Joining us in this episode is a CFC International Council whose passion about organization development came with his years of experience not just in our community but in the corporate world. Bro. James Dio shared with us that our community is an imperfect organization just like many other organizations.
We are met with many challenges coming from different issues. But one thing good with our community is we are not just merely a religious congregation. We are the body of Christ in union with the Catholic Church. We are one with those who believe in Christ. We are the body of Christ, and Christ is our head. As part of the Universal Catholic Church, we are Christ’s body where Christ continues to live & love.
The transcript is available below the video.
Transcript
ROBERT LABAYEN
Hi brothers and sisters! Welcome to the fifth episode of “What Ails You?”. This is our online series in celebration of our CFC Anniversary, “Heal the World for Christ.” I’m Robert Labayen your host, journeying with you on this path to healing.
Last episode, we had with us brother George Campos. He shared on the topic, “What Ails The Church?” He discussed things that challenged the clergy, the religious, and the laity today. But ha also talked about what our community, the CFC is doing to help bring people back to the church. I think it is good to know that by attending and joining the formation programs of CFC, you can actually help the Church.
Coming from the topic, I think it is a good time to talk about what ails our community.
What ails our community? To share with us what ails our community, we have a brother from the International Council. He has 29 years of experience in CFC, and 40 years of experience in the corporate world. Brothers and sisters, let us welcome our brother James Dio.
Hi Bro. James, thank you so much for joining us. You look smart, as usual. Would you like to share with us your journey in CFC?
JAMES DIO
Thank you very much brother Robert, for having me here. You know, Petty and I joined CFC in June 12, 1993. We were walked-in participants in the CLP, actually. And since then, we never look back but instead continue to serve passionately. We went through different service capacities, and we sincerely thank God for drawing us to the community for 29 years, and allowing us to stay until now.
ROBERT
Thank you, Bro. James. You know, when asked “What ails our community?”, I may have my personal answers to that. And I’m sure that members of the community have their own opinions. And so we’re glad that you’re here, and for us to listen to your views on what ails the community.
JAMES
Thank you Bro. Robert. Our community is, as everyone knows, an imperfect organization just like the others. We are met with many challenges coming from different issues. But one thing good with our community is, that we are not just merely a religious congregation. We are actually the body of Christ. When I say body of Christ, we are in union with the Catholic Church, as in, bigger body of Christ. We are one with those who believe in Christ. We are the body of Christ, and Christ is our head. As part of the Universal Catholic Church, we are Christ’s body where Christ continues to love and live within us.
Although we are the body of Christ, the body does get sick once in a while. And when a part of the body gets sick, the whole body is affected. As what in 1 Corinthians 12:26 said, “if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it.” And if we do not mind and ignore these ailments—these tiny ailments—this would eventually worsen the situation and weaken the body as a whole. Eventually, it would negatively affect the people that comprise it. And so, we need to do deep reflection and figure out these ailments. And with God’s help, let us together heal these illnesses.
Bro. Robert. In my sense. the First ailment that can or may affect us is when we become comfortable. In fact, too comfortable—which may lead to complacency. Not all but some developed this mindset of a “Been there, done that” attitude.
We all believe that we are so successful in the past, that we expect to continue to grow by just doing the same. We forget that the environment has changed. People change, and even personal convictions change. If we are not mindful of the changes that come our way, we may be unwittingly missing a lot. We will be lost along the way. And presently, we do not have a way to accurately measure where we are, our real numbers—and more so or spiritual success or growth. We rely solely on feedback and “feels” from our leaders on the ground.
We definitely trust our leaders on the ground, their feedbacks are very valuable. But we also need a concrete basis to reference our spiritual growth and our gains in numbers. This guidepost will allow us to focus our gains. Even the Catholic Church is now using analytics to look for opportunities, and unearthing potential long-term problems. They collect data from surveys done, and engage with different groups. Remember the synod? To understand, analyze, and arrive at a good understanding of the situation on the ground. They analyze the unchurched, shifting of beliefs, numbers of non-believers (atheists and others). This was taken from a study done in the US, at the Pew Research Center, that was done in 2019. In fact, this was presented by Bishop Barron in one of his YouTube discussions.
ROBERT
Quite current.
JAMES
It’s quite current. Bro. Robert, in my mind, nothing is wrong with the use of available methods, instruments, and successful measures and strategies to understand the real issues. These are all God’s gift to us. While we are comfortable, we now put less focus on the fundamentals, or the essentials. When I say fundamentals or the essentials, these are the formations that we attend. The service meeting in place of household meetings. Even brotherly correction, and prayer assemblies. We sometimes miss this.
ROBERT
I can agree with you, Bro. James. I know what you are saying that, what you cannot measure, you cannot manage. So it’s really good to have numbers or metrics. I just wonder why some of our leaders, even those with corporate experience, find it hard to appreciate analytics, infosystems, and other numbers things. They seem to have resistance to it. I wonder why.
JAMES
That is a very practical and very good question, Robert. Maybe because of their unbelief. And to some, they are too rigid in our traditional belief as an organization. What I meant is that to some, the new way of doing things, like data gathering and analytics does not align with our own experience in the past and understanding, that comprises the “old mindset”.
This leads us to deny ourselves the available resources and best practices that we can use to do better in understanding and evangelizing others: believers and non-believers. And also, it leads one to deny and ignore the grace provided by God for us to use to advance His greater purpose. We allow the beams that distracts our vision to see the unveiling of many opportunities in the world today.
Aside from complacency, another ailment of our community is—you have to accept it—the aging leadership.
ROBERT
I can relate to that.
JAMES
We can all relate to this, including us. I’m already old. So defying the natural law of aging—you know, there’s a report coming from our internal data. A CFC report in 2019. It shows that about 63% of our leaders are aged 50 years old and above.
ROBERT
Oh, that’s more than half of our leadership. Almost three…
JAMES
Three-fourths of our leadership are already aging. And if you add the age bracket of 45-49 years old, that drives up to 75%. Many thought that we can stay forever as leaders and continue the work as strong and as effectively as we have started. But we must remember that even Moses had Joshua to sustain the work he has started. He never finished it, and he wanted Joshua to finish it. Paul recognized the value of succession by teaching and building Timothy to take charge when he is gone.
Unfortunately, not all, some leaders missed to develop successors—remain to be at the limelight for so long. Maybe because of their passion, they stay in position without recognizing the need for new, young, vibrant, and passionate “Joshuas” and “Timothys”.
You know, the zeal and strength are slowly fading with age. I can speak that because I am one of them (Robert laughs). But maybe to some, “entitlement” persists. Some leaders expect to stay at the top, and sadly again, some think “I have earned that position and respect.” Unknowingly, some leaders are held captive by their past victories or accomplishments, and sadly are not moving forward to expand and grow God’s kingdom.
Some may choose service assignments that will not bring discomfort, maybe due to illness and other reasons. Mission work goes with a certain degree of discomfort, and we all know that. And some leaders, when filled with sinful pride, allow this sense of pride—and I have to emphasize that the pride is a weapon of the enemy—to slow us down in the building up of God’s kingdom.
ROBERT
I know that CFC is age-denying, but it is not age-defying. So it has an effect on us. So can you explain how is this affecting the growth of the community?
JAMES
Well, we all know that with age comes wisdom. We should not take that away, right? Admittedly, we, the present leaders, are standing tall on the solid foundation set by the leaders before us. They did a good job. That is why they deserve all the respect and gratefulness from all of us.
But on one side, with age, more senior leaders are not adept with the critical digital technology as means in engaging and building competencies. This has become an imperative in this new order. Digitalization. We are slowing down because of our incapacity and unwillingness to use the digital tools. And the current digital world is here to stay, no matter what you say, whether you like it or don’t, it is going to stay. It is becoming more difficult to conquer.
And as a result, formation and missionary opportunities are not optimized if we do not step up. This one is aggravated by the pandemic due to movement restrictions and health concerns that happened the past two years. Which might lead—or have led us—to dormancy, and eventually a recession of the desire to know, to love, and to serve God. We are getting detached from that particular goal that we have.
Lastly, I’d like to talk about connectivity.
The pandemic has made connectivity a great challenge to all of us. Talk to all the other leaders that you can meet. You know, those challenges are real. The core of our spiritual life, the household meetings, formation, and General Assemblies, were largely scaled down during this time. When I say scaled down, you talk about how face-to-face has been avoided or limited due to safety protocols imposed by governments. Virtual gathering is a new way to engage. It was a big issue at the start of the pandemic as we were all learning the use of digital platforms. We have to learn slowly to get to the level that we can freely engage virtually.
But until now, to some, connectivity is still a big issue as there are many places that have very limited access to the internet. So without internet, virtual engagement is not going to happen.
ROBERT
Yeah, they’re totally disengaged.
JAMES
Yes, and that makes it difficult to reach them. Therefore, physical presence is the only option. But the problem is, if there will be restrictions on face-to-face because of government ruling, then there is no way that you can reach them.
And another thing is, some do not have the capacity to buy or own smartphones or laptops, to be used, and be able to engage.
ROBERT
And they have to pay for data.
JAMES
Yes. That’s another thing. And you know, The recent survey that the Philippines did actually—this is not so recent, I think it’s about 2019 before the pandemic. The survey shows that 72% of adult Filipinos own smartphones. Does that apply to CFC? I am not sure but that is the data available, that we have.
Now, we’ve been talking about the OGD (One Global Database). The OGD was created to provide visibility to leaders regarding the real situation of active members who are still connected to the community, and their state of involvement in Household meetings and other activities in our journey to holiness. Remember, our imperative is that we have to journey to holiness, because that is required God—our Savior, our Lord. That is why we need to populate the OGD with data needed. So that we will be able to say the level of our engagement.
And unfortunately, the latest internal OGD data tells us the following. Leadership enrollment to the CFC Portal globally, based, on that particular report, is at 77%. Actually, that is very good. So, eight out of ten are already enrolled among all the leaders. That’s high. Eight out of ten are already enrolled.
And the global membership is at 58%. Meaning to say, six out of ten is enrolled. The membership globally is six out of ten. That’s not so bad, actually. That’s not so bad. We can work from there. Though this may be a function, these numbers. This 77% and the 58%, is not close to 100%. Maybe this is a function of overstated numbers of the members that we know. So if you have a bigger number as a base, then your actual may be a little lower in percentage.
Or, it’s also possible that the continued inability of members to get enrolled because of many possible reasons like low digital knowledge, which is very common, and very commonly raised as an issue, no gadgets, and no internet.
ROBERT
I’m sorry, Bro. James. Those data that you mentioned—these are global, around the world?
JAMES
Yes, global. That is what we have internally. It’s what we have. But as I said earlier, the numbers may be affected by many different reasons. One is, maybe there is a bloated numbers as a base. Second is, there are many reasons like—realistic reasons—why we do not reach the level that we want. Because there is no access to internet, there’s no smartphones, there’s no laptops.
And you know this is what I’m worried about. Actual household meeting happening globally that was captured April 2022 is at 17%.
ROBERT
What do you mean? Only 17% of our members attend a weekly—?
JAMES
Or are doing household meetings.
ROBERT
Why? That is so low.
JAMES
Yes. That is, to me, is very alarming. But again, that can possibly be a result of the reasons I mentioned earlier. We may have been bloating the number of members or households that we’re having, but some of them are not there anymore. Or many, more than expectation, that members do not have, that they do not own.
ROBERT
Failure to report, possibly?
JAMES
Maybe. So let’s just say, possibly maybe, that is what we need to figure out. And the leaders will play a role in unearthing all these possible reasons so that if we know the reason, then we have a way to intervene correctly.
This is another information, Bro. Robert, is that the highest level of adherence— of utilization, meaning to say they have been putting in the numbers, they’ve been taking the attendance in their household meeting— was in October 2021, at the height of the pandemic. And it registered about 25%. So one out of four households are meeting.
But the problem is: last April, it registered 17%. It dropped by about eight points. So to me, that is an alert. We have to go back, remember that the household meeting is a crucial element in our journey to holiness, as defined by the previous ICs. As far as utilization is concerned, there is much to be desired. 25% is very far from 100%.
So this ail is truly a real issue to me. As we journey to the virtual and digital world, we can no longer afford to be NOT in this platform. If that is the reason then we have to get into this platform to address issues like what I mentioned, as we engage the world. So that’s my sense, Bro. Robert.
ROBERT
The things that you mentioned, Bro. James, it’s almost overwhelming. You know, there are so many things that are beyond our control, that we cannot do so much about—like our aging. We cannot stop it, but I hope there are ways to address them.
But we have also other limitations, as you mentioned—the technology limitation, like not everyone is into it, and we have to know the reasons. But it’s good that you know some numbers because the more that we know, the more data that we have, the easier for us to—as you said, the word that you use is “intervene”.
Given all these things, our state now, what do you see to be the healing that we need in this aspect?
JAMES
Very good question, Bro. Robert. In fact, I’ve been reflecting on this, and I agree with you. Aging is definite, it’s as definite as the sun rises every morning. It’s going to happen whether you like it or not. No matter how much supplement you’re going to take, it’s going to happen. But there is always hope. God is with us. To me, I’m relying so much on God in healing our community.
But we need to keep in mind that first, what we need to do is that we have to be humble. Humility to accept realities that we are aging, that the new order of the world is now going into digitalization. We need to continue to educate ourselves, and more importantly, develop new leaders.
The Lord reminded Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14—I’m sure everyone is so familiar with this, this is our theme. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves…” The first order is “humble ourselves, then something is going to happen. And even in James 4:10, it says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” To me that is a very powerful message coming from God. We just have to obey. We just have to take it seriously.
Reality of our work today requires the fire and the leading of the Spirit. There is no place for resisting the dynamics of the new order. And also, the new order of today is never a monocausal dimension. It is not a single factor. It is a multicausal, or multifactorial. Factors are interrelated and intertwined. And it is complex & dynamic, that one we have to accept.
That’s why we need to be open to new learnings. We do not stop on what we know. We have to open our minds, we have to start trying to understand more and learn more of all the tools and all the things that are happening in our new order.
But equally important is that we have to listen more, and be willing to engage as many people as we can. We do not monopolize knowledge. Just like this podcast. It’s very common now in YouTube, but you know, this is a very good medium to learn. And to arrive at a certain convergence with the purpose of loving. Not fighting or competing.
I think the operating word there is “loving”. Because the moment you start fighting in front—when you start engaging and start fighting instead of understanding and loving, then there is no way that you can reach success that is going to happen. That is going to be a disaster.
You know, we are God’s instruments. All of us, in our community. And for sure, we will be guided if we listen more to His will. Without Him, we are nothing. This is one of my favorite verses, John 15:5—”I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit because without me you can do nothing.” So that, to me, is a big message.
If we become too comfortable and complacent, that is tantamount to disconnecting with the true vine, God. When God tells us that this is the new order, you have to use that I’m giving to you, then we should embrace it. We have to be humble to accept that. And to be successful, we are encouraged again to be humble and passionate in our work at all times. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” That’s in Colossians 3:23
And our attitude in our engagement should be this: “Whom have I in heaven but you?” We have to be dependent on God. “And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” That is in Psalms 73:25-26.
I heard many statements coming from my fellow senior citizens. They say, ‘I’m old. I cannot learn the new things now.’ But you know, if you rest on the promises of God, it can be done. It’s not about you. It’s about God. Everything is about God. And we have to remember—we all know this, this has been taught by many of our leaders. They say that humility draws God to us.
ROBERT
Oh, okay.
JAMES
If you’re humble then you draw God to you, and if God is with you, no one can beat you.
ROBERT
That’s right.
JAMES
That’s my fundamental understanding.
So the second one, Bro. Robert, is that the thing is, we have to teach and be willing to give way to the next young leader. Let us not be afraid. And in fact, in Jeremiah 29:11, God declares his promise to give us prosperity and protection from harm is clearly spelled out. He says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” If I am down, I always look back to this verse. You know, there are many times that you miss your target. You have set your goals, but you don’t get it. Sometimes you get depressed. Sometimes you are so done. But this, particular verse…
ROBERT
Yeah. It’s very reassuring.
JAMES
Yes. It lifts me up. As I said, and God promises as a Good Shepherd to all, to feed and tend his lambs So that refers to all of us. We have someone to feed. In Ezekiel 34:23 it says, “And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David—” He’s talking about David, and David is at his prime— “and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.”
God even warned the future shepherds, the leaders. “‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the LORD.” That’s in Jeremiah 23:1. And He even laid out the kind of Shepherd that will take care of His people. There is already a template that God is giving us. And in Proverbs 11:14 it says, “Where there is no guidance, a people fall, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” There is growth.
So to me, those are the very inspiring messages from the Lord. And when you take care of your people, we should not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” That’s taken from 1 Peter 5:3.
Now. What do we do after hearing all of those, and reading all of those? We have to take heed to the direction of God, with respect and obedience to please Him. We need to prepare and preserve the pasture He intends for his flock. And let us teach and empower the next leaders. Mentor and discipline them, but most especially pray for them—as we create and give space for them to take the lead.
ROBERT
That’s true.
JAMES
Also, Bro. Robert, I’d like to add this. Be willing to serve without counting the cost. You know, following God is not a bed of roses. We all know that. We have to take up our cross if we want to follow Jesus. As Jesus said in Luke 9:23: “If anyone wants to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
This is the discomfort I was talking about earlier. It’s going to happen. The question is when and the degree of discomfort, but it’s going to happen. That’s why we have to brace ourselves every time we go and work in the vineyard of the Lord. And very important is, if we expect something like those that will block our way, we have to know the “why’s” of being a missionary. That one will keep you on track. We have to know that twice.
One, to serve others. It’s not about you. It’s about the others. Be the joy of our brethren. That’s what the Lord is telling us. It is not about us, but Jesus through others. Be the face of Jesus as we bring his message to CFC brethren first and foremost, then to the others. And also St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times” wherever you are and whatever you do, and he added: “and if necessary, use words.”
ROBERT
Yeah. My favorite quote from St. Francis.
JAMES
Yes. So it’s by our actions, our attitude towards the others. It’s what they see and feel. It’s not what they hear.
ROBERT
Yeah.
JAMES
So brothers and sisters, now we know the issue. We have to stretch ourselves to learn the digital technology. Because you can never reach others if you don’t learn this. To me, this is an imperative to our success. Without this, then we may not achieve that success that we dream of. It is always difficult before it becomes easy. So we should stop complaining that it’s difficult, I’m old, I cannot do this, I cannot do that. Remember that this is always difficult before it becomes easy. So that’s my sense, Bro. Robert.
ROBERT
You know, I understand why you gave so much importance to humility, because almost everything that you said is related to it.
JAMES
Amen.
ROBERT
We must be humble enough to understand that what we did in the past is not necessarily what we have to do now. We have to give up what we know, and accept new learnings. We have to be humble enough to know that someone younger might be better than us. And humble enough to experience some discomfort and not to stay in our comfort zone. Of course, humble enough to realize that it’s not us, it’s the Lord working through us. And it’s Him—it’s all about Him, not about us.
So if I may recap, what you said. First is, we must have the humility to accept the realities of today. And then, we must be willing to teach and be willing to give way to the next leader, to our Timothys and Joshuas. And, be willing to serve without counting the cost.
JAMES
Amen.
ROBERT
I hope I got it right brother. If you were going to have a quiz, I got it right?
JAMES
(laughs) Yes Bro. Robert, you got it right. I agree with you. Those are the things that I wanted to emphasize. And with all of this, we have to remember that, although we struggle as a body at times, God has called us to do a unique task to glorify His Holy Name. Despite our imperfection God continues to justify all of us, and empower us to do this role: to heal and restore brokenness in relationships, to renew the face of the Earth eventually.
And I think this one has to be stuck in our minds: we owe it to God to be circumspect, and move as one cohesive body according to His will. We must be single-minded. Let us do our part faithfully, no matter how small it may be, in building God’s kingdom. First, here in our community as I said—being the workers, the laborers—and then to the world, where we are going to work.
ROBERT
Thank you so much Bro. James. You shared a lot of things that gave me so many realizations, I believe also al our brothers and sisters listening to us today. And you know it’s very timely because it’s our anniversary, so it’s great to look back at what CFC has been through, and what is the future ahead of us.
Being a member of Couples for Christ in this situation is really hard, but this is a struggle that we have to go through. And although we are feeling uncomfortable with the things happening now, with the realities, the promise of God that He will be with us through all these, is reassuring enough that we must keep on going forward.
So Bro. James, we were inspired by your sharing.
JAMES
Thank you.
ROBERT
I think it’s a good time to pray, so please lead us in the prayer.
JAMES
Yes Bro. Robert, it is my pleasure to do this for our community. Let’s all come before the Lord, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Father in heaven, thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts about what ails in our community. Thank you Father for being loving and kind to us despite our frailties, so much that we miss, Lord God, in doing your work. Thank you for your forgiveness, Father.
We continue to ask for your mercy and grace. Forgive us, Father, for all the failings that we had in the past, our shortcomings, o Lord God. We are not perfect, Lord, and we will never be perfect. But in your presence through the Holy Spirit, we know that we can do the work that you want us to do, Lord God—because you are with us.
Father, we lift to you our community, this faithful community. Please continue to grant us your mercy and grace. Empower us, Lord God, to do the work. And allow us, Father, to be successful. Continue to unearth, o Lord God, all the failings that we had in the past. And likewise Lord, provide for us ways on how to intervene with all these shortcomings. There is no way to find out how to address all these issues without your presence.
Please let your Holy Spirit work through us, Lord God. Let the Holy Spirit dwell in us—in each one of us, Lord—especially the leaders. Allow us, Lord, to develop the humility that you require us to do, Lord God. because through humility, we know that we can draw you in our lives. Allow us, Father, to see things not through our eyes but through the eyes of your Son, Jesus, all the opportunities that are available for us to embrace and grab, Lord God. Make our eyes open to all these hidden opportunities, in all the resources available in this world, Lord God, again, in pursuit to making your glory, in all the things that we do.
By your presence, Lord, we will be inspired, we will be strengthened, we will be fortified, Lord God. Lead us, Lord, through your Holy Spirit, in all the efforts that we want to do. Make it easy for us, especially senior citizens, Lord God, leaders, to understand the digital world better than before, Lord. Allow us to optimize the use of this platform, to reach more of our brothers and sisters—people who have not heard of you, Jesus. Allow us to use this platform to engage them, and win them, Lord God. So that there will be more workers to reach out to other people in the whole world, where you are still unknown to all of them.
We pray, Father, that you will grant this grace to us. All this, Father, we ask and pray in the pure and mighty name of your Son, Jesus our Lord and Savior, who lives and reigns in with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
ROBERT
A beautiful prayer, Bro. James, thank you so much.
JAMES
Praise God!
ROBERT
Brothers and sisters, thank you very much for joining us in this episode of the “What Ails You?”. If this episode today has been meaningful to you or personal to you, feel free to share this with others who might be able to learn from this sharing, even those who are not members of our community. And if you want to be notified of the next episode, just click the subscribe and the notification bell.
May we never forget that through, in, and with Christ, there is healing. I’m Robert Labayen. See you in the next episode. God bless you and your family.