Our ideal is to live the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness and make known its meaning so that Christ’s Reign may come, and the glory of God be revealed to the world.

At the Last Supper, our Lord Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist, the gift of His Body and Blood.

He TOOK Bread, GAVE THANKS, BROKE it and GAVE it to His disciples and said: This is my Body… this is my Blood…. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

The disciples of Jesus, having been set ablaze at Pentecost, began to preach the KERYGMA to all nations that the crucified Christ died and rose again to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. The early Christians began to gather around the table of the Word and broke Bread together as Church – KOINONIA (of the ekklesia) as they anticipated the glorious coming of the Savior.  They followed the precept of Christ to wash each other’s feet as DIAKONIA remembering Jesus’ words that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for the many. They fully lived out their faith through MARTURIA, as courageous witnesses of their love for Christ.

KERYGMA – GOOD NEWS!

The Good News of Jesus continues to be preached even today. Following the pathway of the disciples, the living tradition of the apostolic Church, our founder, St Peter Julian Eymard, was inspired to dispel the malevolence of his times – that of ignorance, absence and indifference of people towards God – with the power of love radiating from the very presence of Jesus In the Eucharist.  The same spiritual illness still exists, but as lovers of the Eucharist and sons of Eymard, we are undaunted in the face of the same challenges.  In fact, we just celebrated our 60th year of shaping Eucharistic Parishes and Communities.

The KERYGMA is continually proclaimed during this 2017 Amplified Provincial Chapter as each Superior and Pastor reported their Koinonia, Diakonia and Marturia experiences.  We found that the atmosphere of the APC was light, inspiring, placid, challenging… The sharing and interactions were more mature, transparent, honest, healing— a joyful gathering of brothers in the Lord.

1. KOINONIA
   GOOD NEWS! KOINONIA as Community of Brothers 

   Our little Family in the Church, our Province of Our Lady of the Assumption, is fast growing in number. We are now 17 communities and 1 Mission Station in 3 countries with about 135 members. Although our number of personnel has increased, we still find the perennial need for more personnel. We are enriched by a greater diversity of personal idiosyncrasies, talents and abilities. We are able to allow the grace of the Eucharist, sacrament of unity, to resolve differences and conflicts in our communities.  We discovered that brotherly dialogue is facilitated by listening with a humble heart. We enjoyed recreating together in light moments. We are challenged by the increasing cultural and generation gap, yet we are inspired to reach out to each other following our Lord.

   We are blessed with the updated and contemporary approach to formation, thus providing a healthy formative environment and intervention to mold novices to become committed SSS religious. We are privileged to have a vast network of personal and social connections, thus providing us with a stable pool of families, friends, associates and benefactors expanding our Eymardian family.

    GOOD NEWS! KOINONIA as Community of Prayer and Action

   Though we discover ourselves overwhelmed with demands of the apostolate, we struggle to balance this with our faithfulness to our vows and need for community living.  We often get exhausted in our ministry, thus neglecting or getting lazy to spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. But we realize that we still thirst to connect with the Lord. Our love for the Eucharistic Lord makes us humble before the august Sacrament.  Though we are not required to celebrate Mass each day, our devotion and desire to make the Eucharist the center and summit of our lives impel us to celebrate Mass daily, or binate and even trinate, solemnly and lovingly. We take seriously our desire to share our Eucharistic charism through the LITES program and the ongoing formation of our lay leaders.

   GOOD NEWS – KERYGMA! KOINONIA as of Stewardship

   Our communities are blessed with increasing resources and finances. We realize that we are mere stewards of the treasures of the Lord. We acknowledge that these resources are to be used for the ministry of the Word and the Eucharist, especially towards the poor and marginalized.  We recognize the growing generosity of our communities and the spirit of caring practiced in true form. We willingly share our resources, e.g., excess funds and solidarity giving.  We try to be as transparent as possible with the financial transactions we make.  We are becoming better Bread winners for our communities, our Congregation and especially towards our disadvantaged brothers and sisters. We are enthusiastic in breaking Bread with those on the peripheries of our society, so that they will feel the loving embrace of the Lord.

2. DIAKONIA
   TAKEN

   “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” [Col. 3:17]

    Our SSS religious allowed themselves to be taken by the Lord from different family backgrounds, cultures and places.  They were called by the Lord of the harvest and responded with utmost generosity to live a Eucharistic charism given by the Lord through St. Peter Julian Eymard.  They have differing gifts, talents, degrees, personalities, potentials and limitations.  Although at times these uniqueness cause tensions and conflicts among the religious, generally, they are welcomed as part of being human and interventions in the different levels of formation and ongoing level, so that we respect and accept each other as brothers in the Lord.  This will always be a work in progress, a moving target, but the Eucharist, the love of God and our common calling enable us to live in communities “where all truly love one another” ROL 5.

   BLESSED

   “But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being … .” [Phil. 2:7]

   In the spirit of KENOSIS after Jesus’ example, and lived out also by St. Peter Julian Eymard, SSS religious generally show the passion and commitment to give themselves fully and wholeheartedly to Eucharistic evangelizing.  Others have shown reservations, half-hearted commitment, to a total gift of self. Reminders are being given to all as regards this important aspect. The Lord is generous to bless those who have responded to the call. The blessing received is manifested in the way God has made fruitful not only our ministries but our lives as well.

   BROKEN

   “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” [Jn. 12:24]

   To become true Eucharistic witnesses, the religious undergo an ongoing process of purification, of being in the hands of the Potter molding the clay, to use a biblical image. This happens both on the personal and communal level.

   This interior dynamic of breaking through the Holy Spirit cuts through the different dimensions of the religious—physical, psycho-emotional, moral, social and spiritual.

   Since doing ministry in community and pastoral settings demands making decisions that impact the lives of people under their care, for more effective, efficient collaboration, breaking of the religious into several pieces is a most welcome process and completely desirable.

   During the APC, the sharing of the religious assigned in places of varying context and cultures highlighted this reality.  It is a concrete living out of the Paschal Mystery especially its Kenosis dimension.

   SHARED

   “He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” [Mk. 16:15]

   SSS religious are very generous in giving of themselves to respond to the hungers of the human family. However, they are exposed, being constantly challenged by the wrong values of a modern, secularizing, consumeristic society.  In addition to this worldwide societal movement, there is also the demand for them to respond to the socio-political, economic, religious-cultural context where they are assigned on the local and national front. Our religious also acknowledged the reality of the negative impact of modern technology into their lives. We are always reminded of the proper use of these devices and social media. As we put the Eucharist at the center of their lives and ministry, we are always being challenged to provide counter-witness to everything that is sinful in society. Our desire to share ourselves fully and totally runs counter to our tendency to be selfish. It is realistic and obvious that we failed to some extent in this regard, but experiences shared among the religious show the grace of Mercy is at work in their lives.

   Retirement is just a term, but in reality the religious until the end of their physical life continue their mission of sharing themselves to advance the Eucharistic Kingdom.
   

3. MARTURIA
   INDIVIDUAL MARTURIA

   Individual marturia refers to a Christian’s witness to the love of God through Christ, even until the point of death.  For our Congregation, the term “witness” points to the experiential dimension of our mission. A Sacramentino, as a Christian witness, “testifies on the basis of personal experience; for he was present, he saw what took place. His words have an intrinsic persuasiveness” (Anthony McSweeney, Witnesses and Prophets, 1985).  The collective experience of the Philippine Province in formation, in ministry, in fraternal life and the governance of our communities is a testament to each member’s attempts to become a “faithful witness of the Truth to the whole world” (Oeuvres Complètes du St. Pierre-Julien Eymard, RR 44t, 17 3°, 2009). This Truth is understood to be Christ himself, to which every SSS religious must find as his model in chastity, obedience and poverty; indeed, the evangelical counsels which aid us to “witness to a world yet to come in the spirit of the Beatitudes” (ROL 15).

   At play also is “the gift of self,” the spiritual legacy of our founder, St Peter Julian Eymard, where a Sacramentino hopes to manifest his identity through an explicit “conformity to the Lord Jesus in his total self-giving” (Vita Consecrata, 65b). Our vocation of becoming a living memorial of the Paschal Mystery of Christ is a challenge we seriously take up.

   COMMUNITARIAN MARTURIA

   Whether as a religious leader in a parish or a mission station, as a formator or a religious on assignment abroad, the call for such witness can never remain an abstract or philosophical concept.  The challenge “to seek, by our vocation and way of life, to give a more explicit witness to the life of Christ which springs from the sacrament” of the Eucharist (ROL 21) is consciously “made flesh” through different apostolates and missions within the Church.  In fact, our pastoral availability has been helpful for other SSS provinces who sought our assistance, and for certain dioceses, here and abroad, which are in search of persons of a deep Eucharistic spirituality to influence their own priests and faithful. We do not claim immediate effect, but for those who know us, from the first foundation in Sta. Cruz, Manila, until the newest implantation, the Pagudpud mission station, from our struggling Ugandan communities to the bustling Hawaiian parishes, they cannot but feel that there is “something different, something powerful happening” when an SSS religious animates the Eucharist.  It is important to point out that this seemingly intrinsic change is not just an influence of a mere individual. Most of the time, what is seen by the people is the harmony and fraternity that give life to our communities, whose “most telling message is the witness of their lives” (ROL 37).

   ECCLESIAL MARTURIA

   This does not mean that we are perfect in incarnating Christ as living tabernacles of the Blessed Sacrament.  The neglect on prayer life, the lack of communication, the loss of passion and the overwhelming pastoral demands have cast shadows on our witnessing.  The task of “rekindling our passion for the Eucharist” has yet to be fully realized, considering the complexity of the concerns that our religious face.

   There is also an aspect of external witness that we ought not to neglect: the adoration. The presence of a Sacramentino praying before the Blessed Sacrament, especially in our parishes, is a sign and an encouragement to others.  It draws attention to the Lord’s fidelity in the abiding presence of the sacramental gift of His Risen Body as nourishment for his people. As Fr. Anthony McSweeney puts it, “In an epoch weary of discourses but attentive to palpable signs, such a silent presence can speak eloquently.”   – – – Frs. Mark, Frankie and Vergel