In prayer, the nature of the community becomes visible because those who pray direct themselves to the ONE who forms the community. Let me share with you a beautiful experience I had while praying.

When I attended a planning retreat last August 20, 2009, we were directed to Pray, meditate, and reflect. It gave me an opportunity to just Empty my mind and Wait patiently for God’s message to come. And in the silence of my heart, it came to me as clusters of stones; each trying to fit in the clusters, each trying to find a space. Each little piece seems so insignificant; one piece is bright red, another cold blue or dull green, another warm purple, another sharp yellow, another shining gold. Some look precious, others very ordinary. Some look valuable, others worthless, some look pretty, others ugly, some look gaudy, others delicate. As individual stones, I can do little with them except compare them and judge their beauty and value.

Suddenly, the hand of God brought all these little stones together in one big mosaic portraying the face of Jesus Christ. Now, God’s message became very clear to me, the stones are us and the mosaic is our community Mater Dei. As individuals, we can only be compared and judged by our values. But as a community, no one can ever question the importance of each of us. That, if one of us, even the least spectacular one, is missing, the face is incomplete. As we move and work hand in hand, as we serve together with one mind, one heart, for one purpose, to realize a dream to have our own center, we form a large mosaic of the face of Christ. Together in one mosaic, each little stone is indispensable and makes a unique contribution to the glory of God. This is our community, Mater Dei Marriage Encounter Community, bonded by the Love of God and the fellowship of little people who together make God visible in the world.