himself to die on the cross as punishment for our sins.”
The Bishop challenged Catholics to serve as shepherds for other people who still need to know Jesus and accept His saving grace.
“God needs you to help fix the life of these people,” Bishop Ongtioco said.
He added that those who choose to serve God by serving His people will, as a reward, be drawn close to God.
“When we serve God, we are lifted high to Him,” the Bishop emphasized.
Being lifted high means people will experience the joy of transformation toward holiness, he added.
Thus, Bishop Ongtioco closed his homily with this challenge to Catholics: “Choose to be brave. Choose to be holy.”
‘Do Not Be Afraid To Be Saints’—Jason Evert
Jason Evert (above), Catholic author who earlier spoke on Catholic issues especially on the Church’s stand on the virtue of chastity, further encouraged the Kerygma Conference participants to be courageous in following the Church’s moral standards.
“Do not be afraid to be saints,” Evert said.
He presented as model in courage the life of his patron saint, Saint John Paul II, who suffered a series of tragedies which peaked when the Nazis invaded Poland, his home country, and miraculously survived to go on and become the longest-serving pope in modern history.
Evert extolled the virtues of St. John Paul, his exemplary devotion to Jesus and Mary, his love for the poor, the children, and the youth, and the series of miracles attributed to his intercession, which led to his canonization as saint.
‘Be Still’– Annia Steen
Singer Annia Steen (above) graced the Kerygma Conference and testified how she and her family overcame fear at the height of super Typhoon Ondoy. Flood crept into their bungalow which was enclosed with iron grills that prevented them from getting out. The house didn’t have a second floor, and so as the floodwater rose high, they feared they would drown. But they prayed without ceasing, and in time, Annia’s father found a six-inch opening in the house where everyone was able to pass through and out to safety.
Annia expressed faith in God’s saving power by singing Still by Hillsong…
When the oceans rise and thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm… Father your are king over the floods…I will be still know You are God…
‘We Are Uncontainable’– Arun Gogna
The Church’s challenge for holiness is reinforced in the key message of the Grand Feast:“We are uncontainable.”
Bro. Arun Gogna (above), leader of The Feast in Alabang, Muntinglupa, Rizal, presented the message. He said there are forces that limit one from practicing his faith in the modern world.
“But,” he told the Grand Feast participants, “the force in you is greater than the forces that contain you.”
Dancers presented the liming forces as sins, debts, fear, or shame, illness, or addictions.
Bro. Arun said the people of God are able to overcome their limitations precisely because they have been saved by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. His flesh eventually became the bread of life – “so we can receive Him and become uncontainable,” he added.
Bro. Arun presented as example his mother who started as a poor house help, struggled to put up her own sari-sari store, married one of her customers, an Indian, and enabled their children to live a comfortable, godly life.
Leaders of various Feasts
Another example, Bro. Arun pointed out, is The Feast which, starting with 3,500 participants, now counts 35,000 attendees in 189 Feasts in 127 locations here and abroad.
“The God who parted the Red Sea and rolled open the stone of the tomb of Jesus (who resurrected from death) is the same God who makes us uncontainable,” Bro. Arun said.
He exhorted the participants to get ready because since God is uncontainable, His blessings are also “unli.”
Bro. Arun prophesied: “God is about to thrust us into a new level, a new destiny, to increase His blessings, abundance, and miracles!”
‘Remove and Throw Away the Cloak’
In his talk before closing the Kerygma Conference 2014, Bro. Bo enumerated expereinces that limit people from receiving God’s abundant grace. These are:
- Conditioning. Because of bad experiences, people are conditioned that they can never be a success or be happy in life.
- Complaining. People often look at what they don’t have. “Focus on what you have,” Bro. Bo advised.
- Critics. “There are haters in this world,” Bro. Bo said. “Ignore them. Make them irrelevant.”
- Cloak. Bro. Bo said people cover themselves with a cloak of burdens that disable them.
To illustrate, he narrated the story of Bartimaeus in Mark 10: 46-52.
Jesus and His disciples visit the city of Jericho, and as they leave, followed by a large crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar sitting by the roadside, shouts, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
People tell him to keep quiet, but Jesus calls him and immediately, Bartimaeus removes his cloak, goes near Jesus, and receives his sight.
Bro. Bo pointed out that even as He knew Bartimaeus wanted to be healed from his blindness, He still asked the man what he wanted. Bartimaeus said he wanted to see, and Jesus granted his petition.
Bro. Bo said God wants people to tell Him what they want so that when God grants their specific prayer, they will know it is God who granted it.
Bartimaeus’s act of removing his cloak –symbol of his burden—is an act of faith, as Jesus pointed out when He told Bartimaeus, “Your faith has healed you.”
“God wants you to shift from beggar to follower of Jesus,” Bro. Bo told the Grand Feast participants. “Remove your cloak.”
Before he ended his talk, Bro. Bo instructed the participants to fold paper earlier given to them by the ushers into an airplane and write on the plane blessings they have received and still want to receive. Then he told them to lift high their blessings to God by making their plane fly!
Some 20,000 members of the Light of Jesus Family, members of other transparochial communities, and guests arrive at the SMX Convention Center (below) on Saturday, November 22, Day 3 of Kerygma Conference 2014.
Participants pack the lobby of Mall of Asia Arena before the start of Kerygma Conference Day 3, on Sunday, November 23.
Kerygma Conference is managed by the Shepherd’s Voice Radio and Television (SVRTV), led by the following: Below, 1st row: Hermie Morelos, president; Randy Borromeo, vice president and chair of Kerygma Conference; 2nd row: Chelle Crisanto, administrator and coordinator for external affairs; Rowena Cequena, vice president for corporate services; 3rd row: George Gabriel, creative director; Anthony Rodriguez, project manager; 4th row: Edwin Marcelo, production supervisor, with Miguel Ramirez as host.
Beneficiaries
Proceeds of the Kerygma Conference go to the various beneficiary partners of the Light of Jesus Family. Servant leaders, below, 1st row: Rey Ortega and Kerrygma magazine editor-in-chief Rissa Singson Kawpeng of Grace To Be Born, shelter for unwed mothers, and Jeremiah, shelter for women in crisis; Bro. Rey also represents the Tahanan ng Pagmamahal for orphans, and Pag-asa ng Pamilya, scholarship for out-of-school youth; Joe Dean and Ardis Sola, here with their children, of He Cares Home for Street Children; 2nd row: Vic and Ditas Espanol of the Light of Jesus Pastoral Care Center; Miriam Reyna of the Light of Jesus Prison Ministry; 3rd row: Beth Corral, also of the Prison Ministry, here with Dante Alignay, a Shepherd’s Voice and LOJ member; Babes Zambrano who started the Prison Ministry and now serves as spiritual adviser in Anawim Home for Abandoned Elderly; 4th row: Lynda Reyes and Aida Dy, members of the Anawim Board of Trustees; Hermie Morelos of SVRTV.
Kerygma Conference 2014 peaked with a cascade of white and blue balloons symbolizing God’s shower of blessings for His people. A rousing worship capped the conference.
For details, call +639173500697; +6327259999 loc. 2013, or log on to www.svrtv.com or kergmaconference.com/2014.
— Cynthia U. Santiago Photos by Edmundo L. Santiago
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