Chapter Communication - 25 May 2022
The weather in Rome has become damp and heavy. It is as if creation, preparing a rain, wants to join the members of the Chapter entering in the process of the election of the Superior General. The atmosphere is serious and dense. It invites to reflection and prayer, listening and welcoming.
The readings from the liturgy of Easter time make us pray more intensely for the good of our chapter. They describe to us founding events of the Church, of those who believe in the Lord Jesus and have been called to witness to his love and his Resurrection. I refer to the election of Matthias, to the institution of deacons because of the complaint of the widows of the Hellenistic Christian community, and to the council of Jerusalem, which took place at the discovery of a vast field of apostolate outside the Jewish world. They shape our Church, our faith and our relationship with the Lord. They are much more than a matter of organisation; they are moments of communion when the coming of the Holy Spirit was implored.
We too await the coming of the Spirit upon us at a key moment in our history. We feel the need for his love, his presence and his work in us, as persons and as a missionary society. The election of the Superior General and his Council will certainly shape our lives, our prayers and our commitments over the next six years. That is why our prayer plays an important role of communion and support.
May the Holy Spirit guide our confreres in the election of our leaders. Let us pray with humility, perseverance and confidence. Let us pray with our missionary experiences and the needs of Africa, of the mission and of the African Church in our hearts. Let us be like the apostles in the cenacle waiting for the Spirit. For it is He who gives us the vision, the courage, the audacity and the wisdom to discern well and to make the right decisions for the good of the Church and the mission… and of the Missionaries of Africa today.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Come Holy Spirit…