Christ Pursuit Weekend Manual v.2014 PDF

CFC SINGLES FOR CHRIST
Stage 2 Formation
Christ Pursuit Weekend

Manual v.2014
Christ Pursuit Weekend Stage 2
Formation
About the Weekend:

The Christ Pursuit Weekend is a pastoral formation weekend retreat offered by CFC - Singles for Christ
(SFC) to its members. It is part of the SFC Stage 2 Members Tracks that aims to strengthen and fortify its
members’ growth in their Christian life.
The Christ Pursuit Weekend is derived from the pastoral talk outlines of the SFC Regional
Conferences of 2009 entitled ‘Christ Pursuit’.
Members who have already attended the conference are strongly encouraged to go through it again as
some revisions and modifications have been done and also because it will be a good opportunity to
refresh oneself on the important teachings found in this retreat.
Considerations:
The SFC Stage 1 Formation Weekend Retreats are pre-requisite to taking the Christ Pursuit Weekend
(CPW).
However, as each member is different and joins SFC at different levels of spiritual maturity, the pastoral
leaders (household heads and up) are free to determine, after prayerful discernment, if certain members
are ready to take formation weekends in a more advanced stage (ex. Stage 2), even before they have
finished tracks in an earlier stage (ex. Stage 1).
A journal or a notebook is a MUST for the reflection and journaling activities of the Christ Pursuit
Weekend Retreat.
It is highly recommended that the number of participants will range only from 30-40 participants to ensure
intimacy of experience and adequate time for sharing and journaling.
It is highly recommended that the number of members per discussion group is limited to 3-4 members
only so as to ensure an adequate amount of time for the group sharings.
For any clarifications regarding the talk outlines, please don’t hesitate to consult the SFC
Pastoral Formation team at sfcpfo@sfcglobal .org or any of your local SFC Fulltime Pastoral Workers.
Formation
Recommended Schedule:
The CPW can be conducted in the chapter, cluster or sector level, depending on the needs and
situation of the membership or area.
The recommended schedule is a two-day retreat format. It is described as follows.
Time Activity Remarks

SATURDAY
0900-0930am Opening Worship
0930-1000 Ice Breaker
1000-1100 Talk 1 – The Journey
The participants answer the following questions
in their notebook/journal. If time will allow,
they may be asked to share in small groups
(around 5 members) their answers to these
Individual Reflection and questions.
1100-1130
Small group sharing 1. God is in pursuit of me. How does this
make me feel?
2. How will I respond to His invitation?
3. What are my fears, if any, of being
pursued by the Lord?
1130-1300pm LUNCH
Afternoon Worship and
1300-1330
Ice Breaker
Each group will prepare a short creative
presentation to show how God is unceasingly
1330-1430 Group Dynamics
pursuing us and how overwhelming is His great
pursuit for us.
Formation
Talk 2 – Journeying with Christ

1430-1630
in our Pursuit
Individual Reflection and
1630-1730 Part of Talk 2
Journaling
1730-1800 BREAK
1800-1900 DINNER
1900-1930 Evening Worship
1930-2030 Talk 3 – Empty Pursuits
Surrendering and
2030-2100 Part of Talk 3
Receiving activity
Journaling
1. Which of the empty pursuits do you think
could be taking you away from your pursuit
of Christ?
Journaling; 2. What is making it difficult for you to let go
2100-2300
Small or big group sharing of these pursuits? Can you trust Jesus
enough to give these up for Him?
3. Write down other significant
reflections/messages from the surrendering
and receiving activity.
2100-2300 Confession
SUNDAY
0630-0730am BREAKFAST
0730-0800 Morning Worship and Ice Breaker
0800-0830 Group Discussion on Talk 3 Process experiences/realizations in Talk 3
0830-0930 Talk 4 – The Prize of the Pursuit
0930-1000 Closing Dynamics/Praisefest Commitment to pursue Christ
1000-1100 Holy Mass

Formation
Important Elements:
1. Confession
2. Individual Reflection and Journaling
3. Surrendering and Receiving Activity
Preparation:
Similar to the other pastoral formation activities of our community, it is highly recommended that
this weekend retreat be prepared for properly and prayerfully. The top leaders and team leader
serving in this retreat should read this manual, especially the talk outlines, thoroughly.
Speakers must also be discerned prayerfully and familiarize themselves not just with their
own respective talks, but with those of others as well.
As with all SFC activities, spiritual preparation is necessary, more so because this is a retreat that aims
to reveal truths that all singles should know when it comes to their pursuit of Jesus Christ.
Feedback and Documentation:

This manual aims to be a GUIDE to all SFC Chapter Leaders and up, both locally and internationally. Like
all things that are part of God’s community, this manual is a work in progress. Thus, any suggestions
and comments as to how to improve this Weekend Retreat are most welcome. Please feel free to email
your comments to sfcpfo@sfcglobal.org .
Thank you and may our Lord Jesus Christ guide us in all our endeavors to win every single man and
woman for His Kingdom! God bless us all!
Formation
Talk 1 - The Journey
Anchor Verse:
“It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity but I continue my
pursuit in the hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ.”
(Philippians 3:12)
Objectives:
1. Provide a general overview of the spiritual journey we are all in.
2. Establish that God has been, still is, and will always be, in pursuit of us.
3. Motivate participants to pursue the journey by providing a glimpse of what should be our ideal
pursuit.
Tenor:
Motivating; leading everyone to take part in this great and ideal pursuit.
Speaker’s Profile:
Someone who can communicate and elicit excitement about Christ’s pursuit of us, who can personally
relate to being pursued by Christ and who is responding actively to this pursuit; someone who is sensitive
to the leadings of the Spirit especially as he/she leads the participants in reflection.
Note to Speaker: Read the life of St. Paul
Expanded Talk Outline:
I. Our Personal Journey towards Christ

Formation
Our spiritual life and growth is a journey towards Christ. (Philippians 3:12)
Focus on the phrase “It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect
maturity…”
- Paul considered himself in a race or in a journey. His goal was to attain perfect maturity – to
be like Christ and to be in Christ.
- Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God – to know Jesus and to be like
Him. Christianity is about developing an intimate and personal relationship with Jesus.
- If the journey you’re in does not have Jesus as the goal, then you are in the wrong journey – a
dangerous one!
A. Visualizing the Journey
The journey towards Christ is more than just a race, but it is more like a pilgrimage. In a
pilgrimage, it’s not about who finishes first, but it’s about the experience, the fulfillment and
the satisfaction of reaching the sacred destination.
We all have the same destination in this journey, but God gave us different starting points and
different routes. Some may come from north, others south, some east and others west. Some
may travel by land, water or air; others may need to walk longer, climb steeper hills, or go
through extreme heat or violent storms; others may be walking in the right direction yet others
may be losing their way.
1. Where are you in this journey? Reflect on which group you belong.
• Just started – Are you a recent CLP graduate? Are you one of those who want to start a
change in your spiritual life?
• Hard starting – Are you one of those who are still in the bondage of vices, addictions or
sins of the past? Are you one who can’t let go of current practices (corruption at work,
feng shui, etc)?
• Too distracted – Are you the type who is too caught up with a flourishing business, or
climbing the corporate ladder, or too attached with worldly things and pleasures?
• Stationary – Are you one who is too complacent about your present situation? Do you
spend hours just watching cable TV or DVDs, surfing the internet or just being idle?
Formation
• Tired/exhausted – Are you too tired of doing things that don’t motivate you or don’t
bring forth passion in you? Have you been serving but don’t feel fulfilled?
• “Been there, done that” – Are you the type who is not so enthusiastic about the journey
anymore feeling that “I’ve been through this before and I know how all these work.”
• Lost – Are you one who took a different route while in the journey and now you’re lost?
Did you get tempted by something along the way so you took that path?
• Going around in circles – Are you the type who goes around in circles (move 1 step
forward, 2 steps backward), lacking the focus and perseverance to move forward?
• Committed – Are you one of those who is so focused on the goal, able to press on and
strain forward to meet the goal?
Suggested Reflection Activity # 1:
Speaker leads the participants into a silent reflection, eyes closed. Review
the different types of people taking the journey. Encourage participants to
be open and humble and honestly identify themselves in the different
categories. Ask them these questions: “Where am I in my journey towards
Christ?” “Do I have an intimate relationship with Him?” “How often do I
talk to Him?” Speaker may add/revise questions. Participants write down
their reflections in their notebook/journal.
2. We are all works-in-progress.
• Paul had been converted for at least 25 years when he wrote Philippians. If anyone could
think he had taken hold of it, it would have been Paul, but Paul considered himself still in
the process and still moving towards the goal.
• On the one hand, we should recognize our nothingness and God’s greatness.
• On the other hand, let us strive to be like Christ by knowing him more and by having an
intimate relationship with Him.
B. Making the Journey a Pursuit

Formation
1. “Pursuit” is a strong word that connotes “actively chasing” or “continuously following”.
• We should remember that our goal is no other than Christ himself – King of Kings, Lord of
Lords, Alpha and Omega, Creator of the Universe, etc. If Christ is your goal, would you be
walking spiritlessly and lazily towards him?
• Our journey towards Christ, towards a life in union with Him, should be an active and
passionate pursuit! This means we are not just running, but running desperately and
helplessly towards Him, with utmost yearning, longing and desire to reach the goal, no
matter what it may take from us.
2. The Christ Pursuit
• The theme of this seminar “The Christ Pursuit” has a double meaning:
o Christ’s pursuit of us
o Our pursuit of a life in union with Christ.
• A great deal of this journey is made possible because God pursued us first. Our pursuit is
simply a response to His loving pursuit of us, our yes to His invitation to be in Him.
• We need to have a deeper understanding of these truths in order for us to be focused,

consistent and steadfast in reaching our goal.
II. Christ’s Pursuit of Us
“… I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ.” (Philippians 3:12)
First perspective about this pursuit is that God is the main pursuer. He pursued us FIRST.
- He pursues us because He loves us - we were made for His love. The bible speaks of a long
and continuing story of Him pursuing us to reconcile us with Him once more.
- He pursues us to belong to Him.
- He pursues us in all ways possible and in ways we will understand.
A. What are the truths about His pursuit of us?
1. He pursues us WHENEVER.
Formation
O His pursuit is timeless.
• Then. Even before we have uttered our first word, God was already in pursuit of us.
• Now. His pursuit is constant and untiring. God pursues us relentlessly. Nothing can
drive Him away from His pursuit of us. He pursues us regardless of what we do or
don’t do.
• Forever. God will pursue us forever, until our last breath. God’s pursuit is such
that He wishes us to belong to Him completely. If there is an area in our life
that does not belong to Him, He will pursue us until we are utterly His.
2. He pursues us WHEREVER.
O His pursuit is all around you. Whether we like it or not, believe it or not, see it or
not, it is there. Everything about creation speaks of His love for and pursuit of us.
3. He pursues us HOWEVER.
O His pursuit is creative. He will do whatever it takes to woo us.
O His pursuit is self-giving. He holds nothing back. He gives us 100% love all the time.
O His pursuit is forgiving. When we stray from Him, it is He who pulls us back. He
does everything to win us back to Him.
4. He pursues us WHOEVER we are.
O His pursuit of us is as we are – whether or not we change our ways or whether we

feel worth pursuing or not.
O We reflected awhile ago about the kind of person we are in this journey towards
Christ. Whoever we are, God pursues us with the same great love.
He will pursue us WHEREVER, WHENEVER, HOWEVER, WHOEVER. And the “WHYEVER” is

because great is His love for us, for us to belong to Him completely.
All the truths above point to one thing – that we cannot get away from the way He wants to
be with us – because we cannot get away from a loving God!
Formation
“…neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Speaker leads the participants into a silent reflection, eyes closed. Ask them
to visualize that God placed them in this world to start the journey as a
small child. The suggested monologue may go like this:
“When you were still an infant, God was there. As you started to learn how
to walk, God remained to be there. You started to walk on the road to
begin your journey. God was eager and excited for you. As you took each
step, you grew in size until after a few steps you reached your current size.
God still remains – never getting tired of loving, caring and pursuing.
As you continue to walk, God shows you how much he pursues you by
showing you His creation as a sign of His love for you. At your left, He
shows you mountains, lakes, beaches and skyscrapers – he created all
these for you. At your right, He shows you your family, relatives, friends
and inspirations in life. At your far left, He gives you your education, talents
and skills. At your far right, He gives you your profession, career and
sources of livelihood. Still at one side he gives you things to make your life
better and easier - cell phone, internet, cable TV, gadgets, cheap airline
tickets. You get too carried away with all these things around you that you
forget where you’re really headed to.
So you make a turn, then another and another. You’re enjoying the world
so much that you get too adventurous and take more turns, different
routes, even dangerous ones. But God still pursues you.
Many times he allows you to stumble and fall, hoping you’ll get back to
your senses, yet you continue to get lost. But wherever you go and whoever
you become, God relentlessly pursues you until you find your way back to
the road He intended for you. Then at some point you get tired, you feel
empty, you are not fulfilled. You continue walking – dragging your
discontented self - until you come across a small chapel. Jesus is inside
waiting. You go inside and approach Jesus. Tell Him anything that’s on your
mind (long pause).
Try to listen for His response (long pause).

Formation
B. Where is Christ in our journey?
1. God is the reason why we are in the journey. Our Christian life journey begins not through
the weakness of human decision to follow God, but with God’s powerful calling and laying
hold of our lives.
• Because of God’s great love for us, He has already taken possession of us even before
we uttered our first word or took our first step. He created us. He gave us life.
• He has always been there pursuing us and showing us how much He loves us. He has
created the universe for us, He gave us our family, He gave us our education and
career, He gave us our community!
• So practically, even without doing anything, God is always there, 24/7, pursuing us and
desires that we pursue Him back.
2. God sees to it that we stay in the journey because we are intended for Him. Paul says that
the reason he runs in this race is because Jesus chased him down, seized him, and put him
in the race. (Recall encounter in Damascus.)
• Since God desires us so much, He will chase us, seize us, until we are back in the
journey. This may be in the form of trials and sufferings. Reflect on instances in your
life when God seized you back.
3. God is the goal of our journey. If we choose any other goal, we will never realize the
fullness of life and will always fall short, way short, than what God has planned for us.
4. Christ is the start, the way and the goal all in one. He is our all in all.
• We are one in Christ. Jesus said “I am the vine and you are the branches.” This
describes our oneness with Jesus. We can only live to the fullest if we live through Him,
with Him and in Him.
• Complete dependence in Jesus. We are where we are now not because of our actions
but because of God’s constant pursuit for us.
• Without Jesus we can do nothing. (John 15:5)
• Apart from Him we have no real life of any kind. All that we do and all that we live for
are worthless without Him. Our journey is meaningless without Him to journey with
and to journey towards.
Formation
• Psalms 127. What is the use of all this worry and strain? For the work will after all
amount to nothing unless God is in it, and if He is in it, why do we need to worry and
be anxious, since He of course, by the very fact of His presence, assumes the care and
responsibility of all these.
A relationship is designed for 2 or more individuals. We have come to understand that God
strains in reaching out to us, so we have to press on and extend our hands as well.
III. Our Pursuit of Oneness with Christ – The Ideal Pursuit
“…but I continue my pursuit in the hope that I may possess it…” (Philippians 3:12)
- That I may possess perfect maturity – become like Christ
- “It is no longer I who lives in me but Christ who lives in me.” It should be our utmost goal
to be like Christ and eventually be one with Christ, hence, the ideal pursuit should be the
pursuit of oneness with Christ.
- To be like Christ we must know Him more and grow in an intimate relationship with Him.
- How close are you with Jesus? How intimate is your relationship with Jesus?
A. What will make us successful in our pursuit of oneness with Christ? We should remember
that our pursuit should be:
1. Focused
o Paul’s “one thing” (Phil. 3:13) implies focused concentration and effort, that he sets
aside distractions and works at keeping his mind on the goal of knowing Christ and
becoming more like Him.
o It will be difficult to focus on this “one thing” – our ideal pursuit – if we have so many
distractions.
o It is possible to do multiple things but still aligned to our ideal pursuit.
o In our pursuit we will focus only on Christ and what He wants us to do. We will not
be distracted!
Formation
2. Enduring
o We should take on the posture of Paul, that despite his spiritual maturity, he still
continues to press on towards the goal.
o Christian growth is a lifelong journey. We need to have this mentality or else we won’t
be able to make it successfully to our goal.
o In our pursuit we will press on despite difficulties until we finish the journey. We will
not give up!
3. Continuous
o Paul’s attitude was “I need to keep moving ahead.” (or moving forward)
o An attitude of moving from the past: “forgetting what lies behind”
o An attitude of moving toward the goal: “reaching forward to what lies ahead”
o An attitude of moving continuously despite obstacles: “I press on toward the goal”
o In our pursuit we will keep on moving forward, regardless of our past, present, and
what we may fear about the future. We will not stop!
B. The prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus
• It will be long journey, it will be a difficult one, it may entail a lot of sacrifice, but it’s all
going to be worth it.
• In fact, as we come to be more intimate with Jesus, He will already bless us abundantly as
we live our life on earth. Our blessings will even overflow until it blesses other people’s
lives. We have seen that happen as we are continuously blessed by a number of people
here in our community.
IV. Responding to the Invitation
Christ is all-out in His pursuit for you. Are you ready for an all-out pursuit to be one with Christ?
Formation
God was already there at the start, He is pursuing you now – right at this very moment, and He
will be there, with arms wide open, waiting for you as you finish the journey. Are you ready to
accept God’s invitation to move forward in this journey?
Wherever you are in the journey right now, are you ready to take seriously this pursuit of knowing
Christ more and growing in an intimate relationship with Him?
Like Paul, are you ready to be focused, enduring and constantly pressing on and straining forward
towards the ultimate prize? Are you ready to live a life of joy, peace, fulfillment and love – far
beyond human comprehension? Are you ready to live your life 24/7 with Jesus? If your answer is
YES, the pursuit begins!!!
V. Reflection and Sharing
The participants answer the following questions in their notebook/journal. If time will allow, they
may be asked to share in small groups (around 3-4 members only per small group) their answers to
these questions.
1. God is in pursuit of me. How does this make me feel?
2. How will I respond to His invitation?
3. What are my fears, if any, of being pursued by the Lord?

Formation
Talk 2 – Journeying with Christ in our Pursuit
Anchor Verse:
“I continue my pursuit in the hope that I may possess it…” (Philippians 3:12)
Objectives:
1. Explain the nature of our pursuit of Christ that we are actually pursuing oneness with Him.
2. Communicate excitement and hopefulness in responding to Christ’s pursuit of us.
3. Make participants aware of some of the realities of the pursuit.
4. Give practicable ways to pursue oneness with Christ with special emphasis on receiving and
listening.
Tenor:
Hopeful, Vibrant, Joyful
Someone who can clearly explain and who is firmly grounded in and is practicing the 5 D’s mentioned
in the talk.
I. Introduction
At the end of the first session, we expressed our desire to accept God’s invitation to this journey.
We also saw how God is forever playing the role of the pursuer, coming after us with passion
and purpose, drawing us closer and closer to a deep and intimate relationship with Him. He
never gets tired of loving us and pursuing us! He wants to be with us every step of the way in our
pursuit.
Formation
It is in seeing His great love, in experiencing the many ways by which God pursues us, that we
become naturally drawn to love Him back. We ask ourselves, how can the great Almighty God
want to pursue someone like me? And how can He pursue me with such great desire? What an
amazing kind of love He gives to me! It becomes natural for me to want to respond to His pursuit
of me by wanting to become more intimate in my relationship with Him.
We are all in different levels of relationships with God. Regardless of the stage of our
relationship with God, there will always be room for a deeper relationship because we can never
exhaust His capacity to show us His limitless love for us.
This is what our journey is about—it is the deepening of our intimacy with God because He loved
us first and desires to be intimate with us. It is our pursuit in response to His pursuit of us. It is a
long journey, and certainly not an easy one, one. But it is one we are willing to take because we
want to be with the One who loves us most.
II. Journeying with Christ in Our Pursuit
We will encounter many things along the way in this journey. We will face many challenges,
fight many temptations to quit or to go a different way, experience hardship. And so we want to
assure ourselves of two things: first, that we finish the journey; and second, that we journey with
Christ.
We must realize that for as long as we make sure we are always journeying with Christ, then we
will certainly finish this journey! Not only that, we also know that with Christ with us we will
receive much consolation, experience God’s affirmation, we will be strengthened and
empowered, and we will experience His loving presence with us.
We can run and finish this journey with Christ by bearing in mind 5 things (5 D’s) that will guide
and strengthen us along the way, through whatever we may face:
1. Deepening Prayer
2. Developing Christ-consciousness
3. Delighting in the Sacraments
4. Detaching/Distancing from sin
5. Drawing Others to Christ
A. Deepening Prayer
Formation
As we go on our journey with the Lord, we may sometimes find ourselves losing our way.
Some of us may not even know where to start. We need something to direct us and that
something is PRAYER.
• Prayer keeps us in constant touch with Jesus who is our companion in this journey.
• Prayer can not only direct us, it can comfort us, convict us, and change us. Deepening
our prayer will ensure we are going in the direction our Lord wants us to go.
• Whatever level of prayer we have right now, there is always room for a deeper level
still.
• Deepening prayer ensures that we will be able to understand the Lord more as we spend
time with Him, and eventually understand our life more as we see things from His
perspective.
• Our prayers should take us to a place of deep intimacy, of not only being able to tell the
Lord everything, but also to learn two things:
1. To receive – Constant time in prayer allows us to simply open our hearts to the way
the Lord wants to love us so that we see and appreciate everything as a gift from Him.
- Jesus Himself would go off to lonely places to pray and would be absorbed in
prayer, receiving from the Father. It is from receiving in prayer that we get our
strength. Jesus Himself had 30 years of “growing and becoming strong, being
filled with wisdom” (Luke 2:40).
- He gave 30 years of His life to receive so as to prepare Him for only 3 years of
public ministry.
(Lead the participants in a short reflection, pausing frequently.) Do we

know how to receive in prayer? Do we know what we should receive? We
receive love and grace directly from God.
Quiet yourself right now. Close your eyes. Remember that you are on
a journey in pursuit of Christ. Imagine yourself walking along a long
path. Look around you. What do you see around you as you walk?
What kind of path are you walking on? Is it rocky, winding, muddy,
smooth, straight? How are you feeling as you walk? Excited? Unsure?
Tired? Afraid? Try to see what exactly you are feeling.
Formation
Look far ahead of you to the end of the path. It is too far for you to see
exactly where it ends. As you walk you see a figure but you cannot seem to
recognize who it is. Keep walking. As you come closer you realize it is
Jesus. How does this make you feel? Continue moving towards Jesus till
you are face to face with Him.
Jesus invites you to rest and sit with Him somewhere. Where does He
lead you? Sit there with Him and allow Him to give you rest. Just enjoy
this moment with Him and bask in His love in silence.
2. To listen – Constant time in prayer allows us to be more familiar with the voice of
the Lord such that we can hear His messages for us. Familiarity with God’s voice
will not happen unless we let Him speak. We must quiet down to listen. “When you
pray, go to your inner room, close the door….” (Matthew 6:6)
- If we feel like we don’t know how to listen, be assured that God will meet us
exactly where we are. He will make sure that we understand Him. He desires to
be with us and He desires that we hear from Him.
- God speaks to us through an inner quiet voice speaking to our hearts. If we

spend enough time in silence frequently, it will be easier to recognize Him speaking
to us.
- We are given many tools for prayer - meditation and contemplation on the Bible,
etc. What is important is that we become comfortable in prayer, with whatever
form God leads us to.
- Prayer can’t be measured by what happened, or how you feel. Whether or not
you feel something, just spend the allotted time with God. Eventually there will
be transformation, even if it happens little by little. What is important is to stay
connected consistently.
- Finding out how others are praying may put variety in your prayer life but
don’t get pressured or frustrated if things don’t work for you. God talks to people
in different ways as people are different. He finds ways so that you will find it
easy to understand when He is talking to you.
- Prayer should ALWAYS be led by the Holy Spirit. “the Spirit also helps our
weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself
Formation
intercedes for us.” (Romans 8:26) This is the best way to pursue God, through the
right guide Who is the Holy Spirit.
Try an exercise in listening. Close your eyes. Go back to that place where
you were sitting with Jesus. Look at Jesus and tell Him what makes
you feel tired in your journey towards Him. Is it certain people in your
life? Certain situations in your life? A concern that you have? Tell Him all
about it. Tell Him exactly what you think and how you feel. Now write
this down. (2-3 minutes to write down.)
Close your eyes again. Jesus has listened to what you have told Him. He
knows what you think, how you feel. He looks at you with much love in His
eyes and speaks to you. Listen to Him. (Spend a few minutes for listening.)
Now write down in your journal what you sensed Jesus telling you. Do not
be frustrated if you think you did not hear anything. Just write down how
you felt listening.
• Prayer need not always be about doing all the talking with God. A relationship is two-
way, a conversation is two-way. God needs to be given some time to be heard what we
may receive His love. Remember that He pursues you in order to be with you! Let Him
be with you in a deeper way through prayer. Keeping with prayer will guarantee you will
never be away from Him at all in this journey!
B. Developing Christ-consciousness
As we go along the journey, we need to make sure we have not lost sight of the goal. We have
to try to be conscious of Jesus all the time.
• Developing a Christ-consciousness is a form of being in-touch with Jesus all the time. A
way of “… never ceasing to pray…” (1 Thes. 5:17) Whatever we are doing, whatever part of
our day, we have to recognize Christ.
• In seeing Christ all around, our pursuit towards Him becomes more focused as we
interpret things in the light of Him. We see His will, His desire, His plan and how they
relate to our lives.
Formation
1. See Him in everything – nature, circumstance. Everything on earth bears the stamp of
God and His love and you will see it only if you are looking for it.
2. See Him in everyone – The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in each of us ensures that we
will be able to truly find Him in each person we meet.
As we begin to see Christ in others and in everything, we realize that literally each
moment can become a special encounter with Jesus as we experience Him in a more real and
personal way!
C. Delighting in the Sacraments
Sometimes we feel like we have been journeying for the longest time. We are stuck at the
point where we have no more strength to go on. We need to be nourished. The Sacraments
are a great source of the spiritual nourishment we need.
We take distinct pleasure in the Sacraments and the graces they can give. Sacraments are
visible signs instituted by Christ Himself for us so as to give us grace.
1. The Sacraments are given at every point of our life that is of major importance – here
Christ assures us that He wishes to grace us every step of our life.
2. Some Sacraments He has given are those we can receive very often, an indication that
He wants to grace us as often as possible. We only have to accept these.
a. The Eucharist
• Through the Mass – This is the best way to see Him as we remember His great
love. It is the best way to receive as Jesus gives Himself to us in His Real Presence
in the form of bread and wine. The Lord made His memory last because He wants
to stay with us.
• Through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament – We do not appreciate enough the

Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist else the Adoration Chapels would always
be full. This is not a symbol of Jesus but Jesus Himself, the Source, in the flesh,
inviting us to be with Him so He can fill us.
b. The Sacrament of Reconciliation – By humbling ourselves before God, we receive a

fresh spirit of true repentance and lasting conversion.
• It is God who forgives. He does so through His priests.

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• Priests may also be wounded people but God has anointed them and uses them
as His wounded healers to bring us His healing and forgiveness.

Answer these questions (Speaker may give sample answers):
1. What keeps you from going to confession?
2. What are the reasons you are unable to spend time with Jesus in the
Adoration Chapel?
3. Are you able to attend Mass every Sunday without fail? If no, why not?
What are some reasons why you are unable to go to Mass?
As we delight and enjoy the Spiritual food the Lord has given us, we find the journey
becoming not only enjoyable, but easier to go through as we take in nourishment that allows
the soul to press on and continue the pursuit of oneness with Christ.
D. Detaching and Distancing Yourself from Sin
What can lead us astray? As we journey along, things, events, places and people may all come
along to remove us from the path. We have to be vigilant and watch out for these things.
• Keeping as far away from sin and temptation as we can helps us stay on course in our
journey.
• Sin blinds the intellect, weakens the will, it defiles us, it makes our lives seem
meaningless. When in doubt if something is a sin or not, it is best to choose not to
do it and find an opportunity to seek guidance from a priest.
• We show our love for the Lord by keeping His commandments. “If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in My love. (John 15:10) Sinning lessens our ability to
receive from Him as our sin hardens our hearts to His grace. Should we fall, we can
always go back to Him in confession.
• Distancing from sin necessarily includes keeping away from temptation. (James 4:7)
“ Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Do not cooperate with the devil by giving in
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to the temptations he sends. Avoid all places, people, circumstances that may lead to sin.
We can always call upon the name of the Lord when we are tempted.
The Lord in His mercy and love makes sure however that the consequences of our sinning are
clear. He also makes ways for us to get right back on track, in case we fall. He always allows us
to have a way back to Him!
E. Drawing Others to Christ
At some points in our journey we may feel like we are alone, like nobody understands what we
are going through. Who can help us along the way?
• If we find others around us pursuing God as well, it will be easier to focus and continue in
our pursuit.
• In SFC we should be a community deeply rooted in Jesus, helping to bring each other to
Jesus.
• We do this by:
1. Ministering to others, both in and out of community (praying for someone who is sick,
one-to-ones, weekly households, etc.)
2. Building up each other (honoring others, encouraging not competing, service partners
supporting each other, etc.)
• Along the journey we also encounter people who help us in our pursuit of a life in Christ or
who may need our help in their pursuit of Him. These may be our family, co-workers, the
poor, even people we may not know personally.
• This gives us an opportunity to minister to others or build others up, or allow ourselves to be
encouraged and supported along the way. In this way we feel Christ’s presence as well as
help others experience Him in us.
We are never alone in this pursuit! We draw others to Christ and hope they all press on with
us, sharing in our victories, and urging us on when we stumble! We press onward together to
Christ!
III. Making Christ’s Pursuit Our Own

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As we make these 5 things – prayer, consciousness of Christ, the sacraments, avoidance of sin,
and journeying with our brothers and sisters – an essential part of our journey, we can expect to
indeed deepen our relationship with Christ. We will be assured we are journeying with Him and not
going our own way.
• As we deepen our relationship with Him we will begin to recognize His hand moving in our lives.
We will begin to see more clearly God’s plan for our lives, where He wants us to go, and how He
wants to move in our lives.
• Because God’s plan is best, He will pursue us to lead us to that plan.
• He will pursue us in a way that we will understand, so that we will recognize Him guiding us.
• We will see His hand working in our lives through the people He sends our way, through the
events that happen in our lives, through His answers to our prayers.
• Because we know His plan is best then we will follow where He leads, even if it may be difficult.
• The best way to respond to God’s pursuit of us is to follow the path by which He is pursuing us!
We go with the flow of God’s plan in our lives. In pursuing our oneness with Christ, we just
follow the path He has already given us.
Speaker leads the group into a short reflection. Were there things we did in our
lives that we assumed God wanted us to do but realized later on that He wanted
us to do something else? (For example, a job we accepted which we realized later
was not what the Lord wanted for us. Or a person we had a relationship with who
turned out not to be God’s best for us.) Write these down in your journal.
• Sometimes we are unable to see God’s plan for us because we have become so absorbed with
our own pursuit and our own agenda – power, fame, riches, glory, etc. Even good things can get
in the way of our seeing His pursuit if we are too focused on them that we can’t see the better
things He has for us.
• To see and follow God’s plan for us, we need to BE STILL and just allow Him to be God, to let Him
control things so that they work better for us.
• Since God has been passionate in His pursuit of us, He will not hide the way He wants us to go,
especially the way that leads to Him!
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• At the end of the day, we realize that it is Christ who first pursues us and our response is to open
up our hearts and our lives to Him.
IV. Conclusion
• Christ is actively pursuing us to have a deeper relationship with Him! He gives us all the reasons
and ways for us to see the way He does this. All we have to do is stay on the road He intends for
us to travel.
• Christ is the one forever pursuing us. So when we lose our way or feel like giving up, we can be
assured that He will lead us back. He will help us be faithful in our pursuit because He wants us
to be one with Him.
• In this journey if we will let God be God, we will not fear the road less traveled, we will not
perish along the way. For we are accompanied by Him who will make sure we will reach our
long-awaited prize at the end of our journey!
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Talk 3: Empty Pursuits
Anchor Verse:
“For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain
Christ...” (Philippians 3:8)
Objectives:
1. Lead participants to introspect and discover their pursuits which divert them from their pursuit
of oneness with Christ.
2. Establish that it is necessary for us to surrender to God those things that would hinder us from
having a deep intimacy with Christ.
Tenor:
Reflective, leading to discovery, encouraging participants to be still and listen to God speaking to them
Someone who can be both honestly frank and empathetic in speaking about issues that normally confront
the single person, preferably one who can share personal experiences on the empty pursuits; one who
can lead the participants in deep reflection and encourage them to open themselves to listen to the Lord
speaking to them.
I. Introduction
God calls us to a deep, personal, and intimate relationship with Him. He not only calls us, He pursues
us with so great a passion the extent of which we cannot even begin to imagine.
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While we may experience yearning for different things, for food when we are hungry, for company
when we are lonely, for love when we are rejected, so too does Jesus yearn for us to enter into
intimacy with Him that we might have what our hearts ultimately desire, what they were designed to
desire. For it is Him alone who can satisfy this yearning.
Yet if we look at the way we live our lives, we realize that we are in pursuit of lesser things which we
think or hope will lead us to this fullness of life, but oftentimes leave us either unsatisfied or yearning
for more.
Sometimes, in what we think is our pursuit towards Christ, we end up leaving Him out of the picture,
focusing instead on other pursuits that lead us away from Him.
II. Setting the Tone of the 3rd Talk
(Set the tone of this third session.)
As we continue our journey, we allow ourselves to be pursued more intently by Christ, for that is the
only way that we will be led to pursue a life of oneness with Him, for we simply RESPOND to His
pursuit of us. Hence, for this session we will:
o OPEN ourselves to Jesus:
• Set aside our pretenses, the roles we play or are expected to play.
• Right now we are not household heads or leaders or “just a new member” or “pioneer
members”. We are not “the holy one in the chapter,” “the funny one,” or “the caring,
nurturing one.” For whether these labels are true or just misconceptions, what matters
right now is who we are: Jesus’ beloved whom He pursues with all His heart.
Ask Him our questions, even those that we are unsure we want to be answered and prepare
ourselves to hear Him speak to us.
o LISTEN to Christ speak to us:
• Through the words we will hear, the learnings we will gain from the talk itself
• Through Bible passages that may be quoted
• Through the answers that will come to us as we are asked many questions during the
talk
• Through the stirrings in our heart which we might feel as we go through the session
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• Through the quiet inner voice in our hearts
All throughout the session you will be asked many questions. Bring these questions before our Lord
as you hear them and ask Him to answer them with you. Ask Him to reveal the truth to you.
(Speaker may lead an opening prayer asking the Lord to help the participants open themselves to
Him and listen to Him speak.)
III. Our Empty Pursuits
What are we after in this journey? Where are our energies focused? What tires us at the end of the
day? Where are we headed? What do we desire?
There are four pursuits we may go after in an attempt to fulfill what we think is our greatest desire.
Although not bad in themselves, we may say these pursuits are empty, for although they may give us
an experience of victory, like the empty golden cup given to the winner in a racing tournament they
are not able provide us what we truly need.
Each of these empty pursuits may lead us to a pitfall if we are not able to forsake them for the
greatest pursuit that our God invites us to, which is Jesus Himself.
These pursuits may not always feel empty as they may give us a false sense of fulfillment, but in the
end we realize that they are not really able to fill our greatest need.
There is nothing wrong with these four pursuits except when they begin to consume us or to take
greater priority than our pursuit of Christ. It is important to examine where our quest for these
things leads us.
A. The Pursuit of Success
• What are you aiming for? What goals have you set:
1. In life (get married by age 30, make your first million in 3 years, have a relationship by
this year),
2. At work (get promoted, get an increase in salary, earn enough to buy a car),
3. In your area (have 1000 new members this year, revive all inactive members, train new
leaders),
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4. In your relationships (reconcile with your old GG, improve your relationship with your
dad, renew old ties with your best friend in college),
5. How important is it for you to succeed in achieving these goals? Which of these is most
important to you?
6. What would you give to reach these goals?
• For many of us, success is of primary importance. We want to succeed in what we do: work,
business, service, relationships, or in whatever goals we set.
• We may want success for the following reasons: (Let us ask ourselves if these are the
reasons behind our pursuit of success.)
1. To gain authority – succeeding at work allows us to reach a certain position of influence

and power; even success in our service in SFC might give us a certain status. (Do we want
to succeed because of the status or prestige that comes with it?)
2. To gain affluence – success usually means greater financial capability which will allow us
to have the material things we want. (Do we want to succeed so that we can buy that
gadget we’ve long wanted, the latest cell phone, or so that we can allow our family to
have a comfortable life other than what they do now?)
3. To gain acceptance – success gives us a better image; people may look at us with more
respect and we may become more popular (Do we want to succeed because it gives us a
good image, makes us more attractive, or gains us more friends?)
4. To gain affirmation – we feel good when we are praised for what we do and we equate
our self-esteem with our success; i.e., success = I am good enough/I am worthy. (Do we
strive for success because that’s the only way to be noticed by our parents or colleagues,
or because we need to boost our self-esteem?)
• Success is not a bad thing; in fact, God wants us to succeed. However, we need to examine
what we want to succeed in and our motives for wanting to achieve success. We need to ask
ourselves: How important is success for me, and why is it so important? What do I do as a
result of my success?
• The pursuit of success can make us too preoccupied with what will possibly give us authority,
affluence, acceptance, and affirmation, that we may neglect the more important things,
especially the Giver of our talents and success.
• Let us ask ourselves:

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- We can focus all our time and energy on advancing in our career, perhaps to be able to
support family, but how much of our time for family is lost because we are too busy
working?
- Does our work, or our pursuit of success, take away our time for prayer? Do we work
overtime on Sundays and have no time for Mass? Have we become too busy to even
attend our household meetings? Have we lost time to even think about where God is in
this whole pursuit of success?
- Are we so intent on succeeding in our pursuit of someone we want to be in relationship

with that we forget to even involve God or consult Him in this decision?
- Are we so focused on being successful or in doing things right that we lose patience or
compassion for those who cannot contribute to our ‘noble’ goals?
- Success may be so important for us that we will do all we can to achieve it at all costs,
even at the expense of relationships with others or even our integrity. Have we reached
this point? Or are we nearing it?
• We might feel that being successful will give us the happiness or fullness of life that we desire,
only to realize that it only makes us desire more and more success or that we still feel
incomplete despite our achievements. Or it may lead us to consider success as our ultimate
goal and we are tempted to either feel too self-confident because of our successes, or too
frustrated because of our failures.
• Pitfall: Pride.
We credit all our successes to ourselves and we don’t know how to handle failure. Success
becomes the all-important good that we must attain.
B. The Pursuit of Satisfaction
• Some of us might turn to things that will give us pleasure in order to fill an emptiness inside
of us, or to help us forget our hurts. This could be food, drink, sex, emotional attachments,
shallow relationships, or whatever we might turn to in order to satisfy a longing that we
have.
• How important is it for us to satisfy our bodily and emotional needs at all costs? How much
do we depend on satisfaction or pleasure for our happiness?

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- How much of our resources (time, money, energy) do we spend on material things that
satisfy our bodily needs or our need to belong: fashion, beauty products, gimmicks,
gadgets, the latest trends?
- Do we turn to food, alcohol, or some other substance when we are stressed or

depressed, hoping it will help us cope or forget the pain?
- Do we experiment with drugs that are supposed to give us heightened physical or

emotional sensations?
- Do online relationships excite us because the person online does not need to see our
brokenness and imperfections but is able to provide us with comfort or boost our self-
esteem?
- Do we turn to sex, thinking it will satisfy our emotional need to be loved and accepted?
• Perhaps it is also a good time to ask, if not we but a brother or sister we know is struggling
with this pursuit:
- How am I able to support my brother/sister avoid these substances that have become
his/her primary source of satisfaction?
- Or do I lead him/her closer to them (e.g., inviting a brother struggling with alcohol for a
drink; offering a cigarette to a brother who is trying to stop smoking, etc.)?
• These things may give us temporary satisfaction but will never completely satisfy us.
Rather they may cause us to crave more and to count on these pleasurable things or
actions to numb our pain or give us happiness. We forget that our hearts were designed to
be satisfied only by God.
• Pitfall: Addiction.
We begin to depend on these things to be the source of our happiness; without them, we
feel incomplete and restless.
C. The Pursuit of Security
• Some of us may look at our security as the way to the fullness of life we seek. This may
come in the form of material security or emotional security.
• Do we focus our efforts on what will ensure our material security (earning money) and
emotional security (protecting our relationships)? While these are not wrong, counting on
them to fulfill our greatest desire or to bring us to our destination is bound to disappoint
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us. It may also prevent us from sharing with or helping others when we know it will
threaten our comfort level of security.
- How important to us is our job security? How much are we willing to trade off or give
up just to ensure it?
- Do we make financial stability the only goal of our work, forgetting to share our
blessings or use our work to allow our talents to serve and glorify God? What is our
main motivating factor in wanting to be financially secure?
- Do we deny others of financial assistance, fearing that we might not have enough left
for our own or our family’s needs? Do we lose faith that God will honor our generosity
and will always provide for us?
- Do we resort to measures like borrowing, cheating, or dishonesty just to make sure we

make the amount we need to remain, in our standards, materially secure?
- Do we cling tightly to our important relationships, depending on people to be the

ultimate source of our happiness and self-worth? We may hold on even to
relationships which we know to be sinful or disadvantageous for us, even if we are a
victim of abuse in the relationship, because of the false sense of security that it offers
us.
- Or are we too secure in our present situation that we choose to remain idle, not
wanting to strive harder or to take greater responsibility at work or in our service?
- Are we so self-assured that we shun correction given to us by people who care for us,
perhaps thinking it will threaten our own self-image? How open are we to knowing
our faults or weaknesses?
• Pitfall: Selfishness.
We become concerned mainly with meeting our own needs to the point of neglecting
those who are in need. We could become numb to the needs of others, thinking that it is
not our obligation to help them.
D. The Pursuit of Service
• Many of us might tell ourselves that we are not really pursuing success, satisfaction, or
security for their own sake. While we do value these three things, they probably are not
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the main preoccupation for many of us. For as Singles for Christ, our focus is on our
service—the work we do for God. We are busy giving talks, leading or attending our
households, planning for chapter assemblies, and serving the poor. We are busy with the
things of God.
• But service, even with the purest of intentions, does not necessarily translate to deeper
intimacy with God. Is our service leading us to seek God more deeply in prayer, in the
sacraments, in the everyday things, or do they make us too busy to be with even God
Himself? Service will always be a poor substitute for intimacy with the Lord.
- Do we allow our relationship with God to remain in the level of public worship,
assemblies, activities, forgetting that He longs to carry out our love affair with Him in
private?
- Are we content with making our household meeting or our chapter assembly our
prayer time? Have we lost time to be with our Lord, one-on-one?
- Do we make our service an excuse or a reason not to go to Mass even on Sundays or

go to Confession? (“I have no time, there’s just so much work to be done for the
community.”)
- What is our main motive for serving? Are we just keeping ourselves busy? Do we
consider our service an obligation, perhaps a justification, or simply a way of loving
Jesus?
- Does our service help us know and love God more intimately? Why do we serve?
• Even good things, things that we do FOR God, can hinder us from experiencing Him as a
person, if they cause us to stop pursuing God as our heart’s greatest desire.
• Pitfall: Burn-Out.
When we become too focused on our service that we sacrifice our intimate relationship
with God, then we face burn-out. Our service may give us some form of fulfillment, even
praise from others, but if we do not allow God to nourish our relationship with Him, then
we are bound to burn out long before the work is done.
Which of these four pursuits has caught our attention and has become our major focus? Which of
these has become the reason for our getting up in the morning? Which of these can we say is our
most important endeavor in our earthly pilgrimage, which we count on for our personal
fulfillment?
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Could it be possible that our pursuit of success, satisfaction, security, or service have become so
much a part of our lives, so normal for us, that we are no longer aware of how this has overtaken
or even taken the place of our pursuit for Christ?
IV. Surrendering Our Empty Pursuits
We have come here to this retreat at different stages of our own personal journeys, our own
personal pursuits.
• Some of us may be tired of this seemingly endless striving to be successful, satisfied, secure, or
able to serve.
• Some of us may have gotten lost along the way, perhaps not knowing what it is we should
really pursue.
• Or about to give up because we can’t ever seem to reach our destination.
• Or maybe we have resigned to ourselves that we will never succeed, never be satisfied or
secure, never be able to serve as we ought.
• Have we stumbled and reached the pitfall of our pursuit—caught in pride, addiction,
selfishness, or burn out?
• Or perhaps we feel we are right there, just about to fall into the pit, not knowing how to stop
ourselves from falling all the way.
In whatever stage of our journey we might be in, the important question to ask is, “Lord, what are
You telling me? What are You asking me to do?”
Our souls, unlike our bodies, are infinite; thus they can be satisfied only by the Infinite Being that is
God. God designed our souls to find peace and contentment only in a full and intimate
relationship with Him, who alone can give us lasting joy. As St. Augustine tells us, “Our hearts are
restless until they rest in Thee.”
Our Lord, fully aware of this, perpetually INVITES us, never tiring of pursuing us until we notice and
RESPOND.
God calls us to surrender our empty pursuits to Him and redirect our tracks toward Him.
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• Surrendering does not mean we will cease to care or that we will resign and stop desiring for
anything. Rather, it means we will place everything we desire in the hands of our Lord, so that
they will never stand in the way of our pursuit of Him.
• For when we put God first, our desire for all other things becomes simply a means for loving
and serving Him and others.
This does not mean that God asks us to give up wanting to succeed, or to not seek to satisfy our
needs, or not to work towards being secure, or not to serve. Rather, He asks that we stop and
focus on a Greater Pursuit.
What does God ask of us?
1. Succeed first and foremost in one thing: faithfulness.
- Faithfulness to Him, to His commands, to our obedience.

- Faithfulness despite difficulties and failures.
- We first desire to seek God first, to put our personal relationship with Him as our priority,
to desire to love Him more and more and be faithful in loving Him.
- Faithfulness to our love relationship with the Lord also means fidelity to our
communication with Him through prayer and the Sacraments. Even when we don’t feel
like it, when we are busy, or when we are tired.
- Faithfulness to His commands means distancing ourselves from sin: “If you love me, you
will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) for that is the only way we can grow in our
relationship with Him.
- We begin to set goals meant only to fulfill God’s purpose. Because we are in touch with
Him constantly, we are able to know His will for us in everything we do. If we do
experience success at work or in any endeavor, it becomes for us a way to glorify God.
2. Satisfy our longings only with His infinite love.
- Knowing that neither food, nor material things, nor alcohol, nor sex, nor any person can
ever fully satisfy us, we count on the Lord to fill our need.
- This means letting go of vices and sinful practices that we may have gotten used to to fulfill
our bodily and emotional desires. It may make the journey more difficult but we choose to
still tread this path of righteousness because we know it is the only real way to our
destination.
- We also allow the Lord to become the food that will satisfy our needs as we delight in the
sacraments.
- During times when we might feel empty, we know whom to turn to to have our fill.
- Thus, no matter the difficulties we may encounter along the way, we continue to possess
inner joy and peace.
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- We yearn and hunger for the Lord simply because we love Him. We love Him because He
loved us first, and we have felt His own yearning and hunger for us.
3. Secure our intimate relationship with Him above all things.
- More than our material or emotional security, we protect and guard our love relationship
with the Lord as though it were our most important possession.
- We defend our time with the Lord and the things we do to glorify Him.
- Being secure of Christ’s love for us helps us not to be shaken by times of financial
uncertainties or threatened relationships. We are ready to face fears and doubts because
we have faith in the One who walks beside us.
- God does not ask us to accomplish more for Him, but simply to be more intimately
connected to Him. Being so is the only security we will ever need to remain at peace.
4. Serve only because of love and nothing else.
- Why do you serve in this ministry? If it is not out of love for the Lord of this ministry then
we may be serving for the wrong reasons.
- We do not serve to prove our love but simply because it is the most natural response to
the love He gives us.
- We do not need to earn God’s love by serving Him—He loves us infinitely even before we
serve Him.
- As we serve in love we allow others, our travel companions in this journey of life, to
experience Christ and to become an experience of Christ for us.
If we do these four things, our work, our relationships, our resources, everything that we do in order
to succeed, to be satisfied, to be secure, or to serve, become intended only to fulfill God’s will for us.
Thus, we will be able to say, as St. Paul did, “For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I
consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ. . .” (Philippians 3:8).
For what matters to us is one and only one thing: to gain Christ. We may lose our worldly success,
our satisfaction, our financial security, even our service, but for the sake of our Christ pursuit, we are
ready. And if we do succeed, or are satisfied, secure, and are blessed to serve others, we do all only
for the love and glory of God.
In surrendering to God all other pursuits aside from Him, we focus everything we have and
everything we are on the Greatest Pursuit: the Lord our God.
V. Surrendering and Receiving Activity (Speaker may modify as led by the Holy Spirit)
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Today, we will bring to the Lord all our pursuits that we may focus only on our pursuit of
a life in Him. As we give all of these to Him, we will ask Him to fill us with His desire, His
yearning, His hunger, His love for us so that we may respond with our own desire of Him.
Close your eyes and continue your journey with the Lord which you began this morning.
Sit with Him where He led you this morning. Feel His loving presence.
Jesus asks, “My Child, what do you wish to give me?” Tell Him about all your other
pursuits, your empty pursuits—is it the pursuit of success? Of satisfaction? Of security?
Of service? Or maybe all of these? Tell Jesus what those pursuits are. Which of these
pursuits is most important for you and is taking you away from your pursuit of Christ?
What is making it difficult for you to let go of these pursuits? Can you trust Jesus enough
to give these up for Him?
Now imagine yourself kneeling before the Lord. Extend your hands toward Him and offer
to Him your pursuits in surrender. You need not say anything for He knows what is deep
in your heart. Just lay all these pursuits at the feet of Jesus. Allow Jesus to comfort you
and strengthen you as He receives your offering with much understanding and
compassion. (Long pause)
Now ask the Lord, “Lord, how do you want me to continue with my journey? What do
wish me to do for you?” Jesus lifts you up and asks you to sit with Him. He speaks to you.
Listen to Him as He speaks to you in silence. (Long pause)
You know that the road that leads to Christ is a long and difficult one. But if our desire
for Him is strong enough, we will be able to go on despite these difficulties. “Lord, we
know that even if we may have everything we pursue in life, all the achievements,
wealth, or security we work for, we will never be fulfilled until we are filled by You. We
know that deep inside our soul yearns for You. Lord, let me feel your hunger and desire
to have a deep personal relationship with me. Let me feel how much You love me. I may
never be able to understand the greatness of Your love for me but tonight I ask that You
reveal to me in a way I will understand how strongly you are pursuing me in love.”
Stay in the Lord’s presence and receive His response. (Long pause)
(Speaker then closes the activity with a prayer of thanksgiving for this personal time with
Jesus.)
Journaling:
1. Which of the empty pursuits do you think could be taking you away from your pursuit of Christ?
Formation
2. What is making it difficult for you to let go of these pursuits?

3. Can you trust Jesus enough to give these up for Him?
Write down other significant reflections/messages from the Surrendering and Receiving Activity.
Formation
Talk 4: The Prize of the Pursuit
Anchor Verse:
“I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3:14)
Objectives:
1. Present a picture of what awaits each Christian at the end of the journey.
2. Exhort the participants to press on in the pursuit of oneness with Christ and to look
forward to reaching the prize of Christ Himself.
Tenor:
Grand, exciting, moving participants to press on in their journey while looking forward to the
prize that awaits them.
Someone who has his eyes fixed on heaven and who can excite the participants about this prize of
the pursuit; one who can share glimpses of heaven he has personally experienced in life.
I. Introduction
What marvelous revelations have been unveiled to us!
1. That the Greatest Pursuit we are meant to have in this earthly journey of ours is the
pursuit of oneness with Christ Himself, who leads us to God the Father. He is the only One
meant to fill the infinite longings of our heart—not success, not satisfaction, not security,
not even service.
2. That our pursuit is simply a response to God’s own pursuit of us. Our God, the all-
powerful, Almighty Creator who made the universe and whose greatness exceeds far
beyond the vastness of this universe, is in pursuit of ME! He is not merely after me, or
Formation
simply looking for me, or making sure I’m there. He is desperately, relentlessly,
unceasingly, longing, yearning, aching (!) for me. What a mind-blowing reality!
II. The Reason for God’s Pursuit
But let me ask you, why is our Lord in pursuit of us? He who made all things certainly has no
need for me, for I am after all only a tiny, negligible dot, a minute speck in this seemingly
limitless universe He created. Why should He be in pursuit of me? Surely there must be a
reason, a purpose.
Yes, out of His countless creations, in a very deep and personal way, He is in pursuit of each of
us.
Not us as a collective group, but as you and me as individuals (as Myra, as Luis, as Joey, or as
Cecile, etc.).
He pursues us out of one and only one thing—out of LOVE.
• Not love in our own terms, in our limited definition, as we know it from our experience,
but in His terms—in His infinite, limitless, self-giving, life-offering way.
• It is a love we will never be able to imagine simply because it is so great! Think about
someone you love very dearly and try to feel your love for this person right now. Think
about what you will do for this person, how much you are willing to sacrifice for this
person, what you would give not to lose this person.
• Magnify that an infinite number of times and it will not even capture closely the kind of
love God has for each of us. Our limited minds simply cannot grasp it! It is out of this love
that our Lord is continuously pursuing us.
Because of this great love, Christ desires to take possession of us, as He did with St. Paul who
said, “. . . I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ.” (Phil. 3:12)
• Christ seized Paul, took hold of Him, and from then on he belonged totally to Christ,
allowing himself to be used for His purposes, focused only on reaching his destination, his
upward calling.
• Christ wants the same for us – that we belong to Him completely. This is why we are here,
because He has already, to the extent that we let Him and will let Him, taken possession of
us. And He will not stop pursuing us until we are where He knows we are meant to be,
until we have been perfected in Him.
III. Heaven, our Upward Calling

Formation
A. Christ desires to bring us to heaven; to experience that perfect union with Him in
heaven.
• Heaven is there not simply for God to make His glory known. God made heaven to
share with us because He knows that is the fullness of life for us.
• This was God’s plan from the beginning – that we share the fullness of life with Him,
because He loves us so much He wants to give us nothing less than this.
• That’s why everything was perfect when He created it, there was no sickness, no
death, no suffering. It is how God meant it to be when He created us, and so when
Adam and Eve sinned and the promise of eternal life was snatched from us, God could
not just let it be! Even if it took the life of His only begotten Son Jesus to redeem us
and give this promise back to us, He willingly gave Him up for us. Yes, it matters so
dearly to God that we share this everlasting life and joy with Him forever!
• This fullness of life, because of Christ saving us from sin, is a life even more amazing
and more perfect than before Adam and Eve sinned!
B. Heaven, God’s Kingdom, is our upward calling.
• It is the goal St. Paul was pointing us to when he said: “I continue my pursuit toward
the goal, the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14)
• Not success in life, not wealth, not happiness, not even our service in SFC. Whatever
good things we are blessed to experience in our earthly journey is meant to help us
reach that upward calling.
• This is also why Jesus came to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. “He
went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people”. (Matthew 4:23)
• What is heaven? What is there to look forward to in this life of eternal union with
God?
1. Eternal Fulfillment
- Because this is God’s Kingdom, what He desires is what happens. His will is
fulfilled.
- Everything is as He meant it to be, including His creation.
- In God’s Kingdom His plan for creation is fulfilled. We will see all of creation
restored to its perfection, in fact even more beautiful than before the fall!
- Imagine beauty at its perfection! Think of the most beautiful sight you have
ever seen (the most captivating sunset, the most breathtaking mountain view,
the most magnificent underwater picture)—in heaven all these will infinitely
be more beautiful because they will be unstained by anything imperfect.
Formation
- Why did He create all these to be so? Out of great love for us, with whom He
intends to share this beautiful creation.
- In God’s Kingdom, our innermost desires shall also be fulfilled. Because we will
be with Christ forever, there will be no more hunger, no more sickness, no
more pain, no more wanting or restlessness. Finally, we shall be not only
satisfied but fulfilled.
2. Infinite Love.
- We will be as God meant us to be, unstained by sin, like His Son Jesus!
- “Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been
revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall
see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
- Right now our glory is hidden because of sin and our human weakness. But in
God’s Kingdom, we shall be as God created us to be, like Christ!
- “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He will changeour lowly bodyto conformwithhis glorified body by the
power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.”
(Philippians 3:20-21)
- Imagine, in heaven we will not only be the best Karen or the best Carlo there
is, but the best Karen and Carlo who is like Christ! This is truly the fulfillment
of all we have been created to be.
- Not only that, we will see how Christ loves us and we will experience that love
to the fullest because now our eyes will be opened to grasp that love.
- Because we are like Christ, we will be able to love as He does—
unconditionally, selflessly, perfectly. Yes, in heaven we will be loving one
another. How humble God is that even in His Kingdom He does not let us love
only Him but others as well, that He wants us to share His love infinitely with
one another!
3. Endless Joy.
- “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or
mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away." (Rev 21:4)
- “There shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; For I create
Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. . .” (Isaiah 65:18)
- We will know and share the joy of God.
- Author Dallas Willard notes, “Undoubtedly He (God) is the most joyous being in
the universe. The abundance of His love and generosity is inseparable from His
infinite joy.”
- God experiences this infinite joy in loving us, in pursuing us, and in giving us all
the gifts He has blessed us with. Can you imagine the joy of God? He must be
not only smiling but dancing and singing as He loves us!
- Think of your most joyful experience when you felt most happy. Magnify that
joy you felt a million times—even that would be just a tiny droplet in the ocean
of God’s joy! And it is unending!
Formation
- The best part of it is that we will share this joy with Him and it will be forever.
- How wonderful it is to reach this destination at the end of our journey—a life
of unending bliss with God, enjoying His perfect creation, bearing the image
and glory of Christ!
- We will no longer thirst or yearn for anything. We no longer need to be in
pursuit of anything for we shall have been filled! Our eyes will be opened to all
the love, joy, and fulfillment that God has for us. We will see that we have
reached our destination as we arrive at God’s Kingdom for we will see Christ
awaiting us with His arms wide open, overjoyed by this much-longed for
reunion.
IV. Foretastes of Heaven
What a great destination awaits us! Being with God forever and ever in eternal fulfillment,
infinite love, and endless joy—is this worth pursuing for you? Are you willing to give your all
and never give up till you have reached this destination?
The wonderful news is that this does not mean that we must wait until we die before we ever
experience God’s fulfillment, joy, or love.
God in His loving mercy blesses us with experiences of fulfillment, love, and joy while we are
still journeying towards Him.
Christ wants us to experience fullness of life: “I have come in order that you might have life –
life in all its fullness” ( John 10:10). We can begin to experience foretastes of this fullness
of life here on earth.
(Speaker enumerates examples of these foretastes briefly, as below, to make the participants
realize how God often allows us to experience glimpses of this fullness of life without our
realizing it.)
1. In Creation
- Think of all the magnificent wonders of creation you have been blessed to see (speaker
may share examples of those he/she has seen, including those along the way to the
retreat venue, and how these made him/her feel). All of this breathtaking, glorious
creation and whatever emotions and reactions they evoke in us are really but a tiny bit
of heaven, a foretaste of what is to come.
2. In Family
- Feeling loved by family. Was there ever a time when you felt most loved by someone
in your family, perhaps your mother or father? When you felt so secure perhaps as a
child in the loving embrace of your mother?
Formation
- When you were comforted by your brother or sister after you had shared something
that mattered so much to you? That feeling of being loved and taken cared of is a tiny
foretaste of the endless love we will experience in heaven.
- Sharing happy moments with family. Try to recall a time when you and your family had
a very joyful time together (perhaps on a vacation, a special Christmas, someone’s
birthday). The fun and happiness you felt is a tiny foretaste of the immeasurable fun
and enjoyment you will experience in heaven.
- Reuniting of family members. Have you experienced the joy of finally reuniting with
loved ones you whom have been separated from, e.g., a parent who has finally finished
working abroad, or a sibling who has gone astray and then returned to the fold, or
parents who separated and then reunited? The gratefulness and joyous expectation
you felt is a tiny foretaste of the excitement and gratitude you will experience in
heaven.
3. In Career
- Finding a job. How did you feel when after months and months of searching you finally
found a job, one you wanted and will help you support the needs of your family?
- An unexpected promotion. How did you feel when you got the surprise of your life and
were told that you had been promoted when you thought your good work was going
unnoticed or you were not being appreciated?
- A job well done. How did you feel when you gave a wonderful presentation after
working so hard and spending many late nights preparing for it? Or when you made
that sale you thought you would never close? Or when your boss praised you for
something that you really worked hard to do?
4. In SFC Life
- Vibrant, Spirit-filled worship

- Love and support of community
- Victories of our household member over a struggle we have been helping him/her with
- Seemingly impossible prayer requests answered
- Friends and family finally joining community after years of convincing
- A very intimate moment when you felt God’s presence in a very real and moving way
All of the overwhelming joy, victory, amazement, and love that we felt in all of these
experiences are God’s way of giving us even a small glimpse of the fullness of life in store for us
in heaven.
They probably did not last very long, but if we remember them and know that this was God’s
way of speaking to us, they will be enough to keep us in joyful anticipation of what we will
Formation
have at the end of the journey. These should excite us, knowing that what God has in store for
those who press on to finish the journey is infinitely much more than these!
God, in His goodness, has given us the Eucharist, which is THE foretaste of heaven that we can
experience every day of our lives if we wanted to. This is where we experience in a very REAL
way, intimate union with Christ. That is really what heaven is all about, that we are truly, fully
united with Christ.
As Christ desires that we experience fullness of life in all the aspects of our life, we should
also allow Him to touch all the aspects of our life. We are Singles FOR Christ and living IN
Christ helps us more fully recognize and appreciate the foretastes of heaven that He allows us
to experience.
Our posture should thus always be one of hopefulness even if things may not go our way and
we are faced with problems, trials and challenges, for we know the Lord knows what is best for
us. We must have a heart that truly trusts and hopes in the Lord.
V. Pressing On in our Pursuit of Oneness with Christ
Our journey is not yet finished. Many of the things we strive for, work hard for, and desire to
do in our lives, are what we may call our “not-yets.” We are not yet as close to the Lord as we
wish to be. We have not yet reached our goal in our career. That relationship we are hoping
for has not yet come to be. Our family situation is not yet perfect. The cause we are fighting
for has not yet happened. Most of all, our pursuit of oneness with Christ is not yet finished.
But as we hold fast to the Lord and press on in our pursuit, bringing with us our gear of prayer,
sacraments, Christ-consciousness, our striving for righteousness, our brothers and sisters, we
are strengthened and empowered to press on with our not-yets knowing Christ is with us.
If we will continue to press on and strive to deepen our intimacy with Christ, then little by little
we will become more and more like Him.
 We will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit will be working in us. We
will have:
Charity – we will be able to love even those who are difficult to love
Joy – we can be happy despite trials and difficulties
Peace – we can remain peaceful despite uncertainties
Patience – we are able to wait for God’s perfect time
Kindness – we can act kindly even to those who do not return such kindness
Goodness – we can choose to do what is in accordance to God’s will
Generosity – we can be generous despite our lack of resources
Gentleness – we are gentle and loving rather than condemning of others
Faithfulness – we continue to trust and obey God whatever happens
Modesty – we treat with respect the body that God gave us
Self-control – we don’t allow ourselves to be ruled by the desires of the flesh
Formation
Chastity – we stay pure in mind, body, and actions
 The fruit of the Holy Spirit brings us closer and closer to being like Christ.
The pursuit does not end here but continues when we go back home. Hopefully we have been
recharged by God’s revelations and our intimate moments with Christ in this retreat.
 Let us continue our pursuit of oneness with Christ despite the times when we may feel
tired, or dry, or tempted, or about to lose hope. Even when we may fall into sin.
 Christ longs to be intimate with us, and only through a deep and intimate personal
relationship with Him can we bear the fruits of the Spirit and reach our upward calling, our
destination.
None of us will leave with that Prize yet as we end this retreat but if we carry Christ in our
hearts everywhere we go, whatever we do, we allow not only ourselves but others to
experience the Prize of Christ. He awaits us at the end of our journey but He also awaits us
every day to spend intimate moments with Him anywhere, everywhere.
Our journey will not be complete if we are not united with Him. Our destination is Christ and
for Him, the journey is completed only because we are with Him to be perfectly united with
Him.
Are we ready to press on in this journey no matter what? Are we ready to move forward in joy
and hope knowing the glory that awaits us at the end of this journey? Let us hold fast, let us
strain forward, let us stretch ourselves to finish this journey, so that like St. Paul, we may be
able to say when we come face to face with Christ: “I have competed well; I have finished the
race; I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
VI. Conclusion
Our response of gratefulness to Christ’s pursuit of us and joyful, excited anticipation of the
glory that awaits us at the end of the journey—the eternal fulfillment, the infinite love, and the
endless joy, and most of all for Christ who is waiting for us with arms wide open!
Asking for the grace to be able to press on in the journey despite the trials and difficulties, the
unsatisfied yearnings, and the strength and intensity of desire to keep on pursuing Christ no
matter what it entails.
Committing ourselves to this pursuit of oneness with Christ through a life of holiness and
deepening of intimacy with Him.
---------
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CFC SINGLES FOR CHRIST

Christ Pursuit Weekend

About the Weekend:

The recommended schedule is a two-day retreat format. It is described as follows.

Time Activity Remarks

Talk 2 – Journeying with Christ

1900-1930 Evening Worship

1930-2030 Talk 3 – Empty Pursuits

0730-0800 Morning Worship and Ice Breaker

0800-0830 Group Discussion on Talk 3 Process experiences/realizations in Talk 3

0830-0930 Talk 4 – The Prize of the Pursuit

0930-1000 Closing Dynamics/Praisefest Commitment to pursue Christ

1000-1100 Holy Mass

Feedback and Documentation:

Talk 1 - The Journey

Note to Speaker: Read the life of St. Paul

Expanded Talk Outline:

I. Our Personal Journey towards Christ

A. Visualizing the Journey

Suggested Reflection Activity # 1:

2. We are all works-in-progress.

B. Making the Journey a Pursuit

1. “Pursuit” is a strong word that connotes “actively chasing” or “continuously following”.

2. The Christ Pursuit

• We need to have a deeper understanding of these truths in order for us to be focused,

II. Christ’s Pursuit of Us

“… I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ.” (Philippians 3:12)

A. What are the truths about His pursuit of us?

O His pursuit is timeless.

O His pursuit is creative. He will do whatever it takes to woo us.

4. He pursues us WHOEVER we are.

O His pursuit of us is as we are – whether or not we change our ways or whether we

He will pursue us WHEREVER, WHENEVER, HOWEVER, WHOEVER. And the “WHYEVER” is

Suggested Reflection Activity # 2:

Try to listen for His response (long pause).

B. Where is Christ in our journey?

• Without Jesus we can do nothing. (John 15:5)

III. Our Pursuit of Oneness with Christ – The Ideal Pursuit

- That I may possess perfect maturity – become like Christ

o It is possible to do multiple things but still aligned to our ideal pursuit.

o An attitude of moving from the past: “forgetting what lies behind”

o An attitude of moving continuously despite obstacles: “I press on toward the goal”

B. The prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus

IV. Responding to the Invitation

V. Reflection and Sharing

1. God is in pursuit of me. How does this make me feel?

2. How will I respond to His invitation?

3. What are my fears, if any, of being pursued by the Lord?

Talk 2 – Journeying with Christ in our Pursuit

Expanded Talk Outline:

II. Journeying with Christ in Our Pursuit

Suggested Reflection Activity # 1:

(Lead the participants in a short reflection, pausing frequently.) Do we

- God speaks to us through an inner quiet voice speaking to our hearts. If we

Suggested Reflection Activity # 2:

C. Delighting in the Sacraments

• Through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament – We do not appreciate enough the

b. The Sacrament of Reconciliation – By humbling ourselves before God, we receive a

• It is God who forgives. He does so through His priests.

Suggested Reflection Activity # 3:

1. What keeps you from going to confession?

D. Detaching and Distancing Yourself from Sin

E. Drawing Others to Christ