After a warmly shared meal, we held our intercommunity meeting on 23 February 2024 in Noisy Le Grand, near Paris.
There were 11 of us, Daughters of the Holy Spirit, and we decided to undertake our reflection as a large group, because the theme chosen from the Orientations of the Province concerns us today. Rereading our lives with others is important: we have been serving those in need for a long time, even when our strength is diminishing; so how can we situate ourselves differently today,.. by worshipping to serve and serve by worshipping?
Initially, we enriched each other by sharing a biblical text chosen by each of us: the Exodus, Abraham, the daily life of Jesus (Mark 1, 29-39), the Samaritan woman, Zacchaeus, the Letter of St James. Each of us illuminated her choice for today with our own experiences.
Then we grasped a few points in common, in the face of what was being proposed to us:
1) To serve without looking for a return. “Whatever you did for the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did for me” (Matthew 25) …. all the simple gestures of everyday life: listening, respecting differences, welcoming with patience, waiting …. “We allow ourselves to be converted to God’s tenderness, by letting go of ourselves and being open to the life of the world” (Rule of Life, 12).
2) The Samaritan woman (John 4, 5-15), Zacchaeus (Luke 19, 1-10). Both were on the road. Jesus took the time to walk with them and little by little their desire was transformed and opened up to see those around them, to recognise and re-read their own lives, to change, to be converted and to become witnesses.
From the Complementary Book to the Rule of Life, no. 10: “We are open to diversity when we know how to listen, respect convictions, welcome the initiatives of those who do not think like us and participate with them in common actions for the service of mankind”.
3) Letter of St James 1, 25: “He who has considered the perfect law of liberty and has applied himself to it, not as a distracted listener but as an active worker, he will find happiness in what he achieves”. To welcome, to be in solidarity with one another and with other congregations, to continue to dare to move forward, to take new steps…
Sister Anne-Marie Couloigner wrote as long ago as 1976 (in “Colombe” No. 10, pages 14-15), when the Congregation was tackling other challenges:
“It is one and the same thing to adore and to serve.
It is one and the same to be sent and to abide in his love.
It is one and the same to be loved and to love.
He breathed all this into us when he ascended to his Father.
All this, today, is the work of the Spirit, the Master of the Mission”.
Our conclusion:
“Whatever our way of participating in the Mission, we are linked to each other. By simple gestures or by difficult commitments, together we seek this new order of the world that God has inaugurated in Jesus and that must come to light.” (RV 10)
And we continue on our way… reflecting on how we are going to celebrate together the passage to 90 years of two of our sisters, the 80 years of another, and the 25 years of profession of a fourth… representing so many “passages” experienced up to now!
For the inter-community: Sister Marie-France Menez. Published on 5 March 2024
