INCARNATING FORGIVENESS, RECONCILIATION AND HEALING LOOKING ON OUR WORLD WITH THE EYES OF CLAUDINE AND RESPONDING TO ITS MISERIES

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1 JOURNEYING AS ONE APOSTOLIC BODY AND TRUSTING IN THE RICHNESS OF OUR CHARISM WE DESIRE TO LIVE OUR PROPHETIC MISSION: INCARNATING FORGIVENESS, RECONCILIATION AND HEALING LOOKING ON OUR WORLD WITH THE EYES OF CLAUDINE AND RESPONDING TO ITS MISERIES LIVING A LIFE COMMITTED TO JUSTICE, PEACE AND THE INTEGRITY OF CREATION Religious of Jesus and Mary 36 th General Chapter 2013

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3 THE PRIORITIES Come from: Charism and Spirituality Commission General and Province Reports Economic Report Apostolic Plan Commission Our Charism and Spirituality Reality-World Proposals from General Government and Provinces Personal reflection, groups, consensus

4 PRIORITY 1 Bear with one another; forgive each other if one of you has a complaint against another. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. (Col 3: 13) (Claudine s) heroic forgiveness opened her heart to every form of human misery (Constitutions, Historical Note, pg.3) I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds.. In pastoral ministry we must accompany people, and we must heal their wounds. (Interview of Antonio Spadaro SJ with Pope Francis, August 2013) MOTIVATION The call to forgiveness, reconciliation and healing speaks of a deeply felt need to: Encounter the merciful God who reveals the depth of his goodness in forgiveness, giving it freely to us, and inviting us to offer it freely to others. Recognize our weakness and the need for healing in our own relationships, both in community and with others. The experience of forgiveness enables us to live our mission in truth and humility. Build bridges that can facilitate dialogue and foster acceptance in our divided and wounded world.

5 This prophetic dimension of Forgiveness and Reconciliation challenges us to: Initiate forgiveness and healing processes at all levels (psychological, physical, spiritual). Become reconciled communities, conscious that our life together can be a witness of the gospel message in the midst of individualism, indifference to others and division. Learn to accept and manage conflicts with a commitment to understanding diversity, creatively seeking solutions and striving to maintain communion. LINES OF ACTION 1. We create and support projects that teach and promote ways of forgiveness and non-violence, in schools, families, other groups and work to identify all that needs healing. 2. We organize sessions and workshops to promote reconciliation, forgiveness and healing at personal and community levels, and in apostolic works, e.g., community building sessions with persons trained in this; workshops ES.PE.RE. (Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation). 3. We seek to create in our communities, spaces favourable to the deepening of the attitudes of forgiveness and reconciliation with others and with God: days of recollection, reconciliation services, daily examen and accompaniment. We wish to rediscover the deep meaning of the sacrament of reconciliation and the joy of forgiveness. 4. We form and train ourselves in ways of forgiveness, reconciliation and healing, with the resources available to us, so as to offer help and accompaniment to others. 5. We engage in dialogue with others, working with them to create harmony in relationships and respect and acceptance of differences.

6 PRIORITY 2 In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers (or sisters) of mine, you did it to me (Mt 25, 40) The only preferences I allow you to have are for the poorest, the most miserable (St. Claudine, Positio 628) The Church is called to come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries: the mystery of sin, of pain, of injustice, of ignorance and indifference to religion, of intellectual currents, and of all misery (Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, March 7, 2013)

7 MOTIVATION We feel called to recognize and contemplate the disfigured face of Jesus present in the marginalized: the poorest, the weakest, the most deprived. This contemplation challenges us to: Risk losing our security, prestige and positions. Be open to change our mindset, life style and structures. Be in contact with the reality and suffering of the poor and marginalized. Our prophetic response to the urgent cries of a world marred by poverty, violence, corruption, religious fundamentalism is inspired by the mission of Jesus (Luke 4), and from Claudine s compelling desire to respond to the miseries of her time. LINES OF ACTION 1. We give priority to seek out, be with and serve the poor, marginalized, and those at risk, especially children, the young and women. 2. We labor, in all our educational works, to open the hearts to the needs of the poor and we work to change the structures that cause poverty. 3. We cultivate in the young a desire to serve the needy through volunteer programmes, community service, social action, missions, etc. in their own and other countries. 4. We search out and try to reach those who are suffering the greatest misfortune, of living and dying without knowing God among the young, especially the disadvantaged.

8 PRIORITY 3 This is what Yahweh asks of you, only this... that you act justly, that you love tenderly, that you walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) We seek ways to defend human life in all its stages: to denounce violence, to promote human rights especially the dignity and empowerment of women, to promote a culture of peace and pardon (AC. 96) The ecological crisis is a moral issue. respect for life and for the dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of creation. (Message of Pope John Paul II for the Day of Peace, 1990)

9 MOTIVATION: We look with anguish on the violence and lack of peace in our world, the abuse of the earth and her resources, all signs of the breakdown of right relationships with God, with others, with creation and with ourselves. The need to heal this brokenness impels us to work for the restoration of the harmony and mutual care that we know to be God s own desire for the world. We live this call in the conviction that, by joining with like-minded persons, we become stronger, and can be a force for change. This commitment challenges us to: Open our hearts wide to love and cherish the beauty of our world, and to be touched by its suffering. Examine courageously and honestly our habitual ways of acting, and open ourselves to learning new and alternate ways. Recognize our kinship with the created world, and our clear responsibility to protect and care for it. LINES OF ACTION: 1. We listen to the victims of injustice and violence, and we stand with and for them. 2. We commit ourselves to the responsible use of natural resources, and to care for the earth at a personal level, in our communities, in our educational centers, and in all our ministries. 3. We unite with and actively participate in organizations and institutions that work for ecology and human rights, especially those of women and children. 4. We strengthen our membership in UNANIMA, and our commitment to its mission. 5. We promote education that forms persons for active citizenship, critical conscience, and responsible use of the means of communication.

10 INTER DISCERNMENT COMMON PATHWAYS FO R M AT IO PR OJ EC TS C O N TE M PL AT IO N in FORMATION AT ALL LEVELS to implement the three priorities. PROJECTS at Personal, Community and Provincial levels. INTER-COLLABORATION AND NETWORKING as a way to proceed in our relations. DISCERNMENT to search for, discover and choose the way of God. CONTEMPLATION IN ACTION to integrate our prayer and life.

11 SOME SUGGESTIONS: To implement the Priorities at Provincial and General level : Reflect together on the challenges and risks involved. Search for the most effective means of concretizing and implementing the Priorities, e.g., calling individuals or teams to specific responsibilities, inviting initiatives from our sisters and collaborators etc. Utilize all the means of communication at our disposal (website, internet, newsletters, etc.) to share information, resources and experiences in mission. Seek ways of generating funds to sustain the projects. Take care that our investments are ethical. Undertake and prepare the tools for periodic evaluations.

12 PRAYER FOR THE CHAPTER YEAR 36 th General Chapter Loving Father, we thank you for our call to follow Jesus. As one apostolic body of Jesus and Mary, we feel challenged to be prophetic witnesses in the light of the Charism of St. Claudine; touched by the realities of our world of today. May your Holy Spirit set us ablaze with a deep and personal experience of you. Give us a discerning heart to listen to your voice in the many voices of today; and prophetic courage to respond with fidelity. Rooted in you and in your Son Jesus, with Mary our Mother, may the Spirit of Pentecost fall upon us and set our hearts on fire, calling us to be prophets of goodness and forgiveness through Christ our Lord. Amen.