In her Closing Remarks, Sr. Lilia thanked the superiors for generously and humbly accepting the challenging mission of being the spiritual leaders and animators of their local community, which, no matter how small, can be very difficult and demanding, sometimes discouraging and disheartening. She said, however, that the blessings and graces of being spiritual leaders and animators far outweigh the pains, trials, and crosses that are part and parcel of living in a community of persons of diverse characters, personalities and backgrounds, persons with varying needs, demands, and priorities. Sr. Lilia assured the superiors of the Council’s prayers, support, and guidance.
II. In-service Training for New Superiors
The 12 newly appointed superiors underwent a two-day in-service training in the Provincial House on June 16-17, 2022. This was the first onsite assembly since the lockdown in 2020. Sr. Lilia and the Ministry Assistants took turns in discussing the contents of the SPC Superiors’ Manual. The Provincial Secretary and the Provincial Bursar discussed and walked through the different documents and reports that are needed to be submitted to their respective offices.
The In-Service training ended with a stimulating open forum. The honest, open, and truthful sharing of concerns, questions, experiences, and reminders was both disturbing and challenging. In her Closing Remarks, Sr. Lilia cautioned the superiors about allowing the spirit of materialism, secularism and consumerism influence them and the sisters in their community. She told them not to delete from their vocabulary words like self-discipline, sacrifice, mortification, asceticism, simplicity of life, austerity, frugality, and the like. She bemoaned the fact that our life has just been too comfortable. She said:
“May this disturbing thought and challenge serve as a springboard for all of us to pray harder, discern, and reflect on our lifestyle.”