MOVING TOWARD RECONFIGURATION illustration.

MOVING TOWARD RECONFIGURATION

One of the outcomes of GC 37 was a mandate

to carry out the Global Reconfiguration of the Congregation.”  Centered around the promotion of life and mission, and drawing on the JM Preferences and the Global Apostolic Plan, the mandate calls for reorganization of Congregational structures and groupings together with new forms of leadership, juridical structures, and possible groupings. It seeks to ground that reorganization in a “revitalization of the heart and mind” characterized by openness to change, increased awareness and appreciation of the diversity within JM, and possibilities beyond present borders.

To support and facilitate this revitalization, the General Government, working with a Reconfiguration Commission (Josée Therrien of Canada, Marie Cecile Osborne of Pakistan, Marta Guitart of Spain), has made available a resource packet, Building Bridges In a series of short, simple guidelines for personal reflection and group sharing, and thought-provoking print and video resources, participants consider building bridges between Cultures-Languages; Generations; Provinces-Countries; and in the Mission. The process will take place over a span of 15 months, with participating groups giving a brief summary of their reflections on each of the four topics.   Representatives of each Province/Delegation will gather at a General Conference in July of 2022 to share their experience of the process, and the insights they have found as to a way forward.

Sisters Rita Ricker and Rosemary Mangan have been asked to coordinate this project for the USA/Haiti Province. They foresee asking sisters in each community or region to oversee the implementation, and pass on the summaries of their group. Very shortly, more information about this process will be forthcoming.

Many members of the province, together with some companions in mission, participated in the February 28th Prayer Service that, coincidentally, centered around the theme of BRIDGES. Together with our educational ministries, province initiatives on service to refugees, on anti-racism, on sharing of resources all embody ways of building bridges in our life and mission.  The resources given in the Building Bridges project and the occasional gatherings it calls for offer a useful, energizing and eminently do-able support to what is already underway, and can take us another step toward becoming more fully ONE APOSTOLIC BODY.

 

 

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