September 2010, Vol. XXX, No. 7
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters Convent of the Holy Spirit – Techny, Illinois
He went about doing good, being Light, Hope, Reconciliation, proclaiming the dignity of all.
What is your vision of mis mission— sion—that which motivates and guides your thoughts, choices, and life?
I
n early August the Vatican announced the appointment of a U.S. Redemptorist priest, Fr. Joseph Tobin as the new secretary for the Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Apostolic life. Joseph Tobin was the former Superior General of his order and gave an address to the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in the USA as they met in August. In this address he asked the question “Are we missing something?” and then went on to suggest that some disturbing factors in our cultural and religious reality may be so noisy and dominant that they become the lens through which we view our call to follow Jesus in mission. I would like to call attention to two of these “noisy realities” which Father Tobin mentioned and ask you to reflect on ways they apply to us as a province: Diminishment and Professionalism. Declining numbers and increasing average age of religious women are certainly aspects of our reality in the U.S. and as a province; however, if this is the main focus through which we see ourselves in mission in the U.S. and the Caribbean it can certainly lead to discouragement and center our thinking and planning on diminishment. But do aging and decrease in numbers necessarily lead to less mission and less discipleship? We are missionaries as much at 90 years as we were at 30 years and probably even more so. As missionaries we make God’s love visible through our lives and see God’s presence in the people around us. Missionary witness is much more about how we live our lives and interact with others than what we do. And certainly a province of 80 members who are always creatively looking for and seeing around them ways and opportunities to live out their missionary charism here and now may be more abundantly (continued on page 2)