LOGARTA
We will be very grateful for “longer than always” for God’s gift of Sr. Vincent. The angels brought her when I was sad; Sr. Vincent helps people by inviting them to help. So I joined the Bible sharing sessions of the Bible facilitators. When she had to be in Metro Manila I tried to do everything to be really helpful to this group of Bible facilitators because they were going to bring the gospel to the Pier Area and Basak, Mambaling. When my schedule allowed I joined the group of Fr. Melo Diola. Here for the first time I bought a Bible. Then I got several copies of “Pulong Pukot”—a book of Bible reflections for the leader. I read all the gospel reflections of the various newspapers. At the same time I viewed the various television shows involving gospel reflections such as those of Ref. Jerome Marquez and Louis Cardinal Tagle. After each session they would thank me profusely. I always remind them that they have actually given me so much more than what I have shared because what I learned with them was so much richer than what I got from sociology books.
Sr. Vincent saw to it that we were at pace with the liturgical year. The group had Lenten recollection and we would always have the Agape for Holy Thursday. Then we had the Stations of the Cross on the streets of the Pier Area. The youth would be the characters in the various stations. All of us would be wearing a crown of thorns. The houses along the way prepared a small altar for each station. The cross carried by Jesus was marked with the social problems of our country. The last station in the new Stations of the Cross is the Resurrection which we celebrated in song and with a cup of arroz caldo.
She impressed on us the value of meditation. Members went to Manila to be trained to facilitate meditation sessions. When Sr.Christine was alive we had a beautiful session with her in the garden making a lei of fallen leaves as we thank the Lord for the blessings in our lives. We had these weekly hour-long meditation sessions weekly and will continue to do so.
It was not all prayer and meditation. The women got training for income-generating projects. They learned baking, candy-making, soap-making and candle making. They also made jams, lady’s finger cookies, salted and sugar coated peanuts. Sr. Vincent was always on the look-out for outlets for these products. Our way of supporting the income generating projects was giving friends presents of these products. Sr. Vincent assigned quality control persons for the products which she sent to Manila and even as far as Japan.
Sr. Vincent was a great person for connecting; especially linking them with the marginalized. When her nephews or nieces celebrated their birthdays, she encouraged them to give a treat to the daycare children of the area. She linked her classmates in St. Theresa’s to the Pier Area in their times of need.
She was able to establish strong link with Christians in Japan. When they visited the Philippines they did not go to the usual tourist destinations. Instead they exposed themselves to our depressed areas. They have been assisting the economically challenged with grants-in-aid for education. She was always on the alert for what would be helpful for the Gagmayng Krishtohanong Katilingban whether it would be a film, a play, another educational experience. She never hesitated to approach people to make these connections. Yet making all these linkages she never used the mobile phone Sr. Christine gave her.