SHARING DREAMS NOT NIGHTMARES.

In the Bible seminars our church organization offers, there is an activity called "Gospel Sharing."  We also do this activity in our Marriage Encounter prayer meetings.

What is gospel or bible sharing?  It is a prayerful reading of Scripture in a small group in order to better understand, pray and live the Word of God.

We call it Bible sharing because the passage we reflect on is taken from the Bible.  We also call it Gospel sharing because  "Gospel" means good news, and whatever is written in the Bible is meant to be good news for us.

This Bible sharing among family members, friends, neighbours and even office mates is a way of building Christian communities.

In these small gatherings, people share the messages they receive from God and the prayer response they give.

Acceptance, respect, and openness are necessary for successful bible sharing. And we always remind participants in our basic bible seminars to make their sharing actual, brief and Christ-centered.

Thus, what we share must inspire others.

Bible as a Book.

Although I attended a Catholic high school and had been a practising Christian ever since I could  remember, I couldn't say that I understand the Bible, then and now.

Yes, there had been episodes in my life that I had taken to reading the Bible - those were the days when there were troubles and woes. But going to mass had been a constant.

In Jersey City, I attended Sunday mass at the St. Aedan Church near Journal Square and also at St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church on Westside.

In Steubenville, Ohio, me, my sisters and their families went to the Holy Rosary Parish Church, a stone's throw away from our house.

In Toronto, I first attended masses at the St. Patrick's Church in Mississauga, then at St. Anne's in Gerrard, at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help near St. Clair and Mt. Pleasant, and finally at the Blessed John XXIII Church.

When I was working in Manhattan, I would walk to the Our Lady of Victory Church on William St. for its 12:15 pm mass, and then grabbed a bite before heading back to my office which was near New York's Federal Reserve Bank, where at one time,  I witnessed a man jumped to his death from one of the building's upper windows. Whew!

When our office moved midtown, I discovered a church called St. Malachy "the Actor's Chapel" at 57th Street.  Then on Wednesdays, I'd take a fast-paced walk to St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue and on to Macy's for its Wednesday special sale. Those were the days.

Back in Toronto, I attended some Sunday masses at the St. Michael's Cathedral located at Dundas and Church streets.

In my extended stay in Manila, I re-discovered the local church in our Village, the San Andres Apostol Paris Church. Ably shepherded by Fr. Vic Flores, San Andres Apostol is a young parish, going on its third year  this coming November  although it had been a chapel for some 19 years already.

Facade of the newly completed San Andres Apostol Parish Church at Greenwoods.

The San Andres Apostol Parish Church boasts of an active Catholic community with a vibrant Marriage Encounter group called IHHMEC  (Immaculate Heart of Mary Marriage Encounter) and several other organizations with adult and youth memberships.

Previous to my regular attendance at the San Andres Apostol, I had been hearing masses and novenas at the Eucharistic Chapel of the Risen Lord at the Megamall.

Lately, I longed to have a deeper understanding of the Word of God, and alas, barely a few days after, our Parish Priest announced that a Basic Bible Seminar I would be held at our parish. So for two consecutive Saturdays, I listened and heard.

•      That the Bible is a Book, and as a Book, it should be read, studied, prayed, lived, and shared with a larger community.

So now, a Bible is prominently displayed in the house's altar, and a candle perpetually lighted near it.

Graduation Photo, Basic Bible Seminar I participants. From the facebook account of San Andres Apostol Parish.  Author at top most row, second from the right.

It will be read, studied, prayed, lived and shared.  These were the promises we, the Basic Bible Seminar I graduates, made on Graduation Day last Sept. 29th, 2012.

Praise God.