July
31, 2016 is the 220th birth anniversary of St. Mary Euphrasia our
beloved Foundress. To celebrate this event in a special way this year, two
activities were organized: First – the Tita – Lola Invite. Nieces and
grandnieces of the sisters were invited to expose them to our way of life and
to give them an orientation to our Mission and Charism. Hopefully, the seed of
vocation will drop in their hearts and blossom to a response to enter religious
life. The Second activity was the groundbreaking ceremony of our corner lot
facing Aurora Boulevard.
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The
Eucharistic celebration at 9:00am was presided by Fr. Dan Cancino, a Camillian
priest and a good friend of the sisters. He gave a terrific homily, a challenge
to everyone, based on the treasure we hold dear to our hearts, based on the
readings “Vanity of vanities”. After mass, we all processed to the corner lot.
As the introduction says: “God has brought us to this time and place. As we
break ground, we take the first step in the actual construction of a new
building for the worship of God and the study of His Word. He has lead us to
this site, heard our prayers, blessed our gifts, guided our plans and will
provide needed wisdom to complete this facility.”
The
Word of God was taken from 1Corinthians 3: 9-11. After a short prayer, the
priest blessed the ground and the capsule that will be buried as the
cornerstone of the building. Inside the capsule were placed two Newspapers, the
Sunday Star and The Sunday Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Board Resolution
allowing to construct, medals of St. Benedict, Our Lady, Sacred Heart, St. Mary
Euphrasia, Blessed Maria Droste, a small cross and 22 coins. Then the priest
and key people took a spade of earth to cover the capsule. We all prayed that
this be a “place where all may come to know the presence of Christ, experience
that joy of His friendship, and grow in His love. May the blessing of God
descend like dew from heaven upon this place and upon all who will gather
here.”
After
Father Dan gave the last blessing, he called for all the construction workers
including the architect and the engineers. The success of the project is in
their hands, so he asked all those present to extend our hands over them and we
prayed for them. Father blessed them with holy water. Coins were threwn and the
young ones scampered to collect them.
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The
nieces and grandnieces with their aunties and lolas proceeded to St. Bridget
School where they had an early lunch of “binalot” and then a program in the
auditorium. One of the nieces, Janina Borbon emceed with Sr. Cielo, our
vocation promoter. The nieces and grandnieces were introduced to St. Mary
Euphrasia, foundress of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd and they
witnessed the talents of the temporary professed sisters from Myanmar,
Thailand, and Indonesia. The group of nieces and grandnieces from Batangas was
given a prize as the biggest group to attend. Let us pray that all of them will
be drawn to the mission of the Good Shepherd.
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