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FAITHdemic: The Grace that Heals and Keeps

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1. First and foremost, I appreciate Brother Andreus for taking his time to be with us. It was truly an insightful and interesting talk that I had for this year’s recollection. I’ve gained so many learnings from him that helped strengthen my spiritual immune system. Based on the sharing of Brother Andreus, I learned that I can boost my spiritual immune system by continuously praying to God in times of trials and joys. Prayer is a very powerful weapon that brings us closer to God and nourishes our faith in Him. We experience God's presence in our hearts and minds through prayer. It deepens our relationship with Him and makes us feel tranquility and solace. With God, NOTHING is IMPOSSIBLE.

2. From my perspective, I can say that I can feel God’s grace in my everyday life. Wherever I go and in whatever I do, I can feel His presence around me. In fact, these days, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and stressed about everything, especially in how I am academically performing in school which is negatively affecting my thoughts and emotions. Doubts, worries, and fears have been overflowing in my mind and I feel like I am not the best version of myself. However, through the power of prayer, I could say that God’s grace is healing my inner self, and He has been saving and helping me in bettering myself. I believe that God always works behind the scenes even if we don’t see Him. He is fighting with us through our battles in life and He will never abandon us. Lastly, prayer is like my comfort zone wherein I feel the warmth and loving presence of God.

3. I’ve had so many realizations or insights after the Lenten Recollection that I can as well as apply in real life situations. I realized that God has plans for everything and He has a perfect reason for it. We must always remember that when we face hardships or sufferings in life, this is not a promise that we will be rescued immediately. Instead, it is a promise that God has a purpose for our lives. Therefore, no matter what our circumstances are, He will work through them to give us a future and hope. All we have to do is have FAITH in Him and God will do the rest. As long as we pray and trust in Him, we will be heard and  He will answer us not in your time, but in His time.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

~Ephesians 2:8~

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I was greatly astounded by the words of Brother Andreus upon hearing his statements regarding the strengthening of one's spiritual immune system. According to him, prayer, worship, lifestyle, giving, and service were his experiences on how his faith remained strong despite the situations he has battled against. Prayer is our weapon as it instills hope within our hearts which brings us closer to God. This keeps our minds focused and concentrated on the accomplishment of the task, rather than its difficulty. Worship is an action by which one dedicates time to praise God which is a factor that affects our consistency in terms of our ability to connect with God. Service on the other hand is our will to give to others, may it be our time, effort, or even through simple kindness. However, both of these are similar in terms of their importance as they are essential in honoring God. It is a reminder that will lead us back on track towards our mission to God. Finally, lifestyle is what drives us every day to keep moving forward. With routines and healthy relationships, we get to nourish our faith and hope in God the same way we nourish ourselves to live a better life.

The term grace that has been bestowed by God upon us is something broad in general. Its consideration may vary from the blessings we received from others to the gifts of the seven sacraments. Personally speaking, I think that I do feel God's grace every single day, but there are instances that I feel the grace of God more compared to other days. One grace that I would consider the greatest grace is the grace to live life to its fullest while in the service of God and the people around me. Every single day, I wake up and get ready to begin a new page in my journey. While I am in the process of contemplating my past, present, and future actions, I see to it that I do not forget to insert my intentions for all the other people around me. Of course, I would not let the day pass without acting upon those intentions which I know would develop not only me but even them as a person as they may also pass on the act, causing a ripple effect.

I can say that I have indeed acquired a lot of knowledge from the recollection. Through Brother Andreus' talk, I realized that faith is not a simple aspect of our life that may be left unbothered. Rather, it is something that must be given attention and must be exercised like metals; it will decay the longer you don't use it. With this, it is indeed important to strengthen your spiritual immune system as it will allow you to have a stronger faith in God and therefore develop a better connection between you and God. These actions will serve as the pillars of your faith as you continue down on your journey as an individual, as a citizen of the country, and of course as a follower of Christ.

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I. Answer the guide questions below.

II. Attach the screenshot of your favorite part of the Recollection.

GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. How can you strengthen your "SPIRITUAL (Immune) SYSTEM" based on the sharing of Brother Andreus?

2. Share some of your experiences wherein you feel God's grace.

3. What are your realizations/insights after the Lenten Recollection?

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1. After listening to Brother Andreus' talk, I've learned that God is truly good. I've also learned that looking for deeper meanings in your life and analyzing occurring patterns will help you see that you have control over destiny. Also praying and becoming closer to God can be of great help to our spiritual immune system.
2. For me I experience God's grace every day. Waking up every day is already a grace from God knowing that God will never abandon me despite the things I've done.
3. I realized that recollections are very helpful in our spiritual lives. It can help us reflect on the things that we do every day. It can also give us a chance to rethink our actions and become more stronger and faithful people.

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Bro. Dre's talk was one of the most insightful talks i've ever attended. He was lively and energetic all throughout the recollection. He put emphasis that we should ought to share and seek the love from our parents, family, and friends.
He shared his experiences. Ive realized that God's grace would reach us in the most unexpected ways. Just like how Bro. Dre shared when he first made a sin and cheated on his exam. He cannot bare the shame and opened up to his teacher. Instead of him failing, the exam God's grace blessed him for being true not only to his teacher but to himself. I believe that God's grace works in a mysterious ways. Instead of lying and fooling yourself i think that it is only and just to be honest to God and admit. I realized to that it is never to late to change. Bro. Andreus shared that he wasn't the "purest" student, he made sins just like any other.

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1. Brother Andreus' talk was indeed enlightening as he talked about FAITHdemic in these times of the COVID-19 pandemic. In strengthening my spiritual immune system, I learned that I need to clear my mind in times of adversities and feel the presence of God and His grace. Furthermore, I can strengthen myself by having a deep, strong, and constant connection with God through prayer so that I can be closer to Him and for me be guided by Him in these trying times. Lastly, through his speech and talk, I got to discern how important it is to believe in God and trust the process as we all journey through lives since He'd always be there to guide us as His children.

2. I could say that in every day that I am given throughout my life, I could always feel God's grace, together with his goodwill. I believe that it is through His grace that we receive all the good things we have in our lives, such as the blessings we constantly receive. Being alive is already an encounter that we all have with the grace of God, wherein we can enjoy the things we have in life, especially His creations in this world.

3. All in all, throughout this whole Lenten Recollection, I realized that many of us have been taking God's grace for granted. We must appreciate and look deeper into the things we have in our lives, since being alive is already an example of God's grace, generosity, and goodwill. May this Lenten season inspire all of us to appreciate the things we have in our lives, no matter how big or small those are.

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GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. First of all, I want to appreciate how awesome Brother Andreus' talk was. All the things that he shared really gave an impact on my spiritual health and it strengthened my “Spiritual system”. He shared things, even his personal experiences, and made me realize that God’s grace truly keeps saving us. Everything that happens around us indeed has its purpose. He mentioned, “Dirty your hands by being a servant”. These words really helped me realize that getting our hands dirty is not bad when it has its own purpose. Since this pandemic started, I am very glad that many people really extend their help to others, especially for the needy and this pandemic really tests us on how far we can go to extend our help to everyone. All the things, experiences, and knowledge that he shared in his talk really helped me to value and make my faith stronger. And in any challenges that come in my way, it always has its purpose because just like what Brother Andreus said, “God wants us to unite, the devil wants us divided.

2. In fact, I feel God’s grace every day. But there's this one unexpected happening in my life where my faith was really tested by God. At that time, I was asking Him questions why these things happen to me or to my family but after many days, I feel and see His grace through my family and everyone around me. It's like he answered my prayers with the help of the people around me. And there are also times when I struggle and don't know what to do, I can just feel His warmth and make me feel better. Just to see my family and friends healthy is one example of God’s grace and every day when we wake up is already the greatest gift and blessing that comes from God’s grace.

3. This Lenten Recollection that we had, made me realize a lot of things. We all know that everything that we see or touch is not permanent here on earth and that, it made me realize that if we still have time to see them let us always appreciate even just their presence. Showing that we really care and we truly love them is very appreciated, especially to the people who are most important to you. Time is something that we can control but one thing that we control is how we handle our time. Spending time with our loved ones is also the greatest gift that we receive. Let us start appreciating everything and everyone and by that let us not get tired by getting our hands dirty to be a servant and to be a blessing to other people. Let us always remember that God’s grade keeps saving us. That's why every day let us not forget to give thanks to God, ask for forgiveness and guidance. To help us keep on going every day, all we need is our strong faith and God’s grace.

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1. After listening to Brother Andreus’ talk, I have to say, I really learned and realized a lot of things. I think that I can strengthen my “Spiritual System” based on the sharing of Brother Andreus, by building my faith and trust in God, so that our connection will grow and I will have a more blissful mind and spirit as a result of God's goodness.

2. For me, I can say that I feel God’s grace every single day, every minute, and everywhere. Simply being alive is an experience with God's grace that we all share. But lately, I have not been feeling the best version of myself, and I could say that God’s grace has been helping me every step of the way as I slowly improve myself. He has always been answering my prayers and being there by my side during everything I’m going through. Whenever I struggle, I just pray and feel His warmth and presence, then I suddenly feel so much better.

3. I learned that recollections are really beneficial to our spiritual lives. I also observed how many of us take God's grace for granted. We ought to appreciate and investigate the things we have in our life. All we need to keep going every day is our strong faith and God's mercy. God will always answer our prayers, but it is our choice whether to be a faithful servant to Him.

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1. For me, I think I can strengthen my spiritual immune system by communicating to God through prayer. According to the sharing of Brother Andreus, Prayer helps us have a deeper relationship with God in which having a healthy spiritual immune system with God makes us feel the presence of the Lord both in our hearts and minds which makes us feel at peace.

2. I believe that I feel God's grace in me every day. For me, everything that is happening now is a grace from God. From the moment I wake up until the night that I sleep because I believe that everything that is happening right now is from God's plans and in the end, I believe that plan is a grace that we will receive at the perfect time in our lives.

3. After the recollection, I realize that everything that is happening right now is God's plan. I also realize how powerful prayer is and talking to God through it because he answers it always through his perfect timing. That is why I am very grateful to learn a lot of things in this recollection.

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1. The content shared and taught by Brother Andreus was very insightful and perceptive. His life wasn't an ideal 'Catholic journey' from the start, which was very uplifting since I am situated with the same course of life. I believe that all the lessons he learned from each moment all resulted into a realization of how good God is and how He will remain to be. We only need to reach out and recognize this love for it to be shared and reciprocated through other people - classmates, family, and friends. Every lecture he taught to the audience can be used to strengthen their faith by staying strong even in the face of grief, anger, embarrassment, and other different challenges one may confront.

2. Everyday is God's grace. He let us see yesterday, yet he let us see today again. In my life, God's grace is seen through the presence and guidance of my family, especially my mother. She always reminds me of the grace and love that God provides. Her existence in my life reminds me everyday of how good God is.

3. Compared to the last recollection, this year's was more uplifting. To start, the Gospel during the mass was very intriguing. Especially when Fr. Aceron related it to his homily about how we can have a more grounded faith in God and find ways to vitalize it through Mary. Then, on the latter part of the recollection, Brother Andreus was energetic and lively which made me interested in what he needed to say. His enthusiasm was really inviting and I was more engaged all throughout the talk. I kept all my focus on the recollection itself, which made me realize more how the lessons shared can be used in strengthening my faith and nourish my belief in it.

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PADLET ACTIVITY_ROSALES, MA. PATRIA KALAYAAN N.

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A screenshot of my favorite part of the recollection.

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1. Based on the sharing of Brother Andreus, I believe that I can strengthen my spiritual immune system by constantly sharing a deep, meaningful, and sincere relationship with God through prayer. Through this, our faith and relationship with God will deepen, and we will have a more peaceful mind and soul through God's grace.

2. Lately, starting from February 2022, I have been celebrating the Holy Eucharist about 3 to 5 times a week, and I more frequently pray to God. From this, I gained a different feel regarding my overall aura and my mind. Even with everything I have gone through lately, it feels as if my mind is very peaceful. Hence, I began to appreciate the little things in life, and I eventually healed. I believe that all of this was because of my sincerity to God that he bestowed upon me is love, compassion, and grace and shared my burdens as he carries them with me.

3. After the Lenten Recollection, I realized that sometimes we take for granted God's grace. I believe that we must always be sincere with our prayers and petitions to God and learn how to appreciate and be contented with what he bestows upon us. God will always heed our prayers, but it is up to us to be a follower who is sincere and will not succumb to greed.

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FAITHdemic The Grace that Heals and Keeps_Tuazon, Sophia_St. Damian