A Time to Say Goodbye (A letter from the Sisters)
by Sr May Olan Olan | 01/22/2023 | Weekly ReflectionDear OLMC Community,
Upon the Lord’s invitation, on Oct 28, 2016, the Sisters of the Servants of the Plan of God began serving at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. We were warmly and lovingly welcomed to this parish.
Some of you might still recall the welcoming party at the airport; the children with their signs and flowers, joined by numerous parishioners and staff. Many of you helped in the preparation of our convent, providing the furniture, furnishings and décor and even the garden. It made us all feel very welcome.
The parish and the school staffs have been so helpful and supportive, allowing us to settle into our new mission. There has been a lot of joy and excitement to be part of this community and serve our parish and school. Thanks to all of you, it was not long before we could sincerely call this new place our “home” and experience this community as ours.
The central blessing (and challenge) of our vocation as Servants of the Plan of God is to follow Him wherever He wants us to serve. Two months ago, after a lengthily process of discernment, it was decided that we needed to end our service at OLMC. We are closing this community so that we can strengthen the mission where there is a greater need and where our charism can be expressed in a fuller way. Our Superiors have decided to send all three of us Sisters to serve our mission in the Philippines, in the Diocese of Cebu where we have been since 2003.
Being a part of and serving OLMC has been a great blessing for us, enriching us in many ways, and for this we are deeply grateful. We have come to deeply love all of you and it very sad for us to leave. But we are very much at peace with the decision, knowing that we are saying “Yes” to God and His plan for us.
We will remain here through the end of July so that we can complete our responsibilities and say our goodbyes. In the meantime, we would like to ask you to pray for us knowing that we too will be praying for all of you.
May Our Lady of Mount Carmel teach us all how to say “Yes” with trust and hope in God and His perfect plan.
Love,
Sr. May Olan Olan