February 25, 2026 – The third day of the IPC began with Lauds and the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice, presided by Rev. Fr. Jose Francisco Teves, OSA, Master of College Seminarians, and concelebrated by Frs. Ronelle Dogon, OSA, Master of the Young Professionals, and Dipi Kattathara, OSA, Master of Novices. In his homily, Fr. Teves noted the hardness of heart that the prophet Jonah and the people of Jesus’ time had, a hardened heart that prevented them from perceiving God at work in the repentance of the Ninevites, and fully revealed in Christ. In contrast to the temptations of self-sufficiency and of a hardened heart, he invited the brethren to be open to conversion and dialogue, highlighting the importance of prayer as dialogue with God, as manifestation of one’s need for God, and as a lens to seeing one’s relationship with others.

The morning session began at 9:00 AM with a prayer led by the day’s moderator, Rev. Fr. Leo Mario Singco, OSA. After the prayer, Rev. Fr. Mark Domasian, OSA gave the previous day’s recap.

Fr. Harold Langahin, OSA then introduced the speaker, Mr. John Neil Perfecio, a faculty member of the University of San Jose—Recoletos, for his talk entitled “Reflections on Dilexi te and Augustinian Challenges.” He began his talk with the parable of the Good Samaritan, which showed the closeness of God to our wounded humanity and the contradiction of shying away from the responsibility of social justice in the name of neutrality and safety. As he quipped in his talk, “To live comfortably while others are starving is not charity – it is a contradiction.” He then proposed the danger of looking at the poor as statistics or as mere recipients of mission, as it prevents us from seeing them as loci of divine revelation. For “any ministry that observes suffering without entering it contradicts the logic of the Incarnation.” Moreover, to be a Church of the poor entails not only mere listening, but also learning to walk with them and share in their struggles, for in being with the poor, we are made closer with the Lord, who hears the cry of the poor.

After the brief break, the Father Provincial gave a brief message to the Capitular Fathers to orient them to the day’s discussions. He first spoke of the interruption of the poor in reference to Mr. Perfecio’s talk, and of the relevance of the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, exhorting the members to be open in listening and in discussions on the status of the Vicariate of Papua and of the communities of the Province.

The remainder of the morning session was allotted for the presentation and reports of the Vicariate of Christus Totus in Papua, headed by their Regional Superior, Rev. Fr. Floridus Nadja, OSA. Fr. Yohannis Sedik, OSA then presented the situation of the community and apostolate of the Ketapang residence, and Fr. Adrianus Durenge, OSA presented the situation of the education apostolate of the Vicariate. Among all else, the assembly was pleased to hear of the conditions of the Vicariate that can lead to their autonomy as a Province of the Order. Among the interventions made after the reports were proposals of collaboration, especially in the educational apostolate. The morning session ended at 11:50 AM.

The afternoon session which began at 2:30 PM commenced the first round of reporting of the community priors and local superiors. The first to report were the Santo Niño Mission Station in Vintar, Ilocos Norte, the Saint Augustine of Hippo Parish in Saguday, Quirino, the St. Augustine Parish in Gubat, Sorsogon and the San Agustin Center of Studies in Quezon City. After a 30-minute break, the following communities presented their reports: Colegio San Agustin-Biñan Community, Mother of Good Counsel Parish in Chrysanthemum Village, San Pedro, Laguna, Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod Community, the USA Chapel-Sambag Residence in Jaro, Iloilo City and the San Jose Catholic School and Parish Community in Iloilo City. After the reports and interventions, the day’s sessions ended at 6:00 PM, and the Capitular Fathers proceeded to pray Vespers at 6:30 PM.r.