40 Years in Macau
On March 19, 2009, the Daughters of St Paul in Macau celebrated their 40th anniversary of foundation in Macau …
30 Years in Hong Kong
On a warm and lovely September afternoon in 1978 three Daughters of St Paul arrived in Hong Kong …
Centenary Celebration 1915 -2015
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St Paul Media Centre: Unit 340 Pioneer Centre, 750 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Prince Edward MTR Exit B2) Tel: 9127 9624 Opening Hours: Monday 12-6pm; Tuesday-Sunday 12-7pm
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Our foundress
Venerable Thecla Merlo
night of 31 December 1900 and felt obliged “to do something for God and for the people of the new century.”
Our founder Blessed James Alberione
Fr James Alberione encountered the Lord in the
Eucharistic adoration on the
Our congregation, THE DAUGHTERS OF ST PAUL, will hold its 10th General Chapter in August this year in Rome. A Chapter is a meeting of all the sisters in the congregation, to discuss matters concerning the life and mission of the institute. It is also the time to elect a new leader, called the Superior General, who will lead and guide the congregation for the next six years.
EAST ASIA DELEGATION CHOOSES DELEGATE
TO GENERAL CHAPTER IN ROME
Since not everyone can attend, we choose “delegates” to the Chapter. Usually for every 40 sisters, one sister will represent them. For this purpose, the East Asia Delegation assembled in Taipei on Jan 1-2, 2013to elect their delegate. To refresh your memory, this Delegation consists of sisters residing in Macau, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Taiwan. The community of Singapore, though not belonging to this Delegation, was invited to join this Delegation for the election.
Before the election, the sisters had to study the theme of the General Chapter which is WE BELIEVE AND SO WE SPEAK (taken from 2Cor 4:13). To help the sisters understand the theological and spiritual meaning of this Theme, Jesuit Father Augustine Chang of the Fujen Catholic University of Taipei, gave a very enlightening and interesting explanation. For the Talk, see below.
After the Talk, the sisters also studied the Draft of the Working Document which will later be fully discussed and decided upon during the Chapter in August in Rome. Among the many important elements of the Theme, the sisters understood that “with bold and prophetic faith, they must offer everyone the charity of the truth.” As this year is also the YEAR OF FAITH, the Theme is timely and helpful to live and communicate the Faith to everyone.
The sisters in the St Paul Book Centre often talk to people who enter the shop. They encounter some who reveal their sadness at losing their faith, and they show some desire to return to the Church. This is where the books and other media eg CDs and DVDs can convey God’s message to them especially in their receptive mood and attitude. In this way, the sisters are boldly proclaiming God’s Word to them through the instruments of media.
Towards the conclusion of this Meeting, the sisters read and accepted the various Proposals for their future spiritual and apostolic life. Among them was the decision to evaluate the lifestyle and rhythms of their communities to facilitate integration and balance in the different dimensions of their life, to promote communication and collaboration, and to share their special charisms with other people.
There were more than 30 sisters at the assembly. The delegate chosen for the General Chapter in Rome this August is Italian Sr IDA PORRINO who is also the regional superior of this East Asia Delegation. She will bring all our concerns, problems, difficulties and challenges to the Chapter and represent us there.
At this Assembly, the sisters also took the opportunity to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of four sisters. Sr Francesca (a Japanese working in Taiwan for over 20 years), Sr Federica (a Filipina working in Taiwan for 30 years), Sr Renata (a Brazilian working in Macau for more than 10 years) and Sr Grace (a Singaporean who has worked in many different countries). These sisters have consecrated their lives to God and spent 50 years as Daughters of St Paul in various missions and countries. They were all joyfully congratulated upon and embraced by the sisters.
TALK given by Jesuit Fr Augustine Chang on the theme
WE BELIEVE AND SO WE SPEAK (2Cor 4: 13)
Today, especially in Asia, it cannot be taken for granted that every Christian believes that Jesus is the God-man, the only Saviour, and that we need to speak for Christ. Many false ideas or theology challenge these central doctrines of the Christian believers. We have to address these issues before we can enthusiastically proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the entire world.
What do we believe? Why do we have to speak?
Two questions that can influence our missionary fervour: -
A. Who do we say that Jesus is? Is he unique?
B. How to view other religions? Are all the religions the same?
1. The central tenets of our faith: God so loved the world that he sent his only Son (John 3: 16). Jesus Christ is unique as Son of God, he is divine. The world needs salvation by God.
2. There are elements of truth in other religions but they need purification, and they are preparations to receive the Gospel of Christ.
3. Man cannot save himself, he needs God to come down from heaven and to lift him up. Other religions are “conceived” by human thinking and reflection, with good intention but it is not enough. Man needs faith in Christ to be saved. Faith means not only intellectual consent but also conversion of heart and life.
4. To have full truth we need God’s revelation. This is why we say our Christian religion is revealed by Christ who is God, not conceived by man. The Catholic religion has the full truth from Christ. Baptism into Christ’s Church is necessary for salvation, for those who are privileged to know Christ. Christ is the only Mediator between God and man.
5. It is still valid to claim that “outside the Church there is no salvation.” For those people who know Christ yet refuse to accept and enter his Church, we say they cannot be saved. But Church members have the indispensable duty to pass on the faith to non-Christians. Christ gave the command to go and evangelise. If Christians fail to give the Good News, then people would not know this salvation.
6. Who are “anonymous Christians”? This refers to those people who do not have the privilege to know Christ (not their fault if they are born in a non-christian environment) but they lead a good life according to their conscience. We believe that they are saved in a way known only to God. The Church, since the early Fathers, eg St Justin, has always held this belief and taught it.
7. Who is the “Cosmic Christ”?The Cosmic Christ is Jesus of Nazareth and no other. Christ of Nazareth is unique (God-man by nature and the only Saviour) and also universal (his salvation is for all human beings who want to be saved) at the same time.
8. To be friends with non-Christians is not enough. It has to be “friends in the Lord” which means bringing our friends to the Lord. This would be the manifestation of our most genuine friendship.
9. Christians should have the conviction of their faith, to believe that their faith is the most beautiful gift from God. Our fervour to evangelise is directly proportional to our own faith conviction.
10. Christians may not be the best human beings but Christian faith is God’s gift and so is the best thing surpassing all other faiths. Regarding ourselves we should be humble but regarding our faith we should be very proud of it.
11. Religious dialogue cannot and should not replace proclamation and evangelization. Dialogue involves not only two persons but the third who is the Holy Spirit. We choose what God wants me to choose for my religion. We should do God’s will. The dialogue partners are equal in human dignity, but they are not equal in doctrines.
12. Love is the only motivation for evangelization: to share the Good News with those in darkness and despair that they may have life. As St Paul tells us, we will be condemned if we don’t evangelise because Christ commanded us to do so. And it also shows our lack of love for our suffering neighbours. If we have no love for our neighbours we are not united with God who is love.
13. To help others to know Christ is our greatest joy, our best job and our greatest contribution to our world.
14. To evangelise, we need to love Truth, to be persons of prayer, willing to carry the Cross, to have harmonious relationships with those around us because the Church is a community of love.
