HOW GOOD IT IS TO BE WITH THE BROTHERS!
The relationship among human beings seem to be born with them. In order to achieve this, it is necessary, aside other things, to hold a meeting, which is essential for the analysis of the matter. Meetings are motivated by very different reasons. With the most varied range of participants and places of the earth in which they take place.
In the current times of health crisis, meetings have spread through digital platforms, which have undoubtedly brought people together and allowed life to continue, albeit in a very different way.
Today we will meet, in a very stimulating way, a meeting of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, called PROVINCIAL CHAPTER, present in Latin American lands.
"Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel" (Mk 16:18) is the word and mandate of the risen Lord that refers to the Gospel of St Mark. Today, in most environments and places the Word of God is no longer read. The culture of death has been established and reigns in every corner of the globe. On the other hand, Christianity, from its origin, announces the Good News of salvation with word and witness, with life and action. The Franciscan Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, faithful to their missionary charism, proclaim Jesus Christ, meeting, celebrating the love and mercy of the Father, who calls us to be brothers and sisters, to build together a new humanity, serving in minority and joy, in simplicity and humility. All this and more is possible, because God exists, because God loves humanity, because God saves from sin and death. May these lines be for you an announcement of salvation.
The constitutions of the Congregation, the norm of the religious life, define the PROVINCIAL CHAPTER as "a favourable time for the entire community of the province, represented by the capitulars, to find themselves in the Lord, to seek and welcome His will with readiness, in a spirit of renewal, openness and communion with the whole religious family" (Art. 128).
The Latin American Province "San Antonio" is formed by Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico. This portion of the Congregation carries out the chapter every three years, but due to the restrictions of the year 2021, the chapter assembly was postponed to January 2022. The Provincialate house, so far, is Santiago de Chile.
The Superior General, currently Sister Paola Dotto, presides at this meeting, accompanied, on this occasion, by General Councillor Sister Gregoria Suarez M. Her inaugural greeting contextualizes the event "Finally we meet here, celebrating our provincial chapter! Everyone knows how many worries, tiredness, insecurities experienced more than a year ago so that this event could take place and, above all, celebrate it all together. Let us give thanks to the Lord, because despite the difficulties, today we are here, even if with different ways and expressions from the usual spontaneous and joyful affection".
The chapter is prepared by the Provincial Superior and the sisters who collaborate in the government, who are called councilors. Following the guidelines of the Church and the Congregation, they define the motto and develop an instrument of work to be analyzed by the communities, to be established in the instrument or in the chapter document.
The participants are appointed capitulars chosen from the sisters of the province that meet the requirements. The aims of this important meeting are different: to evaluate, to stimulate, to share, to indicate, to study, to choose the provincial government, to draft. The first thing that is highlighted in the definition is that it is an encounter in the Lord. A chapter is prepared with prayer and work: for more than a year we pray every day prayer for the success of the event and every community offers Holy Mass once a month. The Superior General urges that "this meeting, so special, may become for all a trust in the Spirit together, let oneself be guided by Him in a humble and serene attitude, with a heart and a mind open to hope, to mutual listening among sisters. We entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary, protector of the Americas, to the humble and courageous Saint Joseph, to our special protector Saint Anthony, to our Founders who together accompany us in the search for the true good" (Opening address of the chapter of the Superior General).
The work of the Chapter Assembly is guided by the motto "In Minority and Joy We Give God His Mercy to Go Joyfully to Meet our Brothers and sisters". A motto very in tune with the message of Pope Francis in "Laudato sii" and "Fratelli tutti", to rebuild a new humanity, where all are brothers and sisters, welcoming diversity, embracing the rejected ones. In the words of St Francis of Assisi, it is a matter of "using mercy" especially with the needy of today. The International Union of Major Superiors also points the way: "to embrace the vulnerability... of the crucified ones of our time" (DC N, 8).
One chapter is experiencing HOW IT FEELS GOOD TO BE WITH THE BROTHERS and SISTERS! After four years or more without seeing each other, without meeting, the sisters enjoy sharing, living together the love of God transmitted in prayer, singing and praise, adoration and silence, in the sacrament of confession and especially, in the Eucharist, in which the great and powerful God who created the universe, is also the small, simple God, made the Bread of Life. This meeting announces that it is worth being together, overcoming all kinds of difficulties, tiredness, illness, because knowing, seeing and feeling welcomed, listened to, loved, appreciated, is worth much more than all the comforts and security of today’s individualist and solitary world.
Together they implore God and make their way to open their hearts to the beauty of the Truth that is God, trusting in the tenderness of the Father to listen to each other as sisters, with kindness and understanding, caring for each other, with humble and sincere respect, avoiding prejudices, accepting the personal, cultural, ethnic differences, precious gifts of God to live the consecration with joy every day. Therefore, the Father, looking at the religious, may recognize in them the face of his Son Jesus.
A culminating moment of this fraternal meeting is the choice of the Provincial Superior and the Sisters of the Provincial Council. Like every action in the Christian and religious life, it is preceded by an invocation to the Holy Spirit and by a heartfelt prayer, asking the Lord for His light so that the sisters who receive the mandate from the authority, promote the spirit of prayer and guide to holiness, fraternal communion, evangelization and mission. May they stimulate charity and minority in the sisters, to be a Province on a journey through the world, proclaiming the culture of life and the family, of respect for people and creatures.
The Lord gives us a gift for this service of:
Sister Alejandra Vallejos Araya Provincial Superior
Sister Elena Bilibio Durigon 1st provincial councillor and Vicar
Sister Roxana Zapata Bustamante 2nd provincial councillor
Sister Ana Ruth Ayma Quispe 3rd provincial councillor
Sister Claudia Muñoz Lehue 4th provincial councillor
One of the tasks is to promote fraternal communion, making authority a service in charity.
"See how they love each other! See how they are willing to die for each other," explains Tertullian, in the 2nd century. To love you need to know, to know, to share. These are the ways that a MEETING OF SISTERS offers. May this be for you, good news.
