08-16-2023 - DAY 2 | CEC Territory of Asia Clergy Retreat

CEC Territory of Asia Clergy Retreat - Day 2 Morning Devotion

It is a start of a new and beautiful day as the CEC Asia Clergy started Day 2 conference with morning prayer. It is indeed such an inspiring environment to be in prayer with men who have given their lives for ministry despite still being a work in progress as children of God. I am particularly humbled by courageous Clergy, especially the young ones, who have heeded the call to serve God and His people, in the far flung areas of the provinces of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Fr. Romie Jun officiated the morning office of prayer and in His sermon, he shared from the Gospel of St. Mark chapter 10, on the account of the rich young ruler.

Fr. Jun reminded us that everything we do apart from the wisdom of God, no matter how appealing, is foolishness. We, the Clergy, have our share of foolishness and God knows this. But the good thing is, He understands us and accepts us in spite of our foolishness.

The rich man is like any of us. Actually he is better than most of us as he only lacked one thing, and that is to give all His possessions to the needy. Yet, he was not willing.

Fr. Jun then shared that it is really not about giving up something, so much as to give. To give our time, our resources, our talents, our very life, in His service.

But we can only give ourselves to Jesus if we know Him, echoing what the Patriarch shared yesterday.

Fr. Romie-Jun challenged the Clergy - do we share Jesus based on our relationship and encounter with Him, or are we just sharing information about Jesus. People’s lives will change only if we share Jesus and help them also encounter and be in relationship with Him. I recall also what the Patriarch shared yesterday, that as Pastors of God’s flock, we do not tell people what to do but to help people hear the voice of God through their relationship with Him.

In conclusion, Fr. Romie-Jun reminded the Clergy that God will be doing great things in our churches, and whenever God does something great, we need to work with Him and it starts with prayer.

Morning devotion was then followed by a hearty breakfast and fellowship. Wait for more updates!