It was like light, fire, and thunder of Heaven’s fireworks, when Couples for Christ welcomed the start of 2012 with a blazing Leaders’ Conference at the Araneta Coliseum last January 14.
The Araneta event was an opportunity for many of us to see our friends and co-servants from the provinces and other countries face to face for the first time in 2012, and we did not lose the chance to greet them “A Happy New Year!”. In turn, we ourselves were energized by the “New Year” greetings from friends, especially knowing that their salutation and smile came not just with a wish but with a prayer.
We ask, “What is it about the new year that makes it almost always happy?” ”What in the turn of the year makes the time so special?” With eyes of faith, the Lord allows us to behold a lot more in the new year’s kick-off, than just discarding our 2011 desk calendars to give way to the new, or making force-of-habit mistakes in the first few checks we issue in January.
New Year is a time when, after unwrapping all our remaining Christmas gifts, we realize with great thanksgiving that we are opening the most important gift of all - the continuation of the gift of life that is full in the Lord, the gift of life connected to the most important job in the world - the mission of Christ! New Year also presents a fresh opportunity to worship the Lord more passionately than we have done in the past years, to courageously take on areas of calling we have avoided or have been scared of in the past, to smile and exude joy more visibly as we serve! New Year is a renewed chance to be forgiven, and to forgive, and through all the accompanying struggles, to speak and to love more like Christ!
2012 also means a great deal to us who are called to be servant leaders in CFC! It is the continuation of the first year of the next 30 years of CFC! Finding the “Pearl of Great Price” and pressing on to “True Gold,” it is a time to pause in our journey, and to ask: “What were my three biggest learnings over the past 30 years of Community?” Some say our biggest learning is realizing that the calling and vision of the Lord for CFC is unchanging, its constancy and strength like a house built upon true Rock. Storms will come, but the vision will remain, and the mission will continue, because these are not plans of men, but a calling ordained by God!
Others would say, “We have learned that the Lord has built among us a stronger and clearer Community during the storms we have faced. Our mission today is crystal clear, focused on Christ, Family, and Poor (or Holiness in Christ, Building the Church of the Home, and Building the Church of the Poor). Our mighty Lord has even built us our own CFC Home during the period of our storm, to make sure we get the point that He, our God of utmost power, can shape blessings out of the harshest winds that buffet us!
Still others declare with conviction that after 30 years, our CFC battlecry of “Families in the Holy Spirit Renewing the Face of the Earth” is no longer just a slogan, or a dream, or a PowerPoint slide, but the living, felt presence of Christ’s redemptive love in our lives! For we have seen Him transform nations and families, starting with our own family, and our own sinful life! We join the Blessed Mother in proclaiming, “The Lord who is mighty has done great things!”
Beyond reminiscing the past, 2012 also is a time in our journey to look forward to the future of CFC, fillled with the sure hope of the Lord! The Lord who is mighty has not only done great things but will continue to do great things for CFC and our families! We are excited about our new theme, “Proclaim the Greatness of the Lord!” It brings us back to the heart of our calling - Proclamation or Evangelization. It affirms the fullness of the CFC mission, for He will lift up the lowly, and bless our children and generations after us.
Our theme also inspires us with the example of the holiness, obedience, faithfulness, and humility of Mary -- the first and perfect disciple. We are as exuberant with our CFC Roadmap – our “GPS” (God’s Plan for Soldiers) towards our CFC Vision, capturing with clarity our shared CFC “strategies,” our plans and measures, and the key mission enablers in our work for Him!
But 2012 is not just about reviewing the past and hoping for the future. The new year challenges us to seize the present moment and the present year, as the time not just to shout and to hope, but to ACT, with hands on fire! After all, the Lord Himself reminds us, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
This New Year is our arena where our hands, prepared by the Lord for spiritual battle, will implement our Area Action plans flowing out of the CFC Roadmap, as our offering for the sure victory of our Lord. We seize the moment, knowing that the Holy Spirit will renew the face of the earth by moving through a people who will act courageously in attempting to fulfill the calling faithfully and excellently for the King!
Lastly, we know there is that big, singular element in the New Year standing out with utmost importance, that assurance carrying with it unmatched confidence than what the past, present and future can conjure. That one thing is both Person and God – a Savior always with us! Our past may haunt us with regrets, our present will continue to be marked by our own frustrating transgressions, the future though hopeful will remain uncertain. But our LORD JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow!
He is the Lord who calls and sends us to the mission. He is the Father who comes before us yet always holds our hand along the way. And even before we step out of our homes to plan and implement His work today, this day in 2012, He is already surely victorious. Therefore, we will not be afraid!
At this start of 2012, let me then greet you again, not just a happy new year, but a surely triumphant, victorious, and joyful New Year! Let us in Couples for Christ proclaim His Greatness, and proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord! By Melo Villaroman Jr.
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