Baguio -Regional Celebration held Jan 5-6

Submitted by regina on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 15:56

By Sr. Rosemary Bacaltos RGS (Good Shepherd-Baguio)

 Centennial Staff Turn-over Rite

The Eucharistic Celebration was held on January 06, 2012 at 7:45 AM.  It was held in front of the store facing the open view deck shielded from the sun by colorful round parachutes.  Archbishop Sergio Utleg graciously accepted to preside at this celebration and traveled 10 hours the day before, all the way from Tuguegarao, for this occasion.

Some 300 people attended this occasion.  Besides the Good Shepherd Sisters and the MMTC community of staff, student workers, mothers and out-of-school youth (OSY), several MMTC “alumni” and ‘alumnae”, and a few other guests, came.  Sr. Mary Suzanne read the Introduction before the start of the Mass which narrated a brief history of the itinerary of the Good Shepherd foundations, from the Mother House to Burma, to Batangas, Manila, Cebu, and Baguio.  After the Mass, a simple merienda was served to all.

 

INTRODUCTION

Eucharistic Celebration
RGS Northern Luzon Regional Centennial Celebration
06 January 2012 

Our Eucharistic celebration this morning, to be presided by Archbishop Sergio Utleg, archbishop of Tuguegarao, is the fourth regional centennial celebration, and a continuation of the Philippine Province’ retracing of the Good Shepherd itinerary and reweaving of the story of our presence in the Philippines. 

 

Almost 100 hundred years ago, on October 4, 1912, two Good Shepherd Sisters arrived in the Philippines from Rangoon, Burma.  It was to Batangas that these two Sisters were missioned. Sometime in 1910, the archbishop of Manila, Archbishop Jeremiah James Harty had written the Good Shepherd Mother House in Angers, France, to request for a foundation in Manila.  In God’s design, the letter of approval from the Superior General, to the request of Archbishop Harty never reached him as the emissary, Msgr. Ambrose Agius, died before he could return to the Philippines.  Instead, it was the request of Bishop Joseph Petrelli of the Lipa Diocese that was successfully carried out.  But what Archbishop Jeremiah Harty began, Archbishop Michael O’Doherty, his successor, accomplished. He resumed communication with the Good Shepherd Mother House, and in 1921, traveled across the Pacific to bring three Good Shepherd Sisters from the New York Province, to the Phiilippines. It was only then that the Manila foundation, the second in the Philippines, was established.  The third foundation in Cebu, was made after World War II, in 1951.

Up until 1949, the Good Shepherd Sisters in the communities of Batangas and Manila, used to come to Baguio for vacation, staying with the Maryknoll Sisters or with the ICM Sisters, as we didn’t have any property here then.  With the increasing number of Sisters, and not having a house in Baguio, it was necessary to have our own vacation house.    So it was that in 1948, when Sr. Dominica Long, American, and several other Good Shepherd Sisters, were taking a walk along Mines View Park, they discovered this property, owned by Mrs. Elsie Gaches, a widow, who had by then, been residing in the U.S. By God’s providence, our Sisters were able to buy this property for a song and built the present convent on the ruins of  the summer residence ofGov. Gen. Cameron Forbes, the previous owner.

So from the Mother House in Angers, France, to Myanmar, to Batangas to Manila, to Cebu, to Baguio - this was the itinerary that Jesus the Good Shepherd, designed for the Good Shepherd Sisters’ presence in the fourth foundation of Baguio. It is a story woven over 60 years of living out compassion and the mission of reconciliation among the Cordilleran people, particularly, the Cordilleran youth from the six provinces of Apayao, Abra, Kalinga, Ifugao, Mountain Province and Benguet for whom Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has shown His special predilection and solicitude..

This Good Shepherd story of weaving compassion, embracing challenges and forging hope is what we are celebrating today at this Eucharist

 Prepared by: Sr. Rosemary Bacaltos, RGS
Photo Gallery (To follow)

Reunion of the Good Shepherd Family of Australia

Last January 08, 2012, seventy former MMTC female workers and their families, from Australia, held their reunion here in MMTC Center 1 with a Mass and luncheon.  When Sr. Mary Divine Child Flood was assigned to Baguio in the 70s and early 80s, she raised funds to send 99 of these female student workers to be able to pursue Nursing in Australia.  All 99 of them successfully finished nursing, found work in hospitals, married and settled in Australia. 

The purpose of holding the reunion in Good Shepherd was to thank and honor the Good Shepherd Sisters, in particular, Srs. Mary Divine Child Flood and Carmel Medalla.  They also wanted their children and grandchildren, most if not all of whom were born and grew up in Australia, to connect with their indigenous origins and with the Good Shepherd.

The Mass was held at 11:00 a.m. and was presided by Fr. Liber Ortega, formator of St. Francis Seminary.  The Sisters of Baguio Community, Sr. Mary Cecilia Torres and Sr. Mary Suzanne Sinense were present at this occasion. After the Mass, the group made a donation to MMTC educational assistance with a promise that this assistance will be on-going.

After Mass, catered lunch was served at the Hot Kitchen.          

 A simple rite of acceptance of the Centennial Staff was held on January 5, 2012 at 7:45 am.  At the main gate, Srs. Milagros Santos and Magdalena Saavedra, who brought the Centennial Staff from Cebu, held the Centennial Staff  with Srs.Jeva Sumbillo and Malou  Castro, representatives of the Baguio Community, who would escort them  to the covered View Deck where the turn-over would take place.  Lined up on both sides of the road, were 10 boys, on one side, and 10 girls, on the other side, in the indigenous attire of the provinces they were representing and six girls lined up at the center, also in the indigenous attire and map of a Cordillera province, starting with Apayao, followed by Abra, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Benguet. 

RGS Centennial Regional Celebration
January 06, 2012

Offering of Gifts

The gifts we offer are symbols of the distinct identity, rich cultural heritage, traditions and customs of the Cordillera Region we belong to.  These are our land abundant with forests, mineral reserves, rivers, diverse flora and fauna, our indigenous attire and everlasting flowers. 

The Mountain Maid products signify the fruits of the Good Shepherd Sisters’ mission to continue the redemptive mission of Jesus the Good Shepherd in the Church, of bringing about fullness of life to us, Cordillerans.

We, in Mountain Maid Training Center, composed of the staff, student workers, mothers and out-of-school youth and farmers, representing the six provinces of Apayao, Abra, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mt.Province and Benguet offer these gifts to Kabunyan for all these blessings.

In offering these gifts, we commit ourselves to preserve and protect our legacy and actively participate in promoting the Good Shepherd mission here in the Cordilleras.  

These student workers danced to the sound of the gongs and escorted the Centennial Staff to the View Deck.  The rest of the Sisters and MMTC community – staff, student workers, mothers and osy gathered by the View Deck.  The 6 girls proceeded to a stand which held the entire Cordillera Administrative Region map to attach the province maps on their respective places.  The four Sisters proceeded inside the View Deck and there, Sr. Mila turned over the Staff to Sr. Jeva, who placed it on the stand.

Representatives of each group of  the MMTC family – staff, student workers, mothers and out of school youth (OSY), placed garlands of everlasting flowers on a native basket at the foot of the Staff.       Sr. Mary Guadalupe in a short introduction, explained the symbolism of the everlasting flowers, which is our prayer and hope that the RGS presence and mission in the Cordillera Region,  like the everlasting flowers, will last for a long, long time.