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LingayenDares to Dream
Holds SilverAnniversary Weekend
by Thaddang
Atthe Silver Anniversary celebration in Cebu city, amid the pulsating heart
representingthe WME zones and satellites throughout the Philippines,
the one depictingLingayen remained steady, without any beat at all, almost
lifeless.
Therepresentatives of Lingayen, Nacy & Minda, Mnny and Rose and
Fr. John saw their motionless heart. Their own hearts missed a beat, perhaps
conscious that everyone was asking the same questions they had in theirminds
what happened to Lingayen?
WouldNacy the doctor be able to revive the torpid heart and nurse the Lingayen
community out of coma? Or was it time for Fr. John to administer the extreme
unction to the community? Was the North Zone prepared to mourn the demise
of its first born and the only reach out of North Zone for a longtime?
Theanswers came December 14-16 when the Pangasinan Community had its echo
25th Anniversary weekend complete with large banners We Remember, We Celebrate
and We Believe. Nacy & Minda chose not to have the “ surgery”
at theirclinic but at Villa Narcisa, a quaint resort in Labrador, Pangasinan.
ThatFriday evening, the couples looked into their own hearts, poured out
theirfeelings and flushed them down with tears. Their sharing cleansed the
negativeattitude which ailed Lingayen heart all these years and pumped in
fresh,invigorating blood to revive it
Likethe caring parents they are, National Team Couple Terry & Marnie,
arrivedSaturday evening to be with them and to assure them of their love
of theentire WME movement. They brought with them Thad & Dang, who in
1993journey with Lingayen pre-team to prepare them for the Deeper Weekend.
Sundaymorning’s attendance was a positive indication. All the active
coupleswere there, more than half the number of Sunday night couples of the
pastnine years. Terry & Marnie gave the power point presentation of the
“Where are We Now? And Our Vision for the next 25 years which
stillshowed Lingayen beating heart. But they answered heartily to their question
– ARE YOU WITH US – with a rescunding YES
heardas far as La Union.!
Thad& Dang then addressed then: “We Remember. We remember how we
lovedyou. We remember how we traveled every Friday for eight consecutive
weeksto journey with you. We built a bond of relationship. We loved
youand you loved us. We even had our theme song “The Journey”,
but sadly,we can’t even remember the words today. We shared with you
a bold vision– that no weekends will be held in Lingayen until you
had own teams- Whathappened to that vision? We shared that dream with you,
but you did notawaken to bring it to reality. Quo vadis, Lingayen? But still
we believethat the seeds we planted will not remain dormant anymore but will
germinate,sprout and become fruitful to produce more seeds which
youwill plant else where.
Theywere asked to reflect on the questions: “ What can we a couple
do to revivethe community? Where are we now? What is our vision? What are
the obstacles?”They reported by groups with almost the same answers.
Terry & Marnietook them through the exercise on the Formula of Success:
( Intentions + Mechanism = Success Another exercise
on the dynamicsof moving towards individual destinations against having a
common goaland reaching it together. A video showing “ One Step at
a Time” drove homethe point that physical disabilities do not stop
one from attaining success;in other words, their obstacle could be overcome
to attain their commonvision.
Theystarted to believe in themselves again. The couples recommitted themselves.
Their commitments were written in duplicates, one to be pasted the balloons
to bring it heavenward, the other kept to remind them of their commitment.
Underthe blue sky and a burning afternoon sun, the Lingayen community gathered
outside in prayer. They released three large balloons bearing their promise.
Aided by an breeze from the sea, the balloons went swiftly to the heavents
as clumps of white clouds parted to make way for the messages to heaven-LINGAYEN
DARES THE DREAM.
Greater LA Living Cell/DJ Group |
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DatelineNews from L.A
Dateline
L.A.
Silver Anniversary Celebration
by Mon & Bee Ravelo
While Cebu was a beehive of lovers last November,
L.A.wasfar from being humdrum. The monthly DJmoved on to Mon and Bee's
home in North Hills where Roland and Dida presentedSeries 2 of the Journey
To Intimacy. From the opening prayer, which was intended for the successof
the Silver Anniversary Convention in Cebu, the mood progressed fromfestive
tosolemn to joyful. Roland and Dida did amarvelous job ofmaking the
presentation come alive in each and every heart ofthose present. L.A.
LC/DJ is fortunate to have a couple so unselfish and willing to sharethemselves.
Then all roads led to Denver, Colorado for
Rody and Ammie'sinvitation to a Thanksgiving Day dinner. It was well
worth the 1200-miledrive. Not just because of Ammie's superb cooking but
also seeing the lovelycoupleagain after many, many years. And then there
was Jenny of Gal, ever sowarm and jolly. She didn't want to miss coming
after learning thatthe L.A. bandwagon was coming. It was an evening of
reminiscing andrenewing love and friendship. WME bonds couples forever.
TheDenverconnection is one living proof of that. Oh yes, the children were
theretoo,doing their own bonding.
DITOY AND CORA LAUNCH SPECIAL DJ
SERIES ON
THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE
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continue
by Rey & Myrna Ortega
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HOT NEWS
CHOICE & PARENTING
IN LUCENA
WME Cagayan de Oro/Iligan
BALITANG BASILAN
A week before the recent Basilan
calamity, a weekend was held there last May 18-20, 2001. There were 18couples
in the weekend. Thad & Dang Hamoy and Manny & Estela Fortunawere
2 of the presenting team couples.
click
hereto continue
WME Cagayan de Oro/Iligan
Community News -O &
A REACHOUT Program; KING AND QUEEN OF HEARTS FOR A CAUSE!!! ;LAKBAY SUGBO
PROJECT LAUNCHED!
WME Dumaguete on TV
North Zone's O & A
EnrichmentProgram
North Zone O & A coordinator Donnie &
Josie Fabianhas lined up for Matrimony a newly encountered couple exuding
with youthand contagious enthusiasm who will share their experiences on listening.
If you want to find out who this couple is, come on Saturday evening, August
18, 2001at 8PM at Jun & Flor 's place in 73 Kamuning Rd. Q.C.
Con't of
News fromThe NET
We will be making a presentation together with
Pol &Nena, and Gerry & Mila on
April 5th, 2002. We are to acquaint with them the
giftswe can offer and hopefully incorporate
this in their family life program. We will
sharewith you (coordinators) the
presentation if you want to adopt this or parts
of itin your
“parish presentation” as the situation
demands.
WME Masbate Affiliation
Remember the Masbate couples who attended our
Silver Anniversary?
They reiterated their interest to affiliate with
theWME. Their
coordinator came to Manila this weekend to discuss
andcoordinate the
mechanics with us. A process of affiliation has
beenproposed to them. Their
Marriage Encounter is a parish movement and they
needto have
connectedness with us.
Living Cell/DJ Meetings
Last March15th, our DJ group welcome a new and
handsomeyoung
priest from Dumaguete, Fr. Ray Pascual, who just
hadhis
weekend last February, 2002.
To the LC/DJs please invite priests as members
of your
LC/DJ group and welcome them to your families and
communities.It is
nice to have two sacraments journeying together
to hisKingdom.
Our experience with Fr. Ray was beautiful and
very relevantin our
movement.
Sense of Mission:
We believe it will help aside from the main purpose
ofthe LC/DJ, that
each group will develop on their own that sense
of missionas an
overflow of your love with each other and the WME
community.The result
of loving and closeness to each other due to our
dialogue- is
sharing. Sharing not only to the WME couples
butto others who are
last, lost and least. We are not only teams of
the WMEcouples but
teams for the church.
Some LC/DJ groups reachout and even hold their
LCmeeting in their
mission area, like house of the orphans, abandoned
children,old and
dying distitutes, and many opportunities where
they canshare their
love.
A Sharing with the International Team
We had the chance to have a sharing with Lee
of Jan Kremer our
International Couple, after our National Board
Meeting.He was happy
and excited about the Philippines' WME going parish
based.This is
also the thrust of the International.
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FROMBRUSSELS TO BASILAN
Impressions of the Weekend in Basilan
by Thaddang !
In our mind’s eye, Basilan is a gleaming
emeraldset against the deep blue – green ribbon that is the Basilan
Strait whichseparates it from the Mindanao mainland. This verdant island
in the Southhas a glowing Worldwide Marriage Encounter Community which regularly
requestsfor Team Couples and Priest for their Weekends. This Weekend of May
18-20,it was our turn to fly down to answer their call.
For the unknowing in the metropolis, Basilan
immediatelyconjures images of an island at war teeming with combat personal
and materiel,of dreaded Abu Sayyaf, of kidnappings, ambuscades and encounters.
But forthis weekend, it would be an encounter of a different, love-filled
kind:the WME Weekend at the Q Formation Center in Isabela City. Thus, with
NationalCouple Terry & Marnie, off we flew on Air Philippines to the
fabledfar Zamboanga.
The Basilan coordinator, Dodong of Lily,
met usat the spanking Zamboanga City International Airport. The cramped terminal
building we last saw when we left the City of Flowers 11 years ago hasbeen
replaced with the modern edifice that welcomed us that Friday. Thecity has
changed, we observed on our way to the wharf. There we boardeda fast craft
for Isabela and along the way caught a glimpse of the pinksands of Sta. Cruz
Island, once a favorite picnic spot during our three-yearsojourn in Zamboanga.
How the Basilan Community loves visiting
presentingteams is immediately manifest. At the first opportunity they would
soonkill you with love. During lunch at the house of former coordinators
Cesar& Daisy, we had our first encounter with the Abu Sarap: inihaw na
isdaso fresh and juicy, sugpo, kinilaw and the piece de resistance, curacha
in gata! It was a sumptuous encounter- Terry with all his magic could not
make all the curacha disappear from the table as they kept coming. Marnie
almost passed out and almost immediately had an attack of her ailment piglasis.
No retreat, no surrender? We surrendered and retreat, and decided to proceed
to the Formation Center to wait for Fr. Boy Gomez and second setters Manny
& Estela who were flying in from Cebu.
click here for full text
PHOTOS DURING CHOICE
&PARENTING IN LUCENA
Click here to view some
morephotos
Silver Anniversary Celebration Will Be
in Cebu-
Clickhere
BACOLOD
NEWSUPDATE
Choice Program 2002
ANTIQUE
Another double whammy celebration.
Congratulations to Antique coordinator Bob of Elsie Operiano. He is nowthe
Vice Governor of Antique. Another big & resounding congratulationsagain,
because Bishop Romy dela Cruz has been assigned there. Now Bob &Else
can't complain anymore that they don't have priest in their community,they
have a bishop. Bishop Romy is starting to campaign for couples toattend the
Cebu Silver Anniversary Celebration.
Dateline News from
L.A
The Greater LA Filipino
LC/DJ grouplead by past North Zone Coordinator Enjie & Edna Vargas will
soon havea regular Dateline News page feature in our WME Philippines website.
Watchout for this.
Silver Anniversary Souvenir Program
There's
approximately less than 90 days left till our Silver Anniversary. Registration
are stillaccepted. For those who may not be able to come due to work schedule
butare very capable financially, you are requested to sponsor a couple to
go to the convention instead. Each one is also requested to help find sponsors/ads
for our Souvenir program. Ask your zone coordinators for the solicitation
form. Ads cost will be PHP3,000.00 for a whole page ad, PHP2,000.00 forhalf
page and PHP1,500.00 for one-fourth page. For WME couples-family adswill
only be PHP1,500 for half page. Ask your friends to come along andjoin us
on this once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate this milestonein the
WME Philippines history.
BIYAHENG
BATANGAS
Last June 10 the LC/ DJ Group
of James and Josie has reachout to Batangas and campaigned for our Silver
Jubilee in Cebu.
Terry Marnie gave the first module
of the Prelude to Silver. Those who went to Batangas were James & Josie,
Dante & Nena, Rodel & Cecile and Terry & Marnie. Thecampaign
brought about a renewed commitment of the Batangas couples tobe active and
really campaign for Cebu.
WME On DWIZ 882 KHz
The DWIZ Radio Program "WOMEN
TALK"interviewed Max & Marlene Lim last July 3, 2001, as to the stand
ofWME about the current issue on the Divorce Law being proposed by Senator
Biazon in the coming Senate Session this July. Asked by the program's hostesses,
Ms. Marou Sarne and Ms. Mel Estonillo, why WME is against the proposedlaw,
Max & Marlene says that our WME organization does not believefor the
necessity of the Divorce Law, as this will cause further break-upof families,
just as the Church's belief on this issue. Max added furtherthat because
it is the goal and mission of our movement to change the worldby helping
couples to live fully in intimate and responsible relationship,which runs
counter to the law being proposed in the Upper House.
Max & Marlene took the
opportunityto promote the North Zone coming weekend on July 6-8, 2001 and
also theforthcoming Silver Anniversary Convention in Cebu. We highly
encourageall our couples to take a stand and be actively involved in opposing
suchanti-family statutes.
Parenting Enrichment for Calayan
Educational Foundation. Inc. A Success
Last Saturday Sept. 15, 2001
a groupof couples from the North zone led by Donnie & Josie Fabian went
toLucena for another Parenting enrichment held at the YMCA Hostel in Lucena
City. The whole day enrichment was attended by parents of the CEFI highschool
student. The parents were so thankful for a wonderful day of experienceand
learning from the sharing of the WME couples. The couplewho
presented and facilitated were Mo & Mila Escano, Max & MarleneLim,
Tony & Mely Quintos, Mulong & Narda Cabrera, Jun of Flor,Homer &
Jo Bondoc,Raff & Glo Rodriguez and Mila of Boy and Onie& Susee Calayan.
The program ended with a mass for the parents, studentsand couples.
Secretariat Meeting
with Lee Kremer
Makati, Feb. 26, 2002
In the recent visit of Lee of Jan Kremer- (International
Team Couple) in
Manila we had a chance of sharing about the latest
developmentof the
WME in the Philippines. He was updated with the recent
National Board
Meeting held in Mindoro.
Lee expressed his accord and support for the major
decisionsmade in
our board meeting among which are the following:
a. The orientation and thrust towards the parish
in responseto the
mandate of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference
of the Philippines.(CBCP)
b. The need for an Episcopal Moderator who would
be ableto articulate
before the CBCP who we are and what we are about
andat the same time
inform us first hand the “ mind of the Church”
regarding contemporary
development and issues.
Support for the Weekend Reach Out
a. That we should not be deterred to undertake
our reachout program
because of financial constraints. He offered several
suggestions on
raising fund, that include supplying the US Community
the T-shirts
required for their National Convention in July 2003
oroffering our
services in preparing or printing their Souvenir
programin the
Philippines.
b.Communicate to other WME Secretariat/ Communities
whohave enough
funds for “reach out program”. Lee is
willing to helpus in this area
as this is also the thrust of the International Secretariat.
c.Generate reach out fund from within the community.
Other Concerns:
a. For the WME Phil to make a write up about the
parishbased program
and activities for the “Matrimony Magazine”
in the USA.
b. To also feature in the write up, how WME Mindoro
hasbeen able to
get influential people to attend the weekend, like
theMayor,
Congresswoman, Vice Governor and Governor and other
politicians,head
of the pastoral council and how WME can indeed make
adifference not
only in the religious field but also in the socio-economic
and political
fronts, a tangible proof that we can indeed change
theworld.
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25th Anniversary
SuccessfulCelebration
| Seyong & Cita who experience their
original weekendin 1985 traveled 387 nautical miles, from their home town
in Cavite toCebu to celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary, amidst
the Jubileecelebration of the WME Philippines 25th anniversary. Asked to
comment ontheir anniversary and celebration, Seyong & Cita said, "Now
we areready to die". They were so touched of what was happening during the
openingceremony up to the closing Holy Eucharist Celebration led by His Eminence,
Cardinal Vidal that they felt they have reached the zenith of their relationship.
They are only one of the more than 1,200 couples, priests and religious,choice
graduates, guest and friends of WME Philippines who attended thecelebration.
The Silver anniversary celebration of WME
in the Philippineswas successfully held at the Grand Convention Center of
Cebu last Novemeber16-18, 2001. The theme of the convention is We Remember,
We Celebrate,We Believe.
The opening ceremony featured a memorabilia
exhibit ofWME mementos, priceless souvenir items and collectibles gathered
from thedifferent zones of the whole archipelago. Twenty-five chosen couples
fromall over the country lit the 100 candles embossed to number 25 in a bed
of chrysanthemums. The candles glowed & flickered throughout the evening.
So many were touched and in tears by the
grand entranceof the parade of flags for the 25 zones and satellite areas
as each localteam coordinators and priests marched to the stage in cadence
with thewarm applause of the delegates. Everyone felt the profound solidarity
ofthe whole WME community and was proud to belong to this family. Grace of
Jolan Lumawig from Manila North Zone says, "I the felt goose bumps allover
my body and the convention could have ended right there and everybodyfeeling
already fulfilled."
However, the highlight of the evening was
the audio-videopresentation of the history of WME in the Philippines, characterized
byjoys and pains, victories and failures, experienced by those who brought
the weekend here and the first seeds of leaders of the weekend of 1976.They
who dreamt and dare to make what WME Philipines is now. To rememberthe past,
recognitions were given to Buddy & Letty, Don & JuneChui, Fr. Connaughton.
His eminence, Cardinal Vidal, considered the patriarchof the Worldwide Marriage
Encounter here in the Philippines, likewise receiveda certificate of recognition.
Everyone was awed and felt uplifted to knowthe roots of the movement and
be part of WME in the Philippines.
The evening closed with a grand cultural
presentationof the Sinulog Festival that featured the patron saint of the
City, TheChild Jesus or Sto. Nino brought in by Spanish conquistadores to
the Philippines.
The second day of the convention was a blockbuster
soto speak as it featured outstanding speakers and sharers, various contest,
dialoging, entertainments, dancing and partying from morning up to theGala
night. Fr. Rod Salazar spoke on the "Role of the Movements in theChurch",
while The Most Rev. Antonio Luis "Chito" Tagle deepen the understandingof
everyone on "The Many Faces of Christ"
To the envy of Ditoy & Cora Atayde and
Fr. Kim theAsian Ecclesial teams, Lee & Jan Kremer, the WME International
Ecclesialcouple received 17 thunderous applause from the delegates during
theirspeech and Cora egged on the whole gallery to applaud for them more
thanwhat Lee & Jan received by enthralling the crowds with her antics.
The Philippine National Ecclesial Team,
Terry & MarnieMalicse and Fr. Boy Gomez enchanted everyone with their
power point presentationto demonstrate where WME Philippines is now and where
it is headed to.This must have stirred passion on the hearts of everyone
to be more involvedin the growth of WME as one dormant satellite zone already
have plans toresuscitate back to life the enthusiasm of their lulling community.
The tear jerker for the day were the sharing
of variouscouples who shared on the many faces of WME in their lives. Bishop
Romyde la Cruz couldn't contain his emotion that he too showed that bishops
also cry.
Sal & Cel Bolongan of Cebu reported
that everybodywas so happy and impressed with the program and sharing that
they werevery enlightening and enriching, that even if there were miscues
it didn'tmatter anymore.
The "We celebrate" theme is also a time
to be thankfulfor the many things WME has brought to the lives of couples,
families andcommunities. Pol & Nena Repotente, one of the original seeds
and gospelbearer of the love that WME wants to share, led the "Thanksgiving
Ritual"together with Fr. Mark and Sister Marcy, and Bing & Nina Arce.
The Gala night was pomp and pageantry as
it was emceedby Henry & Lizzie Atayde. After a sumptuous dinner, everybody
had aenjoyable time participating in the different contests, awarding ceremonies,
posing for souvenir photos, dancing and partying, the rest of the night.Cash
prizes and certificates were awarded for the Silver Anniversary logowinner,
hat contest, most silvery attire of the night, Choir contest andT-shirt contest.
On the last day of the celebration, ....
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Iloilo-Antique News Update
by NonoyDel
The campaign on informing WME ouples of the
coming anniversary
celebration received a boost here last July
1stwhen four couples of the community led by BongPearl went regional on-air
over the AM band with
the news.
click here to continue
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ZONENEWSBYTES
ANTIQUE
