By Sr. Trinie Pangelinan, RSM
For The Pacific Voice

Sisters Angela Perez, Marie Chin & Marian Arroyo.

By the luck of the draw, Sr. Sally Sherman of the former Cincinnati Regional Community found herself the lucky recipient of a free trip to Guam to get to know her Mercy Sisters in the relatively new South Central Community. Three other newcomers joined Sr. Sally — Srs. Juliane Carey from New Orleans, Marilyn Graf from Mobile, Alabama, and Regina Werntz from Belmont, N.C. Accompanying them were Srs. Angela Perez and Marie Chin of the South Central Leadership team, who are no strangers to Guam.

As part of their orientation to the island and the Sisters, the group visited the Mercy “sponsored ministries” — Infant of Prague Nursery/Kindergarten and Mercy Hts. Nursery/Kindergarten — as well as the four Mercy schools: Santa Barbara Catholic School in Dededo, St. Anthony Catholic School in Tamuning, the Academy of Our Lady in Hagåtña, and Bishop Baumgartner Memorial Catholic School in Sinajana.

Everywhere the Sisters went, they were greeted and treated to a special expose of the academic and performing arts of the various schools. Needless to say, the visiting Sisters were quite impressed at the professionalism and dedication of the administration, staff and students of the schools.

The main agenda of the Community Gathering focused on “what matters” in our religious life especially in relation to “Mission” and “Ministry”.

Visiting Sisters: Srs. Sally Sherman, Regina Werntz, Marilyn Graf and Juliane Carey from the Sisters of Mercy South Central Community.

Sr. Marie Chin from Jamaica, a former President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Institute and current member of the South Central Leadership team, led the Sisters in a reflection on the need to evaluate our sponsored/non-sponsored ministries.

Sr. Marie emphasized that the Community leadership team is committed to discerning the future of our Mercy ministries, noting that “We will face together the things that generate our passions!” She further helped us discern, given our human and financial resources, where we are most needed today.

Sr. Angela Perez, also a member of the South Central Leadership Team, gave an update of statistics and pertinent information about the South Central Community, emphasizing the need for the Sisters’ “deep listening and ongoing conversion.”

Sr. Marian Therese Arroyo, a member of the Circles Committee and the local leadership team, served as facilitator for the community meeting, which was also in preparation for the upcoming South Central Community Assembly to be held in June in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sr. Sally and companions look forward to a “reunion” with their Guam Sisters at the Assembly.