Sister of St. Paul of Chartres was vice principal of St. Joseph School
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Sister Judith Abique, a Sister of St. Paul of Chartres who served in Hawaii for seven years, died in the Philippines early on the morning of July 20. Her community said the cause was breast cancer. She was 47 and a religious sister for 20 years.
Sister Judith was born on April 17, 1972, in the Philippines. She graduated with an English and home economics degree in 1994 from St. Paul University in Dumaguete City, Sibulan, Negros Oriental, where she is from. She then taught in a Catholic school for two years and worked as a religious coordinator at St. Paul University for two years before joining the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in 1999.
From 2004 to 2006 she was the Christian formation officer at St. Vincent’s Academy and held a similar position at Notre Dame University in Cotabato City from 2006 to 2007 after which she made her perpetual vows.
She was the English department academic team leader at St. Paul College of Paranaque from 2008 to 2010 and the principal of St. Paul School in Iloilo for a year. She earned her master’s degree in religious education from Ateneo De Manila University in Manila in 2011 before being assigned to a mission in Hawaii in July 2011.
In an August 2013 “Viriditas” column she wrote for the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Sister Judith said that when she was asked by her congregation to come to the islands, “I had to reflect back on my motivation for joining the congregation, the religious life.”
“It was to share that love which I experienced from my family, my friends and other people of God. Thus, I said ‘Lord, I cannot do this if it is not coming from you,’” she said. “God gives us the grace we need to carry out any mission.”
In Hawaii, she started as the religious coordinator at St. Joseph Parish in Waipahu and then became the vice principal at St. Joseph School.
Sister Judith said in her 2013 column that in her work at the school “I always have in mind that what I do is not about position or privilege, it is a responsibility entrusted to me by God.”
She added that prayer, regular communion and meeting with a spiritual director helped keep her spiritually grounded but that she also made “my work lighter through putting some moments of play into my load. Sometimes I sing with the Lord. If I feel like dancing, I dance.”
“When you have the proper motivation, and you know the motivation of doing things, then God is never outdone with generosity.”
Her mission time in Hawaii ended in June 2018 and she returned to the Philippines.
Sister of St. Paul of Chartres Sister Mercedita Estrella was Sister Judith’s former superior during her mission in Hawaii and last saw her in the hospital May 27.
“She was wearing a peaceful face and a grateful heart for the love and care she received from so many people since the time she was admitted in the hospital,” Sister Mercedita said. “In fact, she expressed her desire to be sent to another mission if given a chance. Her mission on earth ends, but the footprints she left behind in the hearts of those lives she touched will continue to be a proclamation the goodness of God.”
St. Joseph School principal Beverly Sandobal wrote in an email that Sister Judith was “a humble, loving, generous, faithful servant of God.”
“She will be truly missed because of how she made a significant difference in all our lives as a missionary for seven years at St. Joseph,” Sandobal said.
Memorial Masses for Sister Judith were scheduled at St. Joseph Church for Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 8:15 a.m. for the school community and on Aug. 10 at 9 a.m. for the wider parish community.
Condolences can be sent to Sister Lilia Therese Tolentino, SPC, Provincial Superior, Our Lady of Chartres Convent, #203 Provincial Road, P.O. Box 1065, 1870 Antipolo City, Philippines.
