The Provincial Superior of our English Province is one of the participants at this year’s General Chapter. In this interview she tells us how she is facing this event and what her wishes are for this year’s General Chapter.
How do you face the next chapter?
Well, there is a bit of everything. My disposition is one of openness, of wanting to listen to the Spirit, of wanting that from my poverty He can work and that I allow myself to be led by Him. I want to live it in faith, aware of the reality that the congregation is living, I want to live it with hope, trusting that God walks with us and does not leave us, but I also sense that he is asking us to look ahead with an open mind.
On the other hand, I feel a certain fear because of the responsibility that this entails, I believe that decisions have to be taken and that sometimes they will not be easy, our future is at stake.
What do you expect from the chapter?
I hope and wish that it will be an event of true spiritual and charismatic renewal for the whole congregation. That we are able to give new life to what we do and live and that this comes from our encounter with God the Father, from an attentive listening to his Word and to that of others; sisters, collaborators, lay people, in short, all the people who directly or indirectly are saying something to us.
Why is the chapter important for the congregation?
The General Chapter is held every six years and is the representative body of the whole congregation. It is attended by all the members of the congregation, sisters, collaborators, lay people and recipients. It is vital to keep alive the charism and mission of the congregation in the spirit of the Founders.
It is an exercise of discernment in which we sincerely seek only God’s will for the Congregation. Some of its competencies are: to examine the state of the Congregation; to promote spiritual and apostolic vitality in fidelity to the Hospitaller charism; to give orientations for renewing and updating the life and mission of the Congregation; to elect the Superior General and her councillors; to analyse the administration of temporal goods in the light of criteria of poverty, justice and charity; to make agreements of value for the whole Congregation.
Discover more about our General Chapter