ON THE ROAD … FOR THE 20th GENERAL CHAPTER of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide
WHAT IS A GENERAL CHAPTER?
-It is an Assembly representative of the whole Congregation.
-It is the supreme governing body of the Congregation:
the place where the lines of life and missionary action of the Congregation are decided…
the place where the Superior General of the Congregation and the General Councillors are elected.
in prayer, discernment, fraternal sharing
-It is an experience in the Spirit, an event in the life of the Church.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT
On June 8, 2014 Sr. Nunzia, Superior General, wrote to all the Sisters from Albania :
“Pentecost in Tirana! … What better day than this to announce to you that our Congregation will be called to celebrate the 20th General Chapter in its history, from July 1 to 25, 2015?
Little Pentecost of the Congregation, the Chapter, by its nature, is a time of grace, a special jubilee … I would say, a “prolonged and passionate rendezvous” with the Holy Spirit!
That is why, starting from here – from the capital of fallen atheism – I would like to invite you to live, starting today, a strong spiritual year…”.
A KEY WORD
“… allowing ourselves to be led by the Spirit of the Risen One, we have recognized in THE PASSAGE OF EMMAUS (Lk 24:13-33), the guiding word, the word of salvation, the guiding word of our next General Chapter.
The two, who are going away from Jerusalem and will return to Jerusalem, do they not evoke the path of humanity today, of the Church of our time, of our Congregation?
It is a path sometimes full of disillusionment, sometimes difficult, sad, often contentious … But it is a path that burns the heart, when you-Humanity, you-Church, you-Congregation, you finally (!) realize (!) that the Risen One is walking beside you: Word that heals you, Bread that satisfies your soul, Friend that fills your solitudes.
Let’s set out on the road with the two from Emmaus… Who knows if the road might hold some surprises for us… God’s surprises.”
THE PREPARATION
On July 31, Sr. Nunzia announced the appointment of a Preparatory Commission made up of 6 Sisters (Argentina, Lebanon, RCA, France, Italy), called to collaborate with the General Council in preparing the reflection of the Chapter.
She added: “Our whole ‘spiritual family’ – Sisters and lay people together – is called to build the Chapter House. The Holy Spirit is the Architect-Engineer and we are his collaborators”.
3 SHEETS were prepared by the Commission for all the Sisters of the Congregation :
The departure: the time of remembrance
The Way: Time for Evaluation
Break: Time for Proposals
in view of the reflection to be sent for the Provincial, Regional Chapters or Preparatory Assemblies that took place during the month of January.
The laity, Friends of Jeanne-Antide, participate in the preparation with similar and adapted reflection cards.
“Let’s meet at the gates of our Emmaus! We’ll get there in July…It’s important to be there! Marie is already there! As is Jeanne-Antide, Monsieur Vincent and all our saints!”
