PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY: HOLY FAMILY PROVINCE (Philippines - Papua New Guinea - Vietnam) September 9-13, 2020

Theme: Journeying Together Towards the Future in HOPE! 

“Can anything good come from NAZARETH?” (John 1:46) Yes, indeed! It’s JESUS, the worker himself who lives there, immersing himself in the people’s life, identifying himself with them as he works as a carpenter and announces the good news of the reign of God- love, justice, solidarity and compassion.

Our 2020 Online Provincial Assembly, which was actively and enthusiastically participated by all the sisters of the Province, was coordinated with all the digital Link by the Sisters in Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Luzon and in the Visayas.

Day 1, September 9, of our Provincial Assembly started with the Eucharistic Celebration with Sir John Cardinal Ribat. In his homily, he challenged all of us, Siervas de San Jose of the Holy Family Province, to show to the people through our life and mission that, indeed, there is truly something GOOD that comes from Nazareth. And this is possible if we always accept the invitation of Jesus to COME and SEE, to come to Him and be united with Him and not to journey alone. It is the work of God, the work of His presence in our life. This festive and meaningful Live Mass was hosted by the PNG Cluster.

After which, Marcelina Sta. Cruz, SSJ, our Provincial Coordinator, warmly welcomed all the assembly participants as well as Lillian, our General Coordinator in Spain and the two Juniors, Yen and Wilma, in the Congregational Juniorate in Colombia. She declared the Provincial Assembly OPEN after such a motivating and inspiring message.

The rest of the day was devoted to the silent encounter with the Lord using the material "COMMUNITIES IN TRANSFORMATION: TO FLY, TO TRAVEL, TO CONTEMPLATE" by José Cristo Rey García Paredes, which was concluded with the Holy Hour of Adoration of the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus. The prayer guide was followed by each group (C-T or Cluster) wherein each one offered a hand symbol with the attitude/s or disposition/s to invest during the assembly written on it.

 

The day’s activities made our hearts burn within us. God is ever present to us! Jesus in Nazareth is alive in us! The Holy Spirit leads us towards our own process of transformation!  As Siervas de San Jose of the Holy Family Province, we are ready to embark THIS JOURNEY during these coming days of the assembly.

On Day 2, September 10, Marcelina recalled to the group the process of evaluation undertaken in the various spheres in the Province. The 7 small groups dedicated time to identify the significant elements in the Synthesis of the Results of all the Communities-Taller’s evaluation of the Provincial Operative Plan 2017-2020 on each Line of Action in the Provincial Strategic Plan.

Day 3, September 11, the process of evaluation continued in the 7 small groups that worked on incorporating to the highlights of each Line of Action the Calls and Invitations, recommendations to adapt to the new reality coming from the Reflection on The Congregational Dialogue in the Time of Pandemic by the Commissions, Committee, Program and the Provincial Team. The Common Search done in plenum yielded to what the Province considers most relevant for the next three years.

In the afternoon, Lillian presented the Document on the BUILDING THE FUTURE ROAD MAP, which is a joint work of the "Building the Future" Commission and the advisory team of EDUGESA. She highlighted the Asia Pacific realities and analysis. Her sharing heightened our consciousness in our responsibility of moving towards the future in the transmission of our SSJ Charism as God’s gift to the world especially to the PWW with our 101% commitment for the Congregation.

Day 4, September 12, started with another Live Mass from the PNG Cluster with Fr. Mars Oabel, CM, who exhorts us in his homily that “Our journey together towards the future in hope invites us to go back to Nazareth”.

Departing from yesterday’s work, the 7 small groups deliberated which of the Recommendations from the Road Map are to be incorporated in each Line of Action and these were presented to the Plenum for enrichment and consensus.

At 4:30 in the afternoon, the comprehensive and contextualized to the current pandemic situation reports from Holy Family School of Quezon City and the Lay Josephines were presented online by Dr. Teresita Arcos-Surót and Concepcion Sta. Cruz, M.D. respectively.

On Day 5, September 13, 2020, the main task of the Assembly culminated in the consensus of the further enrichment and the prioritization of the PROPOSALS that can help the Province to continue moving forward from 2020 – 2023 with hope and enthusiasm in commitment to our mission.

This was followed by the other reports of St. Theresita’s Academy of Silay City by Natividad Maravilla, ssj; Tahanang Paghubog Mother Bonifacia Inc. (TPBMI) by Angelina Lucidos, ssj and Mother Bonifacia Rodriguez Foundation, Inc. (MBRFI) by Delia Labay, ssj. 

Another very enriching experience in the assembly was the Presentation of the Work done by the 4 Working Groups on the Systematization of the Lived Experiences on the Formation towards Women Empowerment (Result 3.2.2 Activity1.1) composed of the following participating Communities-Taller and Apostolic Centers:

§  Promotion and Prevention (Loreto Hostel-Boroko, PNG, Holy Family Home-Iloilo City, TPMBI Sheltering Home-Murphy, Quezon City)

§  Professional Training (Talleres de Nazaret Training Center (TNTC)-Korobosea, PNG, Archdiocese of Port Moresby Skills Training Center (ASAC STC)-Boroko, PNG and St. Bonifacia Skills Training Center (SBSTC)-Silay City)

§  Production (Talleres de Nazaret in Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Cebu and Silay and Mother Bonifacia Production-Korobosea, PNG)                                     

§  Pastoral Responses to the PWW (C-T Rosario-Cavite, C-T Mandaluyong, C-T Murphy, Quezon City and Community-Taller Madres Mayores)

Raquel Pacaigue, ssj gave an update on the project of the Province in response to the Pandemic spearheaded by C-T Rosario in partnership with the Parish. This provides a small capital for the Income Generating Project of the manual workers in Cavite economic zone who are seriously affected by this Covid-19 situation. 

When the topic on Making Butinya Known Better, Lillian was spontaneously asked to give motivation to the Sisters on the process of canonization of Fr. Butinya, which she willingly did. She encouraged us to strengthen our knowledge and love for him. 

Finally, as we celebrated joyfully the Live Mass hosted by the Luzon Cluster from the Provincial House, we gathered together all the blessings God has bestowed on us during these 5 days of the Provincial Assembly. We joined our voices to God with hearts full of praise and gratitude for God has filled us with renewed faith and love; challenged us to move on beneath God’s ever-abiding presence; and enkindling our hearts with the fire of his love, summoned us TO JOURNEY TOGETHER TOWARDS THE FUTURE IN HOPE…

Marcelina proclaimed the closing of the Provincial Assembly, on behalf of the Provincial Team, with very touching words of thanks to Lillian and to all who participated in the Assembly and to those who in one way or another have accompanied us through their prayers and support.

From Day 1 to Day 5, we have felt the Holy Spirit’s silent movements in everything that transpired. We have also felt your nearness to us, dear Sisters in the whole Congregation, accompanying us always through your love and prayers.