Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines –

The presence of the congregation of the Priests of the Sacred of Jesus (SCJ) in the Philippines marks its 25^th anniversary this year.  All these times the group traditionally holds its annual assembly every January, to share, reflect, evaluate and plan for the future.  For 2014, our assembly was set from the 6^th to the 10^th.  At this moment, the gathering is on its fourth day.  As customary, the assembly starts with a recollection and confessions.   During the first day, the group listened to the personal sharing of Engr. Antonio Sevillano, a lay leader in the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.  He shared about his experiences with priests and the perceptions and expectations of the lay faithful of the clerics. His major points can be summarized into three themes: Holiness, Presence and Good Homilies. Indeed the group finds the sharing very profound and challenging. Then we continued with the usual personal sharing, giving emphasis on the reflection regarding our 25 years presence, especially in the aspect of internationality, inculturation and hope. After a full day of personal sharing, we proceeded with the reporting by commission (pastoral, social, spiritual, and others). Today, we are having a morning off so we can go to one of our mission areas in the archdiocese to join in the celebration of the parish feast day. Meeting will resume in the afternoon. We ask you to continue praying for us and our mission here in the ‘only Christian nation in the far east’ – the Philippines.

By Fr. Arthur Guevara, scj