10th Province Chapter
Philippine Province of the Good
Shepherd
March 14 - 23, 2014
Maryridge, Tagaytay City
Chapter Statement
To this sacred moment, our 10th Province Chapter, we have come. It
is God’s sacred time, God’s sacred space. To it we are called as children of
this missionary Triune God.
The mission field from which we
come and to which we are sent is a hurting archipelago, in a hurting planet
Earth, in a hurting cosmos. We promise a return that is SPIRIT-FIRED, risking with hope for mission. St. Peter
exhorts us to always be ready to account for our hope (1 Peter 3:15). He points
of course to the Resurrection, the ball of Fire that can pierce every dark
corner of any hurting locus of mission – if we who are there would live it.
With Pope Francis, we dream of a
Church that is missionary and poor. How shall we do this? In the strength of
our Constitutions, we know we cannot
dream this without being contemplative and apostolic. We know too that, in this Year of the
Laity, we journey in partnership with them, even as we also cherish the clergy
and religious who have walked with us through the years.
We dare to risk living:
· a vow of zeal that translates into bold decisions for restructuring of
communities, material resources and governance that will bear fruit in
prophetic ministries. We heard our prophetic voices from the “fire wall” and
from the group reflections on broad directions. We spoke of the need to
prioritize, consolidate, streamline and redirect ministries to free ourselves
for the new demands of mission.
· a vow of chastity that renews our signature ministries to girls and
women while also heeding the call of Pope John Paul II in Redemptoris Missio to bring the Good News to the new Areopaguses of our time – persons in
situations of trafficking, migration, abuse in its diabolical forms and
recovery from super calamities. More
and more, we desire to do this renewed
evangelization in friendship and companionship with our partners in
mission.
· a vow of poverty that expresses
itself in stewardship for mission that continually reviews, for resource
generation and just allocation, the resources of our sustainability.
· a vow of obedience that is mindful of the urgency of the call to · the
mission of the Good Shepherd, aware of the expanse of the vineyard and
the scarcity of laborers. This takes concrete shape in vocation and mission
promotion. When we put leadership and governance at the service of mission, the
training of the next generation of leaders is ensured; discernment,
consultation and confidentiality
constitute the discipline of governance that is both firm and tender
The fulfilment of this hope rests
on the quality of our Good Shepherd spirituality. The tradition of caring that
best expresses that spirituality would
have us embrace the whole cosmos in which we find the wounded, the broken,
the hurting – even among ourselves. A holistic formation will address the
necessary configuration into Christ the Good Shepherd of everyone whom He has
called to continue His mission.
This is a Chapter of celebration.
We celebrate the fulfilment of a dream of St. Mary Euphrasia who lived in the
spirit of St. John Eudes – the reuniting through merger of the Sisters of Our
Lady of Charity and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd as
one congregation. We also celebrate our 100 years of mission history which Sr.
Brigid Lawlor in her Chapter message appreciates for its stability that yet
demonstrates flexibility.
This Chapter has been for us a
Pentecost experience. We can say this because, beyond our expectations, for
nine days it was a novena of freedom and hesitation, seriousness and humor,
solemnity and ease, contemplation and action.
We acknowledge the vital role of
the Preparatory Committee in facilitating the
Pre-Chapter prayer and hard work of all the communities with their partners in
mission.
As we thank Sr. Mary Cecilia Torres
and the outgoing Province Leadership Team, we also announce the transition of
leadership to Sr. Mary Regina Kuizon and the new Province Leadership Team at a
Eucharistic celebration on June 29, 2014.
