Greetings from the Philippines

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Eudists' Philippines Mission

News Bulletin

September 2007

Sister Mary James Wilson and Cirio S. Kabamalan

We are happy to send you our best wishes from the newest foundation of the Congregation. In a short time, our presence in the Philippines has already been warmly received by the local church of the Diocese of Imus. Our Good Shepherd Sisters continue to help us and our work with seminarians continues to grow as we are able.

We received with joy and thanksgiving the motion of the recent General Assembly concerning our mission here in the Philippines. We thank the members of the Assembly for the encouragement, the support and the challenge. We are also happy to see that the Assembly invites all the provinces to put at the disposal of the Philippines foundation some confreres who are prepared for this mission. We believe the preparation of future personnel is essential to the success of our mission in the Philippines.

As a local community, we have been studying and looking for ways to implement the priorities which the Assembly directed specifically to us. We have already begun discussing how to implement a vocation ministry and plans for the formation of future candidates. These communal reflections have also given us the opportunity to focus on the nature of our own vocation as Eudists, on the ways to share our spirituality with others, and on how to receive candidates in a cultural context that is new to us.

We also have good news to share. For some months we have had contact with a Filipino who is interested in joining our “little congregation.” His name is Cirio S. Kabamalan, informally known as Serge. He has lived with us in our house since the beginning of June and he began classes in theology at the SVD School of Theology at that time. He is 43 years old and has worked as a supervisor at the Development Bank of the Philippines for 11 year. His work was in the area of human resources and he already has a Masters degree in Guidance and Counseling. He had been a seminarian in the late 1980s. Because of that previous experience, the School of Theology admitted him into the second year of theology.

Serge recently expressed his desire to enter probation with the Eudists. With the consent of Fr. Raymond Vaillancourt, provincial of North America, Serge officially began his candidacy on September 8, 2007. He signed the necessary paper during a Mass that was held at the Good Shepherd Provincialate to honor Sr. Mary James Wilson, RGS, on the occasion of her golden jubilee as a Good Shepherd Sister. Many of the Sisters were present as were members of Pamayanan ng Mabuting Pastol (Community of the Good Shepherd), a lay group of young adults that shares the spirituality of St. John Eudes and St. Mary Euphrasia. Serge has been a member of this group for more than 10 years. It was through this lay group that he came to know St. John Eudes and the Eudists. He becomes the first Eudist candidate of the Philippines and, currently, the fifth candidate of the North American Province. (This is the first time we have had so many candidates in that province in over 30 years.) Please keep him in your prayers.

With this communiqué, we begin to fulfill the request of the Assembly “to regularly inform the members of the Congregation of the evolution of our project.” We are issuing it simultaneously in English, French, and Spanish. (If you would like it in Tagalog, we will ask Serge to translate.) We will continue to keep you informed and we simply ask for your continued support and prayers. Feel free to contact any one of us with questions or words of encouragement. We have included our e-mail addresses below. May the Heart of Jesus and Mary continue to inspire us to deeper love and service.

The Eudist Community of Ave Cor

Tagaytay, Cavite (Philippines)