The title of this document is Parish Recollection 2023.pptx

The title of the document uploaded is the Recollection of the parish. It was developed so that there has module to be used anytime to empower the parishioners. Yes, many speakers looking for a topic for the spiritual development of the people in the parish. Thus, this is the answer. This is the response of their needs. These can help them.

1. Parish Advent Recollection December 2, 2023

2. Re-discover the Essence of Advent Season

3. What is Advent?

4. Advent from latin word “Adventus” -“Coming”

5. As a season in the Church Calendar - it is the celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world to restore mankind back to what he was and where he was when God created him, God’s divine image and likeness. (Gen.1:27).

6. Thus, his first coming into the world was for the salvation of mankind from his fallen state, separated from God by sin into God’s union again. That coming is history already; there is nothing we can do to prepare it.

7. This celebration, however, of the first coming of Jesus includes the reminder to all that the Lord Jesus is coming back for the second time. And his second coming is not anymore to save but to judge the living and the dead.

8. This is called General Judgement.

9. This is the coming that we should not hesitate to spend time and effort to truly prepare ourselves.

10. This is what Jesus said at the beginning of the first Sunday gospel of advent: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” (Mk, 13:33).

11. On the other hand, there is another way of looking at advent. That is by considering it as a personal event in our Christian life. By baptism Jesus comes to us for the first time to bring us salvation and restore us back to God’s union.

12. It is an event during which we freely submit ourselves to Jesus in the sacrament of baptism and allow him to do with us as he likes to put us back into the union with God again.

13. What happen at baptism?

14. 1) You are cut off from your old self. - That’s why every Christian should be dead to himself (he is already cut off).

15. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” - Colossians 3:3 “In other words, you should not live your life anymore seeking your old self’s welfare since that self is non-existent anymore.

16. “He who seeks himself will not find himself. But he who seeks me and the gospel will find me and will find himself in me.”For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” - Mt. 16:25:/ Lk.17:33

17. 2) You are grafted into Christ - Which means you are now a branch, a part of Christ a member of his body

18. “But some of the branches were broken off , and you a wild olive shoot were grafted in their place and have come to share in the rich root of the olive tree…”In verse 19-20 it says: “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. That is so.”

19. “By this grafting you now belong to Christ, not anymore to your old self. That is why you are not supposed to live your life anymore as you like. You have now your new self in Jesus. Yes, you are still in the world but you are not of the world anymore”.

20. CHRIST I A m N ew

21. “They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.” - Jn.17:”16

22. “In him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28 “For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” Rom.14:8

23. “For this reason, it is important to remember that whatever you do as a Christian you should do all in Jesus, with Jesus and for Jesus. You want to go into business, ok, but make sure you conduct your business in, with and for Jesus. - Jn.17:”16

24. Otherwise, you become inconsistent with your baptism doing things that are contrary to the reality that you are in Jesus. - Colossians 3:17 . “whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

25. This is your personal advent , the first coming of Christ into you.

26. The question therefore that matters now is “What have we done with the blessings of our baptism? Like, how dead are we to ourselves already? Are you sure your life is already all for Christ? Or are there still things or activities you do which are not done in Jesus, with Jesus and for Jesus?

27. II. PREPARING FOR THE SECOND PERSONAL ADVENT For us Christians, the most important advent or coming that we should be concerned about is the second coming of Jesus into our own individual lives.

28. This is a very important event to be prepared for since unlike the first coming, he will come this time as judge. It is a time of reckoning. Each one will have to give an accounting of all that the Lord has entrusted to us.

29. Then a judgment will be rendered as to whether you qualify to enter into his kingdom or not. This is called “particular judgment”.

30. How to Prepare For The 2nd Personal Advent? T here is nothing to prepare because all the materials are already there. All that is needed is to live them. In our first topic we pointed out the most important effects of baptism.

31. How to Prepare For The 2nd Personal Advent? What is needed is to see to it that we are always consistent with them. Let us look at them again one by one and find out how faithful we have been to them.

32. 1) You are cut off from your old self. -Meaning you are already dead to your self. That’s why you should not live anymore your life thinking of yourself and concerned about the welfare of your self.

33. D o you think you can take care of your self better than Christ. Remember that He is your maker. Nobody cares for your welfare more than the Lord.

34. D o you think you can take care of your self better than Christ. Remember that He is your maker. Nobody cares for your welfare more than the Lord.

35. “Do not worry what to eat, what to drink. Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” - Mt.6:25-34

36. People who are alive to self cannot get to heaven. Because they follow their self not Jesus. ” - Mt.16:24 - “If anybody wants to follow me he must DENY HIMSELF …”

37. They can be believers of Jesus but not followers, not much different from the devils. These kind of people will not make good leaders.

38. Because instead of working for the welfare of the people they are leading they will be working for themselves. Look at the political leaders of our country. There is so much corruption among them.

39. 2) You are grafted into Christ. What are you to do? If you are in Jesus as branch or part of him it becomes your responsibility to develop yourself in such a way that you become more and more like Jesus in the way you think, talk, act and behave.

40. What we need? There is the need of being molded into Christ. This is what we call formation . Every Christian should undergo a Christian formation .

41. What is formaton ? It is the process of molding Christians towards becoming more and more like Christ in thoughts, words and deeds. This is a “must” because nobody becomes like Christ immediately after baptism.

42. “Living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ. “ Eph.4:15

43. Process of Formation T he demolition of the OLD SELF. 2) The construction of the NEW SELF.

44. T he demolition of the OLD SELF. By this we mean the destruction and removal of the old self so that the new self can be constructed on the same spot.

45. Eph. 4:22, 24 “You should put away the old self of your former way of life… and (24) put on the new self. Created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth…” this is a hard work because the self is well established? That’s why there’s the need of using VIOLENCE.

46. 2) The construction of the NEW SELF. -The construction of the new self should be on a solid and strong foundation.

47. A) Foundation is Jesus. It means they have to go through evangelization process. And they have to develop deeper knowledge of Jesus – intellectual and personal

48. B) Additional materials: - church teachings from the Pope and the church fathers. As much as possible these materials should be subjected to processing.

49. There are many people who get disturbed when you ask them about how to prepare for death. They think it’s morbid and a very complicated matter to do.

50. But if you look into it more seriously you will see that the preparation is very simple. All you need to do is live the most beautiful and exiting life of love.

51. W hat does it mean to live the life of love? All you have to do is to relate with Jesus in people. Whoever they are and whatever way they look like just see Jesus in them and relate with him

52. But what does it mean to live the life of love? What do you do? The answer is again very simple. All you have to do is to relate with Jesus in people . Whoever they are and whatever way they look like just see Jesus in them and relate with him

53. THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!!

54. BLESSED AND FRUITFUL ADVENT SEASON TO EVERYBODY ! ! !