Our Calling
On January 19, 2014, Pope Francis, in his Angelus address at St. Peter’s Square, asked: “What does it mean for the Church, for us, today, to be disciples of Jesus the Lamb of God? “It means replacing malice with innocence, force with love, pride with humility, prestige with service,” he replied. “We Christians have to do a good job,” Francis added. “Being disciples of the Lamb means not living as if we were a ‘besieged citadel, but as a city set on a mountain, open, welcoming, and supportive. It means not assuming an attitude of closure, but bringing the Gospel to all, bearing witness with our lives that following Jesus makes us freer and more joyful,” Francis explained.
“The word ‘lamb’ comes up several times in the New Testament and always in reference to Jesus. “This image of the lamb,” Pope Francis said, “might surprise; an animal not known for its strength and robustness takes upon its shoulders an oppressive burden. The enormous mass of evil is removed and taken away by a weak and fragile creature that is a symbol of obedience, docility, and helpless love, which arrives at a self-sacrifice. The Lamb is not a dominator but docile; it is not aggressive but peaceful; it does not bear its claws or teeth in the face of attack but puts up with it and is submissive.”
“The faithful are lambs who face great threats of secularization. Maybe the lambs in the world are just waiting to come out. Change the world and let it become a lamb.”
(Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle-October 9,/2013-PCNE)
We are a Community In-Mission
Are you called to follow The Lamb, Jesus? Do you hear his call?
To whom shall we go? (Jn 6:68) There is the Lamb of God. (Jn 1:29)
Jesus gathers us, you and me, first, and then sends us on mission with Him, like lambs
Will you consider joining the mission of The Lamb as his disciple? Jesus calls us to be disciples with one heart and one mind. He calls us to stay with him as disciples of The Lamb under a new covenant love relationship. Hence, our goal of new evangelization is to bring the faithful to the new covenant love brought about by Jesus, the Mediator. When he is lifted up he will draw everything to himself. Are you willing to be drawn to him and be like a lamb?
We are an Association of Christ’s faithful in the Catholic Church, a family of the Lamb International confederation composed of independent and autonomous organizations: the Association (or consociate), corporate, and aggregate organizations. We are a sacred family bond – lay disciples, sisters, and clergy led by the International Conference Confederation administered by the Permanent Council in between the conference meetings. The Bishops direct the Association as Moderators.
Our apostolate is under the jurisdiction of the local ordinary, and our formation is under the Confederation and specific Associations. We are also bound to assist other parish communities in building up the Church. A constitution embodies us. Some other specific associations also observe a rule of common life.
Vocation is a response to the call, set apart to be God’s own possession, to be restored in the new covenant love and called to offer sacrifice by uniting our will to God’s will, to make disciples of all nations, assist in making holy the, the Bride of Christ, and looking forward to the celebration of the wedding feast of The Lamb in our heavenly.
Finding who we are, where we are, when we are, how we can be, and is finding why the Lord is calls us to become lambs.
Like living stones, we are built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1Peter 2:5). We accept the challenge to become a living sacrifice of praise, we need to have renewed minds, with the mind and attitude of Christ, discerning and obedient to God’s will, an offering our lives in harmony and with unanimity of love. (Rom. 12:1)
The spirituality of The Lamb does not make life easy. What we believe is that Jesus is victorious. The Lamb of God, not the Lamb of man, is victorious. He rose from the dead. From the moment we are born, we start to die, but the last moment of truth is Jesus’. Jesus offers us a way forward for our victory and resurrection through Him, with Him, and in Him.
In every Mass, we offer this commitment to the Lord, and in turn, God consecrates us, increasing our holiness and gifts, virtues of faith, hope, and sacrificial love. “If you eat my body and drink my blood, I will raise you on the last day” (Jn 6: 54).
The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church’s life, for in it, Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once and for all on the Cross with his Father; by this sacrifice, he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church (CCC # 1407)
The most intimate relationship in union with God is in celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass.
The Lamb is called, chosen, and faithful (Rev 17: 14)
Formed in The Way of Jesus, The Lamb
We are created and empowered with dignity in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). As images, we came from God, and as likenesses of God, we are going back formed in the likeness of Jesus to the Father (Rom 8:29), The Lamb, Jesus, is returning to bring us to the place he has prepared for us. He founded the Church with the Holy Spirit, its soul, equipping us with the fullness of life as instrumental channels in the transmission of faith: the Sacred Tradition, Scriptures, Sacraments, and Succession in Apostolic Tradition (Magisterium of the Church), the organic foundation of our work of transformation, evangelization and the building up of His Body and Bride.
We are to bear the Spirit of The Lamb.
The Spirit of The Lord is upon us to anoint and make us like Jesus so that we may live and act like Jesus in the ministry of new evangelization. Mediating Jesus brings the faithful to the new covenant of love, the good news, who is Jesus, proclaiming him to the poor, as healer the broken-hearted, deliverer of freedom from captivity of sin, evil, and the evil one, and giving sight to the blind, for he is the way, the truth, and the life.
We exercise lamb leadership under the banner of the Spirit of The Lamb by
- permeating the spirits of hope and compassion, confidence and fidelity, sacrifice and joy, especially among the youth, couples, and families, renewed with missionary zeal.
- Accepting failures and vulnerability, imperfection and insecurity.
- Imitating the character of The Lamb – His meekness and humility.
- Bearing the Spirit of The Lamb, we are able to live a life of listening, atoning, mediating, bearing burdens, and sacrificing out of agape love, emulating the life of Jesus, the Lamb.
Call to Holiness
When The Lamb is lifted up, He draws all things to himself (Jn 12:32) and brings us to the springs of life-giving water (Rev 7:17) that God may be all and in all (Eph 4:6).
The calling to holiness is to be a sacrificial offering without blemish, the calling to follow the spirituality and charism of The Lamb. We, those called to be like lambs, are living stones around the cornerstone, The Lamb of God, Jesus.
When God calls you:
He calls you to a personal relationship and a project known to Him alone during the lows and highs of life: during the day when everything is great and wonderful, and during the night when things are not working well in your favor and when no one admires or takes notice of you. God calls you to change and make you look crazy before the world.
The call to mission is our goal, and the call to union is our journey from our point of departure and point of arrival.
(CCC # 901)
Worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives.
God’s continuing creative work out of his agape love is in play through the call to holiness: “Be Holy as I am Holy” (Lev 19:2/1P 1:16). God provided us with the way. In our case, making heaven on earth is part of the daily prayer of Jesus, the Our Father. (Mt 6:9)
The Altar of the New Covenant is the Lord’s Cross, [Cf. Heb 13:10] from which the sacraments of the Paschal mystery flow. On the altar, which is the center of the Church, the sacrifice of the Cross is made present under sacramental signs. The altar is also the table of the Lord, to which the People of God are invited. [Cf. GIRM 259]
CCC # 1182
To sacrifice does not mean to cause suffering but to make sacred-to make holy. One is becomes holy because one sacrifices one’s will to follow God’s will. God operates through our will when we are willing.
Sacrifice – from the Latin “sacrificare” (sacer,” or sacred or holy; facere,” to make) – implies that we who proclaim ourselves as followers of Christ have a call to make the world a holier place in the image of our Lord, The Lamb, who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Holy making is on the Altar of The Lamb of Sacrifice, the furnace of transformation. We strive to live our life to revolve around:
-the Altar of the Lamb of Sacrifice in the parish church consecrated by the Diocese’s Bishop.
-on the Altar of the Lamb in our households.
-and on the Altar of the Lamb in our hearts, the place of the covenant (CCC # 2563).
The Altar represents the Body of Christ and the Body of Christ is on the Altar (St. Ambrose). The Altar is where God wishes to interact with His people in a covenant love relationship, the Altar of the new covenant. The Altar is the Altar of sacrifice where we follow His will in our journey, passing over the threshold from humanity to divinity, from our earthly home to our heavenly home. The Altar of the New Covenant is the Altar of the Cross, the Cross of Jesus (CCC #1182). It is the Altar of sacrificial love where he offered his life to the Father and his love for us. An Altar is the Altar of surrender, slaughter, repentance, forgiveness and mercy.
As in every community called to love, to perfection in love, we also adhere to the evangelical counsels. While not a vow, we strive to voluntarily live the Spirit of the Counsels, safeguarding our love of God and neighbor, the command of the Lord, and avoiding wrong choices, idols, and distractions, removing things that may obstruct our attention.
“Therefore, all the faithful of Christ are invited to strive for the holiness and perfection of their proper state. Indeed, they are obligated to so strive. Let all then take care that they guide aright their own deepest sentiments of soul. Let neither the use of the things of this world nor attachment to riches, which is against the spirit of evangelical poverty, hinder them in their quest for perfect love. Let them heed the admonition of the Apostle to those who use this world; let them not come to terms with this world; for this world, as we see it, is passing away” (Vatican II, Constitution on the Church, 42).
To be a Leaven of Hope
Jesus is our leaven, our hope of glory (Col 1:27). We must be disciples before we becoming apostles. Jesus loves to minister to us first before we minister to others. The grand commission is a command to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19). Disciples stay with Jesus. The spirit of this covenant relationship is permanent, unbreakable, faithful, and everlasting on God’s terms. Jesus invites us to take his yoke, love, and will, for his yoke is easy, and his burden is light (Mt:11:29-30). He teaches us to learn to be meek and humble lambs.
As leavens, we are signposts of Jesus. Whatever and wherever we go, we strive to be signposts, bridging/standing in the gap that points to Jesus.
Our occupation, profession, career, or any work we are involved in is a channel and opportunity to mediate Jesus. A farmer participates in the providence of God by tilling the land and supplying food to humanity. A fisherman participates in the providence of God by catching fish and supplying food to humanity. Parents participate in the providence of God by providing for and sharing the faith. A doctor, a nurse, or any health personnel participates in the providence of God by bringing healing to humanity. Politicians, lawgivers, and justices participate in the providence of God through governing public services, law, and order. Christians have more of a challenge since we are clothed by the grace of Baptism, adding dignity to the work of providence.
In the World
“Your apostolate with our poor brethren is God’s manifestation of His unending love and care for His people, especially to the needy, the least, the lost, and the poor.”
Bishop Jose Corazon Tala-Oc
We are in the world, though not of the world, but for the world.
“The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king.” All Christians are called to represent Christ in the world (CCC# 1546)
For holiness in the world, new evangelization takes us in the context of evangelizing first our fellow Christians, bringing everyone to the new covenant love. Jesus came to restore the covenant of love relationship.
We are the Mystical Body of Christ, and Jesus is the Head (Col. 1:18). Christ, the Lamb, is the bridegroom. We are transformed in holiness as His Bride (Rev. 19:7-8).
Jesus, The Lamb of God, offered his life on the Cross because of his love for the Father and all of us. Because of his sacrificial love, he saved us from sin and evil. He delivered and won us over from the devil’s hold to present us to himself resplendent in glory without blemish.
We are looking forward to the wedding feast of The Lamb. God is fashioning and transforming us, living the future in the here and now, celebrating heaven on earth.
In the journey, Jesus, The Lamb, mediates, leads us, and brings us to the springs of life-giving water (Rev 7:17).
