THE WAY FORWARD IN CHRIST
(Part 8)
AN
OPEN LETTER TO CFC-FFL WORLDWIDE
April
30, 2008
My dear
brethren,
Grace
and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ!
The
turn of events
Events
have moved quickly since an article entitled “Vatican admonishes CFC
over GK” appeared on ABS-CBN online news last April 16 (note: we had
nothing to do with that article, and the writer is unknown to me/us).
Then the letter of Cardinal Rylko of the Pontifical Council for the
Laity (Vatican) to Joe Tale dated March 11 surfaced on the Net (note:
this did not come from us as we had no copy, but came from them as
they tried to downplay the ABS-CBN news item). The letter told Joe
about going back to the essentials, and the priority of building up
the family, in fidelity to the Church. It talked about
counterbalancing the overemphasis on the social work. It talked about
the public scandal due to the mistakes committed, and the need to
correct them. It urged Joe to issue a public declaration in the
Philippine newspapers recognizing the errors and publicly apologizing.
It directed CFC to stop receiving funding (from those producing or
marketing contraceptives).
The
reaction of some on the CFC-GK side was fast and furious. Boy
Montelibano, the right-hand man of Tony Meloto in GK, issued a series
of writings, basically maligning me, Bishop Gabriel Reyes, Cardinal
Rylko of the Vatican, and the Church hierarchy in general. He used
strong words such as Pharisees and hypocrisy. Other newspaper
columnists such as Esposo and de Quiros, connected with Boy, joined in
on the personal attacks on me and on the hierarchical Church.
We are
in a time of intense spiritual warfare!
God’s
action in our lives
Last
year, the Lord brought us to Lamentations, to teach us a stern lesson,
that we would lose it all if we are unfaithful to our covenant, just
as what happened to His people Israel. I took command responsibility
for our collective guilt, and made a spiritual offering of resignation
from the Int’l Council. That should have brought us back to God’s
grace, if we all repented and turned back from unfaithfulness to our
covenant and veering away from our calling. But that did not happen,
as there was disrespect and disobedience to our bishops, and there was
maligning and attacks against those who wanted to restore CFC to its
authentic charism.
We all
allowed the enemy (the devil, our common enemy) to enter our gates,
with the result that CFC plunged into deep crisis and then split.
But
given that bringing us to Lamentations did not have the desired
result, since there were those with hardened hearts who would not
repent and turn away from errors, God then allowed the split to
happen. If we had not split, CFC would soon have disintegrated, as the
enemy wanted to destroy us all. With the split, the tensions between
the social and the spiritual dimensions of our work were eliminated.
We in CFC-FFL, the restored CFC true to its authentic charism, moved
on, with great joy and starting to experience the return of God’s
anointing.
The
enemy, thinking he had succeeded in seriously weakening CFC with the
split, now saw God bringing victory out of seeming defeat. He now saw
the emergence of a restored CFC, once again totally focused on the
charism given it. Once again God’s work of family renewal and
evangelization could proceed in the power of His Spirit. And once
again the enemy raged.
Since
many bishops have recognized CFC-FFL, and since the Holy See, through
the Pontifical Council for the Laity, has recognized the errors
committed by CFC, so now it is the hierarchical Church herself that is
under attack.
This is
where we see that indeed we are into more intense spiritual warfare.
The devil rages against the Church and her authentic work. The
conflict is not just about us in CFC, but about the whole Church.
Call
to prayer
What
should we do?
First,
be not afraid. The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.
Second,
rejoice in persecution for the sake of righteousness, for you are
blessed (Mt 5:10-12). Such is God’s way of purifying us and moving
us on to holiness.
Third,
do not retaliate in kind. Continue to love your “enemy” (the only
real enemy is the devil).
Fourth,
pray hard. Prayer is our lifeline to God, who is merciful, kind, just
and loving. We are His children. He is committed to care for us. He
knows our pains. He allows crosses into our lives. But He has a great
plan for us, not for woe but for a future full of hope.
Let us
pray for God’s protective mantle on us all. Let us pray for our
brethren who are in CFC-GK. They are our brethren and not our enemies.
And let us pray for Mother Church, especially our bishops who guide
and pastor us.
I ask
every member of CFC-FFL, in addition to your regular daily prayer and
Bible reading, to look to frequent participation in the Eucharist
(daily if you can), to regular family prayer of the rosary (daily if
you can), and to Eucharistic adoration (if you are able). The
different CFC-FFL groupings (households, chapters, districts, etc.)
should look to communal prayer and intercession. The intercessory
groups should intensify their prayers. Let us also pray the chaplet of
the Divine Mercy.
I also
call on fasting twice a week. We, and the whole Church, are into
intense spiritual warfare. Certain demons “can only come out through
prayer (and through fasting)” (Mk 9:29). We are on spiritual war
footing. Be fit for the fight.
Finally,
keep your hearts pure and humble. “‘God opposes the proud but
bestows favor on the humble.’ So humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries
upon him because he cares for you.” (1 Pt 5:5-7).
Rejoice
in the Lord
It is
appropriate that we in CFC-FFL have taken on the theme of joy for this
year. God loves us, God has a great plan for us, God will never
abandon us, God turns our pains and crosses into sanctification and
holiness. And God is already victorious over the enemy. What more
could we ask for?
I leave
you with Peter’s wise words.
“Now who is
going to harm you if you are enthusiastic for what is good? But
even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are
you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify
Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an
explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but
do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience
clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good
conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. For it is better
to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for
doing evil.” (1 Pt 3:13-17)
Mama Mary, please pray
for us and keep us in your loving embrace always.
God
bless us all.
Your
brother in Christ,
Frank
Padilla
