GENERAL CHAPTER 2011 PREPARATION PHASE II WALKING THE EMMAUS JOURNEY TOGETHER

GENERAL CHAPTER 2011 PREPARATION PHASE II WALKING THE EMMAUS JOURNEY TOGETHER

INTRODUCTION In a presentation at the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) Plenary held in Rome in May 2010, Sister Judette Gallares R.C. outlined the five movements of ongoing conversion leading to transformation as: 1. The experience of darkness or confusion 2. The phase of awakening 3. The phase of prophetic action 4. The quiet phase needing time for contemplation 5. The integration phase The following five prayer sessions based on the Emmaus story, one for each of the months from February to June inclusive, offer each of us and the Institute a prayer process for entering into an experience of transformation. Each sister is invited to participate as far as her circumstances allow. If at all possible, sisters are asked to gather together in circles or clusters for the group sharing which is an essential element for building a climate of communal discernment. In this way, you will not be simply praying for the chapter, but actually entering into its dynamics and fanning the flames of the Spirit among us so that the chapter itself may be a truly transformative event for our Institute. POINTERS FOR EACH PRAYER SESSION Personal Prayer The prayer sheet gives suggestions to help us to connect the Gospel passage with our life situation however, we need to go where we are led by the Spirit. We are not expected to share responses to all of these suggestions during the sharing phase. Note that each of us is asked to pray for a particular grace which helps focus our prayer. As personal prayer time draws to a close, each decides on the element of prayer to be shared in the group. It is not a time for discussion but for sharing the fruits of prayer. The sharing: The first round of sharing invites each to share the fruits of her prayer. Only the person holding a feather (other symbol) speaks; the rest listen for the voice of the Spirit in what is shared. Be brief and keep to the point so that everyone gets sufficient time for her sharing. No discussion. There is time of silence to listen for how the Spirit seems to be speaking to the group through what has been shared. A second round allows those who wish (not necessarily everyone) to share what has surfaced during this time of silence from the first round of sharing. Again, using the feather enables the group to maintain the prayer atmosphere and not move to discussion. Conclude with some form of prayer or song No need for any report just listen for the voice Spirit within oneself and within the group

SESSION ONE FEBRUARY 2011 Luke 24:13-24: Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, What are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things? he asked. About Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. (New International Version) Diary of Elizabeth Hayes: In hours of desolation it seems I have not grace or strength enough! I am so weak bodily so sensitive mentally that, if left to myself a moment, I should not bear up against the least cross.(p.5) With no one to care for, no power to rise above the present or hope in the future, with confidence and trust broken and gone, my soul is desolate, lonely and faithless. (p.17) And for me: with us. I walk the journey to Chapter with my companions, inviting Jesus to walk I ask for the grace to own and acknowledge any fears, confusion, conflict or darkness which stifle energy and impetus for growth and change within me personally or us as an Institute. I recall the longing and yearnings of my heart when I chose to commit my life to God in this MFIC family. I am attentive to feelings as I recall my early hopes and my/our reality today. I share these feelings with Jesus and listen for his response. I am aware of Jesus who walks with us as I reflect on my experience of downcast faces, negativity or hopelessness which may have dimmed the flame of enthusiasm within us. The world, the Church, religious life today is filled with uncertainty and contradictions. Jesus also knew this type of darkness. He did not walk away from the decisions he needed to take. Sit with him.

THEME: ARE NOT OUR HEARTS BURNING WITHIN US? SESSION TWO MARCH 2011 Luke 24:25-27: Jesus said to them, How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (New International Version) Diary of Elizabeth Hayes: Under the circumstances I ask how can I become a saint? An interior voice seems to be constantly whispering in my ear, You are just in the best condition to be a Saint. Even while I weep, a whisper seems to say, There is something in all of this that would make you a Saint if only you were willing and used it so. (p. 15) (Words of a mystic to Elizabeth): You love the Lord much, desiring to please him and do his will but you are often in doubt, much doubt. You must not doubt: you must follow all the illuminations of the divine Spirit, the lights, the inspiration that God sends you. Go onward, do not doubt. (p. 61) And for me: In the midst of any fears, confusion or discouragement about my life as a MFIC sister, I ask Jesus to help me understand our reality in the light of the Gospel. I pray for a listening heart, receptive to the perspective Jesus brings to my/our story, so that I/we may experience a new awakening of spirit. Having shared experiences of doubt, confusion, discouragement with Jesus, I take time to listen to him. What new insights, new feelings, new awakening do I experience within myself as I look at situations of darkness from his perspective? I ask Jesus to bring to my awareness those moments of spiritual awakening, when in the midst of the darkness of seeking, I/we experienced God s word touching me/us and opening me/us up to receive God s grace. What and when were these moments in my personal life, in our religious life and mission? I thank God for these moments of grace. With Jesus I journey in my imagination through those areas of the Institute of which I have some knowledge. We converse about the signs of awakening we witness in our MFIC communities before concrete situations of injustice, violence and devastations. I ask Jesus to highlight for me those signs of awakening in me/us which require deeper prayer and discernment for prophetic action.

SESSION THREE APRIL 2011 Luke 24: 28-29: As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them. (New International Version) Diary of Elizabeth Hayes: (words of Fr. Ludovico, ofm when Elizabeth sought permission to bring Poor Clares to America) If you walk in the way of human prudence, this is all contrary to it, you will suffer an inferno, a torture of responsibility. If you go embrace it in faith and say, Come evil, come good, it s all the same, I do it for God and then go on. Go ahead. This was an inexpressible comfort and light to me. (p. 67) And for me: I listen to the inner awakenings of my heart urging me to reach beyond myself to welcome the Other, the stranger, into my heart. I pray that, energized and transformed by my/our encounter with the Word of God, I/we may find new impetus to open the doors of my/our hearts and homes in a spirit of inclusion and hospitality to create ever-widening circles of communion. When the disciples arrive at the village, they are sufficiently at home with themselves to reach out in hospitality to the stranger, inviting him to stay with them. Using my finger labyrinth, I trace my path during these months of chapter preparation and am attentive to the inner place in which I now find myself. How do I feel moved to respond? As I walk with Jesus I sense that it is nearly evening, the day is almost over. I seek to be a gracious host to Jesus, welcoming him into my personal/our Institute home, however humble it may be. I ask Jesus to reveal to me those moments when I have experienced his presence in a chance encounter, perhaps with someone who is stranger to me. In Jesus presence, I become aware of the many strangers who share planet earth with me/us and allow Jesus to show me how I/we can make planet earth a more hospitable place for humanity and all God s creation. With Jesus, I ponder daily life in our circles. I allow him to show me how he experiences our MFIC communities. As a stranger, would he feel welcomed, attracted by a sense of God presence offering compassion and spiritual nourishment? I remain open as he points out strengths to deepen or blocks in myself/ my community which limit a Gospel spirit of hospitality.

SESSION FOUR MAY 2011 Luke 24: 30-32: When he was at the table with them, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? (New International Version) Diary of Elizabeth Hayes: I believed that I could not be without the guidance of a Saint or wise and prudent person. Now while still valuing such persons and appreciating the help that they can give me, it seems to me that they are no longer so necessary and that it is better for me to live with God alone in whom I find all I need. (p. 13) Pray hard to be guided by a right spirit to have the discernment between good and evil, right and wrong, to have much wisdom from above and not the knowledge of the world. (p.11) And for me: I pause on the journey to ponder, to embrace the world and the people we are called to serve and minister with God s heart. I pray for intimacy with God born of contemplation so that I/we may overcome resistances and passionately commit in word and action to God s prophetic call to me and to the Institute. I am attentive to my innermost being where my spirit unites with God s spirit. As I ponder all that has happened on the journey and remember how the one to whom I offered hospitality has broken bread for me, I savour the experiences that have kindled a flame in my heart. Where does my heart burn most strongly with enthusiasm, compassion and love? I stay with this. I look back over the journey of preparation I have consciously made with Jesus and my companions. Jesus reveals to me the impact of the quality of my personal prayer and community prayer on our enthusiasm for promoting our mission and charism. In the silence of my heart, I allow him to breathe the life of the Spirit into me and into the Institute. I respond to an inner voice inviting me to Be still and know that I am God. I place myself and the Institute in the hands of God, like clay in the hands of a potter, desiring that we might be transformed in the fire of God s love.

SESSION FIVE JUNE 2011 Luke 24: 33-35: They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (New International Version) Diary of Elizabeth Hayes: Let us throw aside all impediments and give ourselves without reserve to God and follow on with great courage. (p. 5. favourite quote from St. Theresa of Avila). Now I am in silence, quite alone and ill for days together, in a convent where no one knows me, My principal prayer has been to know the will of God and my only resolution to do it so that if made known to me I am ready to do it.(p. 46) I go neither to place nor person: simply God calls me to leave my home and country and to join a foreign mission. If the time were to come again, I would do just the same. (p. 23) And for me: Having opened myself to God s word, I seek to integrate the fruits of my prayer in the context of my commitment as a MFIC to creating ever-widening circles of communion. I pray that, in my personal life and that of the Institute, deep contemplation/discernment will be integrated with prophetic hospitality/action. During these prayer sessions based on the Emmaus story, I/we have journeyed to the centre of the labyrinth and rested in the centre to ponder and contemplate. Today, I focus on the journey outward. I trace this journey outward on my finger labyrinth, attentive to whatever transformation may have taken place within me and within the group with whom I have journeyed. If our Institute is to help transform today s world, we need to become a community of prophetic mystics and mystical prophets. I ask Jesus to open us to see and embrace whatever changes in our personal and communal prayer life may be needed to focus the Word and our mission directly on life situations/issues, thus leading to prophetic action. I am attentive to the various ways I have experienced the voice of the Spirit during this phase of chapter preparation. Where do I /we hear Jesus calling us through the reality of today s world and urging us to fill situations of darkness with prophetic light and to dwell courageously in new horizons?