“Compassion Needs No Advanced Degree,” Says Little Sister as Order Marks 50 Years in Philippines

Compassion and service to the poor do not require advanced education or special qualifications, a member of the Little Sisters of Jesus said as the congregation marked 50 years of presence in the Philippines.

Sr. Cecilia Grace of Jesus, the congregation’s sister-in-charge in the Philippines, made the appeal during the order’s golden jubilee celebration on August 14 at San Roque Parish Church in Mandaluyong City, where Cardinal Jose F. Advincula of Manila presided over the anniversary Mass.

“It is not necessary to have finished a high-level course to be able to help,” Sr. Cecilia told Radyo Veritas, according to CBCP News.

Her message reflects the congregation’s approach to mission, which emphasizes living alongside people on the margins rather than simply providing services from a distance.

Since arriving in the Philippines in 1976, the Little Sisters of Jesus have lived among rural settlers, workers, domestic workers, migrants and other marginalized communities, sharing their daily lives and accompanying them in their struggles.

In some communities, their work has included helping homeless people obtain government identification documents and recover legal identity, enabling them to access basic services and exercise their rights.

Sr. Cecilia said the sisters’ presence is rooted in the belief that God is encountered in ordinary human life and work.

“We want to remind everyone that God became a worker like us,” she said.

CBCP News reported that Cardinal Advincula urged the sisters to remain faithful to their vocation of simplicity and communion. Rather than focusing on the congregation’s accomplishments over five decades, he said the jubilee should point to God’s faithfulness.

“Fifty years is not simply a measure of time,” the cardinal said. “It is a testimony to God’s faithfulness.”

Drawing from Mary’s Magnificat, Cardinal Advincula also encouraged the sisters and the faithful to resist “worldly powers and systems of domination.” He called them to remain rooted in the spirituality of Nazareth and Bethlehem, where the congregation finds its inspiration for a simple life close to ordinary people.

The Little Sisters of Jesus was founded in Algeria in 1939 by Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus, inspired by the spirituality of St. Charles de Foucauld.

The congregation came to the Philippines in 1976 at the invitation of the late Bishop Bienvenido Tudtud and began living among poor communities. Rather than establishing large institutions, the sisters chose to share the ordinary circumstances of the people they accompanied.

Their presence has continued across five decades among farmers, workers and other communities experiencing poverty and social exclusion.

For Sr. Cecilia, this mission remains accessible to anyone willing to accompany people who are poor or marginalized.

The sisters’ golden jubilee therefore looks beyond an institutional milestone. It renews their invitation to ordinary people to discover that service can begin with presence, listening and compassion, without requiring advanced degrees or special training.