Good Shepherd News - guterhirte.org · phoon Sendong, the different sectors, ?lowers and bread wine, expressed "all the accomplish-ments, failures and dreams with the body of Christ

GSN 257 October 2012

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Good Shepherd News CongregationofOurLadyofCharityoftheGoodShepherd



Through100Years-AFaithfulGod,AFaithfulShepherdProvinceofthePhilippines

GS Sisters in Phillipines with Sr Brigid Lawlor, Congregational Leader

ProvinceofthePhilippines:Page1-3

Through100Years,AFaithfulGod,AFaithfulShepherd

FilipinosinNaganoprefecture,Japan,celebratedtheCentennial

ProvinceofBrazil:Page4

ContemplativeCorner-GoodShepherdInBrazil1912-2012

ProvinceofLebanon/Syria:page5

PapalVisit-AMessageofPeaceandHope

GeneralateRome:Page6

NewLeadershipTeamsmeetinRome

ProvinceofSouthEastLatinAmerica:Page7

FormationSessiononJusticeandPeace

ProvinceofSriLanka/Pakistan:Page8

RaiseYourJoyfulThankstoGod

ProvinceofItaly/Malta:Page9

JourneyofEnrichment

WordsofThanks,Sr.LilianeTauvette(Canada)

GeneralateRome:Page10

MessageofSr.BrigidLawlorPhilippines-4thOct.2012

ProvinceofBrazil:page11

CommentaryabouttheWitnessoftheSistersofNetherlands

Sr.CassiaMaria-CGS–Brazil

Inside this issue

GoodShepherdSisters,mission

partners, friends and benefac-

tors gathered last October 4,

2012 at the Good Shepherd

Convent in Quezon City to

mark the Centennial of Good

Shepherd Sisters' presence in

thePhilippines.

Sr. Brigid Lawlor, Congrega-

tional Leader, came to the

PhilippinestojoinSr.M.Cecilia

Torres, Province Leader, and

the Good Shepherd Sisters in

theCentennialCelebrations.

Continuedonpage2

Sistersfromdifferentcommuni-

tiesinthePhilippinesProvince


2

Main Celebrant of the 10 a.m.

Eucharistic Celebration was Abp

LuisAntonioTagle,Archbishopof

Manila. A parade participated in

by Good Shepherd Sisters, apos-

tolicandcontemplative,inthe26

communities in the Philippines,

preceded the Mass. Also joining

theparadewere the18overseas

Filipina missionaries who were

on homevisit and attended the

Centennial celebrations. St. Brid-

get School Band of Buhi, Cama-

rines Sur livened the occasion

with the rendition of "Sandaang

Taon" composed by Sr. M. Lo-

renzaSangalangandSr.M.Aimee

Olaguer.

Sr. M. Lourdes Fabia gave an in-

troduction summarizing the ?irst

100 years of the Good Shepherd

Sisters in the country since the

?irst community was established

inBatangasin1912.ThePrayers

of theFaithful spokeof gratitude

for the 100 years, a collective

thanksgiving for the benefactors

andpeople,missionpartnerswho

supported the ministry of the

Good Shepherd Sisters and a de-

sireforfullnessoflifeformigrant

workers, students, urban poor,

students,streetchildren,women

andgirlsservedinthecountry.

Symbols like candles, stones

gathered during the journey of

the Centennial Crook, Tapestry

from the Good Shepherd Com-

munities, Paschal Candle with

100 years, a house signifying

houses donated to victims of ty-

phoon Sendong, the different

sectors, ?lowers andbreadwine,

expressed "all the accomplish-

ments, failures anddreamswith

thebodyofChrist taken,broken

andshared."

Sr.Brigid inhermessage lauded

theeffortsof thesisters inhelp-

ing women and children. "All of

ushavewithinusthemissionary

spirit of St. Mary Euphrasia

whetherwearehereinthePhil-

ippines or on another continent.

When she says, “Let zeal be the

vessel that bears you on… this

holywork is in your hands,”we

know that the symbol of a boat

that came here from Rangoon

continuesasaparticularsignfor

us today. That sign is the zeal

which we have inherited and

mustcontinue topromote. Zeal

calls forth gratitude….the grati-

tude that is the memory of the

heart...Thankyouforinvitingme

to participate in the celebration

of our precious heritage here in

the Philippines. The entire con-

gregationuniteswithmewithjoy

and gratitude." (Fullmessageof

Sr.Brigidonpage10)

Sr.Ceciliarepliedwithpraiseand

thanksgivingforthe100yearsof

GoodShepherdpresenceinthe

countryandforthepeoplewho

collaboratedtomaketheocca-

sionmeaningful.Lunchfollowed

theMass.

A program honoring lay mission

partnersandbenefactorsthrough

theServiceAwardsandCountde

Neuville/Countess d'Andigne

Awardswasheld at the Sr.Mary

Divine Child Flood Students Hall

ofSt.BridgetSchool.

Missionaries, younger sisters in

theprovince,studentsofSt.Brid-

get School - Quezon City ex-

pressed in song and dance the

joys of the Centennial. The 18

missionaries rendered songs to

thedelightoftheaudience.

SrReginaKuizon

ProvinceofthePhilippines

Through 100 Years - A Faithful God, A Faithful Shepherd

Sr. Brigid

visits St.

Bridget

College

Batangas


3

MarieFrançoiseMESTRY,CommunicationsCoordinator

CasaGeneralizia, Suoredel Buon Pastore, ViaRaffaello Sardiello20- 00165Roma, Italia.

Email: [email protected] [email protected]

Good Shepherd News

AsFilipinomissionariestotheFili-

pinomigrants in theNagano Pre-

fecture, Japan,wethoughtofcele-

brating also the centennial of our

GoodShepherdministry “roots”-

inthePhilippines.

On the 29th July, 2012, in the

Catholic Church of Matsumoto,

Nagano,200Filipinosfromthe16

different Parishes of Nagano Pre-

fecture, Japan, gathered to praise

andthankGodfortheGoodShep-

herdSisters’presence in thePhil-

ippines. Theheartof thecelebra-

tion was the Tagalog Mass cele-

brated by a Filipino Vincentian

priest, Fr. Rogelio Cardenas with

Fr.IsaoNakaya, JapaneseOFM,as

concelebrant. The creative liturgy

captured themessage of the cen-

tennial celebration. Fr. Rogelio,

CM delivered a very inspiring

homily. He clearly wove-in the

Sunday Gospel with the Good

ShepherdcharismandthePhilip-

pine centennial themes of the

three-year preparation: Weaving

Compassion, Embracing Challeng-

es, Forging Hope. Forging Hope

was truly signi?icant in the light

of the national Tsunami experi-

ence in Japan. It was an experi-

ence thatgathered Japanand the

Philippines in the fold of the

GoodShepherd’scompassion.

Andsotherewasareasontocele-

brate! A colorful entrance pro-

cessionof the two FilipinoGood

ShepherdSistermissionaries(Sr.

Celeste, with the Good Shepherd

staff and Sr.Mercy, carrying the

Holy Bible) and 16 pair repre-

sentatives from the 16 mission

areaparisheswalkedthroughthe

aisle to the majestic beat of the

entrancesong“ItoAngBagong

Araw” ( This is the day that the

Lordhasmade). Before thebe-

ginning of the Eucharistic cele-

bration, Sr. Celeste recounted, in

a power point presentation, the

history of the Good Shepherd

Sisters in the Philippines. It

tracedtheeventualjourneyofthe

Good Shepherdmission in Japan.

After the communion service, Sr.

Mercy expressed her heartfelt

“ThankYou”messagetothecon-

gregation.Thiswasfollowedbya

surprise souvenir shared with

everyone. An agape followed the

Eucharistic celebration. In tradi-

tional Filipino style of a commu-

nity celebration, all the16Filipi-

no communities brought their

sharefortheagape.

What made the celebration a

grace-?illed one? The Filipino

communities of the 16 parishes

from distant geographical loca-

tions of the Nagano Prefecture

pooled together their time, tal-

entsandresourceswithonegoal:

tocelebrateinpraiseandthanks-

givingthearrivalofthe?irstGood

ShepherdmissionariesinthePhil-

ippines 100 years ago. That ?irst

step made visible the care and

compassion of Jesus, the Good

Shepherd for His ?lock there. In

theyears that followed, the Good

Shepherd Sisters’ presence and

mission continued to share the

spirituality of Jesus, the Good

Shepherdandthecharismandleg-

acyofSt.MaryEuphrasiaPelletier,

Foundress of the Religious of the

Good Shepherd Sisters, not only

throughouttheislandscalledfond-

ly“pearloftheOrient”butinoth-

er places where there are the

Shepherd’s?locktogather.

Wefeltthepresenceandapprecia-

tionofourShepherdGodthatday.

The “stamp of approval “for the

centennial celebration in Nagano

was the over?lowing joy of each

one—thepriestsandtheJapanese

RGS who came to share with us,

theparishgroups,andourownjoy

–thatcamefromameaningfuland

rare experience of celebrating the

centennial of the Philippine Good

Shepherd Sisters in the sheepfold

oftheNaganoPrefecture,Japan

Sr.MercyAng,Rgs

FilipinosinNaganoPrefecture,JapancelebratedtheCentennialAnniversary

oftheGoodShepherdSisters’presenceinthePhilippines.

SrCelesteandSr.Mercy,Filipino

missionariesinNagano,Japan

Sr.MurakamiwithFilipinos

injapan


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On 26th July 1912, four youngwomen began their

novitiateattheConventodaLapa,inSalvadordeBa-

hia: SrMaryof theCross, SrMaryof thePassion, Sr

EdeltrudesoftheHolyFaceofJesusandSroftheIm-

maculate Conception of Mary; these four sisters

opened the ?irstContemplativeCommunity inBrazil

undertheguidanceoftheApostolicSisters

The four young sisters were blessed by God and

?lourished,whileothernew foundationswereestab-

lished.AftertheSecondVaticanCouncil,whichcalled

theChurchforarenewal,theCongregationembraced

andrespondedtotheproposaloftheChurchbystart-

ing a process of change. Cardinal D. Eugenio Sales,

contributed a lot in this process, thus calling all the

contemplativesisterstoameeting, inordertoshare

decisionsfortherenewalofthechurch.

For usitwasanewstart;sincethen,westeppedfor-

wardand,in1970,weestablishedthe?irstCommuni-

tyinPALMARES,withaCommunityLeaderSisterEl-

zaNascimientoBarros.

Every change has its own implications and conse-

quences.Wewalkedthispath,seekingtoaccomplish

God'swill. Timepassedbyveryquickly; at themo-

mentwearepresentinallcontinents.

InBrazil,weusedtohavecommunities inFortaleza,

Caruaru,Palmares,Pernambuco,Maceio,Coroata.At

present,wehavecommunitiesinAlagoinhasandBelo

Horizonte-Bahia.

We pray to Jesus, the

GoodShepherd,andto

St. Mary Euphrasia,

asking themtocontin-

ue to strengthen us

with their blessings,

enlightenments, and

graces, sending us vo-

cations, in order to

continue our mission

in the Church, in the

Congregation and in

theworld.

Photo:RGSinBrazilwithSrReinaEscobar

CongregationalCouncillor.

Contemplative Corner CentennialCelebrationOfTheContemplativeSistersOfTheGoodShepherdInBrazil

1912-2012

GRATITUDEAND

FRIENDSHIP

Ifeelprivilegedtocele-

brate the "Centennial"

of the Contemplative

Sisters of the Good

shepherdhereinBrazil.

I feel privileged, be-

cause 18 years ago the

Diocese of Alagoinhas,

with its poverty and simplicity, without

muchtooffertoreligiouswomen,hadthe

joy of welcoming a community of the

Good Shepherd Contemplative Sis-

ters.Afterallthistimeof intensemission-

ary work in this Diocese, which word

should I use and emphasize during this

Jubillee Celebration? “Gratitude”! Thank

you,Lord,Thankyou,sisters.

Gratitude isundoubtedlyoneof themost

nobleandbeautifulsentimentsof thehu-

manheart.Therefore,Iwouldliketosing

andpraytogetherwithalltheSisters,ex-

pressingallmygratitude.

Dear Sisters, please accept all my grati-

tude in the form of a prayer and friend-

ship.TheDioceseofAlagoinhasthanksall

of you for your discreet, quiet, friendly,

prayerfulandfruitfulpresence.

MayGodblessyouandhelpyou!

Pleaseaccept theexpressionof thesenti-

ments of affectionand friendshipof your

Shepherdwho,withmuch gratitude, em-

bracesyouandwishesyouallthebest.

+PauloRomeuDantasBastos

DiocesanBishopofAlagoinhas

Bahia–Brazil


5

The Pope’s three-day trip to Lebanon in Septem-

berwas not amere visit. Itwas a blessingwhich

was felt deeply by all Lebanese. During his visit,

“the pilgrim of peace” insisted on the importance

ofreligious freedomasabasichumanrightanda

prerequisiteforsocialharmony.Thedarknightof

many troubled Christians in theMiddle East was

enlightened by the Pope’s ?irst words: “Salami

Utikum” (mypeace I give you) atRa?iqAlHarriri

AirportinBeirut.

ThePontiffhighlightedLebanonasa livingmodel

fortheMiddleEastandtheworldofpeacefulcoex-

istence.InresponsetothePope’scomments,Leba-

non’s grand Mufti gave the reassuring message

that “any attack on any Christian citizen is an at-

tackonIslam.”Inotherwords,thisreligiousdiver-

sity and richness is indispensable to the constant

Lebaneseidentity.

Importantly, the Pope’s speech to the Lebanese

was clear and emphasized “the delicacy of this

equilibrium”insuchsociety. Indeed,with themo-

saic of different religious backgrounds, this coun-

tryandregionrequiresof itspeople:cooperation,

respectful dialogue, a goodwill, andmost of all a

commitment.Bythismeansonly,theLebanesewill

beassuredoftheconstancyofthisequilibriumasa

reality.

FortheSistersandstaffoftheGoodShepherdCen-

treinRoueissat,Beirut,thesewords“cooperation,

respectfuldialogues,agoodwill, commitment”do

notsoundlikefar-fetchedconcepts.Thespirituali-

ty of the Good Shepherd Sisters based on peace,

mercy, zeal and justice is carriedout throughour

mission in this troubled region.Our Social Center

caters for women and children with harsh social

backgrounds, suffering from poverty, physical

and/or verbal violence, and other kinds of social

deprivation.Inasocietywhichpromotesonly“the

survivalofthe?ittest”,vulnerablewomenandchil-

drensufferthegreatest.

The essence of our vocation in the Centre in

Rouiessatdoesnotonlylieinthefactthatweserve

people from different social and religious back-

grounds, but also that the working/volunteering

membersof thecenter come fromdifferent social

and religious backgrounds. We are proud of our

successinbuildingsolidarity.OurCentreisrunin

awaythatitisdif?icultforanoutsidertodifferen-

tiate between a Muslim and Christian personnel.

Weareallformedwiththesamespiritofzealand

charity,God’s spirit;weareoneof the true living

examples of the coexistence in Lebanon. And in

thisspirit,handinhand,wewenttomeetthePope

onSunday,September16,atBeirut’sWaterFront.

“WhenIlookedatthePope,passingbymysidein

hispapalmobile,I feltgreatjoy.HisvisittoLeba-

nonbringsmuchjoytomyheart.ThePopeisreal-

ly God’smessenger on earth”, commented Nahed

Shusha,oneoftheveiledMuslimvolunteersatthe

Center.

Finally, IbelievethatthePope’sthree-dayvisit to

LebanonstartingSeptember14,whichisaspecial

celebrateddayoftheCrossinLebanon,isnocoin-

cidence.Thisdate symbolically remindsusof our

crossasLebanesetodefyallthehardshipsandat-

temptstoblemishthebeautifulanduniquepicture

of our coexistence and existence in the Middle

East.Although it is aheavy cross and the road in

Lifeislong,resurrectionawaitsus.“Heisrisen…”

Elianore Khoury

A Christian Volunteer at the Center.

Note: “The congregation has established this center since

1998. The aim of it is the prevention of delinquency, the

conviviality between Christians and Muslims and to pro-

mote women’s rights. It is in the middle of a region where

violence is a common language every day. In 2007, a Prima-

ry Health clinic was taken over by the sisters as well to

serve the population of the area (northern west of Beirut)

and the suburb, many Iraquee and Syrian Refugees are

among the clinic’s bene2iciaries.

Antoinette Assaf, rgs

PapalVisittoLebanon-AMessageofPeaceandHopeChristians and Muslims Good Shepherd Volunteers participate in Sunday’s Mass

SisterAntoinetteAssafRGSwithagroupofVolun-

teersontheoccasionofthePope’svisittoLebanon


6

NewLeadershipTeamsMeetinRome27September–3October2012

ByCarolinePrice,ProvinceofAustraliaandAotearoaNewZealand

Four new leadership teams

wereinvitedtogatherinRome

for a session on Leadership.

We came from Austria/

Switzerland/Czech Republic,

Angola and Mozambique,

Egypt/SudanandAustraliaand

Aotearoa New Zealand. Four

different province/sector reali-

ties representing 9 countries!

The symbol for the opening

prayerwasa ?ireplace,around

whichwewereinvitedtogath-

er, to learn fromeachother, to

shareandtodream. Thissym-

bol accompanied our days to-

gether and our sharing was

rich, like the wood that would

keepthe?ireburning.

Our ?irst days we re?lected on

leadership, including a presen-

tationontheleadershipstyleof

St Mary Euphrasia. We pon-

deredthisinputandwelearned

aboutsomeofthedecisionsshe

hadtomakeandhowshemade

them. Therewasa lot to learn

from her mistakes as well as

her successes! And we shared

some of our own stories. We

tookthetimetodeepenourun-

derstanding of our mission of

Leadership, and re?lected on

and formed a vision for our

Leadership Teams. In sharing

these in a creative and re?lec-

tiveway,wecreatedanoppor-

tunity fordeepersharing. We

watched the movie “Of God

and Men” based on the true

storyoftheTrappistmonksin

Algeria inthe1990s,whoasa

consequence of their decision

to stay in their community,

preferred to die rather than

leave the community and vil-

lagers whom they had served

overmanyyears.

The sharing of our province

and sector realities was rich

and informative and provided

much food for thought. Some

ofourProvincesare in transi-

tiontonewstructuresformis-

sion,othersare justbeginning

toestablishthemselvesinnew

ministries.Wewerestruckby

the “old” and the “new” – the

Province of Australia and Ao-

tearoa New Zealand is about

to celebrate 150 years, and

withinitNewSouthWaleswill

celebrate100years,whileAn-

golapreparesfor its50th jubi-

lee, and in Egypt, Port Said

will celebrate 150 years! So

much tradition and history!

And yet we are always facing

newness.

As we came to the end and

evaluated our time together,

we drew the lessons.We also

drewstrengthandthecourage

we need to pack with us for

our journeybacktoourprov-

inces and sectors. We have

certainlybeenwarmedbythe

?ire, drawn light and hope

fromit,andithasfeduswell!

We hope that the ?ire contin-

ues to burn, and that new

leadershipteamsinthefuture

cangatheraroundit,andfeed

it with the wood of the chal-

lenges they face and hopes

they have in leadership for

mission!

SisterCarolinePrice

ProvinceofAustralia/

AotearoaandNewZealand

TheProvinceofAustraliaandAotea-

roaandNewZealandwithSr.Anne

JosephineCarr

TheProvinceofAustria/

Switzerland/CzechRep.withSr

AnneJosephineCarr

TheSectorofAngolaandMozam-

biquewithSr.ElieneBarros

TheProvinceofEgypt/Sudanwith

Sr.ArmelleDehennaultandRita

LorençoLuis


7

FormationSessiononJusticeandPeaceProvinceofSoutheastLatinAmerica(SAL)

LastSeptember28and29,2012,

wegathered37SistersandLay

collaboratorsinchargeofaposto-

latesinSaoPaulo,ProvinceofBra-

zil,Paraguay.

Thesessionwasorganizedby the

Team of Mission-Justice-Peace

composedof3sistersandtwolay

people, accompaniedbySr.Maria

Susana Franco, Provincial Anima-

tor.

Themeetingshad2objectives:

-Tosharetheapostolicexperienc-

esgivingcontinuitytotheaposto-

lates in order to prioritize the

mostsigni?icant in the lineof jus-

ticeandpeace.

- To personalize the experience

from the Workshop given by the

InternationalOf?iceof Justice and

PeaceoftheCongregationlastJuly

inQuito,Ecuador.

The?irstdaywewereshownPow-

er Point presentations of all the

apostolicworksofeachcommuni-

ty.Thuswegotanunderstanding

ofthedifferentrealitiesandapos-

tolicservicesoftheProvince.

The second day was devoted to

thetransmissionoftheexperienc-

es of the international workshop

withSr.ClareNolan,ourfacilitator

of the International Justice and

Peace Of?ice. We spent the day

re?lecting on the training tech-

niquesontheconceptofjusticeas

inclusion, the attitudes of Jesus

regardinginclusionandexclusion.

We went over the historical pro-

gression of incorporating justice

in the re?lection and the commit-

ment of our Congregation. How

justice is directly related to our

mission of reconciliation, being

anintegralpartofit.Therewere

momentsoflearningandmutual

enrichment.

Wenotedasachallengethetask

of deepening our understanding

and livingout ofour spirituality

inthelightofjusticeasinclusion.

We re?lected on this word as

somethingthatde?inestheprac-

ticeofjusticeinourcommunities

and apostolates. It was very in-

teresting to re?lectandshareon

the attitudes of inclusion and

exclusion, especially on the atti-

tudesofJesus.

Weconsideredhowdefenseand

politics can be strategies to at-

tain our mission of justice and

reconciliation.Weprioritizedthe

areasnecessarytodeepeninor-

der to affect the structures and

systems so that our works are

trulyorientedinjustice.

We were all asked to re?lect on

theexperiencewehaveofunjust

structuresandsystemsandthus

enlarge our possibilities for in-

clusiontoreachjustice.

Thethirddayfocusedonlinesof

priorityactionsfortheProvince.

The results were concrete ac-

tionstoorientourapostolates:

∗ To continue the ongoing for-mation of sisters and lay staff

whoareindirectservicetouse

inclusioninthelineofjustice.

∗ Toencourage theuseof inclu-sion as a tool to deconstruct

oldmodelsandconceptsandto

constructaneworganizational

modelwhichwill affect unjust

structuresandsystems.

∗To provide incentives in the

formationof local leaders for the

development of indigenous com-

munities and inotherswherewe

work.

∗ Toconstructandliveoutanew

identity of the Good Shepherd

in our apostolates and imple-

mentourEuphrasianSpirituali-

ty.

∗ To join regional and countrynetworks in thepriority areas

ofourcongregation.

Wetookonaschallengestheout-

modedconcepts:?inancialdif?icul-

ties todisinvolveprojects, collab-

oration with public power in the

development of political action

whichwe considered the respon-

sibilityoftheState,andtheaction

of certain Sisters in directing

someNGO’s.

Themeetingwasevaluatedbyall

participants as very positive for

themission of the Province; con-

sidering this step as very im-

portant in theprocessofrevising

our apostolates, our commitment

to justice in consonancewithour

Congregationalorientation.

We are grateful for the fraternal

ambienceof being togetherwith

ourlaycollaboratorsandthenew

visionofjustice.

FernandaFerreira,GSLayAsso-

ciateandSr.MariaJulia

GoodShepherdSistersand

LayAssociates


8

Raise your joyful thanks to God for the immense benefits He has showered.Raise your joyful thanks to God for the immense benefits He has showered.Raise your joyful thanks to God for the immense benefits He has showered.Raise your joyful thanks to God for the immense benefits He has showered. Province of Srilanka/ Pakistan Raise your joyful thanks to God for the immense benefits He has showered.Raise your joyful thanks to God for the immense benefits He has showered.Raise your joyful thanks to God for the immense benefits He has showered.Raise your joyful thanks to God for the immense benefits He has showered. Province of Sri Lanka/ Pakistan

It iswith these sentimentsofSaintMaryEuphrasia

inourheartsthatwegatheredtogetherontheocca-

sionoftheopeningof thenewbuildingofourCon-

ventinGaneshapuram,“Vaigarai”–meaning‘dawn’-

asafehomeforyoungwomenandgirlson30thJune

2012.

Lookingbackatthehistoryof thishome– itallbe-

ganwiththegenerosityofoursisterswhowillingly

respondedtothecrisisofwarservingthepeoplein

the refugee campswith love andgenerosity. Itwas

duringthistimethatasaProvinceweheardthecry

of women and young girls who were desiring to

buildup their future.Thiswas indeed forus amo-

ment to respond as did SaintMary Euphrasiawho

heardthecryofthevictimsoftheFrenchrevolution

andsparednopaintoreachouttothem.Following

herfootstepsoursistersdaredtotakeanextrastep

to establish this new venture for women and girls

affectedbywarandviolence.

Towards the end of 2009 we established this safe

shelter for women disturbed both physically and

psychologicallylosingallhopefortheirfuture.Itall

began in a rentedhouse, surroundedby temporary

shelters.Onthe19thofMarch2010,theskilltraining

programbegan.Thewomenwere givenopportuni-

ties to develop their skills which in turn provided

themwith skills to build up their own future. To-

gether with skills such as tailoring, leather work,

shoemaking,beautyculture,cakeandicing,cookery,

ribbon embroidery, arrangements were made for

traumacounseling,musictherapyandyoga.Theaim

of the program was to empower the women and

helpthemmovetowardsintegralgrowth.

Another important milestone of this project was

whenthewomenwhohadfollowedtheskilltraining

programsuccessfullyutilizedtheirtalentsthus

giving birth to an income generating project. Hard

working as they are, they labored with love and

couragetobeginearningfortheirfutureandsetting

up goals that gave them a sense of self worth and

interiorfreedom.Itiswithgreatjoywerecord,that

the girls who expressed their desire to continue

studies,were given the opportunity simultaneously

tositfortheOrdinaryLevelandAdvancedLevelex-

ams. In 2010, one of the girls who sat for the Ad-

vancedLevelexcelledas2ndrankstudentinVavuni-

yaDistrictandenteredtheUniversityofPeradeniya,

SriLanka.

At presentVakarai Good ShepherdConvent, has26

girlsforthelivelihoodprogramand30girlswhoat-

tend school. These women and girls are provided

withopportunities and facilities for their formation

andgrowthwhilegivingemphasistocounseling.

Astheprojectcontinuedinarentedhouse,thelead-

ership team looked at setting priorities for minis-

tries.Theydeeply felt that thismissionneeds tobe

upheld – a mission close to the heart of the Good

ShepherdandthatofSaintMaryEuphrasia .Thusa

decisionwasmadetoputupanewstructuretocater

forthesewomengivingthemmoresecurityandop-

portunities.Thankstothegenerosityofourbenefac-

tors,who?inanciallysupportedustomakeitareali-

ty.Yes,aswecontinuetomoveaheadforthesakeof

missiontogetherwithSaintMaryEuphrasiawesay

“May God overwhelm us with bene?its, watch over

andguardus,coveruswithGod’swingsandcaress

ustenderly”.

Ourprayeristhatthisplacewillbeahavenformany

more young women bringing them newness and

hopeinlife.

GoodShepherdSisters

SriLanka/Pakistan

Residents of the new Home “Vagarai” Sr Rohini, Province Leader, receiving the blessing of residents


9

JourneyofEnrichmentProvinceofItaly/Malta

On the Journey of Enrichment

within our Provincewe contin-

ue to have an atmosphere of

closeness and spontaneous

sharing.

We are not able to carry out

joint projects because of the

povertyofhumanresourcesbut

we are glad for any occasion,

whetherforformativemoments

orcelebrations,especiallythose

of our congregations, to cele-

bratethemtogetherexchanging

visits between the two houses

inRome.

We feel that our relationship is

gradually deepening to the ex-

tent that there is a growing

awarenessandappreciationfor

whatweseeasgoodespecially

ontheapostoliclevelandthisis

a source of mutual encourage-

ment.

This year, included in the pro-

gram of the province, which

aims to "re-animate our Zeal

and Spiritual Growth" - we in-

vitedanOLCsisterinRome,Sr.

Lucia,tobepartofthecommit-

tee with the task to stimulate

the communities and we're

very happy because she has

gladlyacceptedtheinvitation.

On the occasion of the Year of

Faith, we are organizing a

meetingattheconventinLore-

to,forbothRGSandOLCsisters

and laity. It is also a valuable

opportunity to learn about the

historic home of the OLC Sis-

ters in Loreto, and to live to-

gether thedayson the topicof

spirituality.

We are walking together in

hopefulness and openness to

what the Lord is preparing for

ourtwocongregations!

Sr.EsterGervasiRGS

Sr.LuciaTittarelliOLC

Monthly

Re@lections-

Spirituality

Centre.

Comments

Thank you so much for the

monthly re?lections.Theyhave

been spiritually nourishing,

and we have used excerpts

from them at our Evening

Prayer, from time to time. I

have also used them for per-

sonalprayer,especiallythe

?inal one on "Deep Intimacy

with God", which was particu-

larlymoving forme inmy on-

going relationship with our

ShepherdGod.

Blessingsuponyourcontinued

workincelebrating

"OurCharismandMission".RosalynMenard,RGS

ProvinceofNewYork

LayAssociates,OLCandRgsSisters,ProvinceofItaly/Malta

GoldenJubileeofSisterLilianeTauvette-Canada

The joysofmy jubileebroughtback fondmemoriesandgood times.Together,we

gavethanksfortheLord'sfaithfulness.Today,Iwanttosincerelythankyouforyour

goodwishes,yourparticipationandyourcontribution.Onthejourneytothefuture,

Ipraythatthedreamswecarryinourheartscancometrue.''Thejoyofmyheart

comesfromHim''Ps32.21Affectionandprayer,


10

100THANNIVERSARYCELEBRATIONOFTHEFOUNDATIONINTHE

PHILIPPINES-4thOcober2012MessageofSisterBrigidLawlorCongregationalLeader

Gratitudeisyourinheritance.

Engraveitonyourheart.Letits

remembrancebeyourconsola-

tion,yourhope.

(St.M.Euphrasia)

100yearsofhis-

tory! You have

studied your his-

tory intenselyand

have celebrated it

throughout the

province during

thepastthreeyears.

100yearsofchange!Ouren-

tirecosmosisdifferentbecause

of the new energy of God’s

shepherdinglovewhichsprang

forth100yearsagoandcontin-

uesinsomanyGoodShepherd

communities and services in

the Philippines. You carried a

shepherd’scrookfromplaceto

placetocommemoratethisjoy.

100 years of vocations!

Countless dedicated people at-

tracted to the charism of the

GoodShepherddiscoveredthat

charismwithinthemselvesand

shared it as apostolic or con-

templativesisters,laypartners,

andprogramparticipants.

100yearsofgrowth!Starting

withtwosisterstonowyouare

141 apostolic, 25 contempla-

tive sisters within the Philip-

pines, and countless lay part-

ners, all of whom are co–

responsible for our mission

heretoday.

100 years of sharing within

yourborders! Youhavedevel-

oped many partnerships

throughout the Philippines

with our church, government,

NGO’s,andothers.

100 years of creative re-

sponse to the needs of fami-

lies, women and children

throughconcreteministriesas

well as untiring advocacy for

justiceandpeace!

100 years of generosity!

Two missionaries came to

begintheholywork. Present-

ly, thereare32FilipinoSister

Missionaries in other parts of

theworld,whohavegenerous-

ly responded to the call to

reach out to persons desiring

ourGoodShepherdgiftedness

or to congregational adminis-

trative needs. Congratulations

and thankyou for sharing the

witnessofthemissionaryspir-

it that you were given 100

yearsago.Thisistrulyaclear

living out of the words of St.

Mary Euphrasia – “our zeal

mustembracetheworld.”

All of us have within us the

missionary spirit of St. Mary

Euphrasia whether we are

here in the Philippines or on

another continent. When she

says, “Let zeal be the vessel

that bears you on… this holy

work is in your hands,” we

knowthatthesymbolofaboat

that camehere fromRangoon

continues as a particular sign

for us today. That sign is the

zeal which we have inherited

andmustcontinuetopromote.

Zeal calls forth gratitude….the

gratitude that is the memory

oftheheart.

Our celebration of 100 years

ofGoodShepherdpresence in

the Philippines coincideswith

the beginning celebrations of

the 150th anniversary of the

birthofBlessedMariaDroste,

our sister fromGermanywho

was a missionary to Portugal.

I close with her words; I be-

lievetheyre?lect thegratitude

whichisinourhearts:

LetmepouroutthisLoveinto

the hearts of all. Letmewel-

come with compassion the

poor, the oppressed, the re-

jected, those in danger, and

lead themall toyou, theGood

Shepherd.

Maria Droste zu Vischering,

Munster, 1975, Section VII-

Re2lection.

Ibroughtyoua100thAnniver-

sary Gift! Sr. Cecilia, would

you please open it! It is a

Shepherdwithawheelbarrow!

I bring it as a reminder that

ourwork in the Philippines is

only justbegun! Wemustuse

whatever vessels that are

available tous today -bethey

boats, wheelbarrows, comput-

ers, internet, webpages, Face-

book,Twitter,etc.,tomakeour

Good Shepherd spirituality

known. There are many

“sheep” with whom we must

share the loving care of the

Good Shepherd during the

next100yearsandbeyond.

Thank you for inviting me to

participate in the celebration

of our precious heritage here

in the Philippines. The entire

congregation unites with me

withjoyandgratitude.

Lovingly in the

Heart of our

ShepherdGod,

BrigidLawlor

Congregational

Leader


11

GoodShepherdNewsWhile each unit is encouraged to

send articles anytime during the

year, we have planned that there

arespecificeditionswheneachunit

isaskedtosubmitanarticlesothat

at theendoftheyearall theunits

have been part of Good Shepherd

News.

Pleasesendarticlesonor

beforethe5thofeachmonth.

Hereisthesuggestedschedule:

January

Commissions,CLT,Bolivia/Chile,Indonesia

February

Argentina/Uruguay,Lebanon/Syria,Mexico,SouthAfrica

March

Belgium/France/Magyarorszag,Nederland(BFMN)

Mid-NorthAmerica,Egypt/SudanApril

Philippines,Portugal,Peru,Australia&Aoteraoa/N.Zealand

May

Spain,Angola/Mozambique,ColomboVenezolana

June

CentralAmerica,NortheastAsiaJuly

EastAsia,WestAfrica,(SenegalBurkinafaso)TheIsles,

August

Italia/Malta,Singapore/Malaysia,Deutschland/Albania

SeptemberNewYork,Canada,

EcuadorOctober

SudestedeAmericaLatina,SriLanka/Pakistan

November

Japan,GreatBritain,OU sterreich/Schweiz/CzechRep

DecemberIndia/Nepal,,Ireland,

Congo/Kenya

Calendar2012 CommentaryabouttheWitnessoftheSistersofNetherlands

Sr.CássiaMaria-CGS–Brazil

GoodShepherdNewsSpecialthankstothefollowingforthetranslations

andproofreadingAdrianaPerez,Mexico;NicoleBastien,Canada;Mary-JamesWilson,Philippines;GracielaMendez,Argentina;DeliaRodriguez,Peru;AngelicaGuzman,Bolivia/Chile;RosarioOrtiz,Spain;Narcisa

Vivanco,Ecuador;MartaCeballos,AnaMariaQuiroz,ClaireAlessan-dri,PatriziaMarturano,YvetteArnold,Generalate;MarieHeleneHalligon,ClaudineFargeix,BFMN;

MichelFerrerFrance

Commentsinreplytothearticle“MajorChangesintheNetherlands”writtenbySr.AlphonsaDondersBloemendaal,TheNetherlandsGSN256page10-11

Photo:Sr.CasíaMariaontherightDearSisters,Whatabeautiful exampleofwisdomyou have given for all of us in theCongregation of the Good ShepherdSisters.WhenIwasreadingthisarti-cle, your community decisiontouchedmeverydeeply.Iwasinspiredbyhowyourcommuni-tywasopentochallengeyourselves,howyouknewtocommunicatebetweenyourselvesandlistentoeachother.FromyourcommunitysharingyouwereabletodiscoverthewillofGodforyourfuture.It’sveryimportanttolistentootherstodiscoverthegoodnessofGodforthefutureofthelifeofourCongregation.IgivethankstoGodforyourwisdom,courageandyourdecision.Al-soIwouldliketothankSr.Magdalenaandhercouncilfortheiropen-nesstoheartherequestofourSistersandthelaypeoplefromNeth-erlands.Iholdallofyouinmyheartandprayersdaily,becauseyougaveme a great testimonyof life, “HowcanweliveourreligiouslifeasGoodShepherdSisters,beingpartofaworldwideCongre-

gation”?UnitedwithJesusGoodShepherdandMary,Sr.CássiaMaria-CGS

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