Spirituality is a way of life. They develop out of a real practice of Christian life.

As such, spiritualities arise from human existence and are not merely second order practices logically derived from pre-existing belief systems and doctrines.1 The call to new catechesis also tells something about this. True enough, human experience is also a source of catechesis. They serve as concretization regarding the teachings about matters of faith. Indeed, we observe that preachers are effective when they connect the message of the faith to concrete experiences either of themselves or others experience. And one of these preachers is Bo Sanchez who speaks not out of intellectual ideologies gained from exegetical studies. But rather, a Bo who speaks blatantly about his shocking past experiences and later on proudly pronounces and radically believes that life can change. He notifies us about our capacity to be free from enslaving habits. He tells us about the reality that we can receive healing for past wounds and start really living. Bo tells us about the spirituality of changing our lives, a changed life that leads to the realization of love. A. LIFE OF BO SANCHEZ Bo Sanchez was only eight years old when he was wounded. He was sexually abused and his abuser was his ten years older cousin. His cousin would always use the line, do this or suffer the consequences. Because of fear and because he was still a child, Bo cannot do anything. And that was it. That was the beginning of the wounding of a child. When he was 13 years old, Bo was already involved with a Catholic youth group. Together with other servants, they conducted life in the spirit seminars in different provinces. At this age, he was already giving talks, leading worship and counseling a lot of young people. He himself said, As a young kid, I loved the Lord and enjoyed serving Him zealously.2 However, one day, this conduction of service turned out as a fearful night mare. Yes, their homosexual youth group leader abused him again. This youth leader arranged their sleeping assignments and it was Bo and this leader who shared a big bed. And in the middle of the night, the wounding happened again. Bo could not fight because he was shocked. He cannot move any muscles. And he admits that this feeling of being coward worsened his feelings of shame. They say that some victims become victimizer themselves. It happened to Bo, he became a victimizer in the sense that he became a sex addict. And this happened to him paradoxically as a catholic lay leader. He would ask the good Lord to forgive him but he sins again the other day. Because of these things, he developed a shame based personality. He hated himself. He felt unlovable. He cannot find love and his addiction was the only substitute. He was feeling fear and fright plus sadness or depression. He has this to say, I know the predominant feeling of my life. I had a name for the cancer eating my soul. Every morning, I woke up felling ashamed. I was ashamed of ME. I was ashamed of who I was. This shame is common characteristic of people like me. As if he went into hell alone. Outside, he projected that he was okay. But inside, he deceives himself. And he could not tell any of these to his family knowing that his family does not want affection. Saying I love you and hugging was not a custom. They do not want talking about emotional matter in the open. No one knew what he was undergoing. How did Bo turn out to be a great preacher in the world? How did the healing begin? One night, Bo was inside his room and he was sobbing for along time. Suddenly, he felt that he was embraced. It was not an embrace from a skin faced human but he just knew that he was being embraced. Through that embrace, Bo felt a different experience. Bo said, Through the embrace, God was telling me that He was never going to leave me, until I was healed. That He loved me
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no matter what. At this very moment, the thing Bo hungered for-love-was surrounding him like the vastness of the ocean. Bo struggled. Until one day, he read a true story whose message has remained forever in his heart. She was so violent and her psychosis and doctors in the mental hospital gave up treating her. Everyone gave up on her except for one person, the janitor. She was already catatonic but the janitor remained with her. Every after cleaning, this kind janitor would carry a chair and sit beside her and stare at the wall with her. He did this for thirty minutes a day. Then one day, while sitting with her, for the first time in years, the old woman talked. The next day, she would talk more. After few months, she was released from the hospital as a healed woman. Why was she healed? Because somebody has showed that he will sat with her until she will be healed. This thing happened to Bo. But this time, it was not a janitor but it was God who stayed with him. Bo started sharing his sins and weaknesses. His tears would fell. And after he finishes his sharing, the small group of people in front of him would also cry and run towards him and embraced him saying, we love you BO, sin no more. Every time Bo would fell again, they would hug him and say, we love Bo, sin no more. Every week he would fell again and they would do the same thing. Until one day, he came to them with a smile; I did not fall this week. The healing was happening-the healing happened. He did get healed. He really did. Today he continues to preach to millions worldwide. He travels extensively around the world as a powerful speaker. He also founded many organizations such as Anawim, a special home for the abandoned elderly, and Shepherds voice, a media group that publishes the most widely read inspirational literature in the country. H is the author of eight bestselling books and publisher of six magazines. B. THE SPIRITUALITY OF BO SANCHEZ We may say that Bos spirituality is only applicable for sexual addicts. But actually, he is speaking to all who experienced failures. If we see every situation as opportunities for the workings of heaven, then we will know how to deal with failures. Bo himself says, Failures are courses with very high tuition fees. So I dont cut classes and miss my lessons: On humility. On patience. On hope. On asking others for help. On listening to God. On trying again. On trying again and again and again.3 Indeed, his spirituality speaks about building up from failures. It is a sort of spirituality that truly helps us to realize that we can change our lives and that we can truly create love. And he assures as that we can attain this for Bo is not speaking from lofty principles he read in a book but he is speaking from a firsthand experience. Bo teaches us that our past does not define our future because God can build from our failures. God has doctorate in the art of recycling. We may not be the best materials, but God the carpenter makes do with the resources he has. What then are the elements present in his spirituality? What does he say about changing our lives? Bo blesses the world with one thing. He communicates to people about love and joy and peace and all the good stuff of life through preaching and writing-hoping to change lives and make this world a better place to live in.4 True enough, through preaching and writing, Bo wanted to teach us how to heal our woundedness just like what he did in his life-experience. Nevertheless, we cannot deny the certainty of our propensities to be unreal. We think that by suppressing our woundedness or our terrible past experiences; we can get along with them. We do not accept that we are hurt and we try to hide it. We act as if nothing is worng and everything is okay. We pretend to be someone whom we really are not. But Bo wants to tell us that we
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should not live in the shadows of reality. We are this particular person and we have our own strengths, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies. And precisely, it is through these things that we design our own future. We always have the choice to move out from failures or miserable situation because God has given as free will. To heal then our failures or miseries, Bo suggested elements for us to be able to cope up with them totally and change our lives in a gradual manner. And the first step is for us to face the past. We should not run away from it. Many people who suffered unwanted events in their life tend to suppress them. They suppress them for it is painful and in fact nobody wants pain. However Bo suggests that we must admit where we are hurt and reenter the volatile-yet-unfelt emotions that are connected to these past events.5 And in this process, we just sit down, keep quit and think of them, and feel the hurt. Accepting this fact may not be easy. What we need to because if we will fail to do so, the thing we define as home in our childhood will be the place that well subconsciously go back to again and again.6 If we experienced horrific things in the past, we can recreate it again. It will affect our lives as we grow older. Now can we change if we cannot even accept our failures or woundedness? To be healed we need to grow in awareness in our old home. Bo realized that he recreated his being abused to becoming a sexual addict. We must know how it really was so that we might feel free because truth sets as free. But awareness alone is does not suffice. Some become intellectuals and they do not feel what their souls are conveying to them. Emotions are windows of our soul. If we do not listen to it, we will not be healed. What we fell, we can heal. And what we dont feel we cannot heal.7Awareness then of our failures should make us emotional in the sense that we allow the self to grieve. Fell the anger and grief without short circuiting the natural process. Grive and allow the comfort of God to comfort us richly. Be honest with feelings. Jesus himself screamed in pain at the cross of Calvary. He cried at the garden of Gethsemane. He got angry at the temple. Be true to ourselves. Second, we need to seek loving friends. Deep down,all of us longs for it. Friends who embraces us fiercely and remove masks.unless cqrks apper, his heling grace CANNOT btrickle in and heal what needs to be healed. Personal prayer seek this in personal prayer. Seek it among friends who know you and who can pray for you especially your fellow strugglers. And counseling. What does grace do? Teaches us to love. Yes, loving do not sipnly decide ourselves one doing to love ourselves and go og from there. We have frist of all be loved by someone else, to tell us that were lovvsble. We love because he frist lovede us.befor reenting, wwe first have to receivehis love. Next. Take responsibility. Make choices by grace. P 66. It has to be god firdst and us very humbly and fearfully taking responsibility for the areas over which he gave powerto chose.

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