“Peace be with you.” Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist AnA Joyful Easter Narrative Insight into of the the Current current Journey journey of the Philippine Vice– Province Yapak ANYapak OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE PHILIPPINE VICE-PROVINCE On this Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, we joyfully proclaim and give witness to the same Good News in the many events of the journey in the life of the Philippine Vice-Province. These familiar words spoken first by St. John the Baptist are beautiful words that can be prayer- fully meditated upon and lived throughout our lives. When John had first spoken these words, the “Lamb of God” was seen in a very ordinary way. The eyes of all present saw only an ordinary man approaching the scene. However, the eyes of faith saw something more. John saw the ONE who would give His life for the salvation of the world as the Sacrificial Lamb, and seeing Him, he pro- claims in affirmation, by giving witness to the One whose fullness everyone has received grace upon grace, “Behold the Lamb of God!” In Jesus, John found the meaning of his own vocation, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. In our daily liturgical celebrations, the same words are uttered each time the Sacred Host is held up for all to see. We see Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb, in an even more veiled way. We see with our eyes, a piece of bread. But with the eyes of faith, we behold our Savior, seeing His glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. These same words could also be applied in the other countless moments in our daily lives. We see that the Sacrificial Lamb of God is continually coming to us throughout our day. He is all around us, coming to us in veiled form, yet revealing Himself in faith. We find His Divine Presence hidden in the ordinary experiences of life that continually transform. He is behind every act of selfless charity that we extend to the poor and marginalized. He is inside the heart of every suffer- ing person we meet who longs for liberation and teaches us compassion. He is the reconciling presence within and outside our communities, encouraging forgiveness, dialogue, real friendship and filial exchange of joy. He lives and evokes in us the holy longing to constantly share Him to others each day. He is hidden in the suffering of those victims of oppression and injustices. He is present in the beautiful gift of creation that unceasingly gives life. He is the PEACE that the world cannot give. In the spirit of John the Baptist, this Newsletter expresses our desire to proclaim that Someone greater than us is the One who is constantly saving, making His love known to all. He is Jesus. We seek Him out, expecting His divine presence to be veiled but real. And we discover Him with the eyes of faith that makes us rejoice as He draws near. “Behold the Lamb of God!” It is with great joy that I congratulate our It is indeed fitting to entitle this volume in May the articles of Communications’ team for renewing their reference to our Patron, St. John the Baptist this Newsletter enthusiasm to publish the next volume of our who proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God. inspire us to do VP Newsletter, the theme of which is “There is greater things for I imagine how this newsletter has been long the Lamb of God!”. Lamb of God , Agnus Deī the glory of God awaited by all of us since it will ingeniously in Latin, is a title for Jesus that appears in the and for the good of keep us posted about the significant events of Gospel of John. It appears in John 1:29, where our neighbors as our Vice-Province and the entire Congregation John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, our Founder, St. as well as update us of the bounteous bless- "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the Alfonso Maria Fusco ings that the Lord has bestowed upon our Vice sin of the world." The lamb represents Christ did. May Jesus, the Lamb of God conquer our -Province. As we relish the pieces of infor- as both suffering and triumphant; it is typically hearts and make us like Him who is ever gen- mation, may our hearts be stirred to give of a sacrificial animal, and may also symbolize tle, meek and pure. As we are drawn closer to ourselves ever more to the service of those gentleness, innocence, and purity. When de- our Spouse, may we be one in living out our entrusted to our care and those whom we picted with the lion, the pair can mean a state Baptistine Consecrated life, responding to the wish to embrace in our mission. of paradise. In addition, the lamb symbolizes signs of the times in the Philippine context. sweetness, forgiveness and meekness. After four years of residing in a temporary residence, our Sisters serving in Holy Child High School in Kinoguitan, Misamis Oriental have transferred to the Sisters’ quarter in the school campus. His Excellency Antonio Ledesma, Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, blessed the residence last May 16, 2017. Indeed, God is so good and provides what is best for us, all the time. Our Baptistine Family gratefully praises God who continues to call young and holy With joyful and thankful hearts, The Lord has blessed our desire to extend our ladies to His “sequela”. We were graced to we acknowledge God’s gift of fidelity to our mission in Australia. October 7, 2017 marked have our newly professed sisters, Sr. Joana- Sisters (Sr. Celia Macabagdal, Sr. Nenita Omon- the opening of St. Alfonso Maria Fusco Com- mie Calacat and Sr. Letecia in our religious gos and Sr. Rosita Nunez) who have just cele- munity in 12 Roberts Avenue, Horsham 3400 family. Holy perseverance, our dear Sisters! brated their perpetual profession of vows and Victoria, Australia in the Diocese of Ballarat. We remember by heart the date of your 25th anniversary to the religious life last August We are grateful to our dear sisters, Sr. Tirsa vows, June 24, 2017. 27, 2017. We wish you more fruitful years of Bale and Sr. Manuela Cabigas, who said YES to intimacy with the Spouse and generous ser- God’s call to be missionaries in Australia. We vice to His people particularly the least ones gladly accompany and support them with our and the poor! faithful and fervent prayers. 2 Our Good Lord has graced the Philippine “He who obeys never Vice-Province with a new set of Servant- goes wrong. My daugh- Leaders (Sr. Jesusita O. Cubillo, Sr. Joanne T. ters, blessed are you Cabugawan, Sr. Maria Lourdes S. Avila, Sr. who are obedient, Lilianne D. Salubre, Sr. Marian Grace Tayo) blessed are you who for a term of three years, from December 8, are under the obliga- 2017 to December 8, 2020. Sr. Joanne will tion of vows! …. serve as the VP Secretary and Sr. Milagros Tible as the VP Treasurer. The Chairpersons of the various Committees were also ap- pointed. All of them have generously said YES to the Lord believing that, having been chosen out of His mercy and goodness, He will make use of them to build His kingdom … I wish I was too, here on earth. but I was never lucky enough to be totally subordinate to others as you are.” St. Alfonso Maria Fusco May 13, 2018 is a special day for all of us Baptistines as we together praised God for the pre- cious gift of vocation given to our Sisters Riezel Jane Alsola and Jocelyn Betache and fidelity to We, the Baptistine Sisters, express our ap- the vows graced to our Sister-Jubilarians: Sr. Dolores Ramirez, Sr. Lilianne Salubre, Sr. Salvacion Narvaja, Sr. Melinda Villareal, Sr. Edna Verano, Sr. Milagros Tible and Sr. Maria Lourdes Avila. preciation and thanksgiving to the Bishop of We rejoice with our own sisters as they relish the great privilege the Diocese of Virac, His Excellency Most Rev. of having been chosen to be His Spouse and be partners of His Manolo de los Santos, for establishing the Mis- redeeming mission. sion Church of Lictin, San Andres, Catanduanes under the patronage of St. Alfonso Maria Fusco in October 2017. We also thank its Priest Ad- To commemorate the Centennial Celebration of the appa- ministrator, Rev. Fr. Laudemer Gapaz, for his rition of Our Lady of Fatima, the sisters of Tagaytay commu- fervor and enthusiasm to spread the devotion nity together with their friends enshrined a life-sized statue to our Father Founder whose image was en- of our Lady at the hilltop of the House of Prayer last March shrined in the mission church last February 6, 25, 2018. May this sacred place increase the devotion to 2018. God will certainly do wonders through our Blessed Mother of all those who visit the place. the intercession of our Father Founder. 3 God be praised for the gift of our Junior and Senior High School in Biliran! a “dream-come-true” for the VP Assembly participants and all the Sisters! Our sincerest thanks to Sr. Dulay and the Our Baptistine fami- sisters in the community for their great effort ly has been blessed with a and all the sisters who have joyfully distributed promising Novice, Nov. the solicitation letters and contributed to the Joebelle Albaniel, and three realization of our school project.