Together, we shine with the light from the first letter of St. Paul to Timothy saying, “Let us do good, be rich in good deeds and generous sharing with others. In this way, we shall pile up a sound capital for the future and gain true life” (1 Tim 6:18-19).
Who wants to be “truly rich” and “perfectly wealthy”? This is the same awakening and striking question I threw to the 14 couple participants during the marriage retreat last June 24-26, 2011 at Betania Retreat House, Lahug, Cebu City. I raised this question during the exhortation when I led the opening prayer for the afternoon session during the second day. I aimed to arouse their interest trying to inject a lively, attentive and an undivided mind. I noted that only Ate Marie Esparcia raised her hand. After a brief explanation, everybody was united with the same goal.
This afternoon, being tasked to set the tone of our Brotherhood Christian Business Retreat (BCBR) specifically on “goal-setting and house rules”, allow me to point out 3 important areas or components to make this overnight retreat wholesome and nearly perfect. First and foremost is ourselves, as proactive and interactive participants. Second are the topics, presenters/speakers or resource persons and the facilitators. The third is the venue including the food they serve, the comfort of the living quarters and session facilities.
As proactive and interactive participants, we are directly responsible for the attainment of our intentions, goals and objectives of this retreat. In behalf of the BCBP Consolacion Chapter, I congratulate all of you who unconditionally decided to join. Your being one with us simply shows how you “use your power of choice wisely”. Being mature businessmen and professionals, we consider ourselves learned and experienced in our respective fields of endeavor. However, from time to time we need realignment, reconditioning and refinement. Let us consider this time as an “appointment for an executive check-up” with the Lord how “perfectly wealthy” we are and how “truly we live our lives”.
As we go along, let us examine and look at the different areas in our life. From the seminar on “How to become a money magnet?”, John Calub pointed out 5 areas in our life to be wealthy: financial, physical, relational, intellectual and spiritual. From the Catholic Serendipity Bible for Personal and Small Group Study (M 49), 6 areas are included: spiritual, physical, vocational, emotional, relational and volitional (from the noun volition meaning, the act of flying or the power of flight as in birds). I think volitional life may refer to our desire for financial abundance, financial freedom and power.
Gleaning from these areas of our life, as proactive and interactive participants, we can come up with our respective personal goals and expectations. You may jot them down in your notebooks so that later on we may be able to reconcile whether our expectations are met.
Brothers and sisters, during this “God-appointed time” (September 10-11, 2011) , we have “God-appointed topics” to be delivered effectively by “God-appointed speakers” reflected in our schedule of activities. Our worthy resource persons do not need formal introduction but for record-purposes, for posting in my website for the world to know and to show their experiential fitness to the assigned topics, we have:
- The renowned and fulfilled architect and interior designer, Archt Germain “Girlie” Maraya-Ang to talk on, “The Proper Attitude Towards Wealth and Money”;
- A compassionate educator and honorable President of Southwestern University (SWU), Dr. Elsa A. Suralta on, “The Christian Boss and Employee”;
- The PAL Sales Executive and our Chapter Head, Kuya Joseph Benson Tompong on, “Relating to others in the Marketplace” and the last but definitely not the least,
- A self-made man and successful real estate developer, Kuya Butch Gomez on, “Building Our Business for God”.
As mature and responsible businessmen and professionals, I forego the house rules. The Sto. Niño Spirituality Center of the Augustinians here in Tolotolo, Consolacion, Cebu is an ideal venue for this retreat. From the previous retreats we held here, no one is dissatisfied unless somebody will voice out.
Integrating all concerns, goals and expectations to ”gain true wealth and true life”, let us ponder on the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians, “We warn and teach everyone true Wisdom, aiming to make everyone perfect in Christ” (Col 1:28). nmg
An Assessment
The business retreat was nearly perfect. The attendance was significantly high but we missed a good number of brothers and sisters who did not make it. We, certainly, learned a lot through the spirit-filled, joyful and stress-relieving “adult-learning” exercises to uphold being Christian businessmen and professionals. The energy-filled and proactive participants from BCBP Consolacion consisted of service providers, traders, government/private employees, educators and homemakers.
Acting like little children, we enjoyed the bonding, camaraderie and informal, adult-learning experiences. Expectations were met and everybody was satisfied. All praises and glory to the Lord who is the primary object and focus of our weekend retreat. Worth documenting is what Ate Girlie Ang said, “I always have a healthy and wealthy attitude towards life. I have been through tough times when huge losses confronted the business but I remained calm, sane with my normal composure and perspective. I am a worthy daughter of God who is aware that my extremely Rich Heavenly Father who is perfect supplies me with whatever I need whenever needed. So, in any adversity, life for me is constantly perfect. I am full of hope for a brighter future to look forward to.”
Overly thrilled and excited for another weekend retreat, the Chapter decided to convene again by November 26 -27, 2011.
An afterthought
The TV documentation of the “The day the world was changed” (9/11/2001) ten (10) years ago reminds me of that weekend when our action group conducted our retreat at the St. Francis Seraph Convent, Maghaway, Talisay City, Cebu. Judy and I were the action group leaders when we were still with the BCBP Mandaue Chapter. Our goal was to heal spouse relationships.
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| Stolen shot by Kuya Robert Lim, DDM (Unit Leader) while I delivered the talk. |
