Kalakbay Ministry resumed its monthly recollection for lay leaders of parishes, communities, and religious congregations in the last quarter of 2022. The facilitator/speaker was Fr. Peter Pojol, SJ, and the theme was “Becoming Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission. The recollection gave us a better understanding of Synodality within the Church also to conclude, Fr. Pojol gave us the Hallmarks of the Church.

To further deepen the spirituality of Synodality, from February to May of 2023, Kalakbay Ministry’s monthly recollection had Ms. Christina Kheng, online, with the theme “Synodality in the Church: Walking the Talk Together. She shared the importance of Sacred Presence and Listening, Dialogue and Spiritual Conversation, Participation and Co-responsibility, and Communal Discernment for an effective and synodal church. She also gave relevant examples that may help or may hinder the concept of actualizing synodality, be it in the church, community, or even within the family. This recollection allowed us to reflect on how a person can contribute to having a synodal mind or perspective as a member of the church.

Despite all knowledge and practical examples of Synodality, in reality, it seems that we still find it hard to live it out. And this inspired Kalakbay Ministry to invite Dr. Richard Tamayo Ph.D. to share on “Happiness Overflow”. For Synodality to be a reality, we also need to listen to ourselves, better understand ourselves, know our gifts, and debug ourselves and others' prejudices. With this, we have an ongoing monthly recollection which started last October 1 to April 7. The monthly schedule and themes were:

October 1 - The Key to Lasting and Overflowing Happiness

November 5- Stress Mastery for Unstoppable Happiness

December 3- Conflict Resolution for Happy Relationships

January 7- Healing from Trauma and Freedom from Toxic and Unhappy Emotions

February 4- Renewing the Mind and Rewiring the Brain for Happiness

March 3- Mission and Making the World a Happier Place

April 7- Mastering the Overflow Framework for Optimal Happiness.

Yvette Lacap