This simple but meaningful celebration of the 50th Anniversary of my Religious Consecration will always be a significant experience for me because it was a community celebration of both the SSJ Community and the Iawakaka Village Community. St. Pope Leo the Great Sub-Parish Church blessed with the presence of the 6 Zones communities, our Filipino Overseas Workers from Rabaul, my two sisters in the Community-Taller Srs. Concep and Gene, our Cluster Coordinator Sr. Yoly representing our PNG Cluster and our Holy Province and the Congregation as a whole and the Filipino missionary priests who led in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, is such an immense experience of God’s unfathomable expression of His love and fidelity.
My family was not with me because PNG is very far from the Philippines but I know that they were with me in spirit especially my parents and my three brothers who are enjoying God’s eternal bliss in heaven. God is present in various ways and I believe this with all my heart.
The serving of ice cream and muffins and biscuits to everyone in the village who came for the celebration was a joy for me. In iawakaka, ice cream and cake is a source of joy and all of them enjoyed- the children, the youth and the old.
It was, indeed, a community celebration in the periphery of Rabaul, in Iawakaka, my Nazareth, where we the SSJ in our simple apostolate of Skills Training are sharing with joy and commitment the gift of our Charism, sharing with them the legacy of Fr. Francisco, SJ and St. Bonifacia, SSJ, the dignifying and sanctifying value of work through harmonized prayer and work with Jesus, Mary and Joseph as our Model, in cooking, sewing and organic gardening courses.
Our Training Centre, provided by the Archdiocese of Rabaul and the Financial Assistance of our main sponsors, Taller de Solidaridad and Commonwealth of Learning has made my life in the mission very fruitful and prophetic. In Iawakaka, we live as one among the poor families, we concretize the dream of our founders, the empowerment of women and young women at risk in the ambience of simplicity, humility and unconditional sharing of what we are and have.
This makes my 50 years anniversary celebration meaningful and I would say: “MY 50 YEARS AS A SIERVA DE SAN JOSE...FULL OF GOD’S GRACE, INDEED.”
“Dear God, thank you for calling me to be a Sierva de San Jose, I remember the day when I left my family on July 18, 1969. It was not easy, but you gave me the faith, strength and courage to follow you. Thank you for my parents who loved and cared for me. It was very hard for them to let me go but you gave them the grace to say: Lord, we offer you with Faith and Love, our daughter. She belongs to you”
Thank you for all the persons who accompanied me during my formative years. They are now with you, thank you. Thank you for the different communities where you have allowed me to live with, sharing our SSJ Life and Mission and for all the joyful as well as the challenging experiences.
My 50 years in the service of the Church, in the life of our Congregation had been years full of your blessings. Trials were there, difficulties were there but you gave me the grace to see your loving Hands, holding me by the hand, guiding me and telling me: “I am here, I am always with you, I have called and you are precious to me” I would also want to remember today my two batch mates in the religious life whom you have already taken into your loving embrace: Thelma and Pet. Thank you for those moments when we shared life together in the Congregation… in our mission. They are now enjoying your Presence. (Thelma and Pet, I know and feel, you are with me today… thank you)
Again dear Lord, I want to tell You: “The love I have for you my Lord, is only a shadow of Your love for me…the faith I have for you my Lord is only a shadow of Your faith in me…the dream I have today my Lord is only a shadow of Your dreams for me… and the Joy I feel today my Lord is only a shadow of Your joys for me, when we meet face to face. I know and believe that my life is in Your loving hands. With Mary our Mother and St. Joseph our special Father and Protector, St. Bonifacia, our Foundress and Fr. Butinya, our Founder, and everyone present in this Eucharistic Celebration, I give glory and praise to You, Oh blessed Trinity, Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.”
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