Dear Fr. Bob and all at St. Mary’s & St. William’s,
As this year draws to a close, Our Lady’s Missionaries is closing our mission in the Philippines. It was my privilege to spend 2 weeks with our sisters there, Sr. Mary Gauthier and Sr. Lorie Nunez. Having returned just a few days ago, I am still in the throes of jet lag as I write this. In a few hours Mary Gauthier arrives here in Canada as well. Lorie will be staying on in the Philippines for a few months in order to finish her studies there.
Obviously, it was not easy to say goodbye. However, as I accompanied Sr. Mary on her rounds, I was touched by the realization that we are saying goodbye to people who are grateful to OLM’s and yet also able to continue on their own. A missionary’s role, to some extent, is to help people to help themselves, thus making herself redundant. I believe that OLM’s in the Philippines have done that, and now it is time to move on, knowing that some small part of us will always remain in the hearts of those we have grown to know and love there.
So despite our heavy hearts, we can also say: Rejoice with us!
Thank you for all your prayers and support this past year. We hope that we can continue to rely on them for our sisters in Brazil and Canada in the coming year, 2011.
Peace, Sr. Christine Gebel OLM
