Category: RedesignAsiaOce

19-20/09/2009

 19/09/2009
 
This morning, our Filipino sisters gave us the gift of some joyous and inspiring music, enriching our Eucharistic Celebration with their melodious voices and the vibrant notes of the mandolin, guitar and drums.
 
Our morning Liturgies, always expertly guided and truly universal in outlook, consistently pointed us in the right direction, as did the prayer that initiated each work day, centered as it always was on the Word of God and the words of our Founder. This morning, we were pleasantly surprised to listen to some thoughts of Maestra Thecla on the subject of “sisterly love.”

Today, after we “fine-tuned” our Continental Project, the General Government told us about several initiatives that have been programmed for our Institute, one of which is a series of animations on our Constitutions.

This second-to-the-last day of our Asia-Oceania encounter concluded with a presentation on the part of our Korean sisters of their “Ut Unum Sint” Bible Course.

20/09/2009
 
Once again it is Sunday here in Manila–the last day of our Continental Meeting, but the atmosphere is not melancholy. In fact today’s Eucharistic Liturgy, celebrated with the sisters of our Pasay community, was an explosion of joy and enthusiastic thanksgiving to the Lord for all that we experienced and accomplished in these days. We are happy to report that our objectives were successfully reached.
 
On the “local level”, all our circumscriptions were in profound harmony concerning the “beacons of light” that will support and characterize our journey, namely: the Word of God and the liturgical life; pastoral work for vocations; formation and study; formation to communications and use of the new media; the sharing of our charism with the laity….

On the “continental level”, daring and concrete priorities to be implemented in well-defined stages and aimed at short and medium-term goals were established with surprising ease. The proposals blend together the two dimensions innate to our charism: the “Word of God and communications”. But we also went further, laying the groundwork for several expansion projects in Asia and drawing up suggestions to keep in mind in our circumscriptional and intercircumscriptional planning.

Thank you for your prayerful presence!


17-18/09/2009

Today was “take off day” because we began to sketch out the priority lines of action for our continental redesigning project for Asia-Oceania. After meeting together in small groups, we all gathered in the assembly hall for a very lively discussion that concluded with the selection of the three most urgent proposals we want to implement.
 
With surprising ease, we pinpointed not only our priorities but also confirmed the two fundamental elements upon which the whole spirit of the project rests: the Word of God and communications. Thus our redesigning process will take as its starting point a renewal of life that will lead to the revitalization of our circumscriptions and from there to a marvelous reconstruction in our Project for Asia-Oceania.
 
The day ended with a presentation of “The Paulines Institute of Communication in Asia” (PICA) by Sr. Consolata Manding, Directress of the school.
 
18/09/2009

 

This morning, our Eucharistic Celebration included almost all the languages spoken among us, from Portuguese to Chinese, so as to give direction to our day and help us discern and reflect on the possibility of making our Pauline presence felt in new places and in innovative ways on the vast multi-cultural, multi-religious continent of Asia.

Although we are aware of our profound poverty with regard to personnel and instruments, we refuse to give up our dream. Indeed, we feel that the Spirit of the Lord is urging us to courageously direct our gaze to other countries…. We too feel the yearning of our Founder to help the Word of God reach all these people.
 

A demanding work of discernment still lies ahead of us. Because of this, we took time out this evening for a festive and fraternal celebration that served to strengthen communion not only among ourselves but also among the countries we represent.
 

16/09/2009

The days are passing swiftly and the many things we are learning are helping to enrich the projects we are drawing up on the circumscription and continental levels. It is becoming always clearer to us that the two great “roads” we must follow are communications and the Word of God.

Today we focused on the situations of our circumscriptions and communities dependent on the General Government so as to begin to draft redesigning projects that will lead us to truly revitalize our Pauline life and mission. In our sharing of ideas in the assembly it was surprisingly easy to come to a convergence of thought concerning the elements we consider to be “beacons” for all FSPs, namely: the Word of God, study and formation, a greater use of the Internet (including in pastoral work for vocations), our “China project,” collaboration with the laity….

These are the solid foundations on which tomorrow we will begin to sketch out a Project for redesigning our presence on the continental level. We cannot limit ourselves to dreams: we must draw up a concrete plan, supported by all of us, with clear stages to be implemented over both the short and medium terms. We feel that the Spirit is leading us and this fills us with serenity and trust.

Our labors are “sweetened” every day by the wonderful snacks and delicious meals prepared by our sisters. The fraternal and thoughtful service they are providing for us in so many different ways truly console and fortify us, as you can see in the pictures posted in the photo gallery. To each and everyone one of them, our sincere thanks!

15/09/2009

The celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows gave a special tone to our day, reviving in our hearts the sorrows of many women and children who are subjected to discrimination and violence here and in many other parts of the world.
 
In this spirit and with the help of the input of the circumscription superiors and a comparison of ideas among ourselves, we “revisited” the situation of each circumscription and got to know what their superiors are doing or planning to do to redesign our presences on the local level. We also listened to their proposals concerning what should be done in this regard on the continental level. The picture that emerged was both moving and challenging. It reconfirmed our conviction that our Congregation’s greatest wealth is its members and at the same time it made us more aware of our weak points.

A number of words and phrases that recurred over and over again were: continental mentality; solidarity; witness; the need to form alliances; attention to initial and ongoing formation; the sharing of our charism; apostolic-professional training, above all in the area of communications….all key concepts that bring us closer to the goal of our meeting, which is to draw up a Project for redesigning our presences on both the circumscription and continental levels. We will begin this work tomorrow so we need the support of your prayers more than ever. Thank you!

We also want to thank our Pauline brothers, who celebrate the Eucharist with us and for us each day, offering us through their homilies the nourishment and encouragement we need to continue our journey.


14/09/2009

The most we had dared to hope for was that the rain would stop for awhile, but instead the Lord blessed us with a beautiful sunny day–the first since our arrival in the Philippines. And so the excursion that had been programmed into our schedule to give us a few hours’ break from our work allowed us to do some sight-seeing in Manila accompanied by perfect weather.
 
After morning Mass, we boarded a tour bus and headed for a Sanctuary dedicated to Jesus Master. Financed by a wealthy local woman and built near the sea, the imposing church was the site where Pope John Paul II met a huge group of young people for World Youth Day 1995. Today, a piece of marble from the table on which the Holy Father celebrated the Eucharist is embedded like a relic in the altar of this Sanctuary. The church is dedicated to young people, as is clear from the huge painting in the sanctuary depicting “the little Teacher Jesus” in the midst of the doctors of the Temple, together with a statue of St. Maria Goretti.

We then visited the historic part of Manila, which has a strong Spanish flavor. After touring an Augustinian church dedicated to St. Paul and a museum with an abundant collection of artifacts, we stopped for lunch. While we ate, three musicians playing guitars and a double bass entertained us with lively songs from our native lands.


11/09/2009

In keeping with our program, today we continued our rapid and lively review of the situations of the countries in which we are present. The members of the assembly all opened their hearts to listen to what our sisters of Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Vietnam had to tell us. Many needs, challenges and hopes emerged. We were energized by what we heard and felt in our hearts the echo of our Founder’s words: “Where are the many peoples of immense Asia and promising Oceania heading?”

The information our sisters shared with us has given us a glimpse of very different situations and is helping us build a common “platform” of knowledge that will be very useful in our work of redesigning, which is the goal of this meeting. We are already asking ourselves how to tackle the challenge of keeping in step with our always up-to-date apostolate and also the challenge of how to “cross paths” with young people so as to dialogue with them about life’s values.

Sr. Antonieta Bruscato urged us to participate to the maximum in this journey–to take a quality step forward in our creativity and apostolic passion.

Before ending this news flash, we want to also say how grateful we are for the exquisite Asian hospitality that has been shown to us. In contrast to the rain of these days, our sisters of the PMPT Province “shine” like the sun through the delicate forethought, service and warm welcome they are so generously lavishing upon us.

12/09/2009

We began our third day here in the Philippines with a very meaningful Eucharistic Celebration. Our three Indian sisters, who animated the Liturgy, marked our foreheads with the tilak and kumkum, the “third eye” of the human being, which looks inward and brings every aspect of the person into harmony. The arati (doxology) was accompanied by flowers, incense and flame.
 
It was an excellent beginning to the program of the day, during which the General Councilors and Bursar General took the floor to offer us many points on which to reflect and many provocations to help us re-examine the various dimensions of our life so as to discern the new paths opening before us. Their talks covered the areas of spirituality, pastoral work for vocations, formation, community life, mission, the sharing of our charism with the laity, and our economy. Afterward, we took time out to reflect on all this input, followed by a comparison of ideas in the assembly.

At the end of the day, during evening prayer, an Indian hymn and dance helped us present the Lord with everything we experienced today.

In thanking him, we did not fail to mention how grateful we also are for the “presence” of the many sisters who continue to send us their greetings and best wishes, reinforcing the power of the communion that binds us together.


13/09/2009

In keeping with our program, today we continued our rapid and lively review of the situations of the countries in which we are present. The members of the assembly all opened their hearts to listen to what our sisters of Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Vietnam had to tell us. Many needs, challenges and hopes emerged. We were energized by what we heard and felt in our hearts the echo of our Founder’s words: “Where are the many peoples of immense Asia and promising Oceania heading?”
 
The information our sisters shared with us has given us a glimpse of very different situations and is helping us build a common “platform” of knowledge that will be very useful in our work of redesigning, which is the goal of this meeting. We are already asking ourselves how to tackle the challenge of keeping in step with our always up-to-date apostolate and also the challenge of how to “cross paths” with young people so as to dialogue with them about life’s values.

Sr. Antonieta Bruscato urged us to participate to the maximum in this journey–to take a quality step forward in our creativity and apostolic passion.

Before ending this news flash, we want to also say how grateful we are for the exquisite Asian hospitality that has been shown to us. In contrast to the rain of these days, our sisters of the PMPT Province “shine” like the sun through the delicate forethought, service and warm welcome they are so generously lavishing upon us.

09-10/09/2009

Upon our arrival from different parts of Asia and Australia, we were warmly and joyously welcomed by our sisters of the Philippines-Malaysia-Papua New Guinea-Thailand Province, who accompanied their greetings with colorful local pageantry. Together with the rain (very abundant in this season), we have also been showered with messages from FSPs and friends all over the world, assuring us of their communion and prayers for us.
 
The two beautiful Eucharistic Celebrations we participated in were rich in symbolism, “angelically” sung and danced, and created just the right atmosphere for the Superior General’s opening greeting on 10 September, followed by her challenging conference on the redesigning of our presences throughout the Congregation. Sr. Antonieta invited us to look not only at our concrete resources but also at the different spheres of our life that need revitalization, suggesting that in the coming days we cultivate the attitudes of listening to the Spirit and a readiness to work together.

In this spirit, we spent the afternoon listening to one another and comparing our particular situations with the trends emerging in the societal-cultural-religious-communications contexts in which we live and work. Tomorrow we will continue this work.

Meanwhile, our evening was enlivened by our sisters of the PMPT Province who, with extraordinary creativity, presented us with the beauties of their culture and the spirit of celebration and welcome characteristic of it.

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