Bukas Loob sa Diyos marks 24 years with social projects

The Bukas Loob sa Diyos (BLD) Cebu District marks its 24th anniversary with programs that will highlight the growth of the Catholic renewal movement which counts for around 50,000 members worldwide with at least 3,000 of them under the BLD Cebu District.

BLD Cebu was founded in September 1989 by six couples who formed a prayer group after attending a Marriage Encounter (ME) weekend in Baguio City. The prayer group held bible discussions in a private residence together with Fr. Cristobal Garcia. Garcia later became the Spiritual Director of BLD Cebu until 2012 when he was replaced by Fr. Ramon Ofredo.

The entry point to the BLD is the so-called ME weekend. Couples married in Church undergo a weekend retreat and other spiritual activities organized by the community with spiritual guidance from priests belonging to the Cebu Archdiocese.

The emphasis is putting Jesus at the center of the lives of couples through shared community life, where members participate in programs and share faith-based experiences.

The BLD is a global community with full term districts in Manila, Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, San Pablo, Zamboanga, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, Trenton, Newark, Rockville Center, and West Coast Districts.

Full-fledged districts are located in Jaro, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Laoag, Lipa, Malolos, Lucena and Pagadian, as well as in the United States in Albany, Charlotte, Rockland, Washington, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Reno, Phoenix, Seattle.

Hong Kong also has a full-fledged BLD District to serve thousands of overseas Filipino workers. The community is active in government institutions like the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The growth of the movement is also illustrated in several overseas-districts-in process in Allentown, Orlando, Camden, Cincinatti, Hamilton, Rochester, St. Catherine’s, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Edmonton, Canada.

BLD Cebu has jurisdiction over districts in process in Tagbilaran, Bohol, and Ormoc City.

BLD Cebu regularly conducts ME weekends as well as values formation and growth seminars for couples, youth members and solo parents. The program is likewise open to priests who wish to be enrolled in the community.

This year’s anniversary theme is “Strengthening faith through unity in Community.”

The opening salvo is a “Unity Walk” on Sept. 21. The activity reels off at 6 a.m. at the Mandaue City Sports Complex. A bazaar, auction and rummage sale will be held on the same day and on Sept. 22 at the same venue.

To cap the celebration BLD Cebu will hold the “Unity Run” and a talent search entitled, “BLD Got Talent” on Sept. 22 still at the Mandaue City Sports Complex.

Proceeds from the anniversary celebration will go to different BLD projects like the “Nazareth of Hope,” a low-cost housing program for the needy.

The “Scholarship of Hope” for poor students is another BLD Cebu-led social project which is in coordination with the Archdiocesan Service Committee of the Archdiocese of Cebu.