The new Council of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit Secular Branch, Europe region – Giovanna COMMISSIONNE, Moderator, Madeleine HAUROGNE and Lydie FAUCHER – held its first General Assembly in Saint-Brieuc on 27 and 28 April 2024.
A number of lay consecrated women met on the evening of the 26th to share a dinner and prepare the venue for our meeting. The other companions joined us the following morning. Our guests Sister Philo ACH’ Provincial and Françoise ROUSSEL Associate were also present, much to our delight. So, all together, we shared a coffee and some news.
Our topic of reflection was “How to be an artisan of communion”, and the day was going to be intense. Indeed, after a time of prayer together, our speaker Serge KERRIEN, begins the journey through the texts of the Good Samaritan and the disciples of Emmaus towards the paths of reflection illuminating the approach to the theme. Serge analyzes the attitudes of the four characters in the Good Samaritan text, explaining that there is another story in this one, and that we are called to move from the heart of the law to the heart of God.
Before lunch, we held an aperitif to thank Christiane RANNOU for her many years as regional moderator. We also thanked Marie-Thérèse MOCHET, who since 2007 has been responsible for editing the journal “Porté par le vent”. It was a beautiful moment when the sisters of the congregation joined us.
Serge continued his talk in the afternoon with the disciples of Emmaus, a fundamental human experience: Emmaus is the place where we meet the Risen One!
Time flew, and it was already time for our Annual General Meeting. Lydie, our association’s secretary, gives us an overview of the year’s activities, and Marie-Thérèse, our new treasurer, explains how we finance our activities, which reflect the life of our Secular Branch. The debates were constructive and peaceful, and we adopted all the proposals presented, with the exception of the provisional budget for 2024. This includes a trip to CHILE and PERU by the regional moderator, who will accompany the general moderator. Excess expenditure needs to be described more explicitly! No problem, the solution has been found and will be implemented.
For some of us, it’s time to say goodbye, as we’ve had little time to catch up with each other. For the next session, we’ll have to stay on Saturday evenings to get together more easily! The small group, who stayed until Sunday lunch, took advantage of this time to meet peacefully and share news of each other’s lives, the satisfaction of this day with Serge and the richness of the comments received. Now it’s time to let this training mature within us and make it our own.
I won’t end this article without sharing with you the conclusion of Serge’s topos: “We are all disciples of the one who walks with us “come and follow me”; to make communion we are invited to follow in CHRIST’s footsteps and be in communion with him. Communion with the source will make us witnesses to CHRIST’s love and disciples for the world.”
It was a beautiful and rich meeting!
Giovanna, Moderator for the EUROPE region. Published on May 4, 2024
Photo: the new Council
