We started the day with Lauds and Holy Mass; celebrant was Fr. Jarosław Merecki, SDS, professor of philosophy at the Lateran University. In his homily, referring to the end of the liturgical year, he pointed out that every end is also a beginning. The end of a certain stage in history, the end of the world, the end of the life of each of us leads to the final end, which is the coming of Christ – the Judge full of mercy.
The whole day was devoted to the topic of formation. In the morning, we heard a general report given by Sr. Josephine d’Souza and a report on the International Noviciate by Sr. Marie Claire Mukeshimanna.
Sr. Josephine presented an overall picture of the situation and the challenges of formation in our Congregation. Formation had been a great concern for the General Administration in the past six years. In 2017, an International Formation Commission was created, which met twice to discuss the main issues. Sr. Josephine presented a number of initiatives and formation programmes in Pallottine spirituality, addressed to Sisters in different stages of formation, including on-going formation. Some of our Sisters had also participated in workshops organized by the International Conference of Superiors General (UISG) in Rome.
Sr. Marie Claire, mistress of the International Novitiate 2017-2020, presented the statistics, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of novitiate formation. Suggestions and highlights from Sister’s reports led to a rich sharing and discussion in the plenary.
The morning work culminated in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
In the afternoon session we continued the discussion in the plenary, deepening important themes relating to formation and the International Novitiate. Before Vespers Fr. Martin appreciated our sisterly dialogue, which is accompanied by a constant openness to seek God’s will.
