Through 100 Years: A Faithful God, Loving Shepherd!

Submitted by regina on Sun, 10/07/2012 - 03:18

 

Good Shepherd Sisters, mission partners, friends and benefactors gathered last October 4, 2012 at the Good Shepherd Convent in Quezon City to mark the Centennial of Good Shepherd Sisters' presence in the Philippines.

Parade, from the gate of the Quezon City convent to the chapel. (Photos on this page, by Noli I. Yamsuan)

Sr. Brigid Lawlor, congregational leader, based in Rome, came to the Philippines to join Sr. M. Cecilia Torres, province leader , and the Good Shepherd Sisters in the Centennial Celebrations. 

Main Celebrant of the 10 a.m. Eucharistic Celebration was Abp Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila. A parade participated in by Good Shepherd Sisters, apostolic and contemplative,  in the 26 communities in the Philippines preceded the Mass. Also joining the parade were the 18 overseas Filipina missionaries who were on homevisit and attended the Centennial celebrations. St. Bridget School Band of Buhi, Camarines Sur livened the occasion with the rendition of "Sandaang Taon" composed  by Sr. M. Lorenza Sangalang and Sr. M. Aimee Olaguer.

Sr. M. Lourdes Fabia gave an introduction summarizing the first 100 years of the Good Shepherd Sisters in the country since the first community was established in Batangas in 1912, (Read Full Text below)

In his homily, Archbishop Chito, who was scheduled to leave that afternoon for Rome to attend the Synod of Bishops, said that someone "asked me if I shouldn’t have just rested today before my flight, but I said that while I was confident that God would forgive me, I wasn’t too sure if the Good Shepherd sisters would be as understanding.”

Photo: Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle

Those gathered laughed knowing that Archbishop Chito has known the Good Shepherd Sisters as a young seminarian and priest and has helped in the program for girls in the residences, particularly in Tagaytay and Quezon City. Before his appointment as Archbishop of Manila, he was Bishop of Imus, where four communities of Good Shepherd Sisters are located: Maryridge, Bahay Pastulan, Bukid Kabataan and the Contemplatives of the Good Shepherd.

The Archbishop also dwelt on the Centennial's theme, "Weaving Compassion, Embracing Challenges, Forging Hope." (Read Full Text).

The Prayers of the Faithful spoke of gratitude for the 100 years, a collective thanksgiving for the benefactors and people, mission partners who supported the ministry of the Good Shepherd Sisters and a desire for fullness of life for migrant workers, students, urban poor, students, street children, women and girls served in the country.

Photo: Inside the Good Shepherd Chapel

Symbols like candles, stones gathered during the journey of the Centennial Crook, Tapestry from the Good Shepherd Communities, Paschal Candle with 100 years, a house signifying houses donated to victims of typhoon Sendong, the different sectors, flowers and bread wine, expressed "all the accomplishments, failures and dreams with the body of Christ taken, broken and shared."

Photo: Sr. Brigid Lawlor

Sr. Brigid in her message, lauded the efforts of the sisters in helping women and children. "All of us have within us the missionary spirit of St. Mary Euphrasia whether we are here in the Philippines or on another continent.  When she says, “Let zeal be the vessel that bears you on… this holy work is in your hands,” we know that the symbol of a boat that came here from Rangoon continues as a particular sign for us today.  That sign is the zeal which we have inherited and must continue to promote.   Zeal calls forth gratitude….the gratitude that is the memory of the heart... Thank you for inviting me to participate in the celebration of our precious heritage here in the Philippines.  The entire congregation unites with me with joy and gratitude."

Sr. Cecilia replied with praise and thanksgiving for the 100 years of Good Shepherd presence in the country and for the people who collaborated to make the occasion meaningful.

Photo: Sr. M. Cecilia holds the statue of a Shepherd, with a sheep on wheelbarrow, a gift from Sr. Brigid.

Lunch followed the Mass. A program honoring lay mission partners and benefactors through the Service Awards and Count de Neuville/Countess d'Andigne Awards was held at the Sr. Mary Divine Child Flood Students Hall of St. Bridget School. Missionaries, younger sisters in the province, students of St. Bridget School - Quezon City expressed in song and dance the joys of the Centennial. The 18 missionaries rendered songs to the delight of the audience. (RK)

 

Through 1OO Years: A Faithful God, Loving Shepherd!

By Sr. M. Lourdes Fabia, RGS

One hundred years since the foundation of the Good Shepherd congregation in the Philippines, a full century from October 4, 1912 when two Irish Sisters Mary Constance Phelan and Alphonsus Liguori Burke left their first mission in Burma to bring the presence of the Good Shepherd Sisters here. This makes us remember the sentiments of our Mother Foundress, St. Mary Euphrasia, in the early years of our congregation: “My dear daughters, I feel I could never say enough about our Mother Church, of the love we owe her. On arriving at our foundation, think that as daughters of the Church, you are as it were, sent by her.” Her reminder was never to forget “you are sent by the Church” And indeed our actual experience was we felt we have been sent and received into the heart of the Church: So for our first 100 years, our hearts are full of awe and wonder and GRATITUDE to our faithful God, our loving Shepherd!

· From the beginning, the Philippine foundation was made because of the initiative of a bishop, Bishop Joseph Petrelli of Batangas who asked Mother Domitilla Larose, who was then general superior for a foundation here ;

· We were welcomed wholeheartedly in Batangas and into the various dioceses through the years;

· We have been privileged to form community with the bishops, priests, religious and lay people in the local churches where the Good Shepherd has led us: from Baguio and Isabela in the North to Mindanao in the South and all the regions in between: Batangas, NCR, Cebu, Cavite, Bicol; and other foreign missions where Filipina RGS were sent -- Venezuela, Angers, (France) Rome and Malta, Africa (Mauritius, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Senegal, Burkina Faso ), Bolivia, USA and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Saipan, Tahiti, Guam, in Asia (HongKong, Korea, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore); and for our Contemplatives, Austria and Angola.

· We have been greatly supported in our mission and ministries by dedicated and generous lay mission partners and many other people with their prayer, friendship and partnership in ministry, and concrete resources.

· We are grateful to all who have trusted us to be with them and share their lives with us, their dreams , hopes and joys, and also their pain, frustration, anger and anguish.

This journey of a hundred years has been a pilgrimage of faith, an authentic passing through the paschal mystery in following Jesus, the Good Shepherd – in his passion, death, resurrection. And YOU who are here this morning to celebrate this precious centennial moment, you are our companions on the journey. Our story is not just of the Philippine Province – it is linked and moves with the Church, our whole Congregation, our country and truly with the world. Each one of you will have different moments to remember, -- when we walked together on sunny and bright days or on days desperate with rain and darkness; in the simple and warm atmosphere of our residences, in the exciting and challenging adventure in our schools, in the conflict and helplessness and poverty of our marginalized communities, in the hope and laughter and trusting hearts of the young, in the new life snatched out of oppression and abuse of trafficked women and children, victims of domestic violence , of prisoners and political detainees, migrants and overseas workers.

“Shepherd of my soul, I give you full control, wherever you may lead I will follow. I have made the choice to listen to your voice, wherever you may lead I will go.” Oh, how easy it is to sing this on days like today. But there have been other days with other shades of the paschal mystery. We remember . . . The quiet beginnings in Batangas, the move to Grace Park and QC in the 1920s and opening St. Domitilla’s and St. Euphrasia’s our two pioneer havens of compassion and caring with SME’s words in our hearts: “Love the girls and make them happy, very happy!” . . . Then the war years in the 1940s when our American missionaries spent years in Los Banos as prisoners of war. Our missionaries, Irish and Italian, together with our lone Filipina RGS then Sr. Mary Assumption, continued to take care of the girls in our residences and the boys and girls in St. Bridget’s Batangas. . . . Decade of the ‘60s, birth – rebirth: Philippines made into a Province on December 3, 1960, establishment of the Contemplatives and the Philippine Novitiate in 1961, expansion of our school ministry (SBS Buhi and QC) in addition to our original residences. . . . In the Church : Vatican II. Aggiornamento, Church in the world and the world into the Church! . . The “Angry ‘70s” : Document “Justice in the World”, FABC and its call to Asian religious for Inculturation, dialogue of life, taking the side of the poor. Our Congregation trying to define and express Our Mission Today. Election of our first Filipina Provincial in 1970, outreach to Mindanao. 1972: Martial Law declared. Sr. Christine, our provincial, reminded us amid the call to return to our roots and to read the signs of the times: “We have to go to the heart of the spirit of St. Mary Euphrasia, to the inner core of her charism, to her unlimited vision, to her frighteningly unique modes of operation. If the world ever needed her fire and thunder (her caring and daring), it is today!” From then on, the struggle for justice became an integral part of mission. That difficult part of our nation’s history was excruciatingly painful for us as a Province. The Shepherd was leading us to new, unknown, dangerous (it seemed) paths! Our footholds were lost. And we became polarized, unsure of one another (Is that Good Shepherd ministry? When will they heed the call of the times?) . . . The ‘80s brought fresh air. In 1982 we re-elected Sr. Natividad Banaag as provincial in what turned out to be a Provincial Chapter of Reconciliation. The experience of reconciliation was desired for the entire Province so in December 1982 we held our first Province Assembly. Up in Baguio, we opened hearts and minds to one another. Through honest dialogue and tears, we recognized that all of us, each of us wanted only to follow the Shepherd! . . .November 21, 1983, the sinking of the MV Cassandra. Four of our Sisters were there and in recounting the event, survivors tell of how Consuelo, Concepcion, Virginia and Catherine gave their life vests to women and children. Shepherding that others may live. . . . 1990s Let us allow ourselves just one event to mark: July 31, 1996 – bicentennial of the birth of Rose Virginie Pelletier (SME). Pope John Paul II sent a message to the Congregation : Following the example of your foundress, invent ever new and daring ways of expressing the tenderness and mercy of God for those who have most need of it.”. . . 2000 The Great Jubilee. Celebration of the 2000th birth anniversary of JESUS, the Incarnation of the Father’s Mercy. . . . November 14, 2001 - the 400th birth anniversary of our father St. John Eudes with its theme: “A Heart for the World, a world of lights and shadows.” Call for renewal in our congregation as well as for the two congregations founded by SJE, Our Lady of Charity and the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudist Fathers). To offer to the world of our times the legacy of SJE to his religious families: charism of mercy.


2009 - 2012 Three-year preparation for the Centennial of the Good Shepherd Congregation in the Philippines. Three yearly themes: Weaving Compassion, Embracing Challenges, Forging Hope. Three years to bring to the full circle of a hundred years the proclamation of our Diamond Jubilee: Through 75 years, a Singular Tradition: CARING. Indeed, through 100 years: CARING. The Shepherd’s care and the grace given to us to care as He does. Ever to strive to care like the Shepherd. (We can also mention that in the three years of preparing for this jubilee, 13 of our Sisters here were called to the Eternal Sheepfold and a Filipina missionary to the States joined them on October 1. Ever the death and resurrection pattern).


Into the future: As we say THANK YOU for the first 100 years and step at the threshold of the next 100, we in the Philippine Province take our place in a journey of our Congregation and our other Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. In a “Journey of Enrichment”, we are reclaiming our shared history, spirituality and charism to offer to our world and the needs of people today.


With all of you around us, who have always supported us and loved us, in the presence of our Congregational Leader Sister Brigid Lawlor, we say YES to our future. With Mary the Mother of our Congregation and Patroness of the Philippines , we say YES to another 100 years of Caring, a Yes that is born out of the experienced pain and struggle of the Annunciation and Gethsemane, but that thrives in following Jesus our Shepherd – to nurture the little shoots of paschal promise all around us. For the next generation of Good Shepherd Sisters, mission partners and our friends, we know that it will be for them what was for us: The Lord is our Shepherd, what more shall we want? What more, what more?