Renewal of vows of Good Shepherd Sisters

Submitted by regina on Tue, 03/14/2017 - 03:19

Three temporary professed sisters made their renewal of vows at the the Good Shepherd Chapel during a Eucharistic celebration on March 13,2017.

Sr. Annie Kyin Hponex, Sr. Christine Ange and Sr. Elizabeth Joseph of Myanmar, the Province of East Asia, have been in the Philippines since May last year for theological studies.

The renewal of vows were received by Sr. Regina Kuizon, province leader of the Good Shepherd Sisters in the Philippines, on behalf of Sr. Regina Htoo htoo, province leader of East Asia.

Celebrants of the Mass were Fr. Winston of the Holy Cross Fathers and Fr. Raphael Khup of Myanmar who is currently taking studies at the UST Central Seminary.

Good Shepherd Sisters, mission partners and girls in the residences were present during the renewal of vows.

The three sisters are among several temporary professed sisters who are in the country for studies, others are Sr. Oraphin of Thailand, Sr. Anita of Indonesia and Sr. Johanna Ajila of Ecuador. 

Photo. From left, Srs. Regina, Annie, Elizabeth and Christine. 

 

Homily of Fr. Raphael Khup


Gospel Readings: Luke 6:36-38

 

In
Matthew’s gospel Jesus says, on the mountain: “Be perfect as your heavenly
Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48), and in Luke, he says: “Be compassionate, as
your Father is compassionate.” All Christians are expected to be perfect and
compassionate. It is a good question to ask oneself; have I attained that
perfection after several years of following Jesus? Personally, I have been
Christian for 36 years, but I am not yet perfect. I have been in the priesthood
for 7 years, but I am not yet perfect.

I
preach to the people to love, but at times I fail to love. I preach to the
people to forgive but at times I fail to forgive. I preach to the people to be
compassionate but at times I still remain uncompassionate. So I am not yet
perfect. The more I think of ourselves, the more we come to know that I are
imperfect. But I do not get discouraged because I know God remains merciful and
compassionate to me.

The
moment we acknowledge our imperfection is the moment we allow ourselves to
experience the mercy and compassion of God. And the moment we experience his
mercy is the moment we extend that mercy to others. Due to our imperfection and
sinfulness we may feel shameful but God still treats us kindly and
compassionately. It is because he wants to teach us to be merciful and
compassionate when we see the imperfection of others. “Be
compassionate, as your Father is compassionate.”

So
our Christian vocation is a vocation to perfection. To attain that perfection,
Jesus teaches us today, be compassionate, do not judge, do not condemn. There
is always a tendency in us to judge others or to condemn others, putting them
down for the reason that they are not perfect. But we hardly see our own
imperfections and defects.

So
my dear sisters, with all our imperfections Jesus called us. We are called not
because we are worthy and perfect, but because he is compassionate and he wants
to make us worthy and perfect. And he stands always before us as a perfect
model. Let’s keep our eyes always fixed on him. He is the way, the truth and
the life. He always invites us, “Learn from me, I am meek and humble of heart.”
After the heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd let us always try to be
compassionate, meek and humble.