Gracious, and faithful God, source of all vocations, you have called us to be your missionaries. You have journeyed with us from the beginning, and you continue to be present as we walk and hope for the future.
As we celebrate 100 years of missionary presence in the Philippines,
we gratefully remember…
Our first 9 missionaries who arrived in 1907 and all those who followed them, with their pioneering spirit and commitment to do mission;
Our bishops and our people who warmly welcomed us as their brothers and gave us the opportunity to serve;
And our Christian communities that emerged through the faith and work of our confreres and lay collaborators.
Our educators and catechists who dedicated their lives to the evangelization and formation of the youth;
The gift of vocation of our diocesan clergy and Filipino missionaries nurtured by the examples and support of our confreres;
our lay leaders and benefactors whose generous service and support are visible in our churches, schools, hospitals, and other social services;
And all those who have gone ahead of us and whose spirit of love and service remains in our hearts.
For all these, we thank you, Lord.
As we retrace our past filled with your blessings, we acknowledge our failures and mistakes, we ask pardon from you and from our people:
For the times we caused them pain and sadness,
For the times we failed to appreciate the cultures and traditions of people,
For the times we were not worthy of y our call as your servants.
For all these, we humbly ask you have mercy on us, Lord.
As you have journeyed with us in the past 100 years, we look at the years to come
with hope. Send us your Spirit to revitalize us in our mission:
Revitalize our community spirit that we may become more “one heart and one soul”.
Revitalize our creative spirits in doing your mission in our schools, parishes, frontier situations, and wherever we are present.
Revitalize our vision to help build the local church toward a communion of communities and to involve ourselves in the social concerns of our people and our country.
As we look back to the past and celebrate the present, may we continue to keep alive the flame of the missionary spirit of the Church in the Philippines.
With the inspiration of our founder, Father Theophile verbist and through the
intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for all these we pray in Jesus’ name.
AMEN
