At the end of this month of October, our Superior General, Graciela Francovig, has written us a new letter in which she touches on various topics that we will be describing in different publications.
Today we collect the echo left by the celebration of the Synod of Synodality and the questions that arise after listening to the homily of Pope Francis. They are addressed to the Daughters of Jesus at this time of preparation for the General Congregation and with the upcoming Provincial Congregations, but it is a valid reflection for any Christian who wants to make a journey of faith.
We are ending a rich month of ecclesial experience. The Synod of Synodality has just concluded in Rome, and we have accompanied it with our prayer and our follow-up. We are grateful for the hard work that was done. Several sisters from the government and the community participated in the closing Eucharist. The homily of Pope Francis was very timely, taking the Sunday Gospel and referring it to this ecclesial moment.
“The first thing the Gospel tells us about Bartimaeus is this: he is sitting begging. His posture is typical of a person enclosed in his own pain, sitting by the roadside as if he had nothing left to do but wait to receive something from the many pilgrims who passed through the city of Jericho on the occasion of the Passover. But, as we know, to truly live we cannot remain seated: to live is always to move, to walk, to dream, to plan, to be open to the future. Blind Bartimaeus, then, also represents that inner blindness that blocks us, that makes us remain seated, immobile on the margins of life, without hope.”[1].
These expressions of Pope Francis made me think about us and the congregational times we live in. With what posture do I place myself before a General or Provincial Congregation? Is it possible that we find ourselves, like this blind man, “sitting” in our own pain, despair and disenchantment? What dynamics of movement do I perceive in myself, in my community, in the Congregation? What graces and what conversions do I have to ask the Lord for in order to be that free woman who desires to walk simply with her sisters and with others, without being closed in on ourselves, but open to the pains of the world, to announce, to help, to seek life for others?
Let us allow the Lord to inspire us on those new paths that he invites us to discover and travel together. He alone is our hope … “… He calls us to a precious friendship made of dialogue, affection, trust and adoration. This Christ with his pierced and burning heart is the same Christ who was born in Bethlehem out of love, who walked through Galilee healing, caressing, pouring out mercy, who loved us to the end by opening his arms on the cross. In short, he is the same one who is risen and lives gloriously in our midst.” [2]
[1] Homily Pope Francis. Closing Synod on Synodality. October 27, 2024
[2] Pope Francis. Encyclical Letter. Dilexit nos, 51.
