Thus goes the theme of the 16th Foundation Day of the PRAYER WARRIORS OF THE HOLY SOULS (PWHS). Foundation Day will 

be held on Saturday, July 19, 2008, at the Worship Hall of the Spirit of Love and Catholic Community at the Manila Seedling Bank from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

There are three good reasons for "MOVING ON TO HIGHER GROUND" to have been chosen as the theme of this year’s foundation day celebration:

First of all, isn’t it a fact that the main thrust of the PWHS apostolate is to assist souls to move on (from Purgatory) to heaven – definitely a higher ground, if not the "highest" ground indeed!

Secondly, the long awaited Holy Souls Oratory is slowly becoming a reality, as a road network is coming to shape, leading to the peak of a farmland in the mountains of Morong, Rizal. There will soon rise a multipurpose structure, phase one of the masterplan of the Holy Souls Oratory. (See related story)

The third reason is really the one that captures the very essence of the theme, and this is to encourage the PWHS members to move on to a higher ground in their involvement in the apostolate.

A PWHS member may be categorized in different levels of involvement:

1. Those who basically include prayers for the holy souls during their prayer time;

2. Those who, aside from daily prayers, offer masses, and acts of charity for the repose of the faithful departed;

3. Those who not only pray daily, offer masses, but actually go to daily masses with the willful intention of applying merits gained, for the holy souls (also known as the "heroic act");

4. Somewhere in between these levels, are those who also donate to the apostolate, support the PWHS Newsletter Fore and Aft by subscribing to it, attend its Lenten and Advent recollections, and other PWHS activities;

5. There are those who spend an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament (daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on their commitment) and pray intensely for the holy souls during their vigil time;

6. A good number of PWHS members, having been touched by the booklet "Read Me or Rue It", and aware of the benefits of praying the "Prayer of St. Gertrude", regularly buy these materials to be shared with friends, relatives, and whoever they may meet;

7. A growing number of active members, aside from doing most of the aforementioned activities, spend time, talent, and treasure going around enticing and recruiting people, encouraging them to be PWHS members. They penetrate existing prayer groups, convincing them to incorporate prayers for the holy souls into their prayer meetings and the like. Some of them have even volunteered to be trained as PWHS speakers;

8. There are those who volunteer or willingly serve (when tapped) in whatever capacity their God-given talents may be put to good use in the apostolate. Thus, there are "auxis" who quietly, but efficiently serve during PWHS activities, the PWHS office staff, and the PWHS core group members who serve unselfishly in the apostolate, providing the much needed structure in the apostolate.

For the first time in it’s 16 years of existence, there will be a general assembly of members on the Foundation Day. The idea is to be

Bro. Arnold Monera

able to update the PWHS members of the latest developments in the apostolate, and to encourage them to move to a higher ground in their involvement in the apostolate.

The inspirational and guest speaker on that day is Bro. Arnold Monera. He is a logical choice because a good number of PWHS members know him, having been a PWHS speaker for several years, until his stint abroad. He recently taught at the Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion of Assumption University of Thailand and will soon be leaving for Macau where he will again be handling Biblical Courses at the Macau Inter-University Institute.

Part of the programme for the day will be the presentation of members who are presently in different levels of involvement in PWHS, hopefully to serve as sterling examples and inspiration to those who may want to move to higher ground in their service to the Lord, thru the PWHS.

The Eucharistic celebration will be presided by Bishop Gabriel Reyes of the Diocese of Antipolo at 3:00pm. (For more information, please call 5312157 loc. 100)

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