Wednesday, October 16, 2024

 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 with some welcome challenge - to grow our joy and trust in the Spirit among us.  


Then at lunch, we celebrated birthdays and name days of many of our sisters:  

- S. Luciana, birthday

- S. Marita, from the Generalate, birthday

- S. Majella, name day

- S. Fatima, birthday




























Comments

  1. GlendaOctober 18, 2024 at 10:21 AM

    Obrigada por compartilhar!!! Comunidade Marta e Maria acompanhando em oração desde o Brasil!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 Saturday, October 5, 2024 Our Dutch Sisters speak of their Current Reality through their current Provincial Minister Katharina Kluitmann.  The Dutch sisters can't help but notice that, having started their province with one  Catherina Damen, they now come  full circle in having Sister Katharina as one of their last provincials--and also starting this new ending phase of their life with a sister from Germany now assisting her Dutch sisters.        Sister Katharina presented to us in a very simple way, sitting on the ground, using simple props of a Dutch and  a German flag, a scarf, and some crosses. At the end, the Province of Divine Providence handed out gifts--those crosses that were props.  These crosses had belonged to the Dutch sisters who are now in heaven and were given now to each participant--"you are now to live in the spirit of Mother Magdalen and our Dutch sisters."  There were many, many tears.... The last part of the d...
Read more
Image
General Chapter of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity Rome, Italy October 4-24, 2024 Grounded in the Gospel,  we walk the synodal way  with compassion for our world.   Day 1 - Feast of St. Francis - October 4 Opening Eucharist Opening Ritual - Preparing the Path  We are sisters of earth, fire, air, and water With our Dutch sisters we pray--"Peace and Hope." All sisters from all of our continents send greetings of peace and the joy of being together.  We pray with our ancestors and with each of you as we speak of our current realities and discern our future together.  
Read more

Wednesday, October 9, 2024 - Meeting with the Pope

Image
  Waiting patiently, receiving words of encouragement from Pope Francis in many languages, and finally getting to shake his hand (some of us) and take a picture with him (the official picture will come later).    Pope Francis is in good spirits--joking with us:  "What did you do to make the General Minister sick that she is not with you?"     We felt very blessed to have been with Pope Francis, to receive his optimism and his human-centered message--"let the Spirit take you out into the streets, to serve all and to find unity among the differences."  This is an important message for us in the U.S. as we approach another national election where polarization threatens unity and stability.   And we regret to inform you that we have many more pictures and things to say, but are struggling with the technology and the inconsistencies in internet service here in Rome.  We have two more days before this to upload, but until now, we haven't...
Read more