Mission in Action at the FCJ Learning and Development Center
A recent webinar by Caritas Australia featured the work of FCJ Sisters and colleagues at the FCJ Learning and Development Center in the Philippines.
Asia
As Faithful Companions of Jesus in Asia-Australia, we live on two continents, Asia and Australia
Together we hope to be the gentle, human face of Christ in our world today.
Our sisters come from different cultures and contexts, and minister in still others: from Manila to Yogyakarta to Yangon. Yet we are linked by our common FCJ spirit and companionship, which we also share with FCJ Sisters and FCJ Companions in Mission throughout the world.
Whether wheat or rice is our staple food, we share the same Eucharist, which is the heart of our life together. In the same way we share life’s struggles and disappointments, joys and achievements.
FCJ Mission lived in Asia
„Wherever a sister goes on her mission, alone or with others, she goes as a member of the Society and can rely on the support of her sisters.„(Constitutions, 252)
Each FCJ sister, each Faithful Companion of Jesus, is sent on mission. The expression of our mission differs according to person, time and place. Some of us are sent on mission to parts of the world with which we are not familiar, while some are sent to minister in their own home towns. Sometimes we are sent to active ministries, to be the gentle human face of God among others. Sometimes the circumstances of our lives send us primarily to the hidden ministries of prayer, of suffering, of sickness and of living fully the frailties of age.
In this part of the world, our ministry together involves the service of several institutions:
- In Quezon City, Philippines, our FCJ Learning and Development Center serves the poor who live around the Payatas dumpsite.
- In Yangon, Myanmar, our sisters have set up the first Catholic pre-school in Dalla, serving children from a poor community.
- In Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the Sarasvita FCJ Center for Spirituality and Human Development is an oasis in the city offering programmes and a conducive environment for spiritual and human development.
Individually, our sisters are also involved in a variety of active ministries, such as spiritual accompaniment, social work, teaching at various levels, counselling, justice and peace work, and work with refugees, youth, people with disabilities, the sick, and other vulnerable groups.
Whatever the circumstances of our ministry, our deep desire is to be faithful companions of Jesus, whose lives reveal him to our world.
