The Root of Growth (ACT)

THE BEGINNING OF ACT COMMUNITY

The early beginnings of the ACT (Apostles in Contemporary Times) was conceived in the spirit of Vatican II when a group of lay people and sisters from different religious congregations saw a new way of being religious...  a new way of being Church... in order to respond to the sign of the Times. The religious sisters, in particular, felt the institutional constraints of their respective congregations which restrained them from directly working with and for the poor. Thus, ACT was conceived as a new way of being religious in the Church and in society today.

PENTECOST CELEBRATION

In 1975, Feast of Pentecost, Bishop Teotimo Pacis, CM  (at that time the Bishop of the Diocese of Legazpi) celebrated the Eucharist wherein lay people and religious sisters openly expressed their commitment to be in solidarity with the poor as a way of living out the Spirit of Vatican II, assuming the joys and hopes, the grief and anxieties of the poor.

 

In 1975 onwards, with the encouraging and spiritual support of friends, priests, bishops and the poor, the Apostles in Contemporary Times  (ACT) continued to discern God's will. From 1978 to 1980 a moratorium on accepting members was implemented because a number of religious sisters, who left their congregations  searching for new identity, joined the ACT and tended to create more problems than solutions.

During the moratorium continuous  discernment was done, and in the end unique calling  of God became  very clear for ACT.Bishop Julio Xavier Labayen, OCD- with his diocesan Yapak Formation Programs towards building the Church of the Poor was chosen by ACT to be its Bishop Protector & Spiritual Guide. 

THE APOSTLES IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES

Hope in Struggle of the Apostles in Contemporary Times (ACT)...

In Vatican City, on May 12,2014 Pope Francis addressed  the Institute of Consecrated Life. The following extract: 

"Every day, you live the life of someone who lives in the world, and at the same time protect the dimension of contemplation, in relation to the Lord and to the world, contemplating reality, contemplating the beauty of the world and also great sins of society, deviations, all these things, and always in spiritual tension. "

"For this reason, your vocation is fascinating, as it is the vocation that is located right there, where the salvation of not only people, but also institutions , is at play." 

ACT PENTECOST CELEBRATION

"The vocation of Secular Institutes is one of the most recent form of consecrated life recognized and approved by the Church, and which is therefore perhaps fully understood. Do not be discouraged: you form part of the poor of outgoing Church that I dream of!"

"The vocation of Secular Institutes is one of the most recent form of consecrated life recognized and approved by the Church, and which is therefore perhaps fully understood. Do not be discouraged: you form part of the poor of outgoing Church that I dream of!"

What encouragement and inspiration for us, the  ACT (Apostles in Contemporary Times)! Pope Francis says, "Do not be discouraged...you form part of the poor and outgoing Church that I dreamed of.." 

On June 10,1984 - Feast of Pentecost, the Apostles in Contemporary Times (ACT) was established by Bishop Julio Xavier Labayen, OCD as an Institute of Consecrated Life in order to help him in building the Church of the Poor in the Prelature of Infanta. As a juridical founder of the ACT, he was also our Bishop- protector and Spiritual Guide. When he retired in 2003 Bishop Rolando Tria Triona, OCD become his successor who creatively continued the vision of Bishop Labayen; and he become the the second Bishop-Protector and Spiritual Guide of the ACT. In 2012 Bishop Triona was appointed Archbishop of Caceres, leaving the Prelature of Infanta without a bishop.