Mobilizing works and the Superior General’s first letter to the Congregation
Two topics were on Wednesday’s agenda: mobilizing works and the Superior General’s first letter to the Congregation.
With regard to the mobilizing works of the Congregation, the 34th General Chapter encouraged the continued mobilization of the entire body of the Assumption around works that define us in terms of our historical, charismatic and missionary heritage. With this in mind, the Chapter entrusted the PGC with the tasks of evaluating the relevance of each of the current mobilizing works, studying new proposals from the Provinces, and updating the list of mobilizing works, without neglecting the importance of the other existing works. After considering carefully the presentations and proposals from the Provinces, the PGC came up with an initial list, which will be fleshed out without delay at future sessions.
Next, V.R.F. Ngoa Ya Tshihemba presented the PGC with the outline of his first letter to all his religious brothers and sisters and lay Assumptionists. In his letter, entitled “The jar of flour shall not run dry, nor the pitcher of oil be emptied” (1 Kings 17:14), he intends to accompany the implementation of the 34th General Chapter, which essentially invites us to let ourselves be shaped by the reality of the nearness of the Kingdom and the need to proclaim the hope of the Gospel. The model of the widow of Sarepta will be for us the paradigm of life and hope in situations where, like in her case, we can be led to believe that everything is over.
The letter commits us to a path, a process, with four stages:
- Understand the reality of the crisis experienced at every level as a reflection of our fragile condition as individuals and structures.
- Engage in the first remedy to these fragilities, namely, by taking care of ourselves, of others, of our vocation, of our mission and of the Lay-Religious Alliance.
- Adopt the attitudes that are essential to the spirit of the synodal way, i.e., humility, listening-discernment, and trust.
- And finally, risk gestures of love and faith, following the example of the widow of Sarepta, and avoid the temptation of defeatism in order to dare making a generous gesture of love and faith.
At the end of the day, the PGC was happy to accept the invitation of our Religious Sisters of the Assumption, who enlivened the evening by sharing dessert and news from their community.
P. Thierry KAHONGYA