The Mystical Geek

We finally concluded the last part of the two-part BEC Building seminar we held for the Resurrection capilla. The first part was held last week, March 10. The BEC seminar was a milestone in the journey of a cell group which was started more than a year ago as a Bible study group in the Olympia I subdivision. The seminar participants were parishioners who at one time or another joined or hosted one of the sessions of the group.

This afternoon's topics were about the following:

• The BEC Leader's Work In Building Up The Cell Community
• The BEC and the Scriptures
  • What is Bible Faith-Sharing?
  • The BEC Leader's Preparation (Preparing the Sunday Gospel for Group Reflection)
  • Guidelines for the Bible Faith Sharing

The Powerpoint presentations I used for the seminar are now available for download at AngFrayle.Net. The zipped file contains Microsoft Powerpoint presentations in Filipino. These are made available for download for those who are interested in establishing their own cell communities.

Basic Ecclesial Communities have become a "new way" of being Church in the Philippines since the time of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines. John Paul II has this to say about the project In speaking about the expressed desire of Filipino bishops of "turning the evangelical concept of communion into a reality of everyday life in each local community" the late Pope says:

In this great pastoral effort, one of your priorities is the spreading and the strengthening of basic ecclesial communities as well as the formation of their leaders... By creating a deeper bond between their members, a bond sustained above all by the Church's sacramental and liturgical life, these fraternal communities become the leaven of Christian life, of care for the poor, destitute and marginalized and of commitment to social transformation. You see these communities as a way to teach the tenets of the faith through a catechesis that is closely related to real life situations and therefore an effective way of safeguarding the community from the inroads of fundamentalism. They also serve to channel popular devotions in the right direction by giving them a solid biblical and theological foundation... (Ad limina message to the Philippine Bishops' Conference, September 27, 1996 as found in the Osservatore Romano, October 2, 1996 issue)

I really do hope that with the two new cell groups produced at the BEC Seminar at Olympia I we can contribute to the realization of the project of the Philippine Church.