28th Anniversary Message from the
Servant-General
Crossroads and Restoration
It has been 28 years of experiencing the Lord's goodness and blessings. Happy 28th anniversary!
We have traveled, and continue to travel, a hard road, a narrow path. Through these 28 years we have experienced joys and sorrows, happiness and pain, victories and seeming defeats, highs and lows. Brethren, if we truly follow the Lord, the road we travel will always be such. We need to endure. Those great missionaries, Paul and Barnabas, "strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, 'It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22).
Along our journey, we will encounter many crossroads. Here the Lord tests us. Will we take the right road and continue on with our call, or will we take the wrong road and veer away?
This happened first in 1993: CFC split from Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon (LNP), its mother community. At that time it was clear, at least to most of us, where we were to go. LNP desired a small outreach for married couples, while we in CFC were clearly seeing the Lord developing CFC into an army that would do rapid, massive, and global evangelization. We obeyed the Lord, and the result was massive evangelization that reached 153 countries by the end of our 25th year.
The second crossroad was encountered in 2007. This resulted in a severe crisis that split CFC into two. One group emphasized the social dimension, in the process veering away from our vision and mission, and even getting into conflict with Catholic values and principles. The other group, now CFCFFL, insisted on its original and authentic charism.
In both instances, the enemy was involved. The evil one will always oppose any authentic work of God. The more one accomplishes as an instrument of God, the greater will be the opposition. The persecution of the just ensues.
But God is a God of restoration. The very work of Jesus in dying on the cross is a work of restoration. God restores us to our proper place and plants us firmly on the right path. In 1993, God restored His original intent for raising CFC in 1981, to become His evangelistic army. In 2007 God restored His original intent for raising CFC in 1981 and re-founding CFC in 1993, still to become His evangelistic army. Through God's work in CFCFFL, the ultimate restoration happens, that of bringing more souls into the Kingdom, and ultimately to live with God in heaven through all eternity.
So we need to press on. We need to endure. And we need to rejoice even when we suffer. Or rather, we rejoice precisely because we are privileged to suffer for the cause of Christ.
We in CFCFFL need to obey the God who called us, chose us, anointed us, restored us, and empowered us. There will be those who will try to hinder our work. These may be clerics, civil authorities, or even our own brethren. But we must always "obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
Do not be intimidated. The Lord stands with His people.
Let the warning of Gamaliel be the warning of God to those who oppose His work. "But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God" (Acts 5:39). We do God's work. God is with us, and God fights for us.
My dear brethren, let us be humbled by God's call. Who are we that God Himself will be mindful of us? Who are we that God will use us for His very own work? But that is what God has done. Let us recognize this great gift and privilege, and respond by giving Him our all.
In the midst of trial and suffering, let us persevere, "rejoicing that (we have) been found worthy to surfer dishonor for the sake of the name" (Acts 5:4lb). Let us rejoice that God loves us so much that He wants to purify us, and give us the privilege of walking the path of Christ, that of the cross.
Let us continue on with our journey, having now taken the right path at the crossroad. And let us always trust in Jesus. The Lord will never fail us.
Happy 28th anniversary. God bless you all.
The highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity, choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience and truth over popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
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