July 3 - Sixth Day - Morning

Morning prayer “Give Us Faith Lord” was led by the Eastern American Province.

Our facilitor, Ruby Cribbin, recalled for us the first week of the Chapter. We had spent time getting to know each other, the Province, and the Institute

We all agreed that we had spent a lot of time listening and now it was time to ask ourselves: “What does all this mean? What are we going to do with all this information?”

We were asked to spend the morning reflecting
  • on the material we had received before we came to the Chapter: the Boundaries booklet with the information coming from the provincial/ regional Chapters and the General Council Report Part 2.
  • on the information we had received since coming to the Chapter: the province/region reports, the General Council Report Part III, the Statistical and Financial Reports, and the proposals from sisters to the Chapter
  • on the suggestions that had come from our table conversations following the various reports.

Ruby suggested that we organize our reflection around the three Boundaries

  • Our Fear of Risking the New
  • Limitation of Ageing, Infirmity, Diminishment
  • Social, Cultural, and Religious Differences

She reminded us that some of the material raised will be more suited to provincial/regional levels.

We spent time in personal reflection and some time talking to another person not in our table group, so we could bring a second view back to our table discussion after lunch.

Maria Teresa Morgadinha, Mary Genino (WAP)


Today, Eucharist was celebrated at noon. The Eastern American Province had prepared this liturgy as well as the morning prayer earlier. Mass was celebrated by Fr. Jim Greene, MAf, a cousin of Sr. Marguerite Greene (NEP).

Sister Martina Crowley, Fr. Jim Greene, MAf


July 3 - Sixth Day - Afternoon

This afternoon we began our work in our table groups. We shared our reflections from the morning and spent time in conversation coming to agreement about what we would like to present to the Chapter for further consideration. Part of our work was to distinguish between material appropriate for Chapter work and material appropriate for another forum, for example the province/region.

At the end of this table discussion we wrote out our conclusions and gave them to Ruby to take to the Coordinating Committee.

We also looked at the structure of the General Council again. We had some questions about the roles and responsibilities of the General Councilors, the General Secretary and the General Treasurer, which Margaret and Veronica answered.



Acceptance of Recommendation
Regarding Structure of General Council

Following this clarification, we unanimously accepted the recommendation from the present General Council:

  1. that the 2007 General Chapter elect a General Superior and three Council members.
  2. that the General Secretary and General Treasurer are not members of the Council but are appointed by the General Superior in consultation with her Council

Next we reviewed the proposed discernment and election process and made some modifications.
Ruby pointed out that changes to the process can be made as needed. There is no pressure to conform to a strict pattern. Good discernment comes from a united body. With this understanding, we unanimously accepted the Proposed Discernment Election Process.

 

 

© 2007 RSCM / RSHM