A JOYFUL EXPERIENCE

Right after our final commitment to the three Evangelical Counsels, we have been sent to different fields of mission.  I, with one of my companions, Sr. Nelia, were sent on a new mission, which is to teach in the Dominican International School of Kaohsiung.

Personally, I am so humbled, and my heart is filled with gratitude for the wonderful privilege to be in this Mission which was entrusted to me and my companion by the sisters. I feel the privilege of teaching is not just about the name or the standard of the school as an international one, but I realized, it is another way of evangelizing to other faces of poverty. Materially rich doesn’t mean you are completely rich in every aspect of life. They are poor in the aspect of spirituality and the values of life.

The vice directress of the school Sr. Jane Bergado, OP reminds us that our presence there is more on witnessing and announcing the Kingdom of God, living out the gospel values of Jesus, sharing them with our students from the depth of our being, we feel that we are there not only as teachers, to teach a certain subject but we are there, most importantly, as Missionaries who, in the first place, are inclusively witnessing to God’s great love that we experience daily.

As both of us experienced being with them for couple of months in the school, we feel that our presence is something different than that of the other instructors in the school, and we are being reminded by the Holy Spirit that It is not enough to only share or tell them that God is love and He loves them but it is how we make them feel that they are loved by our example, of our witnessing of God’s love inclusively. 

May the missionary zeal of our founders Blessed Ascension Nicol and Monsignor Ramon Zubieta y Les continue to inspire and live in our hearts, as we continue to carry on the mission that they have imprinted in each of us. Viva MDR! 

Mariana Dos Santos Barreto