February 17 to 19, 2017 was a weekend of surprises, affirmation and empowering love. I attended the 24th SFC International Conference inspired by the verse Cor 16: 13-14 “Be on guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous and strong” with a theme “ALL OUT” in Iloilo, the City of Love, with an open heart to experience Christ’s great love. The first day began with a Holy Mass presided by Rev. Fr. Randy. He shared to us the message that we were all gathered not only to build the city but to build the Kingdom. Let us do things through language of love, the love that is from Christ. My heart was very excited to the opening worship for God’s messages.
Praise God for 5000+ delegates who made through the ICON. Everyone has different stories or struggles about making it through ICON but there is only one reason why we were there and it is because of God.
In Session 1 , what is it that we guard? What do we value? Tito Noli talked about the things that we need to guard AT ALL TIMES. 1. Our Being –“me and God”, our relationship with Him defines our true identity and our encounters with Christ is genuine. 2. Our Family – we learned through them how to love and to forgive. 3. Our Community – they were guiding and praying for us. God went all out loving us. He never stopped going all out for us.
In Day 2, were assigned to attend different workshops to equip us in standing firm, being courageous and being strong in our faith:
CREDO – this help to strengthen our faith and at the same time to explain better, defend and share our Catholic faith with others.
Financial Wellness – to make informed decisions regarding personal finance.
Travel Light – learn to identify the excess baggage and finally release and let go of what has once held us back for so long and start living a life full of grace.
Online Missionary – our mission field – internet bear witness to our faith through the digital world.
More than a Wedding – about preparing to fulfill the “I Dos” and Finishing Strong – know the basics of weight management, nutrition, active lifestyle and stay fit for the fight.
I joined CREDO, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” Hebrew 11:1. “Beloved, let us love one another because LOVE IS GOD; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for GOD IS LOVE” 1 John 4 7-8. Fr. Joenick shared to us in the second Holy Mass a very beautiful message inspired by this year’s theme. He said that before we work all out for Christ we must first make sure that Christ works in us. We will never understand what Jesus did for us until we know who Him. I was inspired by Bro. Janos from SFC China who led us into worship that night. He highlighted that we have many reasons why we were in the ICON but in the core of all of it, it is the Lord Jesus.
Session 2 entitled Keeping the Faith, how important is your faith to you? Tito Lawrence stressed that standing firm in faith means always remaining faithful 24 hours a day, wherever we are. Being faithful in our SFC covenant, prayer time, relationships with family and community and growth in our relationship with Him. Faithfulness in our statement of philosophy, taking care of our body, pro-life, sacredness of sacraments and in the Catholic church, supports its mission, work with the poor and valuing our Catholic faith with the Lord. He shared the four Cardinal Virtues to help us stand in our faith. Prudence – discerning of our actions, Justice – determined to give others what is due, Fortitude – courageous and firm in our choices and Temperance – balancing and controlling our natural desires. We cannot do this alone that’s why the community is here, the church and our family.
In Session 3, Into the Light was shared to us by Tito Shok. This talk goes deeper in knowing how to go all out for Christ. When darkness begins to comfort us, we begin to fear to bring ourselves near to the light. Part of this session, was the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. We all knelt down reflecting and holding electronic candles, the only source of light that night. The atmosphere was so solemn; I can’t help but cry while feeling God’s presence in me, in the core of my heart. I felt God’s grace and mercy. He is embracing me, healing me, filling the empty spaces of my heart and telling His messages for me. I personally encountered Him and I just gave my all out to Him. Our goal is to become holy just like our Father in heaven who is holy. He can turn our dark pasts into message of life and salvation. God is man’s ultimate happiness. The secret of being all out for God is having a grateful heart for someone who is victorious and great.
We were all excited in Day 3 for Lord’s blessings and surprises. We started with the Holy Mass presided by Fr. Ian. He shared some ways on how we can strive to be perfect just like our Father in heaven. God wants us to seek His will for us so that in the choices that we make we bring Him and we share in His perfection. This day we continue to allow the Lord to fill and strengthen us so that we can go all out for Him.
Session 4 was filled of music and strong convictions of faith for the Lord. There were 3 speakers Bro. Er-er, Sis Roseberry and Bro. Gelo. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” Matthew 5:8. Our journey to holiness is calling us to honor what is TRUE, GOOD and BEAUTIFUL. Holiness is actually a journey to becoming who really we are. When we’re in love with the Lord we cannot help it but be good. When we declare ourselves to be ALL OUT for the Lord, we are also committing ourselves to be effective witness of God’s love, mercy and saving grace to the people around us. I thank the Lord for a weekend of blessings and powerful messages. It has been a conference of God’s victory in our lives. Even if the world tells us what is opposite, we will tell about Christ’s love that is always true and we will do it ALL OUT!
Indeed I was so blessed to witness this conference. I pray that more brothers and sisters will experience or even greater grace knowing our Great God and become part of the community. I honored the people behind this conference, who became channels of God’s grace so that we, thousands of ICON participants, were able to experience God in tremendous and unforgettable way.
And we say hello to Metro Manila for the 25th SFC ICON 2018! See you brothers and sisters.
May God Be Praised!
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