Personal encounters during the 15th Biennial Convention

When I attended the 15th Biennial Convention of LAIKO, I was expecting a lot that would enhance my spiritual journey as I continue to respond to the call to love on the road to holiness.

I was able to meet and talk to a lot of lay leaders and I learned from their own experiences. These were the personal encounters as we compared notes on what we are doing for the apostolate.

I felt the urgency of building the parish-based BECs in some parts of Mindanao (although there are strong BEC groups in Mindanao) after hearing the sharing of a lay leader who has been active in building transparochial charismatic communities for 19 years but was not being actively tapped by the parish and diocese. I also felt the need to strengthen the family life apostolate also in some parts in Mindanano after learning of the flight of the Marriage Encounter couples who are now working as OFWs. There is also a need for follow-up programs for some lay leaders in Visayas.

Regarding the topics presented during the convention, some of them said that the topics are good, but they were not presented properly. Even the sharings are not too deep. "Hindi lapat sa lupa". "They are trying to catechize the choir"

I would have learned more if there was more time to interact with other lay leaders.