Two thousand years ago, the Son of God was laid in a manger because there was no decent room for him and his parents. The bible says that there were no available rooms at the inn. However, the bible could have also rightly said that the Holy Family had to content themselves with accommodations fit for horses and cattle because they had no place inside people’s hearts.

Our Community has embarked on an ambitious project of providing a haven for the Mother of God—the Mater Dei Marriage Encounter Community Center. The center will be a place of worship and a place for spiritual growth. It will be a place where we shall enrich and strengthen marriages and family relationships. In so doing, we shall also contribute to the upgrading of the moral fiber of our society.

In order to fulfill our dream, we have lined up several activities which are geared towards the raising and accumulation of funds. But, faced with the reality of the present economic conditions, our dream seems very far-fetched. We have to be innovative. We should come up with fresh ideas to fast track our dream. We should all work harder and smarter to achieve our goal!

Our leaders have envisioned our community center to be located at Quezon City (supposedly the “heart” of the metropolis), constructed on a lot with an area of at least three hundred square meters and costing an aggregate of Ten Million Pesos (lot and building). Presently, we have only Seven Hundred Thousand Pesos. To help us in our project, you may do any of the following (of course, you can also think of other ways):

• Look for a person (relative, friend, neighbor, etc.) who owns a lot or lot and building and is willing to sell or donate the property to us. If the property is to be donated to us, then it could be anywhere in the Philippines (we will just sell it and use the proceeds). This person could be you!
• Inquire from banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, etc. if they have reasonably-priced acquired assets for sale.
• Inform us of income opportunities which we can tap to beef up our funds.
• Actively participate in all fund-raising activities of the community.

Most of all, let us pray for the success of our special project and let us invite the Holy Family to stay within our hearts.  No man-made shelter can ever replace the warmth of a loving heart.