Good Shepherd News

No. 193 November 2006

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd

Jubilee in Hungary Page 2

Contemplative Corner

Page 4

Venezuela: Golden Jubilee of Novitiate

Page 9

Icon painting in Austria Pages 10– 11

WHAT’S INSIDE?

Asia-Pacific

Leadership program held in Malaysia 17 October- 22 November Sabah, East Malaysia

For seven weeks last year, the Asia-Pacific group composed of seven provinces including Egypt-Sudan sent their respec-tive delegates to participate in a

Good Shepherd Sisters during the leadership training program

including Sudan and Mauritius came to continue the program. Nine Province Leaders and three from the Congregational Leader-ship Team (Sabina Pathrose, Elaine Basinger and Armelle De-hennault) also came to join two

leadership program spearheaded by Sr. Susan Chia, Provincial of Singapore-Malaysia.

On October 16, 2006 thirty two (32) participants from Asia Pacific

(Continued on page 6)

Share your views Good Shepherd NGO

10 years at the UN

www.buonpastoreint.org

Good Shepherd NGO marks 10 years at the UN

The Good Shepherd congrega-tion marks its 10th year anni-versary as a non governmental organization at the United Na-tions.

It was on November 19, 1996 that Sr. Liliane Tauvette, supe-rior general, received the offi-cial notification that our congre-

Clare Nolan at the UN Office in New York

gation has been granted spe-cial consultative status by the Economic Social Council of the United Nations.

The following month, Sr. Clare Nolan began her part time re-sponsibility of representing the Congregation at the United Na-tions in New York.

The NGO office has publis-hed a booklet of the activities, movement and initiatives that the office has done during the

(Continued on page 13)

Hungary

Jubilee Year in preparation for “The New Evangelization Congress”

The Church of Hungary is pre-paring actively to celebrate the forthcoming Congress on the New Evangelization in 2007. The Congress preparation be-gins within the framework of the celebration of the 50th anniver-sary of the Budapest Revolu-tion (1956 – 2006) Msgr. Andras Veres has also announced three other jubilees: the 8th Centenary of the birth of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the 550th anniversary of the victory of Janos Hunyadi over the Turks (on this occasion, the church bells will ring for a long time on July 22, 2007) and the one thousand years since the birth of St. Emericus or Henry the young prince who died at the age of 24 (1007 – 1031), son of the saintly king Stephen of Hungary. According to a report by ACD (Aid to Church in Distress, h t tp : / /www.aed- france.org/observatoire/pays.php?id=24) the church of Hungary is searching for adequate instru-ments of evangelization in a largely secularized society. “During the communist regime,

it was difficult to be a Christian, now it has become more com-plicated,” declared Cardinal Pe-

2

ter Erdo. Cardinal Erdo is the Primate of Hungary and the Archbishop of Budapest-Estergom. He gave this state-ment in 2004 when describing the obstacles to evangelization in a post-communist Hungarian society which has become lib-eral and highly secularized. It is with this background that Budapest will welcome the In-ternational Congress for the New Evangelization in 2007. The Congress was organized by five European capitals in five successive mission according to programs adapted to each city: the first in Vienna in 2003, the second in Paris in 2004, the third in Lisbon, 2005, the fourth in Brussels, 2006 and in 2007 it will be in Budapest. Good Shepherd Sisters, Hungary

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Scene from Hungary

« I will give you a future with

hope » Will be the theme of the International Convention for a New Evangelization to be held in Budapest, September 16-22, 2007. It is taken from God's word:

«For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future

with hope. » (Jeremiah 29, 11)

For more information to see: http://icne.fr / Budapest 2007

(only in French)

3

A little bit of history

Good Shepherd Sisters in Hungary

In 1892, the first Good Shepherd Sisters arrived in Hungary and lived in Óbuda. Later on, they opened two other communities, one in Ikervár and another in Kecskemét. In 1950, religious congregations were dissolved; 180 Sisters of the Good Shepherd had to leave their communities. The Hungarian state took over religious houses. The sisters were dispersed; they looked for work and apartment; others found shelter at the Homes for the Aged. Yet, they maintained contact with one another secretly; they were reunited and helped one another sustain

their community life. In 1990, after the fall of communism, they began again their community life and their apostolic service. Today, the Congregation has two communities in Hungary: one in Budapest and another in Gyöngyösoroszi. In Óbudan, there are two Maternal Homes, where Sisters welcomed each year about 40 people in the homes where mothers with their children stay; and in Gyöngyösoroszi, a Social Center for Gypsies, where a semi-boarding school helps the community’s adolescents. Gilma Maria Muñoz Hungary

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Sisters from the continental groupings RIMOA and Europe met in August in Angers to discuss preparations for the 2008 intercontinental assembly to be held at the Mother House. RIMOA or the Network of Africa, The Isles and Middle East and Europe are scheduled to hold the intercontinental assembly from October 17-31, 2008.

Sisters meet to plan RIMOA-Europe intercontinental assembly in Angers

November 16 is

International Day of Tolerance

Photo from left to right, Srs. Noha Mikady, Sudan; Flora Nyawira, Kenya; Antoinette Assaf, Lebanon/Syria; Nirmala Abeyasingha, The Isles; and Noreen O’Shea, of Ireland representing Europe.

Contemplative Corner

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The “mustard seed” has grown. Today, the Contemplatives are in 25 countries and in 57 com-munities. The number of mem-bers has gone down, but God continues to send vocation to keep the contemplative way of life in the Good Shepherd Con-gregation alive. “To remember faithfully is to thank with love.” My heart is full of thanksgiving for His faithfulness, down through the 175 years. Not only did God inspire St. M. Eu-phrasia to begin the Contem-plative community, on the 28th of August 1831, God also promised to send vocations to keep it alive. This is a sign of God’s faithfulness to us.

As we try to find ways to live “creative fidelity,” I see that we have changed our name, from Magdalen to Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd, from brown robe or habit to white robe, etc… Is that all? No, we have found ways and means to live our contemplative way of life and to be faithful to the charism, which St. M. Eu-phrasia handed down to us. “She realized that the lives of prayer and reparation the Con-templative Sisters would also bring spiritual fruitfulness to the apostolate of the Congrega-tion.” We have opened our chapels to lay persons to share our life of prayer with them. We have taken responsibilities over our communities and the formation of our young sisters. We have gone as missionaries to other countries, answering a call within the call.

What about our relationship with the Sisters in the active ministry? The deep bond that St. M. Euphrasia had with our first Sisters is continuing in the Congregation today. Wherever the Good Shepherd Sisters

founded a house of an active ministry, and when they were well settled they tried to begin a Contemplative community. So, together, but each in our own way of life we work for the sal-vation of souls. Those Sisters who were in the general leader-ship found ways to gather Con-templative Sisters from different countries, so, as to give us a chance to share our own ex-periences and to enrich one another. Coming for meetings with active and Contemplative Sisters together, gave us a deep understanding of one an-other. We realize that the “same spirituality, the same charism nourishes us and pushes us forward in our common mission” for the salvation of per-sons.

My thoughts go to the aspira-tion of St. M. Euphrasia. When she said, “May the food of my life be to work without ceas-ing….” Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of the Father.” Imitating Jesus the Good Shep-herd St. M. Euphrasia said, “May the food of my life be ...” Food is something that we need in order to live. People work hard to earn a living. Whatever I do, wherever I go, may the most important thing for me be the salvation of souls. Salvation of souls and the glory of God should be the intention in all my actions. Thus St. M. Euphrasia lived

and breathed and worked in an active apostolate. We, the Contemplative Sisters are in-vited to follow her in our hidden apostolate of prayer. Living our life day in and day out, faithfully living the Essential Elements, we fulfill our apostolate of prayer. In this apostolate we are not alone. We are united with our Sisters in the active ministry. As Good Shepherd Sisters, whether we are con-templative or apostolic, we have a flock to take care of; for the Apostolic Sisters those who are under their care in their active ministry. For us Contemplative Sisters our flock are all those who have been entrusted to our prayers. Apostolic Sisters speak to people about God’s mercy, through their active ministry. We speak to God about people and their needs through our life of prayer. We sup-port our Apostolic Sisters through our prayers and encouragement. They help us to fulfill our aposto-late of prayer by asking our prayers and sharing with us the needs of the apostolate. Our apostolate of prayer becomes fruit-ful through the active ministry of our Apostolic Sisters.

At a time when religious vocations are becoming less, I find consola-tion in the letter that Sr. Thomas Aquinas Lee wrote to the Congre-gation, Christmas 1971: “Will reli-gious life die out? If we reflect on the Scriptures we find that, God does not need great numbers to establish His Kingdom. A handful of Sisters living out their vocation whole heartedly, humbly, even if prevented from pursuing an exter-nal apostolate, would be formida-ble influence for good and would be living for the salvation of souls.”

I like to apply this thought to our Contemplative life. May we be-come that “handful of Sisters.”

May St. M. Euphrasia continue to help us, to be faithful to the “treasure” that she handed down us. May she obtain many voca-tions for us, so, that we may pass on this “treasure” to future genera-tions.

Sr. Patricia Perera East Asia Province, Korea sector

Good Shepherd Contemplatives: 175 years

Contemplative Sisters during the 2003 General Assembly

Province of Venezuela

25th Anniversary of the Good Shepherd Professional Formation Center

Years of hard but gratifying work. Unemployed youth or adolescents in high-risk situa-tions are enabled to attain skills and receive training and spiri-tual value formation. The efforts of the sisters, trainors and par-ticipants, as well as the finan-cial help of the business enter-prises of the sector made it possible for the youth to enter the job market and mainstream society the way of dignity and solidarity, useful to themselves,

Our province rejoiced in cele-brating the 50 years of light and shadows of our Novitiate in Ca-racas. The Annals state: Returning from her visitation of Costa Rica, Sister Provincial came to Caracas wit the sisters des-tined for the Novitiate in Vene-zuela. They were: Sr. Ascen-sion Rodriguez, mistress of novices, Ofelia Elisondo and Isaura Rojas (novices) and Aura Lila Morraz (postulant). Called by the Lord, other young Venezuelans and women from other Latin American countries came to give the best of them-selves to the mission work. With much enthusiasm they made the presence of Jesus the Good Shepherd felt among

the poor with our beautiful charism of mercy and recon-ciliation. Today, with the dynamic opera-tion of our interprovincial NE T-WORK, the novices experience the living out of internationality in the Novitiate in Ecuador. We continue to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send new workers to His field. Sr. Martha Villegas Venezuela

GOLDEN JUBILEE OF VENEZUELAN NOVITIATE

their family and the country. With a religious cultural and sports program, 200 appren-tices, personnel of the adminis-trative and teaching staff, reli-gious of the Good Shepherd, friends and families of the youth, we celebrated this very special event. Between 10 teams of apprentices: account-ing analysts I & II, administra-tive assistants I & II, there was a drawing of lots for the Volley-ball Cup. The players were cheered by their respective sponsors. Songs, dances and colorful costumes gave much joy and an unforgettable touch to the festivities.

The youth in our center

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Province of Singapore-Malaysia

The First Asian Mission Congress The First Asian Mission Con-gress was held from October 18-22 2006 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Asian Mission Congress (AMC) organizers invited the Melaka-Johor Dio-cese for a Faith-Sharer, to pre-sent the ‘Family Concerns as Experienced in the Basic Eccle-sial Community’ and to share a theological reflection on it.

As a Good Shepherd Sister working full-time in the Diocese of Melaka-Johor, MALAYSIA, I represented the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) at the AMC, since I am in charge of the BEC desk at diocesan-level.

The Faith-Sharers were en-couraged to present their given topics in 20 minutes, either t h rough d rama , v i deo -documentation using power-point or through songs and sound, with the remaining 10 minutes for the theological re-flection. Therefore, I chose to involve six lay persons from two BECs in my preparation of work. These are people who have been generous in their contribution towards community life as BEC / Church, and as FAMILY persons who are still making great efforts in these aspects of their faith-life. How-ever, mainly due to the time-limit allotted to the Faith-Sharers, I went to the AMC with only three persons from the BEC members I worked with. The remaining 14 Faith-Sharers addressed the topics on: the Elderly, Islam, Bud-dhism, Hinduism, Indian Tribals (by Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo), Consumerism, Media, Migrants, Youth, Interreligious Dialogue (by a husband and wife team), and Thai Tribals.

There were over 1,000 partici-pants at this Congress. Ac-cording to figures released at the time of the Congress, the participants included 5 Cardi-

nals, 18 Archbishops, 51 Bish-ops, 330 Priests, 1 Deacon, 170 Religious Sisters, 20 Reli-gious Brothers and 396 lay per-sons (of whom 205 were women and 191 were men). Ten missiologists were among those present at this First Asian Mission Congress that was or-ganized by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference. The delegates to the AMC came from: Bangladesh, Ne-pal, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, India, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Taiwan, Ja-pan, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, East Timor, Cambo-dia, Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia,

and South Korea. Some of the observers were from Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, Can-ada, U.K., USA, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Lebanon, and Poland.

The theme of the AMC 2006 was, The Story of Jesus in Asia: A Celebration of Faith and Life. The aim of the Con-gress included the sharing of our faith in Jesus Christ, cele-brating Asian ways of MISSION through WITNESS in the midst of our life realities, deepening our awareness as Church in Asia and in our understanding of mission ‘ad gentes’, focusing

ASIA-PACIFIC... (Continued from page 1)

weeks of the program. The whole program is designed to finish in five weeks.

This leadership program is in re-sponse to the call of the 28th Gen-eral Chapter Directive Statement which the Cor Commission clearly describe as “The transition from

hierarchical forms of leadership to models which are circular and par-ticipative requires formation and preparation.

It calls for personal responsibility of each member of the Congrega-tion.”

From Good Shepherd Link November 2006

The participants

(Continued on page 13)

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Province of Australia/Aotearoa/New Zealand

‘Pitch your tents on distant shores’

“Don’t be afraid to pitch your tents on distant shores if

sheep are there to lead to the fold… sheep from Italy, Bava-

ria and all Europe; from America, Africa, Asia and

Oceania. Bring them all in!”

- St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier You can’t get much further from France and Ireland than Aus-tralia, New Zealand and Tahiti! It’s a long way to go to pitch a tent! But a group of 4 Irish women did it, sent by Mary Eu-phrasia and arriving in Mel-bourne in 1863; and another group travelled to New Zealand from Melbourne, Australia in 1886. They were joined in 1887 by 4 Irish sisters who came from Angers via the USA! And in another century, another group set out for Tahiti in 1967, after having been expelled from Burma (now Myanmar) in 1965. The Province of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand cele-brated the launch of its history on 11th October 2006. The book, titled: “Pitch Your Tents on Distant Shores – A History of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand and Ta-hiti” was launched in fitting style, in the old Convent of the Good Shepherd at Abbotsford, where the first four sisters came to pitch their tents. And now over 143 years later Sis-ters in Australia and New Zea-land and collaborators, co-workers, volunteers are pitch-ing their tents in a variety of ways. The first sisters came to Australia and New Zealand in response to the chaotic time of new settlements and gold rushes to care for women who were living in poverty and abandoned on the streets by the society of the time. The pro-grams now in place also meet the needs of those who are

most vulnerable in our society and offer them the opportunity to reclaim their human dignity and care for their families. The book, written by Catherine Kovesi, tells the story of the first women and their courage and tenacity in the face of great challenges. And it tells the story of the sisters’ commitment to the girls and women in their care over the years. One of the book’s strengths is the social commentary and analysis Cath-erine provides throughout the story, setting in context the work of the sisters as the dec-ades rolled on and times began

to change. It is with great pleasure that the Sisters of the Province of Aus-tralia and Aotearoa/New Ze a-land share with you the story of their history and their journey within Good Shepherd. If you are interested in a copy of the book, please contact the Provincialate: E-mail: Kate@goodshep.com.au Caroline Price, RGS Communications Province of Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand

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November 21: Presentation of Mary

Mary responded in openness to the Spirit giving herself totally to the person and mission of Jesus. (Const 9) “I confirm and renew with my whole heart”: these are the words that we pronounce aloud on the Feast of the Presentation, in union with Mary’s self offering. This is not merely an outward ceremony: it is an act of the heart, sincere and without limits... - St. Mary Euphrasia, Conference 17

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St. John Eudes’

405th birth anniversary November 14, 2006

From the Eudists

Ave Cor in the Philippines

At the corner of Smokey Hill Drive and 11th Airborne Street in Maharlika Village East, Ta-gaytay City stands a blue house, simple but attractive, fenced in by pillars of the same color, alternating with white iron grilles. The protective grille is surrounded by a discreet slope from which rise bromeliad plants. At an angle of the grille, a dark wooden signboard stands out conspicuously and on it one can read a name so well known and loved by the sons and daughters of St. John Eudes: AVE COR. It is the first house of the Eud-ists in the Philippine. In the lan-guage of St. John Eudes, this house belongs to Jesus and Mary and is destined to be “a school of holiness” for all who live in it. How did the Eudists acquire this dwelling? The house was built by Carmen and Mario Soriano on a lot which the couple had bought in this village. According to Car-men, the land used to have many herbal plants as well as rubble; they had planted some vegetables. When they decided to build, Mario prepared a de-sign which he gave to an archi-tect to make the plan. The re-sulting edifice was solidly built, of 2 stories, and with a finished terrace. The house is spacious, comfortable, functional; it is lo-cated near the turnpike con-necting the provinces of Cavite and Batangas, thus all kinds of vehicles flow in its traffic. The pioneers of the Eudist mis-sion in the Philippines (Fr. Ron Bagley and the undersigned) had been going around looking for a property or a house in Ta-gaytay which would be near the Tahanan ng Mabuting Pastol, the theologate of the Diocese of Imus where the Eudists work. With the help of the Good

Shepherd Sisters we had looked over some possible sites. Finally, Sr. Becky Jameiro, who had offered us every support, informed us that Mario and Carmen wanted to sell their house. After several dialogues with them and con-sultations with the North Ameri-can Province, we reached an agreement to purchase the Soriano house. All the neces-sary negotiations were made, always aided by our sisters, the R.G.S., and the legal advice of a lawyer. The Sorianos gave us their house after we paid half the selling price, the other half to be paid within the next few months. Mrs. Lilian Musni, sister of Sr. Becky, and an expert in land-scaping and interior decoration, took charge of outfitting the house and provided a beautiful garden with a fountain, flower-ing plants and decorative stones. She added a gazebo (kiosk) and a covered structure in the terrace. Fr. Ron and the Jameiro sisters went through several home furnishing stores in Manila to buy things for the house. Between Sept. 16 and 17, we left the PIME Seminary and moved to our new home. On Sunday, the 17th, after our pastoral work, we said evening prayer, then we went out to get a pizza for our “first supper” at Ave Cor. The following days were devoted to the detailed organizing of the house. On the 21st, we welcomed Fr. Pierre

Marchand, who arrived with his French accent and a great will-ingness to work. He found a furnished house prepared but lacking some pieces of furni-ture. Our bishop, Luis Antonio Tagle (known as “Chito”) offered to bless the house. After his trip to Rome and other European cit-ies he came on Oct. 13 for the blessing. We had a beautiful celebration in the house over which he presided. We were joined by various priests, many sisters (more than 30 Good Shepherd Sisters among whom was Sr. Carmelita Cruz, the Provincial), seminarians of the Imus Diocese and the PIME as

Fr. Ron Bagley Good Shepherd Sisters and those from other congregations

Bishop Chito Tagle of the Diocese of Imus

(Continued on page 9)

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well as a few from OLP (Our Lady of the Pillar), and lay friends. In his homily Bishop Chito made an apt parallelism between the spirituality of the heart (loob) of the Filipino and the spirituality of St. John Eu-des. After the blessing, and thanks to the support of many friends, we were able to share a grand merienda (a Filipino

AVE COR ... (Continued from page 8)

From left to right, Sr. Brigid Lawlor with the Eudist missionaries, Frs. Pierre Marchand of France, Amadeo Pedroza of Colombia and Fr. Ron Bagley of the United States, during the Eudists’ visit in October 2005 at the Good Shepherd Generalate. (Photo by Regina Kuizon)

tradition) with everybody in the gazebo. Thus did we inaugu-rate the Eudist House “Ave Cor” in the Philippines. It was a great day for us.

Blessed be God our Father who orders all things for our good.

Fr. Amadeo P. Pedroza, CJM

Sisters of Our Lady of Charity visit Generalate; attend celebration of OLC jubilee in Loreto

St. John Eudes

Sisters of the Our Lady of Charity from the Province of France visited the Generalate recently. The Sisters arrived on October 27 on their way to Loreto to attend the 150th year of

OLC, RGS and Generalate Staff

Good Shepherd Sisters and Sisters of Our Lady of Charity

foundation of the OLC community in the city the next day. The Sisters spent the night at the Generalate and proceeded to Loreto the next day for the celebrations.

The visit was an occasion to meet the sisters of the Generalate, the lay staff, students and visiting sisters from different provinces like Sr. Caridad Tamayo, former Good Shepherd general councillor. The Sisters talked also about the joint community endeavors of RGS and OLC. The OLC group was led by Sr. Cecile Lionnet provincial of the OLC in France.

A way to pray

Saint John Eudes has left us his way of praying. It consists in 4 movements. Adoring: Contemplating, marvelling, admiring, Giving Thanks: recognizing God’s gifts, showing appreciation for them. Asking for forgiveness. Recognizing the distance that exists between one’s life and the marvels of God’s love. Giving oneself to Jesus: give oneself to bear witness, give oneself for the Mission.

From “Praying with John Eudes” Centre de Spiritualité Eudiste

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Province of Austria/Swtizerland/Czech Republic

Icon painting in Austria

About icon painting In 1989 when we had to give up our apostolate in Salzburg and I - as it were - became a ‘pensioner’ (60 years old) I be-gan to paint icons. This is an activity which re-quires special openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit – according to the old tradition icon painters are the pencil of the Holy Spirit and ‘write the icons from dictation of the Holy Spirit’. More and more I felt I had to pass on everything that was given to me in this work – to pass it on to all who were sent my way. Ever more peo-ple came and I divided them into groups of 10 participants for courses. During the year we had about 11 courses in our house, in parishes or in confer-ence centers. I also was able to give courses to our Sisters in Germany. For me as a Good Shepherd Sister our apostolate is always the most important aspect. Most of the people who come are searching for some spiritual meaning in their lives in today’s world. In their searching they often find healing and peace

through the language of the icon. Time and again young preg-nant women would come to attend the course. Word has gotten around that the child in the womb of the mother who is painting an icon is totally re-laxed and that the birth then becomes easy. Also children are coming – 7-14 year- old ones – ‘because the heart becomes so happy’ …or

‘because Jesus comes so close’ …or ‘the patron saint comes close’. Always the fa-ther (of these children) is ab-sent and the mother had to work the whole day. For two children, the mother came first and wanted to paint a large sized ‘God-Father from the Trinity icon’ in order pray in front of it at night with the chil-dren and ‘to fill the gap’. While writing these few lines I was interrupted by a visitor: a policeman who a year ago did a course after having had panic attacks. At that time for the first two days he cried again and again and excused himself. In the clinic where he had been for treatment he was told that it would be good for him to cry. Gradually he felt better and in the end he did not need medi-cation anymore. A doctor who also painted an icon accompa-nied him. Today he came to say thanks. He can fully do his job again. About 60% of the participants of the courses have lost contact with the church or they belong to another religious denomina-tion. Some say, ‘I don’t believe in God’. Then they paint an

(Continued on page 11)

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Sr. Roswitha Oberlechner

angel as ‘symbol of the good in this world’. However soon they discover from the symbolism of the picture that everything in this angel points to God. It points to the God who is searching for his wounded and lost children and whose loving heart cannot forget anyone. Through the icon he wants to be with each one and accom-pany her/ him.

A woman, 60 years of age, once painted a Christ icon, brought him after the blessing (of the icon) into her beautifully decorated house and stayed praying until midnight. ‘I want him to be at home in my house with me’, she said the next day to me. Some weeks later I re-

ceived the news that she had been found dead - sitting in front of the icon. Thus the course and the icon had be-come for her the preparation for ‘her hour’, for her coming home. An icon is also called ‘a look into eternity’.

This report is only a tiny frac-tion of many experiences.

Province of Germany

Sisters, lay collaborators and staff hold formation program at the Mother House

Good Shepherd Sister, friends and lay staff from Germany.

Good Shepherd Sisters, 27 lay collaborators and staff from the Province of Germany attended a week-long formation program at the Mother House recently. The October 30-November 8 sessions were organized to

AUSTRIA... (Continued from page 10)

implement the program that had been developed in the province: “Forming our collaborators in the pastoral leadership of the Good Shepherd”, which includes St. Mary Euphrasia and her “holy work”.

We began with key collaborators from all the bigger houses, and wanted them to “catch the fire”. Therefore, we have chosen Angers as venue of the program. Sr.M. Christophora Eckl had prepared the sessions.

She based the topics on her doctoral thesis, “Pastoral Leadership of the Good Shepherd.” Sr. Christophora has been for years responsible for the ongoing formation of our sisters, staff and Good Shepherd friends. This was the first session in the united province (the Provinces of Norddeutsche and Suddeutsche were united in April this year) , and therefore it was for us very important. We are going to work on it within the next two years. Good Shepherd friends and staff helped facilitate the sessions. All were very grateful for the very good and intensive program. Sr. Ingrid Schimansky

Sr. Roswitha with twins whose mother joined the icon painting retreat when she was pregnant.

Great is the gratitude of the course participants for the ‘bridge to God’, for everything that is given to them through the icons. I am aware that it is the prayers of my Sisters, their interest that opens up hearts for the work of the Holy Spirit which is continuing this apos-tolate.

Sr. Roswitha Oberlechner, RGS, Salzburg

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Province of Mexico

A profound joy

Visit of Brigid Lawlor, September , 21- 29, 2006.

With profound joy, the Unit of Mexico welcomed Sr. Brigid. While she was with us, Sr. Bri-gid had many opportunities to visit with the Lay Associates, Contemplative and Apostolic Sisters, benefactors, friends and acquaintances of this Good Shepherd Province.

At her first gathering, Sr. Brigid met with the Good Shepherd Family in order to present a global and international view of the Good Shepherd mission. This was a strong motivation to continue to share the charism between the lay associates and our sisters in all of our projects.

Afterward, Sr. Brigid presented a list of important congrega-tional matters and she invited us to dialogue regarding these, emphasizing our concerns and doubts regarding each one of these matters. Among these items were: Contemplative Sis-ters, re-structuring, link lan-guage, laity, missionary experi-ence, etc.

There were brief presentations by region of our reality as a province, and there was time to share with the Contemplative Sisters, sisters in formation and teams of the provincial leader-ship. She also visited some of our community projects in León, Guanajuato and in México City.

During her visit we could not pass up the opportunity to share with her our rich and joy-ous culture. We had an after-noon in which we shared in a Mexican Fiesta with songs, po-

etry, folk dances, theatre, deli-cious appetizers and joyful Ma-riachi music.

Sr. Brigid’s last day was the 29th. We appreciated her pres-ence among us, her closeness and her simplicity. She shared

her hope-filled message and the invitation to continue to weave a network of compas-sion and reconciliation in global solidarity. Thank you, Brigid! Good Shepherd Sisters, Mexico

Associates - México Symbol used at the welcome celebration for Brigid

Brigid with the children of the kindergarten City of Guanajuato

Presentation on the Congrega-tion – Brigid

Brigid and the Contemplative Sisters: Herminia y Ernestina

Sisters in formation

Srs. Brigid– and Alejandra, Pro-vincial leader

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2006 Good Shepherd News

While each unit is encouraged to send articles anytime during the year, we have planned that there

are specific issues when each unit is asked to submit an article so

that at the end of the year all the units have been part of the Good

Shepherd News. Please send arti-cles by the 5th of each month.

Here is the suggested schedule:

January COR Commission, Committee for the Planning of the General Chapter,

RIMOA meeting, other News

February Japan, Portugal/Angola, Malta,

Recife, Chile

March Argentina/Uruguay, Sri Lanka/

Pakistan, France/Belgium, Bolivia

April Egypt/Sudan, Netherlands, Bo-

gota, Mid North America

May Australia/Aotearoa/NZ, Mozambique,

Medellin, Great Britain, Kenya, Belo Horizonte

June

East Asia, South Africa, Paraguay, Central America

July

India, Senegal, Germany, Lebanon/Syria

August

Indonesia, Ireland/Ethiopia, Peru, September

Philippines, Les Isles, Italy, New York., Mexico

October

China District, Spain, Ecuador

November Singapore/Malaysia, Hungary,

Venezuela

December Canada, Austria/Switzerland/

Republique Tcheque, CLT

Invitation

Please send articles, photos with captions

for Good Shepherd News to:

REGINA KUIZON Casa Generalizia,

Suore del Buon Pastore Via Raffaello Sardiello 20

00165 Roma, Italia Email: ginargs@buonpastoreint.org

Good Shepherd News

Special thanks to the following for the translation:

Srs. Karla Bernabé, Marta Ceballos, Evelina Coronel, Armelle Dehennault, Marie Establier, Magdalena Franciscus, Charlotte

Gill, Gisèle Lalonde, Rosario Ortiz, Adriana Perez, Delia Rodriguez, Ana Lucia Sanabria, Mary James Wilson,

Ms. Claire Alessandri

FIRST ASIAN MISSION ... (Continued from page 6)

13

on a renewed mission anima-tion. The programme con-sisted of faith-sharings and workshops, followed by a re-flective theological synthesis of the day’s topics.

The AMC engaged in ‘Story-telling’ or the narrative method as part of the reflection proc-ess. Hence, our BEC members shared on ‘Family Concerns’ and their on-going joys and struggles between FAITH and LIFE, which is their faith and commitment to Jesus in their daily life-situations. They told their ‘story’ using real-life exam-ples that is also true for people in other parts of Asia. My re-flection paper was based on these stories. Of significance to me as a Good Shepherd Sister, is that the Message of the First Asian Mission Congress in ‘Telling the Story of Jesus in Asia’ recalled the experience of the first disciples, whose “fear and disappointment, trauma and devastation became faith and rejoicing” as they pro-claimed: “‘I have seen the Lord’ (Jn 20:18); ‘It is the Lord’ (Jn 21:7); ‘It is true: The Lord has risen’ (Lk 24:34); ‘My Lord and my God’ (Jn 20:28),”

and how Jesus comes person-ally to his followers and calls them by name. The AMC in offering the Mission Orienta-tions to us as ‘contemporary disciples of Jesus’, included among the priorities for our missionary work in Asia, which I choose to highlight here: • “Fostering the attitudes and

values of humility and open-ness before the mystery of God at work in the peoples of Asia especially in ….the poor, the marginalized, mi-grant workers, …women and children

• Promoting the participation of the laity, especially the youth who are the future of the Church in Asia

• Form families to grow in open-ness and a humble attitude to the mystery of God at work in other religions especially with the involvement of Basic Eccle-sial Communities

• Offer more effective pastoral care for those in mixed mar-riages and other interreligious situations

• Make BECs an effective instru-ment of evangelization incul-turation and interreligious dia-logue.”

Margaret Pereira RGS

10 YEARS AT THE UN... (Continued from page 1)

past 10 years. The booklet ser-ves as a resource for Good Shepherd Sisters worl-dwide as they “seek to be life-bearers, living in compassion and reconciliation, contributing to a world of justice and peace.”

The NGO office also pays trib-

ute to Srs. Barbara Davis, Ligia Constante de Silva and Chris-tine Tan who all contributed to the congregation’s work for jus-tice and peace.

Clare Nolan, as NGO represen-tative acknowledged that the process of attaining NGO sta-tus spanned three General Leadership Teams.