Glory News

It was my sixth attendance to the CFC ILC, but only fifth as a member of the community. My wife and I were invited by Tony Meloto to witness CFC's grand event in the same venue in January of 2002 when we were only volunteers for what is now known as Gawad Kalinga. I remember a young girl singing such a poignant song, Tagumpay ng Ating Lahi, that touched me so deeply. It also made me take a second look at the CFC community, an admiring look, upon realizing that their love of God meant loving their people and country as well. Three months later, I joined CFC.

Yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum, I took pictures of the annual CFC International Leaders Conference just as I do every year. Because of the decision of a splinter group to establish their own community, thoughts of a reduced leadership sector crossed my mind for a fleeting moment and made me glance at the bleachers of the coliseum. It was raining outside, and that slows human and vehicular traffic. I was hoping that both the controversy last year and the rains would not unduly lessen the attendance.

Slight as they were, I should not have entertained any doubts. The CFC leaders came and again caused a rather annoying yet flattering situation outside the gates. Many were turned away by security personnel of the Araneta Coliseum because the maximum number of seats had been reached. In other words, it was an overflow, a graphic manifestation that CFC is standing on firm ground and can withstand a storm without being swept away. I already saw that last year, even at the height of an emotional and painful process, but I never imagined that those who left were either so few or so easily replaced that their traditional presence in the coliseum was not missed.

The focus on building the Church of the Home and the Church of the Poor establishes the major pathways to a community with the vision of "families in the Holy Spirit renewing the face of the earth." The mission of the Founder of Christianity, "to bring glad tidings to the poor..." is given a special color and flavor by a community determined to be faithful to the mission and choosing to embrace the mission not just as individuals but as families as well. The same focus adheres in spirit and form to the exhortation of the Pope in his New Year message for peace and for the family.

"In a special way, I invoke peace upon all those experiencing pain and suffering, those living under the threat of violence and armed aggression, and those who await their human and social emancipation, having had their dignity trampled upon. I invoke peace upon children, who by their innocence enrich humanity with goodness and hope, and by their sufferings compel us all to work for justice and peace" said the Pope.

Pope Benedict also ushered in the New Year with a call for the protection of the traditional family, which he said was vital for world peace. The Pontiff took an apparent swipe at gay marriages and criticized policies that undermine the traditional family unit, based on a union between a man and a woman. "I wanted to shed light on a direct relationship that exists between the family and peace in the world," the Pope said in his third New Year address.

The commitment to building the Church of the Home and the Church of the Poor has found, beyond affirmation, real impetus with the Pope's New Year's exhortation. The threat to family is not only gay relationships or marriages, it is also in the break up of families through separation and divorce. For the family to be a strong unit of society and the Church, its unity must be protected and strengthened. The same is of CFC as a community of families. Nothing must be allowed to weaken its solidarity and passion for mission.

The International Leaders Conference was a celebration of that unity, of that solidarity, of that fidelity to Christ's mission because it had undergone trial and temptation but triumphed. The pictures say it all.

JLM