Talk

BRO. RYAN CAPITULO:

Truly, the testimony of Mhadz exemplifies our message. We are comforted by the grace that God has given Mhadz. That was a difficult situation to be in.

But isn’t it comforting that God embraces everyone?

You might have thought you will remain in your rock-bottom. You thought you’re too far away from God. You thought there’s no hope for you.

But I’m telling you that God will meet you where you are. He will.    Because God met Mhadz at the lowest point of her life, at the most embarrassing moment of her life. God met Mhadz when she was too embarrassed to admit what she was doing. God met Mhadz when she felt so unworthy.

And that’s what God is doing to each and every one of us.

We have to believe it because it’s true.

I’ll be giving you a summary of Talk 10 of our series COME and SEE because we were not able to take it up on November 17, 2024, when we did not hold our Feast due to the weather forecast that Super Typhoon Pepito would hit Metro Manila on that day.

We are still studying the Book of St. John.

Talk 10 is titled Resurrection. And the big message of Talk 10 is Jesus Knows Your Name.

The Call

St. John started the Resurrection story with Mary Magdalene going to the tomb of Jesus. She was shocked because Jesus’ body was not in the tomb. She was distraught, she started to cry>

This is a beautiful image written by St. John. We’ve seen this image. Where in the Bible did we see two angels?

It was in the Ark of the Covenant.

(The Ark is a gold-plated wooden chest where the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses was kept. The covenant refers to the Mosaic Covenant, a contract formed between Yahweh and Moses in Exodus and resulted in the Ten Commandments which the Ark carries.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ark+of+the+covenant)

There are two angels guarding the Ark of the Covenant which is the most powerful symbol of God’s Presence for the Israelites.

St. John was telling us a very important lesson: That Jesus is God’s Presence and Jesus is the Ark of the New Covenant that God made with His people.

We also saw two images of angels guarding the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were expelled.

From this imagery,

St. John is telling us that Jesus is the New Garden of Eden.

Jesus is the New Tree of Life, and that the gate of the Garden is no longer closed.

We also read in that particular Reading that Mary Magdalene mistook Jesus as a gardener. telling us that Jesus

Gardener of His Garden.

When Jesus called Mary Magdalene by her name, she recognized Jesus. She failed to recognize Him a few moments before that. > This is the absolute truth:

You recognize Jesus when you hear Him call your name.

Double Life

Twenty years ago, in 2004, I heard Jesus call my name. I was reading the very first book of Bro. Bo, Thank God,

He’s Boss.

I can’t remember anymore how I got hold a copy of that book. While I was reading that beautiful book, God called me by name and He told me to attend The Feast. I attended

for the first time at The Feast in Teatro Aguinaldo, in Murphy, Quezon City.

Oh, my, I just revealed my age. I was 31 then. I’m 51 years old now.

Instantaneously, I was drawn to The Feast. I was inspired and I was moved to be part of the Light of Jesus Family and to serve God there.

But there were complications. Back then, I was a practicing gay.

How was it possible? I wanted to keep on practicing. I had long hair then. But God’s call is very personal. He won’t give up on us.

He continued to plant the grace that I needed to change. I had to turn away from that lifestyle. But it was hard. Initially, I resisted. I wanted to keep my long hair.

But God is relentless. He gave me the grace to strive to live a life of chastity and sexual purity. He allowed me to meet people who helped me along my journey. It was hard because I was already serving at The Feast– but I kept on falling back into my old lifestyle.

I had to confess again. I had to start from zero to go through my faith journey again. I had a lot of spiritual directors. I went through a deliverance session. I attended many support groups like Courage Philippines.

After two years of falling into sin, repenting, and then falling again, and starting again, I finally received Divine Grace. The Lord gave me the grace to live in chastity and sexual purity. I’ve been chaste since February 1, 2006.

But mind you, I continue to struggle until now and I totally rely on His grace.

I’ve also realized that God is also asking us to do something for Him.

He wants you to live your life in such a way that you bring people to Jesus.

Bro. Bo suggested that I join the Unfailing Love Light Group.

It’s named as such because it’s only the unfailing love of God that helps us overcome our burdens. As I struggled with homosexuality and same sex attraction, I started joining that Light Group which included LGBTs (all sexualities). All of us are on different stages of our faith journey.

Some question the intent of this Light Group. I would be criticized why we accept LGBTs. I tell them that I do accept them because I was once like them.

Encounter

When the Apostles encountered the resurrected Jesus, I bet they were truly happy. But Thomas was not with them.

So, he could not believe that they saw Jesus:

Don’t be absent from God’s family. We do our best to make you feel loved.

The Feast is not perfect. The people here are not perfect. You learned that from our sharing. But I can assure you that imperfect we may be, God is here.

No one can contradict that. I am proof that God is here. Mhadz is proof that God is here in The Feast– and we encountered Him, that’s why our lives have been changed forever! Even if you doubt like Thomas– even if you’re doubting what I’m saying right now– just allow yourself to encounter God here at The Feast.

When Thomas encountered the Resurrected Christ, he said, “My Lord and my God!”

Thomas’ life changed. And yours too: When you encounter Jesus in The Feast, you will then say:

“My Lord and my God! And I will make You Jesus God and King in all aspects of my  life!”

Thank you for listening. Enjoy the rest of The Feast.

This story was first published in the Feast Family Online News Magazine
Published by THE FEAST (December 15, 2024)