Let us listen to Him, the Spirit is here

My Dear Sisters,

            Dear friends

Here we are, on the eve or our 16th General Chapter. Our year of preparation and prayer for the Chapter ends with the celebration of Pentecost. Received every month, the Animation Guide helped us, through the words of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-16, to encounter more the Jesus of the Good News. Jesus in an attitude of proclamation, like Jesus in the poor and in the joy of sharing. This monthly Guide allowed us to share our faith, first of all among us. It impelled us to walk not only in trust but also in gentle docility to the Spirit. It put us on the road to justice and peace, two inseparable sisters. The Guide made us meditate more on the authority at the service of communion in the Congregation, espousing an attitude of listening to the call of the audacity of the Gospel. This Guide also invited us to look at our Elders as weavers of peace, to let the strength of     the Gospel work in us and to renew the true zeal of the apostle. It is in the posture of a prophet that our spiritan life becomes a grain of salt, spreading the fragrance of goodness. Goodness that enlightens and smells good.

All these attitudes, these convictions, these positions and words of Jesus, in this account of the Beatitudes, are for us a strength in order to never be afraid to choose the stripped down and humble Christ, the Christ who teaches us to wash one another’s feet if we want to truly be his disciples. Daring to take the risk of choosing Christ every day. Choosing Him with enthusiasm and determination, and abandoning ourselves to Him, in order to follow Him on the sometimes very tortuous paths of our lives.

The Jesus of the Beatitudes is very inspiring for our missionary life. The Beatitudes communicate to us the deep being of Jesus, revealing to us, verse after verse, the life choices that Jesus himself made in his time. Yesterday for Him, as for us today, it takes a lot of courage to live out the faith to the fullest. Jesus follows the free wind of the Spirit. Then,  He invites us to do the same.

Am I willing, in all freedom, to follow the new that the Spirit brings me in this Pentecost?

Listen to him, the Spirit is here, the morning breeze reveals his presence. It is he who opens the way to hope, his discreet light shows us the way of goodness … let him read this page of the Gospel to us, at the same time opening up our human history to new perspectives.

Happy are the Spiritan Sisters who learn to take care of the poverty of heart in order to share always without accumulating.
Happy are the meek who inspire serenity wherever they live.
Happy are those who know how to keep a pure heart and who discover God with wonder, in the beauty traits of their neighbor.
Happy are those who know how to give and accept forgiveness, without maintaining wounds.
Happy are those who have compassion for those who suffer in the silence of their heart and flesh.
Happy are those who are not afraid to act so that justice becomes a reality in our societies, societies that are increasingly riddled with exclusion.
Happy are the peacemakers who inspire goodness.
Happy are those who have the courage to allow themselves to be persecuted because of their love for Jesus and for his Gospel.
Happy are those who accept to be useless servants, and sometimes even insulted because of the Risen One.
All these men and women speak to us of the Spirit who makes   them live. By their attitudes adjusted to the message of the Gospel, they have become righteous. Cf. Romans 8:10.

Let us rejoice because these women and men have allowed themselves to be led by the Spirit of God and have become sons and daughters of God. Cf. Romans 8:14. These blessed men and women speak to us, through their lives and without interruption, of the infinite goodness of God. It is like fine rain that penetrates the earth and sows it. These lives, all given, in God’s time will bear fruit. And it is the Lord who says it, « He who abides in Me and in whom I abide, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing ». Cf. John 15, 5.

It is true that apart from the Lord, we can do nothing. We have experienced it very strongly throughout this mandate of Council. As the days went by, we discovered more and more the Lord of Peace and Joy. His powerful presence accompanied us in sunny days as well as in days of abundant rain. We have been able to touch his presence in many ways, and his Spirit has opened uncharted paths to our minds and eyes. 

In this way, we have been called to believe in the Lord of the impossible. And the Lord of  the impossible had some beautiful surprises in store for us in this service of animation of the Congregation. Like the Spirit of the wind that blows where it wills. Our programs, very often adorned with unforeseen events, have colored the life of the 1st floor of the Mother House. In the same way, the Lord of the unexpected has made us take unknown paths and our trust in the Providence has been put to the test. We learned more and more, and with more regularity, to work in Work Teams, work teams that brought together Sisters outside the General Administration. And this experience has been great for all of us. The God of creativity has helped us to harmonize our gifts and to put them into practice together, at the service of the whole Congregation. Dynamic of synodality! 

All this movement of the Work Teams linked to the General Council, has woven from day to day, fluid links with the General Secretariat, the General Bursar’s office, the Community of the Mother House, the Archives of the Congregation, Formation Houses of the Institute, the various District Superiors and us, the General Council. This bond building animation between all of us, was a real Pentecost!

All were filled with the Holy Spirit. To hear it, we had to listen to each other … and to give space for each one to express herself according to the gift of the Spirit. Without forgetting that we come from all the nations under heaven, we come from 20 nationalities, and efforts from all over have been made to hear together the voice of the Master that resounded in our hearts, through the calls to the uniquely missionary vocation that each one has received. This Spirit gathers us together in crowds, in Institutes. Even if we are not so many, life circulates within the Districts and our services of the Generalate, it circulates in our communities, and despite our frailties and weaknesses, we speak with joy of the Master of Life. In the different countries where we live, in all the various cultural and religious places   we encounter, we discover with wonder some wonders of God. Cf. Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11.

Of course, you have understood that I have paraphrased the text of the Acts of the Apostles, the account of the day of Pentecost, from our lives on mission, wherever each one has been sent, within the General Council and the Services of the Generalate. Indeed, how many times have we witnessed a light breeze or a sudden noise, occurring without prior appointment, this unexpected gust of wind that leads us into the Light and Strength of the Word. This is truly the grace of the Spirit in our lives. This day of Pentecost is revived in our midst, with the features of our faces, bearing the accounts of our human stories, and always with the same unshakable power of the Spirit.

Each of the Sisters, whether she is of Temporary Vows or of noble age, whether she is in the service of Community or District animation, in pastoral care, or in education, health, management, training of young girls and women, formation of young people called to become Spiritan Sisters, the important thing is to transmit to everyone this Spirit who makes us live: « Spirit of gratuitousness who desires only the good of the person and the glory of God. Spirit of universal brotherhood open to the diversity of nations. Spirit of the Living God who fills us with joy, sign of the Kingdom we proclaim ». Cf. Our Spiritan Life, n°7.

Let us listen to him, the Spirit is here. Let us listen to him, in the words filled with hope that our dear Foundress has left us, a spiritual heritage for each one of us: « Holy Spirit, enlighten us so that I may do the most holy will of the Heavenly Father. May the work be done as God wills it! It has begun, you will bring everything to a successful conclusion ». Cf. Journal of Sister Eugénie Caps, on January 15, 1921.

Let us listen to him, the Spirit is here, in the grace of fidelity to the initial Charism of the Congregation that our Elders received and transmitted. The Spirit is here, in the joy   of the Youngest to live the mission with zeal and enthusiasm, sometimes in very difficult contexts. The Spirit is here, in our Friends who teach us to discover multiple, interesting and relevant traits of our Spirituality, thus making it more alive than ever. The Spirit is here, in each of us who make efforts to live adjusted to the determination and audacity of the Institute’s beginnings, walking fearlessly at step with the Providence.

« Let us live out of faith, may it be strong enough to move mountains. We want to be entirely to God, let us not keep anything for ourselves. We must be as light as feathers, we must fly freely ». Cf. Letters of Sister Eugénie Caps to Catherine Frentz, Spiritan Collection 2, page 29.

Let us listen to him, the Spirit is here, let us be light. Light as feathers. Let us be free of all attachments … Then we will listen to him. Good flight.

To each and every one of you, with the entire General Council, I wish you a magnificent 2025 Pentecost and may the graces of the Spirit rest more deeply in you, in your families and in our communities, like an undeniable seal.

And on this day of full Light of the Spirit, I embrace you with joy and tenderness,  

Sister Olga Fonseca,
General Superior of the Spiritan Sisters