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 Download Community of Saint John Cebu Newsletter 2nd Issue
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Download Oblates Newsletter December 2008 Issue
Click Here
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Video of the Community of Saint John
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| Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
| 1. |
Who is the Community of Saint John named after?
What do you think?... Saint John maybe? |
| 2. |
Which Saint John?
Saint John the Evangelist, also called the beloved disciple. |
| 3. |
OK. So, what do you do in life?
The brothers and sisters of St John consecrate their lives to God, in answer to His call. |
| 4. |
What does it mean to consecrate your life to God?
We give our lives to God in poverty, chastity and obedience, until death
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| 5. |
It’s nice to be able to say “until I die”: but honestly what do you do with your life? You get around to having a companion, children, relaxation and all that, no?
As you say: no! The day we decided to answer to this call, we accepted also not to have a partner and children. We offered to God this human love, in order to live of a divine love, of His Love! So we live in celibacy until death, according to our vows. |
| 6. |
You honestly think you can do that?
With God’s grace, everything is possible, isn’t it?  |
| 7. |
How do you know that God calls you to give your life to Him?
It demands a long time of discernment. The main indication is your desire. If you have the true, lasting desire to give up everything in order to live in a greater intimacy with God according to the three vows and completely in His service, it might be good to give it a thought! |
| 8. |
What has St John got to do with all this consecration business?
Saint John is the patron saint of our Congregation. That means that we want to live according to his example and under his fatherly care. He was the beloved disciple, faithful until the Cross where he received Mary as his mother. |
| 9. |
Tell me about St John’s Gospel and his other writings.
They are wonderful!! Don’t hesitate to open up your Bible and read them; you will find a lot of light in them. He wrote the Gospel, 3 letters and the Book of Revelation. Meditating on them makes you journey straight into the Heart of the Father and into the mystery of Love. |
| 10. |
OK. Hey, why do you wear a habit? Many priests and sisters don’t anymore?
That’s right; but wearing the habit helps us to bear witness at all times to the love of God to whom we consecrated our entire being and it is a good reminder for ourselves that we belong to God, and to Him alone. And it makes us recognizable to all who see us… a little sign of God walking in the streets! |
| 11. |
There are brothers and sisters with grey habits: then there are white veils and grey veils. That’s the same community, right?
More precisely: it’s the same family, built up from three autonomous communities founded by the same founder and all living in the spirituality of Saint John. There are the brothers, the contemplative sisters, the apostolic sisters, and also the oblates; and all of them together are called ‘the Saint John Family’. |
| 12. |
What do the brothers do?
And the contemplative sisters?
And the apostolic sisters then?
I’ll make this answer a ‘three-in-one’… All of us live first of all a contemplative life of intimacy with God, through prayer, the reading of the Scriptures, studies and fraternal charity. All that already takes quite a number of hours every day! And then there are of course also the simple daily house chores necessary for the maintenance of our lives and of our convents (cooking, washing, cleaning…).
Then, for the brothers and the apostolic sisters, this contemplative life overflows into an apostolic life: proclaiming the Good News to the world that God loves each one of His children! This can be done in many different ways: teaching, personal encounters, visits, catechism,… any means is good to proclaim God’s Love and Mercy (for more information, just go to the website of the Community) |
| 13. |
What are the three vows? Isn’t it enough to believe in the Bible?
In religious life, we want to follow Jesus from as close as possible. When you look well into your Bible, you will discover that He lived in a poor, chaste and obedient way; so we are inventing nothing new! The vows of poverty, chastity and obedience help us to give ourselves to God with an undivided heart. |
| 14. |
Who are the oblates? What do they do?
The oblates are truly a part of the Saint John Family (and they are more than 1000 all over the world!) but they are not religious. They live of the spirituality of Saint John in the midst of the world where they have their work, their family, their studies… and all those places are wonderful occasions for them to proclaim the Good News! Yes, the oblates too are apostolic, each one in his/her own way, and sometimes they are also helping the brothers and sisters in their apostolate. |
| 15. |
The Community is just in Cebu? Or are you present elsewhere in the Philippines and in the world?
The Motherhouses are in France, but as soon as the number of brothers and sisters began to grow, the Community became worldwide. So if ever you happen to travel abroad, don’t forget to inquire if the Community is present there where you go, and pay them a visit! As for now, in the Philippines, we are only based in Cebu. |
| 16 |
Tell me a little about your history. When did you start to exist?
That is a long story, so I suggest that you click on the following link to the website of the Community and you will get your answer! |
| 17 |
Who is Father Marie-Dominique Philippe?
For this one too, you’d better go to the website, click here. |
| 18 |
What about studies? What is the Search for the Truth?
God gave us our intelligence, and the best way to thank Him for it is…by using it!! If God is our friend, isn’t it normal that we want to know Him the best we can? and that we want to know everything that comes forth from Him, meaning: all realities? But in order to know, we need to study, and that’s why we do quite a lot of philosophy and theology, not in order to become brilliant people, but in order to love in a true way, to know in a true way, to believe in a true way, to be in touch with the reality and with one another in a true way. We want to know where we are going, our finality, in order to be able to live in a true inner freedom and happiness. |
| 19. |
Who runs the Community in Cebu? Who is in charge for the whole Community?
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Local superiors in Cebu |
General superiors |
| Brothers |
Father Jesus |
Father Jean Pierre Marie |
| Contemplative Sisters |
Sister Samuel |
Sister Alix |
| Apostolic Sisters |
Sister Theophane |
Sister Irene Marie |
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