By Bro. Junep Ocampo, BCBP Kapatiran Editor
The Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP) announces the passing of its former Chairman and Presdent, Lorenzo “Bro. Larry” Veloso, on September 20, 2019, in Los Angeles, California after several years of battling cancer. He was 65 years old.
Bro. Larry was survived by his wife Dedit and their two daughters, both already in the United States. His remains will be cremated and be transported to Cebu City, his hometown, in the coming days.
Bro. Larry has been part of the BCBP since 1985, when, as he said many times in his life sharings, God rescued him from a life of worries and anxieties. “Work was my priority then,” he said. “Work eventually became my god.”
Faced by an economic meltdown brought about by the assassination of former senator Benigno Aquino, Bro. Larry chose to search for God. He began going to Mass everyday, receiving the holy communion, and became a devotee of the Blessed Virgin. In one of his low moments, he made a bargain with God by saying, “Lord, help me out of this and I promise you that I will serve you full time when I reach 55.”
Bro. Larry was only in his mid 30’s then and thought that, maybe, in the next 20 years God would eventually forget about their deal. But soon after making his bargain with the Lord, God led Bro. Larry to the Catholic charismatic movement that has expanded in Cebu City where he was based. He joined that community, developed a more personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, and soon became instrumental in the official establishment of the BCBP in Cebu in 1988.
In the BCBP, Bro. Larry served in various capacities, starting off as a Breakfast emcee, Action Group Leader, Breakfast Head, Christian Life Program Course Leader, Unit Leader, Chapter Head, then Regional Council Director, member of the Board of Trustees, National Service Coordinator for Formation, Chairman of the BoT, and later on National President.
He said God made sure he could not say no to his election as National President as it happened when he already had a lot of free time as his two daughters were already abroad. “And the election happened a day before my 55th birthday. It’s as if God was reminding me of the bargain I made with him,” Bro. Larry remembered.
BCBP Senior Leaders Council Director Bro. Angel Sabas said it was under Bro. Larry’s term as President that the BCBP changed its mission focus to recruit more businessmen and professionals in the 30 to 40-year-old range.
Last April in Bacolod, Bro. Larry, though visibly sick yet still energetic, gave an impromptu message during the BCBP’s National Anniversary Celebration.
“There is no retirement in the service to our Lord,” he said. He mentioned that he has already prepared himself for death, that he has divested all his material possessions and is ready to go. He even called cancer a “blessing” as it made him set his affairs in order.
Various BCBP leaders posted on Facebook their words of gratitude and sympathies for Bro. Larry and his family. Bro. Manolet Siojo called Bro. Larry “brother in Christ, friend, mentor, beacon, leader, and anchor in the community.”
He thanked Bro. Larry for all that has done for the BCBP and shared with the brotherhood. “Your entry to our Lord’s paradise will be swift and secure. You will occupy the best place. You will smile, laugh and dance in our Lord’s presence. You deserve nothing less,” he said.
Sis. Josie Fajardo-Serafica, wife of present BCBP Chairman Tito Serafica, described Bro. Larry’s death as “BCBP’s loss but heaven’s gain.”
BCBP Executive Director Serge dela Fuente extended the brotherhood’s sincerest condolences to the Veloso family and appealed to all BCBP members to pray for the eternal repose of Bro. Larry’s soul.
