We welcome our Sisters of 10 years after Perpetual Vows as they start their Spiritual Renewal. The renewal experience is a graced period that will allow our renewalists to encounter Jesus more intimately in the Scriptures, in prayer and reflection, conferences, group sharing, community gatherings and celebrations, the One-month Ignatian Retreat, one month immersion in Bicol Sanitarium, Cabusao Camarines Sur.

During these days of Kairos, we pray with our renewalists as they rekindle the gift of God that is within them. The reality is: God Himself rekindles his own gift. He gives us His Spirit who consecrates and sends forth.

It is the earnest desire of our renewalists to be able to discover more deeply varied and creative ways of living and proclaiming the Word of God and to strengthen their response to the call to be prophet and mystic in our world today. This time of renewal will also give them the opportunity to prepare for the 100 years Anniversary of Philippine SPC Novitiate next year, 2011.

VESPERS, celebrated at day's end, is a fitting communal prayer to open the Spiritual Renewal of our 'Sisters .. As the day draws to a close, we give thanks for what has been given us, and for the things we have done well. We offer our prayer 'like incense in the sight of the Lord, and in which 'the raising up of our hands' becomes 'like an evening sacrifice.' The wheat is a symbol of the hour of wise age, of resting in thanksgiving and humility after the struggles, failures and successes of the day of productive life.

Truly, God is the God of our journey. He accompanies us as He had promised "1 am witlt you always, yes, until tlte end of time". [Matthew 28:20]

We beg Mary, our Mother and Model, our Lady of the Rosary, to intercede for us. >With St. Paul, our Patron, we exclaim: "Not I live but Christ lives in me"(Gal 2:20).

Let us therefore join our renewalists as they give thanks and celebrate God's constant love and fidelity.