Sisters of Saint Francis of Penance and Christian Charity GChapter 2024

  In Assisi... We had 2 whole days in Assisi, first in the cloud of unknowing and with sister water, then with brothers sun and wind and even sister death.  We listened deeper and deeper.... 🌍🌎🌏 And we are now in deeper discernment around our next general leadership.  There are no more pictures (and we're still having a hard time loading pictures, anyway) and this will be the last blog of this chapter, as the next news you will get will be from Sr. Rita Cammack, general minister, after the elections.   THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYER WITH US.  Veni, Sancte Spiritus.  

  Morning Prayer led by our Brazilian Sisters - Come, Holy Spirit The Brazilian Sisters led us in morning prayer with Light and Spirit!   Light for one another, light for our world! Then, in the afternoon, we finished up all of the remaining work on proposals, finding much consensus as we worked together to restructure some ideas into joint decisions/statements.   We also watched the film "Mother Leonarda's Journey," written by Sr. Diane Giannadda, osf.   Lastly, Sr. Nancy Schreck, osf, led us in some thoughts on Franciscan leadership that we can take with us to Assisi for our discernment over the weekend.    We are eating well and grabbing casual time when we can! And we enjoy each other's company--and playfulness--often.  It is good to have sisters from many different countries. More from Assisi after this weekend.  Please pray with us.   

  The Days are going quickly now...!  And we deepen our discernment           In the morning we had input from Fr. Johannes Freyer, OFM Fr. Johannes is an old friend of our sisters in Nonnenwerth/Remagen, having been taught by them as a child and then having shared much of his early Franciscan life near the sisters.  His joy, his humor and his humanness were very present/perceptible.   He helped us explore our Chapter theme from Francis, Clare and Magdalen's point of view, highlighting 6 different aspects in light of Francis' encounter with the leper - "I lingered a little while, then I left the world."    This leaving the world wasn't a dualistic flight into the monastery.  Rather it was an embracing of the world as his monastery which turned upside down the socio-economic battle of powers that was happening at Francis' time.   Fr. Johannes' lively and impassioned reflections and way of being presented us w...

    Morning Prayer with our Indonesian Sisters of Most Holy Trinity  Province, Semarang "We Walk With Compassion For Our World"  Love in every step :  Let our every action reflect God's compassion. Becoming the face of Love : When we show Love to others, we become God's face to the world. Love that moves the world :  Compassion is a force that transforms the world.  A Loving heart brings light to the darkest places. Love that transcends boundaries :  True Love knows no boundaries.  Let us go beyond our egos, reaching out to those in need. Serving in Love :  Every service is an offering to God. Love that heals :  Compassion is medicine for the wounded soul.  With Love, we heal the wounds of the world. Love that brings peace :  In the midst of conflict, Love is the path to peace.  Let us be peacemakers with Compassionate hearts. Love is the answer :  Let Love guide us in all our decisions and actions. A rousin...

  Our sisters from Tanzania reported on their current situation Our sisters led us in morning prayer and song and then spoke of their reality and showed us some slides depicting their sisters and places of mission.   We then celebrated Eucharist in the Kiswahili language, enjoying the rhythm of the drums as they sang.   In the afternoon we had more discussion on our various proposals.  Yes, we listen to and dialogue with our sisters from many cultures as we discern what is important to our Congregation in these next 5 years.   And in between all of these activities, there are lovely encounters in the hallways, at meals, in the laundry room, outside in nature, among others.  We are daily gifted and stretched to grow our understanding of each other and our various ways of thinking and doing.