Convocation - Twenty-first General Chapter

September 12, 2007

Dear Sisters and Associates,

Let the trumpets blare! Let the drums beat and the bells toll! Today is a special day for the Congregation. Today I am convoking the Twenty-first General Chapter. Today, together, we approach Trasna, the Crossing Place of Chapter 2008. Come!

There is significance in convoking the Congregation Chapter on the Feast day of Our Lady. Mary serves as our model of faith in that she listened, pondered, and contemplated the word of God in her life, and witnessed to it in action (Constitution, 35). As we call upon Mary's intervention for us during this Chapter year, we are reminded by the witness of her life that she too, was invited many times by God to cross over into the unknown.

Because of the wisdom of our foremothers we come together every six years. Our Constitutions describe the Congregation Chapter as the highest decision-making body in the Congregation. They remind us that we gather for several reasons: we gather to witness to our unity; we gather to renew our life and spirit; we gather to reflect together on the call of the gospel and because of that prayerful reflection, we gather to make decisions in fidelity to our charism (Constitution, 100).

During the next ten months we are all invited to participate in prayer, reflection and in the various processes that will come to us from the Chapter Planning Committee. The critical work of the Chapter begins now, not just when we gather at Monmouth University July 28th to August 8th 2008. From this day forward your participation in meetings related to Chapter content (e.g. CSGs, Area Meeting, Assemblies, etc.) is the work of the Congregation Chapter. Throughout these months we ask you to reflect and share your wisdom and vitality around two significant areas of focus:

• how do we desire to strengthen and deepen our call to action around rivers of peace and well of integrity
• and how do we, as vowed members, desire to relate to and to organize ourselves for the sake of mission?

Given the level of input that we are asking from the Congregation prior to our coming together at Monmouth, the timing of the election process and other decisions may be later than for previous Chapters. Our journey this year is going to be different in many ways. The virtues of patience, flexibility, and trust in the fluidity of the processes will be foremost as we move forward together.

In a real sense our participation is a communal response to obedience. In God's providence we are given this particular time in history as blessing and challenge. Your participation is a declaration of your trust in God's faithfulness to work among us. Your participation is a commitment to the Congregation of your desire to join together to cross over to shape our preferred future. We are confident that the strength of our coming together will be robust enough to risk crossing over into the unknown for the next six years. It is in this time, given our present realities, that we are called to make a difference and to influence what is happening to suffering people around the globe and to an anguished planet so that the good news of the Gospel of Peace may be known and embraced. What more important time in the life of the Congregation than now?

Today as I convoke the Twenty-first General Chapter I invite you once again to look and probe the meaning of the Chapter theme in light of the two critical focus areas that have been named. Let the theme, Crossing Place, reverberate through your present reality through a variety of lenses: the transitions in your personal life; the transitions that are happening throughout the Congregation; and the suffering that continues to escalate in our world and on our planet. May we be united daily as we pray the Chapter Prayer and call on the God of new life to walk with us in the days and months ahead. The Crossing Place - Come!

God's peace to each of you,

Sheila Lemieux, CSJP
Congregation Leader