I observed that CLP is not just spiritual learning for participants but also for everybody who are involved. To mention a few… For the service team – it is the courageous pushing forward to obey the Lord despite the spiritual warfare happening behind the scenes. For the speakers- it is facing the fears and widening the comfort zones to deliver the word of God. For the music ministry- it is being flexible and delivering on the spot. For the prayer warriors- it is reaching out to the power of God. For those who donated the food- it is sharing the little but the best that they have.

There are more virtues learned like growing in discipleship, holiness, generosity, patience, compassion, administration and so forth. The list is endless. CLP is truly a platform in which everybody learns in every level of Christian maturity.

I often hear these words in the hearts of the Handmaids and in my heart “Lord, help me, I do not know what I’m doing.” With these words we step into God’s supernatural power. It is an acceptance that God is in control not us.

Even in the acceptance of failure when seen through the eyes of God is success because it is in these that we learned humility.

Thank you Lord.

(Contributor : Belen Quinto-Cantos)

Thank you sisters for coming. Although, we slept very little the picture taking was great. Ottawa was very well represented in the recent Gift of Life Conference in Toronto. There were fourteen attendees from Ottawa.

The whole conference was based on the “Theology of the Body” written by Pope John Paul II. The speaker Katrina Zeno mentioned that in a conference a person only absorbs 10% of the talk. I beg to disagree, we absorbed the talk like a sponge and added more of our own analysis through the discussions. It is because the speaker was truly God sent. In today’s world we have forgotten how to respect our body and the body of others. The following are just few of the concepts we learned in the conference.  We learned that “The Body reveals God”. We also learned a newly created word “Re-virginized”.

Furthermore, we always hear about the Ark of the Covenant but we never connected the dots. The Ark of the Covenant from the Old Testament contains God himself. The Ark of the Covenant in the New Testament is Mother Mary who bore our Lord Jesus Christ. The Ark of the Covenant of today is “us” because the Holy Spirit dwells in us.  Wow! That would really drive us to respect our bodies and to keep it clean IN and OUT.  I can just go on and on with the topics such as Discovering the Women Genius, The Splendor of Man, Union and Communion, User or Lover? etc… but then I have to write a thick book myself.

We were so impressed with the topics we lined up to buy her books and so grateful that there was book signing.

Lastly, how can we forget the action verses…
Man and Women are made from one nature
Embodied in two ways
For the purpose of Union and Communion
To a sincere gift of himself

“Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (GS:24, Gaudium et Spes :24)

(Contributor : Belen Quinto-Cantos)

We thank Bro. Philip for the slides, Sis. Michaelina for the talk, Bro. Jay and Sis. Rose for the worship songs.

We rarely have this kind of workshop. When we were asked to schedule the workshop I said “Huh?” Honestly I never heard of such kind of workshop and it is my first time to attend one. Even though some of us catch ourselves sometimes speaking in tongues, we still doubt and wonder if it is true or is just our imagination. Some of us do not have the gift at all.

Our speaker Sister Michaelina delivered an enlightening talk. And yes! After the talk I observed that all the attendees had a genuine desire to have the gift of tongues. As for me it gave me a sense of confirmation. It forces us to acknowledge our weaknesses and limited understanding and this talk let us rediscover a different dimension of God’s love.

Our sisters who had the gift prayed in tongues over those who do not have the gift. Many received the gift of tongues during the workshop and the others are on the brink of receiving it. In prayer, there is nothing more solemn and profound than the Holy Spirit helping us to express the inexpressible prayer.

LAUDAMUS te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te, gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam, Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.

(Contributor : Belen Quinto-Cantos)

Bro. Gerry Panes, with his gift in public speaking, shared his time,  talent and helped empower our brothers and sisters in proclaiming the  good news of the Lord.

The Speakers Training started at 7:30pm with the opening prayer and worship songs sung by our dedicated Music Ministry members. It was not long after we are all absorbed by the informative talk of Bro. Gerry that include principles of communication, planning your  talk, important facts of public speaking and many more.

Now, if only there is a real CLP…

May god be praised.

(Contributor: Rose Mendoza)