Everything started with a prophetic vision. This is how Sis. Techie Rodriguez tells it: “Recollectos Seminary, Tierra Pura, Tandang Sora, Quezon City, March 1986. At around six o’clock in the evening, the sky is already dark. The rain is pouring. I am on a big white boat tossed about by the waves that seem to grow bigger and bigger. Then as the mist slowly begins to clear, I see people trying to get hold of my boat for safety. People… people… everywhere. Some are desperately struggling to stay afloat, swimming around and panic stricken. Many already are drowning.
My face is so wet from crying and from the rain that mercilessly falls down in torrents. I am calling them… and trying to lead them to the safety of my boat. My heart is so filled with pity and I feel confusion and helplessness. So many of them! And in the midst of chaos, I heard a distinctive voice that says, “Save my people, bring them to safety. They will listen to the voice of the Shepherd and they will recognize the True Voice. It was The Lord”.
The Power of Two
Sis. Techie Rodriguez, together with her husband Bro. Bobby, is founder of the Lord’s Flock Catholic Charismatic Ministry. She has been in the Charismatic Renewal since 1980. The Lord’s Flock that she founded is at the forefront of the Charismatic Renewal in the Philippines. Bro. Bobby is known as the “Tatay” or Father of the community. He complements Sis. Techie in her teachings and preaching by doing the temporal things needed by the church.
Bro. Bob and Sis. Techie are among the pioneers of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. Sis. Techie’s dynamism has brought her to many International Charismatic Congresses all over Asia and the US, giving keynote addresses, talks, testimonials, and lectures to Catholic as well as other Christian audiences.
Bro. Bob remains the strong silent pillar that serves as inspiration to the members of the flock. He himself, like Sis. Techie, is a miracle ground of God, having gone through several life threatening episodes in his life that make powerful testimonies.
A Young Army of Missionaries
The community envisions each member to be cared for in an appropriate unit where each one can fit in and have spiritual feeding and guidance. After praying to the Holy Spirit on how the prophetic vision will be concretized, the Lord gives the answer in Numbers 32:24 of the Bible. The corporate vision is “…Folds for the flock”: a place for tending the flock, where their bodies may be warm because of being nurtured to a spiritual development, and mentored and trained for evangelization work.
In their anthem they sing: “We are His flock/We are His people/Out of a vision this flock was born/A refuge for the lost…We are victorious/A royal priesthood…The Lord will find us faithful/We are his flock.”
In 2011, while praying in a half-empty Church in Rome, Sis. Techie received an inspiration from the Holy Spirit “to bring back the youths to the Church.” Upon arrival in the Philippines, she started gathering the youths of the community, trained them and built them into a young army of missionaries to bring them back through music, band, dances, gospel plays, life testimonies, workshops, games and worship concerts.
Through this inspiration a counter force of youth-led initiative is winning many young souls back to the Catholic Church.
“The Best Years Of My Life”
My Comboni confrere Fr. Moises Dela Cruz Estacio comes from the Lord’s Flock. This is how he describes his experience with them: “It was in my last years of the university when I felt prolonged emptiness within. I was not totally happy with the way my life was going in spite of being actively involved and holding positions in inter-university extracurricular activities. I was looking for something more . . .
“After attending the Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS) with the Lord’s Flock, I continued with a series of on-going formation from the Harvest up to the Disciple classes. The Harvest class was a program where new members were trained and equipped for a life of service in the community. While in the Disciple class, I started to serve in the new Harvest classes, and eventually as a steward of the group of young professionals.
“My time with The Lord’s Flock (TLF) Charismatic Community were some of the best years of my young life because it was there that I discovered my passion for mission, which led me to my true vocation and prepared me for the life that God wanted for me.”
