August 5, 2018.. Yesterday, we launched the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Basic Ecclesial Communities (CBCP-BEC) Fund Drive at Saint Andrew the Apostle Parish in Bel-Air 2, Makati City. The event went well, despite a spotty start involving a quick and frantic re-layout of the reception venue, with the help of Arlene and Rod of Saint Andrew, and the kind waiters of Wicked K.

Guests started to arrive and register at 3:30pm, just as the heavens opened and heavy rain poured. Fleeting worries about flooding were quickly dispersed as mass began, officiated by Bishop Joe Cabantan, Monsignor Manny Gabriel, Monsignor Ernie Joaquin, Fr. Dodong Billones and Fr. Didoy Molina. Soon, the church began to fill up. After the mass, guests went up to the Jubilee Hall to savor the delicious food and to renew friendships, young and old.

    

For those who have not had the honor of meeting Monsi Manny before, he is one of the best spiritual mentors and BEC supporters that I have been blessed to know. Charming, intelligent, insightful, funny, sincere, honest…all these and more describe Monsi Manny. No wonder he is much loved and respected. This was palpably evident as people from different parishes came up to greet him during the launch; people whose hearts Monsi Manny has touched in his spiritual ministry, leaving an indelible mark. Just as he has been there for me, through the many trials I have had.

Memories of the past four months came back. In March, my friend Wilma Leagogo and I received an invitation from Bishop Jose Araneta Cabantan to join the Finance and Funding Unit (FFU), tasked to provide financial and logistical support to the Commission’s operations and program implementation, and to establish the financial system of the office in keeping with the spirituality of Servant Stewardship. We were to coordinate with the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Monsignor Manny Gabriel. Wondering what this was about, Wilma and I hied over to Intramuros on April 5 to meet the Bishop for the very first time, and to be briefed on CBCP-BEC and its various projects. On that day, I also met the other members of the FFU who have since become real friends: Amy Cabal, Rory de Vela, Benny Araw, Marisa Calinap. Later, I met other members: Emily Calanog, Mon Jimenez and Bob Prevosa.

I remember voicing out that they must have made a mistake in asking me to be part of the FFU as I was not a finance person, but could help out in other areas such as communications, strategy, marketing, and events. Monsi Manny said we all had our own charisms that we would bring, but the most important ones were faith and a commitment to serve. With that, we set up a Viber group for comms and began meeting regularly in TeamAsia, as most of us hail from the South, to set plans. Always, Monsi was there to inspire us to give our best.

Monsi Manny suggested that we launch the Fund Drive on the occasion of his 75th birthday, and ask his friends to support the CBCP-BEC in lieu of birthday gifts. The date was set: August4, the Feast of Saint John de Vianney, patron saint of parish priests.

MonJ came up with a simple and beautiful electronic invitation: “Keeping the faith alive at 75.”

We looked for venues that would allow us to have a mass and merienda after, but they were either unavailable or too expensive. Then, Andre Kahn recommended we try Saint Andrew the Apostle Parish, across his office. Rory and I checked out the place but they were closed on a Monday. The next day, Monsi and the ladies went, and were welcomed with open arms by the parish priest, saying we could use the venue for free.

I scouted for caterers comparing rates and menus, and just like that, two weeks before the event, I learned about Wicked Kitchen which is run by my classmate Jean Arce’s daughter, Koochie Laxamana. Wicked Kitchen offered delicious food within our budget, and was most helpful.   It was the perfect choice, as several guests asked later for their number saying the food was excellent.

Bob came up with the encompassing launch PowerPoint Presentation, which I tweaked for the visibility in the venue. We used MonJ’s design to come up with a printed invitation. Then the finance wizards in the group set up the accounting system. Now, all that was left was to invite guests.

Clearly, God was opening doors for us.

The CBCP-BEC is the National Office given the task of coordinating all efforts to initiate, develop and promote BECs in all the dioceses and parishes in the Philippines.  The projects they have lined up include:

– the BEC Faith Encounter, a 12-step experience initiating the participants to the BEC mind set focused on Christology, Missiology and Ecclesiology;

– priests’ training on Pastoral Management of BECs to equip them with practical approaches in solving critical issues that may arise in forming and handling the parish/BECs;

– Historico-Theological Reflections of BECs in the Philippines which will collect historical as well as theological reflections on how BEC has indeed become the new way of being Church in the country today;

– BEC Research with DLSU-Manila, a scholarly and comprehensive study on how BECs contributed to the Christianization of the Philippines these past 50 years;

– BEC National Directors Meeting which will gather BEC Directors from all over the country to meet, to update, and to share their experiences of ministering for the promotion of BEC;

– BEC National Assembly which will bring together all BEC practitioners and members from around the country to exchange ideas and experiences as a community of believers and to celebrate their being Church;

– and the more mundane office concerns such as website upgrade and redesigning, securing a new air-conditioning unit (it’s a sauna there!), getting new office desktop, laptop & printer to replace the antiquated equipment, doing minor renovation of office space, and obtaining office furniture & book shelves.

To fund these initiatives, we have to raise at least One Million Pesos each year. That is a formidable goal but with God’s grace, Monsi and Bp Joe’s guidance, our tight knit group at the FFU, and staunch supporters, it can be done, for nothing is impossible for the Lord.

To God be the glory!