God is Love - Searching for the True ValentinoGood day everyone.This was the first Recollection for the Mary's Friends group which was composed of single moms, widows and separated. I was so grateful to see new mothers who joined us in this recollection; a time to listen to the Word of God and share the grace of being a mother. We started off with an animation "show". Although we were not experts but we were dancing to the beat of the songs. We also sang the songs like professional singers. Afterwards, we had a few dynamics done before each talk to help the newcomers understand the flow of the talks. The first talk was given by Glenda which was about Life And Love, and the second talk, God the Father, was shared by Fr. Michael. We reflected on our parenthood as a journey where we encounter difficulties. Parenting is never easy, like a snap of a finger. We sometimes go through downfalls, depressions, and we often stumble and fall. In our spiritual life, we easily give up. When we pray, we easily get tempted and forget about Jesus. We undervalue ourselves, thinking that God doesn't love us. We ask: "where is God in times of our difficulties?" We easily question God on why He allows these things to happen. We never recognize that in times of our darkness He is always present with us, showing us how precious it is to be a mother and how God loves us unconditionally despite our mistakes and weaknesses. Mama Mary is teaching us to share the love we receive as what she did to her cousin Elizabeth. Despite her condition, she walked miles to visit her cousin. Mama Mary is teaching us to extend our life to those who are strangers, who are thirsty of affection. We need to recognize that God is our real Valentino. To continue loving others, we have to persevere in our prayer life and continue to follow Him. God the Father is asking our presence to talk with Him face to face. To share with Him our problems and happiness instead of turning Him down. He chooses and calls us by our names, because He loves us so much. He carries us in times of difficulties and troubles without us noticing it. Our life is a gift, whoever who we are. The important thing is how we value others and ourselves. We don't need to compare ourselves to others because each one of us is unique. God the Father is inviting us to stay close to Him even in the midst of our challenges. He knows our needs and He has a good plan for all of us. He's asking us to love and to open our hearts to Him. He's our best friend who loves us unconditionally without asking in return. With Him we can have peace and find a perfect life. After the whole day activity in Banawa, we went to our apostolate house in General Maxilom to celebrate mass on the 1st Sunday of Lent to conclude our recollection. Joan Manguilimotan is a member of the Verbum Dei family here in Cebu and is part of the Mary's Friends group.
You can contact her via email at [email protected]. Comments are closed.
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