Sunday, October 23, 2011 is observed as World Mission Sunday.
In his message for World Mission Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI said that it is "through co-responsible participation in the Church's mission , that the Christian becomes a builder of the communion, peace and solidarity that Christ has given us, who cooperates in the implementation of God’s saving plan for all humanity."
Photo: Sr. Rita Danganan, (seated, third from left,) missionary to South Korea.
He continued, that "the challenges that this plan encounters calls all Christians to walk together and the mission is an integral part of this journey with everyone. In it – although in earthenware vessels – we bear our Christian vocation, the priceless treasure of the Gospel, the living witness of Jesus dead and Risen, encountered and believed in in the Church." (Read Full Text of Pope Benedict XVI's Message for 2011 World Mission Sunday. Click here.)
Missionaries in foreign countries are remembered in the Sunday liturgy, and the importance of each Christian's responsibility to proclaim the Gospel is emphasized.
In the Philippine province which is celebrating the Centennial of Good Shepherd Sisters in the country, sisters and lay mission partners remember in the celebrations the first Irish missionaries, who came to the Philippines in 1912 to open a foundation. More missionaries came from other provinces especially Ireland, the United States and Italy.
Photo: Sr. Stan, a Filipina missionary to the Province of Mid-North America
As Filipinas joined the Good Shepherd congregation, they, too volunteered to go to foreign misson, participating in the work for women and children. Many of the sisters who are in the various communities in the country have also shared in the congregation's mission of reconciliation through the various apostolates worldwide.
Today, they are Filipina Good Shepherd Sisters in various provinces in the world. Apostolic sisters are in:
1. Canada--Sr. Tomasita Antigua, Sr. Angela Battung
2. Ethiopia - Sr. Clemencia Flora
3. Hongkong- Sr. Felicitas Nisperos, Sr. Peter Chua
4. Japan- Sr. Mercy Ang, Sr. Celeste Yuzon
5. Kenya- Sr. Lourdes Sevilla
6. Macau- Sr. Rosa Villoria
7. South Korea- Sr. Rita Danganan
8.Taiwan- Sr.Rosalina Wee
9. Thailand- Sr. Bonaventure Mirasol
10 The United States of America - Sr. Nativitas Albert, Sr. Olga Malou Cristobal, Sr. Bernard Derayunan, Sr. Stanislas de Polonia, Sr. Rosalinda Sobremisana, Sr. Jude Uy, Sr. Mercy de Leon, Fidelis Lubos, Stella Mangona. Sr. Corazon Malinay is in the US for studies.
Three contemplative sisters are in the Province of Austria/Switzerland and Czech Republic-- Sr. Elizabeth Garciano, Sr. Elena Jalop and Sr. Magdalena Oliva while one contemplative volunteerd as member of an international contemplative community in Angola- Sr. Fe de Paz. Sr. Edith Olaguer entered the contemplatives in New York.
Filipina RGS are also in special mission, Sr. Tarcila Abano at the Spirituality Center in Angers, France; Sr. Yolanda Borbon at the Generalate in Rome, Sr. John Dumaug in Sudan and Sr. Alice Andres in Sabah- Malaysia.