The sisters from the six Communities-Taller of the Luzon Cluster gathered at the Holy Family School of Quezon City grounds at 8am for a “Sports Festival” activity as the preliminary encounter to bond and interact before the Cluster assembly proper begins. The games were prepared by the Juniors with Sr. Dahlia. Everybody, young and old, burst into guffaws as each one actively participated in the games, letting go of the child within. The whole activity was an intimate experience of familial bonding, setting the mood for a collaborative spirit to begin the 11th Luzon Custer Assembly.
The Sports Fest ended with a hearty favorite native snack: banana queue and ice lolly (flavored with young coconut).
At 2:30 pm, a Jesuit Scholastic from Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (a non-partisan, church-based, Jesuit-led organization committed to the service of the church and the Filipino people), talked on the national political situation. It broadened the sisters’ perspective of the political reality of the country and prepared them more in choosing their candidates for the forthcoming national election on May 13.
May 1, 2019
The 11th Luzon Cluster Assembly carries the theme: Unified in Mission, Making the Charism Visible. At 8 am, Jennifer Uy, the Luzon Cluster Coordinator, welcomed the members and opened the assembly proper. Marcelina Sta. Cruz, the Provincial Coordinator and Victoria Terrenate, Coordinator of Visayas-Vietnam Cluster were also present. Invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout the assembly, everyone disposed themselves in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as the beginning activity of the encounter.
Days before the assembly proper, the article “Living the Mission Interculturally: Faith, Culture and the Renewal of Praxis” by Anthony J. Gittins, CCSp was distributed to the communities-taller to be reflected upon.
After the adoration, the sisters were divided into groups to share their reflection on the significant challenges and invitations stirred by the abovementioned article. In plenum, each group shared their answers. After all answers had been heard, as a cluster a consensus was made as to the challenges on interculturality and intergenerationality. The consensual goal was to commit to intercultural community living towards the building of the reign of God rooted with passion on the person of Jesus, the prayer-worker in Nazareth. This would entail cultivating virtues and dispositions to see each person as a sister or brother looking through the eyes of Jesus, developing the manner of thinking and feeling as “We.”
At 11 am, the sisters and the Lay Josephines in Metro Manila celebrated together the Holy Eucharist officiated by Fr. Greg Bañaga, CM, the Provincial Superior of the Vincentians. Every year on May 1, the Lay Josephines from Metro Manila renew their commitment during the mass. After the holy communion, they renewed together their commitment.
After the final blessing, LJ Connette Sta. Cruz, the link person to the LJ International, introduced the Kabataan para kay Bonifacia at Butinya (KBB), a group of youth which she is organizing, together with some LJs, envisioning to form an LJ youth group in the future. On behalf of all the LJs, she expressed their heartfelt gratitude to all the sisters. As a sign of their gratitude, they gave each sister a bag of fruits and asked them to get as much fruits as they like from those lined up decorating the altar. It was indeed a festive day of St. Joseph, the Worker, for the Josephine family as they joyfully share together the hearty lunch afterwards.
The session resumed at 2:30 pm. Marcelina Sta. Cruz echoed the last meeting of the Team of the Congregation in 2018 in Lubumbashi, Congo. With her presentation of the realities of the Communities-Taller in Congo, the sisters felt so near and interconnected with the sisters of the Congo Cluster. She also presented the important matters tackled in the meeting.
After the 30-minute health break, each Community-Taller presented their CAP according to the following themes:
a. Apostolic Projects: Poor Working World, especially with Women and Youth at Risk
b. Formation Journey and Transmission of the Charism (Vocation ministry, Communication,
Linkaging, Networking)
c. Communities-Taller: 3 Dimensions (Sisterly Relations, Spirituality, Formation)
As the sisters listened to the reports, each one was tasked to take note of the significant characteristic features or novelties that make the charism visible in each report under each theme. They were asked to write down on color-coded meta cards their answers.
May 2, 2019
The CT CAP presentation according to the specific themes continued the whole morning. When all had been reported, at 11:30 am, Jennifer gave a short presentation of the different definitions of the word “Prophetic” for a unified understanding of the word. Afterwards, the sisters were divided into 3 groups to work on the assigned theme.
Each group was given the corresponding colored meta cards with the answers of the sisters to work on as they answer the following questions:
1. Which of the characteristic features or novelties are prophetic and transformative?
2. What other characteristics are necessary to be more prophetic? More transformative?
The work of each group was reported in the Plenum.
Then the document on the collated best practices of Laudato Sí by the different communities was presented. The whole day’s dynamics provided the sisters an experiential knowledge on how to undertake the process of discernment in each CT to identify at least two prophetic signs in relation to the new paradigms of religious life as well as on how to share them with the surrounding, as exhorted by the Strategic Plan.
At 6:00 pm the members proceeded to the chapel to celebrate the Holy Eucharist presided by Fr. Nick, CMF. A simple yet healthy dinner then followed.
The heavy work of the day was compensated by the intergenerational recreation after supper. At 8:30 pm, the sisters gathered outdoor. They were grouped by age bracket: 21-40 years old; 41-60 years old, and the 61 years old-above. Each age bracket was supposed to facilitate at least a game that they were playing during their days. The aim was to learn from each generation how they played during their younger years.
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The 21-40 age group
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The 61 and above age group
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“Siklot”
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“Pitik Goma”
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“Piko”
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“Tumbang Patis”
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It was indeed a fun way of getting to know and appreciating the beauty and gift of each generation. The group ended the day by singing Salve Regina.
May 3, 2019
The last day was spent on reviewing the five Cluster Projects:
1. Unification of the understanding of the new paradigms of Religious Life and different expressions of the same.
2. LJ-SSJ Integration leading towards common or joint projects
3. To make visible and strengthen projects in the cluster in favor of poor women workers and young women at risk.
4. Communities and projects with new ecological and solidary initiatives
5. Communication fostering interconnectedness and dynamic participation towards the transmission of the charism and vocation convocation.
The body was tasked to make a consensual evaluation whether each particular Project is actualized, not actualized, or on-going by giving concrete indicators. The task of rephrasing some of the projects was given to the Luzon Cluster Coordinating Group. Particular actions were impelled to make operative the Cluster projects.
After a short health break, the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon were spent to the reports of the different Provincial commissions: Commission on Economy, Commission on Vocation Ministry, Commission on Women, Commission on Communication and Social Development and the LJ-SSJ Integration Committee.
The remaining time of the day was spent discussing other concerns of the Cluster and of the Province. The Eucharist was the culminating activity. During the offertory each CT offered a symbol that represented their community. After communion, before the final blessing, the Cluster Coordinator officially closed the assembly, encouraging each one to continue to be united and impassioned in recreating and making the Charism visible in the world today. Filled with renewed hope and enthusiasm the sisters accepted the challenge as they sing with joy the Himno de Siervas de San Jose. A simple and joyful dinner capped off the last day of the assembly.
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