The Bukas Loob Sa Diyos Catholic Charismatic Covenant Community, normally referred to as simply "BLD", is a communion of families and persons, called together as one people through a moment of encounter and a process of renewal, to a relationship of faith, hope and love with God. Our original name reflects BLD's country of origin, The Philippines. Today, however, members of the Community live thro
ughout the world. A large number of members are to be found in North America, and call Canada and the United States home. The community is Roman Catholic in its essence, charismatic in its activities and faithful to the Magisterium of the Church. Each BLD District is under the ecclesial authority of the local Archdiocese. This ensures that all activities and teachings of BLD Districts are in accordance with official doctrines and dogmas of the Church. The genesis of the BLD Community
Jean Vanier in his book Community and Growth stated, "Communities are born, grow and give life…it is always good for communities to remember that their present situation is the result of the thousands of gestures of love. This obliges us to remember that the community of tomorrow is being born of our fidelity to the present. It should be told and retold, written and repeated…for we are quick to forget what God has done." Some of us are already familiar with how the community started way back in 1983. When the Council of Elders (COE) formed the community with intention of conducting Marriage Encounters (ME), Life in the Spirit Seminars (LSS) and basic formation programs with the help of other communities, since we did not have a teaching ministry yet. The Council of Elders chose Matt.10:8b as the community's mission "The gift you have received, give as a gift." It was a time of laying Christian foundations to develop workers and leaders who would be in charge of overseeing the different Apostolates and ministries in order to respond to the mission in a more organized manner. The Lord blessed the Community for the community grew by leaps and bounds. The organizational structure was formed and workload distributed: the Council of Elders as the policy making body and the Household of Stewards as the operating body. In any growing community the pastoral aspect becomes a concern to reckon with, so the COE discerned and formed the community shepherds whose main task was to seek out and bring the sheep who had gone astray back into the fold of the community. In the course of their work these community shepherds found the missing members who had relocated in other areas of The Philippines. There were members in Los Banos, Cebu, Zamboanga, Bulacan, San Pedro, AFP-PNP and Bacolod. For practical purposes the community shepherds proposed to the Council of Elders that these people establish a prayer group in their respective locations. The council concurred. The prayer groups grew in membership and requested the community make available its programs. All this began in 1989, and was the birth of District development. Indeed as we sow generously we shall reap generously as well. In 1990 the Council directed the household to look into the ideal culture that BLD should adopt since we were getting larger in terms of membership and in order to establish the norms for the community. Thus before the end of 1991 the Council of Interim Overseers became the governing body. This was a period of discernment because the community was growing. This was a time of change in order for the community to be relevant to the call of the times. This was the time when the community was evolving. Community is always in a state of growth it can never remain static. It was at this time when the community reflected on its interior life and how we can best relate to each other as members of one body through a new organizational structure. This was also the time when the community embraced the Vision, Charism, and Mission discerned by the CIO in consultation with the membership: to be the servants of the pilgrim church. It was very obvious that the Lord's hand was now leading the community to go to mission. In June of 1993 the Council of Servant Leaders (CSL) was installed. First task at hand was to put the new organizational structure in place and review the decisions made by the CIO with the goal of enhancing the mission and vision. It was a long process because the CSL was handling policy making and at the same time the day to day operation and manning of each unit. But because of the grace of God the community was still able to achieve, to a certain degree, the mission of each unit. The community became like a child again that needs to grow because of the paradigm shift. A child who needs to be accustomed to the newness and largeness of the community's mission and vision. Vanier said in his book "Communities are born, grow and give life, grow old and then are reborn." It was at this point when the community established four additional districts, namely Laoag, Davao, Kabankalan and Lucena. It was also in this period when the Districts started expressing their desire to develop their human resources ( i.e. Teachers, Presentors, Shepherds, etc. ) in order to be able to respond efficiently to the mission and form their own foundations to receive donations from institutions. The CSL realizing that districts need to be autonomous, decided to have a Covenant of Communion, thus making BLD a community of Districts. The community districts in The Philippines, through the different BLD institutes, NPMP, IPCD and BYPI have started reaching out in mission to the different parishes and dioceses, conducting LSS, Prayer Congresses, Medical Missions and Hospital Visitations and many bishops, priests and the lay thanked the community. In North America, while the Institutes are not present, the mission and work of the BLD Community is essentially the same. BLD in North America
While BLD traces its roots to its mother community in Manila, BLD Communities in North America are under the ecclesial authority of the local diocese. This ensures that all activities and teachings of BLD Districts, Outreaches and Districts in Process are in accordance with official doctrines and dogmas of the Church. Pastoral authority is defined as the responsibility of pastoral care or shepherding of one designated community member exercised by another. For BLD, this pastoral authority is manifested through a succession of individuals to our Spritual Director, Archbishop Angel N. Archbishop Lagdameo, who is himself under the ecclesial authority of Jaime Cardinal Sin of the Archdiocese of Manila, accepts as his pastoral responsibilities the activities of all BLD members, whether in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Canada, the U.S. or anywhere else. BLD in North America began as a small group of couples and individuals in Toronto who gathered together to pray. Today, there are many hundreds of BLD members spread throughout North America. The entry point for membership in BLD continues to be the Marriage Encounter. In its North American beginnings, when local BLD members were few in numbers, the mother Community in Manila provided encouragement and help in conducting the very first MEs and LSSs. In the years that followed, the local community expanded in size and broadened its activities to include a variety of encounter programs - Youth Encounters, Singles Encounters, Solo Parents Encounters, Youth LSS and Family Encounters. While these are popular programs, some find that their journey to community begins with simple attendance at regular prayer meetings, monthly Healing Masses or special events planned to strengthen and deepen the spiritual life of our Community. Today, the community offers its members a greatly expanded, continuing and rich program of teachings designed to enrich their lives as Catholic couples and singles. It also offers its members the opportunity to become personally involved in serving others, following the model of Jesus Christ. BLD in the future
In 1997 a new Council of Servant Leaders was installed and in one of their recollections a renewed mission was formulated, which is more specific and quantifiable. It calls on us to act:
"As a communion of encountered families, we are called by the lord to build communities of disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will renew and strengthen our Christian faithful through programs of Christian Encounter (Marriage, Family, Solo/Single Parent, Singles and Youth Encounters, and Life in the Spirit Seminars) of Spiritual Growth, of Pastoral Care and of Poverty Alleviation." We remember the words of our first Spiritual Director Fr. Ado that guided us: “The community cannot be self-enclosed or it will die out… it will die of atrophy if, after feeding itself it doesn’t open up by sharing and caring for others.”
Praise the Lord for using all of us as His instruments of Love to His chosen people! Schedule of BLD-Jaro Activities
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Corporate Praise and Worship
Day and Time: Every Thursdays (6:30 pm)
Venue: St. Clements Church
First Thursday Mass
Day and Time: Every First Thursday of the Month (6:30 pm)
Venue: St. Clements Church
Healing Mass
Day and Time: Every Fifth Thursday of the Month (6:30 pm)
Venue: St. Clements Church
