OPENING SONG:  BAJO TU AMPARO

^{1st Mystery of Light:} Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan

^Description: This mystery reveals Jesus, as “Son of the Father,” he is one of the Trinity.  God the Father himself sheds light on the true origin of Jesus.  He is the one who sends him.  In turn, Jesus submits himself to the religious ritual of conversion (Baptism).  He is one of us, God incarnate.

Text for reflection: “El primer estimulo para la devocion del Sato Rosario ha de ser considerer que es por excelencia la la Corona de la Virgen. Corona de Maria, ya que se trata de una corona de alabanzas, de plegarias, de honores a la Virgen que se va entretejiendo con Ave Marias y con la consideracion de sus gozos, , dolores, gloriosos y luces.  De este modo, con las Ave Marias se entretejen tambien las almas y los corazones de sus hijos fieles, y todo ello hace mas rica y preciosa la Corona de Nuestra Madre.”

(OUR FATHER  10 HAIL MARY GLORY BE O MY JESUS …)

^{2nd Mystery of Light}: The Wedding Feast of Cana

Description: This mystery marks the first miracle of Jesus, and again reveals his divine origin.  This time he acts as the Son of God, changing water into wine.  God deals with human needs. He is a God of ordinary circumstances.

^{Text for Reflection}: “Nosotras con la Santisima Virgen y con el Rosario, trabajaremos, lucharemos y venceremos. Este es el arma invencible que tiene la Institucion: una Madre y un Rosario; major aun: una Madre con un Rosario.  Siendo el Rosario devocion singularisima de la Iglesia, recomendada y mandada por los Papas.  Nosotras tan hijas de la Iglesia, no podemos menos de hacer nuestra  esta devocion, incorporandola sustancialmente a nuestra vida.

(OUR FATHER  10 HAIL MARY GLORY BE  O MY JESUS…)

^{3rd Mystery of Light}: Proclamation of God’s Kingdom

^Description: This mystery if a mystery of transformation.  It reveals the ultimate goal of God’s plan.  The changing of this earth and its inhabitants into a new creation, the Kingdom of God.  The light of Jesus in this mystery is justice, peace, especially love.  But the light of the Kingdom will shine in splendor only if we heed Christ’s challenge. “Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel.”  (Mark 1:15)

Text for Reflection: “Y hay en nuestros dias una razon especial que nos oblige el rosario.

El mundo esta necesitado de salvacion, se pierden los individuos y se pierden los pueblos.  Es preciso conserver en unos y renovar en otros la fe y los costumbres; el mundo se precipita en el abismo, la salvacion urge y la Virgen Satisima senala el medio de la salvacion de la humanidad por el Rosario.

(OUR FATHER  10 HAIL MARY  GLORY BE  O MY JESUS…)

Song: O Maria sin pecado concebida, rogad por nosotros, rogad por nosotros, que recurrimos a vos.

^{4th  Mystery}: The Transfiguration of our Lord

^Description: This is the Mystery of Light par excellence.  It announces Christ’s Resurrection, the final victory of light over darkness, life over death.

 the opportunity to delve deeper into that spirit, in one of the characteristics that read today, defines for Pedro Poveda the identity of the people who feel called, then and now to collaborate in the Teresian Association.

The conjunction between two apparently opposing terms is very clear to Pedro Poveda and continues to offer us elements of a dynamic spirituality always in motion, always in are not opposites but complements, distinctive and common, and their proposal is to live them in an integrated way.

In the thinking of the Church, the lay life is a vocation, a call from God to bring the presence and the good news of Christ to the very heart of the world, They are called there by God so that by exercising their proper functions and being led by the Spirit of the gospel they can work for the sanctification of the world from within in the manner of leaven or yeast. The TA is a lay vocation, how do we as members fulfill what St. PedroPoveda desires:    

               ‘to be interiorly different and exteriorly ordinary’?

OPENING Prayer: PSALM 42

All: As the deer longs for streams of water,

      So my soul longs for you my God,

      My being thirsts for God, my living God.

      When can I go and see the face of God

       My tears have been my food, day and night

       As they ask daily, “where is your God”?

1st Moment: One way to enter into the dynamism of this experience is to understand what distinctiveness it refers to and what common and shared experience it invites us to.  And when we delve deeper into the distinctiveness proposed by Pedro Poveda.  there is a first clear orientation: it is the distinctiveness of the spirit of Christ. 

The founding years, 1911 –1917, were crucial years to establishing the spirituality that Pedro Poveda wanted for the people who were collaborating in the good Work.  The   Work is Jesus Christ. “May you be nothing outside of Christ and fill everything with Christ.” 

^Note: After every moment, moved by the SPIRIT anyone may share her thoughts, 

               desires etc

ALL:         We must get use to looking at the world not through a keyhole, but from a

         balcony full of light.  While overlooking the universe from that balcony,

         we must feel the desire to do much, always more, for Jesus Christ 

             and for his Church.  (J. Segovia)

       

 ‘                                                                                     1

2nd Moment: Pope Francis in the “Document on Human Fraternity” addresses all persons who carry in their hearts faith in God and faith in human fraternity.  In this way, he proposes that they unite and work together in order to guide the new generations towards a culture of reciprocal respect, in the understanding of “the immense grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters”. And for this, he underlines the “importance of “assuming the culture of dialogue as a way; common collaboration as conduct; reciprocal knowledge as method and criterion.”

A first feature of the spiritual experience is the need to take root in one’s own land. Drinking and nourishing ourselves from the most genuine of our own Christian tradition:

“Until Christ is formed in you” Pedro Poveda affirmed in a text that can be related to true humanism, and in which he re-emphasizes the centrality of Christ, essential in the formation of every true Christian, but indispensable, as we said before for those people who want to embody  a Charism and be part of a Work of which he does not hesitate to affirm: “The Work is Jesus Christ.”    

ALL: Be very thankful to that light of that star: it is through that light that you will 

        arrive to the goal to which God, our Lord has destined you. With that light outside 

        and inside your soul you will attain your own and full sanctification 

        in the beloved Work.

Time for reflection

3rd moment: Psalm 147:1-6

      ALL:  How great to celebrate our God in song,

   How sweet to give fitting praise.

   …Great is our Lord, vast in power,

        With wisdom beyond measure 

            The Lord sustains the poor,

         But casts the wicked, to the ground.

It is not a matter of erasing differences but consolidating all that unites us, such as hope and communion.  Christ’s spirit transcends our experiences and helps us to leave our comfort zones to live accordingly and announce the Good news that the world awaits.  

When we read the story of the Samaritan woman, …Jesus reached the well before the woman.  Perhaps this is her task, but do we know the wells where people go to when they are tired or when they are seeking meaning for their lives? Are we close enough to all who respond to these basic questions? And if we are close can we recognize and sense that in this search there are people who are very diverse not just believers and non-believers but also agnostics, young and old, refugees and migrants, families, women and children all who for very different reasons can be weary today.  Are we present, close enough, do we go to where they are, as Jesus did?

Time for reflection

All: Closing prayer: Dear Lord, always guide the TA along the path of creative fidelity, to its incarnation spirituality, being “in the world but not of the world” humbly transforming reality, “like salt of the earth”. These we ask through Christ, our Lord. Amen

LOY 2020 Maite Uribe

As we celebrate the Blessed Virgin’s Birthday, we begin this moment of prayer with the words of His Holiness, Pope Francis for today’s feast and for the different moments from J. Segovia’s text on Mary’s Nativity.

“Mary has three very important lessons for today's Christians, 

 Mary teaches people to experience the joy of Christ and share it with others; to never let adversity beat you down; and always help those in need with love and mercy, he said.

People should imitate how Mary responded to God's call with her same joy, haste and perseverance.

"Every time I read sacred Scripture, in the verses that talk about Our Lady, three verbs catch my attention," 

The three kinds of action -- be joyful, help without hesitation and persevere, should be "put into practice" by all Catholics, he added.

Whoever discovers Jesus will be "filled with an inner joy so great that nothing and no one can take it away." 

With Christ in their lives, people find the strength and hope "not to be sad and discouraged, thinking problems have no solution."

For the second action, people should always rise "in haste," just like Mary, to help others in need.

"Victory is to those who repeatedly rise up, without getting discouraged. If we imitate Mary, we cannot sit with our arms crossed, just complaining or perhaps avoiding any effort so that others do what is our responsibility." 

Making a difference and helping others does not have to be done on a grand scale, he said, but entails doing everyday things "with tenderness and mercy."

"The third verb is to persevere," 

Mary relied on God and his goodness for the strength and courage needed to stay by Christ's side no matter what and to encourage his disciples to do the same.

"In this world in which long-lasting values are rejected and everything is changing, in which the disposable triumphs, in which it seems people are afraid of life's commitments, the Virgin encourages us to be men and women who are constant in their good works, who keep their word, who are always faithful."   

Daily, Daily Sing to Mary;

Sing, My Soul, Her Praises Due.

All Her Glorious Actions Cherish,

With The Heart’s Devotion True.                      

Lost in Wondering Contemplation

Be Her Majesty Confessed!

Call Her Mother, Call Her Virgin,

Happy Mother, Virgin Blest!

   

                                                                                              

Ant. From the morning watch even until night

        My soul is longing for the Lord.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,

Lord, hear my voice!

O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,

Lord, who would survive?

  But with you is found forgiveness: for this we revere you.

My soul s waiting for the Lord, I count on His word.

My soul is longing for the Lord

 more than watchman for daybreak.

Let the watchman count on daybreak

and Israel on the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy

And fullness of redemption,

Israel indeed he will redeem

From all its iniquity.

Glory be…

Ant.  From the morning…

1st Joyful Mystery:  The Annunciation 

 (Our Father, 10 Hail Mary, Glory Be)

1ST MOMENT: Reading from J. Segovia

       “Natividad de la Stma. Virgen”

“Oh Aurora bendita de la Virgen Nina, que pones en nuestra vida la claridad de tu luz que es el reflejo de aquella otra luz del Sol Divino , Jesucristo, tu Hijo. Aclara con esa limpisima luz de aurora, las tinieblas de nuestras faltas, de nuestros torcidos afectos, de nuestras torpes inclinaciones.  Aclara los ojos de estas hijas, que no quieren otra claridad que de tu luz.

2nd Mystery: The Visitation (Our Father, 10 Hail Mary, Glory Be, O my Jesus)

Song: Bajo Tu Amparo

Bajo tu amparo nos acojemos, Santa Madre, de Dios

Y en tus manos hoy ofrecemos 

nuestra alegria y nuestro amor.

Escucha la oracion de tus hijas

Que necesitan de tu amor

Guia nuestro camino, de todo  peligro, libranos.

Bajo tu amparo…

A few moments of Silence for reflection

Ant. All: Let every creature, in heaven and on earth, bend 

             the knee at the name of Jesus. 

        L. Though he was in the form of God, 

            Jesus did not count equality with God

             A thing to be grasped.

             He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,

             Being born in the likeness of men.

              And being found in human form

              He humbled himself and became obedient 

               unto death, even death on a cross.

Reading: J. Segovia

“Con el nacimento de Maria teniamos ya como asegurada la Redencion; Ella era la prenda; Ella era el principio del cumplimiento de la promesa.

Asi como los santos tambien nosotros, encendidos en el amor a Maria dicen en su nacimiento, “Venid pueblos; venid, naciones; venid todos a celebra el nacimiento de esta Virgen, con la cual nace nuestra salvacion.”

3RD Mystery: The Birth of Jesus

(Our Father, 10 Hail Mary, Glory Be, 

O my Jesus)

Song Immaculate Mother # 252

4TH MYSTERY: Presentation of Our Lord

Reading from J. Segovia

“Ya tenemos el rememdio de todos los males; nuestro Consuelo y nuestra paz; nuestro arco iris resplandeciente  y hermoso, que nos asegura la msericordia y el perdon.

Tu Ntividad, Oh Virgen, es nuetra alegria.

(Our Father, 10 hail mary, Glory be, O My Jesus)

5th Mystery: Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

Reading: J. Segovia

“Que la Virgen Nina nos haga ninas por la sencillez y la humildad, que nos empuje hacia las almas de los ninos para major cumplir nuestro apostolado. Sea su Aurora la luz de nuestra vida y el gozo de nuestras almas y sea nuestra aspiracion continua la de crecer siempre en su amor.

(Our /father, 1st Hail Mary sang, recite 9 Hail Mary, Glory be, O my Jesus…)

Magnificat:  Ang Puso Ko’y Nagpupuri #25

Spontaneous praises to Mary & what to offer on her Bday

Final Song:  Fiadora

ORACION para empezar: 

PRESENTADOR (emcee): La esperanza en ti, Madre nuestra es universal y es personal.  Universal porque todos sin excepcion, an de recibir las  racias por manos de tu Madre puesto que tu eres la dispensadora de las mismas.  Es personal tambien, tu mediacion, Madre nuestra.  En nuestro deseo de encontrar a Dios, en nuestro afan de lorificarlo y amarlo, es nuestro ardiente an elo de darlo a conocer a los demas.

Peticiones:

RESPUESTA: Madre mia que quien me mire te vea.

Respuesta…

Respuesta…

Respuesta…

Respuesta…

Oracion:

Todos:  Madre mia, esperanza del mundo danos perseverancia en la fe, la constancia en el trabajo, el celo por la loria de Dios, la forataleza en la

luc a  el triunfo de las pasiones, el amor encenddo a tu ijo, Jesus.  Amen

PRO RAM

# EL MILA RO DE SU FE

EMCEE: Recordando Ma. Josefa mu cos anos despues su estancia en la Escuela Superior se expreso repetidamente en terminos como estos:

1 a  persona:  Yo era inconsciente , cuando estudiaba en la Escuela Superior del Ma isterio de que alli estaba concentrando todo el elemento laico y de que tenian  ran interes en atraernos.  Era tan  rande y tan desastrosa la influencia de la Institucion Libre en los estudiantes de la Escuela Superior que, cuando fui una vez a  ranada, una profesora mia me   

 izo  asta andar y pasear, para ver si era la misma que comenzo lose studios en  ranada, y se le caian las larimas de pensar que no  abia cambiado. Porque de la Escuela Superior se salia de manera completamente distinta a como sa  abia lle ado.    e sido testi o de todo esto porque la mayoria de los maestros e inspectores que  icieron la revolucion fueron companeros mios.   

2a persona: Yo recuerdo  que en mis anos de estudiante teniamos un professor que era de una suavidad excepcional.  Era ateo completamente , pero entre nosotras, jovenes  aun, poco formadas,  acia una labor de atraccion enorme.  Era la suma delicadeza y por eso causaba un dano terrible.  En cambio un buen senor, a lo major muy catolico, pero que sale con un exaprupto, se  ace antipatico y retira a las entes.

EMCEE:  Antonio Juan Onieva, refiriendose a su vida de piedad, anade lo si uiente: 

3 a persona: 

Cuando  la conoci, yo   e dic o como era.  Entonces en ella aprecie un an elo, una sed de lo santo, de aspirar a ser una mujer totalmente sobrenatural. Nunca le oi expresiones que lo revelasen.  Sin embar o, todo ese estilo  que  e descrito si se veia que estaba como respaldado por una conciencia de fe cristiana.  Tenia un espiritu profundamente catoli o, pero no se manifestaba de una forma ostentosa.  En aquel tiempo era sencillamente una muc ac a animosa y con entusiasmo  raciosa  y ocurrente ablando; un poco como debio ser Sta. Teresa y esto recordando a Ma. Josefa, lo  e pensado muc as veces que se parece a Sta. Teresa.

EMCEE:  Cristina Sta. Maria complementa su testimonio sobre los anos de  ser su  companera en la Escuela Superior: 

2a persona: Ella sentia las verdades de Dios.  De las cosas de Dios  ablaba con tal calor y se veia en sus palabras tal alma, que al escuc arla uno se sentia movido a imitarla y  a aumentar la  fe que uno poseia.  Yo siempre la vi asi ya que desde nos conocimos como condiscipulas en la Escuela Superior del Ma isterio, pero todo esto se supero despues, a medida que ella iba superandose y madurando sus virtudes.  Ella tenia mu as virtudes naturales, es cierto: tenisuna personalidad riquisima en todos los aspectos, muy complete diria yo, pero toda transfi urada mas tarde por lo sobrenatural.  En la Escuela Superior mas bien brillaban en ella las virtudes naturales en las que era muy rica.

INSPECTORA DE ESCUELAS

EMCEE: Un discurso broc e del acto que la inspectora Srta. Se ovia Moron ,   

 ablo con la elocuencia de la mas noble y sencilla del alma , ermanada con 

sentido de pensamientos y la dulzura de consejos y de advertencies de un alto sentido moral, social y peda o ico.  La prensa, y no solo local, la elo io con el titulo, Brillante conferencia:

1a persona: La conferencia rayo a una ran altura, exponiendo conceptos nuevos acerca de un problema peda o ico, tan umanitario y de tanta trascendencia para el orden social como lo es la Mutualidad.  Felicitamos a la  Srta. Se ovia Moron que de modo admirable y con la sencillez que la caracteriza, puso de relieve su competencia en asuntos de tanta actualidad.

EMCEE: NO TEN O OTRA ASPIRACION QUE LA DE SER SANTA

    En una relacion  spiritual el 6 de abril de 1946:

1a persona: Empiezo por reconocer que voy estando re ec a.  Solia yo decir en tiempos de la  uerra y posteriores que esttoy des ec a.  Me encontraba 

 sin discrecion, como sin asidero, me dominaba poco, sentia impaciencias muy  umanas,   aunque las cosas en si fueran buenas.  Tenia como illusion en poner al o mio para la consecucion de cosas espirituales.  

En fin, que era como un monton de actividades,  de ansias y deseos, de impulsos de virtud, de an elos de ir al Senor, pero todo ello revuelto y sin consistencia.  Todo esto me  a  ec o   sufrir muc isimo, e pasado anos de verdadera purificacion, de an ustias que solo el Senor podra apreciar y justipreciar.

EMCEE: Esta importantisima relacion spiritual de 31 pa inas que ella considera de conciencia, comienza de este modo:

OTRA PERSONA:  …voy a senalar el don que mas estimo a lo lar o de mi vida, que a ora aprecio major y tambien que, seun creo, va en aumento a medida que ten o mas anos.  Es este don el de la fe. No podria explicar lo que  la fee s en mi alma. De ordinario  parece de ir por caminos de fe es tanto como ire n tinieblas. La fee s oscuridad.  La fee s el tunel de Sta. Teresita.   Pues, o yo no entiendo, o la fe que tiene mi alma es luz muy clara y potente.  Claro que esta en la fe, y asi lo deben tener todos los cristianos, pero cuando yo pondero tantoen mi interior el don de mi fee es porque tiene este don una luz, en matiz, una intensidad que desde lue o no se expresar.  Y va en aumento y me tiene como sumer ida en un bano de fe.

Con la fe y la confianza me parece que a crecido en mi alma, en esta ultima temporada, la santa ale ria.  No ese n verdad dino del major  ozo y ale ria el ser instrumento que maneja el Senor, ser su Esclava, ser su  ija, sentirse amada y perdonada por El.

No es para cantar noc e y dia en encontrarse en las manos con tantos tesoros, y poder operar con ellos y saber que la  anancia es se ura si el Senor esta content?

Que pajaro mas cantor que el   ombre que quiere santificarse?   

EMCEE: 2 de diciembre de 1939: los difuntos, 

2a persona:   oy dia de los difuntos,  me   e sorprendido con unos sentimientos  que me parece debo rectificar inmediatamente.  Tal vez la proximidad de la muerte de mi madren, la de An ustias ( Al arra) con todos sus a ravantes, y mi  falta de salud, cada dia mas a udizada, me  an  ec o pensar en la muerte mia como en una cosa inmediata .  Estoy triste, sin animo como el que ya nada tiene que  acer; sin ilusiones para trabajar, ni para nada. Todo  a concluido.

Esto no puede ser. Si de versa   ubiera concluido, yo debiera estar muy ale re, porque me  uardaba el abrazo con Dios, Nuestro Senor.  Pero, ademas, yo debo trabajar con toda illusion  asta el ultimo minute de mi vida.  Si me queda poco mas intenso debe ser el trabajo.  Que todo me parezca poco para darlo a las almas, para ofrecerlo al Senor. 

Muriendome teno que estar ensenando, y esto debo  acerlo con ale ria, con ilusion, con esperanza de fruto, con a radecimiento por  la di nacion.

Que equivocada estoy creyendo que todo lo  e  ec o, y que lo pasado no lo puedo mejorar.

EMCEE: CON ANSIAS DE TOTAL ENTREA

Sus declaraciones en el Proceso Invormativo del Fundador y la muerte de Ma. Isabel del Rie o fueron, sin duda, las impresiojes mas Fuertes de sus ultimos meses de vida. Le quedo profundamente  rabada la ultima leccion de Ma. Isabel,  el 14 de junio de 1956 comentaba asi:

4a persona: Su ultima leccion como ella lo llamo, me izo un bien enorme y al propio tiempo, me trajo una tentacion fuerte. Solo importa tener contento al Senor, decia ella. Y yo que me  e pasado la mayor parte de mi vida tocando teclas, enderezando entuertos, consolidando relaciones,  abre contentado al Senor o  abre   eco una labor  umana? Y la tentacion me apretaba para desentenderme de todo para no mirar ya mas rostro que el Rostro de mi Dios.

  EMCEE;  abia escrito el 19 de junio de 1956 durante la enfermedad de Ma.  Isable. Y sintetisando los dos meses transcurridos despues de su muerte, el 28 de julio afirmaba

Otra Persona: 

Si o con mas interes mi vida interior y el Senor acude como siempre. Quiero ser santa, cueste lo que cueste, y cuesta .

Estoy invadida  por la  ratitud por el deseo de fidelidad.

EMCEE: El 15 de septiembre se clausuraba el curso en Los Nerales:

Otra Persona: Dolores de Nuestra Senora.  Es el ultimo dia de Sta. Maria con esta promocion, quisiera acercarlas mas y mas a Jesucristo; quisiera que no salieran del Corazon de Nuestra Senora, quisiera infundirles un amor ardentisimo a la I lesia; quisiera ser santa para poderles ofrecer los encantos de la virtud propios del amor verdadero  a Jesucristo.  Como ya esas injusticias tan in umanas, esos dolores tan sin consuelo, las persecuciones, los atropellos.

Es verdad que yo, pobre de mi, no puedo levantar una paja, pero si quiero ofrecer la San re de Jesucristo, las  lorias de mi Madre, los meritos de los Santos, mis miserias y limitaciones, para que el Senor se compadezca y convierta a los enemi os de la Sta. I lesia.  Que los covierta es muc o major. Senor y Dios mio.  Cesen ya esas injusticias tan in umanas, esos Dolores tan sin consuelo, las persecuciones, los atropellos.racias

QUIERO SER SANTA

OTRA PERSONA: El ano 1953 concluia para Josefa Se ovia con una fuerza insistencia a la santidad. Termina otro ano mas de   racias muy sin ulares.  Es verdad que la Santisima Vir en esta colmando toda medida previsible.  La Institucion esta enriqueciendo. Nuestra Madre nos llena de dones y nos pide una muy   rande santidad.

CANTO FINAL: Musica: PNU Alma Mater Son

                      Letras: Carmen Ll. Sayo

  O SANTA MARIA

O Santa Maria, Madre qerida de Dios

Nos traes luz, por tus   racias

Siempre nos   uiaras, en todos nuestros actos

Llevanos a Dios, O Santa Maria.

As you live each day

Unconscious of what lies ahead

But deep within, 

You keep searching

Begging for more light

To lead you to marvel

At God’s immense goodness

Whose faithfulness never falters

And His love is enduring.

During moments of emptiness

Sense His entry within you

He knows He is welcome

Nothing blocks His way,

Silence feels your whole being

Listen, listen, listen

“Here, I am,” He whispers.

It is only in moments of emptiness

That He feels free to enter

And it it in silence

When He knows you can hear Him

It’s a moment of grace,

A moment to reconcile.

God waits patiently…

He does not hurry

He knows our shortcomings.

He forgives and forgets

He always expects the best

From each one.

Though we fall a dozen times, He lifts us up

To start all over again, no looking back.

“Lord, what do you want of me?

Here I am, my whole being, 

attentive to your consoling words.

Guide e along the way, enlighten my path,

Grant me courage and strength to carry on.

I can do anything as long as you are at my side.

Great is your name, my beloved Jesus

Praise and glory to you

Forever and ever, alleluia, alleluia!

One searches for the one you LOVE.

In silence, I listen.

My search goes within

Deeper, deeper and deeper.

Everything done in silence

To make me hear His voice

Clearly and lovingly.

A voice from within is heard,

“Here I am waiting with patience

For your words of love

Giving praise and glory

For all the blessings

I’ve bestowed you with,

To fulfill your mission.

Bringing the Good News

Especially to the less fortunate, the ignorant

and to the most impoverished.

Reach out to them and bring them to me.”

Seeking you at this moment as I promised you

To be with you and listen to your desires

I whom you love so much eagerly awaits

For what you have to say.

Yes Lord, I have to use my time

Searching for means to help the needy.

At present, I would just extend help when asked for.

Grant me the grace, to be able to always share

My precious time without hesitation

And most of all with JOY.  Amen

to say “yes” to a calling

which God so insistently placed in my heart?

I would make time to seek moments of silence,

To hear his longing for my response.

I would try to give Him a deafening ear,

But His gentle voice 

Calling me by name.

I had no courage nor strength

To deny His desire and longing

I gave my “yes” then in silence

I heard Him say: “Come and share

My vision and fulfill the mission.”

No questions asked, just did as He said.

Humbly, I started my TA journey,

Found life was not easy, but continued the path

Always seeing the goodness in everyone

Harapan o likuran, pantay-pantay ang  nilalang

Ngunit di naman ganiyan sa tunay na buhay

May nasa ibabaw, may nasa ilalim.

May mayaman, napakaraming paslit, palaboy-laboy

Walang tirahan, gutum na gutom.

Noong nilikha ang mundo, tuwang-tuwa ang Diyos sa mundo.

Pawang kabutihan and kaniyang nilikha.

Asan na ang mundong iyon?

Ibalike natin ayon sa kaniyang nilikha

Manalig, manampalataya, magmahal, nag-iisa di malulutas.

Buklod-buklud, matutupad ang nais.

TAYO NA!

Give me the opportunity

To renew with tenderness and love

The nearness with the Lord

My refuge and my strength.

These are days of reckoning

Of going deeply in the recesses of my being

And sincerely seek the truth

Of how have I lved

Each second, minute, hour of each day

Granted by God’s goodness and mercy.

Has there been meaning

In all my words, actions and thoughts?

Have I been sensitive to others needs and cries?

Did I use every single opportune moment

In seeking God’s will, in making decisions?

God’s guidance has never failed me.

Prayer in solitude and silence

 has been my strength

I pleaded each day,

He came to my rescue at every plea

Concerned with what I had to say.

I silence, I heard Him whisper,

COME BE WITH ME!

OPENING SONG:    PRAYER OF St. Pedro Poveda (USB)

INTRODUCTION: In general, it can be said that the experience of finding God is very much connected to what we are first looking for.  The one who discovered a treasure buried in a field appears to have come upon it accidentally, but the merchant who found the pearl of great value had been on the lookout for some time. Still a case could be made that no one “goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matt. 13:44) whose heart has not been longing for such extraordinary luck.  Perhaps the most striking Gospel scene about seeking is the first disciples’ encounter with Jesus by the Jordan when they were asked, “What are you looking for?” and Jesus responded with the richly contemplative words “Come and see” (John 1:38)  This passage from Jeramiah expresses more the importance of seeking: “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for your harm, to give you a future with hope.   Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me if you seek me with all your heart. I will let you find me says the Lord.

(Jer. 29:11-14)

A FEW MOMENTS OF SILENCE

1st MOMENT: A phrase frequently associated with Ignatian Spirituality is ‘FINDING GOD IN ALL THINGS”

Ignatius looked around and within, contemplated on the beauty and goodness of the universe as well as the mystery that is the human being itself. The grace Ignatius directs us to ask for in CONTEMPLATION 

is that of serving God in all things, which means responding at every moment, in every situation and in everything that happens to us with a spirit of “profound gratitude”. One serves God by loving God supremely and by loving others in God.

  “Seek the Lord while he may be found

                                           Call upon him while he is near. (Isa. 55:6)

A FEW MOMENTS OF SILENCE

2ND MOMENT: The more the accent falls on “seeking,” the more we ought to think about the way human intention becomes “pure.”  What are the motives behind our actions that govern our decisions?  What are the desires that shape the way we think or give form to our loyalties or tease our imaginations and fantasies?  The asceticism of the Gospel and Christian discipleship involves centering ourselves totally and unambiguously upon the Kingdom of God – or as Jesus put it “seeking” the kingdom alone. Intentions become pure insofar as it is single hearted, not diffuse or compromise by the innumerable attractions that waylay our seeking. 

 

(AT THIS POINT, IN SILENCE LET’S ASK FOR FORGIVENESS FROM THE LORD FOR THE TIMES OUR INTENTIONS OR MOTIVES IN OUR DECISIONS WERE NOT PURE…)

3rd MOMENT:  But finding God is not exactly the same thing as finding contentment in one’s work or the strength to carry on in difficult times or even feeling the presence of Christ in the poor.  Being moved with gratitude to God prepares the way for how we greet everything that might happen to us, for good or for ill:

It is what led Paul to exclaim: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38)

SPONTANEOUS PRAYER: Thanksgiving/Petitions etc…

CLOSING SONG: FILL THE WORLD WITH LOVE (USB)

Source: SEEKING GOD IN ALL THINGS   By: WILLIAM REISER, S.J.

 

Introduction:

 Every human person, whether conscious of it or not, inherently desires to live life on a deeper level. We all have an inner hope that we can move from living a “worry filled” life to more of a “spiritual” life, whatever that may mean for us.  There is not a “one-size-fits-all” prescription for achieving this.  All of us possess a unique spiritual DNA, so to speak, a distinct kind of hard-wiring that is unique to each and every one of us.  Each of us has a path by which we somehow access and nurture the sacred in our lives.  This is the path toward holiness.  It’s a path, not an “arrival”.

Living the life of prayer, to “pray continually,” is to recognize that every breath that we take is the breathing in and out of God’s presence.

St. Pedro Poveda has said, “Prayer is our only strength.”

During this prayer moment we are going to center our prayer on the teachings of St. Teresa, our Patron Saint, so well known for her life and a teacher of prayer.

Opening Song: Nada Te Turbe

 Nada te turbe, nada te espante

Quien a Dios tiene, nada le falta,

Nada te turbe, nada te espante,

Solo Dios basta

1st Moment: What is prayer? Prayer is just like a friendly relationship, where frequently you are with someone alone whom we know loves us. 

I invite you to a simple way on how to live the friendship with Jesus and nurture it in silence, in a personal encounter… in prayer.

Just like in any friendship there is a need to take into account some conditions to make that friendship last and strengthen it. To arrive at being prayerful you have to take care of the following:  

And one more thing: determined determination.  If you only begin to pray with decision and enthusiasm, without giving importance to difficulties, with perseverance, then and only then, will you find the lasting fruits of your friendship with Jesus.

2nd Moment: Now you have to find your own way of praying, according to your way of being, your own sensitivity and your situation. What is important is our return to Jesus, contemplate and penetrate in His mystery with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The center of our prayer is the person of Jesus. 

It does not matter how you entered, for the key is to remain beside Jesus, allow Him to look at you, listen to Him, receive his light that you may get to know him better. Penetrate into his mystery from your own heart and allow him to wrap you with his presence.

3rd moment:  If done frequently, prayer is a time for peace, interior joy, light…but this may not happen always. Your personal moment for prayer, your situation, the questions which would surface during prayer, these sentiments which arise while praying, normally make the difference. Don’t evaluate your prayer in this manner.  What matters is that it produces an encounter, where your attitude be that of a loving attention and attentive listening. Gather all the illuminations you have received, thank the Lord for his presence and his love, whether you feel it or not.  Prayer is a matter of faith, of time, of perseverance… and of commitment.

Prayer is not a moment it is a way. Little by little you will come to discover who Jesus is, his mysteries, 

His values, his proposals, his sentiments and the love with which he receives and seeks you. At the same time, it will help you to get to know you personally in a different way, who you are and how you live.  Look at Jesus and look at yourself and how God sees you and dreams of you. Don’t ignore this, though it is not the main point, because it is only in this manner that we can live in truth.  There is no prayer without truth just like in friendship.

Whatever are your circumstances, the Lord invites you to live with him and like him.

 What happens in the world, now you see it in different colors, colors of hope and of love.

Prayer, just like in friendship, is above all a gift, a present which is received from the heart,

which creates something new and changes us. 

To be a person of prayer is to live the following of Christ with all its consequences.

A few moments of silence for reflection.  How can my entire life be a blessing to the world?

COMMUNITY SHARING: As a result of the prayer period, share in the group your suggestions on how you can improve your prayer moments as a group.

CLOSING SONG:  NADA TE TURBE

SOURCE: MODO DE ORAR, segun TERESA DE JESUS

               THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE  (DAVID HAAS)

 

 the opportunity to delve deeper into that spirit, in one of the characteristics that read today, defines for Pedro Poveda the identity of the people who feel called, then and now to collaborate in the Teresian Association.

The conjunction between two apparently opposing terms is very clear to Pedro Poveda and continues to offer us elements of a dynamic spirituality always in motion, always in are not opposites but complements, distinctive and common, and their proposal is to live them in an integrated way.

In the thinking of the Church, the lay life is a vocation, a call from God to bring the presence and the good news of Christ to the very heart of the world, They are called there by God so that by exercising their proper functions and being led by the Spirit of the gospel they can work for the sanctification of the world from within in the manner of leaven or yeast. The TA is a lay vocation, how do we as members fulfill what St. PedroPoveda desires:    

               ‘to be interiorly different and exteriorly ordinary’?

OPENING Prayer: PSALM 42

All: As the deer longs for streams of water,

      So my soul longs for you my God,

      My being thirsts for God, my living God.

      When can I go and see the face of God

       My tears have been my food, day and night

       As they ask daily, “where is your God”?

1st Moment: One way to enter into the dynamism of this experience is to understand what distinctiveness it refers to and what common and shared experience it invites us to.  And when we delve deeper into the distinctiveness proposed by Pedro Poveda.  there is a first clear orientation: it is the distinctiveness of the spirit of Christ. 

The founding years, 1911 –1917, were crucial years to establishing the spirituality that Pedro Poveda wanted for the people who were collaborating in the good Work.  The   Work is Jesus Christ. “May you be nothing outside of Christ and fill everything with Christ.” 

Note: After every moment, moved by the SPIRIT anyone may share her thoughts, 

               desires etc

ALL:         We must get use to looking at the world not through a keyhole, but from a

         balcony full of light.  While overlooking the universe from that balcony,

         we must feel the desire to do much, always more, for Jesus Christ 

             and for his Church.  (J. Segovia)

       

 ‘                                                                                     1

2nd Moment: Pope Francis in the “Document on Human Fraternity” addresses all persons who carry in their hearts faith in God and faith in human fraternity.  In this way, he proposes that they unite and work together in order to guide the new generations towards a culture of reciprocal respect, in the understanding of “the immense grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters”. And for this, he underlines the “importance of “assuming the culture of dialogue as a way; common collaboration as conduct; reciprocal knowledge as method and criterion.”

A first feature of the spiritual experience is the need to take root in one’s own land. Drinking and nourishing ourselves from the most genuine of our own Christian tradition:

“Until Christ is formed in you” Pedro Poveda affirmed in a text that can be related to true humanism, and in which he re-emphasizes the centrality of Christ, essential in the formation of every true Christian, but indispensable, as we said before for those people who want to embody  a Charism and be part of a Work of which he does not hesitate to affirm: “The Work is Jesus Christ.”    

ALL: Be very thankful to that light of that star: it is through that light that you will 

        arrive to the goal to which God, our Lord has destined you. With that light outside 

        and inside your soul you will attain your own and full sanctification 

        in the beloved Work.

Time for reflection

3rd moment: Psalm 147:1-6

      ALL:  How great to celebrate our God in song,

   How sweet to give fitting praise.

   …Great is our Lord, vast in power,

        With wisdom beyond measure 

            The Lord sustains the poor,

         But casts the wicked, to the ground.

It is not a matter of erasing differences but consolidating all that unites us, such as hope and communion.  Christ’s spirit transcends our experiences and helps us to leave our comfort zones to live accordingly and announce the Good news that the world awaits.  

When we read the story of the Samaritan woman, …Jesus reached the well before the woman.  Perhaps this is her task, but do we know the wells where people go to when they are tired or when they are seeking meaning for their lives? Are we close enough to all who respond to these basic questions? And if we are close can we recognize and sense that in this search there are people who are very diverse not just believers and non-believers but also agnostics, young and old, refugees and migrants, families, women and children all who for very different reasons can be weary today.  Are we present, close enough, do we go to where they are, as Jesus did?

Time for reflection

All: Closing prayer: Dear Lord, always guide the TA along the path of creative fidelity, to its incarnation spirituality, being “in the world but not of the world” humbly transforming reality, “like salt of the earth”. These we ask through Christ, our Lord. Amen

LOY 2020 Maite Uribe

In today’s prayer and contemplation, we shall dwell on how do we see our life? This could help us decide on the gift we would like to offer to Christ on His birth.

Opening Song:  EARTHEN VESSELS

Ref. We hold a treasure, not made of gold, in earthen vessels, wealth untold

        One treasure only:  the Lord the Christ, in earthen vessel.

Light has shown in our darkness: light has shown in our heart,

With the light is the glory of Jesus, the Lord.

Ref. 

He has chosen the lowly, who are small in this world;

In His weakness is glory, in Jesus, the Lord.

Ref.

1st moment:  The way you see your life shapes your life. Your perspective will influence how you invest your time, spend your money, use your talents, and value your relationships.

If you are asked how you picture your life, what image would come to your mind?  That image is your metaphor.  It’s the view of life that you hold consciously or unconsciously, in your mind.  It’s your description of how life works and what you expect from it.  Your unspoken life metaphor influences your life more then you realize. It determines your expectations

your values, your relationships, your goals and your priorities.  For instance, if you think life is a party, your primary value in life will be having fun.  If you see life as a race, you will value speed and will probably be in a hurry much of the time.

If you view life as a marathon, you will value endurance.  If you see life as a battle or a game, winning will be very important to you. 

What is your view of life?  You may be basing your life on a faulty life metaphor.  To fulfill the purposes God made you for, you will have to challenge conventional wisdom and replace it with the biblical metaphors of life.  The Bible says, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.  Then you will be able to know the will of God.”

Pause for reflection:  (Points to Ponder on) 

Song:  CERCA DE TI

          Senor hoy muy cerca de ti, el gozo de un Nuevo encouentro

          Silencio profundo  dentro Dios, se que le importa el amor.

           De ti me hablan todas las cosas, el viento, el mar, la vida

          La alegria de aquellos que estan junto a mi

          La verdad que hace Nuevo mi ser.

2nd Moment:  Life on Earth is a Test.

Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test. You are always being tested.  
God constantly watches your response to people, problems, success, conflict, illness, disappointment, and even the weather.  He even watches the simplest actions such as when you open a door for others, when you pick up a piece of trash, or when you are polite toward a clerk or a waitress.  We don’t know all the tests God will give you but we can predict some of them based on the Bible.  You will be tested by major changes, delayed promises, impossible problems, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, and even senseless tragedies.  In life, God tests our faith through problems, hope by how we handle possessions, and tests love through people.  

A very important test is how you act when you can’t feel God’s presence in your life.  Sometimes God intentionally draws back and we don’t sense his closeness.

When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.  Even the smallest incident has significance for your character development.  Every day is an important day and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.  All tests have eternal implications.  The good news is that God wants you to past the test of life, so he never allows the tests you face to be greater than the grace he gives you to handle them.

Pause for Reflection: (Question to consider)

Song: Earthen Vessels (1st stanza)

3rd Moment:  Poveda Speaks

“When the soul lives under the action of divine fire, when in prayer, in reading sacred books, in the exercise of piety and above all in Holy Communion, the fire of divine charity works within us, we are filled with this charity.  If this love grows, it makes us melt with compassion, kindness, benignity, love, etc.  One thing is certain.  In the measure that the love of God is rooted in us, we grow in kindness and gentleness.  

Moreover, this divine love working in us, moves us to contrition, to accept suffering, to be strong, to stand firm.  The consequent proportion established is such, that we become as kind to our neighbor as we are exigent with ourselves.  

To suffer and to lavish kindness on others; to endure hardships in favor of the other; to assume the bitter portion for myself to make happiness possible for others – such are the effects of the divine fire. 

Pause for reflection: (Question to consider)

What practical choices will I make today in order to grow closer to God?

Song: O COME EMMANUEL

          O COME, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel

Ref. Rejoice, rejoice, O Israel, to you shall come Emmanuel.

          O come desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind;

          Make all our sad divisions cease, and be for us the King of Peace.  REF.

Spontaneous petitions asking Emmanuel to come…..

Closing Prayer:

My dear Lord, as we prepare ourselves for your coming, strengthen our will to be the queen and mistress of our whole being. That it be compliant to whatever is good, a bulwark against anything evil; as strong as the will of a hero; impassioned without danger; decided without being obstinate; prompt without rashness, prudent without mistrust; free without being dissolute; temperate and ardent, holy and humble to the utmost.

May the field of action of our intelligence be pure in the same way that, that of the will is holy.  May we be firm but not narrow minded. Just without lack of love, kindly without injustice.

May we always keep alive, preserve and maintain good memories and quickly forget what is useless or less holy.

These we ask through the intercession of Mary, our Mother, St. Teresa of Jesus,  St. Pedro Poveda, Blessed Victoria Diez, Venerable Josefa Segovia and Servant of God, Elisa Giambelluca.  Amen.

(The source of the content of this prayer has been based on St. Pedro Poveda’s texts) 

Closing song:  O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL

        O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,

        O come ye, o come ye, to Bethlehem; come and behold him, born the king of angels,

Ref.  O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,

        O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

 

SOURCE: 

- The Purpose Driven Life

                 Rick Warrren

 -Staunch Friends of God

               Pedro Poveda