HOLY FAMILY PROVINCE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY (January 14-19, 2017)

THEME: “WALKING TOWARDS A GLOBAL, ECOLOGICAL AND SOLIDARY CONSCIENCE, WE LIVE THE MISSION AS DISCIPLES OF JESUS IN A CHANGING WORLD”

DAYS 2-6

The days of the provincial assembly continued to unfold and went on very smoothly up to its final day with much excitement, enthusiasm, participation, camaraderie, strong sense of belonging to the province and gratitude for the pervading presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. We thank the skillful and lively facilitation of the different moderators of each day and the sisters who rendered the different services for the group.

The following were the highlights/accomplishments during the five remaining days of the gathering:

The well prepared daily Eucharistic Celebration had truly helped us in coming home to the one and only source of our life - Jesus in Nazareth and to be in communion with the rest of the congregation, with the church and with of the whole of creation. The homilies had been both inspiring and challenging. The priest presiders, oriented beforehand of the theme of the gathering, very fittingly addressed our need for the day to day spiritual nourishment. The Evening Prayers, where we give thanks to God for all the experiences of the day, energized us and eased our tiredness.

The elaboration of the synthesis of the three main issues done by each group during the first day and presented to the plenum on the following day. The group acknowledged the great effort of the Provincial Team in doing the synthesis of the 3 main issues coming from the 3 Clusters.

Our group’s task to approve by consensus, the Provincial Team’s synthesis of the results of the OMG evaluation done in the 3 cluster assemblies and completed ahead of time, after some interventions and deliberations.

MO. MAG @ 95 STILL VERY ACTIVE EVEN WITH THE LOSS OF HEARING

The consensual approval of most of the proposals coming from the different clusters which will be presented to the final phase of 22nd General chapter.

The approval of the synthesis of “The Kind of Leadership the Congregation Needs Today and “Criteria for electing the General Coordinator, the General Team and the General Administratrix. This was followed by the group’s consensual proposal of 3 sisters for the General coordinator, 3 sisters for the General Team and 3 sisters for the General Administratrix.

Informative, interesting and challenging Reports/Updates of the 3 Commissions: Formation, Communication and Economy. 

The very exciting election of the three representatives to the final phase of 22nd General chapter:

1. Luzon Cluster- Sr. Marcelina L. Sta. Cruz

2. Visayas-Vietnam Cluster – Sr. Amor R. Calingasan

3. Papua New Guinea Cluster- Aurora Yolanda Pugal

MILAGROS GIVING ORIENTATION RE ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES

YEN AND WILMA AS CANVASSERS

The reports from the different committees (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Care for Creation-JPICC, Social Action Group, Women, Pastoral Care Of Vocation and Volunteer Program Committee) are really signs of hope and inspiration for the Province.

LOGO OF JOSEPHINE LAY VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

The on-going SSJ-LJ Integration in the Province is seen through a report on the Lay Josephines in the Luzon Cluster by the LJ Coordinator himself, Norly Deligero. (Report will be soon published at the LJ blog of SSJ Website) and the Lay Josephines in PNG Cluster by Sr. Yolanda Pugal.

TDS Project in Estancia -Re: Livihood Project reported by Sr. Erlinda Garaci .”

The sharing of each Community-Taller regarding its impressions/comments/ /challenges on the new revised Constitutions had been a source of joy, enrichment and deepening for all of us.

The updates regarding Bereina, an outreach activity of the C-T Korobosea, reported by Sr. Lucrecia Camiring, inspiring some sisters to volunteer to be sent to Papua New Guinea.

Milagros Maravilla’s challenge to concretize, as a Province and as disciples of Jesus walking towards a global, ecological and solidary conscience points from the areas of Persons and Capacities, Resources, Process and Projects and Target of Interest, readily accepted by the group. We came up with concrete actions for each point mentioned above.

The different kinds of energizers before and after each session kept all of us alert, alive, awake and enthusiastic.

Special events that took place within the days of the Provincial Assembly adding color, vibrance and joy to all of us namely: Birthday celebrations of some sisters and the arrival of His Excellency John Cardinal Ribat, MSC, the newly appointed and first cardinal of Papua New Guinea.

A very creative evaluation of the whole process of the Provincial Assembly led by the SSJ Juniors.

The Provincial Coordinator’s giving out of special souvenir to each sister as a sign of gratitude and appreciation, distributing them by communities. It turned out to be a “graduation rite” and became a joyful and cheering moment to us.

C-T KOROBOSEA

C-T BOROKO

C-T SILAY

C-T ILOILO

C-T VIETNAM

C-T CEBU

C-T MADRES MAYORES

C-T PROVINCIAL HOUSE

C-T BUTINYA

C-T ROSARIO

C-T MANDALUYONG

C-T MURPHY

Finally, with so much joy and gratitude in our hearts, we ended the Provincial Assembly in the same way that we started it- the celebration of the Holy Eucharist…

Let me quote a portion of the Mass Introduction prepared and read by Sr. Amor Calingasan (Visayas-vietnam Cluster Coordinator) which truly expresses our deep sentiments:

“As we end our Provincial Assembly, there is no other way most fitting and proper to give our thanksgiving and glory to the Triune God than the celebration of the most Holy Eucharist. For the duration of this momentous event in our Province, this sacrament of love, the greatest of Miracles has been our daily bread and drink, our spiritual nourishment. The presence of God in the liturgy of the Word and in that of the Eucharist has been the source of life and love that sustained, animated, inspired, guided and moved us, to offer all that we have and all that we are, to be able to accomplish the task that has been entrusted to us. Truly this has opened to the calls of conversion, of commitment, and of communion.”

To all of you, dear sisters who have accompanied us through your greetings and constant prayers; to the sisters of C-T Provincial House and their collaborators for their tireless service in providing for our needs and, above all, to our Triune God, Source of everything, we say- MUCHAS GRACIAS! THANK YOU SO MUCH! MERCI BEAUCOUP!

MORE PICTURES

DAY ONE

With the theme indicated above, we, the sixty-six participants from the different communities-taller embarked as a province for our Provincial Assembly. We felt the pervading presence of the Spirit, alive and continuously guiding us all throughout the day, starting with the Eucharistic Celebration, the fountain of our hope, strength and inspiration-our intimate encounter and communion with Jesus the worker in Nazareth. The Mass was presided by Fr. Jose V. C. Quilongquilong, SJ. He gave us a very insightful homily where he emphasized as reflected in the First reading the power of the word which is incisive, intrusive, intuitive, intimate and inclusive. Before he concluded the Mass, he added that “St. Joseph did not utter a single word in the gospel and yet he became the Protector of the Word…”

After the mass, Fr. Quilongquilong, SJ continued to inspire, dispose us, put us into context and challenge us through his power point sharing on the “Spirituality of Sustainability”, leaving us with the 3 following challenges: adoption of new life-style, responsible stewardship (vocation protection) and protection of environment from self-destruction. His talk was followed by individual prayer and reflection until 11:30 am.

Sr. Amor Calingasan, the moderator of the day, gave a short introduction and then called upon Sr. Milagros Maravilla who welcomed us and gave us a brief recollection of the process that the congregation has undergone from 2011 up to the present.

The afternoon session began with the Philippine situationer presented creatively by Holy Family School Speech Choir mostly Grade 12 students. It depicted the different problematic issues in the Philippine society and concluded with a challenge for all of us to be counter-witnesses to those societal ills by living out the Nazareth values which the students themselves have imbibed from our school.

The three main issues, which are the result of the collated issues that came out during the cluster assemblies of Papua New Guinea, Visayas-Vietnam and Luzon were presented for the group’s approval by consensus. After some suggestions and minor corrections, the group approved them.

The group was divided into 3, each one assigned to elaborate one of the three issues. The group’s task was to enrich the elements and steps that were already synthesized by the Provincial Team. The task was accomplished by each group with much enthusiasm and participation. The day ended with a closing liturgy.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3