Post-Chapter Refection…

From the Chapter Resolutions…

The celebration of the XV General Chapter has been preceded by a long phase of listening. The individual contributions and feedback from the communities, the provinces, the lay collaborators, the Canossian Fathers and the deepening on the theme from various sectors, have been of great help in the phases of our reality check and discernment. Confronting them with the Gospel values and our Charismatic gift, we have tried to read and understand the signs of the times. A comprehensive summary of the preliminary work found its rightful place in the working paper of the XV General Chapter.  It has made us also vitally aware of the inter-nationality of our Congregation, the attention it demands, the possibilities it   offers and the value of unity in  diversity.

The theme of the Chapter “For the sake of Christ, with St. Magdalene – The Life of Consecration: the Vows Today”, necessarily brought us face to face with the Mission of Jesus and the original inspiration of Magdalene. The rich experience of reflecting together and trying to understand better Magdalene’s mind and heart, her vision, provided the starting point for a journey of renewal in our Institute, at the dawn of the third century of its existence.

What Magdalene saw, fixing her eyes on Jesus Crucified, captured her heart and gave her a new direction for a specific way of life. We are attracted and inspired to enter into this same experience and to allow   ourselves to be transformed by the same fire of Charity that will enable us to pass it on to others in all its integrity.

Without taking for granted the journey of conversion we are called to undertake in following Jesus, we recognise that the great changes that have occurred in the past 200 years of our history demand that we intensify our availability to be converted/changed so that the charism received remains vital and integral in its essence.

The journey of transformation is an ongoing process that involves all aspects of life: the XV General Chapter offers some proposals and suggestions on how we can proceed in this direction.

The Provincial Councils, and the Sisters who have participated as Delegates to the General Chapter, are planning, or have planned, sessions for sharing and facilitating the interiorisation and the owning of the values proposed.  This will ensure a mentality of change that facilitates an authentic transformation of our being in conformity with Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary, respecting the various cultural realities in which we live and serve.

“Therefore, let us lay aside every encumbrance of sin which clings to us

and persevere in running the race which lies ahead;

let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,

who inspires and perfects our faith.”

(Heb. 12, 1-2)

Have an enriching journey!

Let us entrust all our hopes and aspirations, needs and concerns into the caring hands of Mary Mother of Love at the foot of the Cross.

With loving and prayerful greetings to each one of you,

Sr. Margaret Peter, FdCC

Congregational  Leader

18 Mar 08 – A Time for saying Thanks

We thanked the women who helped in the kitchen during this time:

Dearest ROSINA, STEFANIA, PATRIZIA, ANGELA, LALLA, and MAY, we are finishing our Chapter and we cannot tell you enough THANK YOU! Each of us would like to express this in her own language and in her own particular way. But one language is common to all..that of love and so… THANK YOU! You have been for all of us and each of us, a gentle and discreet presence, attentive and available, generous and silent, but always joyful. How many times you have we met you and you have sought to make us feel comfortable… how incredible the way you sustained us with food, snacks and…your sweetness… For all you’ve done…THANK YOU! We want to express it with a small gift, a sign of our affection and of the prayer that we assure you!

— — — At the end of our work, this evening we celebrated the right of mandate. The prayer was centered on the theme of the Chapter: “For the Sake of Christ”, recalling the text of John 3:4-5:   “Nicodemus said to Jesus: ‘How can man be reborn when he is old? Can he perhaps enter the womb of his mother a second time and be reborn?’. Jesus responded to him saying: ‘In truth, in truth I say to you, if one is not born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the reign of God.’”

… and one writing by Mons. Oscar Romero, that we share here:“The Reign is not only come by our own efforts, but it even more so from our vision. We realize in our time of life only a tiny fraction of the great undertaking of the work of God. Nothing of which we do is complete, it is another way of saying that the Reign is always above us. No affirmation says all that could be said. No prayer expresses completely our faith. No confession carries to perfection. No pastoral visit carries to the fullness. No program completely carried out contains the mission of the Church. No series of aims and objectives encompasses everything. This is that which we do. We plant seeds that grow one day. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they carry a promise for the future. We lay foundations that have need of further development. We procure leaven that produces effects beyond our capacity. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of freedom in rendering account for it. This gives us the capacity to do something and to do it well. It may be incomplete, but it is begun, a long passage along a road, an occasion for the grace of God to enter and to the rest. We may never see the results, But this is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not masters; servants, not messiahs. WE are prophets of a future that is not our own.”

At the end M. Margaret gave to all the “stole” of the mandate, so that now each Capitular Sister is invited to be witnesses among the Sisters of the grace of God infused in us in these days.

17 Mar 08 – Holy Week

Introduction for the Lauds: Holy WeekAs we revisit the events of that final tumultuous week in Jesus’ life, we are plunged by memory and ritual into the mystery that reveals and defines the meaning of his existence, and of our own.His story is our story,and what happened to him is the pattern for what is happening and will happen to us. Jesus’ passion is the final revelation of the demands of discipleship. He is willing to do whatever it takes to call others to accountability for their actions, even to the point of suffering and death. May we, by following Jesus’ teaching and his example, come to know God more deeply and continue to build the Kingdom community here on earth, trust in God’s gift of life beyond death and experience Christ’ presence with us “until the end of the age”.
This morning Fr. Gioachino Fasan, our oldest canossian father come to visit us. He told us some of the stories of the life of Fr. Angelo Pasa, who has been put under the course of beatification.
He asked all the Canossian sisters to pray hard so that God will make known to the Sons of Charity and to the whole Church, the saintly life of this brother of ours, who has been incarnated with the passion of the charism of Magdalene.