General Chapter 2018
Anne Marie Javouhey shows us the way. Deeply intuitive and contemplative she discerned the new realities of her day. She believed in the dream and the mission revealed to her With her sisters, clergy, laity and government of her day, she went beyond boundaries and beyond her country, to work in a collaborative way to bring about the kingdom of God.
Today we embrace this legacy and move forward together, with creativity and joy, through the doorway we call collaboration for mission. The gift of our charism is a gift we hold but do not possess that has been entrusted to us for the church annd for the world. It calls us to work for the liberation of both others and ourselves, as we live faithfully our religious consecration and respond to the cries of our wounded world.
The following missionary priorities challenge us to be faithful to our charism and to live them with missionary zeal.
Credible Witnesses, Rejoice in the Lord.
“What can be wanting to anybody who possesses God?”
Anne Marie Javouhey. Letter 8
The first witness we give of God’s kingdom is living authentically our consecrated life and the call to be credible witnesses of the Gospel and a joyful presence in our world today. By our vowed and communal life we reveal a prophetic and counter- cultural way of acting and living that shows respect for all peoples and our common home. The richness of our unity and diversity makes us signs of a universal solidarity in a society marked by brokenness, violence and divisions.
Drawn by God’s love, we come to know a sense of belonging to God, one another and the world. Our personal and communal religious life, marked by prayer and a renewed, transforming love for each other, becomes a joyful gift freely offered to God for the life of the world.
Our missionary spirituality grounds us in a communal, contemplative discernment that searches to know and do the Will of God. The quality of our consecrated life, lived faithfully, makes known today the vision of Anne Marie Javouhey and the urgent call of Jesus to go to the ends of the earth and tell the good news.
“I am certain that it is God’s work
That we have the honour of doing.
I have placed everything in his hands
And I am full of confidence
which, nevertheless, does not prevent me form taking
all the necessary measures, as if all depended on me.”
The mission entrusted to the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny responds to Jesus’ call to leave all behind and follow him. We participate in the mission of Jesus to evangelise, heal and liberate all peoples, especially the poor, the least, the lost and the last.
With Anne Marie Javouhey we too rejoice as we say: ”I am happy to be wherever there is suffering to be alleviated”(AMJ Letter 63). Our missionary spirit sends us anywhere there is a little good to be done. Going to the peripheries and beyond boundaries, the mission includes the whole of God’s creation.
We take the initiative and the first step to respond, to reach out and be near our wounded world. We become aware of the cries of out world today and respond with the love and mercy of God and with the prophetic voice of our religious consecrated life.
The credibility of our witness demands formation for the mission and availability for mission ad extra. It requires a spiritual formation and professional expertise. To be audacious, valiant and daring missionaries, our formation must have an international dimension, engage us in diverse cultures and encourage the learning of new languages. Such a formation leads to greater openness to the global realities of today, and places all our human and material resources at the service of mission.
This includes technology and use of social media to evangelise, welcome and invite all to follow the Way of Jesus and his Gospel message.
We are the light of Jesus’ mission, propelled into a new and challenging world. In order to respond energetically and with credibility to the emerging realities, we are challenged to reorganize, restructure and collaborate to better bring about the kingdom of our God.
Going Forward Together
“Our strength is in our union.
As long as we are one, we shall do well
and the Congregation will continue.”
Anne Marie Javouhey. Letter 322
In creative collaboration with our associates, co-workers and laity, we promote the live and vision of Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey. We grow in participatory leadership and openness as welcoming communities. We focus our organizational energies to share broadly our resources. This work of development, promoting justice, calls us to go beyond the congregation to an international and global collaboration. Working with religious groups, non-profit and diverse organizations, places our values and our voice on a level of influence that is global.
As we embrace this new and promising future, we are challenged to go forth in new ways, stronger together, prophetic and bold in our missionary discipleship for a new world.