A challenge
To listen, discern and respond
Sr. Jini Joseph Mazhuvanchery, province of India.- General Chapter is a time of renewal according to the Gospel (C 97) promoting spiritual vitality of the whole Congregation. For this, we are called to be open to the Spirit in constant listening. Listening refers to hearing not only with the ears, but also with the heart and one’s entire life. Listening goes beyond hearing a message or exchanging information; it involves an interior openness to the Spirit, to introspect individually and collectively to transform our life and mission in this synodal journey together towards our future.
At this time of preparation we are invited to listen to one another. Really listening to another person, however, requires interior quiet and making room for silence between what we hear and what we say (Pope Francis, December 21, 2023). It is a condition for encounter with God which fosters openness and availability (C 14), in the search for the common good.
56th General chapter takes place at a time tragically marked by violence of war, migration, by the momentous risks posed by climate change, and by poverty, pain and hunger. In this dark reality of our world, we are called to listen to these voices of suffering, search together to find adequate responses to these constant cries that often becomes news that we get used to. My fear often is that we are becoming more and more indifferent to these hard and precarious situations of our brothers and sisters. Can we become catalysts to enable one another adhere to the Gospel values, especially when morality and inalienable dignity due to every human being are beating through varied legislations?
General Chapter is certainly a challenge for all of us to live a true process of discernment and make decisions based not on worldly criteria, but in accordance with the Gospel, in the spirit of Marie Poussepin. The future of our Congregation and vitality of our charism will heavily depend upon the decisions that we make in the here and now. The need of the hour calls us to leave our comfort zones, individualistic attitudes, autoreferentiality and tendencies of abuse, to work together as authentic witnesses of the Gospel. “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses." (Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi). To be true witnesses of Jesus in today’s world is a great challenge.
Let us pray for one another so that we may be docile to the Holy Spirit to be able to live this event of the Congregation with a spirit of communion and co-responsibility for our life and mission.