Teresian Association (TA) in Davao celebrates the 100th Anniversary of its Pontifical Approval with a solemn Mass followed by an encounter attended by members, friend, families and collaborators.
On January 11, 2024, in the San Pedro Poveda Parish Church, Catalunan Pequeño, Davao City, eleven priests from the Archdiocese of Davao and from religious communities concelebrated the Eucharist with Msgr. Paul A. Cuison, Vicar General. This momentous occasion was graced with the presence TA members; parents, faculty and staff of St. Pedro Poveda College ITEC Inc.; friends and collaborators of the Josefa Segovia Foundation, Indigenous People’s communities and youth; former IT Youth members; Barangay of Catalunan Pequeño headed by Barangay Captain Rodrigo A. Tangaro; San Pedro Poveda Parish Pastoral Council, personnel and youth headed by our Parish Priest, Fr. Elneri B. Meñez; colleagues of members from the universities and government offices; our own families; friends and colleagues from religious congregations and communities; staff of DXGN 89.9 -Spirit FM that made a special coverage of the Mass.
Enthusiasm and fidelity
It was heartwarming to hear Msgr. Cuison in his homily that the occasion served as “an opportunity to renew the ties of friendship with the TA members” as he was once the parish priest in Obrero where the social domicile of the TA was located. Reechoing partly the late Pope John Paul II’s new millennium message, Msgr. Cuison said, “It is in the spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving, that we are also challenged as an Association to be grateful with the past, to be confident with the future and to live in the present not only with enthusiasm but also in fidelity.”
He further said, “Looking back with gratitude today we remember with fondness and devotion the beloved Founder, St. Pedro Poveda… He had established an Association that promotes the values of education, as a means to a wholistic transformation of the human person. And through his life and example, he laid down a path which attracted thousands of souls to walk in holiness and to follow Jesus in radical discipleship.”
One direction
Msgr. Cuison continued with the following exhortation to the members: “Looking forward to the future with confidence knowing that if God has preserved us for a hundred years, surely He will not fail to do the same for the next 100 years. However, (…) we cannot but ask, ′Quo vadis?Where are you going?′ The Gospel would only take us to one direction, servanthood. Members of the TA, you must become servants of Jesus, doing what Jesus is doing, loving the unlovable, and touching the untouchable. I also believe that this is what the world needs today, that acceptance and love that knows no boundaries and limitation. This is the kind of Church that Pope Francis would like us to become. This must also be the Association that we should aspire to follow.”
“Quo vadis, Teresiana? You will continue to share the missionary journey of the Church. In fact you already have reached 100 years doing missionary work, but (…) you will never come to maturity and perfection without the cross. Quo vadis, Teresiana? Let your answer be a Yes to life, a Yes to the mission, ultimately, a Yes to the cross of Christ.”
After the Mass, we led our guests to AlMaCen of Josefa Segovia Foundation where they could view the videos on “The Teresian Way” and “It all began in Covadonga” on loop, and where a short program took place to welcome, acknowledge and thank our guests, a presentation of some facts about the TA and sharing to them the message from Lucia S. Subaldo, sector director of the TA in the Philippines. Finally, fellowship followed with lively conversations while having dinner.
Text: Gardenia Beramo.
Photos: Jelorie Peroja.
Published in News