By Sr. M Nguyen Thi Bach Mai and Sr. M. Teresa Chu thi Nguyet Hoa
.jpg)
This is the English version of our
thanksgiving, the same message as what Mai had spoken in Japanese.
Most Reverend Bishop Sakai…thank you for
coming to celebrate the Mass on the Profession of our Perpetual vows. Thank you
also Fathers who con-celebrated the Mass with Bishop Sakai and for all here
present on this special occasion. Mai and I are very grateful to all of you.
When Mai and I first came here in Toyonaka
Convent of The Good Shepherd Sisters, we did not know anything about Japan, but,
we came as we felt God’s call to become a religious nun. The Good Shepherd
Sisters received us. They were always kind and warm to us. We felt their love
for us. We are very grateful for this experience.
We also met many priests and we specially
thank our spiritual directors- Fr. (Totsuka) Yamauchi, Fr. (Sin) Takayama.
Our special thanks to Sr. Goretti, from the
Good Shepherd Sisters-Vietnam, who tried her best to be here today. She was the
one who introduced us to the Good Shepherd Sisters-Japan, and she helped us in
coming here. Thank you very much Sr. Goretti. We are very happy you came for
this occasion.
I thank God for making it possible for my
family to be here today. Phuc my father, Ky my brother and Truc my niece who are
from Vietnam. We also want to thank our families in Vietnam who are not present
with us today, especially for the family of Mai. Deep in our hearts we know
they are united with us in prayer.
As you know, this Perpetual Profession is
the first, after the unification of the Philippines-Japan province. Sr. Regina
Kuizon, our Province Leader, together with the members of the Province
Leadership team; Sr. Ananita Borbon, Sr. Carmelita Arenas, Sr. Ronafel de Leon are
here on this significant event. Thank you very much Sisters for coming all the
way from the Philippines to be with us today. Mai and I are very grateful for
your presence.
Our special thanks to Sr. Emma Marzan, our
formator, who came 3 weeks ago from the Philippines, to guide us in preparing
ourselves for our Perpetual vows.
Since we came to Japan, we are happy to
meet many friends. We are grateful for all of you who support us.
We are especially grateful to our Sisters
in Toyonaka, Sendai and Enzan communities who nurtured us in our our vocation
and journeyed with us throughout our formation.
Our hearts are deeply touched by God’s
faithfulness in Psalm 118:1:
“Give
thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love is everlasting.”
Trusting in God’s merciful love, we are
happy to make our perpetual profession of vows. Full of joy, we thank all of you for your presence and we continue to
ask you to support and accompany us with your prayers so that we will remain
faithful in our covenant with God and to the Congregation as Good Shepherd
Sisters throughout our life.
Most Reverend Bishop Sakai, Dear Fathers,
Friends and Good Shepherd Sisters, we sincerely thank you from the bottom of
our hearts. May God bless you all.
Again, thank you very much.