Woven by Christ: The Flame That Kept Returning

Something unthinkable happened.

Not through one extraordinary event, but through a series of quiet encounters that only made sense when I looked back. What once seemed like unrelated moments became one beautiful tapestry. Christ had been weaving them together all along.

November 12, 2021

Many years ago, I unexpectedly walked into a chapel at Saint Catherine of Siena. A small group was praying the Flame of Love devotion. They warmly welcomed me and handed me a copy of the Flame of Love book. I accepted it with gratitude, never imagining that this quiet encounter would become one of the first threads in a much larger story.

January 2026

Early this year, our Couples for Christ Vallejo Chapter, together with the Household Leaders of Santa Rosa, traveled to the Newman Center in Cotati to meet Father Cris and introduce our Couples for Christ community. When we arrived, a birthday celebration was already taking place. We joined the singing, clapping, laughter, and dancing with young people, seniors, a priest, and a religious sister. It felt like heaven touching earth.

After the celebration, I quietly entered the chapel. Hanging on the wall was the familiar Flame of Love banner. Immediately I remembered my unexpected visit years earlier at Saint Catherine of Siena. The same devotion. The same invitation. The same quiet whisper of God.

APRIL 2026

In April, I attended a conference with Father James Blount in San Francisco. It was my first opportunity to hear him preach in person. His preaching encouraged devotion to the Flame of Love while always leading hearts to Jesus Christ, especially His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist.

MAY 2, 2026

Then came May 2. I attended the Flame of Love Conference with Father James Blount at Saint Joan of Arc Church in Yountville. Father Michael Barry was also present. During Father Barry’s prayer, he mentioned something that happened thirty-five years ago.

1991 Eucharistic Miracle – Father Faraon

Instantly my heart returned to 1991 at the Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines. I saw Father Larry Faraon lifting the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance. As the Eucharistic blessing reached our section, I wept. Hatred melted into forgiveness. Fear gave way to peace. Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, transformed my life. Father Barry had no way of knowing my story, yet through his prayer God awakened that sacred memory.

1991 Vision Statement CFC Family in the Holy Spirit Renewing the Face of the World

It was in 1991 when Nina Ponte CFC solidified the vision Statement Family in the Spirit Renewing the Face of the Earth

2009 CFC conference in Canada

MCG talk about Healing

“CFC must first be wholly sanctified. Godliness and sanctification is the key to make CFC a ready fertile-ground for the works God is about to perform. Be patient. Do not hurry. The fullness of anointing may take some time to happen…. But it will happen.

Cooperate. Commit to my work. Then… wait and see… signs, wonders, miracles and healing of biblical magnitude will begin to happen. Journey on with my Mother. Be witnesses to the explosion of my blessings and miracles in your community…MY VERY OWN CFC.” Scope of God’s All-encompassing Healing:

Spiritual Healing

Inner Healing

Physical Healing

Healing the Land

July 25, 2026

Healing workshop in Fresno

Three days later, I was given the opportunity to speak personally with Father James Blount at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Retreat House in Napa. He listened to my spiritual journey, prayed over me, blessed me, and encouraged me. Before we parted, he smiled, turned to Tommy, and jokingly said, ‘Remember John. He is now my adopted son.’ We all laughed, but I also received it as encouragement for my journey of faith.

In July, we returned to the Newman Center in Cotati, this time with the leadership of Northern California Couples for Christ. Father Cris shared his work in promoting the upcoming Eucharistic Convention for the Diocese of Santa Rosa

. After our meeting, I entered the chapel to pray on that Same Sunday we went back to attend Mass at the Chapel

Lady of the Flame of Love. Everything pointed back to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

This photo was in the long chair at the Dome

Not long afterward came our Northern California Couples for Christ Cluster Assembly at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Fairfield. Once again, the image of Our Lady of the Flame of Love was present. This was also the very church where God had led me in 2006 after I sensed the quiet prompting, ‘Go to the nearest church.’ That simple act of obedience became another turning point that eventually led me into the Charismatic Renewal and later into Couples for Christ.

Looking back, I now see the Flame of Love prayer group, the Newman Center in Cotati, Father James Blount’s conferences, Father Michael Barry’s prayer, Father Larry Faraon’s Eucharistic blessing, Father Cris and the Eucharistic Convention, and the Cluster Assembly in Fairfield as threads of one story. Patiently and lovingly, Christ has been weaving them together through the gentle guidance of His Blessed Mother, always leading me back to His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist.

In this same Newman State University

God is inviting us to the Eucharist Conference