Category Archives: Allocutio

Legionary: A Disciple and An Apostle

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Spiritual Reading: Legion Handbook page 66 – Chapter 10.7
This time around, I would like to bring all of us to go back and forth in time.
First stop:
Going back to almost 50 days ago… Easter is the core of our faith. During Easter Vigil mass, we heard the story of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who were visiting the tomb and told the news of Jesus’ resurrection to the disciples. If we recall the story of her encounter with Jesus, she didn’t recognize him at first because she was deeply saddened with the idea that Jesus was stolen. But, once Jesus called her name, “Mary”, she said… “Rabuni” This word has the same meaning as “Rabbi” which means teacher, but with more respect.
Second stop:
Going further away to the back… Jesus was a teacher all along, and that’s why the disciples are called disciples, the followers, the learners. He has shown us how to teach since the beginning of his public works. He didn’t bring a presentation or any textbook, or even the Holy Bible to teach them. However, He said, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Come and see. That’s what He asked His disciples to do. Not firstly to learn the text or books, but to come and follow Him.
Third stop:
Going to the future in before the Easter… Again, this idea was emphasized during Maundy Thursday. Jesus never only said and taught, he showed us how to do it. As we always heard during the washing of the feet, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” An example is what he has given to us to learn from.
And lastly, last week… Once we have learnt enough, His request to us was told again last week on the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
This time around, he asked us to be an apostle, someone who is sent forth, a messenger. But before that he has taught us first as a disciple in the way that the Legion Handbook has also suggested us to use. Not through lectures, but through works.
A Day in the Life of St Francis – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtSvwOOOTBI
To prove this notion correct, maybe let’s try to remember the information that we have just read just now from the Spiritual Reading. Can you share step-by-step methods of implementing the idea of master and apprentice system? I am sure you have really listened or read it yourself. Yet, it is difficult to remember it. But can you recite the 4 standing instructions? I am sure you can at least mention the main ideas in each of the instructions. Because we only read the former one, we forgot. However, when we take part in doing it, we learnt and remember. Because we did the instructions in the latter one, we remember.
And this is how we should do the teaching: place the work in front of him, show him how to do it, comments on various points while we proceed, let him attempts on his own, and correct him when he is wrong. This is how we can try to show the recruits how Legion of Mary works, not through lecturing them on what we are doing, but involving them in it. And having joined, having seen the work being done and taken part in it, having learned by listening to the reports and comments in that work the best method of doing it, they are soon found proficient in it.
After Jesus sent the disciples to spread the good news, they were no longer called disciples but apostles, meaning the one who has been sent. They are sent to teach others what they have learnt from Jesus from his short time on earth with them. They were fishers of fish before, then Jesus taught them to be fishers of men. And they became, and taught others to be like them.
There are some criteria required to be a disciple:
“Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). In addition,  He said that “any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). It’s easy to say you’re a disciple of Christ but the test is do we bear our own cross?
And for us to be an apostle, something else is required:
Jesus choose twelve as Apostles and when Judas betrayed Jesus, they had to find another Apostle (capital “A”) so how did they know how to find an Apostle to replace Judas? Acts 1:21-22 shows the qualifications as an Apostle must be “one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” Basically, he must know Jesus. Because when we do not know him, we cannot bear witness of what he has taught us to the world. Because we do not know what are his teachings.

Similarly, we cannot bear witness to the life as a legionary if we do not understand what does it mean to be a legion. And how to understand that is by both learning and living it in our lives. Only if we truly understand and live the life of a legionary, we can share with others the meaning of it.

When we begin our journey as a legionary, Mother Mary says, “Come, bring your mite of talent; we will teach you to develop it and use it through me for the glory of God.” She is both our mother and our teacher. But now, we are called to be both a disciple and an apostle to learn and teach one another.

Duc in Altum – Put out into the deep!

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Spiritual reading: Luke 5:1-11

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Allocutio:
Duc in Altum – Put out into the deep!
1.      – In the Gospel passage Jesus asked Simon (not yet Peter) to cast out into the deep and let down the nets to catch fish. This might sound like an illogical and impossible thing to do since an avid fisherman would know that there are more fishes in shallow waters than deep waters, and more fishes at night than during the day. However, Peter obeyed and caught a lot of fish. Although it seems impossible, we are called to trust in God and be the actor of God’s instructions.

Duc in Altum is St John Paul II’s message at the turn of the second millennium. He planned ahead for the very long term, another millennium into the future. He understands that there are challenges in the Church and we need to put out into the deep, to herald a new era of new evangelization. Pope Francis echoes this call in asking us to go out to the peripheries to preach the Gospel and be witnesses of God to them.

To where God is calling us to put out into the deep (Duc in Altum)? Where God wants us to go where we don’t normally want to go? Who is God calling me to contact, especially those whom we normally would not contact? Be courageous and obedient to the Lord to “Duc in Altum” and harvest plenty of people for our recruitment drive this year.

– Simon, after seeing the great many of fish, fell down at his knees and asked Jesus to depart from him since he is a sinner. 

We, too, feel unworthy to answer God’s call to Duc in Altum. However, God always forgives us and does not remember our sins anymore after we confess our sins. Isaiah 43:25 says “I do not remember your sins anymore”. We, too, should not be chained by our past sins, weaknesses, failures, but instead must look forward to be missionaries in answering God’s call to Duc in Altum. There is no saint without a past, and no sinner without a future.

– Jesus first shared the Word of God to Simon before asking him to Duc in Altum. 
We, too, must be attentive to God’s word and spend time reflecting God’s word so that we could listen more attentively to the Holy Spirit and discern where is the deep that God wants to call us. Allow Jesus to come to our boats (lives) and let Him guide us to be missionaries in where God wants us to be.

Tenderness as the path to solidarity

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In his surprise TED Talk, shown on April 25, 2017, Pope Francis shared his ideas about how we can make the world better. In his talk, Pope Francis urges us to embrace solidarity. One path that can lead the world to solidarity is by starting a “revolution of tenderness.”

Here are some quotes from his talk:

You can also watch his whole talk here:

In High Enterprise for God

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The reading from the Legion Handbook (page 78-80) has a beautiful message: “The world belongs to him who loves it most, and who proves that love”.
The core of the Catholic Church is Love – and Love is God himself. That’s why “over the world that Legion is doing those simple acts of love of God in man, and of the men for the sake of God”. To evangelise is to love and share the love of God. It shall be done not only to our beloved brothers and sisters, but also to the strangers and the enemy forces who are against God. The Legion work turns out clearly: “convince them that the Church loves them most, and they will return to Faith in spite of everything”.
Good work does not guarantee itself to be easy, since “even the courage of the strongest heart might well fail”. Yet, the Legion is with Mother Mary – “Mary is the heart of the Legion, and that the heart is faith and love unutterable”. The Legion loves Mary, so much that “it is not to be thought that the legionary scheme was conceived in deliberate opposition to the empire of unbelief”. There’s no time for preparation or deliberation. In fact: “Things worked out more simple. A little band gathered around a statue of Our Lady and said to her: ‘Lead us’. So, hand in hand with her, they set about their simple work of service, and lo, they have grown into a Legion”. Gather before Mother Mary. Ask for her help. Pray to her. Even the toughest work shall be done.
“The Legion looks out over the world, and all at once, excited hope is born: ‘The world belongs to him who loves it most’. Then it turns to it great Queen, as it did at the beginning: ‘Lead us!'”.

(A copy of “The Official Handbook of The Legion of Mary” can be found in the following link)

The Power of The Praesidium

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Allocutio 05 May 17- Legion Handbook page 84-85 chapter 14 “The Praesidium”

A copy of “The Official Handbook of The Legion of Mary” can be found in the following link
A copy of “Theology of the Apostolate” by Cardinal Suenens can be found in the following link


When I first came to know IKEA, I instantly fell in love with their furniture. Yes, they are comparably cheaper than others. Yes, their display are fantastic and attractive, so much so that I’ve always felt that they are designed to make us buy things we don’t really need. But that is not what amazed me the most. It was their user-centered mindset. Not only they are making their items easy to assemble (coupled with those clear instruction/guide), they also are packing it as compact as possible. Customers don’t need to worry so much about spending days setting up their new table/cabinet/drawer, or thinking on how to store them away when they don’t need it any longer.

As legionaries, we are already privileged than any other lay Catholics, simply by the fact that we belong to a praesidia. The Praesidium system is well organized and, just like IKEA, it is always giving clear instructions as to what should be done & how. This, in return, would enable legionaries to channel more time & effort into doing the apostolic work, rather than wasted on “setting up the cabinet”.

Cardinal Suenens, in his book “Theology of the Apostolate”, described that legionaries are called to do “strenuous” and “disciplined apostolic work”. It is in line with the following part of our legion’s promise:

“I will submit fully to its discipline
which binds me to my comrades
and shapes us to an army
and keeps our line as on we march with Mary”


Tough work, that is!

Imagine this. You are given the challenge to prepare a special dinner for 2 persons in just 3 hours. The time would only be enough to cook up those unique menu, and yet you spent it to: figure out where the table & chair is, finding the utensils to cook, buying the ingredients. So much time is spent on other “pre-works”, and lo! not much is left for the actual cooking itself. The same thing would happen to legionaries and their apostolic work, if they weren’t supported by their Praesidium.

So let us rejoice, because with all its strict rules & guidelines, being in the praesidium actually helps us to care only for what matters.

The Way of Childhood- In Sinu Matris

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Allocutio 28 Apr 17- Theology of the Apostolate p. 32-33 ch 4 pt 1

A copy of “Theology of the Apostolate” by Cardinal Suenens can be found in the following link


“And I realize, that the secret of a perfect legionary service consists in a complete union with her who is so completely united to Thee”


How many of you feel that the sentence above sounds familiar? Where have you heard that sentence before?

It is in our legion promise.

I came across this book of “Theology of the Apostolate” when I read through handbook ch 13. I was looking for a topic of allocutio and tried to continue the reading from last week’s. I read through ch 13 about membership, and this book gets a special mention in this chapter. Interestingly enough, this book apparently dissects in depth what is the meaning our Legionary Promise.

Today allocutio will focus on how our relationship with Our Lady should be. Last week we talked about the external aim of the legion, it was about how we should bring Love of God to people around us. Last week allocutio also suggested that whenever we face difficulties, we are encouraged to turn back to Mother Mary and pray to her to “Lead Us” in our mission. But, is our relationship to Mother Mary limited to merely Leader and Follower relationship? We have heard that we should be in union with Mary. How does this union like?

The answer can be found in today’s reading. Cardinal Suenens tried to illustrate how a complete union with Our Lady would closely resemble to. As the book mentions that every Christians claim that Mother Mary is their mother and we are Her children. If we draw this equivalence in our life, as we grow up, eventually children will leave their parents, including our Mother. We grow to become more and more independent each day until we come to a point that we are almost detached from our parents.

Another parallel that is presented by the book is a child of a month year old. We are so fragile and utterly dependent on our Mother. We cannot walk, we cannot eat by ourselves, and we cannot speak. We depend on our Mother to feed us, to try to understand what we want whenever we are crying. This is not yet close. We still can survive, we can still breathe on our own, and someone can still take care of us if our Mother left us. There is still a little degree of independence here.

Interestingly enough, the book tries to take us a step further to a time when we are still in our Mother’s womb. “In sinu Matris” In our mother’s womb we are in total dependence to our Mother. We just can’t live without her. We breathe through her. The divine reality is of course much greater than this, however this is the closest we can describe with human understanding.

Unlike our earthly life, when we become more and more independent as we grow, in our supernatural life and relationship with Christ, we should become more and more dependent as we grow more mature. We are all continually in the process of being born in Our Lady’s womb.

Let us recall our Legionary promise that we have taken. To be functional and to perform our duty as legionary we once pledged that we want to be in complete union with Her. As we have spent many years in Legion of Mary, as we grow in our devotion to Her, have we become like the earthly ‘we’ who think that we have become more and more independent in rendering our legionary service? Or perhaps we should be reminded to turn back to Her and realize that we are in total dependence in Her Womb.

-Felix-

Allocutio on Allocutio

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Spiritual Reading from Handbook Page 114
Personal Reflection
The allocutio is important because it teaches us the virtue of listening, a virtue exemplified by Mother Mary.
Listening is different from hearing.  
During allocutio, we listen to someone else. We give time to another speaker. We open our hearts to a new perspective. We recognize someone’s preparation. We surrender our attention.
In reality, however, it’s difficult for us to listen.
Often we hear, but we don’t listen. This happens to us all the time—at class, during conferences, sometimes even during conversations. 
We nod while someone is talking to us, but our eyes are glued to our phones. We engage others in conversations, but all the time our minds wander, thinking of other things, thinking of other people, that we incessantly check our phones to see what others are saying, are posting, hearing the person in front of us, who is investing time to interact with us in person, but not really listening.
And then we wonder why our interactions have become superficial.
Why is it difficult to listen?
1. We are surrounded by so much noise. Literally, they come from our gadgets, from traffic, from other people, from nature. But figuratively, noise comes from all around us, those that take time away from self-reflection: work, entertainment, and even negative attitudes.

2. Sometimes we just refuse to listen. We think we have nothing to learn, or nothing to gain, from listening to others. We hear what someone has to say, but we privilege our own perspective, our own understanding, so we open our ears but we keep our hearts closed. 
3. We don’t listen to silence. It’s a noisy world we live in, and we equate silence with boredom. We equate silence with nothingness, but silence can be loud if we only listen to it. 
We have become more connected with others, but how deep and meaningful are those connections? We have increased our connections, but in doing so we are also becoming increasingly disconnected.
When Mother Mary visited Elizabeth, it wasn’t just because he heard the angel tell her that Elizabeth was going to have a child despite her old age. Pope Francis said Mother Mary “knew how to listen to God.”
Why is listening important?
Listening is becoming rare, but it has also become more and more important, given the busy world we all live in.
1. Listening teaches us humility. It makes us stop, pay attention to someone else other than ourselves, not just to hear others but also to understand others. Listening, not merely hearing, requires us to open our hearts, suspend our own judgment, and focus on someone else’s perspective. True listening doesn’t stop with us just hearing the words, and dismissing them as wrong or irrelevant. Listening, true listening, affects our actions. 
2. Listening is the pathway to empathy. How can we empathize with others if we don’t truly understand them? How can we understand others if we don’t listen to them? How can we listen to them if we only care about ourselves, if we think we are always right, if we feel we have not done any wrong? Listening teaches us humility, which allows empathy.
3. Listening is being merciful. Sometimes, we just want someone to listen to us, not to get advice, not to face judgment, but sometimes we just need to be reminded that someone cares. Today’s generation is a generation afraid of invisibility. Young people are socialized to always seek attention and be heard. Listening has become rare, and therefore precious. Sometimes we just need to know that someone is listening. 
It’s not easy changing what we are used to: We are born with our eyes closed and our mouths open. But we should listen as how we want others to listen to us.
By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

A Reflection on Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia

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Spiritual Reading

“As this Exhortation has often noted, no family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love. This is a never-ending vocation born of the full communion of the Trinity, the profound unity between Christ and his Church, the loving community which is the Holy Family of Nazareth, and the pure fraternity existing among the saints of heaven. Our contemplation of the fulfilment which we have yet to attain also allows us to see in proper perspective the historical journey which we make as families, and in this way to stop demanding of our interpersonal relationships a perfection, a purity of intentions and a consistency which we will only encounter in the Kingdom to come. It also keeps us from judging harshly those who live in situations of frailty. All of us are called to keep striving towards something greater than ourselves and our families, and every family must feel this constant impulse. Let us make this journey as families, let us keep walking together. What we have been promised is greater than we can imagine. May we never lose heart because of our limitations, or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which God holds out before us.” (Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia, page 255)

The following video provides quotes from the 256-page document that was based on the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015. Please press pause if you want to read each quote completely.

 The document ends with a touching prayer, which also reminds us of the value of family.


Posted by: Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

The Premise of a Promise

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Allocutio
12 February 2016

Spiritual Reading: Handbook, Chapter 13, Page 81, Item 7 

Visitors from the Philippines join our meeting. 22 March 2016
What is a promise? A promise is “a declaration or assurance that one will do something or that a particular thing will happen.” It is a pledge, an oath, a commitment, a covenant.
 
We hear promises. We make promises. Some promises are kept. Some promises are broken. Broken promises can break trust. They can break hearts. We put a lot of value on promises, sometimes to a fault. We expect people to keep their word, and such an expectation is built on love and trust.
 
Promises, ideally, are self-less, that is probably why we value them. When someone makes a promise, it is more about others than himself. It takes a lot to make a promise. It is a vow. It is a covenant with someone else.
 
When Mother Mary committed herself to God, she made a promise of devoting herself and her life to God. It wasn’t an easy promise to make. She was young. She was about to marry the love of her life. She had her future ahead of her.
 
But a promise is best evaluated by action rather than words. What is important about word of honor is honoring one’s word. Mother Mary never abandoned her promise, no matter how difficult it was. She embraced her union with the Holy Spirit wholeheartedly. She consecrated herself to the Lord. Her covenant paved the way for our salvation. She made, and kept, her promise.
 
 
In our everyday life, we make promises. But do we always keep them?
 
Proverbs 25:14 says: “A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.” When we break promises, we also break other people’s trust.
 
If we are to follow Mother Mary’s example, we have to honor our word and keep our covenant sacred. But then, as I was reflecting on this, it also dawned on me that while Mother Mary made a promise, God also made a promise to her. God also empowered Mother Mary by blessing her with a family and a community that helped her keep her promise.
 
So when someone makes a promise, we also need to think about what we can do to help that person. What makes promises self-less then is not just the person committing to others, but others committing to helping the person, too. A promise, a commitment, a covenant is therefore sacred because it brings people together.
 
Today, as we make this promise, may we always remember and value this commitment to our legion and to our Mother Mary. May we keep our word, keep our faith, and keep our fervor in being active and dedicated members of her army.
 
Keeping this promise might not always be easy, but may we find comfort that we, as a community, as a legion, can help one another in reminding us of our covenant, as Mother Mary kept her promise to God, so did God also keep His promise to Mother Mary and to humanity.
 
Promise, however, has another meaning. Promise also means “the quality of potential goodness.” When we think something good is going to happen, we say: “That’s promising.” When a child is doing well, we say: “This child has a promise.”
 
It is quite interesting to note how one word, promise, can have two meanings.
 
When we refer to the Legionary Promise, we can think not just of the promise our members will make, but also the promise that comes with this prayer. The Legionary Promise reminds each legionary not only of the promise that Mother Mary made when she embraced her union with the Holy Spirit, but also of the promises she continues to make and keep as she leads us to her son Jesus. But the Legionary Promise is also a formal welcome to membership into the legion that comes with a hope that every addition to the army brings yet another promise to the fulfillment of the legion’s mission.
 
A promise refers to a covenant. It also refers to the potential for goodness. Today, as we make our promise, may this also be the start of something promising.
 
By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

St. Joseph our protector and guide to Jesus

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, who is St Joseph? This man lived 2000 years ago, we never see Him but at least we see His photos and hear His story. But wait a moment, we receive and see His love to the Church and Legionaries. He is the patron of the Church and Legionaries. When I prayed the novena of St Joseph, there is a sentence saying when Herod wanted to kill Jesus, God sent the Angel to St Joseph only as a messenger. The rest of the salvation mission was trusted to St Joseph and immediately Joseph did everything needed to save Jesus and Mary. Joseph’s love is very big, he was willing to sacrifice and he did not count. As it is stated in the spiritual reading, we cannot separate the historical life of Jesus with His mystical life continuing in the Church, St Joseph’s love for us is also big.
We learn from the Gospel that Joseph is a silent man, he worked without any notice and reward. Moreover, he never complained. I think we could learn this aspect from St Joseph, sometimes in our ministry we want to be praised and appreciated and we grumble when we are not appreciated. It is indeed normal and human to do so, maybe we can deny ourselves and follow St Joseph’s example. St Joseph is meritorious but the amount of praise and reward given to Him is too small. Incarnation occurred when a virgin said yes but incarnation would not continue if a man did not take action. If the man did not take action then Jesus would fall to Herod’s hand.
Our love to Mother Mary cannot be separated from our love to St Joseph because Mary loves Joseph so much. Joseph took care of Mary and Mary respected Joseph. Both show us how to love and the meaning of love. Their love is not egoistic but self-giving. They toiled together for sake of kingdom of God. How wonderful it is when every couple and family follow Mary and Joseph’s example.

Last but not least Joseph experienced the happiest death. He died in the arm of Jesus and Mary. I am sure that this is our expectation also. We want to be welcomed to the kingdom of God by Jesus and Mary. Let us trust our Legionaries to St Joseph and deepen our love to him.