OPENING SPEECH



Sr. Felisita, superior general



Dear sisters and brothers,

Together with Srs. Dionysia, Beatrix, and Theodora, I warmly welcome you all to this general chapter 2010: the members of the general chapter, the facilitators, the discussion leader, the secretariat staff, the interpreters, and the observers of the Dutch province.

We are happy and very grateful for your presence here in Denekamp, a bit far from Amersfoort. Yesterday afternoon, we opened the chapter with a Eucharistic Celebration asking God’s blessing for smoothness and success of our Chapter.

This chapter is coloured by well-known faces with new spirits. Most of us know each other well, due to many former meetings. And we have introduced ourselves in respective personal ways. I hope that those who attend the general chapter for the first time, will feel at home soon and will be able to participate actively. In the Eucharistic Celebration at the opening of the chapter, every representative has given her interpretation of the theme ‘Moving on in one spirit’.

We will make this spirit the process basis of our chapter, hoping that we all can weave and practise in accomplishing tasks and taking responsibilities, as members of the general chapter, as intended in our Constitutions nr. 10.1 – 10.11 and our Statutes nr. 2.1 – 2.3.

We – members of the general chapter – now represent all the sisters of the congregation and as long as we are in session, we are the highest entity who are authorised to make decisions and to coordinate (Cf. Constitutions no 8.1).

I, specially thank Mrs. Renny Zwaagstra, our secretary, who in good cooperation with her staff, has coordinated and prepared this chapter well. Our facilitators in this chapter are Fr. Henk Bloem, Mrs. Lia Vergouwen, Mr. Guus van Loenen, and Mrs. Retno Priyani. Fr. Norbert Halsema will be our discussion leader.

Last year this chapter has been prepared intensively. In the GCO meeting in August 2009 in Lawang – Indonesia we, the council members, tried to find a focus of attention and direction in which this chapter will go, that is to reflect and decide the policies for the next period in the light of our spirituality.

Based on the decisions of the general chapter 2006, the evaluation report of the general council 2006 – 2010, and the recommendations, we will critically review the way of our congregation in the last four years and with an open attitude grasp the signs of this time while looking towards the future. Starting from the same SOURCE ‘Responding the call of God, we dedicate ourselves to God in the congregation of the sisters of Our Lady’.

And from the same ROOTS starting at Amersfoort, now our congregation is active in the Netherlands, Indonesia, Malawi and the Philippines.

The growth and the presence of our congregation in these continents are based on the same spirituality ‘recognizing and acknowledging the human dignity as the image of God’.

In responding and giving form to God’s call, we as congregation, occasionally – this time after four years, in the past after 6 years - have to stop for a while, to review what we did based on the policy which we made, and with new spectacles look at the real, current situation and direct ourselves towards a better future. During these chapter days we let ourselves be guided by Gods’ Spirit and with the conviction of the support of prayer of our sisters from wherever they are, we will take our responsibility.

In the general chapter of 2006, period 2006-2010 was depicted by a bridge as symbol for a transition period which connected this council period with the period after 2010.

To build a bridge we need:

· Cooperation and commitment of quality

· Readiness to acknowledge personal richness

· Readiness to accept and to be willing to complement each other

· Unity of vision for the sake of the whole congregation.

Now we have accomplished a part of our tasks and responsibilities in this transition period. Region Malawi has succeeded to choose a regional council, in which the autonomy of governing the region is exercised.

The quality of our cooperation and commitment is put to a test every time we hold meetings, especially during the GCO meetings as one of the ways to unite vision for the sake of the whole congregation.  Now we are also to proof the quality of our cooperation by acknowledging and accepting the enriching differences of each other, by the courage to listen to each other respectfully and by the courage to take risks on the policy that we will arrange.

These basic attitudes will affect the quality of our involvement and the active participation in the process of the chapter.

Dear sisters,

While trusting ourselves to the leading of God’s Spirit, the intercession of Mary, the patron saint of our congregation, I invite all of you, to go into the process of the chapter with the basic openness to face all possibilities. Finally, allow me to quote the message from Mother Julie Billiart, the spiritual mother of our congregation: ‘Be simple in all things, and the Spirit of the good God will dwell in you’.

Herewith I declare our general chapter 2010 opened!

Amersfoort, 9th August, 2010

Chairwoman of the General Chapter

Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Amersfoort

Sr. Felisita Budiarti

SHARING REFLECTION

The chapter was opened by celebrating an inspiring Eucharist, where each superior : Sr. Felisita Budiarti (General Council), Sr. Trees Janssen (Dutch), Sr. Yulita Marie (Indonesia), Sr. Linda Viano (Malawi) shared her reflection on the theme of chapter 2010 "MOVING ON IN ONE SPIRIT". 

GENERAL COUNCIL

The theme of our chapter this year is “Moving on in one spirit” symbolised by WATER.

Water flowing from one source, energetically, to different places but connected. Water flowing dynamically, drenching and reviving, enabling growth. An oval logo symbolizing unity and equality. Water flowing, moving and penetrating even in the small corners, providing change, endless, and open to all new possibilities. 

Water moved by the Spirit, of which the power/energy encourages us to face the present reality and to respect the past. What message does the theme/symbol convey to the whole congregation? In the constitutions we read: “We call ourselves Sisters of Our Lady’.

We have heard the call of Jesus. We want to orient our lives to his good news. He showed us what it means in God’s eyes to be human: everyone matters …

In response, we want to serve God in ourselves and in others, before everything else to seek the Kingdom of God and his mercy, justice and peace. (Constitutions-Purpose of the congregation). Responding to the call of God, we dedicate ourselves to God in the congregation.

Our congregation – the sisters of Our Lady – lives from and is activated by the same source. It started at Amersfoort, then slowly spread out to a number of areas in the Netherlands, Indonesia, Malawi and the Philippines just like water flowing dynamically to all directions beyond borders, but always open for new possibilities. Every time we hold chapters, we try to actualize our living of our spirituality; we try to adapt new forms in correspondence with   the needs of this time. As General Council, we consciously follow the move, while directing the oozing to enable growth. For us, ‘Moving on in one spirit’ means to admit and to accept differences.

We are sure in the whole congregation there are movements to growth, how subtle they might be. There might be big differences in rhythm and rapidity in the particular provinces/region as result of age, life environment, personal capabilities, and including the financial situation. For us, ‘Moving on in one spirit’ means moving forward to the future, standing on the realities of the present and learning from the experiences of the past. At this very special moment – at the opening of the general chapter – ‘Moving on in one spirit’ has to be seen as a personal invitation to let ourselves be moved by the same source, and be open to all kind of new possibilities while gazing at the growth of the congregation towards the future.

DUTCH COUNCIL

Recently we came across a more than 25 years old letter. A letter from December 1984, written by the then General Superior, Agnes Pruijn. She wrote: “Here it is…The ‘handy’ booklet easy to take along! All the inspiring texts are here together.

It is really nice to have this booklet in this year 1984, the year of the chapter. We have named it – ‘What moves us’ – spirituality of the sisters of Our Lady –
In these words is expressed what we want with our lives for whom we want to live and how we want to live and experience this together now and in the years to come.

In short: That, which heartfelt moves us and time and again set us in motion, to bring the Good News of the Gospel a little bit nearer to people.” So far the letter.

When we name ourselves Sisters of Our Lady of Amersfoort, we express that we sprang from one and the same source, that we will live from one and the same inspiration, that we have in common “What does move us”. It feels good to experience to belong to a bigger whole. ‘Moving on in one Spirit’ means to live from the Gospel, the Good News and, in the words of “What moves us” (daring to belief) being engaged on ‘a world more fully human, in which God feels at home’.

A world more fully human is not a perfect, ideal world. The world is not perfect and also man is not perfect. Fortunately! A perfect world would be sterile and God would not feel at home, and so the same with us. Fully human has to do with making things hum, with living from and with ideals and has nothing to do with being lived. Where there is life, there God feels at home. The old church father Ireneus has already said: ‘The glory of God is man fully alive.’ Someone who is fully alive shows God’s glory, is an image of God. That is rather something! We, human beings, can only shape such a responsibility in unity with one another and in the awareness that God is out for a world fully human. A warm world in which no law ever takes precedence over the person, a world in which people have their heart in the right place. It is about a world where people care for one another, where literally everything and everyone is being listened to, where young and old know themselves respected, where solidarity and involvement are felt.

In such a world you can feel at home, because you are allowed to be as you are, with your shadow, your shortcomings, your petty sides. The human shortcomings are all part of it. That is exactly what fully human means: time and again trying to welcome the good things in each other, over and over again scrambling up and trying to make the best of it. The older we grow in the Netherlands, the deeper the awareness comes home to us that this continuous trying, this actual longing to become a neighbour as the Samaritan is the most important.

During the last general consultative organ meeting in Indonesia the sisters of Indonesia and Malawi have given us the conviction that they will carry on the congregation when the Dutch province comes to an end. It makes us feel good that the same source from where Julie Billiart and all other sisters who identify themselves with Mary ever drew, will continue to be bored in the different parts of the world. To part with, to let go and finally to die in human dignity is less difficult when you trust that the same source of life continues to flow.

Sister Agnes ends her letter with a declaration of the longing: ‘May we more and more discover how our spirituality can become an indicator, a guide, a source of energy of our religious life.’ This wish, in which future and past, destination and source come together in the actual presence, is for us of continuous value. May ‘What moves us (Daring to belief)’ continue to keep us moving in good and bad days.

INDONESIAN COUNCIL

The sense of ‘Moving on in one Spirit’

1) Moving on together in the one spirituality of human equality as the image of God; 2) Starting from the same source and charisma that was Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit which moved the founders of congregations in acknowledging the signs of time; 3) Living in the one and the same Spirit of God; 4) Let the spirituality of the congregation flow wherever we are; 5) Reaching the same goals by living and spreading the vision and mission of the congregation.

HOPE of ‘Moving on in one Spirit’

1) Moved and lead by the one and the same Spirit, moving forward, while considering the uniqueness of areas and persons, so that every person gains the same place and space as the image of God; 2) Actualizing and letting the spirituality of the congregation flow by benefiting all potentials in the spiritual life, community and mission; 3) Be sensitive to the leading Spirit and be able to read the signs of time; 4) Developing openness and missionary attitude to let the contribution of the congregation conform to her spirituality bloom fully; 5) Radiating the spirit of Easter in a happy and hopeful atmosphere.

THE IMPRESSION of ‘Moving on in one Spirit’

1) The round logo symbolises the full commitment, the readiness and personal openness to learn again from new experiences; 2) The vivid yellow colour symbolises the hope, the happiness, and the greatness of Easter; 3) River water that flows over the fields symbolises the dynamical spirit of life with its ups and downs in harvesting in the fields of God; 4) ‘Moving on’ related to ‘Moving beyond’ symbolises the movement from one bridge to the other. The Indonesian province dares to move forward and to cross, leaving behind the vested life nowadays to effort that the spirituality of human equality as the image of God could be experienced by more people wherever they are, beyond the borders of language, culture, nation and countries.

‘Moving on in one Spirit’ conveys the call to unify, to build togetherness in diversities, to develop collaboration to realise the spirituality of the congregation Sisters of Our Lady – Amersfoort.

COUNCIL OF REG.MALAWI

The very significant in the symbol:
a. The round shape in a circle

The circle symbolizes the mother earth on which we exist and live as Sisters of Our Lady and people of all walks of life. In this case, the circle is a sign of unity and connectedness amongst ourselves – sisters of Our Lady in the region of Malawi. It is a sign of gladness for we know that God’s providential grace provides air, food, and water for our sustainability through mother earth.

b. The spring of water

The spring of water in the circle symbolizes the care God gives us through Mary our Lady in union with Her son Jesus. We can not live meaningful lives as religious sisters of Our Lady without this care.

c. Growing plants

The growing plants in the circle are the vivid sign of what it happens when God’s creatures are receiving providential sustainability. In our case as sisters of Our Lady in Malawi, we are reminded of our baptismal waters that made us begotten daughters of God.

However, much as we are aware of God’s providential care through the gifts of life, support from fellow sisters within the Region and internationally, we share some concerns such as:

• how to stand on our own and independently with regards to financial support,
• inadequate formators for the region, and 
•  training of sisters for self and regional development.

 We are a people of hope and motivated by our charisma. We are also inspired everyday when we reflect on what is going on in our region. Such things are

• the growth of our region Malawi into a Regional council,
• implementation of the Cadre training,
• academic and training programs that some sisters are receiving, and
• growing number of young girls expressing interest to join our congregation. All these inspire us and they are a sign of God’s care for our congregation and particularly our Regional Malawi.

As we journey together in this region, we hope to grow in both spirit and body by continuing with:

• cadre training for the SOL,
• collaborating with Indonesian sisters,
• training of more formators,
• promoting more vocations for our regional and congregational growth; and
• exploring new ways of income generating activities,
• expanding our missionary work to reach out to many people who are in need of our services by opening a new community.

We continue to move together in one spirit by supporting one another and while minding the needs of our congregation at large.