Thanking all those who attended Sunday’s celebration of the jubilees of different batches of Good Shepherd sisters, Sister Regina Kuizon, RGS, leader of the Province of the Philippines-Japan, begged for their indulgence. Noting how the Good Shepherd chapel in Cubao, Quezon City, is too small to comfortably hold all the well-wishers, Sister Gina reminded them that love consists of forbearance, of tolerating inconveniences and even hardship. And, she observed, in a nod to the warm morning air, “our love for you all is so hot!”
Indeed, it was a “hot” love that everyone in the venue shared that summer morning. It was Good Shepherd Sunday, for one, and observed to promote priestly and religious vocations. It was also the 150th death anniversary of St. Mary Euphrasia, founder of the congregation.
Most importantly, the celebration honored 10 women who were celebrating important anniversaries of their consecration as Good Shepherd sisters. The jubilarians are: diamond—Sisters Mary Aimee Olaguer and Mary Regina Pil; golden — Sisters Mary Tomasita Antigua, Mary Luz Bantilan, Mary Rosario Battung, Mary Stella Mangona, and Mary Rebecca Rogacion; silver — Sisters Arabella Balingao, Mary Lea Comia, and Sister Gina herself.
There should have been 11 jubilarians, said Sister Gina, but Sister Mary Concepcion Conti was celebrating in heaven. Thirty-five years ago, on Nov. 21, 1983, Sister Mary Concepcion, along with three other sisters — Virginia Gonzaga, Consuelo Chuidian and Catherine Loreto — and other religious onboard the MV Cassandra perished when the ship sank just off Mindanao. They could have swum to safety, but instead the religious onboard chose to stay and help distribute life vests to the other passengers. The last that survivors saw of the sisters was of them struggling against the waves as the ship slipped underwater.
This is what answering the call of a religious vocation means, noted Sister Gina. It means giving up your life “so that others may live.”
For the RGS sisters, it is particularly apt, for their congregation is rooted in the biblical call: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.”
Since their arrival in the country, the Good Shepherd sisters have immersed themselves in various spheres of service: education, shelters for abused girls and unmarried mothers, witnessing among poor urban and rural communities, providing college scholarships through the proceeds from their “Mountain Maid” stores, and involvement in issues of human rights.
In Sister Gina’s words: “It is to show mercy and compassion, to those most in need, families, particularly women and children, to promote justice and peace, to uphold the integrity of creation.”
Also included in the community’s petitions was its concern “that our fellow religious was being harassed and we had to
affirm and confirm our prophetic role.”
Sister Gina is in fact a cosignatory, representing women’s congregations, of the statement of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) regarding the recent arrest and detention of Sister Patricia Fox, NDS. “We are shocked that after 27 years of dedicated service to the poor,” the statement read, the frail, 71-year-old nun “was unduly arrested and detained for allegedly being an ‘undocumented alien’ and for participating in ‘political activities.’”
Although Sister Pat was released after at least 22 hours, the AMRSP expressed shock at the lack of due diligence on the part of the Bureau of Immigration, resulting in “harassment of an advocate of the rights of the poor.”
The religious demanded that the government respect “the rights of our mission partners, foreigner or Filipino, who truly work for justice in our country.”
For devoting the better part of her life in service of the least among us, Sister Pat “should be commended, not deported or harassed,” the AMRSP said.
A warm embrace to the 10 jubilarians of the Good Shepherd, to Sister Pat, and to all, religious or lay, who risk official ire to stand in solidarity with those who need prayers, solidarity, and respect for human rights the most.