THE F.I.

LAY EDUCATOR (2015)

Ms. Ensao:
Motivation: Video about a Teacher (in an island)
Processing Questions

OPTIONAL: Start with a short sharing following these guide questions:

(One or two persons to answer each question)- (off the record: just to prolong the time,
hehehe)

For the newly hired teachers:

- What for you is your greatest strength or characteristic that made Sacred Heart
School-Hijas de Jesus hire you?

For teachers/staff
-what is the strongest value system or school culture that made you stay in Sacred
Heart School-Hijas de Jesus for such a period of time? Why did you renew your
contract? What is the plus factor that the school has that made you stay?

2 teachers per question

In describing the ideal Hija de Jesus educator, Mother Candida wants us to be

persons who make our existence a response to our own vocation; wherein dedication to
education is rooted in our call to follow Christ from our experience of filiation, to continue
God's evangelizing mission (2 important points in being part of the Hijas Family). Being
within in a Hijas de Jesus is a gift after a gift- expound through sharing or explanation

With the passing of time, the awareness of the co-responsibility of the laity in the
Church, together with the priests, pastors, religious men and women, has been gaining
momentum. With this awareness is the recognition of the identity and the specific place
and role in the common mission.
The church is existing also because of the presence of the Lay.

Sharing the mission with the lay educators brings enrichment to the educational action,
as lay contributes their human-Christian experiences which are somehow different from
and complementary to those of consecrated life.

Aside from the points to be stressed in our actions as Hijas de Jesus educators or lay
collaborators namely: our Familiarity and experienced of God, Loving Jesus with our
whole being and our love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, there are still other expected
features that we need to acquire in doing this shared mission of the Congregation as
inspired by Saint Candida Ma. De Jesus.
With respect for our (the laity’s) free option in life which never contradictory to Christian
values, and whatever function we perform, we are also identified by certain concrete
features.

Let us try to look into the profile of the Hijas de Jesus educators in the light of our
document, Our Characteristic Way of Educating or OCWE.

1. Having the right intention

Purity of intention begins with looking at our personal motivations and behaviors to truly
understanding why we are doing what we are doing.

Mother Candida is reminding us to let all our actions be done for God alone. This is
having the purity of intention or right intention.
Hijas de Jesus educators are asked to have the right intention in our work and
occupation, and to make our life and action a sincere search for the glory of God and
the good of our neighbor.
Why is it I’m helping my co-teachers? My pupils? The school?
Am I helping my students because I believe they will discover their own individual
capabilities someday?

- While many of us said that we became teachers by chance and not by choice, the
decision to become part of the Hijas de Jesus educative family was our own personal
choice. In the same manner that as we carry out our individual responsibilities, we have
the choice to either do things out of obligation or out of love. But Mother Candida sees
the F.I. educator as someone who never ceases to aspire to things for God’s greater
glory and for the good of our neighbor. And to have the right intention in anything that
we do is a personal decision as well as a gift or grace.

If magyawyaw, put it in the right context or go to the right person. Obedience is very
difficult especially if we have human limitations.

- and as Blessed Antonia puts it: “ Anything worth doing is worth doing well”, and this
can be achieved when we have the right intention in mind.

2. Working with real self-abnegation

As Hijas de Jesus educators, we are called to spend life in abnegation for the interests
of Jesus Christ to the extent of forgetting our own.
Abnegation is synonymous with sacrificial love, renunciation, availability and
indifference, for the sake of the mission entrusted to us, for the sake of the needs of
those whom we educate and care for.

In the letter of Mother Candida, she said that abnegation is the “the other face of love”.
She loved Jesus with all her heart and as a consequence to her deep experience of
God’s love, she desires to abnegate in everything.
The experience of self-abnegation is really a product of one’s personal love, desires and
interest. It is always with God’s grace that this gesture of love can be sustained and
strengthened despite our own personal limitations. Everything is a gift from God and an
opportunity to take care and value what He has given to us.

Indifference – you are freeing yourself, allowing God to talk to you asking Him for the
grace if the decision made accord to His will

Abnegation is a key attitude of dedication to the mission when it is really done with the
right intention for the glory and praise of God because of his love.
Putting it in the context of Mother Candida’s vision, it is a dedication to the mission
when it is really done with the right intention; that is, seeking the glory of God and the
good of our neighbor.

3. Serving her neighbor with humility and simplicity

Lay educators contribute to the creation of the climate of simplicity, humility. When
educating is taken as service, the educator who wants to help others grow as persons
needs the spirit of humility and simplicity. We know how to approach people without airs
of self-sufficiency or arrogance, to accept, listen and discern what the different members
of the educative community can offer or suggest.

Simplicity distinguishes us in our ways and presence, in our dealings with others and
in as attitude of quality and naturalness.

Being simple:
Even I buy expensive things, it depends on how it is being used or purpose in our lives
as long as we are not boastful to others.
When we do not know the answer, we can always say to share the response when we
have it already or the next encounter.

Humility and simplicity enable us to adapt ourselves to persons and contexts with more
economic or cultural needs; to insert ourselves in their midst when our mission calls for
it.

Mother Candida was humble in character. She never talked about her natural gifts. Her
humility was manifested in all occasion which called for it. Among many instances, her
first spiritual director Fr. Martin Barriola, often humiliated her and he even insulted her
when she was a foundress, however she appeased him with a smile. She was humble
of heart and whenever she accomplished something, she always said, “God did it, God
did it. She never put on airs nor become proud because of being a Superior General.

4. Continuous Updating
As Lay educators, we fulfill our work with responsibility and professional seriousness,
and have the capacity for teamwork. Open to renewal and updating.
- considering the evolution and changes in the field of education, ongoing formation and
updating are required in the different aspects of one’s work. And the F.I. educator seeks
to enhance his/her potentials and grow professionally and spiritually as these could be
means to make him/her feel secure in carrying out his/her mission.
- tardiness, webinars, submission of requirements, spiritual formations, evaluation,
openness is very important

- the evaluation of one’s teaching practice for example, which is one of the supervisory
concerns of the administration, is a way to help every F.I. educator in this aspect. And
as one family, we need each other in the process….open and willing to allow other
people to: enrich us, move us and even question us. This could be made possible if we
have the desire to be renewed.

We have to bear in mind that since we are a member of this educative family of Saint
Candida, we need to give respect to the identity of our school by contributing our ideas
and collaborating in the development and attainment of our common objectives.

5. the most effective teaching is example

We strive to educate with our whole being, giving those we educate a witness of life
coherent to their Christian option or with the ethical principles of honesty and
uprightness, showing particular sensitivity to those who are the poorest.

- one does not educate only or principally with what one says, neither with the ideas
one’s words convey. Rather, the values we preach are truly assimilated by others
through our whole person, through our own life; always convinced that BEING is more
important than doing or what we say.
- in carrying out our daily duties, we, the F.I. educators has to bear in mind and heart
that our actions and value system somehow affect and influence the pupils/students, the
parents and even our colleagues or the entire educative family. Definitely, this poses a
great challenge on us, but surely the fruits will be rewarding.

Nothing has been changed. The world is changing but the doctrines are still the same.

In what area/s do I still need to work on and improve on being an F.I. educator?
What are my concrete plans of actions in order to achieve my goal in # 1?

Closing Prayer of an F.I. Lay Educator