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O FFICIAL Q UARTERLY P UBLICATION OF THE M ISSIONARIES OF O UR L ADY OF P ERPETUAL H ELP YEAR XXX1, NO. 105 , APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2015

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Ave Maria!

WE continue to enjoy the blessings of this very special time of grace we are all in now. We, consecrated women who are part of the religious congregation of the Missionaries of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, receive immeasurable graces during this Year of Consecrated Life (November 30, 2014- February 2, 2016), 150th Jubilee of the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, and the approaching Holy Year of Mercy (December 8, 2015-November 20, 2016).

What can we say to this? Isn’t it a tremendous overflowing river of God’s love? What significance do we recognize in this reality of MPS, as consecrated women, as members of a Congregation with our Mother of Perpetual Help as its titular and patroness, and as religious missionaries whose charism is to continue the redeeming action of Christ, the Redeemer, by radiating the merciful love of God in our proclamation of the Good News to the poor and abandoned?

All these make us more aware of the second objective of the Year of Consecrated Life, i.e., to live the present with passion. However, awareness is not enough until we are able to define well the meaning of this particular call or objective. “To live” has something so much to relate with one’s own life and how each one of us consider it and how we truly value it as a gift from God, our Lord, who said: “I came to give life—life in all its fullness” (Jn. 10:10). It is important to ask ourselves; that as much as the Lord desires it for us, we also want to live this life in all its fullness?

As we begin the new school year, whether with a new assignment and / or inserted into a new community or even if with the same ministry and community, what we have before us is the time called present. We may look back at our past with gratitude or with some regrets for not having given our best in some things but let us live our here and now…with passion.

Passion, according to Wikipedia, is from the Greek verb πασχω meaning 'to suffer'. It is a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion, a compelling enthusiasm or desire for something.

Therefore, being aware of our identity, vocation and mission, the next step to be able to fully respond to the mentioned objective of the Year of Consecrated Life, is to name our passion. What is our passion? Who is our passion? As the saying goes: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

The Lord who comes so that we may have life and we may live it to the fullest, has passionately expressed His love and Himself to us. Jesus, knowing that the rich young man had the desire to live his life to the full was pleased to answer the question: “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” Unfortunately, this man had many possessions…and so he went away sad (Matt. 19:16-22).

BJ Gallagher in his book “Finding Joy”, wrote: “If you can’t find happiness inside yourself, you’ll never find it 4

in the outside world no matter where you move. Wherever you go, there you are. You take yourself with you.” This is a layman’s word but as religious, this sounds a big challenge for us, because the Lord Himself spoke of joy: “So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice; and no one will take your joy away from you” (Jn. 16:22). As we read the articles written by our sisters from the different regions, we will be able to see more clearly that every celebration is a fruit of a life lived with passion. Every child who finished his/her year successfully, every formand who enters the next stage of formation, every sister who is given a bigger responsibility, every region who starts a new project, and so on and so forth…all these happen because of the passion put forth in order to attain something.

How shall we live our life of prayer, our community life, and our apostolic life? Shall we give our 100% in all of these, with our time, attention, effort, interest and dedication? Then we may recall in the Gospel of Mark: “And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (12:34).

All of these help us understand that after all the efforts, with pain and sorrow, whenever we give all our best for love of God in our heart, we experience an inexpressible joy and recognize within our heart the “what and who” of our passion. Yes, we find the Perpetual Help that our Mother Mary shows us in the Icon. Jesus, and no one else, is our Passion. He who came to give us life is Life Himself and with Him, we are to live our present.

Let us then live our present with passion. Let us receive and live our LIFE with JESUS.

Sr. María Victoria Vivar Flores , MPS The Secretariat of Communication and Diffusion would like to thank all the sisters who have contributed and collaborated in making the publication of this issue possible.

Special mention to the Sisters-in-charge of this Secretariat in the different regions/countries who have responsibly collected the articles from the different communities and creatively made the lay-out for their respective region: Sr. Ma. de los Angeles Lopez – Central America Sr. Juana Maria P. Hernández – USA Sr. Ma. Barbara V. Flores – Philippines Sr. Maria Rosa R. Vargas – Northern Mexico Sr. Maria Elena T. Godínez – Southern Mexico Sr. Marisol G. Gudiño – Venezuela Sr. Nileta B. Rudillas – Macau-India Thank you very much to Srs. Martha Alicia Burgos and Annie Estraza who have helped in the translation of some articles.

Let us continually share the Joy of the Gospel by being active, responsible and dynamic communicators of the Good News in the life of MPS. 5

THE NEW SCENARIOS OF THE POOR AND ABANDONED CHALLENGE US, WE NEED TO LIVE THE PRESENT WITH PASSION.

“IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME ”

(Gal 2,20)

“Grateful

remembrance of the past leads us, as we listen attentively to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church today, to implement ever more fully the essential aspects of our consecrated life…The Gospel is demanding: it demands to be lived radically and sincerely” (Apostolic letter of his Holiness Pope Francis to all consecrated people).

As we look at the reality of the Church today, Pope Francis urges us to be more evangelical in our following of Jesus, as we manifest God's merciful face to the men and women of our time with the freshness and joy of the Gospel in us whenever we share with our brothers and sisters in our mission and by giving them hope and encouragement so that in situations of pain, they may feel welcomed by the Father and thus place their trust in His providential and salvific action.

The invitation has come to us from the Holy Spirit and has motivated us to a constant pursuit for a life that is truly according to the Gospel and our charismatic identity by responding to the current situations of the poor and abandoned in this new society and combining these processes of growth and personal and community development that we, as MPS are carrying out. They are abundant graces and blessings that the Lord gives us at every moment so we may in turn share them.

“Moved by their profound experience of God and passion for Jesus Redeemer, our founders under the protection of Mary our Mother of Perpetual Help, contemplated the poverty and the marginalization of the poor that they encountered in the cities; the great abandonment 6

of the towns and ranches, and the religious ignorance lived by the people because of the lack of preaching of the Christian doctrine25. This experience prompted them to dedicate their life to the mission (LG 28) so that all may experience the abundant mercy of God (Mk 8, 1-3)” (C 77).

Let us be grateful for having been invited to experience with passion whatever we live each day as we have Christ at the very center of our lives and mission and as we continually give abundant mercy and life in the midst of those whom we serve. Considering the different ecclesial and congregational motivations that are inspiring us namely: the Year of the Consecrated Life, Year of Mercy, the Jubilee in honor of our Mother of Perpetual Help; the initiatives and motivations in the different Congresses of Religious Life, the animation and enlightenment of the Conferences of Religious in the different countries where we are and most importantly and quite the most exciting reality--- our day to day mission, our simple and close encounter with the people and situations in our apostolates each day. This is the greatest opportunity to live the present with passion, when the Lord presents us the opportunity to touch the wounds of our brothers and sisters and we are able to heal them with love and the other MPS virtues which we are invited to incarnate.

Let me thank each and every sister and community for participating with missionary dynamism and willingness in order to live passionately for the Kingdom with all expressions, activities and processes which you live and continually do in the different missions.

May God bless us abundantly.

“PASSION IS EXPERIENCED BY THE HEARTS THAT ARE ENAMOURED WITH JESUS CHRIST” “TO LIVE IS CHRIST” (Phil. 1, 21)

M. Cecilia Morales Tapia, MPS

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ESTRELLA MISIONERA

WORKSHOP ON ECONOMY POSTULANCY COMMUNITY, C.A.

APR-MAY-JUNE 2015

Ave MarĂ­a:

mala City to receive the Workshop about Accounting, which was facilitated by Mr. Carlos Galindo (Accountant of Colegio Perpetuo Socorro).

He oriented us on how to handle and manage the journal, bank and inventory books.

(By Sr.. Ma. De los Angeles Lopez, MPS)

Central America Region

YEAR XXXI, No. 105

Let us share with you that on April 26, we, the Sisters of the three communities of the Central America Region have gathered together at the Postulancy House, Guate-

charity in our search for community dialogue.

We took the opportunity to come together and share as we affectionately greet each other during the start of the Easter season.

As an introduction, he shared with us a reflection of Pope Francis, from the document 'Rejoice', in which we are invited to live our Consecrated Life in coherence and fraternal

CONTEST OF MARIAN ALTARS IN COPERSO

During the month of May, we have been teaching the students some topics about the life of our Mother Mary. With the aim of letting them know the various Marian devotions, a contest 8

of Marian altars was organized on May 18 and 19 for both the morning and afternoon sections where children and young people of different educational levels were involved.

All have put much effort and have organized themselves well to honor to our Mother through beautiful altars that represented different Marian titles.

MISSIONARY ACTIVITY OF SONSONATE COMMUNITY, EL SALVADOR

As

we represent Reli-

gious Life in Sonsonate, we are visiting every religious community in the whole diocese to present the Logo of the Year of the Consecrated life.

We share through prayer and meetings to plan activities at the diocesan level.

SCHOOL FOR PARENTS AS PART OF THE EDUCATIONAL MINISTRY IN SONSONATE, EL SALVADOR

With the support of different Catholic schools, religious congregations and the ministry of education, the school for parents has been organized in Sonsonate, with the aim of empowering fathers and mothers regarding different topics on human and spiritual promotion.

ESTRELLA MISIONERA APR-MAY-JUNE 2015 YEAR XXXI, No. 105

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BEATIFICATION OF MSGR. OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO All

of us in Central America, especially in El Salvador, felt so much joy during the ceremony of the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero which was held last 24th of May at 10:00 a.m. in San Salvador.

Oscar Arnulfo Galdames Romero (1917 - 1980), Salvador Archbishop was from the City of Barrios, San Salvador. He received his formation in Rome and began his ecclesiastical career as pastor of pastoral activity, although opposed to the new provisions of the Second Vatican Council. In 1970 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of El Salvador, and in 1974 Bishop of Santiago de Maria.

It was in this period when the difficult political situation in his country began to approach, when for decades that the army ruled.

It fully involved the question of his being named as Archbishop

of El Salvador in 1977. His repeated allegations of military and revolutionary violence reached the murder of priests and which gave him a major international prestige. That did not prevent that, the next day as he was giving a homily, the soldiers did not hesitate to kill him. He got shot and killed at the altar of his Cathedral.

The beatification ceremony, was held at the Salvador Plaza and was presided by the Special Envoy of his Holiness Pope Francis, ﾃ］gelo Amato.

ESTRELLA MISIONERA APR-MAY-JUNE 2015 YEAR XXXI, No. 105

CELEBRATION OF THE FEAST OF OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP IN C.A. At the launching of the 150th Anniversary of the Icon of our Mother of Perpetual Help, all the communities of Central America joyfully make her known to all the recipients of our mission and celebrated her feast with much love.

The postulancy community of Guatemala, conducted the novena in honor of our Mother as they visited the houses at the Colonia Altos de la Atlﾃ｡ntida, where each one of the families expressed their happiness and confidently commended their intentions.

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The novena was concluded with the Eucharistic Celebration presided by the parish priest of the Church of Jesus of the Mountain, Fr. Juanito, as we affectionately call him and who led the procession in the whole colony.

The community of Sonsonate, El Salvador, prayed the novena with the children and parents of the Alvino Luciani Preschool in the Parish of our Lady of the Angels and at the Shrine.

The celebration culminated with a beautiful procession and solemn Eucharist, in which Sisters of the community, children, parents and all persons involved in the ministry have joyfully gathered together.

In Colegio Perpetuo Socorro, aside from the fact that we are in the year of cele-

“Mother of Love, come to my aid”

bration of 150th anniversary of making known the Icon of Perpetual Help, it also held the 62th anniversary of the College, for which reason that a number of activities were organized such as: drawing contest, acrostic and poetry writing in honor of our Mother of Perpetual Help. To close the wonderful week of activities, we had the celebration of the Eucharist which was presided by Father Miguel Angel Sanchez, Parish Priest of the Cathedral, with the participation of the whole educational community.

Procession of Colegio Perpetuo Socorro, with the flags of the different countries where our Mother of PH is venerated.

Postulancy Community in Procession Colonia Altos de la Atlántida

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Icon of Love Redemptorist Family Spirituality Encounter May 05-09– 2015 Long Branch, NJ “The

Virgin told me many beautiful things and advised me about the matters of the Congregation.”

St. Alphonsus

Contenido Introduction

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What is an Icon

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Mary, Mother of God 13 Jesus (logo)

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Stars

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Archangels

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Experience

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The objective of this week was to deepen our understanding of the spirituality of the Icon of Perpetual Help with Bro. Daniel Korn, C.Ss.R, Denver Province as the resource person.

We,

from the communities of New York and St. John Newman of Springfield, MA, wish to share with you this beautiful experience of spirituality that we had.

The province of Baltimore invited the Redemptorist family to participate in this week of reflection, contemplation, and experience of the spirituality of the Icon of Perpetual Help.

sionaries of Perpetual Help and the missionaries of the hosting province, i.e. Baltimore Province participated in this encounter.

For this, the C.Ss.R. Denver Province, St. Loius Missouri, Redemptoristine Sisters, Laity, the Mis-

This event is conducted within the framework of the 150 years (1866-2016), Jubilee of the mandate of Pope Pius IX: "Make her known.”“

We thank God for having allowed us to experience this week of spirituality, in which we have deepened and brought into our lives the message of our Mother of Perpetual Help, our Patroness. We have shared the fraternity with the Redemptorist Family which, like us, remain in pursuit and the deepening of this spiritual treasure which is all mysticism that is projected in this Icon of Love.

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“Icon of Love“

USA Region

What is an Icon ?

The icons are Gospels and Sacred Scripture in the form of image, for which reason that in order to read and go deeper into it, we need to know that it is, but a method of prayer. Divine vision/ visualization: in this method all our senses work together to pray and contemplate on the dynamics of gazing at the Icon of love and to be gazed by her, our Mother. In this interaction, we are called to contemplation radiating to us the divine energy. In this way, we can have an redemptive experience of love and life. By praying with the icon (divine vision), we come much closer to the presence of God as we contemplate the mystery of love. And at the same time, there is a whole world of symbols and messages created to contemplate, reflect, admire and read. It is a Christ-centered icon.

Mary, Mother of God The icon of the Virgin of Perpetual Help teaches us an authentic Mariology (LG 8, EG 88), and it is called the Icon of the Emmanuel (Is 7: 10-14), where the child is Jesus, the Logo, the God with us; it is the sign of Emmanuel and therefore the icon is a sign of

God's presence. Mary is the first Christian who listened to the word of God, she is the first disciple who intercedes (Cana), Mary is the new image of the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam 6), in her is the uncontainable; the Lord becomes flesh in her. She is the holy place

where God dwells and is made visible, palpable. Mary represents the obedience of God that leads to the mountains of Judea (visitation). In the same way, we must bring her to all.

It is an icon that represents the Theotokos, the Mother of God with her Son, who is already a grown-up, and who she carried in her arms.

The role exercised by the Virgin Mary in the salvation of mankind, often distinguish three categories of Marian icons: The Virgin who teaches the way: Hodigitria The Virgin of tenderness: Eleusa The Virgin of the passion: Strastnaia

She shows us the way to God, because Mary opens s the door for the Word so that He may become man among men and fulfill our redemption, and thus she opens the door to the fullness of life in God to all mankind.

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JUBILEO

“Icon of Love“

USA Region

Jesus (logos) Our Mother is pointing to the Heart of Jesus, with her right hand while the left carries, presents and offers Him… Mary is presenting to us the Word made flesh, the Word of God; who emptied Himself (Phil 2, 5-11) as He shows in

Star—Letters She is the Star of the morning announcing the new day, the new era, the Star that guided the Magi and shepherds toward the manger. The Star is the symbol where can we find Jesus

the Icon His humanity with his bare foot.

He is the Lord. ( Heb 5, 7 ), the son of God, the Grecian throne, the high priest, the proclaimer, the Redeemer (Heb 4.16), the true God and true Man. He has the face of His Mother, who ponders in contemplation and silence, the word of God, His will. It is the icon of redemption, of liberation.

and was the sign where the disciples gathered together and each of its rays symbolizes God's grace that descends on her.

MP-OY = Mater– Teotokos (Mother of God) Council of Ephesus 431 We find these initials in the upper part of the icon.

ICXC = Jesús Xristos: logos, at the right, below the cross, close to the Child.

OAPM = O AR Kanguelos Mikael, the Archangel Michael OAPG = O the Archangel Gabriel

Archangels Archangels : the angel at the right is Gabriel as if Mary would look at him, dressed in a tunic color purple with a white veil covered hands which holds a cross of three horizontal woods and four nails; its wing are between gold and

green.

The Archangel of the left is Michael, with a red tunic and a blue cloak that covers almost all of his body and his hands which holds a vessel, a cane with the sponge and a spear, in an attitude of worship and offering. His gaze is directed to Jesus and he does not announce a future event of death, 14

rather, those instruments of the passion are glorious symbols, equivalent to the glorious cross.

They are harmoniously integrated into the icon, as if they are presenting the whole icon. After the sufferings of Jesus, all our sufferings are glorified and sanctified. Therefore we must take them in reverence, in an attitude of worship and offering

“ Icon of Lov e“

USA Region

We, the unit 2 of the USA Region, are composed of: Sisters Melissa Garza, Consuelo Morales, Caritina Olmos, Mercedes Martínez, Rosa Amalia Torres, Lucero Romero (postulant- taking the picture) and Juana María Hernández.

We could experience in a warm atmosphere of fraternity this week of spirituality of the Icon of our Mother, during the moments of community and personal prayer as we go deeper into the mystery of the redemption that we see in the Icon of Love.

The Redemption reaches its fullness in Jesus and God's liberating action is manifested in Him in a new way. In Him, the salvation is made visible through the proclamation of the nearness of God. Jesus sees redemption in the very fact of making people feel the nearness of the love and salvation of God.

Enjoying some ice cream as we in a beautiful day of fraternity.

God's love for us is overflowing so that we share it to the poorest and the most abandoned and for us to show the maternal tenderness of Mary our loving Mother.

With much love for all of you, our sisters, may the love of Christ unite us and keep us fervent in love and in the missionary work of our Congregation and the Universal Church.

The sea and sky are one in giving praise to God of creation...here at St. Alphonsus House in Westend, New Jersey

A warm hug and see you soon!

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ANNUAL RETREAT ON MID-LIFE TRANSITION (By Sr. Rosalie Factolerin, MPS)

The annual retreat of the professed sisters of the Missionaries of Our Lady of Perpetual Help took place last April 713, 2015 at St. Joseph Marello Retreat House, Tagaytay with the theme: Mid-life Transition in connection with this year‟s Universal theme “Year of the Consecrated life” and “Year of the Poor”. It was facilitated by two reliable and brilliant speakers, namely Msgr. Nonoy Masculino and Ms. Cynthia Baga.

The sisters and facilitators were warmly welcomed by the OSJ brothers retreat house coordinators.

They happily chatted with one another as the jovial mood began to settle down. The second day began with a more quiet but joyful atmosphere as the facilitators introduced themselves and asked for the participants‟ expectations.

They then proceeded to present their input. The Individual Contemplation, Gospel reflections, Group Sharing, Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, Adoration and the long Silence were an experience of God‟s faithfulness and unfailing love for each one. The input & materials, questions and challenges posted by the facilitators helped the sisters to deepen their self-knowledge and awareness and grow more in their spiritual journey while aiming to be a better person and missionary.

The culmination of the retreat was capped by a touching and beautiful individual sharing during the mass, the fantastic and funny presentation of every group‟ and the most awaited announcement of the sisters‟ assignment. Before the night ended, the sisters gave their gift expressing their heartfelt gratitude to the facilitators and serenading them with a thank you song. Furthermore, Ms. Cynthia Baga and Msgr. Nonoy Masculino articulated their thankfulness to the sisters. Silence, good accommodation, delicious food and the conducive climate added to the overall wonderful experience of the sisters in this retreat.

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“TO HEAR THE CRY OF THE POOR” (By Sr. Maricel Gopita, MPS)

We had our evaluation and planning last April 16 17 2015 at the Regional House, in Manila Times Village, Las Piñas City, with the theme “To hear the cry of the poor”.

It was participated in by the sisters from the different communities. The session started at 4pm and lasted till the following day.

There was a atmosphere of camaraderie and kinship among the sisters. All were excited and enthusiastic to share their experiences from the mission and the different apostolates.

The flow of the sessions was smooth and orderly with the able guidance of our moderators and facilitators. Each one cooperated to the best of her ability. There was a sense of charity and openness in the sharing of experiences, reports and new ideas.

This year‟s evaluation and planning was successful and blessed with so much fruits because of the generosity and faithfulness of all the sisters in giving themselves for the proclamation of the Gospel. May we continue to be more courageous and joyful in giving witness to the Gospel.

FUTURE LAY MISSIONARIES OF THE PHILIPPINE REGION (By Sr. Annie Estraza, MPS)

Two

significant events in the Church (without discrediting the Year of Consecrated Life) have unknowingly paved the way towards the launching of the MPS Lay Missionary Formation Program. First was on the occasion of the second year of preparation for the 150th Anniversary of Making the Icon Known by Pope Pius IX. In 1866, he issued the Mandate of the propagation of the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. This is the same Icon whose title and

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“...having more hearts and hands to love and protect the poor.” protection were so endearing to Fr. Agustin Nistal, the father-Founder of the MPS. In his zeal for mission, he never had a second thought but to name his first group of collaborators as Missionaries of our Lady of Perpetual Help.

The second event was the declaration of the Philippine church of the year 2015 as the Year of the Poor. During this year, the poor, as preferred and loved by Jesus,are given special attention. The MPS charism for the poor, as a legacy of Mother Maria Teresa Rivera and Fr. Agustin Nistal and its relevance to the Church and the World today are once again confirmed by this occasion. It is apt to give birth to the dream of MPS Lay Missionary group in the Philippine Region of having more hearts and hands to love and protect the poor.

To mark this important milestone, the following events were held: 1) the orientation held at MPS Regional House, Las Piñas City (9-10:30 A.M) by Srs. Michelle F. Gallon, Regina L. Erecre and Annie D. Estraza last March 24, 2015, and 2) the first formation in-put given by Sr. Annie D. Estraza held in the same venue of last March activity (9-12NN) last April 18, 2015. Ten prospect Lay Missionaries attended. In the meantime, they would be guided by a monthly basis formation input for one year. Everyone is encouraged to pray for the success of this program. God bless us all!

CEBU MISSION (By Sr. Gay Orcullo, MPS)

D # 88.2 “ By our missionary vocation, we are called to the inculturation of the Gospel. Each missionary of Our Lady of Perpetual Help will present the message of Christ in the different human environments assuming all the values compatible with the Gospel.”

Cebu mission community, especially Sr. Rose and Sr. Mitchelle, were busy in their respective apostolates. Sr. Rose was busy in the Retreat House preparing all the things needed for the upcoming Mixed Group Retreat and the Men‟s Retreat during the holy week, aside from the usual Lenten program they have for the parishioners in the area. On the other hand, Sr. Mitch was busy with the Lenten activities of the parish, preparing the youth for their passion play and also for the coming Redemptorist Youth Ministry Annual Planning and Evaluation. All these, aside from the fact that they were also busy preparing all the things needed for turn-over as they bid goodbye to their apostolates and to the people whom they had journeyed with for 3 years.

human environments. And in every apostolate, wherever we are, what we leave behind is the memory of how the people encountered Christ through our witnessing and through our joyful story of our encounter with the Lord that radiates in our actions and in our day to day encounter with them. I think that‟s the best message of Christ which we bring to the recipients of our mission and apostolates.

Every now and then, we missionaries are called to go and present the message of Christ in the different

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15TH GATHERING UPLIFTS ALPHONSIAN SPIRIT (By Postulant Clariza Moren)

15-15-15 marks significance among the young formands of the Alphonsian family— fresh encounter continues.

With the theme “Diwa ni Alponso, patuloy na dumadaloy sa Puso ng Misyon”, formands from the different congregations following the Spirituality of St. Alphonsus de Liguori partook in the 15 th Alphonsian gathering at Tahanan ng Mabuting Pastol, SVD Road Tagaytay City on February 15, 2015.

The annual gathering aims to foster camaraderie, establish friendship and intensify Alphonsian Spirituality among formands of the participating congregations such as the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (CSsR), Missionaries of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (MPS), Oblates Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer (OSR), and Sisters of Our Lady of Good and Perpetual Help (BPS). Some sisters and formands from the CSSJB –“Baptistine Sisters” also joined in the activity as guest participants.

The program started with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist presided by Rev. Fr. Alex Bercacio, CSsR. In his homily, he emphasized the joy of doing the mission for the poor in different rural areas despite the challenges and difficulties he experienced. He also taught short Italian verses that motivated the formands to join him in doing the action song. An hour talk given

by Sr. Merlie Decena, MPS followed afterwards. She discussed the Five Dimensions of Spirituality and shared inspirational stories about their missions in different areas. Moreover, at the end of her presentation, she challenged the participants on how to imbibe the spirituality of St. Alphonsus and how they could share it to others in need.

Barbara Flores, MPS, Postulant Anna Flor Padao, and Aspirant Clariza Moren were able to get awards in joining the Logo Making contest. The group congratulated the MPS for they won the 1st place “Best Presentation of the Year”.

A short program followed. Each group prepared presentations which were about their founder such as singing, dancing and even acting. They also had games that led the participants to get to know more about their brothers and sisters in the Alphonsian family. Three of the MPS sisters (formands) namely, Sr. Ma. 19

MPSLC, Inc. (Maria Perpetuo Socorro Learning Center). is one of dreams fulfilled by the MPS Philippine Region. It has acquired the approval and permit to operate from the Department of Education and had its opening of classes on June 8, 2015 with 12 enrollees as of present. Last April 27 to May 1, summer classes were offered to interested little kids for free. The blessing of the school was successfully celebrated with a Mass last May 30 at 3pm, followed by a simple fellowship which was attended by some benefactors and friends. The MPS Davao Community was also thankful for the presence of the Regional Superior Sr. Alejandra Valdez as she continually accompanied the Region in all its undertakings and projects.

See more at: http://www.perpetuosocorro.com.mx/es/mariaperpetuo-socorro-learning-center#sthash.8gJe9lp6.dpuf

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FEAST DAY OF OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP AND ENTRANCE TO POSTULANCY (By Postulant Florinda L. Lamagon) The Missionaries of our Lady of Perpetual Help, Philippine Region from the six communities in Luzon gathered together to celebrate the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help with the theme "Maria Ina ng Laging Saklolo: Larawan ng Awa at Habag ng Diyos sa mga Dukha" (Mary, Mother of Perpetual Help: Image of Mercy and Compassion of God Towards the Poor) and the entrance of the two aspirants namely Clariza Moren and Florinda Lamagon to the next stage of formation- the Postulancy which was held at the Aspirancy and Postulancy Community in Switzerland (Dulo) Betterliving ParaĂąaque last June 26, 2015.

The Eucharistic celebration started at 10 o'clock in the morning with Rev. Fr. Crisostomo Magbitang, SDB as the presider. In his homily, he mentioned the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a missionary. She fulfilled her mission as the Mother of God with great faith and courage especially when she saw her Son who died on the cross. He also emphasized that Mary is for everyone especially for those who invited her into their lives and in their homes like St. John the beloved. He added that there are two important things that happened in the life of Mama Mary, the Annunciation and her anguish and suffering at the foot of the cross.

With this, Fr. Magbitang gave a challenge to the new postulants that like Mary, they must continue to have faith and trust in God who is always with them in their journey, and that like St. John, they must invite the Blessed Mother in their hearts so they will be aided by her Perpetual Help.

This year's celebration also highlighted the opening of the „Jubilee Year of the Icon' for the celebration this coming 2016 of its 150th year of "making Her known" as mandated by Pope Pius IX. The celebration ended with some picture-taking and buffet lunch.

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“"DEAR HEART, PLEASE BE STILL AND BELIEVE" (Postulant Clariza B. Moren)

“And how shall I call upon my God, my God and Lord, since, when I call for Him, I shall be calling Him to myself? And what room is there within me, whither my God can come into me?” These lines I could still remember from the confessions of St. Augustine and it continued to linger in my mind at some point in my life especially during the days before our Entrance for Postulancy.

I did not know why but I tend to be so anxious or I may say I had mixed emotions. I seemed to laugh at myself because it was just an early stage yet I felt so uptight. Oh, I said, "maybe because I knew this year that we, (my companion Florinda and I) would be facing other challenges, encountering different experiences, and would be dealing another way of life day by day.

On the day of our entrance, I felt glad though because it was also the Feast of our Mother of Perpetual Help, a great time for merriment. So while attending the mass, everything went well. All the sisters were in high spirits as they sang hymns and praises. But when we were about to have the Acceptance Ceremony, I had this tensed feeling again. I once again asked myself, "Am I really worthy of this acceptance? Add the turmoil in my head if I can fully commit myself once again?" I also remembered the challenge of Fr. Cris for us to be ready in all the challenges that we were about to face. But truly when I gazed at the image of our Blessed Mother with Jesus in her arms, she seemed to tell me "My child, my child, do not worry, we are with you in your journey. You have also your companions to guide you and I myself will always give you my Perpetual Help. No matter what happen, in the decision that you'll make, we, (Jesus and I) will be with you."

Alas! Indeed, it is in the grace of God that our doubts and uncertainties will be washed away. Like our Blessed Mother, she cooperated in the will of the Father when she was asked to be the Mother of God. She was not even sure of what might happen, but she stood still in her faith in God. Likewise, in all the moments of our lives, God is with us and He never abandons us. His love is so unconditional and He remains faithful, even we are unfaithful. His thoughts were not like ours and this also goes with His ways. But it is only up to us if we are willing to do His will. Whatever we do, He would remain faithful to His promise that He will be with us for it is only our true happiness that He desires.

In the end, like St. Augustine, I can truly that praising God truly brings us joy. He has made us and drawn us to Himself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in Him. Now, my dear heart, there's no need to worry, please be still, and just Believe!

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3rd of MAY 2015 AVE MARIA, SISTERS!

Let me greet you with the joy of being beloved by God who is merciful and full of tenderness.

Last May 2 and 3, 2015, as we all know, we, the sisters of Northern Mexico Region: "Mother of the Redeemer" Region, have gathered together for our Elective Assembly. The outgoing Regional Government presented the Report of Activities that were carried out in the period 2012-2015. Thank you, sisters for your dedication to the Congregation in this particular Region. We know that we can never outdo the Lord´s generosity.

Subsequent to this activity, we proceeded to the election of the new Regional Government, for what we had already been prepared and animated with daily prayer wherein we asked the Lord to bless the whole Assembly. Prior to the election, we had a space for prayer before Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Altar, who is the center of our life and mission. Then, finally, we started with the election of the new Regional Government for the triennium 205-2018, wherein by a majority vote we were requested to render this service of coordination.

We thank each and every sister of the MOTHER OF THE REDEEMER Region, for the love, trust and openness they showed us as they asked us to serve the Congregation in this Region. We are aware of our limitation, that we commit mistakes and that with our human frailty only, we cannot assume such a delicate mission. However, relying on JESUS, THE REDEEMER, we have accepted to serve this beloved religious family in this region.

Before hand, we recognize that this service is not a privilege nor reason for pride or boasting but is actually a commitment of self-giving and dedication to encourage, guide, orient and accompany our Region so it may grow. For this, we ask each of you our sisters, daughters of a same charism and mission, collaborators in the missionary action, to pray to the God of life for our new mission that the Lord through our sisters from the Region has entrusted to us. Likewise, we solicit once again the prayer and support and confidence from each MPS member. We also know that although this beloved missionary Institute are organized by regions, we are called to collaborate in the communion of life and action, and therefore, we want to say to our sisters who coordinate the other regions that we want to walk together with you, through bonds of fraternity and under the loving gaze of our MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP!

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Trusting that the redemptive work of Christ gives us all the graces we need, we invite you to be co-stewards in living out and loving our vocation as CONSECRATED MISSIONARIES who radiate the merciful love of God in communion of life so that we may evangelize the poor, by always taking the example of Mary, our Mother of Perpetual Help who inspires us to be strong and committed women.

Your Sisters in Christ, the Redeemer and Mary of Perpetual Help: Region “MOTHER OF THE REDEEMER”: Ma. Isabel Aguilar Maldonado MPS Regional Superior Yolanda Sánchez Beltrán Regional Vicar (Responsible of the Secretariat of Formation) Hilda Flores Colunga Councilor (Responsible of the Secretariat of Religious Life and as Regional Secretary) Maria Rosa Vargas Rendón Councilor (Responsible of the Secretariats of Missionary Action and Communica tion and Diffusion) Ma. Elena Burgos Martínez Regional Econome (By Sr. Isabel Aguilar Maldonado)

“Responding to God’s call means allowing him to help us leave ourselves and our false security behind, and to strike out on the path which leads to Jesus Christ, the origin and destiny of our life and our happiness.”

5th of May 2015 AVE MARIA SISTERS! With much enthusiasm and hope, let me share with you the itinerary of some of the vocation activities we had where I have had the wonderful experience of sharing with young people who have revitalized my option for the young and the poor who are most in need, knowing that "whoever embarks on the road following Christ finds life in abundance, as she/he entirely places himself/herself at the disposal of God and His Kingdom”.

The Diocese of Morelia organized a project called TADHEJ (Talleres de Desarrollo Humano y Espiritual para Jóvenes –Human and Spiritual Development Workshops for the Youth) which includes three (3) vocation youth encounter. The first was held in the month of January in Patzcuaro which was attended by about 30 young men and women who are all committed to their respective parish as catechists or Bible group leaders or renewal movement leaders. This reality had been an advantage for the encounter which was developed with great depth in each of the dynamic.

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It also confirmed what Pope Francis shares with us in his message: “Responding to God’s call is to strike out on the path which leads to Jesus Christ, the origin and destiny of our life and our happiness”.

By providence, I met two young women who are currently staying with us in our Residence for young students living with us. They are studying cultural tourism and as they were talking about their Christian life, I senses that are very involved in their group; one of them expressed her interest in Consecrated Life. Let us pray for their vocation.

In February, I was glad to share with the Sisters of San Luis Potosí Community…thank you sisters! Their hospitality and goodwill renewed my identity as a Missionary of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. For that weekend, the community was convened to have their retreat in order to start the Year of the Consecrated Life in the diocese level, and so I went to represent the Congregation in one of the vocation encounters that was held at the seminary which were called: VOCATION ENCOUNTERS IN THE FAMILY. As its name implies, the whole families participate the encounter and indeed, it is a very good strategy for vocation, since there are spaces sets for children, youth and adults. What a beautiful and new experience!

With this Diocesan Vocation Ministry Team, I have confirmed once again the richness of work at the ecclesial level!

Interestingly, I met three former pupils of our own school of Vasco Quiroga who hold the MPS in high esteem.

I also had the opportunity to be with the 5th and 6th graders to whom I gave a shortl talk on the meaning and value of life. On Saturday, I enjoyed the fellowship with the teachers and school workers, as well as with the sisters in order to celebrate the day of friendship. For the rest of the days, I took the opportunity of visiting 3 youth who have the inclination for consecrated life.

One of them has already attended the Congregational Vocation Stay-in Journey. We continually ask the Lord to enlighten them in their vocational discernment. I am grateful to Sr. Lucy J. Jiménez who has accepted to help in the accompaniment of the two girls.

EACH MOMENT IS TIME OF GRACE! And so that was my experience in San Luis Potosí, because apart from the opportunity of being with the Sisters of the community, my work in the Diocesan Vocation Ministry Team and my dialogue with the searchers, I also had the opportunity to meet Lorraine, a very committed Catechist friend of Sr. Juanita Hernandez MPS, who very willingly agreed to have a vocation encounter for their young people in the month of June.

In this same month, with the LIGHT OF THE ANGEL youth group we have in Morelia, we had a retreat in a beautiful forest, owned by the Diocesan Seminary. The encounter turned out to be very fruitful because it is God´s work and He is the One who touches the hearts! During the time for sharing, two young people from the group expressed their interest about consecrated life. We also had moments for personal prayer, small group sharing and activities to enhance friendship among young people. With the same youth, we were able to do social work by visiting hospitals, shelters and nursing homes. Blessed be God who strengthens us in Christian commitment!

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February, crazy month…March, a little bit crazy! That was I felt; March has been a very beautiful month! In the first weekend, I went to one expo-vocation to Maravatío with one of the young people in the group. It was a very good experience, as there were young people from all the communities, since they had Youth Pastoral Meeting and since the expo was held at the plaza, the young people were present.

During the following weekend, there was Vocation Song Contest in the Diocesan Seminary and even though it was raining cats and dogs, the contest continued.

For the third weekend, together with the Sisters of the Alfonso de Ligorio Community, we held a meeting of former students which was attended by 50 young people. For this activity, we received the support of some teachers and the sisters of this community. Thank you, sisters for making yourselves available for these new experiences of youth processes! I want to mention most especially Madre Amparito, who was present at this meeting of alumni with her smile and young heart. She intercedes for us that the Lord may bless us with abundant and holy vocations! Interestingly, there were more men than women who attended. On Sunday, I was happy to know that a young woman felt an inclination to consecrated life, she is very close to the community of Alfonso de Ligorio, she studied pedagogy and although she lacks a year and a half to finish her degree, she really feels very inclined to the vocation to consecrated life.

On Monday, they gave me the opportunity to spend some time with each group in high school, with whom I shared a bit about the vocation to life. It was a very beautiful experience; the interested and receptive adolescents agreeably participated both in dynamics and in the reflection on the theme.

On Tuesday, we started the Lenten retreats by levels, starting with the first graders wherein the dynamics and outline for each day was very well organized by Srs. Rafaela and Lupita Mejia. There was the generous support of teachers who were fully involved in the retreat. VERY GOOD TEAM WORK, SISTERS! I also want to emphasize that the house chosen for the retreats had also been favorable to its success. Thank you, sisters, for making our schools genuine spaces of EVANGELIZATION and SEEDBED of vocations!

And as we all know, we had the beautiful liturgical season of Easter for the last week of March and first part of April, when we had the sharing of faith experience among MPS and communities, mostly rural and far from the parish church. Of course, I was not the exception, since I participated in a rural community near León Guanajuato, called " El Resplandor "; the visits were given to some very needy families, to those farthest from the Chapel and to the sick as well. Likewise, the themes shared were about Christian commitment as disciples and missionaries and about our collaboration for the good of peace. Within this week I had good sharing with 200 young people at the Easter Youth Camp, with the theme: ¡CHRIST LIVES, AND WITH FRATERNITY, HE BUILT PEACE! Thanks to the Lord that the entire group of young servers of the Easter who asked us support of the MPS to give them themes, dynamics and to share experiences. THANKS TO THE LORD WHO CONTINUALLY CALLS YOUNG PEOPLE TO HIS SERVICE, making us as His mediators.

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One of the concrete results of this Easter has been a small group of restless young people who are interested to discover their vocation. They are about 15 girls who have already participated in two spaces for vocation reflection namely: AN EVENING WITH JESUS! Let us remember that "to give one´s life in missionary attitude will only be possible if we are able to come out of ourselves”.

Let me finish this chronicle with the words of the Pope: “How wonderful it is to be surprised by God’s call, to embrace his word, and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, in adoration of the divine mystery and in generous service to our neighbors! Your life will become richer and more joyful each day!”

(By Sr. Isabel Aguilar Maldonado)

MAY 19, 2015 Soy Elizabeth, Estudiante de universidad y de mis 18 años de estudiante, ningún maestro, ninguna materia me había dado el aprendizaje que solo Dios nos puede dar, que es el Amor al Prójimo, ese amor incomparable que encontré y sentí en cada una de las personas que conocí. La incertidumbre y la emoción de vivir algo nuevo, nunca se hace esperar en estas situaciones de mi vida, estoy muy agradecida con Dios por permitirme vivir esta experiencia.

I had the vague idea that I was going to help and to bring a little light to the assigned community which was "El mirador", Yanga, Veracruz; but my surprise was that when we arrived at the community, I observed and felt how families have affectionately and lovingly received us into their humble homes; they were families that have given me something more than what I thought I can offer. They taught me that God's love is present and that it is present in every gaze, every smile and every word.

The activities have been carried out in this mission through visit which is very important since it allows us to know every family, as to how they live that in spite of the difficulties of life, their faith continues to be alive and indeed, Christ our Lord is present in this Holy week and in our lives.

The journey, the heat of the sun, the fatigue and other factors cannot be compared with what Jesus suffered during that week of His pain and total offering of Himself to us. Therefore, the visit is one of the activities that left a great impact on me, because I met people who stole my heart and who will be in my thoughts forever.

(Elizabeth Elías Ruiz) 27

25 YEARS OF LIVING CONSTANTLY BELOVED BY GOD 5th of MAY 2015

Perpetual: it speaks to me of a past that have lived, a present that is here and a future that is coming. My life has been an existence of being perpetually loved by God. Yesterday, today and always... PERPETUALLY... I know for LIFE... with Christ who is risen and glorified...

Perpetual, because it speaks to me of a past lived with faith. I can in it find countless experiences that tested the size, thickness and weight of my faith. There were painful, dark and difficult experiences. I passed the test, illumined by the light of faith in my God. I look at the road travelled with gratitude, because pain has strengthened me, softened my heart and has filled it with tenderness…

brought up disciples of Christ. I am infinitely grateful to my perpetual Father in heaven for giving me such an extraordinary family.

Perpetual gratitude, for all the wonderful people with whom I have shared my life such as… my parents, especially my Mom: a woman who is brave, generous, kind, hardworking and helpful. She is my teacher in the faith. She formed good, honest and hardworking children who trust in the Providence, in other word, she

I also thank the numerous children who nurtured me with smiles, joy and energy, because through them I could see the goodness and purity of God´s face. Likewise, I am grateful for friends who have been a treasure that has enriched me abundantly; my gratitude for those who although had chosen another way of life had left an indelible mark on my heart.

I had to leave this fabulous family, to join another one which is not less wonderful family… my beloved Congregation of the Missionaries of our Lady of the Perpetual Help. I have experienced in it the joy of personal and deep encounter with both the elderly ones and sisters of young generations. I consider the spiritual accompaniment of these last ones and I have felt the love of mother from several of them. I have been loved, but also corrected. One day I had once risked for community life and I can continue risking for it.

My perpetual thanks for yesterday... for the past that made me the 28

consecrated woman today...

Jesus is the perpetual TODAY of the Father. Jesus is not a character from the past, but One who lives in the present and is projected towards the future. I want to live my “today” with Christ: to be passionate about building the Kingdom of God. Despite having a bad health in an age that has left the youth and is entering a stage of wise experience, I have the desire to continually shout to the world the REDEEMING LOVE OF JESUS, THE ABUNDANT COMPASSION OF THE FATHER AND PERPETUAL CONSOLATION OF THE SPIRIT. We lived in difficult times, because we stopped counting on God in our lives. We do not include Him anymore in our daily life. In this daily concerns, I want to passionately create, produce, and generate life through the experience of the Gospel.

The world needs a tender, kind and warm mother who shows the abundant, perpetual and generous love of the Father-Mother by sheltering us under the unconditional protective hug. This Father-Mother God has given me this wonderful gift of spiritual motherhood. I want to express my experience of the Gospel as a mother. May all those who shared their life with me feel that motherly presence of God. It is to live in perpetual hope that our world may become one big family, where there are no divisions, injustice but fraternity. This will be possible as we put into practice the teachings of Jesus. My apostolic work will help build the Kingdom to the extent that, with hope and faith, I will share my living experience of redemption, forgiveness and compassionate love of Christ. This makes me commit myself in being a true disciple of Jesus. It is my hope to do so. I may die with the conviction that my self-offering was total and just like saying with Christ: "All is accomplished".

(Sr. Maria Magdalena Islas Mendoza, MPS)

THE MAYOR´S VISIT TO OUR INSTITUTION 27th of April 2015 Tampico, Tamaulipas

On a warm and sunny morning, the Elementary Department of COLEGIO ALFONSO DE LIGORIO had the honor of receiving the visit of the chief authority of our city and port of Tampico, the Municipal Chairman, Lic. Gustavo Torres Salinas, the one who presided over the civic ceremony at the beginning of the week when we pay honor to our flag.

On this visit, the Mayor was accompanied by Councilor of the Education Commission, Lic. Claudia Rosa Marín; Prof. Pablo Arguello of the Regional Centre of Educational Development; Prof. Rolando Rios Neri 29

from the Direction of Education of the municipality; the Supervisor of the school zone 036, Prof. Hernán Zúñiga Hernández and M. Julieta Mejía Urtis, Directress of the host Campus.

Mother Julieta delivers the welcome address to Lic. Torres Salinas and his colleagues. Afterwards, the fourth graders presented a regional dance entitled "La Madrugada" (the Dawn) which put an artistic touch to the event.

Subsequently the Municipal President, Lic. Gustavo Torres turned over the material to the institution as well as the recognition to the Directress M. Julieta as he thanked her for all her kindness and hospitality. Later, he gave a message of encouragement to the children and mo-

tivated them to strive in their studies and to give the best of themselves so as to have a life of success. He also wished in advance them a Happy Children´s Day for the following day.

The school Supervisor, Prof. Hernan Zúñiga, thanked and congratulated the Mayor for his visit and achievements, such as the start of the construction of the new markets in Tampico. Amid the applause of the children and all the educational community, Mayor Gustavo Torres Salinas and his team bid their farewell which concluded this significant civic ceremony for COLEGIO ALFONSO DE LIGORIO The hostess of the event, Directress M. Julieta Mejía Urtis offered simple refreshment to Lic. Gustavo Torres Salinas and his team. The solicited painting work of the exterior part of the building was granted and of course, thanks be to God for this positive response.

(By Prof. Susana Domínguez Chávez) 30

“ALFONSO DE LIGORIO” KINDERGARTEN 6TH OF MAY 2015

FEAST FOR ALL MOTHERS A very special day has come for all Mexicans…Mothers’ Day!

Normally, we try to figure out in the task of planning as to how we were going to celebrate for them. We wanted it to be something different and innovative on behalf of institution. "What shall we do?" Would there be dances, songs or stage presentation?" No, we want something unique, something that the children have not done before to express their affection for their moms.

And as the saying goes: "two heads are better than one", someone mentioned: " why don´t we arrange a SPA, where students may pamper their mothers a bit? Well, it was not a bad idea. And so we have to start working! They were two months of hard work, because it involved organizing teams of teachers, children and mothers. The students showed their capabilities, skills and abilities acquired in this school year, since they chose the activity in which they wanted to participate in: gym, aesthetics, snack, Sumba, karaoke, cinema, massages, table games and meditation.

It was a great challenge for all the educators, as it was to empower the students in helping them to be capable of doing it. Aside from adapting the spaces and materials needed to carry it out, there was some uncertainty as to what would happen in the event since we didn't know how the mothers would react to all these. It was to break the tradition of previous festivals and for this time, only the mothers are invited to come.

(By Sr. Maria Magdalena Islas Mendoza, MPS)

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(By Sr. Nilda Lizeth García Moreno, MPS) 8th of May 2015

HAPPY MOTHERS´DAY! With joy and gratitude, the celebration of Mother's day began at 8:00 am with the Holy Eucharist presided by Fr. Desire Afana, CICM. All the mothers present were very attentive and disposed to listen to the homily.

It was a day full of surprises because each group of the children presented a different dance. All the pupils were very enthusiastic to dance for their moms.

After each dance, there were gifts raffled for the celebrants and a small breakfast was prepared for them. At the end of the program, each mother was given a rose as a sign of love, beauty, dedication and simplicity.

HAPPY TEACHERS´DAY! 14th of May 2015

To celebrate Teacher's Day, we started

at 8:00 am by offering our thanksgiving to God through the Eucharist. The teachers along with the priest entered in procession with a candle that symbolized their prayer to be continually enlightened by the Spirit as they lovingly guide each and every child entrusted to them.

We are pleased to have the presence of M. Isabel who addressed a few words of thanks to the teachers.

After the mass, the children presented some dance numbers as their expression of love and appreciation for their teachers. On this day, the children were dismissed much earlier than usual since a delicious meal with live music was prepared for the teachers. A small gift was also given to each of the teachers who truly enjoyed their special day.

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CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN 28th of May 2015 The month of May was ended with the Coronation of the Virgin Mary which was wonderfully done by the kindergarten children. The children were dressed like angels and each one offered a rose pink to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

They joyfully sang for her and together they prayed an Our Father and a Hail Mary.

The second graders lovingly offered her a beautiful poem and they also offered her a rose. After that, a girl from KI class crowned the Virgin Mary while whole school sweetly sang for our Blessed Mother. The lovely event ended with some cheers and songs dedicated to Mary.

COLONIAL NIGHT 6th of June 2015 Our school held its 14th traditional big colonial night. For several days, the whole school personnel was preparing for this great event which was hoped to help in fund-raising and promotion of the educational institution.

This great event kicked off at 10:00 am and ended at 10:00 pm.

During the day, there were dance presentations by the children of our school and different students ‘groups from other schools such as the Colegio de Martin de la Cruz group of students who performed with great enthusiasm.

The Sisters from Central House, Novitiate and Juniorate Communities, Tlalpizahuac and Zacatenco Casa Hogar participated in the sale of snacks so that the people will enjoy this event with joy. There were also some electronic games that children enjoyed and shared with their friends.

This event was concluded with the participation of the Alumni of Juan Ramón Jiménez School and the words of gratitude for the Sr. Leticia Diaz Paredes.

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NOVENA TO OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP 12th of June 2015

On Friday, June 12, with gratitude and joy, we started the Novena of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Prior to this day, there was already the preparation for this Novena as each group was assigned to a particular date where each group would lead the prayer and would offer something in honor of our mother.

Each group had a dance, a song or a poem and simultaneously offered something of a basket of basic grocery items which would be shared with needy families.

On this very day, two frames of the image of Perpetual Help and prayers were also distributed to each section which each pupil will take to their homes and pray with their family. Some children had the creativity to decorate the picture frame. These images were raffled and were given in the mass on the day of the feast celebration. The Novena culminated with the participation of all the staff of the school.

MINI—OLYMPICS 17th of de June 2015

For several years, our school has been holding the Mini- Olympics wherein some children who have been prepared for several months actively participate. This event began at 8:30 am with a parade the groups that would participate and which carried a poster or streamer on which a particular value is written such as: friendship, solidarity, responsibility, joy, etc.

Some children expressed in few words their appeal for peace. Two sixth grade children run around the school ground as they bore the torch to start the competition. All were very excited children to participate.

The competitions began with the children of KI, KII, KIII and ended up with the higher levels. This event was prepared by teachers of physical education.

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Some people were invited to support the different games. We also thanked the presence of the Regional Superior Ma. Isabel Aguilar Maldonado and two Sisters from the General Council namely Ma. Teresa Medina Sanchez and Maria Victoria Vivar Flores.

This event got over at 1:00 pm.

CELEBRATION OF FATHERS´ DAY The fathers celebrated also their day in school. They were invited to come for the Eucharistic celebration at 8:00 am which was presided by the Fr. Desire Afana. Fr. Desire encouraged each of them to support their children with the help of God. A prayer to St. Joseph was given to each one of them at the end of the mass.

Right after the Eucharist, a small festival prepared by students followed and some balls were raffled. Each group prepared a different dish to share with the parents, children and staff of the school.

EUCHARIST IN HONOR OF OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP The big day to joyfully celebrate the feast of our Mother who helps each one of those who invoke her has finally come. At around 8:00 am, the great banquet of the Eucharist began with Fr. Desire Afana as the presider. Some parents were present and attentive to the homily of the father. Father Desire reminds us that this celebration dedicated to our Mother is the principal celebration of all the celebrations that we had throughout the school year. He mentioned about the great love that Mary has for each of her children. Some students participated in the liturgy as lectors. During the Offertory, an image of Perpetual Help, a Rosary, a lighted candle, a bouquet of roses, a pantry, the bread and wine were presented.

To conclude the Eucharist, the presider blessed each of the images that the students had received from the raffle and which they would take to their homes. M. Leticia gave some words of thanks and invited everyone for a simple snack. Pantries were also awarded to people in need and the fifth graders presented an Aztec dance. Happy feast to everyone!

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LIVING THE PRESENT WITH PASSION Ave Maria, Sisters!

Once again I am pleased to greet all of you through this issue of Estrella Misionera. I want to share on this objective which Pope Francis has mentioned for this year of Consecrated Life in relation with some of the activities that we had here at the Casa Hogar together with the girls that have been entrusted to our care.

It has been a year full of work, but according to what is being asked from each one as which we do it with PASSION. Every Tuesday during the month of May, we honor our Mother with the prayer of the Holy Rosary, where each sister in charge along with her group of girls organizes the activity for the day.

There is no doubt that the Spirit blow where it wants‌as each sister puts her gifts at the service of others. In this spiritual aspect, we have motivated the little girls to pray for peace. Every morning, every night we hear their little voices asking our Good Father to grant peace to our country.

We have carried out the celebration of Mothers´ Day, where the girls presented a Hawaiian dance to their mothers. The psychologists performed also a dynamic where both Mom and daughter could share and know each other better.

In a day of activities with the psychologists, we had dynamics, organized games and contests. The girls happily ate their popcorn and cotton candies. We had lunch at the kiosk, and it was indeed a day of great fun for all. On June 6, when we had our pilgrimage, we accompanied the little ones in their pilgrimage for Life; there were the small football team, with the name The Princesses of Succour. The sisters carried the banner of our Mother, while the small ones carried their banner.

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Ave Maria, Sisters: We, the Sisters of the Casa Hogar Community , live the present with passion day by day from the reality of each one as we give the best of ourselves in order to continue building the Kingdom in this hard yet beautiful apostolate.

Sisters, let me take this opportunity to invite you to make our manual books of organization, functions and procedures which are necessary, so that all of us may be one and have a broader vision, and that we may know how to manage and accompany processes, and not to leave them half-done due to change of sisters. Otherwise, we will not move forward. It is not easy, but it is not impossible, we only need the disposition, responsibility and teamwork, so that we may begin to work on them, and of course, finish them, because each one from our own community will do according to what corresponds us. Take courage! Let us do it!

May I end this up here as I ask for each and every one of you abundant graces and blessings so that we may live in joy and that we may recognize the true meaning of the religious life, its central value. Let us be light and salt in this world that hungers of God. LET US LIVE THE PRESENT WITH PASSION, so that religious life may be credible and may attract more young people to say YES. (By Sr. Margarita Hidalgo, MPS)

(By Sr. Maria Rosa Vargas Rendon, MPS) 30th of April 2015

We are very happy here at Colegio Nezahualcoyotl on this beautiful day as we celebrate the children´s day. For this, as we always have in all special occasions or feasts, we always have the Eucharistic celebration so that we, especially the children may feel blessed with the grace of our Lord Jesus.

After the mass, the whole school sang in one voice the MaĂąanitas, shouted out cheers and enjoyed a small yet very beautiful program prepared by the educational staff. Everybody enjoyed a lot and the children had a great time, too, with some disco dancing, games and a hearty breakfast.

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The children deserved to be heard, respected, loved, cared for, protected, and above all to be understood. They actually teach us something new every day, and they give us all love, sweetness, and tenderness. They give us everything without asking anything in return, they give us a warm hug every morning as they tell us that they love us.

They bring us closer to his world full of magic and imagination.

THE CHILDREN OF TODAY ARE OUR HOPE FOR THE GENERATIONS TO COME.

8th of MAY 2015 The Colegio Nezahualcoyotl enthusiastically celebrated for all the moms of the children wherein we asked the Lord to bless them through the celebration of the Eucharist. The priest told them in his homily: “this special day is dedicated to the most sublime being of creation…” He extended an affectionate and filial greeting to all moms of the school as he recognized in them the irreplaceable pillar at home through the education of their children and their importance in the construction of the society. He continued to say. “May God grant each one of you the deepest yearnings of your heart and may you always have the joy of being mothers, as givers of life, love and blessings which you receive daily in your life.”

At the end of the Eucharist, the children and the teachers prepared a beautiful program as their expression of their great love for their moms. It was followed by a rich breakfast that the School Staff prepared for the mothers as its gift for them.

THE ONLY SINCERE AND SELFLESS LOVE IS THE LOVE OF A MOTHER

14th of May 2015 The School has been especially on the 14th of May to wish and greet our teachers on their special day. The children who were the most excited ones for this event expressed their love and respect for their teachers. We started with a beautiful Eucharistic Celebration where Fr. Francisco shared in his homily the follow38

The teacher is the foundation of education. I consider that being a teacher is a vocation (i.e. a call) that God gives to certain persons to instruct, form and help us grow. There are people who may have knowledge but who do not know how to teach, they lack patience, humility and methodology. On the other hand, there are others who even without having great academic titles have the desire to teach and have the ease of transmitting their knowledge to others.”

ing: “In Mexico, we celebrate Teachers´ Day on May 15. It is an opportunity to reflect on the beautiful and difficult task of being a teacher.

Among the different professions, trades and activities of human beings, there is one that stands out - because it is the one that nourishes and gives life to all the others – and that is what teachers do. The teachers of kindergarten, elementary, high school, Preparatory and University; teachers for cooking, first aid, painting, dance, etc. the teacher is the one who teaches, educates, shapes, which prepares a person for life.

From the part of the religious community, we offered the teachers a meal with much love. They happily thanked the community for the thoughtful expression of gratitude to them.

25th of June 2015 Pope Pius IX gave this mandate to the Redemptorists * MAKE HER KNOWN * and that is what each Missionary of Perpetual Help do in the novena and feast of our Lady, to make known the most sacred thing we have, our Mother, to all the recipients of our mission and apostolate.

The Icon was visiting every household of our children in school, as well as the families of the staff. All the families opened the doors of your home with lots of love towards our heavenly Mother. At the end of the novena, the Icons were raffled among the children. All the children wanted to take home an icon, but most of them carried in our Mother in their heart.

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On the 15

th

and 16th of May 2015 the Elective Assembly of the Southern Mexico Region was held at the Central House. The Regional superior M. Hiliana del Socorro García presided over the assembly which was also graced with the supportive presence of the Superior General M. Cecilia Morales Tapia and Council Member Sr. Senaida Anavela Barrientos Caseros. On Friday, we were also blessed to have Sr. Rosa María Moreno, from the Congregation of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, who guided us in a beautiful reflection on: “The Spirit makes all things new”. She used the See, Judge and Act Method.

She invited us to scrutinize the heart and to look in our own life especially in relation to our sense of belonging and commitment to the Region, the Congregation and the Church. On Saturday, we were accompanied

by Fr. Desire Afana, CICM. The Southern Mexico Region is composed of 44 sisters who represent the following communities: Juniorate, Salina Cruz, Ixtepec, Coyul, Casa Hogar Toluca, San Antonio Buena Vista and Xochimilco.

Abril-Mayo-Junio 2015 Año XXXI, no. 105

Sr. Hiliana, presented a quite prolific report about the region, with an ample vision of the reality of the Region, Congregation, the social national and global reality; highlighting the events that have so much to do with the presence of the Missionaries of Perpetual Help in today's world. At the end of the presentation of her report, she thanked the Mother General, each of the Sisters of the Regional Government and each of the Sisters of the Region for their support and prayer.

The facilitator, Sr. Rosa Maria Moreno, congratulated the Southern Mexico Region for their work in three years which reflected a social and ecclesial vision.

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Likewise, M. Cecilia Morales Tapia thanked Sr. Hiliana for her courage to remain firm and persevering to do the coordination up to the end of three years. By 10:00 a.m. both M. Cecilia and Sr. Hiliana gave a message of motivation to the sisters in the Assembly in order to prepare all of us for the election. Sr. Hiliana asked the minor juniors Alejandra Flores Galvan and Lidia Judith Alvizures Muralles to serve as scrutinizers. All the sisters were in an atmosphere of silence and respect, but also of expectation. The final outcome of the Assembly was as follows: · · · · ·

Regional Superior: Sr. Hiliana del Socorro García Martínez, Regional Vicar and 1st Councilor: Sr. María Elena Godínez Torres, 2nd councilor: Sr. Rosa Ordaz Zamora, and 3rd Councilor: Sr. Alicia Ortiz Suárez Regional Econome: Sr. Lidia Márquez Tello

There were applause and congratulations for each of them and in a festive atmosphere; the Eucharist was celebrated to thank the Lord for the disposition and generosity of the sisters who will accompany us for another three years in the Southern Region. At the end of the celebration, Sr. Hiliana expressed her gratitude to God and to Fr. Desire as well for his support and help in preparing the report and other details of the Assembly.

Our being consecrated women occupy a place in the Church and in the world to collaborate in the redemption of humanity. Glory and praise to the Lord for this great gift.

See more at: http://www.perpetuosocorro.com.mx/es/asamblea-electiva-region-mexico-sur0#sthash.IFlfWMzy.dpuf (Sr. Piedad Elia Vázquez Ibáñez, MPS) 41

FRATERNAL VISIT The Regional Superior Sr. Hiliana del Socorro García Martínez went to visit the Community and the Students´ Residence in San Antonio Buenavista , Toluca as well as the Community of Ixtepec. Oaxaca.

MAKE HER KNOWN THROUGH THE NOVENA OF PERPETUAL HELP

The community of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca made the love of the Virgin of Perpetual Help even more known during the novena. Some families requested that the novena be held in their respective homes.

The students from the pre-school, elementary, high school and preparator levels conducted this Novena and prepared altars in their home with beautiful flowers, incense and decorations typical of this place.

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“Perpetuo Help" means a fountain of mercy that never dries and never stops

By Sr. Ma. De Lourdes Villalobos García, MPS

During the Novena in honor of our Mother of Perpetual Help, the Kindergarten "Jorge Laliberté", the Colegio “Salina Cruz” and the " Maria Teresa Rivera Institute"; have made the Mother of the Redeemer known via a decoration contest of the Icon of Perpetual Help.

The students decorated their images with different materials such as: beadwork, fabric, wood, seeds, paper crepe, painting, diamond, etc...

The students of each section decorated their icons together with their parents as they put much attention to the aspects of the original icon (colors, characters, lyrics, instruments, signs and symbols).

In each section, one person was placed to serve as a judge to assess the aspects that were within the criteria of the competition. Our sisters and some teachers had the honor of taking this role of qualifying and rewarding the first three places. The judge in each section considered the details, colors, creativity and dedication in every work done by students.

Another activity that we have had in honor of our Mother of Perpetual Help in the different levels was the novena in honor of the Virgin Mary. The Kindergarten and Colegio Salina Cruz prayed the novena in the morning wherein the history of the Icon was being explained every day. Taking into account the 150 years of Making known the Mother of God under the title of Mother of Perpetual Help, the High School Department did a Triduum wherein the students took up the story and the symbolism of the Icon.

The families of the students of both the elementary, high school and kindergarten have had the joy of welcoming the Mother of Perpetual Help, because both Srs. Hiliana de el Socorro and Maria Elena have accompanied their students and visited their homes to pray the novena with their families. The Sisters of the community have participated, too, by taking the Icon in different places and praying the novena with different families, giving them the confidence that our Mother of Perpetual Help will always remain in their hearts and homes.

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CELEBRATING MARY OF PERPETUAL HELP

By Prof. Hortensia Guadalupe Justo Hernández, High School Dept.

The Missionaries of Perpetual Help in union with the Jardín de Niños Jorge Laliberté, Colegio Salina Cruz and the Institute and Preparatory Department of Maria Teresa Rivera dedicated majestic altars in honor of our Protectress and Mother and Virgin Mary of Perpetual Help.

Likewise, the students of the Value Formation classes were asked to offer some grocery items which they can share to the less fortunate ones.

With great enthusiasm and devotion, the students offered flowers to our Mother as they sang songs. The Hail Mary resounded in the whole institution. The work and dedication of teachers from all levels radiated in all its glory.

The Virgin Mary of Perpetual Help between cheers and applause prevailed during the novena and was even more adorned by the music of Mariachi on the feast celebration on June 27.

On the eve of the celebration, 26th, Friday evening, the banner embellished the streets of the Port with the captains from all levels and groups; there were so many sweets and gifts as part of the Isthmus tradition, the legacy of our ancestors as they went around the streets of Salina Cruz.

Once again, as every year, everybody receive a fraternal greeting from the Perpetual Help Sisters on this special feast of theirs.

The missionary work of the Sisters of the Congrega-

tion of Perpetual Help not only in education and formation of values has been already for over 65 years with a myriad of productive generations in the Port society; it complies with the expectations of a human academic level and where the mutual appreciation is reflected.

Happy feast to all Devotees of our Mother of Perpetual Help!

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VOCATION MINISTRY – ZONE SOUTH

By Sr. Piedad Elia Vázquez Ibáñez, MPS AVE MARIA SISTERS: We know that vocation is a call from God, that all are invited to respond in freedom as sons and daughters of God. This call is known and heard in the whole planet and we need to communicate this with the testimony of our life.

Today it is urgent to be TESTIMONY of this call to love.

The field of pastoral work for vocations is very broad, so it is urgent to witness in response to whatever is entrusted to us. Our apostolates are fertile ground to sow the seed of vocation for the service of the Church. At the Colegio Martín de la Cruz, we have motivated students, parents, to carry the Vocation Cross beginning from December 12 in the celebration of the Eucharist. The response from the parents has been very positive, especially for the small pupils, who promote, encourage and require the parents to carry the cross from Monday to Monday. A single cross was not enough, now there are three crosses that are visiting families.

Each month, the students come to the chapel for the holy hour for vocations.

Likewise, to propagate devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, and help us economically in the vocation ministry, we are offering t-shirt with the image of the Icon of our Mother with the words "MAKE HER KNOWN”.

We continue with enthusiasm in the Vicariate team of pastoral work for vocations, we had our first vocation encounter which was attended by 40 youth on January 17, Saturday.

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As the Archdiocese celebrates every year the "YOUNG BELIEVER", this year it was held at the Minor seminary in Acoxpan on February 7.

The participation in the Redemptorist Mission is a good opportunity to have contact with the youth, but it is necessary to continue the process of mission so that the young women with inclination to religious life may continually know our Congregation.

There are two young women with this motivation and are presently doing their pre-university studies. Let us pray for them so that at the end of their studies, they may offer their Yes" to the Lord.

And on Saturday, March 7, the second encounter was held in the same Parish of Santa Catarina of Tlahuac, with a participation of 34 young people and there were some young people who were interested. The third encounter will be on May 9 and we hope in God, that the youth may be encouraged to respond to the call of God for them. At the end of these three meetings, we hope to have some youth ready for accompaniment.

In the month of February, the Congregation held a vocation week, I want to thank and congratulate the communities which organized an activity for vocation. On 25 April, we had the vocation campfire in the Metropolitan Cathedral, from 6 to 9 pm and on April 26, on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, we had the Archdiocesan Vocation- Expo.

Abundant blessings for the efforts of each one in living out the charism that God gives us. Sisters, I hereby thank you for your prayers and holy hours that you have offered for the good of vocations in the Church.

Let me take this opportunity to remind you that at the end of the spiritual exercises ,we can meet a few minutes or hours in order to organize the Congregational Vocation Encounter in July.

Thank you, Sisters coordinators in the different communities for your support.

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“AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD”

By Sr. Rocio Calderón Córdoba, MPS

We say that in order to know God, we need at least four elements to discover Him, i.e. :

through Sacred Scripture, prayer, testimony of men and women and through nature or creation in which He is described in many forms, sounds, colors and landscapes. Workshops are given to the students of Maria Teresa Rivera Preparatory Institute so that the students may bear in their mind and heart the face of God as this is a very important part of education in the faith.

Sisters, as we share with you a little from the ecology workshop, we also invite you to reflect on the care for the ecology.

"We invite and motivate young people to become aware of this wonderful gift which God has left us in the creation at the same time to work each one may recognize that God has somehow left us in nature a book which speaks to us of its beauty. We have to learn to read the Gospel of creation in nature as Pope Francis tells us in his splendid Encyclical "Laudato Si". We reflected the wonders that God has done in his creation through this ecology workshop.

To be aware of how we take care of this treasure that God has given us make us also reflect on our relationship with Him, which apparently has not been all good as we look at the reality with sincerity that indeed there is a serious deterioration in our common home.

The 2nd semester students came out to beach to gather garbage as their collaboration to make it beautiful again as God had given it to us.. The trash gathered were thrown at the community garbage corner.

We did a recycling campaign and the proceeds are donated to the Parish of the Holy Cross.

It is an invitation to be conscious of the challenge before us to face and think of what kind of a world we want to leave behind to those who will come after us since having acted and thought selfishly is now reflected in these problems that are closely linked to the throwaway culture (Encyclical of Pope Francis “Laudato Si”). Yet access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights. Our world has a grave social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity.

It is to motivate the young people and educate ourselves on the relationships that we maintain with the created and to review our convictions of faith as Christians. Since we have great motivations for the care of nature and more fragile the brothers and sisters. These should therefore remove in us the enormous barriers that exist among us and encourage recycling of feelings and values that will enhance the relationship between us and the environment. Therefore, we must both take into account the fostering of an integral ecology which would entail devoting some time to reflect on our way of life and ideals.

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COLEGIO MORELOS, ACTIVE AND PRESENT (By Sr. Norma Salazar Hernández, MPS)

Ave Maria, dear Sisters!

Receive a cordial greeting from the community, Colegio Morelos, Ixtepec, Oaxaca. With joy and excitement, we want to share with you some of the activities we have done in the last three months.

We started with the celebration of Easter, April 3; Sr. Brenda de la Cruz Ginés, Superior of the community, took part in the preparation and representation of the Via Crucis of the parish, with the participation of adolescents and youth, who received the sacraments of first communion and confirmation preparation this year. We also included some of our students who were motivated to live their faith and be involved in the activities of the Church.

On April 13, we returned to our activities at the school. We celebrated Easter, an emotional moment where the children reflected as they watched the bonfire. The new fire lights up our lives as each one receives the risen Jesus in our hearts.

Children´s Day On April 27, a festival was held to celebrate the special day for our beloved children, an unforgettable day in which the parents participated by presenting various dances. There were the mothers of sixth-graders who with their extraordinary costumes presented the "las Marias". Another number that we enjoyed was the representation of the characters of “el chavo del ocho” which we took some photos. A big surprise was to see Professor Luis Enrique Hernández Jiménez, 3rd grade teacher who acted as a clown, a must at a children´s party.

The story is part of a child's life and for this; the teachers of special subjects performed a puppet theater. In each of these activities we revived our childhood and felt like children again. We thank God for the support of the parents as they very actively participated in making the day a truly entertaining one.

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On 10 may, we celebrated the Mother’s Day. We started with the Eucharist in order to give thanks to God for the gift of Motherhood that He gives to every woman, including ourselves since we are spiritually guide and form our students. We continue with the festival where all levels from preschool to sixth grade participated with typical dances of the region that both our pupils and teachers prepared with much love.

On May 30, was celebrated the chose her godparents through a raffle which was participated by children with the best average in the field of Education of the Faith. The lucky

Coronation of the Virgin Mary,

where our Mother

ones were Daniela and Jorge who were accompanied by the preschool children that threw confetti and rose petals to the Virgin as the whole assembly cheered, popped balloons in place of firecrackers.

On June 21, the students of the Colegio Morelos received their First Communion. Some of them actively participated in the liturgy as lectors and offerors. After their Holy Communion, they expressed their gratitude to God in a silent and peaceful moment of prayer.

The beautiful state of Oaxaca has fine traditions which we try to cultivate in our students. The opportunity to do so is through the celebrations of our Titular and Patroness, our

Mother of Perpetual Help. We started praying the Novena with the students in the morning and with parents, friends and alumni in the evenings.

Then the three most awaited days came: firstly, 24th of June, the day when the people announced the celebration of the holidays with lights and dancing to the rhythm of the band. The students participated by dancing the bulls which are burnt as they reach the school. Then the dancing and cheers followed as the traditional tamales, flavored drinks and porridge were being served and shared.

On the second day, 25th of June, the abundance of fruit or flowers wherein the ladies wear their elegant gala dresses and the gentlemen wear black and Filipino trousers. It is a special day anticipated 49

by the people of the village who all enjoy the receiving of gifts from their godparents.

On the third day, 26th of June, we began with the traditional Mañanitas wherein the Mariachis pleased with their music all the people who accompanied us. Then we enjoyed a rich breakfast that was offered by the Mañanitas´ sponsors. We continue with the Eucharist that was this time accompanied by our school choir. We ended with a small festival of typical dances of the place and then continued the music of the Mariachis again.

On July 4, the Colegio Morelos children received the sacrament of confirmation in the parish church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Eucharist was presided over by Bishop Oscar Armando Campos Contreras from the Diocese of Tehuantepec. In his homily, he urged the godparents, parents and catechists to set a good example of faith in everyday life for the children. The choir of the Colegio Morelos animated the ceremony with their songs and joy. The Bishop congratulated them for their excellent participation and told them; "surely, you are going to be hired for other events, you sing very well". We answered: “negotiation would be in Colegio Morelos”. The best reward for the children were the applause with which they were thanked for their participation in this celebration.

This has been our sharing. May God bless and lighten up your path as you follow our beloved Jesus, the Redeemer. Amen.

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MAJOR SUPERIORS´ASSEMBLY Caracas, Venezuela Ave Maria, dear Sisters: Greetings of the love of Christ, the Redeemer and our Mother of Perpetual Help!

The XIIIth CONVER General Assembly which was held at Mother Emilia House of Montalban last 4 th to 7th of May this year was attended by 103 participants from 81 congregations that make up the CONVER. All were filled with sincere gratitude for the valuable participation and the enriching presence.

Let me share with you the fruit of these few days of reflection in the light of the theme "Let us listen to God where life clamors: a new Consecrated Life which is the incarnation of the Gospel, Prophecy and Hope" and with the motto of the Bethany icon ““Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” Jn 11, 21.

As an expression of our solidarity with the Venezuelan people who suffer in silence the great situations of conflict that exists in the country such as: scarcity, insecurity, the trampling of human rights and the dignity of the person, the Assembly of Major Superiors as it "listens to God, where life clamors" pronounced the statement: "RECONCILIATION, PATH TO PEACE”.

With this feeling, let me share this report prepared by the commission in which I was elected as a member.

With humility and love, I heartily ask you…let us always be united in prayers for the good of Venezuela and as MPS.

REPORT OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE MAJOR SUPERIORS VENEZUELAN CONFERENCE OF RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN RECONCILIATION, PATH TO PEACE Caracas, 11th of May 2015 We, the religious in Venezuela, men and women who are committed to life according to the Gospel, wish to express our solidarity and refuse to remain indifferent to the innumerable acts of violence that have pressed our people in distress, terror and despair. That cry of reality makes us ask for forgiveness for the times that we have added to the division in our country and this also calls us to sustain the faith and hope of this nation which, in other moments, has walked in the dark and has managed to rise with faith in Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life (cf. Jn 14, 6).

We raised our voice not from a political bias. Our concern is born essentially of the faith which allows us to discover in the other a brother, who is also created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen. 1, 26). For this reason, it hurts deeply how we, in our country, are living a process of dehumanization 51

which obliges us to flee and defend ourselves from others. A process enhanced as decided by violence, in all its manifestations. This continually strips off of the dignity of thousands of men and women trapped in a spiral of death. In response, we, religious men and women wish to propose ways of encounter, reconciliation and communion as a country.

We thank God for the gift of the Gospel in Jesus Christ our Lord, which makes us men and women of faith to welcome and opt for forgiveness and reconciliation. We all know that the pain of the victims is not mitigated with the death of the perpetrators. The only way to overcome the pain and anguish caused by the death of those we love is the reconciliation that leads to peace. It is impossible to think of forgiveness and reconciliation from the pain of the victims. But it is possible to think of it, if we decide to forgive from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who allows us all to be God´s children, as brothers and sisters in the Lord.

We ask you, who receive this appeal, to kindly, most especially, the institutions, to guarantee the security and well-being of all citizens; likewise, all those who should be more committed to the protection and care of the community, without exclusions. We extend this invitation to the families who are called to be school of communion through the acceptance of the other, respect and dialogue.

Sustained with the conviction that life is a gift of God, the Father and that His love will also have the last word on Venezuela, we affirm that the security that we need as a country is not an achievement of repression. Security is an achievement of justice that bear peace and sincere reconciliation for all and which we will make alive in this "Land of Grace”.

RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN OF VENEZUELA

Sr. Marisol Gudiño Gudiño, MPS

ECHOES OF THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CONGRESS FOR CONSECRATED LIFE Bogotá, 18th to 21 st of June 2015 "New horizons of living out our charism today; Let us listen to God where Consecrated Life clamors.”

In grateful memory for the opportunity to having been in this Congress, let me share as a Kairos of spiritual beauty this wonderful meeting with the Word in the brothers and sisters who were present, as we reviewed the journey that we shared as consecrated persons so that together we may discern and advance along paths of conversion and greater regard to the will of God. There were thirty-five of us, consecrated persons from various Congregations who are integrated in the Commission who represented Venezuela. All of us exerted great efforts to participate that despite 52

the economic crisis that is affecting the country, we all reached the venue by either traveling by land, others on direct flight to Bogota and others by various means.

My experience, for instance: I started by travelling by land up to the Venezuelan border via exit to the small city of Maicao, Guajira known as the commercial showcase of Colombia. I went out with the greater illusion of a missionary journey without much planning but with confidence in God and the Blessed Virgin and motivated by the motto of CLAR for this encounter:¨Let us listen to God where life clamors¨ …a motto that I started to live in every obstacle I encountered along the way toward the border because of many checkpoints and obstacles that the indigenous villagers organized as firm improvising on the road due to lack of water, electricity and food.

There were stones, fire, bats, and other objects obstructed the vehicular passage; in some places, we were allowed to pass but in others, we were delayed up to three hours of waiting wherein the travellers spent in sharing their sorrows, anxieties and helplessness as a result of the chaotic situation, criticism and conflict of Venezuela. With this, the theme immediately popped into my mind that all this is the reality where each one is called to "listen to God where life clamors". Along the whole journey, these words of the slogan continued to resonate within me as well as our slogan: "Moved by the spirit, to be more humane in Christ the Redeemer, in the style of distinctive manner of Mary”. This led me to Religious Like which goes forth, a call to continually live listening and helping those who clamor....

From Maicao, we passed by the beautiful city of Santa Marta, Capital of Magdalena in the Colombian coast. We were quite tired but ok and on the next day we weree transported by plane to Bogota where there were several families who gave us a warm welcome, reception with gifts, food and lodging.

Very early the next day, we went to the venue, Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Pilar of the Sisters of the Charity of St. Anne which is spacious and with a large logistics prepared by teams of religious volunteers who were attentive throughout the event. Subsequently, the Congress was commenced in a beautiful way with the presentations of all the participating countries that gradually filled the stage in various colors with the flags of each country.

It was followed by the presentation of special guests namely: Apostolic Nuncio Msgr. Ettore Balestrero; Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of CICLSAL (Brazil); Cardinal Rubén Salazar President of CELAM and Archbishop of Bogota; the President of CLAR Sr. Mercedes Casas, some other Bishops, Major Superiors, Delegates of the Conference of Religious of America, Europe and USA, Laity and the presence of New Generations.

Subsequently, the Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Ettore Balestrero addressed the Assembly as he extended the greeting from Pope Francis. He said that his prayer was that we may deepen the value and meaning of the Consecrated Life today that was inspired in the founders and in the Church so that we may receive new strength and radiate the Gospel as we follow Christ more closely. Finally, he commended this Congress to the Virgin Mary so that we may receive abundant blessings.

The President of the Conference of Religious of Colombia - CRC-, Leonardo Tejeiro told us: ¨ we are here because we are like the farmer who let his ear listen to the fresh earth so that he may hear if the guests are already coming behind the mountains. We are here because we will listen to God where life clamors. But we are like that same farmer who for not having listened in the beginning, tries to sharpen his hearing, lies downs in the moist soil, places his ear closer to the earth, maintains silence and listens once again, this time with better results because he realizes that the guests are coming. We are here to sharpen the ear, get closer to the freshness of life, unite our chest and heart with the earth and be silent to listen to God where life clamors¨.

Likewise, Cardinal Msgr. Rubén Salazar Gómez sincerely expressed that Consecrated Life is important for the 53

Church; the entire Church has taken greater awareness in recent years that it is an essential part of the life of the Church. The CLAR President , Sr. Mercedes Leticia Casas Sanchez, F.Sp.S. emphasized that where there are consecrated people, there is joy, and for this reason, joy should overflow in this Congress because this is a moment of grace, initiated by Pope Francis in the context of the 50th anniversary of Perfectae Caritatis and the Lumen Gentium. Pope Francis has directed various expressions: Open the doors! Wake up the world! Go to the peripheries! Be witness of a different world! The same goes for the documents "Rejoice" and "Scrutate" which through their many reflections have motivated us.

Below is the first presentation of the Congress led by Msgr. Pierre Jubinville, Bishop of the Diocese of St. Peter, the Apostle in Paraguay with the title: "where life clamors" which are the scenarios and emerging subjects in the socio-cultural reality and the Consecrated Life We start each day with the prayerful reading of the Word which is facilitated by the New Generations with gestures and significant symbols referring to the biblical text.

The talks seemed consistent with the context in which the Consecrated Life finds itself for the moment. They were very enlightening and the atmosphere was conducive for reflection, dialogue, listening and communion. In the evenings, we come together to work in groups in order to share, discuss, reflect and make proposals. The issues addressed to be worked in daily sharing were about the present and future of Consecrated Life such as generations and culture of vocation, human trafficking, charism and laity, the Church and the poor, etc. We ended each day with the Eucharist that was lived, felt and lived during the day. The commitments that resulted from the Congress were as follows: 

 

  

Cultivate humanization processes based on personal experience and the encounter with Jesus, sharing our failures and, dreams through dialogue and with desire to announce with passion and ardor whatever we have seen, heard and felt (Cf. 1 Jn 1, 3).

Take care of the creation as priority commitment in response to the call of the Pope Francis Laudato Si. Be open to listen where life clamors and God calls us to be present and to build individual practices in our communities, promoting spaces for dialogue both intra and inter congregational and encourage projects that would respond to those clamors.

Expand the tent, become charismatic family (religious-laity, welcoming one another as a gift) and have a real spirituality of mission and shared life. Enjoy the process of forming the charismatic family Give special importance to the Family Ministry so as to make it a transverse axis in our pastoral projects.

Promote initial and permanent formation through direct contact with those at the peripheries in order to nurture our sense of Jesus and revitalize our charism as we dispose ourselves as missionary who go forth.

We may know more widely of these and other commitments in the reports that would be published in the website of CLAR. As a closing activity, we had the cultural visit to the Sanctuary of Monserrat and the Museum of gold where we enjoy some rich dishes, music and handicrafts, with aroma of coffee.

I thank God for the opportunity that He gave me as well as to my beloved community and the CONVER-ZULIA to participate and experience this Congress which has nourished my desire to serve the Church through the charism of my Congregation. With this, I can daily feel loved, called and sent.

With fraternal love,

Sr. Marisol Gudiño Gudiño, MPS 54

MARABINA CELEBRATION IN HONOR OF OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP

The love of Jesus, the merciful Redeemer that we feel every time we look at Mary of Perpetual Help, was experienced by the parishioners of St. Pancratius as we celebrated with faith and devotion the feast of our Mother who gives us tenderness, compassion and aid.

On June 27, having already prepared the novena and corresponding previous activities, we participated in the Eucharistic Celebration at 8:30 am, along with several families who celebrated with their children the sacrament of baptism and accompanied us to give thanks to God for the renewal of our religious consecration. Sr. Edith Martinez and yours truly fervently renewed the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The priest Fr. José Gregorio Moran encouraged us with his words which nourished as well our thankful hearts for being members of the Congregation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and urged us to persevere in the vocation we received.

At the end of the celebration, we recalled the beautiful canonical visit to our community of M. Cecilia Morales Tapia and Sr. Patricia Perez Esparza. We reviewed the guidelines as the breath of the Spirit and the anecdotes that we shared during those days of God Passover in our lives. Meanwhile, we shared a delicious Creole breakfast and the submission of the letters that will be guiding anew our steps of obedience in the mandated service Thank you once again for trusting in us and for giving us not only the support but for accompanying us in the missionary work in Venezuela which we would realize with faith, joy and hope.

With love and dedication,

Sr. Edith Martínez Piña, MPS Sr. Marisol Gudiño Gudiño, MPS

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TIME FOR STUDIES AND FOR MEETING FRIENDS

It has been a long time, nearly two months that the children had their holidays from their school and tutorial classes. The month of June is the time when some children start to make some kind of tantrums because school days are back while most children are happy because they are going to meet their friends their friends once again while they learn new and more things in school.

It was also the time for all the sisters and the aspirants to welcome the children from the village for the tutorial classes. We were all glad to welcome them after a long holiday. As usual, we have nearly 15- 20 children coming from different levels and schools. Our hearts are filled with hope and gratitude for this opportunity of being able to accompany them in their studies through this apostolate.

FEAST OF THE EUCHARIST: CORPUS CHRISTI

Every year the Solemnity of the Body and the Blood of Christ has a special grace and blessing for the sisters in Bangalore. On this day, there is the Eucharistic procession from the Parish Church of both lay people and the religious who belong to the parish. It is a blessing for our convent to have one of the stations for the Benediction.

It was a beautiful day and grace filled moment for us. We could feel the presence of the Eucharistic Lord and we too, were strengthened by the faith and the love of the people for the Lord. We prayed and thanked God for all the things that the Lord has done for us.

WELCOME TO OUR BELOVED ASPIRANTS

During the months of April and May, we did miss the sisters in our convent, as well as our aspirants who have gone home for their holidays. Three aspirants have come back from their vacation to continue their formation process. The whole community happily welcomed them as they decided to continue to know God and His will more deeply and to

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follow Him in their life. They are excited and ready to con tinue their classes which they would receive inside and out side the convent.

All the best to you, dear Aspirants Monisha, Benita and Nirmala!

This is the theme of our novena and feast in honor of our Mother of Perpetual Help in India as we begin the Year of Celebration of the Icon. The time of novena is the time of grace as we held it in our parish, St. Rockâ€&#x;s Parish with the cooperation and support of our Parish Priest. The novena was prayed in Kannada as well as the sharing/talk wherein we explained each and every part of the Icon by using power point presentations. The novena was followed by the Holy Mass. Aside from the novena and mass in the parish, we also had our novena mass in the convent in English since most of the sisters do not speak Kannada. We have been busy and yet happy in preparing well for the novena masses in the two venues.

With the blessings of the Almighty Father, we had reached the day of our feast and it was a beautiful and memorable day for all of us.

We started the celebration in the community level by having creative liturgy for that day. In the evening we had the rosary procession along with the people from the parish then we had the solemn Eucharistic celebration presided by Rev. Fr. Lawrence, C.Ss.R and some other concelebrants. It was the summary of the 9 days reflection of the Icon that the Priest has shared with the people. It was a solemn celebration with the help of some of the parishioners and the choir in the parish. The Mother of Perpetual Help had attracted so many devotees to the celebration that everyone was happy to

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have taken part of it. The church has been beautifully decorated with lots of flowers and with the letters that formed the very theme of the Jubilee.

Then we had invited some of the friends, benefactors and the choir to join us for the agape after the mass in the convent. There was no better way to end the day but to thank God for all the won-

(By Sr. Vandana Thomas, MPS

Last April 27

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, we had the launching of the forthcoming celebration of the 50th year anniversary of our presence in the Diocese of Macau. We had the Eucharistic celebration at 11.00 a.m., in our chapel which was presided by Rev. Fr. Alberto Rossa CMF, a Claretian Argentinian priest. We were challenged by his homily as he spoke of the importance of living and giving witness to our faith as we celebrate our fifty years in Macau.

To be a missionary in non-Christian country is quite challenging. There is the call to faithfully respond to our vocation and commitment as consecrated persons by living dynamically and radically the charism which God has entrusted us. Fr. Rossa spoke of a journey of incarnating the joy of the Gospel day by day in our life as missionaries of joy, peace and love. We are called to be living witnesses to the mystical body of Christ.

In the midst of so many struggles, we need to treasure our past, the works and the spirit of our founders so that we will walk always in the threshold toward the goal of our existence as MPS. The mission and the apostolate God has entrusted will vary according to the signs of times yet the seeds that our founders have planted will continue to grow and bear much fruits because the HOLY SPIRIT is working in our behalf.

(By Sr. Jenie Amsua, MPS)

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Our community here in Macau celebrated the feast of our patroness, our Mother of Perpetual Help. We had

three days celebration in three different venues. There were six priests who accompanied us during these celebrations, namely: Fr. Chong Chi Kin Pedro, the vicar general of the bishop here in the diocese of Macau, Fr. Mejia Dominguez Victor Alejandro, MCCJ, Fr. Gapayao Jay Daet, SOLT, Fr. Balana Artemio Jr., SOLT, Fr. Rossa Alberto Santiago, CMF and Fr. Vergara Alejandre B, SOLT. Last June 26 at 6:30 pm Fr. Pedro celebrated the Holy Eucharist at the Pastoral Center with the concelebrating priests Fr. Alberto, Fr. Artemio and Fr. Alejandre. Fr. Pedro spoke of the different parts of the Icon but he gave more emphasis on the motherhood of Mary. After the Mass, delicious foods were served and shared by everyone.

The following day, Saturday, Fr. Victor arrived to celebrate Mass for the community in our chapel. We started the Mass at 11:00 a.m. and he spoke more of the falling sandal of Jesus.

On the third day, with the suggestion of Fr. Jay, the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was brought to St. Augustine church so that the 150th Anniversary of the restoration to public devotion of the Icon be known especially to the migrants. The 10:30 morning Mass was celebrated by Fr. Jay and the 4:30 afternoon Mass was celebrated by Fr. Artemio. The Icon stayed at the church for the whole day and the people took turns in praying and in taking pictures with the Icon.

Seeing the people with different gestures and expressions in venerating the Icon, it gives us more enthusiasm to be more active and alive in our mission and be real witnesses to His love. And through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, we continue to walk as missionaries looking forward for a brighter and hoping for a better future especially for our community here in Macau who is journeying its 50th year of our presence in this non-Christian country.

(By Sr. Nileta B. Rudillas, MPS)

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ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE ARRIOJA ASSOCIATION & ASSOCIATES

“IMPACT OF THE NATIONAL, BUSINESS AND FAMILY REFORMS”: this is the title of conference that was held last April 22nd of this year at the Polyforum Siqueros, as a way of celebrating the anniversary of the Arrioja and Associates Organization.

The organization's priority is to keep all their customers prepared and informed with respect to economic trends and fiscal changes that are constantly generated by a country such as ours. Therefore, they invite them to attend a Conference every year.

On this occasion, they invited the speaker Erick Guerrero Rosas, a political, financial analyst and commentator of "Facts" newsletter. His Conference revolve about the following topics: Who are the winners and losers of the newly approved reforms? What can we expect from them in terms of employment, inflation, exchange rate and economic growth? What are the sectors with the greatest potential for business? At the same time he gave us some recommendations to protect the heritage of our families, companies and every individual given the current economic situation.

Within two hours, the speaker finished all the topics to which Sr. Maria Margarita Hidalgo Castillo exclaimed: “What a surprise!”

In conclusion the speaker Erick Guerrero predicted that the economy of Mexico will be affected and that we will enter into a strong economic crisis in the global level. But then, our country's economy offers a great deal, it will be lifted up by the great powers that are betting and investing in Mexico. To open it to other foreign markets will result in the competition and this is good because Mexico will have to train itself to compete before these great challenges in the market, hence there must be an investment in education for the training of the competition.

And something important in the conference was to discover while being in the Hall of the Polyforum Siqueros, the largest mural in the world, the work of one of the most emblematic artists of our country, the master David Alfaro Siqueiros. At the end of the conference, we were offered snacks while the history of the said mural which was placed at the platform of the room was being explained.

I thank Srs. Maria Rosa Vargas Rendon and Maria Margarita Hidalgo Castillo, who, despite their multiple activities had accompanied me to the conferences that are relevant and useful for all the sisters who are in charge of the administration of their apostolates.

During these months, in the general economy level, we have had the opportunity to not only attend the courses offered by CIRM but we were also able to avail of the courses offered by IMDOSOC and others that have to do with the current reforms.

(María de los Ángeles Alonzo Aragón, MPS) 60

CIRM COURSES FOR ADMINISTRATORS

I thank the treasurers and administrators who participated this year in the courses offered by CIRM (Conference of Major Superiors in Mexico) with the aim of updating ourselves especially about the reforms and changes in the fields of education about labor, tax and wage.

We have participated in the courses for the months of October, January and April, with the unconditional assistance of our sisters Maria Elena Burgos, Bertha Gómez Otero and Lucia Jiménez Naranjo who were travelling overnight or a day earlier just to be present and be at the front row during the courses. Let me also extend a thousand thanks to Sisters Maria Margarita Hidalgo Castillo, Teresa Islas Espinosa de los Monteros, Lidia Marquez Tello and Maria Rosa Vargas Rendon for their participation and interest to be updated and to learn more about these reforms for a better service of our apostolates of school, Casa Hogar, local and general economy.

I invite the regional superiors, directresses, administrators and treasurers to make an effort this year to participate in these courses which will give us a guideline and knowledge for the administration that has been entrusted to us.

For the information of everybody, on February 13, 2015, the new FEDERAL REGULATION FOR SECURITY AND HEALTH IN LABOR had already been reinforced. It contains 126 items which are in favor of the worker.

I invite you to read the first chapter, art. 3, paragraphs X, XI, XVI and XVII. The workers may sue the employer for these reasons. My question is: and who are we going to count on? The answer is God, because we are here from Him, and for Him, nobody forces us, we have nothing here but the love of the One who one day went out to find laborers for His harvest; He is the One who calls, which gathers and pays. So for the love of the One who as loved us first, may we carry out our service and work despite unfavorable conditions but always with the awareness that the reward is in the hands of God who has called us.

(María de los Ángeles Alonzo Aragón , MPS)

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The Missionaries of Our Lady of Perpetual Help were happy to participate in the National Pre-Congress for Consecrated Life held last May 1-3, 2015 in Puebla. It was organized by CIRM (Conference of the Religious Major Superiors in Mexico) in which our Superior General M. Cecilia Morales Tapia is a member of its National Board of the Directors.

With the theme of the pre-congress “LISTENING to God and RESPONDING TO WHERE LIFE CLAMORS”, M. Cecilia Morales Tapia with Srs. Maritza Morillo Herrera and Maria Victoria Vivar Flores joined all the Major Superiors and members of the different religious congregations in Mexico in an encounter of listening, dialogue, reflection, prayer and discernment of the spirit on the different horizons that invite consecrated persons to take on their journey of exodus to a Consecrated Life towards waking up the world with the dawning joy of the Gospel that we live in the midst of our brothers and sisters through the charisms of the different religious institutions.

This very important activity was organized as a preparation for the Congress on Consecrated Life(CLAR – Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious) to be held in Bogotá, Colombia on June 18-21, 2015 and the National Congress in Mexico City on the 30th, 31st of January and the 1st of February.

Let us continue to listen to God and respond where life cries out in our specific communities through prayer and the mission entrusted to us.

- See more at: http://www.perpetuosocorro.com.mx/es/precongresonacional-de-vida-consagrada-national-pre-congress-consecratedlife#sthash.wl9g6h7q.dpuf 62

International Congress for Formators 7th to 11th of April 2015, Rome

I am grateful to God, to the Congregation, to M. Cecilia Morales Tapia, and to my sisters in the General Council for giving me this opportunity to participate in this Congress which helped me to renew my consecration and to continually search for answers to my questions: what guidelines must we follow for a better formation in our MPS Congregation?

It was a very rich and fulfilling experience for my religious life. I met Sr. Noemi Nanta Colendres from the Philippine Region and we shared together the experiences in this Congress. The encounter was a real Pentecost since the participants are from different congregations; languages, cultures and we see in everybody the same interest to renew ourselves in the formation and the docility to the Spirit of God, the Formator par excellence, who continually forms us.

During the sharing at lunch or snack, we exchanged smiles, some common words that made us one and we felt close to each other.

The Holy Spirit united us all and strengthened bonds of friendship.

The Congress aims to clarify the current formation struggles. Every day, we began the Congress with the guided Lectio Divina method of prayer. The issues were

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of great interest and there were qualified speakers who have long experience in the field of formation. One of the topics that have enlightened me the most was presented by Fr. Amadeo Cencini i.e. “To see Christ formed in you�.

In this topic, he emphasized the importance of continuous formation, as religious, we are all responsible to seek permanent or continuous formation. The foundation of a good formation is a good initial formation. Who is not interested in formation after perpetual profession, is no doubt due to have not received or assimilated well the initial formation. For this reason, the formation work does not only refer those whom one is accompanying, but also to the formands at different stages, in an attitude of docility (humble disposition of someone who has learned to learn...). As much as professionals in the social field are required to be updated and offered the means to maintain their work or perform better in it, we also need search the means or take advantage of whatever is being offered to us for our permanent formation.

With the motivation of checking if Christ is the center of my life as a consecrated woman, the theme the centrality in Christ has also helped me a lot. If Christ is the first and is the center of my consecrated life, the work that I will throughout my mission which will have better efficacy because I am grounded on Someone who sustains it.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, confirms that we must imitate Christ, i.e., to have the same feelings He had, which means that formation needs to move towards the progressive assimilation of the feelings of Christ who leads us to the Father, because the formation is participation in the action of the Father who through the Spirit, infused into the heart the feelings of the Son (Phil 2, 5-11). Living centered in Chris would lead me to act with the same feelings of Christ.

After the richness of the formation topics that we received each day, we had an audience with Pope Francis and a mass at St. Peter's Basilica. It was a wonderful experience to be there.

One of my big dreams since I joined the Congregation was going to know and contemplate on the original Icon of our Mother of Perpetual Help. God gave me this great gift and I was able to feel one with the beautiful image and the Sacramental Jesus in the Church of St. Alphonsus. I was also blessed to know the Basilica of Saint Mary Major and the Basilica of Saint John Lat-

eran, where I was able to contemplate and admire the beauty of the paintings of our Mother Mary. Actually, as we all know, these two basilicas are very significant in the history of the Icon of Perpetual Help.

The learning that I realized and valued during these days is that formation

helps me to renew my life and my consecration and it gives me inner strength. I am responsible of my on-going formation and of evaluating my centrality in Christ. Life will form and teach me, if I will keep a docile attitude to be taught and formed by it.

Sr. Anavela Barrientos Caseros, MPS

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Ave Maria, Sisters!

Greetings in our Risen Lord!

Allow us to share with you our experience of the mission. It has been a great joy to know our apostolate and mission; where we, the three novices: Yolanda Moreno Sánchez, Lidia Asunción Ibaté and Lorenza de Jesus Morales Calel, shared with the people in two towns during the first two weeks. We were accompanying San José Simatán community in their Novena in Honor of St. Joseph their Patron. There we understood that there is a spiritual poverty and need for God more than material poverty, because most families actually have the basic things but lack so much a deep faith.

We consider that as formandas, we have worked as a team in making Jesus, the Redeemer known. We stayed in Sanjón community for two weeks. We also participated in Easter youth camp which was held in our own school in Salina Cruz, where we shared with young people. It was good to know that there are young people committed to the Church. For us, it has been a challenge to be alone, but as we know that the grace of God with us, we are convinced that we did what we could do.

It has been a very rich experience because as sisters of the same group, we came together as one in moving on with work entrusted to us. For this reason, we give thanks to God and to our Mother of Perpetual Help, for having accompanied us in this wonderful experience. We also thank the Sisters of Coyul, for having walked with us, the M. General Cecilia Morales Tapia and General Council for their trust in us that we will give our best in this beautiful experience.

Thanks to all the sisters who are offering prayers for us and all the formands.

With joy and gratitude, let us end this sharing and we pray that Jesus and Mary of Perpetual Help may bless all of you always .

Novices Yolanda, Lidia and Lorenza 65

With much enthusiasm and sense of togetherness, we have gathered together at the Central House from June 19-21, to participate in the Threefold Auto-Diagnostic Workshop that was organized by the General Government and attended by the majority of sisters-superiors, directresses of schools and Casa Hogar and the superiors with the council members of the two regions in Mexico. The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Francisco Javier Villanueva RodrĂ­guez, of SERAPAZ group and who is going to accompany us in a process of evaluation of our journey as a Congregation.

This activity was to take another step further in this course so as to find out where we must be, according to our strengths and the context in which we live. It is a process in which we must all engage to walk together towards where we see new challenges.

For this, a simple guide was prepared so that the communities may apply the dynamics of the same workshop and we may collect the reflections that we need in order to reach a common agreement on the future of our Congregation.

With this in mind, we went to ask for the services and advice of SERAPAZ, A. C. so that they may provide us a workshop where we could all contribute to the reflection of what step we shall take now. The methodology was based on popular education, in which we saw the principles that no one among us is in zone zero in the construction of knowledge, i.e., all have something to contribute, we have had different experiences that our journey have allowed us to reflect on and fulfill.

We reviewed the objective, mission, vision and charism of the Congregation. We shared our points of view, as to whether we believe if they are still valid or not. This marked our feelings regarding the here and now of the congregation.

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We confronted that feeling with how we felt with the past, and from that, we did a reconstruction of the history of our Congregation, highlighting the events that seemed more relevant since its Foundation. We made an outline of time and then we located various historical stages through which we pass through; each of us contributed in the development of it with the memories, assessments and judgments about the events that have been lived. It was a moment of much wealth that made us feel proud of our tradition.

After becoming aware of our feeling with the now and how we saw the past, we proceeded to the human thermometer dynamic which aims to assess the work of the Congregation. We saw how much we have proclaimed the Good News with the poor and abandoned, as well as how much has been our willingness to take challenges and risks in our decisions. Afterwards, we worked in groups, wherein we let ourselves be moved by the Spirit of God and the merciful face of God which we want to project.

We analyzed the social reality, that of the Church and of our Congregation, then we put them in parallel with the activities that we carry out so as to see if it meets our objectives of proclaiming the Good News and to be with the poor and abandoned. For this we use the chart of congruence and relevance which indicated us if what we did or wanted to do was relevant, in accordance with our resources and was consistently according to our goals. We performed a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), touching these three points, and we present it in plenary. The workshop was culminated with the invitation to continually walk with faith and hope, to trust in God and ourselves, that we are the protagonists of the change in our Congregation.

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27th of June 2015 AVE MARIA, SISTERS! It is a pleasure to share with you the joy of celebrating our great feast, in which we remember God's merciful love as He gives us the Good Mother of her Son, the Perpetual Help. From the very depth of my heart, I wish to share with you the experiences of faith that we have lived on this important day, that even if we prepare every year to honor the Virgin Mary, this year has a special connotation since we are celebrating the 150 years of the mandate of Pope Pius IX "Make her known”.

This celebration started early with “Mañanitas” and the prayer of Lauds with which we lifted up our praise to God and we greeted our Mother in heaven as thanksgiving for another year in our life.

As the midday approached, the sisters, lay missionaries, family members and friends have gathered in the Chapel to celebrate the Eucharist; everything, all she was very heartstirring, full of bliss and the joy could felt in the songs, in the active participation of all, in the smiles on the faces 68

of those present, and this indescribable feeling has grown even more within me as the mass continued. There were three things that have moved me the most: 1. the homily of Fr. Jonathan, C.Ss.R. When he asked us and exhorted us on how each one us have served as both an icon of love and communion to my sisters, in the apostolate, with family, with those people around me. He continued to ask if we are continually reflecting the love and if not, then we have to do so. He emphasized that this Jubilee year invites us precisely to BE THAT LOVE, to BRING LOVE, and to SOW LOVE; 2. The communion song which says that to perpetually help means : to look tenderly, welcome with love, feel compassion, heal wounds, learn to forgive, to build, seek justice, to tell the truth, and to boldly seek paths of freedom; 3. The enthronement and the blessing of the Icon that seeing it in the altar, especially when the sisters raised it up, I really felt as if my heart burned for so much excitement to see our Mother with those eyes of love, tenderness, compassion, not gazing toward her son Jesus, but toward us. Such great love is from a mother who is able to forgive, take care and love those who have put her Son to death.

Immediately after the mass, the meal followed wherein we enjoyed sumptuous dishes, but above all, the fellowship, the songs by the Mariachis and the dance which were amazing moments for everybody.

In the afternoon, we continually praised our Lady as we prayed before her image and contemplated the face of a mother who loves us more than anything. We prayed the Rosary that was very especially intended for our Mother of Perpetual Help. In each mystery we reflect a special element of the Icon. What has mostly touched me was the following: That Mary would like to fill our emptiness, cure our pains, fill us with hope in these times of injustice, violence, insecurity and hatred; a mother who seeks to comfort us in every moment of our lives so that we may experience God as perpetual, totality and fullness. Mary, thank you for giving us the only one who can give meaning to our lives, the true Perpetual Help, Jesus.

The Icon of our Mother of Perpetual Help provides us the experience of communion with the Redeemer, with the Mother of the Redeemer and all the redeemed in any situation each of us may find herself. A song was played according to the reflection of every mystery. The solemn prayer of the Rosary was ended with a short procession towards the chapel wherein petitions on behalf of the needs of the world were lifted up and finally we sang the hymn to our Mother of Perpetual Help.

Thanks to each one of the sisters who with their enthusiasm, joy and good disposition have collaborated in making our feast a love-filled event.

(Sr. Patricia Faviola Morales Morales, MPS)

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Moved by the Spirit, to be more human in Christ Redeemer, in the distinctive manner of Mary General Directress M. Cecilia Morales Tapia, MPS Editor-in-chief Secretariat of Communication and Diffusion Sr. Maria Victoria Vivar Flores, MPS Directive Council Animation and Authority M. Cecilia Morales Tapia, MPS Secretariat of Religious Life Sr. Maritza Josefina Morillo Herrera, MPS Secretariat of Formation Sr. Senaida Anavela Barrientos Caseros, MPS Secretariat of Missionary Action Sr. Ma. Teresa Medina Sanchez, MPS Secretary General Sr. Norma Patricia P茅rez Esparza, MPS General Econome Sr. Ma. de los Angeles Alonzo Arag贸n, MPS Mailing Address: MISSIONARIES OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP Azabache 38, Col. Estrella, Delegaci贸n Gustavo A. Madero ,07810 M茅xico D.F. Tel /Fax: 01 55 55 77 07 98 perpetuo@prodigy.net.mx www.perpetuosocorro.com.mx/mps

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