Gsn 240 January 2011 Gsn 240 January 2011 Good Shepherd News Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd Break the flask Committee - Rome Peace March 2011 Rome Page1- 2 Province of Colombia Vocation promotion Page 3 Contemplative Corner Page 4 Journey of Enrichment Page 5-6 The Volunteers - Bolivia/Chile Page 7 Interview of Cheryl Cutrona, Usa Page 8 Weta Gerak– Lights of women– Indonesia Good shepherd Sisters - Germany Final vows of Nelda - Ecuador Page 9 - 10 Meeting of Sr Brigid with G S People Page 11 Chalice Project - Bolivia/Chile Page 12 Reconciliation Program - Colombia Page13 What is inside The “Break the Flask Committee” meets in Rome 11 - 17 January “Break the ϐlask” Committee Purpose: A Resource Reϐlection group who, in coordination with the Congrega- tional Contemplative Council, reϐlected on “Focus for our Future” to prepare concrete processes to help implement this document. A beginning task: To reϐlect on what it means to be a Contemplative in an Apos- tolic Congregation and set up processes to assist the Congregation in understand- ing this dimension. The theme “Breaking the Flask” is the fruit of the Contemplative Intercontinental Assembly held in Qui- to Ecuador in 2008. At the end of the Assembly, the sisters wrote: “Today we stand in unity on the threshold of another invitation – to “break the ϔlask so that the perfume can pour out”. Our unique experiences here and challenges heard throughout this Assembly prompt us to move cou- rageously into the future. “Glory be to Jesus, Master of Wisdom, whose power working in us can do indeϔinitely more than we can ask or imagine.” Mary of the Cosmos, accompany us on the journey! The committee is composed of Sisters Jude Ellen Golumbieski, Maria Teresa Pomar and Reina Escobar of the Congregational Contemplative Council, Agnes Baron(Belgium/ France /Magyaroazag), Fe de Paz (Angola/Mozambique), Anita Mammootil (India/ Nepal), Enith Pangul (Ecuador). From left to right : Srs. Agnes Baron ( BFM), Enith Pangul (Ecuador), Anita Mammootil( India) and Fe de Paz (Angola Mozambique)
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Gsn240 January2011
Gsn 240 January 2011
Good Shepherd News Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
Fromlefttoright, irstrow:SistersYolandaBorbon,PilarMartinez,BrigidLawlor,AnaMariaQuiroz,JudeEllenGolumbieski,TeresitaWeind,ArmelleDehennault,SusanChia,RitaLourençoLuis.RELIGIOUSFREEDOM,THEPATHTOPEACEAs every year, the GoodShepherdSistersparticipatedintheannualmarchforPeaceheldonthe1stofJanuary.Themarchusually ends at St Peter’sSquare where lots of pilgrimswait to listen to the Pope’smessage and Angelus. The
theme for the World Day ofPeace 2011 was religiousfreedom, the path to Peace.Belowisanextractofthepope’smessage:“The world needs God. It needsuniversal, shared ethical andspiritualvalues,andreligioncanoffer a precious contribution to
theirpursuit,forthebuildingofa just andpeaceful social orderatthenationalandinternationallevels.Peace isagiftofGodandat thesame timea taskwhich isneverfully completed. A societyreconciledwithGod iscloser topeace, which is not the mereabsence of war or the result ofmilitary or economicsupremacy,muchlessdeceptiveploys or clever manipulation.Rather, peace is the result of aprocess of puri ication and ofcultural, moral and spiritualelevation involving eachindividualandpeople,aprocessinwhich human dignity is fullyrespected.Iinviteallthosewhowish to be peacemakers,especially the young, to heedthe voice speaking within theirhearts and thus to ind in Godthestablepointofreferenceforattainingauthenticfreedom,theinexhaustible force which cangive the world a new directionand spirit, and overcome themistakesofthepast.”
The Generalate Com
munity w
ith Sister B
rigid Lawlor
Gsn240 3 January2011
Sincethestartofourlocalcom-munity project we havesearched for means of promot-ing vocations in new ways aswell as “old” to discover poten-tial vocations. Thus, we de-signedastrategywhichenablesus to express our mission andsimultaneouslyinvitethosewhofeel called to be religious orcommitted lay persons. In thismanner, we encounter youngpeople in the10th or11th gradethroughworkshopswiththemes
propertoourapostolate.Last October, we visited theChipre Institute. In ive sessionsof consciousness-raising regard-ing human relations, we metaround 150 boys and girls. Ourobjective was to form a youthgroupwhich can continue deep-ening these themes throughstudy circles and then developactionplans to helpwomen andgirls who are victimized or athighriskofmaltreatment.Itwasagoodexperienceofalo-cal community mission whichwasalsoawayofpresentingourapostolate besides promotingvocations.WethanktheLordforthis opportunity. This mission
incited some young people toconsiderreligiouslife.Theyalsoinvited the sisters to visit theyouthgroupsintheirparishes.SrA.LMartinezSanchezProvinceofColombia.
zales. They came from Pitalito(Huila),Pereira,IbaqueandMan-izales.OnOct.17and18thesessionsonReligious Life were directed bySrs. Fabiola Tapasco, Alba LuzMartinez, Adriana Angarita andLuzMarinaBolivar,Cgs,withthecollaboration of Sr. Maria de losAngelesGil.Theencounterwasverypositiveand one of the participants, Fer-nanda Lopez Rojas of Pilatilo,expressedherdesiretostartherinitiation into the Congregation.
The 17th, Sunday, the youngwomen went to Villa Maria, aneighboringvillageandattendedMassforchildrenwhichtouchedtheheartsofall.Afterlunch,theyre lected on the theme of “thecall”. The following day wasspent in recollection based onthe theme of “Shepherds andsheep,”alludingtotheformationof disciples-missionaries basedonareadingfromourcongrega-tional spirituality. The sessionsconcludedwith a joyful celebra-tion.Letusprayforthem.
YouthGroupinManizales
Sr.AlbaLuzMartinezSanchezJunior
VocationPromotion-CommunityProjectWiththetheme“Comeandsee”the Good Shepherd Sisters ofManizales opened up an areawhere young people who haveshown interest in religious lifecouldjoinourdailyactivitiesandparticipateinmomentsofre lec-tion. As a contribution to thegeneralVocationPromotionpro-gram,weinvitedyouthfromoth-er cities through the Sisters oflocal communities of the Prov-inceofBogota.OnSaturday,Oct.16,eightyoungwomenstartedarrivingatMani-
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Province of India/Nepal
Contemplative Corner My Missionary Experience in Korea
On the 3rd of August 2007, I ar-rived in Korea. It is a beautifulplace surrounded by mountains.Ourcommunitywascomposedoftwelve sisters. I was very happysince I already knew the sisters,someofwhomwerefromAngola.At the end of August I left forSeoul, to begin my study of theKorean language. I spent ivemonthswiththeapostolicsistersthere and they helped me tolearnanewlanguageandexperi-enceanewculture.Iexperiencedlife in community, helping withthe household chores, and cook-ingKoreanfood.I found lifedif icult in thebegin-ningsinceIdidnotknowthelan-guage,peopleetc.ThenIrealizedduring my personal prayer andmeditation, especially on Mary’slife, that our Mother Mary alsofounditdif iculttosayher“Yes“.So learning from her, I trustedmore and more in the power ofGod and believed that He whocalled me would give the neces-sarystrengthandcouragetotakeupmydailychallenges.As thedayspassed I felthappierand adjusted more and more tothe food, weather, new culture,languageetc.Thesistersincom-
munity were very kind and en-couragedmewiththeirapprecia-tion and advice when necessary.Gradually I began to feelmoreathome and more relaxed in thisnewplace.IthankedGoddailyforkeeping me in good health andslowlybecameaccustomedtotheKoreanfood.After ivemonthsinSeoul with the apostolic sistersand having completed my studyoftheKoreanlanguage,Ireturnedto my contemplative communityin Chunchon and was happy tomeet Sr. Patricia Perera onceagain. I had known her earliersince sister had visited Indiasomeyearsago.Duringmy secondyear once in awhile thesistersasked me todoshort reading at Mass. I missedour Liturgy in Bangalore as IcouldnotgraspfullythehomiliesinKorean.As thedayswentby, Irealized that Ineeded to grow inthe personal union with God,reading from the word of God.DuringrecreationwesharedwithoneanotherourexperienceofSriLanka, India and Korea thus en-richingoneanother.Bytheendofmythreeyearsmissionaryexperi-ence, I feel very happy to havegained from the Korean culture
and the Contemplative sisters inKorea.Iwouldhavelovedtocon-tinuemymission in Korea for afew more years but since myCommunity in India is agingandpresently not growing in num-bers I felt the need to return toIndia and continue my missionhere.I experienced the warmth andlove of our Korean sisters and Ifeel enrichedbymy stay there, Iam very grateful to our GoodShepherdforhavinginspiredmeto take up the challenge of thismissionaryexperienceandtoourIndian Province for having per-mitted me to spend three yearsinKorea.Thanks be to God for His Shep-herding ofmewhile onmymis-sion and for bringing me backsafely to my own India where Ireceivedanextrawarmwelcome.Aftermythreeyearsbeingaway,I have noticed many changes inthe community itself, in thegrowthofoursisters,thecreativ-ityintheLiturgyaswellasinthebeauty of the enclosure-all en-hancing the Praise and Glory ofGod.
SrAgnesRayappa.C.G.S.
BreaktheFlaskCommittee
HappyFeastdaySistersTeresa,ReinaandJudeEllen
Gsn240 5 January2011
Journey Of Enrichment Echoes from the History and Spirituality Session held in Angers
After a long transatlantic light,after having visited Paris andLourdes,andafterhavingtraveledagreatpartofFrenchcountryside,we arrived in Angers – the birth-placeofourCongregation.My irst impression upon arrivingwas of inding a very modernbuilding. I thought I was going toindanoldhouse.Therealitywasrevealed little by little. The prop-erty is composed of differentbuildings – old, re-modeled andnewones.Thereisagreatamountofpropertyusedforbeautifulgar-dens, pathways and places thatinvite one to re lection andmedi-tation. There is also a tunnel, thetomb of SME, the chapel whereone indsaclearurnwithpartsofherbody covered in awax image,the Green Door, among other im-portantplacesandthings.Inotherwords,itisaplacefullofhistory.On theday that I arrived I visitedthe bedroom and oratory of SaintMary Euphrasia, which happenedto be in the same building I wasstaying. I spent many momentsthere.Atthebeginningofthesessionthenextday, I beganmeeting the sis-tersandtheotherlayparticipantswho had come from all over theworld. There were women of al-most every race, language andpeopleandnation,attheserviceofGod,Mary,theChurchandhuman-ity. I say ‘women’ since I was theonly male participant invited tothe session. In the midst of thisexperience a thought came to mein relation to present day Israel:“We are not one race,we are onepeople.” Imadethosewordsmineown and so I can say thatwe arenotonerace,butweareonepeo-ple,thePeopleofGod.An important encounter for mewas to meet some Sisters of OurLadyofCharity(OLC)whopartici-pated at this same session. I didnot realize that the theme,
even morethe religiouslife. Maybeonly the loveof God iswhat givesthem thestrength tomove to oth-er ‘tents’,leaving behind what unites themto their country of origin and totheirownroots.With respect to the transmissionoftheexperienceofthesessiontoothers we have done the follow-ing:lombiaOn the last day of the session,whilestillinAngers,theColumbi-andelegationworkedonanovenaof Saint John Eudes. We startedwith the documents that we re-ceived at the session. This wasthen forwarded to the provincesof Bogota,Medellın andVenezue-la, in preparation for the celebra-tion of his feast which we wouldshortly celebrate. We would dothe same in preparation for thefeastofSaintMaryEuphrasia.We ixed the dates for the trans-mission to the communities. Thiswill happen after the Chapterwhichwill be as the result of theprocessofuni icationoftheprov-incesofBogota,MedellınandVen-ezuela.TheChapterwillbeheldatthe beginning of May of 2011.Sincethereissomuchinprepara-tion for this, there is little spacefor our transmission before the Chapter. Likewise, I had an opportunity to share the richness I have received, by means of dialogue and picture with my lay community of María Droste zu Vischering.
Continued on page 6
“Journey of Enrichment, encoun-ter with our common history”,refers to theprocess that the twoCongregationsarepresentlyexpe-riencing.Thishasbeenespeciallydif icultfortheSistersofOurLadyofCharityasthey came to become the Interna-tionalUnionofOurLadyofCharity.Todaytherearesomeautonomouscommunities who have not beenintegratedintotheUnion.We also came to understand thejourney made so far by the Con-gregationwhichsawthe full inte-gration of the Contemplative Sis-tersat all levelsasa resultof theChapterof2009.We had the opportunity to visitCaen,Ri, theSanctuaryofOurLa-dy of Deliverance, Tours and theIsland of Noirmoutier, key placesof Saint John Eudes, Saint MaryEuphrasia and to the Congrega-tions of OLC and Good Shep-herd.Experience of German Com-ing back to the sessions, it wasvery important for me to under-standtherichhistoryandtoseeinit the hand and action of God. Asdistinctive events, some of themare considered as negative, buttheywerewovenandbecametheCongregations of Our Lady ofCharity and Good Shepherd, withallofthegoodthattheHolyTrini-tyhasrealizedbymeansofthem.At the session I also had the op-portunity to know and interactwiththeotherGoodShepherdlaypersons from: Spain, Ireland, Sin-gapore and France. All of them –be they friends, collaborators orassociatesoftheGoodShepherd–IsawthemasverycommittedandwithanactiveparticipationintheHolyWork.Itwas comforting and edifying tointeractwithSisters fromallovertheworld.Someof themaremis-sionaries in places that are veryremote. This helps me to value
Gsn240 6 January2011
Journey of Enrichment Province of Spain
SistersofGood
shepherd(ProvinceofSpain)andOLCInAngers.
Onceagainandfordifferentrea-sons, we organized meetingsbetweentheSistersofOurLadyofCharityand theSistersof theGood Shepherd. These tookplaceindifferentvenues:Bilbao,Madrid.The journey unfolded in threestages: -knowledge-memories-mutualunderstandingActivities were centered on, forinstance, thesessiononSt. JohnEudes and the Constitutions,joint participation for retire-ment, celebrations and signi i-cant commemorations, partici-pationbybothCongregations inAssemblies and/or Chapters,sharing of life in community bysome Sisters in the course ofspeci ic periods, presentationsand re lection on the directionandthe involvementof the laityinourwork,etc.constitutedtheenrichmentofourjourney.Whatisthisroadforus?Many things but perhaps, or inreality,themostimportantisthedesiretocontinuethe livingout
ofourcharism, identical forbothCongregations, here and now,withjoyandenthusiasm.Towalkinthisdirectionrequiresanaddi-tionalefforttoleavecertainsecu-rities, to pass through dif icultstages in searching the will ofGod.The Journey of Enrichment pro-voked and continues to provokequestions, re lectionand thead-dition of joint programs that aremoreandmoredeveloped.The realization of the journey ofenrichment is undergoing rapidchange. Energies are focusedondevelopingmorepositive,bene i-cialandeffectiverelations.
Psalm 23, which has comfortedcountless generations along theway, also consoles us, too. It isstrongenoughtosurroundus,toreanimate our hope and to leadusintoanexperiencewhichdoesnot frighten us, because He, theGood Shepherd, sees to it thatwelacknothing,becauseHe,theGoodShepherd,iswithusontheroad until the end. Everythingwillbeaccordingtohiswill,andwe shall live with him duringendlessyears.Hopewilltriumphoverfearandobscuritiesalongtheway.MariaCarmenFernándezSpain
Session.And lastly, it is mydesire to summarizeall of the documentswe received into onedocument, into something like anelectronic book, with an index,facilitatinganytypeofsearch.Ini-tially itwillbe inSpanish.WhenIhave inished I will send it by e-mail.UnitedintheSacredHeartofJesusandMaryGermánAugustoOsorioZuluagaLBPManizales,Colombia
Contd.Frompage5Recognizing the dif iculties ofsome of the participants whowerenotabletoopentheCDgiv-entouswithallofthedocuments,Iplacedon the Internetallof thedocuments from the session(except any videos). Thenwe in-formed the participants, lay andreligious (anda fewpriests)howto locate these resources. As anaside, a religious (who did notparticipate at the session) wrotetomeand said that shewasabletoaccessthedocumentsandcon-sideredthematreasure.AsSecretaryoftheAssociationoftheGoodShepherdLaityofAmer-
ica, I worked on a newsletterwhichcontainedtheclosingdocu-mentsoftheSessionandtestimo-nies from two lay women whohad participated at the Session.This was sent by e-mail to ourmembership– laity,religiousandsome priests mainly from LatinAmerica and other Spanish orPortuguesespeakingcountries.Between the 22nd and 24th ofJuly of 2011, the VI AmericanCongressofGoodShepherdLaitywill be held in Lima (Peru). Wewill have time for input from Sr.Delia Rodrıguez and myself, inorder to share something of ourlived experience of the Angers
The contributionof volunteersin the mission of the GoodShepherd Congregation Prov-inceofBolivia/Chileisinvalu-able.“Thelaityareagifttothecongregation, the Church andtheworld”andfromthisper-spective the Province throughvolunteer experiences, aims tostrengthen collaboration withthelaityinitsmission.Eachofthevolunteers,inaddi-tion to their daily work, as-sumesacommitmentthatcon-tributes to healing and com-munion with their neighbor;they seek to restoredignity tothepersonswho come to seekhelp. This work is character-ized by the fact that theyputservice of others before theirowninterests.We appreciate the work ofmanyyoungpeoplewhodonothesitate to leave their family,country,theircommitmentstoface a new challenge in theirlives.OurmissioninElAltohasbeen blessed with the volun-teerscoming fromothercoun-tries and also local volunteerslike Sonia and Maria Victoriawho work for the relief ofwomen suffering from domes-ticviolence.“MarıaReina”theResidenceinSantiago received voluntary
contributions from Spain andEngland.EvaandBeth,wholeda workshop to build a mosaic,already designed by the girls,which is “the house in whichtheylive”andwheretheyplacetheirdreamsandaffections.Ulrike, a German volunteer,shares her experience ofwork-ing for a year at theCenter forChildren in thecityofOruro: “Ilove my work with children, Iam pleasedwith thismission…The doughnuts is my favoritedish… I recently bought a cha-rango (an instrument) to learnthesongsofBolivia.”Thismissionhasthestrongsup-port of three volunteers: Mag-dalena of Germany,whoworksin collaboration with Danielle,anAmericanandLynne-Amer-ican, a social worker, whoworksatthecenterforwomen.
Volunteers have expressed theirenthusiasm and joy to begin thiswork and have contact with theBolivianpeople.In2008,MerceGil,joinedthemis-sion of Santa Cruz in central Ku-natai Epua by voluntary agree-mentwith the nurses ofNGOs intheworld.Onhis return toSpainhebegantocarryoutactivitiesinXativanotonly to raise funds fortheconstructionofaclassroomtodevelopthechildren’scenter,butalso to better attend to theirneeds.May our Good Shepherd blesseachofthevolunteers,theirfami-lies, their organizations for thegreat contribution of partnershiptowardsgrowthandexpansionofthe mission in our province, Bo-livia/Chile.Media Centre Bolivia / Chile
Groupofvolunteersandthechildren.
Gsn240 8 January2011
Interview of Cheryl Cutrona By Marie Françoise Mestry
Cheryl can you sharewith usyour journey with the GoodShepherd Sisters in the con-text of the Mediation Pro-gram?From1986IwasinvolvedintheGood Shepherd Mediation Pro-gram (GSMP) with Sister BrigidLawlor. In 1989, I joined theBoardofDirectorsoftheGSMe-diation. In1991,whenSrBrigidLawlorbecametheprovincialofWashington Province, I wasaskedtoreplaceherastheExec-utive Director. I really built onwhatSisterBrigidhadstartedinconnection with Family Court.Thisyear,the3rdofJanuarywasmy 20th anniversary as the Di-rectorofGSMP.After 20 years of experience, Iam happy making a pilgrimagetovisittheGeneralateinRome.Iwill also go to Angers andNoirmoutiers with a group inMarch2011.ThelasttimeIwent
toNoirmoutierswasin1998fora10daypilgrimage,IalwaysrecallSister Barbara Davis’s presenta-tion on St Mary Euphrasia. Forme,goingtoAngersisawaytoberenewed with Mary Euphrasia’sSpirit.When did the Good ShepherdMediation Program (GSMP)begin and what is its MissionStatement?Afternearly100yearsof serviceto delinquent/dependent youth,Good Shepherd Corporationphased out its youth residentialprograms. In 1984, Good Shep-herd Neighborhood House wasestablishedasPhiladelphia's irstneighborhood justice center.Good Shepherd Mediation Pro-gram currently offers mediation,and training and consulting ser-vices to the greater Philadelphiaarea. OurmissionistoempowerPhiladelphia community resi-dents to creatively search formeaningful and lasting solutionsto their con licts without resort-ingtocrimeorviolence.What do youmean byMedia-tioninthecontextofGSMP?Mediationisaprocessforresolv-ing disputes with the help of atrained, objective third-partycalled a mediator. The mediatordoes not offer advice or make adecision for the parties. Theme-diator facilitates the communica-tion session, encourages peace-makingandwritestheagreementifoneisreached.Eighty- iveper-cent of the disputes that reachmediationresultinawrittenset-tlement agreement between theparties. Mediation is voluntary,informal, con idential, and inex-pensive. Mediation sessions canbescheduledwithinafewweeksat a location in the disputant'sneighborhood.
Tell us more about the pro-gram and services that GSMPoffers.Good Shepherd Mediation Pro-gram is a nonpro it organizationthat currently includes the fol-lowing components: Mediation,Court&CommunityServicesandTraining and Consulting. Thetraining and consulting servicesinclude: mediation orientation,adult mediator training, youthpeer-mediation training andschool-basedprogramimplemen-tation, con lict resolution, meet-ing facilitation, anger manage-ment, community peacemaking,collaboration building for com-munity empowerment and deal-ingwithdifferences.Wheredoyoudrawstrengthtocarryoutsuchamarvelousandchallengingwork?Tocontinuewhat I have todo istohave the Spirit of StMaryEu-phrasia onmy shoulders. As shesayseachpersonisofmorevaluethanaworld.Believingthathelpsme to treat each person whocomes to the mediation tablewith respect, even when I haveinformation about their back-ground that is not favorable. MyvisittoAngerswillhelpmetoberenewed with St. Mary Euphra-sia’s spirit. My favorite place isthe Magni icat Garden where shewas when she felt inspired towritethepetitiontotheHolySeetoseekapproval for theerectionof the Good ShepherdGeneralate.Iwon’tforgetthiseventasithap-pened on the 15th August, thesamedateasmyBirthday.TohavemoreinformationpleasevisittheGSMPWebsite.www.phillymediators.org
CherylCutrona is the ExecutiveDirector of the Good ShepherdMediation Program (GSMP).Sheis an attorney,mediator, con lictcoach, trainer, facilitator, writerandeditor. «In2010,thePenn-sylvania Council of Mediatorsnamed her "Peacemaker of theYear."
ForJusticeandpeaceUpdateVisit Winifred’s Blog http://winifredd.wordpress.com/ Marie Hélène’s Blog In French http://marieheleneh.wordpress.com/
The patriarchal system andstructuremeans thatManggaraiwomen aremarginalizedwithintheirsociety,oftenhavingtosuf-fer injustices such as denial ofaccess to a basic education anddenialofinheritancerights.There are 77 parishes in theRutengDioceseandtheministryto empower women and chil-dren operated by Good Shep-herd Sisters is spread over 10parishes. There are 488 mem-bers in 10 groups, one group isdedicatedtosinglemothersandtheothergroupsare focusedonthewivesofmigrantworkers.The ministry aims to value thedignity of women and childrenand to stop the violence that sooften women and children suf-fer.Themajorityofthemembersareagricultural labourers who be-cause of their double injusticesareforcedtoworkforlandown-ersandacceptwageshalfthatoftheirmalecounterparts.Theav-erage age of thewomen is 20 –25, 98% of the group have anelementary education. In 2009theGovernment introduced freebasicschoolingsothisispromis-ingforthefuture.Early marriage is very commonin the rural areas due to pres-sures poverty puts on families.Themarriage process facilitatesbroken marriages as the civilmarriage is not required untilthe couple is inancially inde-
pendent even though couplesmay have been in de facto mar-riages for a long time, thusmencan leave without having to as-sumeanylegalconsequences.We realize that women have nopower in this society and thismakes the ministry’s vision toempowerthemevenmorepress-ing inorder for themtobegin totake their lives into their ownhands.LastMaywehadathreedaycoregroupleadershiptrainingforsin-glemothers, 50womenwho arethe core leaders of 10 groupsfrom 8 parishes attended. Weinvited the wife of our Regencyhead to give a talk andopen theworkshop. It was remarkable tosee the group sharing aboutwomen’s strengths and pain,womenwhooftenareunawareoftheunjuststructuresthatleadtowomen’s status as second classcitizens. The women becameaware of their potential and the
power within each woman thatcan be harnessed to ight fortheir rights. There were a num-ber of guest speakers and theparticipants reacted very posi-tively to the way in which thematerials were presented. Theworkshop concluded with a Eu-charistic celebration presidedoverbyFr.LaurensSopang,rep-resentative of the Bishop ofRuteng,who inhishomilynotedthat “We are the image of God,andasmenandwomenhavethesame right to speak out for thetruth”We presented the participantswithacerti icatetoacknowledgetheir full participation.We hopethat by sharing what theylearned in their parishes theywill be empowered to becomeleaders to themselves and thegroupsto ightfortheirrights.ProvinceofIndonesia
Picture caption
Embrace the world Now available on the website
February 2011 Justice and peace Page
Gsn240 10 January2011
What a Bishop says about Good Shepherds in his Diocese!
At the annual recep-tion for the media inhis diocese (Sept 14,2010), Dr. JoachimWanke, Bishop of Er-furt,spokeamongoth-er things about the
GoodShepherdsinhisdiocese:“…..One of themost pleasant de-velopments of thepeaceful revo-lutionin1989andoftheGermanUnityisthatitopenednewspac-esoffreedomandpossibilitiesforaction – also for the Church -which never have existed in theGerman Democratic Republic.Thiswastrueinthe ieldofCath-olicSocialWork….Due to a given occasion, Iwouldlike to point out in a particularwaythecommitmentofonecon-gregation, “The Sisters of theGood Shepherd”, a congregationthat is takingcareparticularlyofwomen and girls on themarginsofoursociety.Not even two months after theGermanUnity,thesistersdecidedtogototheEast,tothenewFed-eral Countries, and to open ahouse in Erfurt as a refuge forwomen and mothers with their
children, escaping a situation ofdomesticviolence.Thesistersdidnotwait,untiltheywerecalledorasked todo so.Theycameoutoftheirownaccord.Intherunofthetime,theyenlargedtheirscopeofduties in order towork, togetherwith others, for pregnant girlsand women in situations of con-lict, to engage on the crisis lineand in pastoral work in the par-ish. In the end they opened a“Professional Helpdesk for wom-en, victims of forced prostitutionand/ortraf icking”.Iwould like tounderlineparticu-larly:Youcouldnotonlygotothesisters´ of ice and house at theof ice hours. Not at all, womenand girls could come to them atanyhour of the day or the night,and the door would always be
opened for them. For the sistersnamely, these people in dif icul-ties were not “cases”, which youcouldworkonandthenputtheiriles into the iling cabinet. Theintensive after care, the sympa-thetic interest in “their” womenandtheirfuture,andthepersonalrelationships, sometimes overyears,haveshownthatthesisterswere following the example ofJesus, Good Shepherd. For this, Iwouldliketothankthemheartily!Now, lack of vocations is forcingtheCongregation to cut theworkinErfurtandtogiveuptheWom-en’sshelter….Butthreeofthesis-terswillcontinuebeingpresentinErfurt.”ProvinceofGermany/Albania
How will Ireturn to theLord the goodhe has done tome. Thank youfor yourfaithfulness,youhave chosenmeand you havewonmyheart!I am Nelida Quishpe, 29 yearsold and I am from the Unit ofEcuador. On the Solemn day of
the feast of the ImmaculateConceptionofMary,Isaid"Yes" here I am Lord with myweaknesses, you know them,yet I amhere , Iwill staywithyouforever.HavingexperiencedthetenderloveoftheShepherdwhocalledme, his sweetness , hisseducting and captivating eyeshowcouldIsayno.MakingmyVows was an answer to hisfaithfulness, Jesus has beenfaithful throughout this
journey. Amid the joys,dif iculties, hopes and dreams,your love isalways forever.Hismercyhasilluminatedmyheart.Myheartover lowswithjoyandgratitude to God the Father andMother to my family and mydear Congregation. He seducedmeandIwanttoliveanddiefortheGoodShepherd.SisterNeldaQuishpeProvinceofEcuador
FinalVows-Ecuador
Gsn240 11 January2011
Meeting of Sr. Brigid with Employees and Friends of the Good Shepherd, Salta,Argentina4December2010
OnDecember4, 2010 ameetingtookplacewithSr.Brigidandthefriends and employees of theGoodShepherdatthecommunityof Salta. It was a very cordialmeeting where each participantgot involved. The setting wasverywell prepared and decorat-edwhich contributed to the un-foldingof theday inaclimateofpeace,fraternityanddialogue.WethanktheSistersofthecom-munities of Salta, Jujuy and Ca-fayate for their preparation ofthe venue, and all the attentionwithwhich theyreceivedSistersBrigid and Rita and the laity oftheotherlocations.The lay participants came fromJujuy, Salta, Cafayate, Tucuman,SiambonEl,RiojaandCordoba.We irst had breakfast togethertomeet each other, laity, SistersBrigid and Rita. Then, we sangandprayedthattheSpiritwouldguide and accompany usthroughouttheday.Sr. Brigid began by projectingpictures of the mission of theGood Shepherd throughout theworld:abandonedboysandgirls,women who are victims of pov-erty, victims of sexual exploita-tion,oftraf icking,crimesofhon-our, the disintegration of fami-lies, the lackofeducation,whichincreased our awarenees andstirredquestions.Her instruction to us was: infrontofthephotographsofthesefaces,look,listen,receiveinone’shearttherequestsandtheneeds.Thensheinvitedustoshare.Sr. Brigid, with the help of aPower Point presentation, ex-plained to us the guidelines ofthe Chapter of Congregationwhichrefertomissionandtothe
roleofthelaity.“Respond to the anguish of theworld calling us to the marginswhere God is waiting for us, bytaking courageous steps to useourinternationalresourceseffec-tively,tonetworkandtorestruc-ture on all levels creating newpathwaysformission.“We raised very dif icult ques-tions.Andtheparticularquestionwhichtoucheduspersonallywas:How do we (laity and Sisters)create new pathways for mis-sion?Next, thanks to thedynamicpar-ticipation of several laity, wetravelledtothebeginningsofOurLadyofCharity: the roleof SaintJonh Eudes and his response tothe needs of the women of histime. And we learned throughspeci ic examples of co-responsibilityat thebeginningofwork (the role of MadeleineLamy,of theniecesof Saint JohnEudes,etc.).We then crossed over to the eraofMaryEuphrasiaandtheroleofCount de Neuville and CountessD’Andigne. The count helpedMary Euphrasia to enlarge hervision.Faced with the questions of thepersons present, Sr. Brigid ex-
plained very clearly the charac-teristics of the spirituality ofMary Euphrasia, which joins to-gether attention to the needs ofpersonswithevangelisation.The question of co-responsibility: the mandate ofthe Chapter of the Congregationdemandsachangeofattitudeonbehalf of the Sisters, a trust inthe laity counting on the possi-bility of assuming together theresponsibilities of the mission -to make plans together, and toaccept successes and errors to-gether.Letuspass fromthe18thtothe21th century: the reality of thisunitytoday.Howdoyouseeco-responsibilitytodayinyourUnit?Whoisinvolved?Wewere invited to examine thefuture of the Good Shepherd inourUnit:1)Whatdoyouwant?2)What approach, which direc-tioncanbetakenbyconsideringtherealityofyourcountry?Continuedonpage12
We irsthadbreakfasttogethertomeeteachother,laity,Sis-tersBrigidandRita.
Gsn240 12 January2011
Meeting of Sr. Brigid with Employees and Friends of the Good Shepherd, Salta,Argentina4December2010
Thenwe had the presentation ofthe 'threads ‘of theCongregation,thanks to whom the entire Con-gregation weaves new modelsworldwide.Andtocrownthewhole,Sr.Brig-idinvitedusto:WALK WITH THE CONGREGA-TIONANDWEAVETHETHREADSOF THE CONGREGATION TO-GETHERINUNITY.BEFAITHFUL
TO THE ORIENTATIONS OF THECHAPTER to “act justly, love ten-derly and walk humbly with ourGod.”Micah6,8.Finally, we gathered around themealofmidday,withthespeciali-tiesoftheNorth,andwithbeauti-ful dances and cultural presenta-tions.ProvinceofArgentina
CHALICE Project is a Catholicorganization fromCanada. It be-ganin1996,thankstotheinitia-tive of Father Patrick Cosgroveandagroupofdeaconswho felttheneedtorespondtotheactualproblemsofchildrenandadoles-centsindevelopingcountries.For our mission in Chile it cre-ates an important institutionaland international network be-tween CHALICE Canada and theCongregation of the Good Shep-herd.TheCongregationannounc-es the Merciful Love of God tochildren, youngsters and elderlyadults who are in a situation ofsocial and economic disad-vantage.CHALICE’s presence in Chile iscommittedtoandprovidesaser-viceofloveinordertoconstructacountrywhichismorejustandcarrying,fromtheperspectiveofJesus, the Good Shepherd. (John10). Beginning 1 July 2008, Sr.Myriam Vallejos has providedcoordination and direction. Sheworkswithothersisterscommit-ted to this work such as MarıaFaundez inValparaısoandElenaRodrıguez in Talca. We are allgrateful for the dynamism anddevelopment of the project
whichputs intopractice the val-ues of CHALICE and the GoodShepherd, along with “the beliefandvaluingthecapacitiesofper-sons in order to transform theirownlives”,preferringalwaystheparticipation and the greatestcommitmentofthefamiliesalongwith those who are the directbene iciaries.Actually,theprojectconsistsof9sub-projects present in themet-ropolitanareasofandofValpara-ıso and Maule, bene iting 2,000boysandgirls,17elderlyadults.Our objective is evangelizationandthepromotionofanintegrat-ed development of personswithfew resources, in order to givedignityandenableabetterquali-ty of life for them and for theirfamilies.Inordertoreachourgoalineachproject, we plan those activities
which encourage the growth ofthe Program of Sponsors, for-mation and training workshops,visiting of families, micro-enterprises, catalog of gifts,ChristmasofSmiles, friendlycel-ebrations, ElderlyAdults Club oftheCityofLinares.Eachoneoftheseactivitieshopesto enable the complete person,from the psychological, socialand spiritual perspectives. Wehope to accomplish this whilethey are in a world which re-quiresattitudesofproactivepar-ticipation,acreationofnetworksof brotherhood/sisterhood,training forabetter life,withoutforgetting their faith shared inthe community and family, al-waysfocusingonJesus,theGoodPastor.CommunicationCenterofBoli-via/Chile
GoodShepherdpeople
Gsn240 13 January2011
Good Shepherd News While each unit is encouraged to send articles anytime during the year, we have planned that there are specific editions when each unit is asked to submit an article so that at the end of the year all the units have been part of Good Shepherd News.
Please send articles on or
before the 5th of each month. Here is the suggested schedule:
January Commissions, CLT, Bogota, Bolivia/Chile, South Africa
ProvinceofColombia-ManizalesTheboysandgirlsoftheIntegralProgramofReconciliationfortheLittle Friends of Jesus, directedby the Good Shepherd Sisters ofManizales, went on a mission tothe Home of theMissionaries ofCharity ofMother Teresa of Cal-cutta. The childrenmade prepa-rations to meet and share with90 elderly inmates of the Home.It was a beautiful experience ofserving, sharing and giving forthe “Little Friends.” They wereaccompaniedbyfourSisters, iveevangelizers directing the pro-gram and one Lay Associate oftheGoodShepherd.Theseadultsall rendered some nursing ser-
vicestotheelderlyoftheHome.In the morning of the one-daymission, the children shared theLectio Divina with the elderlythrough dramatization, medita-tion, prayer and contemplation.Theyalsohadlotterygamespre-paredbytheyoungpeoplethem-selves.Theythenhelpedtoservelunch.In the afternoon the “LittleFriends” presented a religiousdance, thenaraf letheyhadde-signed.A inal servingof sweetsendedthemission.Congratulations, “Little Friendsof Jesus” for a mission accom-plished!
