Our General Conference began in Rome today with the theme: “Look to the past with gratitude, live the present with passion and embrace the future with hope.”

We spent the day looking at the past with gratitude.  We began with the celebration of the Eucharist which included a procession of light.  The priest helped us to focus our gaze on our calling and on the history of the Congregation.  We were invited to “wake up the world” and live out our vocation with passion.

A significant moment for all of us during the Eucharist was when we renewed our vows in the three different languages (French, English and Spanish).  Sr. Monica’s welcome address as Superior General, called us to contemplate the image of the journey with God, with Claudine and with the Congregation.

There was time during the morning for personal reflection and for group sharing.  We shared about aspects we have in common in our various countries and provinces as well as the differences that we also notice.  It was a time of listening and of becoming aware of our richness, our communion and our diversity.

In the afternoon we looked back at the history of our Congregation with gratitude.  We contemplated the restored versions of Claudine’s letters, those of her brothers and the First Constitutions.  It was a sacred time, a shared time, a time for being aware of our history lived out in the smallness and ordinariness of daily life.

We looked also at difficulties that had arisen in every Province and saw the solutions that were found to overcome them.

At the end of the day we enjoyed a typical Italian supper which, together with the background music, allowed us to celebrate these memories with thanks and appreciation.  Some sisters from the community in Via Flaminia joined us for the occasion.