| BLD - BUKAS LOOB SA DIYOS Phoenix District Diocese of Phoenix |
FORMATION PROGRAM
A life baptized in the Spirit is marked by an experience of a dynamic union with God and an experience of
the charisms given by the Spirit.
BLD'S CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP FORMATION PROGRAM (CDFP)
BLD FORMATION PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
To live out our faith as Catholic Disciples who believe, that by our Baptism in the Holy Spirit, we have been called to
proclaim and celebrate the presence of God.
We commit ourselves
-to continue listening to the Holy Spirit and respond in faith
-to develop and enhance our Christian Formation programs
-for all individuals and families in Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community and for other Catholic and Christian
communities as well.
We accept our responsibility
-to incarnate the Word of God and
-build a Christian community working together for the common good and nourished by the Sacraments and
teachings of the Magisterium of the Church.
We dedicate ourselves to this life-long process of Christian Discipleship Formation.
FORMING IS NOT INFORMING...FORMATION IS NOT INFORMATION
GENUINE FORMATION MUST LEAD TO TRANSFORMATION OR THE TOTAL CONVERSION OF MAN (METANOIA)
WHO CHRIST CHOOSES
Why do we want to be disciples of Christ? The answer is: because, in communion with Him, we hope to find life, the
true life that is worthy of the name, and thus we want to make Him known to others, to communicate to them the gift
that we found in Him...Anyone who excludes God from his horizons falsifies the notion of reality and, in consequence,
can only end up in blind alleys or with recipes for destruction...
The first basic point to affirm, then, is the following: only those who recognize God know reality and are able to
respond to it adequately and in a truly human manner...Yet here a further question immediately arises: who knows
God? How can we know Him?...For a Christian, the nucleus of the reply is simple: only God knows God, only His Son
who is God from God, true God, knows Him. And he "who is nearest to the Father's heart has made him known" (Jn
1:18). Hence the unique and irreplaceable importance of Christ for us, for humanity. If we do not know God in and with
Christ, all of reality is transformed into an indecipherable enigma; there is no way, and without a way, there is neither
life nor truth...God is the foundational reality, not a God who is merely imagined or hypothetical, but God with a human
face; He is God-with-us, the God who loves even to the cross.
When the disciples arrives at an understanding of this love of Christ "to the end", he cannot fail to respond to this love
with a similar love: "I will follow you wherever you go" (Lk 9:57)...The disciple founded...upon the rock of God's Word,
feels driven to bring the Good News of salvation to his brothers and sisters. Discipleship and mission are like the two
sides of single coin: when the disciple is in love with Christ, he cannot stop proclaiming to the world that only in Him do
we find salvation (cf. Acts 4:12). In effect, the disciple knows that without Christ there is no light, no hope, no love, no
future...When God is absent - God with the human face of Jesus Christ - these values fail to show themselves with their
full force.
Pope Benedict XVI
A life baptized in the Spirit is marked by an experience of a dynamic union with God and an experience of
the charisms given by the Spirit.
BLD'S CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP FORMATION PROGRAM (CDFP)
BLD FORMATION PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
To live out our faith as Catholic Disciples who believe, that by our Baptism in the Holy Spirit, we have been called to
proclaim and celebrate the presence of God.
We commit ourselves
-to continue listening to the Holy Spirit and respond in faith
-to develop and enhance our Christian Formation programs
-for all individuals and families in Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community and for other Catholic and Christian
communities as well.
We accept our responsibility
-to incarnate the Word of God and
-build a Christian community working together for the common good and nourished by the Sacraments and
teachings of the Magisterium of the Church.
We dedicate ourselves to this life-long process of Christian Discipleship Formation.
FORMING IS NOT INFORMING...FORMATION IS NOT INFORMATION
GENUINE FORMATION MUST LEAD TO TRANSFORMATION OR THE TOTAL CONVERSION OF MAN (METANOIA)
WHO CHRIST CHOOSES
Why do we want to be disciples of Christ? The answer is: because, in communion with Him, we hope to find life, the
true life that is worthy of the name, and thus we want to make Him known to others, to communicate to them the gift
that we found in Him...Anyone who excludes God from his horizons falsifies the notion of reality and, in consequence,
can only end up in blind alleys or with recipes for destruction...
The first basic point to affirm, then, is the following: only those who recognize God know reality and are able to
respond to it adequately and in a truly human manner...Yet here a further question immediately arises: who knows
God? How can we know Him?...For a Christian, the nucleus of the reply is simple: only God knows God, only His Son
who is God from God, true God, knows Him. And he "who is nearest to the Father's heart has made him known" (Jn
1:18). Hence the unique and irreplaceable importance of Christ for us, for humanity. If we do not know God in and with
Christ, all of reality is transformed into an indecipherable enigma; there is no way, and without a way, there is neither
life nor truth...God is the foundational reality, not a God who is merely imagined or hypothetical, but God with a human
face; He is God-with-us, the God who loves even to the cross.
When the disciples arrives at an understanding of this love of Christ "to the end", he cannot fail to respond to this love
with a similar love: "I will follow you wherever you go" (Lk 9:57)...The disciple founded...upon the rock of God's Word,
feels driven to bring the Good News of salvation to his brothers and sisters. Discipleship and mission are like the two
sides of single coin: when the disciple is in love with Christ, he cannot stop proclaiming to the world that only in Him do
we find salvation (cf. Acts 4:12). In effect, the disciple knows that without Christ there is no light, no hope, no love, no
future...When God is absent - God with the human face of Jesus Christ - these values fail to show themselves with their
full force.
Pope Benedict XVI