Address by Sr. Janet Wang
are so happy to be here today to thank God for
all the graces and blessings he has showered on Canossa Convent and
Canossaville Children’s Home during the past 60 years of their existence.
Many Sisters, girls and boys have spent some
years of their life here and have moved ahead.
A good number of them are present here today and will surely have many
stories to tell. I think some of you
should be up here at the microphone instead of me to share some of your memories
with us. As you look through the
photographs of the exhibition, you will recall many happy as well as touching
memories of those good old days.
As you can see from the short history printed in the souvenir Mass booklet, entitled “60 Years of Blessings,” Canossa Convent was founded on 15 August 1941, just four months before the Japanese occupation. The Sisters and orphans went through hard times during the war, especially when they had to evacuate and move to the camp in Bahau, Malaysia, where there was scarcity of food and the other necessities of life. The hardship of those early years must have served to form the characters of those girls and boys to be practical, strong and resilient. Today, many of them are already grandparents. They have brought up their children well, passing on to them the virtues which give meaning to life and make life fruitful. Some of these virtues are summed up in the Word of God proclaimed at the Eucharistic celebration: “Be clothed in sincere compassion, kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love.” (Col. 3: 12-14).
If in the course of the last 60 years, the Sisters and staff have managed, in some way, by the grace of God, to practise these virtues and pass them on to the many children who have been with them, then we really have reason to be thankful to God. Our Mother Foundress, St. Magdalene of Canossa, was very much aware of our human fragility even as educators. That is why she tells us: “Be courageous.
Today, our staff and Sisters are faithfully carrying on with the mission of forming the hearts of the young entrusted to our care. We are aware of the great need to promote family life in Singapore
and to offer a loving and nurturing
environment for children from families in difficulty. That is why the range of
services provided by Canossaville Children’s Home has widened to embrace
before and after
school student care, pastoral care of children and parents, parent education,
counselling and therapy besides residential care. Many children and adults in our affluent society, are suffering from
hurts due to
broken relationships, divorce, separation, sickness and bereavement. They are in need of healing and hope. The situation is further aggravated today by
financial problems due to retrenchment and the economic downturn.
People today are talking about building up the EQ (the emotional quotient) and the AQ (the adversity quotient), so as to be able to face and cope with the problems of modern day living. We would like to go a step further – to develop the SQ (the spiritual quotient). SQ refers to the spiritual intelligence which God has given us to look at our lives in a wider, richer and more meaning-giving context, the ability to address and solve problems of meaning and value, turning them into opportunities for growth, the capacity to be creative, to envision unrealized possibilities – to dream, to aspire, to raise ourselves to move towards becoming the loving and caring persons God has created us to be.
We, the Canossian Sisters have been able to carry out this challenging mission in the past 60 years and will be able, by the grace of God, to continue to provide this intricate network of services, only with your continued collaboration, help and support. A big and heartfelt “Thank you” to the excellent team of Sisters and lay staff and volunteers who are providing with love and dedication, all the services of the Student Care Centre, the Learning Centre and the Residential Home with related programmes like the Rainbow.
Our deep appreciation to our Archbishop Elect, Rev.
Fr. Nicholas Chia for gracing the occasion, to the members of the Management
Committee, our benefactors and friends, for your unfailing and generous support
and for being with us here today to thank God and to celebrate the love he has
shown us during the past 60 years.
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