Philip Bennenbroek has been Called to make First Profession in the Society of Mary and will take his Vows in Davao in the Philippines on 25 March.
At the conclusion of the novitiate he will return to Hopetoun Street to continue his studies. Please remember him in your prayers, especially as he prepares for Profession.
Phil grew up in a Catholic family in a small rural town called Pokeno, just south of Auckland in New Zealand. He studied electronics and computer technology and worked in New Zealand for 11 years before doing my “O.E” (Overseas Experience) in London for three and a half years. While there, I worked as a software developer and lived in a lay Augustinian community, which is where I got my first taste of community life with all its joys and challenges.
When he returned to NZ in 2006, he started his own business as an I.T. contractor, then, in 2007, moved into the Catholic Discipleship College community in Auckland where he worked part time. It was during this year that he began to discern more closely the possibility of joining the Society of Mary and becoming a Marist Priest.
Phil says, “I didn’t have any idea at that time that I’d be living in the Philippines within 2 years! If I had, I probably would have said, “Thanks, but it’s not for me”. However, here I am and loving it. It just goes to show that we often don’t know what we will enjoy, or what we are capable of, until we give it a go.”