Introduction to Word, Worship & Christian Fellowship

We were selected as one of three coordinators of an ME 1 class consisting of 19 couples and one nun. We had accepted the founding couples’ offer to help coordinate the sponsorship of the next ME class. We did not understand at that time that our commitment really meant agreement to become part of their small community and to help build the community with the ME 1 class as firstfruit.

The week following the marriage encounter weekend, we were invited to the home of one of the founding couples where we were introduced to worship, Word sharing and Christian fellowship. The prayers were an intimate and loving conversation with Jesus. The praise songs were a soulful serenade of God. The scripture readings were read as if savoring an exquisite dish: slowly, deliberately, repeatedly, with heightened senses to detect and to imprint in our minds it’s most delicate flavors and aroma. Our encounter with the Word provoked the sharing of deeply personal thoughts, feelings, sentiments and experiences, of anguished pleas for God’s help or of joyful thanksgiving for His loving intervention. The fellowship was genuinely friendly- we found ourselves amidst a family who loved and cared for each other. I saw God in this small circle

Although I have been a Catholic all my life and attended a Catholic school for the first 11 years of my education, this faith experience was refreshing and exhilarating for me. Outside of rote prayer and my frantic appeals for help when I was in need, I did not have a prayer life. My Catholicism consisted of grudging Mass attendance on Sundays to which I would be often late and positioned for quick exit. I never read the bible. Nor did I reflect on His presence and actions in my life. Consequently, I did not know God and did not develop a relationship with Him.

I also had very few close friends. I was introverted when I was growing up. I preferred to read my books rather than to play with my siblings, cousins and neighbors. I was never comfortable sharing myself, much less my vulnerabilities to anyone. I did not believe anyone can be trusted with any information I considered personal and sensitive. My father’s side of the family was quite dysfunctional and hence detached from one another. This dysfunction influenced my relationship with my mother’s side of the family, my siblings, and my own family. Community was an alien concept to me.

After Lee and I attended the marriage encounter, we were thrust into a brand new world – a small and intimate community that the Lord had planted and wanted to grow in New Jersey. We were not seeking one, but God gave us one. We who were weak in faith were warmly welcomed to this circle of vibrant faith. An undeserved gift! Our first taste of this community was good, and we embraced it wholeheartedly. After our first meeting, we bought a bible and began to devour it. We began praying every day. We bought praise tapes and listened to them all day long, at home or on the road. We enthusiastically attended our weekly gatherings, where the Lord continued to bond and form us together as a community.

“Welcome anyone who is weak in faith…” Rom 14:1