{"id":4109,"date":"2025-05-11T10:58:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T02:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/?p=4109"},"modified":"2026-01-27T11:06:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T03:06:43","slug":"drawn-by-a-strong-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/2025\/05\/11\/drawn-by-a-strong-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawn by a Strong Force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vocation Story of Sr Mary Juanita &#8220;Nenet&#8221; Da\u00f1o, RGS<\/h3>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image4109_43e0f9-e3 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image4109_43e0f9-e3\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3-768x569.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-4110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3-768x569.jpg 768w, https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3-1024x759.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I had two dreams as a little girl.\u00a0 First, I wanted to be a PMAer like my uncle, a woman soldier, who could make a difference and be part of keeping the peace and order of our country. My second dream was that after I served as a peace-keeper, I dream of helping other people by becoming a nun with no particular congregation.\u00a0 Though I grew up in a life of poverty I was taught by my parents, teachers and the people in my neighborhood not to forget how to share the blessings I received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first dream was not sustained. With regards to becoming a nun, I thought it would not be attained anymore because I can serve already as a volunteer.\u00a0 But the Good Shepherd crook caught me in an unusual way.\u00a0 It was August 1992 that I met Sr. Mercy Ang, RGS, a missionary in Hongkong. It was only then that I knew of the Good Shepherd Congregation.\u00a0 When Sr. Mercy told us that in her congregation the Sisters could still wear rubber shoes and jeans, I thought the congregation was unique and not that conservative. A tiny voice told me that I might fit perfectly in this congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1994, I still could not make up my mind. I already passed the interview with the Canadian Embassy and I was just waiting for my working visa.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the visa was not given to me.\u00a0 I decided to continue my work in Hongkong to help finance my youngest sister\u2019s college education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then Sr. Mercy referred me to Sr. Concepta Bellosillo who explained to me what religious life is and introduced me to St. Mary Euphrasia. She advised me to meet the Sisters in Marycove and observe their life. She told me to keep in touch with Sr. Teresita Figueroa, Vocation Directress in the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first time I met the old Sisters, Sr. Mary Francis Flinn, an American, Sr. Cathleen, a Canadian and Sr. Marietta, a Chinese, I felt drawn by a strong force that I could not identify.\u00a0 Sr. Tess\u2019 encouraging letters, Sr. Concept\u2019s guidance and the old Sisters\u2019 witness were instrumental to my decision to attend the Discernment Retreat in April 24, 1997 and enter Pre-Novitiate in June of that same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Triune God is so consistent in giving me the graces I need despite the pitfalls and mistakes I made.\u00a0 Every time I feel unworthy of God\u2019s call I could feel His guidance and love flowing concretely.\u00a0 The prayers and support of my family is also another blessings that contributed to my perseverance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Religious life is not an easy path.\u00a0 There are times that I am confronted with realities of community living. Despite the difficulty, if I have to live my life again I would still opt to be a religious, specifically a Good Shepherd nun. Because I can feel I belong here. The desire to help others when I was just a little girl jived with what the congregation is doing.\u00a0 I am so glad about it.\u00a0 The reality of different personalities is a challenge. But I believe that like me, they too have an important role in the mission of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.\u00a0 I feel blessed and grateful for the opportunity God gave me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Triune God is so consistent in giving me the graces I need despite the pitfalls and mistakes I made.\u00a0 Every time I feel unworthy of God\u2019s call I could feel His guidance and love flowing concretely.\u00a0 The prayers and support of my family is also another blessings that contributed to my perseverance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[48,45,33],"class_list":["post-4109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vocation-story","tag-consecrated-life","tag-good-shepherd","tag-vocation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4111,"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4109\/revisions\/4111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodshepherdsisters.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}