Contemplative Workshop: The Journey Begins
As a follow through of Sister Mary Niere’s (OCD) initiative, a three-day contemplative workshop was conducted for the CFC-Vietnam Expat community on July 23-25, 2010. Tito Rouquel and Tita Nina Ponte spearheaded the workshop. They arrived in Vietnam on Friday (July 23) armed with the warmest smiles, with the energy of a couple richly filled with inspiration to fulfil God’s mission. The members of the CFC-VN Expat community were happy and honoured to have an encounter with such an inspiring couple and to learn from their insights and wisdom.
The first session was held from 7-10:30 p.m. at Bro Jan & Sis Haydee’s home. As with any Filipino community throughout the world, we started with a bountiful meal of Pinoy dishes. This was followed by a short praise and worship. Tito Rouquel Ponte made a fitting start by explaining the purpose and idea behind the workshop. He described how the words of God can give life, nourish, encourage and deepen one’s relationship with God. He said that throughout the workshop, we may receive God’s messages in different forms. Each form of message is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit. He emphasized the importance of adopting an attitude of receptivity — of welcoming, listening and trusting the Lord so the walls that block an individual’s heart would be toppled and bridges could be built to connect a heart-to-heart relationship with God. Tito Rouquel gave us a flavour of what the workshop would be like by leading a contemplative prayer focusing on a scripture reading about a scene in the last supper when, despite knowing how his disciples would either betray or deny him, Jesus still spoke of them as “His own” and how much He loved them to the end. While only a few participants got the chance to share the messages that they received after the contemplation, there was a common thread to what they shared: the message of God’s unconditional love. This was the lingering message after the first night as the participants looked forward to the next session.
The second session was held at Bro Edwin & Sis Emma Villarin’s home. After an appetizing meal, a more powerful praise and worship started the night. Tita Nina began the workshop proper with a short prayer “that all will get out of that place not the same person as they came in”. Everyone acknowledged the prayer and was optimistic that it will be heard. Tita Nina emphasized the importance of opening the door of our hearts because it is at its depths where we will encounter God. It is the place where we can have full knowledge of God, of ourselves and of the world. As we aim to go deeper into our hearts, we will discover God in our own realities. She described how the three levels of prayer can lead us to a heart-to-heart relationship with God: from being vocal, to being reflective until we become contemplative in prayer. The more prayerful we become, the deeper our relationship with God would be. By becoming more connected to God, we also become, little by little, more like God in how we view and interact with the world. Our daily experiences and activities would then become a sort of prayer. As a result, we become a blessing to others through humility. As the night deepened, the participants became more focused in seeking God’s revelations through Tita Nina’s help. She taught us to be conscious of expressions of God’s love around us. While contemplating in the silence of the night, God’s revelations became clearer. Tita Nina facilitated the 2nd night’s activity with such infectious vigor that the participants left the session feeling inspired.
As in the two previous sessions, the third day was another day of energy. Holy Mass was celebrated in the morning followed by the workshop proper. If the first night was an opener to become receptive to God’s words and the second night was the revelation and the birth of God’s words in our hearts, the third day was the affirmation of the central essence of the workshop: ‘God’s love’. Tito Rouquel and Tita Nina led more contemplative exercises. From God’s initial invitation to “come and see”, the different colourful images of God’s love were uncovered as each participant went deeper and deeper to their discovery of the vivid truth of God as a loving Father. As the process continued, God’s light shone brightly while Tito Rouquel and Tita Nina stressed that each individual was different and that God would meet each individual in a unique way. Hopes are high that the experiences accumulated from the 1st night to the last hour of the 3rd day would have a lasting effect in the participants’ lives and all will respond well to God’s calling.
The three-day workshop has fortified the awareness that Sister Mary Niere initiated in February. The seed of knowledge, which Sister Mary Niere planted, has been nourished into an actual experience of God speaking to each participant in a unique way. The three-day seminar has taken the participants into a whole new dimension of relating to God and has one way or another transformed their lives. The contemplative journey in faith begins.
And so the CFC-Vietnam Expat community would like to extend our wholehearted gratitude to Sister Mary Niere, Tito Rouquel and Tita Nina Ponte for their unselfish and untiring service to our community.
May God be praised.
Comments