January 2016
Vol 13 Issue 1
Streams of the river gladden the city of God
Ps 46:5
Dear brothers and sisters,
We continue our reflection on the lives of married saints. In last year's issues, we reflected on the lives of husbands and wives who lived exemplary lives dedicated to God and thereafter were canonized or proclaimed saints of the Church. This month we reflect on the life of St. Monica. Although her husband, Patricius, has not been declared a saint, he nevertheless was baptized a Christian and died within a year of his conversion. With all his sins wiped out by his baptism and living only briefly after that, we can assume that he too must be in heaven with St. Monica. We focus on St. Monica because there are many in our community who, like her, have been used and are being used by the Lord to bring their spouses and children closer to God. May St. Monica be our model of persistent prayer and ardent love for our families!
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
May 2016
Vol 13 Issue 5
Lord, teach us to pray
Lk 11:1
Dear brothers and sisters,
It is already the end of the month and we are sending the May issue of Letters of Aquila and Priscilla only now. We have been preoccupied giving talks in the Rejoice Weekend echoes every weekend of this month, once in Tagaytay for CFC Cavite, once in Lucena for CFC Quezon, and twice in Baguio, for CFC Metro Manila West B Sector and for CFC Bulacan. This month we wish to share with you the thoughts of Pope Benedict XVI on prayer - that the primary aim of prayer is conversion and one way of enriching our prayer life is to recite the Psalms daily. May the Blessed Mother, the model of a prayerful life, be your constant companion in prayer.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
September 2016
Vol 13 Issue 9
I will spare the whole place for their sake
Gen 18:26
Dear brothers and sisters,
We are pleased to send the fourth installment of our reflections on Pope Benedict XVI's catechesis on prayer. Once again the brilliance and masterful theological insight of Pope Benedict XVI is revealed in this piece on the prayer of Abraham ̶ linking the episode in Genesis 18 with the prophecy in Jeremiah 5:1 and ultimately with the mystery of Incarnation. May this reflection encourage all of us to pray often confident that God will hear us for the sake of that one Righteous Person in our midst.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
2016
February 2016
Vol 13 Issue 2
The man and his wife were both naked
Gen 2:25
Dear brothers and sisters,
This month, when we celebrate Valentine's Day, it is fitting that we ponder on the life of St. Gianna Molla, the first saint to be canonized in the presence of her husband and children. Her canonization has made holiness attainable, with God's grace, for all of us. As we continue to reflect on the lives of married saints and on the sacrament of marriage as the living out of our "original nakedness" in Genesis, we are being inspired and encouraged to write a book on this subject - "Meditations of Aquila and Priscilla: Living Naked". Please pray that we can make time for this project, if indeed this is God's will.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
June 2016
Vol 13 Issue 6
Pray to your Father in secret
Mt 6:6
Dear brothers and sisters,
We continue our reflection on prayer based on the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI. Last month, the Pope's reflection on the encounter between Elijah and the prophets of Baal taught us that "the primary purpose of prayer is conversion." This month we reflect on the topic "silence and prayer" – our silence and God's silence. Pope Francis' evening prayer is short but includes long silence contemplating the five wounds of Jesus. This month we wish to share with you the long moments of silence we spent in front of the Grotto of Massabielle that led us to moments of silence in Le Sacré-Coeur during which we felt the presence of the Blessed Mother who led us to the real presence of her Son. May you also have moments of silence to encounter Jesus through Mary.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
October 2016
Vol 13 Issue 10
Together with Mary the mother of Jesus
Acts 1:14
Dear brothers and sisters,
We continue our reflection on Pope Benedict XVI's teaching on prayer. This month being the month of the Holy Rosary, we have chosen the Pope's inspiring and instructive reflection on Mary as the Mother of the Church. Here Pope Benedict explains why Saturday has become a day associated with Mary and how she prays for the Church and for all of us. We end by sharing our family's wonderful experience during our pilgrimage to the Marian shrine in Sendang Sono. May the Blessed Mother obtain for all of us the grace we need to develop a profound personal relationship with her Son, Jesus.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
March 2016
Vol 13 Issue 3
Rejoice in the Lord always
Phil 4:4
Dear brothers and sisters,
For the past several months we have been writing about marriage as our path to holiness by reflecting on the lives of married saints who remained faithful to their marriage vocation. This month we reflect on the life of a young Italian girl, Ciara Luce Badano, an active member of the Focolare Movement, who died at a young age of 18 and was recently beatified. She is a model of "rejoicing", the very theme of our community this year. She is also a model for all our YFCs and SFCs – that holiness can be attained, with God's grace, not from serving but from loving, a love that leads to service, service to joy, and joy to holiness. May the life of Ciara Luce inspire all of us – not just the young and single – to rejoice even in the midst of pain and suffering by offering everything to God, through Mary who is the "cause of our joy" because she gave us Jesus.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
July 2016
Vol 13 Issue 7
I have seen God face to face
Gen 32:31
Dear brothers and sisters,
In our earlier reflection, we shared the thoughts of Pope Benedict XVI on his reflection concerning the story of the prophet Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal which ends with the people of Israel exclaiming, "The Lord is God! The Lord is God!". Pope Benedict thus tells us that the "primary purpose of prayer is conversion." This month, we wish to share with you the reflection of Pope Benedict on the episode about the struggle of Jacob with an angel. Pope Benedict tells us that this struggle is really a story about prayer, which in its truest sense is a close encounter with God, a hand-to-hand contact with God that should lead to our total giving of self, our complete surrender to God's power and providence. Prayer is a struggle of faith and test of perseverance, as depicted beautifully by the writer of the Sacred text in the night-long struggle of Jacob at the ford of Jabbok. May your prayers also become close encounters with God!
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
November 2016
Vol 13 Issue 11
Come after me
Mk 1:17
Dear brothers and sisters,
We begin a new set of reflections on the call of Jesus' first disciples. We observe that the gospel accounts of the call of the first disciples are similar in Mark and Matthew but significantly different in Luke and in John. While it is possible to harmonize these accounts chronologically, we know, however, that the primary aim of the gospel writers is not historical but theological. We begin with the narrative in the Gospel of Mark. Its main message is that what truly matters is the person of Jesus. When Jesus calls our response should be immediate and total. We should be aware that in following Jesus there will be consolations but also difficulties and inconveniences. And this is the true test of mission, the means to know for certain that it is Jesus who calls. If we prefer comfortable missions, we need to honestly ask ourselves, are we really intent on following Jesus? Are we serving him or ourselves? And then pray that the Holy Spirit may bless us with true discernment.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
April 2016
Vol 13 Issue 4
Husband love your wife, Wife respect your husband
Eph 5:33
Dear brothers and sisters,
This month we reflect on the two scriptural principles in marriage: the Galatians principle (Gal 3:26) and the Ephesians principle (Eph 5:23-25,33). By remaining faithful to these principles, may we, with God's grace and mercy, be able to undertake this earthly journey together as husband and wife towards our heavenly destination. Like Aquila and Priscilla, may we be one in serving God, one in raising our children, one in facing our trials and joys. And like Blessed Elizabeth Mora and all the married saints before us, may the husbands love their wives fully, and the wives respect their husbands truly.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
August 2016
Vol 13 Issue 8
Let my prayer be incense before you
Ps 141:2
Dear brothers and sisters,
We continue our reflection on prayer. We cite Pope Benedict XVI who tells us that prayer is "an expression of our thirst for the infinite, our desire for God, and our feeling that the world's meaning is outside this world." We also quote Pope Francis who adds that prayer is "the key that opens the door to faith" and who encourages us to pray constantly and thus teaches us the five-finger guide to prayer. May your prayers, like those of the holy ones in Revelation, be like incense before God in heaven.
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN
December 2016
Vol 13 Issue 12
A savior has been born for you
Lk 2:11
Dear brothers and sisters,
Because it is Christmas, we defer the continuation of our reflection on the first call of the disciples. Instead, we reflect on the two infancy narratives in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. We note that while there are historically and chronologically irreconcilable differences in the two accounts, there are also eleven common elements that support our belief that indeed a Savior is born for us in Bethlehem by a virgin named Mary. And this is the central message of Christmas. Wishing you a blessed and merry Christmas!
With our love and prayers,
JUN and JEAN