“For some of you who were here at the dawn of the millennium, perhaps you notice tremendous changes in the community since the last time you were here on Saipan. Businesses have closed down, garment factories are gone, there is a decline in tourism,” the bishop’s message to the 20th Asian Pacific Cursillo Encounter on Friday.
Still, he said, religious gatherings can strengthen “our faith in God,” adding that through camaraderie and sharing of faith experiences, they will deepen their friendship with one another and with Christ.
“This year’s gathering is extra special because June 2008 to June 2009 has been designated by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as the Year of St. Paul,” the patron of the Cursillo Movement, Camacho said.
The three-day 20th Asia-Pacific Cursillo Encounter started on Friday and ended yesterday at the Palms Resort with at least 80 participants from Australia, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Guam and CNMI.
Its theme was, “Renewing our commitment: be a friend, make a friend, and bring a friend to Christ.”
Jesus Elameto, acting CNMI Cursillo president, said to maintain a good family is one of the challenges faced by local Catholics.
He said family problems are usually caused by miscommunication and lack of commitment among family members.
Parents, he added, may have failed to teach their children traditional cultural values.
“Reading the Bible and interpreting it in real life and being committed to the word of God — these, I believe, is how we can overcome family problems. We have to pray together and go to church together,” Elameto said.
CNMI Cursillo spiritual director Fr. Ryan P. Jimenez said this year’s theme – “Renewing our commitment: be a friend, make a friend, and bring a friend to Christ” — highlights an importance process of Christian living.
“Encounter with self is basic,” he said. “Prior to reaching out to other people and leading them to Christ first and foremost, is knowing and accepting one’s self. This is fundamental. We need to see ourselves first as God sees us. We need to be a friend before we can make friends with fellow pilgrims.”
Jimenez said to reach out to be a friend, to make a friend and to bring a friend to Christ, words may be necessary.
“What we need is our love, our capacity to truly see the person as created in the image and likeness of God,” he said.
