DISCOVERY WEEKEND

PASTORAL FORMATION TRACK

RATIONALE
It is said that for us to give more of ourselves and to fully utilize the person whom God has
created, we must know ourselves. In CFC SFL, we are continuously called to give our time
and effort in service. We can do this effectively when we know ourselves better. This
program’s aim is to accomplish that.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES
At the end of the program, the participants are expected to:
1. Know their purpose and gifts that God has given them
2. Discover their passions and use them to serve God and others
3. Realize that they have the power to affect change in their lives

DESCRIPTION
This is an overnight program for all CFC SFL members. It is designed as a retreat type for
members who have already undergone the one year formation track of CFC SFL. The topics
for this program are as follows:

Session 1: Discover Your Purpose

This session is about learning of the purpose why God made us. As an output of the
activity, the participants will be asked to create their own “Personal Mission Statement”.

Session 2: Discover Your Passion

God has given us gifts, interests and potential so that we can effectively serve our
purpose. Learning where we are good at is maximizing the person that God created us.

Session 3: Discover Your Pain

In our journey in life, we discover that it is not always perfect. We experience pain,
disappointments and failures. How we deal with it will greatly affect our future. This
session ends with a prayer for healing.

Session 4: Discover Your Pleasure

This session talks about God’s desire for us to be happy. It helps the participants realize
that God gave us people and situation to give joy to us. It also challenges the participants
to be a source of joy to others.

Session 5: Discover Your Power

The last session discusses about the power that God has given us to affect our lives and
those of others That power is the Holy Spirit that is in us. This session ends in a praisefest.

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SUGGESTED SCHEDULE

Day One

8:00 AM Arrival / Registration / Teaching of Songs

8:30 Opening Worship
8:45 Orientation Talk
9:00 Session 1: Discover Your Purpose
10:00 Sharing of Mission Statements (Plenary)
10:15 Break
10:30 Session 2: Discover Your Passion
11:30 Sharing
12:00 Lunch
2:00 Afternoon Prayer
2:30 Teaching of Songs/ Ice Breakers
3:00 Session 3: Discover Your Pain
Prayer for Healing
Putting the Pieces Back Activity
5:00 Break
5:15 Session 4: Discover Your Pleasure
Group Sharing
6:15 Sharing
7:00 Dinner
8:00 Fellowship

Day Two

8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Mass
10:30 Opening Worship
10:30 Session 5: Discover Your Power
Prayer for Empowerment and Praisefest
12:00 Lunch

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CFC SINGLES FOR FAMILY AND LIFE

DISCOVERY WEEKEND
SESSION 1: DISCOVER YOUR PURPOSE

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
At the end of the session, the participants will be able to:
1. Understand what their purpose in life is
2. Develop their own personal mission statement and commit to live it out

METHODOLOGY
Talk Proper 40 minutes
Activity 20 minutes

EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. Introduction

Let’s begin this session asking ourselves with the question, “How am I feeling right now?”
(Briefly speaker ask the participants to answer the question)

Let’s try to take a look of the following:

• Some of us might be feeling extremely unhappy. These people don’t know their life
purpose; they don’t know what they are living for.
• Some might be unhappy people who know their life purpose but don’t work on it. They
know their direction but so reluctant to exert effort to work on it.
• Some might be happy people who know their life purpose, work at it, but not daily
• And finally, extremely happy people who know their purpose and work on it daily.

Note: The speakers tells this story at the part of the talk.

Parable of the Three Stonecutters

Once upon a time, a traveler came across three stonecutters and asked them what they were doing. The first
replied saying that he was the most miserable person on Earth and that he has the hardest job in the world.
“Every day I have to move around huge stones make a living, which is barely enough to eat.” The traveler gave
him a coin and continued walking.

The second one did not complain and was focused on his work. When the traveler asked him what he was
doing, the stonecutter replied “I’m earning a living by doing the best job of stonecutting in the entire county.
Although, the work is hard, I’m satisfied with what I do and I earn enough to feed my family.” The traveler
praised him, gave him a coin and went on.

When the traveler met the third stonecutter, he noticed that the stonecutter cutter had sweat and dust on him
but he looked happy and was singing a cheerful song. The traveler was astonished and asked “What are you
doing?” The stonecutter looked up with a visionary gleam in his eye and said, “Can’t you see? I am building a
cathedral.”

This story beautifully illustrates of a person who sees the bigger picture. All three
stonecutters were doing the same thing, but each gave a very different answer. Each knew
how to do his job but what was it that set the third stonecutter apart? Perhaps:

• Knowing not just how and what to do, but knowing why.

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• Viewing the whole and not just its parts.

• Seeing a vision, a sense of the bigger picture.
• Having the ability to see significance in work, beyond the obvious.

Like the stonecutters, we young adults, we seem doing the same things: striving for our
careers, nurturing relationships, fulfilling our vocations but we might not be experiencing the
same joy or contentment in life. We started the session with the question, “How am I feeling
right now?” to be aware of what are our present statuses because God meets us exactly
where we are, not in some idealized situation. Sometimes we can’t experience joy in our life
because we are not looking at the greater picture; we are not living a life according to God’s
purpose.

II. What is Our Purpose?

According to New Oxford American Dictionary, purpose is defined as the reason for which
something is done or created or for which something exists. It means being used according to
its function.

In community we have been taught to recognize that God is our Creator. Out of love, God
created us in His image and likeness. He wanted to share His endless joy with us. Going back
to our definition of purpose, we could ask ourselves: What is God’s reason for creating us?
Why do we exist? For what reason are we here on earth?

The Church teaches us that we are here on earth in order to know and to love God, to do
good according to His will, and to go someday to heaven (CCC 1-3,358). To be a human being
means to come from God and to go to God. Our purpose points to the God who created us
and who loves us so much. Therefore, as His creation, we are called to give praise and glory
to God through the things we do in this life and reach our end goal of our life which is to meet
God face to face in heaven someday.

III. Life According to God’s Purpose

Why did God created us? What is His purpose? The Church teaches us through the Catechism
that we are create to:

1. Know God

How do we get to know God? There is really only one way to know God personally,
and that is the way God Himself revealed. For God has introduced Himself to us
through Jesus Christ. Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father but through me. If you had known me you would also have
known my Father" (Jn.14:6,7) It means that to know God we must have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.

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• Know God through prayers – the heart of a Christian personal prayer is our union
with Christ Himself and through his Spirit indwelling in us, we can “make our own
the mind of Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:5).
• Know God through the bible and catechisms – God continues to speak to us
personally through His inspired Word in Scripture and help us to understand the
true meaning of the daily happenings in our lives and draw us into prayerful union
with Christ, our Way, Our truth and our Life. St. Jerome insists that “Ignorance of
Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

• Know God through sacraments – In celebrating the sacraments, it is “an encounter

of God’s children with their Father, through Christ in the Spirit, expressed as a
dialogue through actions and words” (CCC 1153).

God created us to love Him. Knowledge comes first, because you cannot love a God
Whom you do not know. If you do not know Jesus Christ personally, you cannot love
God. But as you get to know Him better, you learn to love Him more. That's why it's so
important for us to grow in personal knowledge of Jesus Christ.

2. Love and serve God

When asked “which commandment in the law us the greatest?” Jesus replied: The first
Commandment is this: You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.”

Our love of God and love of neighbor are intertwined. Our both loves actually share in
the same divine love, God’s own love, the Holy Spirit; in loving our neighbor we love
someone in whom God is present, through the Risen Christ and the Holy Spirit; and in
loving God we activate the deepest reason for loving our neighbors, namely, that God
loves and is present in them.

Love is of God and he who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7). The more
a person loves, the more he resembles God.

3. Use our gifts to glorify Him

God gives each one of us gifts or talents. He wants us to nurture it and make it grow.
These gifts must be used to give Him praise. Note: we will discuss this in detail in the
succeeding session.

4. To be raise up to life with God in Heaven

God made us to be happy with Him forever. Those who know, love and serve the Lord
in this world are destined for Heaven. "Let not your heart be troubled," says Jesus,
"You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house there are many mansions.

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Were it not so I should have told you, because I go to prepare a place for you" (John
14:1-2).

IV. Conclusion

God has made it clear for us. God’s directions are sure. God knows exactly why He created us.
When we do not fulfill our life purpose, our greatness will not come out. We will be
unsatisfied, discontented and unfulfilled. Only by knowing God can we know His will for us in
our daily lives. Only by knowing God can we love Him and find sanity in today's world, giving
us reason to truly rejoice.

As we discovered our purpose in life, it is great to acknowledge that God assured us of His
great plan for us. “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and
not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)”. Let us strive to live a life
according to God’s purpose for us. When we finally come home to be with God and live in
total communion with Him, our joy and happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment will be
complete.

ACTIVITY: PREPARING OUR PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT

A personal mission statement "provides clarity and gives you a sense of purpose." It helps
define "who you are and how you will live." Our personal mission statement is like a map that
will guide us to the real treasure in life. This helps us to keep us on track and help us focus of
what is essential in our life. It is a guide to help you down the road of life. If it's meaningful to
you, then that's all that matters, after all, you're going to be living by it.

While there is no unique format or formula for creating your personal mission statement, the
following guidelines may be helpful:

• Keep it simple, clear and brief. The best mission statements tend to be 3 to 5 sentences
long.
• After learning what our real purpose in our life is, your mission statement should touch
upon what you want to focus on and who you want to become as a person (character) in
this part of your life.
• Make sure your mission statement is positive. Instead of saying what you don't want to do
or don't want to be, say what you do want to do or become. Find the positive alternatives
to any negative statements.
• Include positive behaviors, character traits and values that you consider particularly
important and want to develop further.
• Ideally, a mission statement should encompass most aspects of your life, not just your
work. A sense of mission can become a foundation piece of your personal brand.

Procedure
1. Distribute post-its / sticky note / index cards.
2. Lead them to prayer.
3. Allow the participants to reflect on their lives. Asking them their purpose in life and to ask
God to put purpose and meaning to their life.

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CFC SINGLES FOR FAMILY AND LIFE

DISCOVERY WEEKEND
SESSION 2: DISCOVER YOUR PASSION

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
At the end of the session, the participants will be able to:
1. Know the meaning of passion and its importance to living out God’s purpose in one’s life.
2. Recall the different passions one has through interests and moments while growing up.
3. Identify the different ways to live out our passions.

METHODOLOGY
Talk 40 minutes
Sharing 20 minutes

EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. Introduction

We have learned that God has given us a purpose for our existence. The stories of our lives
are unique from each other, but we are all united in our common purpose of allowing God to
love us, and for us to love God back. But indeed, each one of us has our own story to tell. It is
because that God loves us so much that He has a unique plan for each of us. The uniqueness
of His plan springs from the reality that each of us is unique with different personalities and
ways in dealing with our journey in life. Each of us is gifted by God with unique passions that
serve as springboards for what we do and what we pursue in life.

It is therefore significant for us after realizing what our purpose is, to understand deeply the
meaning of passion. God has given us gifts that He desires for us to live out. These gifts are
the passions that we have. It is furthermore important for us to be able to recognize what are
our passions in life are because it is through these, we can fully live God’s purpose for us.

II. What is Passion?

A. Passion has a lot of meanings. As of matter of fact, it is a very famous term and could
be associated with a lot of things such as romantic relationships and fanaticism
amongst others. But, of course, passion is bigger than this. Let’s take a deeper look for
us to understand what this word means.

B. Definitions of Passion

1. Strong and intense emotions and feelings

2. Deep and undying love for a person or cause
3. Total, unconditional, and enduring commitment

Knowing our passion helps us to focus our energies on the things we truly care about. When
we start to discover them, we are motivated to get going, which brings out the best in us. In

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this way, we are on the road to making our lives extraordinary. Life without passion is not
worth living for. And so we need to live a passionate life.

III. Discovering Your Passion

“For everyone who has will be given more and he will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even
what he has will be taken from him.” (Matthew 25:29)

We all have passions because it is God who gave them to us. He allowed us to have these for
us to live life to the fullest. We are called therefore to live them out. We are called to live a
passionate life. A life without passion is not worth living for. At this stage of being single men
and women, our passions are our way to meet our needs, which is to be able to be
productive, to help others and to be in deeper relationships with the people around us.

We are called to discover our passion through the following:

1. Discover your Passion for God

Being in a relationship with God is finding the pearl of the great price. It is a reality
that turns our word upside down, and we are called to deepen that conviction of
putting value in our relationship with Him. Our lives are useless without Him. “You
have no purpose apart from God.” We need to grow a conviction about these basic
truths in life.

Like in any other relationship, it takes effort to make it grow. We need to be

committed in our daily prayer time as our way to communicate regularly with God. We
commit to our obligation of going to Sunday masses and receiving the sacraments
regularly such as Confession.

We need to find other ways to get to know God and falling in love with Him even
more. We seek to find joy in being silent with Him through visiting the Adoration
chapel. We can learn more how He has change lives through the life stories of our
Saints and being inspired to follow their footsteps.

2. Discover your Passion for Life

Be passionate about our work and the other things that we do. Strive for excellence in
everything that we do especially in our career / occupation. Be excellent in every task
that is given to us. Never stop growing as a person. Let us open ourselves to
corrections that would make us better and to new learning that would deepen us. Let
us live a balanced life. It is important to also take time to care for our health through
physical activities, and engaging into leisure within our means.

Be passionate about our relationships. We need to value and love our families by
supporting them and giving our quality time for them. We need to spend time with our

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friends, not only those in community, but those from our growing up years. We see the
importance of deepening our relationships as brothers and sisters in the community.

Be passionate about your life vocation. Take time to discover your life vocation if you
are for married life, religious (priests or nuns) or single blessedness. There are retreats
through different congregations that could help us discover this. Spiritual direction
through priests could also guide us in discovering. It doesn’t end in getting to know
our vocation, but taking steps to pursue them. For single men and women, men should
take initiative to discern whom to pursue, and the women should prepare themselves
for the relationship God has in store for them. For those who are called to religious life
and single blessedness, take the steps in getting in a congregation.

3. Discover your Passion for Service

We take into our hearts our call to be evangelizers in our community. We say yes to
more and more ways to spread God’s love to the people around us.

We use our talents to serve in the different ministries of the community such as the
music ministry and dance ministry or through the different movements such as Live
Pure movement and NONe movement. We take on bolder ways to make Him known
through our LBS program. We say yes to the service or take initiative in serving in our
parishes.

IV. Conclusion

CFC SFL is a place where we can discover our passion for life. The passion that we have now
for the Lord is the passion we should sustain throughout our lifetime because without this, life
is devoid of meaning and purpose. We are called to a life sustained by the burning passion of
our love for the Lord. We care called not to be mediocre in anything that we do. We are
called to live and love life with PASSION.

ACTIVITY: GROUP DISCUSSION

1. The participants are divided into households. If this is not possible, divide them according
to their gender and age.
2. Each participant will answer the following questions:
a. What are my passions? What are the things I am good at? What are the things I am
interested about?
b. How can I use these passions to serve my purpose? To serve God? To serve others?

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CFC SINGLES FOR FAMILY AND LIFE

DISCOVERY WEEKEND
SESSION 3: DISCOVER YOUR PAIN

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
At the end of the session, the participants are expected to:
1. Realize that pain is real and they should acknowledge that they are present in their lives
2. Know the sources of pain and how to deal with them

METHODOLOGY
Activity 30 minutes
Talk 30 minutes
Activity 1 & 2 60 minutes

EXPANDED OUTLINE

Activity: Dream Board

1. Give the participants 1 clean sheet of paper each. Provide them with pens and crayons
also.
2. Ask the participants how they see themselves 5 years from now. Tell them that they are
given 20 minutes to draw this, and must maximize the paper given to them. They must
not stop drawing until time is up. Tell them to color their drawings.
3. After 20 minutes, each participant must come up front, show their drawings to the other
participants and explain briefly in 2 minutes. Randomly choose a drawing and ask the
participant to share.
4. Then right in front of their very eyes, you tear away their drawings into many pieces,
crumple them and throw it on the floor.
5. Immediately ask the participants at random how they felt seeing their drawings torn
apart. Ask them why they felt that way.
6. Tell them that their drawing represents their lives, their dreams, their hopes and
aspirations, and what they want to be. Tearing the paper caused them to experience pain.
7. Tell them that no one else can destroy their lives except themselves, because of vices,
drugs, alcoholism, gambling, unwanted marriages or pregnancies, greed, corruption,
cheating, etc. That is, if they allow it.

EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. Introduction

As we grow in relationships with one another, we discover that pain is real. To live is to be in
pain. “When we are cut, we bleed.” Jesus Christ also felt pain. He did not come in comfort and
luxury. Instead, His glory is in living a life of pain and overcoming it. Following the example of
Jesus, we realize that “to experience joy is to acknowledge pain and to overcome it.

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II. We are Called to Discover and Overcome Pain

We, in CFC SFL are to discover our pain because we can never discover our joy unless we
acknowledge our pain and learn to deal with it. Our mission in CFC SFL is not just to be
victorious over our personal pain but to share our victory with others so that they may learn
to deal with their pain victoriously.

What are the common sources of pain?

1. Pain we are born with.

These are pains that we did not choose. Because of these circumstances in our lives,
we experienced pain. Examples are being born poor, being raised in a broken or
troubled family. Sometimes we feel ugly or not good enough in anything because the
world sets a different standard that we think we did not fit in.

2. The things people do that caused us pain.

When we enter into relationships and open ourselves to other people, there is a
possibility to get hurt. Some of these people are people who we expect to love us but
because of circumstances, hurt us.

3. The things that we do.

The consequences of the bad choices and decisions we make result in pain (when we
sin). Because of these bad choices, we abandon our dreams and aspirations in life that
give us frustration and disappointments.

III. How to Deal with Pain

As said earlier, real joy happens when we acknowledge pain and overcome it. Joy is not the
absence of pain but our ability to rise from it. Here are practical points

A. Know that pain is real and that we need to deal with it.

We should accept that we are hurting and we need to deal with it. This acceptance
attitude is the start of our journey in dealing with pain. When we open up, we allow
others and God to help us. Do not find an escape. Face it.

In suffering, we find Christ.

B. Decide to be victorious over the pain.

1. Let go. Do not hold on or hang on or nurture the pain. Decide to heal, to forgive,
and to forget the pain inflicted on us by people.

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2. Decide to let go of the guilt over the pain caused by our mistakes.

3. Decide to let go of the pain over circumstances and situations over which we have
no control but trust that God is in control over these things.

C. Just trust that God did not allow us to go through the pain to punish or put a burden
on us, but to help us learn and grow.

Realize that the pain we go through can be sweet pain for us if we trust in God who is
in control. That through all the pain we experience, He is refining us, fine-tuning us,
sharpening us, toning us so that we can be more perfect and be a better source of
strength and joy for others.

Your scars can be your stars.

IV. Conclusion

God allows us to experience pain because it is a way that we can share in the suffering of His
Son. When we experience pain, we are given the opportunity to act the way Jesus did when
He was persecuted. Despite of the pain, Jesus chose to love. Like Jesus, may we accept all the
trials that was given to us and chose to rise above it.

ACTIVITY 1
1. Write down the three (3) events or situations in your life that have been the source of
your deepest pain.
2. Write down the three (3) persons in your life who have caused you your deepest pain.
3. The persons and events that are written will not be shown to anyone. They are things that
only you and only God know.
4. Instruct the participants to hold what they have written and join the speaker in praying
over the pain.

a. Pray for the release from pain. Tell them to offer their pain and to ask God to take
their pain away.

b. Minister to the pain of others. Brother to brother. Share to your partner areas of your
life you need to pray for (dyad).

5. Bring a large trash can to the front of the participants and put a big candle on each side
of this trash can. Ask them to come forward, put the pain written on paper on fire, and
throw it in the garbage bin.

6. Tell everyone to watch the smoke rise and allow God to wipe away their tears from their
eyes. As the fire consumes the list of pains, tell them to see in the smoke the hand of God
turning what was for so long real pain into ashes that will be blown away by the wind until
nothing is left in your heart but joy.

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ACTIVITY 2
1. At this point the team head will bring out the torn pieces of drawing and scatter them on
the floor. Instructing the participants, tell them to put back their lives together again with
the help of a scotch tape.
2. When everybody is through putting their lives back together again, ask the participants
how they were able to put back their lives together.

Processing:
They were able to put their lives together again because:
1. They know their own drawings or their own lives
2. They were helped by their friends or other people because they know your drawing or
they were able to discover who you really are.
3. It is easier to put your life together when you maximized the use of the paper and drew
on it, because you really thought of the things you want for your life.
4. Most of all, with the help of God he was able to heal and repair the wrong doings in our
lives. We have the power to put our lives back on track with God’s help.

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CFC SINGLES FOR FAMILY AND LIFE

DISCOVERY WEEKEND
SESSION 4: DISCOVER YOUR PLEASURE

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
At the end of this session, the participants will be able to:
1. Realize that God desires for them to be joyful,
2. Understand that to discover their pleasure means to discover Christ, and
3. Realize that it is only in choosing Christ can one be truly happy

METHODOLOGY
Talk Proper 40 minutes
Activity 20 minutes

EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. Introduction

We have discovered our purpose, our passion and the sources of our pain. Now God calls us
to live joyfully. God desires for us to be happy and He wants us to choose to be joyful in the
way we live our lives. To be able to do this, we have to discover the pleasures and joys that
God has intended for us to experience.

It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you
find satisfies you. – Saint John Paul the Great

The world offers pleasure and happiness in the form of success, fame, the amount of money
we have in our bank accounts, the highest position we can achieve in our work place. Being
able to attain these gives us happiness but all these are temporary and fleeting. The kind of
happiness God offers is a different one. He offers us authentic happiness or joy - and He
desires for us to choose it. To find our pleasure in God gives us true joy.

II. Our Desire for Joy

“God wants us to be happy always. If we allow the love of Christ to change our heart, then we can
change the world. This is the secret of authentic happiness.” – Pope Benedict XVI

There is a longing for happiness in our hearts that will only be fulfilled when we see Him face
to face. Our desire for authentic happiness comes from God. He constantly invites us in to a
more abundant life. We are given a taste of this authentic happiness as we enter in a loving
relationship with Him. While here on earth, God satisfies our desire for joy through our
relationships and our experiences.

1. Relationships

a. Relationship with God – Our relationship with God is our ultimate source of joy. We
can be happy knowing that God loves us. We can be at peace, whenever we rest

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our hearts in Him. When we come in prayer, when we experience Him in the
Sacraments, we find joy and peace in our hearts.

b. Relationship with Others – God sends the people around us to make us happy. He
is present in all our relationships and He uses all of these people to bless us, to help
us with life, to guide us and mold us, to help us learn and become better and to
make our lives more meaningful. There is an experience of joy in all our
relationships with our families, friends, brethren in community, love life, colleagues
in the workplace.

2. Life Experiences

God allows our life experiences for us to experience joy – both in blessings and trials.
When we feel blessed (achievement and success, financial and material blessings
when shared with others), we know we have joy that comes from God. But not only
through blessings that we know that God desires our happiness, but also through our
life trials. There can be joy in suffering. In these experiences, we learn, we become
better persons and we are drawn closer to Him. As we are drawn to Him through these
sufferings, we realize that there is still joy despite difficulty.

God is the ultimate source of joy. When we have Christ, we have joy that no one can
take away from us. The problem is when we start seeking happiness in things that are
secondary instead of primary. The fact is that most sin and unhappiness in our lives
happens when we try to find happiness in our own terms – sometimes away from God.
Our pride, selfishness, lies, unforgiving heart, fears and doubts steal our joy. We must
allow God to refresh us with His love so we could remain in the joy He desires for us.

III. Choosing to Live a Joyful Life

If we want to be truly happy, we have to choose to live a joyful life in Christ.

1. Allow God’s grace to fill your life.

Delight yourself also in the LORD: and he shall give you the desires of your heart
(Psalms 37:4). Only God’s grace can give us joy that is long lasting and complete.
Only in doing His will for our lives can we truly be joyful. Our happiness can be found
in our relationship with the Lord. The nearer we are to Him, the happier we become.
When you allow His grace to fill you, you are allowing all of the joy and happiness He
offers to cover your heart. Choose to make Christ the sole reason of everything, you
are choosing to live the happiest life you could ever have.

2. Decide to be happy.

Happiness is a decision you can always make today. You can always choose to be
happy wherever you are and whatever circumstance you are in. If you keep on waiting
for happiness to come, you will wait for the rest of your life. Happiness is a choice you

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can make now. Being in a relationship with God is a decision you can always make.
Don’t wait for forever to be happy. Choose to live in Christ today and you will truly be
happy.

3. Grow in your relationships.

If you want to be truly happy, choose to grow in your relationships – your parents,
your siblings, your friends, your sisters and brothers in community, your officemates.
To love them truly, means to love them in the manner Christ loved. Hold no grudges.
Choose to forgive. Choose to be humble at all times. Choose to love and you will have
a joyful life.

4. Be a source of joy to others.

Happiness is in its fullness when shared with others. You can already be happy on your
own but you are happiest when people around you are happy as well. If you want to
be truly happy, share the happiness you are experiencing to everyone else. Be a
source of joy to your families, to your loved ones, in your workplace and in the
community. Tell everyone of the joyful experience you have in your encounter with the
Lord. The more you share joy, the more it multiplies in your life.

IV. Conclusion

To discover our pleasure and to experience authentic happiness, we have to recognize and
live out the love of Christ in our lives. We can only be truly happy if we remain in His love. He
is the ultimate source of our joy.

As Pope Francis reminds us, “Dear friends, joy! Do not be afraid to be joyful! Do not be afraid
of joy! That joy that the Lord gives us when we let him into our life, let us allow him to enter in
our life and invite us to go out of ourselves to the margins of life and announce the Gospel. Do
not be afraid of joy. Joy and courage!”

ACTIVITY: WRITING ACTIVITY

1. The speaker asks the participants to write down their answers to the question below in a
piece of paper. This is done in a prayerful and reflective mood.

a. List down the three (3) events in your life that have been a major source of joy.
b. List down the three (3) persons in your life right now who are major sources of joy.

2. Group Discussion: Share your answers from the writing activity and answer the following
questions: What steals your joy? How can you be more joyful in your life right now?

ACTIVITY: GIVING OF APPRECIATION ACTIVITY

1. Give each of the participants a clean sheet of bond paper. Tell them to write their names
on top of it.

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2. Instruct them to go around the room and to write notes of appreciation and affirmation in
the paper of their brothers and sisters.
3. Tell them that with this activity we learn to give support and encouragement to one
another.

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DISCOVERY WEEKEND
SESSION 5: DISCOVER YOUR POWER

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
At the end of the session, the participants should be able to:
1. Realize that God, who is all-powerful, gives us immense power as well, because we are
created in His image and likeness.
2. Understand that without God, we become weak and powerless.
3. Know the different ways of having power.
4. Appreciate their calling to use this God-given power to serve other people.

METHODOLOGY
Talk 45 minutes
Group Discussion 15 minutes

EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. Introduction

We often find ourselves drained when hardships and difficulties in life come our way. These
usually make us lifeless and hopeless, lacking joy and conviction. We become powerless. This
is a constant and daily struggle for us. Hence, it is very important to be reminded from whom
we find life, joy and hope and draw courage and strength from; the source of our power.

II. Power Source

“Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in
your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and
praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this
freewill offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.” (1 Chronicles
29:12-14)

A. Almighty

In Hebrew, the title "God Almighty" is written as El Shaddai and means “God, the All-
powerful One”. The title speaks to God’s ultimate power over all. He has all might and
power. We are first introduced to this name in Genesis 17:1, when God appeared to
Abram and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.”

B. Giver

1. God Almighty is also the source of all might and power. From Him comes power;
and He gives us power. It is His nature and desire to give of Himself to His creation.

2. We are the most powerful creation of God because we are created in His image
and likeness and because He gave us dominion and control over all creation.

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Genesis 1:27 states, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He
created him; male and female He created them.”

Only when we recognize God and know Him as almighty can we discover the power
within us. Our goal in life is to discover this power, and use this power within us to
serve God and others better.

III. Powerless

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart
from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

However, when we fail to recognize that God gives us power, we tend to be weak and lose
sight of our strength; and we turn away and live apart from God. We succumb to the
demands of the world that is against what God wants for us. From being powerful, we
become weak and powerless.

What does it mean to be powerless? The dictionary defines it as “lacking strength or power;
helpless and totally ineffectual.” and ineffectual means being insufficient to produce a desired
effect. When we are powerless, we lack the strength to serve God and others.

These are our common sources of powerlessness and weakness, when we do not recognize
God as almighty and powerful in our lives:

• Hurts and suffering

• Guilt and fear
• Anger and hate
• Pride, selfishness and vanity
• Vices
• Laziness and apathy

IV. Our God-given Power: God Gave Us Power

Only when we recognize God and know Him as almighty can we discover the power within us.
Our goal in life is to discover this power, and use this power within us to serve God and
others better.

A. Power Over Temptation

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “… the temptations that come into your life are no different
from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from
becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, He will
show you a way out so that you will not give into it”. Temptations are difficult to deal
with but they can be resisted and overcome. God will not allow you to be tried beyond
the strength that He gives you to overcome. He will provide you with sufficient power
to resist the temptation.

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B. Power to Inspire others

God gives us the power to inspire others. When we allow God’s power to be
manifested in us, we become an inspiration to others. When we inspire others through
God, we are able to bring out the best in them.

C. Power to Transform and /Change

Through God’s power, we are able to transform ourselves and change our lives for the
better. When other people witness this change and transformation, they are inspired
to change and transform as well. It is God who has the power to transform and change
people but He uses us, as His instruments to do so.

V. Conclusion

We are all called to live a life of power, drawing from God who is all powerful and the source
and giver of all our strength. Apart from Him, we become powerless.

ACTIVITY: REFLECTION

1. The speaker asks the participants these following questions during a time of prayer. A
refection song is sung.
• Do I recognize God as almighty and the source of my power?
• Were there times when I became powerless?

2. The talk will end with a prayer of empowerment to be led by the speaker (or the speaker
may use his own prayer) and any song of empowerment.

“Lord God Almighty, you are the source and giver of all our power and strength. The
times we are drained when hardships and difficulties in life come our way, may we always
cling on to you and your strength alone. May we always recognize you and your power
working in our lives. May we use this power within us, that comes from you, to serve other
people. You are faithful and provident oh, Lord. Please do not allow our Hurts and
suffering, Guilt and fear, Anger and hate, Pride, selfishness and vanity, Vices, Laziness and
apathy hinder us from coming near you and receiving your power. Give us Oh, Lord the
Power over Temptation, the Power to Inspire and the Power to Transform and Change.
Amen.

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