The Provincial Chapter 2021, continued...
As we had announced you, we met in Rome from September 25th to October 3rd, fifty sisters from our great Province Europe-Togo…. and it seems to me that we have fulfilled the road map of a Provincial Chapter by asking the Spirit day after day to guide us on this path of listening, reflection, sharing and discernment.
A rereading as a « form of dance »
Sister Véronique Fabre, our provincial, first invited us to a «rereading of the past six years in the form of a dance». Yes, there have been steps forward, steps aside, steps that we had hoped for, prepared for a while and others so unexpected, some harmonious, others more chaotic… This first sharing as well as the rereading of our economic life made us touch the diversity and the fragile balance of our community lives, the demand of our mission within the rapid evolution of our world and how much we had received gifts from the goodness of the Lord to allow us to live it throughout these years !
Updated life standards
We have continued to complete work to update our provincial norms, a task that has been long prepared individually and in communities.Through these norms affecting all aspects of our lives, apostolic service, formation, community life, prayer… it is the way in which we all commit ourselves to live the daily life in our Province, that was at stake. The proposal of our assembly’s “facilitator” to use tablets connected to her computer to vote on each standard saved us valuable time.
This gave us the joy of a day off that everyone could live according to “the desire of his heart” !
The development of the theme of the General Chapter
Before continuing with our work to prepare next year’s General Chapter on the topic : ” to dare to go out and to share everything in the school of the heart of Christ in an apostolic perspective ”.
To do this, we took the time of “conversations” to gather the fruits of the past years and to name the calls for those to come.
Fruits concerning the widening of our gaze, of our listening, of our hearts, the unity in a “common feeling” that has grown among us and also the vulnerability of our “young Province Europe Togo”.
Calls to always deepen the quality of our community life, to situate ourselves as “vulnerable in a vulnerable world”, to continue to live with faith and risk a demanding “daring to go out”, to work for the transformation of our Church in crisis.
The election of our delegates to the General Chapter
In the midst of the elaboration of a document containing all our reflections, we elected our delegates for the General Chapter as well as their alternates. This was always a time of prayer, so that the Spirit may help us to discern those who will have to listen to him in the name of the whole Congregation for the years to come.
Final document and sending celebration
After reviewing together and voting on the final document of our Province and the questions we wished to ask the General Chapter, our final celebration allowed us to gather the fruits of the past days and to pray and bless together our sisters delegates.
We had begun by celebrating together on September 26th our Founder Saint Thérèse Couderc. This chapter has made us live personally and communally something of her spiritual experience : to taste the Goodness of God and to “give oneself up” in trust in the motherly prayer of Our Lady of the Cenacle to which we have all entrusted ourselves. May the Lord be truly thanked for this !
Article written by sœur Marie Jamet, London Community.
Would you like to know more about the challenges of a provincial chapter ? Our dedicated article is available here.
