FIRST PROFESSION

“Here I am Lord, you have called me.”

We are happy to share with you the joyous experience of our first Profession on the 27th of August. It is a time for us to be grateful to God and to the congregation for receiving us into this new family. Our preparation for the commitment helped us to come closer to God and freely respond to his call. It was a good time to know and deepen our commitment to God. On this occasion, we remember saying of Pope Francis “It was a very meaningful day for us being consecrated by God to walk the way of the Lord till the very end of the cross”.

Our sincere and true commitment to God has enriched us very much. As we have promised to go any part of the world. With the strength of God who is helping us to be more faithful, we felt the living and loving presence of our sisters and families. May God continue to grant us to walk in his path and persevere in our vocations.

                                                                                                                   by

                                                                                                   Navya and Sailaja

RENEWAL OF VOWS

A NEW LIFE IN THE LORD

 Every process has to be renewed, reformed, recreated “our life is a process” when we allow it to undergo some kind of change such as called renewal, our lives become so meaningful. With joy, we share our renewed life as we recommit ourselves to the one who called us to share his mission…

A gentle look beyond our sight;

A word of encouragement beyond our hearing;

A gesture of embrace beyond our touch;

A fragrance of love beyond our smell;

An experience of intimacy beyond our taste;

A person of understanding beyond our knowledge.

All these can be given by only one person so-called JESUS. Thank you, Lord, for making these empty vessels to the fullness of Love.              

Saranya K

 Nirmala Nivas

 

       

208^TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

                                   OF

Mo. ANTONIA PARIS

God is the source for everything, he initiates the encounter between human beings and himself. He always speaks through specific situations. The history of a person is a manifestation of God´s mystery. He gives freely and purposely. Each human person is precious to this world whether we like it or not, that is the reality. God moulded us from the conception with love; “Even before I formed you in the womb, I have known you; even before you were born, I had set you apart…” Jer 1, 5. As we look at the life history of Maria Antonia Paris also revealing this loving mystery of God. She was born in Vallmoll, near Tarragona on the 28^th of June, 1813.

Therefore, the life of Mo. Antonia Paris is a gift to our Congregation. As we, her daughters, we are put on earth to make a contribution. God designed us to make a difference with our selves. Jesus revealed God’s love. We are called by God to be living witnesses of that God’s love. We become such witnesses by following his Son and being servants of God’s love as our Mo. Foundress. Let us ask constantly her intercession to persevere joyfully and with fidelity.  

   

                                                      

     

Final Profession Of Jeevathy, Robecca and Thashni, Colombo

 

Final Profession Of Jeevathy, Robecca and Thashni, Colombo

On the 5th of April 2021, Jeevathy, Robecca and Thashni did their final Religious Commitment. It was a joyful day to celebrate with them the gift of vocation and faithfulness of God. May God continually bless them and accompany them throughout their vocational journey. Congratulations Sisters!

Become a Neighbour:

Going Forth to Build Communion

 

I am grateful to God for this opportunity to participate in the 2^nd assembly of our South Asian Delegation. It was 27^th -30^th of December 2020. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the assembly couldn’t meet directly. It was online meeting. All the participants from Sri Lanka gathered in Claretian Missionary’s Minor Seminary at Kattuwa, Negombo and from India gathered in Antonia Paris Nilliya, Mysore. Srs. Jolanta and Petronile, accompanied and guided the assembly from Rome. This was an enriching and different experience and at the same time, I felt the deepening my belongingness to the congregation.

I was touched by the theme of this Assembly, “Become a neighbour: going forth to build communion”. This shows our desire to be a good Samaritan. Each one of us is invited to deepen our relationship becoming a neighbour to one another and go forth to build communion in our delegation and in the world. The report of the governance also has given the clear picture of our delegation. There are many achievements these three years and on the other side, there are lots of needs to be tackled. Mainly some points were reflected from the reality of the report by individually and group and then shared in the common room, like, formation, pastoral vocation, administration, revision of apostolic work and relationship.

The working document for this assembly is very enriching source for the growth of the delegation near future. It is reflecting not only the reality of the delegation but it covers for all the reality of our mission in the world.  From this we have drawn some decisions commonly. I felt that, how the Spirit of God is leading us and drawing us towards one family and one heart, as the desire of our foundress. This is a sign of forming the communion among us and among the people with whom we share our life and mission.

This document requires us to commit more and focus on the mission where we encounter our neighbour as the Samaritan encountered and showed mercy towards the wounded person. I could see the enthusiasm in each one in the assembly and contributed their part for the growth and development of the life and mission in the delegation.

The Assembly also invites us to examine and discern the will of God in each movements of our life. Therefore, each one of us is responsible for building communion among us and in the society where we are inserted. We are also called to part take in the new missionary going forth towards the wounded, marginalized, poor, needy etc.

I believe and pray that, God always with us to guide and care for us. With faith, hope and charity, I entrust our delegation to our Blessed Mother, continue to journey with us and help us to find each person as our neighbour and build communion. May our plans and discernments go along with God’s desire.  

 

Roshani Miriam Fernando

My wonderful experience on the Eve of Perpetual Profession!

 

I

made my perpetual profession on 27^th August 2020 and so my memories of perpetual profession are still quite fresh in my mind. One particular experience that moved me was that during the profession Mass, I was thinking to myself, "I guess God was serious about this!" I couldn't grasp that this was really happening to me. I never really considered a religious vocation growing up. I always consider discovering my vocation to the religious life. Played out quite vividly in the parable that Jesus talks about the landowner who goes in search of laborers to work in His vineyard Jesus says that the landowner goes out and calls laborers at nine o'clock, at noon, at three and at five o'clock. I'm that five o'clock laborer that had no clue that the Lord was calling me to work in His vineyard! God was very serious when he popped the desire in my heart to belong to him in my early age and helped me to discover that he was calling me to be a religious sister. And so, I am so grateful to be called to give my life to such a worthy cause and to such a worthy Person: Jesus Christ. I feel like I have found the greatest of treasures. I have found what my heart was looking for. I have found the dearest of Friends. To proclaim him as God for all my life is the greatest of quests. Belonging to Jesus forever as a religious sister is one of the greatest gifts for which I will be eternally grateful, especially knowing that I am not perfect, I am often afraid, weak, and feel incapable. But that does not stop Jesus from calling me again and again to Himself. I delight in knowing daily that I am loved unconditionally by this great God of mercy and still called to witness His love and mercy to the ends of the earth.

The most important lessons that I have learned in formation are: the first is that I will be continuing to learn all my life. The second one is about my humanness and interdependence. In regard to my humanness, the things that I struggle with – my questions, confusions, imperfections, tragic mistakes, etc. are all a natural part of being human. The things that I see as my greatest faults are only the shadow side of my greatest gifts. I learned that shared spirituality is real, and the connection to something greater than me is very much there. Living with the sisters made me more aware of my own place as a member of the Body of Christ, and of the responsibility towards others.

On the vigil night and profession day, I was filled with joy to have the sisters rejoicing and witnessing my perpetual profession of vows. The holy Eucharistic celebration was a solemn and grace-filled experience. During the litany prayers I felt my life being transformed. I was a new person, at peace with myself.

 The seed of faith which my parents planted in me continues to grow as I enter deeply into religious life, prayers, faith sharing, spiritual reading, retreats and spiritual direction. These together help me to enrich and deepen my faith. Faith keeps me strong as I journey. None of this would have been possible without the guidance of my parents, formators and my sisters in community. The love I have experienced in community has truly taught me how to love myself and to love others in return. I know that growing in love as a Claretian Missionary Sister is a life-long journey, but it is one that I desire to embrace with my whole heart, more now than ever before.

 After the gift of my life and of my baptism, the gift of my call to be a religious sister is the biggest gift God could give me. I still remember how I felt when I pronounced my vows of Poverty, Obedience and Chastity “for all my life” for the first time. My vows express my love for God, my trust in God and my desire and commitment to be God’s alone. In one way, I can say that it is a very mutual relationship, God gives God’s self to me and I give my self to God. This is the most precious relationship I could ever have. It actually continues to deepen and grow as I live my vows daily. 

 I see Profession as a covenant of love and commitment between God and the soul. He calls and I answer and continue to answer every day of my life. I see the terms “Final Vows” and “Perpetual vows” as two different things. Final implies the last time that the vows are pronounced publicly, the “final yes” to commit to my community's charism (Spirituality and Mission). My perpetual vows are not the end but the true beginning of my covenant with my Lord. They make me who I am, "Apostle of the Lord," Chosen and Beloved, Evangelizer and bearer of his Word. Each day I must recommit myself in love and open my heart to the voice of God. It is a continuous process, to humbly accept the endless graces granted to me to become another Christ - "He must increase, I must decrease".

By Rahil RMI