T O BRING FULLER LIFE TO OTHERS G ENERAL A SSEMBLY OF THE S ISTERS - - PDF document

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“TO BRING FULLER LIFE TO OTHERS”

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SISTERS OF THE SORROWFUL MOTHER 15

TH OCTOBER 2012

The task that has been given to me is to help you reflect on the theme of this Assembly: “to bring fuller life to others”. As you all know, the theme is taken from Article 51

• f your Constitutions:

“The apostolic and spiritual heritage which we have received from St Francis and Mother Frances, challenges us to give ourselves completely to Christ as instruments to bring fuller life to others”.1 The reflection will have three separate moments:

• This presentation
• The presentation of some reflection questions
• The rest of the day in which you will use the presentation and the questions as a basis

for personal reflection. The substance of my contribution will consist of a kind of lectio of the text of this Article, paying attention to some of the echoes found there that can lead you more deeply into an encounter with what lies at the heart of the life of this Congregation, every religious institute, and of every gathering of Christians, no matter how small or large, namely the person of the Living God, Father, Son, and Spirit. There are four steps in this lectio based on the contents of the text: ° “the apostolic and spiritual heritage which we have received ...” ° “to give ourselves completely to Christ...” ° “as instruments...” ° “to bring fuller life to others”.

• a. “the apostolic and spiritual heritage which we have received ...”

In August, the Franciscan family concluded its celebration of the eighth centenary of the conversion/profession of St Clare. One notable feature of her long life as a religious seeking to follow in the footsteps of Francis was an awareness of her own vocation as a gift from God, a gift for which she was always profoundly thankful. This is clear from the

• pening lines of the Testament she left for her sisters:

“Among the other gifts we have received and do daily receive from our benefactor, the Father

• f Mercies, and for which we must express the deepest thanks to the glorious Father of
• Christ. There is our vocation, for which, all the more by way of its being more perfect and

greater, do we owe the greatest thanks to Him. Therefore the Apostle writes: “Know your vocation”. The Son of God has been made for us the Way which our blessed father Francis, His true lover and imitator, has shown and taught us by word and example”2. Clare was convinced that the Lord had called her to live according to the holy Gospel after the example of Francis. For over forty years after she made her profession to Francis in the presence of the early brothers in the Porziuncola, Clare struggled to elaborate and have recognised the precise form of life to which she believed she had been called. It was not always easy. There were many others who sought to construct a way of life for her, but she

1 Our Way of Life: Constitutions of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother (henceforth OWL). 2 St Clare of Assisi, Testament, 1 – 2.

General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

2 continued to insist and eventually, a few days before she died on 11th August 1253, the Pope approved the text of the Form of Life3 that she had written in which she incorporated the elements she believed were essential to a faithful response to the call she had received. Thankfully, the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother in the year 2012 do not have to endure the same struggle of St Clare. The fundamental form of life of the Congregation is contained in the Constitutions, the text of which was approved by the Holy See in 1992, a text that has been updated and clarified several times in the course of the Congregation’s

• history. In the years since Vatican II the Congregation, like so many others, responded to the

challenge of renewal by means of a constant return to the sources of all Christian life and to the original spirit of the institute4. Although much of the content of the Constitutions may be prescribed by the universal law of the Church, the writing of the text for the past five decades has been left to the members of the Congregation. That text, the fruit of many years of wisdom and experience of those who have gone before, helps to express your heritage as a Congregation. This heritage that you have received is an integral part of what the Code of Canon Law describes as the patrimony of a religious institute.5 The Constitutions of any religious institute have a fundamental role to play in preserving and transmitting that patrimony.6 Yet that heritage cannot remain locked within the covers of a book – it must be known, and it must be lived. In his Apostolic Exhortation after the 1994 Synod of Bishops dedicated to the consecrated life, Blessed John Paul II wrote: “...there is a pressing need today for every Institute to return to the Rule, since the Rule and Constitutions provide a map for the whole journey of discipleship, in accordance with a specific charism confirmed by the Church. A greater regard for the Rule will not fail to offer consecrated persons a reliable criterion in their search for the appropriate forms of a witness which is capable of responding to the needs of the times without departing from an Institute's initial inspiration”7.

3 The text of the Form of Life is contained within a papal document that begins with the greeting: “Innocent,

Bishop, Servant of the servants of God, to his beloved daughters in Christ, Clare, Abbess, and the other sisters

• f the monastery of San Damiano in Assisi, health and Apostolic blessing. The Apostolic See is accustomed to

accede to the pious requests and to be favourably disposed to grant the praiseworthy desires of the petitioners. Thus, we have before Us your humble request that We confirm by our Apostolic Authority the form of life that Blessed Francis gave you and which you have freely accepted. According to this form of life you should live together in unity of mind and heart and in the profession of the highest poverty”. The document concludes with the ending and date: “Therefore, no one is permitted to destroy this document of our confirmation or to oppose it

• recklessly. If anyone should presume to attempt this, let him know he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and

His holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Assisi, the ninth day of August, in the eleventh year of our Pontificate”.

4 Perfectae Caritatis n. 2. 5 “The whole patrimony of an institute must be faithfully preserved by all. This patrimony is comprised of the

intentions of the founders, of all that the competent ecclesiastical authority has approved concerning the nature, purpose, spirit and character of the institute, and of its sound traditions” (Canon 578).

6 “To protect more faithfully the vocation and identity of each institute, the fundamental code or constitutions of

the institute are to contain, in addition to those elements which are to be preserved in accordance with can. 578, basic norms about the governance of the institute, the discipline of the members, the admission and formation of members, and the proper object of their sacred bonds” (Canon 587 §1).

7 Pope John Paul II, Vita Consecrata n. 37.

General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

3 The Constitutions are not just a set of norms to be consulted when necessary, but “a map for the whole journey of discipleship”, and “a reliable criterion in their search for the appropriate forms of a witness ...” And yet, if the apostolic and spiritual heritage that you have received from St Francis and Mother Frances is really to be the foundation of who you are and what you do, then the text of the Constitutions alone will never suffice to nourish

• you. The charism of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, recognised by the competent

authority first in 1898 and then definitively in 1911, is not something static. It is a gift of the Spirit of God to the whole Church. Like all gifts of the Spirit, it is dynamic, it is alive, it is forever seeking new ways of expression – it is forever driving those who live it out of the safety of the Upper Room and out into the streets of Jerusalem.8 This charism is rooted in a highly original vision of LaVerna and Carmel arching themselves into one, a vision that needs to be constantly explored, not for the sake of some kind of “archaeology of the spiritual life” but as a means of tapping into the roots of the charism so that your life today can have something of the living energy and drive of both St Francis and Mother Frances9. Receiving this great heritage cannot be the end of the process envisaged by the Constitutions. What is received must be transmitted; it must be lived; it must be lived with sincere gratitude and with enthusiasm. Those who live it joyfully will allow the living Spirit of God to move in them, driving them outward into the world as at Pentecost, while keeping them united among themselves and with all who share the same Spirit, even though differently gifted.

• b. “to give ourselves completely to Christ...”

These few simple words already indicate a way into the heritage you have received. Writing to the whole Order, Francis meditates on the mystery of the Eucharist as a mirror of the great mystery of the Incarnation, a testimony of the utter generosity and humility of God: “Let everyone be struck with fear, let the whole world tremble, and let the heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the living God, is present on the altar in the hands of a priest! O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity! The Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under an ordinary piece of bread! Brothers, look at the humility of God, and pour

• ut your hearts before Him! Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by Him! Hold back

nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that He Who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally!”10 Here we have a keen insight into one of the pillars of an authentic Franciscan vision

• f God, of humanity, and of the whole of creation, a foundation of your own apostolic and

spiritual heritage: in the Incarnation, Francis sees God becoming human in the flesh and blood of Jesus – stripping Himself of everything divine for love of us; in the gift of the Eucharist, which we celebrate daily, that mystery is repeated for Francis – this time, the Son

• f God (truly God and truly human, Jesus) comes to us under the form of an ordinary piece of
• bread. This double kenosis is seen by Francis as an incentive to his followers to give

themselves totally, to hold back nothing for themselves, to imitate their Lord completely.

8 Cf. Acts 2. 9 “This heritage is an enduring gift which calls forth continual renewal of spirit, development of our charism,

and adaptation to the conditions of the times” (OWL Art. 6).

10 Francis of Assisi, A letter to the entire Order, 21-29.

General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

4 This theme is picked up in the third letter of Clare to Agnes of Prague: “… love Him totally Who gave Himself totally for your love, Whose beauty the sun and the moon admire, Whose rewards and their preciousness and greatness are without end; I am speaking of Him Who is the Son of the Most High, Whom the Virgin brought to birth… May you cling to His most sweet Mother who gave birth to a Son whom the heavens could not contain, and yet she carried Him in the little enclosure of her holy womb and held Him on her virginal lap…”11 The example of Jesus, the Eternal Word, who gave up everything to take on our humanity, inspired what is one of the most original aspects of the spirituality of Francis, Clare and the whole Franciscan movement, i.e. expropriation, living sine proprio, without anything of one’s own. This runs much deeper than the older forms of monastic poverty. It runs much deeper than the religious poverty of holding all things in common. It runs much, much deeper than the purely economic or financial. It means surrendering everything of one’s

• wn. The one who has nothing that she or he can call “my own” is thus free to receive

everything from God, is free to consider everything in the world around as a gift, is free to become an open window through which the Spirit of God can breathe, bringing life, freedom and energy to a troubled and discouraged world. Not only that, but whatever good emerges in

• ne’s life is then referred back to God as to the source of all good12. It is not held on to as

“mine” or “my success”; nor, can it ever be held on to as “ours” or “our success”. It all belongs to God, the source of all that is good. Thus, in your own tradition, you are called to “give yourselves completely to Christ”13. In this, there can be no half-measures, no compromises14. It will always require the greatest of courage because such a self-giving can never be once off – it needs to be renewed each and every day, and sometimes almost each and every moment. This total self-giving is not some kind of penitential exercise: it is understood to be the joyful and voluntary response

• f love to a love that has been given and demonstrated15.
• c. “as instruments...”

The use of the word “instrument” in the context of this Article of the Constitutions carries many echoes with it. It follows logically from the concept of complete self-giving and has echoes in Scripture: “behold the handmaid of the Lord”16; “let what you have said be

11 Clare of Assisi, Third Letter to Agnes of Prague, 15-19. 12 St Francis asked that the brothers refer all good things to God: “God, all powerful, most holy sublime ruler of

all, you alone are good - supremely, fully, completely good, may we render to you all praise, all honour and all blessing: may we always ascribe to you alone everything that is good!” (St Francis, Prayer to be said at all hours).

13 Cf. OWL Art. 51. 14 “In the surrender of ourselves to follow Christ with undivided love, we can enter into the paschal mystery,

wherein we are able to die to self and rise so closely united with Christ that his life transforms our dying” (OWL Art. 11).

15 “Led by the Spirit, we answer God’s invitation to follow Jesus Christ by freely binding ourselves to live the

Gospel in a more radical way. To give our whole self to God as a continuous act of love is our response to the call we experience as a religious vocation” (OWL Art. 7). “Our primary apostolate as religious is to follow Christ by living a life consecrated to God, cultivated through prayer and penance. Called into discipleship by

• ur baptism and consecrated to God by profession of the evangelical counsels, we give ourselves in love to be

sent for the service of others through our vow of obedience” (OWL Art. 49).

16 Luke 1, 38.

General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

5 done to me”17; “I am a voice crying in the wilderness”18: “he must increase, I must decrease”19. It has echoes of that prayer that is universally attributed to St Francis. “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life”20. The one praying asks to become an instrument. Thus, whatever we do is not ours. Whatever we offer is not ours. Whatever we bring to others is not ours. Instead, we are “instruments” of a loving God who calls us to be the continuing presence of Jesus Christ in a broken world. We are invited to become the hands of Jesus stretched out in compassion over the sick and the needy; we are called to become the hem of his cloak, accessible to all those

• n the margins who, in their need, reach out and try to touch it and be healed21.

The prayer attributed to St Teresa of Avila expresses this beautifully: "Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world”22.

17 Luke 1, 38. 18 John 1, 23. 19 John 3, 30. 20 The prayer itself has nothing to do with St Francis. Its earliest form can be traced only to the year 1912 when

it appeared in a French spiritual magazine. It is easy, however, to see in the form of the prayer traces of St Francis’ Admonition XXVII: “Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor disturbance. Where there is poverty with joy, there is neither covetousness nor avarice. Where there is inner peace and meditation, there is neither anxiousness nor dissipation. Where there is fear of the Lord to guard the house, there the enemy cannot gain entry. Where there is mercy and discernment, there is neither excess nor hardness of heart”.

21 Cf. Mark 5, 21-43. 22 This prayer, too, although attributed to St Teresa, cannot be found among her writings.

General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

6 Can we empty ourselves of all that we hold dearest in order to become solely the instruments of God’s loving presence in the world.

• d. “to bring fuller life to others”

And so we come to the central theme of the Assembly. This simple phrase has many echoes on several levels. “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full”23: in these few words, Jesus summarises his whole life and mission – to bring life to all of

• humanity. What is that life? What else can it be but a closer relationship with Jesus Himself:

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”24. In coming into a close relationship with Jesus, we enter into a deeper relationship with God, revealed as Father, Son and Spirit. The “task” of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother is thus to bring Jesus to others and to bring others to Jesus. This is very simple. It is very clear. As God’s instruments, according to the prayer just quoted, we seek to bring “peace” to others. This “peace” is not something

• negative. It is deeply and essentially positive25. The biblical concept of peace, shalom, is the

fullest possible sharing in the life of God; it means living in right relationship with God, with

• ther human beings, with all of God’s creation, and with oneself. These relationships are not

to be separated or lived in isolation one from the other. That would be impossible. This “peace”, this life, is a single relationship with several dimensions: how can I love God and not love my sister or brother? How can I love God and live in such a way that destroys our Sister Mother Earth? How can I love God and other people but live in a manner that is self- destructive, full of negativity? These dualities make no sense. Being aware of these dimensions and seeking to respond to their various demands means living a “fuller life”. And to whom must this fuller life be brought? According to the text of Article 51 and the theme of the Assembly, it must be brought to “others”. Who are these “others”? Since no

• ne is specified, in principle no one is excluded. But that cannot be used as an excuse for

vagueness in the lived reality. It is for each group of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, inserted into the reality of the culture and social context where they find themselves, to discern where to channel their energies in response to this call of God. Going back to the roots of your heritage, remember how Francis heard the voice of the Crucified call to him in San Damiano: “Go, repair my church”26. Francis did not set out with a blueprint of what was needed to renew the Church of his day. Instead, finding himself inside the ruins of the little chapel, he lifted one stone and set it on top of another. Our response to God’s call, our response to others must always be concrete and real, expressing the life that we bring to them, the life that we have received ourselves from God. It has been observed that “most people lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them”27. These are the others to whom you, the Sisters of the

23John 10,10. 24 John 14, 6. 25 According to the teaching of Vatican II: “Peace is not merely the absence of war;... it is rightly and

appropriately called an enterprise of justice. Peace results from that order structured into human society by its divine Founder, and actualized by men and women as they thirst after ever greater justice... peace is never attained once and for all, but must be built up ceaselessly. .... Hence peace is likewise the fruit of love, which goes beyond what justice can provide. That earthly peace which arises from love of neighbour symbolizes and results from the peace of Christ which radiates from God the Father” (Gaudium et Spes 78).

26 Cf. The Legend of the Three Companions 13 27 This statement is often attributed to the American author, Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862). However, it is

conflation of two quotations: one from Thoreau (“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”), and the

General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

7 Sorrowful Mother, are sent, to whom you are called to minister. Our world today is increasingly becoming a problem for people, a burden, a source of deep anxiety and stress, instead of being a place of encounter with the living God. Your own experience of life and ministry will confirm that. Bringing life to others, bringing this “fuller life”, will help each one to recognise the value that is theirs, the unique contribution that each one must make to the great symphony that God is conducting in the universe. In one of his Sermons, St Augustine takes for his text the line from Psalm 96: “Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints”. Augustine says: “We are told to sing to the Lord a new song... A song is a thing of joy and, if we think carefully about it, a thing of love. So the one who has learned to love a new life has learned to sing a new song”28. The new song of which he speaks is the new life of the faithful after baptism. How many of the baptised today are able to sing that new song? How many of those who are not baptised never get to experience the joy of being a Christian because the baptised have either forgotten how to sing the new song or never learned to sing it in the first place? Surely, the first and fundamental way to bring fuller life to others is to learn to sing the new song of our own life in Christ. If you are called to bring fuller life to others, you can do this only if you have recognised within yourselves the gift given to you by God, the gift of life, the gift of new life in baptism, the gift of a new way to live that new life through religious profession. How can anyone who does not or cannot sing the new song help those “who never sing but die with all their music in them”? The call you have received through your Constitutions to bring fuller life to others echoes not just the words of Jesus, “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full”; it also calls to mind the words of Jesus to the disciples at the last Supper: “If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15, 10-12). Those who live, who have accepted the gift of life offered by Jesus, who have entered consciously into a closer relationship with him, share his joy and manifest that joy in their lives by living according to his new commandment. Can I invite you to reflect on the quality and reality of your life? So far, all of us have had some experience of “religious life”. Many of us have witnessed radical changes. We have experienced the change from a time when we were secure in our identity, in our role, in our place in society and in the Church – even if we might not have always been very content about it – to a time when nothing is sure and any certainties we thought we had are constantly

• shifting. We have witnessed the move

from the unquestioned certainty of lifelong commitment to the uncertainty of vocational crisis and decisions to leave religious life; from the security of a regular life where every minute of every day was mapped out to the messiness of a world that allows for spontaneity; from the certainty of hierarchical authority vested exclusively in one individual to the more inclusive discernment of the wisdom of the group;

• ther from the American physician and author, Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894 (“Alas for those that never

sing, But die with all their music in them”).

28 St Augustine, Sermon 34

General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

8 from dependence for everything upon the person of the Superior to reclaiming a sense

• f personal authority and autonomy;

from the exhilaration of foundations and new beginnings to the more sobering and enervating experience of closures and withdrawals; from the energy and buzz of living together in large groups to the more cautious negotiation of relationships in smaller groups; from the excitement and enthusiasm of youth to the more prudent, more thoughtful approach of experience. We have lived through this period, and we are still living through it. And, whether we like to admit it or not, we react to what we have witnessed and experienced. Our reactions vary – from individual to individual, and sometimes even from day to day. The way we react will impact on the quality of our own religious life, and consequently on our capacity to bring life to others. In response to the changing reality of the Church and the world, for example we can become depressed and paralysed by what we have seen and felt; we can surrender to what we see as the inevitable and just sit back and wait for death; we can choose to walk away from the whole enterprise while there is still time and while we still have the energy and imagination to do something else; we can look back with nostalgia at what has been left behind and spend our day wondering “what if…”; we can deny that anything fundamental has changed and that, in spite of appearances, all is well and there is no need to do anything; we can choose to live: not to exist, but to embrace life as a gift, one day at a time, accepting the time we have as the only time we are going to get, grateful to God for the gift and opportunity given to us. If you, as a Congregation, as individuals, are serious about wanting to “bring fuller life to others”, this last response is the only one you can make. How often do we remind

• urselves that we live a religious life? But do we live a life, do we embrace the “life to the

full” that Jesus brings, or are we content just to follow the rules? Have we embraced the new commandment of Jesus and come to share in the fullness of joy he promised? If we are full of joy, can we or dare we show it and share it? In spite of all that has happened and is happening in the world around us, the essentials of “religious life” have not changed. That life is defined by a whole series of relationships: my relationship to God; my relationship to myself; my relationship to those who walk with me in this way of life; my relationship to those who share that life with me on a daily basis; my relationship to those I come in contact with in some ministerial way – formal or informal; my relationship to those in leadership in the institute; my relationship to the Church – to the fellowship of believers; my relationship to the hierarchical structure of the Church; my relationship to the society I live in; my relationship to the environment; my relationship to those in our world who do not share my faith. Of course, living in a religious institute can never be something exclusively individual. So, reflecting on those relationships, it might be challenging to repeat the list, using “our” instead

• f “my”. If I am not living – in the full sense of that word – my religious life, then there is a

General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

9 seriously negative impact on “our living” of it. If we are not living that life, then “I” will find it very difficult to survive. If I am barely surviving, can I really be an instrument to bring fuller life to anyone else?

Towards a conclusion

In this General Assembly, you will make some decisions, resolutions and plans for the future life and ministry of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother – and rightly. Your preparation process and the listing of certain directions show a commendable realism, respect, and

• energy. However, if at the level of the individual and of the local community, there is no

sense of being “alive”, of truly living the gift of life and joy brought by Jesus, then the house will have no foundation – it will be like the house built on sand, in the parable of Jesus29. Truly entering into this life and joy might be simple; bringing Jesus to others and others to Jesus might be simple; but it is not easy. It requires a constant attention and openness on the part of every individual and every community at every level – local, regional or

• Congregational. There is no point in wishing we lived in a different time or place. We are

here today. As people of faith, we must believe that, in God’s plan, we have something unique to contribute today. Now is our time. If we are to bring fuller life to others, let us take hold of the gift that is offered to us, here and now. If I might paraphrase Charles Dickens in the opening words of his novel A Tale of Two Cities: “It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, it is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness, it is the epoch of belief, it is the epoch of incredulity, it is the season of Light, it is the season of Darkness, it is the spring of hope, it is the winter of despair, we have everything before us, we have nothing before us...”. In spite of the apparent contradiction, it is all the same time. It is God’s time. It is our time. How we use it will depend on our openness to the Spirit of God, on our willingness to surrender all and become instruments of God’s loving presence in the world. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit of God may be with us on our journey to guide us and show us the way: “Send us your Spirit, to be for us a burning and brilliant fire, to illumine our shadows and bring our love once again to life. May the Spirit be for us a breath of sweetness, consoling and soothing our timid agitation about the future. May the Spirit be a strong wind to fill our sails and set a daring course for us, guiding it towards new horizons. May the Spirit be a storm to clear the air, water to make new flowers bloom after the drought. O Lord of our life and of our history, may your Spirit enable us to experience at first hand how the ancient mission, which you entrusted to us in truth, is still able to transform the world in these new times”30. 15th October 2012 Aidan McGrath of

29 Matthew 7, 26-27. 30 Hermann Schalück, from Lettura dei segni dei tempi, quoted in To fill the Whole Earth with the Gospel of

Christ, 17.

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10 General Assembly, Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Rome 2012

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

All the questions are for personal reflection in the first place. However, personal reflection in the context of a General Assembly cannot be confined to the individual. So I have divided questions into three categories, reflecting three dimensions of the life of a religious: personal, community, and congregational. If we are to bring fuller life to others, we must all have had the experience of receiving that life; we must be able to recognise it in others and respect the contributions they make; we must be able to set aside our own individual views in order to participate in a truly collective discernment as members of the General Assembly. The questions:

Personal:

• Can I recall how I first discerned God’s call?
• Can I recall the enthusiasm I felt when I began to “sing a new song”?
• Am I living the life promised by Jesus as fully and enthusiastically as I would like?

In community:

• Can I recognise the “new song” in the lives of my sisters?
• In the Congregation in general?
• In the Sisters with whom I live and work?
• Are we living life to the full as Jesus promised?
• What do I need to do to make that happen?

In General Assembly:

• Where do I believe the Spirit is leading us today?
• Where do we believe that God is asking us to bring “fuller life”?
• What am I prepared to do to facilitate this?