Sower of Lights

My dear Sisters,

Dear Friends,

In this end of year 2024, surely that many things pass through our minds and inhabit our hearts. However, I dare to come to you with three centenary events of the Congregation that are very significant for our history of missionary religious family.

Let us begin by the 5th of October 1924, the very 25 first Spiritan Sisters were making their First Profession, consecrated for the Mission. Then comes the 29th of October 1924, the 4 first Spiritan Sisters were leaving to Martinique. And then, on 5th November 1924, the 8 first Spiritan Sisters were leaving to the Cameroon. Three Centenaries in a row following the Centenary of the Foundation of the Congregation that took place on the Epiphany 2021.

The Charism was taking flesh and becoming visible by the first departure of all those Sisters, outside their native land. The Charism to found a Congregation solely missionary which Sister Eugénie Caps had received from the Lord. Each one of these first pioneers made possible the 25th April 1915’s Intuition, which the Spirit had put in the heart of the Foundress. These young ladies, who had   just pronounced their first vows, were leaving, carried by the wind of the missionary adventure, filled with the joy of announcing the Gospel and impatient with the ardor to do good.  Cf. Titus 2, 14.

With all the Spiritan Sisters, from the Community of Heaven and of the Earth as well, we give thanks to the Lord to have guided the Congregation on unknown paths, on paths where life has been given us and given through us. It is truly the mystery of Grace which is manifested. First of all, this mystery of Grace is manifested    in the life of self-denial and abandonment of our Foundress. Then, this same mystery of Grace is manifested in the missionary life of each of the Spiritan Sisters, that is to say in the made up of the life of the whole Congregation.

‘‘How beautiful on the mountain, are the feet of the messenger, the one who proclaims peace, who carries the Good News’’. Cf. Isaiah 52, 7. Borrowing the Prophet’s voice, we could also exclaim: how beautiful are the feet of the lady messenger, on the mountains, the sand, the trails, the long roads, the rivers, on the boats, the canoe, the good roads and the bad bush roads, the savannah and the forest, in the villages and towns, in the suburbs and favelas, in rural communities and urban centers, in the church and under the palaver tree,  on the  motorbike and bicycle, in the car, by train, by bus and by plane, on foot, under the straw house or under the hut, under the burning sun or the heavy rain, in the thick fog or the dark night… Oh ! how beautiful the steps of the Spiritan Sister who proclaims peace and brings the Good News day after day, who shares the pages of the Gospel, in the monotonous routine of the daily life, with men and women, our today next door neighbours.

Here is our joy of this Christmas: to remind ourselves of these three centenary dates in contemplating the event that the Lord reveals to us, and to discover Mary and Joseph with the New Born Child laying in the manger. Cf. Luke 2, 15-20.

The Crib and its characters are always, for us, a place for meditation and amazement. Each one of them, Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, the Angels and the Magi, have a very particular mission, so that Jesus’ mission will be realized. Each has a specific role to play so that Jesus’ mission may succeed. Each one is linked to the other, through what he/she accomplishes. And if one of these figures fails to carry out his or her mission, Jesus’ own will not succeed. The Lord tells us by this, how much He wants to need our limits, our frailties, our audacity, our confidence… that He may lay down His Hope in our choices, and thus continue to make success of His Mission in ours, that which He gives us. What a mystery of Grace!

This painting that shows the scene of Christmas is very important for us, missionaries, for it is in the Incarnation of the Word and in the listening of the Lord’s voice, in each of these figures of the Gospel, that the Will of the Father is done and the History of Salvation is realized. All the figures are chained, they are linked, they are in communication with each other, all weave, each with his or her own thread, the web of the Incarnate Word… and it is in that way, in the communion of the various missions, that the history of the New-born Child occurs, as we know it today. We are grateful to each of these Gospel figures for their determination, that has allowed them not to miss the call of the Lord.

It is thanks to the committed fidelity of Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, the Magi… that today in the transmission of faith, we are there. It is thanks to their audacity to go forward in the dark night that today, we are there. It is thanks to their endurance of wanting to walk in confidence on unknown paths that we are here today. It is thanks to their will to accept to strip themselves of their reasoning, surrendering, without restriction, in the Spirit, that these essential figures of the Gospel have given us Jesus, the Messiah, the God-with-us.

It is true ‘‘that to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it ’’. Cf. Ephesians 4, 7. So, at the end of this year and at the beginning of a new year, it would be important for us to ask ourselves, in serenity and peace of heart, what have I done with the Grace that has been given me throughout this year 2024?

And these three events of our history, mentioned above, will help to resume with humility, kindness and patience the path that is ours : keep the bond of communion between us, serve all with the gratuitousness of our hearts and the enthusiasm of charity, remain attentive to the one who is lying in the manger of our communities, our families, our acquaintances, our neighbours… because we did not have room for him in the common room. Cf. Luke 2, 7.

It is true that we are used to hearing this kind of questions and proofreading. And when we hear them, we think quite easily and even quickly to our neighbours, the nearest ones, as if these passages of the Gospel were addressed to them and not to us. Isn’t it? It is a real temptation that accompanies us…

And it is because of this, but also of our desire to want to do good, that the Lord has given Himself for us, in order to purify us, to make of us a people ardent to do good. Cf. Titus 2, 11-14. It is in this sense that we proclaim, personally and in community, the mercies of the Lord, having before our eyes the three centenary events of our Congregation. Mercies that are sung by our dear Foundress and    that we repeat throughout our history: ‘‘Our first Sisters going to Africa leave our land of France to take the Good News to my dear Black Brothers. My God, this Work is for them, bless our Sisters, you have done everything. You have given them to us! My sacrifice stands before me, oh! Jesus, I do not go with    them, You alone! (…) Yes, my God, I repeat your mercies. You have done great things through me. You have been kind enough to use me to found this Work of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Spirit and of the Holy Heart of Mary. I sing your power and acknowledge that you are the author of all things’’. Cf. Journal of Sister Eugénie Caps, 2nd November 1924.

In these words of Sister Eugénie Caps, she, the first one to be called to the spiritan vocation, we can re-read, with all due measure, our path of Spiritan life throughout this year 2024. And also, our joy to welcome the grace of the God of Light for this New Year that is opening before us. We are thus invited, by the Lord, to keep for 2025, this certainty of His Word: a light is sown for you.    Cf. Psalm 96(97), 11.

Yes, the Lord sows at the beginning of this year, without ceasing, He sows a light for each one of us. Let us keep this light, well lit, we heiresses of a Hope. And let us not forget that He, the Lord, makes His Grace shine through our poverties. Let us remember that He has always given us, from the beginning of the Congregation, His Spirit in abundance.

So, my dear Sisters and you our dear Friends, let us not be afraid to go forward with the Sower of Lights on unexpected roads, because the Lord sows His light under our steps. The Lord sows lights…

It is in this Hope, filled with the light of the God-with-us, that I wish you a Holy and Happy Christmas and a Year 2025 full of the gratuitousness of the Crib.

I embrace you in the tenderness and the kindness that Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds are communicating to us in this story of Christmas,

 

Sister Olga Fonseca,
General Superior of the Spiritan Sisters