HIJAS DE JESUS – RELIGIOUS AND LAY EDUCATORS TODAY

Aware of the important contribution of Catholic schools in the evangelizing mission of the Church and the need to constantly check the directions of Hijas de Jesus’ schools against the vision of the Blessed Candida for her schools, an encounter was organized last April 25, 26, 27 at Manresa Retreat House with the following objectives: rediscovering the initial design of Mother Foundress for Hijas de Jesus schools through the Philippine Province Vision-Mission in order to respond more charismatically to the calls of the Church and of society in the Philippines today; maintaining alive and up-to-date the calls to which the Experiential and Updated Reading of the Formula of the Institute (EURF) invites us, through a reading of the Hijas de Jesus Philippine Province Vision-Mission vis-à-vis each particular school in the context of the Philippine reality today

The main focus of the encounter was to come up with a unified vision-mission statement of the Hijas de Jesus schools in the Philippines based on the Hijas de Jesus’ Vision-Mission applied to the different realities and contexts.
A total of 40 participants (F.I. sisters and lay partners) coming from the 11 schools in the country attended the encounter including the members of the organizing team. Everyone responded with optimism especially with the address of Sister Georgita Hormillosa, Superior of the Hijas de Jesus Philippine Province, that set the mood and direction of the seminar workshop.
Sister Georgita Hormillosa reminded everyone of the value of schools as effective means to fulfill the mission of evangelization in the Church. At the same time, to be aware that “the work of evangelization –that is of making Jesus Christ known so that we may live our lives as His followers, trying to become real Christians, and helping others become real – is a tough job…and which becomes even tougher with the recognition that we are dealing with a world that is complex, globalized and yet fragmented, with highly developed means of communication yet creates deep isolation and loneliness in a lot of people.”

Pointing out that we are “living in a world flooded with words which are often useless and empty and are disconnected with the Word of God, the World of Life,” Sister Georgita challenged the participants “to choose carefully the words that will put flesh to the values that need to be expressed, to incarnate the characteristic features of the apostolic centers yet define the charism of Candida Maria de Jesus.”
“To articulate the characteristic features of the charism in the day-to-day life of the school and plan with realism considering the circumstances and needs of the school’s particular context” was also emphasized by Sister Gette.

With this springboard, participants went through activity 1 in the afternoon of the first day to pray over the F.I. Philippine Province Vision-Mission and go through a personal reflection. They were asked to discover Mo. Candida’s message about the mission of education and identify the core values and spirit of the F.I. P.P. V-M. Some impressions on the first day of work point to: Participants’ realization of the heavy demands of the mission yet the spirit is working inspiring them to move on; The recognition of the core of values of the F.I. P.P. which are clearly expressed in the educational practices of the schools; An appreciation of the active collaboration of the religious and the lay in working for the mission with special mention of the willingness of the lay to take a more significant contribution by accepting positions of responsibility; Expressions of gratitude for the organizers of the workshop headed by Sister Consolacion P. Ruy, F.I.

On the second day, the delegates were given sufficient time to study on their school’s vision-mission statement and check its alignment against the F.I. P.P. V-M core values. They were also asked to come up with a new or updated formulation of their school’s vision-mission in order to harmonize it better with the F.I. P.P. V-M.

Following the same dynamics of personal reflection, group sharing and reporting to the assembly, the delegates went through a process of identifying the cores values of the F.I. P.P. V-M that are manifested concretely in their apostolic centers, giving indicators of such manifestation in the different areas like Faculty, Administration, Staff, Students, Parents, Alumni, Maintenance, Instruction, School and Community etc. They also identified the values which they can claim to have been sufficiently articulated and lived-out, those that need reinforcement and those that are omitted.
It was observed that filiation-fraternity is the core value reported by the almost all schools to be sufficiently articulated and lived-out. The love for Mary is the core value that needs reinforcement.

Impressions on this second day of work expressed: observed various forms of stating the vision-mission yet, the presence of Mother Foundress is strongly felt in the V-M of the different apostolic centers especially with the articulated filiation-fraternity, Christ-centeredness, simplicity and humility which are values captured according to context of the school; the need to have some common words in the vision-mission that clearly reflect the unifying elements of the different Hijas de Jesus schools; the unifying elements are filiation-fraternity, Christ-centeredness etc which are felt and lived by all members of the different apostolic centers and these may be expressed or stated in different ways; the appreciation of the observed collaboration of the sisters and lay in entering into the real spirit of the charism with openness and analytical mind; that vision-mission statements should not be long and difficult to understand and memorize by the children we educate.

The morning of the third day was spent in working for a realistic Action Plan for the school year 2008-2009 in order to carry out the renewed vision-mission. It focused on addressing the needs presented in the findings of the previous day’s activity – the values that need reinforcement, the values omitted and those that are well-lived but need to be maintained. The different schools were also asked to come up with their Core Strategy or maxim which summaries the heart of their vision-mission.

Although the work output of the different groups need refinements, generally, the plans presented targeting specific key areas were workable and realistic. Beautiful maxims rich in meaning were presented.

Recognizing that plans and dreams are weak without the strengthened response of each individual member invited to participate in the mission left by the Foundress, the session was capped with a video that shows the power within each one to a make a difference in the world. It was a meaningful way to end reminding everyone that much as we work together as a family in the different apostolic centers and as bigger family in the Philippine Province, the invitation to participate in the mission starts from a personal call. Each one has to continue to believe in their capacity to transform the world through the mission of the Foundress and to hold on to their faith acknowledging God’s presence within each one with the guidance of the spirit of Blessed Candida Maria de Jesus.