JCCCI turns 35

On September 8, 1978 saw the birth of a Catholic Charismatic Community in Cebu City. At the outset, it was a group numbering about 20 people consisting mostly of Roman Catholics and a few Christians.

We hold weekly prayer meetings and Mass on Sundays until we decided to formalize our legal existence as a duly registered association with the Securities & Exchange Commission in the Phillipines.

Bro. Fermin C. Ynclino was tasked to draft the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws of the Jesu Christi Community of Cebu, Inc. and had it registered with the SEC. With the approval, we now have the legal personality as non-stock and non-profit corporation.

The community is run by the Board of Directors composed of Chairman of the Board, Vice Chairman and five Directors and a Spiritual Adviser - Rev. Fr. Socrates Saldua.

The Executive Branch is composed of: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.

Various ministries were formed to service the members. The following are the ministries, viz: (1) Prayer Ministry - which is responsible for holding prayer meetings weekly; Bible Study, Mass on Sundays and Novenas for the dead, and hospital visitation (prayer for the sick); (2) Medical Mission (Free Clinic); (3) Free Student Scholarship (with Fr. Soc Saldua at the helm); (4) Housing for the old and sickly; (5) Garbage and Environmental Protection.

During the early years of our existence, there was in-fighting among our members simply because the community was composed of devout Catholics and born-again Christians. The majority of our members finally decided to separate these Christian members as we wanted a purely Roman Catholic community. It is now provided in the by-laws that all our members must be a Roman Catholic devotee.

And how was our 35th anniversary? Well, we had Mass and lunch with a short program but we know God has blessed us to continue our task of loving and sharing with our neighbors, and most of all, loving our GOD! PTL.

Art Quake Art Fair

The recently staged Art Quake Art Fair went its course without encountering any snags, effectively living up to the goals and aims set by its initiators.

Held last November 17 in the Redemptorist Chruch grounds, the one-day-only event was essentially a benefit fundraiser, meant to raise funds for stress debriefings and art therapy workshops intended for the many affected by the Visayas region's recent string of natural calamities.

Spearheaded by a group of Cebuano visual artists, church workers and volunteers, the gathering managed to showcase a diverse selection of works made by Cebu's established and on-the-rise talents, putting the spotlight on impressionist and expressionist-themed prints, highly detailed pen & ink illustrations, gracefully made sketches, and art pieces made by artists Palmy Pe-Tudtud, Radel Paredes, Raymund Fernandez, Felix Catarata, Josua Cabrera, Jojo Sagayno, Remy Rault and more.

Not clawing for relevance, Art Quake Art Fair's proponents, initiators, volunteer artists and participants were brought together by the virtue of altruism, underlining and punctuating art's transcendent capacities and capabilities as a means of being there for others.

Inasmuch as art and artists can be brusque, both can also be upright in character, versatile in the way they meet with proper response.

The successful run of the recently staged Art Quake Art Fair easily stands out in exemplifying this fact, proving to one and all that art is not just about decorative embellishments, aesthetic assertions and creative expression, but also about being of service to those in need in every possible way it can.